I think this is one of the longest gaps I’ve had in blogging, I didn’t meant to leave it this long but life has thrown a few things our direction over the last couple of months and time has not been on my side.

Life has been extra chaotic over the last couple of weeks as we’ve had major water problems to deal with which have definitely made me appreciate the simple notion of turning on a tap a bit more. We had really low pressure for two weeks, the water company tried to fix it and instead made it worse and we wound up with no water. A blue pipe threaded through the letter box then became our water supply for the next few days whilst a new water connection was set up. All this meant that our fabulous plumber basically moved in and we got to know several South West water employees by name. Finally, after almost three weeks the house is back to normal and I’ve at least learnt what a stopcock is (now I’ve stopped asking if it’s a stopcock or a stop-clock).

The kids have been their usual bundle of crazy, the sarcasm from the girls is equally scaring me whilst also making me feel proud at the same time. We’ve finally ditched daytime nappies for Clara-bear which feels like a big step. Polly is spending every available minute drawing or reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, her drawing is getting better and better every week and the favourite story of the moment meant for an easy pick for a world book day costume last week (the only trouble now is getting her out of the lion onesie!).

Seb is going through a bit of a phase at the moment. He’s got some big emotions and did go through a bit of a ‘I don’t want to go to school’ phase the other week, but he’s also being extra cuddly and cute at other times. He has this new thing of creeping into our room when I’m sleeping in after a night shift, where he’ll sneak up to me and give me a kiss on the cheek and then run off before I’ve really registered that he’s in the room. It’s a much better wake up than Polly doing her silent stare at the side of the bed at 1AM.

Clara’s sense of humour has definitely got a wicked side, the other day Henry and I took her food shopping and when I leant over to her with an open shampoo bottle for her to smell she squeezed it and shot shampoo all over herself, me, the trolley and the floor! She then proceeded to crack up into hysterical fits of giggles- luckily the guy working round the corner who I went to grab thought it was hilarious.

There’s been the usual chaos of the kids with playdates, after school clubs, dentist appointments, illnesses, parties, tantrums, endless laundry, toddler groups, fighting. I also thought I’d crack a tooth at Henry’s birthday meal last week (on bloody crackling of all things!)- not something I’d recommend. Then just to add to our already chaotic lives I’ve taken on a bit of challenge- I’ve started a degree. I was thinking about my future back in December and realised that I would like to have a career change at some point but I’d also like to learn something new. I never went to uni and have worked since I was 15, I still haven’t figured out what I’d like to do when I grow up! But, after looking at some different options a degree in Environmental Science and Geography sung out to me from the Open University prospectus, in my head I was thinking of the September intake to tie in with the youngest starting school but there was a February intake and me being me I made the judgement call to just get started straight away. So, January was a bit hectic as I set up my work schedule to become super flexible to accommodate studying around raising a young family, whilst also applying for the actual degree itself. A few weeks in and it was definitely the right call to just crack on. I’m really enjoying the study material and it’s so flexible that I can pick up and leave off whenever I need to. Although I did have to have a chat with Polly and remind her that I was a student and not a lecturer as she got a bit ahead of the situation and started telling people I was teaching people at uni instead!

I won’t add much more as I feel like it hasn’t been the most interesting blog, just more of a catch up post and after only 3 hours sleep my brain is starting to work backwards- plus Clara’s bloody unicorn series that she’s become obsessed with is painfully luring me in again. I won’t leave it so long again as my time management is starting to get a lot better (she says confidently!).

I will just finish this one with a little nod towards a very special lady who we sadly had to say goodbye to at the beginning of the year. Henry’s Nanny Mary was a huge part of his life, as well as ours, and one of the kindest, gentlest souls I’ve ever had the pleasure of spending time with. I’m so thankful that the kids had so many precious times with her and we have some wonderful memories and photos that will keep her very much in our lives. I’m forever grateful for her love and support and we miss her greatly.