THE Wedding....

Well Yesterday was the Royal Wedding ...Wills & Kate, I had good intentions of getting up, getting dressed & watching it with a few cucumber sandwiches (crusts off too) glass of wine (well it was a celebration, huh??) and having the family sat around me being quiet and making useful comments.

As it turns out, I woke up late thanks to hubby getting out of bed with the kids (ahhhhhhhh lie ins, I miss those) and by the time I made it downstairs it was quarter past eleven oops, I switched on in time to see them getting married, literally they were on their knees at this point, but i'd missed her walking up the aisle and a good look at the guests stupid hats....By the time I had sat down, Caleb & Tabitha had jumped up next to me, not to be quiet and sit nicely though. Oh no, that would be asking too much. tabitha was pulling a face very similar to the little bridesmaid in the picture above (the one scowling - not the sweet smiling one)

....and Caleb was insisting I eat his feet. So in between mouthfuls I could oooh, and ahhh....not that anyone in this house cared anyway! I had tea & toast to munch on, not quite the delicate cucumber sandwiches with no crusts and bubbly but hey ho, can't have everything can we!

At the same time Ethan had a non uniform day ( so i have been informed afterwards) a BBQ, an old fashioned sports day with egg & spoon races, and sack races etc & a party in the evening! They got to watch the wedding in peace & quiet with 20 VIP guests (probably teachers to keep an eye on them) I kind of wished I could go back to school for the day when I heard what he had been up to!

ooh and really childish of me but this pic was going around facebook and thought it was quite funny ;)

And as you can see Tabitha looky-likey not too impressed by the new princess giving Willy -sorry Wills- a 'taster' of what's to come, haha (ok i'm going).

Jolly Holiday :)

Well we're back from our holiday to t'midlands! 2 nights in a hotel room with 3 kids, 1 day at a theme park -with gale force winds, 1 day walking around the Tamworth with 2 kids whilst big kid, and bigger kid (husband) went off to the snowdome! And one day with 8 hours of driving followed by a jaunt around a castle, again the gale force winds were out so that didn't last long, and instead we all piled into a pub to scoff! That's the summary, now if you want to hear more read on, if not well at least you read thus far!

So bank holiday Monday started with a wake up call at 5am, now this in itself was a novelty....an alarm clock woke me up...this has not happened since 2008! So, we managed to leave the house by 6am, with husband telling me I don't know what all the fuss was about I told you we could do it this quick.....ah yes of course, because you only packed for yourself and got yourself ready. I spent my Easter Sunday afternoon packing (RE-packing) Ethan's bag for school & sewing name tags on clothes & ironing holiday clothes for all the kids & myself. I then packed Ethan's holiday stuff in a seperate bag, did both Caleb & Tabitha's bits & my own. And also the swimming stuff, and snacks, and warm clothes for the toboganning :) easy peasy lol. Can you imagine the chaos if we were to actually leave organisation to the men....

We raced up there (well actually we didn't race anyone per se, but the traffic was amazingly sparse so we got up there super quick....think I may do all my travelling at this time in future!) and were too early to go swimming, too early to check in *damn!* so we spent an hour sitting in the car and walking around the lake that was next to the hotel.

We were eventually allowed into the swimming pool, which I have to say was fab! They had 2 leisure pools, one for little ones, one for bigger ones, and in the middle of each was a blow up thing that resembled a an episode from Gladiators. They had inflatable obstacle courses! Ethan was straight in and over it before the lifeguards had even gotten into position for the day. The little ones loved their one and all was good.. *pat on back for amusing all three kids at once* The only mishap in the pool was when al the alarm bells went off and the lifeguard threw herself into the pool to save someones life. But you know, you see this sort of thing every day.

After swimming Ethan & Liam had a fun day planned out on tobogans & ice skating. Sooooooo I was left with the little ones to amuse myself *argh* I managed to make it to the park across the road, which should have by my calculation taken 3 and half minutes, and which actually took 15 minutes thanks to little legs. I had arranged to meet with my cousin & uncle as they live only 10 minutes up the road, it took them an hour and half to get there though thanks to Bank Holiday trains! Anywho, we had a lovely afternoon catching up, losing kids in the park (they had 4, I had 2 to lose...unfortunately the kids gathered what we were up to and we ended leaving with all of them again)....after, we all met up with Liam & Ethan, then we ambled back over to the park for the funfair that was on. I decided I was brave enough to go on a ride, so went on with Ethan. Now I had checked out the ride before getting on, 1-to make sure it was not too fast. 2- to make sure I wasn't going to lose my stomach to it. 3-To make sure it didn't go upside down (I'm a wimp-yes) So all looked good, we got on and up it went, and it seems, that the louder you shout 'that's quite fast enough, thank you' the faster they spin you, jolly good. So, I spent the next 3 minutes crying into my 12 year olds son's shoulder, screaming like a banshee & praying that I get off alive. I'd like to know also, why I was the ONLY person who had legs like jelly for half hour after getting off?! So that was the end of my rides for the day lol.

We got completely lost looking for restaurants, couldn't find the parking ticket 5 times, and spent the night trying to talk the babies into sleeping. (we wrongly thought they would be shattered and just pass out from tiredness!)

The next day was Drayton Manor. To be honest I have little to say about the day apart from the fact it was fecking freezing. I spent most of the day holed up in various cafes sipping hot chocolate & telling the little ones that daddy would be back soon to take them on a ride. They went on 2 rides, and we had to queue for 2 hours all together. Pffffffffft. I don't like theme parks! Official! But liam & Ethan had fun & so did the little ones, just me that was the whinge lol.

That evening I was so cold & tired I spent most of the journey to the restaurant in a mood and shouting at the kids. Definately out of holiday mode by then lol. Dinner was good, in as far as the kids sat relatively still and not much food ended up on the floor. I think my kids know how far they can push me, and they push me right to that point then leave me dangling.... they do love me see.

That evening was spent eating chocolate after an emergency stop off in Asda.

Next day we left to take Ethan back to school. We were going to take the kids to the castle on the same road as Ethan's school first and then feed them in the restaurant also on same road. So all planned out we set off. We got there in one piece, kids were b o r e d silly and fighting, nothing new there though. We ended up being fleeced for English Heritage passes for the year telling us we would save loads on entry to places.....only afterwards did I think about this. Who in their right minds brings 2 toddlers to castles, stately homes and the like for a fun day out!?! correct answer in this case would be ME, as I will get the frigging use out of them!

Have to say that I felt sorry for any soldiers that had to live in that castle in WWII as it was on top of a huge hill, by the sea and was fecking freezing!!!!! Not for the first time that holiday I wished I was at home snuggled under my duvet! The day turned out brill though, as in the gift shop at the end they had free wine tasting *big smiles & high 5's all round yey* so I made myself at home, made the poor man open all the wines up and got a taste of pretty much all of them! And I ended up buying a bottle of balckberry wine for nearly 9 squid as I felt guilty about making him open them all, and then drinking at least half a bottle free. And have to say if you find this gift shop make sure you try them they were yummy! Plum wine, Nettle wine, Dandelion wine....you name it it was probably there!

So a tiring holiday but lots of fun! Especially seeing as though free wine was included....alls well that ends well huh!

It's that time of the year where we can all eat CHOCOLATE and not feel guilty ;)

Well I messed up the Easter egg hunt, I was supposed to hide the little cardboard eggs last night, and instead I was drinking wine & eating chocolate (oh yeah, i'm really failing epically on the whole diet lol)

So instead I had three kids jumping on my bed this morning, demanding to know where the easter bunny had gone and why he hadn't stopped at our house hmmmmm.....so I had to shoo them out of the house with daddy to the park (thankfully across the road as he was already huffing about having to go out on a Sunday at 9am!)

I finally hid them all & went to collect the kids and it took them about half an hour to destroy the house & garden looking for them all (next time think i may do it in the park...was completely empty anyway, and they can't destroy much over there huh!?!)

So glad that the whole family was here :) Liam hasn't shared one easter yet with the two little ones because of work! Took lots of pics, although the camera isn't great (need a good argument for liam to buy me one of those big black expensive looking ones.....) but anyway here's a few to share with you

Tabitha searching for her numbered eggs :)

Caleb really not bothered in eggs but rather the tissue paper in the basket lol

Ethan helping Caleb after he found his own

Enjoying their prize :)
Happy Easter to ALL

Boys!

No matter how much rest I get, how many lay-ins Liam has let me have, how much he is helping with the kids & housework, I still feel overwhelmed & tired all the time! WHAT is wrong with me, ARGH! I think I have holidayitis, allergic to school holidays!

Well the eldest goes back on Wed, so we have been packing, or more to the point I told him to pack, he slammed some doors in my face and told me he had plenty of time and would do it later, he then proceeded to turn on his x-box and play on there! KIDS!

SO I finally got him to at least get the bags out of the garage and he threw some clothes in there so i guess it's a start. I think the male species in general (please correct me if i'm wrong and it is just my household of males) is just very unorganised, very anti-chore! So no doubt we will have the same old, we'll be driving up the M20 and I will hear a whinge in the back seat.....muuuuuuuuuuuuuuum you never packed my phone charger/spanish book/ p.e kit/ idiot guides! I do offer to pack for him, honest, yet he doesn't want me to go through his things?! (who does he think washes his dirty pants???-the pants fairy- pffffffft I WISH!).....

Tonight we have two dvd's to watch, which is why I am on here, in the kitchen, radio on, with a glass of wine to hand (diet didn't last too long- one hour to be specific before I went running for the chocolate fix!). AND the boys -we're havin a sleepover- and hubby are sat in front room playing Modern Warfare *grrrrrrrrr* Oh and to add to the mix, all I can hear is the youngest male in the house, airing his lungs from his cell upstairs!

 Me & Tabitha, well, we're the quiet ones (tonight anyway, give us the right conditions and we could do a better job of screaming at the t.v/ cell wall)...she's happy with her 99p lip gloss I bought her, gone to bed cuddling it, and i'm happy with my wine & netbook!

N.B dummies during the day are covered in spiders, dummies at night are clean and can still be used for now....watch this space lol

Good Friday?

Well It's Good Friday,

a lovely day here too, nearly 9am and the kids are fed, dressed and playing in the garden :) it's days like this that I wished I lived in a warmer climate full time! Liam still wants to move to America (been throwing this idea around for a while) but I feel we're too old to re-train in a new career, unless somehow he can join the American Army ( I know he can join Australia's not sure how it works in U.S). I never finished my training as a teacher & to be honest not sure if I want too....

So anyway we'll enjoy the weather here whilst we're all together & whilst it's lovely. Plans for this weekend are to do a few D.I.Y jobs (N.B delgate to hubby & DS1) Plan the Easter Egg Hunt (this will be the first easter hubby been home since both little ones have been born!) Maybe go to a friends BBQ, Visit park, perhaps the zoo, Hmmmmm actually I am tiring myself out thinking about it (perhaps we'll just do s*d all instead, much easier)

So it's the Royal wedding next week, (radio just reminded me) I'd love to go to a street party, but I am 1) too unorganised to organise one 2) too lazy to organise one 3) too tight to buy food for everyone -cos I am positive people would *forget* to bring their own around here! So perhaps we'll forget that one too lol

Ethan is back at school next wednesday, thanks to me being a complete scatterbrain we have the busiest few days ever! I thought he was back next Sunday, but turns out he is in fact back at school Wednesday *doh*

Soooo Monday around 5am we're getting up driving up the M1 to Tamworth, Ethan & Liam have a fun day at the Snowdome whilst me and little kids are hopefully meeting up with family. Then we're staying in a hotel  & Tuesday we are visiting Drayton Manor (theme park) ...again I can see me and little ones not being amused for long lol, when they realise they can't go on rides with Ethan & Daddy! Wednesday we will have to rush back down south and drop him off in time for school...This also means bringing his huge bags in the car for the whole trip as well as squashign ours in... (oops- mental note leave planning to someone else in future- preferably someone who can read a school calander)

Oh and we are on day 3 of no dummy during the day :) going well so far........Too scared to attempt to take it away at night yet though! They look forward to it all day, and bedtimes are so much easier now! They've missed their dum dums so much they get straight into bed with it (joy!)

Right suppose I had better get off here and go clean, Liam has kindly invited complete strangers round to my house so they can see what the house is like, as they have been allocated the same type (GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR) My house is a tip at the best of times, how am I supposed to keep it clean with two little monsters that destroy everything in their wake!!!! ?? !!!

Oh and N.B I am on a diet......so no more wine & choc....I am too bloody fat to fit into my summer clothes!!

Dummies!!

Ok, so my daughter is 2, 3 in July. Youngest son is 1, 2 in July. Both are still using dummies!!! Arghh!

• They look pretty awful - even the ones that have pretty butterflies on (Tabitha tells me these are 'really lovely'- no really they are not, Tabitha!)
• Both kids seem to have them hanging out their gobs mouths all day
• They are waking up sometimes several times a night because they have 'lost' them yet again (ARGHHHH-personal biggest pet hate esp at 3am in the morning!)
• I can't understand a bloody word they are saying when they have got them in their mouths!

Sooooooooooooo, I have been waiting until Liam had gotten back from Afghan before starting Operation Fallout (with the kids- taking away their best friends here after all!)

Now so far I have tried the Father Christmas route (she refused to leave it for him- I gave up pretty much straight away on that one thinking perhaps she was too young) Then last week, at playgroup, one of the keyworkers suggested 'the dummy fairy' book, so i suggested this to Tabitha and told her she would get a really nice present in return for leaving her dummies out for the fairy- 'don't want presents, want dummy!'  Hmmmmm.

I also tried the tact, when we lose a dummy DON'T replace it. I folded after an hour (I really need more perseverance here) We now have several dummies all over the house, just in case! In fact they have more 'just in case' dummies than I have asthma inhalers 'just in case I have an attack'...now that is saying something!!!

I also tried a sneaky one, of pinching all the dummies when they were distracted with other things, and cue 10 mins later the screaming, I usually give in yet again because I just can't listen to two toddlers screaming at me.

Perhaps the solution is just to bin them all and buy myself ear plugs?

And I have no idea why I am writing this blog (with the best of intentions) but I have just today bought 4 more dummies... and ribbon to tie them on with at nighttime.....I guess the long and tall of it is I'm just not ready yet!?!

Trials & Tribulations of a two year old Diva

Well today was, by all accounts, looooooooooong. In the simple fact that Tabitha, a.k.a Princess, a.k.a Diva, a.k.a pain in the ass, was on top form today! She was clearly tired, so decided to take it out on her nearest & dearest! This morning you'd have thought butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, she woke up with a big smile, and 'I love you' all round.

Breakfast kicked off with her demanding Caleb's cup instead of her own, nothing new there though, she then refused her porridge, again nothing new! And insisted on 'trying' my breakfast & her dad's and if she could have gotten away with it, Ethan's also! 'Trying' obviously consists of her opening her mouth as wide as dartford tunnel and scoffing the lot in a one-er....and me skulking back off to find something else to eat. You would have thought by now that i would be smart enough to make two lots of whatever i am eating, but no, this would be too easy. I much prefer to fight with 2 yr olds for 10 mins before giving in a shouting 'fine, have the lot then, i'll just starve' to which i usually get a *shrug* and they carry on regardless. Ah well, one day, I may learn (doubt this though)

After breakfast we had our daily stripping session (of clothes) followed by the little rain-like dance in the garden to the tune of 'i've got a willy, nernernernerner, you haven't!!!' She had an audience of our next door neighbour today, so she was as loud as it gets and the dance was twice as long (deep joy). Ally (our 3 yr old neighbour) decided to try and tell Tabitha that, no, infact she did not have a willy but girly bits instead, this was followed by a full on fight -would have probably been fisticuffs fighting but alas for them the fence was in the way- and thankfully 5 mins later Ally was called in.

After lunch, which again the diva refused, and demanded crisps (which I can assure you she did NOT get) she was looking a bit tired. Instead of letting her nap though we made the ultimate mistake of keeping her awake. And taking her swimming.

The walk to the swimming pool was pretty good, only one strop, purely because we have to bypass a park (so i had prepared myself mentally for this battle) all was well, we made it to the swimming pool. Second obstacle then arose, ahhh, we seem to be at a pool that is not a leisure pool, so cue the strop of Tabitha refusing to get in 'It's too cold', 'It's too wet', 'I am noooooooooooooot getting in'.

 Finally we got her in (actually Liam just threw her on to me who was already in the pool, thanks for that!)  and she was ok for all of 5 mins, then she realised she couldn't reach the floor and also that there were no slides! How very dare they build a pool without slides & too deep for my two year old, pffffft! *deep sighs*

I got some exercise in, around 10 lengths, felt like i was about to cough up a lung so decided that Tabitha could get out and I would just have to do my exercise another day (nothing like blaming a child on my laziness, and unfitness! ha)

So I get her to the shower, she decided the water was too cold, then too hot. And I had forgotten the shampoo *what a disaster* I managed to get her dressed and out in to the foyer where we awaited Caleb & Liam. The raisens i had put in she decided to open -all over the floor- brill job Tabitha! So another cryathon, and Caleb arrives, our little hoover and starts to eat them off the floor with his tongue. Two seconds prior to this she hadn't wanted them as they were dirty, now that her brother was eating them all hell broke loose as they fought over them. She then tells him she hates him and hates brothers.

The walk home was nothing short of traumatising for me & DH, she threw herself on the floor, refused to be carried, refused to walk, and refused to shut up *arghhhhhh* Again we had to wak past the park, so to cheer her up we went in......this was probably the happiest 10 minutes of her day!

Dinner time, the food was too spicy (rice), the drinks were horrible, the table was too hard (er???), the pudding was too cold (icecream), and my crisps that she stole were also too spicy (get yer hands off then!)

I can say a few things from this. I have learned that Diva's need their sleep. They only like leisure pools. Walkers Salt & Vinegar Squares are indeed a bit spicy!

Tabitha is now where she should be, tucked up in her bed until tomorrow! Phew, am very very glad I did not have 3 of her! I'm off for a shower, I may be back to check typos, but then and again i'm not sure I have any energy left to do so! Ciao

The rugrats...

Well I have 3 children in case you missed the post before...

 I have a son aged 12, called Ethan, he is, he thinks, 18 not 12, and I am NOT the boss of him. He's got more attitude than you can possibly imagine, a smart answer for everything that I say, and I quite often feel like doing a Homer Simpson on him (where he wrings Bart's neck!) He can be so frustrating I just want to scream!

Of course this is partly my doing, as I am exactly the same, always want the last word in an argument, even if it is a whispered *whatever* as the other person walks away.

Obviously he gets his brains from me (wink, wink, may as well make the most of claiming all the good points as this is my blog lol i'm sure hubby would be doing the same thing if roles were reversed). He is so far the clever one, (alright I know the others are far too young to assume they won't be....but that's why I say so far....)

 He is currently in year 7, just started secondary school here in England. He goes to a boarding school which is heavily subsidised by the army (before anyone is wondering how i afford this on my frugal budget)

He has become far more confident since starting his school which I am glad of as he was always pretty shy.....BUT This of course does NOT help me in winning arguments with him,  I have always been one to stutter, forget what I needed to say (or scream, as case may be) and I very usually end up with a bad case of tourettes, purely through frustration. So he generally has me jumping up and down in minutes, ranting and raving, Hmmmm Nuff said.

Second child, the one I am just waiting to catch 'middle child syndrome', is our little Diva Tabitha, she is 2 years old and a little cutie. She says the cutest things, and also the most oddly weirdest things you could possibly think of!

She has issues already about her body, but not the same as me (flabby belly) but the fact she doesn't have boy willy bits like her brothers & dad! She actually (more often than i care to admit) strips off, runs outside to find a neighbour or anyone in the garden (actually heard her singing this to the neighbours dog too) and stands there shaking her tush singing 'i've got a willy, and I'm a boyyyy' Imagine that to the tune of 'ner, ner, nener ner' and that is her!

She is always coming out with little gems and her favourite words at the moment are 'for goodness sake' ...hmm can't think where she gets that from *ahem, moving on* ...Aside from that her favourite colour is pink and she is fiercely protective of all her family! :)

Moving onto our third child, another boy, he is 1 years old, and his name is Caleb. He is obsessed with electrical items, and one of his first words was 'oooovre' which of course translated means hoover (vaccum cleaner) another favourite word is Iron, then Mummy (i'm not allowed out of his sight) and then Nnnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooo. He has practised this one quite a lot and can sing no to you in a variety of tunes.

Very clever little lad there, just like his big brother. He's not yet potty trained unlike his big sister, because everytime the nappy comes off he runs to my rug and stands there, pushes his bum in, sticks his willy out and then pi**es all over my rug!!! He then proceeds to say 'ohhhh' like somehow some strange demonic force has taken over him and made him do it *sigh*

 His strengths as I mentioned earlier are in electrics, he can plug in items, switch them on, and use them (hair dryer, hoover -or ooovre- GHD's, lamps, laptops oh the list is endless!) Of course we don't encourage him to do this. In fact at least an hour of my day, roughly, is spent chasing him around screaming 'give me my GHD's back.... let go of my hoover...get away from the laptop....'

These three little beings are my reason for living :) they are also most of the reason I love chocolate & wine fixes every night also ;) although tonight I am having a night off from wine- we've none left!

Welcome to my slice of the internet blogging world

Afternoon all!

Well i'm new to blogging so please be gentle :D Well I suppose I must start with a little bit about myself, I am a thirty-something mum of three children, aged 12, 2 & 1. I haven't yet had my career as whilst doing my degree I had the last two children! I was hoping to become a primary school teacher, yet my three children have swiftly put me off that path (really i do love them, just drive me insane, up the wall & round the bend, all at once!)

I am married to a 30 something soldier, who has just got back from a tour in afghan. I love him also, yet sometimes I am thankful we don't live with each other 24/7 (because of the army)

I am a lover of my own company alas, should have been a nun, or a hermit or some fat nerdy geek who never leaves their house and plays computer games all day. I think I would have suited one of those lives very easily!

So, I live in a house which is too small for us, have a garden which never gets sun, and have a car which is falling to pieces. But, we can't afford anything better on both accounts lol so what we have will have to do. And seeing as though I am being completely honest here, we are also just starting on the long old road of a DMP, for those not in the know of what this means (took me a while to figure out the accronym..it's a Debt Management Plan).

We accrued most of the debt whilst i was at uni & hubby was re-training to go into the army -they put you a ridiculously low wage, regardless of what you were earning previously and how many outgoings you already have, then make you work your bollucks off, it's almost like you are paying them for some form of sadistic tortue- told hubby would have been cheaper to go to a seedy club in Soho, was having none of it though-.......

We are now on a strict budget, and are paying back our debts via the CCCS which will probably take until the world ends to finish as stupid bloody creditors are refusing to stop interest & charges on most of the debt *big sigh*

So if you're wondering what my blogs will be about, most probably all of them will include children in some form, then bitching about my creditors, and perhaps how I am Trying yet failing to be frugal! I will try though, to this I promise ;)

So that's all about me, I hope I haven't bored anyone to running off to find the wine already....oh yes and my name is chocolate & wine because believe me after one of my usual days it's usually what I go runnning off to find.......