Notes from suburbia

Tidying up yesterday I finally decided to tackle the mystery of the empty milk carton.  The milk carton in question had been sat on the stairs for a couple of days, along with other items that had gathered there, presumably ready to be taken up and put away.  I say presumably because I'd been chipping away at the items taking a few things with me each time I went upstairs for the previous couple of days but they had, apparently, become invisible to The Husband and The Eight Year Old. Me to The Husband: "Do you know why this empty milk carton is on the stairs?" The Husband (slightly sheepishly):  "Oh yeah, I was going to take it out to the recycling" Me: "...two days ago?!"   The Husband: " Ok. So I may not be the tidiest person in the world but we must remember that I am very good at a lot of other things" Me: "...and that is why we are able to live together in spite of the milk cartons in this relationship".

The week before last, we were on holiday in one of favourite areas of the UK, Norfolk.  More precisely, we were on holiay in NORTH Norfolk.  I feel the need to clarify this as we were constantly reminded of the 'northern' aspect of our location - by shop signs and advertising everywhere - as demonstrated here: The 'largest' claim makes me smile.  We also encountered a theatre with the 'smallest stage' and a swimming pool with the 'warmest water'. All in NORTH Norfolk.  Obviously. We do not know how this compares to the South of the region :) Despite the chilly, and at times drizzly, weather we had a really great holiday.  We stayed in a very nice house overlooking the sea in Sheringham.  One of The (best) Friends joined us for a couple of days, as did The In-Laws.  It was a nice mix, sharing some of the holiday and having the rest of the time to ourselves. We spent a couple of days on one of my favouite UK bea...

Today I have given The Baby his first haircut. Something had to be done as his fringe was getting in his eyes.  I have been puting off doing the deed as I knew it would be a battle.  At nine months old, The Baby never stops moving so it was never going to be easy. I secured him in his Bebe Pod  which, for those who are not in the know is a brilliant seat which can be used on the floor or attached to a chair.  After piling up a variety of toys in front of him in a bid to distract him from the task in hand I quickly got to work. It went ok... ish.  In the first sitting I managed to trim the front and one side. And it was only a bit jaggedy. There wasn't much time as he soon becomes more interested in the scissors than he is in his toys.   I've just had another go and it's looking much better now.  It's funny though.  With the new haircut he looks older. It reminds me of how quickly he is growing, these baby-days will be shor...

Actually, it's an award.  There is no trophy, but I do get this badge. The Versatile Blogger Award is given by one blogger to another.  I like it.  It's a way of acknowledging blogs we enjoy and admire.  And it's really very nice to be acknowledged by a fellow blogger. I was given my badge of blogging lovliness by a woman who lives in Shackleford and is mad about dogs.  Quite fitting then that she goes by the name of  'Mad dog woman of Shackleford '.  You can read lots of good stuff on her blog by clicking here. In order to accept this badge of blogging honour, before passing on the award to some blogging people out there that I am partial to, I am required to share with you seven facts about me.  We've been here before - in 'facts about me' land - when I shared these 12 facts about me .  Here's the next instalment:- I - along with The Husband - am a failing allotmenteer.  We are...

Me - to the Eight Year old whilst walking through a North Norfolk town in search of breakfast one day last week:  "What, given the choice, would you chose to have for breakfast if you could have anything right now?" The Eight Year Old:  "Mummy, at the minute, I'm so hungry I could eat anything". Sometimes I wonder I wonder which one of us is the 'grown up'.            

We're back home from a weeks holiday in Norfolk. Having got in about an hour ago, the house, once again, looks as if it has imploded.  Suitcases, toys, carrier bags and random food items adorn every available surface. We had a great holiday- more about that next time - but it's always good to be back home isn't it, relaxing after the journey and soaking up all that is familiar. I'm sat here tapping away on the laptop. It's proving to be quite a challenge given that the spacebar is now broken and sticking - mysterious really since is was fine before we went away.  It joins the dodgy 'n' in it's mission to make typing-life tricky. For some reason, as yet unknown, I am declining to use the new laptop that is yet to develop it's own flaws.  The Eight Year Old and The Husband have set about making up the 1000 piece 3D jigsaw (yes, really) that was purchased during our holiday for cost of £2.50 from a charity shop.  G...

So.  On Wednesday, we - The Husband, The Baby and me - were in town.  We were there to collect The Eight Year Old who had been to the theatre with his friend to see a production of Swallows and Amazons.  That boy really does enjoy a better social life than me!! As we were in town we took advantage of the situation and took ourselves off to meet a couple of The Friends for a leisurely coffee. The Baby was very well behaved for the hour and a half  whilst we were in the coffee shop.  I think this gave us the confidence to make a decision we would probably never had made had we been at home.  The decision to go to dinner, with The Baby and The Eight Year Old, to a 'fancy' Italian restaurant. ' Earlier in the day we passed by the restaurant, a relatively new addition to it's current location in the City Centre, and the seed of the idea of eating there (instead our original idea of going to a chain like Pizza Express) was planted.  We had checked...

I have spoken before about Parents Evening at The Eight Year Old's School.  It happens once each term.  That's three times in each academic year.  Just before the Easter Holidays began me and The Husband were up at school for the latest update on The Eight Year Old's progress. The Eight Year Old's class teacher:  "He's really quite witty isn't he?" ...was the opening line of our conversation. Me:  "Yes, he certainly has his moments". As was confirmed later when we looked through his books and came across this...

It seems a little odd that I haven't talked about Easter.  So here I am, talking about Easter.  As non-church-goers we do very little to acknowledge what is, for some, the significance of Easter. The Eight Year Old has been doing his bit though.  He decided to give up playing on the Wii for Lent .  I wasn't sure what to think when he said he was going to give something up for Lent but he wanted to do it and thought carefully about what to choose.  Chocolate?  No, too hard to live without chocolate.  TV?  No, too boring to live without TV (apparently). He had asked me to join him in this idea of giving up something for six weeks but after the two of us went through quite a list of the suggestions he came up with I failed miserably to agree to anything.  I'm more one for all things in moderation  (and sometimes in excess) rather than depriving myself of things I enjoy.  Lent or no Lent. I have to sa...

And this is why:- I'm tired.  Despite going to bed at the same time as The Baby each night - the only way the baby will sleep - usually between 8 and 8.30, I'm still not getting enough sleep. We are co-sleeping with The Baby, he sleeps next to me in our bed.  We have a safety rail on the side of the bed.  The Husband sleeps on my other side.  I (sometimes) sleep (badly) between the two of them. Usually it's ok.  I tend to shattered by early evening and so falling into bed at the time I do doesn't often bother me.  The desire to sleep distracts me from the fact that I have lost my evenings, that I have no time to myself to switch off at the end of the day.  And of course I need to try to fit some sleep in before The Baby wakes up and wants to feed/snack before he will go back to sleep - this will happen anything between 2 and 5 times a night.  These wakings appear to form no pattern from one night to the next. ...

Look away now if you are offended by the word 'penis' or 'vagina'... The Eight Year Old:  "We were learning about body parts at school today" Me:  "Oh that's good.  Which body parts did you learn about?" The Eight Year Old:  "We learnt about personal body parts in this bit" He puts one hand on his chest and the other in the mid-thigh area. I draw on a vague memory of having read a letter from school about the teaching of sex education.  Only it isn't called that anymore.  The Eight Year Old:  "This, on a boy" He points to his own 'personal body part'. The Eight Year Old:  "...is called a penis"" Me:  "Yes.  Yes it is". The Eight Year Old:  "And on a girl, the bits are different and they're called..." He grapples with trying to remember the word. The Eight Year Old:  "On a girl it's called a Venus" I hide a smile. Me: "A vagina...

The Eight Year Old (when he got home from school yesterday):  "We were painting the book corner at School today.  It's like an underwater scene". Me:  "That sounds like good fun.  Are there any fish swimming around?" The Eight Year Old:  "Yes, I made a fish.  He looks like Michael Jackson.  He's singing".

It is exactly one year to the day that The Husband and I got married.  One year since we spoke out loud the vows we had written, declaring our promises to each other in front all those we hold dear. So, how have we fared? Have we been true to those promises?  I think we've done ok y'know.  More than ok.  We've done good.  We've done really good.  Especially when you take into account the amount of change we've encountered this year.   We became a family of four with the arrival of The (beautiful) Baby and The promotion of The (brilliant) Eight Year Old to 'Big Brother'. The Husband volunteered to take redundancy at work so that he could retrain as a Radiographer and began his radiography degree last September.  I've been enjoying a year of maternity leave (a couple of months still to go).  I turned 40 (I may have mentioned this before)!!!!  And we have continued with the ongoing house improvement...