My peace is shattered!!

My boy is home........Yup, he arrived home at 1.30pm this afternoon. Having had a brilliant time. He did skiing, gorge walking, hill walking, orienteering, archery, mountain biking and a night walk where they were blind folded and had to hold on to a rope and the person in front for guidance. He had a ball!!!!

Its great to have him home, we all missed him. He said he missed us too, especially when he was writing his letter home! Despite all his bravado, he is a big soft lump at heart and he did give me a huge big hug when he got of the bus :D

One bonus was, the weather had been dry so he came home with more clean clothes than dirty ones. I'll probably get off with only 2 loads of washing instead of the mountain I envisioned!!!!

Counting the sleeps!

Robert has been totally at a loss this week without Ronan around. He has even had to rope David into playing PS2 with him! That was funny listening to Robert giving his Dad instructions on how to play the games, then getting totally frustrated when David couldn't do it quick enough!!!

He has been OK in the short period before he goes to school and up till tea (dinner) time, but when he's been getting tired that's when he seems to miss him most. However he has had a couple of small treats to compensate for Ronan being away... like a Burger King for tea and a couple of cheap books on offer at Lidl.

This morning he had a big grin on his face and announced.....Only one sleep left till Ronan comes home......Bless!

A letter arrived this morning from Ronan, he says he is having fun but he didn't like the pasta he had for tea!!!!! Oh well...I'm sure he'll survive! At that point they had been skiing and hill walking.No indication if he had been cold or wet!!!!!



As you can see from this pic taken in the garden, they are really close. Yes they have their moments and fight like cat and dog, but on the whole they get on really well and are well behaved children.

BTW, that's the Firth of Forth behind the boys and at high tide it comes right up to the sand below the fence! That's how close I live to the sea! In the background you can see Fisherrow Harbour and the other end of Musselburgh and the twin chimneys is Cockenzie Power Station.

OK one more sleep and then we can return to "normal".......noise and chaos!

And they're off!

If you read my post yesterday, you will know that I was not looking forward to today! Anyway it went better than I expected......NO tears!!!!!




All ready to go!!! Outside the school gates with all his stuff. The black bag in front of him is all his stuff and the blue one to the left is Duncan's (spinningfishwifes son)






Helping load the bus before departure!






And they are off!





Does he look upset..........NO. So obviously there was no need for all the crap I put myself through! But thats what being a mother is all about....I suppose.

Its now evening and the house is really quiet, no incessant Ronan chatter and no fighting between the gruesomes either......just peace and quiet!!!! Robert isn't saying much, but I think he is missing him too. We have actually changed the computer wallpaper to one of just Ronan (just for this week!).....Is that sad, or is that sad? (It was Roberts suggestion)

I've had time to reflect on the last 2 days and I now know why I was feeling like I was yesterday. Its that ever since Ronan has been able to talk (and boy he CAN talk), no matter where he or I have been we have been able to talk to each other at some point in the day. However that is not the case here, we are not allowed to contact them whilst they are away. Yes we can write to them, in fact the school has encouraged us to do that, so as soon as I have finished here I will write to him. Robert says he will draw him a picture too. Ronan is off with a stamped addressed envelope and some paper so he can write to us too!!!! I'll look forward to receiving that!

OK better go and find a pen that works and some paper......or I could just do it on the computer, save looking for a pen!

Feelings!

If you have read Spinningfishwifes blog, you will know where I am going with this entry, since her son Duncan and my oldest son Ronan are in the same class at school. Thus they are both of to school camp in the morning.I know he will be fine, but he is "my baby" (and he will kill me if he sees this!!!!!). Yes he has been away from home before, he goes on sleepovers on a regular basis, he goes up north to see his grandparents for a week(s) at a time, he's been away on rugby tour, he's been camping for the weekend with spinningfishwife and her family, but THIS is different. I don't know how it's different, but it is. I do know that the house will be so much quieter, coz he talks incessantly and appears from nowhere to be right behind you when you least expect it. He has a wicked sense of humour and is usually up to something, that something usually gets him into trouble!!!!



Here he is in Marks and Spencer's trying on a furry hat. I turned round and got the shock of my life coz the hat is about the same colour as his hair! I was waiting for a shop assistant to come up and ask us to leave.






At Prestongrange.

What is it with hats? He loves to make stuff and dress up and PG is a wonderful place to do it. Pitty it is now closed till April 2008!



Ronan is a kind and helpful "little" boy and still at age 11 volunteers to give you a hug, or sit on your knee. Usually when it is least convenient!!!!

Not that he would admit it, but I think he is a bit apprehensive about this week away from home, coz there have been lots more hugs than usual over the weekend and he also crawled into bed with DH the other night when I was at work, something he hasn't done in years! I know he is really looking forward to all the outdoor activities planned for the week as he is a very sporty guy.





He is not frightened to try something new, as these pix show!




He loves his brother, although they fight all the time, but thats just brothers!! Robert has said he will miss Ronan.....He always does when he's not around.



I know my week will be slightly less hectic, as I won't have swimming club on Monday and Wednesday nights! Its going to be one VERY strange week.

I have spent the last few days in great preparation, making sure he has enough clean undies and warm sox and everything I want returned named etc. All is now packed, with instructions given as to where everything is and where he can find the black plastic bags for the dirty/wet clothes.

I am not looking forward to tomorrow and waving him off, I'd better make sure I have plenty of hankies, coz I just know I'm going to be an emotional wreck. However when I read Spinningfishwifes post, I took great comfort in the fact I wasn't alone with these feelings. DH has just been laughing at me all weekend..... We will see what he is like in the morning!

What type of person am I?

I found this on Jaquiebean's blog when I was doing some catch up reading!

You Are An ESFJ

The Caregiver You are sympathetic and caring, putting friends and family first.A creature of habit, you prefer routines and have trouble with change.You love being in groups - whether you're helping people or working on a project.You are good at listening, laughing, and bringing out the best in people. In love, you value harmony and mutual understanding.You will apologize or give someone the benefit of the doubt, if it means getting over a fight sooner. At work, you are good at building relationships and connecting with people.You would make a great nurse, social worker, or teacher. How you see yourself: Organized, dependable, co-operative When other people don't get you, they see you as: Opinionated, critical, and know-it-all

What's" Your Personality Type?

I must admit after reading this, a lot of it is fairly accurate. (Well I think it is anyway!)

Delight!

Well, here we are into the middle of November and the weather has turned decidedly horrible. Yes today, was the first really terrible day we have had.....wind and rain....yeuch.

However, I have not allowed this to get me down as over the past 2-3 days there have been a few things that have delighted me!

One being the look of sheer delight on Robert's face when he received an email from "Santa's daughter" with a pic of "The Man Himself" for him!!!!. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough with my camera to take the reaction..........

This follows on from my previous post! He now has his list all typed out and ready to send off!!!! Oh the innocence of a child. I hope it will last for a few years yet...Well I can live in hope!

The second thing that delighted me was when I took a couple of knitted Christmas Tree decorations up to the rugby club on Sunday to see if they would sell to help raise funds for the kids Tour to Ayr in April 2008. Heck I sold all the ones I took up and so far have an order for a further 30+ (and there were hardly any parents around!!!)



These are miniatures of the rugby club tops -
Home = Navy and white
Away = White and Navy

This is the "Santa" ones I made. I also sold all I had and took an other 10+ orders for them.

Now I just have to work out when I'm going to find the time to knit them all...But I will!


Lastly, tonight, Ronan has been chosen to go forward to the East Lothian Under 12 Basketball Trials on Monday 3rd Dec. When I saw him talking to his coach after training tonight, I thought he was getting into trouble, so I was ready to give him hell about not behaving and how he should know better etc.....You get the picture! However his coach came to talk to me after and said that over the past 5-6 weeks they have been watching and selecting the most promising players from their squad to go forward. Ronan is 1 of 4 to be chosen. The coach also said that Ronan has been selected to be Team Captain for this season as he had proven during the games they played last Friday to be the only one who could control the game.....personally I think its coz he shouts and screams louder than the rest of the team!!!!Needless to say he is walking on air and feels 10 foot tall.....I only hope he doesn't come down with an almighty crash on the 3rd! As you can gather, he's not the only one who is pleased with his selection :)

Since this is a knitting blog........Look what I got this week!

A skein of 100% Merino from the Yarn Yard! Yummy!!!!

The things children ask...........

Yesterday Robert and I were having one of THOSE conversations that all parents dread, well I do anyway. The kinda conversation that can go either way, with a profound statement at the beginning and you are not sure where its going to end. Our conversation went like this:

Robert: Mum, see Christmas and Santa?

Me: Yessss??? (Wondering what is coming next!)

Robert: Well, Mum, I believe in Santa.

Me: (Huge sigh of relief)That's good, coz it'll soon be Christmas.

Robert: You know why I believe in Santa, Mum?

Me: No,Why?

Robert: Coz he's Robin's dad!

Me: (Trying desperately not to laugh out loud with relief) That's right, Robert, Robin's Dad is Santa.

Robert: Do you think he has a car or reindeer and a sleigh?

Me: I'm sure he has a car, but maybe he has a sleigh for if its snowing!

Robert: Mum?

Me: Yes?

Robert: Can you email Robin and ask?

Me: Why don't you email her, you have her address?

Robert: She's your friend, you ask her!

Me: OK!

The innocence of an eight year old....but for how much longer I ask?

BTW, I haven't emailed Robin, but maybe when she reads this she will let me know and I can pass the message on to Robert!

Wash day blues......

The boys were playing a basketball match last night and guess who got the kit to wash? (All the mums take turns of washing the kit.)


I suppose it could have been worse it could have been a muddy rugby teams kit! Bad enough with only 2 muddy rugby players in the house!!!!!



I don't have a large drying area, just 3 ropes on my balcony, but I managed to get all the kit hung up....just!

Unfortunately their team got beat, but we were missing a few of our bigger players. However the boys enjoyed it and thats all that matters.