Happy Birthday Mum XXXXXXXXXX

A Mother
(Author Unknown)

A Mother is one who understands the things you say and do
Who always overlooks your faults and sees the best in you
A Mother is one whose special love inspires you day by day.
Who fills your heart with gladness in her warm and thoughtful way.
A Mother is all these things and more - the greatest treasure known.
And the dearest Mother in all of the world is the one Icall my own.


Today is my Mums birthday ~ so I wanted to dedicate todays post to her!!

Thank you for being the best Mum in the world,
Thank you for always being there ~ no matter what!!
Thank you for standing by me ~ even when you haven't agreed with what I am doing!!
Thank you for always loving me ~
Thank you for giving me life ~
And Thank you for just being 'MY MUM'

I love you XXXXXX

Sunday ~ snuggly Sunday!!

What do you do ~ if you are aged 6 and 10 years ~ after a busy day at Judo and a birthday party????

Snuggle on the sofa and watch the X Factor of course!!!!!



( My sweet little stars!! Please excuse my son ~ he has taken to wearing JUST pyjama bottoms ~ and was slightly otherwise engaged with the TV while these photos were being taken ha ha !!! )

AND ~ what do you do when you are aged 38 years ~ and have had a very busy day ferrying said little stars to Judo and birthday party???? ~ the ironing of course!!!!!! (sorry no photo of this tedious task!!!)...... never mind ~ my sofa moment will come later when they are both in bed ~ the ironing is finished AND ~ Desperate hpusewives (a double bill tonight!!) ~ will be on!! I do like Sundays ~ how I wish I lived on Wisteria Lane .............I wonder which 'Housewife' I would be????? Which one are you???

Happy Sunday ~ hope your weekend has been a good one XXXXX
(PS ~ only 87 days to Christmas people ~ just thought I would drop that in ha ha ~ are we panicking yet? I AM!!!!!)

The last few days.....

I have been feeling really rough ~ all I have wanted to do is stay in bed ~ but I have still had to get the children to school ~ still had to work ~ everything that needs doing still had to be done!! The joys of being a single mother!! OK ~ so I am through with feeling sorry for myself now ha ha !! Thank you all for your kind comments ~ thay have cheered me up so much!! I have got to come and visit all your blogs and catch up on the last few days ~ I feel lost without knowing what all my special bloggy friends have been up to ~ so I will be over soon!!

Tomorrow our village church will be celebrating the harvest festival ~ so on Friday my friend and I took the children that we care for to the church to see all the flowers being put in place and to take some fruit, vegetables and tinned food for the harvest donations (which are passed onto the local homeless shelter by the church). The children helped the place the donations around the font and enjoyed looking around the church.

The local ladies of the village help decorate the church with flowers, it always looks so pretty!

Here is a photo of me with the 2 children I look after (I am feeling pretty rough by the way ha ha !!).

Here we are again at the entrance to the church ~ which is always very nicely decorated ready for the harvest service. Today the children spent a few hours with their Dad ~ he took them out swimming and for something to eat ~ so I made the most of the time alone and went shopping (my favourite hobby tee hee!!). I splashed out on some new underwear at La Senza and bought some scented bath goodies ~ had a coffee ~ and went to the hairdressers...........with about 3 million (ok ~ maybe not that many!!) ~ pages from magazines of how I would like my hair!! I have been going to my hairdressers for a long time now ~ she knows what I am like ~ she knows that my style has to be VERY low maintenance ~ as time spent on my hair ~ is time NOT spent getting lunches ready in the mornings ha ha !! YET ~ I still roll in there every 6 weeks with pictures of styles that are totally not practical ~ have lots and lots of layers and would take the better part of 6 hours to do every morning (I am ever the optimist!!)......so ~ we looked at the photos ~ we discussed the styles ~ she said how nice my hair is looking at the moment ~ and I agreed that the style I have it in at the moment is actually quite nice and very easy to keep ~ so it was a case of a very quick tidy up ~ and much of the same ha ha !!!

This picture doesn't actually do it any justice ~ as it was taken quite a while after I had it done ~ and in my bid to save the ozone layer(????) ~ I opted out of the half a can of spray that was on offer tee hee!!!!

Tomorrow is the usual Judo in the morning for Daniel and then Lauren is off to yet another birthday party. It is her best friends party actually and she is very excited, as her best friend (Libby) is having the party at the gym that she attends and the children all get to use the gym equipment. Lauren has mentioned joining a gym class ~ but with all her dancing she wouldn't have the time and my bank balance is already on the verge of a breakdown ~ without any more added stress!! Laurens ballet teacher took me to one side this morning and told me that she is doing so well with her dancing and has a natural ability ~ which made me so proud!! She has always loved to dance and just has a way of picking up dance routines very quickly....she may have a career in dance ahead of her yet!!! (and then her overworked ~ very tired mummy can retire to a villa somewhere hot and drink cocktails everyday.....oh I can but dream.........)XXX

I am sick!!

Yes ~ it doesn't happen very often ~ but I am a bit poorly!!

Don't panic ~ it is nothing life threatening ha ha !!

I have a sore throat ~ earache ~ a headache ~ a runny nose ....... a cough and I feel totally exhausted........I think I have caught the cold that all the children have had over the last week ~ so I am going to get the kids off to bed ~ have a long soak in the bath (I bought some relaxing bath oil today!!) ~ then I will make some hot honey and lemon ~ and go to bed!!

No post from me today........see you all tomorrow XXXXXOOOOOOOXXXXXXXX

It is Wednesday AGAIN!!!!!!!

Can you believe that it is Wednesday again ~ I can't!! Here I sit every Wednesday and update you on my weight loss (well actually not last week ~ haha~ as the lady was away on holiday!!) ~ BUT ~ here I am again ~ another Wednesday .........................AND ............................. Hurray ~ Yippee ~ open that bottle of champagne and the 20 bars of fruit and nut chocolate (OK ~ maybe not!!!!!!) ~ I lost two pounds and have now reached a total of 4 stone (56 pounds) lost!!!!! I am totally happy ~ no I am more than happy ~ I am VERY happy ha ha !!!!

It wasn't a really spectacular loss ~ as that 2 pounds was over 2 weeks ~ but it did mean that I reached that 4 stone mark ~ so that made me feel ok about it!! Yet again I have been told that I need to eat more ????? to lose more ??????? and give my metabolism a bit of a boost ~ so this coming week I have to eat more (protein ~ carbs are still not invited ha ha ) ~ and see how it goes!! I hope that it will be ok ~ as I have not had a single gain in all the weeks of dieting and to put on at this stage would cause major depression and probably send me to the chocolate counter at the local supermarket ~ where they would have to forcably remove me after I had consumed their whole stock of fruit and nut bars (tee hee!!!!). Hopefully it will give me that needed boost and I will lose a bit more next week!!

There is not alot to report from my part of the world today!! Lauren did her hip hop classes and then came with me to the weigh in. Daniel went home with a friend of his for tea and seems to have had a good time ( he is a lad of few words ha ha ). Lauren decided that she wanted a chinese for her tea ~ so we went and got her favourite ~ sweet and sour chicken balls and egg fried rice (I am not keen on chinese ~ so no temptation there!!). As we were parking the car in the carpark at the chinese ~ she was discussing what she wanted and said " I would like some of those things aswell......what are they called? ......that's it PORN crackers!!" After nearly parking the car in a bush ~ from laughing soooo much ~ I corrected my little sweet girl ~ and told her they were infact called "prawn" crackers ~ she seemed to accept this for a minute ~ and then looked a bit confused and continued by asking me what porn was then? Being the quick thinking Mummy that I am ~ I told her it was a piece in a chess game (she knows what chess is ~ my step dad is teaching them to play!!) ~ she laughed then and said "PORN crackers ~ I am so silly aren't I?".......................PHEW!!!!! That was a close one ~ aswell as discussing the whole ins and outs of why your ladies parts get hairy and what those thingies (tampax!!) are for ~ this was definitly another one of those conversations that I was not ready to have.......and for that matter probably never will be ~ OH MOTHERHOOD!!! DON'T YA JUST LOVE IT?????? XXXXXXX

Falling asleep and a Christmas panic...

SO ~ there I was ~ in my Pjs and slippers (yes ~ picture the scene!!) ~ lying on the sofa ~ watching the Sex and the city movie that I have wanted to see for ages ~ I was really enjoying it ~ the wedding dress was gorgeous ~ everything was just as I wanted the film to be........THEN I woke up on the sofa ~ freezing cold ~ and the film had ended ha ha !!!! I just fell asleep and missed the whole part of the film from the wedding onwards ~(I think maybe I took the whole 'relaxing' thing a bit too far ha ha !!) SO ~ I have just watched it to the end and loved every minute of it. If you are a SATC fan ~ then watch it ~ if you aren't still watch it ~ I think I will be watching it again very soon!!!!

I had a slight Christmas panic moment today ~ I know ~ it is September ~ there is plenty of time ~ BUT ~ I moved the Christmas countdown to the top of my blog and almost died when I saw it said that there were only 92 days until Christmas ~ how can that be? I need alot more days (and paydays) than that to go and do all my festive bits and pieces ~ where have all those extra days gone? If you find them ~ please send them back to me (ha ha )..........

A LITTLE BIT OF SEX...........AND THE CITY!!!!!

After another busy busy day ~ here is how I am spending my evening.......

Lying on the sofa in my Pjs with my slippers on (it is getting cold here people and I don't like the cold ha ha!!).............(by the way ~ please note the LONG Pjs ~ after almost freezing to death the other night ~ I decided that they were needed!!!).


Watching this DVD......which I treated myself to today!!!!!

All that is missing is a bottle of wine (or 5 ha ha !!!) and a huge bar of fruit and nut chocolate!!!

BUT ~ they are not joining me on the sofa (more's the pity tee hee!!) ~ instead I am sharing my evening with a diet coke and a tuna salad!!!

I love love love Sex and the city ~ the titles are rolling the music is starting ~ so bye bye for now my friends ~ time to catch up with all my SATC friends that I have missed so much!!! XXXXXX

Why do weekends whizz on by?

I have come to the conclusion that the weekends must contain less hours than any other 2 days of the week ~ the reason for this is because they go by so damn fast!! I really have no problems with the weekdays~ I enjoy my work ~ I like the weekly schedule ~ but I do love my weekends ~ spending time with the children ~ relaxing (sometimes) and just doing what ever we like.......but I wish that they lasted longer ha ha !!

This weekend is a prime example ~ here I sit on Sunday afternoon ~ with the knowledge of another week spreading out in front of me ~ and I have not really achieved anything that I wanted!! I usually make plans and then they never actually happen (ha ha ) ~ this weekend I wanted to take apart the old furniture and put it in the garage ready to take it to the tip.......then I realised (upon actually looking in the garage!!) ~ that there was not actually enough room to store the larger unit ~ which cannot be taken apart ~ so after spending about 2 hours clearing the space this morning ~ I no longer had the energy or the inclination to then spend another 2 hours taking one unit apart ~ emptying another and then replacing them with the new furniture and sorting all the 'stuff' (and by stuff I actually mean junk ha ha ) ~ out!! I have made an executive decision that it can wait until next weekend!!

Yesterday we went to the pet shop and bought the fish a bigger tank. When we first bought the fish they were tiny and the little tank was more than adequate. However ~ they have decided to grow to massive proportions and the tank was just too small ~ so they are now sporting a new home ~ which I think they are happy with (not that I can tell when a fish is happy!! ~ but they are swimming around and around quite alot ~ so I take it that means they like it!!!!). Setting up the new tank was a mammoth task ~ as the new one takes 30 litres of water and took quite a while to fill up, and then I had to clean the old tank ~ which was equally a mammoth task!!

Today the weather has been lovely again ~ nice and sunny and dry and warm!! Lauren decided that she would like to go out on her rollerskates ~ so we went for a walk (well Lauren actually rolled!!) ~ and Lauren practised her rollerskating skills ~ which was interesting to say the least. She has not quite mastered the art of skating yet ~ so every few minutes she almost fell over ~ resulting in her grabbing my arm for dear life ~ so as not to fall over!! My poor arm looks like it has been involved in a fight and is sporting a few finger sized bruises ~ very attractive!!
Daniel decided to take his remote controlled bug (called an insecta) out with him ~ so inbetween trying to hold lauren up I also had to duck out of the way of a flying object which looks like a cross between an insect and a helicopter!! It is a dangerous job being a mummy ~ I should be paid danger money ha ha !!!

The children both absolutely love a programme that is on a Sunday evening ~ called Hairspray ~ The school musical, which is about a school production of hairspray ~ which is to be put on in the West End!! After that it is usually bath and bed!! Then I will have to iron, make the lunches and shine the shoes ~ all ready for another school week.......before falling (literally) into bed!! I hope that it is warmer tonight ~ I was totally freezing last night ~ and in the absense of Brad Pitt to warm me up (apparently he is otherwise engaged ha ha !!) ~ I had to get up and put my dressing gown on in the end ~ and sleep in that!! I think that my shorts and vest combination for sleeping in is going to have to be replaced with something just a little bit warmer!!

BRENDAS PHOTO CHALLENGE

Yes, it's that time again ~ Brendas Photo Challenge!! The hostess this time was my dear friend Amanda over at penny n pounds and the theme this time is 'changing seasons', thankyou Amanda for hosting this challenge ~ which as always has been great fun!!

I took my photos around the village that I live in. The first one shows the changing colours on the trees ~ I think Autumn is well and truly here!!
The leaves in the garden ~ there are more and more each day ~ another sign of summers end!!
The sky has pretty much looked like this most days until the last few days of lovely sunshine!!
More leaves ~

I will be hosting the next challenge!! ~ which I am quite excited about!!.

I have chosen the next challenge theme as 'YELLOW' (I need some bright and cheery photos ~ with all these grey days!!).





The date for the next challenge is Saturday 4th October ~ so get snapping and make sure you have your photos posted on or by that date. Look forward to seeing you all again next time!!


XXXXX

She is driving me maaaaadddddddd!!!!

My sweet lovely little daughter is sooooooo driving me totally and utterly crazy!!!

She is 6! 6 year olds are meant to be all sugar and spice and all things nice!!

But NO ~ she may look sweet and lovely and gorgeous ( and most of the time she is!!), but today she was awful ~ she has turned into a teenager overnight (ha ha ) ~ and this morning we had an arguement ( a big arguement ~ with shouting and stomping and crying and slamming of doors......and I am talking about Lauren here NOT me!!). You may be wondering what the arguement was about ~ you may think that it was something major, something earth shattering, something so important that it sent my 6 year old into this fit of pure rage........well.......it was over a cardigan!! YES ~ you are reading that right A CARDIGAN!!

I simply pointed out that she may have to start wearing her school cardigan (as the weather is getting a bit colder) ~ so that she can wear her winter jacket over the top (her fleece is quite bulky and you can't put the jacket over it comfortably!). A simple enough observation you would think ~ but not for my daughter ~ she decided that there was no way she was wearing her school cardigan, apparently only 'dorks' wear school cardigans ( please note ~ this is her 6 year old opinion ~ not mine!!), and there is absolutely, completely and totally no way that she is ever wearing one (even though this time last year ~ Lauren and her cardigan were actually best friends!)........



She got in her uniform ~ she put on her fleece and she then squeezed herself into her new school coat ~ with a look of satisfaction on her (sweet) little face!! We headed on the school run and she squeezed herself into the carseat (looking like a big uncomfortable marshmallow!) ~ I looked in the rear mirror at her all squashed up and uncomfortable in the seat
"Are you alright back there lauren? Feeling a bit squashed?"
She said nothing ~ just gave me a look (THAT look!! tee hee)........

Tonight she was still in a bit of a sulk ~ and went off to bed in a huff ~ I think it was still over the cardigan incident (I am not totally sure !!). I just checked in on her a few minutes ago and she is lying in her bed ~ looking all sweet and gorgeous and angelic! I love her so much (Daniel too) ~ and I suppose that the first lesson that I ever learnt about Motherhood ~ is that good or bad, right or wrong, nice or not ~ you always love your little devils....oops I meant children.......no matter what !!

By the way ~ anyone need a school cardigan? Navy blue, age 6 years......I have a few of them going spare (tee hee!!) XXXXXX

I love days like these......

Autumn feels like it is officially here!! This morning was cold and foggy, but by lunchtime the fog had burnt off and lovely warm(ish) sunshine replaced it!! I totally love days like these, and totally love this time of year ~ it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy (tee hee ~ yes I am slightly insane !!) ~ I love wrapping up all snug and warm ~ sitting in my pjs with the fire on ~ all warm and toasty ~ and until this year ~ it has always been a good excuse to hide under lots of layers of clothes..... this year I really don't want to have to cover up all my hard work!! I will be 'that' mad woman at the height of winter in her t~shirt and cut off jeans (ha ha !!).


As there is a break from the rain and generally wet wet wet weather ~ I thought that it was a great idea to meet up with a fellow childminding friend of mine and do some outdoor play and a nature walk. We had a fantastic time ~ the children collected leaves and twigs (and a snail!!) ~ and we came back and did some Autumn crafts (after we had safely deposited the snail in the garden!!).


Here is the little girl I look after and her 'boy friend' who my friend looks after ~ having a little bounce on the trampoline!! Everytime they bounced all the balls bounced too ~ great fun!!

Some Autumn craft ~ lots of glue and lots of leaves!!

Some of the finished collages!!
No day would be complete with a little play in the sand box!!
We all had great fun ~ glue everywhere ~ leaves everywhere ~ but that is what being little is all about!! Each month we have projects that we work on ~ as well as concentrating on a colour and numbers. This month we are learning about the Harvest Festival, seasons (Autumn) and nature. Our colour for this month is yellow (we are doing yellow food tasting this week ~ bananas, lemons, yellow peppers!!), and for numeracy we are learning counting songs and rhymes. In October we will be getting ready for our annual (childminding) Halloween party ~looking at the weather (which is always a bit unpredictable here in the UK), our colours are green and orange and for numeracy we will be looking at books about counting and numbers!! At the moment I have just done all my planning up until Christmas (which is why yesterdays blog post was so short and sweet ~ I spent the evening on paperwork, doing planning and my accounts ~ fun fun fun!!).

I took the new car for her first wash this morning ~ and the little boy that I look after hated every minute of it ~ he does not like the carwash ~ but has always been ok in this particular one......until today ~ when he cried the whole way through.......I will leave the car washing until the weekend next time ~ when he is not with me!! I now have a lovely shiny and clean car again ~ living in the country has its down side and one of them is MUD!!!!!!

Tonight I intend to do NOTHING!! After being sat up until way after midnight last night getting all my paperwork up to date ~ tonight I just need an evening of relaxation!! I have an episode of Ugly Betty in my television planner which I haven't watched yet ~ so tonight may be a good time to watch that. XXX

You will always have my heart

I totally love the Willow Tree figures and up until today I had 3 in my collection ~ all relating to my love of children ~ Mother and son ~ Mother and daughter and one called quietly ~ which shows a mother sitting with her 2 children on her lap.

When I went out a few days ago and saw these 2 latest figures ~ they really caught my eye and my heart ~ they are a boy and a girl ~ holding a gold heart and I just love them (luckily I still have birthday money left over, which I was saving for that something special!!). I just had to have them. The cards that came with them say it all really. The one that came with the girl figure said ~ kept forever in the heart and the boy figure said ~ You will always have my heart ~ when it comes to my 2 little stars ~ these words are so so true ~ because from the day they were both born ~ I have held their hearts firmly inside my own XXX

I am ME again today!!

NO PMT TODAY ~ YIPPEEEE!!!
IT IS SAFE NOW ~ SO YOU CAN ALL COME BACK!!

LOOK ~ THAT IS A SMILE ON MY FACE ~ NO HORNS ~ NO GROWLING AT PEOPLE ~ NO HAND GESTURES (TEE HEE!!) ~ I AM 'ME' AGAIN .............UNTIL THOSE DREADED 2 DAYS NEXT MONTH!!!!

HOPE YOUR TUESDAY WAS WONDERFUL (AND PMT FREE ~ HA HA !!!!) xxxx

PMT

Well my bloggy friends ~ you will all be glad (today) ~ that you are safely protected behind your computer screens and in no danger from the wrath of Tabitha!!! Yes people ~ IT IS that time of the month again (sorry to be so open here ha ha !!) ~ and I have got major PMT!!

It should come as no suprise to me really, I get it every month ~ every month there are two days where I feel like killing people (you know what I mean ~ I wouldn't actually ever kill anyone ~ but anyone who is female out there must surely know the feeling .........please just humour me !!!! tee hee!!).

This is day 2 (thank god) ~ so that means that tomorrow I will feel like a human being again. Usually ~ on any other given day of the month ~ I am quite laid back ~ quite placid ~ quite easy going ~ I have my moments ~ just like anyone else ~ but I am mostly happy, chirpy ~ just living life!!

Not today (or yesterday for that matter!!) ~ I am a mad woman (tee hee). The children are used to me by now ~ they just ignore my ranting and raving (and a little bit of shouting about NOTHING!!) ~ they know that it is a temporary blip!! All my close friends ~ or anyone that has known me for a long time ~ knows fully that there are two days in each month when I am someone else (I wish............a super model would be nice!!), and they generally ignore me (probably the best idea!!)......

To everyone else in the world today (and yesterday) ~ who may have had an encounter with a mad woman ~ who huffed, puffed, tooted the horn on the car and made some very unfriendly hand gestures........yes ~ I have PMT road rage too!! ~ I am really really SORRY!! Tomorrow I will be nice again ~ I will not huff, puff, toot, (flick a rude hand gesture at you!!) ~ I will be all smiles (no matter how bad your driving may be......and there were a few of you bad drivers on my local roads today.......) ~ Please forgive me for any upset that I may have caused ~ it is not my fault ~ I blame my hormones!! (WELL ~ that is my story and I am sticking to it ha ha !!!) XX

Mamma Mia!!

The children both loved Mamma Mia ~ they have been singing all the songs since we got back and Lauren is now a fan of all things ABBA ha ha !!

While we were at the cinema ~ she spotted all the adverts and posters for High School Musical 3 ~ which I believe is out on Oct 22nd!! Guess who will be going to see that!!!! She wanted me to book the tickets there and then ~ I am not sure if they are taking pre bookings ~ but I will have to look into it!

I also checked when/if Twilight would be released over here and I think it is due for Nationwide release in the UK on Dec 19th!! YIPPPEEE!!!! Guess where I will be the week before Christmas ~ I think it will be a little pre Christmas treat to myself!!

Well ~ another weekend over, they go way too fast for my liking. Desperate Housewives is on at 10pm and then I am off to bed ~ so starts another busy week!!

Dancing Queen ~ Part 2!!

As promised yesterday ~ I managed to bribe Lauren with a Kinder Egg and some Maltesers and she went through the stress (tee hee) ~ of putting on her various dance unifroms ~ so that I could share them with you all!!

Here is the uniform that she wears for her Hip Hop classes!!

She also wears this for Hip Hop ~ if it is a bit colder!!
This is the new Tap and Modern uniform ~ Lauren loves the new leotard and wants to wear it all the time!!

The Ballet uniform is the same as last term ~ minus the voile overskirt ~ she now wears the waist elastic for her Grade one classes!!
There you have it ~ a quick step by step photo guide of laurens various dance classes!! As you can see ~ it doesn't cost much at all (I am lying there!!). She is all kitted out now and I have old her that she is not allowed to grow~ especially her feet ~ as buying new tap, ballet, modern and dance sneakers for hip hop ~ is not on my list of 'TO DO' things just at the moment!!

We are off to the cinema this afternoon. Ever since I went and saw Mamma Mia ~ the kids have wanted to see it too ~ so we are off to the sing along version a bit later!! Should be fun!

Hope you are having a great weekend too!! XXX

Dancing Queen

I have already blogged recently that Laurens dance classes have started up again for the new term. This week she has done Monday ~ modern and tap, Wednesday ~ Hip Hop and then this morning she was back at her ballet classes. She has a new uniform for the modern and tap ~ a kingfisher blue and black leotard and black jazz pants. For her ballet she has now moved up to grade one ~ which means that she still wears the Royal Academy of Dance leotard ~ but she no longer wears the voile overskirt ~ she now wears a pale blue waist elastic instead (which is basically an elastic belt!!). The best news of all is that the classes don't start until 11am ~ which means I can have an extra half hour in bed (yippeeee!!!!) ......a whole half hour ~ what a treat that is!!

The weather has gone mad today ~ no rain ~ no grey ~ no cold ~ but warm and glorious sunshine ~ I have decided that the world has officially gone mad! We have spent the day just mooching about. We had to go to town as Lauren has been invited to a birthday party and we needed to get a card and present and wrapping paper etc ~ then we came home and the kids played out while I steam cleaned the sofa and the livingroom carpet!

Lauren decided that there was no way that she was venturing outside this morning in JUST her leotard ~ so she opted to wear her full Uniform ~ she is a member of the Southern Arts Academy ~ and here is my little dancing queen in her full uniform ~ all ready to head off to her ballet class!!

I will post some photos of her other uniforms tomorrow ~ she loves wearing them ~ but actually convincing her to get changed into them and have photos taken is a bit of a task!! (I will try bribing her with chocolate ha ha ~ that usually works!!!) XxxX

My diet journey ~ a story in pictures!!

The beginning ~ April 2008 ~ on holiday ~ before starting on the diet and fitness kick!!
July 2008 ~ 3 stone lost!!
September 2008 ~ 2 pounds off losing 4 stone!!
Me today ~ the only problem with losing weight ~ is your boobs go too ~ no panic ~ there is still plenty left ha ha !!!
Just a little weight loss update (again) ~ decided to do a photo diary ~ so here are the stages so far ~ 2 stone still to go ~ Christmas is the deadline!! Will update you more along the way! (excuse the latest photo ~ I look how I feel ~ totally knackered ~ that is my Friday face ha ha !! )XXX

Sleep ~ beautiful sleep!!

A few of you have asked me if the ability to sleep has returned to my life and the answer is YES and NO!!! I have had a few nights when I have had a really great nights sleep ~ and then there have been a few others when I have just laid there awake ~ watching the hours pass by ~ and believe me ~ it is very annoying!!!

Lauren ~ my sweet little daughter ~ has not helped matters ~ she does not like the dark ~ so she sleeps with a torch under her pillow (ha ha ) ~ so when she wanders through to my room in the middle of the night ~ she shines her torch to light the way ~ the only problem is that she comes to the side of my bed and shines it in my face!!!! This combined with her saying "mum mum mum" tends to make you wake up with a start ~ and no matter how many times she does it ~ I cannot get used to waking up with a torch shining in my face!!!!! She has now been shouted at (tee hee) and told not to do this anymore ~ as mummy does not like it!!! I don't think that she will listen ~ I think that she likes seeing my startled face ~ like a rabbit caught in the headlights ha ha !!! She is turning into a right little madam these last few weeks ~ and we have had a few battles over various things. I have decided that when she reaches the teenage years ~ I am going to book on a round the world cruise ~ for a few years!!!!!!

This week has just flown by ~ infact this whole year has pretty much passed me by in a blur ~ I am still in denial that Christmas is so close!! I have noticed that the Halloween items are appearing in the shops ~ next will be the Christmas cards (then I start to get excited !!!).

I have given myself until Christmas to lose the last 2 stone ~ there is a reason behind this! For the last few years ~ I have promised myself that the New Year would be the year that I lost the weight ~ and each year I have not done it ~ this year I am almost there ~ so I really really want to get to my goal by christmas ~ if this fails ~ then midnight on New Years eve is the cut off point ~ and I cannot let myself down ~ the whole 6 stone just has to been gone ~ so 2 to go and counting!!!!

The new furniture has now all arrived for the livingroom ~ and is piled in the garage ~ I just need to sort out the old furniture now and get the new stuff in place!! I will take some photos ~ so you can see the transformation (or not!!) ~ I also have to buy the next lot of paint for the livingroom ~ so that I can paint the remaining walls and get rid of the awful border that is there at the moment ~ it is driving me CRAZY!!!

No ironing tonight ~ I am going to have a pamper evening ~ I bought a face mask today and I am going to run a nice bath when the kids have gone to bed!! I also need to find another book to read ~ I am a bit lost now ~ without the Twilight books to read ~ maybe I will just go back to the start and read the first one again!!!!

Have a fun evening XXX

Wednesday update

A little update on this grey Wednesday (yes, the weather is still not nice!!).

I have finished Breaking Dawn (at last!!) ~ it was brilliant to finally finish off the story ~ to bring the 4 books to an end and what a fantastic end it was ~ I loved all 4 of the books and I am now waiting and hoping (and praying) for the Twilight film to come over to the UK!! I cannot wait.

Wednesday is always my most favourite day of the week (not) ~ as it is weigh in day. This week is another 2 pounds off bringing the total lost now to 3 stone and 12 pounds (54 pounds). I was hoping for a 4 pound loss this week ~ which would make it 4 stone lost ~ but I think that this weight is going to make me fight to get rid of every last pound ha ha !!! There is no weigh in next week ~ as the lady is on holiday ~ so hopefully in 2 weeks time that next 2 pounds will have left in an orderly manner ~ and hopefully taken a few extra friends with it. I have also had to go down another size in trousers and tops ~ meaning that I have now gone down 4 dress sizes on the top and 5 on the bottom half ~ and the running total on inches stands at 36 inches lost. There ~ that was a little weight loss update for you!! You will be glad of a break from all this diet stuff next week ha ha !!!!!

Life continues to be as busy as ever. The children are all settled back into school ~ they are really getting on well with the new teachers and enjoying the lessons and subjects. Lauren went to her first Hip Hop class this afternoon and totally loved it ~ she was busy trying to teach me all the moves ~ which looked a bit complicated!!! On the subject of dancing ~ I have actually thought about taking up Salsa dancing ~ as one of my friends is interested in doing it too ~ so we may look into that ~ should help the weight loss along aswell!!

Time to tackle yet another huge ironing pile again (no peace for the wicked ha ha !!).
Hope your Wednesday has been a good one. XXX

A piece of my morning.......

Picture the scene ~ we are in the car going on the school run.

We live in the country ~ so we were driving along the small country roads.

The children are all chattering away about this and that ~

Lauren "Look Mum!!!!!"

Me "What sweetheart?"

Lauren "There's a quad bike"

Me (supressing much laughter!!) "No darling ~ that is an invalid carriage!!"

The whole car bursts into laughter!!!!! (Lauren included!!)

I think that she may need a trip to the optitians ~ it was very obviously an invalid carriage and there was a very old man driving it ~ at about 1 mile an hour!!!

At least that cheered us up and made us all laugh on this grey and wet September morning!!! XX

Help I cannot sleep!!!!!!!

It has been a busy few days ~ the children are back at school ~ which means we are back to the term time routine (which I hate!!!) ~ making lunches ~ cleaning shoes ~ ironing uniforms and doing homework (the kids of course....not me!!) ~ we are also on a time limit in the mornings ~ as we have to drive to the school and get to lessons before the bell goes at 8.50am ~ so every morning at the moment is a little bit mad!!

It would be alot less stressful if my sweet lovely children actually got up when they were asked, got showered when they were asked ~ got dressed when they were asked (get the picture) ~ but they don't !!!!!!!!!!!!!

The mornings are a rush of me shouting (tee hee) ~ and usually being ignored and rushing about!! Roll on half term in October!!

Matters are not being helped at the moment by the awful weather we are still having (I know that it is nothing compared to the hurricanes etc in other places!!) ~ but I just hate getting soaked day after day and I am not liking the wet and wind swept look at all ~ it is doing nothing for my hair ha ha !!!!

I also seem to have lost the ability to sleep this last week. There was a time when I would lay my head on the pillow and the next thing that I knew the alarm was going off the next morning!
BUT for the last week or so ~ I have been going to bed and lying there ~ just not able to sleep. I could understand if there was something on my mind (in which case I do usually lie awake!!) ~ but there is nothing at all on my mind ~ so it is a mystery!! I got so fed up the other night that I actually got up at 1am and made the childrens packed lunch and then went back to bed ~ this was not the best idea as I was exhausted when the alarm went off at 6am!
Any one with any ideas of how I can bring the sleep back into my life ~ then let me know ~ all suggestions gratefully received!!!!

The rain has also killed our carefully planted and much looked after carrots ~ I think that they have got totally water logged in their pot and are not looking well at all! The children haven't noticed yet ~ so maybe I can come up with a cunning plan to save that situation!!!????

Weigh in day tomorrow and this week has been the hardest so far ~ the smell of freshly baking bread in the supermarket on Sunday morning nearly sent me totally crazy! I must admit that I nearly gave in to temptation and bought some ~ but I didn't ...... the diet angel won over again (thank goodness).

Lauren went back to her dance classes last night ~ she did her tap class and her new modern class which she loves. On Wednesday she has hip hop classes and on Saturday is Ballet, so it is all go. Dan also goes back to Judo on Sunday ~ so we are going to be quite busy!!

I am totally loving driving the new car ~ the bunny hopping has finished, I have the hang of driving it now ~ it is still very quiet and I keep thinking that we have stalled ~ but apart from that it is great ~ I actually enjoy driving on the school runs now (I must be mad!!) ~ the children like to argue about what seat they are going to sit in, but they have a choice of 6 ~ so they are taking it in turns to sit in each of them!

I only have about 20 pages left of Breaking Dawn and I am so sad that I am at the end ~ I don't want it to finish. I noticed online that the film is out in November (not sure whether that is the UK too, or just the US) ~ I cannot wait to see it ~ so that's something to look forward to!!! XXXX

Forever 19.........

This time of year is always tinged with a feeling of sadness ~ a memory of time gone by ~ an event in my life that changed me forever ~ a memory that no matter the years that have passed ~ will never ever fade away......

My first real love ~ I was 17, he was 19 ~ a young british soldier ~ one barmy hot summer of fun ~ before he was posted to Northern Ireland..........2 months in ~ he was killed ~ shot while on foot patrol ~ my young 17 year old life came to a halt ~ the carefree fun 17 year old I once was ~ was no more ~ death knocked on the door of my life and changed it forever.

I still think of him often ~ still have his photo ~ still to this day cannot help but wonder what would have been ~ could have been ~ had he lived ~ had our lives taken another path.

I look at his photo ~ and while my life has moved on ~ I am now 38, older ~ wiser? with children and a 'grown up' life ~ he is still that young british soldier ~ smiling from that photo ~ happy carefree and forever 19...............

Bye Bye FiFi ~ Hello Bella!!!

We were very excited this morning ~ I had to brave the rain and clear out the old car ~ which we had affectionately called FiFi over the years (it is a Renault ~ therefore French and the kids decided that it was a good name!!).........

Then it was time to head off and collect the new car......

Here are some final photos of FiFi ~ as we were braving the awful rain this morning!!!




The children were quite funny ~ they have become quite attached to the old car and were sad to see it go!! I am afraid that I cannot get emotional over a car ~ although it has done us well over the years!!

And (drum roll please.......) ~ here is our new car........................................

My nice shiny black car!! I did want to call the new car Edward (as I am now a totally addicted fan of the Twilight books!!) ~ but as all our cars are usually girls (tee hee )~ we have called her Bella!!!!!! (I know ~ we are a very strange family ~ we always name our cars !!!!!!)

So far I have not driven it far ~ we bunny hopped out of the garage forecourt (ha ha ) ~ then I had to go to the petrol station (where I had some trouble getting the petrol cap off !!) ~ then we drove straight home (about 4 miles!!) ~ so I am not used to it yet!! I kept putting the wind screen wipers on instead of the indicator and when we came to a junction, I thought that we had stalled as the car was sooooo quiet!! We are going out a bit later to town (where I have to park the thing tee hee!!!) ~ and I will have a bit of a drive around to get used to it!!

I am very pleased with it and the children are very excited about it all ~ they wanted to stay out sitting in it when we came home!!!! I will update you all later on how the parking goes!!! XXXX

Just typical!!!

I sat here last night in my pj's (I know ~ I am very sad ha ha !!!) ~ all snuggled up on the sofa ~ with the fire going ~ all warm and toasty ~ ready and waiting for Ugly Betty to start!! I have missed this show so much over the Summer ~ while it was side lined for Big Brother (which was a big load of rubbish!!).

At last 9pm came and the titles started ~ oh how I have missed you Ugly Betty ~ the show started ~ and then DARKNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It took me a minute to work out that the power had gone ~ I thought that maybe using the fire had caused a fuse to click off ~ but it was soooooo dark ~ and when I looked out the curtains ~ there were no street lights ~ no lights in the other houses ~ it looked like there was no power anywhere in our little village ~ probably thanks to the storm we were having!!!

So, I missed Ugly Betty (boo hoo) ~ I will have to try and watch a catch up episode !!
In my boredom I went to bed (with a torch) and read quite a bit of Breaking Dawn ~ by torch light ~ I haven't done that since I was a child ~ reading under the covers with a torch (although I didn't have my head under the covers last night ha ha !!!!!).

There was still no power when I finally went to sleep at 11pm .

It is back on now, thank goodness ~ if you saw the state of my hair this morning ~ I would not be going anywhere ~ without the use of my precious hair straighteners!!!!!

Well, I am just off out to clean out the old car and take all our stuff out of it ~ I have to collect the new one at 10.30am ~ and all 3 of us are excited!!

All I have to do now is get used to having a 7 seater and of course driving a different car (no problems there ~ I have driven lots of different cars over the years) ~ it will be the parking of said new 7 seater that will be the problem ~ I am the worlds worst parker EVER ~ ah well ~ we will just have to park at the very top of the multi storey for a while, when we go shopping ~ where no one else parks (tee hee!!!) . I am sure I will get the hang of it eventually...........I will hopefully be back later with some photos of my new baby (car that is!!!)XXX

BRENDAS PHOTO CHALLENGE!!

It is time for Brendas photo challenge again ~ the hostess this time is Shannon over at paint mine pink ~ thank you Shannon for being the hostess this time. The theme that Shannon chose was 'Things with wings'. This was quite a tricky one ~I took my camera with me every time we went out ~ but either the weather was lousy or the said 'thing with wings' would not co operate and flew off before I could get a photo!!

I had to improvise a bit ~ so here are the photos I managed to take of 'things with wings'......

Lauren made me this butterfly ~ which is very very cute!!
Here are some birds ~ which stayed still just long enough for me to get this rather bad photo!!
Another butterfly ~ one of my many butterfly ornaments which I have around the place!!
Yes, another butterfly (we do like the odd butterfly or two in this household ha ha !!) ~ a picture of my favourite clock!!
Unfortunately my plan to take some pictures of 'REAL' butterflies failed ~ as every time I saw one I didn't have my camera and when I was all equipped ~ the darn thing flew off just at the moment I pressed the button!!!

Never mind, I still enjoyed the challenge (as always!!). I believe that Amanda over at penny n pounds is the next hostess ~ I am looking forward to seeing the theme that Amanda chooses ~ so bye bye until next time XXXX

YES!!!

The bank agreed the loan ~ I collect the car tomorrow morning at 10.30am ~ I am so so excited!!

I am meant to be posting my breandas photo challenge photos today ~ but I haven't done the post yet or uploaded the photos ~ so I will be doing that later!!!

PS ~ did I tell you I am excited ???????????? YIPPEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XXX

Back to school they go!

Today was the childrens first day back at school ~ the pictures are of them both this morning ~ all dressed in their new uniforms and ready to go!!

They both have great teachers this year and have had a nice day ~ they both had so much to tell me when I picked them up this afternoon ~ it was a bit hard to take it all in (ha ha !!) ~ I think that I got it all though!!

In true British weather form ~ the skies opened just as we were on the school run ~ making the drive to school VERY interesting (the wind screen wipers couldn't go any faster!!) ~ it stopped for a bit and then promptly started again when I was on the way back to the car!! Thank god for my rain jacket ~ very unflattering ~ but who cares ~ it kept me semi dry!!

I haven't got as much to do tonight ~ just packed lunches ~ so I won't be standing ironing for 2 hours tonight (thank goodness!!!).

I have just been to get weighed and this week I have lost 2 pounds ~ bringing the total lost to 3 stone and 10 pounds. Another 4 pounds and I will have lost 4 stone ~ I am quite pleased with that!! Only another 2 to go now!!

I have about half of Breaking Dawn left to read and so far I have been unable to put it down ~ it is just wonderful!! Part of me wants to rush through and read as fast as I can ~ to find out what happens in the end ~ but another part wants to read slowly ~ as this is the last book in the series and I don't want it to end!!

I am at the bank in the morning ~ so wish me luck ~ I will let you know how it all goes and hopefully come Saturday we will have the new car!! XXXX

Busy Busy day!!

Today has been one of those days where my feet have just not touched the ground!!

It has been such a hectic day ~ I am totally knackered and I still have to iron the childrens school uniforms, polish their new school shoes and make their packed lunches ~ pack their school bags ~ find their winter coats (yes ~ it is getting that chilly!!) ~ and somewhere amongst all this I have to stop and eat something (I have not had my weigh in tonight as it has been changed to Thursday just for this week!!!).

As it was the childrens last day of freedom today (tee hee), before they start back at school tomorrow ~ my friend June and I got together and all the children had a great time in the garden, playing, running around and getting a bit grubby! We made cakes with them, took them for a nature walk and finally watched a DVD ~ they all had a really fun last day of the holidays!!

When the children that I care for had all gone home ~ I went to test drive the new car that I am interested in buying. All I can say is that I am in love (tee hee ~ with a car!!) ~ it is totally lovely ~ black shiny ~ new and quiet (mine sounds like a tank!!) ~ I really really really really want it ~ really really!! My appointment with the bank is Friday morning at 10.30am ~ so I am keeping everything crossed that I possibly can.....there is no reason that it will not be approved, but I worry about things like this and always go with the worst possible scenario and then things can only get better (or at least that is how I look at it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Keep your fingers, toes and everything else crossed too ~ I think that will help (tee hee!!)

I had better be off and make a start on the ironing and packed lunches ~ tomorrow is going to be a shock for us all ~ we have to be on our way to the school by 8.30am ~ and the children have both been lying in late for the whole holidays ~ so tomorrow will be a bit of a shock!!
I have enjoyed having my 2 little stars home with me for the 6 weeks holidays ~ yes, there have been times where they have driven me mad (quite a few!!) ~ but the house will seem very strange and quiet without them tomorrow ~

My most favourite programme ~ Desperate Housewives is back tonight (yippeee yippeeeee!!) and Ugly Betty starts back on Friday! Life just can't get any better (tee hee!!!)
XXXX

September.....

Today is September 1st ~ the start of yet another new month!! I am not sure where this year has gone, I think that I must have blinked on January 1st and all of a sudden it is September!!

Where was the summer?? a few weeks of hot weather was it!! Now it feels Like Autumn and the nights are getting darker earlier ~ I went to buy a birthday card today and the card shop was full of christmas cards ~ already!!

I have decided today that I need to buy a new car!! There are several reasons for this ~ firstly my car is getting old, it has done oodles of miles (and has started making alot of funny noises too!!) ~ and also I need a bigger car ~ by bigger I mean seating room and not engine. Being a Childminder ~ when I have Dan and Loz in the car aswell as the two children that I currently care for (and me of course!!) ~ there is no spare seat ~ so I need a 7 seater!!

My friends husband has been keeping an eye out and has spotted a Vauxhall Zafira ~ which is only a few years old, hasn't done many miles and seems great all round!! It is black ~ has lots of added extras and is in my price range!! I am very excited ~ I have booked to go to the bank on Friday ~ to finalise the paying for it bit! I am looking at the car tomorrow night and taking it for a test drive ~ so I will let you know how that goes. I haven't had my own car for years ~ the car that I have at the moment was the car that my ex and I had when we were married and I had no choice but to keep it ~ as at the time I couldn't afford a new one ~ so now it feels brilliant to be choosing what I want and doing it myself ~ I have waited a long time for this and now it is all coming together! By the weekend I could have a new car ~ be ready for lots of new car photos soon ~ if it all comes together! (keep your fingers crossed that it all goes right!!).