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?
Showing posts with label birthdays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birthdays. Show all posts
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Overload
Aaargh...two interviews this week...have I said something on application I won't be able to live up to?...am I really as good as I have told them I am?...I can't speak much French any more, what if one of them is a specialist?...don't know what lesson to teach...something on problem solving...I have no ideas...have done no supply yet this term...will I be out of practice?...got to practice answering interview questions...what year group was one of them for? HELP! Can't remember...Little Z's birthday next weekend...who is coming to party?...must chase replies to invitations...need to buy a cake...when will I get time to do that?...visitors coming next weekend...house a pigsty...no time to clean...less time to tidy...what about shopping?...Ballet wednesday...she can't miss as she has an exam coming up...extra ballet lesson Thursday to practice for exam...needs to take a CD for the music...she needs to practice at home too...she needs a hair net and some more hair grips and some hairspray...has Little Z done her homework yet?...Must remind her on Monday to ask her teacher for the other homework sheet as she only brought half of it home...what shall I do first?...so many things to do...is there time to write a post for my blog?... no!
Friday, July 27, 2007
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!
Monday, May 14, 2007
The Preparations
With Big J's birthday only 1 day away, I have a lot of work to do today as I am working tomorrow so won't be able to prepare anything during the day. As it rained all weekend, I also have lots of washing to do today.
* The balloons are inflated (although 1 has popped already - probably the first of many!)
* The cake has been taken to nursery (for him to celebrate with his little friends)
* We have bought another cake for home (after much discussion with Little Z who does not like plain sponge or jam and wanted to get a chocolate one instead of the Thomas the Tank Engine one for that reason, despite it not being her birthday and knowing that Big J would almost certainly prefer the Thomas one to a rather dull looking chocolate one!)
* We have bought the party food (which has filled our fridge to the brim and which we will probably take several days to eat, bearing in mind I am going to attempt to stay within the guidelines of Weightwatchers)
* I have filled a couple of party cups with "lucky bag" type Sweets & Treats, although Big J and Little Z are the only children coming to tea as Big J doesn't really have any friends apart from the children at nursery (I can't exactly invite 50 children to the house!) and the little girl in Little Z's class who we invited (as both Z and J get on really well with her) can't come as she is already going to another child's house for tea!
It does sound like I have done most of the preparation, but I still have to do another load of washing, clear the dining table so all the party food will fit, wrap the presents, write the card, iron my work clothes for the week, make sure Big J has clean ironed clothes for the week (I wouldn't normally bother too much but he is having photos taken this week and so need to make sure he looks presentable!) and get my supply teaching bag ready for the week.
So, if I have all that to do, what am I doing updating my blog?
Good point....
* The balloons are inflated (although 1 has popped already - probably the first of many!)
* The cake has been taken to nursery (for him to celebrate with his little friends)
* We have bought another cake for home (after much discussion with Little Z who does not like plain sponge or jam and wanted to get a chocolate one instead of the Thomas the Tank Engine one for that reason, despite it not being her birthday and knowing that Big J would almost certainly prefer the Thomas one to a rather dull looking chocolate one!)
* We have bought the party food (which has filled our fridge to the brim and which we will probably take several days to eat, bearing in mind I am going to attempt to stay within the guidelines of Weightwatchers)
* I have filled a couple of party cups with "lucky bag" type Sweets & Treats, although Big J and Little Z are the only children coming to tea as Big J doesn't really have any friends apart from the children at nursery (I can't exactly invite 50 children to the house!) and the little girl in Little Z's class who we invited (as both Z and J get on really well with her) can't come as she is already going to another child's house for tea!
It does sound like I have done most of the preparation, but I still have to do another load of washing, clear the dining table so all the party food will fit, wrap the presents, write the card, iron my work clothes for the week, make sure Big J has clean ironed clothes for the week (I wouldn't normally bother too much but he is having photos taken this week and so need to make sure he looks presentable!) and get my supply teaching bag ready for the week.
So, if I have all that to do, what am I doing updating my blog?
Good point....
Sunday, May 13, 2007
News & Opinion update !!
I haven't blogged for about 3 weeks, but it always seems to be that if you have time to blog, you don't have anything to blog about and if you have something to blog about, you are so busy doing it that you don't have time to blog about it (?? What a load of nonsense!?). So, I have tried to organise my post into some kind of order, although this is not what I am best at so it will no doubt stray from the point every now and then. Here goes...
Purchases:
The most exciting thing I (we) have done in the past 3 weeks is buying a campervan to replace the one we have already. The one we had (and still have actually) was about 27 years old and needs quite a bit of work doing on the body (don't we all?). We decided rather than keep ploughing money into the old one, we would look for a new one. It is, of course, not brand new, but it is considerably newer than the last one and in much better condition. We have not yet been off camping in it but intend to very soon having been (or about to be) given joint membership of the Caravan Club for our birthdays.
Opinions:
I don't often watch the news, which means I don't usually know what is going on (anyone who knows me does not need me to tell them this!) and so do not usually formulate an informed opinion about current events. Sometimes I happen to be in the room when Cartoon Network has not automatically taken control of my children and so am able to watch some grown up stuff. After watching the news, I pondered to myself, 'since when has it been acceptable to leave a 3 year old in their bedroom while I go out for a meal?' and 'does it make it okay to leave your children alone if they are locked in and if you are only a few hundred yards away?' and 'If I had spent thousands of pounds on IVF treatment, would I not take a little more care over where I left what I had paid for?' I know, you might say that doesn't necessarily make the child more precious, but I think, from experience, it means I would be more protective.
Complaints:
I received my Driving Licence back this week endorsed with 3 points. I was pleased to note that they had decided (for whatever reason) not to fine me. Under normal circumstances I would have been satisfied, however, the letter was dated 20th April and it had arrived on 10th May with a yellow sticker on the front telling me there was £1.24 to pay as Her Majesty's Courts Service had failed to put a stamp on it! I was lucky enough to have been let off the charge with PP working in the office, but decided to phone HMCS to complain anyway as they had sent an important document without paying postage, risking losing it altogether! They did apologise and offered to send me a stamp (how generous!). I accepted the apology but declined the offer of a stamp.
Work:
I have done a lot of work at an inner city primary school in their reception class. It has been chaotic but lots of fun. They even let me take Little Z on the trip to the farm as her school was closed for polling day (We are trying to raise standards and every child matters so lets close lots of schools for a day so we can use them for polling!) I have now been volounteered by a friend to do supply at her (scary!) school in year 5. I will be team teaching with a very experienced teacher, so should learn a lot, but am a bit scared as I generally turn down schools like this. I am looking at it as professional development and think I am actually going to enjoy the challenge.
Jobs:
No, I don't have one yet. Stop asking!
I applied for two jobs I really wanted and didn't even get interviews. Stupid schools. I am not going to take any old job though (or any for that matter if I doin't even get an interview!) I am sticking to my decision to be picky about where I apply to. I want to do my NQT year in the right school and with the right support.
Diet:
I am still doing weightwatchers. I have lost 10lb so far. It is hard but am trying my hardest to stay with it as I know it works.
Birthdays:
Big J will be 3 on Tuesday. My Birthday is the following Tuesday and then PP's birthday is the following Wednesday. Poor Little Z always feels a bit left out at this time of year and so we do our best to involve her in the celebration of Big J's birthday and to play down the adult birthdays as much as possible. We do notice her behaviour get considerably worse though at this time of year and have to try really hard not to make matters even worse by getting angry with her.
Well, I think that is about all for now. I am sure I will edit this a few times over the next few days as I remember other things that have happened over the last 3 weeks, but I don't suppose anyone will notice.
Bye Bye Campers!
Purchases:
The most exciting thing I (we) have done in the past 3 weeks is buying a campervan to replace the one we have already. The one we had (and still have actually) was about 27 years old and needs quite a bit of work doing on the body (don't we all?). We decided rather than keep ploughing money into the old one, we would look for a new one. It is, of course, not brand new, but it is considerably newer than the last one and in much better condition. We have not yet been off camping in it but intend to very soon having been (or about to be) given joint membership of the Caravan Club for our birthdays.
Opinions:
I don't often watch the news, which means I don't usually know what is going on (anyone who knows me does not need me to tell them this!) and so do not usually formulate an informed opinion about current events. Sometimes I happen to be in the room when Cartoon Network has not automatically taken control of my children and so am able to watch some grown up stuff. After watching the news, I pondered to myself, 'since when has it been acceptable to leave a 3 year old in their bedroom while I go out for a meal?' and 'does it make it okay to leave your children alone if they are locked in and if you are only a few hundred yards away?' and 'If I had spent thousands of pounds on IVF treatment, would I not take a little more care over where I left what I had paid for?' I know, you might say that doesn't necessarily make the child more precious, but I think, from experience, it means I would be more protective.
Complaints:
I received my Driving Licence back this week endorsed with 3 points. I was pleased to note that they had decided (for whatever reason) not to fine me. Under normal circumstances I would have been satisfied, however, the letter was dated 20th April and it had arrived on 10th May with a yellow sticker on the front telling me there was £1.24 to pay as Her Majesty's Courts Service had failed to put a stamp on it! I was lucky enough to have been let off the charge with PP working in the office, but decided to phone HMCS to complain anyway as they had sent an important document without paying postage, risking losing it altogether! They did apologise and offered to send me a stamp (how generous!). I accepted the apology but declined the offer of a stamp.
Work:
I have done a lot of work at an inner city primary school in their reception class. It has been chaotic but lots of fun. They even let me take Little Z on the trip to the farm as her school was closed for polling day (We are trying to raise standards and every child matters so lets close lots of schools for a day so we can use them for polling!) I have now been volounteered by a friend to do supply at her (scary!) school in year 5. I will be team teaching with a very experienced teacher, so should learn a lot, but am a bit scared as I generally turn down schools like this. I am looking at it as professional development and think I am actually going to enjoy the challenge.
Jobs:
No, I don't have one yet. Stop asking!
I applied for two jobs I really wanted and didn't even get interviews. Stupid schools. I am not going to take any old job though (or any for that matter if I doin't even get an interview!) I am sticking to my decision to be picky about where I apply to. I want to do my NQT year in the right school and with the right support.
Diet:
I am still doing weightwatchers. I have lost 10lb so far. It is hard but am trying my hardest to stay with it as I know it works.
Birthdays:
Big J will be 3 on Tuesday. My Birthday is the following Tuesday and then PP's birthday is the following Wednesday. Poor Little Z always feels a bit left out at this time of year and so we do our best to involve her in the celebration of Big J's birthday and to play down the adult birthdays as much as possible. We do notice her behaviour get considerably worse though at this time of year and have to try really hard not to make matters even worse by getting angry with her.
Well, I think that is about all for now. I am sure I will edit this a few times over the next few days as I remember other things that have happened over the last 3 weeks, but I don't suppose anyone will notice.
Bye Bye Campers!
Monday, October 09, 2006
Happy Birthday
Little Z's 7th birthday is finally over and I must admit that I am not sorry to see the back of it. Yes, I know that sounds like I am talking about a visit from a bossy old aunt (don't have one of those, all my aunts are lovely - just in case they ever get a computer and read this!!), but she has been talking about her birthday daily since Christmas and has got much worse since May when practically everyone in the extended family apart from Little Z has their birthday.
The day itself went very well. She managed to get up early (a major achievement in itself) to open the presents which had arrived and was very happy with what she got. Being a very girly girl, she was given lots of dressing up costumes, hair accessories and jewellery. She had a lovely day at school. She got to stand at the front of the class while they all sang "Happy Birthday" and then she was allowed to "show & Tell" some of her pressies. At the end of the day Granny & Seany turned up to surprise her from school and we had a little (okay, it was quite big) buffet style tea party.
The problem with children's birthdays is that they always seem to last longer than 1 day. Little Z's birthday continued into Saturday, when we decided to go out to Lepe Country park (again) for a walk on the beach (Granny was there this time to watch Seany and make sure he played nicely!). We still had loads of food left from the Friday's buffet, so we had another tea party to finish that off. Then on Sunday, Little Z had her party at Ollie's, an indoor soft play centre in southampton, with nine of her friends.
Ollie's did us proud with the party. I didn't have to life a finger, except to write the cheque at the end, but it was not too expensive. It cost just over £7 per child which included 1 hour play, 45 mins in the party room for food, our own party hostess, party bags, unlimited cold drinks for the children during play and party time and a couple of free hot drinks for the PP & I. It was well organised, the food was good and the children enjoyed themselves. It would have cost far more than that at home and I would have had to do all the organising and cleaning up too. for seventy odd pounds its worth it to save us the stress.
So, now it is all over for another year, little Z has already started talking about Christmas with the occasional mention of Halloween and Guy Fawkes night.
The day itself went very well. She managed to get up early (a major achievement in itself) to open the presents which had arrived and was very happy with what she got. Being a very girly girl, she was given lots of dressing up costumes, hair accessories and jewellery. She had a lovely day at school. She got to stand at the front of the class while they all sang "Happy Birthday" and then she was allowed to "show & Tell" some of her pressies. At the end of the day Granny & Seany turned up to surprise her from school and we had a little (okay, it was quite big) buffet style tea party.
The problem with children's birthdays is that they always seem to last longer than 1 day. Little Z's birthday continued into Saturday, when we decided to go out to Lepe Country park (again) for a walk on the beach (Granny was there this time to watch Seany and make sure he played nicely!). We still had loads of food left from the Friday's buffet, so we had another tea party to finish that off. Then on Sunday, Little Z had her party at Ollie's, an indoor soft play centre in southampton, with nine of her friends.
Ollie's did us proud with the party. I didn't have to life a finger, except to write the cheque at the end, but it was not too expensive. It cost just over £7 per child which included 1 hour play, 45 mins in the party room for food, our own party hostess, party bags, unlimited cold drinks for the children during play and party time and a couple of free hot drinks for the PP & I. It was well organised, the food was good and the children enjoyed themselves. It would have cost far more than that at home and I would have had to do all the organising and cleaning up too. for seventy odd pounds its worth it to save us the stress.
So, now it is all over for another year, little Z has already started talking about Christmas with the occasional mention of Halloween and Guy Fawkes night.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
