It's been a while....

..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

g.

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

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

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!!

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

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

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

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!