Another Catch Up Post

Saturday
Mr Messy and Drama Teen were busy at the shop all day, so we didn't see them much at all. In the morning me and the littlies went out to buy a present for Little Prince's friend H's birthday party that afternoon. I foolishly took the back road to the local town, thinking that the snow was clearing and that it would be safe! It was a total nightmare to drive and we slipped and slid our way to town at 20mph the whole way!! We didn't have long to buy the present, and I'd brought paper, sellotape etc to wrap it in the car. Once that was sorted I got the littlies a drive through fast food meal, and we took the longer (but safer) way back home again. I dropped Little Prince off at his friend's house, and they said they would be dropping the children back home after bowling and a meal at around 4pm. I was planning to be at home for the rest of the day, so that was no problem. He ended up being dropped off at nearer 5pm and had had a great time and really enjoyed himself. He had won one of the games of bowling, and this made his day :-) Instead of a party bag the children were given a small selection box (a great idea) and without me saying anything he shared with Princess Lollipop, what a sweetie :-)
When Mr Messy and Drama Teen came home from OUR shop they brought Drama Teen's Boyfriend with them too. He'd got the bus over so that he could spend some time with Drama Teen, they have been missing each other as the weather has meant they haven't been able to see each other much for a while. When it was time to drop Boyfriend off (at the cinema rather than home, which was great as that is much nearer) I took them so that Mr Messy could have a relax after his hectic day in OUR shop. We went down the motorway and had no problems with the roads at all. I made a detour on the way home to try yet a different supermarket to see if they had the item I wanted (a t-shirt for my nephew's birthday) finally we found it YEAH :-) We also found quite a few other bits and bobs for Christmas too :-) Some of which I was actually looking for!! I drove us back towards the motorway, but ended up auto-piloting to my usual route home, and it was ages before I realised my mistake! The roads were mostly clear until we got nearer to home, and the last stretch of back road into the village was horrendous. I didn't even drive at 10mph and was still slipping all over the place! Drama Teen was a complete hero and kept talking to me the whole time, which really helped, although I now have no idea what she had been saying lol. We passed a car upended in the ditch, which Drama Teen had seen but hoped I wouldn't notice - I did and it terrified me! I was so relieved to reach our house and be able to sit down and relax. Horrible horrible journey :-(

Sunday
I had been obsessively checking the weather forecasts and decided that today would be my chance to go and see my sisters new babies :-) FINALLY :-) We got up and were ready well in time, but then I couldn't get the in car DVDs to work - the one journey I really need them ARGH!! Then we got well into our journey and I realised I'd forgotten my niece and nephew's birthday presents and the presents for the new babies, so we had to turn back and pick them up!! I took the motorway the whole way there and there was no problem with snow or ice at all. The problem happened when I missed the junction (I don't normally travel via the motorway) and it took me ages to find a way to get where we were going (whilst also trying not to let the littlies know that we were lost!). We eventually arrived at Little Sis's house, and I was exhausted!! Little Prince played on his Gameboy with his cousins, but Princess Lollipop was glued to my knee for the majority of the visit. I think she was overwhelmed by being in a new(ish) place (we don't get to visit as often as I'd like to), by her cousins wanting to play with her and talk to her and by Mummy holding the new baby!! I ended up holding my new niece, a Tigger toy and Princess Lollipop all on my knee - not easy balancing all of them lol. My new niece is gorgeous and sooo small and was wearing a lovely little Minnie Mouse outfit - which Princess Lollipop was very impressed by, much more than she was impressed by her new cousin lol. Little Prince held baby and was extremely gentle with her - I was impressed by this :-) Well done Little Prince :-)
After that we visited my parent's and Little Prince and Princess Lollipop were very excited at seeing Grandma and Grandad :-) We had lunch there and the littlies had a play, before a friend of Grandma's arrived to deliver a Christmas present to her. We all chatted for a while longer before it was time for us to leave and go and visit my other sister and her new baby!!
Baby Sis's baby arrived 5 weeks early, and has been ill with jaundice and they were only allowed home very recently, so I warned Little Prince that he would have to be very good and try to stay very calm for this visit. He mostly managed! I had thought Little Sis's new baby was small, but Baby Sis's baby is itsy bitsy!! She really is a teeny tiny little dot! Baby Sis is a LOT younger than I am, and she's always felt like one of "my girls" in a lot of ways, LMS agrees and says she feels Auntie Baby Sis is more like a sister to her than an auntie. So it was very moving (and nearly made me cry) seeing my baby with her baby, and she looks so natural at it already even though baby is only 10 days old. Baby Sis's Fiance is (and was always going to be lol) an overprotective and very proud new Daddy, but he was gracious enough to allow both Little Prince and Princess Lollipop to hold his precious new daughter, thank you D, I really appreciated that. It was so funny seeing his soft and gooey side, he normally puts on a very macho front, but we all know he's a pushover really :-) I even got a turn at holding baby, after Daddy had had his turn, he wanted to hold her as her eyes were open :-) We ended up staying longer than I intended and it was already dark when we left! I took the littlies out for something to eat, and that seemed to settle them both down and they slept most of the way home - a much easier journey!! This morning's journey was a constant refrain of "UP Mummy" or "Fix it Mick-Mick" (fix the DVD players) and crying from Princess Lollipop :-( Once again I was exhausted when I got home, I'm not used to driving that far now that Drama Teen doesn't have regular Orthodontic appointments over there any more!!
The trouble is, Mr Messy was very tired too, he's been sleeping on Princess Lollipop's side of our bed and has had 4 nights of disturbed sleep. So we ended up having a huge row and he slept downstairs for part of the night!