The Clarke Clan

It's been a while....

2009-09-27T10:00:00.004+01:00

..but I thought it was about time to make a final post & retire this blog.

Those of you (all 2!) who are still interested in the trivals workings of my life are welcome to keep up to date with things via my facebook page.

This blog was started at a fairly low time in my life when Ben

was undergoing several tests to find out the cause of his facial paralysis. Back then I found it a very cathartic process finding that helped me deal with what was happenin

After a while it became good fun and then later a bit of a chore if I'm honest.

But recently I began thinking that I need to close it down officially. You never know someone out there might be desperate for the name "The Clarke Clan"!! :)

So here's a quick update...

Nanny Annie - still alive & kicking bless her. She's been a bit poorly r

ecently but not doing bad for 95 years old.

Bea - just recently had a hernia operation and seems ve

ry upbeat since.

Grandad John & Grandma Brenda - see

m to be enjoying retirement. Doing lots of travelling & playing with their grandchildren.

Grandad Martin & Nana Diane - recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary and are currently cruising round the Med on a 2nd honeymoon

Auntie Kirstie, Uncle Phil, Ollie & Molly - all doing well. Molly turned 4 yesterday and we're off to her party shortly

Auntie Alison - now living with us. Planning to stay for about 18 months whilst she saves up enough money to get a better place. Enjoying it a little too much I think - not sure I'll be able to kick her out!

Steve - I'm struggling to keep up with wh

at he's doing at work. He switches between contracts quite quickly due to the nature of his work but he's very happy by all accounts.

Amy - Started Junior school in September and see

ms to be enjoying that immensely. Now regularly attending Cheerleading training & the competitions. Amazing to watch her.

Ben - Started Infant school in September - taken him

a little while to settle in but seems to be enjoying it too.

and finally Me - enjoying life a lot at the moment. Discovered the Twilight saga books (& movies) which I have enjoyed immensely and just pretty much happy with life in general.

So as Warner Bros. said "That's all folks". Hope you enjoyed reading about our exploits. So

long and thanks for all the fish.

95 Years Young

2009-02-22T18:48:00.004Z

Well she made it!!!

Nannie Annie reached the ripe old age of 95 today and we helped her celebrate in style.

Last night Dad organised a meal at Glades for her nearest & dearest and to ensure that the w

hole of our family enjoyed the evening we stayed at one of their little chalets.

We must admit we did feel a little bit odd to be paying to stay so close to where we actually live but it was worth it not to have to wake Ben up for the journey home.

Ann had a wonderful time as did everyone who came to help her celebrate.

Then today we went over to my Mum & Dad's to have a birthday lunch. Amy joined us a little bit later as she had another birthday celebration to attend - her best friend from school Molly.

So Happy 95th Birthday Nan.

Centre Parcs & Snowy Days

2009-02-03T18:25:00.006Z

Hi Guys,

It's been a little while since I posted but I just wanted to update on a lovely little break we had last weekend at Centre Parcs.

Amy had a non-pupil day booked for Mon 2nd Feb so we thought we would take the opportunity to book a long weekend at Centre Parcs in Elvedon.

Auntie Ally came with us and we had a wonderful time. Ben really enjoyed it - this being the first time he was old enough to fully appreciate Centre Parcs.

We had an action packed weekend...

The kids did pony trekking, roller skating, arts & crafts & lots of swimming.

Amy enjoyed sampling hot chocolates in every food establishment she entered and I think the one with the Flake melted into it in the "country club" was her favourite.

Jointly, I think the kids enjoyed the swimming the most - Ben especially loved the Lazy River. Or "my river" as he called it and he got very cross if anyone else tried to swim in it!!

Or perhaps the highlight of the trip for Ben was the full-sized Henry hoover in the Villa - he was completely made up about it.

On Sunday afternoon the predicted snow descended and it made everything look picture perfect.

When we got home around lunchtime on Monday the whole street seemed to be out playing in the snow so we all joined in and had a lovely afternoon.

... In other news.....

It's about time I mentioned my charity weight loss challenge on here. I have pledged to lose 3 stone in 2009 and am trying to raise money for The Moebius Research Trust on the way. If I can get it to work I'll add my weight loss ticker onto here for all to keep track of my progress but if anyone feels compelled to sponsor me then please click here.

What the Dickens!!

2009-01-11T17:07:00.005Z

Feeling a bit sleepy today because it was a bit of a late one last night...

It was the night of Brenda's New Year fancy dress quiz party night and this year the theme was Dickens. Once again I was in charge of the quiz part and thank god for Wikipedia that's all I can say!!

Everyone got into the spirit of it as usually and some of the costumes were quite inventive!!

Ben and Ollie really seemed to take to their roles as little urchins - Ben especially. He could have been one of Fagin's gang quite easily!!

As in previous years there was a charity raffle at the end and this year the proceeds are going to The Moebius Research Trust. We raised £97.40 so thanks to everyone who donated.

Thanks for a great time Brenda. Next year the theme is Musical Era's so thinking caps on for that one.

Full photos from the night can be found here

New Year 2008

2009-01-04T19:10:00.005Z

Well we're back from our New Year break and have de-Christmased the house so I thought I would give a little update about our time in Butlins.

Having had such a good time last year I was unsure if it would meet my expectations again but we were not disappointed. I'm not sure it would be my first choice for holiday venue as an adult but for the kids its it perfect.

Once again we went with Paula, Gav, Evie & Morgan and the four kids had a great time playing together on the little fairground rides and swimming in the pool.

Steve and I both noticed a marked difference in Ben this year in that he joined in all of the activities, queued up to meet the characters & (for the main part) left the security chain around the stage alone!

Amy fulfilled her wish and managed to stay awake to see in the new year. After which point she collapsed into a chair and pronounced herself too tired to even think.

Once again it was a really good way to see in the new year with the kids and we have all booked again for next year.

Full photos can be found here

Happy 2009 to everyone.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-29T20:25:00.003Z

Hi Guys. I thought I'd better get the Christmas news up to date before we start on the New Year Celebrations so here goes...

Christmas Day
We had a relatively quiet start in the Clarke household as we weren't off to my Mum's in the morning. She thought it would be easier to leave all the present stuff until Boxing Day and it was but it did feel odd not seeing my Mum & Dad on Christmas day.

The kids opened their gifts from Father Christmas who brought Amy a Build A Bear Elephant (as requested) and Ben a Winnie the Pooh Super Sleuth Changing Tree (see your none the wiser are you!)

Then we opened our presents to each other which included a Slow Cooker for Steve, a Radley handbag for me and an Air Hockey table in the playroom for the kids.

We headed off to Granny & Grandads for about 11.30 and things got a bit hectic from there. There were quite a few of us for Christmas dinner but Brenda did a brilliant job and the lunch was excellent.

There was lots more present unwrapping but Ben decided that he didn't need anymore presents when he got to the Henry hoover that Grandma had brought him.

The day went so fast it was bedtime before I knew where I was and I don't seem to have taken any photos of the actual day so I'm hoping that Brenda has got some on her camera.

Boxing Day
Ben awoke around 7am and his first words were "Hello Mummy. Where my hoover?!". We had breakfast with Brenda & John, Kirstie & the kids and then left for our next stop.

A brief call in at home to feed the rabbits and collect some presents and we were off to my Mums.

The kids had a great time playing with some of their new toys & dressing up in Nanna's clothes and then Brenda & John joined us in the evening for anther good spread.

27th & 28th December
We got home on the morning of the 27th and set about finding room for the lovely gifts we had received. Several hours later we had rediscovered our house and everything was back neat & tidy. We had planned on some family time at home over these two days but sadly we notices that Snowy was looking a little bit poorly so off we trotted to the vets to get her checked out.

She had a nasty case of ear mites which turned out to require some fairly expensive treatment and we had to go back again on the 28th with Fudgecake to make sure she wasn't poorly as well (she wasn't).

We did have lots of fun in the playroom on the 28th though making a big mess and playing on the air hockey table.

So now we are looking forward to New Year at Butlins with Paula & Gav. I had such a good time last year I hope it will match up to my expectations. I'll let you know and until then Have A Happy New Year.

Christmas Parties 2008

2008-12-23T08:47:00.003Z

Sorry I'm a little bit behind and have a little bit of catching up to do as I'm a couple of weekends behind now.

On the 14th December we had our annual pre-Christmas family do at Brenda's where the kids get some presents that would be largely useless on the big day - Christmas crafts, Xmas socks etc and we all have a nice dinner & get together.

Then on 21st we had our other annual get together with our old friends. This year we went to the Regiment Way golf club and had a very good time at their dinner & disco evening. Afterwards some of the guys came back to our house and we partied til about 3am (the kids were sleeping at my Mums!).

I regretted it the next morning though as we were off to watch Ollie in the church nativity play and I didn't really fancy church with a hangover & not much sleep!! He was very good though. Then in the afternoon we went to Frankie & Bennys with Dave & Kellie and their three little-uns for our annual catch-up.

So how come I'm on here at 9am in the morning - why am I not chasing around after Ben & Amy trying to calm them down with only 2 sleeps to go??? - Cos they're not here. I haven't sold them on eBay - they're at Brenda's as they all went to the Zoo yesterday and it was a bit of a late return so they stayed over. I suppose I'd better get ready to go and get them!

Lapland

2008-12-07T20:13:00.003Z

It's been a busy old Sunday. We are just returned from a visit to Lapland UK and before you all panic not the dodgy one in Dorset with the swearing elves!

This was Lapland UK in Kent and were all had a very magical day...

We started by walking down a woodland tunnel strung with fairy lights before emerging on the other side to a landscape of snowy white Christmas trees.

Our first stop was to the rocking horse toy factory complete with a little elf sized entrance for the kids to go through, where we had a go a making a rocking horse.

Then we moved on the Mother Christmas' gingerbread house where the kids got to decorate (and of course eat) gingerbread men.

After that it was time for some tea and a little look around Lapland village - saying hello to the reindeer (real and not so) and the husky dogs.

And after that it was a visit to see the big man himself - Amy was completely amazed that he knew everything about them but I guess that's just because he's magic.

Finally we had a little turn about the ice-rink. Ben and I managed about 5 wobbly steps before he announced "my no like it" and I gratefully returned with him to a non-slip surface.

It was a wonderful, magical day and such a great age to have been able to do it with them!

Future Cheer 2008

2008-11-30T19:34:00.003Z

It was our first Future Cheer competition this weekend - and this one was being hosted in Brentwood, which was mighty handy.

As it was a local competition Auntie Ally came with us. She wasn't too sure what to expect as it's not very easy to describe the spectacle that awaits but she thoroughly enjoyed herself and got really into it.

Amy & Ben loved it as always. Amy did really well and is coming along marvellously. The DC49 seniors & the Boswell's squad were amazing, as always, the only way I can describe it like watching human fireworks going off but you really have to see them to believe it.

Famous Faces

2008-11-23T19:50:00.004Z

Its been a hectic weekend but lets rewind a bit...

Ages ago I did a telephone interview for Chat Magazine to try and help promote Moebius and the research trust and it was published on Wednesday.

It wasn't too bad - I'm mean it's not The Time supplement but if I help raise awareness then it was worth doing. The article can be found here if anyone fancies a read.

So that's Ben's 15 minutes of fame done with!

This weekend we had the Tillings over to stay. We had a lovely time on Saturday afternoon and all walked down to Moulsham Street to watch the Christmas lights switch on and Santa parade past.

Then today we went up to London to Madam Tussauds. Amy and Ben love it there and never seem to tire of it but it was Evie & Morgan's first time.

The highlight of the day for our two was Troy Bolton! I think they could have stayed in that bit dancing and singing for quite some time!

We're back home now and I for one am pooped!
we saw an article on Ben published in Chat Magazine

Where Have We Been?!

2008-11-12T18:34:00.003Z

Sorry I've been absent for a little while we've been a bit busy and I've not posted about some of our recent family outings. So....

A couple of weekends back we took a family trip to Chessington. We stayed in the lovely Holiday Inn on the site again and we all had a great time.

Ben especially liked pretending to be a Vampire!!

Last weekend was the family pilgrimage to Blackpool to watch then play Ipswich and, sadly, for the first time in about 7 years Dad saw his beloved Blackpool lose.

The kids, mum & I had great fun at the Sealife Centre and we then took in Coral Island Amusement arcade - we had so much fun we we're late getting back to the others (and we had the car keys!).

Next year we're gonna try and go by train as Ben really doesn't take too well to being strapped into his car seat for over 3 hours!

The kids let of some steam when they go home though and rampaged around the bedrooms dressed as princesses! (yes both of them).

Then on Monday it was Mum's birthday so we went out to the Harvester for a little bite to eat. She's now the proud owner of a lovely bright purple iPod - I wonder if she's managed to get it working yet?

Then yesterday Ben had a development assessment, he's behind in speech as we know but is also a little behind in his general development as well which might explain so of his more manic behaviours! Of course, it could just be that he's a crazy old loon!

Anyway, that just about brings us up to date phew!

Birthdays & Sleepovers

2008-10-19T20:04:00.004+01:00

I've got a bit of catching up to do again as I haven't posted for a while so I'll do brief summary of last weekend and this one just gone.

Last weekend we helped Eric celebrate his 60th Birthday with a dinner & dance at The Chichester. Steve & I and Gav & Paula had decided to stay the night to ensure a proper night's sleep and it was a brilliant idea. We had a great night and didn't care in the slightest that is was nearly 2am when we got to bed.

So onto this weekend. We had our first sleepover with Ollie & Molly this weekend and not to do things by halves we had them from 11am on Sat til about 3pm on Sunday. I didn't think that was a challenge enough so we were also looking after the nursery hamster for the weekend too!

The kids had a great time together and on Saturday we went to Apple Day at Lathcoates Farm. There were donkey rides and lots of animals to look at.

Then today we went to Old MacDonalds Farm Park. It was a little chilly but the kids didn't seem to feel it and spent quite a few hours feeding the animals and playing on the bouncy castles & slides.

We'll have to make sure it's not such a long time til the next one.

Molly, Snowy & Fudgecake!

2008-09-30T21:24:00.004+01:00

I'm falling behind again and trying to catch up!

We need to introduce you all to Snowy & Fudgecake - our new bunny rabbits. We brought them home on Saturday morning and they are lovely, dear, sweet, little things. Snowy (as you've probably guessed already) is white and Fudgecake is black.

They are both 12 weeks old and have settled in well and seem to be enjoying their new surroundings.

On Saturday afternoon we all went to Molly's 3rd birthday party. There were lots of children there to help her celebrate and everyone had a lovely time playing in the garden (the weather is always nice on Molly's birthday).

On Saturday night Amy had Ellie from down the road over for a sleepover and made good use of her new bed!

Then on Sunday we made good use of possibly the last sunny day of the year and had an impromptu bar-be-que with two of the neighbours whilst the kids had great fun playing in the sunshine.

In other news, Steve starts his new contract with Hendersons tomorrow (his contract with BNP having come to an end - that's the Parisian bank not some heinous fascist group!) so good luck for tomorrow

Amy's New Bed

2008-09-24T18:31:00.002+01:00

Just a quick post regarding Amy's new sleeping quarters. Her new and very purple bed arrived yesterday and by bedtime she was all tucked up nice and snug - high up in the air!!

It's a lovely high sleeper thingy with a desk & futon chair underneath - so perfect for homework & sleepovers - in fact Ellie down the road will be christening the futon chair on Saturday night.

I think she found the height a bit daunting at first but she was very excited too!

Bikes & Birthdays

2008-09-21T19:35:00.004+01:00

Important news in the Clarke Household!!! Amy can now ride a bike without stablisers!!!

I know this might not seem like such an amazing event for a 6 year old but we honestly thought she was gonna be one of those kids who never seemed to master it.

We were playing out the front with the other kids in the street and Ellie down the road lent Amy her old bike to try (Amy had outgrown hers but we hadn't got around to replacing it). Only problem was Ellie's old bike didn't have stablisers. There I was contemplating a trip to Halfords when suddenly she was off!

Today was Grandad John's 65th birthday and we have a little family gathering round our house. John spent most of the day in the garden asleep which is the way he likes to pass his freetime and the kids had a good time all playing together.

Only a slightly more sombre note; our pet rabbit Billy died overnight on 20th September. Amy was devastated at first but seems to be ok now and Ben hasn't got a clue bless and thinks Billy's on holiday. Rest in peace little bunny.

Granny's 60th - Part Two

2008-09-10T20:17:00.007+01:00

Well yesterday was Brenda's actual birthday and she had quite a good time by all accounts.

After school the four grandchildren went round for tea, some present unwrapping and a large portion of birthday cake.

Then in the evening she treated her family members to dinner at Glades - it was nice to see Ces & John, Chris & John & Pat as well as Kirstie & Phil.

There were more presents and another birthday cake - courtesy of Chris - which was very spectacular.

Kirstie had the star present (in my humble opinion) as she has lovingly put together a scrapbook of photo memories from over the years which was a lovely gift.

Happy 60th Brenda!!

Granny's 60th - Part One

2008-09-08T20:18:00.005+01:00

Brenda is 60 on the 9th September so she is doing a fair bit of celebrating which is only right!

So this weekend she took us all away for the weekend to Great Yarmouth (well Scratby to be precise). There was, Brenda, Steve, Me & our two plus Kirstie, Phil, Ollie & Molly. Oh and John of course!

We were staying in a little holiday camp called Summerfields and our little chalets were perfect and all in a row. Ben and Molly couldn't believe their luck at being so close together and we all had great fun popping round each others "houses".

So what did we get up to?...

Friday 5th
Well we arrived on Friday evening and after a very, very quick unpack it was off to the kids disco. All the kids had a great time dancing & playing party games as well as having a go in the soft play area.

Straight after the disco it was quick costume change and then downstairs to the main bar area for the kids fancy dress competition. Amy was in 7th heaven as the judge of the competition was Elle the Elephant - her face was an absolute picture.

We stayed in the bar that night for the show which was a really good tribute band. Unfortunately Ben passed out about 9ish but Amy managed to keep going until about 10pm and then we all headed for bed, leaving Kirstie, Brenda & John to enjoy the 2nd act.

Saturday 6th
On Saturday morning Brenda did us all a lovely spread for breakfast - including Bacon, sausage, eggs & beans which was no mean feat for all those mouths in a tiny little kitchen. After breakfast, the kids had great fun playing in the outdoor playground zooming down the slide and generally having a blast.

Then we headed to the seafront for a Maritime exhibition which just happened to be on that weekend in Yarmouth. The kids had great fun looking at the ships and they all made a little glitter covered crab to take home. Amy had great time meeting Beach Bunny (the mascot from the local radio station) and the highlight of the trip for me was when she pounced on him from out of his field of vision and completely took him out!

Ben & Ollie had fun playing on the Navy recruitment stand - honestly that's a lolly not a fag in his mouth I promise!!

Unfortunately, the weather then turned a bit grim on us so we headed back for lunch and then a lovely swim in the pool.

That evening it was party games (again with Elle) and we all had fun doing the hokey cokey!! The entertainment that evening was an adult magicians act which was a bit over the heads of the kids (thankfully!) but the adults enjoyed it.

Sunday 7th
Brenda did us another lovely spread for breakfast and we enjoyed a game of crazy golf and another swim before having Sunday lunch. The afternoon was spent in the soft play area and playing in the grassed area outside out chalets.

We left about 6pm with Kirstie & Phil not far behind and both girls putting on a good display of their displeasure at leaving!!

Tussauds On Tour

2008-08-09T19:04:00.006+01:00

This could be a bit of a mammoth post but it'll be worth it.

We have just returned from a week's holiday and we didn't even leave home soil. We have family annual passes for the Tussauds group so we thought we would spend a week touring round the places it lets us into free of charge!

Saturday 2nd August
We headed off in the morning destined for Chessington World of Adventures. We'd all been here before so there we no surprises and we knew we'd enjoy it.

The kids had a great time on the rides and they have a new Sealife Centre there which they really liked. We had decided to stay at the various locations on our tour at Holiday Inns (no expense spared eh!) and the one at Chessington is actually on the grounds which was brilliant. They even had characters from the park at the hotel during breakfast - very Disneyesque!

Sunday 3rd August
This was another day at Chessington and much fun was had by all. it turns out that Ben is a bit of a daredevil and would ride anything that height regulations permitted. Even the Runaway Mine Train for which he could barely see over the safety bar!!

Monday 4th August
We headed off for the next stop in our Tour - Legoland. The kids really enjoyed this one and so did we - but my goodness it's hilly and the queues were horrendous - still we had a very good time and Amy & Ben managed to both pass their driving tests!

Tuesday 5th August
We got wise today on our 2nd day at Legoland and discovered something called Q-Bot - it's Legolands version of Fastpass and it works very well. We managed to get a lot more rides done with our Q-Bot doing all the hard queuing for us.

Wednesday 6th August
We left our dwellings near Heathrow and headed to our next destination Warwick Castle. If I'm honest everyone was feeling a bit whacked by now and the long walk from the car park to the Castle (uphill) seemed to pretty much do everyone in so we left shortly after lunchtime and headed into nearby Stratford-upon-Avon.

This is one of my favourite places in the world and we took the kids to see Shakespeare's Birthplace (just from the outside) and had great fun in the gift shop.

Thursday 7th August
After a one night stop in Warwick we headed onto our last destination - Alton Towers. It had been a bit harder to find a Holiday Inn close by as Alton Towers is in a village location but we found a nice on in Stoke on Trent.

Friday 8th August
We all really loved Alton Towers and did much the same stuff on both days - although Steve did buy a fastpass for the big thrill rides on the 2nd day so he could do then without us having to wait around for him all the time.

We all did the rapids and a new ride called Battle Galleons where you get completely soaked (I mean that!) and Ben did another Runaway Mine Train - twice!

Saturday 9th August
Our final day so we packed up and headed back home. We had toyed with the idea of going back to Alton Towers for the day and travelling home in the evening but our luck with the weather ran out and it was pouring with rain when we woke up so we decided to come straight home.

Ben got a bit bored in the car on the way back and decided a bit of artwork would keep him amused!

We all had a really good time and are already planning another tour next year. I dread to think what rides Ben will go on when he gets a bit bigger though!

Click here for More Photos

Go Amy! Go Amy!

2008-07-28T20:36:00.003+01:00

Last weekend was our first ever British Cheerleading Association Championship which was held up in Telford. Neither Steve nor I were sure of what to expect apart from the fact that both of us were fully prepared for Amy to get stage fright at the last moment.

We are very pleased to say that we were completely wrong. To say the girl has been bitten by the cheerleading bug is an understatement. She had an absolute blast.

The competition was over 2 days with the groups repeating their performance on both days and an aggregate score being calculated.

Amy's group came 3rd out of their age range and her squad, DC49, won lots of trophies over a range of age categories including a couple of 1st places!!

She now wants to attend the DC49 summer cheer camp at the end of August so we are just checking out availability and to go to the extra after school practice sessions on a Thursday night when they start up again in September.

Steve and I were immensely proud watching her and the whole of the DC 49 squad - it looked like very hard work.

Ben the Radio Star

2008-07-16T19:31:00.004+01:00

For those of you who haven't heard it already I thought I should do a post about Ben's stint on Local Radio.

We managed to get an interview on BBC Essex to talk about The Moebius Research Trust and their major fundraiser - www.kiltsacrossamerica.co.uk

Ben was very much in awe of his surroundings but did start to come out of his shell towards the end and even managed a sweet little goodbye at the end.

Lets hope it works and we help raise some awareness & cash. We did a boot sale over the weekend with the proceeds going to the trust and managed a nice figure of £165 which is a good start and we should have enough stuff to do another one in a few weeks.

Here's an audio clip of the interview:

Go Lewis!!

2008-07-07T22:07:00.004+01:00

Well this weekend was something special. Steve & Daniel had purchased themselves tickets to the British Grand Prix and I had once again managed to wrangle a corporate ticket to the event so we made a weekend of it.

We travelled to Milton Keynes on the Saturday morning and Steve & Daniel went skiing in the snowdome whilst I hit The Centre (MK's Lakeside). We both had a great time in our differing locations and after a lovely dinner in Loch Fyne we settled down for the night in our room at the Holiday Inn.

On Sunday morning we met up with two of my work colleagues and all set off to Silverstone. It's a fairly impressive site as you walk towards it - with the drone of the helicopters getting louder all the while.

We split up at the gates as Steve & Daniel were seated in Woodcotes and myself, Vin & Erick were going into Club Silverstone (our location might have been more prestigious but I think Ste & Dan had a better view of the race).

The race itself was electric and that's from someone who doesn't even get motor-racing. I think all the rain made it much more exciting.

In case you missed the results - Lewis Hamilton won - his first ever British Grand Prix with over 60 seconds lead between him and the 2nd place car. That's some driving!

It was a brilliant day out all round - same time, same place next year boys??!

Ben's 3rd Birthday Party

2008-07-02T20:38:00.004+01:00

Now the English language is a funny thing could that title means two things and in this case they're both correct. It was Ben's 3rd party to celebrate his 3rd birthday!!

On Sunday Nanna, Grandad, Ally, Bea & Ann came over to help Ben celebrate his birthday bringing with them lots of lovely presents.

It was lovely to see Mum up and about again - albeit very gingerly (she's been in hospital which I may have forgotten to mention with a gammy leg).

The kids had a lovely time playing in the garden and for some reason they asked to be shut in Billy's (the rabbit) run! You can see The Sun headline now "Children Locked in Cage!"

Crazy kids! Anyway, Happy Birthday little man.

P.S. Just another quick update on some Ben related things which I may have forgotten to post - Ben went to Moorfields Eye Hospital the other week and we are now awaiting the arrival of some lovely little glasses for him. They will have photo chromatic lenses so that should hopefully help him a little bit when the sun shines - assuming we can persuade him to wear them of course!

Also yesterday he had his first appointment with his new speech therapist (he'd been transferred by the other one). She seemed very nice and felt his speech to only be about 6 months behind the average which was encouraging. We have to do exercises where he sticks out his tongue - he really enjoys those!!

OK Try And Keep Up Now

2008-06-28T22:10:00.006+01:00

It's been a bit of a busy few days for us so I'll try and bring you up to speed.

On Sunday 21st we had a little birthday party for Ben. We are doing Ben's parties in two halves - one with Steve's family and another with mine. Not cos they don't get on mind you, they get on like the proverbial house fire but my Mum has been in hospital and would not be released in time for the planned do.

So on the 21st we had Granny, Grandad, Kirstie, Phil, Ollie & Molly over and the kids had a lovely time playing in the garden. Ben had his first batch of presents and was very impressed with all of them. It turns out that Ben rather likes dinosaurs!!

On Wednesday 25th it was Ben's actual birthday and being a Wednesday we went to Wednesday Club at Kirstie's and had a party there too. There was a lovely pirate ship cake which one of the Wednesday Club mums had made and even more presents.

Keeping with the Birthday theme last night Steve, Alison and I went to see Bon Jovi in concert at Twickenham Stadium. This was our birthday present to Alison and we all stayed over in London as it was quite a late one. The concert was brilliant but the average age of the fan base has definitely increased as they have gotten older too.

Today we spent the afternoon with the kids at the school's Inflatable Fun Day. It was very good fun and Ben is completely and utterly fearless!!

Then this evening I went out with Paula to enjoy my birthday treat from the Tillings - a night at the theatre to see Potted Potter - All 7 books in 70 minutes. It was laugh out loud funny and very clever.

So tomorrow will be the 3rd and final birthday for Ben. That's one for each year. I hope he doesn't expect the same treatment each year!!!

Back from Cyprus

2008-06-04T20:19:00.005+01:00

In case you'd missed us we've been away again. Yes that's right Again! This time we went to sunny Cyprus for a week during the Spring half term break.

We had booked a villa over the Internet (some completely random site as you do) and were a little unsure of how it would pan out but it was a lovely place. Very well appointed and with a lovely swimming area.

The only downside was that the tiles around the pool edge got very slippery when wet (cue 80's rock music!) and Ben didn't really understand the command "Don't Run!". All this lead Auntie Alison to have daily heart failure!

Ben spent most of the holiday bare-ass naked and took this as an opportune moment to toilet train - although he did seem to think that the grassed area was his own personal toilet facility!

Amy spent most of the time in the pool and mainly fully clothed. She managed to swim pretty much the entire length of the pool without any kind of floatation devices and only minimal drama!

I've posted more of the pictures here but below are some of the key moments.

Happy 6th Birthday Amy

2008-05-10T20:11:00.007+01:00

This one is a little bit on the late side because it's May and, therefore, I must be ill again!! So here goes....

On Saturday 3rd May it was Amy's 6th Birthday. She had a party with lots of her school friends at Virgin Gym which they all enjoyed immensely.

The next day it was an at-home party for the family (it was at this point which I started to take ill so my recollection of the day is somewhat limited!). There was bouncy castle fun, trampoline fun, BBQ fun & hot-tub fun.

Monday was bank holiday and a day at Chessington World of Adventures with Paula, Gav, Evie & Morgan and Auntie Alison was planned.

I was too poorly to go and spent the day in bed but the other had a lovely time. The weather was glorious and everyone got very hot and tired queuing for the rides but everyone had lots of fun.

Then this Friday was my 34th birthday. I had already had my main present (Wii Fit) but I also go some perfume, clothes & money which will be well spent in the coming days!

I was still feeling quite unwell but we had a large dinner out planned as a joint party with Paula so I shook off the cobwebs and ventured out. Sadly the restaurant had gotten greedy and had over-booked. They were completely unable to handle the number of diners and it was gone 10.30pm before we received our main dishes. Needless to say a return trip for Steve & Gav's birthdays is not planned.

So that brings us back up to today... I am feeling a little more human today and I hope it lasts. I hate it when I have to post lots of big stuff together because you never do each topic justice really!

Happy 6th Birthday Ollie

2008-04-21T19:56:00.004+01:00

Well it's been a bit busy since we returned from holiday and not just with all the washing.

Amy started Gymnastics on a Tuesday after school - it was meant to be a stop-gap whilst we were on the waiting list of Cheer leading on a Saturday but a place has become free earlier than expected so we do that as well!

She seems to love both of the classes and after only one lesson of each is able to do a forward roll - something which complete escaped her before.

Ben has finally figured out what the potty is for and was extremely pleased with himself for doing his first wee on it. He ran about the room high-fiving everyone and shouting - "I did a wee"!!

I guess we'll have to see where he goes from here but at least it's a start.

On Sunday we went to Ollie's 6th Birthday party. This year it was family only and he had a joint one with his cousin Elise (he'd had the rowdy friends party at Go Wild the day before).

Everyone had a great time and the kids especially enjoyed the wheel barrow rides - I'm not sure who is crazier - them or Phil!!

Happy Birthday Ollie. Hope you enjoy your presents.

We Are Sailing

2008-04-12T19:46:00.007+01:00

Hi Guys. We're back from our holiday and there is much to tell.....

The holiday was split into two parts; 6 days on Land at the Disney parks in Florida and 4 days at Sea on the Disney Cruise Line.

So here goes.....

Monday 31st March
We arrived at our hotel/apartment after a very uneventful flight and after a short while were joined by Brenda & John (they had been unable to get a flight to Orlando and had flown to Miami and driven from there).

Tuesday 1st April
We started out in Magic Kingdom and were very lucky to receive Dream Fastpass tickets for the whole day which allowed you to get on some of the most popular rides with very little waiting. We were very pleasantly surprised and were stopped several times during the day by people asking were we'd got the special passes from!

Wednesday 2nd April
On Wednesday we went to Animal Kingdom and Ben actually got to see the Kilimanjaro Safari as he stayed awake for it!

It was a bit too hot today so we left a bit earlier and went back to the pool for a swim. Well Amy did but Ben by this time was covered in chicken pox so we kept him away from the water.

Thursday 3rd April
Disney Studios today and Amy watched the High School Musical street show about 5 times. They both really enjoyed the Playhouse Disney Live show and Ben seems to have discovered a deep and meaningful love for Ariel. We went to the Little Mermaid Show and when Ariel appeared (real person) he shouted out very loudly and during a quiet bit "Awiel, my see Awiel!!" - it was very sweet.

Friday 4th April
It was back to Magic Kingdom again today as it's the kids (and my) favourite. Sadly no dream fastpass tickets today but still had a very good time.

Saturday 5th April
On Saturday we did Seaworld and we all got thoroughly soaked by Shamu the killer whale. Amy had asked to sit in the splash zone but if I'm honest I hadn't realised how wet you got. Ben completely freaked out but Amy loved it!

After Seaworld we went back to our apartment to pack up ready for the cruise. Amy didn't want to leave the hotel pool behind but that's about par for the course.

Sunday 6th April
The first day of the cruise. We weren't too sure what to expect really but it was magical from start to finish. We kept Ben well hidden in case anyone noticed his (now fairly scabby) spots but no-one seemed interested. After all the official stuff with check-in it was onto the ship itself. As soon as we got on the boat we bumped into Abby from Ben's nursery who was starting her first day working on the Youth Team which was nice.

We got into our cabin and there were some lovely little gifts waiting which Steve had organised. There was a memory box for keep-sakes & photos, some bubbly & a beautiful bouquet of flowers with roses shaped like mickey mouse!

We were introduced to our waiting staff & the quality of food we would be enjoying for the next 4 days and explored the ship. That evening we bumped into Captain Jack but sadly I couldn't not locate Will Turner!

Monday 7th April
When we awoke we were arriving in Nassau where we would be parked for the day. Sadly the weather was quite miserable but we enjoyed our city tour excursion which we had booked.

That afternoon we returned to the ship and Amy explored the Mickey pool which was in the shape of Mickey's head. Ben had a little go in the splash area reserved for those not potty-trained and they both had a lovely time. The weather had cleared by then and it was blue skies ahead.

That evening we watched the Toy Story show after that it was a dash down to High School Musical Dance Party where Amy & Ben bopped away before a quick change into our glad rags for posh night and another scrumptious feast for dinner.

Tuesday 8th April
Today it was a day at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. The weather was glorious and Steve and Amy did a fine job of getting sun burnt!

Amy got her hair braided and we all went on a treasure hunt, following clues to lost gold. We had a great time in the sea mucking about together.

Amy lost her first tooth somewhere on the sandy beach but as luck would have it she received a letter delivered to the room on our return from Jack Sparrow. Apparently he had found her tooth on the beach and had given her 2 silver doubloons in return. To say she was gobsmacked would be an understatement.

The show tonight was The Golden Mickeys and you all had to walk down a red carpet whilst camera's flashed. Then it was onto the Pirates IN the Caribbean deck party. Unfortunately, Amy crashed out during the show and Ben wasn't far behind so the kids spent the night asleep in the buggy.

The deck party was really good and was completed by a firework show. Apparently Disney is the only cruise line which has permission to set of fireworks at sea and it was fairly spectacular.

Wednesday 9th April
The last full day was a day at sea. There were lots of activities to do and plenty of time to be spent splashing about. Amy & Ben particularly enjoyed watching High School Musical on the big TV screen by the pool.

The final show was Disney Dreams which was very well done with loads of characters from different Disney films popping up on stage.

Thursday 10th April
Our final morning on the ship and then we departed. It was a completely seamless disembarkation so we spent the rest of the day before our flight back at Magic Kingdom.

It was very sad to say goodbye to Granny & Grandad who are staying in Animal Kingdom Lodge for another week but all good things must come to an end.

We've got loads of photos and I've not put them on here as this post is long enough already. They can all be found here - More Photos

We now seem to have a house stuffed full of Disney merchandise but Steve and I are unanimous in our opinion that it was our best holiday ever!

Easter 2008

2008-03-24T19:38:00.005Z

Goodness me but I've fallen behind again so prepare yourselves for a mammoth post....

My last post was on Mothering Sunday so what have been been up to since then...

The kids got a new double swing which Nanna & I put together on the 9th (with a tiny little bit of a helping hand from the boys). The kids love it and I got it for an absolute bargain price so everyone is happy!

Then on the 18th Amy had one of her school friends, Beth, over to play after school and the kids had a great time mucking about and dressing up. Ben insisted on joining in so I just had to take this photo to use for leverage when he is 18!!

On the 21st it was Amy's school assembly and Steve went. They were doing Pinocchio and Amy was a fish - a talking fish mind. Apparently she delivered her line perfectly!

So onto this Easter - what have we been upto this long weekend...

Good Friday
We travelled to see Granny & Grandad in their caravan which was parked near Ipswich this year.

The weather was very cold and windy so we decided to go the Ipswich Transport Museum. The kids really enjoyed it and they both seemed very eager to climb into the back of a police car there which was slightly disconcerting!

Saturday 22nd
A fairly normal Saturday really nothing too out of the ordinary here.

Easter Sunday
My Parents & the Nans came over for the day (Ally was already here as she is staying for a bit) and we had a lovely roast Lamb lunch which Amy cooked.

Earlier in the day the kids had great fun out in the back garden playing in the snow!

Easter Monday
Our original plans for the day were changed and the weather was atrocious so what do you do - you go shopping in Ikea that's what! Amy seemed reluctant at first but seemed to enjoyed the kids department at least!

So that's us back up to speed. We're off on a mega holiday at the end of the month so will have lots and lots to post when we get back.

Mothers Day 2008

2008-03-03T19:38:00.004Z

So what did we all get up to this Mothering Sunday...

I for one had a great day. It started out beautifully with a lovely lie-in and then a nice cooked breakfast. I opened my cards and presents and then we played about in the house until it was time to go to lunch.

We all went to the Alma and we weren't too sure what it would be like anymore because it had changed ownership and the head chef had departed too but it was a lovely meal - as always.

The kids, though full of beans, behaved themselves very well and then we all went back to Nana's for coffee afterwards.

So Thanks to Steve and the kids for making it such an enjoyable day

Celebrities R Us

2008-03-01T19:51:00.005Z

We've had a great day today....

For Valentine's Day I brought Steve a Wembley Stadium Tour and it was booked for today so we all headed off to London.

I said I would entertain the kids whilst he went to Wembley so we decided to go to Madame Tussaud's. I wasn't sure whether the kids were a bit too young for it but they thoroughly enjoyed themselves - as did I.

We saw loads of famous "people" and the kids had a great time having their photo's taken with them. The kids even found a new Daddy!! (only joking).

Full photos can be found here: More Photos

Steve was full of news about his Wembley Tour and had a good time too.

Ballet & Broomfield

2008-02-24T19:04:00.004Z

It's been a bit of a busy weekend, but don't I always say that...

It was watching week at Ballet again and myself, Steve & Ben went along. We were wondering if Ben would manage the whole 45 minutes but he behaved himself very well.

Then it was off to Roger & Yoita's for a lunch with friends and family. Mary's in-laws to be were there so it was nice to meet them.

Amy played cheerleading with Druisa who is a few months younger than she is and they were firm friends within about 60 seconds of meeting!

Then today we had the customary burnt bacon breakfast with Granny & Grandad except this time we waved goodbye leaving them in our house! We had to take Ben to the emergency doctors as he has has another flare up of his impetigo and a chest & ear infection to boot!

Also, Amy had a birthday party at 11am today so Steve took her to the party whilst I waited at the doctors with Ben.

Then this afternoon we cleared out the garage - again, it's never-ending whilst the kids played in the garden with Billy.

So it's been pretty busy. Too busy for picture taking in fact!

Clash of the Titans

2008-02-18T19:34:00.004Z

You may recall back in January that the family made a pilgrimage to Blackpool to watch Ipswich v Blackpool FC. Well the return leg at the Ipswich home ground was this weekend and nothing was going to stop them all going - not even Dad's knee operation!! Even the kids were going this time.

Naturally I declined so spent the afternoon discovering the delights of Ipswich's shopping district where I experienced the joys of Primark! I think I shall have to start a Facebook group campaigning to bring Primark to Chelmsford.

By all accounts the match was a good one but it was a very cold day (colder even than Blackpool had been in January!) and those footie boys can really make some noise so Ben bowed out just after half time.

Amy gave up with about 15 minutes to go but to be fair the game was all over by then anyway with the final result 2-1 to Ipswich.

Strangely it seems we didn't take any pictures the entire weekend. However, we do have a nice little video of Amy singing & dancing on the trampoline from Sunday afternoon. The song she is singing is All for One from High School Musical and if you manage to watch to the end there's a great recovery from a "You've Been Framed" moment!

Tap, Tap, Bang, Bang!

2008-02-03T20:10:00.000Z

It's been a bit of a busy weekend....

On Saturday we were having the carpet in the lounge replaced with wooden flooring as the carpet was just not up the job of dealing with the multiple spillages that seem to go hand in hand with our two. So one of John's mates came round and fitted it all for us and very good job he made of it too.

We also had to put together a new house for Billy - his previous abode having been damaged in the "great wind" on Thursday.

Then today Granny & Grandad came back from their holidays and round ours for burnt bacon breakfast.

The kids had a lovely time in the morning playing on the new lounge floor. I am sure the novelty will wear off soon enough but we made good use of their enthusiasm and set them to work with brooms & brushes! Amy especially likes it because she can tap dance on it and Ben likes the fact this his tools make even more noise when bashed now!

Then this afternoon Amy had a party to go to for one of her old nursery friends. So it's been all go. Steve and I were glad to sit down this evening.

Something pour le weekend??

2008-01-28T19:42:00.000Z

This weekend Steve and I did something unheard of. We travelled to Paris without seeing Mickey Mouse!

The kids went to stay with Nanna, Grandad & Ally and Steve and I set off on the Eurostar. We had a lovely trip on the train for the first time in recent memory we didn't have anyone other than ourselves to entertain.

We were staying near to the Eiffel Tower in the Hilton - it was a nice hotel although the selection in the mini bar was a little, well, French! - See if you can make out the condoms in the bottom left-hand corner. Only in France!!

On Saturday we visited the Notre-Dame cathedral and then took a stroll along the banks of the River. In the evening we had a dinner cruise which was very nice - lovely food & fine wine.

On Sunday we went up the Eiffel Tower and Steve took some lovely photos whilst I hung about trying not to look down!

Then we went to Le Louvre. It is just such an immense building we never got close to seeing even a third of it but we saw the pieces we wanted to. Like old Mona - although we failed to find any Monet.

Then it was a nice French lunch before our return journey home. The kids were very pleased to see us and I think the adults were glad to have us home too.

Didn't we have a lovely time....

2008-01-20T18:48:00.000Z

... the day we went to Blackpool!!

This weekend was a major event on the sporting calendar. Ipswich Town FC versus Blackpool FC at Blackpool's new state of the art stadium.

So the family pilgrimage began. Now if you'd have asked me before we went whether I was looking forward to it I would have selected some fragrant and colourful words in reply. However, I am happy to admit that I would have been wrong!

The journey both there and back was everything you could have hoped for - good weather, good traffic, good children and the game was a 1-1 draw thus preserving family harmony.

We did get some funny looks & comments when my Mum & I took the kids to the amusements whilst the others went to watch the game though - people seemed quite taken with the fact that one was supporting Ipswich whilst the other one Blackpool.

After spending a small fortune to allow the kids to pop 2ps into a slot machine Mum & I headed back to meet the others.

Dad had sat in the lovely new home supporters section of the stadium. Whilst, Steve, Alison, Brenda & John had err not!

That night we had a lovely dinner in the pub attached to the Premier Inn we were staying in and the next day Ben did a good job of waking the whole hotel up so they didn't miss breakfast!

Everyone is already planning the return leg at Portman Road - but this time the kids want to stay to watch the match!

Introducing.....

2008-01-12T19:13:00.001Z

... Billy Bunny!

We have a new addition to our family. His name is Billy and he is our lovely new pet rabbit.

We got him from a friend of Ally who could no longer care for him (bit of a tug of love bunny I think) and the kids love him.

Ben especially seems to be quite overwhelmed by the thought that Billy has his own house and just repeats the words "Birry - House" over and over and over!

Here's hoping he lasts longer than the fish!

Country Dancing

2008-01-08T20:30:00.001Z

Last weekend was Granny's traditional new years quiz & fancy dress party. The theme for this year was Country & Western.

As always everyone made a fine effort with the fancy dress & the food was particularly yummy this year - I found out I love Cowboy Stew!!

I was in charge of doing the quiz again and as I know praticially nothing about Country music it was quite hard but Wikipedia came in very handy!!

Kirstie & Brenda did a wonderful job of decorating the house - it looked brilliant once they'd finished.

For more photos from the evening just click here: More Photos

Happy New Year 2008

2008-01-02T18:46:00.000Z

Happy New Year to you all.

We are returned from our New Year's break at Butlins in Bognor Regis and we enjoyed it so much we booked whilst we were there for new year!!!

So I am now part of the Butlins Family apparently. I never expected to like it so much but it is perfect for the age our kids currently are and it was definitely the most enjoyable New Year's Eve I've had in a long time.

So what happened....

Well we arrived midday on the 30th December and met up with Paula, Gav, Evie & Morgan. We then set about exploring the place.

It was heaven for Ben with a life size Bobsville (this is where Bob the Builder lives for those not in the know) and there were live Bob stage shows about 3 times a day.

There was also a funfair outside & smaller kids rides inside - all completely free which was a welcome change.

On New Year's Eve we managed to find a table in the Skyline (the main arena) and the night's activities started at 6.30pm with all the kiddie-themed events - kids disco & some crowd called the Skyline gang who kept them all amused.

This seamlessly merged into more adult events from around 10pm when the tribute acts started.

Ben crashed out first and Morgan put up a brave fight but he finally flaked out in the buggy with Ben.

The girls did really well with Amy seeing her first ever New Year's Eve countdown. She paid for it the next couple of day though and has tonight gone to bed at 6.15pm - she is shattered.

All in all it was a very good new year. I wonder what 2008 has in store for us eh!

Christmas 2007

2007-12-29T18:54:00.000Z

Well, they say time flies when you're having fun so I must have been having a really good time because I'm behind again....

So I will do my best to fill in the blanks.

Saturday 22nd December
Was the night of our Christmas party with our friends. We are creatures of habit so found ourselves at the South Lodge again but it's a good night with fine food and cheesy disco music so you can't really go wrong. The kids were sleeping over at Granny's and had been there since about 10am so Steve and I made the most of the day and I went to bed for about 3 hours!

It was really good night. I can always tell because I start to take what I can only assume I must think are arty shots with the camera on tilt!!

Christmas Eve
A big day was planned with Ally the kids and I going to Old MacDonalds Farm Park. As it turns out both Ben and Amy were sick during the night and Amy looked mighty unwell for most of the day so we just kicked about the house for most of it. We did manage to coax Amy out of the house to the Chris Ingle service at St Luke's which we all enjoyed.

Christmas Day
We were woken up nice and early as usual by Ben but Amy didn't stir until around 7am. When we went into the lounge the kids were thrilled to see that Santa had been and left two presents on the fireplace.

Father Christmas brought Ben a Bob the Builder armchair and Amy a High School Musical Sing Along game for the Wii.

We opened the rest of the presents under the tree and then Granny & Granddad popped in with some more presents.

They left and then my parents, Alison & the Nans arrived with even more presents. By this time Ben was a little bit overwhelmed but Amy was thrilled at all the lovely gifts she was receiving.

We had a lovely day singing to Amy's new game and Ben even built himself a stage to sing from. But I think the Nans got a bit tired towards the end of it!

Boxing Day
Well, most of what I have to say here is second hand because I came down with some kind of horrible lurgy and spent most of the day in bed or in the bathroom!

Brenda, John, Kirstie, Phil & the kids came over and by all accounts everyone had a lovely time. There were more presents and everyone had a dip in the hot tub towards the end of the day - which Kirstie had been looking forward to I know.

27th & 28th December
Steve and I had planned to do a spot of sale shopping but I was feeling rough on the 27th still and then Steve felt poorly on the 28th so we didn't really do much. We did manage to buy our new flooring for the lounge though so it that was good.

Saturday 29th December
So that brings us back up to date. Today we went to see High School Musical on Ice and took Amy's friends Lily with us. I swear those two girls did not move, speak or blink for over an hour - they were completely mesmerised.

Ben really enjoyed it too and joined in with the Wildcats dance as soon as it started playing.

We're going away with Paul & Gav, Evie & Morgan for New Years so hopefully I should have some more updates after then.

So Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you all.

Santa Special

2007-12-18T11:38:00.000Z

Last Saturday was fairly action packed....

We went on the Santa Special steam train at the Colne Valley Railway. It was really well done with Santa visiting the children on the train and giving them each a special gift. nothing good in the way of pictures I'm afraid - they just wouldn't keep still!

We went with all Amy's old nursery chums and it was really nice to see Amy & Lily playing together again. They both share a love of High School Musical and have already decided that a sleepover is in order in the New Year.

After the train we all went back to Daniel's house where the kids played together and the adults enjoyed some of the lovely food that Daniel's mum had prepared.

Then it was a quick dress change at home before Amy headed off to the Faces Christmas Party. It was a bit of a late night for her really and after such a busy day too I wasn't expecting her to make it through but when I went to collect her she didn't want to leave!

On Sunday we had Paula, Gav, Evie & Morgan over for a few hours playtime and then Bev & Gerry for next door popped in for a pre-christmas drink & a nibble or too.

It's getting close to Christmas now and Amy is very excited about it. Not sure Ben knows what's going on yet - maybe next year!

Postal Delays!!

2007-12-09T19:20:00.000Z

No, not Royal Mail I mean me!! I have been reminded that it has been a little while sans post and I thought I'd better rectify the matter.

Last weekend I should really have posted about in full but it's a bit late now so here are the highlights - Amy had a sleepover at Auntie Kirstie's & Ben got to spend some quality time with Steve & I without having to listen to High School Musical on repeat!!!!

So what have we been up to this weekend....

Well, on Saturday we had Granny's pre-Christmas day when she gives the children lots of little Christmas oriented presents which would be largely superfluous after the 25th (like Xmas socks & Santa letter kits etc). It's become a tradition of sorts.

The kids had a great time and played together very nicely. We all slept over and then today we went to the newly refurbished Queen B for lunch. The food is pretty much as it has ever been but the surroundings have definitely changed for the better.

This afternoon we just stayed in doors, did a bit of cooking and played in the lounge. Amy wouldn't stay still enough for us to take her picture but Ben had some quite time to deal with some important paperwork!

Chill Out Weekend

2007-11-25T20:17:00.000Z

We've had a bit of a chill out this weekend. We didn't do very much on Saturday during the day but I did surprise Steve with dinner out at his favourite fish restaurant as a sort of Christmas outing for the two of us.

Then today although we chilled out in our PJ's till about midday we did make good use of the time with Amy and I setting about giving her room a good tidy and Steve and Ben tidying up the Study.

It was a very fruitful morning's work. Then this afternoon we've spent most of it listening to the High School Musical soundtrack whilst Amy pretends to be a cheerleader - and that's more tiring than it sounds.

So nothing too exciting to report but thought I'd better let you know we were still here! Don't they look cute in their matching outfits!!

Happy Birthday Nanna

2007-11-11T19:59:00.000Z

This weekend was Nanna's 61st Birthday (when you type it out like that it seems really old!!!) and I think it's somewhat of a tradition for her now to spend her birthday weekend in France with Roger & Yoita (and Dad, of course!).

This year Steve and I plus the kids (including Ally) joined them. We finally persuaded my Dad to ditch the Ferries and try the Eurotunnel - thankfully it wasn't jinxed and I think they found it ok.

We did some shopping in Cite of Europe and had a lovely spot of lunch in one of the restaurants there. There was lots of space for the kids to run about in whilst they were waiting to be fed and plenty of stairs to chase Ben up and down!

After our shopping expeditions we checked into our hotel which is a lovely little place not too far from the port which has a wonderful restaurant attached.

The kids behaved themselves (for the most part) and we all enjoyed a nice meal. I'd like to say that Nanna liked the birthday present we bought but unfortunately it hasn't actually arrived yet! Hopefully it'll be here by Tuesday and I'll let you know.

We left fairly early this morning - the kids love the tunnel and Amy treated it like her own personal dance studio - singing High School Musical the whole way home.

We were back home by 11am and immediately set to work getting the kids to tidy up the house and after they had finished they made themselves a well deserved cup of tea.

The Owl & The Pussy Cat

2007-11-04T18:57:00.000Z

This weekend was Hetti & Jamie's wedding so we dropped the kids off on Saturday morning with Granny and headed up to London.

We had decided to stay over and were staying at the London Bridge Hotel. It was a lovely place just over the road from the train station and was very grand.

The wedding service was held in the Library at Dulwich college and was one of the most enjoyable wedding services I've ever been too - everyone was really enjoying themselves and laughing & joking the whole time and their reading of the Owl & The Pussy Cat was wonderful.

As luck would have it after having nearly forgotten the camera completely we then found the batteries to be practically dead but I did manage to coax one photo out of it before it gave up the ghost completely.

After the service we travelled in a double decker bus to a local pub for the reception. We had a wonderful evening dancing the night away til quite late.

This morning, after a wondrous lie-in, we took a walk to Tower Bridge and had a lovely lunch at Gaucho grill.

Back home this afternoon we were reunited with our the kids and had a nice time playing and dancing to High School Musical in the kitchen!

Congratulations Hetti & Jamie!!

Smashing Pumpkins

2007-10-28T19:03:00.000Z

So I trust you all enjoyed your extra hour in bed this morning. We, of course, had no such thing. In fact, Ben had one of his worst nights for a long time and for Ben that's really surpassing himself!

We had burnt bacon at Granny's house today and very nice it was too. After that we spent the afternoon round Paula & Gav's.

The kids had a lovely time and Ben has just got to that age when we can (almost) leave them to play nicely by themselves. It would be fine if Ben wanted to play trains with Morgan but instead he tries to play dressing up with the girls and that doesn't always go down so well!

We did pumpkin carving as well and the kids put in a solid 5 minutes worth of effort before giving up and leaving the adults to wade through the mess!

Still they enjoyed the outcome.

Hen on Ice

2007-10-27T19:20:00.000+01:00

I've had lots to tell about last weekend but I couldn't find the camera til today!!

Last weekend I went to the Hen party of Hetti, from work. She has a reputation as a hardened party animal & drinker so I was a bit nervous when she said we'd be staying out til 5am. I mean that's usually when I get up for the day!

I was staying over at Het's house in South London and we had a wonderful time. We started off at Het's with pizza, wine and Ryan our "butler in the buff" - who was wearing nothing but an apron and an embarrassed smile. Then we went to a cheesy nightclub in Clapham.

We got back to Hetti's about 2am and stayed up singing Karaoke til about 4am. It was very good night.

Steve had some friends over to watch the rugby but we all know out that turned out now don't we!!

We all met up again at the O2 Arena (the old Millennium Dome now put to good use) to watch Disney on Ice. I was wondering how I would cope with only a few hours sleep and a thumping headache but it was such a great show I barely noticed.

The kids were very well behaved and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. We can't wait for our next Disney Ice show which is High School Musical.

Amy has become obsessed with this. For the older folks, think Grease with a basketball element! She has spent the whole afternoon listening to the soundtrack and has now gone to bed playing it!

Could be worse I guess - she could be listening to Eminem!

40 Blissful Years!

2007-10-18T21:07:00.000+01:00

I'm a little behind again so please forgive me but it was a bit hectic last week....

On Friday Steve went to Amy's school assembly. He said she was rather good this time and only forgot one of her lines. Sorry the photo is a bit poor.

Then on Saturday it was Granny & Grandad's 40th Wedding Anniversary Celebration - 40 years it's quite hard to believe I mean Steve and I are only at 10 next year!

It was a lovely do on Saturday afternoon/evening and there were loads of their friends and relations who can to help them celebrate.

On Sunday they opened all of their lovely presents and then we went to the Green Dragon in Braintree for a family lunch which was very nice. The meal was wonderful and the kids had a great time playing in the little ante room which Brenda & John had booked out

Back with Mickey

2007-10-04T19:38:00.000+01:00

I know that some of you might think us a little crazy but we saw Mickey Mouse again last weekend! I know we've only just come back from Orlando but Disneyland Paris are doing a special kids stay and play free deal this year that was just too good to miss.

We really pushed the boat out this time and stayed in the big pink hotel which overlooks the park entrance. It was very swish and the rooms were lovely.

The park itself was absolutely heaving - and it wasn't even school holiday time but we all still had a great break and managed to do all the things we really liked.

We even caught a glimpse of Johnny Wilkinson and the England Rugby team who were visiting on the Sunday - shame it wasn't Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom though!

I've added a couple of picture but for more of them please click here:
My Photos

Happy 2nd Birthday Molly

2007-09-23T19:46:00.000+01:00

On Saturday we went to Molly's 2nd birthday party. As always the weather was lovely (somehow it always is for Kirstie - they say the sun shines on the righteous don't they!)

There was pass the parcel and lots of toys to play with in the garden and a fine spread for tea-time.

It was actually the day of Grandad's birthday and he got a lovely surprise at birthday cake time when after Molly's cake presentation he got one as well and we sung them both happy birthday.

It was a lovely afternoon and I think the little lady really enjoyed herself. I know our two did!

Oh But He's a Funny One

2007-09-17T20:05:00.000+01:00

It has come to my attention that my youngest child is a complete lunatic.. I mean we all know him to be a strange (but lovely) little chap but just recently he has been excelling himself in the weirdness stakes.

Witness - his new fetish for play buggies. I mean try and strap him into a full-size version and he screams like a stuck pig but give him a tiny, weeny play buggy to squeeze his bum into and he's there!...

Last Tuesday - having a spot of tea

This Sunday - having a ride in the garden.

We've had a lovely weekend. Amy had a birthday party on Saturday and then we all cleaned out the garage (oh the joys of adult-hood!). And on Sunday, Amy went ice-skating with Daddy whilst Ben and I "helped" Auntie Alison do a boot-sale.

It was a nice late summer weekend and after lots of playing in the garden everyone was bushed.

Happy Birthday Granny

2007-09-09T21:06:00.000+01:00

Today was Granny's 59th Birthday we celebrated by having a hot-tub party at ours. We decided against doing a bar-be-que and instead did chilli and sweet & sour chicken which was must easier.

The weather was lovely for early September and Granny and Kirstie arrived in full chav gear. A dig out our most recent purchase - heaven forbid! They would have both made very good footballers wives!
After our lunch we all had a turn in the hot-tub. The kids loved it - especially Molly and were very disappointed when we told them it was time for them to get out. They took it rather well though and had a splash about in the paddling pool instead.

We spent the rest of the afternoon out in the garden with the kids playing beautifully together. Ben even had a go on the swing!

We're Finally Home

2007-09-02T17:57:00.000+01:00

We'll we're home, a little later than expected but back no less. No doubt you will all be eagerly awaiting news of our first ever trip to Walt Disney World well here goes....

Day 1 - Tuesday 21st
We had a little bit of a delay to our outgoing flight but we made really good time through immigration & passport control (something we'd been warned could take hours) and we arrived out our lovely villa around 8pm.

Day 2 - Wednesday 22nd
First stop was the Magic Kingdom - we made really good time the first morning and managed to tick off some of the long-wait rides (Dumbo, Pooh & Peter Pan) without hardly any queuing. We had arranged to try and meet up with Paula & Gav at some point during the cross-over in our holidays and as it happened we did it our first full day. We kept it a surprise from Amy and the look on their faces was priceless. I really don't think any of them realised they were so far from home!

Day3 - Thursday 23rd
We visited MGM Studios on day 3 and Ben was very excited to see Lightening McQueen - he even gave him a big kiss. The studio's was probably the least popular park with us so this was our only visit but we had a lovely time and Amy really enjoyed the Muppet 3D show.

Day 4 - Friday 24th
It was Animal Kingdom today - a first for all of us. My goodness it was hot in there! It was hot anyway (a rather sweaty 92 degrees on average most days) but someone told us that Animal Kingdom runs 5 degrees hotter cos of all the plants. We tried out lots of new things in here and our favourites were: Kali River Rapids (you got drenched but you also got cool!). The Kilimanjaro Safari (Ben fell asleep on this one!). Everest (well Steve liked this one but Grandad came off looking a bit green!) & the Lion King Show (where Ben had a good bop!)

Day 5 - Saturday 25th
This was our first "off-day". We had Disney tickets for 7 out of the 10 days only but we thought that it would be good for the kids to have some down time at their age. Steve hit the outlet malls and managed to spend a small fortune in the Ralph Lauren factory outlet store. As it turned out we were all much more tired after an afternoon spent playing "Chase Ben Around the Pool" that we all had an early night!

Day 6 - Sunday 26th
A special day today. We stayed in a little later and headed to Epcot around lunchtime for a "Princess Storybook Lunch". This was held in "Norway" and you got to eat traditional Norwegian cuisine whilst Ariel, Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella & Jasmine milled about signing autographs and posing for photo's. Amy was in 7th heaven. Later that day we headed to the Magic Kingdom for the Wishes fireworks show. It was our only late night as Ben completely missed the fireworks and Amy only just about managed to keep her eyes open for it!

Day 7 - Monday 27th
This was supposed to be another "off-day" but we decided to take a trip to Seaworld instead. This is a different kind of park to the Disney ones as it is much more educational. Amy & Ben enjoyed the Killer Whale show (Amy was quite taken with the star of the show - Shamu) and all the adults thought the Dolphin & Whales show was very spectacular. The only problem with this park is that the distance you have to walk to get around it is immense and you can't do nearly half of it in just one day.

Day 8 - Tuesday 28th
Back to Magic Kingdom today to try out some different rides. We did Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain & The Laugh Floor (an interactive comedy show which was very clever). We also caught the "Dreams Come True" parade in the afternoon which was very well done.

Day 9 - Wednesday 29th
Animal Kingdom today were Ben had another little sleep on the Safari ride. They honestly couldn't believe he fell asleep during it and neither could we - it was very, very bumpy! Nana finally got up the courage to get wet on the River Rapids and ironically hardly got splashed at all!

Day 10 - Thursday 30th
Our final off-day. Some last minute shopping - we had to buy two more cases just to bring back all the Disney merchandise! and preparing for our trip home.

Day 11 - Friday 31st
Home time! We checked our suitcases in at Downtown Disney and then headed back to Magic Kingdom to do all our favourite rides one last time. We arrived at the airport at around 5pm only to find out that our flight home had been cancelled! It was general chaos with hundreds of people trying to figure out what was going on. Eventually we were bused to a nice hotel about 20 minutes away and told to come back to the airport the next day at 12noon.

Day 12 - Saturday 1st
Well we decided to make the best of our extra days holiday so we brought swimming costumes and spent the morning in the hotel pool. At 12:15 we were all bused back to the airport again and discovered that we had a 6 hour wait until our flight later that night. It actually didn't take that long to pass really but we were all very ready to go home by that point.

Day 13 - Sunday 2nd
So here we are back at home a full 24 hours later than planned but having enjoyed a wonderful holiday. The kids were impeccably behaved the whole time and no least the way in which they handled our unplanned extra day. We can't wait until we go back.

The London Eye

2007-08-19T20:32:00.000+01:00

On Thursday this week Amy got a treat when Daddy took her on the London Eye with Terri. Steve took her into his work beforehand and she had a lovely time meeting all the people he works with.

She enjoyed seeing Big Ben - although her ultimate thrill came from riding home with me on the top deck of a London Bus!

On Saturday we went to Joshie's 4th birthday party. It was a fancy dress theme and Amy went as a cat and Ben as a bug - both of them stayed in their fancy dress for most of the afternoon.

It's been a little bit hectic here getting everything ready for our big holiday but we're about there now. We're all packed and the kids have their little trunki's to take onto the plane with them - (what you've never heard of a Trunki - try www.trunki.co.uk!)

So it's all systems go for tomorrow afternoon. Don't miss us too much and I'm sure it will be the mother of all posts when we return!

Aussie Rules

2007-08-12T19:19:00.000+01:00

Well Terri (our Australian friend) has arrived back into the UK. It's been over four years since she was last here and her whirlwind Tour sees her visiting, England, Ireland, Paris, Italy & Hong Kong.

She stayed with us last night and we had a lovely Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning playing together with her. Ben even managed to figure out how to drive Lightening - although this method does impede his vision somewhat!

Amy was away this weekend - she spent the weekend with Granny, Grandad and Ollie in their caravan in Thorpe-le-Soken and from what she tells me they had a marvellous time. Complete with games of cricket and crabbing on the beach.

Amy didn't get to see Terri this weekend but she will on Thursday when the two of them and Steve will be taking a trip on the London Eye.

It was lovely to see Terri again after all these years and I even promised that I would fly out to see her......... when I'm about 55 (hopefully they will both have forgotten that promise by then!)

Caravans & Calais

2007-08-06T20:08:00.000+01:00

We're back from our holidays and this post could be quite a long one...

We went to our usual destination which is La Bien Assise campsite in Frethun a charming little village about 10 minutes drive from Calais port.

We took some glorious weather with us and everyone had a really lovely time.

In the main our days where spent as follows:

Lazy breakfast of croissants & hedgehogs (choc au pain to you and I)
Nip out to local retail establishment and do a spot of sale shopping
Back for a long lunch (more bread with fine cheese or pate)
Dip in the campsite pool
Lazy afternoon spent in our little bordered off garden area (Granny's windbreakers keeping Ben penned in safely!)
Kids to bed
Nice relaxing bar-be-que for the adults
Lots of booze, together with more bread and cheese

I doubt anyone will have lost any weight this week - apart perhaps from the kids who didn't sit still for most of it.

There were a couple of days when we broke the mould though. On the Sunday we visited Nausicca (a SeaWorld) in Boulogne as this was the only day when the weather was a bit hit and miss and the kids loved this.

Then on Tuesday we went to Plopsaland in Belgium which is a really nice little theme park. Everyone was very tired by the time we got home after that day out but it was really good fun.

Then on Wednesday night the kids had a sleepover in Granny & Grandad's caravan whilst Steve and I went out to dinner at the local restaurant.

We all had a really great time and Steve and I are already planning when we can go back.

We returned home at midday on Saturday and ran around like lunatics unpacking and getting ready for a bar-be-que for our friends who were arriving at 3pm.

Now normally I wouldn't even contemplate doing something so crazy but Kev & Nat were visiting with their little boy James and it had been planned for months with Jane and Simon hosting the event. Unfortunately, Jane's mum is poorly so we stepped in at the last minute. It was a brilliant day and went on quite late into the evening.

The highlight of the night, for me, was Gavin drunkenly telephoning the customer service number on the bottle of cider that Kevin had brought to congratulate them on their fine beverage!

The next day Steve and my Dad set about destroying the decking to make room for our hot-tub which should be coming early September (didn't we mention we're getting a hot-tub? apparently it's the next stage towards swinging according to Kirstie!!)

So you can see why it's taken me a few days to post about this little lot. It's been a hectic but really enjoyable week.

Steve's Birthday 2007

2007-07-23T19:56:00.000+01:00

It was Steve's birthday this weekend so on Saturday night we went out with our long-lost friends to an old favourite haunt - The Empire.

It's Gav's birthday a few days before Steve's so it was a joint celebration. We had a lovely meal and they treated us really well with an impromptu birthday cake and free port! - what more could you ask for!

Steve's actual birthday was on Sunday and because it has rained on the 22nd July for the last 32 years we planned ahead and instead of trying to bar-be-que in the rain we decided to go out for lunch.

So naturally the day was bright and fair and it didn't rain all day. Still we had a lovely lunch and it was nice not to have to do a big shop or do all that washing up too!

The kids had a wonderful time playing in the gardens of the restaurant - it's amazing how much fun you can have with a lamppost when you're young eh!

And after lunch we came home and played in the garden for the rest of the day.

A Great Weekend Had By All

2007-07-15T19:24:00.000+01:00

Everyone had a lovely time this weekend. The kids were having a sleepover at Granny & Grandads and Steve and I were having a lie-in!!

The kids went off to Granny's at about 9am and by all accounts they had a lovely day at the Splash Park in Maldon.

That night they all slept in Granny's caravan - on their driveway! - They had discussed taking it somewhere for the weekend but in the end we decided they would have as much fun even it they didn't tow it anywhere!

Steve and I stayed in bed most of the morning and in the afternoon Steve went golfing with my Dad whilst Mum and I went Heaven V for a spa treatment. In the evening we went out with my Mum & Dad, the Nans and Ally to a restaurant in South Woodham. We had a great time and it was lovely to have a lie-in the next morning - although we did miss the kids.

Then today we met up with the kids round my Mum & Dad's for his birthday bar-be-que - the weather was a bit overcast but my goodness it's sultry today.

Roger & Yoita were there and Amy and Roger became the best of friends playing "Toss the Nellie" .

Whilst Ben had lots of fun doing "dad" dancing!

Cars and Castle

2007-07-08T21:33:00.000+01:00

Another day another corporate do! They're like buses - you don't get one for ages and then two come together.

Today I went to Silverstone to watch the British Grand Prix - to say that Steve was jealous would be a mild understatement - I do believe he contemplated breaking my leg so he could go in my place! This grand prix was probably the most eagerly anticipated in many a year as everyone was hopeful that Lewis Hamilton would win it in front of the home crowd on his debut (he didn't!)

The weather was lovely and the champagne was quite nice too. I could have done without all the noisy cars driving round and round in circles though - that was just a bit tedious.

Honestly (and I know some people would cheerfully kill me for saying this) I just don't get the appeal of watching cars bomb around in circles for a couple of hours!

This is Lewis Hamilton - promise!

Steve spent today playing super-daddy with the kids & PJ and Gav at Mountfitchet Castle and I was overjoyed to see that Ben is now the proud owner of a toy sword - I will get the Tilling woman for that one!

They had a great time visiting the castle and nearby toy museum and Steve was quite impressed at the Smurf and ZX Spectrum (geek) collection but this seemed to be lost on the kids!

Deloitte Family Fun Day

2007-07-07T20:07:00.000+01:00

Today was Family Fun day courtesy of my work and they paid for a day out at Chessington World of Adventures. If I'm totally honest I'm not overly sure I was looking forward to it. Hours in the car followed by a full day with lots of children - not really my cup of tea but it was a really good day.

There was a special marquee where we had food and drink available all day and it was complete bliss to be able to dump all our belongings somewhere central and just pop back as and when needed.

We also got several "queue buster" tickets which allowed us to go straight onto rides this was a god-send with small people who have not yet learnt the fine art which is queuing in Britain!

There was a lovely bar-be-que lunch and there was face painting and circus entertainers to keep the little people amused.

It was a very tiring but enjoyable day - I'll definitely go to the next one!

International Week

2007-07-03T19:46:00.000+01:00

It's International Week at school and on Monday they had to go dressed in the colours of an International flag. Amy wanted to wear red, white and blue and in light of Auntie Terry's impending visit from Australia we chose that flag.

So on Monday she went to school dressed from head to toe in red, white & blue - even down to her nail varnish (special treat only!) with the Australian flag pinned to her back. We now know all about how the Australian flag came to be - its been around since 1901 did you know!!

Then today, Amy finally had a wish from true.... All year she has been begging me to come into school and help out (like Katie's Mum, or Connor's Mum or whoever's mum - the list is endless).

Well this time they had a request for foreign language speakers to visit and pass on some of their knowledge to the children and for the first time ever it was on a Tuesday.

So I spent this morning playing French bingo with Amy's class (Ben had a lovely morning with Nanna Diane). They should now all know how to count to 5, the colours Red - Blue - Yellow & Green & the words Fish - Boat & Apple. Some of them were really good but if they remember it all when they get home I will be very surprised!

I had a really good time and Amy was so happy I was there, it was very sweet. Amy's teacher said she wanted me to come back and do something about Sign Language if possible and if they can arrange it for that illusive Tuesday then I will definitely be there.

Happy 2nd Birthday Ben

2007-06-24T20:05:00.000+01:00

Ben had a lovely birthday party on Saturday with his family. The weather a bit stop-start but we managed to get out to play in the garden for a bit and even enjoyed a rather energetic game of football.

He got lots of lovely presents, including a toy "henry" hoover which he didn't stop playing with for about 5 hours! - he even insisted on taking it up to bed with him.

He also got an electric Lightening McQueen car which lots of family members had put in together to buy and he was very taken with that. I suspect that he would have played out on the driveway for quite some time (as would Amy & Ollie) but it started to rain again so we'll have to save that one for another, brighter, day.

All in all I think he had a lovely time and at the end of the day he nearly had me in tears (I said nearly!) when we got him to say "Ta" to everyone for their presents.

Special Assembly

2007-06-23T11:55:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was another special assembly for Amy at her school where all the parents are invited to watch their children.

They told us about what they had been learning about during the school year and showed examples of their artwork.

Then they sung some songs about bending and stretching and using their brains and bodies.

Amy had to stand up and say about eating healthily but she was so quick I almost missed it.

I can't believe the first school year is almost over already. Doesn't time fly eh!

Father's Day 2007

2007-06-17T19:42:00.000+01:00

Today was Father's Day and I think Steve enjoyed himself....

He had a little bit of a lay-in this morning but not much as Ben was making too much noise downstairs - followed by lots of presents. We then went to Freeport in Braintree and did a spot of shopping before heading to Frankie & Benny's for lunch (Steve has been wanting to go there for a while).

After lunch we returned home and played in the garden all afternoon with Granny & Grandad who had just returned from a weeks holiday in France.

Amy and Ben had a wonderful time making a trap around their toy bar-be-que to stop the burnt bacon escaping - - - no I don't understand it either but they had fun!

Amy's 1st Sports Day

2007-06-14T19:50:00.000+01:00

Forget the hoo-hah over the Olympics logo. Today saw a landmark sporting occasion in the heart of Essex!....... Amy's 1st school sports day.

Steve had arranged to take the afternoon off to attend and lend a supporting hand and voice. Surprisingly for the UK the weather just about held off and the event went ahead as planned.

They did various sporting activities and here are some photo's of the girl in action.

Just like My Little Pony!

Here we go round the maypole!

Look, one-handed!

A Magical Weekend

2007-06-11T19:58:00.000+01:00

This weekend was absolutely magical. Steve had managed to get tickets to the opening concert at the new Wembley Stadium and it just happened to be George Michael who I have had a long running affection for!

We decided to make a weekend of it and for the first time in 5 years we chose to leave our kids for an overnight stay. I was a little apprehensive about it (I think because we'd never done it before) but to be honest, Steve and I are so knackered that we really needed a lie-in.

So on Saturday afternoon we travelled up to The Landmark Hotel in Marylebone. I didn't realise but Steve had booked us into a 5-star hotel and the place was magnificent - it was the sort of place that it wouldn't have seemed odd to bump into a movie star at.

Our room was lovely and looked out onto the main centrepiece of the hotel which was a giant glass covered atrium.

The concert was amazing - and his voice is still superb. The stadium was packed and we managed to squeeze ourselves into a spot pretty much where the centre circle would be for a football match. The noise down there was incredible and you really got a feel for what a buzz it must be to play there as a footballer.

The next morning we had a lie-in - bliss!!! and then we went to the hotel's trademark Champagne Brunch (where they pride themselves on never letting your glass go empty)!

We got home about 4pm and spent a lovely afternoon in the sunshine with the kids in the back garden. I think my Mum and Dad were pleased to see us back as the kids had kept them on their toes!!

Daniel & Downpours

2007-05-29T19:50:00.000+01:00

I've got a bit of catching up to do again so here goes....

Our friend Daniel came over to visit on Saturday afternoon/evening and the kids were thrilled to see him. He seems to have a natural way with kids and they had great fun clambering all over him and making him swing them upside down!

After they went to bed we had a nice civilised adult evening and it was really enjoyable.

On Sunday it started to rain and it didn't let up until Bank Holiday Monday but more about Sunday... My Dad has supported Blackpool Football Club since he was about 11 years old and it was dream come true on Sunday to got to the new Wembley Stadium and watch them win the match which saw them promoted into the Champions League.

Steve and Alison went along for the trip and Steve was happy enough to support Blackpool during the match - I am not so sure how things will go once they have their first game against Ipswich - that could be pretty interesting!!

On Monday we went to The Glazed Look pottery painting studio which is a very enjoyable rainy day activity and then we returned home and spent the rest of the day up in the playroom whilst it continued to pour outside.

Today we were supposed to be meeting Kirstie and her crew at Maldon to play in the splash park but the weather was so rotten that was out of the question. We tried to stick it out for a bit but after we had to eat our picnic in the car because it was so cold and windy I phoned Kirstie and they all come round ours for the afternoon.

In other news we have our Venture photo back from my Mum's 60th birthday shoot and it's really lovely.

Here's the overall picture
and this one is my favourite because it feels like we spend most of our lives chasing after Ben!!

Watching Week

2007-05-20T19:47:00.000+01:00

This Saturday it was watching week at Ballet where all the parents were invited to stay to watch the lesson. Steve and I don't usually like doing this sort of thing. Not because we don't want to watch but because Amy usually plays up when we are there and goes all shy.

However, this time being older and wiser we warned her that if she started being silly we were going to walk out and she was wonderful. It was lovely to see their little performances and they all try so hard.

Today we went over to Granny's house for burnt bacon breakfast (they usually come to us) and the kids really enjoyed it. After that Amy and Steve went ice skating again whilst I did a spot of retail therapy!

Ben slept peacefully in his buggy while I hammered the credit card in various shoes shops and woolworths! - I could really get used to this Sunday morning skating merlarkey!

This afternoon we popped to Paula & Gav's to give Morgan his birthday present (he was 3 on Thursday) and then spent the afternoon in the back garden.

The kids made pizza for their tea and had a great time rolling out the dough and sprinkling on toppings. Most of Ben's toppings went onto the floor but they seemed to have fun.

Playing Catch-up Again

2007-05-14T20:13:00.000+01:00

I guess it must be my age but here I am playing catch-up again as I have been out of action through sickness. So here goes....

It was my 33rd birthday last Wednesday and I'd like to say I had a lovely day but in fact I was sick on Wednesday night and most of Thursday so I never really got around to celebrating with my planned take-away and bottle of plonk. I got some really nice gifts though which is always nice.

This weekend the kids had a great time helping us clean out the garage (the things they find amusing eh). Actually the highlight was Grandads rather large van which he borrowed from work (we had a lot of junk in there!). They both had a lovely time sitting in the cab and Amy was quite cross that she wasn't allowed to actually travel in there.

Then on Sunday Steve and Amy went skating. I stayed on the sidelines and watched over Ben because I do NOT skate - I have been skating about 5 times in my life and I'm that person who inches around the rink holding onto the side for grim death!

Amy was a natural at it and was even comfortable enough to let go of both the side and Steve for brief periods. She was skating for about an hour in all which seems quite good going for a 5 year old.

She wants to go again next Sunday although I'm not convinced that the appeal is more for the spangly costumes that some of the skaters were wearing.

Amy's 5th Birthday Party - Part II

2007-05-08T19:14:00.000+01:00

On Sunday Amy had what she calls her "adults" party which is when the family all get together to celebrate her birthday.

This year we had decided to abandon our traditional bar-b-que in the rain and had a sort of cold running buffet. Perversely, this meant that the weather was actually quite nice - albeit a little bit blowy.

We had party hats and a mammoth game of pass the parcel and then Amy opened all her presents - she got some lovely gifts.

After that we all sat outside for quite a while and the kids had great fun playing with the train, trampoline & sand pit.

At the end of the day Ben had great fun helping us pack everything away!

Amy's 5th Birthday Party

2007-05-05T20:27:00.000+01:00

Amy had a birthday party with both old friends and new today at the local Virgin gym. Steve and I both agreed that it was the best "organised" party so far as the two girls who were our hostesses made everyone feel very welcome and really seemed to enjoy their jobs.

The kids had a great time running around & playing parachutes in one of the studios and then after that there went into the maze which is a 3-story ball put with slides etc.

They all looked really hot afterwards so they settled down to eat some party food the likes of which I have never seen before - you could tell it was all home-made stuff.

When we got home Amy set about the task of opening all the present she had received and she got some really lovely stuff.

Steve and I are knackered but there's no rest for the wicked as we have to get ready for her family party tomorrow.

Quick Catch-up

2007-05-04T19:22:00.000+01:00

I thought I should do a quick catch-up post before the weekend as I'll probably have lots to post then.

Last weekend was glorious weather and Steve and I went out on the Saturday night for an early anniversary dinner. On the Sunday we spent most of the day with Auntie Ally and then Ben & Gerry popped over.

These pictures are of Amy washing her feet in the sink after they got sandy and Ben washing the floor with his favourite mop and bucket!

On Tuesday I hosted a Pampered Chef party and I couldn't believe the amount of people who turned up. Usually with these things people say they will come but then don't. We took nearly £700 in sales which means we get quite a few freebies!!

On Thursday it was Amy's actual birthday but things were fairly low-key because of school. She had a school trip that day to Tropical Wings butterfly park and bless her she seemed to think it was all just for her birthday!

Steve & I brought her a doll's house for her birthday present and hopefully she will grow to love it.
She has her parties this weekend so more news on that soon.

Happy 5th Birthday Ollie

2007-04-22T20:59:00.000+01:00

Today was Ollie 5th birthday and he had an at home party. He had invited about 15 school friends and relatives and they all had a great time playing party games and eating party food.

Amy had fun doing girlie stuff with Jasmine...

...whilst Ben enjoyed moving the goal posts (literally) for the football game - here he is fleeing the scene of the crime!.

Sadly, Molly was feeling a little bit off colour but she rallied her spirits towards the end of the day.

After the official party was over Ollie's relations stayed on for a little while longer and then the presents were unwrapped.

Here's Ollie in his Power Ranger outfit which we brought him.

Zoo Trip

2007-04-11T17:37:00.000+01:00

Had a great day yesterday. Went to Colchester Zoo with Kirstie & a couple of her friends. In all there were 9 children and 4 adults.

When we got there I couldn't believe the amount of cars - we had to park in the alternative, alternative car park and I nearly gave up on the whole thing and came back home again. Kirstie talked me out of it and in the end we had a lovely time.

Ben saw loads of tigers - everything he saw he shouted tiger at; elephants, monkeys, zebras (i was willing to let him have that one) and Amy did lots of running about! They were both shattered at the end of it and so was I.

Amy then went back to Kirstie's for a sleepover. Rather heart-warmingly she seemed a bit put out that Ben wasn't joining her and seemed confused that it was just her. It seems that in her head there was never a time when Ben wasn't in her life which is really nice.

Was a bit weird at bed time though because I usually check in on her before I turn in and she wasn't there.

Hoppy Easter 2007

2007-04-09T19:23:00.000+01:00

We've had a lovely Easter Bank Holiday weekend....

Good Friday
On Good Friday we went to visit Granny and Grandad at their caravan which they had parked near Framlingham. The kids had a lovely time charging about in the field.

In the afternoon we visited Framlingham Castle which Amy especially enjoyed - who says history is boring!

Later that evening, just as we'd changed Ben into his P.J's for the trip home he crawled into Granny's bed and snuggled down - it was really sweet!

Saturday
On Saturday we spent the day together as a family doing nothing much in particular. We dropped round at my Mum & Dad's on the off-chance that we might be able to help them with putting up their new shed and our timing couldn't have been more perfect as they were struggling to get it together.

Easter Sunday
On Sunday we went over to my Mum & Dad's for the day and had a lovely time out in the garden. Both the kids managed to catch the sun on their faces and we had a wonderful buffet-style lunch.

Easter Monday
Then today Paula, Gavin, Evie & Morgan came over to visit and the four kids had a great time in the back garden. The place looked a little bit like a branch of the Early Learning Centre with all the toys scattered about but they did enjoy themselves.

It's been a lovely bank holiday weekend and against all traditions the weather has been completely lovely the whole time.

The Tiger & The Shamrock

2007-04-05T19:51:00.000+01:00

Well the first Tuesday of the Easter holidays has passed and we all had great fun.

Ben had his face painted for the first time and I did him as a Tiger. Amy wanted to be done with an Irish theme (she'd been into Irish dancing the whole day) so I tried to do her a couple of shamrocks.

Later that afternoon I tried (and failed miserably) to put up the trampoline netting. After nearly 2 hours struggling with it I finally conceded defeat and packed it all away again. I guess Ben is just gonna have to learn how to stay in the middle!

In other news, Amy has been enjoying an extra hour before bedtime as it is the school holidays. She has taken to helping us with the chores and rather likes washing up.

Also in other news Amy has started to earn pocket money for keeping her room tidy. She has really taken to the idea and has done really well the first week. I'll guess we'll have to see if the novelty wears off!

It seems like ages...

2007-04-01T19:26:00.000+01:00

It seems like ages since I've posted on here but I've been out of action for a few weeks with the flu. I still feel quite under the weather - this one has been really hard to shift but let me recap on what's been going on since I last posted.

We have two new fish - Centre Parcs & St Tropez are their names. Sadly Mum-Fish & Ish turned out to be a bit dodgy and didn't even last 2 weeks!

On Monday 26th Ben had an appointment at Great Ormond Street to see the eye people and they are reasonably happy with his progress - they do want us to try and get the patch over his eye for 1 hour a day but at the moment Ben is not quite ready to co-operate!

Then today the whole family went to Venture for a photo shoot to use Nanna's birthday voucher. We have warned her that she might have to part with a few pennies if they come back as stunning as our ones.

We were wondering how they would manage to get a good shot of the whole group of us whose ages range from 93 at the oldest to 2 at the youngest but they seemed confident that it wouldn't be a problem.

We'll go and see the results in 2 weeks time.

Oh yes and in other news I passed my ITIL Release Management exam - ooooh I hear you say but it's good news for me because now it means that I am officially qualified to my job which will leave me in a much better position if I ever get made redundant.

Mothers Day 2007

2007-03-18T18:40:00.000Z

I had a lovely day today. Steve pulled out all the stops and made me feel very special. I had lovely presents; a chocolate heart, pink champagne and a Tiffany's necklace!!!!

Then we went to the South Lodge for lunch (one of my favourite restaurants).

Sadly Amy was feeling a little bit poorly today but she rallied her spirits and made it through the day.

I haven't really lifted a finger all day and it's been bliss.

Baby Ben is two weeks old...

2007-03-17T19:49:00.000Z

...Not our Ben but Ben Stevens the third child to our friends Dave & Kellie. We went round to see them today and to meet Ben for the first time. He is such a little sweetie for a few minutes I actually felt broody!!

We took our camera with us but sadly completely forgot to take any photos of the little man.

The older kids had great fun playing outside the front of the house together and the time just flew by.

Today was really mild, although snow is predicted later on in the week, and the kids were still playing outside at 6.30pm. - here are the photos of it.

Lily's 5th Birthday

2007-03-11T19:08:00.000Z

On Saturday Amy & Ben went to Lily 5th birthday party. We thought it was really nice of them to invite Ben as well and they both enjoyed it immensely.

Earlier in the day we had made a start of clearing out the garage so by the end of the day we were all pooped.

On Sunday we did some more garage clearing - what exciting lives we lead eh!

Then later we went t0 Granny's for tea. Her lounge is completely redecorated now and it looks really nice. I especially like her reclining leather sofa!

Introducing Mum-Fish & Ish....

2007-03-06T20:37:00.000Z

We now have two new additions to our family...

Don't ask me where Amy got the name Mum-Fish from but our two new goldfish Mum-Fish & Ish (Ben can't quite manage the word Fish yet!) joined our family today.

They seem quite content in their little fish tank - complete with pink mermaid!

On a less positive note, Ben is poorly again. He got more and more listless as the day wore on so I took him down the Doctors about 5.30 tonight and he has a septic throat infection so it back on the good old Amoxicillin again - lets hope it clears it up soon.

Pirouettes & Parties

2007-03-03T20:06:00.000Z

This morning Amy had her first ballet lesson. She no longer goes to Stagecoach (I think she may have been a bit too young - it does last quite a while for a 4 year old) and instead she goes to 30 minutes ballet at the gym.

It works quite well cos it means that Steve and I can take Ben swimming whilst she pirouettes in the dance studio above our heads.

Later today we went to the local Pet store to buy some fish. Ben has taken a real shine to our scaly friends and we thought it would make an easy pet. Fish are more complex creatures than I thought though as you have to let the tank settle for a minimum of 48 hours before you can move them in so we brought the tank today and will go back next week to pick up Snoopy & his as yet unnamed companion (I have no idea why Amy has chosen the name Snoopy!)

Then even later still today we headed off to Riverside for Evie's 6th birthday party. She was having a swim party and whilst Steve and Amy went to the Learner Pool for an hour of splashing about on an inflatable polar bear. Ben and I went to Kool Kids (the soft play area). It was very busy with another birthday party going on in there. After swimming they had a lovely tea and a bit of a run around. Sadly no pictures from Evie's party as we left the camera behind!

They were both completely popped tonight and went off to sleep without a murmur.

A Busy Week

2007-02-25T19:00:00.000Z

This week has been a bit busy so this could be a mammoth post...

On Monday, Ben had a routine appointment which his Pediatrician and Development Team. I was expecting them to be very positive because he has started to walk since they last saw him and whilst they were very pleased with this, the Dr was a bit worried about his weight (he is on the lowest of the scale) so has referred him to a dietitian. Personally, I think his recent weight loss is due to his increased mobility but what do I know. There is no denying it though - he's a little titch!

On Thursday, Ben was back at St. John's but this time helping out by acting as an exam case study for some doctors who were trying to specialise in children's medicine. Steve took him this time and said that he seemed to enjoy cruising the tables of food laid on for the kids but said it didn't seem very organised!

Thursday evening Steve went to Amy's parents evening. Mrs Berlyn said that Amy gives the impression that she's not concentrating in class but is definitely taking it in as she can demonstrate she has heard whats been going on. She's certainly inherited her Dad's maths skills though as I found a piece of paper in her bedroom the other day where she had written out a whole list of sums and each one was correct!

On Saturday we took another family trip to Ikea to get our new lounge furniture (we went there last week to pick up the first bit). Amy was disappointed on hearing that we wouldn't be going back next week. Apparently, she likes Ikea!

On Sunday we popped to Granny & Grandad's house for breakfast with them and Ollie & Molly who had been sleeping over. Their new lounge looks lovely and the furniture and sofa are gorgeous. I thought she was awfully brave letting the four kids eat cooked breakfast over her new carpet!

Then on Sunday lunch time we headed to Glades to celebrate Ann's 93rd birthday! It's a very quiet little restaurant and for most of the time we were the only diners so we could let the kids play about in between courses happy that they wouldn't be disturbing anyone. Both of them were very well behaved and I actually managed to eat a dinner without Ben stealing it!

Well that's all our news for now. More soon

Sub-conscious Love

2007-02-19T09:23:00.000Z

Here's another one of those little gems that kiddies come out with. Just wanted to make sure it doesn't get forgotten.....

Scene: Sunday afternoon, playing in the lounge. Amy is engrossed in some activity or other and suddenly out of nowhere says....

Amy: I love you Ben

Mummy: Awwww that's nice

Amy: What's nice?

Mummy: You just said you love Ben

Amy: No I didn't (now back peddling furiously) I said he was ......... um ....... smelly

It's nice to know that deep down inside she does love her little brother.

Valentine's Day 2007

2007-02-17T19:59:00.000Z

Steve and I don't usually celebrate Valentines Day but seeing as he had been working lots of weekends so far this year we decided to treat ourselves.

I brought him a new watch and he brought me some rainbow roses. Then Ally came over to babysit and the two of us had a lovely romantic meal at Russell's.

It's a lovely restaurant but a bit pricey so you only go there for special occasions. The food was wonderful as you can see from the picture of the menu. (P.S. if you click on the picture it'll show bigger).

Sleepover and Sleep-ins

2007-02-11T19:57:00.000Z

Yesterday we had a sleepover at Evie & Morgan's house. The kids had a lovely time playing together and Paula cooked us all a nice tea.

We put the kids to bed around 8pm ish and we then settled down to fine wine and good conversation. I distinctly recall a discussion about how both sets of children were prone to prompt waking and how Amy and Morgan rarely went back to sleep if they woke too early.

We were, therefore, all a bit surprised when Amy & Evie awoke at 5.30am and on being told it was too early promptly returned to sleep until around 8am. Even more surprising was Ben - a usually problematic sleeper when away from home - went to sleep on his blow-up bed with no trouble and after waking briefly at 5am slept in til gone 8 as well.

Steve and I were amazed and contemplated moving in with P.J & Gav for good.

And in another first for Ben, he has gone to sleep tonight in his big bed (and it is big cos it's a full-size single rather than a "toddler bed") - whether he sleeps through is still to be seen but fingers crossed!

Snow Day!!

2007-02-08T19:54:00.000Z

It was a snowy day today. We woke up this morning to crisp white snow all around. I went off the work usual time fully expecting not to be able to get into London but rather annoyingly everything ran like clockwork.

Back in Chelmsford things were a little different and Amy's school was closed for the day. So Steve stayed at home and had great fun building a snowman in the back garden with the kids.

Later on they walked up to Chelmer Park to meet up with Kirstie, Ollie, Molly, Granny & Grandad for a spot of sledging down the big hill there. Amy is braver than I am!

Steve and the kids came and met me from work and we had a little snowball fight in the back garden for going back inside to warm up and dry off.

I wonder what tomorrow will be like?

Moo-Bags Comes to Play

2007-02-07T20:29:00.001Z

Ben had a lovely time yesterday because Molly Moo-bags come over to play.

Kirstie had asked if Molly could come and visit for a few hours whilst she did some redecorating and Ben was pleased to say the least.

They had lots of fun pushing the buggies round the lounge and playing in Ben's room.

Happy Birthday Archie & Daniel

2007-02-04T19:30:00.000Z

Today Amy & Ben went to the joint birthday party of Archie & Daniel. It was going to be a swim party but unfortunately the pool was experiencing some technical issues so instead they ran about in the gymnasium like lunatics for few hours!

Amy was overjoyed (actually that's an understatement) that Lily was there and it was nice to see all the parents again. They were genuinely pleased to see that Ben is now walking and it was lovely to see the look of delight on their faces as he toddled around the hall chasing footballs.

Later this afternoon the kids had lots of fun dressing up as a penguin (don't ask) and chasing each other around the lounge.

On an adult note, it was "go-live" weekend for Steve which meant (hopefully) the last weekend he'll be at work for a little while. I know the money is nice but it's also nice to have him around too!!

Special Assembly

2007-01-27T11:43:00.000Z

On Friday Steve attended Amy's special class assembly, Amy seemed really excited by Daddy going and as there were only a couple of other Daddys there Steve could see why.

All the children from the other classes were brought in and then the reception class went to the front of the hall. Amy was in the top row, in between Charlie (one of her boyfriends) and Liam.

The children welcomed everyone to the assembly and then took it in turns to say what they liked at school and what they enjoy doing.

Amy stood up, wrote on a mini white board and then told everyone that they "like writing on the white board".

The children then told how they had been learning about teddy bears and wild bears. Amy at this point had to say that "Teddy bears are different from wild bears".

The children then showed us some of their spelling skills by spelling a number of words in unison.

Finally it was time to sing "thank you lord" and a small prayer. Before the class thanked us for coming to their assembly.

After all the other children had left to go back to classes, the reception class were allowed a few minutes with their parents before going to break.

Amy was pleased to see Daddy, but didn't want to stay to long with him.......playtime was calling.

Well Done Amy, you done yourself proud.

Two Little Ballerinas

2007-01-13T20:18:00.000Z

It was a good day today, I got to go buggy shopping (something which I like immensely) as Ben had busted the foot rest on his existing one. Sadly, I could not find anything I liked but I did have fun looking!! (Sad I know).

Later this afternoon Amy decided she wanted to do some ballet dancing and Ben decided he just had to get in on the action...

Don't they look sweet!

Disneyland Resort Keene Way

2007-01-07T19:45:00.000Z

Well we had such a laugh yesterday. It was Granny's annual New Years Quiz and each year there is a theme. This year was Disney and it had taken me weeks and weeks of sewing to create Steve's costume but I think he looked OK.

Granny had excelled herself this year with her decorations - complete with a pink castle & Mickey Mouse in the toilet!!

Everyone looked really good and it was a really good evening and we didn't get to bed to well after midnight.

I can't wait for next years Country & Western theme and have brought the kids outfits already!!

Cheers Bren - I think you surpassed yourself this year!

The photos can all be accessed by clicking on the link below:

Disney Photos

Happy New Year 2007

2007-01-01T19:44:00.000Z

Well that's it, 2006 is officially over. Some of you may know that New Years Eve is not my favourite night of the year but this time I had a really good evening.

We kinda left things a little late in organising this year so weren't able get together with all of our mates but we did have PJ, Gav, Evie & Morgan over to stay.

We had a lovely evening and the kids really behaved themselves - so much so that Amy & Evie were allowed to sleep together in Amy's room.

Ben woke up about 1am just as we were thinking of turning into bed and refused to go back to sleep in his cot which wasn't really the start to 2007 we were hoping for but he's doing so well with his walking now I could forgive him just about anything.

So, here are our New Year's Resolutions so we can track exactly how long it will take us to break them!:

Me: Fix my feet
Steve: Learn more sign language
Amy: Stop sucking her thumb when talking
Ben: Learn to run!

Happy New Year. May 2007 be all you hope it will be.

Presenting the Amazing Walking Ben

2006-12-30T20:02:00.001Z

I'm not sure if this will work but I'm hoping technology will not fail me.

If you click on the link line below, it should take you to a video (on myspace.com) of Ben walking.

Ben Walking

Since his first real walking on Boxing Day, Ben is coming on really well and has now figured out how to get up without holding onto anything either and we are all so proud of him.

It's not very long. Hope you all enjoy it.

Updated 19.02.08 to be a direct link to the video:

Rogers 60th Birthday

2006-12-30T19:57:00.000Z

Today was Roger Price's 60th Birthday and we all went to a lovely party at their house this afternoon. - Roger & Yoita used to live next door to my Mum & Dad and it's a friendship which has stood the test of time.

As always Yoita put on a marvellous spread of fine foods including the spinach & ricotta dish she does (the name of which I can never remember) which is one of my favourites.

Amy and Ben had a great time cavorting around the lounge floor together and were the best of friends this afternoon.

Roger, Yoita and Mum & Dad are off on their birthday cruise the first week in January and they are all really looking forward to it.

Happy 60th Roger!

Christmas 2006

2006-12-27T20:09:00.000Z

The wrappings have been ripped and Christmas is over for 2006. Oh but what fun we had...

We woke up bright and early on Christmas morning but didn't venture into the Lounge until 7am to see if Santa had been. The kids faces were a picture when they saw the two presents by the fireplace.
Father Christmas brought Amy a Playmobil Aeroplane and Ben a Cars scalectrix.

Then it was off to Nana & Grandads' house to wish them a Happy Christmas and open some more presents.

We left those gifts there and got to Granny & Grandad's about 11:30 where Christmas Day was being hosted this year.

It was lovely as she had Cessie & the cousins over too and it was nice to have the whole family there. Amy & Ollie disappeared upstairs for several hours playing shoe shops with Granny's ample shoe collection and all the kids were so well behaved.

We had a lovely sleepover and on Boxing Day headed back to Nana & Grandad's house where Ben had great fun showing off his walking.

I think we can safely say that he is now walking. He just has to figure out how to get upright without holding onto anything and he'll be 100% there but I think that seeing him walk the length of Nana's lounge and then some was probably the best Christmas present in the world ever!

So Merry Christmas everyone. The Clarke Clan had a great time!

Christmas Eve with the Animals

2006-12-24T19:26:00.000Z

We had a wonderful time today at Colchester Zoo with Lily, Rose, Harry, AJ, Archie, Daniel, Luke, Big Ben & their parents.

It's something the others have done in previous years but it's the first time we have joined them and it was a very good way to pass the time on a day which can seem to go on forever with small children.

This is the first year that Amy has been really into the whole Christmas experience and she is so excited.

There must be a little bit of magic in the air though because Amy & Ben had a bit of a love-in tonight and were sat on our bed giving each other big sloppy kisses! It was really sweet.

Anyway, here's hoping Santa brings you everything you wished for!

Merry Christmas!

Holidays Are Coming

2006-12-19T19:41:00.000Z

Today was Amy's last day at school as a part-timer. She is very much looking forward to returning in January full-time and I must admit that I will prefer to have a little bit more time inbetween pick-ups to play with Ben.

This afternoon Molly came over to play while Auntie Kirstie had to run some errands and we had a smashing time covering the lounge floor with toys.

We went for a play in the little park at the end of the road and Ben had a lovely time going down the slide. I dug out some old reins of Amy's and with just a little bit of support from me he had great fun walking back to the steps each time.

Dinner with Friends

2006-12-19T19:22:00.000Z

On Saturday night we meet up with our friends for Christmas dinner. This year we went to The South Lodge and it was by far the best mass-produced Christmas dinner I have ever eaten.

There was fine food, good wine and very bad dancing but we had a great time.

I think, if it is actually possible, I was more inebriated that Eric.

It was really nice to see some of our friends who we don't get together with as much these days and we had a really good evening.

Shame about not going to the Cave afterwards though - I was quite up for it apparently!

Ben's Latest Development Check

2006-12-15T21:06:00.000Z

Ben had another development check with his Physiotherapist, Speech Therapist & Occupational Therapist on Tuesday.

The Speech Therapist was very impressed with his signing and wants us to just continue with more of the same. She was particularly pleased to see him using the "more" sign voluntarily.

The other two ladies were also very happy with him - although he lacks concentration - at 18 months go figure! They are really pleased that he is starting to find his feet and predict a speedy progression which is nice to hear.

It is the last time that Val will see Ben as she is retiring at Christmas and she was really sad to say goodbye. Sweet really!

(Picture of Ben and Molly having a race to see who gets on the tractor first)

Pre-Christmas Party 2006

2006-12-11T19:36:00.000Z

Saturday 9th December was Granny's traditional Pre-Christmas party only this year we played hosts.

They children got some lovely bits from Granny & Grandad and everyone had a lovely time.

I decided to try and be fun Auntie for a change and brought a Pinata (not very christmassy I know) and everybody had great fun trying to smash it open. It took a surprisingly long time.

We had a really nice tea and pulled crackers and once the kids were all tucked up in bed we settled down to a rousing game of Cranium - well at least the young ones did. Granny & Grandad crashed out on the sofas!