A little competition.

I had a great Easter this year (as usual) and I hope that you did too! Ben and I spent much of the weekend driving around the Yorkshire Dales with the kids, taking in the gorgeous villages and beautiful countryside. I especially enjoyed visiting the gorgeous town of Grassington, having lunch in one of the lovely little tea rooms there and walking by the river. I also enjoyed walking from Malham up to the top of Malham Cove (which was featured in one of the Harry Potter films) but it was quite a climb and the kids were less than enthusiastic, to say the least.

In our family, there’s a long tradition of giving clothes as well as chocolate at Easter and this year we were very happy to continue that tradition. However, Ben and I decided that it would be fun to have a little competition – he would buy presents for me and the girls, I would buy presents for him and the boys, we would set a £35 per person limit and we would let the kids judge who bought the best presents. And the winner would gain complete control of the TV remote control for a week!

So what did we end up buying? Well, I bought Ben a lovely bath robe from Marks & Spencer, I bought Keith three stylish black shirts from Cachet Kids (which I knew he’d like as he’s going through a ‘black’ period at the moment) and I bought Simon three patterned leather belts from Cachet kids (which I knew he’d love as he loves leather belts). 

Ben bought me a lovely side zip crepe jumper from Marks &Spencer (which I adore), he bought Crissy a lovely Mayoral blue and white outfit with striped top and three quarter length leggings from Cachet Kids and he bought Sarah a Mayoral girl’s navy legging outfit with handkerchief from Cachet Kids (which may have been the best value of all at only £19.99 in the sale). 

Anyway, after giving the presents we let the kids decide the winner of the competition and (after bribing them with chocolate) I was declared the winner! Hurrah! Now where did I put that remote? J

Twins!

I had some great news at the weekend - my friend Sandra gave birth to two adorable baby girls on Saturday. She and her husband Clive couldn’t be more delighted. They’ve wanted a baby for some time and now they have two! I visited Sandra in the hospital yesterday and I’ve never seen her look so happy. She was positively glowing with joy.

I’ve known Sandra about fifteen years now and Clive for about eight. I met Sandra at a bar while on holiday in Rhodes. She was a little worse for wear and had lost her friends, so my friends and I adopted her for the evening and made sure she was all right. We got on really well all night and then the next day I found out that she lived just around the corner from me back home in Garstang! We arranged to meet up when we got home and our friendship developed from there.  

Anyway, when Sandra gets out of hospital Clive is going to throw a small welcome home party for her and the girls and I persuaded him to let me help organise it. I love organising parties – it’s almost as much fun as attending them.

Ben and I have already given Sandra and Clive a cute congratulations card, but we had a little trouble deciding what presents to get for the girls. Ben was set on buying a couple of Mayoral pink dummy chain with wooden beads, which I liked a lot, but I had in mind buying something for the girls to wear. When I was browsing through the Cachet Kids website I spotted an absolutely adorable Mayoral baby girl’s pink and white sailor dress with a cute little bow that I thought would be perfect, but then Ben found some equally adorable baby girl’s white frilly sock shoes in a gift pack and we couldn’t decide what to choose. In the end we decided to get them all!

I also have some good news about Crissy – last year she was struggling with her English at school, so I arranged for her to have one to one tutoring using a tutor from Tutor Doctor and her grades have been much better this year. So as a reward we bought her some gorgeous Pretty Originals girl’s white shoes, which she absolutely loves. I find that when it comes to my children's education, nothing works better than bribery!

Dina's Christening!

It’s been a really special day today – my lovely niece Dina was christened. Judy and Dimitris wanted it to be an intimate affair, so only close family and friends were invited; and I think that helped to make the occasion all the more special. (They’re going to visit Greece in a few weeks to have a second ceremony for Dimitris’ family.)

Dina looked absolutely adorable in a beautiful silk heirloom christening gown (which came with a free keepsake bag), baby girl’s special occasion scallop pattern ivory socks with bow and Sarah Louise ivory christening shoes, all wrapped up in a frilly ivory shawl with ivory lace trims and sequins. Seeing that cute bundle made me feel all broody again!

The ceremony was held at Saint Mary and St. Michael’s Church just outside of Garstang. To be more precise, it’s located over the river Wyre in Bonds with Barnacre, close to the Bowland Fells. It’s a gorgeous church dating back to1858, located in beautiful countryside. I’m so lucky to live in this part of the world.

The christening went very well, with hardly a peep out of Dina (she’s so good natured) and I was fortunate enough to be one of the godparents, along with my brother Dave. Afterwards we all went back to Judy’s house, where she and Dimitris had laid on a fantastic buffet, including lots of delicious Greek delicacies; I was particularly taken with a honey and baklava sweet, which I hadn’t tried before but will definitely try again!

It was good to be among close friends and family, catching up on all the latest gossip. (Apparently Uncle Jim is in the process of becoming a publican, which I’m sure will end badly: it’s like putting a mouse in charge of a cheese factory!) And it was nice to look through the vast array of christening gifts that Dina and Dimitris were given. My favourites have to be: a Mayoral baby girl’s cute bunny rabbits shorts set given by Dave and Liz and a DolcePetit baby girl’s beige polka dots ruffle dress set with red bow given by one of Judy's friends. Dina will look so adorable in them.

A Great Start To The Year!

I can’t believe it’s February already! What happened to January? Where did it go? It seemed to zoom by, probably because I had so much fun. Where should I begin? Oh yes, at the start of the month I met up with an old friend (Shaun) in Lancaster and we had a fun trip down memory lane. We also had a lovely meal at The Penny Bank pub. I'd never tried it before, but the meal was delicious and reasonably priced, so I’d recommend it if you’re ever in Lancaster.

Shortly after this Judy and Dimitris threw a lovely party to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. When I say ‘a party’, it was actually two parties, one for the kids in the afternoon and one for the adults in the evening. I helped organise both and they were both a lot of fun, but I actually preferred the former to the latter, probably because I love watching my kids having fun.

Most of the kids came dressed in casual gear, as requested on the invitation – there were lots of messy party games and Judy wanted the kids to have fun without worrying about their clothes. My personal favourite was the cream bun eating contest, which I wasn’t allowed to enter! (I don’t know whether this was because I was too old, or because of my professional status!)

Keith and his friend Michael came dressed as scouts, complete with cap, scarf, woggle, shirt, belt and pants! As a prank, Keith wore his uniform and told Michael that it was a scout only party to get him to come in his uniform, then he changed clothes when he got to the party, leaving Michael as the only one dressed as a scout! It was meant to be funny, but only Keith seemed to see the funny side – everyone else just thought that Michael looked smart in his uniform and he wasn’t at all bothered by the ‘joke’. (Unfortunately, Keith gets his sense of humour from his father.) Anyway, it was a great party with lots of fun had by all and a great start to the year!

Christmas!

Well Christmas has come and gone again! I can’t believe how quickly it seems to come and go these days. Like last year, the day started with Sarah waking up Ben and I at the crack of dawn, eager to open her presents. And in no time the whole family was up and gathered in the living room ready to open their presents. 

As usual, the kids all seemed to like their presents. Sarah was particularly excited about receiving a new Barbie doll with lots of new accessories (including a toy car) and a Despicable Me DVD from uncle Jim. We already had it on DVD, but it’s one of Sarah’s favourite films and she wanted to have her own copy of it. Last year she dressed up in a cute woodland fairy dressing up set, but it was a little bit too small for her this year. Instead she persuaded Simon to let her wear the pirate outfit he wore last year, which was much too big for her. But she enjoyed wearing it, so what the heck.

This year Simon wore a combination of his knight dressing up set and a cowboy hat his aunt Judy got him for Christmas. He looked very comical walking around as a cowboy-knight and he gave us all a good laugh. I think that the cowboy hat was one of his favourite presents, but he also seemed thrilled with the Avengers toys we bought him and with a funny pair of elephant slippers bought for him by uncle Jim. If you’ve never seen a cowboy-knight-boy walking around with giant elephant feet you’ve never lived!

As usual, Crissy wanted mainly clothes for Christmas and we bought her a wide selection, mainly from Cachet Kids. She seemed to like all of the clothes but was particularly taken with a beautiful red and black dress with red bow that Ben and I bought her and with a lovely pair of patent leather Mary Jane shoes decorated withleather flowers that her aunt Judy bought her. Crissy wore the dress and shoes all day, and I have to say that the combination worked well together. 

Keith wanted mainly X-Box 360 games again. I don’t know much about the games – Ben is the games buyer of the family. But I think that one was something to do with assassins and one was something to do with modern warfare. Anyway, Keith loved them, so Ben must have made a good selection. Keith didn’t put much effort into dressing up this year – he wore an old Christmas jumper with reindeer on the front and a funny hat that had ‘Bah Humbug!’ written on the front.  

The kids played with their presents until lunchtime, then after lunch we all sat down and watched Elf together (a Christmas tradition). After receiving our annual fix of Will Ferrel, the kids headed straight for the X-Box and Wii and Ben and I headed for the kitchen to prepare Christmas dinner. As usual, it was a lot of work, but well worth it: the whole family seemed to love it. Then after stuffing ourselves silly, pulling a few crackers and playing a few parlour games, the younger kids headed back to the wii and Keith went to a friend’s house, leaving Ben and I to watch a bit of evening Christmas telly.

I do love Christmas, I can’t wait for next year!

Christmas Shopping!

I’m so looking forward to Christmas! Ben and I went Christmas shopping in Preston yesterday and it really put me in a festive mood. Preston is a great place to shop this time of year. There are lots of great shops, with lots of great pre-Christmas bargains and wonderful Christmassy window displays to enhance your shopping experience. And the council always does a great job of decorating the town centre with a fabulous array of lights and other Christmas paraphernalia; they’ve even gone so far as to transform The Flag Market into a winter wonderland, comprising an outdoor ice skating rink surrounded by log cabins serving food and drink. Nice!

Although we’d already bought most of our Christmas presents, there were still a few things left to get. For example, we’d already bought Crissy a couple of Mayoral girl’s skirt and ivory T-shirt outfits (one brown skirt and one purple skirt)  in the Cachet Kids sale and we were looking for some rabbit themed accessories to go with them. After lots of searching we managed to get hold of a cute white fluffy hat with rabbit ears and a few different kinds of socks with rabbit designs on them that I’m sure Crissy will love.

We’d already bought Simon a boy’s purple wizard outfit with hat and we were looking for some wizard themed accessories to go with it. Fortunately, we were able to find a grey false beard, a toy magic wand and a toy black cat that went perfectly with the outfit. I can’t wait to see him all dressed up as a wizard on Christmas day!

And we’d already bought my nephew Ashley a boy’s solider outfit with red beret hat and we were looking for some toy weapons to go with the outfit. In the end we bought him a toy machine gun and some plastic hand grenades, which I'm sure he'll love.

Anyway, I had a great time shopping and will no doubt return to Preston with the whole family before Christmas. We might even give the ice rink a go, who knows!

Halloween Fun!

I absolutely love Halloween! It’s a great excuse for a party! Last year my sister Judy threw a children's fancy dress party, which was a lot of fun and I decided to do this same this year.

Ben and I decorated the house with lots of spooky stuff, like fake cobwebs, creepy crawlies, resin skulls and pumpkin lanterns and the kids all dressed up in cool costumes.

Keith was dressed in some of his father’s clothes (which were much too big for him) and said that he had come dressed as his ‘mini me’!

Crissy was dressed in a witch’s outfit which she and I had made together, which comprised: a long black dress with a jagged hemline, a large black pointed hat, a black haired wig made of wool and a crooked paper mache nose held in place with a piece of elastic. (Actually, it was only held in place for a few minutes before drooping and being discarded.)

Simon was dressed in a wonderful Brave Heart knight’s outfit, which consisted of: black tunic style top with a red plume emblem and gold net chain-mail effect finish, black trousers with gold net chain-mail knee pads, a gold gauntlet and short sword. 

 Sarah was dressed as a fairy-tale princess, wearing a special occasions ivory dress with flowers and sequins, special occasions girl’s white party shoes and a gorgeous faith communion tiara.

Many friends and family turned up to the party and there were lots of great costumes, but my favourite was a cute little dragon costume worn by my nephew Ashley. He looked so adorable running around as a tiny dragon, playing with Simon at dragon / knight slaying!

We played lots of games, like bobbing for apples, pass the parcel and musical chairs, but my favourite was a fun quiz in which we took turns at answering questions and every time you answered a question right you got a treat and every time you answered the question wrong you got a forfeit (like a shaving foam pie in the face or a bucket of ice water over the head). I was the quiz mistress and to make things ‘fair’ (and entertaining) I made sure that the kids all had very easy questions and the adults all had impossibly hard questions. The kids absolutely loved it! And I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much in my life!