The Fort Family

I am really struggling to keep my blog updated at the moment, it's either a sign that we're having too much fun, I'm too tired or have lost motivation.  I'd like to think it's a combination of the first two and I will try harder during the Summer holidays - perhaps shortening my entries would help hahaha!!

Martha has now started at playgroup and seems to be enjoying it greatly (as does Lauren!).  Lauren has really settled down again now that Martha is with her, even on the 3 days that she doesn't have Martha joining her.

Last Thursday we accompanied Peter to work whilst he serviced a site in Blackpool.  We were really blessed to have wonderful weather and Martha had a great time stripping off and running full throttle into the sea!  thankfully Peter was there to ensure she didn't reach Ireland!!  Lauren had a great time playing in the sand and it was so lovely to see them enjoying the water - it makes me homesick though and really miss the luxury of living near the water.

We had a Tesco.com home delivery and I will jump up and down to say it was the best service ever - I have had such bad service in the past, this was fantastic to see such an improvement.  This was the first time in all the years I've used online grocery shopping that the driver has actually asked where I'd like it delivered and once he'd delivered it to the kitchen he even helped unpack things!!  Also, before my timeslot, I received a call from the Call Centre saying that my driver was running a bit late (by about 10 minutes) which I thought was very proactive! 

Oh dear!  It's been a looong time since my last entry.  Julie's visit with the twins have been and gone along with Martha's 2nd birthday party.  She had a wonderful time even although the teddy bears picnic had to be held indoors not due to rain itself but rather the fact that the grass was too wet for people to sit/walk on.  It was very exciting to re-configure the lounge to hold all the guests and their parents - it was like a glimpse into the hopefully not too far off future when we have our second building phase completed!!

Peter did a great job of being part party-host whilst I organised upcoming events and generally felt a lot less stressed than at our previous parties - perhaps that's the way forward!!  Everyone appeared to have a great time and left fed, smiling and eager to come back!  Martha received some wonderful gifts (thank you so much!) and we've all enjoyed playing with them.  Jan and family sent the coolest craft thing ever...Wikki Stix.  If you can imagine string dipped in all different colours of wax, then cut into 15cm/8cm lengths.  They can be used to make pictures or moulded to make models but best of all...NO MESS!!!  It's great seeing Martha being creative with no constraints!  She also received a bubble machine which the girls both love and in the couple of sunny days we've had since her birthday we've had it out.  She also received a couple of lovely (and brilliantly matching!) teasets which are used on a daily, if not hourly, basis!!

The last week has been hard work as Peter was working away again, I guess I'm lucky that he's on the other end of the phone so I can at least get virtual support when things are fraught, some people don't have that option, nevertheless I was very glad to have him back home on Friday safe and sound.

The biggest news of the last week was Martha's commencement at Playgroup.  I have decided, for the remaining couple of weeks of term, to enrol Martha on a Tuesday and Wednesday morning.  My rationale for that is she is getting two days together to get to know how it works before the long summer break.  There are going to be so many new starters in September that I think her having a slight head start will be easier not just for her but the staff as well.  On her first day she bit a ball and broke it, the second she ripped a key off the new laptop - oh dear!!  I guess that's to be expected and thankfully playgroup were really kind about it as I felt so awful.  She's never had anyone else in charge of her, giving her directions etc and I think that she's found that more difficult than I imagined she would.  I'm very pleased that Lauren is there with her, as she listens and copies everything Lauren does and Lauren in turn is very proud to be the "helpful big sister" and I've noticed such a change in Lauren this last week whilst dropping them off.  Since returning after Easter break, Lauren has been very clingy and cries each time I leave her yet as soon as I go, staff tell me that she is perfectly fine and the crying stopped instantly.  Now, even when I leave just Lauren at playgroup (Mon, Thurs & Fri) she gives me a kiss and hug declaring "I'll see you soon Mummy, have a lovely morning!"  I think this is as we had a chat about Martha seeing Lauren being sad and Martha getting upset and not wanting to stay at Playgroup - whatever, it's great to see her being back to normal.

My friend Kath came up to visit us on Monday following her long 6 week holiday in Florida.  We've all missed her a lot and it was lovely to see her and for her to join us for lunch.  She bought the girls a lovely gift each, Perfect Petzzz, Lauren has a  Shih Tzu and Martha a King Charles Spaniel, both in very cute (and robust!) carry cases (not like the cardboard cases on the site!).  They are so lifelike that even Peter was fooled when he saw them "asleep" in the hall!

Today was spent at the local Fun Day which as last year, was sadly taking place in torrential rain but the playgroup stall made over £30 doing a 50p a go "everyone a winner" game, which is great news.  We then decided to go out for dinner and we had a lovely meal whilst sheltering from the thunderstorm!

Phew!  This has been a busy and challenging week!!  My sister Julie arrived on Saturday evening with her twin girls Hollie and Hannah.  It's great to see them, the girls are growing up so fast and it's lovely to watch them play with Lauren & Martha.  They stayed for two nights before departing to head up to Edinburgh to visit our other sisters.

At approximately 2330hrs on Sunday night I had to call the Out of Hours Doctors as Lauren had developed blisters on her tongue and mouth.  Earlier that day, I noticed that Martha had a little, what I suspected to be, coldsore in the corner of her mouth.  I was told that they'd picked up a common little virus called Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (it really needs a name overhaul!).  It's quite mild compared to other childhood bugs but the girls had sore mouths for a couple of days which was relieved, much to their delight, by icepops and Calpol!

As there were no trips out of the house to playgroup, I managed to get the house fairly straight in preparation of Martha's Birthday Party on Saturday.  I had hoped that we could be outside but it looks like the weather is not going to be favourable and if it is, the ground is likely to be too wet to have a picnic.  Hopefully we can get some outside time in the woods to do the "bear hunt" though.

I have spent the last 2 days (about 5 hours) decorating Martha's birthday cake - I've uploaded the photos to the June album.

Peter's colleague and his wife are up here for a weeks holiday, staying in a self-catering cottage just outside of Pateley Bridge. They've been up to visit on a couple of evenings which has been nice as they are good company - babysitting provided, Peter & I are going out for a meal with them tonight before they head home tomorrow.

I'm pleased that my growing out fringe is getting a bit longer which means I can pin it back now - I hope I've got through the hair pain barrier!!!

We decided to move Martha from her cot into a toddler bed over the weekend and it's still not going brilliantly so far.  Last night we popped her back into her travel cot and both she and Lauren fell asleep instantly!  Today I had a brainwave!!  I asked Peter to get down one of the sides from her old cot which I placed on the floor between her new bed and the wall, she has a folding bedguard at the open side and I think the combination now means that she feels more secure.  I was overjoyed when at her morning naptime she climbed into bed and fell straight to sleep more or less (without fuss anyway!).

Tonight I held her hand for a couple of minutes and she again fell straight to sleep, I really feel like we've turned a corner!

Well Done Martha!!!!!

Peter was called out to a job in Edinburgh today and invited the girls and I along so I could spend a few hours with my sister and lovely nieces - it's been sooooo long since I've seen them all and miss them a lot.

We arrived at lunchtime and enjoyed a yummy lunch of pizzas and Mr Kipling cakes.  After an initial spell of shyness the girls (mine!) started to play with their cousins really nicely and it was lovely to see.  Jan gave them all treasure boxes and they explored the garden collecting bits and bobs for their box, Georgie and Lucy collected a wide variety of interesting things, Lauren favoured mini disco ball baubles and Martha twigs!  I was really happy to see Emily when she returned from school as Peter didn't think we would due to the job expecting to be finished quicker than it was so bad news for Peter but great news for us!!!  Unfortunately for Nigel he had toothache and came home from work early but this meant that we saw him too, albeit understandbly fleeting, poor Nigel.  It was a lovely, lovely afternoon and we all had a great time seeing Jan, Nigel and the girls and really hope that it won't be as long in future.

It's definately something I'm going to get the girls to do back home as Peter has now erected some fencing for us (thank you so much!!) meaning the girls can now play outside in the garden and be enclosed rather than wandering off into the quarry, future pond/lake, badger setts or rabbit warrens!

I've uploaded some new photos of our trip into the May album.

• Erected the new trampoline enclosure meaning the girls can bounce to their full extent without us all worrying about falling over the edge
• Peter has sadly been stung by a wasp that was hiding in a pillowcase he uses to wipe his tractor seat down with
• I've been feeling my arm and calf muscles for the first time in ages (the walking must be doing some good!)
• We've had picnics nearly everyday (well lunch outside!)
• I've spoken to the Vicar about getting the girls Christened in the Summer
• Peter has said we might get a caravan (I've never had one or stayed in a touring one but I really fancy one!)
• Decided how we can section off an area of land to use as a play area for the girls
• Sold a couple of things on eBay
• Bought a couple of things on eBay
• Made plans to see my friend Natasha and her new baby Eilidh next month
• Continued reporting for Asylumcam.com which I'm really enjoying!

• Today, I picked up the new photograph of the girls from Playgroup which has been added to the new May Album

Yuk! I spent the whole of yesterday in bed.  Thankfully Peter arrived back home on Thursday night otherwise I'm not sure how I would have coped.  It's not often that I stay in bed but I could hardly move and felt so, so bad.  Today I feel a better but still not 100% but there is a bonus, I've managed to lose over 5lbs!!  Big thank you to my friend Julie who took Lauren to her ballet class!

My morning was also brightened when the postman delivered my new freebie jute shopping bag from Which? in support of their Kid's Food Campaign.  I can't wait to use it to collect my fresh fruit and veg (plus it's got properly padded handles so is really comfortable and strong!).

The last fortnight has been a bit of a blur. We seem to have done loads of things but when and exactly what I am not 100% sure of!!

Last week we spent a lot of time outdoors doing jobs like felling trees and cleaning vehicles.  This week has been hard as Peter has been away all week again, however the girls have been behaving themselves which has made it a lot more pleasant.

Today we had a lovely morning with my friend Natalie and her son Zak (he's a few months younger than Martha).  We met up at Hesketh Farm Park and although the weather was drizzly, it was mild with little wind.  The first big event of the morning was feeding the lambs.  Everyone sat in a square on hay bales armed with feeding bottles.  The staff had advised us that the lambs come rushing out so don't get a fright.  When they opened the pen, true to their word, they came flying out and about 4 made a beeline for us as we were sat right opposite the pen!  Lauren and Martha were really calm and didn't get scared at all, Martha actually started going to them (she was so excited!), Lauren just followed the instructions as to how to feed them and got on with it giggling all the time.  After feeding was over (about 1 minute!)Martha helped collect all the bottles from everyone in the group and put them away (she's very tidy!) and then tried to pick a lamb up!  Afterwards, we saw some pigs and to Lauren's delight piglets which were gorgeous.  We then went to see some guinea pigs and rabbits and again the girls enjoyed holding and stroking them all.  There were lovely chicks that made them both laugh and tadpoles which I haven't seen for years.  We then went outside again and saw the donkeys, goats and more lambs.  They had a chicken run and Lauren & I went to collect eggs whilst Martha played on some ride-on tractors with Natalie and Zak.  Peter has been talking about getting some hens and I think if they had the set-up here that they had at the Farm, I'd be happy to have them, I just don't want too many as I know that I'd end up looking after them all the time, it would be nice to have some fresh eggs though and I could even sell some at the end of the lane (our main road lane is one of the few that doesn't have eggs for sale along it, so it might be an opportunity!!).  After lunch, we played for a bit longer and as both Martha and Zak were getting tired we decided to go home.  The girls bought a mask each, Martha a sheep, Lauren a cow (she's not taken it off very much!).

Tonight I spent the evening sewing elastic onto Lauren's ballet shoes which took me longer than the 10 minutes I thought it would!!

I watched The Apprentice and was annoyed when Claire was in the winning team, I wanted her to go this week, she just seems (or at least is edited to appear so) so vindictive and smug grrrrr!

I've updated the April Photo Album finally!