ANOTHER BIRTHDAY...JAKE'S 19TH

It's kind of handy being born on a bank holiday weekend - it means your almost always free to have a party! You can't always guarantee the weather, but you win some, you lose some.

So last weekend Jake turned 19. It still seems odd to think I have an working, adult son who will only be a teenager for one more year. Thankfully, working also means he can contribute to the cost of his own party - i.e. if he wants alcohol he can buy it!

So, he arranged to have a BBQ with a bunch of friends over. The weather was a warm, but a bit tempermental, with showers and cloud intermittently. Overall though, it was good and the teens did manage to spend a bit of time outside - and Paul did manage to cook without getting soaked :D

Heather, his girlfriend was also able to be here for the weekend, which was nice. He and she had been clubbing in Manchester (where she lives) on the Saturday night, until the early hours, so by the time they arrived home Sunday afternoon they were both a little tired. Unfortunately, due to a turn of events, Paul, myself and all the chids were in Wigan at gym competition, so when they got back to ours they couldn't actually get in. They camped out in our playroom (which thankfully has a seperate door to the main house and is not locked) until we got back at tea-time. Poor kids. It wasn't the warmest day, so they huddled together on the sofa and kipped I think. And then they went to bed pretty early, ready for a busy day on Monday - which was party day.

  

  

  

Caleb's gym comp went well, and he got possibly his best scores to date, but the competition is tough now he's in the under 12's. He's little and dinky (but strong none-the-less). He couldn't do floor due to a weak ankle at the moment, and not wanting to take a risk because he has a grades competition coming up in June, which is more important. He didn't medal, but I was very proud of him all the same. 

This week the sun has come out at last, and we have mostly migrated to hanging out in the garden, and working there as much as we can. I am in fact in the garden just now, typing this out on my tablet. It's warm and breezy and I love it. This morning has been a little stressful - seriously, how long can it take for 3 boys to tidy one room, and why do things always get damaged in the process?! The chids are supposed to get their chores done by Friday evening, so they can chill on a Saturday, but invariably they push it back and the Saturday ends up being a long round of nagging to get jobs done before the next week comes around :( The sunshine has definitely been an added distraction this week too. I, on the other hand, have done so much washing and drying on the line this week that I have run out of washing liquid!

  

  

  

    

Another Birthday Girl...

Time seems to be passing too fast. Already we are in March and it's a few weeks since I blogged. In no time at all it will be Easter and Spring will have properly arrived ~ although it's pretty chilly still just now. 

At the end of February daughter #2 became a year older: Phoebe ~ aka Princess #2 ~ turned 14.

Her day was filled with opening presents and cards in the morning and the painting of the girls' bedroom in the afternoon. The redecoration was a belated Christmas present to all three girls, and Paul had booked this week off to get it done. It was a fun way to spend a birthday. 

   

   

  

    

There was also a bit of haircut (which ended up with me giving all three girls a trim/chop) and at some point I think we might get round to re-henna-ing her hair too, but that didn't fit into this one day. 

Of course there was also a birthday tea, with all the usual banter ;D

  

  

A bit about Phoebe:

• Funny ~ quirky funny! 
• Shy ~ but not! She's slow to warm to situations and people, but once she's comfortable, there's no stopping her - She is a crazy cat!
• Sister ~ the middle of three. She has always had a strong bond with Abbie, her older sister, but increasingly I see the three of them coming together more, and a stronger bond growing between her and Lilo too. 
• Feisty ~ still my fiesty one. She certainly holds her own in this family, with a strong sense of her own identity. She is not easily carried on others' opinions and, whilst she may not always voice her own, she certainly has them! 
• Animal lover ~ all her life she has loved animals. That love is showing no signs of fading any time soon and from it she has gained a sense of direction for her life.
• Artist ~ she loves to draw. She may not be the worlds best, but what she loves it, throws immense amounts of determination into 'getting it right', and has produced some lovely pieces of work recently :D
• Beautiful inside and out ~ Paul used to call her his English Rose. She has that kind of soft beauty: pale skin, small features, generous eyes, a seriousness & sensitive nature that shows her sullen at times and shining with wonder at others.

Past posts tell me how much, and how little she has changed over the years. I love looking back...
8th birthday (with pictures from 0-8)
10th birthday (the BIG one)
11th birthday (with a good description of who she was then, and still is a bit now)

And some pictures from 9-13...

   

   

To read her take on her day, read HERE.

I hope you enjoyed your birthday beautiful! I certainly did ;-)

PS : ~ here's a couple of before and afters of the girls' room...

Abbie's 15th Birthday & A Late Winter Walk

As promised ~ a birthday blog for my beautiful 15 year old!

Her birthday itself was set to be a bit busy with all the usual Wednesday evening things, plus the addition of her and myself going to a Lent Bible study in the middle of the day. But she requested to open her cards and presents in the morning and then go out for a walk, and as it was a lovely bright, crisp winter's morning that's what we did ~ and then rushed back to cook lunch and be ready for us to go out for 1pm. I'm glad we went though ~ we all felt it was great to get some fresh air in our lungs. We'd have walked around The Moss if it hadn't been so wet lately, but we knew we'd be up to our knees in mud, so instead we stuck to the concrete this time. It was still lovely though, and the children all enjoyed stroking the local horses :D

  

 

  

  

On Thursday evening we had pizza and watched Cinderella (the newest one) together (Abbie is a huge Disney fan!) ~ and had cake!!



Happy Birthday my eldest princess ~ I hope you enjoyed this one!