Amy's 5th Birthday Party - Part II

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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...

...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

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....

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

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

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

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

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

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!!

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

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

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!!