Christmas Day

I was really exited for the kids to see their presents...they came into my room at about 7.30 to show me what they had got in their stockings.

We then went downstairs to start the opening of presents. Glen was there so that was nice for the kids. Kaitlyn's first present to open was her new doll - a baby Millie, it cries, laughs etc....but most importantly it has a dummy....Kaitlyn loves dummies, whether it belongs to a doll or another child, they always end up in Kaitlyn's mouth.

James opened his hot wheels racing track....it's a dad job to put that together so me and the kids moved on to more presents.

Mum, Dad, Craig and Stacey arrived to see the kids and for Christmas breakfast. We had the full works...sausage, bacon, eggs, beans, tomatoes, toast...yum. I very rarely have a cooked breakfast...but you really can't beat it. The kids didn't think so though...they swiftly asked for cereal....more sausages for me then!

It took most of the morning to open the presents and get ready and then we all went over to Mum and Dad's for Christmas Dinner.

Dean, Anne and the kids were already there. Mum had just had her living room and dining room wall knocked down so there was plenty of room for the table to be set out. I love Christmas dinner - and mum always does a good one.

Carly, Paul and the kids had gone out to the Harvester for their dinner as the in laws were visiting - but they arrived at mums for about 2 ish and not long after we started opening more presents...ones for the kids just kept coming & coming....I couldn't keep track after a while.

Later we played some Abba singstar and rockband world tour (or whatever it's called)....I just want to sing SOS. James was a bit unwell so ended up falling asleep on the sofa...dressed in his new power rangers outfit (courtesy of Auntie Julie). Kaitlyn was hyped up on 15 hours sleep and half a tin of Celebrations so was happy to stay up slightly later than usual.

All in all it was a very fun day!

Christmas Eve Party

We had some friends over for a Christmas Eve Party. Kathy came her girls - Kaitlyn and Kassidy, Emma came with her girls - Leah and Ruby, Shelly came with Wellie, Reuben and her nephew Jacob and Carly came with Josh and Dylan. With me and the kids it was pretty crowded in our small house.

We had party food, played a few games like musical bumps etc and played some favorite party songs - the hokey cokey, the music man and superman to name but a few.

Later we exchanged gifts for the kids and everyone went home. The kids and I sat down to watch the Santa clause Movie - when I looked round Kaitlyn had fallen asleep - it was only 4 o'clock but she was exhausted so I put her straight to bed, hoping she would sleep through the night....as luck would have it I didn't hear from her again until 7.30 am the next day....the best Christmas gift ever!

True Christmas

I think it's nice to spend some time during the Christmas season focusing of the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas day itself tends to be about presents and eating, so I like to have a day set aside to focus on the saviour and his birth.

I invited mum and Stacey over and we had lunch together. Carly and the boys also came over. The kids helped to act out the nativity using wooden spoon puppets that I made a few years ago. We then sang Christmas carols and songs and later we watched a DVD of the Nativity story.

In the evening Stacey and I went to the Carol service at Church. It was such a nice day, and I'm so glad that the Children understand and appreciate the true meaning of Christmas.

Wicked!

For my birthday, my parents very kindly got tickets to see Wicked in London. Originally, mum, Carly, Stacey and I were going to go - but mum was ill so dad took her place, and Dylan was ill so Carly stayed to look after him and Anne came instead.

I didn't really know a lot about the show - except that it was the story of the witches in the Wizard of Oz. The show was at 2.30, we caught the train to Victoria where we met Anne, had a quick look around and then headed into the theatre which is just across the road from the station.

We had really good seats, row E - just 5 from the front - and more of less centre. The show was amazing - the set, the singing, the dancing...everything truly amazing.

After the show we got a bite to eat them headed home. Mum was looking after the kids and I was keen to get back to see them as Kaitlyn was not well. However as we left Gilllingham station some chav threw a stone at the train window and we had to get off and wait for the next train.

Finally got back to mums at about 9ish - very tiring but enjoyable day.

He's behind you ..... again!

The Ducklings playgroup had tickets to see ' Dick Wittington and His Magical Cat' at the Granville Theatre in Ramsgate. These tickets were provided by Cllr Alan Marsh (KCC) who has helped support the playgroup over the years.

I took James out of school for the afternoon so he could come with us and I also invited Josh to come. There must have been about 15 kids, plus parents and playgroup staff. We were allocated the front two rows. The kids and I sat in the front row.

Compared to the production at the Marlowe...this panto was pretty lame, but the kids all enjoyed it. The acting was dodgy, the dancing was even dodgier, and as for the jokes....if I say the funniest it got was 'knock knock'...'who's there?'.... 'boo'...'boo who?'...'well there's no need to cry', you'll understand...yes the jokes were really that bad!

James got picked to go up onto the stage near the end of the show...he was asked his name and age and got to join in a song. The kids that went on stage were given a bag of sweets for helping and they went back to their seats for the final minutes of the show.

At the end of the show James very kindly shared his sweets, however Josh got a huge boiled sweet stuck in his throat and I had to stick my fingers down to get it out...he was fine but is scary when things like that happen.

Kaitlyn's Christmas Concert

Kaitlyn and her friends from Ducklings Playgroup performed their Christmas Concert today. We were treated to renditions of 'when Santa got stuck up the chimney', 'Christmas pudding' and ' Jingle bells' amongst others...it was very sweet.

Kaitlyn's favorite part is the 'hey' part of jingle bells.

Tinsel & Baubles

I'd been promising the kids all week that we would put the Christmas decorations up this weekend. James was so exited, but unfortunately Kaitlyn fell asleep whilst the fun was happening.

Now we can get into the Christmas spirit.

He's Behind You....

As part of our Christmas present from Mum & Dad they paid for all of us to go to the pantomime at the Marlowe - this year it was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The show starred Emma Barton, Stephen Mulherne and Dave Lee.

Me and the kids caught the park & ride bus into town - this was as much fun for them as the panto itself.

Unfortunately Carly was ill, but Josh came with Paul, and Missy and Zach came with Dean and Anne. Mum, Dad and Stacey also came.

The show was fun. It was great to see the kids getting so exited.....James and Josh were pointing and shouting 'he's behind you'. Kaitlyn also joined in the fun. The Marlowe do put on a good panto...there is some semi-adult humor to keep the grown-ups entertained and plenty of laughs.

After the show we went for a family meal at the Punch Tavern.

Fairies & Wizards

James and Kaitlyn were invited to a 'Fairy & Wizard' birthday party. It was the party of Faye - a little girl from ducklings playgroup. Kaitlyn wore her Halloween costume with some fairy wings that I borrowed and James wore a wizard hat.

They had a lovely time dancing; playing games and eating party food.

Desperate Housewife!

This was the state of my house at end of play today. I could cope with the 'art work' and toys, but mixed amongst that lot is sweetcorn, apple cores and a puddle of wee (Kaitlyn's going through a stage). I really want to be one of these mums who bakes; cooks; entertains the kids and manages to keep her home immaculate.....but It's just not humanly possible!

Whist I was restoring order downstairs, the kids were in the bath. I couldn't really hear what was going on over the sound of the hoover.

order was restored...or so I thought

However, squeals of laughter led me to be suspicious - they only normally get on when making mischief - and I went upstairs to discover the whole bathroom floor had been flooded...such a fun game to throw jugs of water over the side of the bath.

The little angels......

....had flooded the bathroom

The mess didn't stop there - Kaitlyn, once she had been put to bed decided to trash her bedroom and get undressed. She is currently lying naked on the floor, asleep surrounded by books, puzzles, toys and clothes...I'm just working up the energy to redress her, put her into bed and tidy up their messy room for the hundredth time this week.

All I want for Christmas is a housework fairy...it's not too much to ask, is it?

Quiz Masters!

It was the night of the Ducklings Quiz - to raise funds for the playgroup. This was organised by Kathy and her family. I'm generally quite rubbish at quizzes, but do really enjoy them as a night out. There were 5 Teams and I was on a team with Kathy and Emma from the playgroup and my sister Carly.

Between us we actually managed to come up with quite a lot of correct answers - one of my contributions was the answer to the question 'what is Taurophobia?' - I know this to be the fear of bulls - doesn't every one have a fear of bulls? I knew this answer from the 'mighty Tauro's' in the film 'bring it on' whose mascot is a bull....I always knew this film was educational!

Kathy did really well with her contributions and Carly impressed us all with her answer about a test to diagnose colour blindness. Unfortunately we were really rubbish at the sport round....well we were 4 females... in this round we only scored 2.5 out of a possible 20 points. Anyway we managed to come second - to a team of six who did have some male 'sport knowalls', so I think we did really well.

It was a really fun evening and we managed to raise £320 for the playgroup.

Carols by Candlelight

I was very pleased to get tickets for the University's Carol Service held at Canterbury Cathedral. They were strictly limited to 2 tickets per member of staff, so I asked my mum to accompany me. We arrived at the Cathedral and were issued with a candle and a booklet of the words to be sung and spoken.

The Salvation Army Band were playing as we entered. Our candles were lit and the lights dimmed. There were a number of readings from the bible; some performances by the university choirs; and lots of carols to join in with....I love Christmas carols. We sung 'Once in Royal David's City', 'Silent Night', 'Hark the herald Angels Sing' amongst others, we finished with 'O Come all ye Faithful'. The building was full and it was nice to see so many young people enjoying traditional carols and listening to the story of the first Christmas. At the end we all left the building with our candle lit....a Health and Safety jobsworth's nightmare....it was beautiful, and I didn't mind the hot wax dripping down my hand one bit!

Christmas is Coming.....

....This is marked by the ever increasing list of social events in the kids diaries....school play; pantomimes; parties..the list goes on. This week along with a birthday party; the school nativity play; and a production of the 'snow queen' at school for James, the kids have attended a school Christmas fete and the ward Christmas party.

The main attraction at the school fete was the presence of Father Christmas in his grotto...not wanting the kids to miss out we duly joined the queue - 50 minutes later we made it to the grotto. Kaitlyn was petrified and wouldn't go near Father Christmas, and James only managed to say two words 'hot wheels' when asked what he wanted for Christmas. Anyway the kids were happy with their presents...a book each...which a guess makes the experience worthwhile.

The ward Christmas party was fun. The kids did various activities and games and of course there was a visit from Father Christmas. The primary kids did a short nativity play - James was a wise mans - and sang 'Away in a Manager'....very cute.

Rabbit's return

Pilchard has just come back...I was just publishing yesterday's post about him being missing and he appeared in the garden. It took me a while to catch him but he is now safely in his hutch...much relief.

Nursery Rhyme Nativity

After weeks of rehearsals, James and all the other children from reception year were ready to perform their Nativity play. All the songs were adapted from nursery rhymes, James was one of the shepherds. Mum and Glen came with me to watch.

All the children came onto the stage and sat down ready to begin. They all looked so cute, James was looking to see where we were, and beamed a great big smile when he spotted us in the audience.

The children sang songs and did all the actions they had learnt...they've done brilliantly to learn so many new songs. They all looked like they were really enjoying it and I was so proud of James for taking part.

Runaway Rabbit

Our rabbit, Pilchard has runaway...I got home and our neighbour told us that he had been in her garden, but she had been unable to catch him and he had gone through her fence into another garden. He had been in his hutch, which is about 1 metre off the floor, I did know the catch on the door was loose, but didn't think he would push it open and jump out.

I wasn't too worried to begin with...he's runaway before and always come back...but they've got a new puppy next door...an Alsatian, so didn't know if Pilchard had been completely scared away.

I checked the garden regularly throughout the evening, but eventually had to accept that he wasn't coming home this evening...he would have to sleep rough. I felt guilt about all the times I'd been annoyed about going out in the cold to feed him...come home pilchard....the kids will be terribly upset if he's gone for good.

Happy Birthday Kassidy

The kids were invited to Kassidy's birthday party, she was 3 today. I took some annual leave so I could leave work early and take them.

It was a nice traditional party with games like pass-a-parcel and musical statues. The kids were all well behaved but it was still extremely noisy, and the clearing up looked like a lot of work...note to self, don't have a kids party at home. Thanks Kathy & Kassidy for inviting us, hope you enjoyed it, the kids all did.

Work related stress!

The Managing absence briefing actually went well...stress over, one down, seven to go!

Managing Absence ...who cares?

A while ago at work I took on the task of writing a 'managing sickness absence' policy. You may think it strange that an organisation as large as the University didn't have such a policy already, but if you worked there it would understand.

Anyway after writing the policy and procedure documents and having to jump through several bureaucratic hoops to get it approved, the time has finally come to roll it out across the university. Tomorrow I start the briefing sessions with managers to guide them through the process and answer any questions they may have. I am appeasing them with a 'working lunch' of sandwiches and crisps...but feel it won't be enough.....I'm expecting moans, whinges and gripes as the poor overburdened managers are asked to take on something additional..like actually managing their staff. Of course HR are so removed from the reality of the departments....actually believing that costs can be reduced, performance improved and productivity increased, all through following a few simple rules...how very dare we suggest such things. I really should not have bothered!

Christmas countdown

My colleague, Ali, thankfully reminded me that it was the start of advent today....what I bad mum I am to forget to get calendars for the kids. At lunchtime I raced into town to get the calendars and chose a Barbie one for Kaitlyn and a High School Musical one for James.

On arriving home later I showed the calendars to the kids and helped them to find door number 1. James was happy with the chocolate behind the door and accepted that he couldn't open anymore doors today. Kaitlyn however was not having any of it, once she realised that there were a whole load of chocolates in there, she wasn't going to stop at just one. Foolishly I let her hold the calendar whilst I got on with things, I suspected she might be attempting to get more chocolates, and several time tried to take it from her, but she managed to keep hold of it.

She had taken a few extra chocolates, but I wasn't too concerned. I got her ready for bed, read her some stories and went downstairs. Later when I checked on her found her asleep on the floor surrounded by the calendar ripped to shreds with all the chocolates gone.

Tagged!

Being quite new to blogging, I'm not used to this tagging business...are there rules? Anyway Naomi tagged me - which means on this occasion I have to write 7 wierd or random things about myself, so here goes:

1. When it comes to TV and films I've never grown up - is it normal for a woman of 33 to love Hollyoaks and The Hills? Similarly, some of my favorite films are legally blonde; clueless and high school musical

2. I hate having bare feet on carpet....I need to have socks on.

3. I've been told it weird that I eat tuna with beans & cheese...I personally don't thinks it weird

4. Chocolate and nuts should never mix...I hate that

5. I do not understand why people like Russell Brand...he's not funny, or good looking and his hair's manky

6. I hate long films - I do not have 3 hours to spare thank you...get to the point in 90 minutes or don't bother

7. I've started doing something I thought I never would ...eating biscuits with child slobber on them...sometimes I'm too desperate for sugar to care

Now you have to do yours Sam - consider yourself double tagged!