B&W- The Gallery

This weeks Gallery over at Sticky Fingers is all about 'Black and White' this week.




Daddy and Son moment. Che Lennon, 4weeks old.




















 Che was a bit of a miracle baby.
We never expected to have him.
When we were told we were expecting a boy, Drew went as white as a sheet!
We had always said it didn't matter, as long as the baby was healthy.
Deep down, secretly, I think we both wanted a son, after already having 3 beautiful daughters.
Che's sisters were beside themselves with excitement.

The pregnancy was complicated, painful and long. The birth, traumatic.
We thought we'd lost him for a while. But he was strong.

At 4 weeks old, Che Lennon, our much longed for son, produced his first ever smile.
Looking up at his besotted Daddy, there was no mistaking this moment for wind.

Each time I look at this photo I am reminded of how lucky we are to have such a wonderful, happy and content little boy. He is strong and healthy. And now, a whole year on, he is just as much of a miracle as he was the day he was born.

Wordless Wednesday- One of these is real!

Family Fun!



Lauryn and Me.

 I know it's very late, but these past few weeks seem to have gone so fast.
It seems like yesterday that I was decorating the house with spider webs, witches and bats and buying in costumes, hair sprays and face paints for the Halloween weekend.

We love Halloween in our house! The kids love anything that gives them the opportunity to dress up and if face paints can be used too then all the better!

This year I had 3 little witches and a rather fetching Frankenstein! We also had my very good friend Danni, from high school and her family joining us for a spooky, action packed weekend!

We had a small party for the 7 kids at the house before heading off fully made up to our schools Halloween party.

Here are just a few of our photos. Enjoy!

Bailey

Drew

Ashley and Lauryn

'Frankenstein' Che

What ever happened to...

Photo from socraft.com.au

Is it me, or are children's clothes not made to last longer then a week these days?

When I was growing up clothes seemed to last forever.
Coming from a big family, everything (where possible and within reason) was passed down from sibling to sibling.

I don't remember many things breaking or becoming damaged over the years. I also don't recall my mother or Grandmother sitting for hours on end repairing things.

Things back then were made better. I'm sure of it. My Nan used to work for a clothing company called Dash, as did my Grandad and Uncle. A lot of our clothes came from there.

My Nan was a seamstress. She used to make a lot of clothes.
My Mother used to be a rather spectacular award winning ballroom dancer, back in the days before Strictly, and my Nan would design and make all of her competition dresses. They were truly amazing. (I shall find some old photos and post them at some point)

These days clothes don't seem to be made to the same kind of specifications as the ones I grew up wearing.
For example, zips.

Zips are the bane of my life at the moment. Not only does Drew break any coat that has a zip in a 100 mile radius, but it seems that our three daughters are all following his lead.

Last week saw all three of the girls winter coats go zip less!!

Is it just my hefty handed brood that seem to have so many problems with these 'tricky' little buggers or is it just a sign of the times? A way for clothing manufacturers to get more money by making us parents folk out for at least 2 winter coats a year?!

With four little kids to kit out each season it's not easy on the bank balance as it is, but having to shell out for a further 3 coats all in one week is ridiculous!

I can't even blame one particular shop, brand or company, as all 3 coats were from different retailers, made by different companies!

Maybe I'm being too harsh on clothing brands. Maybe it's whom ever makes zips that are using shoddy materials and passing them onto the unsuspecting clothing companies to use on their products? Either way, I'm bloody annoyed!

Maybe someone would like me and my family to review and more importantly product test their winter coats? They would certainly get a rigorous testing in this house!

Silent Sunday...Shhhhhhh

Check out the rest here.

It's Song Time!!

Following the success of the Zingzilla's Album, the BBC, or more specifically, Cbeebies, are about to release a 2 disc 'Song Time' Album featuring all of your children's favourite Cbeebies theme tunes and songs.

I was asked to review the Cbeebies Song Time album, which will be available to buy at all good retailers from Monday 22 November 2010, and I have to admit that the kids were very excited by it.

As soon as the CD arrived, the children were left in no doubt as to what I was holding in my hand.
With its distinctive bright red cover and yellow Cbeebies 'blobs' mingling with various Cbeebies show characters, it is certainly going to pull in its target audience.

After listening to the album, the older girls and I agreed that it is definitely more geared towards preschoolers, as it contains a lot of show theme tunes, as opposed to the many actual songs in the shows.

The album was a huge hit with the 2 little ones in the family though, who sung and danced through the entire playlist of 50 songs, and with a retail price of under £9.00, this is a great Christmas present for your little ones and great value too, at under 18 pence a song!
Who said that Christmas had to be expensive?!