“PAPAHOOD”

Old MacDonald again, but this time it’s not the farmer, it’s the restaurateur (I use the term loosely). Carrie had the day off work today so we went early morning shopping with Gracie and started out with breakfast at MacDonald’s. Gracie had a go at the syrup pancakes but she was really more interested in all the balloons that were there.

Wow! big letters! After two years of blogging I’ve finally discovered how to adjust the size of font. You learn something new every day.

What a busy day we’ve had today, what with our new suite being delivered and our old one taken away, and yet my incredible wife Gillian still found time to let Gracie try out her computing skills. Between the two of them they managed to surf their way to the ‘cbeebies‘ website and found the ‘Something Special’ page.

The cbeebies site is great for  kids it keeps them amused for ages. Here’s Gracie singing that old favourite, "Old MacDonald’s Farm". The backing vocals are performed by our two budgies, ‘Coochie’ and ‘Coco’.

I got sent a couple of pictures (about time too) of my Great Nephew Zak so here they are and what a handsome guy he is.

No, I’m not talking about that fear of the dreaded jacket with the hood, that’s “anoraknophobia”. No I mean fear of spiders, not that I’m frightened of spiders but my house is like the one in the movie of the same name. And no, I don’t have a big house in the country, like the one in the movie but I think mine has an equivalent number of spiders residing in it. Most mornings we find some humungous house spider trying to get out of the bath and I do what any Papa would do, I send my 7 year old son to catch it and throw it outside.

A few nights ago I had just went to bed (Gillian wasn’t in bed yet) and I moved Gillian’s pillow and this mutant spider ran out from underneath it. Well I let out a MANLY scream, not because I was frightened but because the spiders sudden appearance startled me. Gillian came to my resc…, I mean Gillian got to the spider first and threw it out side. But why does my house have more spiders than the average street? Last night I went for a bath and there were four huge spiders at various locations on the walls and ceiling, I kept expecting to hear a splash as one of them ended up in beside me. Later on I had toyed with the idea of watching the movie “Arachnophobia” because of all the spiders I’d seen lately – I watched something else instead, but while watching, another huge spider ran out from under my chair (I’m glad I wasn’t watching Arachnophobia) and scurried across the carpet and under the couch. Then five minutes later another one appeared from the opposite side of the room and headed for the door. I think I need to listen to The WHO and use their solution to the problem of spiders (see clip below).

As the title of this post says, "I haven’t forgotten" about the blog, I realise some people, especial family, check out the blog every day expecting to see something new but lately they’ve been disappointed. So here is the latest pictures I have of Gracie getting ready to feed her fish. She loves her wee goldfish and when I go to pick her up in the morning she has to say goodbye to them before she leaves the house – how cute is that?

Had a stressful start to the day. Hope came into the bedroom to wake Gillian up and fell backwards out of the bed. When she hit the floor we knew right away that something was wrong and after an early morning visit to A & E where they took x-rays, the Doctor said that she had fractured her collar bone. She was doing so good for a while, no breaks and then…. There is not much they can do for this one other than a sling and pain relief. Hope is so brave and still has a smile in spite of everything. Here she is, she just couldn’t resist the urge to stick out her tongue, I don’t know whether it’s you lot or me she’s sticking it out at.

Carrie took  Gracie to  buy her first pet on Monday, well two pets actually. And here they are Bill and Ben, but they are not flowerpot men, no, they are goldfish.

Don’t ask me which one is which. When I was a  wee boy, I had two goldfish called Bonnie and Clyde. I even remember the time when Clyde died, I was heart-broken, and my mum put it in a matchbox and we had a funeral for it in the Murray Park where we dropped it off a bridge into the burn. When Carrie was growing up we always had fish. I had a four feet long fish tank which had goldfish and tropical fish. Goldfish are without a doubt the best pet’s in the world to keep, quiet, clean, easy to look after, and you don’t have to take them for a walk. Keeping Gracie’s hands out of the goldfish bowl might be a challenge.

Gracie, not quite sleeping, in her new birthday ‘Dalmatian’ pyjamas.

I should have posted this yesterday but tiredness got the better of me. As you will see from the clip, Gracie had three birthdays (doing better than the Queen), one on Sunday with Granny and Granddad, one yesterday morning with mummy, and then over to Papa’s for another one.

The lion toy you see her with was not a birthday present, it’s an old toy from one of Jordan’s board games. It sings the song, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", I think that’s what the game is called too. Gracie loves it. So much for all that money spent on new toys. Ah well, she had fun unwrapping them and I really think she enjoyed her birthday, all of them

[Magic!  Adj. Excellent. Often heard as an exclamation of satisfaction. {Informal}.]

Well today’s the day, It’s Gracie’s 2nd birthday and my 2nd papaversary. Carrie will be bringing Gracie round later for presents and cake and I will upload some birthday stuff later but for now I’ve put together a collection of pictures taken this past year. I know last year I spoiled you all by singing the background music. But I’m afraid you’ll have to put up with some real singers this year. And if you want to know what I think about my first two years of ‘Papahood’, I can only say, it’s great, fabulous, fantastic, fandabidozi, it’s…

Oh, ho, ho
It’s magic, you know
Never believe it’s not so
It’s magic, you know
Never believe it’s not so

While I was making some lunch for me and Gracie, I thought to myself, "It’s quiet, too quiet." So I popped through to see what Gracie was up to and caught her red handed, literally. Her hands were post-box red and so was everything that she had touched including her face and clothes. Me and Gillian run a children’s club called "HizKidz" and each week we stamp the kid’s cards using a stamp and red ink pad. Well I thought that this was not only out of sight but out of reach too. WRONG! Somehow Gracie had managed to get it, take it out the box, open it up and then cover herself and everything else in red ink. I was seeing red, in more ways than one.

Half a packet of baby wipes later I’ve managed to get it off everything but her hands. I’ve scrubbed and scrubbed but her hands are still red as you can see in the picture. I Don’t know what Carrie will say when she sees her. AH! the joys of ‘papahood’ 

As well as being a husband, a dad, and  a papa, I’m also a brother, a big brother. At my sister’s 40th the other night  a picture was taken of the family so here we are. There are three other brothers who sadly are missing from the picture, Patrick (who was the oldest) and Iain (Pipkin) both of whom died in their 30’s, and Michael (the youngest) who would have been 33 but only lived for a few days. But here are the “Five Alive!” At the back is the youngest brother, Frank. Then in the front (Left to right) are Paul, Isy, Rosey, and “Big Brother!” Papa Pete.

Speaking of birthdays, Papahood.com is 2 years old today. I wasn’t sure if I could keep it going but here I am today, still blogging. Its not the most popular blog in the blogosphere but I’m averaging about 12 hits a day and anyway, I only started doing this for my benefit really but I’ve been glad too share all my stuff with you all and will keep doing so, ‘God willing’. The picture below is of September 2007 and September 2008 posts.

It was my baby sister’s 40th birthday last week and a surprise party was organised for her on Saturday, and boy was she surprised. She cried for about an hour, tears of joy I hope, but had great time with family and friends. I was saying to people how I remember watching out the living room window as my mum carried her new baby (Rosemary) in after arriving back from the hospital. I even remember my mum sitting her on my knee and letting me have a go at feeding her. Wow! that surely wasn’t 40 years ago was it?  Sometimes I really do feel old.

Gracie keeps me young though. Here’s a picture that Carrie gave me this morning.

My sister Isy was talking to me on the phone earlier and mentioned that her friends Kirsty and David are getting married soon and that reminded me of a video someone showed me last week of a couple called Jill and Kevin and their entrance into church for their wedding. If you’ve five minutes to spare then it’s well worth watching and if anyone out there is thinking of tying the knot then may this inspire you to do something original for your wedding.

Shopping at Tesco this morning and before we went in Gracie wanted a go on the Barney train so here she is. Gracie has discovered a new game, she reaches into the shopping trolley, grabs something, throws it on the floor and then says, "Oh! sorry".

Isy sent me some pictures of my great-nephew Zac with Hope and Jordan Zac doesn’t seem too happy with them.

*********************************************************************************

Yesterday the Scottish Government decided to release the man convicted of involvement in the "Lockerbie Bombing", Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahid on compassionate grounds. I rememember too well the night of 21 December 1988 when the news flash came on the TV screen that a plane had crashed into the village of Lockerbie. The picture in the paper of the cockpit of Pan Am Flight 103 will forever be etched in my mind. Gracie’s mum was only 9 months old at the time, and as I read the news paper and looked at the map that showed the route the flight was taking I realised that the flight path would have taken it over my home town. If the bomb had exploded a few minutes later then I might have been a victim. The thought really shook me.

I, and many other’s, including some of the victim’s families am not entirely convinced of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahid’s guilt but whether you think he was guilty or not I think It was right to show mercy and compassion to someone who has spent nine years in prison and who is now dying. The  Bible does not say, "Do to others what they’ve done to you" that’s not justice, that’s vengence. It says, "Do to others what you would want them to do to you.". Jesus said "Blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy"

Many people think he should not have been released, that he didn’t deserve mercy but then nobody deserves mercy. Mercy is not getting what you  deserve, it’s getting what you don’t deserve. That’s why it’s mercy.

I will leave you with the words of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahid, these words are from a man who has been released and will soon be dead, what reason has he to lie. These do not sound to me like the words of someone who’s just got away with murder.

 "Many people, including the relatives of those who died in and over Lockerbie are, I know, upset that my appeal has come to an end; that nothing more can be done about the circumstances surrounding the Lockerbie bombing.

"I share their frustration. I had most to gain and nothing to lose about the whole truth coming out – until my diagnosis of cancer.

"To those victims’ relatives who can bear to hear me say this: they continue to have my sincere sympathy for the unimaginable loss that they have suffered.

"To those who bear me ill will, I do not return that to you."

Megrahi had served almost eight years of a 27-year sentence for the bombing.

His statement continued: "I cannot find words in my language or yours that give proper expression to the desolation I have felt.

"This horrible ordeal is not ended by my return to Libya.

"It may never end for me until I die. Perhaps the only liberation for me will be death.

"And I say in the clearest possible terms, which I hope every person in every land will hear: all of this I have had to endure for something that I did not do.

"The remaining days of my life are being lived under the shadow of the wrongness of my conviction. I have been faced with an appalling choice: to risk dying in prison in the hope that my name is cleared posthumously or to return home still carrying the weight of the guilty verdict, which will never now be lifted.

"The choice which I made is a matter of sorrow, disappointment and anger, which I fear I will never overcome. I say goodbye to Scotland and shall not return. My time here has been very unhappy and I do not leave a piece of myself.

"But to the country’s people I offer my gratitude and best wishes."

Carrie was visiting a friend at the weekend and Gracie had an encounter with a rabbit and a cat and can I say that both the rabbit and the cat remain unharmed. As I was typing this, a song kept going through my head from the Disney film, "Alice in Wonderland". Carrie loved this film and must have watched it 5 times a day when she was younger. Disney are bringing out a new 3D version (March 2010) staring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, should be interesting. The cartoon is hard to beat though – I know, my head’s full of crayons plasticine and cartoons but I’ll show you a clip anyway, and here are the lyrics so you can sing along with me. After three – one, two …

Cats and rabbits
Would reside in fancy little houses
And be dressed in shoes
And hats and trousers
In a world of my own

All the flowers
Would have very
Extra special powers
They would sit
And talk to me for hours
When I’m lonely
In a world of my own

There’d be new birds
Lots of nice and friendly
How-do’ya do birds
Everyone would have
A dozen blue birds
Within that world of my own

I could listen to a babbling brook
And hear a song that I could understand
I keep wishing it could be that way
Because my world would be a wonderland

We’ve been home from our holidays for almost a week now and it seems as if we were never away. It was great to see Gracie again, here’s a short clip taken this week at the park. 

The background music is the chorus from a Paul Simon song which was in the charts in 1977 – wow! was it really 32 years ago, sometimes PapaPete really does feel like a Papa. 

Weather was good yesterday and the kids went to Brixham with gran and papa  while Gillian and me went to Teignmouth. Here’s a couple of pictures taken on Teignmouth Pier. Weather looks good again today but I’m not sure what we’re up to. Tomorrow we start the long drive home to see Gracie. Here’s another couple of pictures that Carrie sent me.

Yesterday was monsoon weather here. We drove to Plymouth and had lunch with some of Gillian’s relatives. Later, me and Gillian went to the cinema to see "The taking of Pelham 123" with John Travolta and Denzel Washington. Film was very good, language was very bad. When we came out of the cinema it was dark and for the first time we saw Paignton at night. Gillian took a short clip of the fun fair as we drove back to the caravan.

Gillian doesn’t cook very often and holidays are no exception. Here’s a couple of pictures of when it was her turn to make dinner.

Yesterday was Zoo day, the kids have talked about Paignton Zoo since we were there last year so we had to go again. The weather was nice again and everyone had a great time. Here are Jordan and Hope with faces painted. Why is it that no matter where you go, whether its a birthday party, a gala day or the zoo, there’s always face painting? The kids love getting it done but it ends up everywhere and they hate getting it washed off.

Isy (my wee sis) sent me pictures of Zak and hasn’t he grown in two weeks. Congratulations to his dad William who passed his driving test. Now he will be able to drive down for a visit so I will see more of my great-nephew.

The weather was much better yesterday, occasional showers but a good deal of sunshine. We headed 10 minutes along the coast to Brixham, a small harbour town with a life size replica of the "Golden Hind" complete with a pirate. Hope loved the ship but the pirate was a bit scary. Here’s my two golden girls on the Golden Hind in the golden sunshine.

Yes, I’ve just renamed this town on the English Riviera because guess what it’s done for most of today? Correct, it has rained, but were we going to let that stop us from wearing t-shirt and getting out? No way. First stop was Paignton Pier and the the fun fair then back to the caravan to get dried off before heading to the cinema to watch Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. I’ve seen the first two Ice Age movies about a thousand times and this one is every bit as good, click on the link to see a preview. Just heard tomorrow’s forecast and a song sprang to mind, "I don’t care what the weather man says…"

We finally arrived in Paignton, after a bit of a delay on the M5 and with the help of Matilda (our sat nav) and Gillian my co-pilot with her AA route plan  we arrive at our destination at 3:00pm. After a late lunch the kids went swimming with papa and Gillian and I slept. the weather was great when we got here but as I look out this morning its a bit overcast. Don’t know what we’re up to today but I will keep you all informed.

Carrie sent me pictures of Gracie posing in her new Sponge Bob Squarepants t-shirt and she says she will send more while I’m away, so if I get them you’ll get them.

Are we there yet? – Where? I hear you all ask. Paignton. It’s that time again, holidays, and we decided to go back to Paignton again. We are at a Travelodge near Birmingham for the night. We left Home at 10am and arrived here at 7:15pm. We split the journey last year and are doing the same this time and boy am I glad to stop for a rest.

We got stuck in traffic on the M6 and a stretch of road that should have taken 10 minutes took 2 hours. It seemed even longer because of the frequent call from the back seat, "Are we there yet?" Here’s a picture taken at Knutsford Services looking south, the traffic is finally moving again.

Time now for a hot bath, a good nights sleep and we will be all set for part 2 of the Journey.

Here’s a clip I made of my Great Nephew Zak. We’re all so proud of him.

I’m a Great-Uncle! My niece Mariama had her baby this morning (a boy) at 12:40, he weighed in at 8lb. After a very long labour they had to deliver the baby by cesarean section, both mum and baby are doing well. As I type this, no name has been been decided upon but I will be going to visit them in hospital this evening and will update the blog with more details and pictures later. Meanwhile, here are a few pictures and a video clip that my wee sister Isy sent me. Congratulations to Gran Isy and Papa Tam, Uncle Simon and uncle Colin, and of course to Mariama and William on the birth of their first child, a son.

Another hot sunny day and another morning in the garden for Gracie. Today Gillian brought out a plastic storage box filled with water, add a few toys and that’s Gracie occupied for a while. Isn’t it funny how all kids love water, they seem to be fascinated by it. then after a few years you have bother getting them to wash. Well at the moment there’s nothing Gracie likes more than splashing about.

we’ve finally managed to get the garden fenced off and yesterday Gracie spent all morning running about outside. She loves being out in the fresh air.

When she wasn’t running about she was demonstrating her skill as a pavement artist or "doing what Tigger’s do best" – Bouncing!

Gillian took Gracie to ‘Playgroup’ again today this time the sand and water trays had been put away but Gracie didn’t mind that, she had fun with all the toys and the bouncy castle is always a favourite.

I’m not to sure about her driving skills though – look no hands – women and cars are a bad mix. It think Harry Enfield got it right in this clip. 

Gillian had Gracie away at a ‘Playgroup’ today and she loved it but once she found the sand and water trays she wouldn’t play with anything else. Here are a few pictures that Gillian took.

Remember a few weeks ago I mentioned that my niece Mariama had a 3D Ultrasound Scan and that she had a DVD of it, well here is a short clip of my great-niece/nephew. The DVD itself is about fifteen minutes long but this clip lasts only about four minutes. On the DVD they have classical music playing in the background but I have replaced it with a track called "Everything Glorious" by David Crowder*Band. He is singing about God making everything glorious. I love the chorus which says:

"You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
And I am Yours
What does that make me?"

Indeed, the Bible in the book of Psalms says:

"You made my whole being; you formed me in my mother’s body.
I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way.
What you have done is wonderful. I know this very well.
You saw my bones being formed as I took shape in my mother’s body.
When I was put together there, you saw my body as it was formed.
All the days planned for me were written in your book before I was one day old."
Psalm 139:13-16 (NCV)

I think it’s an appropriate song for the miraculous work of creation that is going on in Mariama’s tummy right now and in a few weeks the baby you can now see by the miracle of science, will burst forth into the world. Watch this space.

Again I find myself in the position of having to apologise for not updating the blog for a while. First let me tell you that Gracie is doing fine as you can see from the pictures further down, and aunty Isy is on the mend but papa Pete hasn’t been feeling so good lately, in fact, I even made an appointment with the Dr, that’s how bad it was.

Anyway, he took some blood tests and sent them away and then when the results came back he told me that I was too sweet, well he didn’t exactly use those words, he told me that my blood sugar level was too high and that I had Type 2 Diabetes. Not the best news I’ve ever had but certainly not the worst. I am not receiving any treatment as yet because they are waiting on more test results coming back.

But I now have a new toy to play with. This is what I will be using several times a day  for the foreseeable future to monitor my blood sugar levels  because, as I’ve already said, “I’m just TOO SWEET”

Here’s someone who really is too sweet, some recent pictures of Gracie.

We got Gracie a "Fifi musical TV" toy for Christmas but soon after, it disappeared among all the other toys in the house. Last week it surfaced again and Gracie thought it was great. She would press the yellow button and the "Fifi" theme song would play, it only lasts 30 seconds but as soon as it finished she would press it again and again and again…Well after a few times the song gets a bit much to take so I decided that this would be a good toy to keep at her house. Gracie is now using her "Fifi musical TV" to drive her mum crazy. Here’s a clip of the "Fifi theme". Try playing it four times in a row just to give you some idea of how annoying it can be for the adult brain.

Here we are into June already, this year is flying in. I thought it was about time I posted something so here goes. First, an update on Isy, she is back home now and still in a bit of discomfort but has her family around her and is in her own house so that in itself will make her feel a whole lot better. Just praying that these bones knit together quickly and she is able to get back on her feet ASAP.

What about this weather, isn’t it just great? According to the forecast it is going to cool down a bit but remain sunny until Sunday at least. Gracie has been enjoying the sunshine and its a great excuse for her to show off her new sun hat. Here are a few pictures taken on Sunday when the temperature was around 26 °C  – 79 °F which is fantastic for Scotland in May. Long may it continue.

Got a phone call this morning telling me my wee sis (Gracie’s great aunt Isy) fell badly yesterday and dislocated her ankle and broke several bones in her foot. She went through 4 hours of surgery and has been told that even with a plaster cast on, she will not be allowed to put any weight on her foot for six weeks. I managed to get to Glasgow to visit her in hospital today and she was, as you can imagine, in quite a bit of pain and very nauseous but hoping that she will be allowed home tomorrow. Get well soon Isy, we’re praying for a speedy recovery for you.

While I was visiting, Isy told me that Mariama’s (her daughter, my niece) baby is due in six weeks and that last week she had a 3D video Scan and has a 15 minute DVD of it. That sounds awesome, I can’t wait to see it and if I get the chance I will let you all see this miracle of technology that shows us more clearly the miracle of God.

Gillian was kept busy with Gracie while I was at the hospital, they spent some time at the ‘Soft Play’. When she wasn’t chasing Gracie around, Gillian managed to take these pictures.

Haven’t blogged for ages so here is a quick update on how things are with Gracie; Gracie is great. Told you it was a quick update.

It will soon be time to put the playpen away because it no longer does what it was meant to do – keep her away from the things she shouldn’t go near- now she pushes the whole thing about the room to get at whatever it is she wants. This bring a whole new meaning to the term “Pen-Pusher”, and she’s so strong, I mean, this play pen is heavy, it weighs about 17kg but if she sees something she wants she just grabs the bars and of she (and the playpen) goes.

Here are a couple of pictures Carrie sent me today. As you can see, she’s still absolutely gorgeous.

Wishing all you mums across the pond a happy and blessed Mother’s Day. I read this article this morning and thought I’d share it with you.

A teacher gave her class of second-graders a lesson about the magnet and what it does. The next day, in a written test, she included this question: “My name has six letters. The first one is m. I pick up things. What am I?” When the test papers were turned in, the teacher was astonished to find that almost 50 percent of the students answered the question with the word mother.

Yes, mothers do pick up things. But they are much more than “magnets,” gathering up clothes and picking up toys around the house. As willing as many mothers are to do such chores, they have a higher calling than that.

A good mother loves her family and provides an atmosphere where each member can find acceptance, security, and understanding. She is there when the children need a listening ear, a comforting word, a warm hug, or a loving touch on a fevered brow. And for the Christian mother, her greatest joy is in teaching her children to trust and to love Jesus as their Savior.

That kind of mother deserves to be honored—not just on one special day a year but every day. And that recognition should involve more than words; it ought to be shown in respect, thoughtfulness, and loving deeds.  — Richard De Haan (taken from ‘Our Daily Bread‘)

Carrie took this with her phone the other day and gave me it tonight so I thought I would share it with you all. There’s some nice moves here, Gracie’s got talent, what a dancer.

It’s Gracie’s uncle Jordan’s 7th birthday today so I quickly put together some photos and made a movie clip. I’ve always called Jordan “my guy”, so the song fits. He’s a great boy, my only son and a love him to bits, we all love him. Happy Birthday Jordan from Mum, Dad, Hope, Carrie, and Gracie. XXXXX

Sorry that there is no music on the clip, ‘youtube’ have blocked the sound because the film clip, “may have audio content from My Guy by Mary Wells that is owned or licensed by WMG“. I checked out ‘youtube’ and found quite a few uploads of My Guy by Mary Wells so why the blocked mine I’ll never know. Come on WMG (Warner Music Group), what’s the problem? 

Here’s the song they blocked on my clip.

I don’t know how many times Gracie has fallen down since she started walking, must be well into the hundreds by now, but she never hurts herself, she just gets back up and off she goes. This morning was different, this morning she had her first real bump on the head. She was at home and minutes before I arrived to collect her she fell and bumped her head on the hall radiator. It came up like an egg, I’m sure most parents and grandparents will know the type I mean, you can almost see the lump growing before your eyes. The swelling has gone down a bit now but it is quite a bruise she has. Hopefully the arnica cream will sort that out. I recommend it, it works great for bruises, we’ve always got a tube handy because Jordan and Hope are always getting bumps and bruises.

Carrie sent me a these pictures of Gracie last week and when I seen Gracie holding her hairbrush I immediately thought about a song from Veggie Tales. Now I know that most of you guys will never have heard of Veggie Tales, well let me tell you, you’ve never lived until you’ve seen an episode of Veggie Tales with cool characters like Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber, Junior Asparagus, Pa Grape, and Archibald Asparagus. Anyway, let me introduce you to the ‘Hairbrush’ song.

I didn’t get a chance to post this last week because I was away for a few days with a group of people from church. Gillian had taken Jordan, Hope, and Gracie to the park a few times but these were the only photo’s that she had taken. Things are starting to get back to normal here, the kids are back at school, Gillian’s back at work, and Gracie and me are getting back into some kind of normal routine – whatever that is. 

We took Gracie with us to look at some cars today because we are thinking that maybe it’s time for a change. We like the car we have but are thinking about getting a newer model. Well Gracie seemed quite excited at first but then as the guy went into his sales pitch she seemed to get less interested and eventually she fell asleep.

I have to confess that I could have nodded off myself, man those guys know how to talk for ages without really saying anything interesting. If you’re having trouble getting the kids to sleep get a recording of a car salesman doing his sales pitch and play it to them. Maybe I should copyright the idea, "Guaranteed to have them asleep in minutes. or your money back".

With it being the school holidays, Gillian has been off work this week, which gives her a chance to get out and about with Gracie. This week she took Gracie to the playgroup and Gracie headed straight for the bouncy castle which she played on until home it was time to come home. The pictures aren’t great but here they are.

Yes, you did read correctly in the last post, I did write 14 bridesmaids and 2 flower girls. Here they are.

Here’s a couple of Mariama and William.

Here’s my wee daughter Hope posing as usual.

Here’s Hope with uncle Tam and aunty Isy.

To see more wedding pictures click here.

Hope’s big cousin Mariama was married to William this afternoon and Hope was a flower girl and Carrie was one of the 14 (I think) bridesmaids.

It was a great day. I’m just back home and the kids are sound asleep but I thought I would put a few pictures on the blog and say congratulations to my beautiful niece Mariama her husband William.

May God be with you and bless you;
May you see your children’s children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings,
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.

I haven’t posted many pictures of Gracie lately but last week Alan took quite a few so here they are. and doesn’t she look absolutely, incredibly gorgeous? I don’t think she was overly impressed with  "Guitar Hero" though.

It’s that time again, so for all you Mums here’s something I found that I think is a good description of mums.

MORE THAN A MOTHER

When God set the world in place,
when He hung the stars up in space,
when He made the land and the sea,
then He made you and me.

He sat back and saw all that was good,
He saw things to be as they should.
Just one more blessing He had in store;
He created a mother, but whatever for?

He knew a mother would have a special place
to shine His reflection on her child’s face.
A mother will walk the extra mile
just to see her children smile.
She’ll work her fingers to the bone
to make a house into a home.

A mother is there to teach and guide,
a mother will stay right by your side.
She’ll be there through your pain and strife,
she’ll stay constant in your life.

A mother will lend a helping hand
until you have the strength to stand.
She’ll pick you up when you are down,
when you need a friend she’ll stick around.

A mother is one who listens well,
will keep her word; will never tell.

A mother never pokes or pries
but stands quietly by your side,
giving you the strength you need,
encouraging you to succeed.

A mother is one who can be strong
when you need someone to lean on.

You’re more than a mother to me;
a reflection of Him in your face I see,
a love that knows no boundaries.

I’m glad that you chose to be
all this and more to me.
You share a love that knows no end,
you’re more than my mother,
you are my friend.

~By Kari Keshmiry~

Here is a picture of Gracie taken yesterday in her "Little Angel" t-shirt, but yesterday she was not a little angel. Do you want to know what she did? while no one was looking she sneaked over to my laptop and pulled off the shift key. Now for those who don’t know what that is, it’s the key on a keyboard, used to type capital letters and other characters, such as the parentheses, the question mark, the exclamation mark, and the colon. There was this hole where the key was once attached and there was the key and three other bits that I presumed were part of it. I was not pleased, I know there are two shift keys on the keyboard but to use the left one every time you wanted to type a capital would be such a drag, and the hole where the key went just spoiled the look of the laptop. This morning I got up and I decided to do a bit of ‘googling’ and I found that kids pulling keys off laptops was quite  common I googled a bit more and to my surprise found step by step instructions on how to put the keys back on a laptop after a child has pulled them off. Once I knew what I was doing it was easy, I had all the bits, none of them were broken so five minutes later it was fixed. I was just wondering, is breaking the shift key, capital punishment?

Here’s a bonus picture, she doesn’t look the type that would pull the keys off laptops does she?

Hi, I’m late again with the blogging – hey! Life is just so hectic. We have had a couple of great days, weather wise, spring is definitely here.

Hope’s primary one class were taking the school assembley this morning so Aunty Kirsty (my wife’s best friend) took Gracie away for a while so I could go to see Hope.Hope and the rest of the class did really well, they sang a couple of songs and then they explained all the things they had been learning over the year in primary one. Meanwhile Gracie had great fun at the park with Aunty Kirsty, swinging and eating sausage rolls, it’s a great life!

As I type this Gracie is sound asleep, exhausted after all the swinging, sausage rolls and fresh air.

Carrie has finally moved into her new house, it’s only five minutes away so collecting Gracie in the mornings to let Carrie get to work will be no different than before. The moved out on Saturday and I was almost sorry to see them go – ALMOST. Hope is delighted to get her room back and Jordan now has his room to himself again, and now the house is occasionally quite. Here are a couple of pictures taken of Gracie last week. The first shows her tucking into a Rich Tea Biscuit (McVities of course) and the other taking what could be her last bath for a while as her new house only has a shower. I wonder what she’ll make of that? I will let you know.