A truly lovely day. Two delighted little girls with more presents than they knew what to do with. Top present awards go to the Walkie Talkie from Papous to Phoebe, running shoes from Granny to Paul, The Cinderella Dress from us to Clara and for me... it has to be the wonderfully gorgeous surprise necklace that my wonderful husband bought me, it is truly lovely (although alas I can't wear it yet as the chain is just a little too short for me!). An honourable mention has to go to the lovely Mahri-Claire and Greg who had send a picture (or two) off to a sketch artist. I just love it and can't wait to frame it and put it on the wall (Ikea here I come tomorrow!) for all to see!
We had a lovely lunch of 5 spiced duck with asparagus and dauphinoise potatoes (before you look shocked the girls had sausages... sigh). And have had a nice relaxing day all in. Seeing friends tomorrow so we are looking forward to that.
I hope Father Christmas bought you all you desired and deserved and that you sleep well and satisfied tonight.
Two very excited little girls! Letters burnt to send to Father Christmas, Stockings hung by fire place, mince pies made and by the fire with carrots and Ginger Wine. Santa Trap will be set up before we go to bed as we would hate for Father Christmas to burn himself on it with the fire currently on! The Christmas fairies even managed to leave a gold trail of fairy dust to their new pyjamas that they cleverly dropped off whilst they were in the bath!
Oops. I am poorly so I requested Diet Coke... my nemesis! Consequently it is 00:15am and I am still awake. Still I have used the time decently to change over the laundry, clear up the cat poo in the bathroom (well it beats the rug so I am not complaining too loudly, I suppose she is thinking she is human... bless her!), sort out the living room and dining room and swept the kitchen (around the slug that seems to have got in... eww!). All the time listening to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on my new iphone dock (sorry Mum, I couldn't wait so bought it with some vouchers... the rest are saved until after Christmas!).
Anyway, a catch up! The new CF card reader FINALLY arrived and I was able to upload everything to my computer... huzzah! So, in order of occurance... I believe it was Phoebe's birthday first.
She had her birthday party, despite the snow, on the Saturday. I rented a local hall and a bouncy castle for Madam and her buddies to play with. The bouncy castle was HUUUUUUGE, so huge in fact that it wasn't long and a few Daddies had joined in the fun. I believe Granny also had a go... I stayed off using the excuse that I had odd socks on! Much fun was had with magic tricks and balloon animals provided by Aunty Isy's new chap Leif (although he himself heard the call of Arsenal so sent Isy across London with 3 binbags full of balloon animals!). I had made Phoebe a paddock cake with schliech animals and a duck pond!
I was rather chuffed with it if I do say so myself!
What was next? Oh yes the actual birthday, poor Phoebe had to wait ALL day to open her presents as we have to be at school so early. Still she had a good day and was delighted with her birthday sticker and the fact that her class mates sang Happy Birthday to her. When she got back we had a little tea party with Granny and Grande where she got to open her gift from them. A Playmobil Pony Ranch that she has been longing for since she spotted it in a toy shop! We bought her Toy Story Lego that she loves too. She also got a Furry Friends playset from Paul's parents and a Sylvannian Family Stable from Papous and Yia Yia.
Then we had Clara's school concert. Her last at our beloved Pre School... I am quite sad about that as we do love it so much! She did us proud and sang beautifully! She was a little star struck meeting Father Christmas but very grateful for the present!
Then we had Phoebe's school concert that afternoon. We weren't allowed to take pictures or video so alas I cannot show you my girl in her snowflake outfit. What I didn't know what that she wasn't JUST a snowflake... she was a featured snowflake! Snowflake number 5 to be precise. This glorified role involved being in the front row to dance round and round whilst singing "6 Little Snowflakes" from Whoopsy Daisy Angel! She did it brilliantly and was the only snowflake to spin continually throughout the song... Mum and I were convinced she was going to either fall over or throw up but she, thankfully, proved us wrong!
As for the renovations. In the spirit of JFDI I decided the time had come to tackle the paint stripping in the living room. We need to decorate (desperately so!) in there but the layers are so thick on the wood work that another layer of paint would look ridiculous! Hence having to remove it all! I tried chemicals but the layers are too gross for it to work effectively enough! Eventually I bought a heat gun... oh it is my new bestest friend! Although I would like it noted that varnishing may seem like a good idea when later residents try to remove it, it turns to what can only be described as tar! Bleurgh! Still we have made good headway:
It has all now been primed and the doors to the cupboard are awaiting the return from the dipping place. I won't be naming them as they are not in my good books currently! Of course I still have the skirting boards (would it be wrong to only strip the bits we can see?) and the window to do... flick back a few posts for the blind shop and that is the window I have to strip... it is going to be a job and a half! I have also been eyeing up the front door but I think that can wait until nicer weather!
Of course we also had Yule inbetween the last post and this. It was wonderful... we went into London to the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland and took the girls to their first Circus. They loved it and were completely entranced by the acts they had on! I would like it noted that Winter Wonderland would be loads more fun in the summer because when we came out it was cold and raining... and of course Phoebe insisted on going on rides! Ah well! When we got home we lit our Yule Log and decorated the Christmas Tree. The downside was I decided to make it a bit of a tradition to wish on the Yule Log, alas the girls both wished for a Barbie Mermaid so muggins here spend the evening driving around looking for said items for them! Thank all I hold holy for Tesco! It was a lovely day, here is our gorgeous smoldering Yule Log:
It is now 00:51, the battery on my iphone has died and the cat is looking at me as if I am mad. So I am going to pootle off to bed and stare at the ceiling for a bit and hopefully, maybe possibly nod off!
I have so much to write about and loads of pictures to go with it but my new card reader (bloody pins bent in the other one so it has been binned!) is somewhere between me and Amazon. GAH!
Since my last post we have had:
Phoebe's 5th Birthday Party
Phoebe's 5th Birthday
Clara's School Concert
Phoebe's School Concert
I have done some major renovations to the living room (well major for me!)
So loads and loads have been happening and I am stuck because I haven't got a CF Card reader. GARGH!
It is so cold out there at the moment I felt sorry for the rabbits being in the hutch and chilly so I went to the petshop nearby and bought the non to cheap microwavable pad for them. When it was warm I took it out and both bunnies shot to the door to be let out. I thought what the hell and let them out to play a little bit. They went loopy exploring the newly white and cold garden. Lots of running around and bouncing, very cute! I also discovered they come when they are called now as when I did they both pelted across the garden towards me. This meant I was able to get some cool shots of them!
Kit and Little Brown Cat were being far more sensible and each camped out at a (different of course) radiator for the day. Happy beasties all around!
It snowed yesterday. When I woke up it was about half an inch and I thought it wasn't that bad and it would be business as usual.
Oh how wrong I was.
By the time I dropped Clara off to school at 9.30 it was more like 2 inches but it let up for a bit. By the time I got her at 12.30 it was about 3 inches and traffic was so slow it took me 20 minute to drive around the corner to get her. It then took me another 30 minutes to get to Mum who was camping out from the snow in House of Fraser. Just before I got Mum I had a call from a school mum to say the "school is closing" text went out. Arse. Another 30 minutes later we went to get Phoebe. Then we made a big mistake... in fact scrub that HUGE mistake. Because the traffic was so clogged going back to the house and Mum, Clara and I were hungry (it was approaching 2pm by this point) we travelled down to a pizza place about 3 miles away (ha, about... I googled it... 3.2 miles away to be exact). In that time we had big fat flakey snow, blizzardy snow and it was just getting thicker and thicker and thicker. So, come just after 3pm (and having neatly missed Clara's ballet open day, I have yet to see her dance... sob) we got back in the car hoping that traffic would have eased up a little. Ha. Ha. Ha.
4.5 HOURS later we finally pulled up outside our front door. In that time Phoebe and Mum dove out of the car and into a gym we happened to be passing so Phoebe could use the loo, Mum pushed the car twice (with help) as we got stuck, Mum dove out of the car to try and get an Iphone cable and Phoebe managed a 45 minute nap! Oh and we saw several abandoned cars and some spectacularly bad driving (I was thanking my lucky stars I have driving in snow experience from when we go skiing!).
Today has been a snowday. Paul couldn't get to work, Phoebe's school was shut (finally on the text system with the correct number) and if Clara's was open I didn't care as I wasn't going to attempt walking her up there. Paul did the Daddy Duty of snow play inbetween working and I even managed to sneak into town to return some boots. Not a total bust but I am hoping the snow eases up / goes away by Saturday as I don't want Phoebe's party to be banjaxxed by the rotten stuff.
I shall leave you with a pic of the 3 snow bunnies:
(the real bunnies are hiding in their bedroom and are very very unimpressed by the cold white stuff).
Wow, I am totally shattered today. But then I suppose I haven't stopped really. At least there is stuff to show for my exhaustion! The house is shining like a new pin after I tidied and cleaned today, the girls are happy and fed (no warnings, no time outs... Wooooo Hoooooo!). Little Brown Cat hasn't peed on the rug for 4 days now (wooo citronella works!). I am currently making bread and cooking tea for the girls and supper for me and Paul (Maple Parsnip Soup... yuum!).
However what I would really like to do is fall into a scalding hot bubble bath and stay there for a nice long relax before climbing into a lovely warm bed and sleeping until January!
Fun filled day today, we started off with a trip to the cinema to see Tinkerhell... er I mean Tinkerbell and The Great Fairy Rescue. Got to love Vue cinema's and their Kids AM showing which means we can all get in for £5! Bargain :D. We did try and go yesterday but it was sold out... cue tantrum from the larger one and us hastily booking tickets and deciding never to leave it to chance ever again!
We popped home for a quick lunch of sandwiches before heading out to some local woods and looking for a Yule Log and decorations. To find our Yule log we were looking for a fallen branch of the right width and size and then asking the tree from where it fell for permission to take it. Sounds silly I realise but as Pagans we believe everything has a spirit and is part of the Mother Earth and you shouldn't remove something without permission. We had a good tramp and looked at all the pretty leaves whilst we hunted and eventually we found the perfect log and bought it home.
We then went to another park to look for a few decorations for the log. We also got to meet the residential squirrels who are very friendly and personable and the girls were delighted to meet so many up close! They had a good run and play in the park and we found a few pine cones for decoration (I will be going back to the woods for a few sprigs of holly to finish it all off but for now it looks lovely lying on our mantlepiece drying out ready for Yule.
We came home to hot chocolate with marshmallows and a soon to be roaring fire in the living room. I am so glad we have a working fireplace now, it is so nice and atmospheric in the living room with it!
Today I turned my lovely gorgeous curtains in the living room into a roman blind that fits in the sash window. The difference is amazing and the room looks much bigger without the curtains eating into it. It also means the toy box stays in one place rather than us having to pull it out and putting it back every time we moved the curtains!
It is only the 2nd roman blind I have made, the first being in Clara's room which looks ok but is nothing special. However I had it easier this time and the kit I bought for hanging it up came with a basic blind so I used that as a lining and it saved me about 2 hrs worth of work I think.
I must also thank Paul who helped me make it as it was an arse and a half having to sew on the skew because the base rod had to be sewn in before being able to sew across any of the others! Apologies for the crappy picture, it is almost 11pm and I can't be bothered getting the big camera out so I took it on the iphone:
I have 2 I think, it is either the Mission Impossible music or the Benny Hill music. I seem to be permanently on catch up with myself. Tuesday and Thursdays are my busiest days so they start with Mission Impossible and end with Benny Hill! Weekday life seems to be a never ending round of school runs and house work (especially with the latest pet, Little Brown Cat having decided to use the living room rug as her peeing place... gah!). Still I enjoy my mornings of peace and quiet now and because I JFDI* when I get in it means I get to chill out when it is done and watch crap TV and put my feet up.
Today's JFDI was to clean the wee of the rug (sigh), hoover upstairs and give the kitchen a lick and a promise after breakfast. Being on top of the housework is really making a big difference to my mood which is definitely a good thing. I don't feel glum about the state of the house at the moment and I wouldn't mind someone coming round with not a lot of notice now like I would have before!
Anyway I had better crack on JFD the girl's tea... oh wait is that Benny Hill I hear in my head again.
Oooh what lucky girls I have in their fabulous new bobble hats! They are delighted with them. Phoebe was telling Clara all about them and it was so funny!
"Carwa, this is your bobble hat because it is pink and you like pink don't you Carwa?! This one is mine because it is blue and I like Blue... isn't Yia Yia clever?!"
As part of their stockings I decided that I would like to make the girls hobby horses so I diligently went off to good ol' google and searched. I found this wonderful tutorial for making hobby horses and went from there... I am pretty pleased with the result! Now I have to make one for Clara (and one for all the people who requested one... erk... well it keeps me out of trouble!)
I am mulling over finishing the stick bit with some ribbon... added extra holding for keeping it's head on!
I have been very productive today. I treated myself to a new CD so I have been clearing up to the tunes from The Bangles, marvellous. Today it was the Dining Room's turn and I filled another 2 bin bags with rubbish. I also rang for an update on the car and found out it wasn't going to be back until next week so I loaded the Roller Skate to the gunnels and did the tip run and charity shop run. Before I went out I decided to have a quick go through the girls clothes to sort things out as their wardrobes were getting very messy. In the end I had 2 bin bags to go to the charity shop too. The only thing I didn't take was the wee soaked rug because I refuse to be in that close proximity to it for elongated period of time!
Still the house is looking much better than it has done in ages. I have designated tomorrow as Ebay Day. I hate Ebaying, it takes time and effort and occasionally it means dealing with numpties which always puts me in a bad mood. Hopefully it will all go smoothly though and I can get shot of a few more bits and make a few pennies too. I dread dealing with the post office too but at least I can print out postage online so it doesn't take quite so long as queueing up.
Ah well needs must when the devil is behind the wheel eh?!
This morning I tackled the understairs cupboard. The first job was a trip to Argos to purchase 2 x 3 drawer units to go in there. When I got back I armed myself with a marker pen, pair of scissors and set too sorting out. I don't think I have done too badly, the "bad bit" of the cupboard doesn't look like I have done anything but there is A LOT more stored in that half of the cupboard now and the bike trailer needs to live in there until I can ebay it (not happening until I have a pile of Ebay stuff to do at once, I hate doing it piece meal!)
What do you think?
Not too bad for a mornings work. Tomorrow's job is the dining room and, if I can manage it in the roller skate, do a charity shop / tip run.
Having decluttered the living room and kitchen I'll let you guess where all the clutter went... into the dining room and under the stairs! So [deep breath] these are the "before" pictures:
On the way home from the Fireworks last night Paul reminded me that last year we hadn't gone because I had a meltdown at the idea of leaving the house and the crowds. If we had gone I would have had to be doped to the eyeballs to get through it and there was just no point. Last night I went, happily, to watch the fireworks with heaven knows how many other people in a local park and loved it!
We arrived for gates opening and secured our spot not knowing when the fireworks would start. The announcement came over a little later saying 7pm.... there was NOTHING to do there but hey ho. We amused the children first with a tray of chips each that went uneaten and then we bought them a light up wand each and they loved those. Phoebe went freestyle and amused a fair amount of people with her guitar performance to the toons on the radio:
She was hilarious. She even said her name on the radio and, apparently, Clara heard and was delighted. She did want to say hello to Daddy and Clara but the radio presenter was off before she could.
The fireworks when they began were spectacular and lasted a good 30 minutes. The girls were getting very moany and cold after waiting for 2 hours but both of them decided the wait was worth it for the fabby bangs and pretty lights. Clara said it was like the sky was full of fairies which I thought was lovely! Phoebe mostly like the ENORMOUS bonfire they had, and cackled when the poor guy on the top of it caught fire. I did try and tell them the story of Guy Fawkes but they weren't that interested... I will save that for later years I think!
Washed the rug AGAIN, on both sides in a bid to shift the smell of cat wee. It hasn't worked it still honks and a new rug will be purchased forthwith (I am going purple too... woo!)
I have hoovered the downstairs of the house and washed all the floors.
I have filled a large bin bag with STUFF and put it in the bin (non recycleable alas).
I took Clara to her swimming lesson and put up with being splashed by her shaking her bunches at me.
Sobbed when Phoebe told me she had 3 time outs today (that makes 8 in her first 4 days back at school... waaaail].
Bought a new doormat to go by the back door.
Come up with a plan for a more visual way of Phoebe seeing that being naughty at school does not pay.
Moved a load of pictures around the house.
There will be wine tonight. Oh yes...lots of wine. I still have more to do in the dining room (including pointing out that the newly clear sideboard in there is not the best place to put the bag of cat litter... sigh!). There are a couple of floorboards that need fixing in there for a start and I might consider a rug as well. The pile of stuff for the tip is growing steadily and my first job when I am back with Renault will be the tip run I think! Only other thing I need to think about is the quickest, non smelliest way of stripping the woodwork back enough to be able to decorate in the living room in 3hr stints in one week. Hmmm, I am thinking ceiling first (one coat of white should do it) then the walls (only need to do 3 and a bit) over a couple of days then the wall papering (I may be able to get Paul to do this in the evening after I have finished the walls) and then the woodwork (inc shelves, fireplace and radiator cover) over a couple of days. Ambitious? Me?!
Phoebe had a 2 week half term, 1st week was so the teachers and staff could move locations to the new school site (which is looking rather fab!) and the second week was half term proper so I had Clara off too. For the second week we all went down to a lovely cottage in Portwrinkle, Cornwall with my Mum and Sdad and had a lovely week of beaches, Eden Project and Donkeys. It was wonderful! Mum gave me a much needed break from the daily rigours of child rearing and it was nice to be able to be a family and go and do things together.
Phoebe and Clara particularly enjoyed the Donkey Sanctuary. Phoebe was in her element around the animals and Clara got her confidence back with animals and was very stern about pushing to get the feed! They then had a wail of a time in the soft play area whilst the grown ups had a drink.
We also did The Eden Project but it didn't really capture our imaginations as we hoped it would. It didn't help that it was heaving and the weather was awful I suppose. We enjoyed going around the bubbles and seeing all the plants and things they had done but other than that we were relieved to come away from the crowds at the end of the day.
Mostly we enjoyed going to the beach and looking in rock pools! There was a beach a short walk from the house so we mostly went there and had fun but we also did a bigger beach a short drive away. The girls had so much fun looking for fish and 'nenomes in the rock pools, building sandcastles, skimming stones and splashing in the waves!
I am not responsible for what people think about me. I shouldn't mind their opinions of me and I should rise above what they choose to tell people. True friends love me and don't believe the tosh and that is what matters.
My house needs a serious going through and declutter. Living in a mess is doing nothing for my mental health and I should Just Fucking Do It from now on instead of avoiding doing things but still dwelling on them.
My first duty is to myself. I have to find my voice and use it to tell people when I don't want or don't like something. I need to stop smiling and nodding because it makes life easier and less complicated. It doesn't.
My depression is an illness, it is not my fault and I do not deserve it. I can however help with it's treatment.
The Doing Stuff.
The house needs a deep clean and a serious declutter. Before we went away Paul and our friend Greg emptied the attic of all the old toys and technology that have migrated up there and I freecycled the lot. I went through the toys we had down stairs and cleared out about 75% of them as they were all either broken or unplayed with (the girls haven't even noticed!). Since we came back I have shampooed the living room rug (spurred on by a certain Little Brown Cat leaving what we now refer to as "yucky presents" all over it whilst we were away) and it looks 100 x better than it has done. I have also gone through the toy box again and got shot of all the rest of the crap that resides at the bottom and never sees the light of day. The dining room is the next project but as I am stuck with a Cheverolet Matiz for the next week or so I am a bit stuck as all the things that need chucking are in there and a Matiz is a very very small car. Still I have cleared the dining table so I suppose that is a reasonable start. I also plan on going through the understairs cupboard and buying some decent storage in there to keep it under a little more control. That should, in turn, mean that less stuff needs to be out in the dining room and I can make things look nicer in there.
My main aim is to get all of this done by Christmas so that I feel a little bit more in control of my life by then. Ideally I would like to decorate the living room before Christmas but I don't think it will happen as there is so much woodwork to strip so it isn't a quick job! Still, baby steps all the way!
Apologies for the lack of bloggy action. I am not doing too well at the moment, the dark nights and bad weather get to me so fast and I get so angry with everything. It is so hard to do everything when you are constantly simmering with rage, especially when I have the children to manage too. Phoebe doing her Diva Routine at the drop of the hat and Clara exhibiting her enormous personality in the way only she can.
In other news, we have Phoebe's first parent evening on Thursday and I am a leeetle apprehensive. She is a lovely lovely little girl but very very, well, enthusiastic. One of the few children I know who comes home like a coiled spring from school! Although she is definitely learning stuff now and is slooowly starting to read (when she concentrates!) and write. A little concerning for me is the new thing of teaching them cursive, Phoebe seems to have problems with it and can't write the letters the right way around. But I am sure we will get around that eventually!
I am just back from a weekend in Leeds to see my littlest Step Sister, Ellie, marry her lovely chap Dave. It was a wonderful wedding and I was so proud of my girls being Flower Girls for Ellie (and the fact I made their dresses!). They had a wonderful weekend too and thoroughly enjoyed their roles, there was a rather large amount of bribery for camera shy Clara but she chilled out in the end. Here's a few of the pics I took (I wasn't overly prolific with the camera)
Wooo! I have had a fair bit of making to do recently and have struggled with motivation however I am now ahead of the game! The only thing I HAVE to make next week is a bag to match my outfit at Ellie's wedding on Saturday.
Of course then I have start on the Christmas Makes when I get back from Yorkshire next weekend... sigh!
Today I thought I would try out the bike trailer for the school run. Epic, epic fail! Things that went wrong:
Gears jammed outside school. I thought I was going to have to leave the bike and trailer there, get the bus home and come back with the car (twice as children + bike + trailer will not fit!). Thankfully a bit of pedal wiggling and gear changing sorted that out.
Phoebe has had a growth spurt and is now WAY over the safety height line in the trailer.
As I was handing out black currant juice as a post school drink Clara squeezed the box and squirted black currant juice all over my dress.
We went to the park so the girls could play (and I could regain the stability of my horrendously out of shape legs!). Within minutes of being there and the girls playing Clara fell off the round about and split her lip and the only thing I had to clean it up with was my dress adding to the already present stain!
As I was cleaning Clara up Phoebe managed to whack her cheek on the round about resulting in a fabulous bruise!
Still on the upside a girl from the juniors of P's school took it upon herself to play with Phoebe and Clara. And Clara made a new friend in an adorable little girl and they played together beautifully! I, however, still have jelly legs and am very very very very grateful to be home!
Anyone want to buy a bike trailer?! It is time for Ebay isn't it!
I am not sure what I am feeling at the moment. Autumn approaches and the dread of the dark nights and low moods. I wish I could be someone who looks forward to the autumn but I dread it, I will have to crack out the SAD lamp in the hope that it bashes away a few of the blues.
I think Phoebe starting school has shaken me as well. Clara starts next year and that means I am going to have 6 hours to myself. I should think about re-entering the work force and, whilst the extra money will be good, the thought is scary. I am dreading having to go back into an office environment and whilst I want to kid myself otherwise that is exactly where I will end up. I would love to retrain as a Drama Therapist or something but I'm not sure it is a particularly good idea. I would hate to retrain (again) for something that isn't going to be used. My other thought is as a Primary school teacher but I think there are too many teachers for positions at the moment. ARGH! I don't know... what in the hell should I do! I have had 6 years to think about this and I feel like I am walking the wrong way on an escalator about life.
Since we went to a Ballet Open Day last year with Becky for her little girl Millie, Clara has been doing the exercises she saw. She was 2 at the time, she has been doing them for a year. Now, finally, she is old enough to actually go to ballet class and so today she did for the first time. As it was her first time she was excused from wearing uniform to see if she liked it before buying. A bit of a pointless exercise really as she loved it! Trotted off happily with Miss Penny into class (mummies and big sisters aren't allowed in) and was positively beaming when she came out half an hour later!
So, as we had a little time before going to Phoebe's swimming lesson we went and bought her RAD uniform for her lessons:
She threw a spectacular tantrum when it came time to stop modelling it for Daddy and go to bed! She is one happy little girl and I am one much poorer Mummy! Still it will be worth it when she is a world class ballerina right?!
(Please also note the hair... she is now sporting what I am calling a "Jennifer Aniston on a bad day" do... but it doesn't look too horrendous I suppose, still not her gorgeous long curly locks though!)
Yesterday I had to pop up to the shop for a couple of soup ingrediants so I left the girls at home with their Daddy. When I drove back up to park I could see them skitting around in the living room. When I got into the house I saw the reality... 1 pair of sewing scissors and 1 small child's hair. Paul had been upstairs whilst it happened.
I could have cried, I really could... she looked like she had a mullet! They had lopped a bit off either side of her head and a bit from around the back too. Today I had to spend £12 at the kiddy hairdressers trying to make it less obvious. Clara is now sporting layers in her hair and the hair dresser has feathered the really short bits so they aren't so noticeable. But still... her lovely hair!
To make things worse she is Flower Girl for my step sister Ellie in 3 weeks. I am hoping that it will settle a little more in that time, or at the very least the hair bands they have conceal some of the damage! I was this close -> <- to ebaying the pair of them!
of Big School! Has been chaos here so that is why I have neglected my Blog.
Clara went back to Preschool on Monday morning, Phoebe started Big School on Monday afternoon. She was absolutely fizzing with excitement about going, there was no way she was ever going to dress in anything but her uniform despite not having to be in school until 1.30pm! I was asked ever 10 minutes all morning if it was time to go yet, and when Granny arrived (so she could look after Clara and I could stay with Phoebe on her first day) she nearly exploded with excitement. Thank heavens Granny did come as she reminded me I actually had to feed Phoebe before school! I was thrown off as we don't eat lunch until 1pm usually! 1 quick Marmite sandwich later and it was finally Time To Go! Granny walked up with us to the bus stop and then on to get Clara whilst Phoebe and I climbed aboard the bus. She chattered non stop all the way there and practically danced into school... we then had a small meltdown as I had gotten confused with timings and we arrived for 1pm and it didn't start until 1.30pm, oops! So we went, bought a bike lock and basket and came back.
It was only a short settling in period of about an hour, so she could see her classroom, meet some of her classmates and, of course, her teachers! She had a ball looking around and exploring everything and was a bit disappointed it was only a short session. The next day we headed back so she could go on her own for 2 hours, she loved it and again today. I must confess I wish she was going full time next week as she is so ready but instead we have a week of mornings before that will happen, all in good time eh?!
I can't believe she is ready for big school already! Seems like only a blink and she was a weeny newborn baby that I didn't know what to do with, or a small baby who wouldn't crawl over the door mat, a staggering toddler trying to get my marmite on toast. The long long long point and shriek phase and her finally starting to talk! 4 yrs 9 months have just whizzed by and my baby is growing up so fast!
Love you gorgeous girl, and I am very very proud of you!
I just popped to the shop and drove past the bus stop I will be using for the next couple of weeks to take Phoebe to school. On the bill board bit of it is a huge picture of a blood splattered girl bent over backwards advertising a movie called The Last Exorcism.
My friend Annabel spotted them the other day and as we discussed it I remembered feeling similar when I saw adverts for Saw VI (or one of them at least) and the last Final Destination. How is it appropriate to have these images in full view of small children? Am I missing something in the logic of their advertising campaigns? Terrify small child = parent goes to see the movie?!
I have to be quite careful with what Phoebe watches as she is, like me, prone to over imagination and nightmares over basic things. She is quite easily frightened and very astute as to what is scary and, more importantly in my opinion, why it is scary. So for her to see images like the one I mentioned above every day is a little worrying. Still images are just as capable of scaring children as moving ones.
When did we get to a place in society where it is appropriate to put images of 18 movies out for all to see. I understand they need to advertise their movies, but surely they should use alternative channels available to them that are less likely to include small children in their demographic. Television after the watershed, the internet, film magazines... there are plenty of avenues available to them so why on earth put such images on buses and billboards. If they must advertise on them, surely there are more subtle ways of doing it? I am not even sure who to complain to about it!
Please tell me I am not being an old fuddy duddy about this!
I married my wonderful husband... twice! We had a Handfasting which isn't considered a legal ceremony so we did the legal bit on the 2nd and then held a big Handfasting on the 4th September! It was a wonderful, if slightly more eventful than planned, day!
We had a lovely celebration, the girls and I headed over to Mum's house on Friday morning to spend the day there. Paul came over after work and Mum surprised us with tickets to see Wicked at the Apollo Victoria. So we left the girls with Mum and Rob and headed over to stuff ourselves silly with Sushi then head to the theatre. It was so wonderful that at the interval I turned my phone back on and organised the download of the music!
This morning we had a lovely breakfast with everyone before Paul and I headed up to Oxford Street to do a bit of shopping... my wardrobe was in need of a serious refresh! We had 5 gorgeous hours to ourselves just wandering around. It is rare we have time away from the girls just being us and it was a lovely change. Whilst we were out Mum, Rob and the girls hit The Kings Road and had a pizza-rific lunch and then bought some books to live at their house.
We got home tonight just in time to feed the girls a light supper and then pop the girls exhausted into bed!
Picture the scene, the angelic looking Phoebe and her beloved Granny are packing up the toys at the end of the day before heading up to a bath and bed.
Phoebe: Granny! Don't forget the Fucking Trailer!
Granny: Um... what did you say Phoebe?!
Phoebe: The Fucking Trailer!
Granny: I beg your pardon?!
Phoebe: (now waving the toy) THE FAT CONTROLLER!
Oops!
Still gave us something to giggle about this morning!
We still have 2 things on our shopping list and 2 on my make list. Shopping list is plimsolls and sports shorts. Make list is 2 x drawstring bags, 1 for sports kit and 1 for wet weather gear. Not being able to bear the thought of her good wellies (that were given to her by a lovely friend and come all the way from Canada!) staying at school I bought a cheapy pair that can live at school, I will also put her pack a mac in that bag so if hasn't got her waterproof coat on she won't get soaked to the skin.
Whilst we were in Sainsbury's I allowed Phoebe to pick out a cuddly friend to go with her that could live in her satchel. Normally I would have let her take Moose (or the other favourite Waggy) to school but I am worried about her loosing them, especially as currently we only have one Moose and I forgot to try and buy spare Waggy's when we were in France (doh!). She picked out a little yellow cuddly dog and promptly named it Biscuits. She is a funny little mix of a girl, utter tomboy but obsessed with all things cuddly. Mind you I suspect that in reality she just wishes all her cuddly dogs, horses, moose etc were real animals!
Not to be outdone by her sister Clara got a little pair of baseball boots with Upsy Daisy on them:
This was a BIG treat as normally I don't allow them to have character clothing. I don't know why I have such an issue with it but I don't like seeing the children as walking adverts for TV shows, not to mention they are usually over priced! So after all that I am feeling considerably lighter of pocket... again!
I have one and a half. The half is Clara who is naturally quite adventurous but just stubborn and copies her sister. Phoebe is very faddy... it is a pain in the bum. Her diet consists of:
Sausages
Chorizo
Chicken Nuggets
Chips (on a good day)
Apples
Strawberries
Pear
Cereal
Pizza
Chicken (occasionally)
Marmite sandwiches (no crust... in squares or funny shapes)
Cheese on Toast
Oh and, of course, anything bad for you! Writing that down it doesn't look as bad as it feels but it is pretty limiting.
Her iffy eating is reason 3 bajillion I am doing her a bento box style lunch box for school when the time comes. At least there will be some thing she can eat in that, if she doesn't eat then she is FOUL and I wouldn't wish that on anyone!
We have taken the stance of mostly ignoring it and encouraging her gently to try new foods by kissing and licking and finally eating a bit of food. Very much slowly slowly catchy monkey! Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but it doesn't make a big deal about food which is the important thing. She is only 4.5 and has a long time to develop her tastes yet. Still a pain in the bum though!
I had such a fabulous day out yesterday with my friends Louise and Rachel! We met up at lunch time and had a good wander around played with cameras, took photos and chatted! Absolutely ideal and just what the doctor ordered! It felt so fantastic to just take pictures for me again:
Paul is taking the girls to his parents for Saturday night so I have almost 24 hrs to myself. I love them all dearly but I really can't describe how much I am looking forward to being On My Own for a while!
I have a photography day out planned with friends on Saturday. I am going to help them get to know their cameras a bit better and give some ideas on cool shots etc. Should be good fun, and it will be the first time I have gone out with camera for fun in quite some time. Bonus trip to John Lewis with them too... and the haberdashery dept to look at buying the fabric so I can make my dress for my wee sisters wedding.
Then I am coming home to an empty house, and I plan on doing a spot of decluttering and toy box pruning. A license to throw things away... yay! Perhaps a spot of sewing on the Sunday too... I have a project that needs completing by the end of next week so I will make a start on that!
I am really looking forward to it, I haven't had any proper down time since the start of the holiday so it will be nice to just please myself for 24hrs!
Ok I have a confession... I delayed Clara's birthday this year! Her birthday is actually on the 20th August... we were going to Disney Land on the 21st and under threes are free [meaningful look].
It was very odd on the eve of her real birthday as 3 years before, myself and 3 people had been sat in a living room, brownies baking in the oven and 3 years later it was almost the same. Three main differences were a, I wasn't giving birth 2nd time and b, my Independent Midwife Kerry Taylor had been replaced by Mike in the 2nd cast and c, we were in France not South London! It was very odd not celebrating her birthday on the 20th, didn't feel quite right really!
We actually celebrated on the Sunday 22nd, we had taken a few presents with us. Her Great Aunt and Uncle had left her a pair of Disney PJs in France for her, Grannie had left a fairy dress and Aunty Liz had bought a Disney Princess dress to take with us for her to potentially wear to Disney Land (it was too hot alas!). So she had lots and lots to open there and everything else was waiting for her at home. Thanks to the fantastic boulangerie down the road we bought a pink pastry for her (we decided on an individual one as Lexi couldn't eat it, Rowan wouldn't eat it so there didn't seem much point in a big one). We even managed to get a candle for her to blow out!
In true Clara fashion she insisted on wearing the fairy dress all the way home. Fine, although she did get some funny looks on the ferry all dolled up to the nines! She is such a funny precocious little girl, beyond her years in her social graces. Jane describes her as Princess Margaret Reincarnated... always ready for a party! It is very true too... Clara is always happiest in a party dress and does love a good social occasion to talk to people. She is very complimentary and will always find something to compliment about you. She loves telling people they are her best friend (ok so this is usually based on proximity and is approximately a half hour ticket!). But, if you piss her off... beware the kid can hold a grudge!
We sat, we thought, we decided we couldn't drive through France without going with 4 Disney fluent children! So, we got in the car on Friday afternoon after tidying up that morning (ok, Guilt ridden here wasn't able to do much in the way of tidying on account of the back spasms from Hell!) and we drove to Mike's Aunt Meg's house near Paris. Somehow we managed to end up driving all but through Paris so there was much excitement in the car when we saw The Eiffel Tower, we attempted to point this sighting out to the children but they were oblivious to the excitement (curse you in car DVD players!). We arrived at Meg's house and it was glorious... un-finished but a totally beautiful collection of taste and style! She had some fabulous smoked trout, cheeses and a gorgeous apple tart waiting for us once we had poured the children into bed!
The next morning we got up early and finally revealed to the children what "The Big Treat" was... well you don't think we actually TOLD them in advance did you?! It was brilliant:
Worth it a thousand times over for their faces!
Then we piled into the car and drove around Paris to find the park itself. Once again we were able to see The Eiffel Tower, this time we were more successful at pointing it out to the kids, possibly it had something to do with the addition of "from Ratatouille" into the description of it! Ah well... it was a Disney day!
It was a bit of an arse to find, we aren't quite sure how it was but it was! And a hell of a trek from the carpark but we made it! Took a while getting into the park too... note to self, book tickets online next time! Once we made it in it was like a different world! We happened to get there just in time for a mini parade and a car with some of the new characters came out (Clara has just run up to tell me for the millionth time about "the biggest Wall.e in the world on the car!"). There was much cheering and waving from the kids. Then we got them to do the traditional line in front of the castle:
After that I think it is better to go into What We Learned That Day:
Rides with a ! next to them are scary (Pinnochio and Snow White and the 7 dwarves, great for 7 yr old boys, will scare shit out of the average 5 and under girl... oops). The Carousel and Teacups were much more preferred by the girlies, even if the music near the tea cups nearly sent the parents round the bend! Oh and and I haven't lost my fishwifely abilities after I lost it on our second go (later in the day I should add) when an adult pushed in front of Rowan on the ride meaning we had to get off as there were no more seats for us all. Thank heavens for Lexi's fast pass meaning we didn't have to queue up again, oh and the staff were suddenly very helpful to me getting 4 children seated together on the carousel!
The Parade will keep all 4 children spell bound (and cripple the mothers!) There is a bad guy float... Lexi was thrilled, his favourite disney character is Chernabog (the Devil at the end of Fantasia), the girls were less than thrilled and there was a lot of covering of eyes!
Captain Hook does a very good line in girly wussing when you shout TICK TOCK at him!
The Princess float was much admired by the girls, Cinders waved at Clara... she was thrilled. Cinders is her favourite Princess!
The Mummies may have started welling up upon seeing how thrilled their children were to see their heros and heroines!
We invented rules on purchases. We told the kids that it was the rule there that as soon as you bought a teddy then you had to leave. And they believed it too!
And finally... even Mummies can get lost! Jane and I went on a (noble) search for either DVDs or something with Chernabog on it for Lexi and then we (by which I mean all 4 adults...) got muddled as to where we were reconvening. Meaning Paul, Mike and the kids were in one location and Jane and I were in another... without a phone! The payphones wouldn't take the money we had and declined the credit cards (no idea why!) and in the end I had to ask a soldier (btw, why on earth are there armed guards at EuroDisney?! Stop the characters getting out?!) if we could borrow his phone to quickly call the other half of our party to let them know where we were. Oops!
Still it was a fabulous day and I think Lexi's last words before passing out in bed sum it up nicely
"I went to Disneyland today.... it was the best day EVER!"
Where we are in the Alps is on the doorstep of Switzerland and Italy so we thought we would pop over to Geneva to see some friends what live there. Of course it was this morning the children chose to oversleep so we were late out of the door (someone show me a parent who doesn't use their child as an alarm clock?!). Anyway after a brief magical mystery tour of Geneva and the surrounding countryside (Tomtom not a fan of the Swiss obviously!) we arrived at the train station where we were meeting the lovely Sarah and Rob.
They shepherded us onto a train, and then a bus and then a short walk to The Botanical Gardens. We had a marvellous picnic with them and then released the beasts on the play area near by. Much fun was had when the Carousel opened back up after it's lunch break and they 4 childerbeast got to ride on it. It really is the most fantastic Carousel any of us had ever seen:
Rowan and Lexi decided on the tortoise:
Phoebe decided upon the horse (surprise surprise!)
and Clara shot upstairs and sat in the basket of the flying frog where no one could see her!
Then came the moment that I knew was going to happen, it always happens, it is one of the basic underlying principles of my universe. Phoebe saw water... Phoebe striped off naked... Phoebe frolicked in water. I have a lovely friend who says it wouldn't be an occasion worth it's salt without one of my girls stripping at some point. Apparently the look on Paul's face was one of utter resignation when he was informed of his eldest child's antics! Ah well, noone appears too scarred from that particular event!
It was a fantastic day and wonderful to meet Sarah and Rob too! Now I am home I must get some bourbons in the post to them!
Whilst enjoying ourselves in St Gervais at the local park, post swimming in the rain! We decided to establish exactly how much Rowan loves Crisps... turns out it's a lot!
Well after a 19 (count em!) hour journey across France, which whilst long was miraculously uneventful. Miraculously because 4 children ranging from almost 3 - 7 who were exceptionally well behaved is nothing short of miraculous, particularly when the 3 youngest are girls renowned for their screechy default settings!
Jane and Mike set off from their house at about 00:45, arrived with us an hour and a bit later we packed and then got en route for Dover and arrived there for 4am. We had had the forsight to book with priority boarding so got on the boat really quickly and had a reasonable crossing. Then we unloaded the car from ferry and made our way from Calais to St Gervais... a journey of approximately 882 km or 548 miles! It took us all day, with plenty of stops but as I said was uneventful!
On Sunday we mostly attempted a recovery, with much muttering about how daft it is that major supermarkets are closed when we NEEDED to shop! However we went to a local town and shopped there, because they have better parking than St G. We did however venture into St G for lunch, a little nervously as Lexi is allergic to all things dairy. Amazingly we had a cracking meal in a lovely restaurant who were happy to cater to the various requirements (including the fussy eaters... I am looking at you Rowan and Phoebe!).
Today we tried to find another restaurant that would accommodate so well, but we failed so drove back up the mountain to go back to yesterdays! You live and learn really! Alas today's lunch was called a little short for Lexi, Jane and Paul as Lexi went an attractive shade of Grey and had to be taken home. The girls, Mike and I enjoyed the rest of our meals before calling for a lift back too. We (well we gave the girls options) then decided that Face Painting would be the order of the day:
L-R we have Phoebe the Dog, Clara the Rabbit and Rowan the Butterfly. They were then absorbed in playing a game which involved one of them going out onto the balcony and miming their animal! Alas poor Lexi was in bed and being poorly at the moment so was unable to join in the fun. He was less than impressed with his lack of Tiger so tomorrow we go on the White Face Paint search to have some more face painty fun!
We also negotiated that instead of bedtime stories they could watch some TV, on the proviso that if they were noisy we would remember they were there and we would send them to bed. Amazingly this worked and they all Shut Up for at least 40 minutes AND they were so tired by the time they hit their beds we didn't hear a ruddy peep.... RESULT! Never have 4 children been so delighted at bedtime!
This left us sufficient time to make a baked bacon and pea risotto and lo, it was GORGEOUS. Note to self: Make risotto more.... mmmmmmmmmm!
Ok aside from having The Headache From Hell I have been active (well childerbeast don't give you days off the inconsiderate little toads!).
On Monday we went to The Science Museum and V & A with Mahri-Claire, Greg, Annabel and associated childerbeast.
On Wednesday we went to Brighton to meet up with Dad and Jane to celebrate Dad's 60th:
( I made the cushion with some pictures the girlies drew and then embroidered and made up the rest!)
On Thursday we went to the Library with Becky and her girls and built a robot out of recycled materials:
A fabby week despite the immovable neck and banging bonce! I have also since seen the GP and been given beautifully strong pain killers that can be taken alongside brufen and seen the Osteopath who straightened me out nicely (5 ENORMOUS cracks out of my neck & back!). I am now in France so expect tales of foreign parts!
I have done *something* to my neck / back and am in a lot of pain. So blogging is a bit far down my To Do list. I am seeing the Osteopath tomorrow and possibly also the GP if I can get an emergency appt.
I have a new found respect for people who live with Chronic pain, this has been utterly bloody. It started last Saturday when I woke up with a headache that was so painful I could feel a thought burning through my brain. It was all I could do to sob at poor Paul and beg for pain killers. Since then I have had a constant headache, painkillers don't kill it only dull it. As for my neck and back, well the pain is radiating down to my knees now and it HURTS! I tried a super dooper painkiller tonight, I won't be taking it again having just had a meaningful conversation with the toilet... yuck.
I am hoping the Osteo can work miracles tomorrow as we are going on holidays as of Friday night / Saturday morning and I want to be fit as a fiddle to enjoy it all!
On the 1st August 2009 I ordered my first sewing machine, it arrived shortly afterwards so I reckon my first proper stitches would have been about now! I can't believe I have only been sewing for a year now, it is such a big part of my life now! So much that at Christmas I took the opportunity of upgrading my sewing machine to a lovely one with tonnes of stitches and a range of feet!
I have come so far too! My first proper project was a Morsbag, since then I have made costumes, clothes for me and the girls, all the Christmas gifts last year, bags and so much more! I have a fabric stash that takes over 2 huge laundry bags and all my sewing stuff seems to take over the dining room! I can't share my current projects yet... I will, but not just yet! However I have recently learned piping and am planning on abusing that new project!
Kindly the Gods have decided to aide me in my quest of crafty goodness and have inspired the good makers of Hobbycraft to open a shop near me. Better yet, John Lewis are opening a home dept near me too (I nearly crashed the car when I saw that!). That will be open on the 26th August and I absolutely cannot wait! I can hear my debit card weeping already (and it has already had a pounding in Hobbycraft!).
How have I celebrated my anniversary?! Well I purchased a walking foot today from Ebay and am happily awaiting it's delivery so I can finish off Phoebe's quilt.
Urgh, I finally took Phoebe to the doctors about her dribble rash that I suspected might have been impetigo. I was right and the doctor suggested that a topical cream might be better as it is only a small batch. However as Phoebe has been having screaming ab dabs about us putting any cream on her I asked for oral anti biotics. She prescribed flucloxacillin which is possibly the most revolting tasting medicine known to man. So far I have tried bribery: FAIL, masking it: FAIL, forcing it: FAIL. I am at a loss as to what to try next to be honest.
I am going to call the doctors tomorrow and beg for a new prescription of cream for her. Pesky children!
I took them to "Making Music" at the library where they got to make musical instruments. Phoebe made a drum and Clara a twiddly drum. By the time we were half way through they were asking about lunch (it was 11am!). At 12 o'clock we went to lunch in Yo Sushi, half way through that they started asking about pudding. I needed to do some shopping (mostly for them) and by the time we had done one shop the whinging for pudding was reaching cataclysmic proportions. I threatened that if they didn't stop they couldn't have pudding, they stopped so we got pudding. Then they moaned their legs were tired from scooting. Now they are moaning they are bored!
I know they will become grateful soon but it is very soul destroying day after day when everything you do is never enough!
Yesterday I was rather like a zombie, the previous night having only got approximately 2 hrs sleep on account of a sore throat and being irritatingly bunged up but with no, erm, movement! Thankfully the girls were on good form and were reasonably well behaved all day which was good as I spent a lot of it dozing on the sofa!
Phoebe's genius idea was for me to drive them to the park so they could play and then for me to leave them there so I could come home and sleep! She was a bit miffed when I said no to that one.
Still I slept last night (Benylin Day and Night, how I love you!) so am feeling marginally more human today. This means we can manage swimming and a few basic chores around the house at least. I am hoping this vile cold sods off soon as I hate being poorly!
What fun we had on Saturday when we were joined by our lovely friends Mahri-Claire, Greg and Mike and assorted children. The plan was for the Daddies to take them to Toy Story whilst the Mummies enjoyed the fabled quiet lunch. Everyone arrived and were fed with sausages or pasta depending on preference and then the cinema party was ushered out and myself and Mahri-Claire took ourselves and Baby 'Thaniel off to a local tapas restaurant.
There was only one little hiccup in that Sebastian, the smallest of the cinema party, did not like the cinema on account of it being too noisy. So Greg popped him back to us in the restaurant and then headed back to enjoy the movie. It wasn't a problem at all and Sebastian charmed all the waiters and was so well behaved we barely knew he was there!
When we all got home the children were buzzing (no pun intended) from seeing a fab movie and having a fab time! And the Mummies were feeling suitably relaxed and happy following a lovely lunch!
My triumph came at tea time when feeding the children more sausages and pasta we realised that frankfurters weren't suitable for Lexi as they have dairy in them. So we gave him chicken nuggets, fine not a problem except he declared he hated fish fingers and wouldn't eat them! At this point Rowan, who is a fussy pants and whose usual fair is sausages, sausages or sausages, piped up that she loved them so we handed them over under the guise of fish fingers... not only did she eat the lot but I had to cook more for her! Hurrah!
It is so wonderful spending time with people who parent like you do, and who parent as a group rather than only seeing to their own children. I trust these people implicitly with my children and know that if they get up to no good then they get a ticking off, similarly if they need a hug or comforting it is there in droves! I hope they feel the same about myself and Paul.
Phoebe today has learnt a valuable lesson about doors and how they are not play things. Despite her father and I telling both girls this regularly the only way to learn is via exploration. So I heard the following earlier:
Slam / laugh / Slam / laugh / muffled slam / SCREAM.
Yup, Phoebe has slammed her thumb in the door resulting in a scraped thumb, a little cut and, I suspect, a soon to be black thumb nail. Of course she has totally over reacted as always and has been sobbing that she will never be able to have another bath again (ha, you can hope kid!) since and has promptly passed out on the sofa.
I suspect tonight is going to be another long one as I can't wake her up.
What a way to celebrate the first day of the summer holidays! We met up with Jane, Catherine and Rhiannon today and their gorgeous children Lexi, Rowan, Tabitha, Clemmie and Cordelia. We decided upon Horton Farm Park which was good fun, lots of animals for the children to touch and meet. Favourites seem to have been the HUGE pig and a gigantic rabbit named Jemima.
The play areas were awesome too, lots of structures for them to play with and absolutely tonnes to do. Lots of photo opportunities :
L-R Lexi, Phoebe, Tabitha, Clara and Rowan
Tabitha and Clara playing on the structures.
And Miss Clementine. Alas I couldn't get a decent photo of Cordelia on account of the fact she is the most fabulous whirling dervish I have ever had the pleasure to meet!
Seeing my lovely friends was such a tonic, and I came away with a headache because I laughed so much!
My sister has worked on and at Farnborough for it's last two shows. She works for De Boer who do all the structures. Yesterday was friends and family day in the De Boer hospitality chalet and she invited us! When we got there (narrowly missing the hellish M3 traffic by deciding on the spur of the moment to go an alternative route!) we were very relieved to have had the foresight to take the newly acquired bike trailer that doubles up as a pushchair. It was quite a walk from the carpark to the showground so we were very pleased that we didn't have two moaning minnies and instead they enjoyed their ride!
I lost count through the day of people saying "Oooooh what a good idea!". Anyway we got to the chalet where Liz was and she had some presents for the girls, a Red Arrows tee shirt, a blowup plane and some ear defenders each. They really did need them as it got VERY loud.
Paul was in total Boy Heaven... especially for him! The girls were happy and delighted to see Aunty Wizzy and it was good to have a catch up with Liz too. We had a fabulous day and saw some amazing things! We saw that Airbus plane (the huge one) moving around the skies so gracefully it was almost surreal, planes playing chicken in the air, even one flying upside down!
We went for a little walk around at one point and the girls were fascinated by all the planes they had on the ground. I was very impressed that the bouncy castles and funfair rides were all free!
Then we headed back to the chalet to see the red arrows (pictured above) and the girls were delighted with their "sky dancing" even more excited when the smoke accidentally spelled out a P and a C. A few years older and we would probably have told them that Aunty Wizzy did it on purpose just for them! We stayed quite late so the main throng of people had left and indulged in the excellent hospitality on offer. By the time it came to leave I was really quite squiffy and we were worried about the carpark closing so Paul ran on ahead with the girls in the trailer whilst I weaved my own way. He came and picked me up once he had the car!
There is a hangover in the house today, although it isn't mine and it isn't alcohol related. Poor Phoebe has what I can only describe as a Sugar Hangover on account of the amount of it she ate yesterday! I am sure she will be fighting fit soon but currently she is curled up asleep on the sofa!
Thank you for a fabulous day Liz, we loved every minute of it xx
