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Archive : June 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Creepy crawlies
April had a fun day today :) She spent ages outside this morning hunting for ladybirds (I got a photo of a newly hatched ladybirdy on her hand but it came out too blurry) and released one that had hatched in our bug box. After lunch it poured with rain but she still wanted to go out so she put on her rainmac and went off. She'd been gone a while so I went to check on her and found her playing with a GIANT slug! Bleeeuurgh! I think it's fair to say that she's following in Rosie's footsteps for liking bugs!
My brother and his wife popped over just before lunch with some homemade meringues and fruity icecream which we later ate for tea and were very yummy indeed :)
April also had her first gym club today - we've been on a waiting list for ages and I thought they'd forgotten us! She was her usual confident self and ran off and joined in, listen to the instructor well (which was a surprise because that's something she has difficulty with sometimes!) and was really quite good at it for a first attempt! Tomorrow it's Rosie's turn for the p.e lesson (heehee!) at her trampoline class at the Littledown - me, Tim and April will be out playing in the swing park while she's in there.
Got the letters sent off today to the education authority about April not going to school now. Very glad we did it. Very glad we finally reached this decision on what has been a very trying few months. Y'know how I considered school, partly because it would give me time alone? Well, it would seem I'm almost certainly going to get more time if she's homeschooled! Tim is being absolutely fab with wanting to help me out with this so not only does April get the fun of homeschool but I get a whole bunch of me time. Perfect :)
On the subject of homeschool, I've been really busy getting organised for the new year - got such a lot of really fun stuff planned that we almost can't wait to get going!
Monday, June 29, 2009
It's here!
My Sims 3 has arrived! This is total torture because it's my birthday present and that isn't for another 3 weeks!
Other news, April isn't going to school. Not going to waffle on much about this other than to say that she became increasingly miserable and unhappy about the idea of going - the "indifference" from the preschool day turned into out and out not wanting to go. Tim and I had big discussions about allsorts connected with homeschool and one thing he agreed that, in order to give me more time alone, he would take the kids out more. So, April will be happy, I'm happy, Tim's happy (coz he's sick of hearing about school!) ... that is FINALLY the end of this sorry saga!!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Headachey
A bit of a headache thing going on today (because of the hot, muggy weather) - slightly unfortunate as we're off out for dinner tonight to some place called the Alice Lisle in the New Forest - it's fil's birthday - maybe have to down some pills before we go!
I've been busy getting a unit study on Japan ready for Rosie as this is going to be our first major study of the new school year. I'm really looking forward to this as it's a subject I love - we're going to do loads of crafts and some lapbooking to. I've found some great resources/websites for this and will post them nearer the time in case anyone else wants them and I've been getting into practice with some origami and have rather got into it! Very relaxing hobby :)
Oooo! Tim ordered Sims 3 for me - should be arriving from Amazon any day now! Just got the ENDLESS 3 week wait until my birthday now! I know, I'm beyond sad *laughs*.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Summer
We went fruit picking this afternoon at Sopley - the strawberries are at their optimum ripeness and are just divine :) We picked waaay too many really but they're only around for a short time so best to make the most of it. April has been feasting on these ever since we got home and now has strawberry juice all down her front :) We also got a few raspberries although they're not "out" as much yet - I love raspberries and me and the kids walked up and down the rows of plants eating as many as we put in the basket ............. simple pleasures ;)
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
So, how was it?
I don't even know where to begin on our little excursion to the school this afternoon. I truly wish I could sit here and say it was a positive and refreshing experience but it wasn't. It was tedious, stifling, patronising, boring and, frankly, a bit upsetting.
So what annoyed/upset/irritated me?
- Having to sign THREE times - once to get in the building, once to get into the hall (less than a minute later!!) and once to GET OUT the hall at home time.
- Being talked down to and patronised by the Reception year teacher who told me to "go natter with the other mums dear" (like, do I need to be told that - I will if I want to!!) and made a comment to the effect that, presumably, I would be getting tutors in to get Rosie (she knew that we home educated) through her secondary education. Erm... no.
- The almost cattle-market appearance of a bunch of insane mothers fighting each other off for the last 5-6 year old cardigan on the uniform stand (I kid you not).
- The smell of the place (ok, I'm being picky now)
What about April? Well, predictably, she took it all in her stride, didn't hesitate to go off and play when we got there and froze a boy off with the sheer force of her stare when he tried to steal a car from her. She went off perfectly ok to have a story in the other room leaving the mums behind (to "natter" presumably) and came back with the same indifferent expression on her face.
On getting home I had a quiet chat with her, gently probing for her views, asking her whether she still wanted to go to "big school". She says yes, because they've got a room like Tumbletots (gym equipment). That, for me, isn't good enough - just today a woman from a local gym class that I had put April's name down for AGES ago (when definately going to homeschool) phoned to say they had a place now ............. talk about timing!
April wasn't excited today, wasn't full of herself, wasn't raring to go. She was indifferent - not scared or crying or worried just .....indifferent.
Tim thinks we should still let her go and try school and he also says that we shouldn't muck her about by saying she's going to go one minute and then not the next. He's right off course. Part of me feels now we've got this far we might as well see it through and just see what happens. Part of me doesn't want to do that though ..... because ... don't know. I just keep seeing that indifferent, guarded, almost emotionless little face in my mind and it's bothering me.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Not sure ....
... the new blog thing is going to work. I don't like the layout (ugly) or the mucking around with html every single time I want to make a post.
Also, I've been innundated with requests for passwords - some from people I am familiar with (Nikki, Carolyn :) ) and others from people who seem to THINK they know me but clearly don't!
So, until I can think of a better way, I'm going to leave it and carry on posting here. Tim suggested just using a Wordpress account and just linking to it from here which is a thought. I know you can password those because Tim and I have our own ..... ahem ... private blog there ;)
Anyway, on a different note, I'm supposed to be going up the school with April this afternoon for the first of 3 preschool sessions. Now, not only is she still a bit "coldy" but I'm absolutely FULL of it - sneezed so hard this morning I made my nose bleed :( I'm not even sure we SHOULD be going on account of infecting everyone else but on the other hand I don't want her to miss these sessions as it's a chance for her to settle in a bit before September. It's only 3 sessions!! She can't miss them!! Y'see, I'm being caught up in the stress and worry of it all already :(
Yesterday, they sent me a HUGE envelope of guff - forms to sign (loads), info about fruit/free milk/uniform and so on. I felt truly depressed looking at it all and began to think, is a bit of free time every week worth all this hassle? Then I thought, yes it probably is because i'm not going to get any otherwise and she seems perfectly happy about it all.
I just feel miserable but it's probably just the cold mostly and I'll feel fine again in a few days.
Going fruit picking at Sopley tomorrow afternoon though! Always LOVE doing that so that's something to look forward to! :)
Monday, June 22, 2009
Bloggy stuff
NOTE: Blogging experiment to see how it goes - this may or may not work out! .....
For a while I've been considering having 2 separate blogs - 1 for very general, educational type stuff (links, reviews, recommendations, ideas etc) and the other for more personal, family related stuff.
In view of recent changes to things around here (school, yikes!) I've decided this is as good a time as any to start up the separate blog. I guess there are several reasons for doing this. For a start, I'm going to have considerably less homeschool related things to write about from now on (as I said above, I will still share links and whatnot) and also school type things which I'm less inclined to share with the whole world. Also, on that note, I have become, recently, less and less inclined to share all the general, non-school nitty-gritty and personal details with everyone - I want that sort of stuff to be limited to just family, close friends and blog-internet-friends (who are particularly well known to me).
All this obviously posed a problem because I wanted to still host the diary on my site and also not have to faff around with Blogger or Thingamablog (which I'm using to type this and which is, frankly, a pain in the arse sometimes). So, I've used Bravenet to set up a passworded page (link at the top of this page)- it's not pretty (you have to put up with the horrible ad bar at the bottom) but it does the job. Will try this for a while and see how it works.
Now, about passwords and things. This is going to be a bit like ex-directory telephone numbers - if you know it, please don't share it about with all and sundry! I don't have anyway of keeping track of this or who is reading the page so I'm just going to have to trust people. I've deliberately tried to pick a word that, generally, most people who know us reasonably well, or are family, should know. If you fall into that category but don't know it, just email me (email addy in a min) and I'll let you know it.
If you are well known to me (through blogging or internet in general), then please feel free to email for the password BUT please understand that I'm not going to give this out to everyone JUST people I'm familiar with. Sorry ... but there you go.
Email address for passwords and stuff: info (at) sarahsellers (dot) co (dot) uk (obviously replace the at and dots as necessary!)
So, sign in details are as follows:
username: diary
password: will be the first word in the name of the company Tim works for (clever eh?!)
If you know it (which hopefully, as I said, family and friends probably should), just go right ahead and sign in (not much there at the mo!). If you don't and want to, then please email me.
Finally, I appreciate that there are probably a lot of people who've been reading this blog for a looooong time but, basically, aren't known to me (either by blog comments or email contact). I know that some might feel a bit upset that they won't be able to read the new diary and I'm sorry about that I really am. Please, do still look out for the occasional education related post on this blog though :)
Sunday, June 21, 2009
I'm a bit not well
See the sad, droopy teddy? That's me right now :( Got the kids cold and although not as poorly as them, I still feel pretty yuk. Like the teddy, I need lots of cuddles.
PS - if there is anyone reading this and has contact with us - don't panic! We don't have swine flu or anything ... no need to paint a big red cross on the door just yet. ;)
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Richard, oh! Richard!
What's all this in aid of do you think? Well, it is in fact snot central round here at the moment :( Rosie has a bit of a cold and April has a lot of cold and i've got an ominous tickly throat. So, out come the defences in the form of various herbal and non-herbal remedies and bug-fighting food in the form of watermelon and cherries. Actually, I'm not sure the watermelon is ALL that packed with vitamin type stuff but it's wonderfully cooling on sore throats and does make you feel better. I made both kids a big fruity tea - a plateful of melon, cherries and chopped up banana :)
Whilst Rosie has pretty much stayed in bed and watched telly, April has been trying to ignore her sore runny nose by making as much mess as she possibly can. She's been building places with her bricks and animals and playing with a little Unifix pattern activity I made her and not putting anything away meaning that our lounge looked horrific.
When she'd got bored with the above stuff, she went to her room, emptied the book basket and brought all her books into the lounge. She then started piling them on the bookshelf with all her "lounge" books...... I asked her what she was doing and the slightly odd conversation went something like this:
Me - Why are you putting all your bedroom books there?
April - I fink maybe daddy should read something different at bedtime
Me - weeell, ok, but maybe you just need to bring in one book and not all of them?
April - *stops piling books up and looks concerned* yes ....but .... none of these bedroom books are Richard Scarry
Me - *baffled* no honey-bunny, all your Richard Scarry books are in the lounge I think
April - I can't have a bedroom book at bedtime then
Me - erm ... why not?
April - they're not Richard Scarry ARE THEY?!
Me - does that matter?
April - YEEEES!! I always have Richard Scarry!
Heavens! She does you know! We have quite a few books by him and they are very much loved by April. I also think Tim likes reading them to her because he had them when he was an ickle boy so probably gets a bit nostalgic. However, much as we are hugely entertained by the likes of Lowly Worm, Huckle and Mr Frumble, we have overdosed on them a bit. I think April knows the words to them all off by heart - you'd think she'd be bored, but no, never!
So, we get to the end of Richard Scarry's Please and Thank You Book and ask her what book she wants next.
"Hmmm, I think Richard Scarry's Bedtime Stories" Aaaarrrgggh!!!
Maybe I should hide them all .... bwa-ha-ha! I'm not that mean!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Oooo! Fresh start!
It's a funny old thing ... life .... I am now feeling genuinelly excited by the things that are going on right now. Sometimes change can be a good thing - getting April into school, freeing up more time for me and planning ahead for Rosie has given me a huge amount of energy and I'm literally buzzing with ideas at the moment.
Of course, with me, there's the danger of trying to rush into this all at once. Noooo, I have to slow down and take things a step at a time!
You will notice that a fair amount of stuff has disappeared from my website - erm ... ok, all of it apart from the blog. Yes, I have cleared away all the homeschool related stuff, not because I'm trying to forget all about home educating (I'm still teaching Rosie for the next couple of years!) but because this really is a fresh start. I didn't realise how very, very tired I had become of the whole home ed thing recently - I do still love it and believe in it but I honestly feel you have to be a very special kind of person to be able to home ed, provide for ALL your kids needs and still have time for a life for yourself. I couldn't balance all that and that is what was bringing me down which, in turn, affected the kids.
I'm hoping, eventually, that my website will be filled with all the stuff I'm into (or getting into). The home stuff page will definately return at some point (recipes and whatnot), I might set up a dedicated page for my best photos (particularly wildlife) and ... well, whatever else I feel might be fun :)
I'm in awe of home educators who do what they do and do it so fabulously well. They truly are special people and deserve far more credit than they so obviously get. I'm just not cut out for it, I cannot get the balance right and I really feel, eventually, it would have not been good for the kids.
We're lucky, we live in an area with excellent schools (ok, no school is ever going to be as good as home ed but still ...), I'm hopeful that April (and eventually, Rosie) will still gain a huge amount from them. What I will do is be there every step of the way, provide a better homelife than I have done so far (because I won't be so stressed) and drag them off out for an illicit daytrip occasionally to give them a break but - shhhh! - don't tell the school ;)
PS - re spam code - yep, that old crap again. Still not done anything about it and had 2 or 3 people write to me recently and say they had real problems with it. I really am going to get Tim to do something about it over the next couple of days - either change it or get rid altogether. I just don't get why it doesn't work! *shrugs*.
PPS - no idea why everything has been centralised on this blog! I've been through the html a dozen times and can't see what is wrong - another job for Tim I think!
Friday, June 19, 2009
All change
Tim and I have talked a LOT about school-April-homeschool-April lately and a few of these talks have, in fact, dissolved into out and out arguments. Tim wants, expects (and is frankly entitled to!) a happy home but he hasn't been getting it lately because I've been so wound up.
Y'see, for whatever reason the concept of home educating her, although a lovely idea, didn't sit quite well. She has been going on about school again, I was panicking about the new year and the stupid, stupid home ed review. Everything felt wrong.
So, I talked to April about the possibility of her going to the preschool club to see how she liked it (and then from there to "big" school). She was wildly excited and, to be honest, neither Tim nor I cannot NOT let her try it - we'll be there to pull her out IF it all goes pear shaped - but she must try or we (and she!) will never know.
By some miracle, our original school had not yet given her place to another child (and this is a miracle because places for this school are hotly contested and it isn't our catchment area one) and they were really happy to reinstate her :)
There is another reason for all this - Rosie. For some time Tim and I have been debating the possibility of her entering upper school when she turns 13 (we have a very odd school system round here!). Rosie is certainly not averse to the idea and is old enough to understand that there will be fab opportunities for her there that I cannot hope to duplicate at home. She also knows that we still have 2 full school years of home ed in front of us to "prepare" her and this is something we are working towards.
The final reason (and definately not the most important but still an issue) is that I am not coping at the moment. The 2 hours I spent on my own the other afternoon made me realise how important quiet "me time" is to me. This might seem like me just being selfish but (for reasons I won't go into here), I think it's more than that - I think I need it for the good of my mental health. I sometimes get so pressured that I feel I'm going to spontaneously combust if I don't "get away". This is not a rage thing, just a desperation for peace. I've lived through some crap in my time (and I know many of us have) but, unlike some, I've never got over it .... never had the time to work through my own inner demons. My quiet time isn't just an excuse to get away from the kids, it's therapy. I want time to sew, cook, read, listen to music ...... I guess other home educators must be more organised than me because I can NEVER get the time to do that and that adds to my angst and frustration.
That all said, if my kids were unhappy at school for ANY reason, they'd be out like a shot. They come before me .... always.
So there you have it ..... we're closing the door, once and for all, on the whole school/homeschool debate. April will be off in September and Rosie should be following her a couple years later.
I look at the blogpost I did on April a few days back and admit to feeling a bit sad ... yes, I do want her to just "be" but, I think for her (given her on and off "I want to go to school" comments), just "being" involves more than I can give her at home. What I can do is provide a quiet, happy home for her to return to at the end of the school day.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Peaceful
Lovely day today :) Very warm and sunny this afternoon so Tim took the kids up to Avon Heath Country Park for a couple of hours - what BLISS it was to have the house to myself for a bit!! Don't get me wrong, I love having my kids about but I also equally love a bit of peace and quiet occasionally.
Anyway, while they were out, I pottered about and did not much at all apart from enjoying the sound of silence :)
I'm in the process of sorting out activities for them both for the autumn - not an easy task with a) them being so far apart in age b) not much money and c) wanting to stay fairly local so that I can take them if necessary if Tim happens to not be here. At the moment, I'm sort of rolling the idea of Scouts around (although April can't start that until she's 5 years and 8 months old so she'd have to wait until next autumn). Almost certainly going to enrol them in Badgers/Cadets (St John's ambulance) but there's also some kids clubs up at one of the local churches AND Girl's Brigade as well. To be honest, there's too much to choose from (!) and we still have to work around Rosie's Wednesday trampoline class which she's still going to be doing.
Finally, April inherited Rosie's old Fisher Price tape player - I don't know HOW many years we've had this but Rosie was very young when we got it for her. I dug around and found her bag of old nursery rhyme tapes as well and April is OVERJOYED and hasn't stopped playing with it since :) I now have "The bear went over the mountain" permanently burned into my brain *laughs*.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Sunny Christchurch
Rosie was still on her "sleep-over" this afternoon (didn't get back until after tea) and me, Tim and April went to Christchurch to feed ducks, walk along the river and by the ruins. Gorgeous afternoon and certainly made up for not getting there the other day (when the clutch went!). We finished up with ice-cream which April made SUCH a spectacular mess with but enjoyed so much :)
Took a few pics ..... here are some:
It would appear that April is about to Karate chop the tree but she is, in fact, mid-wave to me!
Off we go to feed the ducks - April clutching her bag of bread
Up to the ruined keep - these steps were hard going on a hot day!
Rosie got back after tea, all hot and sweaty (made her go straight in the shower!) and with her pockets full of sparkly stones from some beach they went to :) So, I reckon we all had a pretty good day today.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
*Rolls eyes*
You'd really fink, wouldn't you, given the amount of crud recently (wasting the best part of a year worrying about school/not school for April and then "that" review), that life would ease off a bit?
Yeah? No!!!
In the middle of a glorious printing session this evening (maths worksheets no less), my printer decided to die. Actually, not die but it does seem to have some rather serious injury - red "check cartridge" light comes on and the paper jams ... every - damn - time.
*Throws enraged wobbly*
So, I've given up, switched the bloody machine off in disgust, poured a glass of wine and am attempting to relax.
Rosie is off on a sleep-over tonight - a sleepover I'm not 100% happy about but am not sure why. Ok, here goes .... the person she is having the sleepover with is Luke, Tim's mum's adopted son who is 10. Due to his being adopted by mil, this makes him Tim's adopted-brother and Rosie's adopted-UNCLE!!! He's a very sweet kid really, just a bit manic and over the top so I always slightly worry about Rosie in cases like this. Hmmm. May have to be the last one I think.
*Drinks more wine*
*Thinks about playing Sims 2 but then decides against it because it's not Sims 3*
No, I've not gone mad but I do think the "general angst" of the last few months is starting to slowly seep out of me as I start to wind down again. I didn't realise stress was that toxic - I shall probably come out in boils overnight.
Friday, June 12, 2009
We shall not be crushed
What do you do when the likes of Graham Madman and Ed Bollocks have attempted to trash your day with their foul darlek-type crap?
Why! make garden cupcakes that's what :) Cute cupcakes covered in pale green icing and little sugar flowers. Sweet.
I did take a piccy only it came out making them look more like snot covered cakes and I didn't want to put anyone off their tea so it's not here!
I also put some more maths resources together for April (we're following the MEP programme for both of them next year), examined a can of Mr Sheen and then put it back in the cupboard coz I couldn't be bothered to dust and agreed with Tim that chips from the chippy would be in order for dinner tonight.
I am also grinding my teeth in irritation at not having Sims 3 yet and having to wait until my birthday in July to get it!!! Nats already has it and I'm beyond jealous.
Non-Simmies out there won't understand this but trust me, it's agony.
Friday, June 12, 2009
*Takes deep breath*
There are many people on many blogs giving their opinion of the home ed review so there is really no need for me to go into it here.
IF all this become actual law and IF home ed parents are forced to accept these things then I really hope that the Government has made provision to accommodate the sudden influx of school applications. This is because I strongly suspect that there will be many people currently home educating who will be scared by all this and put their kids in school (I guess scaring people is what this is all about to an extent). Also, if LEA's do exercise their new powers and start deciding willy-nilly that this child or that child is not getting a good education and is not "safe and well" and order them into school, that is also going to increase the school admissions. Phew, that was a big sentence!!
I think, if I'm honest, the thing that is making me more angry than anything else is the bit about the kids having to "exhibit" themselves, without their parents being there (was I alone in thinking that Mr Badman's choice of wording there was a little ... um... inappropriate?!) Registeration I can deal with (already known to them), annual inspections I'm "happy" to go along with (already do yearly reports) BUUUUUT, having my children interrogated alone I will not tolerate - NOT because there is anything to hide but because it's a recipe for disaster and an unfair situation. Even if your child is confident talking to people (strangers!!), ALL kids have off-days - what will happen if your kid decides to have an off-day when the inspector comes round? They'll get ordered into school.
NOT FAIR. With a school, it's the overall establishment that get's inspected and monitored - the teaching, the quality of the education etc. You do not get children in schools routinely being dragged off into another room, on their own and interrogated - it doesn't happen. Furthermore, do you think their parents would tolerate it? No effing way! Of course not.
Sooo, there is another alternative which some current home educators MAY consider (myself included!) and that is setting up their own school.
This is something I've mentioned before and I temporarily filed away but this whole sorry saga has brought it back to the front of my mind again.
No, we shouldn't have to do it BUT maybe, in order to retain SOME kind of control over our kids education we might have to. Consider:
- An independent school can choose it's own "curriculum" - whatever that might be - Summerhill anyone??
- They can be as big or small as you like - currently, you only need FIVE, school-aged children to be able to register as an independent school.
- If the school is small (I'm thinking 5 or 6 kids max) you can hold it in your front living room and make use of local sports facilities, libraries etc for the rest.
- You get school discounts on books etc (something us home edders don't get)
- You don't have the kids interviewed on their own.
I really hope that the united force of home educators voices does overrule all this. I really hope so. Let's face it though, so far they have been pretty much ignored and in order to retain at least SOME of our way of life and SOME of the control over our kids educations it might be time to start thinking of ways around it. The small school or learning centre is one such way.
I'm not giving in or backing down, merely getting my brain in gear and preparing for the worst.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Why we have decided to homeschool April
~ So she can socialise in ways SHE wants instead of with a pre-selected group of individuals all roughly the same age as her
~ So she can spend more time with her big sister (and us!) instead of being away and separate from the family several hours a day
~ So she can enjoy her mealtimes in leisurely, peaceful surroundings instead of a noisy, hectic rushed meal in a canteen
~ So she can receive a first class, completely individual education
~ So she can be creative however and whenever she wants (instead of short, pre-determined periods every week)
~ So she can just be .........
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
A new start
Zen Education
It is enough to eat, sleep, and live in modest accommodations.
It is enough to speak rich language during conversation and story telling.
It is enough to draw, learn to write, and to read.
It is enough to walk, ride a bike, go on a hike.
It is enough to sing, play instruments, and dance.
It is enough to laugh and cry, and to write poetry.
It is enough to master basic arithmetic.
It is enough to follow the love of inquiry into discovery
and adventure in nature, science, the arts, mathematics, and true self-awareness.
It is enough to be honest and kind.
It is enough to be real.
© Deb Huntley 2009 ~ All Rights Reserved
From www.ZenHomeSchool.org Zen Education Workbook
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Erm....
Sorry (if you read my most recent post that has now been deleted). Having a bit of a screwy day and blogged-while-wound-up. Never a good move.
Normal service to be resumed shortly.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Oh dear, oh dear
Presumably, the nursery school in this report was regularly inspected by Ofsted and presumably it's workers were CRB checked. Yeah? Yet, this still happens:
Nursery Worker in Child Porn Charges
Now, I know this has already been said, but what right has this Government got to throw (by their own admission) completely groundless accusations of child abuse against home educators when this sort of thing is going on?!!! Methinks they should get their own house in order first ......
Doesn't inspire a vast amount of confidence in one does it?
Saturday, June 06, 2009
I do, I do, I do
Today, at 3.00 will be exactly 11 years since Tim and I got married. I would, honestly, do it all over again if we could - it was the perfect day. It was also the happy ending of several years of strife and pain - I was lucky to be there at all.
Just for nostalgia value, here are some of my favourite pics (for various reasons):
I had ALL my favourite flowers in this bouquet and it smelled divine - carnations, freesias, blue cornflowers and pink roses
Too .... nervous .... to .... smile ... properly. I think it's fair to say that Tim definately had his own share of butterflies-in-the-tummy, but I was plain, downright terrified! Goodness knows why! My legs were like jelly and he looked so imposing and ... er... un-Tim like! This is definately not the best picture in the world but the only one we have of the "ring going on" so I had to include it :)
Compare that pic with one take a short while later! Big grin :) Tim looks slightly dopey in this but oh so handsome in his suit! D'you know, this is the first and LAST time I've ever seen him in a suit? Damn the man for not liking them! ;)
Finally, I LOVE this picture to bits. I love the pose, Tim is smiling genuinely rather than the usual fake ones he usually manages to muster up for such occasions (Tim does not do "smiling to order"), I look happy and relaxed, the sun was shining and we had the reception to look forward to.
So there we go, 11 years, 2 kids (ok the first one was 8 months old when we go married!), 3 house moves, 3 job changes (for Tim) and many arguments/makings-up later, we're still here.
I love you TT xx
Thursday, June 04, 2009
All together now ...
"Always look on the bright side of life !"
This is the weather for the weekend when we have to go to a barbeque party:
I told ya didn't I?! I just bloody knew it! Heavy rain all through the weekend and then back to bright sun on Monday *rolls eyes* Still, you got to laugh.
I've got a burnt mouth where I bit into a too-hot pizza last night - the tomato sauce was lava-like.
Tim went around all yesterday evening sighing because, although he'd managed to get a lift to work this morning from another guy at work, the other guy starts a whole hour earlier than Tim. Tim had to get up at 3.00a.m!! Stone the crows, it was still the middle of the night!!
However .....
The car is fixed!! Again. So Tim is supposed to be picking it up this afternoon or this evening. So no more 3.00 a.m wake up calls :)
It's our wedding anniversary on Saturday :) 11 years! Wow!
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
AAAARRRGGGH!!!
The mighty pigeon of fate has crapped on us once again.
A short distance into our journey to Christchurch the clutch cable on the car went AGAIN!!! This is ridiculous - we are (somehow!) going to have to get some money together and get another car, this can't go on.
Anyway, Tim phoned the AA who said they'd be about an hour so me an the kids opted to walk home (took about 25 minutes) as I didn't want them hanging around a busy road. Tim stayed behind to wait, gibbering incomprehensibly with rage.
I'm currently waiting to hear from him - I think he's being towed to his mums so the car can be looked at there.
Gorgeous day out all round *rolls eyes*
Edited later: Well, Tim is back and the car is round his mum's waiting for his dad to look at it. He's calmed down a bit now which is a relief! When it broke down I really thought he was going to have a Basil Fawlty moment and start thrashing the living daylights out of it! *laughs* Not entirely sure how he's going to get to work on Thursday .... not worked that one out yet ...
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
What?
Is this pigeon doing for goodness sake?!
(Bigger pic than usual so you can see clearly) I took this in the garden yesterday afternoon. The pigeon flew down off our house roof, landed on the path, waddled a few steps and the sorta flopped down on the path and spread itself out! At first I thought it might be injured - it stayed there for about 10 minutes and then got up, had a shake and few away!
This is where I need the highly knowledgable Chris Packham (or "gorgeous Chris Packham" as one Googling person who showed up on my site stats wrote - *laughs out loud*). I have 2 theories - both along the same lines. One is that the pigeon was exhausted (perhaps from chick feeding - we do have a nest of pigeons in the garden) and was taking a bitofa nap. The other is that is was HOT and, basically, trying to cool itself down by fanning its wings out.
Any guesses?
Also (non-pigeon related), I had to share this totally cute pic of April in the sandpit looking very cool and funky :)
Off out to Christchurch after lunch - gotta feed those duckies :)
Monday, June 01, 2009
Gardening
God it's been hot today! We are totally enjoying the weather - want it to go on and on and on! We're off to a birthday barbeque party on Saturday and you just KNOW what's going to happen don't you? It will rain. It will. I just know it *laughs*.
Anyway, today, Tim went out and tackled the front garden shrubs with the hedge trimmer. This is the same hedge trimmer that he managed to fuse the entire house with last summer by accidentally cutting through the lead. Well, he rewired it and off he went - he didn't want to do it but I'm banned from using it on account of the fact that, apparently, I might hack my leg off or something by not paying attention. This is slightly laughable given that he clearly wasn't paying attention when he cut the lead in half but, bless him, I guess he just worries about me ......
Garden looks absolutely much better now though, so he did a good job :)
Still supposed to be nice weather-wise tomorrow so we're planning to head off into Christchurch after lunch and feed the ducks along the river and have a stroll round the old ruins. I do love Christchurch - would love to rent somewhere over there (if we had the bloody money for deposits and whatnot!) Be so much handier for Tim's work as well. Aaah well, maybe one day.
April is chopping and changing her mind about school so much that it's doing my head in. One minute she wants to go and then she decides she doesn't because she doesn't like the uniform (blue) or the fact that she can't go outside and play when she wants. We had the letters through about the parents evenings and preschool clubs and I haven't sent the reply slip back yet. I can feel myself wavering even though, I still think maybe she should go and see how she gets on the for the first term. It's such a bloody bind though - going through all the hoo-haa of preschool stuff, buying uniform blah blah blah.
Talking of things being a bind, I'm currently writing this years report for the LEA. *Groans*. I hate doing it!!! I hate the fact that I put all this effort into it, it'll get read once and then shoved in a drawer somewhere. Pah!!!
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