Bruises and Ballet

The first day of the holidays got off to a bit of a stressful start!

Lauren woke in the morning and promptly started to be sick everywhere and with the Swine Flu that is going around, I immediately started to worry ~ thankfully she was off colour for a few days and is now all fine and back to her usual self!!

Daniel had a leavers party at one of his friends houses and he stayed there overnight ~ he had a great time ~ but this is what met me when I picked him up in the morning!!

One very bruised boy!!

Aparently they had been playing with foam baseball bats and daniel had managed to get himself hit in the face ~ with the resulting bruising! What a great start to the holidays ~ only 6 weeks left and we have had this happen already.....the joys of having children ha ha !!

On a brighter note ~ I had some pictures taken of Lauren recently in her ballet tutu that she had for the show and they have come out really well ~ I still have to mess about with them and get them just perfect ~ but here is my favourite one ~ of my little ballet dancer!

I know that I am slightly biased as I am her Mummy ~ but I think that she is totally beautiful!!

We are having a bit of a lazy weekend here so far ~ I am just off to do the ironing ~ at least there are no uniforms to iron for the next 6 weeks ~ that can only be a good thing! Will be back with more photos and uodates soon XXX

Moving on out........moving on up!!!

Times are changing here in the Twinkle Twinkle household........

After 7 years at Primary school ~ my little (or should that be NOT SO LITTLE!!) lad left school today ~ ready to start Senior school in September!

It was a day of mixed emotions ~ and a day where I took another sharp in take of breath!
My little 4 year old that I sheepishly walked into school on his first day ~ is now an all grown up 11 year old ~ ready for his next step in life.........goodness knows where those years have gone!??

Daniel was a bit sad to leave ~ and went off to school this morning with a sad face.......however ~ this is him after the end of school today ~ cheering and glad to be free for the summer!

No, he did not go to school like this ~ he came home like this ~ after getting as many people as he could to sign his school shirt!! I think that it is something that he will keep forever!

Showing off his special signed shirt! (must remember not to wash it ha ha !!!)

There are also changes ahead for Lauren ~ who moves from the infant side of the school ~ up into the junior side and all that brings with it ~ homework and tests (poor thing ha ha !!)

I am sure that she will be just fine too ~ she takes everything in her stride and loves school!

A snap shot of a moment in time ~ Daniels last day at Primary school and Laurens last day in the infants......2009 is definitly a year of change!

It is all change for me too on the work front!

The little boy that I am looking after at the moment is moving to Las Vegas with his parents to start a new chaper in his life.

One of the little girls that I look after (who has a father in the army) is moving to germany in August ~ again to start a new part of her life!

The other little girl that I look after starts at the same school as Dan and Lauren in September ~ so it is all change!

We are in for a few lean months ~ as the other children that I have booked in do not start until October and November.......all food parcels gratefully received!! (Only joking honestly!!).

Just to let you all know that the little girls whose Mum had swine flu is fine and her mum has recovered well and has the all clear now. We have also stayed clear of any symptoms and are all doing just fine.

The children are now on school holidays for 6 weeks ~ so I will be extra busy ~ and extra stressed too ha ha !! Just pass me the wine and the valium and I should be just fine..................

Dance......

(Not the best photos I am afraid ~ if you click on them you may be able to view them larger??)

Lauren is at the front on the left hand side ~ this was a dance to a song from the musical Cats as part of her tap and modern dance classes.

Lauren is on the front row ~ second from the right. This was her Hip Hop class dance ~ to a song from High school musical 3.

Lauren is on the front row ~ third from the left. This was a character dance as part of her senior ballet class ~ which was actually one of my favourite dances in the whole show!!

AND FINALLY!!!! ~ my gorgeous little ballerina ~ Lauren is at the end on the right!

This dance was to the song from beauty and the beast and really brought tears to my eyes ~ they were all so sweet and so graceful ~ it was lovely to watch. (and best of all for Lauren ~ she gets to keep the tutu!!!!!)

Hello again! I am still here ~still trying to juggle all the different parts of my life and trying to NOT be the worlds worst blogger ever (amd failing at all of these ha ha !!).

We have had more busy days. Last weekend was Laurens dance show and she was a real star in every sense of the word. We had to be at the venue for 9am as I was helping with the stage makeup ~ basically a very long line of girls of all ages waiting patiently for their make up to be done!!

There was then a full rehearsal at 1030 am, followed by the first performance at 2.30pm and the final performance at 6.30 pm. It was gone 9.30pm before we were finally heading home. In true Tabitha fashion I totally forgot my camera so there are no pictures from the show and the rehearsals ~ I did however buy the official photos that were taken of each dance team and I am going to try and scan them in......if they are at the top of this post ~ I was successful at this ~ but if there are no pictures ~ I am just useless ha ha !!

Daniel is now on the countdown for his final week at school (the children break for a 6 week summer holiday next Tuesday) ~ he has been doing lots of fun things and this Friday he has a day full of fun at school ~ they are basically doing lots of activities that have been chosen by the whole class and then in the evening they are going out for a meal and to see the new Harry Potter film. To say that my little lad is excited would be an understatement ~ he is beyond excitement!!!! On Sunday we are going to the Goodwood racetrack, where Dan is taking part in the Green Goblin at Goodwood day. Basically this is an event where lots of schools take part and race motorised cars that they have designed and built ~ we are all going ~ all 4 of us ~ so should be a fun day out! (Hope the weather holds!!).

Things are going great with me and Andy ~ we are happy and I am enjoying every single last moment of having someone in my life who makes me feel so happy and so special. The children have taken to him so well and it is almost like he has been in our lives forever!!!

There is not alot else happening really ~ the only slightly worrying news is that the mother of one of the little girls that I look after has been diagnosed with Swine Flu yesterday ~ She will not be back at my house until they are given the all clear and the children and myself and of course Andy have to wait and see whether we develop any of the symptoms ~ I have been told that until we do ~ there is no other action that can be taken. Please keep your fingers crossed that we are all ok and nothing comes of it!!! I will keep you all updated as to how the situation develops!



I am going to be visiting you all to say hello ~ and try and scan these pictures in ~ yes, you all know how technically challenged I can be!!



Hope you are all well ~ take care and will be back with another update soon! XXX

Where on earth have I been????

Hello there everyone! For those of you who were thinking that I have fallen off the edge of the earth ~ or been abducted by aliens.......you are wrong (ha ha ) ~ I am still here ~ still in the land of the living and still plodding on as normal!!

Life has been amazingly busy ~ we are racing towards the end of the school term ~ with just over a week until the children break for the summer ~ alot of changes ahead ~ Daniel will be at senior school in September ~ Lauren will be moving up to the Juniors part of her school ~ it is all change and quite frankly quite unsettling really! BUT ~ we will all cope and I am sure that there are alot of fun times ahead for both my little stars!

So ~ as I have been officially the worlds very worst blogger ~ infact I just haven't blogged for at least a million years ~ and haven't visited you all in sooooo long ~ here is a quick update on what has been happening with the three of us.........

Firstly ~ thanks to all of you that left a comment on Laurens fairy post ~ her search for a fairy is continuing and if there are any developments I will let you know.
The dance show that Lauren is taking part in is this Sunday ~ we have to be at the venue for 10am and it looks like we will not be home much before 10pm ~ so that will be a very tiring and quite busy day. I will be doing the stage make up for the dancers as I did last year ~ it is basically like a conveyor belt ~ just doing make up for girl after girl after girl!!!
Lauren will be in 4 dances this year and she has been rehearsing like mad ~ she has now received her tutu ~ which is pale blue and totally gorgeous ~ she is just so made up with it and when I saw her little face I wanted to cry (I am such a softie!!). I have had some photos taken of her in the tutu that I need to get scanned into the computer and then I will let you all have a look! I know that I am slightly biased as her mother ~ but she looked beautiful.
Lauren had her swimming gala at school today and was proud to come first in both her races ~ she also did well in her fun sports day ~ with her team coming second overall.

Daniel is racing along towards the end of his primary education and is in the last weeks of his schooling at his current school ~ before he attends his new secondary school in September. He went on a visit there last week and was ok ~ a little daunted by the size and the amount of pupils that attend (his current school is very small) ~ but he will be ok. I cannot deny that I am quite nervous about the whole thing ~ it is a big step, a big move and I just hope and pray that he will be ok. Dan has now received his green belt in judo and has moved onto harder moves and throws ~ this resulted in him coming home with a very slight black eye last Sunday ~ he was quite proud of this fact and wanted to show it to everyone.
Daniel also did well in his swimming gala winning one race and coming second in another. His sports day was alot of fun ~ with him winning the sprint and coming second in the mini marathon ~ he was very good and should be rightly proud of himself (I am!!).
Daniel is quite happy this year ~ as he has been spared the pain of coming to the show all day with me and Lauren ~ this year he is going out with Andy for a 'BOYS' day ~ I think that they are going to go fishing and then go out after and do some other fun stuff ~ it gives them a chance to spend some time together and do boys stuff ha ha !!

As for me ~ I am happy ~ infact I would go as far as to say I am VERY VERY VERY happy!
Andy and I are getting on very well and things are just great. After all that happened in my marriage and all that I went through I promised myself that I would never let myself get involved with anyone ever again and I had given up hope of being with someone ~ and then when I least expected it ~ it happened (just as so many of you great blogging buddies told me it would!!!). We have had some great days out with the kids and have also had some 'date nights' where we have managed to spend time ~ just the two of us. Last night we went to a gorgeous little pub for a few drinks and a bite to eat. I got dressed up in a lovely new top that I got for my birthday and my tightest jeans (that I can just about still get into!!!!) ~ well, after a few drinks I was rather tipsy and somehow managed to let the wine glass completely slip out of my hand and smash on the table ~ there was wine all over me (and I mean ALL OVER!) and glass everywhere! Andy just rolled his eyes, asked me if I was ok and then headed off to get me a replacement drink (I so love that man ha ha ). Luckily there was no major damage done and my top had dried by the time we left the pub ~ saving me the embarassment of having to walk out with a huge stain down my front!!! A note to myself for next time ~ Take one of the childrens training cups with me ~ at least that way I will avoid any un expected spills!!

Our next date night is scheduled for next Wednesday ~ we are off to the cinema ~ where hopefully I will manage to keep hold of my popcorn and not throw it all over anyone!!

Well, I have lots of pictures to upload into the computer and will then do some photo posts so you can see Laurens show and her in her tutu and also Dans visit to swanage.

Off now to go visit some of you and say hello ~ hope you are all well and will see you all again soon XXXXXX