Late Assortment

Dedicated to Trena, who has been complaining about the lack of recent posting. ;)

The industrial museum in Derby. This is the first time in aages I've taken the children to the Silk Mill, because it's more of a museum with things in cases than the Museum of Natural History where there are buttons to press and places to run around without getting glared at for making too much noise.Outside on the green there were things going on. Morgan had to dance.Tired babies! The events going on were something to do with the fireworks on Darley Park that happen every year, hey any excuse. We tried to get to everything, and missed most of it lol. This was the best night.The mobile of drummers was amazing! We didn't get in until late but it was so worth it.Oddly dressed people with floating crystal balls. Yup, it really was one of those weekends.We love to drum. What a funny little concentrating face Rowan has.Morgan asleep on the bench in Subway, overwhelmed by tiredness and the last traces of her cold. Poor mite! And as always, the occasional charity shop bargain, and lots and lots of play! Magnetic puppet theatre, £1.

Another update post

Firstly we are kind of over being ill, though Morgan is still snotty (what IS it with toddlers and snot?!) and I STILL HAVE THESE HEADACHES. I'm figuring all I can do is keep drinking lots of water and stay away from the PC when it's worse, which is first thing before I get a drink, and at the end of the day when I'm exhausted.

It made me suspicious for a while that I might be pregnant (I know, no cycle yet, but still) because this is usually one of those horrible things I get when carrying a bean, but I really don't think I am. At least, I had my first ever evaporation line on a test, which was entertaining. After ten minutes, faintly grey rather than pink, yup I'm sure it wasn't a positive. Can you believe I'm not retesting daily? ;)

Rowan has given up on the crawling thing. Mostly she goes round in circles now. Or backwards. It's great having her there rolling around the floor, eating paper if she can get her hands on it and knocking toys over for a pair of sisters who just CAN'T be cross with her. In fact, they are never cross with her.

Even when I'm nursing Rowan in such a position that Morgan can't join in, she is only ever angry with me. Every time this happens and she is screaming and kicking and saying, "mummy milk MUMMMMYYY MIIIILK" I expect her to turn to Rowan and at least have words, but instead she turns to Rowan and strokes her head and hands and says "aw, nice mummy milk, like mummy milk, Rowan's turn"!

Something seems to have happened to EC. I'm not thinking about it and we're using a fair few nappies. But also something magical has happened; I take her to the toilet all through the day when I go, sometimes thinking I need to go and then realising SHE does, and we rarely come home with a wet nappy these days. It's evenings that I'm more lazy about it and inclined not to interrupt her longest feeding period. Maybe that's what put Morgan on strike, me trying too hard and ending up pestering her all the time. Anyhow, tis going really nicely and effortlessly.

The house is really tidy. That won't last. For a while yesterday I had five girls under six years here, and tidying up after that was fun. It's still a bit crazy and busy. I want to slow down but just don't seem able to, because I'm not choosing to be busy it's just happening and happening. Too many fun things to do and chances I just can't miss...

Photo uploading time next!

Another of those quick notes

I am still here, just not online til today. A few days of fun and randomness (Squee came to stay, and it turns out that none of us are axe murderers) followed by a couple of PJ days because we are a sharing sort of a family and got each others' germs.

Martin had another couple of days off and in bed (groaning, pitifully). And then I spent today being that way myself, only on the sofa, with chaos and small children all around me. Morgan is doing little except nurse, cry and sleep. Rowan is the same (and so hot to the touch)! Jenna is being angelicly sweet, being over the worst of it herself. She changed over the washing just now all on her own while I was nursing two. And keeps fetching drinks for me/cold cloths for the teenies without being asked.

Oh so much to share of this last week, which has been full in every way. Jenna played her first game of Scrabble, Morgan decorated herself in permenant marker, Rowan licked a bit of cucumber before I got it back off her again, we grew more tomatoes and made boats from cardboard boxes, we saw drummers suspended 35m in the air on a giant mobile, talked until late in the night, ate icecream, and made a sign for my mum's classroom door. Yes, we are still living... Tomorrow, maybe a little more.

Gifts and random joys

Oh how I love parcels coming through my door. It's like Christmas all year round here! My wonderful Ashleigh made these for us. Little fat sweet warm baby legs. Delicious.
Yesterday Jenna had another birthday present, from Kirsty and Olivia. We built it this morning, and it has been housing fairies so far lol. I love that they really thought hard about what Jenna would love and use. Kind, kind people.
I got a present for this baby too. We so so rarely buy new clothes, but this organic cotton tshirt was pretty hard to pass up. I really didn't have the money to spend actually, but hey we have food in the house!So far today we have made soup for lunch in advance (yum, tomatoes from my garden finally!) and started making red lentil lasagne for tea (inspired by Joxy).

We have laid out a labyrinth in the garden and walked it, forwards and back, forwards and back, carrying precious things into the centre and out again. I wanted to take a candle in as well but the wind is too strong! The ribbons eventually blew loose and we watched the pattern dismantle itself. A lovely moment of just-because celebration shared with my joyful daughters.And we have used the bright September sun to make prints with sun paper, which I wanted to do all summer. It just feels fitting today, to capture what feels like the last of the brightness.I love the season of farewells, of shutting down for the winter, laying up stores, celebrating fullness and ripeness. Ah the Autumn is coming, the Autumn is coming.(I'm sorry, gratuitous shot of Rowan, but she's too cute to stop taking pictures of. Here she is wearing pretty much all of my favorite baby clothes at the same time, even though they clash. She is also blowing raspberries, hence the wet chin, one of her new favorite tricks!)

Book love and talking about war

As if you didn't all know that I can't resist a charity shop bargain book! Look what I got!We went into town and did the whole library, museum thing. The girls tear round the museum, touching, poking, peering into display cases, pointing out their favorite things. It's a good job it's that kind of museum, because after the library they usually need to be able to touch, and all of the drawers of things to "experience" tick all the boxes. The staff are always so nice, no matter how loud we get.

I also love that the girls switch gear so easily. If there are other people in the museum, they are so great at staying to the emptier areas and not getting in the way of people walking round slowly and quietly. They are also so respectful in the area depicting the work of the local regiments and displaying some of their historical artifacts.

First thing in the morning I told Jenna that it was the anniversary of the start of the Second World War. She started asking questions, and I didn't really know where to start (I should have thought about it beforehand lol, but I really didn't expect any interest). So I asked her, "Jenna, do you know what War means?" And this is what she said:
"War means there is killing and dying. I think, I think we must be at war now because there are people dying in the news. Sometimes children and babies too. But not here, other places. It's sad."

I didn't think I could add any more because what more is there to say? I gave her a hug and told her that WW2 wasn't really that long ago but it was before my parents were born, and that yes it was really sad. And that it's our job to remember, because bad things happen when good people don't care.

I still sometimes worry about treading this line between trusting her to live in this world with all of her heart and mind, and protecting her from things that she just can't assimilate. But she is showing me the way. I think she is a child who will only tolerate truth, which makes her a hard person to protect. I'm also astounded by what she understands, and her ability to turn it into action!

Some things about me

Well, these things go around the (very small) online world, don't they? And so, with nothing better to do today...


Seven Non-mummy things about me:

1 - The first two items I made on a sewing maching were a silk top for my friend, and three years later, her wedding dress.

2 - I have never yet managed to make a batch of edible jam.

3 - I find it impossible to queue. I'm not a very patient person, but more than that I so rarely want anything badly enough to wait. This drives my family mad.

4 - I usually wear odd socks.

5 - I have never considered myself to be arty or crafty.

6 - My favorite food is either mediterranean lemon chicken or lasagne, I have never managed to decide between them.

7 - I hate hate hate buying clothes (or anything in fact) for myself. (Except books.) I don't mind food shopping as long as the children are contented, but CAN'T leave things in the wrong places on shelves and automatically pull stock forward as I go because I worked in Tesco for two years and my training refuses to leave me.


Seven Mummy things about me:

1 - I never wore a sling until Jenna was ten months old, and the first one was a torn up bedsheet turned into a wrap. I had a hard carrier but felt like she was falling out so never used it. I didn't hear the term "Attachment Parenting" until she was nearly a year old.

2 - I was pregnant with Jenna almost exactly two months after I *met* my husband.

3 - I have been pregnant six times, given birth four times, and nursed all of my three living babies for a grand total of five and a bit years. That means in the last six years I've been pregnant for over three years, and breastfeeding for over five years. Usually both at once.

4 - I sometimes hide in the kitchen to eat pudding for breakfast without the children seeing. Not that I wouldn't let them eat pudding for breakfast, but I prefer them not to, and lack the self-control not to do so myself.

5 - I read parenting books that I strongly disagree with on a regular basis, just to be sure. Sometimes I go around book stores and hide the really toxic stuff.

6 - My children call me "mumma". Sometimes "mama" and rarely "mummy". Jenna only says "mum" when she wants something.

7 - I named all of my babies based on a hunch that it was the right name for them. We agonised for months of the pregnancy, but at some point I just knew. Jenna means "of the white wave", Cai is "sunlight", Eden is "paradise", Morgan is "child by the seashore", Lael is "belonging to Jehovah" and Rowan is from the tree (which symbolises magic, royalty and protection). I knew Rowan's name from twenty weeks gestation.


The last five books I read:

Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brookes. I've read this before, but didn't realise until most of the way through. I guess you can tell I wasn't impressed lol.

You Are Your Child's First Teacher by Rahima Baldwin Dancy. I expected to hate it and actually found it interesting and helpful - although mostly obvious.

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaardner. I have quite an affection this book and re-read it periodically but it always takes me a long time. While I've been finishing it this time I've started and finished at least another ten books!

Connection Parenting by Pam Leo. I'm trying to keep this one constantly on the go at the moment because it's helping, it really is! This time (fifth consecutive reading) I'm doing the exercises in it with hubby.

Maypoles, Martyrs and Mayhem by Quentin Cooper and Paul Sullivan. This is going to become my new favorite seasons/customs guide/almanack. I love it! A guide to an entire year of traditional English lunacy. :)

Weekend pictures

Soft play on Saturday. :) Rowan was puzzled but delighted by this ball-blow-y machine! Magic can be found in carparks too. A crab apple which Jenna collected "for the fairies". So we got home and had a fairy tea party, in which the fairies got to eat crab apple, and the girls got to eat mini cookies. Swimming again. And a whole lot of sorting. So many forgotten things came down from the attic, and so many tiny baby things went back up again. Oh too soon. On the bright side, Morgan now has a LOT of clothes to grow into! We even found a two-year-old-size babygro. Which she looked totally delicious in. Don't ask me why she put the peach skirt over the top lol. She is holding the balloon she liberated from a wedding reception we attended. The bride was beautiful, and the evening was great, but the children were just too tired to stay long. Rowan couldn't decide whether to be in or out of the sling, whether to gaze at everyone and laugh or hide away and cry! Morgan fell asleep in Martin's arms, and Jenna curled up under a table. We all really wanted to stay, but we'd had a disasterous day already really so we weren't going to push the stressed-out smallies!

The long weekend was so appreciated. I was not looking forwards to Martin going back to work today, and then he didn't! But spent the morning sitting waiting for a dentist and the afternoon being slightly grumpy and taking extra-strength painkillers instead. The dentist told him no clove oil! Or maybe he made that bit up to avoid me and my hippy solutions...

Where are the weeks going?

End of week pictures

I find we go in cycles. Lots of "toy" play for weeks on end, and then more other-stuff days where we bake and read and maybe run around but hardly seem to touch the toy shelves. At the moment we are really in a toy phase.

This dress was Jenna's choice of present from my mum, they went off shopping together and had a fantastic time. As you can see, she was quite proud of her purchase. Girls having a lot of fun with wooden stilts in the living room. A very moody shot of Morgan looking so grown up! A game in progress. I'd love to know what was going but I don't like to eavesdrop *too* much. I did some sewing - this play cube for a baby about to celebrate her first birthday. So Jenna did some sewing too. Block play with tree blocks and the Kathe Kruse flower puzzle. Jenna is building a park here. On our way to swimming. Our favorite wall for walking on! I don't usually let them walk on walls that belong to private property (mean mummy) but this belongs to the Church on the corner, and I've taken their silence on the matter to be permission. ;)

And this bean started to creep! Oh the little bare bottom wiggling in the air when she tries to crawl with her feet flat on the floor! Oh the confused expression when she accdentally flips herself back over through over-enthusiastic kicking! Oh the look of baby delight when off she goes! And then she seems to forget and have to learn it all over again. I love it. :)