Pudsey Day!!!

*****UPDATE FROM DANIEL'S VISIT TO LONDON*********

Dan has returned safely from London after his busy day ~ during which he sang with the rest of his year group and children from 4 other schools at the Royal Opera House in celebration of Prince Charles 60th Birthday~ they sang All Through the Night together with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra followed by a rendition of Happy Birthday!!!!

Dan tells me that he also sang the National Anthem and remembered ALL the words!!

Dan has had an excellent experience and after the concert Dan and 2 of his friends were chosen to stand up and speak to the Prince (Yes ~ he has now rubbed shoulders with royalty ha ha !!) ~ according to Daniel the Prince was very nice and spoke about how far they had come and talked to the whole group about music and the concert. He has certainly had a day to remember and is one that he will never forget!!

*****NEWS UPDATE****************************************************

Daniel and his school friends have just been on the BBC and the Sky News singing happy Birthday to the Prince ~ if you watch the BBC news at 10pm or Sky News on the hour ~ you may just see him!! ( I found THIS link showing the children singing on BBC News ~ but you can't see Dan anywhere though ha ha !!)

This evening ~ now that Daniel is safely back with us (after hob nobbing with royalty !!!) we are all ready for a Pudsey night!! Tonight is Children in Need Night and Pudsey bear is the charities mascot ~ we are ready and waiting for the 7 hour TV extravaganza ~ which starts at 7pm ~ and ends at 2am tomorrow morning ~ I have told the children that they can stay up until 10pm as a treat!! You can find out about Children In Need ~ HERE

Last year the donations from the night totalled 19 million pounds and the total donations for the events came to 37 million pounds ~ which goes towards helping change the lives of disadvantaged children and young people in the UK ~ a very worthwhile charity, I am sure you will agree!

We have done our part so far ~ we all have our Pudsey bear tops on tonight, the children both have Pudsey bear teddies and pens and during the show the children will each be ringing up to donate some pocket money (£10 each and I will also donate £10).


Here we are ~ our little family all dressed and ready for a night of Pudsey fun and entertainment!!


My little stars ~ they are so sweet (Lauren is using her Pudsey bandana as a headscarf ha ha !!)

The week is over and I am intending to spend some quality time with my 2 little people ~ starting tonight! I am just off to pop some Popcorn for them ~ sweet for Daniel and salty for Lauren ~ they have such different tastes!!

Hope you have a great evening too and a relaxing and happy weekend XXXXX

So proud of my boy!!

A rather tired looking Dan ~ 6.30am this morning ~ all ready to head off to London ~ to sing for Prince Charles!!

I am so proud of this little man ~ can't wait until he comes home later and tells me all about it!

Will update you all later ~ with how it went!! XXX

Credit Crunch Crafts!!!

We all must be feeling the pinch ~ I know that I have been!! Financially things are getting tighter ~ and with Christmas just around the corner ~ I am trying to save a few pennies here and there!!

I always do crafts with the children that I look after ~ but even that can get expensive ~ when you have to go out and buy all the craft items etc! SO ~ I saw this in a childcare magazine yesterday and decided to give it a go! All you need is what is pictured below ......paper ~ felt pens and scissors ~ that's it!!


First fold the paper like this ~ so you have a triangle and a rectangle shaped piece over at the end!

Then cut the end rectangle shaped piece of paper off (great to make into a bookmark later!!)

Next, turn the triangle of paper you have left around ~ so the longest edge is at the top ~ then fold like this..............so you have 2 flaps!!

Then ~ decorate like this (or they could be other animals!!)

and there you have it ~ cerdit crunch busting ~ PAPER PUPPY HAND PUPPETS!!!!

The children that I look after love them ~ and they cost NOTHING!! (just the paper which I already had!!). Thought that I would share this with you ~ those of you with little kiddies may want to give it a try ~ they have been a great hit here!!!! I love working with children ~ I get to relive my childhood all over again (and I never have to grow up Tee Hee!!)

In other news ~ the weigh in went ok ~ another pound gone ~ so the total now is 63 pounds lost (4 and a half stone) in total!! Things are getting harder each week and progress is slow ~ but I am nearly at the 5 stone lost mark now ~ hopefully I will reach that target by christmas ~ and I shouldn't be far off my goal weight of 9 stone (126 pounds) ~ which sometimes feels like I will never reach ha ha !! (not helped by visits to the fish and chip shop and Mcdonalds with the children this week ~ I have been such a bad mummy ~ thankfully I resisted both!!).

Daniel is brimming with excitement about tomorrow and his visit to London with the school to sing for Prince Charles 60th Birthday!! The school have provided shirts and ties for them to wear with their school sweatshirts (they usually wear white shirts, but not the ties!! ~ I think that the school wants to make sure that all the children look neat and the same!!).

Unfortunately the children are not allowed to take cameras ~ so no photos ~ but the school have said that the concert may have snippets televised either tomorrow or over the weekend ~ in celebration of the Princes Birthday ~ so those of you in the UK ~ keep an eye out and you may see my eldest little star ~ singing for the Prince!!

Well better be off ~ LOADS to do!!

Love and Hugs Tabitha XXXX

Last Night.....

Yesterday evening was Parents evening at the childrens school ~ and I am pleased to report that they both got really good reports. Lauren is doing great with her reading and writing and the teacher said that she is a little chatter box (wonder where she gets that from???) ~ and a pleasure to teach. Daniel is really improving his literacy skills, although his handwriting does need some work still ~ he is coming on really well and his teacher said that he has a wonderful sense of humour and has settled into his last year at Primary school really well.

I was very proud of them both and have promised them a treat at the weekend ~ for getting such good reports (not sure what it will be yet!!).

We were very late back ~ as usual these Parent and Teacher evenings never run to plan and we didn't get home until 7.20pm ~ after a visit to the local Fish and Chip shop for the children ~ where they had their favourite ~ fishcake and chips ~ and I had.........NOTHING!!! (damn diet!!).

I had lots of plans for yesterday evening and for once I actually felt that I achieved something!
Daniel has to have a shirt and school tie to wear with his uniform for Fridays visit to London ~ and I made sure that he had fresh trousers and shirt and his jumper was pressed ~ his shoes are all cleaned and I think he is ready to go ~ I have told him he wil have to have an early night tomorrow night ~ as the coach for London is leaving his school at 7.30am on Friday morning.

I managed to complete a 2 hour Food handling and hygiene course last night ~ on line ~ so I was pleased that I have got that under my belt! I should have the certificate in a few days which I can display in my kitchen with pride ha ha !!!

I have booked the other courses ~ child protection and another one that is relevant to the new government legislation that covers chidminders ~ called the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). I am going to tackle these 2 next week ~ as they are alot longer and will be more intensive ~ so I will spread them over a few evenings I think. My poor brain has been overworked this past week ~ but unfortunately it has to be done tee hee!!

Tonight I intend to do nothing ~ and I think I will have an evening sitting on the sofa (with my feet up ~ ha ha!), reading and catching up with the blogs that I usually follow ~ I haven't had a chance to check in with everyone recently ~ but I should catch up tonight!!

I have my weigh in later ~ so I will update you with any loss (or not!!) ~ either later on or tomorrow!

Love and Hugs Tabitha XXXXX

NEVER FORGET

Today is Rememberance or Armistice day ~ on this day, 11th November at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th Month of 1918 ~ hostilities of World War 1 were officially ended ~ with the Armistice being signed.



This year marks the 90th Anniversary of the end of World War 1. Here ~ today at 11am we will be holding a 2 minute silence in rememberance of all those men who lost their lives ~ fighting for the freedom that we enjoy every day.


IN FLANDERS FIELD

In Flanders fields the poppies blow,
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing fly,
Scarce heard amidst the guns below.

We are the dead,
Short days ago ~ we lived
felt dawn ~ saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved and now we lie in Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe,
To you from failing hands we throw the torch,
be yours to hold it high,
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep ~
though poppies grow in Flanders fields.

Lt Col John McCrae.