It's Wednesday AGAIN!!!!!

The weeks seem to be flying by so quickly at the moment!! I can't believe that this time next week I will be finished work for 10 days ~ and we will be going away on holiday. I have taken Thursday and Friday off next week so that I can get some last minute bits and pieces done and pack etc!! It will also be great not to have to get up at 6am on those 2 days!!!

Today has been another fun packed day ~ full of sunshine!!

The children were very excited this afternoon when we came home from my friends house ~ because the carrots now look like this!!!!!



I have absolutely no idea what that means!!! There seems to be alot happening on the top ~ I just hope that under the soil there are some little carrots growing ~ I am sure there are ~ but we will have to wait and see ~ I also have no idea when they should be picked ~ I think I will carry on playing it by ear!!!!!

I wanted to try and find a photo that summed up the laughter and fun of today ~ I took quite alot ~ but this one really said it all!!!

The children all enjoyed racing up the garden and jumping in the pool!! I took this photo of them on the run up ~ then in true 'Tabitha' fashion ~ totally mucked it up at the vital moment that they all jumped in and the water went everywhere tee hee!!!!!

As it is Wednesday ~ this post would not be complete without at weight loss update!! This week the total lost was 2 pounds ~ bringing the total I have lost in the last 13 week to 45 pounds!! I was pleased with that ~ not as good as the 4 that I lost last week and the week before ~ but still not bad!!!!!

Tomorrow I have to try and get Lauren the stuff that she needs for her Dance Summer School next week ~ she already has most of the uniform that she needs ~ but she still needs a kingfisher blue leotard and split sole Jazz shoes!! I have looked on ebay and the Jazz shoes will not be a problem ~ but there are no leotards ~ so that will have to be bought from the Dance shop (which always equals expensive ha ha !!!!!). It is lovely that she enjoys her dancing so much ~ but believe me it does get expensive ~ especially as she has now asked if she can do extra tap classes and a modern dance class too!!!! I have not made a final decision ~ it all depends on the cost!! I think that I will let her do the modern class and not the extra tap class ~ that would make it VERY pricey each month!!!

Well ~ off to tackle the mountain of ironing that seems to have magically appeared !!

Love and Hugs XXXXX

Please don't ask me to make a decision........

It is always the same old story ~ you really want something and then when you get it ~ you don't want it anymore!! No, I have not gone mad (well maybe a bit!!) ~ I am talking about the HAIR dilemma that I have had all my life!! Whenever I have short hair ~ I really want it longer, so I grow it and moan about it, until it gets to the length that I wanted and then ~ low and behold ~ I get fed up of it again and wish that it was shorter!! That is excatly what has happened YET AGAIN!! I have been growing my hair ~ religiously going to the hairdressers every 6 weeks and having it snipped a teeny bit ~ while trying to grow it longer and longer!!!!

This weekend was a bit of a crisis point ~ I was in a rush as we had to get to Laurens show and it took ages to get it straight with the straigteners ~ then I was really hot and it kept going in my face. Then I just looked in the mirror today and thought ~ I want my hair cut shorter NOW!!!!
I have been like this all my life and I sometimes wish that I could just pick a style and stick with it ~ for a while at least (ha ha !!!)

In an attempt to make a decision ~ I bought a hair style magazine ~ which was very expensive by the way ~ and sat with my diet coke and leafed through, hoping that a style would jump out and make me want it ...........this did NOT happen. I looked through the whole magazine about 4 times and found not one style I liked. I gave up on the whole hair style thing, until today when I was looking in my friends magazine and I saw this picture........


and ~ I really liked the style and thought that it might be the answer ~ not as long as mine ~ but not tooooooo short either (and if I get fed up ~ I can always grow it again!!!!! tee hee!!!).

I am not the kind of person who usually takes a picture into the hairdressers and says "I want it like that!!!" ~ but on this occasion ~ I am going in armed with the magazine page ~ when I get it cut this coming Sunday (my salon now opens late until 8 a few nights a week and on a Sunday ~ which is fab!!). I will hopefully remember to charge the camera again and get some photos taken when it has been cut ~ I may change my mind again before Sunday ~ PLEASE!! Don't ever ask me to make a decision ~ because I am useless!!!

On another subject ~ we went to the after show party last night and it was brilliant!! There were 2 bouncy castles for the children, lots and lots of food ~ a barbeque and lots of alcohol!! I was very very good and did not pick at all ~ and steered clear of the alcohol (yes, I am boring these days ha ha !!). The children had just the greatest time, they ran about and ate soooo much food and goodies ~ it was just so nice!! We headed home just as it ended at about 9pm and then the skies opened and there was a huge storm ~ rain, thunder, lightening ~ the lot!! I wasn't suprised, we have had such gorgeous weather over the last 4 days ~ that a storm was inevitable I suppose!!

Today was a relaxed day ~ the children all played in the garden and as it was a birthday for one of the girls my friend looks after ~ all the children sang happy birthday and had cake ~ before racing about in the sunshine again!! So far ~ the first week of the holidays has been really nice ~ I hope that the rest of the 6 weeks is just the same!!

Southern Arts Academy Showcase 2008....

Wow ~ what a weekend!! I am totally exhausted ~ but totally happy all at the same time. I am also very very proud of my little girl, not only did she do fantasticly well in the show (I know that I am slightly biased ha ha !!) ~ She was also awarded the Southern Arts Academy award for Ballet in 2008 ~ a great achievement for such a little girl!!

Here is Lauren posing with her cup ~ which she was presented with at the end of the afternoon show today ~ her little face was such a picture!!!

My other little star ~ who actually was a BIG STAR the whole weekend, he sat around, helped and never moaned at all ~ even being surrounded by about 100 girls (there were only a few boys in the show!!!).



When we arrived on the Saturday ~ I asked whether any help was needed ~ I was told that the hair and make up people needed help ~ so ~ as I am totally useless at putting hair up in buns!!! I opted to help with the make up!! It was the first time that I had done it and was a bit of a crash course ~ but after the dress rehearsal and a huge long line of girls ~ I had the hang of it!!! I am now a bit of an expert in stage make up ~ all ready for next years show!!!

Here is Lauren pulling faces before todays show was about to start!!

A close up of Lauren and her precious cup (she has only put it down to go in the bath tee hee!!)




(Sorry about the muddled up photos ~ I am just soooo tired and wanted to post this today ~ so I can't be bothered changing them all !!!!!)

Lauren and her friend Gemma ~ playing games while waiting to be called on stage!!

A photo of the finale taken at the dress rehearsal ~ we were not allowed to take any photos at the actual show ~ so I tried to take as many as I could at the dress rehearsal on Friday and Saturday!!

The Saturday dress rehearsal ~Lauren is in the middle at the front!!
Lauren and her Dance instructor Joelle ~ who she loves to bits!!!!
More waiting ~ patiently!!!




Laurens dance class performing at the dress rehearsal on Saturday!!

My little star looking very pleased with herself!! ~ dress rehearsals over ~ all ready for the real thing!!



Lauren and her friends ~ just before the first REAL performance on Saturday!!Lined up ~ ready to be taken backstage!!

It has been a fun weekend ~ lauren is floating about on a complete high (bless her!!) ~ this has been the first show that she has taken part in, her first time on stage and she has really loved it and caught the performing bug(big time!!). The fun is not quite over yet ~ tomorrow night is the after show party ~ with a barbeque and bouncy castles for the children ~ so that will be great for all 3 of us!!

Lauren then has her dance Summer School on the week of 4th August ~ where she will be doing an intensive 4 day course including Tap, Modern, Jazz, Ballet, Hip Hop, Line Dancing, Drama and Singing ~ so be prepared for YET MORE dance photos!!

While his sister is at Dance all week ~ Daniel and I are going to spend some fun time together and do some fun things ~ just the two of us!! He has been such a good lad this weekend ~ that it is nothing less than he deserves!!!

I am off now to rest my tired feet and relax in a big huge bubble bath!!!! Oh yes ~ before I go, just guess what I was given as a thank you for doing the make up ........... a gorgeous box of Thorntons chocolates.........which I cannot (sorry that should be DO NOT WANT TO) eat!!! Never mind ~ it was such a kind thought and Dan and Lauren have not felt at all guilty for eating them tee hee!! XXXXX

BRENDAS PHOTO CHALLENGE ~ NUMBERS!!

It is time for Brendas photo challenge again and I have had great fun with this one ~ the theme of which is NUMBERS ~ chosen by Karen over at loved and engraved.



It seemed that there were just numbers everywhere ~ and I ended up with about 20 photos ~ so I decided to enlist the help of my two little stars ~ to choose which photos they liked best!!

Here are what they chose.............



Numbers on my favourite clock in the kitchen!!

Numbers on my most favourite thing ~ the telephone (anyone would think I was never off the thing ~ the way my children describe it ~ tee hee!!)

More numbers ~ another telephone ~ this time a toy phone for the little children!!

Yes ~ for this weeks photo challenge we incorporated a little bit of baking and some cake decorating and ..... ta da ~ fairy cakes with butter icing and chocolate NUMBERS!!!!!!

Dan very kindly posed in his England shirt ~ displaying his favourite number 9!!!!!!

A counting poster ~ with lots and lots of numbers!!!

lauren helped out too ~ finding a number counting book!!
Yet again I have enjoyed the challenge so much and am waiting to hear who the next host will be and what the theme will be. My camera is ready for the next photo challenge!!!!!

Welcome to the weekend of madness!!!

Today was the start of the weekend of total dance madness. Lauren had her dress rehearsal ~ which was excellent ~ all the cute little girlies (and boys) dancing about ~ it was so sweet!!
I had my camera all ready to take lots of exciting photos ~ and guess what ~ the camera battery was not actually in the camera (ha ha ) ~ it was at home here charging ~ so no photos I am afraid!! I promise that there will be loads of photos of the dress rehearsal and the show tomorrow and sunday!! Lauren was a little star ~ dancing away and looking very pleased with herself ~ she was very sweet!!
Tomorrow we have to be at the dance venue at midday and the show ends at 9.30pm ~ BOY ~ it is going to be a very long day ~ infact it will be a very long weekend ~ as it is the same on Sunday!! I will not be doing alot this weekend ~ apart from this dance show!! On Saturday night Daniel and I will be in the audience watching Lauren and the show ~ but on Sunday I have offered to help out and my offer was gratefully accepted, I do not know what I will be doing ~ something backstage I would think ~ there is so much to do ~ hair ~ make up ~ costumes ~ making sure everyone goes on at the right time!! I don't mind what I do ~ it will be a bit of fun!!
I actually love doing things like this ~ I loved dancing when I was little and that feeling of being part of something ~ and I don't mind one bit that it is taking up a whole weekend ~ not if it makes my little girl happy!!!

Just as a little bit of fun ~ I was sent this via e mail from my sister today I have tried it about 5 times and each time it has come out correct ~ see what you think!! You will need a calculator (if you are rubbish at math like me ha ha !!!!) ~
It is called the age calculator and will be able to tell you your age ~ so here goes......

First of all pick the number of times that you'd like to eat out each week ~ more than 1 but less than 10 .

Multiply this number by 2.

Then add 5.

Multiply it by 50

If you have had your birthday already this year, then add 1758.
If you haven't had your birhday yet ~ add 1757

Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should have 3 digits left.

The first digit is the original number you chose (ie ~ how many times you would like to eat out!!) and the second 2 numbers are your age!! (oh yes they are!!!)

2008 is the only year that this will work ~ so pass this on while you still have the chance!!!

Hope that keeps you wondering how it works ~ just like me (tee hee!!)

I will try and get on to post something over the weekend ~ between trying to grab a quick bite to eat and getting some sleep!! ~ if not, there will be lots of pictures next week XXXXXX

Day 1 ~ and we all survived!!!!

Today is day one of the school holidays ~ it was the hottest day that we have had this year ~ by far!!! The sun shone and shone and shone some more!!! Between us today, my friend June and I had 10 children!! There were the odd moments of madness ~ the odd arguement ~ the odd thing that didn't go quite as planned ~ BUT all in all the first day of the Summer holidays was excellent and best of all ~ WE ALL SURVIVED IT !!!!!! TEE HEE!!!!!

The children have had a fantastic day ~ playing in the pool, skipping, playing football ~ sliding down the garden on the water slide ~ having a picnic lunch under the shade of a huge tree and then all collapsing inside to watch a DVD and cool down a bit. This is what Summer is all about ~ fun fun fun!!!! I took some really great photos ~ but as I do not have the permission of ALL the parents ~ I cannot post any of them ~ but they were good ~ all the children (almost) in the pool and some action shots of them flying down the water slide!! All in all ~ today was a totall success ~ only the rest of the 6 weeks to cope with now (!!!!!!!).

I have to take Lauren for her dress rehearsal tomorrow afternoon, so that she can have a full run through for the show and she will also collect her costume ~ which she is quite excited about. I have to get her hair all done and gelled back off her face and up in a bun (that is the bit that she hates ~ as she says it hurts her!!!) ~ she also has to wear her full dance school uniform ~ which she is looking forward to aswell (she does like to show off !!!). I am really looking forward to her doing the show ~ but I know that this coming weekend is going to be a bit mad and we are going to spend the whole weekend rushing around ~ just to get everywhere we need to be at the right time. I will post some photos of Lauren in her uniform and in her dance costume ~ when she has it tomorrow!!

I have still been humming all the ABBA songs that were in Mamma Mia last night ~ it was so good that I wish I could go and see it again ~ I know that it will be one to add to my collection when it comes out on DVD.

Before I go and fall into bed again (I am getting old!! I have a night out and then have to go to bed early the next night ~ I am soooo tired ha ha!!!!) ~ I would like to say a big THANK YOU to Karen over at Loved and Engraved for the lovely award that she has given to me. I have displayed it on the sidebar and would like to pass it on to everyone that visits and reads my blog ~ you are all wonderful and I couldn't possibly pick only a few of you ~ so you can all have a copy if you would like one!!!!!!!! Please display it with pride!!

MAMMA MIA!! WEIGHT LOSS AND GOING TO MY BED!!!

Thought that I would just update my blog and let you know that Mamma Mia is totally fantastic, there were moments when I laughed (lots of them!!), moments when I had tears in my eyes (a few!!), and moments when I wished that I could jump into the screen and take Pearce Brosnan home with me ~ because he was very yummy (and Colin Firth was yummy too!!!). I have had a fantastic night, it is just so nice to go out ~ be me ~ not 'Mummy' (not that I don't love my children dearly ~ but some ME time is just so nice!!!). I have just got home after dropping a couple of my friends off and I am just about to fall into bed. There are still about 3 million things that I need to do,but they will just have to wait until tomorrow!!

I went to get weighed earlier tonight (prior to going to the cinema!) ~ and I am sad to report that I did not loose the 3 pounds I wanted to ..................................I lost 4 !!!!!!!! YIPPEEEEE!!!!!!!!!
Yes, as you may have gathered I am a little bit pleased ~ as that means that I have now lost 3 stone and 1 pound (or to put it another way ~ 43 pounds!!) in the last 12 weeks. I at last feel that all the hard work has been worth it ~ all the power walking ~ all the nights where I have laid in bed ~ dreaming of fruit and nut chocolate (and Brad Pitt!!) ~ have so been worth it!! I still cannot quite believe that I have actually managed to do it ~ but there is still a long way to go ~ so you will have to listen to me go on about dieting for a while yet ~ at least until Christmas (which is my target!!)......sorry about that ha ha !!!!!!
I had better be off now and go to bed ~ my eyes are not going to stay open much longer ~ NIGHT NIGHT XXXXX

I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED!!

I am going out to the cinema tonight with a few friends to see the film Mamma Mia!!! I am soooooooo excited!! I have been to the cinema alot ~ but it is usually with the children ~ the last film I saw was Kung Fu Panda ~ which although I really enjoyed ~ would obviously not be my film of choice!!

Today is the last day of Term for the children ~ they have both gone off this morning ~ happy, but a little subdued ~ they both love the teachers that they have and will be sad to move on ~ but that is life ~ I know that they will both be just as happy with the Teachers that they have next term!! They took their cards and gifts with them and they will be having a fun day ~ as they don't usually work on the last day of term ~ they play games and finish off all the loose ends!

The weather is gorgeous again ~ this morning I put on a pair of trousers that I wore last summer and they fell down!! I thought that they would be ok ~ as they were quite tight last year ~ but no, they will have to be packed away!! I get weighed tonight and pray that those 3 pounds have left ~ if not, it's not the end of the world ~I will plod on!!! We are planning a day in the garden today ~ so that the children can play in the pool and enjoy the sunshine. My friend June and I have 5 children between us today ~ so we will be making the most of it ~ the calm before the storm!!!!

I will hopefully be back with an update on the weigh in and the film later!! Bye bye for now XXXX

Another day filled with sunshine!!

My prayers have at last been answered and we have now had 2 decent days of sunshine ~ today actually being sooooo hot that we had to bring all the children in this afternoon as they were all wilting a bit in the heat!! (See ~ I am never happy ha ha ~ when it rains I moan and when it is hot I moan tee hee hee!!!!!)

Tomorrow and Thursday are also meant to be gorgeous ~ with a storm breaking on Friday ~ aparently due to the heat (great!!). As it is the childrens last day at school tomorrow, they have been busy wrapping their gifts for their teachers and writing cards for them too ~ as they will both be moving up a year and onto a new class teacher. They had their school reports yesterday which were both excellent, I am very proud of them both ~ they are doing well and most importantly of all, they are both happy!!!

I spent today at my friend Junes house. June is also a childminder and I have known her for about 10 years now ~ we get together with the children that we care for ~ probably most days and especially during the summer holidays when we could have 10 children between us (yes we are insane!!!). As the weather is looking good for most of the week ~ we went and bought some new garden toys and pumped up the swimming pool and filled it with water ~ ready for a swim tomorrow!!




This is a skipping game ~ 2 people hold the ropes and 2 people skip (June and I had a go ~ but we laughed so much we nearly had an accident ~ if you get my drift!!!)

The pool all pumped up and ready to be filled with water ~ the pumping up part took AGES ~ as we couldn't find the electric pump, so we had to do it with the manual one!!!!!

Filling up nicely ~ while we have a little rest ~ pumping up pools is tiring work!!!

A football game for the boys ~ we had a go on this too (ha ha ) ~ I preffered the skipping!!!!
These are Junes Guineapigs ~ since our rabbit died, we have adopted the white one (she lives at Junes though!!) ~ and her name is Pearl. The other 2 are called Candy and Tamba!!
Daniel and Lauren are looking forward to it being their last day of term tomorrow ~ but they are a bit sad aswell, that they will be leaving their teachers and moving on!! I will be glad of 6 weeks with no school runs ~ no racing to be out of the house at 8.30am on the dot ~ no school uniform and no packed lunches to make!! Instead the children can lie in a bit and we don't have to rush around (much!!) ~ so things can be a bit more relaxed!!

Lauren has her dress rehearsal on Friday and then her show is over the weekend ~ she gets more excited by the day!! She goes to her dance summer school from 4th ~ 7th August and then after that we are hoping to get away for a break to my Mums for 10 days or so. I really really need a break ~ just from everything ~ and my Mum lives in a beautiful place ~ close to the sea, with lovely countryside and plenty to keep the children occupied!!!! So that will be a nice break ~ before I return to work and all the madness again!!!!

Thank you ~ for your friendship!!

I know that many many times during the months that I have been blogging ~ I have blogged about the friendships that I have formed during that time. I am still amazed at how many totally lovely people that I have 'met' ~ people who come and check out what we have been doing, who leave such great comments and are actually genuinly interested in what me and my little stars are up to!!! I have never met any of you in person ~ but through the wonders of the internet and through our blogs ~ we have made friendships that I hope will carry on for many years to come.

Today ~ I would like to pass on the circle of friendship to all my blog friends who are listed in the sidebar of this blog and indeed anyone not listed there (I haven't updated it recently!!), who comes and visits regularly!! Please take it and display it on your blog as a token of my friendship and pass it on to anyone you would like to!!

The friendships that I have made through this blog have surpassed anything that I ever imagined ~ and my Grandma always used to tell me that "A girl can never have too many shoes ~ or friends!!!!!" ~ So ~ THANKYOU!! for your friendships ~ each and every one of you ~ you have been there through the ups and downs, good days and bad ~ and I am so very grateful for that !! XXX

Saturday ~ Again!!!!

Yet another week has flown on by and it is Saturday yet again. We had to be out of the house quite early this moning as Lauren had a dance rehearsal for the show that she is in next weekend!! ~ I stayed and watched a bit of the dancing and they are all so sweet ~ they are dancing to a version of the song ~Sesame Street and they all looked soooo cute. Lauren has a full dress rehearsal on Friday and then another one on Saturday ~ aswell as 2 shows and then another 2 on Sunday ~ so she is going to be really tired next weekend ~ I am just glad that there is no school the next morning ~ so at least she can have a lie in. I will be back stage on the Saturday (before I watch the show) and also on the sunday ~ so I will try and get some nice photos of Lauren then. She is very excited that she gets to have her hair and her make up done and she also gets her costume on Friday ~ so we will have a better idea of what she is wearing (at the moment it has not been fully decided!!).

After dancing ~ we had to go and do a bit of food shopping ~ as some little pixie had visited our house and eaten all the food (infact 2 little pixies did it ~ ha ha !!!) ~ I think that it must be the same little pixie that keeps visiting my bank account and taking all my money (tee hee!!!).
I decided that I need a quiet(ish) weekend, as things have been so busy lately and I just need to relax a bit. I told the children that we would not be doing anything special this weekend and they were not too bothered. I went to visit a friend and while we chatted and caught up on all the latest gossip ~ the children went and played in the park for a while ~ they totally loved being out in the fresh air running about and just having a fun time (the park is right behind where my friend lives ~ so I could see them out of the window!!) .

They both jumped in the shower when we got home ~ as they were both a bit on the grubby side and once we'd had dinner and tidied up ~ we all snuggled up under the blanket on the sofa and watched The Golden Compass on DVD ~ which the children really enjoyed. They are both in bed snoring (all that fresh air tired them out!!), and I will not be far behind. There is no Judo for Daniel in the morning ~ so for the first time in forever ~ I can have a lie in and I don't even have to set the alarm (this is totally unheard of!!!). Lauren has a birthday party at an activity centre at 2pm, but until then we don't have to be anywhere ~

Just before I go, I would like to introduce our new puppies, which we bought today!! Before you get too excited ~ they are not real (sorry to disappoint you!!).
The one on the left of the picture is Daniels and it is called Rocky and the one on the right is Laurens, which is called maggie (named after our very own Dani's little poochie ~ Maggie!!).

So far they have been quite well behaved, and don't seem to cause much trouble ~ so I think I will let them stay!!

Well, best say bye bye for now ~ I am off to my nice big snuggly bed, where I intend to stay for as long as I can ~ and the children may even be kind and let me lie in ~ until ~ ooh I don't know ~ at least 9.30am if I am really lucky!!!! XXXX

Freaky Friday!!

Have you ever seen the film Freaky Friday? When I was younger I loved that film. I used to wish that one morning I would wake up and have swapped bodies with my Mum ~ be all grown up and do what I liked ~ wear make up, drive the car, eat what I liked, go where I wanted and not have anyone tell me what to do!!!
Funny how times change!! Sitting here this morning, I look at my daughter and wish that the roles were reversed. Wish that I was 6 again, where the whole world is so simple and you have no worries (apart from ~ in Laurens case ~ what she will have for breakfast!!), wish that there were not 3 millions things that I HAVE to do and not enough hours to do them all ~ wish that I could be carefree and innocent and just 6 years old again ~ play with dolls and eat what I like without even worrying about it ~ that would be so nice for just one day!!!

BUT ~ I suppose that even being a 6 year old has got its down sides!! ~ I just asked lauren to get dressed and she has thrown a bit of a stroppy!!! She seems to think that 'NO SCHOOL TODAY' and 'STAY IN YOUR PYJAMAS ALL DAY' ~ go hand in hand!!!!!
I have just informed her that she does have to get dressed today and she shouted back
"I hate being 6, everyone bosses me about, I wish I was old like you Mummy and then I could wear lip gloss" ~
(OLD!!! SHE CALLED ME OLD!!! ~ I AM ONLY 38 FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!)

I suppose I asked for that one ~ seems that my daughter would like to swap places for just one day too ~ if only she knew that the grass is infact NOT greener on the other side!!! and being a grown up (which I apparently am ha ha !!!), is about SOOOOO much more than just wearing lip gloss!!!


HOPE YOU HAVE A FAB AND NOT TOO FREAKY FRIDAY XXXXXX

Somedays it is like being in a mad house!!

I literally have NOT sat down all day today ~ it has just been rush rush and rush a bit more.
My day started at 7.30am when the little boy that I look after was dropped off, followed at 8am by the little girl I look after. We have to leave the house at 8.30am on the school run ~ which always causes my children a bit of a problem. No matter how early they get up, they never seem to be ready and quite often one or both are still sitting there at 8.15 in their pyjamas!!
This morning was no different!! In I walked and started to shout at them (I have PMT ~ so shouting was the order of the day ha ha!!!!).....Lauren just ignored me and started putting on her socks (she gets more like a teenager every day!!), Dan on the other hand shot off the sofa and hurried himself getting his trousers on. Happy that they might actually be ready to leave on time ~ out I walked..........when I returned a few minutes later ~ her ladyship was all dressed, hair done, hairband in and school uniform all in place..........Daniel was not ready ~ for some reason (known only to him!!) ~ he has taken off his school trousers and put his Pyjama bottoms back on again ~ if I hadn't been laughing soooo much, I would have been quite annoyed. He just looked at me (like I was a mad woman), and then realised what he had done ~ so started getting dressed in the correct clothes again (while smiling his sweetest smile at me!!!!!). It was a miracle when 8.30 came and we left the house ~ reaching the school exactly on time! (I will NOT miss the madness of those school runs each morning ~ while they are on summer holidays!!)

When my two little stars were safely at school ~ I proceeded to take the two other children to the library ~ there is a song and story time that we usually go to on a Thursday ~ the childminding children love it and when it has finished ~ we choose some books together for them to take home and read. Off we went, parked the car and happily headed to the library ~ only to find that when we got there ~ the library staff were on strike and were all stood outside with banners ~ demanding more pay (I think!!). Don't get me wrong ~ they were obviously striking for a reason (I am not totally sure of the ins and outs of it all!!!) ~ and that is the whole reason we live in a free country ~ the freedom to vote and to strike when we want something (tee hee!!). Needless to say, the children did not understand the concept of a strike and were a bit sad that the song time would not be on. In a bid to prevent a flood of tears and major tantrums from a 2 and a 3 year old ~ I decided to pop into the local bookstore and buy a few childrens books for them ~ which we could read at my house. This saved the day and they both happily chose a book each!!

Unfortuntely I am like a child in a sweet shop where books are concerned and just could not leave without having a good look round. I remembered reading on Amandas blog (penny n pounds), that she was reading a new book my Anita Shreve (an author who I have read before and loved!!!).....so I went to the section where her books are and found the book, which is called Body Surfing. I also spotted two other books by Anita Shreve that I have never read ~ The pilots Wife and Light on snow ~ so I bought them aswell!! (I know ~ it was 3 for 2 ~ so that makes it ok ~ right???????).

Happy with our purchases we headed back to my friends house to have lunch and the children had a great afternoon playing in the garden (no sunshine today ~ but no rain either!!)




The afternoon was filled with laughter and fun ~ but before we knew it, the school run was upon us again!!!

This evening has been the usual ~ getting my 2 fed, bathed, dressed in their pyjamas ~ read stories, talk about what they have done today ~ discussed what we will do tomorrow (which I realised this morning is a teacher training day ~ so the children are off school!!!!!!!!!!).....before they finally went to bed (and sleep!!)

Sleep is still not within my reach ~ I have just finished loading (and then unloading) all the washing ~ then ironing and the washing up ~ THEN I decided for some reason that it would be a good idea to clean out the fish ~ so I did that too ~ which took AGES!!!!!


It was worth it though ~ the fish seem pleased with their clean house (tee hee!!)

Now I am sat here blogging ~ and when this is done I am going to sit, relax and have a bit of a blog surf and visit all my blog friends and see what you have all been up to!!!

I hope that you have had a good Thursday ~ keep smiling ~ only one more day and then it is the weekend again ~ YIPPPPEEEEEEEE!!!!! XXXXX

ALMOST WORDLESS WEDNESDAY!!!!

NO!! ~ YOU CANNOT HAVE YOUR CAR SEAT BACK TABITHA ~ FOR I AM SLEEPING IN IT!!!!