On Saturday the boys will be going up to their father’s for a week.

You might remember the first time they went up north how absolutely sick with worry I was. Remember that? Yeah, me too.

The second time, I don’t think I even mentioned it on the blog. It was only for 3 nights, and I wasn’t well. When I say I wasn’t well I mean I had a chest infection and spent the entire time in bed or lying on the sofa coughing and feeling sorry for myself. It was lucky really, that the boys were up north and I wasn’t having to try to take care of them *and* be very unwell/dizzy/coughing-up-shit at the same time.

This time has to be my 3rd time lucky.

This time I fully intend to make the most of the week that they are away.

Long lies, being able to go out to the pub at a moment’s notice.

Maybe a trip to the cinema,

and being able to just take my camera and go for a walk when I damn well please!

Not to mention not having to watch Cbeebies or Playhouse Disney on repeat. Oh thank GOD for that!

I’m hoping to be able to afford to go into Dundee for the day at some point too, to see some of my old friends, and maybe meet a new one.

That will depend on finances though, and whether I actually get out of bed before midday at all while they’re away…

So, four days from now, the boys will be away up north for the week. Dean and I will be FREEEEEE.

That means one thing and one thing only.

PUB!

PUB PUB PUB!

And no need to worry about not being able to drink much incase the boys need me.

I can actually get a bit drunk!

Mmmm I can hear the Jaeger Bombs calling me already… nomnomnom.

What do you do when you have some child free time?

Or if you don’t get child free time, what would you do if you could have some?

You know when your kids/spouse/dog says or does something funny, and you think “I’ve *totally* gotta blog that” but then it only works out at about 3 lines of a blog post and that’s just not enough so you just leave it and forget it ever happened? Well, that’s why I thought I’d start Sunday Snippets. You can write down and/or photograph something cute, funny or generally blogworthy that happens as it happens throughout the week, and every Sunday make it into a post. I figured since we’re all friends here in this bloggy community that maybe you might like to find out what others are up to as well!

1. Follow me if you’re not already.
2. Write your Sunday Snippets post.
3. Get the button in the right sidebar over there to thwack onto your post.
4. Add the link to your blog post (note I said POST, not just the blog url!) to the MckLinky at the bottom here.
5. Read what some of your fellow bloggers have been up to, comment, and enjoy finding new people!
6. Come back next Sunday and do it all over again.

*****

Not sure what happened this week. I blinked and missed it!

So I’m going to regale you with a lil video of Zack’s 5th birthday, which was actually last week on saturday, the 17th of July. My first born, my baby boy, turned 5.

Happy 5th Birthday Zack! I can’t believe you’re a big boy already, starting school in 24 days, where has the time gone???

*****

So, what have you been up to this week?

It can start in many ways, from a broken crisp, to not getting that 3rd bottle of milk he’s asking for, and it starts.

The instant screaming.

Not crying.

Screaming.

Throwing himself onto the floor, picking up everything in sight and hurtling it as far across the room as his little not-quite-three year old arms can send it.

Running in and out of the living room, through the hall, into the kitchen and back again.

Screaming all the time.

Headbutting.

Grabbing me with his little fingers and squeezing as tightly as he can.

He raises his arms up wanting me to comfort him, yet as soon as I do that he arches his back and struggles to get away.

It’s all too much for him.

And for me.

There’s no point now in giving in to what he wanted in the first place.

Even if I gave him that 3rd bottle of milk it would be thrown away as soon as it was given to him.

He’s become a ball of angry energy, and he can’t stop.

He’s distraught, I’m lost, Zack is visibly upset by the screaming.

I try putting on his favourite cartoons on the tv.

It doesn’t work.

I try just holding him tight.

It doesn’t work, in fact it makes him worse.

By this point he’s usually been screaming for a minimum of about 45 minutes to an hour.

He’s exhausted now too.

I’m at the absolute end of my tether.

There’s only one thing left to do, though I hate to do it.

I lead him up stairs. Half carrying half dragging his heavy little body made so rigid it’s an almost impossible task.

I put him into his cot, give him the blankie that’s been thrown back at me numerous times by now

and I close the door.

I leave him to scream.

To calm down on his own.

It seems to be the only thing that works, eventually.

Like the world just becomes too much for him and he needs to just be on his own.

Over two hours after the screaming started, it finally subsides and he drifts off to sleep.

Over two hours later and I sink down onto the sofa with the laptop to envelop myself into the worlds of other people.

Over two hours later I’ve weathered this storm, and I hope that there’s not another one for quite some time.

But you know, living with Max, the storm never really goes away.

It’ll be back again tomorrow if not later in the day.

And we will start all over again.

I love my little man, but I hate the storms.

Oooh I love a good meme, especially when it’s in question form…

The lovely Jay at Mocha Beanie Mummy tagged me for this latest set of random questions, so here we go!

1. Are you a meticulous planner?

Eh, that would be a big fat NO. I am definitely *not* a Type A person, I just go with the flow, and am quite lazy with it sometimes…

2. Do you wear make up and if so how much and how often?

I don’t wear make up much. Usually just for special occasions like, you know, leaving the house. Even then it’s basically a bit of mascara and sometimes some eyeshadow. Occasionally I’ll add eyeliner and lippy in there, but not often.

3. What, if anything, do you wear to bed?

I always wear my jammy bottoms. Usually with a jammy top too, but sometimes just whatever tshirt I’ve been wearing that day (told ya I was lazy!). I just can’t be comfy unless I’ve got my jammy bottoms on though.

4. Look over your right shoulder, what do you see?

A sink full of dirty dishes, a toasty machine that’s cooling down.

5. If you had to take a random item to an interview to describe you, what would it be?

Eh, probably my laptop. Whaaat? I am such a geek, it would show me off perfectly! Plus then I could show you photos of my boys, and my blog, and how I *love* twitter and facebook and… and… and… I’ve said too much already haven’t I? >_<

6. What film would you like to have a starring role in?

Eh, none! I wouldn’t want to be in front of the camera… that’s why I like photography – I don’t have to be *in* the photos!

7. Jimmy Stewart or Carey Grant?

Neither, I don’t know who they are. Wait a sec and I’ll google them…

*googles*

Yeah, still neither of em, they’re too old for me!

8.  Do you swear in front of your children?

Yes. I don’t *mean* to, but I do. And Zack tells me off and smacks my hand if he hears me do it. I can’t fucking help it if I’m used to fucking swearing all the bloody time can I??

9. Do you knit or sew or do any other “womanly” craft?

I like to bake cookies? Does that count?

10. Twitter or Facebook?

Ahhhh do I have to CHOOSE? That’s not fair! I refuse to choose, I like them BOTH, equally, but for very different reasons!

I like Twitter because it connects me to loads of bloggers, likeminded and otherwise. I find links to lots of interesting posts that I’d never have seen otherwise.

I like Facebook cause I can keep in touch with family and friends on there, and of course there’s Mafia Wars.

Ahhhhh now for the tagging… fun fun fun!

Veronica at Sleepless Nights.

Barbara at Jo Bart.

The Moiderer at, well, The Moiderer.

Kristin at Wanderlust.

aaaand….

Angela at Snarks and Ladders.

Have fun girlies!

You know when your kids/spouse/dog says or does something funny, and you think “I’ve *totally* gotta blog that” but then it only works out at about 3 lines of a blog post and that’s just not enough so you just leave it and forget it ever happened? Well, that’s why I thought I’d start Sunday Snippets. You can write down and/or photograph something cute or funny that happens as it happens throughout the week, and every Sunday make it into a post. I figured since we’re all friends here in this bloggy community that maybe you might like to find out what others are up to as well!

1. Follow me if you’re not already.
2. Write your Sunday Snippets post.
3. Get the button in the right sidebar over there to thwack onto your post.
4. Add the link to your blog post (note I said POST, not just the blog url!) to the MckLinky at the bottom here.
5. Read what some of your fellow bloggers have been up to, comment, and enjoy finding new people!
6. Come back next Sunday and do it all over again.

*****

Dean: One of the reasons I fell in love with you was cause you’re off your rocker.

Me: WTF??

Dean: I mean, you’re not completely there.

Me: ……

That’s true love that is! <3

*****

I got an iPhone 4!!! SQWWEEEEE! It’s so pretty and shiny and it takes video in HD and actually decent photos and it even works as a phone!! (as my dad asked to make sure when I was telling him all about it, lol!).

*****

Max has started EATING WITH A SPOOOOON!!!!

He’s also started saying “ouch” if he falls over, and… the pièce de résistance… he’s started calling Dean “Daddy Deeeean” as clear as a bell!

My lil man is starting to talk! I’m so happy I could cry!

*****

My boy wasn’t sure how to talk to me about Jenny, but he was curious about a few things.

Here’s the conversation as it happened…

Zack: Mummy, you know your friend who died…

Me: Yeah sweetheart, Jenny. It’s really sad isn’t it?

Zack: Yes, I wish I could talk to her again. I would tell her I loved her.

*looks up to the sky and says* “Hi Jen, I love ya”.

Me: Oh darlin, that’s so lovely, I’m sure she heard you. (*tries desperately not to crumble into a heap again*).

Zack: Do you think, now that she’s up in heaven, that Jenny could talk to Santa for me?

Me: *huge smile through the tears* I’m sure she will sweetheart, I’m sure she will.

*hugs*

That boy sure knows how to pull at my heart strings. I know Jenny would be smiling at that conversation.

*****

So, what are your Sunday Snippets? I can’t wait to read all about them.

…there are so many things I would be able to do, but the first thing that *always* pops into my head is “I could FINALLY get my Nikon D90!! OMG!”, followed by paying off debts finally, buying a house, setting up trust funds for the kids, being able to hire a cleaner, and generally getting life in order.

Really though, I think Dean and I would probably end up blowing all the money on random crap.

He was a DJ up till a few years back, and misses all the gear he used to have, so I think know he’d buy decks, synths and everything he could possibly want to go with it.

I’d buy my camera (finally!!), a bunch of lenses etc and photograph my little heart out!

We’d want the latest gaming/techie stuff of course…

a Playstation 3 and the new Xbox for Dean,

an iPad and iPhone 4 for me.

I’d also love to be able to pay for someone to come to my home to set up everything for my iMac to be backed up, and replaced with an even bigger and new and shiny one, with all my stuff moved over. It’d just be easier that way wouldn’t it? Without having to worry about if I’d missed anything?

Ahh the kitchen… we would have one of those beautiful made-just-for-you kitchens with an awesome HUGE fridge and freezer (American style, that dispenses ice cubes… know what I mean?), top of the range everything, right down to the utensils we used.

Care for Max using the ABA system, which is sooo expensive but seems to work oh so well from what I’ve heard.

Zack would have his Prodigy t-shirts to fit (did I ever mention their “Little Warriors” clothing section is in fact for teenagers rather than children? The size we got that thought would fit Z actually was perfect sizing for Dean… no joke. And yes, yes my nearly-5-yr-old does love The Prodigy. He’ll go around singing the lyrics of them all. I shit you not). He would get every game he could ever possibly want. We would have a huge garden with one of those awesome treehouse/activity centre things in it for him and his friends to play in.

We could get a dog! FINALLY! We all so soooo want a doggy in this house, but we can’t afford it unfortunately. Not yet anyway. This time next year? Quite possibly we will have one. I hope!

Ooooh and we could get some Dega’s finally! Those cages are damn expensive, but they are so damn cute!

In fact, we could pretty much have our own little farm. I could rescue horses that needed a good home.

Oh how I have always ALWAYS wanted a horse. Not to ride, just to take care of, groom, breathe in the sweet horsey smell.Plus, we could use the manure for the roses we’d have in the big garden we’ll have.

Not to mention having lifetime memberships to the Crieff Hydro – the very posh and expensive members only club with pools, children’s creche, beautiful walks, a gold course, horses (!!!), a spa, mmmm… that would be so amazing.

The best thing? I could take photos of all of these awesome things with my long lusted after camera!

Now then… I guess I just need to keep buying that lottery ticket every week don’t I?

What do you think you would do if you got a big win in the lottery?

So yesterday I took part in Tara’s The Gallery, which was a “can you see what it is yet” type post, I really enjoyed going through some of the other Gallery entries and seeing what people had taken photos of, and trying to guess!

I showed you this:

Someone thought it was part of a table,another person thought it was a cigar, and another part of a dog!

Here’s what it was:

Max… using a SPOON! PROPERLY!!!! (Jen, you got it, and you know just how big this is for us!).

The boy who never let me put a spoon near him in his almost three years of life, has finally figured out how to use a spoon! Well done lil man!

Not only that, he’s also actually *let* me feed him too. I am beyond happy about that! *cheesy grin*