it's {mostly} all good

I've been spending a lot of time in blogland of late, reading what other people are up to, being amazed by the beautiful images they post, and generally being inspired in all areas of life. That much definitely is good. One blog in particular, Life Set to Words, has become a daily read. Not only for the absolutely amazing (and I do mean AMAZING!) images posted, but also for the inspiring, encouraging and often humorous words that accompany them. The author, Maegan, has been running a series of posts on Fridays where she recounts some of the not-so-lovely parts of her week but looks for the good in them. Which got me to thinking, what a great idea! Like l said in my last post, it's very easy to see the bad stuff in an average week and believe that's all there was to mention when the reality is that there is much more good than bad. So I'm jumping on the bandwagon and hoping it's somewhat cathartic and will set me off on a positive note as we head into our Easter holidays.

Reality :: Today Conor went to the paddling pool in Ards leisure centre with his playgroup. It was an outing that had 'potential nightmare' all over it what with him not liking change and preferring that I tag along on such ventures. I worry far too much about how he does in unfamiliar situations (I can remember all too well the sinking feeling in my tummy when faced with such occasions when I was small and painfully shy). I had decided, along with his teachers, that it would be good if he could do this without me. And while this is what I want for him, it's another signal that he doesn't need me as much as he used to. Which is a bit sad.

Blessing:: He was absolutely fine! He scuttled off with his little chums to get changed without so much as a backward glance. He even managed to fool the teachers that he ate all his party food afterwards, when he had actually kindly donated the sausages and crisps to one of his obliging friends! He is smart and becoming more independent, which in turn will make the transition to primary school in September that much easier. He is also deadly cute - even while aiming a bow and arrow!

Reality :: I was particularly frustrated today when I eventually went to buy my copy of New Moon (the special 2 disc version, obviously!) at HMV. However, it turned out that all their card machines were down and as I wasn't prepared to run up the street in the bucketing rain to extract cash, I came home empty handed.

Blessing :: I have saved a whopping £3 by ordering it from Amazon who will deliver it to my door (thereby allowing me to keep my car in the driveway and not take it into the centre of Bangor which is hell on earth for traffic at the moment). The parcel will also be bringing a cd for Michael and an Oliver Jeffers book for the boys as an added bonus! I love online shopping!

Reality :: I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time tidying up after the boys at the minute. Lego, paper, Match Attax, pens and pencils. And for the seeminly hundreds of things I tidy it seems there are hundreds more just ready to take their place.

Blessing :: The boys are in an amazing creative phase right now. It's all about the drawing, colouring, experimenting and building. This makes me smile and feel a bit smug since the creative gene mostly came from me!

Reality :: It strikes me a lot at the minute that I can't properly remember what Patrick was like when he was Conor's age. I looked at some photos of him earlier today and was amazed at how small he looked and how much his expressions were like Conor's. I really don't remember him like that even though it was only 3 years ago. In my head he has always looked and acted like he does now. Time is going so fast and I'm not doing a very good job of documenting all the things I want to remember about him.

Blessing :: We had a meeting with his teacher yesterday and she had only the loveliest things to say about him. She commented on his fluent reading, his vocabulary (love that he loves words!) how popular he is with his classmates and how kind and generous he is. He is growing into an amazing little boy, who is soaking up all his world has to offer him. And he still thinks I'm the best mummy in the world, which isn't bad after almost 7 years of fumbling along as a parent!

See, now all that searching for the goodness must surely make my weekend all the lovelier! Other things that will be helping my weekend along are:

lovely tulips - a veritable Tesco bargain!

lovely cupcakes - yet to be made, but I shall keep you posted!

I hope your weekend is filled with as much sugary goodness as I intend mine to be :)  

spring gratitude :: day 1

It has been brought to my attention recently that I have been looking at life with a somewhat negative attitude. And much as it pains me, I would have to admit that's probably quite true. Completely unintentional, but true. The last few months have been frought with little annoyances, stresses and inconveniences, all of which have combined to suck the humour and frivolity out of me. In light of this I have decided that it just won't do and I shall have to make amends, especially since spring is doing its best to cheer me on my way with its fresh green buds and promises of warmer days. So this week I am going to try to focus on the blessings. The good stuff that just won't be squashed down no matter how many pupils fail to produce long overdue coursework! My spring gratitudes. Today I am grateful for...

:: a pile of Country Living magazines on the staffroom table at lunch. I have no idea who left them, but I have very much enjoyed a flick through some of them this evening.

:: the joyful enthusiasm of the boys when they want to show me something they've done or made.

:: only 2 more days of school before I finish for the Easter holidays.

:: unexpected gifts from the science department - I hope to put them to excellent use over the holidays :) 

:: where we live. It's still a novelty to me to be able to walk less than 10 minutes and see this.

Blessed indeed. It really doesn't take much to make you forget the stuff that gets on top of you. I suppose sometimes you just have to make the effort to notice it and then enjoy it. 

So what are your blessings today? I dare you to leave a comment telling me, and I bet you feel all the more blessed for thinking about it and noticing the good stuff!!
 

Training

for the Winter Olympics 2026 skeleton

 

And you thought it was just a small boy in his jammies and crash helmet lying on a cushion. Shame on you!  

Bushmills

What more could you ask for?  
  
  
 
 

Em, where is our snow?

For the second year running I find myself becoming more and more obsessed with the weather. And not because it has snowed so much that we can't get the car out of the driveway. No, I am obsessed because we have ZERO snow in our driveway! For weeks now I have patiently endured the postcard images on TV as every news broadcast describes in detail how Britain is in the grip of the worst winter for 30 years. I have watched more sledding than the BBC will show on the winter Olympics; looked on in amazement as people wade knee deep in freshly fallen snow; marvelled as the reporters have held rulers against the stack of snow on a car roof and wondered, along with the rest of the nation, what will actually happen if we really do run out of grit! I have wished and I have prayed. I have given myself a crick in my neck gazing upwards and willing clouds of snow to gather in the bright blue sunshiny sky! And all for nothing more than the odd skiff which quickly turns to ice, and then lingers in the driveway just waiting for the moment I step on it and upend myself in a less than graceful manner!

So I have no snowy pictures to share with you - but you won't have to venture too far into blogland to find those. Even Sheila, who lives a mere 12 miles from me, had a fabulous snow day yesterday! No, I only have frost pictures. Which are very pretty. And, indeed, the lack of snow makes them special in themselves!

However, on the bright side of our meteorological misfortune, it is quite possible that Patrick's day might not have been as exciting as it was today. Mini rugby had to be moved indoors due to frozen pitches for the second week in a row, and it coincided with the Six Nations and Triple Crown trophies stopping off for some photo opportunities. All very exciting for a 6 year old (and his family and friends!) Never one to miss a photo opportunity we arrived good and early for our turn. I'm going to hang this picture in his room to keep him focused on his future as a professional sportsman!

To top it all off the teams had their photo taken for the local newspaper - no prizes for guessing who had their grubby mitts on the Triple Crown! We all await this week's Spectator with much anticipation (copies to be forwarded to several special blog readers who will be chuffed to see future Irish rugby hands on the trophy of glory!!) 

I will leave you now to go and check if any snow has fallen yet and then to watch the new series of CSI:NY to discover which of the team survived the drive-by shooting at the end of the last series. Personally I don't think it looks good for either Lindsay or Danny!
 
 

Our year

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Christmas questions

1. Where does the day go to?

2. Why did we even bother wrapping so many presents?

3. Was all that chocolate and mulled wine really necessary? (this one's rhetorical!!)

4. Did we focus enough on the important things?

5. What happened to exciting Christmas tv?

6. Why don't we gather as a huge family more often in the year?

7. Should we buy more chairs so that they all match next year and no one has to bring their own?

8. How come there's always one present left under the tree?

9. How can I keep the boys small so that there will always be this wonder and joy over it all?

10. How are we going to wait another year to do it all over again?!

These are just a few of the questions that have been wandering around the conscious parts of my brain the past few days. Clearly there are more pressing ones like where in the name of goodness are we actually going to put Conor's train set? Or at what point should we start eating normally again at the table with cutlery? But these can wait maybe another few days, until the start of the new year when I can actually find the will to do anything constructive. For now I am more than content to linger on the settee eating more Roses and watching the few good programmes we recorded over the past few days and allow the festive feelings to continue to wash over me! Before I go back to doing just that, let me share a few photos from Christmas Day. It would be fair to say that Lego, trains and cricket accessories were the big hits of the day! On a side note, I took 123 photos of all the people who were part of our day, and Michael took 3 of me - I am trying to be grateful for those 3 but given my 'just out of bed' hair and bright red dressing gown I'm thinking a tripod and the timer are the way forward for next year!

Now enough about our Christmas - how was yours?

'twas the night before Christmas

and all through the house parents were wondering where the past month had gone and hoping that nothing important on anybody's lists had been forgotten! Just thought I'd share a few photos from nativities and Santa visits before the excitement comes to a head tomorrow.

Patrick had a very important role as Wise Man #2 in his nativity. Such a fun show that allowed every child their moment of glory on the stage - mums across the hall were slightly weepy!

Conor's role was no less important. He was a shepherd, but not just any shepherd. He was the one who got to carry the sheep, which he defended valiantly when one shepherd turned rogue and attempted a sheep-napping! It was obvious who had the older brother and was used to holding on tightly to what he had in his hands!

 

This is my favourite photo of the year of him - LOVE that smile :)

We had a lovely visit to see Santa at Mountstewart last week, complete with quiz trail, crafts, hot chocolate and a ride in a horse-drawn carriage to see the man himself. You have to soak up the wonder of it all while they're small, don't you think?

Clearly it was necessary to photograph the one snowy day of the year. Alas, it has now disappeared and there is little chance of a white Christmas in this neck of the woods, but for a few hours last Sunday it was almost magical.

Which brings us to tonight, the most exciting night of the year. The mince pies and shortbread are out for Santa, there are carrots and some water for the reindeer, and there are two very tired and excited little boys tucked up in bed (no doubt with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads!)

 

I wish you glad tidings and much festive cheer. We will be singing 'Happy Birthday' to baby Jesus and opening our presents with much anticipation tomorrow before our families join us for the mega meal. However you will be spending yours, I wish you the merriest of Christmases x
   

Loving right now...

:: the return of my Christmas spirit. It had been missing in action for a while - turns out school mocks and reports were holding it to ransom and wouldn't release it until I had finished them all.

:: how amazing my Christmas sprinkles look in the fabulous Jamie kilner jars. I would have posted a photo of the cupcakes I put them on but we had them eaten before the camera could be taken out of its bag!

:: how excited the boys are every morning when they open the advent calendar. I opted for a traditional one with no chocolate, much to the disappointment of Michael who thought I was spoiling their fun! They have been taking it in turns to open it and are more excited about a tiny picture than they have ever been over a tiny piece of mass produced chocolate!

:: singing in our church Christmas chorus. It's not that I'm much of a singer, but I LOVE the Christmas carols, and when I found out they were going to be singing O Holy Night and Cliff's version of Little Town I knew I had to do it!

:: the magical glow of candles and fairy lights on the tree. Impossible not to love it.

:: that I only have 4 and a half actual days in school until the holidays. I'm in denial that these days even exist! 

:: pretending to be making stuff with a friend, while in reality we oohed and aahhed over our lovely supplies while we watched Kirstie Allsop make beautiful things on tv and looked online at other fabulous craft projects! A more fun evening I cannot even begin to imagine.

:: finally getting round to finishing the project that didn't happen on that night and hanging it in our house. I am totally in love with it and have already recreated another. It won't be the last!!

So what are you loving right now?  
 

Advent

So officially today is the day we can start counting down to Christmas. A thought which simultaneously fills me with excitement and dread - excitement at all the traditions and fun we get to enjoy and dread at the already overflowing December calender. I'm thinking a new bottle of Bach's Rescue Remedy might be the very thing to see me through when it all gets too much! Realistically it's going to be that or more mulled wine than would be good for one who is supposed to be in charge of small people! However, someone in our house has been getting ready for the festive season for a few weeks now. The Lego Christmas scene has been a work in progress for a while, changing from day to day depending on what the characters are up to. In this particular scene we have someone warming themselves by the fire and another watching TV on the settee - just in case you were finding it hard to work out what exactly was going on!

November hasn't really been the most exciting of months - obviously excepting the release of that film I hinted at below, but I fear that I will lose what little blog readership I have if I rant on too long about how great it was and how much I love Edward Cullen etc! What was exciting, however, was the arrival of a package which looked first like this...

....and then like this.....

....and finally like this.....

It really was like Christmas come early! A very unexpected (and unnecessary!) gift from family who clearly know me all too well! Needless to say Michael was absolutely thrilled about the arrival of another bag into the house, especially of the Cath Kidston variety!

The only other real excitement we've had around here this month was Patrick's first outing for his mini rugby team yesterday. He was so excited about playing that we all traipsed to Ballyclare at 10am to watch him in the freezing cold! The team operated a rolling substitution policy to let all the boys play, but even with that they were trounced 16-1 (that's 16 mini trys to 1!!) But he didn't care in the slightest, he was just delighted to get on the pitch in his kit!

I had a definite sense of what the majority of my weekends may look like for the next 14 years or so - me freezing my butt off on a sideline while the boys get as many items of clothing as possible covered in mud! Magic!! Again I'm thinking a combination of Rescue Remedy and mulled wine is the ideal solution to get me through!