OK, not the day after but this will have to do. I just wanted to jot down what we got up to :o)
We walked home from school an the world was wonderful. The Earth had a clear crispness in the air, yet it wasn't that cold out. I tried to capture the glorious colours in the leaves of the trees in the park; I've heard that trees are especially beautiful this year because of the wet summer and mild Autumn.
The pictures I got weren't wonderful, but not bad I suppose. The children's pics were cute though. On our way through the park we collected some of the prettier fallen leaves and I pulled up some Ivy (saying thanks as I did so and now) and we took them all home in mama's big string bag to decorate our home with later.
I'm working on getting Rowan to walk home now - he's three and will be at nursery next year and I don't want him arriving in a pushchair! So trying to strengthen his legs meant it took ages to get home. Once in I sent the children upstairs to get changes in to what ever costume they wanted and I set straight on to yet more gingerbread! We had already made loads recently; I only have a recipe for a big batch and don't know how to lessen the quantities, but it's yummy so who cares! We had eaten loads and I was worried that we wouldn't have enough for the trick or treaters!
So about half an hour, 2 batches of baking and plenty of flour marks later, my three returned. Took this long because Scarlett had lost her witch costume under the bed! Frazer decided to be a skeleton and Rowan was spiderman. Scarlett enjoyed her brand new witch hat, which was a bargain so I was pleased.
We had 'Witches Stew' for dinner - which ended up being a stew I chucked together in the slow cooker and left on while at the school. Missed out a load of bits we didn't have so chucked in some random stuff to make up for it - lol! This included some of the turnip that I had carved in to little jack o'lanterns. Liam popped in around now - unfortunately Hallowe'en this year fell on a wednesday, which is when he teaches Kung Fu. He's a 2nd degree black belt now and I am so proud of him! He might be going for his 3rd soon, but this means he really need to up his training - missing him already!
Anyway, after dinner I served up the scrummy pumpkin pie that Liam had cooked the night before - we had it with maple syrup whipped cream - soooo niiiiceeee *drool* Scarlett and Rowan didn't entirely agree with me (Rowan chopped his up and didn't eat, Scarlett only had a very little) but Frazer ate two servings and wanted more! I said no because it's just so sweet and he'd been munching on cookies too. The pie was made with the innards of a pumpkin I had carved the night before - I stayed up stupidly late but was very pleased with the result!
We only ended up with two lots of T&Ters, the kids Loved it! They really get in to the spirit of sharing out our cookies and weren't fussed at all at the idea of going out ourselves. At one point we knocked at our neighbours doing a reverse T&T - to give them some biscuits! lol
Back home again and before dinner we shared some fruit in the front room; cutting apples in half across the middle to show the witches' stars in the middle - did you know that's why people always cut from top to bottom now? It used to be frowned upon (or even considered evil) to cut across the middle, as 5 pointed stars were a sign of witchcraft (hehehe!)
We also had pomegranate - a sign of life and rebirth and of the underworld - I told the children the story of Persephone and Hades earlier in the day and was pleased that they remembered most of it. Of course we ate more gingerbread! They were shaped like witches, ghosts, pumpkins and bats.
After this I had to send the poor mites off to bed, they really didn't want to go, and said how much fun they had - Scarlett (bless her!) asked if I thought Christmas would be as fun, so I guess it was a great success. I'm so pleased.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
Gods I'm miserable!
I dont know what's up with me but I'm trying to put it down to hormones. Not sure how true it is, could have been PMT if my period didn't start a couple of days ago...
Anyway, I just can't seem to pick myself up. I'm tired and lazy and have too much to do. the poor dog is deserving more than sh eis getting, Rowan just wants to watch TV all day and the house is not getting tidied - let alone flyladied.
I have horrible net addiction at the moment (yes, worse than usual) and I ust can't be bothered to eat healthily to lose weight, though I know I'll be gutted when I'm fat. I just try not to think about it and keep eating! All the Halloween goodies didn't help with that though...
Liam has been told he might be going for his 3rd degree black belt this December. This means that he wants to go out training loads again. I really dont mind and i know how important it is to him. It's just it's Friday today, but it wont feel like it - I wont get that Friday feeling knowing that Liam is on his way home and we will all be together for the weekend. He's been out for a few Fridays recently, I do miss him.
mind you, I'm being a miserable bugger so he probably can't wait to get away!
Ugh, off to school now. The plan is to attempt a back carry with rowan so that he will have no buggy to insist on when coming home. I must not carry him back or I'll be falling asleep before the kids do tonight!
Anyway, I just can't seem to pick myself up. I'm tired and lazy and have too much to do. the poor dog is deserving more than sh eis getting, Rowan just wants to watch TV all day and the house is not getting tidied - let alone flyladied.
I have horrible net addiction at the moment (yes, worse than usual) and I ust can't be bothered to eat healthily to lose weight, though I know I'll be gutted when I'm fat. I just try not to think about it and keep eating! All the Halloween goodies didn't help with that though...
Liam has been told he might be going for his 3rd degree black belt this December. This means that he wants to go out training loads again. I really dont mind and i know how important it is to him. It's just it's Friday today, but it wont feel like it - I wont get that Friday feeling knowing that Liam is on his way home and we will all be together for the weekend. He's been out for a few Fridays recently, I do miss him.
mind you, I'm being a miserable bugger so he probably can't wait to get away!
Ugh, off to school now. The plan is to attempt a back carry with rowan so that he will have no buggy to insist on when coming home. I must not carry him back or I'll be falling asleep before the kids do tonight!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
The day after Samhain. Part one
I'm sooo tired. I have about 3 quarters of an hour until I get off on the school run and I need to go tidy up really. But what I really want to do is sleep - half an hour would do wonders for me.
But I'll end up staying online and achieving nothing if I dont get off now...
Sleep it is then, but I do want to let DH know what Lush bits I want first.
ElaineXX
But I'll end up staying online and achieving nothing if I dont get off now...
Sleep it is then, but I do want to let DH know what Lush bits I want first.
ElaineXX
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Yeterday
A long day but a good one!
We started the day with the usual rush for Ballet; Scarlett has lessons on Saturday mornings, it's not actually that early but we struggle to get out of bed! I wanted to walk the dog while Liam took Scarlett, as the park is near her class. Of course as usual I couldn't get the boys and myself together fast enough to leave with Scarlett and Liam, but we left soon after. I'm putting the amount of time it took to get ready down to lack of help - Liam was out with friends that hadn't all been together since school and got in after 3am.
The park was chilly, but one of those perfectly clear days. Tonks didn't do too bad at staying away from other people - I really worry that she's going to terrify someone, especially when she's bigger. As she's a lab she will get quite big, but she wont mature mentally until she's about 3 years old - she'll be fully grown at about 2!
Frazer and Rowan completely soaked the bottoms of their trousers with the dew in the grass, but it was beautiful. We found an area behind a hilly bit, so Tonks couldn't see people on the path so much. I wanted to work on her recall so I had the whistle with me and a pot full of chopped up hot dog sausages! She was doing really well, so I thought Frazer could give it a try. I took Tonks off about 15 metres i think, sat her down facing Frazer and held until he blew the whistle. It was a bit of a risk because;
a) i need Tonks to respond to the whistle or else it will undo the good work we have achieved so far
b) Frazer gets very nervous about new things, so if he couldn't do it right he would get upset.
As it turned out, he made a valiant effort. the only problem was that the first time he tried he did the 'pip' noise at first and when she changed her mind about going to him he did long blasts which had no effect at all on her.
I explained to him that he *must* do the pip noise, as I'm going to save long blasts to teach her other things, like lay down. I was pleased though, that she didn't respond to the long blasts, and I do know that the pips can be hard to achieve.
Second time around Frazer did much better - he followed what i said and when Tonks got near to him, then slowed down, he turned and ran, still pipping away on the whistle! He gave her a stroke and hot dog bits when she got there too. He did this one or two more times and it went well. the only problem is that where I was the one holding her to wait for the whistle, and she thinks i am the whistle blower, so would be unsure whether to stay with me or go to him (if that makes sense!)
Anyway, we were at the park quite a while (Tonks not doing great at retrieving but never mind) and then I got fed up waiting for Liam and Scarlett to meet us. Couldn't be sure of the time as I dont have a watch and my phone is lost (that's a sob story I wont go in to) but my camera said they should be done by now - if the time was right on it!
We met them on their way home, then got back, did the weekly shopping and home for lunch. As we had been out fairly early I thought I'd stick on a family film for a family rest. Frazer picked Peter Pan - his all time favourite and Liam and I fell asleep! Me for longer, much to Liam's annoyance because he was the one that had been up late ht night before! He woke me up saying that we had to leave for the party!
Z's 2nd birthday party was that afternoon, and all of us were invited. It was at a really nice venue overlooking the river - I want a party there! Especially as it is near to the school; if we do a kids party at home it's quite far from where most of S&F's classmates live. Problem is you have to be or know a tenant there to get it - but I'm still planning! lol
We were an hour late for the party, but still the first to arrive! The children all had fun, but I got really p*ssed off at a brute from Frazer's year (so 6 or 7 yrs old) that shoved Rowan (who is a small 3 year old!) off a seat during musical chairs then blatantly denied it even though I argued. I didn't drag it out too much though - I was too angry at his bl**dy mother who sat and watched, SMILING! Grrrr.
anyway, we had to leave the party to get home in time for the game. We took the Thames path for part of the way; it was beautiful. The clear night air showed the lights up perfectly on the river and Liam got some lovely shots of Tower Bridge. i got a family shot with my camera which is nice as we dont often get them!
I think the children were very happy and excited to be out while the world was dark, though it wasn't actually too late really.
Home just in time for the Rugby World Cup Final. Rushed the children in to bed and they were all asleep within minutes. Liam ordered an indian takeaway that we munched on while watching a mildly depressing England defeat. I do think that was a genuine try, as do most people I suspect, but never mind. South Africa played well, it's just a shame we didn't get to make world cup history but successfully defending the title - we can try again in 2011.
Today I am successfully doing nothing much at all while Liam and Frazer are at Kung Fu. I am already regretting it so I'd better get off my bum and get stuff done before our Sunday trip to the parents in law's house.
We started the day with the usual rush for Ballet; Scarlett has lessons on Saturday mornings, it's not actually that early but we struggle to get out of bed! I wanted to walk the dog while Liam took Scarlett, as the park is near her class. Of course as usual I couldn't get the boys and myself together fast enough to leave with Scarlett and Liam, but we left soon after. I'm putting the amount of time it took to get ready down to lack of help - Liam was out with friends that hadn't all been together since school and got in after 3am.
The park was chilly, but one of those perfectly clear days. Tonks didn't do too bad at staying away from other people - I really worry that she's going to terrify someone, especially when she's bigger. As she's a lab she will get quite big, but she wont mature mentally until she's about 3 years old - she'll be fully grown at about 2!
Frazer and Rowan completely soaked the bottoms of their trousers with the dew in the grass, but it was beautiful. We found an area behind a hilly bit, so Tonks couldn't see people on the path so much. I wanted to work on her recall so I had the whistle with me and a pot full of chopped up hot dog sausages! She was doing really well, so I thought Frazer could give it a try. I took Tonks off about 15 metres i think, sat her down facing Frazer and held until he blew the whistle. It was a bit of a risk because;
a) i need Tonks to respond to the whistle or else it will undo the good work we have achieved so far
b) Frazer gets very nervous about new things, so if he couldn't do it right he would get upset.
As it turned out, he made a valiant effort. the only problem was that the first time he tried he did the 'pip' noise at first and when she changed her mind about going to him he did long blasts which had no effect at all on her.
I explained to him that he *must* do the pip noise, as I'm going to save long blasts to teach her other things, like lay down. I was pleased though, that she didn't respond to the long blasts, and I do know that the pips can be hard to achieve.
Second time around Frazer did much better - he followed what i said and when Tonks got near to him, then slowed down, he turned and ran, still pipping away on the whistle! He gave her a stroke and hot dog bits when she got there too. He did this one or two more times and it went well. the only problem is that where I was the one holding her to wait for the whistle, and she thinks i am the whistle blower, so would be unsure whether to stay with me or go to him (if that makes sense!)
Anyway, we were at the park quite a while (Tonks not doing great at retrieving but never mind) and then I got fed up waiting for Liam and Scarlett to meet us. Couldn't be sure of the time as I dont have a watch and my phone is lost (that's a sob story I wont go in to) but my camera said they should be done by now - if the time was right on it!
We met them on their way home, then got back, did the weekly shopping and home for lunch. As we had been out fairly early I thought I'd stick on a family film for a family rest. Frazer picked Peter Pan - his all time favourite and Liam and I fell asleep! Me for longer, much to Liam's annoyance because he was the one that had been up late ht night before! He woke me up saying that we had to leave for the party!
Z's 2nd birthday party was that afternoon, and all of us were invited. It was at a really nice venue overlooking the river - I want a party there! Especially as it is near to the school; if we do a kids party at home it's quite far from where most of S&F's classmates live. Problem is you have to be or know a tenant there to get it - but I'm still planning! lol
We were an hour late for the party, but still the first to arrive! The children all had fun, but I got really p*ssed off at a brute from Frazer's year (so 6 or 7 yrs old) that shoved Rowan (who is a small 3 year old!) off a seat during musical chairs then blatantly denied it even though I argued. I didn't drag it out too much though - I was too angry at his bl**dy mother who sat and watched, SMILING! Grrrr.
anyway, we had to leave the party to get home in time for the game. We took the Thames path for part of the way; it was beautiful. The clear night air showed the lights up perfectly on the river and Liam got some lovely shots of Tower Bridge. i got a family shot with my camera which is nice as we dont often get them!
I think the children were very happy and excited to be out while the world was dark, though it wasn't actually too late really.
Home just in time for the Rugby World Cup Final. Rushed the children in to bed and they were all asleep within minutes. Liam ordered an indian takeaway that we munched on while watching a mildly depressing England defeat. I do think that was a genuine try, as do most people I suspect, but never mind. South Africa played well, it's just a shame we didn't get to make world cup history but successfully defending the title - we can try again in 2011.
Today I am successfully doing nothing much at all while Liam and Frazer are at Kung Fu. I am already regretting it so I'd better get off my bum and get stuff done before our Sunday trip to the parents in law's house.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Tenth Anniversary!
Last night DH and I celebrated our tenth anniversary of being together. We've only been married a year but stuck like glue for much longer! Everything seemed to go so well - I'm almost surprised nothing terrible happened.
We took the dog for a loooooong walk to tire her out, bought DH a funky new shirt, dropped children off at MIL's and I took half an hour to get ready to go out (someone please tell DH this isn't actually that long!?!!!)
We had set the video to record the rugby - and we resolved to try not to find out the score until we got home! (yeah, right) then went to Leicester Square (one of my favourite places in the world and where we first went on dates) and ate at Wagamamas - never been there before; I felt overdressed and a bit lost but it was yummy!
First thing we did when we left the restaurant of course was to find a TV and check the score There was 7 minutes to go and England were *just* ahead! Whoopee! Liam wanted to find a cash point and of course in those 7 minutes the whole of London's West End erupted twice more! We were just hoping desperately that we weren't standing next to a french bar or something After this we did lots of walking, people watching, soaking up the atmosphere of a glorious Rugby win (lots of SWING LOW SWEET CHARIOT being sung and minor annoyances from the England football supporters, who though pleased with the Rugby win, chose to turn it in to their own celebrations not at all rugby style!) then went to a night club called Sound.
We danced, danced and danced - and my husband is surely the only person I know that can turn the Prodigy in to almost foreplay and then I returned the idea when Salt 'n' Peppa's 'Push It' came on - an old favourite that Liam has had men shake his hand afterwards in the past I must be an explicit dancer...
Of course we got home and the night got better. And of course this morning I proved I was worth coming back to bed for ;o)
Life is good. Who'd have thought that 10 years down the line I could be so happy? I was so miserable before I met Liam but together we are fantastic and if you're not jealous after all that, you should be! Liam is very, very good to me!
ElaineXX
We took the dog for a loooooong walk to tire her out, bought DH a funky new shirt, dropped children off at MIL's and I took half an hour to get ready to go out (someone please tell DH this isn't actually that long!?!!!)
We had set the video to record the rugby - and we resolved to try not to find out the score until we got home! (yeah, right) then went to Leicester Square (one of my favourite places in the world and where we first went on dates) and ate at Wagamamas - never been there before; I felt overdressed and a bit lost but it was yummy!
First thing we did when we left the restaurant of course was to find a TV and check the score There was 7 minutes to go and England were *just* ahead! Whoopee! Liam wanted to find a cash point and of course in those 7 minutes the whole of London's West End erupted twice more! We were just hoping desperately that we weren't standing next to a french bar or something After this we did lots of walking, people watching, soaking up the atmosphere of a glorious Rugby win (lots of SWING LOW SWEET CHARIOT being sung and minor annoyances from the England football supporters, who though pleased with the Rugby win, chose to turn it in to their own celebrations not at all rugby style!) then went to a night club called Sound.
We danced, danced and danced - and my husband is surely the only person I know that can turn the Prodigy in to almost foreplay and then I returned the idea when Salt 'n' Peppa's 'Push It' came on - an old favourite that Liam has had men shake his hand afterwards in the past I must be an explicit dancer...
Of course we got home and the night got better. And of course this morning I proved I was worth coming back to bed for ;o)
Life is good. Who'd have thought that 10 years down the line I could be so happy? I was so miserable before I met Liam but together we are fantastic and if you're not jealous after all that, you should be! Liam is very, very good to me!
ElaineXX
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Death worries
We went to a lovely Christening today - the first time I've been to a family event on DH's side (apart from the 'cousin getting out of prison' party a few years ago!).
While the priest was doing his bit, Frazer suddently burst in to tears - he was quite inconsolable for a while. I wanted to know what was wrong so that I could help him, but every time he tried to tell me he started again When he finally calmed down enough, he said to me "I dont want you to die"
He's been playing and stuff since, but still coming up to me now and again to tell me that he is still sad and worried. I've told him that we need to talk about it at some point (too busy today and too tired tonight to do it justice) but he said that he really doesn't want to, because then he wont be able to stop thinking about it and he will cry all the time. I've told him that I'm not ill, and I'm very careful when crossing the road etc. I wont tell him that I'm not going to die, but I do say that hopefully it wont be for a very long time because I want to be an old woman first!
I'm not surprised at all that this has come up, though I didn't expect it today, Frazer has always been sensitive, and as long as I can remember he has shown an interest in death - it started off with him remembering a past life, and grew in to asking me about reincarnation quite regularly! He's not spoken about it for a while though, today was unexpected.
OK, I may need to talk with him sooner than I thought - he keeps crying and I dont think he's going to sleep very well. I have a feeling my telling him that I'm not going to die for a long long time may not have been the right thing to do, he doesn't believe me at all. My poor lad.
While the priest was doing his bit, Frazer suddently burst in to tears - he was quite inconsolable for a while. I wanted to know what was wrong so that I could help him, but every time he tried to tell me he started again When he finally calmed down enough, he said to me "I dont want you to die"
He's been playing and stuff since, but still coming up to me now and again to tell me that he is still sad and worried. I've told him that we need to talk about it at some point (too busy today and too tired tonight to do it justice) but he said that he really doesn't want to, because then he wont be able to stop thinking about it and he will cry all the time. I've told him that I'm not ill, and I'm very careful when crossing the road etc. I wont tell him that I'm not going to die, but I do say that hopefully it wont be for a very long time because I want to be an old woman first!
I'm not surprised at all that this has come up, though I didn't expect it today, Frazer has always been sensitive, and as long as I can remember he has shown an interest in death - it started off with him remembering a past life, and grew in to asking me about reincarnation quite regularly! He's not spoken about it for a while though, today was unexpected.
OK, I may need to talk with him sooner than I thought - he keeps crying and I dont think he's going to sleep very well. I have a feeling my telling him that I'm not going to die for a long long time may not have been the right thing to do, he doesn't believe me at all. My poor lad.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Well I really outdone myself on not updating, didn't I?!
Things have changed lots since my last entry. We have a new addition to the family, a chocolate Labrador called Tonks - she's very pretty! We got her a few weeks ago when she was 10 weeks old. She is just over 14 weeks old now and has grown lots already. I'm doing clicker training with her, something that is new to me but seems to be working very well so far!
Things have changed lots since my last entry. We have a new addition to the family, a chocolate Labrador called Tonks - she's very pretty! We got her a few weeks ago when she was 10 weeks old. She is just over 14 weeks old now and has grown lots already. I'm doing clicker training with her, something that is new to me but seems to be working very well so far!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Err
Well Hi, I suppose. Though hi to who I dont know, but it's good to talk.
I am Elaine. I try to be a fairly upbeat person though as for everyone life bogs me down at times. I do worry that this blog will end up a moan-spot for me, as I dont like to offload on people and bring them down usually.
Life is beautifull. Lets try to keep a focus on that, even through the cries of my children as they wind each other up, even through the fear of failing a uni course and even through longing for things I am unable to have.
The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and thats a thing to be thankful for this long, miserable summer. I have heard that it will warm up and stay warm over August and in to Autumn, which will be nice for my birthday, though I hope it's not too mild at Christmas!
I shall be off to tend to my duties now and hopefully soon I shall be back here, typing away in full throws of a net addiction...
I am Elaine. I try to be a fairly upbeat person though as for everyone life bogs me down at times. I do worry that this blog will end up a moan-spot for me, as I dont like to offload on people and bring them down usually.
Life is beautifull. Lets try to keep a focus on that, even through the cries of my children as they wind each other up, even through the fear of failing a uni course and even through longing for things I am unable to have.
The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and thats a thing to be thankful for this long, miserable summer. I have heard that it will warm up and stay warm over August and in to Autumn, which will be nice for my birthday, though I hope it's not too mild at Christmas!
I shall be off to tend to my duties now and hopefully soon I shall be back here, typing away in full throws of a net addiction...
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