Life moves on...

One minute there all scrunched up in your arms and the next minute you turn around and they're climbing up everything and anything insight. Noah is in fact an unaccomplished climber of furniture and is surprisingly sure footed. We were watching the Ibex on BBC One's 'Life' and noticing some similarities as the mountain goat charged up and down fearlessly on almost shear cliffs.

Cadan is also making us proud with his surprising venture into singing. He is in the school choir and will be singing at an event this weekend. If I'm honest I wasn't sure he'd stick with it but when I pick him up after choir practice his demeanor is always peaceful and happy. Perhaps it's the cathartic properties of group singing or the break from his usual crowd of friends. Which ever it is it seems to be doing him some good.

My news is that my job will be changing soon. It's been a long time coming really and a role that I've had my eye on for about ten years or so. I'll be running the Sylvia Beaufoy Youth Centre in Petworth with some responsibilities for some other youth service provision in the area. I'm really happy to be taking on this role but obviously really gutted to be giving up my present 'mobile' role. It's been two and a half years now, many projects and numerous young people. When I took on the role the project was at a low and I was fresh out of Uni. I've built up a staff team and seen things go from strength to strength. So it's kind of my baby. Just as hard as giving up my 'baby' is taking over someone else's 'baby'. It'll be quite a challenge but one I can't wait to get my teeth into.

In other news... I spent last weekend putting Nyoms products on the crafters site Etsy whilst Nyom ordered various things for Christmas presents on Amazon, Argos and Ebay. Christmas is strange thing really. Obviously there's the celebration of Jesus' birth but after that it seems to be an obligatory spending of buckets of cash. Not that I mind giving but is it really giving when we all feel obliged to do it? Is there an option? Could I just not give anything to anyone and maybe do it in March when I had a bit more money? No. People would be offended. I've often toyed with other ideas like no gifts just dinner parties to spend time with loved ones or spending limits or secret Santa but it's hard to overt a cultural tidal wave!

Something from the Weekend...

Some pictures from this weekend... and what a weekend!

Friday - Work then Noah's Birthday tea with presents and cake then a trip up town to visit the Fair
Saturday - Music rehearsal, wedding, reception, Kids home for tea and bed then back to the reception for a meal and music
Sunday - Church where I was leading worship then Noah's dedication then back home and some time spent on the computer getting Naomi's bags ready for sale online.

Phew, we are both very tired now and beginning to get crabby at each other. It's that familiar point at which normal communication breaks down and presumption and offence take over - not a happy place! Still all is good now. Kissed, made up, Kids in bed, wine in stomach/head! and Ray Mears soothes us both with tales of Canadian adventures of years ago.

Jo's wedding was lovely but exhausting. The best bit was the ceremony as usual. I sat filled with excitement and solemnity in equal measure as Jo and James embarked on their journey. At one point I took a deep breath and simply thought 'I hope they make it'. Not because I thought they wouldn't but because my naive view of marriage has been rocked in recent years by the break down of relationships that I presumed would always be.

Celebrating Noah's birthday was beautiful too. He has been so smiley, happy and full of life. Each child is different and special. Someone prayed this morning that we would have time for each of them. Amen! I'm also aware though, that in a big family they start to have time for each other. Yes having many kids is a stretch for my affections but they have each others too. A precious thing. As the Word puts it 'How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!'

Here's one I made earlier

So here's what I can make...

And here's what she can make...

You can see which of us is more talented and which is more... well fat!

After my plans for a productive weekend of garden DIY were scuppered by 60mph winds, I turned another job which could be accomplished from the safety of our dinning room. No not eating! Photographing and cataloguing Naomi's stock. Nyom has been bags of several sizes, little people, little houses and jewellery for ages now and so has tons of stock. We want to sell them on Etsy but obviously needed to have a few pics of each one and catalogue them so she knows what's on sale where and can track each item.

This was no mean feat especially with four boys (Jedi's!) rampaging around the house hitting each other with Light-Sabers and watching Star Wars films over and over. Anyway we got it pretty much done so they should be on sale soon.

We also popped over to Butts Meadow for brisk walk and a cup of tea. This almost ended up as a full-blown Sunday lunch but as we had not planned for this we resisted and cracked on with the bags.

Back to work tomorrow. It's been yet another tense weekend. As I get no jobs done during the week, weekend is very pressured. I constantly find myself torn between getting 'jobs' done that make our life easier and just surrendering myself into entertaining the boys. The latter I thoroughly enjoy of course but as I do not have evenings to spend the whole week seeing things that need doing and thinking 'I'll do that this weekend'. Perhaps the answer is to mix and match and hopefully minimise the compromise born by either.

Silly hair cut...

That's right the silly hair cut is back but she still loves me :-)... just making the most of a receding hair line!

So what's new?
Well my job ticks on. I still enjoy my work with young people and get huge satisfaction from it. I only wish my efforts were rewarded with a larger pay packet. Money, houses, providing for the little ones and all those things parents worry about have been keeping me up recently. It's amazing how the human brain has an unstoppable ability to make stuff up and worry about it. Why I don't recall the countless times I have found myself with exactly what I need, I'm not sure.

What else?
Well I have a new motorbike...

It's heavier, more expensive to run and harder and more uncomfortable to ride! Hey but it's faster and cooler. The jury is still out as to whether this was a good decision but I'll give it some more time.

and finally...
I'm currently trying to get some jobs done around the house and garden. They're not difficult jobs, they won't even take that long but things seem to move at a snails pace when it comes to jobs outside of the average days usual crazy schedule. I want to put a couple of coats of gloss on our old-school wooden windows, build a BBQ area with some old bricks I have, build a chicken run and erect to bike shelter. Not much really. The trouble is, as time passes with no progress on any of the current jobs, I keep thinking of new jobs. I plan to get some stuff done this weekend despite the predicted terrible weather.

Well if that's not a blogging cliff hanger I don't know what is! Tune in next time to find out what jobs Jonny got done!

it's been a while...

Goodness gracious, it's been nearly a month since my last blog entry! It's strange looking at the last few posts with pictures of all our summer fun. They seem even more distance if I look up and see the rain beating against the window. September treated us with some amazing later summer beauty before October kicked us up the bottom with some nasty weather.

So here is the news...

* We're pregnant again and Nyom is very tired
* Work is good with new projects and new teenagers set up and running
* We're painting our retro wood-framed windows
* Noah is turning in to some kind of Viking warrior pillaging the entire house at every available opportunity
* Eunice has a new house and it's all hands on deck to get her out of Brookside and into her new place
* I'm gonna try my hand at building a brick wall
* We're hoping to get some chickens
* The boys are all still an absolute blessing
* er
* I think that's it

Spider Sense...

It seems to be that time of year when our eight legged friends begin to feel a little nippy and move in with us. Of course to many they are not 'friends' and finding one of these in the bath in the morning can be something of a fright. Personally and if I'm really honest, I've not been terribly keen either, until recently that is.

I pride myself on being open minded and recently challenged myself to look at our new house mates in a new way. Rather than screaming, running, squashing or mashing I decided to look. After really looking and noticing the amazing colours, shades, tones and patterns I began to watch. It then seemed rather silly that I'd been so afraid of these tiny, delicate and amazing creatures.

I was recently at some training which was about something rather pretentiously called 'Neuro Linguistic Programming'. Wikipedia (totally reliable fount of all knowledge!) describes NLP as being 'concerned with the relationship between successful patterns of behaviour and the subjective experiences (esp. patterns of thought) underlying them.' Why do I bring this up? Well I realised that if by simply changing the way that I imagined and thought about something (spiders) then I could change my experience of it. I recently applied the same mental discipline to my unrequited desire for some time on my mountain bike. Rather than seeing a bike ride as being a selfish act that confirms my lack of fitness or free time, I decided to imagine myself enjoying the open air with a smile on my face and the wind in my hair. Simple I know but it totally changed the way that I felt when I thought of going for a ride. Before I knew it I was off and loving it! These little victory's made me think that anything was possible and within reason it is!

See Sia..

I was watching Later with Jools Holland the other night when I really should have been in bed because it was far too late. Anyway, there was some great stuff including Coldplay, who in my opinion were even outshone by this act, Sia. Have a listen. This song really moved me. I'm not sure why. There's the unique voice and vocal style, the beautiful melancholia song, the way that she moves and signs to the lyrics and the way that she is completely herself. Probably all of the above. See what you think...

Wild Cornwall...

Back from our travels! Wild, windy and wet but truly great times. Going away at this time of year works for me. It feels like new year, as indeed it is for those of us in education. It's a chance to draw a line under everything and anything that happened since last September and take some time out before the madness ensues once more.

So how was it? Well after the long build up sorting trailers and packing we finally set off on the long journey stopping at the Cartgate picnic area for lunch as planned. We arrived to find that the others in our party had opted for the 'leave at the crack of dawn' start to their holiday and had already setup camp. Communal camping isn't for everyone and it is ultimately a trade off. You loose a certain amount of privacy and control but gain the company, the laughs and ultimately a shared experience. Our fellow happy campers were old friends from the Epsom/Ewell area. Wonderful people who we don't see very often but when we do, we feel as if we've not been apart. During the days we'd muck in together helping with each others kids, making mass-picnics, sharing cars and children's baths. In the evenings we took it in turns to cook for each other, sharing drinks and points of view on life.

We were camped Watergate Bay, a surfing mecca and a beautiful place. A short walk across the cliffs from the beach and a short drive from shops and civilisation. Our days consisted of trips to the beach, mooching around the campsite and trips out. One such trip out was to St Ives to take in some of the famous light. Again truly beautiful. Two years ago we went to Bude which didn't quite live up to my image of wild and wonderful Cornwall. Watergate Bay and surrounding, Porth, St Ives, Mawgan Porth etc were a different matter, totally mind blowing. The wind and rain seemed to add to the rugged charm and I was sad to leave. I know others struggle with bad weather and sand in your pants but for a reason I've not yet been able to put my finger on, I loved it.

After a nine hour drive through bank holiday traffic on the A303 we were home. After such a wonderful holiday I'm now left feeling melancholy and feeling distinctly Autumy! The mountains of washing and clearing up doesn't help, not to mention the odd pile of eager leaves by the side of the road. However the new term beckons and I shall put my mind to it... tomorrow!

Off we go again...

Looks good doesn't it! Well I guess we'll see how our holiday 'develops before us'! Part of me can't wait but there are so many things that could make or break our time away. There's the weather, the car, the rickety trailer, the site, the kids and the group dynamics. there's also the journey which I've been planning today with the high tech help of Dad's Sat-Nav, google the AA and the Somerset tourist info website! The Campsite is in Cornwall but in order to be well prepared I've found us a picnic site half way. Cartgate Picnic area off the 303 in fact!



Now that I have the journey sorter I feel slightly better and I can crack on with the rest of the preparation. Packing, checking, re-packing and loading. This time we don't have Dan's huge and luxurious trailer with roof rack. Instead I've borrowed Tim's which hasn't been used for some time. One tyre needed pumping up and will go down slowly, the lights didn't work, the key to the hitch-lock has long since disappeared and it's tiny. So a bit of DIY and elbow grease was needed to sort the lock and attach our old topbox. We've got the Dan's bike rack too so hopfully we'll be ok but who know's untill the boxes start being loaded. Bring on the adventure!

The Summer So Far...

My last post was smack bang in the middle of a four day residential with five lively lads. That was followed by a fun day in Camelsdale, six youth road show events and now an evening project in Petworth. All of which is just one half of my life. The other has been pretty hectic too with Noah constantly on the move and driving Naomi crazy in just the cutest way possible and the others remembering how to get on with each other. We also had a long weekend in the New Forest with Nyoms family. So pretty busy really.

The New forest trip was great fun. Even in the torrential rain which came just before we'd finished putting up our tent, I still had a childish grin on my face, just so pleased to be in the great outdoors. We were attacked by horses, paddled in rivers and enjoyed fish and chips around a camp fire and best of all I got some great 'Dad time'. This summer has made me think just how precious my boys are to me and how blessed I am to have them.

Right now we're getting ready to head off to Cornwall with the tent on ce more. There's plenty to do; sorting the trailer, packing, a hair cut, finishing work stuff, I just hope this holiday will match up to the last. Camping holidays always seem like a bit of a gamble. They can be magical or misery. We'll see!

Day three done, one more to go...

Yep, feeling tired now. I'm not sure why. I think it's all the walking around the grounds here and taking part in workshops all day but most of all it's being responsible for ten of someone else's children all day and night for three days. Constantly thinking of the next thing that needs doing and keeping everyone safe and happy, it takes it's toll you know.

So far though, it has been rewarding. It is clear to see that the activities and events has challenged and provoked the young people to think about themselves and their future careers. Of course it's not just about the workshop activities but the people involved too. One of the workshop facilitators is a sweet guy who spent many years working in a factory spray painting but over a long period of time re-trained and now spends his days in the woods teaching survival skills and forestry management. He is quite and slow with his words but has the group eating out his hands very quickly because he is genuine, doesn't talk down to them and they can relate to him. There are many unnatural educators working but this guys a natural.

So what have I learnt from all this? Well there was a few forms I could have got together quicker, the evenings are worth planning activities for and this is a much better target group but most of all it's reminded me again that I want my kids to know what the woods smell like, how to light a fire and how to stop and appreciate what's around you.

Day One done...

Day one of this years 'Spring-Line' residential is almost over with everyone now at least in their rooms if not asleep. The project is a response to the decline in young people taking up traditional conservation skills as careers or hobbies. The week involves a number workshops at the Sustainability Centre in East Meon and a day's workshops at the Weald & downland Open Air Museum.

The Sustainability Centre is a lovely place to be. An ex-military building now in the hands of the Earthworks Trust who use the place as an educational centre for those wishing to find out more about sustainable living. There are a number of schools who regularly visit as well as courses in anything from bush craft to dead hedging being run from the centre. There are families living on site in Yurts, a natural burial site and small businesses like Darren the shingle maker all existing together in an idyllic community together with nature - no really, it's all very hippy... but relevant!

My role is to help the young people get the most out of the week (that includes kicking them where appropriate!) and as the picture above shows, record the weeks events for posterity (and funding!) on my digital cameras.

I'm going away tomorrow on what we call in the business a 'residential'. These usually involve excessive tiredness but unforgettable memories. I usually lose sleep before taking a group of other people's children away and this is no exception. Once the worry has subsided though I'm sure it'll be fine... watch this space I guess!

The rest of my summer work schedule involves driving my big youth Bus around taking it to youth service 'roadshows' and summer events. This too should be lots of fun but not a patch on the camping holiday waiting for us at the other end. Two weeks in Cornwall with some precious friends who we don't get to see often enough. It's our first holiday in two years so bring it on! Rain, snow, hurricane, I'll be there on the beach with the kids building sand castles because I deserve it!!!

Thoughts so far...

Well I said I'd let you know how I got on with my latest escapist toilet reading and hear I am to do just that.

Having got a little way through the first chapter I began to think that this was nothing more than a guy having a mid-life crisis and telling me all about it. To some extent I guess that's what it is but wait, it's so much more too! Yes it's another adventure where a guy escapes the trappings of modern life to see things, meet people and have experiences but already it seems that there is an element of self discovery about this journey as well.

Maybe the term 'mid-life crisis' is too dismissive, as if there is no value in taking time out, to do no more than go on a journey and see what it teaches you.

As well as the deep and meaningfuls there's also bucket loads of sumptuously written descriptions of life on the water. From the nervy moments at the first lock to the peace of still water and the soporific affect of life in the slow lane Paul Gogerty is a proper writer! I mean I enjoyed Long Way... but this guy sculpts images in my mind with words. Proper writer!

Having four kids and a busy life means that I've only just reached chapter three. So much has happened already in this multifaceted journey. One part which touched me was this poem written by the authors seriously ill father in law who the writer unexpectedly takes time out of his journey to visit in hospital. If you've been forced to consider death and all that that means for the body and soul as it closes its grip, you maybe touched too.

Pathology of Colours

I know the colour rose, and it is lovely,
but not when it ripens in a tumour;
and healing greens, leaves and grass, so springlike,
in limbs that fester are not springlike.

I have seen red-blue tinged with hirsute mauve
in the plum-skin face of a suicide.
I have seen white, china white almost, stare
from behind the smashed windscreen of a car.

And the criminal, multi-coloured flash
of an H-bomb is no more beautiful
than an autopsy when the belly's opened -
to show cathedral windows never opened.

So in the simple blessing of a rainbow,
in the bevelled edge of a sunlit mirror,
I have seen, visible, Death's artifact
like a soldier's ribbon on a tunic tacked.

Copyright from New and Collected Poems (Hutchinson, 2003), copyright © Dannie Abse 2003, used by permission of the author

The longest day

Thursdays are a long day. This morning I managed to sort an incorrect Tescos delivery, sort the mortgage, photograph lots of Naomi's products ready for her Esty shop, backup a bunch of family pictures and make a yummy loaf of bread. There's something incredibly satisfying about making bread and of course the whole lengthy process is made even more satisfying when it's in your mouth with some butter on. YUM!

So then I headed of to work where I had an hour to clean the bus and get it ready for two sessions back to back. Now I'm back at home struggling to think of what to write and wondereing if I should just go and eat my bread and quit winging about being tired. I hate it when people wing about being tired... so I'll shut up now!

Fete in the Park - T in the Park...

A soggy day in Petworth Park promoting the work of The Purple Bus and raising awareness of rural youth issues was followed by a chunky, home spun curry and coverage on BBC3 of The Killers at T in the Park.

It was a shame about the weather today. People weren't so up for spending money on Naomi's bags as at the same event last year when the sun had it's hat on and the economy had it's chin up. The kids were good though, hanging out on the Purple Bus with me and making the odd sortie into the crowd of stalls and rides to spend some pocket money. Dan was a star too, giving me a break from the Bus to give the kids lunch and then to take them home later.

Once the rug rats were all tucked up Naomi and I set about the task of winding down. This involved tidying up the mountain of toys, having a pointless argument and then cooking a nice meal. Usual Saturday evening stuff. What made my day though was flicking through TV channels to find The Killers coming up on BBC Three. They were so good, with so much theatre in the performance and depth in the lyrics. Loved it!

Friends...

I can remember when I was a teenager feeling like I needed friends who could really understand me, people who I could be completely honest with and we'd never fall out. Part of the whole teenage identity crisis thing I guess. Being a bit older now and I have my wonderful wife - best friend in the world! - but I still feel a need for other friends to hang out with who are on a par with the mythical 'Friends' from the eponymous sitcom.

You know what I mean, one makes a mistake but fesses up and all is forgiven, another has a bogey hanging out of their nose and the others point and laugh but they're still friends. I think in the adult world that we all end up in, we develop ways of coping, strategies to get along and survive. All to often these strategies involve maintaining a safe distance from those around us, even those we'd call friends in order to not offend or to keep the status quo.

Well that's quiet enough of that! I shall retreat to a safe distance because 'every thing's fine thanks!'

Things mostly are actually 'fine' but you get my point.

NEWS-Naomi, myself and all the sprogs are at Petworth's 'Fete in the Park' tomorrow. We're both there in work capacity so I'm not sure what the kids will do. Hmmm. I'm there with the Purple Bus bigging up the work i do with the Youth Service and Naomi is selling her bags and things. I'll let you know how it goes.

Communication...

A dude called Eric Berne in the 1950's once said 'when two people encounter each other, one of them will speak to the other. This he called the Transaction Stimulus. The reaction from the other person he called the Transaction Response.' Simple really or it should be...

All too often when people talk, as well as the actual words that are said, a whole heap of other stuff is said or at maybe just heard. This really winds me up!

Berne reckoned there was three states, he called them Ego States but that sounds a bit weird. So these states are as above. The ideal is when Adult communicates with adult. Just straight forward communication, people being honest and straight forward in what they say and grown up and straight forward about what they hear. So often though people assume an either dominant or over nurturing parent role or a rebellious or over-dependant child role. Often without realising too.

This means that we assume that the other person is thinking or feeling something or that they ought to be thinking or feeling something that they're not. It usually ends in a big mess of EastEnders style argument, drama and hurt feelings. This can go on for years too. I see it everyday, people who are stuck in one particular state or role with certain people and it affects the way they say or hear every word.

Anyway enough of my ranting for now

Latest news...

Well it's been a few days so it must be time to update all you avid readers out there!?!

Firstly to explain the photo, our lovely little garden is doing really well! We've been eating Sugar Snap Peas in just about every meal because the Pea plants have gone crazy as have the lettuce's. The one and only Courgette plant not to have been destroyed by stupid cats, is now huge and starting to produce... Courgettes! The climbing beans, tomatoes, onions and carrots are all on the way too! Wow! Very rewarding indeed.

Next... I've seen another motorbike for sale in the notice board at Whiteways Lodge (a-top Bury Hill). It's in good nick, low mileage, good price, and just the sort of thing I'll be looking for when I've cash-in-hand. Trouble is though, the guy's not answering his mobile! It's just off all the time. Grrrr!

Also... the next bit of news has to be that Naomi has had her show of the year where she's sold her 'Redeem Creations (girly bags, girly bits, and various girly bobs). Actually I'm very proud of her she is very tallented and hard working so hopefully she'll be rewarded with lots of sales over the summer months.

What else? Oh yes... it has been Dad's, Kev's, Lu's and Mum's Birthdays over the last few weeks. So what else was there to do but all get together for a right good picnic. Tillington parish church just happened to be doing a family service on the rec followed by picnic and games. Mum was chuffed to do the mother hen bit and have all her brood around her and the rest of us where just pleased to be able to send the kids off to play while we enjoyed the sun shine and beautiful views of the South Downs. Tillington is a fantastic little village community if slightly Dibley-esc.

Apart from that life whizzes on; work, kids, meals, house work, church, friends. Pretty relentless at times. In an attempt to crowbar in some time spent in a lower gear, I have started reading The Water Road by Paul Gogarty. I've only read a few pages so I'll keep you posted!

We've all done it...

Come on now everyone's got a story about putting their heads somewhere they shouldn't have. Naomi got her head stuck in some railings and I think I got my head stuck in a child's toilet seat! Eron decided that this bucket full of sand was just the thing to wear as a space helmet!

Bucket or no, Eron is incredibly feisty at the moment, the 'terrible twos' (even though he's just three) I guess although part of me thinks it's not so 'terrible'. Yes it's a pain when everything he is asked to do is is greeted with a tantrum and the word 'no' is just not allowed. I do wonder though, it this just a phase or is this a part of his character that if steered in the right direction, rather than simply squashed, could be a positive thing. I bet the likes of Ellen MacArthur and Bob Geldof were pretty feisty two years olds.

Camping it up

It wasn't my much-planned and anticipated weekend in the New Forest on my bike but it was camping and it did involve my Bike.

Sussex Clubs for Young People organise a camp at Lodge Hill every year. The programme is run by SCYP staff and Lodge Hill instructors so all I had to do was get a group to the centre and look after them while they were there, right? Wrong! My group were 6 girls between 12 and 16 years old who seemed to have watched far too many soaps and enjoyed replicating similar melodrama at every available opportunity.

Despite the fall-outs and arguments there were highlights both for the group and for me. For me it was a great opportunity to see if I could get everything for a weekends camping onto my bike with out either looking ridiculous or crashing! It was also great to be in a tent again after missing our on a family holiday last year. Making a filter coffee at 6am in a small cold tent is surprisingly enjoyable when it's quite and you're catching a rare moment of peace.

I left the group with another youth worker on Sunday morning and headed off to Dalesdown where the church were having our annual Church day away. I arrived shattered and unshaven but having had one of my more interesting weekends.

'Parents needed'

'Fire lighting - parents needed' is what the Beavers programme said and the little boy in me couldn't resist. Obviously the adult man in me had to attend as well as I had a small group of some other peoples children but even so it was great fun. Eloise's dad showed the group some fire lighting technique's with some equipment to be used when matches aren't available. Ironically most of us have amble access to matches but we don't posses a flint steel or bow drill. Any way it was interesting.

The best bit of course was the chance to spend time with Cadan on his 'turf'. Beavers seems to be so good for him. I think its the mixture of structure and discipline mixed with independence and adventure - just what he needs and responds to.

We've come into some cache

So it's a treasure hunt, but global, with GPS... or not and you don't take the treasure but you can add to it... and it's a 'cache' not treasure!

Confused? Well here goes. All over this fair land of ours, and indeed the world, are hidden little boxes or cache's containing a log book and a few trinkets. The idea is that you log on to geocaching.com and find cache hidden near you or near where you're going for a day out maybe. These cache's have been hidden by other outdoorsy types who have also left instruction, GPS coordinates and maybe even some clues on the website.

Always on the lookout for free, all-age fun I decided to give this a go. So armed with a google map print out, some refreshments and three of my sons we headed out into the unknown. It was great fun and the boys were really excited (if a little confused). We failed to find our first cache but the second, later that day, we did. With the boys looking for 'muggles' I joined many others over the last few years and signed the log book. We also took a red nose and a wrist strap thingy but left a marble and plastic shark. fair swap I think.

Much more than just a walk. Great fun!

I Shouldn't have done it!

When there's no way that you can get what you really want it's easy to put it out of your mind but when it is dangled tantalisingly close, you can't stop thinking about it.

I'll elaborate... Now that I've passed my motorbike test I am allowed to ride a bigger bike up to 33bhp (if you interested!). I've been thinking that buying a bigger bike on our current budget was well and truly out of reach. Until, that is, a chance conversation with my brother led me to wonder just what I could get for my current little Honda and how much more I could would need.

So I mooched down to P&P in Chichester where the owner was surprised to see my little bike which is apparently quite rare and to him worth around £500! This plus the paltry sum I have saved is not enough to buy the Suzuki Freewind (an appropriate name reader who know me may comment) that I found hiding at the back of the shop (I'm sure it was winking at me!).

So I need about £800 which is alot of money but it's not thousands. I'm not keen on borrowing but waiting is going to be painful and there's always something more important. My big-boys' toy is close but not close enough :-( Now I'm thinking that maybe I shouldn't have looked in the first place. Hmmm

Cup of brown tea

This is completely hilarious and yet incredibly skilful use of words, have a gander. ...

Goings on...

One, two, three yep count them four boys!

This half term week has been exhausting. It kind of crept up on us, fooling us into thinking that as I had some leave booked, we could get some jobs done. Oh no, silly us! Fixing the garage door was a struggle, putting some coats hooks up painful and the shelves will have to wait! At the end of Naomi's tether yesterday I called super nanny (my Mum) and begged her to have the three older boys. Phew, some space to breath. What a great Gran! I got home to Naomi cleaning the toilet! Not quite what I had in mind for her relaxing day without the boys but she seemed to find it strangely cathartic.



I also worked today - had a meeting in Shoreham which meant a nice long bike ride down to the seaside and back. Even on a tiny, twenty year old, 125cc Honda, riding a motorbike is fantastic fun and makes any journey an adventure. I love it, I love it, I love it!
Everyone should have a motorbike, it's great!

You say garage, I say garage, let's call the whole thing...

A triumphal moment of DIY glory came today when I managed to fix my garage door! For some time now going to my garage has been quite an ordeal since the 50 year old mechanism which lifts the door as it is opens, gave up the ghost. Not having £150-£250 to blow on a new door I decided that bodging a fix was the only way and took the whole door down, screwed on some huge hinges and fix it to the frame. It looks pretty awful but works fine and was a great little character building journey of ups and downs, bruised knuckles and bloodied fingers, and a DIY-inferiority complex which gave way to an immense sense of satisfaction on the completion of said door project.

Obviously my escapades in the garage left Naomi with the four boys, one of which (Noah) had been up all night and most of the previous day. By lunch time Naomi was pulling her scalp off having torn her hair out and resorted to trying Rusks, toast, and SMA baby milk. He downed all of that and probably would have eaten a doner Kebab if we had one. So, a growth spurt or something I guess!

This and other stressful May-days including The Big Church Day Out, birthday parties and fun days, has brought home to us just what a difficult phase of life this is with four little ones hanging off our arms 24/7. It is incredibly difficult to do anything other than the minimum even when we're both around at half term. This is something which gets us both down at times but I'm sure we'll look back on these days with wistful grin. Do you think?

Phew!

So the party went well! There was one administrative hick up when we remembered that we'd invited the reli's over ‘mid-afternoon’ but that Ben had another party from 3-5pm! A few phone calls later and all was sorted.

So the day went like his…
9-11am party setup
11-1pm party!
1-2pm pack down
2-3pm Kev & Sandy visiting
3-5pm more clean up with Ben at another party
5-7pm Mum, Dad, other Mum, sis, bro et al!
7-8pm bath and bed
8-9pm clean up and make a curry to reward the hardest working parents ever!

Bens party guests were a mixed bag! From cute or shy to cheeky and even down right obnoxious! I found myself making allsorts of judgements about home life and poor parenting only to conclude that they’re all a ‘work in progress’.

Fresh Pasta

Tonight I made pasta as I often do. I made a tomato sauce to go with it. It had fresh herbs from the garden and was topped of with some feta and roasted pine nuts. What a great meal! It's not often you can eat like a King and feed the whole family for about 60p a head.

So we are still in the middle of a run of full, worthwhile but tiring weekends. There was the very successful Kaleidoscope fun day followed by the very emotional celebration of Naomi's Dads life. Last weekend was Erons birthday party and this weekend is Bens birthday party followed by the 'Big Church Day Out'. After that is Granny and Grandads diamond wedding anniversary.


Ben is having a Transformers birthday party. Not one where you just buy a load of cheap tat from a catalogue but one which involves Naomi making an Optimus Prime cake, a Megatron piñata, transformers party bags and cup cakes, the list goes on. It's been a lot of effort but I can see that she is so keen to make it special. The sort of special that usually involves spending lots of money only that's not an option right now so it's blood. sweat and tears instead! Hopefully it's an investment and whilst they may prefer a day at Lego Land or Chessington right now, in the future they may look back and have some how benefited from the way we try to live. Hmmm deep!

Finally... Eron seems to get more cute the further into his 3rd year he gets whilst Noah is learning some skills with the cup!

How do you eat an Elephant?

Reading,
originally uploaded by Squelchy Welchy.

...one piece at a time!

I've recently been reading 'Long Way Down' the story/journal of two famous guys riding through Africa. It's a pretty big book by my standards but I've almost finished it by reading it in tiny bits every time I visit our 'smallest room'. That's right, this has been my toilet book! In the chaos that is a family of six, this book and that room has been a great escape!

My reading over the last couple of years has been other people's adventures. From motorbikes around the world to rafts across the Pacific and Hobbits through middle earth. The reason for this is probably because I want my own adventure but right now I have a lot of people depending on me for a lot things so the idea of escaping for an adventure, even a tiny one, is not a reality. Reading about other people's will have to do for now.

So the search is on for the next source of escapism to be devoured in bite sized pieces!