NY Eve

We've had a nice couple of days, just relaxing, having fun all together and chilling. Very nice. I don't go a bundle on NY Eve so off to bed in a minute, but just wanted to blog one resolution only: get this house in order!!!! I have re-signed up with FlyLady and will no longer live in mess and clutter. Wish me luck!

7 things

I think this is the best I can do! Films are not my strong point!

7 things to do before I die
1. Travel round USA in a motorhome
2. Ski as much as possible
3. Get a job/career in nutrition
4. Get an MSc or PhD
5. Swim with a wild dolphin
6. See my children grow to be healthy, happy, loving adults
7. Get a full night's sleep again

7 things I can’t do
1. Be tidy
2. Get anywhere on time
3. Say 'I love you' to my parents, even though I do
4. Eat coconut
5. Stop loving my beautiful girls
6. Dance
7. Feel sick without panicking

7 things that attract me to my spouse (in no particular order)
1. His kindness
2. His crinkly blue eyes
3. His big hands
4. His absorbent shoulders
5. His patience
6. His intelligence
7. His humour

7 things I say most often
1. Get OFF my leg, Isabelle!
2. You're so lovely (to Tamsin)
3. You're so scrumptious (to Isabelle)
4. This place is a mess!
5. Where is/are my keys/the hairbrush/the scissors/my shoes/....
6. Oh, FFS, where ARE they?!!!
7. I'm so tired

7 books I love
1. The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley
2. Mere Christianity by C S Lewis
3. Taking Charge of your Fertility by Toni Weschler
4. Mister God this is Anna by Fynn
5. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards
6. Anything by Walter Wangerin
7. Principles of Anatomy & Physiology by Tortora & Grabowski


7 films I’d watch again and again
1. Dances with Wolves
2. Grease
3. Whale Rider


7 people I’d like to join in (that others haven’t mentioned)
1. Bill (in comments box)

Whew!

I did better than I expected:

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 9/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Flicks and friends

I haven't gone down with the vomiting lurgy yet, so I plod on apprehensively, each day planning how I will cancel that day's affairs if necessary - such is the life of an emetophobic ....

Anyway, today has been nice-ish. It didn't start too well, with me feeling gloomy and negative about Christmas and how we spend it and my whole life and how I spend it, and the impossibility of changing anything as I've been over all these things before, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah, but later on we got busy and that was better :-)

We collected Tamsin's friend Holly, and then all went up to Stratford-on-Avon where Bill dropped me and the 2 girls off at the cinema to see Nanny McPhee - Tamsin's first time at the cinema. They settled down well and didn't mind the dark and the loudness of the film, but Tamsin for one didn't seem to follow much at all. "Mummy, who is that woman?..... Mummy, why are those children being naughty? ..... Mummy, why are they all spotty? ..... Mummy, why can't I see my popcorn?"...... Aaaargh!!! All these constant interruptions of my most enjoyable ogling of Colin Firth ..... And when it got to the point where Holly was asking when we were going home and then outright saying she wanted to go home, I gave up and we left. So I still don't know whether the yummy CF ended up with kind Evangeline and whether the children turned out to be kind and well-behaved, but I guess I'll find out one day via DVD hire or something. We then came home and Tamsin and Holly painted pictures and spread copious amounts of glitter around, while I made dinner. The young ones had dinner and then Holly and Tamsin disappeared upstairs for an hour or so, which as I said to Bill is the reason why it's good to have a friend over to stay - it gets Tamsin out of our hair! And it was even more delightful to find that the task that was keeping them so busy up there was tidying Tamsin's bedroom - and they did a really good job. As Holly is staying the night they got ready for bed and had a great, exciting time giggling and tumbling around under duvets together, and then Holly at least has dropped off to sleep very quickly. Tamsin always takes a while....

Tomorrow morning I'm having my hair coloured - don't know what like until Linda my hairdresser comes and we discuss it. And Bill is out all day as he is driving up to Liverpool to collect a (hahahaha) so-called car which I am too embarrassed to even name on my blog.

Will someone please tell me .....

what brand of liqueur chocolates I have to buy to get that lovely sugar crust inside? I just can't seem to get them anywhere!!

Not quite as planned ....

Our day started with copious vomiting by Bill .... who spent the rest of the day alternating between the bed and the toilet. Poor soul. Not a morsel has passed his lips all day till 9pm when he has managed a small sandwich.

Tamsin woke around 6.30am and opened stocking presents - her favourite seemed to be the satsuma at the bottom! Breakfast of cereal and croissants was followed by joyful ripping and tearing - she was delighted with the Baby Annabell and has carried her round all day, the Thomas Aquadraw and the various games (Misfit/Greedy Gorilla) have all been investigated thoroughly, and a few things are still left to be investigated properly (My Little Pony computer game, Finding Nemo LeapPad book). Isabelle has mostly just enjoyed standing up, taking a few steps, laughing and waving her arms victoriously, and sitting down again!

My clever and caring husband gave me a CD he had put together with all the tracks on that 'Soundtrack of my Life' meme we did on the blogring a while ago - I filled up with tears just looking at the titles, so who knows what will happen when I listen! What a sweetie - shame he was ill in bed so missed my opening it.

I took the girls to church and got home about noon. Things got a bit stressful after that with my Mum and I trying to produce the lunch with constant interruptions and demands from Tamsin for attention. *Must* do something about her total inability to function without me for more than 30 seconds if she knows I am around. Lunch appeared around 2pm and was delicious! Consecutive naps for Mum and I were followed by sandwiches, baths and bed for the girls, and the very final bedtime mummymilk for Tamsin. She has one more week to have it in the mornings, and then that's it. I have drawn my boundary, probably much later than I should have done, but I have really had enough.

Bill surfaced around 5pm but didn't last long and went back to bed, but has appeared again now and appears to be on the mend. Probably just a 12-hour stomach virus. Just a shame it was this particular 12 hours. Am now madly praying I don't get it - I am phobic.

Final preparations

We are ready! One final present was bought this afternoon. Also suddenly remembered I needed a roasting tin for the turkey - oops! Could have been a tricky omission, that one! This morning Tamsin went to the church Christmas party - she was a little wavery for a while so we had to stay with her for about an hour before she settled enough to be left. Mum and I went for a wander round Chipping Campden with Isabelle, and had a coffee in a posh hotel.

This afternoon I have slept, catching up from a bad night in which Isabelle was sick (for the 3rd time that day, although not seeming ill in any other way) and stayed awake for over an hour - maybe two, who knows? This evening we've had a yummy dinner and put Tamsin to bed with a reading of the nativity story and the poem "Twas the night before Christmas", which I note several other blogring members have used for their title today!

I do feel I've missed out by not making it to a church service today but there just hasn't been time this afternoon/evening, and I'm always too tired to make it to the midnight one (although I am still up ....). I also missed the Carol Service from Kings College, Cambridge on the radio which usually gets me in the Christmas mood. So I actually don't feel festive. Still, off to bed now after I've filled Tamsin's stocking, and see what time she gets us all up in the morning!

WALKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isabelle kept the best till last today, but after she should have gone to bed but I was procrastinating, she took 2 steps! Daddy missed it - he was looking the other way - so thankfully she then repeated it. And then laughed and clapped in delight! I grabbed the video camera, and she resisted performing to command for a while, but eventually did it again. And then again, and again, and again. She is so pleased with herself, and we are all delighted too. Maybe it won't be too long before I can stop saying, "Isabelle, get OFF my legs!!!"

I seem to have forgotten something.....

Oh, I know! It's Tamsin - she's not here! What a very strange feeling. Tamsin was very excited to be offered the chance to stay at Kate's and sleepover with her 3 daughters, so this is our first ever night apart. I feel like I've had something amputated, but also very free! It's quite a step forward for Tamsin, who's never wanted to stay away overnight before despite having had the chance.

And I've also told her she will have to stop having mummy-milk by the end of the year, which she seemed to accept without any qualms. We'll just see how it goes at the time. It's only been morning and evening for quite a while anyway.

So, she's growing up. Sob ...... and hooray!

Tonight has been wrap-fest ... and all except Bill's prezzie are now wrapped. I seem to have got Tamsin rather a lot. Hmmm. I have been feeling grateful I am not Merry, with 4 kids to wrap for!!!! OTOH, it's probably worth it ;-)

Must go to bed. And, if I'm lucky, sleep with less disturbances than usual, as there will be one less person in the bed.

A little bit of everything

When I think about it, on a day when I feel I've just chased my tail and done nothing much at all, quite a lot has happened.

At breakfast time, Tamsin asked to look at the "Adventures in Literacy" file which a friend had bought for her birthday in June. So we covered the 'ea' 'ee' 'a-e' and 'i-e' sounds, and she successfully read many of the words. She's written many of the gift tags of the presents we've wrapped today. At tea-time she was playing with her number balance, on which she hangs numbers on each side of a balance to try and get them equal. TBH, she hasn't really had a clue what she's been doing - she just likes messing around with it, so in an attempt to make it clearer, I used the mini-pegs with which we've been hanging up the Christmas cards, and did several problems of the "If I have four pegs, and you have two, how many more than you have I got?" type. To help make it clear, I paired up hers opposite mine, so she could see how many extra were unpaired. I think it's taken her a step or two further on in understanding addition and subtraction which till now she hasn't got anywhere with.

So that's been a decent-sized reading lesson, maths lesson and writing practice, all casually dropped into a day of much chaos and frustration. Isn't that just the joy of home-ed?! I feel like I've been chasing my tail - trying desperately to tidy up so that I can concentrate on Christmas decs but not getting anywhere. Every time I turn round there's more mess, not less. Tamsin demands so much attention and input from me, and Isabelle only wants to hang onto my legs all day, that it's intensely difficult to get anything much done. One of those days when it took about 2 hours just to get us all dressed and breakfasted.

Still, I've got 2 loads washed and dried. Went out and bought more Christmas decorations. (Hmm, I see I'm doing my usual trick of buying more supplies for crafts and activities and then never actually getting round to using them!) Tidied Tamsin's bedroom. Set up a Brio track while Isabelle was napping. Got some Christmas lights up in our front window. Isabelle did a little painting (including all over her face and hands). Ooh, and the thing that really felt like an achievement today (because it was on my To Do list!) was to plan the Christmas food, make a shopping list, and arrange with my Mum who was doing what.

Inbetween, Tamsin has pretended to be a chameleon, an elephant and done a wonderful Christmas dance which I videoed! And Isabelle has climbed the stairs again, and spent more time perfecting the trick she discovered yesterday of bending upside down and peering through her legs - she loves viewing the world from this new perspective! This week has not been the fun-filled dec-fest that I wanted it to be, but maybe if I get off this computer and into the living room to tidy up, I might make a little more progress tomorrow!!

Ahhh, the innocence!

Tamsin just asked me, "Mummy - after this Christmas, will there be another one?" She was quite delighted to hear it happens every year! Whereas I, a couple of days ago, was musing on the fact that I could possibly still have 40 Christmases to come .... which just feels like too many!!! Surely I will be bored sick of it by then?

Today so far we've tidied Tamsin's bedroom, but the rest of the house is a tip. Just off to wrap a few prezzies, then must tidy and decorate a bit more. Still haven't planned the food and I need to phone my Mum once I have to see which bits she will bring/contribute.

Right!

Time to get busy! I've just spent the last 45 minutes reclaiming the kitchen from 'condemnable by Environmental Health' standards. The rest of today's list includes:

put up tree
get decorations from loft
decorate tree
post cards
ice cake
wrap and post presents
plan Christmas food
have fun with kids making Christmassy things

None of which is easy when your 13-month old grabs and climbs up your legs at every single opportunity - I've developed a nifty little hop and skip to quickly get out of reach when I feel her grasping at my trouser legs.
Memo to self: To go in the '7 things I say most often' list - "Get OFF my legs, Isabelle!"

Will update later!

10.40am - tree is up!
10.55am - Isabelle climbs the stairs from bottom to top, despite never having managed a single step before (not for lack of trying)
1pm - Cards and presents are wrapped, stamped and posted
4.45pm - Tree is fully decorated

Quick blog as the Muse still has not returned.

Health pretty much back to normal - bit of a cough left but not bad. Am having the usual panicky feelings about getting ready for Christmas but actually not doing too badly - prezzies mostly bought (all except Bill), food semi-organised and card labels done. Just card-writing and decorations to do - hope to do tree tomorrow afternoon.

We're off up north on Friday evening to visit Bill's folks - staying at a Travelodge and coming back on Sunday.

Blergh - just have no other words to say really.

Don't worry!

I am still alive! Still coughing, although it is gradually improving. Bill will go back to work on Monday, so 2 weeks and 1 day off work, and I went back for a couple of hours on Wednesday, and then Thursday and Friday mornings. Just can't be bothered to blog, really, or anything much else.

One day ...

somewhere in the distant future, I'll feel better, I know I will. Just wish it would hurry up and get here. Still coughing, still aching, and now a blinding headache has joined the fun. Cannot be bothered with anything - just wish the children would emigrate for a while.

Let's get the dull and boring whinge about my health out of the way .... I got worse yesterday, not better, and spent the afternoon with a horrendous headache and sinus pain. Fortunately it was gone by this morning, and I think I may at last be slowly on the mend. Coughing like mad still, but feeling a bit more human. Bill is still off work too.

I'm having something of a re-think about parenting patterns and boundaries ... which maybe I'll get round to blogging sometime. If only we could have a trial run with somebody else's kids before we ruin our own!

More of the same

Still coughing, aching, sweating, shivering, eyes now going funny, sinuses feeling dodgy, blah, blah, blah. This is lasting *far* too long.

Tamsin - Granny took her up to playschool this morning but it was cancelled as staff are all ill. Fortunately my Mum took the initiative to keep her out of the house as long as possible, so they went for a long walk with the dog and then a hot chocolate at a cafe. This afternoon was simply wall-to-wall TV, while I slept and sweated on the sofa.

Still ill

I'm getting very tired of this. Am still feeling distinctly rough and discovering that my pelvic floor muscles are not up to the challenge of all this coughing :-o ! Mind you, looking on the bright side, the last time I was this bad, I was 8 months pregnant with Benjamin, and that was no fun at all. At least I don't have to try and sleep sitting upright this time.

So, my Mum has come on a mercy mission, at least as much for the dog's sake as anybody else's ;-) She hasn't been walked much lately, poor thing.

Have managed to achieve one or two things though - moving at one-tenth normal speed, I excavated our bedroom of the pile of clothes that was threatening to smother us all, have read Tamsin a few stories including the lovely Usborne Nativity lift-the-flap book which we both love, played "Tummy Ache" board game and attempted to get Tamsin to stick to the rules (rolling eyes icon required!), done some 'rhythm' games where one of us (Bill, Tamsin and me) would tap out a rhythm using a selection of kitchen implements that Tamsin brought out for us, and the others had to copy it. Which reminds me, she wants drums. Real ones. OMDB, I think! Or at least, not until she has a playhouse down at the bottom of the garden we can send her to.

I've been wrestling with the Christmas present issue. Have bid on a few things on Ebay for her but not won them (My Little Pony stuff and a ballet dress just for dressing-up fun) but what she really wants is everything she has seen advertised on Nick Jr (rolls eyes again!). Yes, we've had the "all they want to do is sell you things so they can have all your money" conversation, but she's not convinced yet! I am discovering that I could easily become one of those indulgent mothers who buys her child almost everything they want .... so it's a good job we haven't got much money! Not that that stops some people, I suppose, but it does me :-)

Isabelle is perfecting her standing alone, and continues to be thrilled at herself! She can also walk being held by only one hand, so solo walking can't be far away. She's discovered the delights of flinging her arms up in dramatic gestures just for the fun of it, chucking stuff off tables onto the floor, and opening and shutting the drawers in Tamsin's bedroom and throwing all the clothes onto the floor.

This evening my Mum asked about what regulations or curriculum we had to follow in home-educating ..... and I thought I detected a slight tightening of the lips at my joyful answer that the LEA, all being well, wouldn't even know we existed! I expounded enthusiastically about their lack of rights and used several snippets from the latest MP list (have to still call it that :-) ) discussion. She made no particular comment. I may hear her opinion by some roundabout route or critical comment in months or years to come!

It was a cough
That carried her off.

It was a coffin
They carried her off in.

Cough, cough

Urgh, you know you're really not well when you can't be bothered to switch the computer on all day. Cough is really bad, ache all over, feel generally grotty. Girls aren't much better, and Bill is now heading that way too. Fortunately that meant he took the day off sick so I wasn't managing all on my own.