Holidays and haircuts

Well its been a while since I last wrote and as the title says we've been on holiday. We went to a Christian conference called Spring Harvest which was at Butlins in Minehead. It was really good to get away and be with friends. The kids had their own club to go to in the morning for about an hour and a half, so Pete and I went to the morning bible reading sessions. In the afternoons we were free to do our own thing. We went swimming one day which the kids thoroughly enjoyed, Pete and I went to a parenting class - not that I think we're in need of parenting classes per say but it is always good to get ideas from other people. We had lunch at Pizza Hut one day and Pete managed to eat pizza slices reaching into double figures.....he's a growing lad!!!! In the evenings there was a worship and word session which we got to once or twice but it is also relayed to all the chalets so we didn't miss out too much. It was sad to leave as we had spent a week being with friends almost 24/7.

The hair cuts... well mine was well overdue and I got it cut two days after getting back off holiday. The really momentous hair cut was Josh's. He's only 11 months and has already had two fringe cuts and now has had his first full hair cut and he looks like a proper little boy. He looks so scummy and gorgeous now - even more so than before hair cut. I will upload a photo of his new haircut onto facebook asap cos I think he is just gorgeous.

Well if I dont write sooner I will blog in a months time as it will be Josh's first birthday so I shall let you all know what we did to celebrate.

I'm lovin' it

Yes as the title says I now have a job at McDonalds. I'm working 2 1/2 days a week. I'm a lobby assistant which means keeping the restuarant clean and tidy, and looking after the customers. he can Hannah and Josh are being looked after by Mum. Pete is still busy working on his locks.
I'm enjoying work in the financial sense and the routine that life has become but there are things that I struggle with in the job.

Josh is now a crawling man and uses it as a mode of transport around the house now, he used to just sit in the lounge and crawl to his toys but wouldn't go out of the room but has now realised that he can use it as a way of getting around. Hannah is all sorts of things really. She can be really kind and generous to Josh one minute and then take away toys that he has just coz she can, the next. She is also coming out with lots of big sentences and phrases which make you think where did she pick that up from.

Billy, Milly & Fred

Just a quick update on the fish. We bought a sucky loach and called it Fred, well he lasted about a week I think. We were later told they dont like to cold water that goldfish do, would've been nice if they had told us that in the shop. Billy is still swimming around but I'm afraid to say that Milly passed on this afternoon. I found her head down in the corner of the tank. I fished her out and wrapped her up and had to explain to Hannah what had happened. So it is now just Billy remaining. Good luck Billy.

The car has done it again.

Well its been a while since I last wrote. Not a lot has happend from then until now. I have a job working for 'The Golden Arches', yep I have a McJob. I am a lobby assistant, my job is basically to keep the restuarant looking clean and tidy and the customers happy. I am working 3 days a week totalling about 16 hrs each week. I started on Monday and so far things seem ok, but I have only been there for 2 shifts so I can't really say much else.

Anyway .... the weekend......................
This weekend gone was the church weekend. Pete had the day off and we intended on being there a 4pm ish. Where shall I start.......... the car, the kids. I'll start with Josh.
On Wednesday he was sick, just as I was leaving the house to go to my orientation for my job. He was sick again that evening, on thursday afternoon and then friday morning. I got an appointment for him at the doctors who said it was probably viral. (not a lot can be done in that case) Josh was sick on the saturday and on sunday was under strict orders to have only bread and water. I felt really bad for him as he is only 9 months old but he wasn't sick so it did help.
Now for the car...................
It had sprung a leak in the water and Pete identified the problem as a being a crack in the thermostat housing. After making a few phone calls we discovered we could only buy the part we needed from the dealer at £70. Pete thought he would do his own repair and fixed it with superglue!!!. (I wasn't convinced by this at all) At 3.30 we left to go away. After buying new tyres for the car we hit the road as they say and headed onto the motorway. About half hour later I put the fans on in the car but no hot air was coming out and then suddenly the water light came on and the car stalled and wouldn't start again as it was too hot. This was in the middle lane of the motorway!!!! Fortumately a lorry driver was able to block the left hand lane and let us get onto the hard shoulder where we called out the breakdown people.
5pm the breakdown truck arrives. The traffic was piling up and so a few people were driving on the hard shoulder to get off at the junction quicker. Just as we moved off a car - who was trying to get ahead - pulled out into the truck so we were delayed further with the men taking details from each other. The recovery man took us to his base but couldn't take us home as his vehicle had to be taken off the road. 45 mins later another truck arrived to take us back home.
7pm arrived at in-laws. Mum had got pizza in the oven so we could feed the kids. After dinner Pete got the part for the car and fitted it. (Remember that expensive one from the dealer we had to buy)
9pm finally got the kids loaded into the car and off home.
Saturday at 5am we got up, loaded new things into the car, got the kids up and made our way towards Shropshire. All went well until 25 miles from our destination when the car started ejecting smoke from out of the exhaust!!!!!!! The car very wallawy but it did make it. The weekend it self was good and it was good to go away with friends from church. The car made it back to Gloucester ok although no-one stayed behind us as we chugged out black smoke. I will update you on the problem and when it gets solved.

Life with or without a car

The latest news on the car is it is FIXED. It went into the garage last weekend and now it works all the time. It has been such a relief to have a car that works. I am able to go places without having to plan in extra time in order to get somewhere. It is amazing how much we rely on the car to get us where we want to go. I dont mind using public transport but when you have kids it is easier to take the car if you have one, so I am very grateful to have the car back.

What else has been going on........well I had a job interview for the first time in 10 years. I think it went ok but only time will tell. It is work in a charity shop as an assitant manager, and it would be 3 days a week so if I get it ORGANISATION will be the word of the week. I dread to think how I will get organised but I wont have a choice, but it all depends on whether I get the job or not.

The Kids.............. Josh has been unwell and came out in a rash on Sunday so I took him to the doctors who said he had a viral infection. He is getting over it now although his sleeping at night time could be improved. Hannah is well and there is really a lot I can say about her. She is getting more words in her vocabulary and understand more.

Billy, Milly & the Car

This week we have two new additions to our family; Billy & Milly. They are very tiny and orange and orange and white in colour. Yep we have goldfish. Reading the book about them I might as well have two children for the amount of work they require. Firstly we had to set the tank up and leave the water for at least 24hrs for the filtration to work, then we put in gravel and plants but we had to wash the gravel to make sure it was clean. Pete took Hannah to buy the fish today and we had to leave them in the bag of water they came in for 20 minutes for their water to equalise with ours, and then there is changing the water every couple of weeks and the palava that is going to be!!!!! Still, Hannah likes them and Josh quite liked them although he was also quite interested in banging the table which isn't a good thing as it might frighten them so Josh had to be moved out the way so as not to upset Billy & Milly. They are settling in well and tomorrow we can feed them. But we have to watch to see how much they eat in about 5 minutes so we have an idea of the amount they like to eat.
Now about the car................................
As you know from my first blog we bought a new car on new years day and since then we have hardly driven it. It has had new injectors put in, Pete changed the cam belt and the fan belt but still it wouldn't start. He checked all the voltages and they were all correct, still not starting. Very puzzling. He then changed the cam belt back 1 notch but still not starting. Meanwhile, Hannah, Josh & I have been taking the bus everywhere which is okay but rather timely, anyway on friday we went to visit some friends who had just had a baby and took them some pressies so the pram was full. Josh was in the pram and Hannah was walking. We had to take 2 buses there and 2 on the return trip, usually the buses are what are called 'kneel down' buses which means you can get prams and wheelchairs on them without any trouble but on this day 3 out of 4 buses I had to take everything and Josh out of the pram, put it down, get the stuff, kids and pram in the bus and do it all over again getting off at the other end. After got home and the kids were in bed Pete was looking at the car and was fiddling with cam belt and put it back a few notches and all of a sudden it started!!!!! Today Pete was checking the cam belt again and put it back to its normal position and then the car didn't start again. After a phone call to a car supplies place we discovered that we had the wrong cam belt!!! Once Pete had fitted the new cam belt the car started again. Yeh. BUT after Pete had gone out, I took the car out to do the recycling which had been piling up and we got there, put all the recycling away and then I tried to start the car and NOTHING. I am not the most patient person so got quite angry especially as I had the kids with me. There was nothing Pete could do as he out so I informed the supermarket about the car and then Hannah said we could take the bus and fortunately I had some money on me so we caught the bus home and left the car for Pete to pick up. He picked the car up and drove it home...very annoying. It's not right but it starts with a bit of persuasion. Its going in to the garage on Monday so hopefully they will be able to sort it out. I will let you know.............

Why do Brits always talk about the weather?

Because it is so wet in this country. Today the weather has been rain, rain and more rain. There are parts of the county that are without power. Roads are flooding, the motorways and being closed because of flooding, sewage has come up through the man hole covers and people and being stuck on the roads because of the weather. Lets just hope it doesn't get worse.