Three Little Girls - And the Plague!

So of course having little girls, you get the good aswell as the bad.

The bad being the dreaded - HEAD LICE.

It only takes one poorly maintained head of a child in a school (and we're all acutely aware of this poor child whose mother seems completely oblivious, or just doesnt care that her child is utterly riddled with them, as helpfully pointed out by her child's classmates.. and has done nothing to treat it).

Letters have been sent home to all parents over the outbreak which is the worst ive seen it since my eldest started there in 2008.

Anyway, our first encounter of nits, head lice, whichever one you call it.. was a few months ago. I have always been extremely squeamish about these infestation bugs and always stated that should any of mine get it, they would be shipped to my mother immediately and go into quarantine until they had all disappeared.
Of course that didnt happen.
Instead once id taken a deep breath and confronted my fear, bought the relevant stuff and treated her, i was feeling a bit braver about it all.
One swift treatment and she was cured! I was a happy mum and we continued about our lives.

This was until last week when i noticed my youngest who has the longest, most tangly hair you can imagine, scratching her head. Uh Oh.
Yep, she was the next to fall victim to the dreaded critters. Except this was no easy task to tackle this time round.
Sophie being the most awkward yet loveable child there is, absolutely hates anyone to touch her hair. So you can imagine the battle i had with a nit comb and all that lovely long hair of hers. *sigh*
Still, we treated it with a well known brand of head lice treament, that had worked on my oldest, and were regularly combing through her hair every day or two but she was still scratching, and there was nothing coming out on the comb.
Today was day 7 since her last treatment and doing as i was told, i bought more solution to re-treat after the 7 day period. This time though i bought Full Marks Solution.

The above solution is the one we bought and i cannot recommend it enough.

15 minutes after putting it on her head (i always like to give it an extra few mins to work) i started to run the comb through Sophie's hair and was shocked, and disgusted at just how many lice and eggs i was pulling out of her hair.
I hadnt seen anything like it before, and they had all been safely hidden since last week when i did the first treatment!
Clearly the other one hadn't worked and they'd had an extra 7 days in which to breed and grow. And boy did they.
I lost count in the end, i just couldnt believe that the nit comb hadnt picked this up during all the times i stood there under a bright light, combing through her hair before each bedtime.
It took this solution to finally out the plague that is head lice.

Not only is this treatment expensive but it is incredibly repetitive, never ending and very frustrating when you have girls with lots of long, tangly hair, who wont stand still, and will howl, cry, scream, beg, plead and behave as though you are murdering her just to run a comb through her hair....

So i will continue on my quest to rid my girls completely, until the next time they catch it from said poor child at school, or someone else she has infected with her nest head.

My complaint will be going into the school first thing in the morning.


Silent Sunday ....

Living With A 'Quirky' Child

If anyone lives with a child who 'doesnt mean to be naughty' then you'll relate to this post.

I have a little girl, aged 4, who while being bought up the same way  her two older sisters are, is very different in almost everything she does.
She didnt walk until she was 17 months old for a start and once she did learn to walk she quickly turned into the tazmanian devil.
We would go to various toddler groups, one being 'messy play' which as the title suggests, was a couple of hours worth of all the messy play you could think of.
The support workers from Banardos had never seen a child like Sophie before.
They were amazed at how, in the literal blink of an eye, one tiny child could cause so much chaos. And all 'without meaning to be naughty'.

Sophie would have a paintbrush in her hand one minute, and the next the cupboards, floor, doors, walls, herself and several other children would be covered in paint. This all happened in the space of 30 seconds and im not even kidding. I couldnt take my eyes off her for a second because she'd either be on the rampage, or have vanished into thin air.
The amount of places i found her in that she wasnt supposed to be in! Once was at the farm, and she'd taken herself into the barn next door to play on the childrens soft play area. I was keeping an eye on the older two playing on the haystack, she was at my feet in one of those red and yellow cars.. and literally two seconds later she was just gone.
Cue a mild panic attack later and there she was happily playing away. She knew exactly what she wanted to do, and always has. She just couldnt give a hoot what happens in the process of doing what is set in her mind.
To Sophie, the world is black and white.
If she wants a drink she NEEDS it right this second and is dying of thirst until she gets it. If she has her mind set to doing something, she is determined that she will do it and nothing will get in her way. She has no fear, no sense of danger, and no real care for authority.

These things arent because she is a bad child, she just really doesnt see danger, or that she must tell us where she's going, or anything other than whats set in her head.
She learns everything at her own pace and it can take some time for things to register in her head. She was a very late talker and then surprised us all by coming out with full sentences.
She memorised every child's name card at nursery and would hand them out to each child even though she couldnt read a single word.
The nursery staff told me they'd never had a child who had ever been able to do that before, and that was just from her watching them each morning.
They also underestimated her ability to cause chaos. I was laughed at when i told them what she could do with a paintbrush - until it happened to them.
I was asked how on earth i cope with her and a very close eye was kept on her from that day on.

She would climb, draw, etc on anything she fancied and there was no way i could let her near a road because she'd run across it with no warning atall. I had to use a pushchair with her for a long time and even now she can still be very unpredictable.
Sophie started Reception in September and her teacher has already had several incidents where she has taken herself out of class for a wander round the school.
Several members of staff have found her happily wandering the corridoors, playing in the toilets and having a grand old time.
Sophie doesnt get worried, or scared to be by herself. She is that much in her own little world that is so black and white that she just sees what she'd like to do - and does it!
Her teacher who is quite strict has to drum it into her over and over again that she must ask to use the toilet, and to stop taking herself off round the school and several weeks later it is only just beginning to sink into Sophie that its unacceptable.
The dilemma i have as her mum is that she is already being branded 'naughty'. She gets told off several times a day and has already been sent out of the classroom, to which she shrugged and didnt really give a stuff about.
I try explaining to her teacher, who i will is a bit of a know-it-all and wont properly take onboard what im trying to tell her about Sophie. Its very hard getting across to people her little 'quirks' and 'characteristics' and trying to make them understand.
Sophie doesnt mean to be naughty, she just doesnt realise she is being.

As we all say.... 'There's something about Sophie'.

Almost A Whole Year...In One!

So! We're going pink in honour of the blog title that keeps on changing lol.

How do you sum almost a whole year up in one??
You dont.

Im going to just pick up from where i left off... last Christmas. Or was it February??
Either way.. lets hope i make a better go of blogging this year.

Ever look back on the year and realise there were alot of things you did wrong and quite wish you hadnt done them atall? Thats mostly been this year for me.
I wont go into details but here's to 2013!

So... Christmas. It was ok.
During the build up i was like every other mother out there. Stressed, worrying how i would afford it all, anxious that i still had x amount of people to buy for and panicking that i was going to run out of time.
I was also counting my blessings that neither me, or any of my children had fallen ill. It was looking like this would finally be the Christmas that we were all illness free!
It wasnt to last.
On friday the 21st i woke up feeling rubbish. I had a cold. I tried with all my might to shift it over the next few days and it worked. Joy i thought! At least the kids all seem fine.
Cue the arrival of Christmas Eve.
My eldest comes down with flu. Throwing up, cough, cold, aches, high temperature, the full works.
Great i think as im already in the middle of the chaos child number 3 created by deciding to cut her own hair after i told her that no i wouldnt be cutting hers aswell as child number 2's as she didnt need it.
One very long strand later and she now has one side of her hair very short and the other very long. 
What can you do?? 

Sophie very pleased with the haircut she'd given herself

One short bit, one long!

So roll on Christmas day, and after the opening of presents and the arrival at my mothers who made me want to strangle her 5 mins after getting there.. Child number one struggled through christmas day not really interested in anything and sleeping straight after her dinner.
Still, we soldiered on and had a relatively nice christmas day with family.
Boxing day arrives and as is tradition, we trudge over to my uncles for the turkey and roast potato buffet.
Child number 1 was ok by this point and joining in with the games but child number 3 was going downhill fast.
So here we are 4 days after boxing day and i decide to cook a family sunday roast, inviting my mum and brother (who forgot to turn up until i sent him a dinner is ready at 5 text) and all is going well until child number 2 climbs into my bed and promptly throws her dinner up all over it.
This is the night before New years eve.
Thanks kid (even though i know its not your fault you're sick).

So thats my year in one. Lots of regrets, things i shouldnt have done and a Christmas blighted by a virus doing its rounds.
If i still have any followers left... i salute you and hope to post a more positive outlook on things in the new year LOL.

Wow where do i start??
I am seriously bad at keeping up my blog. Im a blogging failure.
Its now February of all months and I havent blogged since what.. October? Eeeeshhh.

So, to sum up my missing few months, here is a quick re-cap;

October bought with it all the Autumnal fun, including of course, Halloween! This is always a favourite time of year for me to dress the girls up, do some trick or treating and carving pumpkins.
Our halloween was spent with my cousin and her girls. Pumpkins, Trick or Treating and then getting to eat it all afterwards!

Everything comes in three's remember ;-)

Girls in their Halloween finery!

Sugar overload

November soon followed and bought with it 8th and 5th Birthdays for my two oldest children.

This month is always manic, always expensive and always stressful.

This year I booked a party for the two of them, a joint party with a local entertainer called Mr Marvel.
I had seen him at other parties and the show he put on was always second to none. I felt quite excited about this as it was Katie (In Reception)'s first proper birthday party where she got to invite her friends.

Of course though, something had to go wrong and it did.. big time.

First of all the hall got double booked. This wouldnt normally be a problem but Mr Marvel is in such great demand that he wouldnt have been able to re-schedule.
The other party that had been booked there was a baby shower and the young mother-to-be wasnt having any bit of her party being moved to another date despite my desperate pleas and knowing she could full well move it to another time no problem.
I was in a state of panic. The invites had all gone out (and i was unable to contact all the parents to change things around as half the school happened to be off sick with a bad stomach bug! Thus adding to my panic that no one would be able to make it anyway) and as i said, Mr Marvel is quite a catch. 

After a huge row (we wont go into that!) i did eventually get my own way thank god, and the party was back on.

Despite a few children still being too unwell to attend, the party was a great success. Mr Marvel lived up to his reputation and was very worth every penny we paid him. 

The girls all loved him and everyone had a great time. The parents who stayed for the party even commented on how well he had done. 

I also had a bright idea during my party planning and decided to do happy meal style lunch boxes rather than a buffet. This way there would be the right amount of food for each child and we wouldnt have lots of left overs and alot of waste.

This went down a storm! The children were all delighted to be given their own personal lunch box and each  had a sandwich, juice box, mini packet of crisps, one fairy cake and a penguin. 

Im happy to say there was no waste and without being over whelmed by too much choice, it was a success! 

Mr Marvel working his magic

He even bought a live rabbit!

The looong party table

The girls with their Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake!

 That done with we then moved into December!

Christmas was looming, I was especially busy with my photography and i was praying that no one got the flu like we all did the previous year.

Luckily everything went to plan and we had a lovely Christmas and New Year. The girls did get colds in the run up to the big day but the only one still slightly suffering was Sophie and even then it wasnt bad enough to spoil her day.

We had a lovely Christmas Eve buffet, even though the other half was suffering a terrible hangover gained from his works 'do the night before, and then on Christmas morning we opened presents and then went to my mums for the afternoon and evening where we had dinner and more presents.

This year the other halfs mum and brothers also joined in the festivites at my mums which was a nice change because we got the morning to ourselves for once instead of dividing the day up between both families.

I was so glad that we managed a great Christmas given that the previous one was so awful.

The girls on Xmas Eve!

Our tree complete with presents

Posing for a pic at my mums on Christmas Day

To be honest, since Christmas not alot else has happened to our family. We all struggled back into the routine of work and school, Im trying to keep on top of the endless washing and housework (not an easy feat when my tumble dryer has been broken for a few months now) and the weather has just kept getting colder.

We attended parents evening last Thursday and were glad to be told that both girls are doing very well and that there are no concerns about their work and well-being.

We were also treated to a good few inches of snow this past weekend... but thats for another post ;)

So in short - Thats our last few months summed up in one post! 

Living Goldilocks Style

I looked at the scene pictured in the photo below this morning and had to giggle.
Having three children whether they be girls, boys, a mix.. is just like living in the storybook tale: Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

I lined up three breakfast bowls this morning.. the largest for Tayla (soon to be 8), the middle sized for Katie (soon to be 5) and the smallest for Sophie (3 yrs old).

I even managed to angle the spoons the same way. (This was not intentional!)

I then look at the three piles of clothes set out for the day, the three pairs of shoes waiting for little feet to step into them, the three beds somehow crammed into their bedroom, the three identicle dinner plates id washed up the night before so they dont argue over who has which plate, the three flask type cups for their lunch boxes, the three lunch boxes! and everything else in our home that comes in three's.

I also noticed that i have a tendency to line these items up in the age and size order. Tayla's first because she's the biggest, then Katie's and then Sophies. I dont know if i have a form of OCD but i cant help doing it this way.

Not that i would change any of it, i quite like being a modern day Goldilocks ;-) 

Halloween Pizza Party!

So tonight since dinner was late (after a visit from my mum) i decided to stick a pizza in the oven for the girls.
I had put it in, set the timer and then naughtily sat on the laptop while i waited.

When the timer bleeped i went into the kitchen and was greeted with 3 halloween paper plates from last year, each with a teddy bears picnic napkin laid out on top, along with 3 plastic cups waiting to be filled with three halloween straws inside them.
I love kids!

What can you do but smile? so i asked them if they wanted to have a Halloween pizza party and you can imagine the answer to that one.
I put out the slices of pizza on their plates, gave them all some crisps and other little bits, filled their cups and took it out to the table. 
Excuse the rubbish mobile phone photos!

:)

They were all thrilled with their 'special' dinner and i was happy i didnt have the battles over who had which plate and so on :-D

Happy Kids = A Happy Mum!

Children That Can Read Minds

I thought id quickly write about this moment before i laughed it off and then forgot about it.

My kids always hanker after some form of dessert after their dinners. Sometimes they are allowed, sometimes they are not but they usually always try their luck anyway.
Knowing we have some strawberry cornettos in the freezer, they had asked last night for one after their dinner. I told them no and like a bad parent, told them they could have one tomorrow instead, hoping that come tonight, they would have forgotten what i said.
Not my children.

I was sitting here in my now nice and toasty living room realising to my delight that bedtime was soon upon us and thinking to myself  'I hope they dont ask for ice cream' as its close to bedtime now and Sophie always gets herself covered.. and just as the thought entered my head a little voice belonging to my middle child Katie pipes up 'Can we have an ice cream!?'
Dammit.
But since i had just thought it, and she appeared to have read my mind, added to the fact that id told them all yesterday that they could, i looked at the 3 expectant faces before me and said 'oook go on then.'

Three pairs of feet all scampered off to the kitchen as quickly as they could and i now have three little girls sat on the sofa eating ice creams in their best dresses.

Ahhhh such is a life of a child :)

October Already?

Wow.. my first post in October and its already the 19th.
So we have already established that i am a rubbish blogger. I dont know where the time goes tbh.

Since getting the kids back into school and being busy with work, i havent had much time (or really anything to write about!) but hopefully i can do better from now on.
Its been one of those dreary afternoons today. The sort where i cant seem to wake up, the kids have been bickering and pestering, making me resort to wearing the other halfs massive headphones and turning the music up to blast them out of my earshot and where they get jacket potatoes for dinner because - its just one of those days.

I also sent out a SOS to my old driving instructor. I have decided that despite being taught (very well i may add) by him, i cannot park to save my life. I happily drove into a space between two cars last night only to find that when i wanted to reverse out of it, i couldnt do it. I had thought i could go back in a straight line and then steer my way out but no. The car next to me made it a tricky situation and after almost ending up in tears over the stupid car and with thoughts of abandoning it and walking home, i finally did it.
I have a lesson booked on Friday.

Its also the time of year when the heating has finally been switched on. I was trying to hold out until at least November but im sorry tight fisted other half - it has to be done now. We're going to get another winter like last year, i can feel it.
We also went to visit the brother in law at his army barracks a couple of weeks ago. We had gone to pick him up and bring him home for the weekend as he had completed part 1 of his training so it was nice to be shown around, given some demonstrations and of course the best bit! - Having a sneaky look or ten at all the lovely young men in their army uniforms ;-)  brother in law excluded of course, because that would just be gross.

So thats a basic round up of whats been going on here. Life as usual!

The Disasturous Duo

Driving is not something that comes easily to me.
I spent 5 years being deathly afraid to pick up the phone to even book some lessons.
I spent a further year learning to drive automatic as it was just about cope-able for me and then i amazed myself by passing both my Theory and Driving tests both times with very good scores.

Its already been a journey for me, so when i finally made the purchase of my very first car - a 2008 Peugeot 207 1.6 in metallic grey i was over the moon!
Finally i was free and mobile, not having to rely on anyone else and being able to take off as i wished!

Only, it hasnt been as simple as that.
I now have a new found fear, and that is of driving by myself. More so than that, having to park the car. Particularly in a space with cars either side of it.
So i havent. The only trips i have made in my nice shiny new car that calls out to me to drive it are to the school and back, which i can just about cope with because i know i can park at the side of the street easily.
My stomach is still in knots though every time i get in the car and start it up. I feel very strange and entirely uncomfortable.
I am still learning how the controls work. This morning i managed to switch the heaters on which decided to billow out blasts of cold air at me and the kids. I had no idea how to turn this feature off so off we went to school as though we were on a rollercoaster ride with the wind blowing in our faces and hair.
I did however, manage to work out how to wipe the back windscreen. This was essential as i had to reverse back a bit before i could go forward and i had briefly considered getting out and wiping it myself.

Once i was back from the school looking like id been dragged through a hedge backwards, i called the other half who gave me a lecture about not listening to him whilst he was explaining all of this to me the other day and then told me how to turn it off. I did it! Phew.
The next challenge was to go to the vets for dog food. I completed the journey there successfully, only going up the kerb a little bit when parking, and got back into my car happy that i was making some progress.
I put the key in and went to turn it but nothing would happen! It was locked in place and just wouldnt budge.
Having thought id done something wrong when unlocking the car, i then got out, locked it, unlocked it, and got back in to try again.
It didnt work. I was about to give up and walk home, leaving the sodding car where it was parked when i decided to painstakingly call the other half again.
'What have you done now?' he bellowed at me from the middle of the workshop at work. I explained my predicament and he breathed a sigh of relief. The steering lock was on.
After talking me through how to unlock it and get going i was then on my way home and happy once again.

So thats me, and the adventures ive been having in my new car. It isnt the first time ive messed up either. On Monday i decided to drive us all to the girls Parents evening at school. I pulled up along the kerb and was immediately told to get out by the other half who then jumped in and parked it himself, doing a far better job than i had done 2 minutes earlier. I was a little way from the kerb but it wasnt too bad! He clearly thought otherwise though.
The other half is also a very bad passenger to have.
He has resumed the role of my driving instructor and insists on telling me everything i am doing wrong, and also what traffic is coming my way.
I wasnt aware that i was blind, nor that i still needed to take lessons once passing my test with no minor faults on it but hey! He is a man and thinks he knows best.

The Gallery - Home

I had come on my blog to post about something different but as usual, i got caught up reading everyone elses latest posts and was immediately tempted into joining in with this weeks Gallery whose theme is Home.

For the most part, i love where i live. I have lived on the outskirts of West London all my life.
Situated somewhere between Heathrow and Watford, i live in a little village called Denham, in South Bucks.
I have very long and strong roots here. My parents both grew up in Denham, and therefore so did me, my brother and all our cousins.
It was very much a 'it takes a village' childhood and if you got in trouble, your parents would soon come to hear about it from the neighbours they had grown up with themselves.
The great thing about it is that people rarely tend to move away from Denham and so the kids you grew up with, are still here now as adults, and some are parents themselves too. It is now our kids that are going to school together and forming the life long friendships that we all have.

Denham is a beautiful place. Idylic, old fashioned and traditionally English, it is a place to be proud to call home. It has country pubs, a country park, a huge golf course, a beautiful tradtional church where many family celebrations and also sad events have taken place, and is even home to several celebrities! One being the late Sir John Mills whose final resting place is in our church yard.
My own children have enjoyed the same sort of childhood that i have, paddling in the stream, running across the old wooden bridges and partaking in the century old 'Denham Fayre' every May bank holiday.

The photos i have chosen to assist this post are ones that both made me smile and bought back memories for me, so im glad i decided to take part!

Lovely country pubs

The church of many memories

Part of the Country Park

The canal

Seeing one of these is a common occourance!

My girls collecting for Children In Need sitting in front of the War

Memorial

The large golf course

The girls enjoying a summers day

Hot summers paddling!

Exploring the wood

Happy kids on the bridge :)

Denham is also within 5 minutes drive from our local town of Uxbridge (West London) where you will find your usual city centre and everything that goes with it.
Its there that the London Underground tube lines begin and you get a bit of the city hustle and bustle that just gets busier the more into London you move.
We also have local shops! Shops that have been there for as long as i can remember. Some have come and gone but a few still remain. We have a local butchers, hair salon, newsagents, an indian, spanish and thai restaurant and a 'fine food store' that is locally known as Veeno's (which is the name of the man who has owned it for many years and is known by everyone in the community) and everyone in Denham will tell you that it is only at this shop that you can find the very best crusty rolls.
My children go to the local and very small school and nursery and they recently built a under 11's play area just at the end of my street which is popular with lots of children in the summer.

Enjoying an ice cream in the little park with their cousins

And so that is my little corner of the world! The place i have and always will call home. The place i grew up with alongside my cousins who i am still close to now and who still all live within walking distance from me.

The private jokes everyone has about the Total Garage and the various states people have turned up at it in, 'The bench' which has seen many things and would have many tales to tell if only it could talk! and the old now derelict pub where many Sunday afternoons were spent badgering Grandad for money for drinks and crisps while our parents socialised.

All of these things make up the place i call 'Home' and I always breathe a sigh of relief when having come out of certain areas of London, i am back in the safe haven that is Denham!

How The Other Half Live

Today was an experience for me.
Having met a few members of the other halfs side of the family at his mums 50th birthday party a year or so ago, i got an idea of the sort of thing we were up against.

Now my own family are very down to earth, working class, what i would consider to be normal members of society. We have normal jobs, drive normal cars and live a pretty average life.
The other half's family however, are not your average bunch.
For one thing they are incredibly rich. Each one of them has a very high powered, well paying job and the way they conduct themselves, their accents, clothes and cars all make no secret of this.
The other half couldnt be more different. His mum is an accountant, a pretty good job, but she married beneath her class to a working class man from Newcastle.
This marriage didnt last and they are now divorced but the other half and his brothers are your usual sort of people and do not take after their mothers side.

So fast forward to today. The other halfs cousin got married yesterday and we hadnt been invited. Instead, we had been invited to todays 'do' which was reception number two that began at 12pm.
The dress was smart-casual since it wasnt as grand as the affair of the previous day so after some conflicts of opinion over what was 'too' casual and a serious shoe malfunction resulting in me dashing into town on the way there to pray that Shoe Zone had some replacement sandals for two of my girls (they had! thank god) we were on our way, late as usual.
When we arrived we could see the marquee from a mile away. Bang in the middle of a quaint country village, smack dab in the middle of a large field we parked up and waited for the other half's mum to escort us in.
We even had a carpet path leading us up to the entrance!
After a bout of air kissing (on both cheeks if you please!) we stood around for a while at the free! bar which was something none of us had come across before, watched a little airshow outside, cracked a few jokes about how i was scannning the room for a rich eligible bachelor that would sweep me off my feet princess style and give me the life i was always destined for.. and then went in for the hog roast buffet.
We were served by the hired caterers that addressed us as sir and madam and were given meagre portions. Of course it would be far too rude to return to the buffet once the plate was cleared so you tried to make what was on your plate last as long as possible.
After the food was over we were subjected to more very forced, posh and polite conversation from distant relatives while the girls played with very posh distant cousins with far more impeccable manners than they possessed, and then it was deemed that we'd been there long enough to have made a good effort and could leave for home as it was just over an hour away (the girs have school tomorrow of course!).
As soon as we were out of there and back at the car, a collective sigh of relief was breathed and everyone returned to normal.
On the journey home we then all slept in the car exhausted from sitting around for the afternoon making very polite conversation with people whose worlds would usually never collide with ours and were home before we knew it.

Listography: Top 5 Celebrities Id Like To Go For A Beer With

I decided to take part in this weeks Listography so here we go:
The top 5 celebs id like to have a drink with are.....


1.

Jimmy Carr

Hilariously witty, he would have you in stitches all night with his intelligent come backs and remarks.
I am a big fan of his and love how he pushes his comedy to the extreme. I even met him at one of his gigs once!

2.

Peter Andre

What isnt there to love about Peter Andre? He is a fantastic father, a really sweet and down to earth guy and would never make you feel bad about yourself. He is so appreciative of all his fans and would always be the perfect gentleman! Plus - He's gorgeous!!

3.

Tulisa Contostavlos

My favourite X Factor Judge. I had my doubts about her initially but since the start of the X factor i have a new founded respect for her and what she does. She built herself up from a rough street kid in Camden and really made a name for herself. I love how real she is and that shes not had it easy. I also love her cousin Dappy and boyfriend Fazer who behaved like two little boys in their 'Being N-Dubz' Series!

4.

Adele

This girl is amazing! I love her voice and could listen to her all day. I plan on having her 'Make you feel my love' song as the one we dance to on our wedding day.

She is a common as you like girl who loves nothing more than a night down the pub with her mates and that makes her my kinda gal!

5.

Holly Willoughby

I really like Holly. She is a great presenter, very fun and bubbly and a really down to earth woman.

She has two lovely kids and seems like she'd be very friendly and cool to have a bit of a giggle with!

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Silent Sunday

R2BC ~ Reasons To Be Cheerful

I said i would partake in usual activities since the brief abandonment of my blog so here we go;

My reasons to be cheerful this week:

1. Just as predicted its lovely having two children in school and one in nursery for 2 and a half days per week. Its so much easier getting everything done! I have really noticed how much quicker i can go and that it doesnt get messed up right behind me 5 mins later.  Sophie.

2. I have been able to spend more one to one time with Sophie. We have play time together that we didnt have before and i have had time to teach her and interact with her more.

3. Katie has settled so well into Reception! She looks forward to school every day and wears her uniform with pride.

4. My car is ready to be collected! Unfortunately i cant do this until Saturday but its only 1 more day to wait..

5. We are all healthy once again! Our back to school colds have cleared off and everyones nose can now breathe easily once more.

Thats it for this week!

Review: Dry Shampoo by Charles Worthington

This is an independant review, i have not been asked to review this product or done it for any kind of payment.

That said, i was in my local Sainsburys last week and i stumbled across a small display of Dry Shampoo products.
In Sainsburys, this product cost a meagre £1.99 and is a small deodorant looking can.

Being a very non girly type of girl, having very oily hair that needs washing every day otherwise it looks like ive just finished a shift at the local chippy, i hadnt heard of this product before so i decided to try it out.

The day i decided to try it was one where i hadnt bothered to wash my hair. It didnt look too bad, it was just ok enough for the school run which was the only trip i was going to be making that day so i thought bugger it, it'll be ok.
I then remembered that id bought this new product and was suddenly eager, yet very skeptical to try it out.
'Apply liberally to the hair and brush through' The instructions read.
So thats what i did. I gave my head a bloody good spray (so much so that i went completely grey!) and then started to brush it out.
It only bloody worked!
Suddenly my limp and lifeless locks were transformed into healthy, shiny looking new ones and i gave myself a very smug grin.
This little miracle in a tin could just be my next best friend! If i am needing to run an errand or go on a short journey and dont have lots of time to wash, dry and straighten my hair, this little wonder could solve all my problems.
The only downside to this product is that if you arent careful (i dont know the meaning of the word) then it can end up looking like you are beginning to go grey on top.
Its quite difficult to brush every single bit out and some of it can get stuck to your parting as my Aunt ever so helpfully pointed out when she saw me.
But if you are careful, and avoid your parting and make sure you get all of the grey out, then it works wonders and i will definitely be buying it again!

Freedom is Beckoning

Hi everyone! Remember me? I started off being a regular blogger and then it fell by the wayside.
I resolve to do far better from now on.

So what have i been doing? Well you know, the usual. Juggling the shock of the School run, tending to over tired children who had a bit of a shock to their systems, endless uniform washing, sorting out of forms, parental permission slips and of course their reading homework every night.

While all this has been going on, we also managed to sort out another car. The one i had previously posted about turned out to be a little 'too good to be true' so we decided not to go ahead with it.
Instead i picked a Peugeot 307 2008, 1.6 with only 16000 miles.
Cue the grumbles from every local male on my Facebook friend list about how they would never go for a French car only to be told by me that the mileage i'll be doing really wont be a great deal and its only for a first starter car and that I like it, the other half mechanically approved it and so we will be going ahead with the sale.
It needed a couple of bits tending to (nothing major) and was supposed to be all set to pick up tomorrow morning. However, the car dealer has had a delay and unless they can get it done very quickly first thing tomorrow morning (other half is on late shift and needs to leave for work at lunch time), we wont be able to pick the car up until Saturday.
This is immensely frustrating for a person like me. I have passed my test (and got my license in the post!) and all i want to do is get moving. I very much dislike having to wait for things. I am sadly, very much a 'I want it now' kinda gal.

But nevertheless, hopefully, by the end of this week i will be FREE! No more relying on lifts from others. I can come and go as i please.
Great :-D

The Day I Passed My Driving Test!

It gives me great pleasure to announce that on Friday the 9th of September 2011, i managed to not only pass my driving test, but did so with NO minor faults!

I passed!!

What lunatic would give me a license? Was my first thought on hearing id passed.
And to get no minors atall? The examiner was surely drugged, blindfolded and gagged!
I made plenty of mistakes, i know this because i counted them as i made them. I could also hear my instructors voice in my head yelling 'Bam! You've failed' as he so often liked to do.

So how did i pass my test? My only theory is that my instructor tricked me into being very over careful, very over cautious and very over ready for my test so much so that i flew through it with flying colours, while believing that id failed miserably.
He told me he had no doubts that i would pass, so apparently he had alot more faith in me than i did in myself.
I think ive spent the whole weekend in shock and denial that ive passed my test because i keep going over it with anyone who will listen as i regale tales of my test over and over trying to figure out how i managed to pull one over on the examiner but its something im going to have to accept and of course get excited about!
We went to look at a car yesterday, i can quickly see this becoming my new 'baby'. Something i never understood before i entered into the world of driving.
It is a Ford Fiesta 09 reg, 5000 miles on the clock and gorgeous! The other half gave it a quick test drive (as i was too shy!) and declared it worthy enough to buy.
I am very excited to go and pick it up next weekend, and also quite nervous. This is it! The real test comes now that i have to drive a car without my trusted instructor sat next to me with the wonderful (or not so wonderful at times) use of his dual control pedal.

Despite me being excited and nervous all at the same time, i am in a funny way, going to miss my instructor. He of course was being paid to teach me to drive, and that was the job he did well in getting me over my absolute terror of being on the road, pushing me not only to achieve my true potential but also to force me onto a small motorway albeit in the left lane only and also get me over my fear of getting on and off them! But in the year he taught me, he also became a friend. Another outlet for me to let off steam to, chat about families, good news, bad news, and so on with. He was there when my nan sadly passed away earlier this year, he was there when i had a big fallout with the other half not long after, he was there when my baby started nursery and when my second born started reception on her first day. He shared with me his stories of his two grandaughters that he doted on and the general ups and downs of life. His previous jobs, his previous experiences and his infinite wisdom that only comes from years of life experience.
So in a way i am leaving one chapter behind and starting a new one, and this is quite an exciting, but scary prospect for me. I am a creature of pure habit and i dont often like life changes.

It is strange to know that i no longer need him or have to book another lesson up and carry on from where we left off. Especially seeing as i still feel i have a long way to go re: driving. He did say though that i am welcome to book another lesson at any time i feel like id like to brush up on my driving, parking or even motorway lessons with him and i think i will probably take him up on that.
To round things off, i thought i would send him a Thank You card. This is what the message inside said:

To <driving instructor>

Thank you very much for teaching me how to drive!
I really couldnt have done it without your patience and understanding
I have come so far and overcome a huge fear of mine that will now change mine and my girls lives for the better.
Its all thanks to YOU!

Thank you so much, please keep in touch
Nikki Goodwin

So here i am about to start on a new journey with my own car, my freedom and while its a scary prospect... I cant wait to get started :-D

R2BC ~ Reasons to be Cheerful

Here are my reasons to be cheerful this week!

1. Today is my first ever CHILD FREE day. It means that all three of my kids are in school and nursery until at least 3.15pm.
I dont quite know what to do with myself!

2. We got to complete a weekly food shop alone for the first time in i dont know how long. Oh it was glorious sailing round the aisles of Tesco without telling several children to stop, put things down and no they cant have it 100 times before we reached the checkout.

3. I got to play loud music in the car! This can never happen if we have Katie with us. She hates all loud noises and i always get shouts of 'turn it down!' followed by endless questions about random nonsesne, so today made a nice change.

4. Autumn is arriving! Its my most favourite season. I love that inbetween warm and cold stage, where you can wear a cardi/hoody/trainers or boots but not need a massive winter coat. I love all the changing colours, the starts of new school terms, the upcoming Halloween, Birthdays and Christmas. Its always got an air of excitement about it.

5. TV. I love my soaps. I look forward to them every night. I eagerly get the kids tucked in and then take my place on the sofa in readiness for that evenings worth of drama. Its good this week with a big drama in Corrie, arthur aka fatboys cute face in Eastenders and of course the X factor over the weekend. Another reason why autumn is brilliant.

So there are my reasons to be cheerful this week. If you want to join in then pop over to the guest host for this week - Bod for tea and join in!

Versatile Blogger Award

I was very kindly awarded this award by Rebecca at  Here come the girls
The idea is to list 7 things about myself and then to pass the award onto 15 other new blogs out there.
So i'll get started

1. When i first met my other half i thought he looked awful. I didnt know what to make of this strange young lad sitting next to me and (its true) i did actually think as a joke to myself - wouldnt it be funny if we ended up together? Well someone was having a laugh with me because a few months later we did end up together and here we are 8 years on!

2. I always did well in school. I wasnt top of the class but you could always guarantee that i would pass my tests and exams and was a quiet, good member of the class. I longed to be one of the naughty kids sometimes but just didnt have it in me. I got good GCSE grades and i went on to pass my Cache Level 3 Diploma in Child Care & Education in college too.

3. I actually have the worst concentration in the world. I will sit and watch something for a few minutes, or begin a blog, and then have to stop and do something else for a little bit, and come back to whatever i was doing after that. This reflects badly in my driving, or learning to drive. I find it hard to concentrate for long periods of time and my mind is always wandering and distracted. I was one of the daydreamers in class.

4. I absolutely love to read. Books, magazines, blogs, facebook walls, i can sit and read for hours. I literally get lost in a book and will be totally oblivious to all thats going on around me. Im very nosey and love to know whats going on in other peoples lives on a daily basis.

5. I dont take enough pride in my personal appearence. I am always clean, i will say that. But i wear clothes to their death. I see myself as frumpy, dull and worn. I very rarely buy myself new clothes and shoes, i just wear the same jeans and tees every day (alternated in the wash). So i always look the same as i did the day before. This also applies to my hair. It always just hangs there and rarely has much style to it. Every once in a blue moon i have it cut and coloured and vow to keep up with it but i never do. If i do buy new clothes they are worn straight away until they too die a slow faded and worn death before being replaced.

6. I am extremely unorganised. I leave everything to the last minute and often find i have thrown things out by accident, or moved them never to be found again. This gets me into lots of trouble on a regular basis. I tend to live by the day so when my motto is we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, and we then find ourselves up a creek without a paddle - its often my fault. I have a diary and i pin things to the fridge but you can guarantee that most things will be forgotten and left to the last minute and will find us scrabbling around trying to get everything done/on time etc.

7. I love food. I am not a healthy eater either. I love all the junk food going, and lots of it. This hasnt done me any favours as ive now managed to end up heavier after each pregnancy and am now heavier than ive ever been :(  Im not enormous by all accounts but i do have weight to lose. I find it very difficult to lose weight, and i have no will power whatsoever most of the time. I give in very easily to temptation and i wish i was one of those people who could just eat whatever i liked and for it to make no difference. Thats not the case for me though. I can lose 3-4lbs in a week if im good and work hard but then i can put 2-3lbs back on in the space of a day or two. I find this highly unfair. I am now back on weight watchers determined to finally stop looking at myself in disgust and get some of this weight down.

Thats it from me though and i dont know 15 other blogs to link this to but will list a few for you all ...

Meeting myself coming back
Party of five
Real Housewife of Suffolk County
Getting Through the Day
This is me - Sarah mum of 3
Two point four children