For My Father in Law (Just nod & smile politely!)

And just who is responsible for making that law?!

Anyway...

It is official.

Teachers can leap tall buildings with single strides. (Oh, except during the holidays when we are too busy getting paid to have six weeks off. hee hee!).

Here is the video used for Teachers' 'Leaping Buildings' CPD (continued professional development). Enjoy...

What? None of this makes any sense? Congratulations. You have just passed the sanity test!

Changing Rooms

It's half term for Little Z, Big J and I, and as Chris also has a week off work, it's been the ideal opportunity to have lots of family time, which can be difficult when we are all at school or work (or both!).

It has also been a good chance to work together to get the house tidy. I find it hard to get motivated to do it when I am on my own, mainly because I so rarely have time on my own that when I do, I want to use it to sit down with my Kindle.

By yesterday, we had managed to tidy the living room, dining room and the surface in the kitchen which always gets cluttered with bits and pieces that don't seem to belong anywhere and which don't quite make it to the kitchen bits-and-bobs drawer.

We were so pleased with what we had achieved, we went a little crazy and decided to have a go at the conservatory. You have to have have seen our conservatory recently to really appreciate the extent of this job, but when I say we couldn't see the floor, I mean just that.

It had become a dumping ground for my teacher resources (files & folders, loose paperwork, laminates, stationary, photographs, puppets etc.), which occupied the right hand side of the conservatory, not only in approximately 6 boxes stacked up on top of the toy storage unit, but also all over the floor where bags or boxes had split and let paper simply spill out over the carpet.

The other side of the room was filled with toys and clothes the children had grown out of. We had intended to do a car boot sale (not even last Summer, but the one before!), but had never got around to it and so what was neatly arranged bags and boxes, gradually became split bags and torn boxes and 'I don't want to get rid of that' toys were left untidily on the floor after a quick pull-from-the-bottom-of-the-pile-and-play,-while-no-one-is-looking.

We spent all day clearing the conservatory of junk, and although there were some lovely, "hey, come and look what I've found," or, "Great, I've been looking for this!" moments, it was very hard work.

We now have another room which can actually be used. It's amazing. When it was full of rubbish, I don't think I really appreciated that it was a whole room we could actually be using as living space. We haven't used it as a room for at least 2 years and I wish now that I'd done it a long time ago.

It's already making a difference. Big J likes to have some time to himself; it's something we taught him to do when he was younger if he was getting angry and needed to calm down. The conservatory is the perfect place for him to do that. It's a quiet room to sit and think without all the noise of the rest of the family. He has taken in some of his pencils for the art table we've set up, which he is keen to start using, and he spent 20 mins in there practising his karate kata.

I have no doubt we will all benefit from the additional space in our own ways. Me? Need you ask?

Keep up!

Oh, Steve , you would be so proud of me. I did 50 mins' exercise this morning walking to school and back. I feel great for it...

Supernanny, you would not be so proud of me. As we left the house a few minutes later than I like to when we are walking, I felt like I was nagging Big J to keep up and telling him repeatedly that we didn't have time to stop. I also had frequent mini-rants about the children talking over each other or interrupting when I was talking, so it wasn't quite the quality time it could have been.

They did, however, get some fresh air and exercise though, which gives them a great start to their school day.

Goodbye Uncle John

I remember when I was little. Visits from Uncle John were so special. He made such a fuss of us. I used to sit on his knee and he would tell us all funny stories of things he had done. He ran his own company and always brought us keyrings and pens and things with the company logo on. They were the best things in the world then. When I got a bit older he used to come down and take us out for a meal in a posh restaurant. It was the only time I ever got to go to a proper restaurant. I loved telling my friends about.

I remember once, he was showing me the credit cards in his wallet. I really liked the holographic bird on one of them. He said that when the card expired I could have it. Mum & Dad both told me not to be upset if he forgot because it would be quite a long time before the card expired. I forgot about it, then one day months and months later I got a little letter from him with the holograph attached. I was so excited. It meant a lot that he'd remembered.

I was really excited when he said they were moving closer to where we lived. He lived in Hertfordshire and we only got to see him about twice a year, so it would mean we would see him a lot more. He was selling the business and buying a couple of old cottages which he planned to convert. I never saw what it looked like before he had it renovated, but apparently it was just two old large cottages and some stables set on a very large plot of land with a pond and woods etc. When it was renovated it was lovely. I remember being amazed by how big it was. I used to get lost just going to the bathroom.

When Larry & I decided to get married, we were quite young and although we had a bit of money saved we were going to settle for a small wedding that we could afford. Uncle John said that if we wanted a big wedding we should have one. He was well off, but he had worked hard for the money he had and I told him I could not accept his money. He didn't give me a choice. He insisted on giving me the money, so I very gratefully accepted. He also let us use his Daimler as a wedding car and was our chauffeur for the day even taking us to the hotel we'd booked for the wedding night. We had a lovely wedding in a big church and couldn't have done it without him.

The following year we bought our first flat in Southampton. Again, he helped us out with lots of helpful advice about legal matters and helped us out temporarily with a loan for the deposit.

After moving away from home, we only saw Uncle John at Christmas and family occasions such as weddings. In recent years we have lost touch with him and my Aunty apart from Christmas cards. We were busy with our children and work. We haven't visited my parents so often and when we have, time has always been so short we haven't had time to visit anyone else.

On Sunday I had a call from my Dad. I knew it was important. Dad never (almost never) phones me. Uncle John was in hospital with Pneumonia. They had been to visit him and although he looked tired and pale, he was in good spirits, still telling amusing stories.

This morning, I had a call from my mum. Uncle John died this morning. He had been ill for quite a long time and for a few years now he has been warning everyone this might be his last birthday or his last Christmas. Well, he didn't make it to either this year. His birthday is next Thursday.

I am glad my dad got to see his brother before he died and that he will have a recent memory of him joking and telling stories. I am sad I didn't get to see him, but I shall remember him as my favourite uncle who used to sit me on his knee and tell me silly stories which he exaggerated so much that they bore no resemblence to the actual event, but which were amusing and entertaining all the same.

Goodbye Uncle John xxx

Bike Ride

We have been waiting for a couple of weeks now for the weather to be good enough to do a car boot sale. Having looked at the forecast for yesterday on Saturday, we decided again not to do the car boot sale as we were expecting showers and really did not want to have to pack up early having hardly sold a thing and having paid money for the pitch. However, the weather yesterday actually turned out to be fine. Not sunny and warm, but not raining either, so we decided to take our bikes out to Bolderwood in the New Forest. It was fantastic. I never thought I was fit enough to go on a cycle ride and so took myself by surprise when I was still cycling after 2 hours (we got a bit lost!). Big J had his tag-along bike attached to Larry's bike because although he can ride a bike by himself, he would almost certainly have got tired after a long cycle ride and so it makes sure he keeps up with us. As for Little Z, she was amazing. Considering a few weeks ago, she was scared of going too fast and kept stopping every few yards, I was astonished to see her cycling past us all at a good speed and cycling for a good distance before stopping. She has really increased in confidence and thoroughly enjoyed the bike ride.

By the time we got back to the van we were all exhausted. Having got a bit lost, we had cycled quite a bit further than we had planned to and although we had enjoyed ourselves, we were glad to see the car park.

I am really looking forward to going out for another family bike ride. Next time though I will take some padding for my seat as I am not sitting very comfortably today to say the least!

Big J learnt to ride his bike today.

He had a bit of a strop a couple of days ago when we took the stabilizers off his bike and insisted that we put them back on. Today when I suggested taking little Z & Big J out on their bikes he said he wanted his stabilizers back on or else he would not go on his bike. He was quite adamant that he would not go on his bike if it did not have stabilizers on and only wanted his scooter. I didn't pay any attention. I took their bikes and cycle helmets and we all went to the sports centre. Within about 20 minutes Big J was riding around by himself. He was still struggling to start himself off and needed a bit of a push to get himself going, but with a bit of perseverence he learnt to start himself off. I asked if he would like his stabilizers back on now. "No Thank you!" he replied.

Of course the other advantage of Big J learning to ride by himself is that Little Z was all the more motivated. She can already ride her bike but is out of practice and struggles to get herself balanced to start off. She was determined to be better than Big J and by the end of the afternoon she was much more confident.

I'm really proud of them both.

Very Surrey

We really wanted to get away for a week in the campervan this summer, preferably to Devon or the Wye Valley, but money is short and although we could probably scrape enough together to pay for the petrol to get us there and back and to pay for the pitch, we would not have enough money to do very much and would not enjoy constantly having to worry about how much things cost. So, we decided to stay at home this year and do some jobs around the house (mostly tidying) and have a couple of trips out to visit people.

Yesterday, we took a trip to Hersham in Surrey to see my Aunty Di. It is only an hour or so from here and we have been saying for a long time that we should visit her, but she was very ill last year with breast cancer and was not particularly keen to have visits from family so we didn't go. She is in her 70s so it is pretty impressive that after lots of treatment with some fairly unpleasant side effects, she has made a good recovery and is now looking very well indeed.

We arrived about 11am and had a short walk around the retirement village where she lives. We then went out of the village and walked about a mile and a half down the road to a garden centre for lunch in their restaurant. It was a lovely walk and the children enjoyed it, although Big J is not too good at walking very far as he has always been taken everywhere in the car and has never had to walk far. Unfortunately, when we got there the restaurant was closed due to no water supply and so we had to turn around again and walk back to the village. We were all worn out after the walk back, which was slightly uphill (why is it always uphill on the way back?!) and so were relieved to get to the club house back in the village where Aunty Di ordered lunch for us all. Little Z and Big J had immaculate table manners as usual (for an ogre). After lunch we had a look around the church and then took a walk to the lake where Big J warned a man to be careful of the dinosaurs. Then it was time to drive home.

We will definitely visit again and hopefully next time we will take my mum with us as she would love the village.

After this week, I feel exhausted. I need another week off school just to rest. I had wondered if it was such a good idea going away for the whole of half term. I had reports to write and it was not giving me much opportunity to get any planning done and I would not have the chance to go in to school to tidy my classroom ready for the new half term. However, I am glad I did go away. It was good not to go into school all week. My classroom is a mess and will need a couple of hours one evening to get it sorted, but it is worth it.

We had a fantastic week away. We went to Elvaston Castle camp site again and visited Sarah, Ben and Toby. Toby hid under the sofa most of the time (Z & J were too noisy and lively - I almost got under there myself!), but Sarah and Ben managed to stay out from under the sofa so we had a lovely catch up albeit for only an hour as we had to be at the campsite by 7pm.

From there we went to Seany's. We stayed at a campsite down the road from him for a couple of nights and then camped on his drive for the other 2 nights. He was happy for us to stay at his house, but we like sleeping in the van and it made more sense than Seany having to move furniture around to accommodate us. It worked out really well at the campsite. We were able to put the awning up for the first time and so we had more space. That also meant that Seany & my mum could come and visit us and had somewhere to sit. There was a large grassy area for the children to run around and so there was no need to worry about whether they were touching something they shouldn't.

The main reason for the visit was my mum's 70th birthday. She had a fantastic day. Actually the celebrations sem to have lasted a whole week as various people have taken her for a drink or sent special gifts.

At the end of the week was Larry's birthday. He's not 70, but I think he feels it sometimes. He enjoyed his day and we spent a lot of it playing Seany's Nintendo Wii.

I managed to get 5 reports written while I was there (although had a day off for Larry's birthday!) so I did not feel like I had loads to catch up on when I got back.

So there it was. Half term break came around quickly and was over almost as soon as it arrived. How long till the next one?

My Bruver Got a Bike an I Dint

I have much better things to do than this, but Seany started "the bike thing" again so I have to have my say!

For further clarification on what the bike thing is all about, you might want to read point ten of 30 Things about Seany.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper, unless it's a bike and then it will come in a box with a big shiny bow on it.

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial. Real trees are too wide and would get knocked over by the bike as it goes past.

3. When do you put up the tree? As early as I can get away with it. I like hearing people complain to me that it's too early.

4. When do you take the tree down? One of my kids usually knocks it down with their new bike as they ride around (if one gets one, they both get one!!). Failing that, I take it down before I go back to work in January.

5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, but I don't really agree with stealing eggs out of nog's nests.

6. Favourite gift received as a child? I don't remember. Did I get a bike? No, I don't think so. My brother did though.

7. Do you have a Nativity scene? Yes, and every year a bit more of it gets broken. The shepherd now has a shorter crook (ooh!).

8. Hardest person to buy for? Secret Santa presents when you don't know who you are buying for.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Seany. I can just buy him a bike every year as he keeps losing or breaking them. (Never taught the value of money!)

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Decorative teapot. What is the point of that?
"I have bought you a teapot",
"Oh Thank you!",
"But don't use it, will you?",
"Why not?",
"It's for decoration only",
"Right, so you have bought me a teapot, but I can't use it as a teapot.",
"That's right."
"What the F*&K am I supposed to do with it then?!"

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. We get 50 free stamps because Larry is a postie.

12. Favourite Christmas movie? Love Actually

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? July. Yeah, so what! Shut up!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes, every year. The kids have so many things that they don't realise I keep taking their toys and wrapping them up for them again the next year. At least they get something they really want!

15. Favorite thing to eat/drink at Christmas? Clotted cream, Brandy Butter, Port, guinness (wow, now I see why I am having to diet!)

16. Clear lights or coloured on the tree? coloured and flashing

17. Favourite Christmas song? I want to ride my bicycle

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Christmas day in Bethlehem was great, but I love being home with the family for Christmas.

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Yes. Frank, Pat, Ricky, Bianca...erm... I can't remember the others.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? A Fairy.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Open them Christmas day. Shake, prod, sniff & squish them as soon as they arrive!

Anyone else want to have a go? Let me know so I can have a read.

Oh, and don't worry, I bought myself a bike!

The Slippery Slope...

At Paulton's Park last weekend, Seany & I stood watching Little Z and Big J have their last climb, swing, jump, bounce and slide on the adventure playground before going home. We laughed as we remembered how a number of years ago, we had visited Paulton's with Little Z and had ourselves had a go on the biggest chute slide. I was signed off work with depression (no, let me finish!) and remember thinking at that time "I hope no one sees me enjoying myself!" It's a common misconception that depressed people have to be miserable all of the time.

So, anyway, I was reading Seany's blog this morning about the joke someone has cracked at the Tate Modern (no, I'm not mocking it, actually I liked the thought behind it) and having clicked the link to the news article about "Shibboleth 2007" I saw a related article entitled "Tate Modern Unveils Giant Slides". Now, that is something I would really enjoy going to see. I love swings and slides and never seem to have grown out of them (mentally, ok?) so I was very excited to hear what the artist had to say:

Artist Carsten Holler said his work, Test Site, was a "playground for the body and the brain". He says slides can help combat mental health problems.

(Source: BBC.co.uk)

What a fantastic excuse!

So, my plan is as follows:
New Job, New house, Big garden, Giant slide, not thought beyond that yet...

What will he do next?

It is difficult in todays world to shelter our children and protect them from things we don't want them to know about, at least yet. We try our best to teach them about the dangers and to teach them right from wrong. It is different from when I was a child. Children have access to so much and seem to know about things they are not ready to know about. I find that even if I stop Little Z watching something on TV or on a DVD that I don't think is suitable, there will be someone at school happy to tell her all about it. I am glad however, that I can rely on the adult members of my family not to teach my children to do stupid things like run into the sea, for (randomly chosen) example...



Or can I?

Thanks, Seany! It might have been a long time ago, but he remembered! :o)

Having said that, we did have a great afternoon.

On Saturday Little Z, Big J and I discovered Holly Hill Woodland Park and liked it so much, we went back with Larry today. We were all fairly muddy by the time we got back to the car, so will shortly be investing in some walking boots for Larry and myself. Little Z's wellies kept her feet dry. Big J's wellies, although okay for large puddles, didn't really meet his needs today.

Happy Campers!

We have just got back from our first proper holiday in the campervan. We have never been away for more than 2 nights in the van before, but decided it was time to do it properly. As members of The Caravan Club we get preferential rates at some sites and exclusive access to members only sites also at very good rates.

We started our holiday in Somerset visiting Larry's family as it was his mum's 60th birthday. It didn't cost us anything to camp there as we were on their drive! While we were there, we visited Minehead and Cleeve Abbey. From Somerset we went to Combe Martin, where we stayed at a commercial and rather expensive site. Combe Martin was nice, but nothing special, however, we did meet some lovely people on the campsite and there were loads of children for Little Z and Big J to play with. As newcomers to this campervanning game it was great to talk to people who had been doing it for quite a while as we picked up some helpful tips. We also quickly found out that it is almost impossible to eat your breakfast in peace and that if you want the other kids to go away from your door, you have to tell them straight!

The following day we headed for Woolacombe. On the way to Woolacombe we were driving through Ilfracombe and decided it looked so lovely that we wanted to park up and have a look around. After being given a ticket by someone who had paid to park all day but was now leaving and didn't want it to go to waste, we phoned a local farm campsite and booked in for the night. We spent the rest of the day on the unusual Tunnels Beach.

We spent the next day on the beach at Woolacombe where I got very sunburnt despite having put sun cream on. Big J spend most of the afternoon in the sea with Larry and Little Z stayed with me on the beach after attempting to go into the sea, getting scared and then wandering off by herself through the thousands of other people on the beach. I'm just glad I had "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" to take my mind off what could have happened had Larry not caught up with her in time.

Having passed through Lynton & Lynmouth on the way to Combe Martin, we wanted to stop there again on the way back so after spending the morning shopping in Ilfracombe (we hadn't had time to see the shops when we had been there the first time as we had spent all day on the beach) we spent the afternoon in Lynton & Lynmouth including taking a ride on the cliff railway before travelling back to Somerset to see Larry's family again. We stayed two more nights on their drive before driving home to Southampton.

Glad to be back? Well, yes, I suppose so, but Larry & I are thoroughly hooked on campervanning now and I don't think it will be long at all before we go away again!

Did I finish Harry Potter? Yes, I did. Did J.K.Rowling finish Harry Potter? You will have to read the book to find out or cheat as "some" people have suggested!

The Walking Week!

Little Z and I have been very healthy this week:

On Monday we walked about 3 miles from near to Little Z's school (where we parked our car after dropping Big J off at Nursery) to Shirley Library and back.

On Tuesday, as the weather was supposed to be the best we have had for a long time, we drove to Bournemouth and walked 1.5 miles along the seafront from Bournemouth Pier to Boscombe Pier. We then got the train back as it was too hot to walk, stopped in a cafe for a healthy lunch and then went to the beach!

On Wednesday, we walked about 4.5 miles from home to Shirley and back.

Having read Seany's post on his trip to "the pictures", I decided it was about time I went to the cinema too, so on Thursday, feeling tired and not wanting to walk anywhere, I surprised Little Z by taking her to the Odean Cinema at Leisure World to see Shrek the Third. We both thoroughly enjoyed it. I really wanted to go to see Harry Potter, but although I know some poeple have taken their children to see it, I know Little Z would be frightened by it and would either want to leave part the way through the film, would hide her eyes for the whole thing or would not sleep for weeks! I will probably wait for that to come out on DVD unless I can get a babysitter so Larry and I can go together to watch it.

Today we are preparing for our trip to Bridgwater in Somerset to see Larry's family. His mum turns 60 on Saturday so we are all getting together to make it a special birthday for her. I am not looking forward to it very much as lots of family invariably means lots of bickering and petty arguments and lots of diapproving looks about the way people choose to live their lives.

After that the plan is to take the campervan off to North Devon for a few nights. Not sure where we are going to stay yet, but I am looking forward to the four of us spending some good quality family time together.

We will enjoy ourselves no matter what the weather does!

It's a Dance

I would just like to say, to Little Z.

Larry & I went to see her perform in the Highfield School of Dance Summer Show at Cantell School on Sunday and we thoroughly enjoyed it. She was a field mouse in the story of "Snow White and the Eleven Dwarves.

Although we have to pay out a lot of money for extra rehearsals, costume hire etc., it is worth it when we see the enjoyment she gets out of performing. I admire the way she dances on the stage in front of hundreds of people without any sign of being nervous.

I am now saving for the next show!

A Long Day

What a fantastic day out. We spent the day today at Longleat Safari Park and although it cost us £56 for 2 adults and 1 child (we don't pay for Big J) it was worth it. We only managed to visit half of the attractions in the main grounds before driving to the Safari Park. Luckily, the "Passport Ticket" we bought allows us to go back within 12 months to visit all the attractions we did not manage to visit today.

There is no way we could have crammed any more into today. We got to the park at 10.30 (it only opens at 10am) and left at 6.30 (it closes at 5.30 - not sure how we managed that!)

By far, the highlight of the day was seeing an outgoing, confident (words never previously used to describe Little Z) Little Z running around the adventure playground, climbing rope ladders, walking across high bridges and going down long tunnel slides. These are all things which a few months ago she would not have contemplated doing. The mere thought of going down a big tunnel slide or climbing apparatus by herself filled her with fear. I never used to see the point in taking her to these adventure playgrounds as she never wanted to go on anything by herself. Now, I will definitely take her to theme parks etc as she seems to have gained some courage to try things out even if she's not quite sure if she's going to like it.

Other great moments of the day included feeding some fallow deer. We bought a cup of deer feed (looked like rabbit food) and let the deer eat out of our hands. We also gave a ride to a monkey (other than Big J) as he jumped onto the campervan and climbed up onto the roof taking a little peek in at the top window.

It was all too much for Big J and by half way around the Safari Park he fell asleep. He missed the Rhino (his favourite animal at the moment!), and the deer and woke up just as we got to the lions and tigers. I would have been more comfortable if we'd had a childlock on his door as we went through the lions enclosure, but luckily he was too sleepy to try to get out and play with the lions.

The only disappointment was that the traffic queues at the Safari Park were very long and we had to wait quite a while sometimes to move onto the next area. It usually takes about 1.5 hours to drive around the park. We were there for about 3 hours. It did not spoil the day though and it's a day out I would definitely recommend.

Happy Easter!

This morning began, as it does every Easter Sunday, with a mad rush to tidy up so that the children could do their Easter egg hunt in the living room. It did not occur to me until afterwards that it would have been much easier to do the egg hunt outside. After sorting out the squabbles over Big J picking up any eggs and not just the ones with the blue stickers on (Little Z's had a red sticker on so they would know whose were whose) they found all their eggs. We had to encourage Big J to keep looking, as once he had found an egg he wanted to eat it straight away. The baskets were hand made by myself a couple of weeks ago. I thought basket weaving looked easy and decided to give it a go using strips of coloured card. Apparently it is not as easy as it looks. I have since been told it is a therapy used for people admitted to mental institutions. Well, I got that right then!

We looked at all the gifts we had been given for Easter and it was obscene.



Apart from two eggs for PP and I, all the eggs on the left are Little Z's and all those on the right are Big J's. Who got the most this Easter? Cadbury's, I reckon! Apart from all the chocolate there was one really cool toy I just have to tell you about which came with a "Milky Bar Egg". It's a Milky Bar Kid Mr. Potato Head. It officially belongs to Big J, but I think I will have hours of fun with it!



Before anyone asks, the "true" meaning of Easter has not been forgotten by Little Z, who has spent much of the last week asking about how Jesus got out of the cave and how someone can come back to life after they have died. If you have a good explanation for this I would be very pleased to hear it. I am afraid her questions remain unanswered.

Have a great Easter everyone. Eat chocolate and be merry.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope 2007 brings you everything you wish for.

We had a great family evening for New Year's Eve. PP had been shopping and bought lots of nice Christmassy food to eat, as we had been away for Christmas and not bought any food in for Christmas yet. He was surprised to find that Tesco was almost out of all their Christmas food already, but he still managed to get some treats for us to enjoy on New Year's Eve and found quite a few bargains where items such as Tesco's Finest mince pies had been reduced to half price (making them just about affordable!). I guess we will see the seasonal aisle filled with Easter eggs next week!

We decided to have a family games night and spent a few hours playing Elefun, Jitterbugs and Hungry Frogs (cheapy version of Hungry Hippos). We have lots of family games, but choosing ones which are suitable for Big J to play is difficult. He is not very good at turn taking yet, which rules out most games. We had a lot of fun though, got the children very excited and hyper and then spent the next couple of hours trying to calm them down so that we could watch the TV and see the new year in before all going to bed at about 12.30.

While Seany and I both stayed in, our mum was at her local pub having a few(?) drinks and seeing the new year in with her friends. Somehow this seems the wrong way around, but I hope I have a social life as good as my mum has when I am her age.

Today we have had a fairly quiet day. I have done some sorting out to make room for the new presents and have managed to clear a lot of space in Big J's room. I can't help wondering if I have gone too far by getting rid of his bed!

Joking aside, I have taken Big J's bed out of his room as he doesn't sleep on it. Since he went up to "Toddlers" at nursery he has had his midday nap there on a crash mat on the floor. This seems to have discouraged him from sleeping in his bed at home at night. We often find him asleep on the floor in his room and no matter how many times we tuck him back into his bed, we invariably find him back on the floor again in the morning. After trying many different things to encourage him to sleep in his bed, we have finally given in and taken his bed away, leaving him with a mattress on the floor to sleep on. I think it is better for him to sleep on a mattress on the floor rather than just sleeping on the carpet or on his rug as he was before. At least now I won't have to keep getting down on my hands and knees to clear out the toys from under his bed!

Oh no, don't stop the carnival...

Bridgwater Carnival is the best carnival I have ever seen. I went this year for the 5th time and I never get bored of it. We were in two minds whether to go this year as last year was a bit of a disaster.

We went in our campervan (not a big posh one - just a 27 year old Toyota HiAce) and Big J who was not as big then as he is now decided to keep us up all night because he did not fancy going to sleep, but preferred to jump around the van pulling at the curtains and playing with the cupboards and the switches. Since then, we have not dared to go away anywhere in the van to stay overnight.

However, since our trip to Devon, we discovered that Big J will sleep if he is snuggled up next to me and that it also helps to get him really tired by taking him for a long walk or a run around. You are probably thinking, "How has Little Z got to the age of 7 without LLS knowing these things?" Well, Little Z was actually quite an easy baby. She slept anytime anywhere, so I never had to consider ways of making her tired etc.

So, we decided to give it a try on the understanding that if Big J would not sleep, we would just drive home (it's only a couple of hours away).

Rather than me posting my pictures here, (they are not that great as the floats are so big, it is difficult to take good pics of them from the side of the road) click here and here to see some of the floats from last year.

The carnival lasted a good couple of hours and although we had to stand around and wait for about an hour before the floats got to us, it was worth the wait. It finished at about 10pm, so by that time of night it was getting pretty cold, but some of the floats are decorated with so many light bulbs that the heat from them can be felt as they go past which did help to warm us up a bit.

The long walk back to the van from the place where we had watched the carnival was enough to tire Big J out completely. As soon as we got to the van, he slept. Aww bless.

Wot no Seany?

So we were all excited at the kids' uncle Seany coming to visit. Then we got the call. Seany was not well. "He'll probably be here tomorrow" we said. Tomorrow came, and still no Seany. Seany was still not well. Poor Seany :o( We were all very disappointed, especially when Seany said he probably wouldn't make it at all this week and would probably forget about it this time and maybe come another time. Time for drastic action. I phoned my mum. No one argues with my mum. She phoned Seany. I think Seany will be here sometime tomorrow. Cool. Little sisters still get their own way, even at the age of 32!