I Don't 'DO' Sleepovers!

Tonight was supposed to be Amy's first sleepover. At nearly three years old I did have some corncerns that she didn't fully understand what sleeping over truly meant. Bearing in mind she still doesn't fully understand what sleeping means. Still, she seemed pretty excited by the idea and helped me pack her overnight bag. She chose to take her Upsy Daisy pyjamas, Iggle Piggle blanket, Neigh Neighs and her toothbrush.

4:30pm on the dot I dropped her off at her friends' house with the promise that should anything change their mother would be straight on the phone. I went home and basked in the bliss that was silence and no Wall-e on the TV.

However that blissful silence was shattered at 7:00pm by THAT call. Someone wanted to come home.

Amy then informed me that she, 'doesn't want to do sleepovers anymore.'

Oh well, there's always next year I suppose!

Like My Moustache?

Amy has been at the chocolate cakes again!

Hama Time!

This afternoon after school we broke out the Hama Beads. Now these have always been banned from my house to the point I actually threw away a small set that was given to Ana a few Christmases ago. Somehow the idea of thousands of little plastic beads clogging up my hoover and choking my toddler didn't fill me with joy.

So imagine my forced smile of gratitude when Ana ripped the wrapping from her birthday present to reveal a box of 7500 of the bligthers. How bad can it be? I suppose under strict supervision a place for the Hama Bead can be found in our home and in our hearts. So that's just what we did. I watched hawk like as the girls made their bead pictures.

Ana decided to start with a rabbit.

Amy decided on a butterfly.

Amy started off well, but got bored one minute into the build so mummy finished it.

The finished pieces.

So have I changed my mind about Hama Beads? Perhaps, but for now the box is staying hidden from little fingers.

It's Party Time!

Scooby Dooby Dooooooooo!

Tomorrow at 09:50am Ana will be eleven years old! So today we threw a surprise birthday party for her with all her family and friends there to make the day special.

Hama Beads!


Amy apparently making the jelly in her tummy wobble

Ana enjoying jelly and ice cream. YUM!

Gung Xi Fai Cai! Happy Chinese New Year!

Gung Xi Fai Cai! Happy Chinese New Year!

Monday 26th January 2009 will be the first day of the Year Of The Ox. So today I took the girls into town to watch the celebrations and of course the dragon dance.

The girls ready to go watch the dragon dance

The celebrations were due to start at The Boy and Boat statue at 1pm. We arrived with half and hour to spare, or so we thought. There was a lot of standing around and waiting, Amy and Ana got quite figity but thankfully some girls in tradtional chinese costume were handing out fortune cookies to all the children.

Amy's fortune said. "Life to you is danshing and a bold adventure." Very fitting I thought

Ana's fortune said. "Advice, when most needed, is least heeded."

Everything was fine, until the the banging of the drums and the dragons started dancing, then Amy was completely terrified. She was convinced the dragons were going to eat her or roar loudly and breathe fire.

Dragons dancing

We followed the dancers down the high street in a huge procession. It was then that the dragons came closer and fluttered their eyes at the all the children. This did not help to improve Amy's terrified mood.

A lovely lady tried to tell Amy that they were nothing more then men in costume and pointed out their legs, but Amy was having none of it. She didn't believe any of us until the dragons removed their heads at the end dance. Of course then she wanted to see the dragons dance again. Maybe next year!

Afterwards we went to the free arts and crafts stall set up in the shopping centre and had a go at making our own paper Chinese lanterns.

The girls with their paper lanterns

Damn Van Man!

This morning in the rain myself and Amy were walking into town to buy Ana's birthday cake and presents for Monday. Being Friday it was the last chance I had to do it without Ana around.

On the way in we had to walk past a section of the road that was covered in a huge puddle, all the motorists were either avoiding the puddle or slowing down, except one.

A bloke in a van bombed it through the puddle drenching both myself and Amy in freezing water. Everything was soaked including Amy's change bag containing a change of clothes and two nappies (all soaked through). He must have been able to see that I was walking down the street holding a small child's hand and I honestly wonder if he cared. All of the other motorists on the road where considerate, why couldn't he have been also?

To add insult to injury it was a maintenance team van from our housing association.

A while later a car pulled up and the man asked if I was the lady that had been soaked by the van. When I confirmed I was he told me he had taken down the registration number and reported him to the housing association. I hope he got a damn good ticking off.

I have to confess though that I lost control at the point of puddle water impacted and yelled out WANKER! To which a little voice beside me echoed 'wanker', oops!

Another Last Cake

Amy: Give me cake!

Me: I can't there aren't any left, you had the last cake this morning.

*pause as Amy computes this*

Amy: Give me nother last cake!

Me: I can't there's only one last cake, that's why it's called the last cake

*Another pause*

Amy: Give me cake

Bouncing On The Bed

With the trampoline out of action in the recent bad weather Amy has been forced to find her own forms of entertainment.

Frozen Jelly!

Yesterday I went all Domestic Goddess and decided it would be a good idea to make some individual jellies for Ana to take to school in her lunch box.

I have these moments every so often, but I usually lie in a darkened room until they pass.

Anyway jellies made I popped them in the large fridge in the shed. The same fridge as it happens that has always had the dream of becoming a freezer. Two of the jellies froze overnight.

Now I have two options open to me here.

Defrost and hope they will be fine

or

Chuck them and deny all knowledge of having made jellies in the first place.

Those Naughty House Goblins

Last night it seems that I was visited by the house goblins.

I went to bed, leaving Vinnie up watching something insanely boring on the TV.

Everything was as it should be, neat, clean and tidy. Yet this morning when I got up it was not so.

In the night those blasted goblins had been at work. They must have been peckish as they decided to make themselves toast with cream cheese, some sliced pickled beetroot and have a large glass of milk to wash it all down. They had left the bread on the side unwrapped so that it had gone stale, the knife used to spread the creme cheese was just tossed haphazardly onto the work surface leaving little cheesy smear marks. They hadn't replaced the lid on the now empty (except for the vinegar) beetroot jar let alone washed it out or put it in the recycle bin.

The plate and glass where left on the dining table, unwashed. They hadn't taken the rubbish out after them or even bothered to switch the toaster off at the socket when finished.

Obviously full after their feast they then decided to have a bath.

Wet towels where left in a crumpled heap on the floor. They had removed and not replaced every cap to every bottle in the bathroom. There was shaving foam dripped everywhere and they had failed to wash the scum out of the bath after them. They had even drawn in the condensation on the windows!

Worst of all they had used the last of the toilet roll and left the cardboard tube on the side to mock me.

I have yet to catch these goblins in the act, the clever beasties even locked the back door after them. No doubt cackling to themselves as they went on to the next unsuspecting household.

The Izzy Soundtrack

Available in shops now!

Joking a side I have finally managed to record some of the things Izzy says when she's having a good old chunter to herself (sadly no coughing). Being camaera shy and claming up when ever I tried to film her the only way I could get anything was to hide round the corner and film the floor. So unfortunately all you get to look at is my rather interesting floor and a shoe.

Izzy says on the video:

Shut up! Hello? What you do? Im a chicken. Ring ring. Hello? 3,2,1. Ring ring. Hello? What? All right then. Bye! (sound of end call button being pressed) Ring ring. Hello? Its you. What you doing sweetie? The high pitched noise that drives Vinnie bonkers. Ring ring. Hello? Its you. Yeah. AMY! (something I cant catch). Im a chicken. (something, something then) Amy. Ring ring. Hello? Hmm. Ooh **** you! What you doing chicken? Ring ring. Hello? Hmm. (something I cant catch). Hello chicken. Ring ring. AMY what you doing? What you doing?. Amys scream Smelly dog! What you got?

Roll up, roll up. Place your bets!

As to which major appliance will cock up next.

Just two days into the new year and my freezer decides to pack in.

Yesterday Vinnie went to Comet and ordered the cheapest one available, but even then it's £225 we can't really afford and on top of that he had to pay £20 for delivery sometime between 8 - 6 Wednesday.

Of course in true Sod's Law fashion the day before I had done a massive Iceland shop. So three days of trying to keep frozen food as cold as possible. Thankfully it has been so cold lately that nothing has defrosted.

So place you bets, what will be the next thing to need replacing.

The cooker
The washing machine
The fridge
The tumble drier (although I hardly use it as it is)
or God forbid, the TV!

Happy New Year!

Good ridance to 2008! Hello 2009!