Chim Chiminey Chim Chiminey Chim Chim Cheroo!

So we are sorting out the central heating in a week or so and the old gas fire heater needed removing. As previously suspected, the heating engineer came in to take it away but confirmed our suspicions that he would have condemed it had we asked to keep it. So we had to remove the horrible brickwork as we will be replastering the whole room and when we removed the brickwork, we found on old skool boiler system.

Apparently when these houses were initially built by the council back in the 1930's, the boiler system was built into the homes via the chimney. That cast iron monstrosity you see in the fireplace has 2 pipes coming out of it and into the walls. These pipes were used to send heat to the water tank that would have been upstairs and heat water for the house.

So as you can see, as it's built into the house, it cannot be removed without alot of effort. So we're bricking over it. I thought I'd get few pics of it before hand before it disappeared to someone knocks through our brickwork some time in the distant future.

The cat ran up the chimney while we were removing ruble. As you can see, when she came back down, she was not white but greyish. These pics were taken a week ago and I can tell you, she's STILL grey and not likely to lose the soot till spring. Friggin cat!

Art....it's my gift.

Saul's school takes artwork the children have done through the year, choose the best one, frame it, then have an art exhibition. The parents can buy the childs artwork afterwards. The one on the right Saul did when he was 4. The one on the left he recently did. He's very talented and I am very proud of the art he brings home.

Saul is quite creative and I'm hopeful he will continue to colour, model and create as he get's older.

Fancy new jumpers

Thank you Nana and Grandpa for the new jumpers!

Mum and Dad bought these jumpers for Saul and Joel while in New Zealand. They arrived on my birthday and the boys thought it was great they got a present on my birthday as well.

Joel really loves his new jumper and has worn it nearly every day. He thinks it's a thomas the tank engine jumper because of the colour. I hadn't the heart to correct him. Saul asked to wear his to school. I had the unfortunate task of explaining to him that school is uniform only and he can wear it whenever he likes round the house instead. I think they like them so much because their very soft on the inside. This, combined with the fact that we are waiting for central heating to be installed, makes these jumpers ideal for wearing about the house.

Hebby Berfday Beems!!

I love you very much and hope you have an absolutely brilliant day!

AND

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO LEE AND MIBI!

I hope you enjoy yourselves!

Oh how they've grown

I spoke to my dad yesterday and it has been so long since we've seen him, he saw the pictures of the boys on the blog and commented on how much they've grown. His comments made me look back on the pictures of the boys over the last 3 years and I see they have shot up so much in that short time, I felt I should post some pictures of my boys' growth thus far.

When Joel was small; it was very much a big brother and protector relationship. Saul was there whenever Joel cried or needed something. He put the dirty nappies in the bin for me and found it thoroughly entertaining to cuddle his brother for hours on end.

As they got bigger, a friendship grew and Joel began to copy everything Saul did. Because of this, Joel learned to walk at 10 months, he enjoys music and dancing and was speaking clear sentences before many other children his age. Joel communicates well and has a wicked sense of humour; I would like to take credit for this but I have to say the credit belongs to Saul.

Now Joel is 3 and Saul is 6. They have more fun together than any other brothers I have seen. They laugh at nothing and do it in a manner that makes you feel excluded; like it's their own private joke. They can fight over a toy one minute and then be cuddling each other the next. And they stand up for each other, even when it's mummy and daddy telling them off. I'm so blessed to have them. I'm lucky they are so close and I can't wait to see what the next 3 years brings.

Duvet Days.....

Our gas heater downstairs is broken. The thing is so old, I think the repair man may condemn it (no joke). So we will be having central heating installed sooner rather than later. Till we can get someone in, the downstairs living room is colder than the artic in winter. With a 3 year old and a 6 year old who aren't afraid to tell me how they feel, I am more than aware that they are unhappy with the present set of circumstances. So.... bust out the duvets!

Saul has a Spiderman one and Joel has a Lightning McQueen one and once they were able to take their duvet's with them they were happy as larry. The great thing about kids is, the solution tends to be easy.

HAPPY DAYS!

Tag I'm it....

Because she's my best friend, I'm doing this....

I have been tagged and need to let you know 6 random crazy things about myself that you may not already know. Actually, 5 truths and 1 white lie. Can you guess which one is the falsehood?

1. I hate pidgeons.

2. I like brownies.

3. My favorite memory from high school is of a egg fight I had at 3 am at night.

4. My worst memory from high school was when I ran away from home and ended up in foster care.

5. I lived in a caravan in Boulder Creek, CA for 2 months

6. I met Sean Penn at an airport.

So...... Any guesses????

GUY FAWKES DAY!!!

"Remember, remember the 5th of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot.

I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason,

should EVER be forgot."

And I am happy to blow stuff up in celebration! We had Gareth's Dad, his partner Val, Brother-inlaw Tom and his Girlfriend Shell over and had a brilliant time. I made hotdogs and hamburgers, potato salad, chineses stirfry veg and chicken and we had chocolate fondue for pudding then the real fun began.

It was smoky, dark and wet, and Pickle didn't stay outside long before he was too scared and demanded to go back in; but it was still great fun thanks to Gareth and Dad keeping the festivities going with a never ending parade of fireworks. I would like to add there were a few times I thought Dad might lose a hand or an eye, but he was unscathed despite handling and standing over lit fireworks. Then we had a nice cuppa and everyone made their way home. It was a great evening.

HEBBY BERFDAY CELA!

Happy Birthday Keala! I miss you and love you with all my heart. Have a fantastic day and I hope to speak to you soon.

xxx

Rubbish Creations

Saul and Joel decided they wanted to make robots out of some old empty cereal boxes, soda bottles, milk caps and anything else they could get their hands on (feathers and qtips!). Here are their creations!

I really am suprised at the ingenuity Saul shows. His teacher has told me she's sure he will be an engineer one day as he seems to make magnificent creations out of just about anything and has very clear thought process when he is trying to create!

Cooking From Around The World

I was given some cheap sausages, cod fillets and prawns and told to make dinner with them. So I decided to make a dish I grew up with from the deep cajun south; GUMBO!

You know, for the life of me I can't remember what I put in it that made it turn out better than all my previous attempts. I think what made it good was the spanish paprika, tumeric and garlic. But I'll have to try it again to make sure that was indeed the secret to it's success.

I also made strawberry cupcakes with the kids. Making cakes from scratch is so much more rewarding than making them from a box. The boys love measuring out all the ingredients and using the mixer more than once. I'm sure you've noticed there's no pictures. The boys ate them all within an hour. Which leads me to my next baking tip: never turn you're back on a 3 and 6 year old when cupcakes are in the vicinity.

I made Brioche. The one on the right has mars bars in it (too many left over from halloween). I had half a loaf to myself; obviously to ensure the quality was of the highest standard.

Well the boys just waited for the baking to be done so that I could make their dinner. But I was so fed up with cooking by then, I ordered pizza.

Happy Halloween! Well we didn't go to trunk or treat but we DID scare the beejeesus out of trick or treaters. Whenever some one knocked on the door, I growled at the them and Joel and Saul screamed really loudly. It's an excellent tactic if you don't have much candy as we had less trick or treaters this year (because word had gotten out that our house was the most terrifying).

Gareth made chicken burgers and curly fries. Then we had haloween cupcakes and watched ghost busters and had family cuddles. It was a brilliant ! Next year I will make the front entrance like a haunted house and put spooky music on so that people are EVEN MORE terrified than ever.