A trip to Cotswold Wildlife Park with mum and the smalls blew the cobwebs away and brought smiles to faces.  Seeing penguins for the first time through mancub's eyes was beautiful.

That's one of the great things about having kids: the wonder they experience when they discover new things, and the joy they get out of the simplest things.  They can be a great reminder of the good things in life.

Guilty pleasure ... I love the ballet!  Swan Lake by the Moscow City Ballet at Theatre Royal Bath on a beautiful sunny day with my daughters, my sister, my mum, my aunty and my grandma.  Four generations of girls!

The plan was to cycle the 15 miles each way to and from Dad's, ride a further 20 or so miles with Dad, take great lungfuls of fresh country air on a nice Spring day, feel virtuous and enjoy a rewarding lunch.

It's a long time since Rusty Bob (my trusty 2 wheeled steed) has seen the light of day and its quite a while since my steadily expanding backside has benefited from any exercise so I know this would have given me a sense of achievement.

Rusty Bob and my bottom will have to wait a while longer for that particular happiness though.  The plan changed, I drove instead and happiness came in the form of a simple, satisfying lunch of bread, cheese and ham and the company of parents.  I love it when a plan comes together, but sometimes I love it when a plan doesn't! 

Glorious sunshine, a day spent in the garden, lashings of cider, kids playing, hubby DIYing, guinea pig grooming and England v Wales in the 6 Nations, a prefect day.

The first warm spring day, as we emerge from winter's dreary grasp, lifts the soul and provides a kick up the butt to straighten out the chaotic debris that comes from 6 people living in a small cottage.

The garden was decidedly redneck.  After the long soggy winter, the guinea pigs had grown dreadlocks, their hutch roof had rotted and their run falling apart.  The chickens claimed trench foot, their coop also rotten.  The lawn was taking over, entangling various rusting wheeled toys.  Straightening it all out with the liquid refreshment of apples was cathartic.

The number of items appearing for sale on Facebook (trampoline missing it's netting, inflatable swimming pool believed to be without leaks, 7x8ft summer house requiring new floor) suggests we were not alone in our garden spring clean.  First glimmer of sunshine and we all get a bit feverish.  The only thing that was missing was the smell of 'quick, light the BBQ, the sun's out' chargrilled sausages!

These faces!  Sister, Mother, Brother.  A family gathering to celebrate my youngest niece's 2nd birthday ... I LOVE a family gathering.

 A far cry from my 20 something year old self (my first born was the first baby my hitherto unmaternal, wild child party girl self had ever held), I love babies!

There seem to be babies everywhere at the moment.  Friends, cousins, acquaintances seem to be spawning all around me and it's making me a little broody! 

But alas, I'm too damn old, broke and knackered for anymore babies so imagine my delight at the news that before the year is out there will be a new baby in the immediate family to play with (and hand back when I'm done)!

4.00am, get up, nice cup of tea, check emails. Remove cat sick from sofa cover (remove cat from house), remove cover from sofa, put in washing machine. Empty dishwasher. Load dishwasher. Wash up. Scrabble together pirate costume for Holly. Shower, dress. Looking reasonably smart, feeling pretty pleased with self, ready to leave for 7.00am breakfast meeting. Straighten Holly's bandana. Cuddle Mancub . Quick round of 'row, row the boat'. Mancub delivers generous volume of projectile vomit. Smart outfit and uncovered sofa covered in sick. Stand in bath, strip, shower, find new clothes. Put sick soaked bed covers from last night in washing machine. Leave for meeting. No fuel. Stop for fuel. Arrive at breakfast meeting. Mmmmm, bacon and eggs. Come home. Hang washing, fill machine with more sick covered items. Write blog for client with right hand while fending off bouncing mancub with left hand. Contemplate possibility of finishing client's website with mancub's face next to mine demanding 'round and round the garden'. Abandon work.  Enjoy fact that as Mancub cannot go to nursery due to previous pukiness (despite now being quite full of normal energy levels and mischief) I get to spend the day with him.  (Yes, he does have maltesers in his cheeks).

Mornings in our house are chaotic, ear bleedingly noisy and exhausting.  The day begins with an attack on the kitchen debris, a round of washing and the feeding of the animals.

Three smalls will then either awake with far too much energy accompanied by far too much whining (the younger) or need dragging out of bed amid much attitude (the elder). 

Smalls must then be cajoled into appropriate clothing.  When cajoling doesn't work, screeching is employed.  Breakfast is whatever there is time for and usually ends up on clothes, in hair (theirs and mine) and on the cats. 

My getting ready for the working day varies from a quick shower to a hasty wet wipe wash and liberal squirting of perfume, depending on the success or otherwise of wrangling the smalls into a state of readiness.  The entire process is accompanied by a relentless chorus of 'I want', 'where's my', 'can you just' and 'its not fair'.  Moods are erratic, patience is tested beyond reasonable limits and something is always forgotten.

But these moments of cute makes it all worthwhile.  Smalls in PJs melt my heart.

Just the fact that at 40 I still have 2 grandparents makes me happy.  That they have just celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary is awesome!

Called The Greats because they are Great Grandparents to mine and my siblings children, and because they are bloody great, I love spending time with them. 

Rather than their names on the cake, it says 'Dar & Dar', short for darling and what they have always called each other.  They are an inspiration and I love them to the ends
of the earth!