HAPPY NEW YEAR

To all my friends and family i wish you all A HAPPY NEW YEAR Last post temlplate courtesy of http://www.fasteddiesbullet.com/

This Year !!!!!!

1. What did you do in 2004 that you’d never done before? went to New York by myself to see one of my oldest friends.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I didn’t make any to break
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No I didn’t know anyone .so I have had no new babies to hold this year
4. Did anyone close to you die? A friend of mines wife died of cancer a week before Christmas.
5. What countries did you visit? I have had a good year, Belgium,states,Holland,France.
6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004? Some money would be nice and some good luck.
7. What dates from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
May 9th jamie became a teenager (and didn’t we know it)
April 21st mine and Andys anniversary 14yrs
August 25th we got Bruno

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? My pal Len setting up my blog and Andy teaching me to keep up with it and using the computer more ( hooray for me as I have)
9. What was your biggest failure? I don’t think I have failed at anything this year not that I can think of
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I got the horrific flu bug that took me 2 months to get over
11. What was the best thing you bought? the plane ticket to New York and Bruno
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Andy he has now become a dab hand at the ironing , I can’t remember the last time I did any.Lessons on cooking this year…
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? a kid who made jamie’s life hell for a while
14. Where did most of your money go? On trying to get a date with George Clooney.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Definitely going to New York
16. What song will always remind you of 2004? Feel so good…Atomic Kitten( stephanie has constantly sung it)
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier b) thinner or fatter? Thinner
c) richer or poorer ? poorer
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Had more money so we could have done more with the kids
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Work all I do is work , having three jobs .
20. How will you be spending Christmas? At home with my family having the best time
21. Did you fall in love in 2004? I fall in love every year I am just not telling you who with.
22. How many one-night stands? Don’t do one night stands( two maybe?)
23. What was your favorite TV program? Spooks although the best are either dying or leaving.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? I don’t do hate it takes up to much time..
25. What was the best book you read? I feel sorry for myself this Year I haven’t read a book .
26. What was your greatest musical discovery? Stephanie loving Meatloaf and singing it so loud with me in the car.
27. What did you want and get? Andy atcually bying me something sexy….
28. What did you want and not get? A lottery win.
29. What was your favorite film of this year? “Shrek 2,Blade trinity ( those muscles , to die for)
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Went out to dinner with friends, I was 41yrs( but you wouldn’t know it) HA HA
31.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Meeting with old friends in Belgium when Andy and I were there…..
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004? Hip mum so my teenage son’s friends say…
33. What kept you sane? Walking my dogs first light in the morning with the morning dew.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Get real George Clooney of course
35. What political issue stirred you the most? The us election I was there the week before
36. Who did you miss? Family and friends I have lost..
37. Who was the best new person you met? ”Amelie” Samanthas little girl when I went and stayed with them in the states.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004. Do not bottle things up …. Just let them out.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Tonight you are mine completely, you give your love so sweetly, tonight the light of love is in your eyes, but will you love me tommorow,is this a lasting treasure or just a moments pleasure,. Can I believe the magic of your smile, will you still love me tommorow.This is for Andy and the kids.

tv

Andy and i have looked long and hard at the tv papers tonight and cannot find a thing to watch.... so kids come to the rescue, they got at least 25 new dvd's for Christmas. We helping them along to make sure they are suitable of course, will be watching King Arhtur tonight.
A bit of Keira knightly for Andy to drool over and well for me i'm sure there will be some hunk of a man in there somewhere. It really comes down to something when we have to blag from the kids to find something to watch but hey we bought most of them.......

We are so patiently waiting for our bones that Father Christmas left us

Bruno looking cute with the frisbie, i am such a clever little pup....

Bruno giong in to steal Tysons bone on Christmas day, they got one each but the other one's always taste better

the boys

The boys have enjoyed Christmas, bones on Christmas Day, extra walks and Andy being home while i have to go back to work.
The great thing about dogs is their love for you is total. As i walk through the door every time i have two beautifull beasts run at me, each trying to get to me first with their tails wagging like crazy( well bruno's does poor Tyson only has a stump).They give me so much pleasure like the kids they fight they play, you know when they are happy,moody and sad.
I have actually got Andy out with me quite a few times while he has been home and it has been so much fun. a thing we can either do with the kids or as a family, all six of us together.

the boys on their christmas walk with us, they had great fun chasing the kids on the bikes, what a great way to spend the afternoon. Christmas at it's best......

Me on christmas walk, down by the beach sitting on the benchwith the sun on my face feeling a very lucky mum.....

the big surprise

The folding of the dustsheet to reveal the bikes, one word to desribe their faces......

priceless.

It is not often that you manage to get this sort of photo ,but their presents which they each chose and paid for themselves presented this reaction from both of them . A memory i will cherish.

here are my two great children Jamie and Steph on Christmas morning in front of the tree.

Merry Christmas

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas....
The kids have been great ,they did not get us up too early, they fed the dogs and Andy and I came down about 8am. The customary coffee and into the lounge we go ....
Their faces were the pictures of delight as they open their presents, I had got it right for yet another year. the best was to come . We had got them their new bikes and were safely hidden under a dust shheet at the back of the lounge,all the presents were at the top end so they didn't even notice. When all were unwrapped and happily put upstairs, we call them down,

Mum....Jamie,Steph come downstairs a minute.
Steph..... Ok just coming.
Jamie....Ok just coming.
Dad...... Ok you two can you please fold up that dustsheet for me.
(jamie and steph grab the cover and start to pull.
Jamie......Oh wow you got the one i wanted.....
Steph........You got it '''''you got it jumping up and down.
Well the heart of mine fills with emence joy as i have given the two people i love most in the world (exept Andy) the gifts most wanted.

I shall post photos later when Andy gets back as he has just taken Jamie's godfather to the airport.

on the eve of Christmas

Well i have been to work and have now finished, i can now relax for 4 days.
I have come home to find house completely tidy ironing done by fantastic husband, kids have hoovered and dusted , cleaned bedrooms and walked dogs...Me i come home and do all the veg and make 2 coffee cakes, 3 apple crumbles, cook the turkey and so we have had take out tonite , kids have just gone to bed .
Andy and i can now have our time it,s 9pm and we can sit down have a quiet drink and wait for the quiet of sleeping children..It will be a quick dash up the attic fill the sacks bring the present bags down, give santa his treat . This year he has an extra special one , when i went to the states i bought back 2 very large hershey mugs with marshmallows in them along with hot chocolate and also a bar of chocolate. so just before bed when it is nice and still we shall sit down and indulge. and wait for the merry sound of santas sleigh......

Everybody have a great Christmas ..... Oh and don't forget to put the stockings out...........

The boys

Bruno has now seemed to have well and truly turned into his cheeky phase.He is worse than any of the kids were of taking things he shouldn't.While on blogging tonight i left a pen on the side table . Out of the corner of my eye( which mums become very good at doing) he carefully sneaks up , leans over the side and quicky runs for it . Me chasing behind him saying :..... give.
He can now leap from standing at least 3ft, this is bad news and so the Christmas tree is now well of the floor.....the worst thing is Tyson seems to be teaching him all the tricks so yes we have it in full force ...Double Trouble or Little and Large as they are now being called....if it has stopped raining i shall try and post a photo tommorow of my little leathel weapon.....

nearly there

Life has nearly returned to normal in our house, the kids have broken up from school, sleepovers have started , Andy has just about broken up from work and i finish 1pm on Christmas eve.
I can safely say i am now ready, all i have to get is the fruit and veg and that will be done at a godforsaken time on Thursday morning. Andy will go with me his contribution to Christmas, the fun will be getting him up at 5am, mind you i am hoping tesco will be availiable for a cooked brekfast at that time.
I am now getting into the spirit of Christmas although it seems to have taken a lot longer this year, is this becaus the kids are getting older and it becomes a little less magical , or is it because we know how much it is costing us as they get older and the presants wanted are so much more expensive. It is a good job i am easy to please,the best part of Christmas is still seeing their faces as they open up something that they really wanted and as good as Father Christmas is at getting it for them.......
I make a great Father Christmas...........

Steph ready for Xmas disco

i have my house back

Oh how i am in bliss tonight, My parents finally went home this morning, please don't get me wrong i love them both dearly but they have been with me since 1st November. I came home from work and yes there was the best sound.....( there was no sound) peace. There was however lots of tidying up to do, unfortunately they left at 7.30am, i had already left for work so i came home and had to tidy up.
I can now plan for Christmas... yipee!!!!!!!!!. The only bad news is my car broke down again. The alternater siezed and caused the fan belt to snap.Me and stef on the way to the disco, suddenly no lights, no indicater, pitch black and stops in the road. My luck seems to be very thin on the ground at the moment, still we ran round to the disco and i wait for the good old RAC, an hour later he arrives . Meanwhile my knight in shining armour arrived to keep me company(andy) and stopped me from getting cold while waiting.Bless him he again went with the Rac leaving me his car to then go and get Stef,I just think as my dad has been borowing my car he has cursed it, still the mechanic comes tommorow to fix it. I hate cars.............

just about ready

I am now just about ready for Christmas. The decorations are up at last inside and out.I have wrapped and bagged up all the presants,cards have been sent and the hand delivered ones are ready to go.
The parents are now leaving on thursday, so it shall be all systems go and finish getting the house ready for friends visiting and then on Christmas eve i finish work so i can finally relax.I love Chrismas normally but festivities have been a bit slow starting in my house this year. The kids break up from school on Friday so the fun should start then.
Stephanie has a school disco Wednesday night and new outfit has been bought, It is quite frightening how much girls seem to grow up nowadays, I would never have been allowed to wear what she is, and Nanny showed her dissaproval when seeing it on along with the boots which were way to high according to her. It is very hard trying to explain that is what kids are wearing today. I shall post a pic after Wednesday. But hey i think she looks cute......and at the end of the day i'm mum and what i says goes.

i hate colds

My house at the moment is full of colds, luckily the kids don't get them to badly as they get free flu jabs along with Andy. Me i would have to pay for mine as i don't suffer from asthma. So here i am snivlling away and spluttering, but still carrying on with all the motherly duties i have to perform.
I am now back at work but wish i hadn't ,so far i have managed to tear some of my stitches so i shall have to take it a bit easier,(Not in a mothers nature ) but i shall try. The stitches come out Friday and then i can have terry stitches for another 10 days. Roll on theday when i can fully stretch my arm again.
The parents are still here and so i am desperately trying to get into Christmas mood. The kids are trying to get me to put up the decorations, so with a bit of help from the crowd i shall endevour to that this weekend....

i was brave

I had my operation on tuesday and am pleased to say it went ok. I had to have a slightly larger cut than orinally planned but it was not to bad. I was not looking forward to the fact of only having a local anesthetic but i survived, i just turned my head away so i didn't have to watch.
I am now a bit sore and can have my stitches out in 10days , then i will have to have sutcher stitches for another 10days. The only good thing is i won't have to lift anything to heavy at work which is a big plus, hopefully i can just do most of the switchboard for my shift. Still i shall go back on Monday and see how it goes. ON top of all this i have Andy home with a cold, me with a cold and i shall now wait for the kids to get it so we are a fun household at the moment.

another week

This week has flown by yet again with no peace . The parents are still here with no sign off them going home as yet. Don't get me wrong you love your parents to bits but their does not seem one room to escape to. Andy and i have found the only safe haven is the bedroom. ( pretty good some would say, but no not really).
So far we have had 3 weeks of visiting and words are sometimes a little strained but as in most cases i would think this would be pretty normal.The kids are now finding it a little hard , we are the parents and they are the grandparents but at times this seems to be a little confusing........
I was looking forward to next week , i am going in for a minor op on tuesday and was looking forward to the nice quiet break at home by myself. " No " i shall now have them at home with me so wish me luck, i think the bedroom will be my second home. I have now decided i need a bigger house....4 adults,2 kids and 2 dogs were not meant to be in a 3 bedroom house. Stepanie was lucky she managed to escape Friday night and Saturday she went for a sleepover at a friends , so if anyone wants me i could do with one to.
I shall now escape with the dogs for a walk,. There is no peace exept with them and wish me and Andy luck.

customers

Today you could definately tell we are getting near Christmas. I work on what we call front of house, which is where we sort out any customer problems, goods returns and registrations.
Let me help you out a bit i work for a large wholesalers called Makro in England and Metro in other countries, Well every 2 weeks we have what we call a makro mail , This is a magazine with all special offers in it, at even more discounted prices.
It seemed today that the devil has just been unleashed in very irate customers, unfortunately suppliers let us down or people just get there too late and either the goods have sold out or not been delivered.You would think from grown- ups that being totally rude and abusive would not happen ,but boy did we get it today. it seems a sad day when people feel that they have to swear at you when you don't have what they want, and the more you stay calm and try and help them the worse they seem to get.
I have decided that people should start their Christmas shopping earlier and then think of the poor people like me that have to put up with them ,When what they want isn't in stock.
So to end up please spare a thought for the staff at Christmas who are just trying to do their job.

I hate rain

Today was one of those days when the weather can't make up it's mind, it has drizzled all day , cold i can stand but i wish it would either pour or just not bother.
Stephanie decided today we had to go to town to spend her birthday money. I dutifully collared Andy to come as i wanted to finish the christmas shopping and for the last 15years it has been down to me to do. I told him at some point on our jaunt it was 10 years , but he soon pointed out .
Andy.... how long have we been married?.
Me..... 15 years , why?
Andy.......so it's not 10 then is it.
Me no you are right .That just makes it worse, plus i only have to buy 2 presents.
We got the last 2 presents and so as per usual i am totally finished by the 1st of December.....
Stephanie was happy she bought what she wanted, so we trundled home and then i took the dogs out and got even wetter.

This is Andy while we were in Brussels , he is doing his map reading as we decided to do our own exploring.After promising no rugby this weekend , notice the scarf...Swing low sweet charriot england rugby.....ptui.

Andy and i on our horse and carriage ride. A definate must if you get the chance.

our trip

Andy and i had a great weekend away, The weather was really cold but at least it didn't rain.
We stayed in Brussels and had a great time , we have decided we liked it so much we have booked to go back in April for our 15th wedding anniversary.Poor len is still crook so we didn't manage to meet up this time, i could have done with his help at our evening meal , Andy was no help at all and i ended up eating horse (Yuck) this was such a big sin for me as i am a qualifed riding instructor and have grown up with horses all my life.Luckily i did not like the taste and had only eaten a small amount.
A double pudding was ordered to get the taste away.
I was counting up all my trips this year and feel quite the little jetsetter, I have been to Brussels, Bruge, Sluise, weekends away in Leamington Spa,Alton Towers and last a week in New York. I think i have used all my trips up now, i will just have to start planning next year now.

mum is arriving

Tommorow i have now found out my mum arrives......So doing what we do the house has to be ship shape , the kids are groanong as they know i like the house just right for visitors, especially when it is your mum.......it seems funny, but however old we get we still get unerved when the parents visit. you seem to want to show them you can cope with life , keep house and have tidy and polite children......
Andy despairs every time my mum comes, he has said " you become jeckle and hyde in one, everything in it's place and make sure you put everything away" I can't help it it's my mum staying. MY dad happily arrived last week on an open ticket so i think my mum will as well.
Luckily for Andy and i we are escaping for the w/end over to Brussels and Bruge we are so looking forward to it, we are hopeing to meet up with some old friends on sunday night , but at the moment are a little bit crook so we wish you a speedy recovery and hope you will make it.
Meanwhile i must get back to house cleaning and tidy..

Puppy class

Bruno is now in his 5th week of puppy training classes, we are doing very well now, exept for the slight slip up of last week. This was mainly due to the fact of me being away for a week and of course we did not practise.
Terry who is our instructor and said in fun with a smile on his face.... we didn't practise last week did we tracey........of course i didn't... i was not at home to do anything.
I felt as if we should be better than the rest of the folks that go there, this is because Tyson is in the top class and me i have trained one dog to show level i should of course be so much better with Bruno. It's amazing how much you forget , but i am back up in control again and we have done our exercises each night . When we go Thursday, i shall hopefully shine in terry's eyes again and pup and i will get everything right.

the boys won again

Today the lads had a rugby match in Baisingstoke. The day started off ok , boys got up early , i had the dogs out and we were ready to go at 8.30.We got all the way to baisingstoke club unloaded the car and then disaster struck. A very few 4 letter words were said by Andy .......... WE ... NO .... HE had forgotten the team strip.........Disaster in every sense of the word. Well me being the super human person and mum that i am, get bravely into the car and sped at full pelt back down the motorway to fetch the shirts.
My poor car was not built to be driven at such high speeds and of course i'm not going to tell you how fast i actually went. But i arrived with shirts and team photo was taken in all their glory as yet our wonderfull lads had another great victory... It wasn't by a massive amount but we did it , so well done the under 14's of EASTLEIGH RUGBY CLUB.Me i shall enjoy this evening as Andy has a lot of sucking up to do, Although i may just forgive him as he bought me a lovely bunch of flowers yesterday .. Thanks sweetheart.......

sleepover or not

Stephanie had her birthday sleepover last night. First things first we did the bargin bucket of KFC followed by choc sundae. We then had the girlie dvd.(confessions of a teenage drama queen)the girls all had sparklers and then tried to get them into sleep mode at 10.30pm. No such luck, i eventually got them to sleep at 3.3oam. Boy was i knackered this morning, me i was up at 7am take dogs for a walk and then the girls surfaced at about 8.30.
I was going to be really mean and wake them all up to go for a walk with me but being the softie i am , they got away with it. We then finished off with a rtip to the flicks to see Princess Diaries 2. What a great girlie film and was just as good as the first.
The girls decided it was a good party. Me i shall try and recover tonight,Jamie has his mate staying tonight as they have a rugby match in Baisingstoke tommorow, so as usual i am back at home with a full house of kids and no lie inn.
Poor Andy my first week back , the house full of kids , my Dad arrived , and now my Mum arrives on the 12th.No peace in this household for a while.........

David and Amelie getting the pumpkins.

See ...... I got to shop at "Tiffany's :) (but they didn't serve breakfast)

Samantha and i on our last night

me on the ferry.

Amelie and i on our way to The Statue Of Liberty

NEW YORK

ok folks here is a quick run down of my trip and places i managed to visit.

1. The Statue Of Liberty and Ellis Island.......out of this world but could not believe the security we had to go through to get to see it.
2. The Empire State Building......What fantastic views across the city, a sight definately not to be missed.
3. Central park...What can i say all those lovely coloured trees.
4.Ground Zero... A very eerie place but glad i went, it still has a melted girder made into a cross on the site where the towers were.
5.Little Italy, China Town,5th Ave,Broadway,Times Square,etc.
6. I even went up on a rooftop on 5th ave and looked on the street below, what a sight that was.
7.We went to Trump tower and even had our photo taken with Kevin who is in the second series of The Apprentice, YES I MET SOMEONE WHO IS A LITTLE FAMOUS, what a really nice
guy.
8We did the subway and didn't get lost,it was just so good for Samantha and David to take me to all the places i wanted to see. The shopping was fantastic and bought lots of goodies home for the kids and Andy,even more so for me,i must admit the wardrobe is now a bit fuller and with some new handbags to match.
What is a girl to do when she visits a shopping haven like that ,but shop, i also just happened to swan into tiffany and co, and of course just had to buy a wee something, which unfortunately set off the security alarms at the airport, and had to have my bag all searched .BUT hey it was worth it.Oh yes and jammy me got upgraded into club class.Little old me next to all the buisiness men, gosh did i feel important.
So all to say now is a very big thankyou to Samantha ,David and Amelie for giving me such a fantastic week and i shall be popping back in 2006. Also thanks to a great hubby for looking after everything at home for me and for buying my ticket to go. A big hug and kiss to all of you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to stephanie she has turned 10 today.I can't believe that i gave birth to her 10 years ago, how time has flown by in those years. I have decided that i seem to be getting older, i now have two kids in double figures.
We now have to wait untill Friday when 4 of her friends will be decending on our house for a sleepover and then to the flicks on saturday. She has decided that we will be going to see princess diary's 2 a real girlie film for me to sit through" OH WHAT FUN BEING A MUM".
so my blog of New York will have to wait. Stephanie just had to come first she has been a wonder growing up and gave me such a hard time when i was carrying her, she is so lucky to be here having originally carrying twins and losing one she has allways been so special and is the shining light in our house. So sweetheart happy 10th birthday.

I have returned

I am back safe and sound from my trip to New York .i am still trying to catch up with everything so hopefully i shall get on and do my blog tommorow night and you can see what a fantastic time i had.

new york

Well folks the time has come, I'm on the 8.50am flight tommorow morning to New York to see my very good friend Samantha and family.This is just a quick note as i will have to be up at 3am to catch the 4am coach up to Heathrow.
The last time i saw Samantha was at her wedding in Chicago where i did a quick jaunt over just for the weekend so i could go.
The house is all set ready for me to leave, the hopefully capable Andy in charge of dogs and kids, the freezer is full and most of the washing done.He has full instructions of what to do, but knowing him the house will still run like clockwork. The kids, he is fine with ,the dogs i'm not to sure, Tyson is still poorly and we have had several more visits to the vet, more tablets and more money,hopefully with the new prognosis he should now be on the mend, with another visit due when i get back.
So its time to sign off and get a little sleep before the adventure begins so i will see you all in a week unless i can manage to do a quick blogg from the states.

Wey hey we won

What a great day we had today, the lads actually won a game of rugby today. It was a perfect morning the sun was shining and all the lads decided today was the day they were going to win.
Well if you knew our track record (non existant) today was exeptional. Last year it took all of the season and on the very last match they won. So we are allready 5weeks into the season and although we have scored at least one try against the other teams , we have basically been hammered.
Andy was going to take this season off from being coach but unfortunately he has had to go back to coaching this team. I am not sure if they did it for him, or for themselves but i know in my household tonight there is one happy father and son . Andy was more happy as the club we played was his old rugby club and the one that finished his career. So with a big smile on my face as a proud mum of the winning team i end my blog tonight.

one week to go

I only have one week to go before my trip to New York to see my friend Samantha.I also saw my friend Chris who goes back to sea next week. I shall not see him again for another six months, but have been given orders to give Samantha a big hug from him when I see her next week.These are two of my friends who I have told you about before way back in the nautical college days as well as Len who Andy and are hoping to get together with next month.
Samantha has given me my list as to what she wants me to bring over, so tommorow i shall do a quick stint to the shops to get packets of fruit gums and fruit pastills,custard powder,dolly mixtures etc.It doesn't seem to be , however long you have lived out of the country you still can't beat some things that are British.

Wisdom

An old farmer in Florida had owned a large farm for several years.
He had a large pond in the back, fixed up nice; picnic tables, horseshoe courts, and some apple and peach trees.
The pond was properly shaped and fixed up for swimming when it was built. One evening the old farmer decided to go down to the pond, as he hadn't been there for a while, and look it over. He grabbed a five gallon bucket to bring back some fruit.
As he neared the pond, he heard voices shouting and laughing with glee.
As he came closer he saw it was a bunch of young women skinny-dipping in his pond.
He made the women aware of his presence and they all went to the deep end of the pond.
One of the women shouted to him, "We're not coming out until you leave!"
The old man frowned, "I didn't come down here to watch you ladies swim naked or make you get out of the pond naked." Holding the bucket up he said, "I'm here to feed the alligator."

Moral: Old age and cunning will triumph over youth and enthusiasm every time.

The boys

Here are the two boys Bruno the new pup and Tyson the big lad, as you can see poor Tyson now has to share the bed.

Steph and the boys

Here is Stephanie with new addition Bruno and Tyson again fighting for the bench.

EDJAMACATION (Learning with Popeye)

i am just learning how to put photos on my blog and steph got jealous so here is one of her at sports day

jamie and tyson

jamie and tyson sharing the bench, this was taken in the summer, Tyson loves the sun and you have to be quick if you want to get a space.

MY TRIP

It is now only 16 days untill i go to New York for the week, I haven't seen my friend Samantha since last April when i went to Chicago for the wedding.She now has a little girl called Amelie who was born in July. It will be great to see them again and i can't wait for the girlie shopping trips,maybe a bit of sight seeing, but definately the shops.
Poor Andy has got the week off to look after the kids and the dogs. I think he is quite looking forward to this, exept for the dog part,don't get me wrong he does love the dogs but i am the main person for walks and feeds and so on. I think Jamie will be doing rather a lot of walking that week. I was very helpfull when picking my time to go, i chose 1/2 term so the kids will be at home, at least most of the clubs they go to wiil be on hols too, no school runs etc, the down side of course the dreaded doorbell will never stop ringing as the rest of their friends are off too. I no doubt, will think of Andy while i am off happily visiting whithout a housefull of kids.

four stages in life

I think this is fun so i thought i would give you my version

Four stages of life
------------------
1...you start off believing in Santa.
2...You don't believe in Santa.
3...You are Santa.
4...You look like Santa.

It is one of the ways to look at life. On another note my lovely hubby Andy has now after much nagging has worked out how to put a photo on my blog, so with baited breath i shall try and nag him tommorow night and get him to teach me.No doubt with my womanly ways i shall win.

This is my Husband, Andy. Taken on a recent trip to Brugee

great truths of kids

1....No matter how hard you try ,you cannot baptise a cat.
2...When your mum is mad at your dad, do not let her brush your hair.
3...If your sister hits you, don't hit back.They always catch the second person.
4...Never ask your 4yr old brother to hold a tomatoe.
5...You can't trust dogs to watch your food.
6...Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
7...Never hold a dust-buster and a cat at the same time.
8.You can't hide a piece of brocoli in a glass of milk.
9...Don't wear polks dot knickers under white shorts.
10..The best place to be when you are sad is nanny or grandads lap.

I had such a bad week last week that my mate Doug sent me lots of these , so sorry but i shall inflict them on you.

Great truths about growing old

1... Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.

2...Forget the health food. I need all the preseravatives i can get.

3... When you fall down,you wonder what else you can do while you are down there.

4...You are getting older when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair,as you did from a roller coaster.

5...It's frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bother to ask you.

6...Time is a great healer, but a lousy beautician.

7...Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.
..

my promise

My washing has now arrived and Andy true to his word has now plumbed it in and the first load is going strong.I was very good i did make him a cup of coffee when he got in, and then he got to work.He is still on his promise of the take out tonight plus a dvd that i got today.He is now looking at me with that smile on his face so i think a little more is asked for (but that is for us to know).
Jamie's cough is now much better and Stephanie has returned from her school trip with lots of lovely dirty clothes,She went camping with the school for a couple of nights, it was such a shame as the weather has been lousy and the poor kids had to stay in tents , so you can imagine the state she has come back in. I can see all this weekend will be washing and ironing (well Andy ironing) i get the better deal.Then on Sunday Jamie has another rugby match and so 22 shirts will be arriving home to be lovingly washed and ironed ready for the next one.Lets hope they win this weekend as last weelend they got duly thrashed.

Another visit

Tyson and i had our 2nd visit to the vets tonight ,he was such a brave boy again.The vet who was actually quite dishy went all soppy on him and did the first blood test then decided he needed more, so in he went again, the trouble was he could not get enough so had to shave Tysons other leg and get some blood from that one. I have now got a poor dog with 2 shaved legs and another bill of £150.00.
TO help matters poor Jamie is now off school with the flu, he had his flu injection and guess what........ Yep he now has it, i think i have now had my three things go wrong for this week.
1....washing machine breaks.
2.... Tyson.
3....Jamie home from school.

Tommorow the new machine arrives so i am off work for the day ,hopefully Andy will finish work early then he can plumb that in, and i will treat him to an indian that wiil keep him happy, not what he commented a few days back.If that doesn't work i will promise him something for later on............but that would be telling!!!!!!!!.

vets visit

I got home today from work only to find Tyson quite happily nibbling away at himself. I know he does not have fleas as his regulary treated for these,so on closer inspection his poor paws were red raw and he had also had a good old go at his front leg.
Off to the vets we trot Bruno as well , he could be weighed as he hasn't been done in over a week.Well my big boy was very brave as he is not to fussed with these sort of visits, we have to go back tommorow for blood tests, we were prescribed antibiotics.were given stronghold again and the vet wanted to give him a steriod injection but has told me to wait for that tommorow as it may not help with the blood test.
£88.00 pounds later i leave the vets with a thought of having to pay £100.00 for the blood test and more for his injectionon the next visit.It is a good job i love my dogs and have them both insured,still i am not looking forward to the thought of what the vet is going to find next or what tests he is hoping to do.I am one of these people who loves animals and cannot stand the thought of one being in pain or being mis-treated. Good news though Bruno got a clean bill of health......

trying to get a washing machine

We have not had a good time since Sunday, after putting my last load of washing on guess what, Yep my good old faithfull washer gave up the ghost. Andy and Jamie were in the Isle Of Wight at their rugby match, I had nothing no spin, wash or anything exept the lights going on. Despair soon set in , i cannot be without a washing machine it is evey mothers nightmare.
I did a quick dash up to the electrical store which after trying to purchase new one which promised a 2-4 working day delivery turned out to be 4 four weeks later.ME NOT AMUSED...... After speaking to managers and then there head office i pointedly told them to take a runnig jump. "-4 days was not 4 weeks.
Another quick dash Monday with Andy in tow we go to currys where i find new washing machine to be delivered Friday, now i have to take a day off unpaid to get machine delivered.Bless my neighbour for coming to my rescue and doing some washing for me today.
Meanwhile the smaller bits keep piling up, still if fingers croosed i shall be up and running by Saturday morning as long as my lovely hubby will work his majic and plum it in for me Friday night.( will tempt him with an indian) that should do the trick.......

the weekend

This is not going to be relaxing, on saturday morning i have to go and clean a three piece suite. Andy has taken Jamie and his friend Stephen to a Quinns rugby game. Steph and i at about 4pm have to go and pick her friend Amy up who is staying the night. We also have Stephen staying as all the boys are off to the Isle Of Wight tommorow for a rugby match. Jamie and Stephen are playing but guess what i have the day off from going.
The worse thing about Sunday will be that i have to be up by6am to get them all up as they have to be on the 8pm ferry. Still i don't have to go to the club to do kit ...Hooray.... it has been so hectic i have'nt even managed to watch Jamie train as yet.
Stephanie has a T/kwando exam at 4pm tommorow she will be going for her red tag belt so we will have to wait till wednesday night to find out if she has passed.
I also have to go to work tommorow night at 5pm, we are doing our anual stocktake which is a major bummer, so yet again no weekend for me, i think there is something wrong with my life.Still i will get paid extra for it which will be great as i have just booked our hols for next year 10 lovely relaxing days in the sun. Some friends of ours have a flat in spain so we are of to stay there.

What a woman says

;-Cmon....... this place is a mess. You and i need to clean up.Your trousers etc are on the floor and you'll have no clothes if we don't do the laundry now.....

What a man hears.......

:- Cmon blah blah blah. You and i blah blah blah. On the floor blah blah blah. No clothes Blah blah blah Now

How does this compare to your house!.........

mine is not quite that bad but it is nearly getting that bad .... HINT, HINT, xxxx

happy birthday

today is Andy's 41st birthday so with a big wet kiss happy birthday sweetheart.
I had yesterday and today off work as i needed some re-coupe time. all i want to do is sleep at the moment.Anyway getting back on track i made Andy's birthday cake yesterday his favourite (coffee cake) i decided to wait till the kids got home and would get them to decorate it. They did great and we decided to surprise him with it today....... BIG MISTAKE mouth allmighty steph decides dad having been in the door all of 2 minutes said.... OH dad we have made you your birthday cake do you want to see it. Well my face said it all so Andy has told me..Don't tell a 9yr old girl to keep a secret. So the cake i lovingly made yesterday is no surprise today , but hey at least he got one and will be well tucked into tonight when he gets in from work.Also note to self do not tell steph to keep any secrets.....

School pick up

Today being wednesday is normally a good day but i forgot i had extra kids to pick up from school and with it being a lovely sunny afternoon i decided i would take the dogs out, Well it was so nice up the field i forgot what the time was as i was having such fun wathing Bruno frolicking around with Tyson. So to cut a story short i had to take both dogs up to the school with me. What a nightmare ....... I had to leave Tyson at the gates tied up, carry Bruno into the infant school, then try and walk both dogs round to the junior school, i had to pick up 3 extra children tonight and of course everyone wanted to say hello to the dogs especially Bruno much to Steph's delight with me trying to hold onto Tyson who now weighs a very hefty 32 kg.with the strengh behind him. As you can imagine arms being happily pulled out of their sockets and children happily laughing at me trying to hold on to him.

Tyson is normally a very obedient dog and has been placed in a few obedience classes but put him near children and he wants to love them to bits. So with a lesson now learned i will not be taking the dogs up the school untill Bruno is a bit bigger

Offspring

A woman
:- Ah children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist ,doctors appointments. Their romances, best friends, favourite foods, Their secret dreams, their fears. They know when to be firm , when to give them that extra bit of love.They give their love unconditionally,they are great taxi drivers for when the children get older.

A man
;- a MAN IS VAGUELY AWARE OF SOME SHORT PEOPLE LIVING IN THE SAME HOUSE AS THEM.........

How true is this of your household?.
Andy i do not refer to you in case you read this..... KISS KISS....

what a day

Today was the day of the carnival. We got up the rugby club nice and early i did the kit as usual ,Steph did her tuck shop ,Andy was out and about coaching ,and Jamie was training.

The weather did us proud and although it was not to warm we did have a hint of some sun.As soon as eveyone finished training at miday we all set off for the carnival. Me being the mug i am took charge of about 8 x 13 yr olds. We had between us about 20 kids , Have you ever tried to keep that many 13 yr olds under control , what a nightmare i think i aged about 10yrs. The 6yr olds were better behaved than mine. the trouble is most of them are taller than me , i am only 5ft nothing. Anyway we survived and they could have been worse and i got them all back to the clubhouse without loosing any of them .

When i eventually got home ,bless him Andy did the whole weeks ironing so there were some good points to it........I quite happily sat down and relaxed....Thank god there is not another one untill next year.........

weather

Why is it when during the week you get decent weather and as soon as it comes to the end of the week and you need to get all the school uniforms and work stuff washed , it pours it down with rain.
I refuse to use the tumble dryer as yet , for if i do manage to get the clothes outside the wind will still dry them.We also have the added problem Bruno has taken a very nice liking to SOCKS.He had his 2nd injection today and i also had him chipped, he didn't think much of that ,also the big lad Tyson came to, he had to have his yearly booster .Between the two of them and an hour waiting at the vets neither are speaking to me.Well we will see who wins when it comes to dinner time and i bet they will be speaking to me then.

a time to choose

Poor Jamie is in his 3rd year at secondary school and has to pick his options this year.The thing is what child really knows at this age what sought of carreer they want to do . This is proving to be a bit of a challenge in our house at the moment as Jamie is not at all sure what he wants to do.

As parents you want to steer them in the best of direction in life so we are coming up with lots of ideas as to what he might fancy.

The bad choice's made now, are harder to rectify as you get older and do we think that this amount of pressure should be put on someone so young. I know we all had to do it for some of us it was a long time ago but do you wish you had put more thought into what you did back then.

I was very lucky and although i do not do what i had originally trained for i had a great time moving around the country and trying lots of different aspects of work. So what did i train to become.....A horse riding insrtuctor. Iwent to college for a year and got my A.I---assistant instructor in those days and also my Horsemaster certificate. For getting these over 20 years ago i have worked in a showjumping yard , polo yard ,racing yard and even between these i have managed a riding school. So as you can see i had fun there was never any money to be made but life was good.

I still even now go and teach the odd private lesson but have ended up now working for a large wholesaler as a receptionist, how life changes since we pick our options at school.

getting back to normality

Both Jamie and Stephanie are back to school now,I'm back to work and poor Andy is off work with a stomach bug. THe good thing is he can look after Bruno for us. If he is back at work next week i have a puppy sitter coming in to do the 11am feed for me as i will not be back from work in time.

Life has certainly become more hectic since he came along, everyone is having to juggle
things around him.This weekend we have to take part in the local carnival the rugby club is in it so i am going to have a busy old day on sunday. NOt sure yet how i'm going to do that but me being me i shall find a way.Both dogs will just have to come with me and the kids and we will work around that.

Well feed time is brewing and its T/kwando tonight so i had better get my mum skates on and sort it all out.

back to school

Stephanie went back to school today luckily she has the same teacher as last year. She had a good day and was pleased to see all her friends , Of course the first words to me when coming out of school were:- When can so and so sleep over ....

HELP i have only just got over having the door bell rung every 5 minutes since she came back from Portugal.What happened to kids giving the parents a break with these , Diplomatically i told her , she has a birthday in November and i promised her a dvd night with friends over so she will have to wait till then.

Bless him Andy has done me a favour tonight and gone to the rugby club to do the kit for them. They have their first game tonight and lots of them needed new kit. I did the T/kwando run with the kids and had the usual pub break while waiting for them to finish. I think we were both happy with that ,Andy got to watch the match and i got to go and have the girlie chat with friends.

as i mature

As i mature I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is stalk them, hope they panic and give in

I've learned that no matter how much i care, some people are just assholes.

I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and it only takes suspicion,no proof, to destroy it.

I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to others- they are more screwed up than you think.I've learned that 99% of the time when something does not work in the house either the kids or the dogs did it.

Iv'e learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and the less important ones just never go away.

Iv'e learned as soon as you have kids you find out how patient a person you are.

I've learned as i mature life matures with me how fast it goes is up to you.

last day of the holidays

Today was the last day of the holidays , i am back to work tommorow, Stephanie is back to school Wednesday and Jamie is back next Monday.

We all went to friends for a B.B.Q yesterday which was great fun Andy and his mate John managed to drink a whole bottle of bacardi between them, hence guess who drove home.The weather was awful but a great time was had by all.

Andy has spent the afternoon making a run for Bruno who doesn't think much of it at the moment. But as everything with a puppy he will get used to it.We are now getting a full nights sleep and have also had our first set of injections, 2 weeks to go and then he can go outside and we can start to get him used to the outdoors.

Rugby season starts next weekend so that will be the weekends filled up until the end of April, Andy and Jamie have their first match next Saturday, i will have to think of something for Stephie and i to do,Although if it's not raining the trampoline has been a godsend.

Sleepover

Stephanie and Jamie had their friends Jayde and Ryan to stay last night, I decided this was probably the best day as i was no doubt going to be awake half the night with new puppy (Bruno). As it was the kids were as good as gold and Bruno went to sleep about 11pm and then got up about 5am so i did get a better nights sleep.

I have Karlene coming tommorow to sit the dogs as we are taking the kids to Chesington World of Adventures . We usually do one of the theme parks with them during the hols, this time we
thought we would do this park as it has more rides Stephanie can go on.

Peace at home at last,the kids are in bed and Tyson is asleep in his bed,Bruno asleep in his cage, Andy is out, so iam going to have a glass of wine and chill with a good film.

New Addition

I have now decided i must be bonking mad. Last night Andy and I came home with a 6week old Boxer x lab puppy. I had forgotten the sleepless nights with all the towels and the toilet training and the extra feeds they need.

We did a trip to the vets today to get him checked out and to get his injection. Unfortunately i have to go back on saturday morning to get that done.
We have decided to call him Bruno ,he is black with a white breastplate and a slash of white coming down the centre of his face. I am not sure how he is going to turn out but he seems to have a boxer face and body of a labrador with a tail. Tyson has his tail docked but we are going to keep Bruno with his.

I am sure i will regret this but i felt so sorry for this little bundle when i saw him last night,that we had to give him a chance of a good home. Poor Andy i do feel sorry for him to be married to a nightmare like me but Andy named him so we have that.

No peace

You can certainly tell the kids are back home i have spent the weekend it seems answering the blasted doorbell. Don't get me wrong i love it the kids have lots of friends but a bit of peace and qiet would be very nice. Stephanie has had everyone over to have a go on her trampoline. Andy has got so fed up with it now he has put time limits on it!!!!!!!!.

It is good to have the house once again filled with laughter and the sounds of delight ,exept when you get the girls screaming . Why is it girls feel the need to scream?
i'm sure i never did when i was out playing but that lot out in the garden seem to reach new heights on the decibal chart.

We are now organising the sleepovers and days out. I shall be glad to go back to work after the bank holiday. I shall put the flags out when they go back to school,( no i am only joking).

Shopping

Both the kids came home with quite a bit of their holiday money so as promised we all went into Southampton today to go and spend it. We also had to do the horrible job of getting the school shoes and the last few bits of school stuff,Andy also had to take our computer into the shop to get fixed as we both have had enough of Jamie's being so slow.

Jamie went and bought himself a new gameboy sp and Stephanie bought herself a 8ft trampoline which Andy and i put together this afternoon.

We have all had fun on it and hopefully Stepahanie will go to sleep straight away tonight, she didn't stop bouncing all afternoon. The good thing about the one she has got is that it has an enclosure around it so it is totally safe.

The bad thing about this, is i have now lost the middle part of my garden where my washing line went so at some point we are going to have rig something up so i can put some washing out. The things we do for our kids , if you knew me you would know how much i love my garden and trampolines were not ever on my list for it.

the kids are home

Jamie and Stephanie finally have arrived home to much greeting by their friends and Tyson.
They both look so healthy and tanned ,i'm not to sure what my mum has been feeding them both but they have both got a little chubby in places so i think the odd ice cream and chocolate will be stopped for a while.
They both went to T/kwando last night as they have another grading next week ,poor Andy for the time they were gone he had the door bell rung about 30 times (are Jamie and Stephanie coming out). The news was out they were back what it is to have such popular children. Andy has decided he is going to send them away for the whole hols next year, he has to be joking that will not happen. No doubt i will get that all day today with the door so i think i will switch the bell off.

I am on holiday now yipeeeeeeeeee all i need now is some sunny weather to take the kids out and get in my garden to tidy that up two whole weeks off work.Sadly andy is not off and he has to go to work which means the alarm still goes off at 6.30 then the dog wakes up to go for a walk so i don't know how many lie-ins i will get. Still who cares i'm on hols.

only one day left

We had a really good weekend I had to go to lunch with friends on Saturday and then i had to be home by 2pm as we were then going to Leamington Spa to visit Jamies godfather and our best man.

We had a really good time and stayed in a lovely hotel with a four poster bed( you guessed it i really want one now) it had drapes going over it and was very romantic . The hotel had an indoor pool so we had a swim then a lovely meal with our friends ,lots to drink and good conversation.

We got totally spoiled and then were taken out for lunch on the sunday. It was our last weekend without the kids and was a great way to finish of the time we have had to ourselves.

I go tommorow to pick them both up from Gatwick and i am taking Stephanie's friend Jayde up with me to surprise her. I can't wait to get them home now and will have 2weeks off with them untill they go back to school. Yippeeeee roll on TOMMOROW.

tidy up

Well the house has been an utter pigsty for the last three weeks so today when i got in from work i set about putting everything in it's correct place.

Isn't it amazing how much junk we seem to pick up, i have decided i am going to be really ruthless and chuck everything out that hasn't been used in the last 6 months.
The trouble with me is i hate throwing anything out as i think well one day i may just need that so i put it in a box mark it up and put it in the attic. Andy is just about as bad as me but we need to put proper boarding down in the attic now so a big turnout it will have to be.

It will be our last weekend of freedom coming up and so we are deciding what to do with it , i knew i shouln't have got the carpet fitter coming on saturday as now if we do plan anything we can't set off till saturday afternoon. We can get Tyson looked after no problem, everybody loves him slobber an all, so we may just get in the car and see where it leads and just take an overnight bag just in case.

Don't get me wrong i can't wait to have my two cherubs home again.

Tiles

Well my wonderfull hubby has now put tiles down in the bathroom he has done a bit of an allright job as it was his first go. Sorry his second go as he did the hallway first. He has had a few extra days off and has also put all brass handles on the doors and all the light switches and sockets.

I have now got new curtains up at the landing window, all we have to do now is wait for the carpet for the stairs and landing , then we are finished i think we will hang the flags out then.

I have just about finished painting Stephanie's shelves to go in her wardrobe, when she rang the other night i told a very small white lie and said that they had all been done.
So Andy and i will get our skates on and make sure that we kept our promise.

It is a week today they both come home they are having a great time and jumping of the side of my parents boat and swimming to shore, the waters are crystal clear and they have found their very own private little bay with its own sandy beach. I just wish i was there as i havn't had much chance to get any sun with the decorating. Never mind i am off to New York in October to see my friend Samantha.

Friends

My old friend Chris came round yesterday,it was a change as he usually visits and seems to miss Andy.I have known Chris since i was 16 i met him when he was at the local nautical college where my dad worked. He now has his masters and is away at sea for 5 months at a time.

I am very lucky as i still keep in touch with him, also my friend samantha and my friend Len all of these people i met while they were at college and even though i have lost touch with them for some parts we have been friends for over 23 yrs.

The kids often call Chris mums boyfriend we often take them to the flicks ,as he has no children of his own and so he can borrow mine.Andy will get in from work and the kids say we have been out with mum's boyfriend . Its a good job Andy gets on so well with him and always turns round and said:- OH chris been round then.

I still have friends of which i started senior school with and we still get together our kids have grown up with each other and we always get together in the hols.

I feel very lucky that i am still friends with all these people and no matter what happens they are there for me as i am for them.

Alton Towers

We set of later than expected friday as my brother was late picking up the dog.Andy managed to drive as far as Winchester services then said he was knackered so i had to drive.
It is typical when he lets me drive any other car than mine we seem to spend half the time in gridlock, he quite happily falls asleep and i creep along at o miles an hour.

We got to Ashbourne checked into the hotel it was lovely and was only 15miles from Alton Towers.

The day was fantastic ,great weather,we managed to do all the horrific rides exept for oblivion which had broken down.We got the front carriage for the corkscrew( major roller coaster) i was pleased with myself i kept my eyes open for that one and have got a great photo.We even did Nemesis, what a rush that was in the end the head went down and the eyes stayed shut.We did all the water rides and also had a characacture done what a laugh that was.

A brill day and weekend was had by both of us.Tommorow it will be putting the final touches to the hall and then start getting the place sorted out for the kids to come home on the 18th.

Another trip

We are all booked up for another weekend away without the kids. This time we are going to Alton Towers , Andy has not been before and i went such a long time ago it should be great fun. The good thing is we shall be able to go on everything as we will not have to worry about the old height restrictions.

The dog is taken care of my brother is having him as he is planning on going over to the New Forest with friends fo the weekend, all tho
se lovely rabbits to chase ,he will have a whale of a time.We are planning on coming back sunday as Andy wants to finish the tiling and i will have to touch up on the paintwork . The carpet comes next weekend so we have to be finished my then. I don't have to back to work till tuesday so monday will be spent doing nothing i deserve it.

LIFE

I saw this written down once and thought how beautifull it was

Hopefully andy will remember to have someone read it at my funeral:-

With every passing minute there is a chance to turn it around.
Another chance to turn it around and i will find you again.
I will see you again
With those minutes they will turn into eternity.

I often think i hope i live to see my children grow up, the thought of leaving them while still so young fills me with dread . I think any mum having given birth puts their children before anything . Have we taught them enough of our morals to see them through and hopefully carry them on?.Do we tell them enough that we love them?

I feel
so lucky the way my children have turned out so far.I still get a kiss and cuddle from my 13yr old son every night and told he loves me ,and my 9 yr old daughter is the same.Stephanie is extra special as i lost her twin brother at 16weeks from a car crash,it was touch and go with her and constantly in the hospital on the heart moniters she eventually arrived at 5lb 40z after being induced as her heart kept stopping.I then got told no more children , i have often resented the fact that i was not given the chance to decide myself whether i wanted any more but at the end of the day i have one boy and one girl and feel very lucky to have that.

a surprise for me

It being a really horrible day at work today and then having to go and do one of my other jobs straight after,i came home to find andy allready there.

Well bless him, he had work called off about 10am and came home did all the ironing, cut the tiles to go on the floor,put the covers back on the settee and then we went to b&qWhich i seem to be living in at the moment).We bought the grout and adhesive plus a few tools he said he needed.

There is me thinking what a wonderfull hubby i have!then he started, i parked the car in the wrong place according to him i went the long way home.etc etc. Why is it when they really surprise you and do something great they go and spoil it by being a typical man.

He has redeemed himself later by laying loads of tiles which is hilarious to watch the dog trying to walk over.So i can say tonight i love my hubby.

Brugge

Andy and i had the most beautifull day in Brugge on sunday.NO kids and a day all to ourselves it was bliss.We went on one of the boat rides to see the sites but ran out of time to go on the horse and carriage i think that will be a must if we go again

my favourite was the chocs , i think i had died and gone to heaven.Every other shop seemed to be a chocolate shop filled wilth the most beautifull and tantilising smell.Well how could i resist especially as i found my favourite Bailey's.They had milk choc ones and white choc ones the only trouble was we kept on eating them as we walked along and had to keep stopping to stock up on some more. we could have done with going with someone who new brugge better than we did as i must admit we did get lost a couple of times

Needless to say we were both shattered when we got back in the early hours of this morning and had to go back to work today,we also had to pick up Tyson who had a great time with our friends kids he put himself to bed and has slept since.

We shall now have to plan our next escape for this weekend.

people out there

I have been doing this blog for just over a week now and i am having great fun with it ,the only trouble is i have had only a few comments.These have come from my good pal len and from my hubby so if anyone else out there just happens upon this please leave me a hello

Anyway me being a woman decided i needed to put a bit of my lovely gold paint on one part of my hall wall, just to see what the effect would be. I can now see what it will be like when i finally finish.It does as the tin says for a change and really does give a suede effect.The only problem being it is not that easy to put on .If you are a woman you will get the idea ,if you can imagine giving yourself a body scub ,then that is what it is like and feels the same.

well i like things to be a bit different and my hall cetainly will be, so far everybody has loved it and can't wait untill i finally get my backside into gear and finish .Then i can sit back and let andy do his stuff with the tiles for the floor.Alas poor andy, another of his weekends taken up again,Tommorow i am dragging him off to look at carpets for the stairs and landing.

Boring painting

Well i can safely say i am sick of the site of paint ,every spare minute seems to be me with a paint brush in my hand.The good thing is i have now finished glossing all the dark brown and have now started on the cream gloss .I have the walls and ceilings yet to do .

So andy and i decided to take a break this weekend and are off to brugge ,neighbours are looking after Tyson for us so we are off for a bit of parenting break without kids or pets (yippee i can hardly wait. Next weekend i have been promised Alton towers or Thorpe park, it will be so nice to go on all the rides without having to worry about the height restrictions.

 

Depressed dog

Well we got back from the airport yesterday minus the kids,and got the usual hello from the dog.The only problem was for him (no kids), Poor tyson he has had a bad week, first of all his two friends who he plays with every morning have moved a couple of miles down the road and so we are not going to see them on our daily morning walk and now the kids who he adores have gone and left him.Well anyone who owns a dog know, they have there routine and are not as dumb as some people believe .

Never the less we were saved today , i took him out as soon as i got back from work and tried to play but he was not that amused (i am not a dog, and don't play half as well as his friends)
Just as i was giving up with the ball another boxer arrived on the field she is called kye and is a white bitch it was friendship on site and quite happily played for the next half an hour ,ball cme out,tug of war was played ,chase was played then we had two very slobbery and drooling boxers on our hands .Great fun was had by all and my dog looks like he has a new playmate, plus she has just moved in down the road from london

Anyway enough about me being a sad dog owner (dogs are like kids they become part of the family).

jamie and stephanie fly the nest

Well today was the day Jamie and Stephanie went off  to Portugal to stay with their Nan and grandad.It was not as straight forward as usual but Andy explains it on(another day another girl) much better than I would.I am still not impressed I only hope they get it right when I go to New York in October.

While we were on our way up to the airport a bomb disposal van passed us.
What the kids said:-

Stephanie:- What was that?
Mum and Dad together:-A bomb disposal unit.
Jamie:- oh no!
Stephanie:- what's a bomb disposal?
Mum and Dad together:- Nothing for you to worry about.
Stephanie  to Jamie:- what's a bomb disposal?
Jamie to Stephanie:-You don't watch the bill do you!.

Needless to say Stephanie is still clueless.

All packed

Well it's sunday up bright and early with tyson,quickly do some last minute shopping for the kids to take with them tommorow.I got the bags down to pack cd players with new batteries, gameboy for jamie ,tickets ,passports etc.  We packed a little ,then feeling guilty about by babes going away for three weeks ,i decide to take them to the flicks to see "two brothers " what a great film i'm slightly biased as tigers are one of my favourite animals.

The kids totaly enjoyed the film and i now not feeling so guilty go back to packing.WE are now all done ,bags waiting in the lounge ready for the morning .Jamie takes tyson out for me so now i can get on with cooking the dinner,tommorow will be a busy day(lets hope we have better luck than Amber did with her attempt)luckily we are not going ryanair,the kids are going british airways solo.

so beautiful

Besides my children who i think are both beautiful in their own ways.There is nothing better than living near a wood and the sea.I got up early as i do most mornings and tyson and i headed for our morning walk,this started at 7.45 this morning.
Where i live it is only 5minutes walk from the water it was beautiful this morning the tide was in and there was a flat calm.There was the early morning dew on the grass and only tyson and i on the beach(heaven),there is something very tranquill at this time of the morning,after walking along the shore we finish up walking home through the woods.The world and all the pressure of life seem so far away on our walks ,i feel one of the lucky ones to live near such a  lovely place .
As i walk through the front door reality takes over again and i am once again trasformed into the hectic life i lead(big sigh).

never enough hours

Thursday is always a busy day for me,besides doing my normal job of dealing with customer complaints i then have to go and clean one of my houses, after that it's straight to school to pick stephanie up,then come home pick jamie up and take him to do his kumon(extra english lessons). If i am lucky i can get home about 4.30, it is then time to sort kids out and cook some tea as well as take the dog out and feed him.
Andy has a rugby meeting so get him out of the way and do a little painting.It was dog training tonight but as i havn't done any practice this week i really don't feel like being told off tonight so i'm not going ,so it's now 9pm and i am just about to sit down, but first get the kids sorted out and hopefully of to bed, then i may just put my feet up and try and grab my 3rd cup of coffee of the day.
Why is it us mum's never have enough hours in the day  

computer

I have'nt been here for a few days as my computer decided to fall out with me,or me fall out with the computer.
anyway for my pal len all i can say is (READY STEADY GO).

30 minutes later and i'm still waiting where are you mate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well i have at long last started to gloss the old paintwork but it's going to be a slow process as i'm back to doing all my jobs now.

So back to the computer i have borrowed one of the kids and will get mine fixed when they go away.It's a good job we have 3 computers in our house,and jamie will be pleased as he will be getting mine when i get it back from being mended .I will just have to get used to having a smaller screen again. 

weekends

I had to go to town with jamie saturday to get some new trainers for going away. I don't know how this child seems to go through so many pairs.We seem to average about a pair a month.Luckily it did not take long and we had time to indulge in a mcdonald's.Stephanie had gone to her friend Amy's and won't be back till sunday evening.It always seems to happen that we can only get rid of one child, how is that?never both of them normally together. But then i do in only a weeks time.Please don't get me wrong i totaly adore both of my children but my house is always so hectic it is nice once in a while for andy and i to have the place to ourselves or to go out without getting a sitter in.

gowing old

I saw this and thought i should share it all with you.

We do not stop playing because we grow old.
We grow old because we stop playing.

So for those of you out there who are over 40 keep this in mind and it really works,jamie who is 13 thinks this is true as his mates of the same age think i'm a pretty cool mum.( yipee i have not become a fumpy old mum yet).

steph's swimming

stephanie has been going swimming with the school every afternoon for the last 3 weeks,so to give myself a break today i decided to surprise her and help walk them up to the pool.It was a nice day and it was only about a mile each way.
Well her little face beamed as she saw me and i got one of her special hugs,it was definately worth the surprise.Her swimming has got so much better so she will have great fun when she goes out to mum and dads on the 26th.My mum and dad live on a lovely boat and just hop around the med (what it's like to be pensioners )it also helps when my dad used to be a captain and has had something to do with the sea for most of his life.So the kids are off to spend three glorious weeks with them without mum and dad and get no doubt spoiled by the grandparents.With a bit of luck if the hall is going ok andy and i will go off somewhere to.

spindles

40 spindles later on the banisters in the hall and i have now finished them(yippee).So i only have 5 door frames and 6 skirting boards left to do then i can start to paint.Today is a good day i feel as if i have really achieved something and there is light at the end of the tunnel.What's even better is it is wednesday so it's up the pub with the girls for an hour so i had better get my skates on and muster up the kids

bargain find

Last week jamie's school had a book fair,well being a good mum we popped along and came home laden with books.I spotted a beautiful illustrated book filled with jewels and scripts.jamie pleading with me to buy it promising, that if i bought it he would read lots more.How could i resist that, the book was priced at £17.99 but got it for a bargin at £5.00 later showing it to a friend who loves dragons we look up to see if we could get her a copy.Well the book is no longer in print and when looking on amazon it would cost you £64.95.Do i now save him the book for christmas or put it away and keep it safe?
as for the diy i'm still stripping paint.

And what the husband says Another day another girl

bad day

well first thing i need to do is to appologise to my hubby andy, bless him what i didn't put in yesterday was while i was doing the paint stripping ,he did all the ironing for me and helped pull the carpet up he reminds me.
well today stephanie decides while brushing her teeth that she is going to faint,then andy has a dodgy stomach,i'm signed off work for a week and poor jamie is the only one well enough so he goes to school.so inbetween dashing to the loo i have andy filling in all the cracks and sanding down. Well he's at home he can help out.Anyway lets hope i get them all of to their respective places tmmorow.then it will be just me and the dog.

things going wrong

I got up ready for the dog show looked out the window and yep it was raining so went back to bed.I had allready done dinner for when we got back so that was done ,so andy and i hit b& q for more floor tiles for the hall,did some more rubbing down of wood and pollyfiller.Then i decided to have a brainwave much to andy's (oh god she's of again) i start to take up the carpet on the stairs.not such a good idea as it was 6pm and everyone wanted to sit down an relax, but being a typical woman i had to do it there and then.Never the less carpet is now up and i can do some more paint stripping,i think i had better start that tommorow.

1st dog show

7am came, we all got up stephanie and her friend amy very reluctantly as they decided to go to bed at 11pm,picnic was made, tyson was ready and we set off.The weather was on our side as tyson's not that keen on the rain,we got clear points on our down stay and clear on the sit,but then as it is his first time at this level it all went downhill.The main problem being was where the show was,we often go walking there and he just thinks of it as playzone(with a capital play).He did his stuff some of it ok but basically like a young child the consentration didn't last but hey there is another one tommorow and another picnic to organise friends to meet up with and hopefully good weather again.

tyson

let me introduce you all to tyson,he is my three year old red and white boxer dog.Among all the other things i do we go to obedience to shows. thursday nights are training nights,well anyone who has a dog knows how hard some dogs are to train let alone to competition level.So we practice all week get the exercise down to a fine art at home and of course will he do it when we get to class (no)he is worse than the kids and you could just throttle him,he has two shows this w/end not that i think at the moment he will behave and do the things he's meant to, but at the end of the day he is our family pet and it's a great family day out so please wish us luck

DIY

Have you ever started a job and wish you hadn't,well i did that this w/end.Having a hubby in the building trade i decided to help out and start stripping wallpaper in the hall.Well of i went steamer in hand and half the plaster came off.Not what i needed to happen anyway the building inspector came round today and yes i need the walls re-plastered.so being the good wife and mum i am i started to strip the paintwork no probs besides it seems to take ages and i have much better things i could be doing with my day off.I have little time for myself as any mum will know holding down three jobs two kids and a dog,but hey any mums a supermum.anyway it's kids tea then i become a taxi service to tae-kwon-do, the only good thing about that is a few of us mums manage to go to the pub for a quick drink while they are there.

My Very Own Blog

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