Yet another Wednesday Post!!

It is the middle of the week again ~ I am sure that someone has a finger on the fast forward button of my life ~ time is flying by me at great speed these days!!

Wednesday always means weigh in night and this week I lost another pound ~ so that brings the total lost to 4 stone 6 pounds (62 pounds). It is still moving along in the right direction, but has slowed down alot ~ I will keep going ~ and at this rate I doubt that I will be at target by christmas ~ never mind, I will keep chipping away at it!!

On another note ~ Daniel is going to London on Friday 14thNovember to the Covent Garden Opera House ~ Daniel (and Laurens) school is one of only 6 in the country to be chosen to sing and perform a concert in front of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales ~ in honour of his 60th Birthday. The children are singing 'All Through the Night' accompanied by the Royal Philharmonia Orchestra, which Daniel is very excited about. After the concert, Prince Charles will meet some of the children taking part!! I am very excited for Daniel and this is a great opportunity for him and the other children too.



There is a bonfire and fireworks display on Saturday night, which we are hoping to attend. It was meant to be on last weekend, but due to the awful rain (it rained ALL day basically!) ~ it was cancelled. Lauren loves bonfire night ~ I think she likes the fact that you get a drink and a hot dog best (tee hee) ~ but her face is pure delight usually!! I will have to try and remember the camera so I can post some pictures on here!!



There is a website, which a friend told me about ~ the link is here http://www.noradsanta.org/ ~ which apparently tracks Santas progress around the world at Christmas time. I don't think that it gets going until December ~ but I thought that I would share it with you ~ it may be a bit of fun for those of you with children. XXX

Wednesday ~ witches hats and weigh ins!!!

It is Wednesday again ~ that dreaded day of the week when I head off for the weekly weigh in.
I am glad to report that after my stand still last week ~ where I lost a huge big ZERO!! This week I lost another 2 pounds ~ which I was pleased with! This brings the total so far to 4 stone and 5 pounds lost (61 pounds) ~ so I am getting there! I still hope to reach my goal by Christmas ~ although things have slowed down alot ~ so I may start 2009 dieting too !!!

It has been even colder here today ~ the wind wasn't as bad ~ but it tried to snow a bit ~ which was a bit of a shock ~ some places in the UK have had snow already ~ but we usually escape it (apart from April of this year!!!).

We are almost ready for the Halloween party on Friday. The children all have their outfits ~ I have the face paints all ready (I am quite handy with face paints ha ha !!) ~ we have lots of fun things planned ~ apple bobbing ~ lots of fun games ~ tricks and treats and yummy food ~ so it should be alot of fun for the children......and maybe the adults too (tee hee!!).

I thought that I would share the instructions for the Witches Hats that we made the other day ~ they were a great hit with the kids and so easy to make too

WITCHES HATS ~ Makes 10 hats

25g butter
200g mini marshmallows
100g rice crispies (breakfast cereal)
10 ice cream cones
10 chocolate coated biscuits
100g chocolate (for melting)
Hundreds and Thousands

Melt the butter in a pan and then add the marshmallows ~ stir over a low heat until melted. Remove from the heat and add the rice crispies ~ stir gently until they are coated in the melted marshmallows.

Spoon a small amount of the marshmallow mixture into each of the icecream cones. Place the biscuit ~ with the chocolate side touching the marshmallow mixture ~and then turn upside down. The heat from the mixture will make the biscuit stick. Put the hats on a tray.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl standing over hot water. Dip the ends of the cones into the melted chocolate and then sprinkle with the hundreds and thousands ~ leave the witches hats to cool and set.

Then let the children enjoy!!!!!!

I have decided that I will dress as a devil this year for the party ~ I have been a witch every other year (ha ha ) ~ so time for a change!! I will make sure that we take lots of photos ~ and do a halloween post later in the week.

I have done a little bit more Christmas shopping today ~ so I am feeling a bit better ~ I still have so much to do and the counter is ticking away too quickly ~ only 56 days ~ that just isn't enough ha ha !! I had better hurry up and get my bum in gear!!! XXXXX

60

Tonight I went and got weighed ~ another pound lost this week ~ the total now is 4 stone 4 pounds ~ which is 60 pounds!! I am quite pleased with that!! It seems to have slowed down quite a bit ~ but even at a pound a week ~ with 10 weeks until Christmas ~ that would mean hopefully almost another stone gone by then!! So that would be nice.

I have been a bit of a bad blogger the last few days ~for some reason life seems to have been so busy and I have basically collapsed into bed every evening exhausted ha ha !!

I have been and booked Laurens Birthday party ~ it is not her Birthday until November ~ but you have to get the parties booked early ~ or make the mistake that I have made several times and leave it too late!! This year I have booked Laurens party at the local leisure centre ~ she is having a disco party with a High School Musical theme. She is very excited already and has started trying to decide what she will wear ~ I usually treat her to a new outfit for her party!
Daniel is going to have a bowling party with some of his friends ~ his birthday is in December, so I don't have to worry about that just yet ~ it is certainly an expensive time of year for me!!

I have decided that I will not be giving out party bags this year ~ I thought that I would copy an idea from a party that Lauren went to a few weeks ago ~ I have bought some plastic cups and filled them with sweeties (very bad I know......but it is a party!!) ~ and then wrapped tissue paper round it and tied with gift ribbon.

I had a practise run today ~ here is the first attempt!!

It doesn't look bad ~ but I will have a few more tries and see if I can perfect it a bit more. I thought that it would be a nice treat for each party guest to take home ~ and will work out a bit cheaper than the party bags I did last year ~ which cost a fortune (silly me!!). With the way things are financially in this country at the moment ~ I am trying to save money where ever I can!!!

Tomorrow is the childrens Harvest festival at school and they have to take in some tins of food for the harvest collection ~ they have a day of fun activities planned and a harvest school dinner~ so they should have a fun day. Next week they are at school and the week after is half term.......a week of fun and we have a big Halloween party planned for the 31st Oct ~ I will make sure to post LOTS of photos from that day.

Have a nice evening ~ off to bed now .............I think it must be old age creeping up on me (ha ha )XXXX

Wednesday update and a little suprise!!

Here I am again ~ another Wednesday ~ and that means weigh in day (I don't know whether to cheer or boo ha ha !!!) ~ This week another 2 pounds have shipped out (yippeeee!!!!) ~ meaning that I have now lost 4 stone 2 pounds (which is 58 pounds!!). Needless to say ~ I am quite happy with that. It is getting harder ~ my willpower is being tested to the full ~ but I am determined and that is that!!! So hopefully I will be here with another loss next week.

On another note ~ the father of one of the children that I look after is a soldier ~ and left today for a tour in Afganistan ~ we will be keeping him in our thoughts and prayers and are counting the days until he returns safely.......

CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET????

Today I booked a christmas suprise for my 2 sweet gorgeous little children ~ if you want to know what it is ~ CLICK HERE!!!!

I am really excited about it (I am such a kid ha ha !) ~ I love christmas ~ and everything that goes with it ~ and I know that the children will absolutely love this suprise!! I haven't told them ~ and I hope that I can keep the secret from them until the day ~ then see the look on their faces when we arrive there!!!!

I have just been watching the Pride of Britain Awards ~ and there are sooooo many brave and courageous people in this great country of ours!! I have spent most of the time crying my eyes out though (ha ha ~ I am such a softie!!). One of my favourite TV programmes is on tonight ~ Silent Witness ~ being an ex police officer ~ I love anything to do with forensics and crime (ha ha ) ~ so I am off now to put on my PJs and watch some decent TV (for a change). Have a great evening ~ see you tomorrow XXXXXXXX

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

Weigh in day again!!

Wednesday is weigh in day and it has almost slowed to a big STOP this week ~ with only a pound lost this week (yes ~ I know ~ better a pound off than on!!). I have now reached a loss of 50 pounds ( 3 stone and 8 pounds), so I suppose that I should expect a bit of a slow down!! It was actually recommended to me today that I should maybe eat more calories ???? as this may give my metabolism a boost and kick start the weight loss again!! Interesting concept ~ not sure how that works ~ but I can sure give it a try!!! (I don't think that these extra calories are meant to be carbs or chocolate tee hee !!!).

It has been totally mad today ~ with 4 children running around the place ~ we went to my friends house and as she is also a childminder ~ that added another 2 children to the madness ~ it will seem so quiet when they go back to school next week!!

I have an ironing pile that is almost reaching the ceiling ~ so I had better go and make a start on that!! I still haven't managed to watch the DVD I was sent (the other boleyn girl )~ maybe I will get a chance this weekend while the children are with their dad. We sat and watched Nims Island this evening which the children loved ~ it was good ~ but it would be nice to watch a grown up film for a change (ha ha !!). I just never seem to have the time these days ~ I could do with an extra few hours in the day ~ but then I would probably find they were filled aswell!!

Off for a steamy hour .......with the iron (don't get excited ~ Brad Pitt hasn't moved in!!!) ~ See you all later XXX