Halloween

We have just enjoyed a fairly low key Halloween, dressed up and went to our good friends for tea!

I find the whole trick or treat, a difficult thing to gage, I think it's ok if you go around to your friends house, but I am not comfortable knocking on strangers doors asking for sweets. We have always have sweets in and dressed up with the boys, and enjoy Halloween that way, without having to annoy our neighbours! ( I think we manage that enough already- living in a terrist house and having two very noisy boys) 

My Minions

Love these two boys, even if they do drive me demented.  (they are currently cleaning the bath!? I'm not sure why?)

Xxx

Testing days

Today has been one of those days!!

I'm  Sure you know the sort, from the moment your little darlings wake they are in destructo mode. Everything you do just becomes 10 times harder.

It doesn't matter what you do, they are determined to ruin it. I know as positive parents we are not meant to say these things, but they do!!

Our first mission of the day, which incidentally  started with beautiful sunshine, was to go get them some summer pumps, as they have been wandering around in shorts and winter boots! 

Off we head to John Lewis in cheadle with plans on going to Dunham massey or Quarry bank Mill after said mission. It is busy but I have seen it worse. We head to the shoe department and wait our turn. Milo and Mark go look at the toys whilst Rufus and I look at the shoes. 

Milo has his grand national winnings that is burning a hole in his pocket and is told he can spend it after we have new pumps.

Rufus is measured and we have some converse and new Dr Martins School shoes! Easy! Job done!

Or So we thought?!!

Milo decided he wants the same is his big brother, however with his awkward narrow feet they are just too wide! 

Cue awkward 3 year old tantrum!! 

I am normally one for picking my battles but I not letting him have shoes that just don't fit. 

We offer various other shoes but he screams down the joint and refused to put them on! How he managed to hide his feet is beyond me! 

Getting rather embarrassed I tell the nice man with the shoes that we will come back in a bit. 

Milo at this point has squashed

himself under one of the clothes racks and is bellowing that we are 'hurting' him. 

I wouldn't mind but we weren't even touching the little sod. Loads of pregnant women and their partners are shopping for the cute baby clothes giving us filthy looks, and  are I'm Sure are muttering to themselves how they will be 'much better parents!' You wait! I try to convey with one look, let's see how well you do when you have a little dictator with bad case of the grumps screaming at you!! 

Through gritted teeth I manage to coax him out, trying to see the funny side as some parents are telling me they have been there before too! 

Anyway, as it turns out even though we needed shoes he didn't end up

with any or spend his winnings. He was not pleased but we were still being strong at this point. 

Off we now head to Dunham Massey, it's started pissing it down just to add even more fun to the day. Rufus has a

Melt down because we won't let him wear his new pumps and doesn't want

to put his coat on.

We should have just called it a day at this point and gone home. Mark

Is getting madder as he wished he had stayed in and watched the Grand Prix! Still we muddle on. 

By some miracle we manage to get around the national trust house with only a few hairy moments. Milo slamming the door to the first room we were in being one of them!! As they have managed to behave they are allowed to pick something from the gift shop with the grand national winnings, putty and a mummy fossil.

At home they are both playing, Rufus being an archeologist and Milo with some play putty. The play putty is now in Rufus's hair and squashed into the turn up of milos shorts! The mummy from the archeological dig is broke and there is dust everywhere!! 

I have officially given up!!

They are asleep and I am going to have a gin and tonic!!

Rufus and Milo, today has been hard work. It's a good job you are both so cute whilst you are asleep!! Xxx

Crazy Days

It's been a hectic few weeks in the Reeves Household, as we have joined the Tucker Family in their madness!! 

Jennie has a dance school with children from the age of 3 going up to a Wonderful grand old age, and every two years she stages a show. With over 400 people taking part. There are 4 shows as some of the littlies can only be in one matinee show. 

Last show Mark photographed the classes in the run up to the show and most of the show on his own, as Milo was pretty tiny for me to be involved. This year however we have done it all together. 

Unfortunately the kids have been passed a bit from pilar to post. And I start to get chronic mum guilt. My rational brain says it doesn't happen very often. I am pretty much with my boys 99% of the time. However I have enjoyed the challenge. Along with a healthy dose of guilt and a rotten cold thrown in!!! 

I have helped with the scenery, which is probably more my bag, but I am pretty slow and Barnsie (jennie's hubby) is like a speed demon compared. I like to think I helped out a bit though. ( if you hear otherwise don't tell me!! Hahaha) 

We (hopefully) managed to get a portrait of all the dancers. Here is one of Scarlett, who unbeknown to us all has been poorly and still managed a smile xx

As you can imaging the little ones are just so easy to photograph as they are all so cute.

The show didn't come with out its drama though as Mark had a massive hypo, I have not seen him have one that bad for a very long time. It's pretty scary as he seemed to be ok to amazingly drunk like

In about 2 minutes. If anyone else has a type 1 diabetic husband you probably know what it is like!! It normally comes with a torrent of verbal abuse aimed in your direction!! I have learnt to be thick skinned about it, or maybe he is just trying to tell me something and I am too dense to realise?? :-) 

We just have the huge job of processing all the pictures and retouching them all. 

It is a very time consuming process and  can be quite frustrating when people just want to have the pictures without paying. 

I know as am parent how there is always one thing after the other to pay for, but it also drives me potty when you put in all the effort and people Iove them, and can't find £4 for our time and effort to buy the bloody picture! 

Anyway rant over, it's almost the easter holidays and I am looking forward to spending some time with my boys, hopefully a bit of camping, some swimming and a lot of chocolate eating are in order!!!

Here is a portrait of me done by my gorgeous Rufus, I think he has me down to a tee!!

Birthdays Cowboys and bunnies

My what a busy few days we have had.

 My baby boy Milo has turned 3. I can't believe where these last 3 years have gone :-( 

We have had a lovely few days going to the Blue Planet Aquarium and to Chester zoo as well. He has not really asked for anything for his birthday, unlike his big brother who is desperate for his birthday with a mammoth long list. It's sad that he has become such a consumer already. I blame the parents!!  

He did want to be superman so that is who he was! 

We have eaten too much cake, which was cowboy themed this year, to go with cowboy themed party favours, which were hats, sheriffs badges and neckachiefs and a chocolate cow.  

My dad carried it around the zoo for us before we had our birthday picnic, we had a few strange looks. But it went down well and tasted pretty good too! 

On another note, Rufus has a school competition to make an Easter basket. Which means the parents are really having a competion. I have started and will post a finish picture but sowing is not my forte! 

It's going to be ( she says hopefully) a little rabbit bag. It looks more like batman at the moment!

Bye for now boys xxx

Kids Party's

Me and Rufus have been to a kids party today and I can honestly say I had a great time! I was rather apprehensive as it was a creepy crawly party!

Www.thecreepycrawlyshow.co.uk

I am terrified of spiders, which seems to have only gotten worse the older I get. The lady who presented the show was fantastic and held most of the 4-6 year olds attention really well. Which is no mean feat. 

I admit when the tarantula got brought out I was more than ready to bolt. I had my bag pushed out the way and both feet firmly on the floor ready for my speedy exit! Just ask the other mums, I kid you not I would have ploud past eventhe  smallest of kids if they had got in my way, I'm not proud but I am honest. 

However no kids were hurt during the party due to my mad tarantula panic. I was so brave I even managed to stroke a corn snake. The 1st time I have ever touched a snake.

Was mega proud of Rufus for volunteering at the front of the group without even knowing what he was letting himself in for! Luckily it was Dave the Leppard Gekko!! 

Fab afternoon had by all

Thanks x

World Book Day- Extreme Reading

World Book Day

Rufus's first year of school is bringing many an exciting challenge, and World book day is just one of them. They are having an extreme reading competition at school to have the strangest/weirdest/extreme places to read your book.
As memebers of the Blue Planet Aquarium we decided a quick read with the Sharks would be the way forward. Here is our entry below.

Me and My Boys

Me, Myself and My Boys

I am a woman, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a business owner, a wedding photographer, a cook, a cleaner, a diplomat, a story reader, a chauffeur, and many more things. Although predominantly slightly harassed and normally running a little bit late!

I am married to my 'childhood sweet heart' if you like, we have been 'going out' since i was 15 years, and as of this year more than half of my life. He is my best friend and i love him to bits, despite what you may hear me mutter under my breath. We work together as well, and to be honest we are pretty good team in that too. We have 2 very active and rambunctious boys who take up most of my time and i wouldn't have it any other way. 

I am going to aim to blog our day to day life and our special trips and days out. Another way for the boys to look back through everything we have done together. I will add great photographs and quick phone snaps. Write about what we do, what makes us happy and mad, and what makes us tick as a family, growing and learning together, and i am sure making some whopping mistakes along the way!

To Rufus and Milo, here is a written and visual look back through our lives for you when you are old enough to look back through.

I love you more than anything my babies, which you are and always will be to me, my babies!!! Even though i know you are a bigger boy Milo x

Below are a few pictures from a trip we had last May. We were photographing our friends Wedding there but i dont like to be so far away from my boys, so we took them with us and made a week out of it. It was our small holiday too and we really had a lovely time.