CharlieBeth's "My Life As Mumma Walker"

Thankfully Jack is fine after Tuesday's  little trauma . He woke up bright and early the next day with no ill effects and asked for a fresh plaster which gave me chance to inspect the wound. It's still clean, and healing nicely. Phew! I'm having a while different kind of trauma all of my very own. Namely, my dad. I've heard it said that all adults revert to teenagers in the company of their parents. This is very true with me and my dad, mostly because he still treats me like a kid. And I resent that even more now then when I was a kid. To give any new readers a brief history, when I was little I idolised my dad. He encouraged this. Then he left. I was 9 years old and suddenly faced with a dad who wasn't a hero, but a man who had been having an affair for years with a woman he brought into our home (not a nice woman either), and to cap it all off, he didn't leave my mum for her but for a second mistress! Family and honesty mean everything to me. They clearly

...that actually was the question today. My dad and his missus are visiting from France this week. They aren't staying with us, we simply don't have the room (and frankly, as much as I love my dad, we're better not together 24/7) but we are spending a few days with them. Today was the first. Now (and again, I DO love him, but....) my dad is not the most observant of people, and I should have kept this in mind. The kids wanted to take their Mamee & Papee (their take on the French for Gran & Grandad) to Old Holly Farm. Jack wanted to show them how to feed his favourite calf, Tom wanted to show them the piggies. I don't think Georgie cared so long as they were doing something. I quite liked the idea of them running off steam in the Play Barn while we caught up over coffee and cake. We had a nice time, ate a good lunch, saw the animals and so on (there's a wee video of that) then settled into the soft play for a couple of hours. Every so often one or o

Sunday, and we're partying with the other half of my Hubby's family. Baby Harry - who is just 5m younger than Georgie and our youngest nephew - getting Christened at the village church. I love getting my boys all dressed up. Jack always looks so hansom to me. Tom likes getting dressed up too, but hates having his photo taken when he is. So now we have a matching "Happy Jack - Maungy Tom" photo to one we have for their Aunty Jenny's wedding a year ago. It was a lovely service and a lovely little church. It set Jack off asking questions about when we were getting OUR baby christened. Walking through the church grounds surrounded by family of varying degrees of faith is not the time and place I would choose to discuss why we've not had any of them christened.  I quickly answered that there were many kinds of Christians and we thought it better to let him and his brothers choose their own path, if any, when they are older. If he wanted to be baptised we cou

Ahhhh..... School holidays! Usually I have such a headache trying to find things to fill every single day. But not this time. Not this holiday. This holiday is jam-packed! We're knackered already and it's only Monday night! Saturday was the party for my mother-in-law's 60th birthday (it's actually not until Wednesday, but since we're a bit far flung this Sat was a good day to have the surprise party). 2 1/2 hrs drive to my sister-in-laws where we take over half the house for our visit. Kids did brilliantly only stopping for one toilet break. Just for once we're not late! Good job to because the house is filling up! All 4 of Kate's kids are there. My hubby (Mark), Rachel, Jenny & Bob, plus respective partners; me, Garry, Ash, Rach, and all the kids (should I name them all??) Our 3, Rachel's 3 Chris, Nick and Alex, Bob's lad Ben. Also on route are Kate's step daughter Clare and her daughter Megan. Kate's friend Joy (honoury aunt to the ki

I've had a pretty lousy day, but in stead if bringing you all down with it I'm going to jump on the Flashback Friday bandwagon and share this blast from the past with you!  My 5 minutes of fame! The Prima Photo Shoot and  Prima's Out    Prima Photo Shoot , a set on Flickr.

If you could go back in time and change something in your life, would you do it? I've had some rough stuff happen in my life. Some of it more serious than other stuff. Some stuff I'm not willing to post publicly. Some stuff that I am. My parents split when I was 9 years old after a rubbish marriage. I wasted 5 years of my life dating and then being engaged to a guy who turned out to be gay. I tried to set up my own business and it failed miserably. I'm still paying for that mistake. But none of these are things that I would change. They made me who I am today. My parents are better off apart and have built new relationships. The relationship I had with my gay ex lead me to meeting my husband, we wouldn't have ever met otherwise. And as for the business... well I know I'm much happier being an employee! So what would I change? I'd go back and raise my eldest child like I'm raising my youngest. I'm not saying I've been raising Jack badly, he

I got some freedom today! My day for me.... A long trip to the hairdressers and some shopping for birthday and christening presents for the next few weeks. Without the kids! Jack was in school anyway (well, a school trip to seaside at Morecambe on the train) and hubby was home to mind Tom & Georgie. I love my hairdresser appointments. I only go every 2 months coz it costs a bomb and takes about 3 hrs. My hairdresser is lovely, she's expecting her first baby too so naturally conversation turned to kids. 3 hrs later and I emerge looking spectacular with my beautiful new and expensive hair, still smiling from the stories of pregnancy, babies, and children we've just shared. I head off present shopping and spend far too long looking at suitable christening gifts. I buy a photo frame for the proud parents, a cute shirt as a practical gift, and a wooden 'book' toy for fun. It's something Georgie would love so I'm guessing Baby Harry (who its for, and he's on

It's such a shame! Today is Jack's best mates birthday party. All my boys got invited and Tom was as excited as Jack.  It was a brilliant party with a bouncy castle, dance competitions and loads of party games. But then there was George. He'd been a bit sick in the night.... We've put it down to how much of that home made pizza put away last night. He ate as much as his big brothers! He seemed perfectly happy and jolly and not at all poorly so we were sure he'd just over faced himself and that he would be fine. I was wrong. 5 mins into the party ad he was sick on me. Just a bit... It cleaned up quickly enough.  Food was served. Jack & Tom stuffed themselves! Georgie just had some juice, he had no interest in anything else. Then he went to sleep in my arms and I cuddled him while chatting to the other mums and dads. I thought about putting him his pram to sleep but decided to just snuggle instead. Depending on how you look at it that was eithe

Today it was Jack's turn for some serious one-on-one time with Mummy. He's been feeling a bit left out at the moment because I do stuff with his little brothers while he is at school. He was especially upset when he came home one day to a dinner I had cooked with Tom and tried to pull a sicky from school the next day so he could do things at home with me. I soon put a stop to that though "too sick for school means staying in bed ALL DAY" Funny how he felt fine again.... But the point is that my biggest little man wanted some quality time and I wasn't about to say no. So today we went to town, did a little birthday present shopping - he has a party to go to tomorrow - got him a much needed hair cut, a treat lunch at McDonalds... and then his choice of dinner which he could help make. Jack LOVES pizza. I don't normally share recipes on here, but since this is something me and Jack did together I think I can get away with it :0) Our dough: 3-4 fl oz war

I have seen this logos all over the place these last few weeks. The more blogs I discover  the more of them I see. I admit I didn't pay much attention at first.... but since many of the blogs that have them are AWESOME I thought I should start clicking them and voting. Then I thought about all the other blogs I could find.... And how more people might find ME! There, I admitted it, I like people reading my blog. How shallow! :0D Anyway...... They have pretty strict criteria so I might not get fully approved. I'm allowed that logo up there for now but if it vanishes you'll know I've been found wanting! (I do swear sometimes..... sorry. It's generally within context though and not just for the sake of it). Fancy giving it a go? This is a link to their sign up page. Don't worry, you can click that without voting for me! It's not a con! That's something else they are strict on. http://www.topmommyblogs.com/directory/accounts.php   Although, if

Versatile Blogger Award Rules for the Versatile Blogger Award Thank the blogger who nominated you and include a link to their site. Share 8 random facts about you Add The Versatile Blogger Award picture to your blog post. Nominate 8 fellow bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly and include a link to their site. Let them know you have nominated them. Wow! I need to say a massive thanks to  The Whimsical Peacock  for this lovely Versatile Blogger Award! I' thrilled to bits! Make sure you click on the linky and visit :0D So, 8 random facts about me? I like to eat Nutella out of the jar with a spoon  I'm wearing mis-matched pyjamas this morning, for no good reason I check my Facebook & Google+ messages before getting out of bed in the morning I don't reply to those messages till after breakfast (in case my half sleeping brain has me say something REALLY stupid) I'm really looking forward to making pizza with my eldest

So after my massive rant yesterday things got better! Georgie had his jabs and handled it really well! I went to the tax office and spoke to the lovely Terry who has told me how to sort it all out - I should be able to write a load of the 'debt' off too! I booked my 2nd night at travelodge and hubby says he'll get on their case too. All awesome! But the best part of the day was after school. Jack & Tom are friends with a pair of brothers the same age, and their parents are lovely people too. At school pick up time their daddy was picking them up and asked if we'd like to go to the orchard and build a den! We JUMPED at the chance! Fairfield Orchard is one of our favourite places anyway, so off we all trekked. The kids had a great running around the apple trees, playing with sticks, chasing butterflies, looking at the blossom. They bumped into another friend there too who joined in. There was a bit of a to-do when my poor Tom fell over in the nettles, not o

Why the hell are there so many unemployed people in the UK while call centres are filled with machines that cannot do the job??? Is the state of our economy really THAT bad that it is cheaper to lose business by running automated systems than retain and even GROW business by allowing customers to speak to a HUMAN!? I may have entered rant mode. 3 issues to deal with today:  Contact HMRC about this debt they think I owe so I can speak to someone. Do I owe it? Why? If I do, how can I pay? Contact Travelodge about the booking I made for my Brother-in-laws wedding. I need an extra night booking, and I cannot access my account on line, oh and you keep sending me emails I cannot actually READ Pay the last instalment on our summer holiday with Hoseasons HMRC have had me on hold for 20min at a time on 4 occasions so now I want to go to my local office and speak to a human. Try to call the local office and book  slot. 2.5mins listening to an automated voice reel off a dozen or so n

The plans for trying for a daughter are well on the way. This week I have been looking at diet! According to various research studies you can alter the Ph of your CM to encourage either male or female sperm once they have, ahem, arrived... More acidic CM is better for your chances of catching with a girl, alkaline cm will encourage boy sperm. And the best bit? You can do this and still eat a HEALTHY diet! YAY! So... according to the sites I've listed below if I want to up my chances of my fourth and final baby being a girl I need to include these in my diet: Fruit juice Grains Pasta Eggs Fish Chicken Shellfish White Bread Tea & Coffee Pickles Citrus Fruits And avoid things like: Bananas Potatoes It's a shame that there seems to be some disagreement over broccoli, spinach and almonds because I like all of those things. Some sites say they are good for a girl, some say they are good for a boy! But since broccoli is high in folic acid I'll ke

They are everywhere I turn! Undies. Kecks. Gruds. Tiny little boxer shorts and briefs.....! I go to the loo, there's a pair on the bathroom floor. Multiple pairs on the boys bedroom floor, some used, some clean, but discarded for daring not to support the days chosen cartoon character. I'm not sniffing them to check which is which... They all go in the wash basket! Pants in the livingroom! Haphazardly kicked off by a potty training toddler, kicked under the sofa, stuffed between the cushions, hanging off the door handles, and even a pair lounging on top of the telly!  Scrunched up pants in the kitchen, having made a bid for freedom from the laundry basket on the way to the washer. Very hygienic!  And just when I think it's safe and my day is done, I pull back my bedclothes to find ANOTHER PAIR that missed the return to the kiddies drawers during the fold and stack run! Argh!!!! And don't get me started on odd socks :0$