Will the Real Father Christmas please step forward!

I seem to be leaving  more and more of a gap between my blogs. This could be alot to do with my life revolving around work, the boys and facebook!!! So much so, that I keep forgetting my login details. So here I am again, after going through numerous password recovery attemps, trying desperately hard to remember the funny thing that happened recently that prompted me to login here and share it with the world....or just you!  

Ok, big hint from the title, it must be about Father Christmas or Santa, as the boys prefer to call him.  We'd visited Llandudno yesterday with the main aim of getting Ryan's new glasses and getting out, but I guess I was pretty stupid to think that was ever going to happen!! First hirdle, I had to park at the top of town and walk down past the amusement arcade - them - "Mum, Mum, can we go in there, just for 1 minute - Please??",- Me - "No, maybe later on the way back if we have enough time". Second hirdle, the opticians is in the shopping mall so I have to pass the toy shop to get there - them - "Mum, Mum, can we go in there, just for 1 minute - Please??",- Me - "No, maybe later on the way back if we have enough time", okay, I know I'm pushing it now...let's hope there's a very long queue in the opticians and we have to rush.  No such luck, we approach the desk and no-one's waiting, we're seen straight away, Ryan's glasses are ready, a slight adjustment and there, off you go. Damn it!!! So, I give in and let them have 1 minute to look in the toy shop and to be fair to them, when the time was up they came straight to the door to meet me, I didn't have to drag them out kicking and screaming. Feeling very smug and with a new found confidence that, yes, I can control and over-excited 6 and 7 year old, I floated out of the shop with air of superiority over the other harrassed parents reasoning and screaming at their kids!!  However, I should have seen it coming "GASP - Look it's Santa, can we go and see him, please, please please??", Ok, so maybe they'd seen him from inside the shop and together they'd cooked up this 'let's be good for mum and then she'll take us to Santa' plan, well, it worked and for 2 minutes I had the best behaved kids in the whole shop and that was good enough for me!!  So off we popped to see Santa, who was just about to be hidden behind his backdrop so he could have a break!! But the canny snowman, spotting a couple of kids and a mum who looked like she wanted to be parted with a her hard earned cash, quickly dragged him back out again and plonked him on the chair to chat to the boys.  I ordered their picture while they asked politely for the toys they and  I tried desperately to hear if what they were asking for was what they were getting!! Santa gave a jovial laugh and said he would see what he could do, but couldn't promise anything as there were alot of boys and girls to visit on Christmas eve. The boys were happy with this and after raiding his sweet bag, came away with big smiles and happy chatter.
Next day, as planned, we took a drive out to Llechwedd Slate mines to visit Santa in his caves (??!!) Again, the boys got all excited about this, but did question if this would be the real Santa that they saw in town yesterday. I explained that Santa was magical and that he could be anywhere at any time..again, this seemed to settle their minds.  We got to the mines, hopped on the little trained and popped on our hard-hats, which all added to the fun of the visit.  As we got closer to the grotto in the caves, it suddenly dawned on me, after them meeting the 'Real' santa in Victoria Centre yesterday,  when this Santa asked them what they wanted for Christmas, are they were going to say something along the lines of "Don't you remember Santa? I only told you yesterday..'  So, with the fingers crossed and the other half hovering with his new toy to take the traditonal Santa picture, the boys stepped forward. At the crucial point, the boys, in awe of the big bearded man in a red suit, dutifully asked for the computer game and Jeep that they previously asked for!! Phew!! I'm pretty sure they'd worked on the basis that they would just keep asking for the same thing everytime and hopefully one of these Santas should bring it!! Which seems like another pretty good plan to me.

Puppies and Gin ....

I really don't know whose the worse, my other half or the kids!!   2 Weeks ago, our dog had her first litter of puppies. To be honest, she coped so much better than the rest of us, and I've already had 3 labours myself, so felt I had a bond with her!! I'd spent a few nights reading up on what to do when the time comes and was ready with my towels and handbook...let the welping begin.  Only, when the time came, I'd just put the boys to bed and was sat on my bed enjoying a good book and a lovely cup of tea.  Not long after, my other half shouted for me, so I shouted downstairs to ask what he wanted.  He sounded a bit panicked and said the puppies were coming, so I grabbed the towels and handbook and made my way, leisurely down stairs. As he normally has a tendancy to exagerate, I was expecting to see that Chrystal had wet herself - or even him (hehehe). So, I came into the room and said, how do you know? To which, he pointed at the sofa (where they'd been snuggling together as I'd not been there to stop them!!) and there was this cute little puppy, all wet and slimy.  Mum, Chrystal, was looking at it a bit oddly then started to lick it, so nature kicked in and took over. I used the towel's to dry his leg and the sofa!!
It went quiet then, so we called the neighbours round to a bit of support and to keep us all going through the night.  The next one didn't appear till after midnight. The other half, Steve, and our neighbour had popped out front for a smoke, Chrystal followed for some fresh (??) air.  However, the act of standing and walking seemed to trigger the movement of another puppy, so next minute I was called for, with my towels to help catch the puppy outside. Chrystal was staggering around, looking like she was having a poo, and Sarah from next door, did an excellent job of catching the slippery little pup before it hit the ground.  Steve had been there with the torch, so passed it to me saying - Here, hold this. Which I did, thinking he was going to help, but no, he finished the sentence of with - I'm just nipping to the van for the beers, be back in a second.  So, there we were, a little shocked by the next arrival and even more so by Steve's sudden desire for beer!!!
Mind you, it did keep us all going, through the final 4 puppies and eventually hit the sack at 4am.

Ryan and Tom have been a bit lacking in material for me lately, so haven't been able to update the world with their little 'pearls'.  But today, was Ryan's day.  Nothing major, we'd been watching a tv ad about teabags, the old lady was saying how she bought them for her husband. She didn't like tea, she likes gin.  Me and Steve had a chuckle about that, then Ryan asked - What's gin?. So I said it's what old people drink to make them happy. To which he said - Is that what you drink Mum?....the cheeky monkey - he was serious too!! Steve laughed and gave him a hug, I just laughed and rearranged my hair to hide the grey.....