All in a day's work.

Well, who'd have thought it...it seems I bought a new car today! I say new and I mean new to us, I say bought and I mean paid a deposit. I now have 4 weeks to find the balance.
It is more money than I knew I could find but I do know I can find it, it will mean tightening our belts and living on the food we have in the pantry. It will mean that I will be saying 'no' for a few weeks to things that I usually don't have to think about.
I like doing this, it is great for me to have a challenge, I know I can do this and when it is done and we have our new car outside our house and it is paid, in full, I know I will feel enormous satisfaction.
It's a Chrysler Voyager, in a very pleasing Aubergine colour.



I have listed the old car on Ebay, do you want to see what I wrote?

I wrote this...

I am listing this car with tears in my eyes and a heavy heart, what a lovely shiny car, starts first time, even when it snows.

I have loved this car and treated it well, I clean it and tell it often how thrilled I am with it as it ferries my children and me from A to B. Because I love it and am a kind owner I booked it in for a full service, before I booked it in, I even googled what to expect from a full service and I recommend should YOU google this, you not omit the word 'Car' when asking what to expect from a full CAR service, not adding that word may well result in you throwing your hands up in horror and exclaiming OH!!! Oh NO!!! I didn't mean THAT kind of service QUICK! QUICK get RID OF THAT PAGE!"

See? See how kind I am?

Anyway, I booked this lovely, clean, slightly scratched from narrow hedgerow roads and children with scooters and no cares in the world, in for it's full CAR service, telling the mechanic to treat it well and make sure he gives it whatever it needs to make it feel loved and happy to carry on ferrying me and my ungrateful children from pillar to post.

2 hours after leaving this lovely, well loved car with well instructed mechanics, I received a phone call to tell me that this car is very broken. How so? I enquired. It is shiny and clean and has an engine that looks hardly used, how is it very broken?

He began to list the things that render this car broken and I believed him.

The engine is great, the car body is great, unfortunately pretty much everything that holds the great engine in the great car body is broken.

I remember him listing the engine mounts, gear box mounts, steering mounts ( or was that column, my brain was beginning to freeze in horror by this time) the CV joint is split or cracked or whatever that thing does and has leaked grease where grease does not belong. The Wheel bearings are something, who knows, whatever they are it wasn't good, broken would probably describe it well enough.

He also told me that one of the tyres is terrible and dangerous and the brakes, well they are awful too and I am pretty sure it wasn't just the shoes ( shoes? Do brakes have shoes? ) well they are shot and he said the back brakes are leaking so I ought to be careful when driving this shiny car home.

The drivers window doesn't work either, it needs a new regulator and I already knew that but didn't care, I was looking out for a 2nd hand one, now I am GLAD I didn't fix it because look at how this car repays me for being so kind to it, serves it right if it has a broken window regulator.

So, here we have a shiny car, with scratches and a lovely clean working engine that has to go. I have to admit that I feel quite cross as I watch my neighbour in his scruffy old car that makes noises MY car would never dream of making, drive off in his still working car while my nicer looking than HIS old car sits laughing at me outside the house as I walk everywhere I need to go, in the rain.

I know that there are many mechanically minded people out there who will see my car and be EXCITED because HOORAY they can FIX IT or use it to fix cars just like it, so I am posting it in the hope that just one such clever person will see it and take it away and give me money for it towards a new car that will both look nice and work.

I am putting a reserve in it only to make myself feel better, I cannot just give the good bits of the car away and neither can I, ( literally,I actually can't,) take it apart and sell all the great bits that work so beautifully for what they are worth. Be kind to me as you bid and I will be happy to let you take my lovely car away and will try very hard not to throw myself on the road and cry as you take it away.

That got me some interest and a phone call from someone asking me if he could come and see the car, then he didn't show up, which annoys me so much, why can't people call and say they can't make it after all, so then, I wrote this....

just had a thought, that happens sometimes, I try to make the most of thoughts while they are still in my head, before they fizzle out and disappear along with my childrens' names and my postcode etc.

May I just say that if you bid and win this splendid broken car, I expect you to pay for it and take it away promptly, within 3 days. I once had someone click 'buy it now' on a car I was selling and then he never turned up, stopped anyone else bidding, cost me £30 listing fee and vanished, if I could remember his name I would probably name and shame him but I forget, which isn't surprising because if anyone asks me where I live I am oft found muttering and saying things like " Oh, hmmm, up that really steep hill"

Don't worry though because my husband has the memory of an elephant so when the time comes I will be sure to ask him what our address is and he will make sure you come to the right place.

You are more than welcome to come and view the car but if you say you are coming and then you are late, or don't turn up I tend to become very grumpy. If I can be on time for things and have the good manners to do what I say I will do, and I have SIX children then I am perfectly within my rights to expect the same from you. ( hang on a moment while I check my emails to make sure that man who said he would be here an hour and 12 minutes ago hasn't emailed me to say he can't make it....nope, no such apologetic email although there are 12 stupid forward emails from my ex husband, though why he thinks I am at all interested in those would be a whole other topic of conversation....) Oh LOOK! Am grumpy! How rude!

So, only bid if you really want this car and if you ask to come and see it, please do, or let me know that you can't make it, it's only polite after all and as Miss Crump always said " manners maketh man" I have found, as I get older, that good old Miss Crump, domestic science teacher of 1975 was rarely mistaken.

The bidding has already hit the reserve ( which was pitifully low) and there are 32 people watching it, the auction ends on monday afternoon, I forget how exciting it is to sell something on ebay. I enjoy that thrill but I am a humble soul and so easily pleased!

I have had another man come and check out the old car and he loved it, didn't seem phased by the repairs that need doing and wanted to buy it there and then, 2 bids had already been made on ebay though so he has to bid with the rest of them and take his chances. Oh I hope I get a good amount for it that will go towards the new car.
I am so excited that we have found a 7 seater car again. I know it will cost more to run, I will have to curb the trips I make but I love that we can fit a car seat for Joshua and when we go out Mel and Josh can come too, Mel gets so lonely when Jordan is at work so it will be great that they can come out when we go anywhere.

I have been aware of how lucky we are, I know that these things come along and it is always such a blow but for us it is an irritant and a temporary hiccup, we live in such a way that we can usually manage to sort ourselves out in a few weeks.
I love that H is as determined as I am that we don't borrow large amounts of money, that we love by the thought that is we can't afford to buy something, we can't afford to have it. There is nothing worse to me that having something and still find yourself paying for it long after the novelty has worn off.
I like that we have a great store cupboard so that when something like this happens, we can live on that food and avoid having to shop.
I love that I am a squirreler, I syphon money into various different places and earmark it for various things, I put all my change every day into a huge bottle and when we emptied that yesterday there was £258 on it! I have been putting money on a gift card for Asda and when I checked yesterday there was £100 on that.
I have rewards on various store cards and when I went to pick up some bottled water and toilet paper today I only had to pay 80p!
I already have all the stuff for the Easter baskets so no worries about that.
I always feel sick when I am about to make a major purchase and today I had to laugh when I went to see the car with my sister and called H, he told me to just go ahead and buy the car if I liked it. I can't buy a chest of drawers without H making sure it is 'right' he has such definite thoughts on things but a car? Meh, get what you like! He is so eccentric and unpredictable at times!
I panic when I sign on that dotted line and am immediately filled with every kind of worry and 'what if' I am getting better at telling myself that worrying before there is anything to actually worry about is a waste of energy, sometimes it works, sometimes, not.
Before I went to see the car I read every review I could find on it ( all pretty great!) I worked out how much more it would cost to run, I did bank checks and rechecked what money we have and what is coming and so I know that we can do it but as soon as I handed over that big, non refundable deposit my stomach lurched.
Oh but it's a pretty looking car! ( it doesn't smell as good as the broken one though, bother!)
I am so excited about the space, the leg room the fact that each boy gets his own seat and they won't be touching when they are in the car, no more elbowing and bickering if they are in the car longer than 15 minutes ( although the bickering might continue, my memory tells me that it is further away, diluted and considerably less annoying!)
I loved my recently dead car, I never failed to feel happy when I went out in it, I hope I will feel as thrilled with the new one.
I'm not sure I have the best luck with cars, seems I write about cars dying and having to be replaced more often than I would like but I suppose that comes with buying older cars, you can't have it all ways can you?
So, here was go again, old car leaving, new car on the horizon. Lucky me.

My car died today, not just oh dear, that's a nuisance will need to get that fixed, oh no, not just that way. It has been 'off' for a while, the gear box moves when I accelerate, there has been a droning noise that could no longer be drowned out by Heart FM. The brakes were grinding and that worried me enough to think that perhaps I should get that checked out, so I squirrelled some money away, took a deep breath and today I put it in the garage f or a service, I thought I would give it a real treat as it has been such a splendid car and even though we have had it for 18 months or more I still feel happy when I return to it after shopping. It has been a great car and caused me no trouble, it starts first time, even in the freezing winter temperatures. I pat it often and tell it I am pleased with it and so, because I like it I was going to let it have all new filters and fluids, new brakes and make it feel all beloved.
It was with the mechanics for 2 hours when they called and told me, forgive me for not remembering everything they said, that the following problems were evident.
Engine mounts ...stuffed, broken, dangerous.
Gearbox mounts...as above.
Wheel bearings ( all) knackered.
1 tyre was split and very dangerous.
Cylinders, all shot and gone to hell.
CV joint split, dead, leaking, hopelessly gone.
Steering mount, buggered.
I stopped him there with a feeble " That's not good is it? As in no point carrying on "
Then he told me that it would cost considerably more than a replacement car.
Oh.
I cried, for an acceptable length of time, perhaps 10 minutes because after all, it is a car, a lump of metal, an inanimate object. It is my inanimate object though and it offers me such freedom. I loved that it was paid for and non worrisome, I never had to wonder where a payment was coming from and I like that in a car.
I do dream of a jazzy auto and will admit to more than a fleeting stab of envy when my uncle showed me his brand spanking new 7 seater, that he drives around with 2 of the seats removed. I would love to own a shiny car with leather smell and impressive extras but deep down, I like paid for much more.
I live in a place with narrow, bendy roads, more often than not I am shoved into a hedgerow by some road hog in a bigger, smarter car and the sides of my cars get scratched, I see those scratches and will tut and sigh and then shrug my shoulders because, hey it's 10 years old, it starts every time, it makes me happy and it's paid for, so what?
I have to park my car right up to the wall and every day little boys rush past with their scooters or bikes and more often than not they scrape the car. A new car would have me neurotic and shaking every time the possibility of a scratch or a ding, life is just too short to worry about lumps of metal that can't be scraped up a bit.
So, not a new car for me, no payments because even if anyone would give me credit I would just end up hating the car if it came to worrying about how to pay for it. So I need to find one that I can afford, that is economical to run and that I will smile at when I return with a full trolley of shopping.
That's a pretty tall order when you see my bank balance and look at the cars available. I think it might take a while, not a long while but a while nonetheless.
I don't think it will hurt me, walking is a good form of exercise, one that I hate must be said but I can do it and I expect I will save lots of money because there is no way I am stomping up this hill with bags of shopping, no way at all. I shall pick up what we need or H will go, my friend has chickens and she delivers glorious free range eggs and this very evening is bringing organic sausages and pork chops from her very own reared pig.
All the supermarkets deliver if you shop online.
The hardest part for me will be walking to pick the boys up every day, no sitting in my car reading magazines, but walking, up hills and down dales in all weathers, standing at the gate until they open and then waiting for the boys and following behind wheezing "WAIT!" while they shoot ahead on scooters. I won't like that and I'm not going to pretend I will!
I am always amazed at the things I see and hear when I walk somewhere. Walking behind a lady wearing corduroy trousers and hearing that 'zipp' noise.
Walking behind a young man and wondering how he would react if I stopped him to tell him he really ought to get some sturdy walking shoes because those flimsy canvas ones are damaging his ankles with every step.
I see houses I didn't know existed, hear all manner of conversation as people speak with loud voices, oblivious to everyone around them.
It has been glorious weather here lately, of course, today, as soon as I got that phone call the heavens opened and haven't closed yet, rain and more rain. Isn't that just sod's law?
I am sad that my lovely car is no more and I am a little puzzled about what to do with it, the engine is great, the mechanic told me, it still looks new in fact and works like a charm. it's the stuff that's meant to be holding it in that's useless. I hate to just scrap it, surely someone could make use of the beautiful engine and the splendid seats and such. This is when you need someone 'in the know' Someone who could say ' Take it here! ' they will help you.
Fat lot of hood it is having all these sons and all they can do is cook ..I know how to cook, why didn't they learn mechanics and manly pursuits like that?
Bloody chefs indeed.
Jordan cooked dinner for 157 mothers on mother's day and let me tell you not one of them was ME... blasted ingrate.
I am surprisingly calm about the whole thing, maybe at last I am learning the art of thinking that if there is nothing I can do about it there is no point fretting about it. That would be lovely and not before time.
I hope that when we can get another car I can get a 7 seater so that Joshua can come with us when we go out, if we can't, oh well.
I am feeling lucky that for me, it is the worry of how to buy a car while others are worrying about how they will pay for the roof over their heads, where the next meal is coming from and some are dealing with real life or death worries. My troubles are blissfully small and I am sure that given a little time we will have a car that will do for us what we need it to do.
Ask me how I feel when I have had to walk everywhere for 3 weeks.
OOOOOH Isaac's friend was here for tea, his mum came to get him and said that her husband is in the auto trade and she's pretty sure she can find someone that will buy the car for parts etc...that's be great, anything towards a new one will be helpful. Still sad at the thought that it will be stripped down and it's poor useless carcass crushed. But I'll get over it.

Just as it seemed I had it in the bag!

Bad morning, dreadful morning even.
Isaac is having a hard time about the move, he can't go to sleep, can't wake up, can't stop telling me what he likes about this house. ( count to 10, 10 times, an hour) I understand, I really do, it's tough on all of us and for him, this is just horrendous.
I forget sometimes that he thinks very literally, I forget a lot of things lately. On friday, after meltdown 647, he said " I don't feel well, can I stay home from school tomorrow?"
" Why yes," I said " In fact, you can stay home for TWO days" ( ha ha, clever me!)
" Two days? I can stay home for two days? "
I convinced him I meant it and he was happy, even when he realised that it was friday and what a hoot! No school anyway.
Until this morning, because I lied, I said he could stay home for two days, I didn't say he could stay away from school for 2 days, I said he could stay home, and yesterday he went to church.
Oh. Bugger.
He might only weigh 46 lbs, he may only be 6, he might only come up to my chest but this kid is stubborn. He means it when he sticks to something that he is promised.
He wouldn't get dressed ( What do you MEAN he wouldn't ?? He's SIX ...MAKE HIM!) he is incredibly strong and he stood, arms gripped so tightly by his sides, head seized in one position, legs locked at the knee. He wouldn't eat, he needs food, if he is hungry he is awful, as bad as his daddy. He wouldn't drink. Just stood, staring and saying over and over and over " you said two days, you said I could stay home two days, I went to church, that is not staying home I am staying home two days, today is the two days"
( count, woman count, your head won't really explode, count..1.2.3.4.5.5. what comes after 5? dear Lord,please help me not throw him out the window!!! )
Eventually and only just in time but actually a bit late because there are roadworks and we are going to be late and if we get there and the gates are already open the SKY WILL FALL DOWN BECAUSE THE GATE IS OPEN AND WE HAVE TO GET THERE BEFORE THE GATE OPENS! Open the car door, ack Isaac's door won't open, seat belt is caught in door, won't open and won't shut and " ISAAC, kick the door from the inside! KICK it, as hard as you are mad, give it hell boy, just kick it open!"
"no"
Seth kicked it, I wish I could have kicked it, preferably with someones head in between but Seth did it, hoorah, is open, get in QUICK!
Nothing. Dead car. Not even a Click. not even a click.
Trying to be like Jesus or not, that deserved a swear and it got one, bloody arsehole piece of crap, so much for bargain freecycle my arse.....damn thing.
Isaac is HAPPY! This is fun! This means the BUS.....what could possibly be miserable about a bus ride on monday morning? Who wants to stay at home when you can go to school on a BUS?
£72. Battery. Not the alternator, thankfully, the battery has been a bit pathetic from day one and when lovely man from the RAC arrived ( yeay for £18 a month for breakdown coverage that includes at home start, clever me) he took great care to show me the numbers, 1.2 V after he charged it...LOOK when you open the door it goes down! Tut, look what happens when you turn the radio on..but never fear the alternator is charging it so that's good, just replace the battery, they'll fit it at Halfords for you lovey, you got one just down the road there, they'll see you alright"
Went to Halfords. Left car running ( am quite knowledgeable about these things, old crapheap car taught me stuff) ran in and enquired about battery and would they fit it? Young man came out with me and checked the battery, " no problem, you can turn it off now, we'll fit one of those no problem" You know what's coming don't you? Yes, he COULD fit one, no problem, IF THEY HAD ONE, which they didn't.
Kwik Fit did, and they fitted it relatively Kwikly too. £72.
Why this week? WHY THIS WEEK? Next week, I would have had the money, next week we wouldn't need the car. This week I thought I just about had the £1470.50 we have to hand over to the agency for the new house.
Now we don't. Despite eating the most revolting concoctions from the freezer, despite freezing and turning off the heating every chance we get to save on gas, despite....oh all of it. Still need a bit more. If you're tired of hearing about it, I am truly tired of thinking about it.
The tenancy agreement arrived this morning, which made me happy because it really means that we have the house, our names all officially typed on it and all. Also typed is that figure £1470.50. SO much money, worth it ( apart from the darned fees, £70.50 for the tenancy agreement, tell me how those 5 pages are worth £70.50. £141 for the search fees. What did they search? I gave them copies of all our income, they didn't get a reference from money keeping landlady who does no repairs......ptttttttttth) I shan't mind a jot NEXT week when we are in the house and can breathe a sigh of relief, this week though, it's all a bit much for me.
More boxes packed though, freezer is all cleared and kitchen is 1/3 done.

When I collected Isaac from school, I saw he had a sticker and commented on how he must have been a bit nicer at school than he had been at home in order to earn a sticker, he got it because he got 100 out of 100 in his RM math today. Clever boy! He was delightful this evening, he is having trouble going to bed and he needs his sleep as much as he needs to eat at the right times. He's having a really rough time of it lately. I hope I can be more understanding tomorrow.
Sometimes it's just hard to remember how hard this is for him.

Farewell my trusted friend.

Amazing how we can become all wistful and winsome about something when you don't need it anymore, isn't it?


Our dear old car ( previously known as the crap heap) left today, on the back of a trailer, where she is going to be fixed up and sold on. I will admit to feeling a bit of a lump in my throat as I watched it being driven across the road to the trailer.



We waited until it was loaded onto the trailer and then I couldn't watch anymore.

( look at dear old boy in track pants.....salt of the earth, same man who did all the work and brought us shiny black car bought crappy old car, hoorah! he wasn't the man that freecycled it though)

That old car has served us well ( and cost us a fortune!) it has moved house for us FOUR times, carried sofas and fridge/ freezers, people and more people, it has dumped garden waste, carried gravel and somehow managed to get us from A to B and back again with remarkable reliability.
It will be missed by many because we have been the picker uppers in the family. We have collected bed and carpets and all manner of bulky and useful things for many people.
I am still in awe that we got the new freda freecycle car right before the old one died it's timely death. I put £15 petrol in the new one and having done 35 miles the gauge seems to hardly have moved, with the old one we'd be on empty by now. Glorious.
Isaac is in full door mode, poor little git, he is almost exhausted by this compulsion to open and close doors, he was just beginning to feel more relaxed with mum's car and now has to start all over again, as if that wasn't bad enough, he has to contend with the radio ( turn it on, turn it up, turn it off, turn it back on, open the door, close it, climb through, oooooh electric window must open it, shut it, open it, turn the radio UP please, check that door is locked, open, shut, ARGH!!!!!!!) I was close to nervous breakdown and was biting my tongue, til his little voice said " I actually can't help having to open the doors but I am nearly used to them" It was then I realised that he truly cannot help having to do it. I remember when we first moved into the lovely town house he was a door slammer, and when we went to stay in the caravan he hardly had time for fun at ALL with all those new doors to open and shut.
So, we have a lovely big driveway with just the one mid sized car. Happy me.
Just to make sure we're not TOO sad about the old car going, the new one smells of wet dogs. Wouldn't you know it. It needs a good airing and scrub through, we cleaned it and shined it but it has been sitting for months with nobody loving it and opening the windows ( ISAAC! We NEED you!)
We shall spoil it when we get home, it will sit outside Uncle Barry's house, while we are home, getting a complex and asking itself WHY? Why does everyone leave me? Why do I get dumped outside and ignored, where is that little boy that so promisingly opened and shut my doors and windows and clapped his hands with glee at my radio? Where is that lady that told everyone how shiny I am? What did I do wrong?
And then we will come home and it will be so happy it will run like a dream and keep itself shiny, even make itself smell fresh and clean and ne'er a whiff of wet dog shall ever be detected.
The End.

Coincidence? Or not, I think.

So, we went to see the 'new' car, came home, the old car died. I called the R.A.C and this morning they told me that it REALLY died. Head gasket died, huge clouds of smoke, so huge in fact that the police came by to make sure it wasn't our house. Yikes.
Can you imagine just how freaked I would be if it weren't for the other car? I can. I am a bit floaty and happy that this isn't a huge deal, in fact I already sold the dead car, for parts, for just enough to pay for the new one, the MOT and the tax etc. Sometimes blessings are just so obvious you can't help but state that's just what it is. Not a coincidence at all.
I wanted to free cycle the old car but we need every penny we can get hold of for our trip in 2 WEEKS! We still have to book transport to the airport ( £120) we will leave here at 1am, arrive at the airport at 5.30am, flight is at 11am.....10 hour flight. Then it would seem I am expected to pick up a hire car and drive us to the hotel, in LA, after all that travelling. Oh yeah, I think that'll happen. Not.
I can imagine driving when I have chilled for a day or 3, rested up, remembered how the whole traffic thing works but after a journey like the one we are facing, nope, oh no, absolutely not thankyou.
I found a shuttle, we'll do that. If grandpa mentions it again I will ask him how he would feel if he had to fly HERE and then drive.....he is so funny, whenever he comes over he sits in the car and all I can hear is " JEEZ! This is a one way street, right?"
"no, we're going to meet other cars and big old trucks and.."
"SHIT! Oh my .....HELEN! JEEZ!"
I absolutely LOVE driving around the roundabouts with him in the car, especially if he is in the front of the car, he's sitting right where he sits to drive and seeing cars come RIGHT AT HIM.....4 times he's been here and he hasn't got used to it yet!
I feel like that about driving in LA...have you done that? Those people are INSANE! And TWELVE LANES of traffic? Hells teeth, our biggest, most enormous roads have 4 lanes. FOUR on a motorway. Going to the local store there are at least 8 lanes. Makes me shudder just thinking about it.
Did I go off on a tangent?? I think I did, not that doing that is a regular thing at all, my skin is horrible right now, welts and that painful itch. Not as bad but if it weren't for the meds I think it would be, it's trying it's darndest to fight through the medicine.
Oh...mum lent us her car, we have gone from the sublime to the ridiculous. It is minier than a mini. No kidding, we pulled up behind a min on the way to school and had to look up at it! I am so used to looking down on cars, it feels like my arse is dragging on the floor!
I am so grateful to have this tiny car though. It is definitely too small for us though, we sat outside school with the boys and I thought I would go quite mad. Isaac must have pulled my hair 17 times, H had 2 umbrellas in between his legs.....that feeling of claustrophobia was unbearable.
I am such a girlie about driving. I like my car, I am good at driving my car....sit me in a different one and I am a twit. Mums car is back to front, indicators on the opposite side, wipers on the wrong side. If I wear my crocs, the footspace is so tiny my feet don't fit! The wipers are like little toy ones ( but they don't screech....heaven, quiet wiper blades, mine SCREECH, then they CRACK, screech crack, scream, clunk.
Mums car doesn't have power steering so you turn...and keep going straight unless you TURN that baby. The accelerator is stiff, so you push down and go nowhere and then a bit more ZOOM, my brakes stop by touching them..mums have to be STAMPED on. WE must have looked a sight as we drove away for the first time, zooming and stopping and jumping along.
The great thing is, when we pick up the new car it is going to feel ENORMOUS!
Seth looked at the two cars side by side today and said " HA! Our car gave birth to gramma's little car, I think it pushed it out of it's exhaustion pipe"
I am, from now on, going to call my vagina my exhaustion pipe, there can be no more fitting name for it, forget 'tuppence', never mind 'Vajajay', 'hoo-hah' makes me laugh, exhaustion pipe is perfect.
My favourite time with Seth is his bedtime, the only time he lets his tough guy imagine down, he loves me to lie with him and kiss his face to bits, stroke his face and just chat for a while.
He went to bed tonight and I noticed he had left his fur covered hot water bottle downstairs, I went up and he was facing the wall, he looked up with a strange look on his face and didn't look like he was happy to see me. Strange.
So I showed him his bottle, facial expression didn't change....bizarre, he didn't reach out for the hot water bottle, so I flipped his quilt open and went to put his bottle next to him......little bugger had the cookie box under his quilt, had a gob full of half chewed digestive and the look of fear in his eyes! What can you do? Smack him on the top of his head and laugh.
We all love hot water bottles in this house, bedtime is heaven, little boys walking upstairs with their furry bottles, asleep in minutes. Isaac lies his face on his, Eli snuggles his and Seth puts his by his feet, H sneaks mine and puts it behind his neck and I put mine in the small of my back. All the bliss in the world for £3.99.
So, all in all we're enjoying a good time. Long may it last!