Thankful Thursday

At 5.30pm tonight I so could have lost it when the mess outside the door from messy play earlier in the day looked like this…

And the mess in the kitchen looked like this…

But, with some team work and a lot of hard graft, everything eventually got put back in its rightful place and cleaned up (unfortunately I didn’t have Frances to help out and Dan wasn’t back till 7pm in the end, so the girls had to pull their socks up!).

And I am so thankful they did!

CAUTION: Only read on if you are used to dealing with baby poo. No photos included!

Alice was hard work to keep an eye on whilst making dinner and smoothies (and cleaning up after), emptying the dishwasher, folding the dry laundry, putting on another load and clearing up the mess outside the backdoor and in the garden. The girls did a great job… but as I picked up the pots and paintbrushes outside I smelt that familiar waft (bare bottom time had resulted in a little present). Ah well, at least it was outside. I moved Alice indoors and asked Sophie to watch over her in the lounge, whilst I cleaned up the poo outside and returned to the kitchen bench…

Then I heard Sophie saying, ‘Alice is touching her bottom Mummy’.

I didn’t think much of it and really didn’t think she could possibly doing more poo…

Oh, how wrong could I be (and really I should have known better!).

By the time I responded she’d left poo in a couple of spots on the carpet and started to explore what it felt like… and tasted like – yuck, yuck, yuck!

I picked her up and headed for the kitchen sink, whilst Charlotte (thank you, thank you, I owe you one!) got down on her hands and knees with some wipes and a plastic bag to clean up the mess on the carpet the best she could.

Sophie isn’t good with poo, sick or mess… her Princess side comes out and she has even been known to retch and run for the toilet.

Anyway, without going on and on in gruesome detail… we eventually cleaned up the house, ourselves and managed to eat dinner, all in time for hubbie to come through the door after a hard day’s work at 7pm.

And I am so thankful that I held it all together and didn’t lose the plot.

It’s been a GLORIOUS week of sunshine weather and for that I am so grateful. The garden is looking amazing and we’ve all loved playing outdoors (yes, even if it does make for extra work at the end of the day).

Sophie, Alice and I had a wonderful play at our local park (before the big clean-up), whilst Charlotte was at her jazz dance class.

I am so happy and thankful to see a sisterly bond building stronger by the day between Sophie and Alice. They shared a lot of laughter together playing peek-a-boo in the tunnel at the playground.

And earlier today I met up with a wonderful neighbour, who also has three girls around the same age (and she makes great coffee, which she served up with chocolate coated ginger biscuits – ever so, ever so thankful!).

Sophie painted away outside whilst I took Alice up for her afternoon nap and I am so thankful that she has learned to creep up stairs and whisper whilst I’m settling Alice. Sometimes we sit on my bed and talk quietly whilst watching Alice sleep.

I am so thankful for friends and their kind gifts. Our friend Steph (who used to help out in Sophie’s first year) came round on Friday evening with a whole pile of wonderful books she’d got from a clear-out at her school. It was a ghastly day on Saturday and thanks to Steph the girls all enjoyed reading their new books.

So thankful for my wonderful husband and the most caring, hands on father…

And my youngest helper who loves to ride the trolley and laugh at the giant strawberry in our local supermarket…

Finally, I am so thankful to live in a beautiful place, with nature aplenty on our door-step. I am so grateful that my children have such a happy childhood and the opportunity to really live it.