The end of what seemed like a very long, but also very short summer is just around the bend,
In fact, 'Fall' as they call it over here instead of Autumn, actually starts on Wednesday 22nd Sep. (Sidenote - If Autumn is 'Fall, because of leaves falling, why isn't Spring called 'Grow', Summer called 'Toasty' and Winter called 'Shit its cold'.
So the nights are beginning to draw in and the construction is beginning to get rampant as the green vest-wearing mole monsters ( Construction crew) prepare for 6 months of hibernation, before appearing next 'Grow', to start up their yellow diggers and prepare for 5 more months of destruction and coffee breaks, followed by 1 week of actual construction as per this year. Our back lane is actually nearly done - There were hundreds of the little digging men out there today, sweeping, putting in gravel and generally looking quite busy. It's amazing what you can do if you are close to bedtime and it's no longer warm and sunny outside.
It's a shame they didn't finish last week as we would have been able to use our garage for the first time in 2 months and would probably not have had to deal with this......(Its ok, no one was injured)
Yep, that pile of puke coloured junk hanging by the side of the road is what's left of our once pristine, beautiful new car - Bought just 11 weeks ago.
At about 6.45pm on Saturday 18th Sep, one day after putting on the new private license plates Buffy bought me for my birthday 'MCR2WPG' (Manchester to Winnipeg) a bellend of a semi human, drove along Westminster Avenue, turned left, lost control, bounced off the kerb and smashed into the front of our parked car.
It was pushed back into another car and up onto the boulevard. The front driver side wheel, taking most of the impact, was pushed back into the bodywork.
Then the knuckle-dragging penis who committed the crime, decided he didn't need to hang about and promptly sped off and was never found - Not yet anyway. So it was a hit and run.
This resulted in the badly damaged car as per the photos and 3 very upset people - Buffy, Me and Hannah - who didn't quite know what to make of it all but was very upset. I was bathing her at the time and had to dress her quickly in pyjamas to come out and help Buffy get notes off witnesses and neighbours. Oliver, thankfully, was fast asleep and stayed there while all the drama was occurring.
Anyway, that was all last weekend and we are still waiting to see if the car is repairable or not.
Also this weekend we started potty training - That is Hannah started potty training and we started fretting! Now Hannah is a very strong-willed little adult and after reading a pretty decent book about how to potty train quickly, we were certain that she would not want to play along and might even rebel entirely! We really should have done this about 6 months ago, but with work, covid and Oliver being a little bundle of joy, we just didn't - so now we were trying to potty train a threenager!
So how is it going?
Well, it is going very well actually - Hannah just got it. On day one, she was naked in the house all day and use the potty to pee 2 or 3 times. She even told me when she needed to poop - But unfortunately at that actual time, I was also taking a poop on the big potty! So Hannah was on her way to the small potty, but fell just a couple of feet short - The poop fell short - hahaha) It was a pretty solid little poo, so we just picked it up and flushed it away.
The next couple of days were a breeze - No accidents, clothes with no underwear and she loved pouring her own pee away and flushing the toilet.
On the evening of day 3 we decided to let her wear big girls pants - Real underwear, with a thicker lining for potty training, so she can have an accident without too much bother. She actually spent 20 minutes practising...
Starting at the top of the basement stairs, running down to the basement bathroom, grab her small step stool, pulled her new pants down, jumped up onto the toilet, pretend pee, wiped, jumped down, pants up, flush, high five, back upstairs, once around the lounge and then back to the beginning for te 2nd attempt. She would have done this all night if it wasn't bedtime!
In all honesty, the kids are a conundrum... We both love them so much. Oliver is growing up every day and as you will see from the photos and videos I post a little further on, he is developing a wonderful little personality and his communication is great. But... he can be loud, he gets frustrated with a lack of attention when Hannah needs something and has been a little sick the past couple of weeks, so sleep has been sporadic and that causes him to fuss. Hannah is prone to the odd tantrum. Which is fine if we catch it is time, but she can fall off a precipice of crying and a scream here and there, she gets frustrated with a lack of attention when Oliver needs something - the constant questions are fun, but its a little bit like being slowly beaten to death with a bratwurst... It doesn't actually hurt at the time, but over and over and over again the small insignificant bopping wears you down, and you feel the urge to yell out loud
"STOP POKING ME WITH THAT GERMAN SAUSAGE!!! YOU EFFING LEGO PLAYING POOP DROPPING TINY PERSON MANIAC!!!!!!" or similar...
Hannah reminds me of the old poem 'There was a little girl'. If you don't know it, look it up or even better follow this link, which directs to possibly the worst version of any song/poem you will ever find. I think I may have to watch this a lot...
We do have lots of fun wit the kids, but also we are managing our time with them carefully. Buffy and I know when each other needs a rest and luckily we seem to be able to recharge each other. A bit like a modern cellphone, if one of us is feeling down, the other can help out by passing on some energy - or at the very least by taking one or both of the kids away to give the other one a break.
Anyway, the last few weeks have been hectic - to and from the cabin, the back lane situation, one of my teeth breaking, both of us working hard, the kids, the car crash, the parking ticket, the front porch nearly falling down and then being repaired (Did I even mention that>?) It's been pretty full-on for all of us in our little family - As anyone with kids will agree - they ain't easy and you can't just give them away. So we will deal with things as they occur and help each other out when we need to. We WILL get through all this and look back (maybe even read this blog) in the coming months and years and laugh, maniacally at the thought of it all - then probably put on a straitjacket and settle down for the night in our room with padded walls for safety.
Anyway - that was me using you as an outlet for all of our frustrations - I think I will finish off for today by adding a few photos and videos of the kids - I really love the one where Oliver is wibbly wobbly just like the wibbly wobbly owl and when he has a choice of Banana or Chocolate biscuit!
Enjoy and see you soon...
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