A full weekend

Posted on Monday, 8 February 2010, 10:26 a.m.

We have had a very busy weekend.
It began with a visit for Heather to fairy school and if you have a little girl in the right age bracket that loves fairies I can highly recommend it. You arrive and are ushered into a room with lots of other excited little girls until a fairy comes to collect them. Then they are taken off and dressed as fairies. They learn a special fairy dance, have a tea party, have their photos taken and then decorate a picture frame to bring their picture home. They learn what different colours mean in fairyland and that fairy snow is blue! Finally they adopt a baby fairy and have a piece of cloud so she can come and visit as well as a special glowing stone to show you when your fairy is visiting. Parents can stay and help themselves to the tea, coffee and biscuits provided or sneak of for two hours of peace and quiet. At the end we all went and watched the fairy dance they had been learning and the sea of smiling faces was quite something! Heather has already asked if she can go again, and a bargain as I got of with my nectar points (also available through virgin!)

The evening was a rare night out for myself and Mr T, ON OUR OWN! Well with lots of our friends as we went to a valentines ball, it was great fun, there was a tribute to Michael Jackson, great food, the thrill of table bingo, wine, an auction and dancing, and oh yes wine! I didn't drive instead I was chauffeured by Mr T. Luckily when we did arrive home at about 1am I was still standing, even in my heels that had a rare outing.

Sunday dawned and with it the trip to the 02 for the Strictly matinee accompanied by Heather and Grandma. With the absence of any trains travelling to Stratford I drove and was amazed how well I found it. Only one little mishap when I took a short cut through a bus lane but nevertheless there in one piece. The show was wonderful, full of the excitement and flair of the telly but up close! It is amazing how quickly the dancers move. The highlight for Heather though was at the end, all the dancer wave to the audience and as we were on the end of the row, and everyone was standing Heather couldn't see so we let her stand in the aisle. Chris Hollins waved to her, she didn't wave back until he pointed her and waved again, when she realised he was waving at her the biggest smile came across her face, he is one of her favourites and he made a little girl very happy.

Happy New Year

Posted on Friday, 1 January 2010, 10:00 a.m.

Here it is, all shiny and new 2010!
No-one knows what lies ahead but still I can't help feeling optimistic at the start of a new year, clean slate and opportunity to change and all that - even though I could, if I chose do this at any time we all seem to select Jan 1st as the time to make these changes.

So here goes,
My writing has suffered over the past year, the novel which I was three chapters through in February has not progressed much further and all those short stories I was going to write have remained but ideas in the notebook. So this year I am going to attempt to actually write every day, read every day other than holidays and sick days like a proper working person!

Having said that I am going to do more with my kids, I have got quite good at the arts and crafts but now they are getting bigger I want to actually take them places, play games and open up their minds to new experiences.

I want to actually learn a new skill, I keep playing with the piano but this year I am determined to progress so I can at least keep ahead of the kids if they choose to learn it.

I have learnt that life is what you make it, all the forward planning in the world cannot always come to fruition as events out of our own control trip us up. I am not going to get to riled when Mr T has to travel for his work, or work late, after all it's his job. Even though it often messes up my plans I have learnt that is life, I am still hoping we can move soon but even if we can't I have learnt to appreciate that I am lucky, I have food to eat, family and friends around me and a warm place to sleep.

Watching Lucy over the last fortnight has shown me how we should cope with adversity, best foot forward, in her case quite literally. Despite her cast she has learnt to get about the house, causing all sorts of mayhem and consternation as she attempts to do things she really shouldn't with a broken leg. Her sunny disposition remains in place and despite the leg she is getting on with life. Having said that I am counting down to Jan 27th when the cast comes off and we will no longer have to contort ourselves into odd positions to bath her without wetting her plaster, have bruises on our knees where she has whacked us with the cast or have to prevent her from trying to stand up!

Happy New Year to you all and hope 2010 brings you happiness.

In the Festive Mood (sort of)

Posted on Tuesday, 22 December 2009, 03:07 p.m.

This week has had a very festive flavour, there was the visit to Lapland UK, we just managed to sneak it in before the snow began to fall. The children loved decorating a gingerbread man nearly as much as they liked eating them. They listened to the stories and put the elves horses back together. They tried out ice skating and discovered how difficult it was and finally had a private audience with the man himself. As we had supplied details about their friends and pets and so on the visit was personalised and the children's eyes really widened when they discovered that Father Christmas knew the names of their dogs.

Then the weekend was filled with a visit to Centreparcs. The place was decorated very festively and they had great fun spotting the trees, ducks and trees filled with lights shining brightly. On the Saturday we managed to complete a treasure trail, we had to find pictures of the reindeer dotted around the park. It took a while but we got there. Then we had lunch and ate the most enormous pancakes you have ever seen!

The afternoon comprised a pantomime, the children except Matthew, were enthralled, Matthew on the other hand became a little scared of the witch, scarpered to the lap of a friend and promptly went to sleep! We did manage to wear them out later at the festive disco and I have to say the kids all looked great, especially the little boy who was dressed as a giant present and still throwing some shapes.

Sunday dawned still cold but bright and we made our way to the next activity, a horse and carriage ride, sadly the horses had decided that the ice was too much for them and stayed in the stable so we had to visit Starbucks for comfort! This was followed by a visit to the swimming pool where the kids made the most of the slides and rapids although Matthew did manage to lose one of his new armbands before he left! Dinner was next and an evening filled with fun, laughter, chocolate and maybe one or two glasses of wine!

We all managed to get up in time for breakfast and check out and the journey home was less icy than the journey there, our biggest challenge being getting back onto our drive way. Then we spent the evening wrapping the children's presents and hiding the sacks so that 'Santa' can deliver then on Thursday night. All we have left to do now is build Heathers dolls house and rescue Matthews car from the shed where it has been hiding for the last few weeks!

Now for the sort of bit. Just two days before we went to Lapland and three before we went away for the weekend Lucy for a rather unexpected present, a plaster cast. She has managed to break her left leg. At dinner on Tuesday she decided to stand on her chair which rocked back, I was sitting opposite her and raced around to catch her, but was too late. It seemed as if her toe had swollen up and she was waving her leg about and after a cuddle and a phone call to Daddy and a dose of In the Night Garden she seemed calm and happy. The next morning however, she still refuse to bear weight on her leg and we knew something was wrong. Off to A & E I went while Mr T looked after the other two, I was fully expecting an X-ray and a strapping of some sort but when they showed me the picture of her leg I must admit I cried. I felt guilty that I had put her to bed in such a state and felt terribly. Lucy hadn't seemed distressed other than now racing about the place but even so it seemed such a bad injury for such a little girl.

We had to return to the fracture clinic on Wednesday and she was given a proper plaster cast. By Friday she had learnt how to manoeuvre herself about - she is crawling and bum shuffling about the place as if she wasn't in a plaster cast at all. We have to return to the fracture clinic tomorrow and I am hoping that she is beginning to make a good recovery. Whilst it hasn't ruined her Christmas as she seems so happy with life I feel awful every time I change her and get her dress her and on and see her poorly leg.

Still three sleeps and Christmas will be here...