The Morning After

After the late night last night Theo didn't want to get up.  The problem with a family hotel room is that we're all in the same room so as soon as one is up, everyone is up.  This is how Louis solved the problem of Theo not waking up.  He climbed in his bed lol.  Theo does look a little puzzled to see him there.

More Photos

Theo playing whilst we wait for lunch in Old Orleans.  We'd just been to Cineworld to watch Madagascar 2, trying to keep the boys occupied before we go to Bapous after lunch.

Theo and Uncle Michael showing off Theos new Bakugan

Bapous relinquishing his right to blow out the candle on his birthday cake

And finally, Aunty Helen, Natalia, Christian (with Sienna the baby staff), Rianna, ??, Joseph (I think) and Theo

My Big Fat Greek Birthday (Party)

This is the reason we came to London this week, my Father-In-Law's 73rd birthday.  

The thing I've learned from these get togethers is that, 1st you fuel the kids up with sweets and chocolates all day then watch them bounce around the house all night.  This was about 10.30pm in the middle of a game of musical statues, both Theo and Louis still bouncing off the walls so the staying still part was definitely hard work for them and unsurprisingly Theo got a tad upset when he was out.  Still, he soon recovered and joined in again.  Poor Teddy was a casualty of the evening and came home with a groin injury after a tug of war between the various cousins,  Mummy will be performing bear surgery later on this week.

All the relatives arrived for the party from about 8pm.  Furniture was rearranged and tables brought in from the garden to seat everyone at the table for the seemingly endless flow of food, most of which was new to me so just had to be sampled.  I tell you, if we ever stay there longer than a day or two I'm going to come away the size of a house.  I think once everyone had arrived there were about a dozen children between the ages of 1 and 8 and about 20 adults.  

We called it a night somewhere round about midnight.  Louis was unconscious on the sofa, Theo was just dozing  and Adam was nicely pickled.  Somehow we managed to loose one of Louis shoes between the house and the hotel, oops.

More photos to follow, this one is my 1 for my photo a day project (I think my challenge is going to be narrowing it down to 1 photo per day lol)

NB if the post dates are confusing you, I am not telling to future, I adjusted the dates so the photo for the day appears on the correct date

Hoteyal

Todays photo is a picture of our hotel room at Premier Travel Inn Enfield (wohoo).  I took a couple of photos before this one and Adam held a pillow up infront of his face to avoid being in the pictures.  Louis is just copying him, honestly.

Among my many photos of the hotel today there are one or two shots of the door.  For some strange reason Adam thinks I'm insane.  I wonder why that is??

Wildmut

Those of you out there with little Ben 10 afficianados will no doubt know exactly who this is.  Those of you without, you are missing out on a world of quality entertainment!  This, is the one and only Wildmut.  He is on of the 10 aliens that said 'Ben' can transform into.  This particular model is also a very irritating motion sensor alarm thingy that growls at you every time you walk past it, if it has it's mouth open.  Theo likes to hang him off the handle of the living room door and Louis likes to stand infront of him, waving, making him growl.  It's such a lovely noise.  Not!

Wildmut is todays photo because, to be honest, today we did very little apart from stay in and play with toys (Adam did go out to get his Dad's birthday present but we were not invited).  When I asked Theo what I should take a photo of today, this was the suggestion.  So here he is ladies and gentlemen, Wildmut the motion detector.

After after eights for under twos

Louis trying to shake melted After Eight mint off his fingers

Boxing Day Ministrations

Mummy decided to have a lie in today so, rather than wake me up, Louis applied his own nappy cream.

He came into the bedroom looking really pleased with himself and saying 'cream' and 'lips' so I just had to grab my camera phone.

Christmas Day 2

OK so I couldn't narrow down the photo selection at all.  Here are a few more from the day

Theo and Louis investigating the contents of a gift bag.

.

Theo reading the tags and giving out the presents.  He was so excited I ended up surrounded in everybodys presents because he was dishing them out faster than they could be opened. 

Finally, something I'm allowed to bash

Louis 'reading' his (upside down) Night Garden book

After dinner at Lisa's we all had a play on Liam's new Wii.  Here Lisa and I are playing tennis.   I won, yay.

Christmas Day

Now Christmas has got to be one of the hardest days for picking just 1 photo but here it is.  Of the multitude of photos and video footage we took today, this is my favourite.  Theo opening the present that Santa gave him when he came to school.

Note the new pyjamas too.  Apparently Santa made an early stop on Christmas Eve and dropped off a new pair of pyjamas each for the boys so they wouldn't have to get dressed before they opened their pressies.  You can tell just how considerate Santa is by the fact the Louis pyjamas (and Theo's to a lesser extent) have plenty of growing room in them :D

Nigella Chocolate Fudge Cake

Theo has been nattering to make a chocolate cake for a while now.  Ever since he made one with Adam for my birthday infact.  So that's what we did this morning whilst Louis was at nursery.

Todays photo is the page from the Nigella cookbook.  You can see I've written in it, changed the measurements from metric to imperial (I've only got imperial weights for our kitchen scales at the moment).

The cake was very nice, we've tried some already.  I made a 2nd one to take to Lisa's tomorrow when we go for Christmas dinner.

Did I mention that I didn't realise how much it was going to rise so when we took the first one out of the oven we had to peel half of it off the grill element.  Oops lol.  Still, it's a sandwhich cake so that was only half the cake and it needed trimming so it would sit together nicely anyway.  Just as well.

A Photo A Day

A few people I know are having a go at this project this year.  It does exactly what it says on the tin, hehe.

The idea is that you take at least 1 photo everyday.  People are doing this for various reasons from attempting to improve their photography to documenting a big (or not so big) year.  I think I'm doing a bit of both.

What you do with the photo is entirely up to you.  I'm going to start by posting them here and see if anything else comes to mind during the year.  If nothing else it should improve the frequency of my blog posting (and maybe bore you lot to sleep lol)

So here's my first photo.  Why wait 'til January 1st?.

My first ever pair of Dr Marten boots (1940 5400 black, fine haircell leather 14 hole) arrived today.  Adam thinks I'm turning into a hippy student or a lesbian.  I just think they're good boots.  They take a bit of lacing up though.  That'll be fun in a morning when we're rushing to get ready for school.

Theo tried them on when they arrived.  When I told him about the steel toe caps he started wandering around the house, well more like staggering around the house with two lead weights on his feet lol, looking for something he could drop on his toes.

Relative Relations

About 6 months ago my older sister Sheila and I had a falling out.  Not to go into details but needless to say that until recently we haven't spoken to each other.

Well anyway, cut a long story short (and prevent any further fallings out), our cousin had a birthday party to which we were both invited and from there conversation kinda happened.  Things are not perfect but they are certainly improving.

Just incase a big family get together at Christmas was a bit too much so soon, we decided to all meet at Farnley Working Mens club for a bit of an early Christmas to exchange gifts etc.  I took  a couple of boxes of mince pies, a tin of chocolates and a box of crackers and we pretty much made an evening of it.  We decided before hand the we were going to let the kids open their presents there so we could see.

This is a picture of Theo wearing the Spiderman3 mask that Toby got from Aunty Lisa.  Do you like his snazzy shirt and tie?  I had my first ever shopping trip to Next this week and found this.  Not only is it a shirt and tue just like Daddy wears, but it has cuff links too, just like Daddys.  Someone was very pleased to be wearing this out, he likes to be smart :D  (and I like Next! Why have I never shopped there before?)

This is a picture of Theo in the PowerRangers outfit that Aunty Lisa bought him

and here is a photo of Louis with Theo's Power Ranger mask on.

Lets see, what else was there?  Theo got a creative box set from Aunty Sheila with lots of different crafty things to do.  He's already tried the glitter one :D

Louis got a Kid Knex Penguin from Aunty Lisa and a Bath toy set from Aunty Sheila.  He played with them in the club but he hasn't had chance to play with them in the bath yet.  The will come, he loves playing in the bath :D

Another Quick Update

Theo went to a school friend's birthday party at one of the local playgym's.  There was a face painter there and initially Theo was just going to get an eye patch to go with his pirate outfit.  However, he saw Seth with a Batman face so he changed his mind :D

Adam and the boys decorating the Christmas tree.

This is Theo's school nativity play.  If you look carefully you can see Theo near the middle, he's a brown donkey.  He did really well if I do say so myself.  Only a little fidgeting and nose picking (bleurgh).

This is my latest masterpiece.  A denim / flannel rag quilt I made as a Christmas gift for my niece Tayler-Marie.  The squares are 6" so you can see it's about 4' x 6'6".  If you look carefully about 1/3 or the way down and 1/3 of the way up there are pockets in the denim patches.  I'm really pleased with this.  Next job is to make one for her sister :D

The last picture of this entry (for some reason I can only put 5 pictures in each entry) is my sleeping beauty.  Look at all those gorgeous curls.

More to come later but right now it's late so I'm off to bed.

Night all

Karen

xx

Advent

For some unknown reason, this year I decided I would make the boys advent calendars.  The decision in itself not a bad thing, except when it keeps moving down your to do list until a week before the end of November you realise you haven't even started yet.  Aargh.

So here they are, almost finished (notice the final seam at the top of each calendar that needs finishing) but in use never the less, the boys aren't enjoying them any less because of a little exposed wadding.  :D

I'll finish the seams once they're finished with and maybe even do a little quilting around Santa.

October and November

We went to Durham to visit Adam's Nan in the middle of November.  This is Theo and Adam playing with her wheelchair!  Good job she was nice and comfy sat on her bed at the time.

We had a great time seeing Nan and it was especially nice as Morgan, Alec and the kids came up too so we went for dinner with the after.  Had a good old natter and a catch up.  I even got have a cuddle of my newest niece, Amy-Louise, awwww.

Theo and Louis all dressed up for the Hallowe'en party at Tiddleypeeps (and trick or treating the following night)

On the recommendation of my friend Ali, I took the boys to Sundown Adventureland and here's the evidence.

Theo playing in the pirate ship,

Louis outside one of the houses in Storybook Village

and both of the boys emerging from one story houses, looks like Hansel and Gretel but I could be wrong.

It's a great place to go with them.  Probably better on a warmer day but still, we had fun.  It is designed for younger families.  There are a few short train rides but apart from that all of the attractions are interactive displays.  Lots of things for little hands to touch and feel and do.  We'll definitely be going back, but maybe on a warmer day lol

Quick Update

I have a theory about blogs.  Either there's lots going on in your life, in which case it is hard to find time to update your blog, or nothing is going on in your life so there's nothing to write about!!

I'm not sure which category I fall into really, probably in between.  There's a bit going on but no too much, which in theory means I have enough time to write about the fewer things that do happen.  It doesn't seem to work like that though.  My to do list is growing and the time in which I have to do it seems to be shrinking.  Are the days getting shorter?  I know Christmas is getting closer so those things I have to do before Christmas are getting more urgent.

This year I decided I should make the boys advent calendars rather than buy them.  I've started them (this afternoon!) but still have a way to go and I have to get them finished and filled before Monday.  Where did the year go??

Anyway, school run shortly followed by Theo's french lesson so I won't be back on here 'til about 7.  When I am though I shall add some photos and do a bit of a catch up.  That's if I'm not sewing advent calendars and stockings.

Hullo

Not a lot to say today. we haven't really been up to much apart from getting used to school and stuff.

I am in the process of having a clear out. I'm listing all the books I can bear to part with here. Go have a nosey and if there is anything you want let me know. It doesn't have to be a swap, I'm trying to clear space here not fill it up with something different lol. I have by no means listed everything yet so check back frequently to see if anything appeals.

New Glasses

This was Theo this morning before we set off for school, all smart in his uniform and new glasses. On the walk down to school he was telling me that he was really looking forward to showing all of his friends at school his new glasses.

I have to admit that when we picked them up from the opticians on Friday after school I nearly cried. They make his eyes look so big, I didn't realise just how strong they would be. I know that the prescription is high but it's not the same seeing the glasses on his face rather than just numbers on a piece of paper.

I was told by the opticians to expect a fight to get him to keep them on but we've had no problems at all. One of Adam's friends from work said that when her two daughters got their glasses, the one whose prescription was the weakest (hence glasses made less of a difference) was always taking off her glasses, but the one who had the stronger prescription just put her glasses on and got on with it, presumably because they made such a difference and she could see. I'm assuming that's why Theo has just gotten on with it.

On Saturday morning Theo came into our bedroom with his glasses on and said "Mummy, you've got spots on your face" when I asked him where and he pointed to the bridge of my nose I explained that they were freckles. He said "Have you always had them?" awww.

I was out during the day on Saturday but apparently he said to Adam, in a very considering tone, "Daddy, my glasses are a reflection of the world" Hmmm. I wonder what he's been watching.

During the day on Saturday I went to my scrapbooking crop where I got to stick photos and pieces of paper to other pieces of paper. One of my friends there had a little girl 4 weeks ago today and she brought her in to see us. Here is a photo of me and baby Chloe, isn't she gorgeous? (my two were never this small) I'm definitely feeling broody now. What are the chances of guranteeing that I get a baby girl next time? I don't think technology has got that far has it? Oh well, never mind. I'll have to settle for cuddling Chloe (and Amy-Louise if we ever get to visit Morgan)


Speaking of Morgan, the mr Potato Head was from her, thank you again :D

Best of Friends

Now that the bigger boys are at school things have calmed down a little at home. Today we had a playdate with Tina and Hannah. Previously Tina would bring Jack and I would have Theo too so it was unusually quiet. Louis and Hannah did their best to make up for it though :D

Here they are enjoying a chocolate coated shortbread biscuit between them.

ooh, Oooh I almost forgot..

.. Theo received a parcel in the post today. There was no card or note in so I've no idea who sent it, just that the postcode on the postage sticker was SE5, still no idea.

So, whoever you are, thank you very much, he played with it all morning

First Day at School and Pocket Money

It was Theo's first day at school today. Well I say first day, it was just over 2 hours. He started at 1 and finished at 3.15. He'll do the same again tomorrow then on Thursday and Friday he'll start at 11.45, so he's there for lunch too. After that it's full time, 8.50 - 3.15.

This is him just before we set of to WALK to school


And this is Theo after an exhausting 2 and a bit hours at school and a WALK back up the hill.


From the sounds of it he had a good time although to be honest he hasn't had that much to say about it. He played with Ezra and he got playdough on his shoe are about the only things he's said. Maybe he and Ezra played with the playdough all afternoon?? Oh, he did bang his cheek on a walky thing outside. Not sure what that is about, I'll have to ask him when we're in the playground tomorrow.

I decided that big school should coincide with pocket money (a whole £4). The plan was, on the way home from school I needed to call into the shop for some milk, I would give him his pocket money there and let him buy himself something. Unfortunately he threw a huge paddy in the shop before I had chance to mention it so I gave up on the idea.

I think we'll try again tomorrow

Bespectacled

Theo needs glasses. Bloody strong ones at that.

I took him to the opticians today, just to get it done before he starts school tomorrow really. He seems to see things ok but quite often I'll catch him wiping his face or widening his eyes, as if trying to clear his vision.

It's not good news. He is very long sited. Apparently at his age his eye muscles are strong enough to compensate so he will be able to see clearly at the moment but is likely to suffer permanent muscle damage (i.e. a squint) if it is not sorted. Plus, as he gets older, the muscles get less able to compensate and then glasses are required anyway.

The optician has referred him on to the hospital for further tests, to double check his prescription and to make sure his eyes are developing normally. All perfectly routine when eye tests result are above a certain level apparently. Not that that makes me feel any better about it. I know it's nothing I've done but that doesn't stop me feeling it's my fault somehow :(

Anyhoo, these are the glasses he has chosen, Spongebob Squarepants I'll have you know. They should be ready to collect next week.

More Non Camping

So Sunday we had a lazy day. We didn't really do much of anything I think.

Monday was a little bit more structured, a trip out to Bolton Abbey Railway Station for 'A Day Out with Thomas'. Here are Adam and the boys on the train journey to Embsay Station.


We didn't stay very long as there wasn't actually that much to do. A stall where the boys got the 'free' gift that comes with their ticket, a HUGE queue to stand in Thomas and blow his whistle, we passed on that, and a couple of vintage cars and buses to look at. Oh and of course the obligatory toy shops. This time Theo came away with...erm, can't remember, I'll have to ask him in the morning lol and Louis got 'Whiff' who I've never heard of but he seemed happy enough with that. :D

When we got home Theo's friends were playing out in the street so he stayed out and played. I had to drag him in for his dinner and he was straight back out once he'd eaten. That's what I like to see, outdoors fun. There have been occasions when his friends have called round for him and, for whatever reason, he has, usually grumpily, refused to go out to play! He did come home with an invitation to Charlie's birthday party on Saturday so that should be fun.

More resting on Tuesday. I was hoping to get some bits and pieces done, get to the opticians and the Drs but I couldn't get appointments 'til next week so I ended up drawing stuff and sticking bits and pieces to playing cards (see Apshoo). The boys watched telly, played with their toys and drew pictures with me whilst Adam played on the computer upstairs.

Wednesday didn't start too well. Theo didn't want to get dressed then Adam told him we were going shopping. Well he dissolved in a heap of tears. Shopping was boring then suddenly he was crying because he couldn't go to Charlie's birthday party! Where did that come from??

We drove to Drayton Manor so we could spend all day standing in queues! OK it wasn't as bad as all that, but put it this way. I'm glad it wasn't a sunny day otherwise I think we would only have managed a couple of rides.

Here's a picture of the boys queueing for Diesels Mayhem ride.

I know we are not noted for our patience, I think the wait for this ride was about 20 minutes. It didn't help that Theo had had Adam queue for the Bulgy the Bus ride for about 15 minutes before deciding he didn't want to go on after all.

Adam and I took it in turns to queue / ride with the boys. Fortunately for me, this one was Adam's turn. I didn't time it but I'm sure they queued for well over an hour for a 5 minute ride on Terence. At least Louis and I could wander around whilst we were waiting for them. If I had known how long it would take though, I would have wandered to a cafe for a latte :D But, being the loving mum I am, I waitied where I could see the rides so I could get this photo, and a few more.

Theo's favourite ride (although we did only 'do' Thomas Land) was the Jeremy the Jet ride. Despite how it looks in this photo, both Louis and Theo were in the jet with me, honest. It's just that I left Adam in charge of the camera and the control of the jet to Theo (you made it raise / lower using a button in the front) and they never quite got in the same place at the same time. lol

I know I complained about the queues but this was definitely one of the better theme parks I've been to with the boys. Most of the rides were suitable for both of them to go on so there was plenty to do. I had planned on going to the zoo there too but I forgot. By the time Adam reminded me it was 4.45 and I wasn't sure whether the park closed at 5 or 6 so we headed back to the car.

We stayed at the Premier Travel Inn in Burton-on-Trent, straaange lady on reception was very friendly and funny. A very nice dinner was had in the pub next door, diet is out the window this week anyway, just as well.

Today was a really good day too. No photos 'cause we were at Alton Towers Water Park and photos are not allowed. Heaven forbid! After an initial paddy from Louis because he didn't want to wear the floatation vest thingy we had a great time. Theo remembered having been there before and immediately went off to play. Louis had to be coaxed, so we sat in the shallow water and played with the bubbles but he quickly got braver and more adventurous. He liked playing in the water with the bubbles but after the first time I took him for a walk around the park, up the stairs, through puddles, accross bridges etc, he didn't want to sit and play in the water for more than 5 minutes or so before he was up and wanted to wander around again.

Did I mention that my ipod is poorly? A couple of days ago I tried to switch it on but it wouldn't play. I had a look on the Aplle website and followed the instructions for rebooting it. It turned on but there was just a white screen, no menus or anything. Anyway, as we were coming home up the M1 anyway we called into Meadowhall so I could take it to the Apple shop for a nice man to fix it. As it turns out he couldn't. Apparently the LCD screen is dead and they do not replace those. I could trade it in and get 10% off a new one, or they could take the hard drive out of mine and put it in a new case but that would cost almost as much as a new one and I'd loose the engraving on the back of the case.

I discovered today that a new LCD screen to fit my ipod would set me back a whole £15 on ebay, and that includes the tool I'd need to open the case. Adam found a 'how to' video on the internet so I could replace the screen myself for £15. Not too sure I'm going to attempt to do it myself though. You have to disconnect the battery, remove the hard drive and a few other bits and pieces to do it, it looks complicated. I have found a place in Bradford who do Ipod repairs though so I'm going to phone them tomorrow and see if they can fix it and if so how much they charge.

Anyway, this is a mammoth post and it's late now, I need my bed, so I'm off. There are plans for more fun stuff this week so I will be back with more photos soon.

Take care

Non Camping

Louis is much better, no lasting damage from his impact with the pavement, yay.

Today we were supposed to be going camping at a National Forestry Commission site in Pickering. Unfortunately the British weather had other ideas and we had a phonecall on Wednesday telling us that the campsite is waterlogged, and they were expecting more rain, so we've had to cancel. Instead we are planning day trips.

Today we've had a wander around Bradford city centre (whilst we waited for Adam to have his eyes tested), been for lunch at Frankie & Benny's then on to Cineworld to watch Wall-E. Frankie & Benny's was a much nicer experience than Pizza Hut last week. The food was lovely and the service was great, add to that the fact that Louis' juice and ice-cream were free and I can't say a thing against them :D

After lunch we had a bit of time to kill before the film started so Theo and Louis had a game of air hockey.

Last Friday I took Theo and two of his friend, Jack & George, to see Space Chimps which everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy. I wanted to see Wall-E but both Jack and George had already seen it so we went for Space Chimps instead. I think it was probably the better choice for three 4 yr old boys. I enjoyed Wall-E but Theo spent most of the time asking what was going on and why they were doing whatever they were doing.

At this point I have to say a HUGE thank you to Helen, a few months ago she sent me some children's vouchers for Cineworld that she had won in a competition, 25 of them! It's those vouchers I've been spending to keep the boys entertained, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Change of Plans

This evening I had planned to spend it quilting the quillow I have made. Instead I spent most of it in A&E with Louis.

One of the neighbours children decided to try and pick him up whilst they were out playing this teatime and she dropped him before I could get there. He hit the pavement with the back of his head.

I spent the next half hour keeping him awake and I'm not sure if he was falling asleep because he had only had a half hour nap this morning or because of the bump, either way I wasn't letting him sleep. Then came the vomit, euww.

After a phonecall to NHS direct I took him down to A&E where he perked up immediately, typically. We waited around, like you do, in the very child friendly children's A&E. Louis was weighed and checked over almost immediately then we had to wait our turn to see the Dr. When we'd seen him he asked us to wait another 20 minutes so he could check him again to make make sure he was fine. About an hour later we were seen and set off home.

All is well, Louis is all calpol'd up and in bed asleep. I've already been up to 'rouse' him once so he thinks I'm a nasty mummy. He looked at me as if to say 'what on earth are you waking me up for' but at least he woke up. Dr says to check on him twice before midnight and that should be enough but he may feel grotty and miserable for a couple of days.

My poor baby. I could have cried when I got to the hospital. It took me 10 minutes to get there about about 15 minutes to find a parking space. Aaargh. Still, all sorted now andwe're home. Now, how to tell little girls not to pick up the toddler without scaring her. Hmmmm

Diet

Where did the time go? It's Wednesday already and I've been meaning to post on here since last Friday. I've backdated a few posts so hopefully it doesn't look like I've been slacking lol.

I've put myself on a diet (again!) Cutting out all the between meals rubbish, you know, biscuits and choclate etc. Next step is to make sure the meals I eat are healthy and not too fatty then once I stop loosing weight doing that then it's time to start paying someone and do the proper diet thing. I'm thinking about Rosemary Conley, you do an exercise class at weight in too, rather than just turning up to be weighed and spoken at.

This is my weight loss monitor. The first glass contains 1 pasta shell for each lb I weigh. The ribbon is a rough indicator of my target and the second glass contains 1 shell for each lb I've lost since I started this. So watch this space, I may post another pic when I'm a bit closer to my target :D

Sports Day

It was the nursery sports day today. The weather held off just long enough to finish the races. The medals were presented under an awning with all the parents gathered under a nearby tree lol

Theo ran in the first running race but as he neared the finish line somewhere near the back of the pack, he gave up and started crying. He refused to enter any more races because he didn't win :( I think I need to work a bit on the 'It's the taking part' theory with him :D

He did cheer up when it was time for the mummies to have a race. And I didn't cry even when I didn't win .

Theo in his running race

Adam and Louis watching the races.

Everyone got a medal for taking part, even Louis whose contribution involved running across the finish line infront of the Daddies race.