Patients again

The bugs have hit again. The guys didn't even want to go outside when it started snowing yesterday which must be bad as that is unheard of. Now, that being said no one is that sick and the bug seems to spread as soon as a mattress is brought along for one child. When Eoins bed was brought along as he was feverish Tiarnan declared that he too was sick. When I pointed out that he looked quite well  he informed me that he had finished off Eoins drink yesterday and so he must now be poorly too! However, as long as no one is actually throwing up it's as easy to have them all together so 4 mattresses were brought along and they all assumed the role of patient. In our house it's best to be up high so you don't get jumped on by the dogs so I sometimes put a mattress on our butterfly room table. We haven't done it with 4 before but amazingly no one fell off!
Today they were much better and so progressed to 'rest stations' on the sofa in between bursts of lego playing. Scooby Doo on YouTube has also been a saving grace!

Meet Bramble

We now have a new foster puppy called Bramble. She is a Labrador cross Newfoundland and came to us at just 8 weeks of age. The children are still missing Skye greatly but having Bramble to focus on has definitely helped. We also went away to England for a week as Skye left which also proved a distraction. Bramble was allowed to walk around the ferry with us and met a lot of different people without being fazed in the slightest, she is a very sociable little dog. She also went to Crufts with us for two days although she made progress around the halls very slow as everyone wanted to pet her. One bloke even approached Justin asking to borrow her for a bit as she was such a 'babe magnet'!

I'd say it won't take us long to fall in love with Bramble the same as we did with Skye!

Goodbye Skye

Yesterday Skye left us to commence advanced assistance dog training so Anna did a video to remember her by and we all had a lesson in letting go...

Back after a break

Life got a bit crazy for a bit and that combined with a crisis of confidence meant I haven't written for a while.

In our house there's no such thing as a calm period but even for us it's been busy. Now, I couldn't particularly tell you what's been going on, there's been no big calamity, but I have felt pulled in all directions and couldn't justify to myself the 'time out' to sit and write.

I have missed it though. So after a debate about whether to park it for a while or not I have decided to carry on for a few reasons;

Without writing I get lost in busyness and I find myself going with the flow on automatic pilot whereas writing is in itself reflective. I have to think about why I'm approaching things a certain way and that helps me be mindful and constantly evaluate my parenting which is important.

I am in conflict with myself about privacy versus sharing. On one hand I find the whole idea of details about my family 'out there' in the great unknown world that is cyberspace a scary concept. However without sharing experiences how do we learn and reach others? We sent our children to school for 7 years because we did not realise there was an alternative. Whereas I have no wish to influence or stand judgement on anyone else I do feel it's important that every parent knows they have a choice. If by sharing our experiences another family feels able to take the plunge and give their children a childhood without school, and enjoy the subsequent enrichment of family life, then that's a good thing.  

I was worried that as I only have small snippets of time to quickly get down in writing what I've been thinking about, that I had a quality issue. If I'm posting unrefined ramblings instead of quality prose, should I be bothering? If somethings worth doing.. and all that. However, the reality is it's the former or nothing. If I do nothing we wouldn't have this record of family life as it happened and I think it will be good to look back on.

I also feel guilty when I do anything which takes time away from the children. With six of them, I find it hard to meet all their needs as it is. 'You never have time to...' is a constant refrain. I do believe strongly in modelling though. If I want them to enjoy books they need to see us reading, if I want them to value writing, the best way is to set the example and write myself. Children don't like to be told what to do but they will learn what they live. As I am writing now, Beth is sat beside me writing a letter to a friend and Anna is on her laptop writing her blog about Skye. 

I love photography. With the blog to find photo's for I found myself thinking to take the camera out much more frequently rather than relying on snaps from my phone. This interest then passes down to the children, and both Anna and Beth are now starting to take and edit good quality photo's.

So on balance I think I'll continue, now I just need to think of something to write about...

Beth's half birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Beth's half birthday. This is a tradition we started a few years ago when we found that most of our birthdays fell in the first half of the year and so it helped brighten up the Autumn and early Winter. A year is a very long time for small children, especially when your birthday falls so close to Christmas as Tiarnan's does. It's also another occasion on which to make a child feel special which when you're one of a large clan is very important.
As we've had such a mild winter there was also a rose to pick for the table!

Our Baby is 4!

I can't believe Tiarnan is now 4. Having had 6 babies over a period of 10 years and enjoying Tiarnan's babyhood as long as possible ( he was breastfed for the best part of 3 years compared to only a year for the others as there was always another catching up behind! ), it's hard to remember a time when we weren't organising our lives around the needs of a baby. And whilst all six children will always be my 'babies' we don't have an actual baby anymore which is unfamiliar territory. I think that as I had each new baby, I appreciated that little bit more, each extra chance to mother a newborn, taking less for granted as I got older. As the other children were older when Tiarnan was born they also got to enjoy him as well as Justin and I, so his time as a baby was extra special.
We are now entering a new phase of our lives, as parents of older children, and having been blessed with the opportunity to mother so many beautiful babies I now feel ready to embrace that change.

Tiarnan served his cake his way, giving everyone a piece of the top layer before the  bottom!

The Morning After

This year we decided to invite all our neighbours in for an evening of mulled wine and mince pies. We live in a rural area with a cluster of houses adjacent to farmland, so it was nine families in total. As our road is fast with nasty bends we all end up driving everywhere and so it is very easy to go about your day to day life without actually seeing anyone, let alone have a conversation. Add to this the fact that we are no longer at the school gate twice a day and you can feel a bit reclusive. We feel that community is important and so Christmas was a good excuse to invite everyone in.
We initially had some resistance from the children, especially as one family included a child they had known from another class in school and who they felt was unfriendly. We had a run of 'do we have to?', 'they don't invite us so why should we invite them?'. We felt it was important though and that we all need to be pushed outside our comfort zone sometimes and to make an effort instead of just using being busy as an excuse. We therefore went ahead, softening the blow by pointing out that it would be a fantastic opportunity to socialise Holly and that they could consider it a puppy party instead! We gave out Christmas cards early, including invitations and all but one couple accepted.
On the evening we lit lots of candles, had music playing and lots of mulled wine and nibbles, and with the Christmas tree all lit up it was a lovely festive atmosphere. After the introductions, which were a bit iffy as we were trying to remember names having not lived here that long ourselves, everyone seemed to be getting along really well. The children initially found it a bit awkward but then a big gang of them went outside with torches and wands that Santa had brought to play Harry Potter. Apparently they offended one little boy by suggesting that he should be Professor Umbridge but otherwise a good time was had by all.
At breakfast the next day we then asked the children how they had found the party and whether we should do it again next year. They agreed that although they had had reservations, on balance it been a good thing to do. They heard one lady say that she had lived here 14 years and it was the first time she had spoken to another lady just a few doors up and so could see the benefit of having helped bring people together. Hopefully they have also learnt how it is good to be the ones to take the initiative rather than just sitting back and waiting for life to happen!