Ah, a nice cuppa, just what I need after this week.....

Idris obligingly drinking cups of lukewarm tea made by Faith with her little china tea set!

Well I've found it tough going this week, the children have had some odd virus that has made them really itchy, and by turn, pretty grumpy and my normally cheerful little boy has been very screechy and very hard to please! Thursday he cheered up remarkably and has been bubbly and giggly again - phew!

On reflection, I tried to do far too much given the circumstances and should have lowered my expectations for the week....... but the flip side is that I did get lots done, including one of my 'bottle necker' jobs. I call them bottle neckers if not doing them is causing me to get so hung up that I then can't make myself do anything else from my list, and it sits in the back of my mind like a little malevolent pixie making faces at me! The bottle necker this time? Getting quotes for a lorryful of concrete to be delivered (don't ask!). As usual when I plucked up the will to do it, it was simple, short lived and the people on the other end of the phone were pleasant and helpful and very willing to give advice. The result of doing that one 'bottle necker'?? I also organised electrician quotes (another thing I dislike doing, getting quotes) and sorted through half of the stack of random tat in my garage that is all that remains of my big organisation and decluttering drive!! It's amazing how good getting a few 'big' things from my list done feels!!

My brother spent a week over here visiting from Canada (sadly without Lorri and Sam - we missed you guys!) and it was lovely to have a few days with him and 'refuel' on my big brother before I see him again who knows when!! It was nice to be able to send back some parcels shoe horned into his case for my little nephew to open up!

I've gone back to cloth nappies this week, I used them for Eve and Faith and then when Idris came along I just couldn't face using them, he hated feeling wet and I was changing them so often that I moved to disposables, and never went back. Since then I gave my favourite stuffable/pocket nappy types to my sister-in-law and the rest of them to a lovely local family who had an unexpected third baby. Then last week I stumbled across a review of some birth to potty pocket nappies that were pretty low cost and ordered one to try. It was put thoroughly through it's paces and got top marks so I ordered a batch more and we are back to cloth. I am happy that we are, and hope that they will suit the next baby too!

I've tackled a change of e-mail address this week too, and tried really really hard to synchronise the calendars on my phone and tablet computer, which should be simple according to the web blurb but has me stumped and is clearly out of my sphere of expertise and my comfort zone! It made me grumpy and I didn't want to devote any more time to it this week so it is shelved pending space and time (and my charger returned from my Mum's house!) to tackle it afresh. It is small progress though towards one of my 2013 goals "get to grips with technology". I am also making progress towards the goals of getting the house organised and maintaining it, home ed co-operatives and building friendships. Having put the list up there, it seems to be keeping it fresh in my mind and I'm making things happen towards them. It's all good!

Idris was happily entertained putting the dice in and out of the tin whilst the others played Yahtzee!