Three and fourth.

Eek!  I'm a week late with our back to school pics. 

I'm pleased to say they have both settled in great! 

Fraser actually started fourth year before the summer holidays so we has no worries for him. 

We were a little worried about MIss K and the possibility of a teacher issue.

Thankfully it was unfounded and she is enjoying Primary three so far :-)

The back to school photos proved to be somewhat challenging this year. 

We had strange angles, lots of tipping and crumpling over.

Fake smiles aplenty.

Some confusion as Grannies tried to make them smile.

But we got some more natural photos in the end.

Some.......... Not a lot......

For future reference - this is the year that Frase caught up with GC.

Say cheese! 

Offline

Two weeks ago I was giddy with excitement , preparing for our Hughes family to come home, looking forward to enjoying the last few days of the holidays.

We had a lovely night when joe boy came home.

 Surrounded by family and happiness . I got to take Joe boy to "his home" and bathe him and snuggle him in for the night.

Starting as I meant to go on. I was going to soak up every second. 

Then I got sick.

Properly, achingly, breathlessly  unwell.

And almost 2 weeks later i'm still recovering.

I've missed everything , family meals,

park days, play dates. Everything.

Apart from one pointless night spent in the hospital my only view has been from my couch 

Or from my tiny corner of the bed. Meaty and I have been having some (fairly) good natured turf wars! 

Everyone wants mama's side of the bed :-) 

This is the furthest I've been, to the top of my garden ( I may or may not have been escaping the constant bickering that was going on inside!) I wrapped myself in my favourite quilt and caught some healing sunshine. 

Overall this past week has made me very thankful. I have a fantastic family who have taken care of me (us) brought food, sacrificed their time and run 10,000 errands for me. 

I'm very lucky for my usual good health. 

And what a valuable lesson that is to learn. 

Looking forward to some fun play and park dates in the next two weeks. 

Cooking meals for and helping my family and friends who have done so much for me. 

Counting my blessings.

Ps- who on earth thought it was a good idea to give this medication to a girl whose throat is almost swollen shut??? I mean, seriously?! 

  

Summering

I'm not sure summering is a word, but if not- it should be!

I'm not quite ready to let go of our week long summerin' at our happy place.

**Sigh** Oh what I would give to be back there strolling along the prom in my pyjama-rama-ding dongs.
Sipping morning beverages whilst sitting on our driftwood "bench"

Playing flying tail on the beach

Jumping waves.....

Or visiting the splash park.

I miss our evening strolls to play the 2p machines at the arcade. 

I miss the rhythm of long lazy days where we only need each other. 

Thankfully we have our memories and our precious photos :-)

Anticipation.

In two sleeps a little piece of my heart will fly home on an aeroplane.
He will touch down in Glasgow with my mum and my big sister and then he will be driven to "Adie's" house to be fed and loved on and enjoyed.

My Joe boy.

It is almost like Christmas. 

The excitement.

Anticipation. 

Preparation.

And some baking and cooking of course. 

2 sleeps.

Surprises.

One of my most favourite things about motherhood is how the little surprises often turn out to be what you needed all along. 

It is almost 1.15am and I am trying to wind back down to a state of sleep. 

Almost an hour ago I heard the hesitant footsteps of my girl outside our door. Usually she sleepily makes her way straight to the bathroom so I knew something was wrong. 

A nosebleed. 

She gets them quite often, especially if she has/has had a high temp. And she gets them bad. Sometimes it gets to the - ill give it 5 more minutes then we are going to get this checked - stage. 

Tonight it wasn't too bad. 

I help her get cleaned up and snuggle back in her bed with her until it stops bleeding. 

Fraser pops in to make sure she is ok ( which is nice as I actually sometimes doubt that there is any sibling love goes on in the hamster wheel) 

There is much giggling and carrying on which started with who knows what and continued when k snort laughed and I  got sprayed. Hilarious. 

Now,

K is finally quiet and has hopefully returned to dreaming sweet dreams. 

All is quiet in Fraser's room too , so he must be settled for the night too. 

And me? Well I have stopped giggling, i am snuggled in my cosy bed, counting my blessings.

When I climbed into bed at 11pm, I thought what I wanted was a full nights sleep. 

Look what I would have missed. 

Caring, loving, giggling, snorting, family moments of living. 

That is all I ever really need :-) xx