...but I'm back. I'm setting up blog camp here once again. Now that the twins are a little older I don't exactly have more time but I have a little more determination to find some scraps of time to keep up some semblance of a record of what is going on.
The other reason for starting a diary again here is to share the family frolics with Dad who is now across the channel in France and will probably be glad of the opportunity to take a break from learning French to read a few English words.
I'm dashing out a few words while Gav is putting the girls to bed. The babies are still chatting away in their cots. Recently I've managed to extract myself from their room more easily by allowing them to choose a baby book each to take to bed. To my amazement they have restrained themselves from chucking the books at each other and do actually settle down to read them before going to sleep.
Soooo, today? Today was moderately busy. I share lifts to Cara's school with a local friend Michelle. Her other half Steve rolled up this morning to pick up Cara in his 'Extrememobile'...I think that's what the graffiti-style sticker says on the side! The car has dark windows behind which sat a rather quiet looking Ava with her usual mop of brown curls and dark expression with a flicker of a smile around the lips as usual.
"Hello Ava," I greeted and she ignored me cheekily before Steve told her off they she greeted me brightly with a wave. Cara settled herself shyly in the back and I waved at the dark glass before turning back to the house to sort out the remaining pyjama-clad troops.
The mission for the morning was to get some bread cooking for lunch, to get everyone dressed and wash up then get to the toy library. I managed to get the bread on. Gav was late up this morning after a late night and as he wandered into the kitchen to pour his coffee he commented,
"Ah, Weavil bread!"
I had to laugh. I used to cook bread all the time but it has been about five months since the last loaf because the value flour we bought from Tesco turned out to be swarming with bread mites and they got all over our kitchen cupboards. The worst thing about it is that I'd cooked a loaf the day before and going by the volume of mites we must have eaten more than a score of them! Needless to say I avoided the value flour this time and checked the flour thoroughly before cooking!
Getting the house sorted wasn't so easy. The kitchen floor was stinking, the table covered in all sorts of everything as were all the surfaces anywhere. The sink full of dishes and baskets of laundry were stopping me getting to anything. I displaced the laundry to the bedroom, thankfully it's only mine and Gav's now as the children's drawers are downstairs in the side passage. The children ate breakfast as I tackled some of the pots and then I chased the three round to get clothes on. It was ten thirty by then and I was dying for a cuppa. I managed to sip one while doing my morning check on the finances and Ebay sales. To my huge relief nothing had sold overnight so I was able to miss out on the usual half an hour of trying to stop the babies climbing up on the table as I madly fling around tissue and tape. Instead I took the children out into the garden for a few minutes while I hung out some washing. Bored of waiting for me to lift her onto the baby swing, Cerys mastered climbing into it on her own, squealing with pride. Thomas's first week of walking is still very slow. He tends to walk the most in the early evening, before bedtime. The rest of the day he spends most of the time on his hands and knees still and his poor knees were red and sore from crawling around on the paving stones. Being hot I'd put him in shorts and it didn't encourage him to walk. He didn't even walk over the grass!
We set off to the Toy Library late as usual but with plenty of time for the children to play. The babies are starting to recognise the building now and were very excited as we ascended the hill with the Children's Centre in sight. It still feels strange to be heading to a different building under the label 'Toy Library'. In the old days we used to go to an unglamorous hut, which was placed outside the community centre. In those days it was run by my best buddy Ingrid and only a handful of us attended despite frequent advertising in the estate quarterly magazine. The estate that we live on is still predominanatly council housing and there are scores of single mothers there with children who would benefit from the service that the Toy Library offers. Since the new Community Centre has been built it's good to see new lifeblood seeping in. A nursery is in the centre and that has helped, giving parents there a chance to see other facilities on offer. Some of the Mums are seriously colourful characters and I only wish that Ingrid were still there to share the fun with. She and Laurent are far from private in the fact they are about to try for their second child so maybe she'll join us eventually!
It didn't take much effort to get the babies out of their buggy. Zadie was off in a flash too and I was free to sit down and talk to my Polish friend Beata. We are paying Beata's husband to do a great deal of carpentry in the house at the moment to make it look a little more finished. Beata is a real character. When I first met her she annoyed me because she seemed to moan the entire time. I get seriously wound up by serial moaners. As time went on though I got to know Beata more and I now really enjoy her streak of mischief. It's something that's hard to spot initially as Polish is very much still her first language. Most men would appreciate Beata for her blonde hair and tight clothes. I laugh at her for her bossiness mixed with a hearty sense of cheekiness. Martin, her husband, is the most chilled out softie on the planet. He's well over six-foot tall with long hair in a ponytail and is also Polish. The pair are chalk and cheese but make a very striking couple. Poor Martin is seriously bossed around by Beata who organises all his moonlighting jobs for him. Beata's daughter Amanda is Zadie's age and the pair occasionally play together but more often shyly avoid each other. Amanada goes to Cara and Zadie's dance class on Friday now too so I get a double dose of Beata's chat and I really enjoy it now. On Friday we were talking about the Eurovision Song Contest and I was in stitches listening to Beata asking what on earth Terry Wogan was going on about! Explaining Terry Wogan to someone who hasn't grown up with him was a real task! We also shared notes on childhood fashion disasters and as we laughed about the jelly shoes and matching baskets of the 80s coming back into fashion I was shocked to discover they had been inflicted on Poland too!
Meanwhile, Zadie, Thomas and Cerys were having a lovely time. For much of the first half hour Thomas loitered by my knee, climbing up on it a few times then scampering down to investigate toys. The babies had both missed thier sleep and were tired. As time went on though they went outside and discovered a sand pit. That was it! Zadie had learned to pedal and was proudly scooting around while the babies played with two or three other littlies with the sand. It was warm and they were oozing happiness. Eventually we had to leave. It took some getting the babies away but at least we had some fresh Weavil-free bread to get home to.
Entering the house to a smell of fresh bread is always such a treat. Thomas noticed the smell immediately and scooted through to the kitchen to investigate. I was happy to find that my bread had risen so high that it was almost bursting out of the machine. Lunch was scrummy and even picky Zadie had three helpings. I often have problems with Zee and her eating as she almost verges on obsessive compulsive with her ways. She studies her food for hairs and discolorations. Thankfully the bread (with crusts cut off) met her standards and she ate and ate.
After lunch I got the babies to bed. I had planned to do something with Zee but being my 'time-of-the-month' I felt shattered and begged Zadie to play nurses. I explained that I was terribly tired and asked if she would look after me if I had a sleep. The sleep, on bean-bags, wasn't really sleeping. It was a level below full consciousness and a level above sleep but it helped a little. I'm slave to my hormones these days, especially since the twins were born and sometimes I simply can't fight the tiredness. It felt like a real waste of time because I'd hoped to get us all to the High Street before collecting Cara but I know my body now well enough to know when to stop a while and shut down.
We went to collect Cara and Ava next. Cara's school is an imposing building and I'm now well used to nodding heads at several mothers before plonking myself in roughly the same area. I think most of us do the same. We have our little waiting area and unless the playground is so empty that it's rude not to talk we tend to hang out in our patch and see mothers who hang out to be near the same mums. Does that make sense? Recently I've been less sociable and have retreated to a patch behind a gate. I'm trying to avoid the whole coffee circuit thing thats' going on because I find it horribly tedious. I went to one at Ingrid's the other day and despite being at my best bud's house I still found it painful. It's too grown up for me by about ten billion light years and I spend more time trying to stop the babies destroying the house than actually talking while watching poor bored Zadie anxiously. Anyway, back to Cara and Ava. Ava was on form and I groaned when I saw quite what I had to contend with. I'd been chatting to another friend called Michelle and turned to find Ava whopping her son Phoenix over the head with her book bag. Two other mums were trying to stop her. She then dashed off after another friend's son and I apologised to her while dropping to my knees to chat to Ava who was eminating rays of death and destruction. I managed to drag Cara and Zadie away from the water fountains to the school gates when Ava dived off to chase Joseph again. The pair took turns flinging their bags at each other and kicking until they were separated! The next task was to get to the car. We only had one road to cross. I try to avoid parking over roads if I can as Ava likes to push you to the 'nth degree and had run into the road before now. Thankfully she stopped this time because her latest trick is to hop up onto the metal posts on the street corners and sit there for as long as it takes to annoy you or dive on her next passing victim. We finally got to the car and Ava, ever jealous of Cara's new position in the front seat, raced to sit there first and buckled up. I got to my knees and told Cara firmly not to say a word and to let me deal with Ava. I refuse to take Ava in the front mostly because she would completely put me off driving but also because I don't want to put a friend's child in a more risky place and because I like to give Cara some support as Ava takes over so completely. Unfortunately Cara was in a mood ripe to be wound up and stood by the drivers door giving Ava a serious telling off.
"I'm gonna give you a kickin'" Ava shouted at her and suddenly unbuckled, dived out of the seat and out of the driver's door after Cara who had sudddenly changed from bossing to nervous crying. Ohhhh the joys! Needless to say I put Cara straight in the car and gave Ava a telling off. The minute the rare 'tell your Mum' was mentioned, she was meek as a lamb. I find it easy to keep my temper level until she starts attacking Cara then I really have to battle not to shout my head off at her. Thankfully once she was in her seat, after winding Zadie up for a few minutes she calmed down a bit. I put on some music (LOUDLY to drown out any more bickering) and we got home with no more dramas. As usual I carried Ava out of the car. She shouted as many offensive things as she could think of to Cara and Zadie as we left then once we entered her gate she hugged me and leapt down to close the gates behind me so that her little dog wouldn't escape. She then even picked me a flower to take home! Michelle offered to pick up Cara in the morning and I didn't say a word about the standard antics. It's nice to know I can take it a little easier in the morning, I think I deserve it after dealing with little miss naughty pants! I have to say thought that as naughty as Ava is I really do like her. She is a bloody nightmare but she can be very funny. It's great when Cara gets on with her and I constantly coach Cara in how to deal with her. There are times when Ava can be a useful friend to have because she certainly knows how to defend herself. Cara does understand that she has to put up with her on days they don't get on because I'm duty bound to share the lifts. I think she's gaining confidence but it's hard. I do often feel guilty about forcing her into such a troubled friendship.
After getting home the next mission was to find Groovy for a vet's appointment. The last appointment at the new vet was hell. I'd gone to a new vet for a new diagnosis and I admit that I hoped she would suggest ending it all nicely. Poor Groovy has had so many problems with her wound that enduring another summer of festering wounds and flies is dreadful to think about. The vet had been horrible the first time. She obviously thought we'd completely neglected Groovy. She said she would have to see Groovy's notes before doing anything. Once she received the notes she was a different woman. Thankfully she saw our point of view. The problem we've had with Grooves is that she has an allergy and nobody really knows for sure what to. As she said, the other vet have given loads of steroid injections but never an anti-histamine. We talked about the most cost-effective way of making her better and she agreed that sudocreme and liquid piriton would do the job. This time round she check the wound and has prescribed antibiotics but waived the check-up charge. Next time I'll be stung for the drugs and the check up but at least the wound should be healed by then. Our mission is to put a collar on Groovy and to keep her in the house for a number of weeks. That will be dreadful. Groovy's toilet habits aren't the best so I can see us getting bored of that very quickly but we'll try our best.
Soooooooo tea over Gav got home at half seven and we jointly got the troops to bed. It took a while to get them to sleep.
All asleep now and day over! Now I've outlet a little I'll join Gav.
Love to all
Lou
x
