familytastic!

Last year, when the time came to put in application forms for primary and nursery schools I filled one in for our youngest lad Daniel. I knew that his birthday narrowly missed the cut off date of the 1st of July and that technically he was about a month too young to start nursery this year, but I thought "what the heck" and submitted a form on the off-chance.

So, you'll know from Gerard's previous posts that we have decided to go full time on our business. When we made the decision I was full of excitement, so much so that I could hardly sit still. But now the magnitude of our move is starting to hit me.

Everybody we've told about what we have planned thinks we are crazy. People think its a bad time for us to be placing our family finances on the line like this and day by day I am wondering if they have a point.

I am pretty sure that I have spent the last year telling my children that they couldn't have a pet. How is it then that we have ended up with a cat constantly perched on our front door step?

Not only does it sit there day and night, but it has now started jumping onto the windowsill and miaowing loudly every time it runs out of milk in the little container Rachel fills each day.

I have never been much of a cat person. I have an allergic reaction any time I get too close to one, and I don't particularly like their nature, but watching Rachel sitting on the porch step in the rain, with Swissy cuddled up on her knee just melts my heart.

I sometimes listen to her at the window as she chats to the cat and tells it how lovely it is. I really have to put it on video and play it back when she is a teenager and going through her 'hate the world' phase. It will remind me of our wee sweet girl we had way back when....

Of course the cat hates Daniel. He chases it, sits on it, tries to catch its tail. It's all out of love of course, but he just doesn't understand that he is torturing the poor creature.

I am beginning to realise that it is only a matter of time before Swissy becomes officially 'our cat'. I just hope the thing is house trained!

We've done it! We've toilet trained a child or the third and final time, and that feels good!

Just before Christmas, Daniel decided that he didn't want to wear a nappy anymore. We had known from late summer that he was ready, but in our laziness kept putting the inevitable off. We just didn't want to spend a week mopping up puddles from every corner of the house.

This article is in no way related to my family or children, but I am so excited I just had to post.

Last April I shelled out almost £90 for two Take That concert tickets. It may have pushed us into our overdraft, but if it helps me regain my youth, I say its worth it!

True to form, six months later, and I had forgotten all about the tickets, the concert and the date. It was only two days ago that Gerard happened to ask when the concert was taking place. I panicked, thinking I had missed the show, but thankfully life is not that cruel.

So tonight, I will be dragging Gerard to the Odyseey Arena in Belfast, where he will have to watch me boogie, jump and scream at Howard Donald.....isn't he just the best husband in the world?

UPDATE: I LOVED the concert, and have written a review here. Have a read and let me know what you think!

I was in the local supermarket last week and feeling rather harrassed. The weather was rubbish, the kids were bored and I was trying to do my weekly grocery shop while one tried to kamikaze out of the trolley and the others disappeared under shelves and around corners.

By the time I got to the checkout I was nearing the end of my tether and it must have showed. The checkout operator said:

"I see you have your hands full there."

I rolled my eyes and heartily agreed. But he made me think when he told me that his youngest boy was now 15 and he despaired day and night about where he was and whether he was safe. He shared an old saying that his mother used to say when his children were young:

"As Long As They Are Around Your Feet, You Know Where They Are"

It made me stop and take stock. Yes the children were full of energy, yes they wore me out at times, but at least they were always within earshot. I dread the day when they grow up and don't want to spend time with their parents anymore. My kids are great company and full of personality. I like being with them and I like knowing they are safe and well......I'll think twice before I complain in the future.

I got a little weepy tonight as my wee 4 year old blew out the candles on his chocolate caterpillar birthday cake.

In honesty, he won't be four until tomorrow, but we had a party tonight in his granny's so his cousins could join him.

He is such a massive wee boy, he actually looks like he is about five or six years old, but it seems like yesterday when we brought him home from hospital all fresh and new.

His birthday has turned out to be quite power ranger themed. It doesn't matter what other gifts he gets....he has a green mystic force ranger, so all is right with the world.

I am a very very bad mother. I sent my 5 year old daughter to school today without a lunch!

I had been unsure of whether or not to send her to school as she was performing in her tap dance show last night and didn't get home until 11pm.

I let her sleep for as long as she wanted, but when she rose at 8.30am, I decided that I would send her to school since she was already awake.

We hurriedly got dressed, washed and ate breakfast and I gave Rachel her lunchbox to take to the car.

We hurried to school and she was surprisingly only ten minute late. I hurriedly kissed her goodbye then rushed to do my weekly shopping before my younger son got out of nursery.

It was only when I got home and finished unpacking my food at 1pm that I noticed her little pink lunch box on the kitchen worktop. I felt terrible, yet her lunchtime was over, so there was no point in me taking it to the school. When I picked her up at 2pm, her teacher told me that she had tried to take Rachel to the canteen for a school lunch but she cried and wouldn't go, in the end another teacher gave her a banana and some other fruit that she didn't like.

I feel terrible, my poor daughter was hungry all day and all because I was too busy rushing to notice that she had left her lunch behind....I will have to be more vigilant!

Jake has become a Power Ranger addict! I don't know how to treat it. Does anyone know of any good classes or groups out their for addicts and their families?

Every time I see him he has a power ranger figure in his hand. He sleeps with them, he eats with them, he takes them to school, they even get pride of place in our bathroom sink as he goes to the toilet. Suggest storytime to Jake and he wants to read his Power Ranger annual, suggest a game and it's swords out and we're all pretending to be rangers and zords.

He has been planning which colour Power Rangers he will get for his birthday since Christmas. We have the same discussion every day, though the colours may change... roll on August!

I just love the stage that our baby boy is at right now. Actually I should probably stop calling him a baby, he is more of a toddler at this point. But he is our youngest and last and I want to have a baby for just a bit longer! Anyway back to the point, Daniel is 21 months old and chattering like a monkey! I love watching the joy on his face when I understand what he is saying, and more often than not what he wants to eat. Many of Daniels first words have been food or drink related. Unsurprising, considering thats all he ever wants to do.