Monday 11 December 2017

Our Weekly Journal - A Quick Catch Up

Our Weekly Journal - A Quick Catch Up

I haven't written a weekly journal for ages, in fact the last one was 2nd October! Wow that was a long time ago, until I checked I didn't realise how long it was. It isn't that we haven't done anything, in fact we have been very busy, it is my SAD. I just can't be bothered. Nothing has any point to it so I carried on with posts I had committed to, and left all the chatty stuff.
I mean who reads it anyway? What is the point? I didn't even get the lap top out for over a week at the beginning of November.
Then last week I received a Christmas card from my sister, she told me how much she loved reading my blog, the journals and the Junk Food one (it brought back memories for her too) and I realised that I actually enjoyed writing about our days and there are people who enjoy reading it. So I decided to do a catch up, there's a fair bit to include so grab a cup of tea and read on...

 A Quick Catch Up

I've broken it down into weeks, to form some sort of diary and to keep it as short as possible. I have a tendency to ramble and to put every photo I take into the journal, so I have have tried to keep it just to one or two photos and a short paragraph per week. So while the excitement of Christmas is overriding the inertia of SAD,  here we go.

3rd - 9th October

We had sunshine so did welly painting outside and bare foot painting indoors. That was so messy! and so much fun. It was also Bears 3rd birthday. He is growing up so quickly.

our-weekly-journal-Bear-in-his-wellies-standing-in-paint-on-a-tuff-tray

10th - 16th October


Grandad and I walked to some waterfalls. Bear joined in fungi hunting and we painted faces on polystyrene bits, the stuff that is used as packaging. I was very impressed with his efforts. I also caught him dancing, he stopped as soon as he knew I was watching.


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I did the middle one and Bear did the others - aren't they cute?

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Dance like no-one is watching - oops! you saw me!

17th - 23rd October


We were preparing for Hallowe'en, Bear was very excited and kept saying he was going to Trick and Treat for candy - I'm sure he's more American than children born there. Thanks You-Tube and I wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly starts talking in Spanish!

toddler-wearing-witches-hat-outside-saying-cheese
Say cheese!

24th - 30th October

It was sunny and we visited Parc Play before they closed for the winter. They are still open weekends and holidays and are really good value. You can take your own refreshments although they do have a small coffee shop.
Clocks went back on the 29th October - this is a big trigger for me. It really affects my SAD, up until this point I had managed to carry on as normal and although I hadn't written any Journal entries for a couple of weeks, I had posted something every day in October. Then bang! The stupid clocks go back and I hibernate.


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Whee! Bear loves the zip wire.

31st - 6th November

I took Bear Trick and Treating, just around the streets close to us - he loved it. We are so lucky that we live in a friendly neighbourhood so we only get small children (and their parents) calling. He had a skeleton knight costume that he loved so much he wore it for two days. On the 1st we visited Castell Coch and he loved being a knight in a castle.


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One of the lovely houses decorated for Hallowe'en, Bear loved wearing his mask and skeleton knight costume - and the candy of course.
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Bear in his skeleton knight costume at Castell Coch
This was a busy week as Bears daddy had his graduation ceremony at The Millennium Centre in Cardiff.
When he left school and college he had enough of studying and didn't want to go to university. Then about 7 years ago he started with the Open University. He has always been really good at both maths and physics so engineering was an obvious choice for him.

The Open University isn't like going to university, student days are filled with poverty and drink (so I hear!) the Open University is hard work.
A foundation course, summer school, exams, minimum of 15 hours a week study (that's every Saturday and Sunday all year long), working full time, having two children, moving house a week before final exams with no internet and he passed! We are so proud of him, the time, money and effort he has put into this.

Well done son xxx

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Then on the Sunday we all met up at The Angel Hotel in Abergavenny and had a lovely family lunch.

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Bear and Aunty S

7th - 13th November

This week was all about food. I can't stick to Slimming world when I have SAD as I crave everything that is bad for me, I just have no will power and have to give in.
I also didn't take many photos. I was enjoying doing rather than recording but we did go out lots. Grandad and I had lunch at Bills in Cardiff Bay and also in Cardiff City centre. Why we never tried it before I do not know as we really enjoyed our meals there. I am sure we will visit again and again. Watch out Jamies!

chocolate-cake-cream-and-sliced-banana
Chocolate and cream and my effort at being healthy - a sliced banana. This was breakfast

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Fish pie at Bills restaurant - the best fish pie I have ever eaten, including my own homemade one

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Grandad had eggs, he loved them and the coffee was outstanding. If you haven't been to Bills before you must give it a try.

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Little Bee reading to Mummy and Grandad 

14th - 20th November


Poor Bear, he hadn't been well for a while, full of cold. He was eating nothing (and his appetite at best is tiny), it is what prompted me to write Is It Bad Parenting To Serve Junk Food?. Bear never falls asleep on the sofa but he did this week. His mummy took him to see the practice nurse (couldn't get a doctors appointment) and she said his ear was pink and he had a virus, he didn't need any antibiotics and he would get well in time. Because he felt poorly we had one day at home and one at St Fagans the Museum of Welsh Life.

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Aww poor Bear. He was so poorly.

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This was the lid from a small bottle of pop, Bear refused to drink any, all he had was a capful through this straw.
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This is the sink at St Fagans Museum. It is a great idea, the wash basin gets lower in steps and the "bowl" is just a ledge. That way anyone has access to the taps and sink, regardless of height. Including Bear!

21st - 27th November

Oh poor Bear! He was so poorly. He had a nasty ear infection and after two more visits to the doctors (including one out of hours)  he was finally given antibiotics. I spent the week at his house (just in the daytime) so I could look after Bee while mummy cuddled Bear. It took so long for him to get better and he ate nothing!

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Bee doesn't look too sure about the capabilities of his minder!

28th - 4th December


Bear finally was better so we went to one of our favourite places - Dyffryn Gardens. We love seeing the gardens change with the seasons and we tried to do the 12 Days of Christmas Trail. We found most of them, have you been? I also bought a new camera but Bear loves to use it and he's very good. Oh I know I'm mad, he's three and the camera was very, very expensive but he is so careful and I stay close. I think Father Christmas is bringing him a surprise shhh don't tell him.

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Bear knows what to do with my camera

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One of Bears photos. Two of the 5 Gold Rings on the trail at Dyffryn Gardens. He's good isn't he?

5th - 11th December

Last week! We have finally caught up. We visited Thornhill Farm Shop. They have an outdoor paddock with animals that is free to visit all year around, then in December they bring some into a barn, decorate the barn and charge a couple of pounds to enter. The money collected helps to keep the animals for the rest of the year. Bear wouldn't stand still though so every picture was blurred. I did get one of him with the chickens, he stayed there for ages, I think he would love to have a chicken as a pet.

Bear-looking-at-the-chickens-at-thornhill-farm-shop-christmas-barn


Bear has been having speech therapy. He understands everything, and has done since he was a baby. His vocabulary is huge but his speech is "disordered". He doesn't pronounce words properly and it is very hard to understand him. He starts Welsh pre-school in January and it would be so much easier for him if he could pronounce words correctly. He is working so hard we are very proud of him.

That's us all caught up. I hope you are all ready for Christmas. I must admit I have a few presents and that's it. No decorations up, no food bought. I think I need to get my skates on.

Oh and today (Sunday) it snowed. Not a lot but it rarely snows in Cardiff so we got very excited over a light dusting.


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1 comment

  1. Kids grow so fast and that i can see in these pictures. He is a sweet and beautiful child. I guess all the parents must create memories of making the pictures.

    ReplyDelete

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