Sunday

Mr Messy woke us all up early with his coughing this morning :-( And given that I'd got to bed really late after all my sorting out last night, and that Princess Lollipop had a fairly disturbed night, I was not happy :-( Mr Messy kindly took Princess Lollipop downstairs, and gave her and Little Prince (who was already downstairs) their breakfast, so I got half an hours much needed undisturbed sleep :-) Mr Messy brought Princess Lollipop back upstairs when it was time for him to get ready for his photoshoot, so I had to finally get up.

Downstairs Little Prince had noticed that his old computer desk was cleared now, and that his bookshelves had been tidied up. He'd also found the pile of board books I'd removed from his bookshelves, and he was very happy to put them in Princess Lollipop's book tub, so long as he could read them himself sometimes and on the understanding that they are shared books! Like I said yesterday he finds it hard to let go of people and things, which given how much he's lost through adoption is very understandable.

Mr Messy finally got Drama Teen to get out of bed and they got ready to go out on their photoshoot. Their first shoot is a family shoot, at the family's house in a nearby village. The second is a fashion shoot at OUR shop, which shouldn't take too long according to Mr Messy. Fingers crossed this means they'll be back in time to help me get Little Prince's old computer desk out into the cottage.

I need to have the fastest shower ever known, so I don't leave the littlies on their own for too long!! Then we are going to go over to OUR shop and get all the recycling taken to the tip, and then I might take them over to an indoor play centre to play and so that I can book Little Prince's birthday party. So I'd better get this published and get started or we'll never get everything done!

Saturday

After a very disturbed night, by both Mr Messy coughing and Princess Lollipop waking up, I got up with Mr Messy. Mr Messy was going out early with Drama Teen to do a pre-wedding photoshoot in a nearby city. So me and the littlies had to get ready and go over to OUR shop to open up and be there till Mr Messy and Drama Teen get back. Little Prince was thoroughly unimpressed by the prospect of spending the morning in OUR shop and protested loudly. He spent most of the time in OUR shop whinging that he didn't have his Blankie and that his Gameboy was boring and too hard. He ran around OUR shop , which was immediately copied by Princess Lollipop, making the normally quiet and peaceful shop loud and chaotic!

Luckily they were having a tiny moment of calm when someone came in! Her daughter is getting married and she wanted to ask for details of wedding packages and prices. All the wedding information is on the website, so I handed her a business card and said her daughter could contact Mr Messy for a chat anytime.

I've just heard from Drama Teen, the shoot went well and they are on their way to OUR shop and will be here in about an hour. Little Prince has settled down now he knows he will be leaving in an hour, and isn't moaning that he is hungry or wants Blankie at the moment! Phew!!

When Mr Messy and Drama Teen arrived, I took the littlies out, well after we'd chatted for a bit! I decided to take them shopping for new pyjamas in the nearby town. On the way there Princess Lollipop fell asleep, Little Prince was still telling me every few minutes how hungry he was so we went for a drive-through. I got Princess Lollipop a kids meal, thinking she would wake up - she didn't! Little Prince ate all his kids meal and most of hers too!! She didn't wake up till we were parked in town and I got her out of the car to put her in the buggy, she must have been really tired!! As she was now hungry and Little Prince was STILL hungry (he must be about to have a growth spurt!!) I bought them both a sausage roll from the bakery. I had to get a pack of 5, as the single ones were still very hot, Little Prince at two of those too!! Princess Lollipop was a bit pickier and only nibbled at hers until she decided it was a "samidge" (sandwich) and she liked it. I got both littlies four new sets of jammies, and then it started to rain so we ducked into the indoor shopping centre. There was a homewares shop, so we had a look in there to see if they had any of the big plastic tubs we use as toy storage, we need a couple more. They did :-) I was happy, Little Prince wasn't quite so happy as he had to carry them so that I could push the buggy. We did go straight back to the car, despite his extremely generous offer of letting me go to Next (my favourite clothes shop, that Little Prince HATES with a passion!). We did visit one more shop, a black hairdressers, I wanted to check if they stocked the range of products (Curly Q) that I'm now using on Princess Lollipop's hair, unfortunately they don't so I'll have to keep ordering it online.

We got back to the car and loaded up all the shopping, children and buggy and set off home again. My brakes started making horrible grinding noises, but it stopped again after a little while so I thought the problem had sorted itself out. Not too long after we got home, Drama Teen and her Boyfriend arrived home too. They went to watch a film, and for Drama Teen to give her Boyfriend the scrapbook she had made him for his birthday next week. She has been working on this for months, so I hope he appreciates it. When Mr Messy arrived home from OUR shop, it was obvious he wasn't feeling very well, he was extremely tired and ached all down one side :-( I tried to persuade him to go to bed, but he didn't want to, so he lay on the sofa dozing/watching TV. Little Prince was extremely hyped up (he has been all day!) and in the end I persuaded him to go to bed slightly early and have extra reading time, to give us all a bit of peace! He did have a tantrum about wearing his new pyjamas, as he wanted to wear his old ones that are waaaaay too small, although he insisted they weren't!! I made it worse by making him get all his old pyjamas out of his wardrobe so that I could put them in the bags for the Charity Shop - he hates to let go of things, and I normally sort things out when he's at school or asleep, but got carried away this time!

Once he was settled I got Princess Lollipop ready for bed in some of her new pyjamas, she looks so cute in "proper pyjamas" rather than a babygrow - so grown up too!! Unlike her big brother she was very excited to wear her new pyjamas, but she is a girl who loves clothes so that's to be expected lol. She was sat next to me on the sofa and I noticed she was leaning on me and getting heavier and heavier - she'd fallen fast asleep! Mr Messy took her up to bed and I set off to take Drama Teen's Boyfriend home. My car was making the grinding noise even more this time and it didn't wear off, so I'll have to get it looked at. I think its something to do with the brakes and Mr Messy says it probably needs new brake shoes. I believe him as I know nothing about cars!

When I got back Little Prince sneaked downstairs and asked if I could tuck him in and told me he'd really missed me. He must be worrying about something to be acting unsettled like this, on top of the hyper behaviour all day. Hopefully we'll find out what's bothering him soon and be able to sort it out! The noise of me bobbing in and out of Little Prince's room must have disturbed Princess Lollipop as she woke up when I got downstairs, I got her settled but she woke again about 20 mins later. I went to get her settled again, and half an hour later Mr Messy came up to go to bed himself, so I went back downstairs to get some more sorting out done. I finished sorting out Little Prince's old computer desk, which then lead to me having to sort out his downstairs bookshelves, so that I could fit all the books he'd had on his desk back onto the bookshelves. Why does one little job always lead to more and more jobs!?!

Hopefully tomorrow Mr Messy and Drama Teen will be around in daylight (they have two photoshoots) to help me get the old desk stored in the cottage in the garden. Then Mr Messy needs to get some extra memory put in Little Prince's computer and reset it all up in my old computer desk. I've told Little Prince this is the plan (he doesn't handle surprises very well!) and he's already planning what pictures he's going to stick on the inside of the monitor "cupboard" and which of the pictures I've got stuck up there he's going to keep and what he wants to get rid of. He seems very excited about getting a new desk and getting his computer working again :-) Although now that I've just taken two printers to the tip, he's asked can he have a printer too!!! Typical!!!

Well its very late and I've got two littlies to deal with tomorrow so I'd better get off to bed! Night all :-)

Friday

Me and Princess Lollipop were woken early by the phone ringing, so as we were awake I decided to get organised and go over to OUR shop to see Mr Messy. It has nothing to do with the fact that my laptop needs the operating system re-installing and so I have no internet!! Princess Lollipop hardly protested at all at this morning's hair conditioning, which is a huge relief - I won't have to steel myself to get it done each time now!

I called in at our Accountant's house before going to OUR shop, to drop off some more paperwork with him. Then we went and filled up my car at the garage, and walked over to OUR shop. Princess Lollipop was so happy to be there and to see Daddy :-) After playing for a while she and Mr Messy went for a walk to the Bakery to get us all a sandwich and cake for lunch. Princess Lollipop insisted on carrying her own cake back to the shop, but as it was a gingerbread man it survived the journey!

After I'd finished lunch I left Princess Lollipop at the shop with Daddy, and went back round to our Accountant as he needed me to sign some stuff and then went home to start sorting out Little Prince's desk. I managed to get a little bit done, but not as much as I'd hoped. Hopefully this weekend I'll finish getting Little Prince's desk cleared and get rid of it, I'm dreading seeing what's underneath it given how messy Little Prince is!!

I picked Little Prince up from school and we drove straight over to the tip, to get rid of some rubbish/recycling and then drove to the swimming pool for his swimming lesson. Little Prince was extremely excited to be back at swimming, and was bouncing off the walls by the time his lesson started! Luckily his teacher is used to him and knows how to handle him! She had him swimming lengths of the pool for the first part of the lesson, encouraging him to swim two lengths without stopping. Once he had done that for 15 mins he was calmer and he was allowed to play diving for toys and jumping in. When his lesson finished he had a tantrum about having a shower and having his hair washed - he tried to lock himself in the changing room! I eventually persuaded him to stop being silly and have his hair washed. The next tantrum was over the fact that I said he had to get dried and dressed himself and I wasn't helping. He threatened to go home in his swimming trunks and towel, before finally getting ready!! Swimming lessons can be tiring for me too!!

We drove round to OUR shop to collect Princess Lollipop and then returned home. Just as we were leaving Drama Teen arrived and she and Mr Messy remained at OUR shop to tidy up, lock up and order tea from the Pizza Place. They arrived home not long after us with boxes of yummy pizzas and garlic bread with cheese.

After Little Prince had gone to bed I had a chat with LMS on Facetime, which I think is the best invention EVER (well apart from chocolate!!) as I can see and talk to my big girl while she is so far away :-) Part way through the conversation the connection dropped out, and LMS sent us a message to say her battery had died!! Once she had managed to plug her phone in and get enough charge in it, she rang up and we talked again. When we'd finished chatting I took Princess Lollipop to bed, intending to come back down and do some more sorting out. Instead I fell asleep and stayed there till morning!

Thursday

Nothing much happened in the morning, just me and Princess Lollipop pottering around getting housework done etc. Mr Messy arrived home from OUR shop early, to get ready for a fashion photoshoot, Princess Lollipop was very excited to see Daddy, but kept bursting into tears and having tantrums over the smallest thing. It was obvious she was extremely tired, so once he was ready, Mr Messy took her upstairs to get her settled down for a nap. Unfortunately he fell asleep too!! I took the opportunity to get some more sorting out done. I tidied and sorted out "Boy World" which is a part of the lounge, protected from Princess Lollipop, by a large freestanding playpen-like structure. I got rid of loads of broken bits of toys and rubbish that were in there and put all the toys back in their respective boxes. It looks so much better now, and Little Prince has so much more room to actually play in there! He has decided he wants all his Lego upstairs in his room, and as Princess Lollipop keeps reaching into "Boy World" and pinching his Lego and putting the small pieces in her mouth, I'm quite happy with that.

Mr Messy woke up in time to go out to his fashion photoshoot, and I carried on tidying and sorting in "Boy World," until I heard Princess Lollipop wake up over the baby monitor. Luckily she woke up in time for us to get ready to go and collect Little Prince from school. I was hoping she would wake herself up, as she is so grumpy if she is woken before she is ready! At school I chatted to a couple of my friends, negotiated with Little Prince about who could come and play next week! Then I remembered to send him back to pick his scooter up, all of which meant we were the very last people to leave school!

Back at home Little Prince threw a tantrum about having to take the Lego I'd found in "Boy World" to his bedroom and to having to get changed out of his school uniform! Eventually he did complete both jobs, but it was a battle! Mr Messy and Drama Teen arrived home at similar times, and not long after Mr Messy answered the phone to T's Dad asking if Little Prince had taken one of T's Lego figures. Little Prince acted strangely when asked, and so I took him up to his room to talk to him privately and to check if he had the figure in his room. I'm still not sure whether or not Little Prince took the figure, but I couldn't find it anywhere in his room or in his coat or trouser pockets. While we were in his room I took the opportunity to get it tidied up, and it looks a lot more organised now :-)

I was still in the mood for sorting and organising later in the evening when Little Prince had gone to bed, so I sorted out more of my old computer desk. Its amazing how much rubbish accumulates when you don't go through things regularly! Next I want to sort out Little Prince's computer desk, as its a mini child sized one and he's too big for it now and then he can use my old desk. Another advantage is that my desk has doors that I'll be able to close on the inevitable chaos and mess that will soon occur to the desk once Little Prince is using it! And getting rid of Little Prince's old desk will also alleviate the crowding in that part of the dining room and we'll be able to use the cupboards properly again too :-) Its all good :-)

Wednesday

After a nice leisurely start, me and Princess Lollipop went over to OUR shop to meet up with Mr Messy. The leisurely start did include the not so leisurely, conditioning and combing through Princess Lollipop's hair, and she started crying as soon as I got the bottle of conditioner out, and then protested throughout the whole procedure, despite there being very few tangles and me being extremely careful. I think its because she is so used to it hurting that she protests partly because she is scared and partly out of habit! My new regime of conditioning on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays seems to be working as her hair is much more manageable now, and it is getting back to its beautiful glossy condition :-) And it is a relief for both of us to have a couple of days off from "hair" over the weekend :-)

When I got to OUR shop me and Mr Messy swapped car keys, and we walked back to where our cars were parked together. I was going to take Mr Messy's car (without a Princess Lollipop car seat) to go to the Citizen's Advice Bureau, and Mr Messy was going to use my car (with a Princess Lollipop car seat) to go and pick Little Prince up from school later. Although we got half way to the cars when Mr Messy said he hadn't brought my car keys with him, and I needed to get some things out of my car before I set off! I growled and stomped back to OUR shop, retrieved my car keys and stomped back to the cars again, muttering and grumbling all the way!! When I'd finally got the things I needed out of my car I gave Mr Messy my keys back and he and Princess Lollipop went off to his favourite Bistro for some lunch, while I drove off to my appointment. Princess Lollipop was a bit confused and upset at first, but the promise of "dunch" (lunch) soon changed her mind, and she walked off hand in hand with Daddy very happily.

I was very early for my appointment so I called in to a nearby shopping centre and got some lunch and a cake :-) Once I'd eaten that I drove round to the CAB, found somewhere to park and went in for my appointment. I was seeing them to get advice on filling in Little Prince's Disability Living Allowance renewal form, as they had all the info from last time and the form is very daunting! I was there with the Advisor for over 2 1/2 hours filling everything in, and then him taking copies of letters/reports that would back up the case for Little Prince still being eligible for this benefit. The Advisor is going to copy the whole form and then send it off tonight, as the current award runs out at the end of this month, and I've been very lax in getting the form sent back (I received the renewal notice in September last year!!). Fingers crossed that Little Prince is once again awarded some benefit, as the little bit of extra money is very useful in paying for replacements/repairs to things he breaks and giving him some extra treats or paying for private assessments/therapies if he needs them. It will probably take quite a while to hear back from this application, but if it is renewed then it should also be backdated to when the first award ran out, all we have to do now is wait and see.

It was very difficult filling in the form and being hit with a HUGE dose of reality about Little Prince's daily struggles and challenges. I wish there was somewhere on the form to tell them how loving he is, or how kind and gentle he can be, or how he can make Princess Lollipop laugh like no one else, rather than JUST focusing on his problems :-( After the appointment had finished I went back to the shopping centre to have a mooch round the shops, just to give myself some time to get over the sadness that filling the forms in brought on. That hour walking round and window shopping was very healing :-) And by the time I had got home I was feeling ok again :-)

Little Prince wasn't at home, as he had gone to play at T's house, but Drama Teen went to collect him not long after I arrived. Mr Messy was getting himself ready to go out to a meeting with other local business owners, which he said was very useful and he'll be attending again. He also said that the other business owners had commented on how they loved how OUR shop looked :-) Yeah me (interior designer of OUR shop) :-) Drama Teen got the littlies tea ready and supervised their eating, although Little Prince played up for her and I had to intervene and potter about in the dining room to keep the peace! Mr Messy got home not long after Little Prince had gone to bed, and on hearing him Little Prince came downstairs to check what was going on! He went back to bed and seemed to settle after that! Mr Messy got Princess Lollipop into her pyjamas, while I put our tea on and Princess Lollipop made sure everyone's tea tasted good for us :-) She eats so much some days!! She isn't overweight, in fact in the leggings she's been wearing recently she is quite skinny, and is very active, but she is "solid" and feels like she is filled with concrete lol.

Me and Drama Teen watched the new episode of Glee that we had recorded, and as Mr Messy doesn't like Glee, he took Princess Lollipop off to bed. He didn't return, so I presume he fell asleep too!! When Glee had finished Drama Teen went off to bed, and I asked her to take up all her shoes that she keeps leaving lying around in the hall - she pulled her face and FORGOT to take them!! I am getting so cross about this as I've been asking her to do this job for a LONG time now!! If she isn't careful I'll tidy them myself - into the bin outside!!!! Argh!!!!

More Monday

When Mr Messy and Drama Teen got home from OUR shop, me and Mr Messy went out to the Supermarket to finish off the shopping that was missed last time. We left Drama Teen and Little Prince at home, Drama Teen revising for a Biology Exam tomorrow and Little Prince watching a film. They were arguing and falling out before we left, so I hope they won't kill each other before we get home!!

Princess Lollipop was very very tired, and fell asleep in the car on the way there, fingers crossed that doesn't mean she'll be up all night! We still didn't manage to finish all the shopping as quite a lot was out of stock! Including the large plastic tubs that we use as Princess Lollipop's toy storage - we need a couple more to get the lounge more organised. Its very frustrating to want to get everywhere organised and not be able to get hold of the things I need!!

When we got home Little Prince was just finishing his tea and then it was time for him to go to bed. He wasn't too happy that he had missed his reading time, but settled down alright after a token protest. Its well past the time Princess Lollipop has been going to bed recently and she is still wide awake and going strong, looks like its a late night for us again :-(

Monday

Mr Messy had already taken Little Prince to school, and Drama Teen had gone to college by the time me and Princess Lollipop woke up. We had a quiet breakfast followed by the dreading bath and hair conditioning, Princess Lollipop started crying and protesting while I was just rubbing the conditioner through her hair, and it went downhill from there! When I had finally finished combing through her curls and got her calmed down and dressed, it was time to drop her off with Mr Messy at OUR shop. He was going to look after her while I visited our Accountant to sort out some more end of year accounts. In the end it was a really quick, simple visit to the Accountant and I was home again in no time, normally I'm there for hours!

I decided to have a quiet lunch on my own!! It was a huge luxury to eat without having to share, or jump up to make a drink for one of the littlies, or referee their latest argument :-) After I'd finished my leisurely, quiet lunch I decided to get on with my list of jobs for the day before going to pick Princess Lollipop up. I had forms to fill in and send off, and phone calls to make, both of which are easier without the littlies "help"!! I had a very productive afternoon, and got everything I wanted to do done :-)

I picked Little Prince up from school and then we went over to OUR shop to collect Princess Lollipop. Little Prince was upset that I still didn't want to have friends come over to play, but I still don't feel up to dealing with the chaos that always ensues! When we arrived at OUR shop, Mr Messy was talking to a prospective Bride and Drama Teen was at the shop, she had obviously gone their straight from finishing college. We stayed for a while, before I took the littlies to the Newsagents for a snack on the way back to the car to come home. At home the littlies have been playing skittles quite nicely together, and now are settling down to watch something on TV although they aren't agreeing what to watch!!