Maddie Bea's Big Birthday!

So we are a day late... my apologies!! Madigan was surprised to see the decorations up in honour of her birth! Maeve was over the moon! Madigan loved her new toys! Great fun was had, good times... there was a cake incident... it was awful but mended. Poor Madigan almost went cakeless! Maeve's tragic castle cake was made from scratch.. no cake mix.. i made it and it was great! Madigan's was this sponge cake mix I've never used before.. long story short sponge cakes RISE quite a bit... mad dash to ASDA to get a new cake mix and voila.. the best kitten cake we've ever eaten! (Cursive on cake is credited to the lovely Vashti Annie....Preening Kitten art curtesy of Michael George.) After candle blowage, the cake was placed infront of her highness... I'm fully expecting/hoping her to dive head first... would she ??? NO! She put her fingers in it a bit.. tasted it... then cried because her hands were mucky!!!! To add insult to injury she wouldn't even eat the cake! Madigan celebrated her first birthday with a bowl of plain mixed with raspberry organic yogurt!!!!

Thank you for all the cards and gifts. Auntie Erin, we LOVED the video message...if anyone ever wants to leave us a video message we would LOVE it! and we watch it over and over... or.. meow meow and meow meow!

Now it's the other Kid's turn

OK, Michael again.
So we've done up the front room for the second kid's 1st birthday Friday (that's Madigan in case you've not been following along).
Being the somewhat practical man I am, I questioned all the work we were doing for a first birthday since I figured that our youngst daughter, as smart as she is, wouldn't really have a clue as to what was going on. Well.. let's just say that Vashti explained the importance of first birthdays in her normal calm way.. eek!
The basic jist that I got from the conversation is that all this hubbub over her first birthday isn't really for the child per say, it's for when she's twenty so she can look back at the photos and say sarcastically "Yeah, and my mom made my cake".

[Shrug] At least Maeve will understand what's happening.

They are kooky and they miss birthdays sometimes.. but I love them

first posting bitches

Ok so you are all used to seeing pictures of my gorgeouso girlies... well.. here are those that have claimed to be a "first poster" at one time or another here on ClanMussellam.....

Mom, it is only out of love that I have neglected to put your picture up. Not that the others haven't improved with age but you sure have and I'll wait til I get a decent one of you to put up... Or at least one of the new thinner you looking like crap!!


My family, I love you all very much..

Wednesday near Wedensbury

Don't you just hate sporadic bloggers? Yesterday was a continuation of Monday's clean up tidy up. I'm not going to name any names but someone managed to spill eyeshadow on the tile and then managed to track it everyone. Now, before you all jump the gun and blame Michael.. it wasn't him! Not his shade of brown.. he prefers greens! So... on the Mussellam front we are all well, happy and happening! The girls are getting better.. Maeve is completely over her cold and Madigan is bogged down in snot and still has an awful cough at night. Poor Madigan. I have various aches and pains but that is because I am rapidly getting old. Michael has only one pain and that is in his ass... it is me! Here are some pictures of my sleeping beauties.. Maeve can spot "My princesses" a mile away and was thrilled when I pulled this one out of the closet. Madigan like her big sister was, is infatuated with cats... or "meow meow" as she calls them. I wish I had their keen eyesight because Madigan can pick out a cat just about anywhere she goes. We were at asda and she was calling otu "meow meow' took me a while but I finally found the cat in question. I asked her to show me because I couldn't see it.. low and behold there behind me on a card in millions of cards was the furry feline!

bimble pics with Neil and Fil

funky monkeys and bimbles

Ok, some translations. Funky Monkeys is an inside play area for children. Think padded cages filled with slides, balls and things to swing on/from. Maeve had a pretty good time.. she was soooo brave walking this big tightrope thingy! Madigan had her very first solo slide. I've never seen a child move down a slide so slowly clinging with her sticky little hands! Not sure if she loved it..she may have liked it who knows.. I'll have to wait until she is old enough to tell us the damage we ahve done! Saturday night we had dinner with our new good buddy Phil... or Fil as I call him and Feel as Maeve calls him. Another canuckle in jolly ole england. Fil brough over a board game for us to play.. his words "if you liked risk, you'll love this". Great game, fun was had.. blood has been spilled and Eric, we are dusting off the ole LOTR risk game this weekend if you'd care to fly in for the event!!!!


Now onto bimbling... to bimble i, as our newfound friend Fil explains, to wander around the countryside... well we bimbled the hell out of leamington today! Michael and I have ankles full of stinging nettles to prove it. Neil was the only clever one wearing long 'trousers' not 'pants'. It was so offroaded bimbling that the offspring had to be removed from the stroller before handing it off to be lifted over various obstacles on our journey. The end result was great tho, 2 hours of bushwacking brought us to a very lovely picnicky area. We had a snack, the girls and I wandered into the frigid fjord.. yes thats right a fjord...we saw some great totoro trees.. Maeve picked a shwack of acorns.. Maeve and Fil had a fantastic sword fight with very long and dangerous sticks.. Michael and Maeve also fought valiantly... It was a great weekend... now I'm so tired from bimbling I best hobble to bed!

more birthdayosity

We are still recovering from birthday fever.. sadly almost literally, Maeve came down with a bugger of a cold on the her birthday eve. Snot is in abundance, Madigan's chest now sounds like a train and my throat is killing me! We have been hanging out at home and not doing too much besides playing, painting and reading. We have our busy bodies class tomorrow and I"ll try to bring the camera. Cheers to you and thanks to everyone for the happy birthday wishes four our dearest Maeve

ahhhh 3

So, she has done it. Our precious tiny little baby has grown up.... believe that I'll be saying that at every birthday!! Yesterday was filled with fun. Lots of Maeve's friends and family phoned and sang happy birthday. Auntie Erin (as always) was awesome in her video message that she sent for Maeve. Both of the girls LOVED it! When Maeve woke up she seemed surprised, then quickly informed us that it was infact her birthday! She also told us she doesn't get a soother anymore... more on that one later!!! We phoned our dear Auntie Sara and wished her a lovely birthday. She has just moved with her husband brad and baby jakers, to Montreal. They had just gotten there last week and are still unpacking.. I know the feeling! So, big birthday wishes for Sara and my admiration for another family who has a big move with a wee one. Good job jakers, come see Auntie Vashti soon, she loves you the best anyway!
So, yesterday Maeve spent most of her time in and out of her gown. She sang with her microphone/cd player, opened ALL of the stickers, read/played her princess's book over and over, carried her purse and tried on her snappy tartan blazer. She'll be wearing one of the millions of gorgeous tops she received as gifts today! So onto the sootherness. Maeve sacrificed two soothers last night and I'm hoping (michael really) we can remove the last one tonight.. She is a big girl and doesn't need it but boy does she love her soothers! But then, I think aobut how early Maeve stopped wearing diapers, kicked the bottle habit, then te sippy cup habit... and the fact that she hasn't worn a nighttime diaper since well before we came to Jolly Ole.. and think, maybe she can hang on to this one last vice... I somehow suspect that the way to kick the soothers is for the house to go cold turkey and poor poor Madigan!

The kid turns 3

Hello all, it's Michael (Vashti's ghost writer) giving you the lowdown this fine evening or afternoon to you savages in the colonies.
In case you slackers forgot to mark your calendars, it's the eve of our first born's third birthday! Three years have flown by.. I have to pay more attention!
Anyway, while Maeve has been snoozing in her Jesus Christ pose (on my side of the bed I might add), Vashti and I have decorated the front room into a happy birthday, pink girly dreamland (see attached image). We're quite proud of ourselves and even my old cynical heart is moved at the thought of our big girl's face tomorrow morning! Hee Hee. See! I'm giddy as a school girl! Hummph. Before I have a heart attack, I'm going to bed.

Night all.

Total Vent

Hallo, here is another cheery happy post from clan m... haha forget it...today is poo! Girls were up at the CRACK of dawn ok 7:00am and if you are supermom Deb thats great.. but I'm not.. I'm morning cranky, can't we sleep in Mom Vashti! So, girls are doing ok so it can't be that bad... I've decided to take the girls to Leamington Baptist Church for a stay and play.. oooh how fun you say, well.. we made it as far as the bus stop.. waiting waiting... no bus... a lady, clearly in awe of my beauty.. or my children's, missteps the curb and totally wipes out. She is a bit older and a little on the heavy side and is in alot of pain. I went over to help her, got her trolley sorted and had her hobble over to the bus stop where there is a little fence that I sit on.. NOT an actual bench! Since the surgery is right there (clinic) I said, let me go check with them see if they have some ice or something.. the woman was totally mortified! So, I go to the surgery and out come 3 nurses with a wheelchair! I've never seen someone with a twisted ankle get up and run so fast in my life!! hahah turns out it hurt like a mofo but she'd rather hobble home than have to sit in a wheelchair and be fussed over... honestly, I'm sure I'd do the same thing! The nurses said, oh she'll just go home and have a cuppa..... now how the hell that fixes a sore ankle i'm not sure!

So, lady hobbled, nurses back to surgery us waiting for the bus. Ahhh yippee, here comes the bus.. good ole number 67! Bus stops, lowers down so the stroller fits on and there are two women on there with strollers already... means vashti has to walk her fat ass into town.. boo... I had counted on catching the bus so we would make the stay and play... well, looks like no stay and play for my girls.. instead we went to Sydni center and had lunch.. it was crap.. but the girl who made it was nice.. here are pics of the girls on the footie pitch outside the center.

Ok ok, so it wasn't that shitty of a day.. I'm just cranky because sometimes having to rely on the peds or the bus blows! Other than that we are healthy, happy and lucky compared to some of you other sons of bitches!! hahahahahahahhahaha For example. not that they are sons of bitches but my friend Lisa Doucette and her fam (ronan, liam & andy) are sitting in vancouve awaiting visa approval to head off to New Zealand... i know how that feels... and it must be one hell of a flight too.. they have a 4 hour layover in LA before flying to their final destination... man that sounds challenging to say the least! But.. as we are troopers we do what we have to... to those of us who have made a move.. be it a big move or little... a big fat WELL DONE to you! peace bitches

Tuesday

Hi everyone! Long time I know I know.. anyway, sorry I'm such a sporadic blogger. These days life is zooming past me and I haven't had a second to myself, let alone a moment to update one and all on the goings ons! Well, this weekend, super uneventful! We did some gardening.... I did a wickid kid'n'play haircut on our giant rosemary bush (think house party). Michael wrapped our passion fruit vine all around the pergola (take that Mr Reynolds) and Maeve watered everything that was in sight including the neighbours driveway! Madigan snoozed while we tended the garden as she is a menace to all things green/growing! Life is chugging along here pretty smoothly... well, as smoothly as missing three grand USD can be! Talk about nail biting! And the thing that sucks is we've had to do another wire!! hahahaha the bank dude assures me that it will go through this time! I say ya right but since I'm a sucker and we don't have someone to dump batches of money we'll have to stick to wires.. for whatever reason XE trade doesn't do UK! Bitches!!! So, today poor ole Madigan had an appointment for a meningitis poke.. jab or stick as they call it here. I gave the poor darling some tylenol before her appt and walked a block to the surgery (clinic). After we get there and wait we are seen by the nurse.. well darling Madigan is doing ok, Maeve has turned green and wont take her hands off her ears... Maeve is almost in a state of panic and no talk of pokes or pokers are visible. Poor Maeve, she is so empathetic. After talking to the nurse we discover that Madigan isn't actually old enough so today she shall go poke free!! I of course will go to jail for medicating her for no reason! hahah.. Maeve is now less green but we have to go back in 3 weeks to get the jab we didn't get today! Madigan and Maeve both continue to love music. The little piano that Auntie sara bough AGES ago is a top favorite. It plays lots of music but doesn't sing. One of the ones it does is "if you are happy and you know it". Whenever it comes on Madigan makes sure someone is looking at her before clapping along at the "clap your hands" part! Madigan also knows the actions to itsy bitsy, open shut them, 123... Madigan is doing more talking... hell if I know what she is saying but she does have quite a few actual words! Madigan is known around our neck of the woods for her fabulous knock knock jokes... the joke is she just keeps saying "knock, knock" while knocking with her hand.. and the funny part comes when you say, "who is there" and she will say knock knock forever! The great news is she never tires of it... we can go back and forth for hours!! hahahah she is funny that girl! Maeve is always in high heels now... in vancouver she wore them a bit (just the plastic dress uppy ones) but we had hardwood floors so they were a bit slippy.. well n ow we have carpet and she runs in them.... it is hilarious! Such an accomplished fashionista! Auntie Erin will be so proud!

blech

so our things are here... yay... i was so excited right up until i figured i have to put all this shit somewhere! hahaha the good news is hardly any of this crap is mine! Most of it belongs to the girls! It seriously looks like christmas threw up here! Dora kitchen, couch, tent, dora herself... not to mention fairy barbie (thanks auntie caca), little people, old skool fisher price people! You can totally see where my priorities are for unpacking! Everything for the girls! The first day with all the new stuff (old crap)was a little tough.. the girls were basically spinning! Maeve would play something for a minute and Madigan would be all over it like white on rice.. then Maeve would freak out and I' d have to pry Madigan off... then get Madigan interested in a new different toy! Well, then of course Maeve would want it!!! hahah now it is day 3 or 4 (who knows, i'm lost in a sea of boxes) and they are playing really nicely... I mean frighteningly nicely... Maeve has such a fantastic imagination... i'm frequently stunned by her.. I mean, she is almost 3 but has a really developed sense of imaginative play.. I love her my Maeve-y baby! Madigan just LOVES that fisher price dino roar or whatever that you gave her for xmas Erin.. it is a HUGE hit! Oh and sorry for the recycled crappy pic, but i'm way to busy and you little beggar can't be a chooser! or choosers can't be beggars... damn, where is George W's phone number when I need to sort crap like that out!

So our stuff finally arrived and our poor tiny garage is now filled with crap that, in hindsight, I (I being me; Michael) don't really need or care about anymore. Okay, there is one box of books that I adore and of course my hockey gear, but really, I can (and have) live without the rest. Now what to do with it. Going through it all is not really going to much fun and I suspect that it's going to give me as much headache as waiting for it to arrive! Ah, cie la vie!
Vashti has done a wonderful job unpacking the girls stuff and other essentials, including lugging our bed (it almost fills the room!) upstairs and setting it up. Ahh, finally no more dealing with leaky air mattresses (we're saving those for you guests)! In fact, I'm off to bed right now!

Cheers, ya Yobs!

Michael

one more sleep.......

So, like the title says, one more sleep until our things get here. hahahaha ya right, Michael and I are still opting for the "wait and see" attitude!


So, this weekend was great. We didn't do too much on saturday. Walked around town, had coffee, went to the library. Pretty much the same things we do every weekend! We did see a wedding party having their pictures taken in the park. The whole wedding party, guests and all walked through the park following a bag piper. It was pretty cool. Sunday we hit Kenilworth Castle again. Lots of fun. This time we went into the castle and saw the residence part. See picture of two small girls at giant wooden door picture! it was pretty neat, there was a family lifving in the castle up until 1930's. The ornate woodwork is amazing... would have taken some pics but I'm pretty sure we were the only ones that abided by the 'no photography, pushchairs or dog" rules posted just before entering! The best part about going to the castle for Michael was exploring it and taking pictures.. the most exciting part for me was having scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream!!! hahahahahah Some things never change! I used to blame my love of all things whipped cream on being pregnant... well after chatting with the folks at the table next to us at tea, I can now blame the love of all things whipped and creamy on my irish ancestry... Mom, we are Irish -ish right? The lady and gentleman LOVED Maeve & Madigans names.. said they were 'right good irish names, aren't they'! The both proceeded to fall in love with Madigan each trying to get the easily given cheeky smiles from her! The man kept saying, 'you've got a cracking smile there dontchya'... cracking means great here!!!

doot doot Dora, doot doot Dora

Well, what a week so far! We STILL haven't sorted out the wire transfer from the UK to Canada so our things are STILL in storage here! GRrr very frustrating going on month 4 without our things! The only good news that comes of this is that it is just stuff. Not having your stuff sure makes you realize just what is important in your life!

So, here are the top 10 things that you should know about Madigan.

10) She is very cheeky
9) she puts her arms out to be held by random old ladies on the bus
8) She loves, adores, worships her big sister Maeve
7) she doesn't care for vegetables sans ketchup
6) like her big sister she loves Dora the explorer
5) She can crawl up the stairs faster than Maeve
4) She can say "banana"
3) She can say, "Dora"
2) She can say, "mama, dada"
1) She can say, yell, screach, holler, bellow NO and uses it in almost any/every situation

Here are the top 10 things you should know about Maeve

10) She is very smart
9) Her hair is growing in more and thicker every day
8) Maeve loves her Daddy more than anyone
7) Maeve now pithces a fit when the lunch menu doens't meet with her approval
6) Maeve still loves Dora but HATES swiper and the grumpy ole troll who lives under the bridge
5) Maeve can turn on, select a dvd, pull up the dvd menu, select an episode of Dora and watch it faster than I can.
4) Maeve loves Madigan but doens't really like her!
3) I'm pretty sure Maeve can read and it scares me.
2) Maeve Loves... LOves... Loves the movie My Neighbour Totorro (japanese but dubbed english)
1) Maeve is bored stiff here at home with me and needs to be in some sort of preschool ASAP

Bank Holiday Weekend!

This Monday was a holiday in jolly old england... so with the masses we flocked to warwick castle. Well, that was the plan anyway! We got an early start (rare for this lot). Waited over an hour for the bus before realizing (asking someone) that we were on the wrong side of the street to take the bus to the castle! We were wondering why the bus we were waiting for just kept driving past us! Yes we are aware that the cars drive on the opposite side of the street! So, gorgeous day, girls are happy, mommy and daddy are too. The bus ride to the castle totally uneventful until we look up and see the most ominous of black clouds. Everyone gets off the bus, cue HORRID rainstorm! Fortunately we are prepared and had the girls in their stroller bubble faster than you can say asphyxiation! So, we did the most logical thing in the world, strolled the girls into a pub for lunch! After lunch we pop back outside and voila, rain gone, black clouds, gone! Hurray! So, we head out down through Warwick to the castle! The whole fam damily climbed over 503 steps to get to the top of the castle. It was gorgeous. I was a little scared as the only light comes in through the arrow slits and let me tell you those stairs are TINY! Michael was carrying Maeve and I had Madigan strapped to my back! All that came to my mind was the steps to the pyramids at Chitchen Itza, our tour guide informed us taht once an older lady fell and took out a whole pack with her... I so didn't want to be that woman! So, we made it back down the 503+ stairs mostly unharmed! The castle was great, there is lots of things to do that doesn't involve climbing thousands of miniscule steps in the mostly pitch black! There was jousting (we missed it), archery (saw it last time), hawkery (i'm sure I didn't spell that right). Lots to eat and to see.. there is even a spooky haunted castle tour... OooOoooooo! All is well here, Madigan keeps fooling us about her non walking. We've come to the conclusion that she can walk, she just chooses not to! Rumour has it I did the same thing when I was a baby! Maeve is busy drawing pictures for Makenna and her new baby Saige.

Long time no hear!

Hi everyone! Sorry about being MIA. Madigan is working on choppers 7 & 8. Maeve is working on my very last nerves and... well I'm just SO happy to have Michael back it almost hurts! From last thursday until Monday night has been the longest, hardest 5 days of my life thus far!!! I'm sure it will get harder and really, I look around and I don't have too much to complain about! The reason Michael was gone was because my birthday gift idea for Michael was to secretly get a flight to Canada so he could attend one of his oldest (haha) best friends. I basically passed the hat around and Michael's flight was very generously sponsored by Michael's father, Grandmother and Mother! He was put up by Auntie Erin who also did all the nail biting ticket finding. Turns out Michael was on the last seat out of england.... and no, not just at any airport, Auntie Erin checked them ALL! So thank you very much to Michael's family for helping me give Michael what was quite possibly the best birthday present he could have asked for! Now because I'm so sneakily evil, I didn't tell Kenny or Shannon, that Michael would be attending. Now poor Kenny has had heart problems that are being worked on and its a good thing he is paying such close attention to his diet because as Michael' tells me, when Kenny saw that Michael was there his poor ole heart almost stopped! I wish I was there to see his face because, no one loves Michael more than Kenny Oldale! Mr & Mrs Oldale are on their way to Sunny San Diego and I wish them the absolute best for their honeymoon and married lives together!

I cannot wait until there are more little Oldales running around, loudly bossing their best friends that they quite literally will have forever!

Judgers, get out yer gavels!

Ok, so from the pics you can ascertain that:

A) I'm in my pajamas alot.
B) I'm clearly a slovenly housewife (Ok, we dry our clothes outside and had a surprise rainstorm so there they sat)
C) Must obviously have a drinking problem or a have had a stroke causing partial paralysis on my right, you left side.
D) I have a sweet... sweet rack!

So, Madigan is cuter than hell. Maeve is getting to be a great photographer but her subjects need work (ie. me). We are all doing well and are happy that it is saturday!

Thursday?

Hello Everyone. So sorry that there are no pictures and that I haven't updated in so long! I know I know, two kids, living in a new country, trying to locate our belongings, should be easy to keep you greedy buggers up to date with Maeve and Madigan pics I know!
Today we had the health visitor come round. She was lovely, we chatted for hours! Hahah someone must be starved for adult conversation! Good thing for me was she was too! She said to me, obviously you have no concerns over your children's development ! What a nice compliment! Ok, so I took it as a compliment! She was wowed by Maeve's social abilities and how fast Madigan is! She was more than a bit shocked to learn that Madigan is still breast fed!! She was certain to inform me that breast milk isn't essential and that she should be getting most of her nutrition through solid foods! Like Maeve I intend to nurse Madigan until she weans herself! She might be 20 and my boobs might trail behind me but hey.. this is the one gift I intend to give my children freely and frequently until they decide they no longer need/want it!


Holy, sorry for the rant there! We've just sent a rather important package off to vancouver so.. hopefully you get it soon! Love you all and miss you quite horribly at times!

xo
v