Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween, giving myself a good scare and getting to dress up in silly costumes! It became a little bit of a joke at my work, because Daddy and I would prepare a Home made costume in secret from each other and in the past five years we have been, a Witch, a cat, a pilot, Miss Hoolie from Balamory, a little Devil, Greg Wiggle, Marge Simpson, Dora The Explorer, Boots the Monkey, a Firework display, a witch, Mickey Mouse, a Spider web, a spider (both Top Ender and Baby Boy!) and a Vampire!

This year we are all going to be cats, as it is an easy costume to make!

Normally Top Ender and I dress up as Witches during the day and at night change into our costumes. I found that it is easier to go to work dressed as a witch (black top, black skirt and my black cape) than some of my previous outfits, which would be noticed in the corporate world as sticking out a little too much!

As I am going to be busy today preparing the feast for my brood, decorating our house for the Trick or Treaters and making our costumes, I thought you wouldn't mind a sort of mainly wordless post with a selection of photos from the last five years.

You see we would normally be at my Mums, (a tradition that I started the Halloween after Top Ender was born), but with us having been ill and it being quite important that my Mum doesn't catch it (because of her condition) we thought it would be better not to go to hers this year and to stay at home.

So here are some shots from Halloween's past!

This year we will wait at home for Trick or Treaters (I've never done it in my own home before!) and if we feel up to it, we may walk to the Firework display in Bletchley Park later in the evening.... and I'll post about that later in the week!
Our feast this year, will be blood to start (tomato soup), followed by fingers in rolls, with finger nails and clotted blood (Hot dogs in rolls, with onions and ketchup!) and for pudding we will have dead fly cake (raisin cake) and quite possibly the booty from our visits to pre-arranged Houses!
I like to pre-arrange our Trick or Treat visits, so that the door will get answered and so that Top Ender and now Baby Boy will be safe. No knocking on the door of Strangers here!
I forgot to mention that we will be drinking poison, with frozen eye ball ice cubes (any drink, with frozen grapes!) so if you don't hear from me tomorrow you know why!

When is a Baby like a Cat?

Have you ever tried to get a cat to swallow a pill?

The easiest way would be to put it in food and let the cat unwittingly swallow the pill, but our cats seem to have a sixth sense about pills in food and tend eat round the tablet.

So instead we have to hold the cat, put the tablet in its mouth and then gently massage its throat until it has swallowed the pill and then give them some water to make sure everything is okay.


Have you ever tried to get a baby to swallow a pill?

The easiest way would be to put crush it in to food and let the baby unwittingly eat the food with the hidden pill, but pills always seem to taste bitter and after the first spoon or two the baby won't eat any more food and you are stuck with a baby who has only had half a dose of its medication.

Or at least that is what happened with the first tamiflu tablet Baby Boy had in a yogurt. Yesterday morning I gave Baby Boy sweetened porridge with a hidden pill and was on tender hooks until he had eaten it all. Which he did, because of my great impression of a fighter plane.

I needed something more easy on my nerves.

Yesterday evening I sat Baby Boy on my knee, explained to him what I was going to do and then lay him back put the pill in his mouth and quickly shoved a fruit shoot into his mouth. With a quick squirt the juice forced him to swallow the pill and the job was done.

Wait a minute? Did that really work? Apparently it did.

We'll try that one again then.

Top Ender is much easier to get to take pills. You just give her the pill dissolved in a little apple juice and she is away.

I just wish they were a little like Me. I've been taking pills since I was three as in the "olden days" they didn't make the medicines I had to take in any other form so I just knock 'em back like they are tic-tacs!

Baby Boy Giggles - He's getting too well known!

As predicted Baby Boy suddenly became a lot worse with a sudden rush of other symptoms appearing over an hour where we felt he needed the antivirals. I called our GP just to check that it would be okay, as he had been slightly ill for a couple of days and they agreed he needed them.

As Daddy and I could not go to get them we called upon Grandad and Nanna and asked if they could possibly go and get them for us. They agreed (Thank you!) and were soon round to collect Baby Boys ID and the other information required.

When they got to the Chemist they dutifully handed over the slip of paper I had given them which listed Baby Boys details along with his and their own ID. The Chemist turned out to be the same one that had issued both mine and Daddy's antivirals as she exclaimed;

"Oh No! Not Baby Boy too!"

Wordless Wednesday - The REAL Hundred Acre Wood

Swine Flu

We have it.

That's right all of us.

At the same time.

Well, actually Top Ender was hit first and then me and then Daddy. Somewhere in the middle of it Baby Boy got a very mild version and generally hasn't been effected as much as the rest of us. For which I am incredibly thankful but, before I count my chickens, he has slept longer today so we might be in for a rough time still.

We were at my Nans when Top Ender got ill, and at first we didn't want to attribute her illness to swine flu, mostly because my Nan fits the at risk categories and I didn't want to be the one bringing it in to her home! We knew that it was a possibility however as two of Top Enders friends from her school year had been diagnosed with it the week before Half Term and a further friends brother was hospitalised from complications (but as far as we know he is okay now).

When we took Top Ender's Temperature and it was 104°F (40°C) we decided that we probably were dealing with Swine flu and so Daddy called the helpline. After answering the questions they gave Daddy a reference number and together they worked out where the nearest chemist to us was. Seeing as my Nan lives in quite a rural area, we were surprised that there was one quite close.

Daddy jumped in our car and set off, it was only when he was in the Chemist that he ran into problems.

"Do you have any ID for yourself?" asked the Pharmacist
"Yes, will a debit card do?" asked Daddy
"Yes, that's fine. And do you have any ID for Top Ender?" queried the Pharmacist
"Erm, other than photos of her on my phone, No. I didn't know I needed any." said Daddy

Turns out that if you call the helpline they neglect to tell you this little detail. Daddy of course realised a second problem, we are actually on holiday and so we couldn't even pop back home for any ID for Top Ender without a 3 hour drive first.

The Pharmacist was luckily understanding to our plight and whilst attempting to call to check what to do in an case such as this decided that our need was greater than protocol and sent Daddy on his way with the medication and advice on how to help make Top Ender better.

When we left my Nan's on the Monday (when Top Ender was over the worst of the fever), I realised that I was feeling tired. I put it down to having had a stressful weekend and with the motion of the car I was soon asleep. About an hour after we got home that I asked if we could turn the heating on as I was freezing. Something made Daddy take my temperature and he saw that it was 102°F (39°C).

It was only then that I realised that I had a sore throat, a pounding headache, a runny nose, a horrid cough, aching muscles, I wasn't hungry (there's a first!), and I actually felt a little sick... two hours later and Daddy got the chills too, although his temperature was 101°F (38°C).

Right now I am feeling semi okay. I am still running a fever but have enough strength to watch the children and play games on the floor (well I sit on the floor holding various items passed to me!) and I have even managed to put a load of washing on!

Top Ender and Baby Boy are on the way to recovery and had omelette's for tea tonight (Yes I did gag whilst making it). Top Ender doesn't seem to understand how she is feeling better, but still can't do anything without suddenly needing a short nap afterwards! Baby Boy is just wandering around all snotty asking;

"Boob pleeeeeeease Mama?"

Daddy is currently sleeping which I am hoping means come tonight he will take care of Baby Boy and Top Ender, but I am not holding out any hope!

So please pass on to all you know that you need to take a form of identification for the person picking up the medication AND the patient who the medication is prescribed for!

I love you, but I am not buying you a Christmas Gift

Over at Parent Dish there is an article by the lovely Joanne Mallon about not buying gifts at Christmas for the adults in the family. Joanne sent me a quick link to it on Twitter as she knows that Christmas is big business in our house and was wondering my thoughts on the matter.

Like most holidays Christmas is becoming more and more commercialised. We all know the joke about the overheard comment about a nativity scene in a Christmas Display shop window and how "They are bringing religion into everything these days!", but that is really what Christmas is all about and is the main feature of the season in our house.

It was because of this that last year Daddy and I decided that we wouldn't buy gifts for each other, but would spend £15 on making a gift for each other. Okay so I decided, and it was also to do with reducing our Christmas budget and something I had seen in an episode of "7th Heaven" once, but it sounds better if I say it was both of us right?

We did both want something more personal and something that meant more than just another pack of chocolate or a new shirt. Daddy got quite into it and made his in secret at work, he teased me about it constantly. Meanwhile I was bricking it (sorry) because I couldn't think of anything to do for him... and I'm the crafty one!

I got a game of "Piptionary", yup a home made version name after me. It was great, he thought of everything, and we played a couple of games after we went to bed. Totally the best Christmas gift ever! I made him some melted record bowls and a jar of slips of paper saying "I love you" in 100 different languages. I did also make him some fudge, but it kind of went wrong.... luckily he loved what he got!

This has also spread to our birthdays. The above are the clocks that Daddy made for me for my 30th!

It was also at this time that my Sister, Mum and I decided that we would do a Secret Santa for the adults on our side of the family. We decided that we needed to spend £20 on one gift instead of what we normally spent. It worked out great, because we all spent less overall, we all got a gift that was thought out and not a last minute panic buy.

My Mum didn't want to do it this year (although she didn't stick to the rules last year either!) and so my Sister and I decided to take the next step this year and not to buy for each other or each others partners, but the children are fair game! We again set a price limit (£20 per child) and we both suggested gifts for our own children and left it at that.

Our Mum, always tells us not to buy for her but we never pay any attention, she gave us life after all! I always try to get her something important or special, but this year I am getting her a home made hamper and a photo album with photos of her Grandchildren. She specifically asked for the photos, the Hamper is my idea (I have made hampers for people for ten years now!) and it is going to be filled with things that she will use and a few extra treats that she wouldn't normally buy other than on very special occasions.

Before we go any further however, we need to tell Daddy to stop reading. That's right Daddy we are about to talk about your Christmas gifts and I would like them to remain a surprise so can you go away now?

This year the stocking for Daddy will contain all the usual things that an adult stocking in our family seems to include; deodorant, tissues, mints, a bit of chocolate, a couple of pens and a few little stocking filler toys which we normally pass on to the children. His gift is so far in two parts.

The first gift is again split into two. One part is a square photo frame for his desk. It has four areas for photos and I am going to have it engraved with our names under each square and each of us will have a head shot Brady Bunch style (where we are looking at someone in another frame). The second part of this will be frames of each of us individually, again with us looking at the other photos or pulling faces.



The second part is a secret hollow book. I am going to give it to him, with some sweets inside and a little love note or two. I just hope he realises what it is, and doesn't think it is just some book that he can't open the pages on!!!
You don't have to spend a fortune to have a good Christmas, some thought and a little effort go a long way. And kids always want to play with the box rather than the toys right?
I guess what I am trying to say is that even if you aren't religious Christmas isn't about money, or gifts its about family and love and goodwill to all men. So even though I love you, I am not buying you a Christmas gift... I might make you one though!

Wordless Wednesday - Percy our Gnome

This is Percy.

Percy lives in our front garden. He arrived one day whilst Daddy was at work, I was out with Baby Boy and Top Ender was at school.

Top Ender doesn't know it, but he is going to go on holiday soon...

Toddler Playgroup is hard!

I was a brave Mummy this past Tuesday. I took Baby Boy to a toddler playgroup.

I kind of cheated though as it is at Top Enders School, (in the school hall) so I would know people by sight if not by name and I might see Top Ender walk past on her way to the Library...

Baby Boy loved it, so I guess that I am going to have to go every week.

Darn it.

I am so shy normally, and would put things like this off forever if I could. I reasoned however that Baby Boy needs to socialise with other children other than his Sister and his cousins and the few minutes before and after school.

Luckily, including me, there were only five Mums there, and I think I can handle an hour and a half with four strangers every week!

Wordless Wednesday - Being held Captive!

It's in my Genes!

Something has happened that has made me feel quite proud; Especially as I didn't set out to do it... I'm a cool and fun parent, and it isn't just me and my kids who think it!

Look me being cool at ten past Midnight!

I think there must be a cool/fun parent gene as my parents were cool and from tales I have been told I think both my parents, parents were "cool" too. There are two events which stand out as being the height of cool.

The first is the Christmas my parents cleared it with my friends parents, without my friends knowing, that they could have some eggnog as part of our little party. My friends were all about the alcohol, even at the tender age of ten. The second was a sleepover my sister had where they were allowed to watch a "horror" movie (I think it was The Lost Boys). At the time my parents were renovating and there was a 4 inch gap between the ceiling and a non supporting wall. My parents standing on chairs caused more screams that night from the group of girls than a group of girls at an East17 concert...

It all started because once a week (on a Friday) Top Ender, Baby Boy and I curl up on the sofa after a special dinner of Pizza and curly fries (well I eat the pizza, they eat both the pizza and fries) and watch a movie together.

We call it Mummy-Daughter-Son Date Night.

This week we will be able to snuggle under our Slanket, thanks to my photo of me with Baby Boys PJ's on my head, but that is a story for another day. I will also have to rescue said Slanket from Top Enders bed. I haven't had a look in since she opened the parcel.

Anyway, back to the original story. One of Top Enders classmates (lets call him Ernie as he is an earnest little chap) has managed to wangle an invite to one of these nights in the near future after hearing Top Ender and I talk about it after school.

"You mean you eat chips and pizza and have sweets every week?" Ernie asked
"Yes" I said
"And you watch a film instead of your programmes?" Ernie asked
"Yes" I said
"And Top Ender gets to stay up late?" Ernie asked
"Yes" I said
"Can I come to one???" Ernie asked
"We can see if we can arrange something with Mummy" I said

His Mum (High Heels Mum) has already told me that she is often told "Top Enders Mum this...", and "Top Enders Mum that..." and that the Christmas gifts that Top Ender gave out last year (home made shaped chocolate and lolly pops) were talked about until about Easter, so it seems that hearing about our nights in was the icing on the cake for him.

You have to admit this is pretty good icing on a cake!

I know that I previously talked about things to do on a small budget here which are things that I think are cool and in the next few days you are going to be treated to the places to eat on a small budget post, which I know Top Ender thinks is cool, but I think that I am going to have to start seriously thinking of cool things for me and the family to do... I can't lose my status now can I!