House work

A few pics of the state of the building work - luckily the weather has improved just as they've started putting the new roof on. Still hoping it will be finished for Christmas, or else Santa may not be able to find anywhere to park his sledge...

Some other things

Over the past months I've not blogged much. Here are a few other things that happened. 

Della dressed her self and declared she looked like a rockstar. She spent the day like this (including glasses) 

In another day that Della dressed herself she donned a jumper knitted by Aunty Linda and took her bike out for a spin

Gus has been ill. He has mainly looked like this

The kids thought they were in a catalogue shoot 

Della dressed as 'Champion' for children in need day

Uncle nick visited and Della laughed hard - mainly at toilet humour! 

Gus mastered hide and seek 

Our house

Currently looks like this...

Strensall Common

The fog descended on us last weekend. It was stunning. Gus had a horrible cold so we didn't want to travel too far away so headed to a local woodland that we'd never really been to. It was stunning. 

This is my new favourite photo of the brood... 

I casually said that the atmosphere was incredible to Simon. This resulted in the inevitable questioning about atmosphere from Della. That took quite a lot explaining on my part. The atmosphere was incredible though! 

Here Della explained that she could see pictures in the puddles 

It was beautiful and she could see these pictures

Bonfire - mark 2

Bonfire night has always been quite special for me and Simon. Before the children arrived we always dragged ourselves out to the same pub in a local village and watched the fire all cosy late into the night. Now it's all about convenience, who has a cold, nap/bedtime routines, busy areas, too noisy fireworks and where can we get a toffee Apple. So in a shift from tradition we headed out on Saturday after the 5th to a village renowned for its family friendly affairs. It was good. Not only did I get a hog roast, Della got a toffee apple. There was a small soundless display (for babies) while the huge fire was lit then a band played in the back of a lorry before the proper fireworks. 

Della loved the band most. They were quite young but had a drum kit and 'three real guitars'. They somehow managed to gather a small crowd of school aged children all standing on a pallet having their tiny ear drums explode! 

Bonfire night

We celebrated 5th November twice. One small bargain bin extravaganza in our back garden and a proper organised exhibition. 

The home grown fireworks were small but impressive to small people. I was slightly concerned when the Catherine wheel spun out of control and landed in the back hedge but the damp October evening soon dampened it's spirit! 

We did this! 

Halloween

Della can remember walking the streets last year and having such good fun that she had been looking forward to the event for quite a while. 

Pumpkin carving was a family affair, we all designed a small part of it on paper and Simon cut it... 

She (surprisingly) wanted to be a skeleton. Gus joined her. 

Again we bumped into a lot of friends and Della collected quite a hoard of treats. 

Some people put a lot of effort into it this year with impressive pumpkins, pretending to have just been stabbed when answering to door (odd but loved by the kids!) and someone who made a giant spider out of bin bags and swimming noodles and stuck it on top of their car. 

New shoooes!

It's been very busy recently. Halloween, bonfire night, school discos, building work, first steps, birthday parties... It doesn't stop! 

While I update these things this is what we have been doing this weekend. 

Now Gus is a bit more mobile he needs more appropriate footwear so we hit clarks to get him kitted out. Whilst there Della stood on the magic machine which does all the measuring. Turns out we have been squeezing her in to shoes one (sometimes two) sizes too small - no wonder she has been complaining. So, they both got new shoes! 

Della went to a birthday party of a new friend yesterday. Fifth birthday parties are bonkers! There was a face painter. She was quiet after all the children had been done so I stepped up! 

In a moment of poor parenting when we were trying to get a photo, Gus handed me a hot cuppa! 

Then today it was raining, whilst we prayed that it didn't rain into the kitchen whilst it is exposed to the element but under a giant tent we headed for an indoor picnic at the railway museum. While there we bumped into two sets of friends from school, one shared our picnic table for lunch with us which was lovely 

Another trip on the steam train - with daddy this time