WELCOME HOME!!!

They weary travelers have returned!!!! Let me set the scene;

I get a phone call ..
Patrick-- Monica, we are aroungthe corner, can you have the door open and the door to the bathroom open, toilet seat up?#

Me- uhhh .. yeah...

Patrick- we are pulling up now

Me- (fade in) so excited to see my kiddos.... and ready to sweep them into my arms for a bone crushing, gut jarring hugg....... in anticipation...

Car doors open.... Adam looks at me fro the back window with such an intense look, his face contorted in........

Me-- come on guys get out.... I MISSED YOU...

Patrick-- he can't, child locks, (he opens the door for Adam), quick quick.. go..

Me- Arms open outward.. i kneel down (imaginge the slow motion moment when a runner reaches the finish line...) and thenn....

Adam zooms past me... no word, no look, no NOTHING... right into the toilet......and does a big wee...

Adam-- Sorry mum... I was desperate... I already filled my bottle!

Cut to Carys, coming out of the car.... she won't even look at me.....

Silly mummy.. I stood there and cried!! Seriously, tears rolling down my cheeks because my kids didn't miss me.... I am such a saaaaaaaaadddddddddddoooooooo!

It's okay.. I 've got grip now!!!

here i a video of carrots and adam and the ducks

Camp News---- and mad idea # 610

Camp News


Campers are having a whale of a time. Camper Carys was bitten by ANOTHER wasp this morning..... wheras the other kids have the sense to RUN AWAY from them she picks up her hand and swipes them. Camper Adam desserted base camp last night and joined the neighbours campfire as they had marshmallows!!! Pauline and the kids arrived to join in the fun yesterday and they are at this moment and time eating pizza at pizza hut in Banbury... now why they abandoned one pot cooking over a stove for mouthwatering cheesy pizza I'll never know!


Mad idea #610

I have finally accepted that we are inthis house till we go to NM .. so that means true suburbia! ...no animals, no treehouses in the backyard and we'll always have nosy neighbours! I still refuse to compromise on the outdoor life for the kids but know it is insanely expensive and so out of our price range to buy a small holding. So...... I have been toying with the idea to buy some woodland instead. I have been doign some research and have found we can buy some woodland for a reasonable amount, clear a bit of it for a little camping outpost and then use the rest as an outdoor playground for the kids to explore. It will be a home away from home a weekend retreat when there is good weather to be had. There are strict rules about it though, its kind of like you buy the land but you cannot 'do' anything to it. Its to conserve what woodland there is left.... i.e we would never be able to build a cabin or anything permanent on it. We'd even have to apply for permission to erect a shed to leave camping stuff out there. This would mean no toilet... no trash facilities... no running water... etc.. you cart out what you cart in, no fences... But it would be our own place to escape. Now I only have to sell the idea to Patrick!

Still no sign of K so no camping for me.... patrick is still surviving but has expressed to me on the phone that he is stressed out from the constant Can i have... from Adam and Carys' histrionics when she doesn't get her own way.

This is great torture for men... let them look after the kids in a strange place with no electricity, basic toilet facilities, no TV, little toys and the contents of a cookout kitchen.. hehehehehe.

catch up day

Dear family,


Lots has happened since Carys birthday....

1. Carys' brand new water table sprung a leak and EMPTIED gallons and gallons of water all ove the living room floor!!!! (Carys actually pulled the plug at the bottom of the table and let it all out!)

2. Adam went to Tennis camp last week and had a fab time

3. Adam's tennis coach said he has real talent and should be playing at least twice a week ( he sounded really genuine like... but with a name like Medric who knows.. he may just be tryign to get more of my money! He will call us to arrange lessons for Adams ability)

4. My ghusband and kids took off camping last Friday without me.. :-( ( seriously missingthemnow... but I don not begrudge Daddy this time at all!! I have NEVER left the two of them for this long!!!)

5. I was supposed to go and join them camping today but due to circumstancess (yeah those involving a certain someone whose name begins with a K ends with a N and is 16 years old) I am unable to go.

6. Carys was stung by a wasp yesterday at camp.. daddy eing the prepared boyscout that he is did not have any sting relief, insect repellant or a first aid kit. However, I was assured that alot of cuddles , kisses, and loving put her to right after 10 minutes. She is now terrified of the buggers! Patrick says the campsite is full of them for some reason.

7. Nibbly Nim got stuck in his excersise wheel and I had to extricate him from certain peril on the threat (from Adam) that should anything happen to his hamster while he is away he will never ever ever trust me with his things again!

8. Went out an bought Adams school uniform today.. I think he's grwon at least a millimeter so he is now in size 5's. YIPEEEE.
9. Carys had an appointment with her dermatologist last Friday, everything is progressing nicely (i.e. her JXG is still just confined to her skin, it is not causing any symptoms , and not bothering her ) so they are leaving it alone, and we will go see him next summer. She has a referral for her eyes to be checked so he will write to the opthamologist to make sure they look out for anything JXGwise in her eyes.

10. Off to bed now.....

Love you, miss you, thinking of you, goodnight and god bless

Happy Birthday !!!!

Happy Birthday to CARYS!!!!! Carys is now 2 years old! We had a party for her yesterday because that is the day all her friends usually meet up anyway. It rained! So the bouncy castle I spent ages patching ( its been inthe shed forever!) and blowing up was pretty much useless. The kids played inside and the house ended up looking like it was smack dba in the middle of tornado alley! The kids had fun, played pass the parcel, and we had an egg and spoon race (they didn't quite get the hang of the race though). All in all a good afternoon!

Clean up time: Adam helping to tidy...

Balloons!!!

Here are pictures of the cake ... Carys kept saying HAPPY HAPPY..... she knew what to do beacuse we blew out candles last night on Patricks Cheescake!

Paying with her new toys...water and sand table and a farm..

Shhhhhh!!!

Good Morning (sunday early am here):::: I got up early to do some jobs before I wake the kids up. we are going off to church this morning. Carys has always been a very good girl in church, staying quiet mostly, and not running around too much. However, since she found her voice she loves to play 'peekaboo' behind the pew, loves to sing (this is too cute) and fight loudlywith her brother. On Thursday we went to morning mass and not many people go, those who do go are of the 'blue rinse' variety ( over 70's) and here I am with my two little ones. Adam spent nearly the entire mass antagonising his sister and she spent the entire mass, laughing, peekabooing and screaming. I somehow doubt that they wanted this kind of 'music' as their church choir for the morning. Needless to say we vacated pretty quickly once the final prayer was said!

I'll let you know how this morning pans out.

Happy Birthday to my DAD

Happy Birthday DAD!



FACEs of TATA



Gruff .. grizzly....giant...gentle....silly....ummm inebriated...



Love you DAD



Have a happy birthday!



from Adam:.. have a lovely birthday

me: Adam .. what do you like about TATA?
Adam: i don't know reallyy... but i like alot of things.
Me : like what..
Adam: I don't really remember, but there are a lot of things, or I wouldn't say it, ALOT!

this was ready to post yesterday but I was waiting for adam to elaborate on his reponses.... I'm still waiting.. I could be here till next year... so I am posting this instead today....

Mon Ca

I am sitting here completely distraught! My little baby girl REFUSES to acknowledge that I am her mother! What started off as a little fun at Nana and Tatas house has escalated into a full scale battle of wills. Hearing everyone, bar her brother, calling me Monica, Carys started to call me "Mon Ca". If I hesitated to answering her calls of " Mom, mom, mum, mum , mummy etc" ... she would revert to "Mon Ca, Mon CA Mon Ca". At which we would all titter and I would of course jump to do her bidding. As a result I /we have created a monster. For two days now Carys will NOT call me anything other than Mon Ca. I say.." no say Mom", Carys gets that cheeky grin and emphatically shakes her head 'NO'! What do I do?

Adam is off to the doctor today with his little wee sample. he thought it was hilarious to actually get permission to pee in a little bottle! Mind all men do.. don't they?? However for us women it is different story all together! Anyway, Adam is going off with his wee sample to make sure there are no underlying infections to explain his prevalence to pee ALL THE TIME. I know there's not; he is merely afflicted with the same malady as the rest of the males in my family, an itty bitty teeny weensy bladder that holds maybe a thimble full of wee at a time. But hey... what do mothers know???

The purpose of the above is to get Adam a referral to the urinesis clinic... to work on the bed wetting.

Nibbly Nim

INTRODUCING..... newest family member... NIBBLY NIM! Hamster extraordinaire!

Adam has a hamster. His furry pal was chosen form the pet shop last Thursday, he was the only one they had left and is a bit deformed (we think... however we have not passed this assumption on to Adam).. he deserved a home poor little guy... so he has been given a palace to roam around in. Adam is over the moon. Every night we hear the peal sof laughter as Nibbly does one dramatic trick after the other. I have to admit I am sick of hearing "quick quick you have to see hwat he's doing, QUICK!" But it is giving him alot of joy. Nibbly has been out a few times but I am really paranoid about the poop situation.. I wonder if I can fashion a hamster diaper? As a result of my paranoia nibbly is only allowed out downstairs on the laminate floor, his littel gifts can be ea sily identified, swiftly removed, and the floor promptly disinfected! This coming from a po'dunk Moriarty New Mexico gal who grew up with a plethora of animals and a heck of a lot more poop to deal with than this little 'ole hamster!

My house survived 3 weeks of Kieran and Patrick... although patrick did build a gate for the back garden and go to the dump countless times to get rid of the 'stuff' we had out there.

Carys is just settling into her old routine of waking up a tthe crack of dawn, noontime sleep and then goign to bed about 8 pm. Adam is living it up running amok in the neighbourhood with his mates.

Weather is just as jolly as ever, peeing down with rain. Carys and I walked to the post box at the end of the road last night and she splashed throuh each and every puddle there and back. Kieran kindly offered to peel potatoes for dinner as we are beginnign to work on his cooking skills.

Postd my dad's birthday card off yesterday. Dad is just about the only person who will get on this year. i am sooo rubbish about posting cards. i tend to e-card which is not as nice.. but I am goign to try to do it the oldfashioned way from now on.

Went to Wales camping and got rained on. Enough of that for now... gotta go as it's "time for lunch" accordign to Adam. Pictures of camping in Porthmadog, Wales (pronounced port maddock) by the sea.

Home Sweet Home

We are home-ish (in the Uk but at in-laws not my home!). We had a very long but relatively uneventful flight home. Very tired right now. The kids are just bouncing up the walls right now, never mind that it is 10 pm and they should be in bed. It was really hard saying goodbye this time. Adam had such fun wi s cousin Dean. I had a really good time with him as well. It's awful that we can only see them for such a short period and then thats that. We only had Nina Cessie for a few days too.. and they went by sooo quick. Why can't the world slooooowwwww down the weeks I am here so that each day feels like so many more! I guess I am lucky that my family make every effort to see us while we are there. I try not to think of the what if's.... what if we lived closer .. what if we won the lottery .. what if .. what if.. what if.. It is hard to be thankful for what you do have without wanting more. Live simply.....it's really tough. Lots of pictures to come....