“PAPAHOOD”

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.

It was Hope’s 5th birthday on Saturday. Here she is posing with the Wii remote in her hand.

She had been asking for a Wii for ages and we were not sure whether or not to get her one but she loves it, and what’s more, she’s good at it. She has already beaten me at ten pin bowling and boxing. All the family went out to ‘Catrine House Ice Cream Parlour’ for icecreams in the afternoon, before returning home for a marathon sesssion on the Wii.

Be warned, if you have a few rounds of boxing you will suffer for it the next day. Anyone out there wondering whether or not to buy a Wii, ‘go for it’, it’s great for all the family. Gracie is just a bit young for it at the moment, but give her time…

Carrie gave me this picture that she had on her phone but forgot to send me. As soon as I saw it a song popped into my head. This happens to me all the time, if someone says something or I see something there is usually a song lyric that comes to mind. Anyway, the song that came to mind was a Beatles number called “I’m only sleeping”,   from the album “Revolver“  in particular these few lines below. (I grabbed something off YouTube for those who’ve never heard it)

“Please, don’t wake me, no, don’t shake me
Leave me where I am – I’m only sleeping”

“Please, don’t spoil my day, I’m miles away
And after all I’m only sleeping”

One of the good things about having Gracie and her mummy staying with us (apart from not having to go and collect them first thing in the morning) is being there when Gracie wakes up. The other morning I heard her and went through to get her but she wouldn’t let me pick her up because she was too busy bouncing and doing back-flips, I rushed to get the video camera only to discover the battery wasn’t charged. I could have posted as many pages again with all the moments I couldn’t capture because I was either too slow or never had a camera handy.

I was ready this morning though and made a short move clip. The background song is Dean Martin singing “Good Morning Life” which is from one of  my favourite films (don’t tell anyone) “”Return To Me” which stared David Duchovny and Minnie Driver. If you haven’t seen it and like a film that has you crying one minute an laughing the next, then this one is for you.

Back: left to right. Orinoco, Wellington, Tomsk, and Bungo. Front: left to right. Madame Cholet, Great Uncle Bulgaria, Tobermory

My posts are like buses these days, none for hours, then two come along at the same time. Anyway, I dug out an old video the other day and Gracie loves it.

Who remembers the Wombles? Back in the 70’s those furry creatures from Wimbledon Common who were into recycling long before it became trendy. There was Great Uncle Bulgaria, Tobermory, Madame Cholet, Orinoco, Wellington, Tomsk, and Bungo. Apparently they picked their own names when they were young by sticking a pin into an atlas while their eyes were closed. Not a lot of people know that.

Here’s an episode I found on ‘YouTube‘ for those who have never seen a womble and for those who just want to reminisce.

Once again I find myself apologising for my lack of blogging. No, I haven’t become addicted to poker, but I have got a full house. Last week (for reasons I won’t go into) Carrie and Gracie moved in with us and so, as you can imagine, things have been a bit hectic. They will be here until Carrie gets a house which hopefully wont be too long. So I’m seeing even more of Gracie now than I ever expected to, but you can’t see Gracie too much.

A year ago today I started my full-time babysitting role and my blog for that day was titled “I Survived Day One”, hence the reason for today’s title. Back then I said that if they (babies) cried it was for one of three reasons:

• They need fed
• They need changed
• They need sleep

A year on I would like to add to the list two needs that may not be reasons for them crying but are important needs none-the-less:
They need entertained, Whether it be with movies, songs, stories, games, and most importantly, They need love and affection – lots of hugs.

I can honestly say it has been so much easier than I ever thought it would be, without being in anyway biased, Gracie has been a great girl to watch and has never caused me the slightest bother. So here’s to the second year of babysitting which starts tomorrow.

Sometimes people wear t-shirts with absolute nonsense written on them. I mean, I’ve got one with Mr Grumpy on it, so not true, doesn’t describe me accurately at all. But Grace has a t-shirt on today that describes her. Here’s a picture I took this afternoon.

Kiss.a.ble
[Kis-uh-buhl] adj.
cute, irresistible, lovable
and gorgeous,
(little feet, rosy cheeks etc,)

That’s our Gracie.

Again I need to say sorry to everyone who looks in on “papahood.com” regularly, for my lack of posts. Last week I caught a sickness bug and thought I was dying. Gillian said it must have been a “man virus”, whatever that means. We’ve been trying to get some film of Gracie walking but she’s having none of it. She’s probably saying, “but papa, I’m much faster when I crawl”. Here is our efforts at trying to coax Gracie to take a few steps, with “The Wiggles” song “Walk” as back ground music.

Gracie has spent most of last week playing with toys at her house. Carrie started back at work on Thursday; I have to say, I really missed having Gracie around. Don’t get me wrong, I was glad of the break but I didn’t see a lot of Gracie over the last few weeks and so it was back to papa’s, I’m glad to report that she didn’t forget me. Here are a few pictures Carrie sent me through the week.

One of the toys we got Gracie for Christmas is called the “Tomy Forget-Me-Not Photo Album” I think it’s great you put in your own picture an then you can record a 10 second message for each picture, these messages play as the pages are turned. Anyone interested in buying one shop around because I’ve seen these selling from £17.95 – £29.99.

DESCRIPTION:
First ever “talking photo album” for babies, ensuring that loved ones are never too far away. Eye catching butterfly shaped photo album with rubber antenna, mirrored front and crinkly page tabs. Holds 8 photos and has the unique ability to record a special message for each photo. Messages can be rerecorded whenever the pictures are changed. 2 cute sound effects when the photo album is shut – authentic camera “click” and baby giggle. Photo album stands up, so doubles as photo frame.

Here’s the first post of 2009. Carrie doesn’t start back at work until Thursday and I haven’t seen much of her and Gracie over the past few days but she sent me these pictures today. Gracie totally engrossed in one of her DVDs. She’s such a telly addict.

2008 seems to have gone by so fast. I know that my calendar tells me a year has past, comparing pictures of Gracie last December and now tells me a year has past but sitting here typing my last post of 2008 it seems as if it has all flew by in a moment. I’ve quite a few good memories of 2008, most of the have appeared in the blog, as for the rest, well, I’ll do what the apostle Paul said, “one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead” (Philippians 3:13). Here’s the last picture of Gracie for this year.

I wish all of you a very Happy and prosperous New Year. I don’t know what the future holds for you or me but I know Who hold the future and I know He holds my hand. I’ll leave you with the poem I left you with last year, God bless you all.

“I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year
‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’

And he replied, ‘Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!’

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God
Trod gladly into the night
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.

So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?

In all the dizzy strife of things
Both high and low,
God hideth his intention.”

There’s an old song that goes:

“What a difference a day makes
Twenty-four little hours
Brought the sun and the flowers
Where there used to be rain”

Well what a difference in Gracie this morning, Carrie sent me a few picture of Gracie in almost the same pose as the ones I posted yesterday but these are different, the clouds have gone, her countenance has changed, she looks happy again. It’s good to see her almost back to her old self again.

I know that I said I would post some stuff Christmas day but things didn’t work out quite as planned. Christmas was great but Gracie wasn’t, she was still choked up and didn’t get too excited about opening presents or playing with anything. I had the camera ready and the video camera all charged up but never took a picture because she was feeling so miserable. Carrie took this one yesterday which should illustrate what I mean.

So Christmas has been and gone and here we are at Boxing Day and its nearly over too, Gracie’s a bit better today, she even managed to play with some of her toys. Here are a few pictures taken earlier. Here’s hoping all regular readers and visitors to “papahood.com” had a great Christmas and enjoy the rest of the holidays.

What a busy time on the run up to Christmas, to busy to blog but let me now fill you in on some of the things that have been happening.
Gracie had her very first sleepover on Saturday. It was the first time she’d been away from her mum overnight and I was slightly nervous. I’ve watched Gracie during the week for almost a year now but she had never stayed over before. How would she settle? Would she sleep? would she wake up crying? Would she miss her mum too much? I was worried for nothing, she was fine, just her usual cheery self even though she was teething. Gran gave her a bath before bed-time and I don’t know who was enjoying it more, Gran or Gracie. On Sunday we all went to church, Hope was an angel in the nativity, she’s the one nearest the projector screen.

Gracie has been really choked up all week and feeling very miserable we’re hoping she will be better for tomorrow when she comes round and we all open our presents. I’ll post some present opening pictures tomorrow, but let me leave you with this thought: Christmas is not all about stockings, snowmen, sweets and Santa. It’s not all about trees, tinsel, toys and turkey. It’s about Jesus. I like what the Grinch said after he had taken all the presents, food and decorations from the people of Whoville and heard the celebating anyway – he said,

“It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?”

It means a big bit more, Jesus is the reason for this season In the Bible, in the book of John it says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” He’s the best present you’ll ever get so recieve the gift of God’s Son and let the peace the joy and the love of Jesus fill your hearts and minds, and have the best Christmas ever.

Got a phone call from my little sister Isy this morning and she sounded more hyper than usual – well let me correct that, she doesn’t usually sound hyper but this morning she did. I mean big time hyper and no wonder because she’s going to be a Gran, my nice Mariama is going to have a baby I’ll be great uncle Peter. Isy will need to start blogging now, she can call her blog “Grannyhood” or maybe even “Nanahood”. Whatever happens I’ll try to keep you up-to-date here at “papahood.com”. Below is a picture of my lovely niece Mariama holding Gracie and above and below, the first pictures of her son/daughter @ 10 weeks. What a great early Christmas present Isy.

Gracie hasn’t been too great this week, she’s had a bit of a chest infection and on top of that her back teeth are coming through so with a prescription for amoxicillin three times a day as well as Tixylix (cough syrup), and Calpol (infant paracetamol) I’ve felt more like a nurse or a doctor than a papa this week. She’s kept good health up until now and I’m thankful for that and she’s well on the mend now. Here are some pictures taken by Carrie over the past few days.

We took Hope to the fracture clinic today and fortunately there was no need to reset the bone. They removed the old plaster cast and took her to the plaster room to have a new one put on. “what colour plaster do you want Hope?” they asked. “We have a special plaster for this time of year”. Well I was expecting them to show her plaster with glitter mixed in it but out came the “Christmas stookie” complete with snow flakes, Christmas trees, Santas and snowmen. Well of course she picked that one, who wouldn’t, I almost wished I had a broken arm myself. She couldn’t wait for me to take a picture and is desperate to get back to school to show it off.

We had a trip to A&E (Accident and Emergency) with Hope last Friday because she had fallen and hurt her arm. They x-rayed it, said nothing was broken and sent us home. Well she carried on as normal went to school all week, then yesterday morning she said her arm was still sore so Gillian took the afternoon off work and made another trip to A&E. They took more x-rays and discovered that her arm was broken. This is not the first time we’ve had her at hospital and they’ve said she’s OK only to be told a few days later that she’s broken something. As Bart would say “Gimme A Break Man!”, a break from incompetent medical ‘professionals’, a break from hospitals, a break from breaks. Just when we thought Hope was doing so well (4 months since the last fracture), here we go again. Hope’s so brave though, she takes it all in her stride. She has to go back to hospital on Tuesday to see if they need to reset it. She wanted to go to school this morning because her class was going to the cinema to see Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Here’s a picture taken before she left.

If I were to think of vests the pictures that come to my mind would be, my dad, Bruce Willis or should I say John McClane, Rocky, and Rab C Nesbitt. But the other day Carrie sent these pictures and I’ve never seen anyone look better or happier in a vest, What do you think?

For the past six week me and Gillian have been doing a course on Practical first aid. Next week is the final week when hopefully we will receive our certificates, these are valid for three years. The course is run by the Red Cross and lasts for 14 hours (2 hours per week). You learn how to deal with anything from minor cuts to performing CPR. The people on the course are from a wide age range and from differing backgrounds and each has different reasons for wanting to learn first aid. Me and Gillian run a children’s club and so we must have a qualified first-aider, some are just doing it to pass the time, one woman (Elma) wanted to learn first aid she said, “because her son had an accident at home and at the time she didn’t know what to do.”

Elma then went on to tell the story of how it was almost milking time at their dairy farm and her 6 year old son was playing on his bike when his dad ran over him with a four-tonne JCB Loadall, it crushed his tiny body, breaking his pelvis, both collar bones, four ribs, ripping his right lung and causing a hairline crack on the base of his spine. When the ambulance arrived they didn’t think he would  survive the journey to hospital but miraculously one month after the accident he walked out of hospital. To read the Daily Record account click here.

I believe in God and I believe He is a God of miracles and so it was great to hear the story of Elma’s miracle boy, Ross.

Psalm 100:1

A psalm. For giving thanks.
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgivi ng
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good
and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues
through all generations.

Happy Birthday to me – well actualy it was yesterday. I reached the ripe age of 47, half-century in three more birthdays D.V. and if there is any truth in the saying “Life begins at forty” then I’m only 7. I was spoiled as usual with sweets and smelly stuff and I got a card and a “World’s Greatest Grandad” mug from Gracie.

IT’S NOT EASY
BEING THE WORLD’S
GREATEST
GRANDAD
YOU HAVE TO BE
BRILLIANT
CHARMING
WITTY AND
FANTASTICALLY
FABULOUS
ALL THE TIME.
I DON’T KNOW

HOW I DO IT.

Here are a few pictures of me and Gracie taken yesterday, the quality of the pictures isn’t great, I don’t usually look that bad.

There is nothing more annoying than waiting for the post knowing that a letter is due and the postman passes by and doesn’t leave anything. So for those who regularly look in on “papahood.com” and haven’t seen anything new for ten days I’m sorry I was on the phone to my sister this morning and was rebuked for not updating the blog. Things have been fairly hectic over the last few weeks and I haven’t been taking any pictures, but be assured, Gracie is fine. As I type this at 1:20pm on Tuesday 25th November 2008 Gracie is sound asleep, I can hear quiet snores in the background – makes me feel like going for a nap too. Have a look, isn’t she so cute.

Jordan and hope brought home their school photographs yesterday so I thought you might like to see my gorgeous kids. I will try not to leave it as long before I update the blog next time.

After hearing one horrific story after an other this week about babies being abused and killed I found myself crying out to God, “Why lord?”. There are so many things I don’t understand but I do know that God is loving and caring and knows how we feel, He had to watch as His child, His Only Son Jesus was horribly abused and killed by the people He was sent to. Someone once said, “Life’s not fair but God is good”, I truly believe that.

I truly believe the children I read about this week are safe, well and happy with God in heaven. The Bible says in the book of Revelation “He [God] will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” (Revelation 21:4). So “baby P” and the others are safe at last. But all these things in the news make me so thankful for my own children and grandchild and all the kids that I work with, and make me appreciate them so much more.

Here’s a few pictures of Gracie taken the other day, just after she woke up from her nap.

We took Gracie to church today, she’s been before but that was almost a year ago, this time she was aware of all that was going on. She was clapping along to the music and having a great time, and then she went into the creche with gran. Gran looks after all the children that go to the creche. Gracie had a great time in both church and creche.

A bit about the church.

It is called “New Life” it is in Prestwick
and is a Pentecostal church and part of the Assemblies of God (AoG). I have been going to New Life since I became a Christian (I’ll tell you all about that one day) some 18 years ago. I was baptised there in 1992, I met my wife Gillian there we were married there in 2001. God and the church have had a major part in my life over the past 18 years.