BRENDAS PHOTO CHALLENGE ~ THIS TIME THE THEME IS PLAY!!!!!!

It is time for Brendas Photo challenge again!! This time the theme was play ~ if you would like to check out all the other participants ~ please click on the 'Brendas Photo Challenge' in my side bar and it will take you through to the challenge blog!!

I have had alot of fun with all the challenges ~ this time round I decided to take a photo of what I like to play with!!!.............Yes ~ my favourite thing ~ MY LAPTOP!! I would be totally lost without it ~ and according to my children I 'PLAY' on it alot ~ so I thought it was worthy of a photo on the challenge!!

Next I thought I would include a photo of the two sweet children that I look after ~ they had a fun time playing with all the cars ~ making lines out of them and then messing them all up and starting all over again !!!
Next ~ a bit of outdoors play ~ Daniel out in the garden after getting soaked in the pool!!
A bit more outside play ~ the best kind ~ Outdoors in the sunshine ~ getting lots of fresh air and sunshine ~ and having lots of fun ~ which is what play is all about!!


I enjoy these challenges so much ~ I love taking the photos and choosing which ones to use!

Looking forward to the next challenge and wondering what the next theme will be!!

See you all next time!!

Before I go to bed....

I thought that I would quickly share some photos with you ~ before I fall into bed!!

This first one is for Hannah who did a post recently about cars ~ and said that she liked beetles!!
This is my Mums pride and joy ~ her little baby beetle!!

And ~ here is my new best friend ~ one of my Mums cats ~ Brandy ~ who was very interested in the computer while I was posting on the blog earlier ~ he sat like this the whole time!!


My mums other cat Millie just ran off and hid ~ she is not keen on children and with my 2 around she made a bid for freedom!! She is usually ok after a few days and they leave her alone ~ so she usually gets used to them!!XXXXX

We made it here ~ eventually!!!!

We are here ~ at last!!!
It has been the trip from hell!!
We spent about 2 hours ~ sitting still or shuffeling along the M6 ~ or should that be the carpark that was pretending to be the M6 Motorway today!!!

It was hot ~ the kids were fed up ~ I was fed up and then Lauren decided that she needed the toilet!! That would not usually be a problem ~ as there are plenty of service areas on the M6 ~ apart from today ~ when we just sat still and did not move VERY far each time!!
By the time we reached the petrol station ~ which was only 8 miles away ~ it had taken us nearly an hour and Lauren was very close to bursting. I had to screetch to a halt in the car park grab my bag and Lauren and Daniel and race to the toilets!! Lauren made it just in time ~ bless her!! That will teach her for drinking a whole sports bottle of juice ~ while stuck in a jam on the M6 tee hee!!!!

To while away the time as we snailed our way along the motorway at no miles an hour ~ I decided that it was very interesting looking at what was lying on the hard shoulder!! (YES ~ I know that is a very sad thing to do BUT ~ I was bored......very bored!!!). There was the usual cans, bottles, plastic bags and other assorted rubbish that the good people of England obviously find too hard to put in a bin!! But there were lots of very exciting other things ~ like shoes (lots and lots of shoes!!!) ~ not pairs of shoes~ just one odd lonely shoe ~ just lying there every now and again.....how on earth do you lose a shoe on the side of a motor way??? I haven't quite worked it out yet!! There also seemed to be alot of gloves ~ not wooly gloves ~ but sort of gardening gloves just lying about AND the item that topped it all was a pair of pants (knickers ~undies ~underwear.....under garments ~ depending on where you are from ha ha !!!).......just sort of sitting there on the hard shoulder ~ for everyone passing by to see (I don't even want to contemplate how they got there ha ha!!!)...........

I think that you have worked out now that the trip was BORING!!! The highlight of the whole day was when some stupid person hadn't closed their roof box properly ~ so it shot open as they were speeding down the fast lane and the contents all flew out over the motorway (not the M6 this time but the M56 ~ which was much more like a motorway and not a carpark!!!)........There was nearly an accident as everyone tried to swerve and avoid all the things that flew out ~ we managed to avoid a vanity case that shot out, hit the road and threw make up everywhere!!!
I was glad to get to my Mums and relax after that trip ~ believe me!!!

My Mum was totally amazed when she saw me!! I got out of the car and she just said "WOW ~ look at you!!" ~ it was a great moment ~ she keeps telling me how good I look and she said that she thinks I look more like "the old Tab!!" that I used to be (which was exactly what I wanted ha ha !!!).

I have had to steal my Mums laptop ~ as I cannot get a connection with mine yet ~ I am going to try and get a network connection later ~ but for now I am using Mums laptop!! I will try and post again tomorrow ~ hopefully from my laptop ~ but if not ~ I will have to keep borrowing this one ~ so hang on in there ~ I will be back (with something more interesting than the side of a motorway ha ha !!!) Take care XXXXX

All Packed and ready to go!

We have all had a really nice day today ~ very busy ~ but really nice!!

Lauren spent the day at summer school ~ her last dance lessons until she starts back in September ~ although I am sure that she will do alot of practising before then!!

Dan and I went into town this morning and had lunch together and wandered around. We were unable to see the Batman film that we had planned to see ~ purely because the times just did not fit ~ we dropped Lauren off at 11am and had to be back for 3.30pm to watch the little show that she was doing and collect her!! But we had a nice time anyway ~ the weather was really warm and sunny today (yes ~ shock horror ~ we have sunshine!!!). We wandered to the park and then sat on the grass together ~ then Dan asked to go to the beach ~ so we went there too and had a walk there too (and Dan had a HUGE ice cream!!!). Before we knew it, we had to head back to collect Lauren.

Laurens little end of summer school show was really sweet ~ they did a rock and roll dance and sang songs from Annie and Oliver and then did a dance to FAME ~ which was really great ~ she really is a little star!!

After we got home the serious job of packing started!! I hate packing ~ it always annoys me ~ having to sort it all out and decide what to take ~ I can never decide what we will need, how much of everything to take and you can guarantee that no matter what I pack ~ we will forget something tee hee!! Usually it is the tooth brushes!!! Anyway ~ all the bags are now packed and there are a few bits that I need to sort in the morning ~ before we head off. I haven't decided what time we will leave ~ my Mum is at work tomorrow ~ so there is no point in rushing ~ as there will be no one there ~ if we get there too early (although I do have a key!!).

I am taking my laptop with me ~ so that I can update you every now and then and check in with you all!!

Take care ~ see you all very soon!! I will be sending out postcards ~ so all you snail mail friends ~ watch those mail boxes!!! XXXXXXXX

HURRAY!! I AM ON HOLIDAY!!!

As of 5pm today I am officially on holiday!!! YIPPPPEEEE!!!! No work now until 20th August!!

I have still got such alot to do and as usual the time just seems to be flying past!!
Lauren still has her dance summer school tomorrow ~ it is the last day and she has a presentation of her work in the afternoon ~ which Dan and I are going along to watch. Lauren has totally loved this week ~ The principle of her dance school spoke to me yesterday and said that Lauren is showing real promise in her dancing and she would like Lauren to do more classes!! SO ~ from September Lauren will be doing Ballet, Tap, Modern and now also Hip Hop ~ which the principle thinks she will be really good at!! It will not cost me anything for uniform as Lauren already has all she needs and there is a reduction of fees if you take 3 or more classes a week ~ so it should not work out that expensive (which my Bank Manager will be pleased about!!).

While Lauren is at her dance school tomorrow ~ I am going to take Daniel out ~ so that we can have some time together ~ he will really like that ~ as it does not happen very often!! I am not sure yet what we will do ~ I think we will just see what we feel like doing in the morning!!

Wednesday is weigh in day and this week I have lost another 2 pounds ~ bringing the total to 47 pounds ~ which is 3 stone and 5 pounds!! I feel that it is starting to slow down and I am having to work at it a bit harder ~ up to now it has just dropped off ~ I think that the next few stones will be a little bit more un willing to shift ha ha !!!!

I haven't seen my Mum since April ~ which is when the picture below was taken (Excuse the hat ~ I was modelling Laurens easter bonnet!!!) This was actually the photo that made me decide that enough was enough ~ I had been through a divorce and my life had been in free fall ~ BUT ~ there had to come a point where I took charge again ~ and this photo made me sit up and do something!!!!

13 weeks and 3 stone 5 pounds later!!

I hope that my Mum notices a difference!!! I am sure that she will!!

Anyway ~ I still haven't found the holdalls and rucksacks that I need so that I can pack ~ I have a slight recollection that I put them in the garage ~ so I had better go and have a root around ~ so that I can get all packed tomorrow ~ ready for us heading off on Friday!!!!

Hope you all have a lovely evening XXXXX