OMG ~ I AM IN LOVE!!!!!!!

A knock at the door this morning brought a parcel full of wonderful all the way from Kentucky!!

A box full of christmas from my dear friend Dani!!!

As you can see ~ the box contained a pair of 'Danis favourites' ~ snuggly fleecey warm and cosy PJ's (which by the way I have on at the moment ha ha ~ it is only almost 3pm tee hee!!!).

Also in the box was a bag of CHOCOLATE AND PEANUT BUTTER LOVE!!!!! ~ actually they are Reeses peanut butter cups ~ which I have read about on other blogs ~ but have never tasted until today!!! WELL ~ OMG I AM IN LOVE!!!!

In the spirit of Christmas and because they have come all the way from the US ~ I thought it only polite that I try one of these confectionary delights .........but I could not stop at just one and ended up eating 5 (I am sooooooo naughty ~ but after 6 months of dieting ~ these were like heaven in an orange packet ~ YUMMY!!!!!).

Thank you so much Dani ~ the PJ's are wonderful ~ I can totally see why you have 42 pairs of PJ bottoms!!!!! The peanut butter cups are to die for ~ my little stars have now all but finished them off ~at my request ~ as they were in great danger of me eating every last one tee hee!!

Your friendship (and that of all my bloggy friends) means the world to me ~ and I hope these friendships will continue for ever more!!!

PS ~ I AM SO TOTALLY LIVING IN THE WRONG COUNTRY ~ WHY ARE THERE NO REESES PEANUT BUTTER CUPS IN THE UK??????

PPS ~ FORGET THAT ~ I WOULD PUT BACK ON EVERY POUND THAT I HAVE LOST IF THERE WERE ~ SO BETTER THERE IS A WHOLE OCEAN BETWEEN ME AND THEM HA HA !!!! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

LET THE HOLIDAYS BEGIN...........

IT IS OFFICIAL!!! The holidays have begun for me and my little stars!!
School is OUT and I have finished work for 2008 ~ YIPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! (I am doing a rather silly dance ~ while sitting in my chair typing this tee hee). Christmas is almost here and we are very excited...........ok ~ by we ~ I actually mean ME!!!!!

I have officially wound down now ~ if I get any more laid back I will fall off the chair!
I am trying not to get stressed about anything ~ not the fact that I have not packed (I HATE PACKING ~ YUCK!! and for that matter I hate unpacking too!!!!!) or the fact that I didn't clean out the fish last night ~ so that still needs doing ~ or the fact that I have no idea where I put the Sat Nav ~ or the portable DVD players for the car ~ or for that matter the car charger for my mobile phone.........................

Anyway ~ as I said ~ no stress here!!

(Goodness knows where the Sat Nav is ~ that could pose a small problem as my Mum has moved house since our last visit and I have ABSOLUTELY no idea where we are going tee hee!!).

Tonight I have decided that I am going to find the cases ~ definitly do the fish and then just relax ........then tomorrow I can panic ~ pack and generally be a
mad woman!

Hopefully I will have everything sorted out by Sunday morning so we can head off to my Mums ~ and then Christmas can begin for real!!

I am taking my laptop along with me ~ so I hope that you will come along to Wales with us.......don't forget your cases and you may need to pack a scarf......aparently it is a little chilly there!!!XXXXX

The Good ~ The Bad ~ And the down right Crazy!!

Today has been one of those strange days ~ that happen every now and again! A bit of a mix of good things, bad things and a small drop of 'crazy' just to keep me on my toes!!

The day started well ~ I have not been working today, so after dropping the children at school ~ I had the day to myself!! I went shopping ~ didn't spend too much ~ but bought myself a much needed new handbag!! My current one is a bit small and a bit battered around the edges ~ so I bought myself a nice new (bigger!!) one ~ so I can now carry even more junk around with me tee hee!!!!!

I met up with one of my friends for lunch and then we went to a new retail park which has opened not far from where we live ~ to look at the new shops!!! I was very boring and visited Halfords ~ to look at the roof boxes for the car ~ I am having a small crisis ~ as we are due to travel to my Mums on Sunday and I am starting to doubt that I will fit Me ~ the Kids and ALL the presents and the luggage in the car!!! SO ~ a roof box may still be needed! They were very reasonable and Halfords will fit them for you ~ I just have to decide whether I can justify the cost for something that may not be used that often!! My other option is to streamline what we are taking ~ or leave the kids here (Tee Hee ~ only joking!!!!).
I have had a really great day ~ and it was much needed ~ I have well and truly started to wind down before christmas ~ and as of 12.30 tomorrow lunchtime ~ I will be officially finished work for 2008 ~ YIPPPPPPEEEEEEE!!

While I was out shopping I had a phonecall from one of the people that I used to childmind for ~ telling me that her husband has left her and their young son (won't go into too much detail here ~ as it is a personal matter!) ~ which made me really sad. It is always sad when a marriage ends ~ under whatever circumstances ~ but a week before Christmas is not a good time ~and with a young child involved ~ it is so hard!! I feel for them both and I hope that they somehow find a way back to what they both once had!! I think that 2008 has held the world record for the amount of couples that I know (married or otherwise!) ~ that have seperated ~ it has not been a good year in that way !

Tomorrow is the last day of school for my two little stars ~ so they have gone into hyperactive overdrive ~ the excitement levels here are unbelievable!! IT IS A TAD CRAZY RIGHT NOW!!
They have both suddenly become soooo excited about Christmas and at one point I thought that they were both going to explode ~ when the excitement got too much!

Lauren always has her hair done in a 'Christmassy' way for the last day of Christmas term ~ so we had a trial run ~ here is her Christmas hair do for 2008!!


Tinsel hairband (bought from Claires accessories ~ not lovingly made by me ~ tee hee!!)

Lauren was suitably impressed ~ so we have to make sure that we recreate the look in the morning!!

I have so much to sort out before we leave on Sunday ~ the first job of the night is to clean out the fish (oh no!!) ~ so I had better go and start that much hated job!

Hope you have had a good day ~ hopefully without the bad and the crazy! XXX

Not quite there......but almost did it!!

Tonight was my last weigh in for 2008 ~ as we are heading off to my Mums on Sunday for Christmas and New Year!! (that is the plan ~ if I ever get packed and sorted out before then ha ha !!).

This week I lost 4lbs ~ which amazed me ~ as it has been slowing down quite a bit recently ~ but with a little extra effort I have managed to lose a total of 5 stone and 1 pound (71 pounds!) ~ which I am pleased with ~ my original goal was to lose 6 stone by christmas (which is 84 pounds) ~ so I almost did it ~ just not quite!!

I intend to ease off ever so slightly now and enjoy the festive season (responsibly tee hee) ~ I am having a total day off on Christmas day ~ that day is a diet free zone ~ but come boxing day I will be back to being careful again ~ there is no way I am going back up the dress sizes again (not if I can help it anyway!!!).

My next weigh in is on 7th Jan ~ and hopefully I will not have done any damage ~ the ideal would be to have stayed the same and not put anything on ~ but time (and a mince pies or two!!!) will tell!!

I haven't been up to much today ~ just busy with the same old stuff really! I have a day off tomorrow so I am looking forward to that sooooo much!!

Best go to bed ~ as it is after midnight and my alarm is set to go off at 6am ~ I will never get up otherwise!! XXX

Shining Memories

The Post Man here has been very busy recently ~ and the other morning he brought 2 more packages ~ one from Bonnie Scotland and one all the way from Down Under!!

In true Tabitha form ~ my camera was totally dead and in need of charging ~ so I couldn't take any photos ~ BUT ~ it is up and running now ~ so here are some pictures of my gorgeous snail mail gifts!

First is my gift from Tania ~ all the way from Australia ~ a gorgeous Christmas tree decoration ~ which is so pretty and has 2008 on it ~ it is a constant reminder of the year that Tania and I 'met' via our blogs and every year when I put it on my tree I will remember this year very fondly. The box that this came in had a sweet verse on it ~ the words are very true in alot of ways ~
" 2008 was a year filled with hopes and dreams, smiles and laughter and, quite possibly a few tears.
Like every year before it, it will live on through the memory of each of its opportunities, challenges and celebrations, large and small.





I also received a christmas box from Amanda in Scotland ~ filled with goodies ~ not just for me, but for my little stars too ~ they were very pleased and loved their gifts!! They send a huge big 'THANK YOU' to Amanda!!

I wasn't going to open my snail mail presents until Christmas day ~ but after visiting the other blogs ~ my curiosity got the better of me ~ so I opened my gift from Elise ~ and it is wonderful ~an Australian tree decoration ~ the kangaroo is so cute ~ carrying his presents!! ~ Thank you soooo much dear Elise!

In my box from Amanda were these two gorgeous tree decorations ~ This star one is very special and the three stars look just gorgeous on the tree!

So sweet ~ thanks again Amanda!!

I love all the tree decorations and when I get the tree out next year ~ I will think of my dear snail mail friends when I am hanging these decorations ~ they are a very special reminder that I will keep forever!! XXX