I hope you have enjoyed reading about the antics of Rhul and Elfis! I cannot wait to start planning all their tricks for next year!
Showing posts with label Blogmas 2018. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogmas 2018. Show all posts
Tuesday, 25 December 2018
Blogmas Day Twenty Five
Merry Christmas! So Rhul and Elfis have gone back to the North Pole with Santa last night. So here is how we found them for the last few days in the run up to Santa's visit!
On Day 21 the pesky pair decided to sit on top of the mirror in our hall way! I think they might have been been going into the kitchen and got disturbed!
On Day 22 we found them sat on a blanket in the kitchen with some marshmallows. We assumed they were to make the boys some North Pole Cereal!
On Day 23 we found a sign from the elves saying open me! When we opened up the unit we found they had been very naughty and were playing with wires for our phone chargers!
And so finally on Day 24 the pesky pair had decided to have one more night of fun and they took Freddie's scooter for a ride around the lounge! They also left a little message for the boys saying how much they had enjoyed themselves!
I hope you have enjoyed reading about the antics of Rhul and Elfis! I cannot wait to start planning all their tricks for next year!
I hope you have enjoyed reading about the antics of Rhul and Elfis! I cannot wait to start planning all their tricks for next year!
Monday, 24 December 2018
Blogmas Day Twenty Four
And so it is officially the last day of Blogmas! Although we do actually have an extra post going up tomorrow with the last few days of antics from the Elves!
What a brilliant few weeks of posting it has been! I won't lie and say its been easy trying to get a post up every day! Its been a lot of hard work and trying to fit blogging in while Freddie is asleep at night and while he has been in playgroup along with doing everything else I need to do in the house to get ready for the big man in red coming tonight!
Most of my posts have been written at night when Freddie is curled up asleep in bed next to me! A few times he has rolled over and put his head onto my arm while I have been typing!
Next year I aim to be even more prepared for Blogmas than I was this year! So for now I will leave it here and say Thanks for reading my daily ramblings, I hope you have enjoyed elf watch to see what Rhul and Elfis have been up to! Here's to a brilliant Christmas for everyone and an even more brilliant 2019!
What a brilliant few weeks of posting it has been! I won't lie and say its been easy trying to get a post up every day! Its been a lot of hard work and trying to fit blogging in while Freddie is asleep at night and while he has been in playgroup along with doing everything else I need to do in the house to get ready for the big man in red coming tonight!
Most of my posts have been written at night when Freddie is curled up asleep in bed next to me! A few times he has rolled over and put his head onto my arm while I have been typing!
Next year I aim to be even more prepared for Blogmas than I was this year! So for now I will leave it here and say Thanks for reading my daily ramblings, I hope you have enjoyed elf watch to see what Rhul and Elfis have been up to! Here's to a brilliant Christmas for everyone and an even more brilliant 2019!
Sunday, 23 December 2018
Blogmas Day Twenty Three
Its the final count down! We have almost reached the finish line!
For today's post I am writing all about my goals for 2019 and how I want to have a better balance between family life and blogging life!
At the start of 2018 I said I was going to try and balance things a bit better, yeah that didn't happen at all!
I didn't want to do any blogging when the kids were awake, That did happen I have been doing the majority of my work on a night or on a day Freddie has been in playgroup. But I have been pushing myself with deadlines! There have been nights when I have still been working at nine or ten o'clock just to get things done as once Freddie is asleep I didn't actually sit down and write till after eight o'clock!
A few times I have had to go into the kitchen with the laptop and shut the baby gate to stop Freddie getting in just so I could finish and post on time for a few things! Needless to say Freddie crying at the gate was not too nice!
From January though the balance will be a lot better as I will have Freddie in playgroup for 15 hours a week including one day from 0830 till 1430 so I will have so much more time to write and plan and focus on this blog becoming more established!
So here's to 2019 being the year I actually enjoy some free time away from the monkeys!
For today's post I am writing all about my goals for 2019 and how I want to have a better balance between family life and blogging life!
At the start of 2018 I said I was going to try and balance things a bit better, yeah that didn't happen at all!
I didn't want to do any blogging when the kids were awake, That did happen I have been doing the majority of my work on a night or on a day Freddie has been in playgroup. But I have been pushing myself with deadlines! There have been nights when I have still been working at nine or ten o'clock just to get things done as once Freddie is asleep I didn't actually sit down and write till after eight o'clock!
A few times I have had to go into the kitchen with the laptop and shut the baby gate to stop Freddie getting in just so I could finish and post on time for a few things! Needless to say Freddie crying at the gate was not too nice!
From January though the balance will be a lot better as I will have Freddie in playgroup for 15 hours a week including one day from 0830 till 1430 so I will have so much more time to write and plan and focus on this blog becoming more established!
So here's to 2019 being the year I actually enjoy some free time away from the monkeys!
Saturday, 22 December 2018
Blogmas Day Twenty Two
And so we are getting into the final few days of Blogmas! And I am pretty impressed that I have managed to do some sort of post for each day!
Today is a recap on Freddie and his sort of Santa issues!
So when we went to the garden centre, he looked at Santa from outside the grotto, He didn't cry but he was more interested in what was happening outside aka the stuffed animals!
So when we saw there was a trip from playgroup to a local shopping centre to visit Santa mummy decided to go!
We dropped James off at school then got the bus into town and then the shuttle bus across to the shopping centre where we met up with the rest of the playgroup. There are four settings for his playgroup so there was a lot of kids there that Freddie didn't know, but he knew all the staff! He was especially pleased to see his old key worker who has moved to one of the other settings this year!
All while we were queuing Freddie was a little angel. He was in his buggy, but he was loving all the Christmas decorations!
That all changed once we got to the front of the queue, as we were met by one of Santa's elves he burst into tears and didn't stop! Not even once we were in to see Santa! The only way mummy could get him to calm down was to put Peppa pig onto YouTube! That calmed him right down and he was able to say dinosaur and ninky nonk when Santa asked what he would like for Christmas!
Hopefully next year once he is 4 he might be a bit better although its taken James till he was 6 to stop being scared!
Here is Freddie before going into the grotto!
Today is a recap on Freddie and his sort of Santa issues!
So when we went to the garden centre, he looked at Santa from outside the grotto, He didn't cry but he was more interested in what was happening outside aka the stuffed animals!
So when we saw there was a trip from playgroup to a local shopping centre to visit Santa mummy decided to go!
We dropped James off at school then got the bus into town and then the shuttle bus across to the shopping centre where we met up with the rest of the playgroup. There are four settings for his playgroup so there was a lot of kids there that Freddie didn't know, but he knew all the staff! He was especially pleased to see his old key worker who has moved to one of the other settings this year!
All while we were queuing Freddie was a little angel. He was in his buggy, but he was loving all the Christmas decorations!
That all changed once we got to the front of the queue, as we were met by one of Santa's elves he burst into tears and didn't stop! Not even once we were in to see Santa! The only way mummy could get him to calm down was to put Peppa pig onto YouTube! That calmed him right down and he was able to say dinosaur and ninky nonk when Santa asked what he would like for Christmas!
Hopefully next year once he is 4 he might be a bit better although its taken James till he was 6 to stop being scared!
Here is Freddie before going into the grotto!
Friday, 21 December 2018
Blogmas Day Twenty One
So its another post of elf watch! The elves have been getting up to so much mischief!
On Day 16 we found the pesky pair had been playing with Freddie's wellies!
On Day 17 Rhul and Elfis decided once again to be helpful or at least try to be helpful! They tried to make mummy a cup of tea but they forgot to put the milk and sweetener into the cup!
On Day 18 Rhul and Elfis climbed into James school bag! I think they wanted to go and watch the nativity as it was on that day! James had been practising all the songs over the weekend so I think they just wanted to join in all the fun!
On Day 19 we found the pesky pair trapped under glasses in our kitchen! Rhul blaming Elfis and Elfis blaming Rhul! I wonder who actually did trap who!
On Day 20 we found the cheeky elves had been playing on our old phone cable!
The final elf watch will go live on Christmas Day!
The final elf watch will go live on Christmas Day!
Thursday, 20 December 2018
Blogmas Day Twenty!
Its almost Christmas yey!
This year is the first year that we have successfully completed the siblings project linky so what better way to celebrate Christmas than to do a round up of all the photos from January to December 2018!
This year is the first year that we have successfully completed the siblings project linky so what better way to celebrate Christmas than to do a round up of all the photos from January to December 2018!
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
It is amazing to see how much the boys have grown up this year! When we started the siblings project back in January Freddie was two years and almost two months old! Now he has just turned three and is such a little character! James has shot up over the last 12 months and has totally come out of his shell and is such an amazing big brother to Freddie!
Heres to attempting to complete the 2019 siblings project!
Wednesday, 19 December 2018
Blogmas Day Nineteen
Today is all about Christmas traditions and things from my childhood that I have passed onto the boys!
When I was a child I always got new PJ's to wear on Christmas Eve and this is something we have done with the boys since their very first Christmas. They have always had brand new PJ's to wear for Santa coming!
The next one is we of course always leave out a mince pie for Santa, a drink and a carrot for Rudolph! James gets very excited to do this and I'm sure as Freddie gets older he will get more and more excited for this!
Another tradition from my childhood is going to the Christingle service at the local church. Now the church I grew up near always holds this on Christmas Eve but the church near where we live now does it the week before Christmas but we haven't actually made it to the service yet. We do try to go to the nativity service on Christmas Eve though with the boys.
Last year we tried to introduce a Christmas Eve box to the boys but they were not really that interested in it so we might try again once they are a bit older!
What Christmas traditions to you have in your family?
When I was a child I always got new PJ's to wear on Christmas Eve and this is something we have done with the boys since their very first Christmas. They have always had brand new PJ's to wear for Santa coming!
The next one is we of course always leave out a mince pie for Santa, a drink and a carrot for Rudolph! James gets very excited to do this and I'm sure as Freddie gets older he will get more and more excited for this!
Another tradition from my childhood is going to the Christingle service at the local church. Now the church I grew up near always holds this on Christmas Eve but the church near where we live now does it the week before Christmas but we haven't actually made it to the service yet. We do try to go to the nativity service on Christmas Eve though with the boys.
Last year we tried to introduce a Christmas Eve box to the boys but they were not really that interested in it so we might try again once they are a bit older!
What Christmas traditions to you have in your family?
Tuesday, 18 December 2018
Blogmas Day Eighteen
Today I'm writing all about how the boys got their names!
So our oldest is James Ian Michael.
The James part came from my granddad on my mums side. He died a few moths before my mum and dad got married and if I had been a boy James would have been my name.
The Ian part comes from my dad. I always said if i had a boy one day he would have Ian somewhere in his name!
The Michael part comes from Andy's dad. We said from day one we would use both of our dads names and we did.
Our youngest son is Freddie Andrew Tinline.
The Freddie part comes from Andy's granddad on his mums side. He was named Frederick, but we felt that was a bit of a long name for a little boy so we went with Freddie.
The Andrew part obviously comes from Andy. We felt that the names went well together.
And his finally name Tinline is actually my granddad on my mums sides middle name and it was his mums maiden name. We felt the boys should both have a name from him as I had never known him but was told lots about him!
So this is how the boys got their names!
So our oldest is James Ian Michael.
The James part came from my granddad on my mums side. He died a few moths before my mum and dad got married and if I had been a boy James would have been my name.
The Ian part comes from my dad. I always said if i had a boy one day he would have Ian somewhere in his name!
The Michael part comes from Andy's dad. We said from day one we would use both of our dads names and we did.
Our youngest son is Freddie Andrew Tinline.
The Freddie part comes from Andy's granddad on his mums side. He was named Frederick, but we felt that was a bit of a long name for a little boy so we went with Freddie.
The Andrew part obviously comes from Andy. We felt that the names went well together.
And his finally name Tinline is actually my granddad on my mums sides middle name and it was his mums maiden name. We felt the boys should both have a name from him as I had never known him but was told lots about him!
So this is how the boys got their names!
Monday, 17 December 2018
Blogmas Day Seventeen!
This year a lot of the houses around us seem to have gone crazy with decorations and lights outside! Normally we only see one or two in close proximity to us, but this year since James has started Beavers we have seen a lot more!
Last week was the last Beavers session of the term, so on the way home mummy got James to count sets of Christmas lights, trees and decorations he saw between the scout hut and our house!
To my surprise we actually saw 47 sets including out own!! There is one street we walk down on our way to and from Beavers that has five houses all in a clump which are totally decorated outside with lights and inflatables in the gardens!
There is another house which is on the street that runs parallel to ours that put its first lights up on November 1st!
All we have done this year is put a set of battery operated lights across the top of our window, some gel stickers on the actual glass and some spray snow!
The boys have really loved seeing all the lights this year and I hope the houses round us keep doing it! Who knows maybe next year we might do something a bit more to our house!
Last week was the last Beavers session of the term, so on the way home mummy got James to count sets of Christmas lights, trees and decorations he saw between the scout hut and our house!
To my surprise we actually saw 47 sets including out own!! There is one street we walk down on our way to and from Beavers that has five houses all in a clump which are totally decorated outside with lights and inflatables in the gardens!
There is another house which is on the street that runs parallel to ours that put its first lights up on November 1st!
All we have done this year is put a set of battery operated lights across the top of our window, some gel stickers on the actual glass and some spray snow!
The boys have really loved seeing all the lights this year and I hope the houses round us keep doing it! Who knows maybe next year we might do something a bit more to our house!
Sunday, 16 December 2018
Blogmas Day sixteen
Its Day 16 and it is time for another update on the elves!
On Day 11 we found them sat on our lounge floor playing with Freddie's bead toy from Ikea! They looked like they had been having a good time playing over night while we were in bed!
On Day 12 well mummy woke with a start at half past four realising she had forgot to set the elves up after the fiasco with James hospital appointment. So mummy leap out of bed and came downstairs! So when the boys got up they found the elves on daddy's PC!
On Day 13 the elves had been having a party on our lounge light fitting! It took James ages to spot them! Eventually we had to give him a few clues!
On Day 14 the pesky pair had climbed into out little tree decoration on our back window! They looked like they had been having a great time over night!
On Day 15 the elves took a trip to see Santa and brought back some snow but it melted!
Saturday, 15 December 2018
Blogmas Day Fifteen
When I was a teenager and in my early twenties I totally loved my music and my boybands such as Westlife, Boyzone and D-Side. But since having the boys I have totally lost interest in music. Back then I could always tell you who was number one in the charts but now I couldnt even tell you what day the chart was released on!
Now tend to listen to all my old music via Spotify when I am working during the day! I tend to listen to Westlife and D-Side the most as they were my favourite bands growing up although I didnt actually meet Westlife properly till I was in my mid twenties and I had moved down to Surrey to live with Andy! It was easier to get into London to see them at breakfast television!
With D-Side I met them so many times I lost count! One of the guys is now a presenter on Milkshake on Channel 5, its so funny watching him on there and the boys loving him singing when mummy used to go and see him virtually every few weeks growing up!
My all time favourite band is actually a band from the 60s/70s/80s/90/00s called The Moody Blues. They are my dads favourite band and he brought me up listening to them! I first went to see them in concert when I was 5 years old and I have never missed a UK tour since! I even took James to see them just before he turned 3 and he loved them!
So this is all about my top music choices to listen to when I am working! What would you recommend for me to listen to which is a bit more recent!
Now tend to listen to all my old music via Spotify when I am working during the day! I tend to listen to Westlife and D-Side the most as they were my favourite bands growing up although I didnt actually meet Westlife properly till I was in my mid twenties and I had moved down to Surrey to live with Andy! It was easier to get into London to see them at breakfast television!
With D-Side I met them so many times I lost count! One of the guys is now a presenter on Milkshake on Channel 5, its so funny watching him on there and the boys loving him singing when mummy used to go and see him virtually every few weeks growing up!
My all time favourite band is actually a band from the 60s/70s/80s/90/00s called The Moody Blues. They are my dads favourite band and he brought me up listening to them! I first went to see them in concert when I was 5 years old and I have never missed a UK tour since! I even took James to see them just before he turned 3 and he loved them!
So this is all about my top music choices to listen to when I am working! What would you recommend for me to listen to which is a bit more recent!
Friday, 14 December 2018
Blogmas Day Fourteen
For day 14 on Blogmas and its all about our Christmas Tree!
This year we have bitten the bullet and bought a new tree! Our old tree was 6ft, black and pre lit! Our new tree is 7ft, green and unlit!
We chose to go with bronze coloured baubles, white lights and red tinsel with the odd old decoration! For our old decorations that we kept from our old tree we have a Paddington Bear, a Santa, two Santa keys, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Our family decoration and lastly our tribute decorations.
Along with our new bronze baubles, we also bought the carrot decorations from Aldi and a green dinosaur!
Our Mickey and Minnie Mouse decorations are pretty special as we bought them seven years ago at Ye Olde Christmas shop in Magic Kingdom when we were on our honeymoon in Orlando.
Our tribute decorations are for my Nannie and also my great aunt. For my Nannie we have a gold star as James called her his star in the sky when she died and for my great aunt we have a white westie dog as she loved westies.
Our family decoration we bought in 2016 in a local shopping centre from one of the stalls to personalise decorations. We bought it when we were out the weekend that Freddie turned one!
We bought a new tree topper in the form of an angel to replace the gold star we used to have.
Not only did we buy a new tree for the lounge we bought a smaller battery operated 3ft tree for James to have in his bedroom! On that tree he has the decorations that he made at Baltic, some left over decorations from our big tree and the small decorations he got in a toot toot advent calendar a few years ago!
This year we have bitten the bullet and bought a new tree! Our old tree was 6ft, black and pre lit! Our new tree is 7ft, green and unlit!
We chose to go with bronze coloured baubles, white lights and red tinsel with the odd old decoration! For our old decorations that we kept from our old tree we have a Paddington Bear, a Santa, two Santa keys, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Our family decoration and lastly our tribute decorations.
Along with our new bronze baubles, we also bought the carrot decorations from Aldi and a green dinosaur!
Our Mickey and Minnie Mouse decorations are pretty special as we bought them seven years ago at Ye Olde Christmas shop in Magic Kingdom when we were on our honeymoon in Orlando.
Our tribute decorations are for my Nannie and also my great aunt. For my Nannie we have a gold star as James called her his star in the sky when she died and for my great aunt we have a white westie dog as she loved westies.
Our family decoration we bought in 2016 in a local shopping centre from one of the stalls to personalise decorations. We bought it when we were out the weekend that Freddie turned one!
We bought a new tree topper in the form of an angel to replace the gold star we used to have.
Not only did we buy a new tree for the lounge we bought a smaller battery operated 3ft tree for James to have in his bedroom! On that tree he has the decorations that he made at Baltic, some left over decorations from our big tree and the small decorations he got in a toot toot advent calendar a few years ago!
Wednesday, 12 December 2018
Blogmas Day Twelve
This year we took the boys to see Santa at a local garden centre as a review from this blog, then James saw Santa at his school fair so he has already had two Santa experiences this year! Freddie will be getting his second experience next week when we go to a local shopping centre with his playgroup!
So far this year I have been pretty pleased with how the boys reacted to Santa. Last year both boys ended up in tears at the shopping centre and James then got spooked at the school fair and sent mummy and Freddie in his place!
When we went to the garden centre James was fantastic! He was very chatty with Santa and his elf and answered all their questions! At his school fair he actually managed to be number one in the queue as the grotto was in the school library which is at the bottom of the staircase from his classroom! Again he was fantastic and chatted away to Santa. As with last year it was the school deputy head playing Santa, which James found hilarious!
So over all Santa has been a big plus this year for James. As for Freddie, well at the garden centre at the last minute he got a little bit spooked and wouldn't go into the actual grotto but he did stand at the door and look at Santa, I'm hoping when we go next week with his playgroup he will be a bit better as a lot of his little friends will be there too!
So far this year I have been pretty pleased with how the boys reacted to Santa. Last year both boys ended up in tears at the shopping centre and James then got spooked at the school fair and sent mummy and Freddie in his place!
When we went to the garden centre James was fantastic! He was very chatty with Santa and his elf and answered all their questions! At his school fair he actually managed to be number one in the queue as the grotto was in the school library which is at the bottom of the staircase from his classroom! Again he was fantastic and chatted away to Santa. As with last year it was the school deputy head playing Santa, which James found hilarious!
So over all Santa has been a big plus this year for James. As for Freddie, well at the garden centre at the last minute he got a little bit spooked and wouldn't go into the actual grotto but he did stand at the door and look at Santa, I'm hoping when we go next week with his playgroup he will be a bit better as a lot of his little friends will be there too!
Tuesday, 11 December 2018
Blogmas Day Eleven
So welcome back to Elf update!The Elves have been creating so much mischief in out 1house since our last update! They even went to stay at Nana and Gaga's house for a night and boy were they naughty!
On Day Six we found the elves had been a bit naught over night and were trying their hand at pole dancing on our light oops!
On Day Seven we found them sat on our sofa with Freddie's Fingerling Hug Boris reading them a story!
On Day Eight we found they had been playing with James toy tractor and had taken it for a ride in the lounge!
On Day Nine well this has to have been the naughtiest by far from these two cheeky elves!We had been staying with Nana and Gaga and Rhul and Elfis got into their wine cooler and helped themselves to Nana's Prosecco!
On Day Ten after all their antics last night they decided to have a chilled out time and we found them curled up on the sofa with their heads on a cushion and a blanket over them!
Our next Elf update will be on 16th December! I wonder how naughty they will have been?
On Day Six we found the elves had been a bit naught over night and were trying their hand at pole dancing on our light oops!
On Day Eight we found they had been playing with James toy tractor and had taken it for a ride in the lounge!
On Day Nine well this has to have been the naughtiest by far from these two cheeky elves!We had been staying with Nana and Gaga and Rhul and Elfis got into their wine cooler and helped themselves to Nana's Prosecco!
Our next Elf update will be on 16th December! I wonder how naughty they will have been?
Monday, 10 December 2018
Blogmas Day Ten
I did a post last year about strange things your kids had asked for for Christmas on the back of one Christmas when James was about two when he asked Santa very seriously for milk and yoghurt!
This year the post is all about things your kids call Christmas! For example Freddie is obsessed with calling crisps Christmas! He started it when we were in Majorca back in October, We had a tube of pringles in our hotel room and he kept yelling Christmas Christmas and pointing at them! Since we got home all crisps have become Christmas to him!
So I asked s couple of my fellow parent bloggers and these were the answers I got!
Emma from www.emmareed.net said "My son was born on Christmas Day so its not actually anybody elses Christmas according to him - he calls it my Christmas. He asks is it nearly my Christmas?" I found this so adorable!
Jessica from www.beautiesandthebibs.co.uk said "My daughter is 3 and calls it HoHo she can say Christmas but HoHo has stuck" That is so sweet. Freddie does know that Christmas is other things ie the tree and decorations but calling crisps Christmas has just stuck even when we try to correct him!
I hope by next year Freddie is calling not calling crisps Christmas as it is already getting very confusing in our house!!
This year the post is all about things your kids call Christmas! For example Freddie is obsessed with calling crisps Christmas! He started it when we were in Majorca back in October, We had a tube of pringles in our hotel room and he kept yelling Christmas Christmas and pointing at them! Since we got home all crisps have become Christmas to him!
So I asked s couple of my fellow parent bloggers and these were the answers I got!
Emma from www.emmareed.net said "My son was born on Christmas Day so its not actually anybody elses Christmas according to him - he calls it my Christmas. He asks is it nearly my Christmas?" I found this so adorable!
Jessica from www.beautiesandthebibs.co.uk said "My daughter is 3 and calls it HoHo she can say Christmas but HoHo has stuck" That is so sweet. Freddie does know that Christmas is other things ie the tree and decorations but calling crisps Christmas has just stuck even when we try to correct him!
I hope by next year Freddie is calling not calling crisps Christmas as it is already getting very confusing in our house!!
Thursday, 6 December 2018
Blogmas Day Six
So it's the 6th of December and we have had Rhul and Elfis here for five days. I thought I would do a little update as to what they have been getting up to!
On Day One we got up to find them sat on the sofa complete with advent Calendars, scratch off behavior charts and a message board. The boys were thrilled to see them especially James! They also brought an elf surveillance camera and a note pad of elf reports which they will be using to report on the boys behaviour!
On Day Four James and Freddie came downstairs to find that Rhul and Elfis were sat on our sofa with Kevin the Carrot doing a puzzle!
On Day Five the boys found a message on the elves white board in the kitchen saying that they were somewhere very cold! James throught straight away that they were hiding in our fridge as Rhul had hidden there last year! However once he looked they were not there, then he realised they could be in the freezer and there they were tucked up in a pair of mummys socks!
I will do another update on the elves and their antics on 11th December!
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