stuff...

Sam is at the theatre today with the school. They're seeing the Wizard of Oz. I'm dying to know how they are getting along. I'm collecting him & his best friend Harvey from the coach at 5:30 - seems hours away. Sam has a new girlfriend (he's had far too many for a 4 year old). She's called Jessica and they are constantly holding hands - soooo sweet According to Sam she is "beaufitul". Toby is back in his washable nappies now - there are just sooo many cute ones you can buy now..... He had his first major paddy when I dropped Sam off at school. He wanted to stay. I might try him for a morning at pre-school in the new year. There will be no excuse for their slightly cuddly mummy not to get her butt into gear and take up running again....

The sun at last...

You don't mind the school run - even in winter - when the sun shines.

return to fluff

Well we got nowhere with Toby toilet training so we are back on the gorgeous washable nappies. There really is nothing cuter that a fluffy cloth bum - so much nicer (and safer) that those hideous gel filled, land fill choking, plastic ones....

Swine flu.to vaccinate or not to vaccinate?

We are currently being sent letters from our surgery to get the boys vaccinated against swine flu. The trouble is I am not convinced it is a good idea. I can't find anything on the web that is positive that isn't government funded and there is a vast amount against.

A recent robust statistical study estimated that in the non-pandemic years of 1979-2001, seasonal flu killed an average of 41,400 people every year. Swine flu has been active in the US since April, and the death toll, as of 10 July, is 211."

The sceptic in me wonders why we are suddenly vaccinating against a flu that has killed so many less than the ordinary strain.

mmmmmm scrummy...

Time to bake...one chocolate cake for the school Christmas fayre tomorrow.....just got to keep the boys away from it....

Sam is going to be a star in the nativity play - awwww bless!

He had his best friend Harvey over for tea yesterday and was soooo excited. He even woke in the night in tears worried about where his friend was. They had a great time.

It's Halloween!!!!

Daddy has been at the pumpkins again. The boys are seriously impressed......so am I - there's no way I could carve these.....well done Billy xxx

lovely day!

As Daddy was away today on his Harley, the boys and I decided it was time for a big adventure so headed to Dorset. We ended up at Swanage and had breakfast on the beach - we had the beach to ourselves and it was gorgeous. We spent the whole day there - on the swings, seeing the steam trains etc. Lovely time :0)

hoping....

Sam & Toby making sure the chimney will be big enough for Father Christmas and two bicycles....

summer is ending..

The boys & I have had a great time out & about all summer and Sam has started big school which he loves. We spent a week with Granny & Grandad on Anglesey and luckily had some good weather. The boys seemed to have doubled in size and cheekiness....

The Darling Buds of May.

We had a great day yesterday at the Darling Buds of May Classic Car show. I am a big fan of th Darling Buds so it was lovely to see where it was all filmed - what a gorgeous place to bring up children.

next stage

I've just packed up all of my lovely washable nappies as we don't need them anymore :-(

My local Homestart will put them to good use....I'll miss my fluffles.....end of an era....

I've nearly got all Sam's uniform sorted for when he starts big school - I can't believe we're there already. He's had all his taster sessions now and has loved them all...my baby boy is growing up sooo fast.

Busy weekend ahead...

We're all off to Goodwood tomorrow so I can thrash a few classic cars around the track - a present from my darling Hubby....looking forward to the AC Cobra the most.

On Saturday we're off to collect BumbleBee Mini.....going from a bus sized people carrier to a mini should be interesting. It'll be a lot cheaper for a start and we're going for a roof box when we go camping. We've also got all the local fayres inc the Infant School one & we've been invited over to our new neighbours house in the afternoon - there just aren't enough hours this weekend.

On Sunday we're off on our first mini run - meeting up at Winchester and all driving to the Mini Cooper day at Beaulieu......

Birthday Boy!

Toby is 2 today. He got his favourite car from the Roary the Racing Car series - CiCi and was most pleased. Big brother Sam had a lovely day at the Theatre courtesy of the Preschool. Time to go and bake a gooey cake me thinks.....

another milestone...

Sam came into our room last night saying he wanted a pee......then announced that he was no longer going to wear a nappy to bed! My big boy......

We're back on the house hunt again. Hubby found a perfect place right on the edge of the New Forest - lovely garden - huge kitchen - naturally it sold before we even had chance to make an offer.

We definitely need a bigger garden so its all fun and games again....I just want to be settled somewhere before Sam starts school in September. Keep everything crossed.

Feeling blue...

Feeling rather melancholy today after reading Infertil Myrtles latest post....I so know how she feels.. :0(((

I hope with all my heart she gets one of these soon......

What a gorgeous Easter!

We drove up to Anglesey to stay with my parents and had the most perfect weather the whole time. We even managed a day on the beach at Trearddur Bay which was stunning. We also had a lovely day out with Granny at Penrhyn Castle. The boys had their first proper easter egg hunt on the sunday - far too much chocolate was consumed by all..

Gorgeous Sam at the Zoo for his birthday......

So fast...

My big boy is 4 today :0)

We were woken up at silly o'clock so all piled on the bed to open cards & presents. His favourite by far is the motorbike his Granny got for him.

We went to get some new shoes this morning, he's at a friends party with his Dad now and we're all off for a picnic at the zoo tomorrow.

Toby & I have just been stuffing Arctic roll in the garden - talk about 70's retro food...

Playing easter bunnies...

re-think...

Seriously considering not going down the Social Work route now. I feel since I have children of my own now I won't be detached enough...probably end up killing some vile excuse for a human being who abuses their own kids :-(

Anyway am thinking the Social Policy & Criminology degree looks seriously interesting...thankfully the course I'm on now (Health & Social Care) counts towards both so still time to make my mind up.

Had a Governors meeting last night and they'd decided to buy all 300+ students easter eggs - great - apart from the attitude of most of them when I suggested getting ones without excessive & ridiculous packaging on. You'd think I'd suggested they have broccoli instead the look I got from one woman. gggrrrrr

Spring has surely come...

Boys in the garden....

Earn that brekkies...

Well as usual the boys were up at silly o'clock so we all got dressed and went over to Droxford for a lovely early morning walk in the mist & early sunshine. We found a lovely track that took us past the church, across numerous streams (lots of pooh sticks), through some woods and back through the village. The boys had a great time and so did Mummy & Daddy. Got home nice and hungry for a proper bacon buttie & a bucket of tea..."perfeck" as Pa Larkin would say ;-)

Had a lovely morning at Mottisfont Abbey....

not enough time....

There really aren't enough hours in the day...even tho the boys are up between 5-6 every morning. I find it hard to get enough time for my OU course - it's an ongoing battle. Especially now I'm working 3 evenings / week for Hants Police. Its good to be using the brain cells once again :0)))))

Boys are mad as ever and growing at a ferocious speed. Sam announced that he didn't need to watch cartoons as he has a willy to play with...OMG...and Toby is still in training to be a child stunt man....

Good news the pre-school is saved - although now in a new location.The best bit is it's 50yrds from my door.

Darling Husband is currently downstairs building a window seat for the bay..mmmm well the boys have learnt some interesting new words this morning.....

A weight off my shoulders....

We have decided to take the house off the market and stay here for at least another 5 years then re-assess. I really want the boys to feel settled in these early years and the local schools are so good. I love my little bumble bee cottage - I just miss a decent bit of coastline so we'll have to have more days driving to the seaside.

In about 5 years hubby will probably want to retire from his current position and I should be nicely qualified to start working again in a new career - we'll just swap roles and also be in a position to look for a house where we want instead of where my husband's job dictates.

Big sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :0)

http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/

Love this site.....

Unclean....

We are the germy family. I somehow got a nasty throat infection which required antibiotics - not a happy bunny. Now the boys have been ill. Both ends and both at the same time. It's Toby's first experience of being ill and he was so good bless him. Thankfully all is now passing and my boys are back to full mischief mode.

I went to my first school governors meeting last week - interesting bunch. The jury's out on the headmistress - will keep an open mind for now. I'm starting to do some work for the Police next week. Just 3 nights for a few months.

We got a few days of snow - lovely...just cold wet rain now - roll on the summer.

It's all kicking off...

There is a right who haar going on in the village at the moment. The pre-school were told to vacate the infant school for a week due to there being a mice problem..trouble is while they were out they were told that they couldn't come back. For the last week the pre-school has been held in the village hall and its likely it might have to close after decades. It would seem there is a long running dispute going on. I am not amused - Sam loves it there and I had Toby's name down too. We moved here because of being able to walk to the schools - the nearest is miles away. There's a meeting in the village hall tomorrow - watch this space.

I've started the OU degree course - really good so far. About to submit my first essay - will be interesting to see the response.

On the down side - I'm 40 tomorrow - where has all that time gone??????

Reading an interesting book at the moment called Gentle discipline - its very similar to what we do now but there are some good tips.

where will we go next????

We survived Christmas - in fact it was lovely - the boys thought it was magical. Just the 4 of us then we went up to Anglesey to visit family & friends.
Toby is now in his big boy bed - I managed to get a lovely boat one in a sale on Christmas day online - a real bargain - he loves it.
We have been having major discussions about the move to Anglesey and I think we've finally agreed its not for us. The schools are a major let down and it wouldn't feel like home if we don't own the property. We are now considering going back to Dorset or Cornwall - somewhere nice and remote hopefully. We still have this place to sell so aren't going to look seriously until we have an offer.

Looking forward to the springtime now - getting fed up of all this cold, wet weather.....