Saturday!

In the old days Saturday meant I could take the morning slower.
Often I would lay in bed and read a little after David got up...someitmes I would get up to do his sandwhiches and drink a coffee with him before he went to work then have a bath and catch up with some housework...not my favourite passtime but when it was just me and him it was easier and stayed clean longer.

In those days I would usually seek out a friend with children and go visit, maybe relieve them of their children for a while, head to town, go feed the ducks then deliver the children back and go home and cook a meal for my returning husband.

Saturday was often a lazy day.

This morning I woke to the sound of the girls waking, fumbling for glasses I peered at the clock, partially obscured by David's watch and couldnt decide if it was 5.40 or 6.40 at least it wasn't before 4 so it was a lay in!
Scrambling out of bed and grabbing dressing gown I headed down to start the day. Rosie was ignorable still, happily playing with the things she had taken to bed with her, so I whisked Eve out of bed, turned off the Oxygen concentrator and brought her to the lounge. PLugging her into Oxygen and making her comfy I managed to have time to put non the coffee and sort the washing.
one by one the family joined me, Joshua fetching his cereal, Christina deciding the sausages from last night looked appealing for breakfast, David poured the coffee, and eventually we had to give in and let Rosie out too. Gluten Free Farleys Rusk and gluten free rice krispies for her. It was as lazy as a Saturday morning gets these days. Glancing at the clock I realise it is still earlier now than I would have been up in those days gone by! juat seven o[clock and there are two loads of washing washed, the kitchen tidied into the dishwasher and 3 out of five children fed another plugeed into a feed pump and the eldest doing what teenagers do best at 7 on a Saturday morning....snoring gently!

Breakfast over and medicines sorted we start the mammoth task of dressing! Thankfully Joshua and Chrisitna are able to deal with themselves but apparantly not without much annoyance between the pair of them and some shouting from Daddy and a yell from me! Tidying of rooms has a total different meaning to children than it does for Adults but some washing comes down and there is movement up there so I prefer to believe they are making somthing of an effort.
Meanwhile I do battle with Rosie and clothes and a nappy and wet wipes! Ten rounds with Mike Tyson later she is dressed and I am battle worn and weary.
Christina comes down and takes Rosie to read books and play bricks whilst I make a start on Eve. Just then a text comes through on my phone telling me the carer is making her own way here. I had planned to pick her up on my way through to the shops but this was possibly better as she could help me finish the getting ready and then help us all out to the bus.

As it happened, we managed to get everyone dressed, fed, physio done medicines adminsitered and out the door before 10 am! Impressed? I was!
We had just finished loading the bus as Carer arrived! Employing the pastors daughter as carer has distinct advanatages for me! I am sure it has distinct disadvantages for him but he is too kind to admit it! I get to see him out of the Church circle frequently! get to offload worries concerns and share prayer needs. He is able to see our family in action, appreciate the difficulties from a very close perspective and is therefore able to be a real support. This morning he was impressed with the progress David has made on the drive and the fence this week. It is good to have such a great relationship with their family! We were soon on our way and everyone seemed happy and keen to hit the shops.

First stop Screwfix! Amazing place. For years David has bought his DIY supplies from their catalogue, now we are in the fantastic position of having a trade counter within easy access. Infact it is so convenient. Tesco, Screwfix and Bookers all within a stones throw of each other just 20 miles from home! We intended visiting all three but ended up missing out on Tesco....do you realise how long it can take to walk round Bookers with 4 kids in tow? It is also much more expencive with 4 kids than with one husband! There is also the small point of explaining al the extras to said husband once you arrive home!

Hey ho we didnt spend a penny in tesco so doesnt that make up for the rather large sum we spent in Bookers?

Now here is a question for you. The Cornflakes were much cheaper in bulk....we do get through a fairly large amount of Cornflakes....a 1kg box only just lasts a week! So we bought the big bulk box of Cornflakes!

Now where does one store 10kg of Cornflakes??? There was also a promotion on some specialist flavours of Crisps....Being a big fan of spicy foods and a self confessed chocolate adict....Chilli and Chocolate crisps held a huge fascination for me! The fact that two large boxes of crips were on sale for the price of one box was just too good to miss!
Then there was the small problem of how do you fit the sausages, beefburgers, 4 large bags of frozen veggies and a 10litre container of icecream into the freezer???
Thankfully Daddy was much to interested in the things I bought in Screwfix....although I dont think he will be letting me loose in their alone with a credit card again too soon!

You see there was quite a queue! Standing around with all those special offers and clearance bargains was just a little bit tooooooo much! The 75 piece screw driver set is really something we need. No one can ever find a Screw driver that actually fits the screw they want to put in or take out. David was complainging just the other day that his favourite screw driver was so worn it really did not work well at all now, so the set was added to our list. then we moved forward as the queue went down one customer.....ooooh look Joshua those heavy duty fingerless gloves would fit you really well! Lets try them on and then you can have a pair just like Dads when you are helping him.
Eventually we got to the till and paid for our things....oooh and there was the list Daddy had asked us to buy that we were actually stood in the queue to order....best not forget those! We have to move to the other counter to wait for the goods and ooooh what's that on special offer....oooh Daddy could use that! It would make the next lot of indoor projects so much easier....can I add that to my order please???? Great oh and here are our other things!

Ooops David had ordered three items and we came out of the store with considerably more! PHEW Daddy was pleased with them all!

We stopped on the way home to gather Carers swim stuff, and then bought macdonalds for Lunch. So we arrived home at almost 2 pm and after finishing our lunch and putting away the shopping The girls went for a dip in the hot tub whilst I hung out washing and David and Joshua carried on with the fencing!

Before long Carers Dad was here to collect her and we had all sat down at last!

Saturday's dont seem lazy anymore!
It's 11.45 pm as I type this, all is quiet I think I am the only person awake here! I have ironed all the washing that was washed and dried today, at least I think we have enough clean clothes to pack.
Two more nights till we head to the hospice! lazy days await!

Night!