It seems that I acquired 3 extra bodies in my household, Another 7 year old, a 9 year old and a 5(ish) year old. None of which I am related to but were all quite at home with me and my own 7year old baking cakes and cookies ALL DAY!

I am exhausted but have enough biscuits and goodies to last a month.

Craig the eldest of the tribe at 9 and has ADHD and dyslexia. He loves the fact that unlike at his school we don’t care about he’s “difficulties/differences” however you want to put it and he joins with us with whatever we’re doing. But boy, I thought I could talk but I don’t have a patch on this kid, and some of the stuff that falls out of his mouth is hilarious, like the time he fell and broke his leg on an ant hill, and the other time he hit his head and it bled and bled till he was dead….obviously all untrue but said with such conviction.

Next there is Shannon, 7years and 9 months and the nine month makes a difference because that puts her nearly exactly 4 months and a WHOLE school year older than my Jordan. She is adorable but being bought up in a house with nothing but boys she also knows how to play the lads against each other really well. That girl is going to be a man eater when she gets older and fair play to her.

Then there is Jordan number 2. Jordan number 2 is Shannon’s little brother and he is 5 or there abouts, we actually cant figure out how old he is as every time I ask him I get a different answer!

Finally amongst all the new faces is “The Blonde Kid” or the newly christened Jordan number 1. Jordan is loving the fact that all these children have moved in near where we live and that he has a mom cool enough to let all the local waifs and strays spend the day in our house, and not only do they come and play we do cool stuff like make salt dough and bake cakes and paint stuff.

The blonde kid is also loving the fact that there is a “girl” coming to play. A real life girl who sings and dances and plays them all off against each other…

BUT she’s not his girlfriend..really she’s not!!

Did you know the Happy Mondays were called the Happy Mondays because all their giro’s used to arrive on a Monday. So that day was indeed, for them at least Happy. Bet you’re sitting there thinking “Gee thanks Steph I really needed to know that”. Well I knew it so I thought I’d share.

My Mondays on the other hand for the last two weeks at least have been a bit of a trial, In fact so have most the days in between, hence the lack of blogging activity from myself, It’s not that I’ve had nothing to write about, far from it, It’s just been a chore to find 5 mins to sit in front of the computer and collate my thoughts into any kind of order other than random!

Last week for instance it was one thing after another, the blonde kid managed to bang his face, fall off a wall, graze his leg, bump his arm, trap his finger under a rock and the most spectacular injury of the week happening on Thursday and resulted in me being called up at work to fetch him out off school he fell backwards on the school playground and cracked his head on a wall knocking himself sick in the process. I must have used up a months worth of Arnica and 3 days curing bruises and a years worth of tissues wiping away tears. Dealing with a clumsy 7 year old is enough on its own without the added issue an adjustment to my entire routine as James was bed ridden with the flu! And not man flu a runny nose and a few sneezes but full blown I’m too hot, no now I’m too cold, coughing, shivering, headachey Oh My God I think I’m going to die FLU, and I know it was genuine he went to bed and lost is appetite and trust me when my man don’t want to eat you KNOW something is wrong!

BUT then come the weekend things seemed to look up, Jordan went to his Dad’s and James although still not 100%, rallied enough to come to the Dickos 30th with me Friday night, which was lucky really as we were going as Meatloaf and Cher, it was a fancy dress karaoke not just because we felt like being “different”, And feeling much better on the Saturday to the Deciphers gig at the Jug of Ale in Moseley.

Then Monday came again and James was ill over again he went the funniest colour and was having the most chronic chest and back pains, He even went to the doctors and the emergency docs at that WHICH is unheard of so I suppose I have to give him the benefit of the doubt and not rib him for trying it on. So it looks like I’ll be spending the week caring for Mr Clarke again, I even missed swimming tonight to look after him, he should feel highly honoured!!

So not so Happy Mondays I think you’d agree. I hope he’s better for Thursday, Biffy Clyro is playing at the Wulfrun and we have tickets!!

WHOOP!!!

I’m so tired, the effort of looking after sick people for the last few days has taken its toll and now I’m fit to drop with a sniffily nose and shivers all of my own. This has nothing to do with me having caught whatever it was that infected the boys but more to do with me running around, over exerting myself looking after “the others” and a late night last night.

No I am not the worlds worst mother leaving my ill child to swan off on a night out without him, oh no, I’m way worse than that, I took him with me!! He’d stopped throwing up and seemed a lot perkier and after spending most of last week looking after James, and all weekend watching over James and Jordan we deserved a break, so I took him to his first gig!

I was 14 before my mom allowed me to see my first band “Terrorvision” at Wolverhampton Civic Hall! Actually if I’m honest my fist gig experience was 6 months earlier than that one when I took my younger sister to see “Boyzone” again at the Civic, she had won tickets and I had to be her chaperon, my mom wouldn’t let her go without me, *shudders*. I already knew I had superior tastes in music to her and trust me when I say that experience confirmed it!

ANYWAY last night, we went to the Bar Academy to see “The Deciphers” play. We knew most of the crowd and all the band so it was a safe option for the blonde kids gigging debut and oh how he enjoyed himself. He flitted around most of the people there wooing them with smiles and snapping them with his camera, whether they wanted him to or not. He enjoyed the music through the heavy duty ear plugs we’d adorned him with and sat on the bar asking every passing patron if they wanted a Jack Daniels and Coke so that he could order it for them! By the time we were ready to go home he was a very sleepy but extremely happy boy!!

I got him into bed about half past 11 and lay with him for a while asking him if he’d had fun that night, I think he did as the only response I could from him was, “The music was good, I like Steve’s band but now I can hear grasshoppers in my ears”

I knew exactly what he meant!