Silent Sunday 26/5/13
Saturday is an Arty Caption Day!
This rather brilliant tree-trunk sculpture is at the start of the magical little spot in our favourite country park that I posted about on Monday.
Although he’d seen it many times before Jake seemed fascinated by it, almost as if he was seeing it for the first time!
Could it be his first moment of art appreciation?
Whatever it was I think it’s a terrific, although slightly surreal, picture.
The question is though: can you come up with a suitable caption for it?
Witty, silly, profound – anything you like: go for it!
And when you’ve done that just click the little boy’s head for more:
And they say the NHS isn’t working!
Dr. Ellie was in the house.
There are a few instruments missing but Jake & Ellie decided that they needed them in bed. And I’m not sure what the carrots are doing there.
She was looking for work & needed a patient.
I was It.
Something got stuck into my ear.
I asked the Doctor, looking suitably concerned, what it said.
“You’re very hot”, she said.
She gave me something to drink, out of what I thought looked like a bottle of pills.
It tasted horrible!
Then there were more tests.
Things were put in my mouth. Jake joined in by injecting something into my chest.
Then the Doctor became concerned about my knees.
She went in for a close look with her specialist knee-viewing instrument.
After some time, she looked up.
She seemed worried.
“They’ve got fish in them”.
Umm – can I have a second opinion please?
This post is part of the ‘Shoulder to Shoulder to Day’ blog-hop series: bloggers on a mission to cheer up a Mum of 3 while she is having treatment for cancer which isolates her from her family for a month.
Today it’s being hosted by Secrets of the Sandpit & InstinctiveMum, so have a look there for more posts like this 
Teeth
I have a confession to make.
You see the photo of me on the top right of the page here? It was taken at the moment that I reached the summit of Mount Snowdon, which I climbed with the fantastic TeamHonk to raise funds for Red Nose Day.
Although I was utterly exhausted I was elated at having made it when more than once I wasn’t sure if I would. It was a special moment & was captured so expertly by the awesomesaucesome Mammasaurus that it’s now one of my favourite photos. When I decided that my blog pic needed updating it was an obvious choice.
My confession? It’s photoshopped. A bit.
Normally I hate that sort of thing but I felt I had to make an exception here. In the original I had 2 teeth missing. It really spoiled what should have been a great photo!
I’d had a temporary replacement for an old bridge put in before leaving for Snowdon – but it only went and fell out, and too late for me to get it fixed! Very embarrassing.
To my mind this photo is how I should have looked. And did, when those &*$! teeth stayed in. So thank you, Mammadentisaurus!
For most of my life I’ve had problem teeth; I’m not really sure why. So I was delighted to have been given this shiny new Colgate ProClinical A1500 rechargeable sonic toothbrush for review.
It’s definitely a toothbrush unlike any other that I’ve ever used.
It has 3 different types of cleaning action:
- slow, with side-to-side strokes for tooth surfaces
- mid-speed, with both vertical & horizontal strokes for getting rid of plaque along the gum line
- faster, with vertical strokes for getting in the hard-to-reach places behind & between teeth.
It also has 3 modes: Optimum (mid-speed only), Deep Clean (fast only) and Auto – the one I use the most – which automatically switches to the right speed & action as you go.
I definitely notice a difference. With my teeth as they are gingivitis (gum disease) is a real threat so it feels great when my brush goes up a gear as it hits my gum line!
It is a bit tricky getting the hang of holding it the right way to ensure the right speed & action kicks in when it should. The manual states that it can take up to 2 weeks to adjust to this new way of teeth-cleaning, so I was disappointed that there’s almost nothing in the manual by way of instruction. You just have to pick it up as you go, although it does feel quite instinctive.
That aside if you’re looking for a new toothbrush – and especially if like me you have problem teeth & need something a bit special – I can definitely recommend this one.
Apart from the product I received no compensation for this review. All the words – even the big ones – are my own.
The Gallery: Drink (Pretty in Pink)
Have I got you singing now? I hope so!
That song is a big ‘ear-worm’ with me. Every time I hear the phrase: bang! There it is, stuck in my head.
“But what the Furs has that got to do with drink? Isn’t that what this silly post is supposed to be about anyway? Get on with it, man!” I hear you cry. Or words to that effect. Probably.
Alright, since you asked so nicely, this:
This is the source of much of my drinking activity. During the day, at least, especially mornings. I pretty much chain-drink coffee ’til lunchtime, then often indulge in 1 or 2 more in the afternoon.
My old cafetière broke, OK? Our kitchen is very small, we don’t have a dishwasher, so accidents happen. I needed my caffeine fix, & this was the only one I could find in town. Also: it was cheap. Which probably explains why it already has a crack at the top.
It’s my story, & I’m sticking to it.
Now I’m off to drink my pink brew and put on my Borat pinny* & marigolds to do the washing up while singing very loudly & very badly to Adele.
I am MetroDad, hear me roar!
* It was a gift, honest
This post is for Tara’s terrific ‘Gallery’ on her ‘Sticky Fingers’ blog.
It’s also for Emma of ‘Crazy With Twins’ who is having a hard time right now as she’s in isolation & away from her family while having treatment for cancer, so is in need of some cheering up.
To read more & to join in just click the pics:
You may also like
- All You Should Find Out About Coffee (bestrestaurantsindesmoines.wordpress.com)
Tree-Trunk Drum Fun!
We love our country park!
After the adventure playground or the farm trail we go back through a woodland walk. Right at the start of it is a natural playground sculpted from tree-trunks: both artistic & fun!
The taller trunks are actually drums. They have slits cut into them & in such a way that they make a different noise depending on where you bang them with a stick.
Jake & Ellie however are more interested in climbing & jumping!
The game used to be that I had to lift them onto the first stump then zoom them through the air - while saying “WEEEE!”, of course – to the next one.
Now that they’re so much more physically able they just need me to life them on then they jump off. Which is just as well as I have a bad back at the moment, to go with my dodgy shoulder!
After we’d done that & run around for a bit they discovered something new: a low-hanging branch to swing from!
This is another new activity here. As with many other things they’d seen some older children doing it & so of course wanted to try it themselves. Not always a good idea, but this time it was fine!
They hung, they swung – and they fell! But they’re physically capable enough they have no problem doing that either.
And they had a swingin’ good time!
I may have spoilt the mood slightly however by insisting on singing “I’m the King / Queen of the Swingers, the jungle VIP” etc. to them afterwards…
Bad singing aside, it’s a magical little spot & one we all enjoy
For more posts like this, just click the pics:
Silent Sunday 19/5/13
Saturday is a Very Wet Caption Day!
Got a witty, profound or just plain silly caption for this picture? Then leave it in the comments below! Then click on the little boy’s head here & you will be magically transported to the funsome Mammasaurus’ blog for many more pictures crying out for a witty / pithy #satcap caption.
You may also like:
A Healthy Snack
Walkers have brought out a new healthy range of snacks for kids, called “Hoops and Crosses”, & I’ve been lucky enough to have received some.
As you can see, the packaging is great:
Not only did I not have to fight any big-eared TV football presenters for them but they even came with a cute, cuddly monkey! Which, of course, the twins love.
And do they taste as good as they look?
Well, yes. The ones I had were roast beef flavour, & they were delicious, thank you very much. They also come in prawn cocktail and salt & vinegar flavours.
And their healthy credentials? Why listen to me when the nice monkeys can tell the story?
We’ve always been keen on Jake & Ellie eating a healthy, balanced diet, even in their snacks, so a tasty & fun snack made from wholegrains & with no artificial colours or preservatives will do very nicely.
We’re very fussy about salt here though, so the only downside for me is that the sodium content is a little bit too high for us to want to include it in every day’s lunchbox – but for a weekly snack they would be fine.
It’s a nice touch that they’re in the shape of noughts & crosses, so while they’re eating you can also make the snacking into a fun & educational game.
And if that footballer does turn up I’ll fight him for it!
This is a sponsored post
School Runner
I got 2 pre-schoolers walking the streets…I need ya, Dad. This is a bad one, the worst yet. I need the School Runner; I need your magic.
Not quite what Jake & Ellie’s pre-school teacher said to me. But it might have been.
And, to be fair, she hasn’t actually said anything like that to me at all. I just couldn’t resist appropriating a quote from one of my favourite films
- for I am now officially a School Runner!
Cue swelling spacey Vangelis synths while my spinner car swoops over city skyscrapers before descending onto the mean streets of suburban south Wales
In my head, anyway…
The reality is slightly different.
Jake & Ellie have been eased gradually into their new life as pre-schoolers: at first 2 afternoons a week, then 3, & now they’re up to the full 5.
To start with the Mummy & I were dropping them off & picking them up together; now we ‘take turns’. She likes to do it herself when she can, & she does. I can usually go with her on her days but we want them to get used to just 1 of us collecting them as she can’t go with me on my days.
They are really enjoying pre-school & are usually excited to be going. We just point them in the right direction & off they go; taking them there isn’t a problem.
Picking them up again afterwards, however…
I gaze with envy at the other parents walking along sedately, hand in hand with their little darling – or little darling & slightly bigger & more mature little darling – trotting along sweetly at their side.
I’m not sure what they think when they look at me. They’re probably too busy trying to avoid a flying Jake as he attempts to become the fastest 3-year-old on Earth. There’s a nasty chicane at the gate which is always trouble, then a long lane which is perfect for a little boy intent on doing his best Usain Bolt impression. The lane leads to a footpath then a busy road, & he hasn’t quite got it into his head yet that running onto roads is generally a bad idea.
There’s usually shouting.
Ellie on the other hand likes to dawdle. There are lots of little walls on the way & she sees it as her mission in life to walk on every one of them, very slowly, balancing with her arms in the air so she doesn’t fall off. Except she sometimes does. Some of the walls are in people’s gardens. “That belongs to someone else” is a sentence which just doesn’t seem to register in the world of a 3-year-old, or at least our 3-year-olds.
There’s usually shouting.
Of course I try to grab their hands on exit. They’re surprisingly quick, especially Jake, so that often doesn’t happen. Even if it does they’re also surprisingly strong & are experts at wriggling free.
We’ve tried wrist-straps, but that caused World War 3. They actually seemed genuinely hurt so we haven’t had the heart to try them again.
The one time I used the buggy, strapping them in, was during a freezing rainstorm where they seemed to accept my argument that we were doing it so I could get them to the car as quickly as possible. I’m not convinced it would work on a normal day, but that’s the plan for my next time.
I’d love to hear about the experiences of other School Runners, especially other parents of twins. Is it smooth sailing getting them home or are yours little terrors like ours?
It seems to me to be a twin thing, but I could be wrong!
I don’t think there’s any real danger; it’s just stressful so I’d like it to be better! We always make it home more or less all in one piece, unless you count stress as an injury. Where, even if I don’t manage it, I feel like having a sleep – and when I do I hopefully won’t dream of electric sheep or unicorns 
