Friday, April 28, 2006 

Changes

Sorry about the lack of posts, but its been a weird week here. Had a letter this morning to say Josh has got into the primary school of our choice, which is excellent. The only question that remains is whether we will actually be here for him to go to it! You see, Jerry took redundancy a little while ago and although he's been looking around here, it is looking as though we will almost certainly have to move again. The moving has never bothered me before, but then we've never had the children to worry about. Josh was just 6 months old when we moved here so he doesn't know any different. I know it'll all turn out OK whatever happens, but we're 'in limbo' at the moment and its really strange.

To cheer me up I'm going to leave you with a pic of Abi that she'll hate me for in years to come. She went to Josh's birthday party in February as Velma from Scooby Doo. This is here in her Velma glasses! (Thanks for the pic Han!). She was having a bad hair day!

Prospective Grooms, please ignore!

3:03 pm | |

Monday, April 24, 2006 

Lurkers

No pictures today (what? I hear you cry - disgraceful!). Its been a busy few days, washing from our trip - I'm sure there is always more washing than clothes actually worn! We collected the cats from the cattery, one of them weed on Abi's pushchair (nice) so a trip to replace said pushchair, as it stank. Then a visit to the garden centre, and we brought a load of plants which we then planted. OK, so it doesn't sound a lot but it was !

Following a discussion on a chat forum I use this lunchtime, I was wondering who was lurking on my site? I know a couple of lurkers (hello Hannah and Tom!) and it would be lovely to know who you are so anyone who is a lurker just say hello on the Comments section under this - it would be nice to 'meet' you! I am a bit of a lurker myself - so, for every 'de-lurker' who shows themselves, I promise to de'lurk myself! Deal Or No Deal? (sorry, I love that programme!)

2:12 pm | |

Friday, April 21, 2006 

A Scottish Adventure!

On Tuesday we went up to Edinburgh for a couple of days. We flew from Birmingham Airport with BMI Baby. The flights were a bargain, and I have to say the airline were great. There was a slight delay on the way over, but on the way back we were spot on time - I'd forgotten what that was like with an airline!

We stopped at the Fountain Court Apartments in Grove Street - I would recommend them to anyone, ideal if you have young children. Everything was close to hand, they were lovely and clean and on arrival we had milk, bread and butter left for us as well as cereal etc. We had two bedrooms which meant we could get Abigail off to sleep without waking Josh up. Saying that, we arrived at hjust after 7pm but couldn't get Abigail to sleep till 10pm - a full 3 hours later than normal. She was doing that "I'll be really cute" thing they do when you want to get them to sleep and laughing with us. That stopped when we gave up, left the room and just let her winge for 10 minutes until she finally dropped asleep from exhaustion!

The next day, Jerry took Josh to the castle and Abi got
to meet James and Abi from Babycentre! Well, their Mummies were there too, but let's face it, we were secondary improtance to the tots! It was lovely meeting in person and we had a really good chat - although Abi (mine, not Mandy's) was very quite, she was exhausted from the night before. She looks a right misery in all the photos! I missed meeting Lyn and Erin as we had to meet back up with Jerry and Josh for lunch. I also wanted to try and get some shopping and sightseeing in - Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities. The top photo is Scottish Abi - the photographer and below is James with his Mummy Barbara.


Here is the group photo with Mandy in too!


After Abi had a 2 and a half hour nap, went exploring in our hire car along the north Edinburgh coast. The weather was lovely and the kids loved the beach! It wasn't so lovely the next day though and we had rainy visit to St Andrews and the surrounding area - we still ended up on the beach again though, rain or no rain!!

12:32 pm | |

Monday, April 17, 2006 

Go on, Tag me!

So Red has tagged me, and I have to reveal 6 strange facts about me so here goes!

1. I failed my first driving test after being in the car 1 minute! Left the test centre, got to the end of the road put my foot on the break, it slipped onto the accelerator, I swore, the examiner prayed and that was the end of that!

2. I used to have an unusual phobia - a fear of corners! Don't get me wrong, it was only slight, I didn't think the world would collapse if I saw one, but once I noticed the corner of a book I would have to put it down - its OK now I wear glasses though - I know the blighters can't get me! (Am I crazy? I have found at least two other people who suffer, but I was never that bad!).

3. I was once engaged to a French man and was going to live in France with him. I realised he wasn't for me when I realised I couldn't leave Blighty! (Where as I would follow Jerry anywhere!!!)

4. I used to buy Christmas Decorations for a major DIY chain. I'm an expert in baubles don't you know!

5. My car once broke down in the monkey enclosure of West Midlands Safari park and had to get towed out. The same guy who towed it out said it was a 'deathtrap' when he looked under the bonnet which was a bit harsh!

6. When I was about 7 I rescued a mouse from a cat, and hid it in a shoebox in my bedroom. The next day - no mouse, it never turned up either!

5:42 pm | |

Sunday, April 16, 2006 

Easter Eggs

Josh 'hunting'

The day started with an Easter Egg hunt at 7.30am! Josh woke at 7.15am and once he realised what day it was he was up and demanding to be dressed. You see, the Easter Bunny visits this house and he had been VERY generous this year, there were chocolate eggs all over the garden (hmm, wonder how they got there, hope the neighbours didn't see any half-dressed women running around at dawn!). There were more eggs in the house, but they were the ones from Nanny and Grandad and friends. Its going to be a nightmare week trying to get either of them to eat any real food with all that chocolate in the house, it may have to get hidden later!

I took Abigail to church with me and quite frankly, she was a disgrace! The problem is, she gets too excited, and tried to help take the service! She had to get removed from the Alter - I'll say no more! She didn't behave last time either, but I think its a bit like having a baby - time blurs the bad bits, and you only remember the nice things! To be honest, I think most of the congregation liked the added entertainment. Also, the people who reckon their children were perfect have either forgotten, or live in a dream world!

(This is her in her church finery!)

7:59 am | |

Saturday, April 15, 2006 

Good Friday, Part 2!

We decided to visit Hoo Farm on Friday. Its a great place for children, and won an award for being the best National Farm Attraction of the year in 2002. They have sheep racing, and there are so many animals to see, from the usual things you expect to see on a farm to foxes, emu's and chinchillas. Abi was in her element, although she did have an 'incident' when a goat decided to try and eat her hat! I suspect they were fed of her, as she had given them the bag of food she had and was trying to feed them stones! There were loads of lambs, piglets and kids there, in fact one of the kids (the goat kind, not Josh or Abi kind!) kept jumping over the fence and running around the farm. Before we left, they had increased the height of the fence by 2 foot! I loved all the baby animals, but Josh and Abi were more interested in the chickens - not sure if they expected chocolate eggs to be laid? After all the animals, we went to play in the big sandpits they have there and in the outdoor play equipment. It did start to get busy, but it was Good Friday so what did we expect? The problem is, after 8 years together, Jerry and I have got into this routine, we always get to places when they open and try to avoid crowds at all costs. However, now Josh is nearing full-time school age, we have to accept that we will have to plan things in the holidays and that crowds are now a part of our lives!

Back at home, Jerry took the kids to play in the garden, then later on, Josh helped me make some cakes. He has to be the only 4 year old not to like icing, all his cakes have to be plain or Cadbury's chocolate rolls!

In the evening my Mom babysat and Jerry and I went to Stafford for an Italian - a perfect end to the day. It was busy there too though!

9:47 am | |

Friday, April 14, 2006 

Good Friday!

Yesterday, I finally got round to having the back massage my best friend Esther had organised for my birthday (back at the beginning of March). All I can say is Thanks to Esther! It was great - or was it having an hour of me time? The only downside was feeling really tired after it. I didn;t realise how tired till I got into the car to drive back to Esther and pick Josh up. I had to wait 5 minutes and get some fresh air. I was totally chilled and really counting down to our day at Hoarcross Hall at the start of June. We went last year, and I think we've now made it an annual event.

No pics to post really, but I will put this one up, as its two ducks that have decided that our street is the ideal retreat. I think they came accidently, but keep getting fed so come back and visit every few days!

7:20 am | |

Wednesday, April 12, 2006 

What European City Do You Belong In?

You Belong in Amsterdam

A little old fashioned, a little modern - you're the best of both worlds. And so is Amsterdam.
Whether you want to be a squatter graffiti artist or a great novelist, Amsterdam has all that you want in Europe (in one small city).


Thanks to my fellow Depeche Mode-ite Kata for this!

A bit disturbing - the only time I've ever been to Amsterdam I was 5 months pregnant with Josh so it was a perfectly innocent experience!

5:28 pm | |

Sunday, April 09, 2006 

Easter Holiday!

Josh broke up from school on Friday so we all went to collect him - this is unusual at the moment as since Jerry has been off he usually goes to collect Josh on his own. He has been told he is officially a woman by the Mums at school - apparently his level of gossiping is up to scratch! Anyway, Josh only ever wants his Dad to pick him up - oh to be popular! We put Abi on her push-along trike that she had at Christmas, its not as good as it looks, the only way to get it to steer is to make her do wheelies - Abi doesn't seem to mind that too much though!

On Saturday we decided to go to Drayton Manor Park. It was a bit windy so we didn't stay too long, just a couple of hours or so. We only live about half an hour away so its not too much of a trip for us. Abi enjoyed going on the rides. She wasn't going to let Josh go on anything she couldn't go on! Last week we all went to West Midlands Safari Park - that was a freebie as we went to see Santa there at Christmas and got free return tickets. It didn't cost to go to Drayton Manor either - that was thanks to Tesco Deals. I'm a Tesco demon -in the last clubcard mailing, I had £170 in points, which is worth £680 in deals! We never pay for days out anymore - well very rarely!

Sunday was another social event for Josh and Abi! This time it was a birthday party. Both of them were invited, so Abi had her party frock on! They had a lovely time. As you can see Abi enjoyed the party food! Josh on the otherhand was just pleased to see Tom who is his best friend at school. They've hardly seen each other for a fortnight. First, Josh was on holiday and then Tom. They've only seen each other at parties at the weekends!

1:23 pm | |

Wednesday, April 05, 2006 

Tumbletots are great!


Wednesday means TumbleTots! I take Abi every week and she loves it. Her favourite bit is 'Circle Time' when they sing songs (Dingle Dangle Scarecrow being a firm favourite) but there is lots of equipment for all the children to climb over as well. It was the last session before the holidays so it was 'Parachchute play'!

10:51 am | |

Saturday, April 01, 2006 

Holidays!

No entries for a few days as we've been away! We went to Sherwood Forest Centreparcs and we all had a lovely time. Our accommodation was lovely. Having visited lots of times (!) we have found the ideal apartments. They are 'Duplex' apartments, which basically means they are two storey houses. We stopped in them at our last visit and I think they will be our choice when we go again!

I think we broke the children! They were both exhausted by the end of the week. Lots of exercise (Josh was going swimming twice a day), walking, playing and late nights (they were up till 8pm at least!). It took its toll I can tell you! I reckon it'll take a week for them to recover!

The best thing about Centreparcs? Well, I'm not sure....There is loads of wildlife, you are just as likely to get a swan, duck, rabbit or squirrel coming up to you. Obviously, the children love it. Then there are the play areas, just about everywhere you can go to eat or drink has its own mini soft play area so as an adult you know you can go and relax without the kids getting board after a couple of minutes. The clubs they have for children are well-managed and have a good range of ages. There is the 'sub-tropical swimming paradise' (!) that they advertise but there is FAR more to it than that. We went there pre-kids and I think its brilliant as there is something for everyone, and children are so well catered for that the ones there are don't get under your feet!


We had two lots of visitors, on Wednesday Hannah and her boyfriend Tom came to visit and we had a lovely time with them. I forgot to take any photo's of our visitors (sorry!). Then, on Thursday our friends Esther and John visited with their children James (4) and Amy (6 Months). They have heard us going on about Centreparcs for ages and finally succumbed and visited. By the end of their visit though, we were planning on all coming back for a weekend together, so I think we sold it to them!

7:18 am | |

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