Yep that makes two!!

So i whisked Rae down to the hospital this morning and watched her walk. I told her " you seem to be walking on the instep of your foot, use the outside!"
She replied with "well i can Mum but i kinda feels clicky!"
Then we went with the consultant to see the x rays etc and not only has the poor girl broken her toe she has also managed to dislodge her growth plate!! No wonder it felt "clicky" :( Oops! So now two of us have broken bones this year. I am hoping we are done as a family!!

On a better note both girls had their hair cut today (photos tomorrow!!) Rachel has layers, lots of layers and a fringe (bangs!!) she looks so different! And Becca went shorter again and looks like....Madonna in the 80's Who's that girl..short blonde you remember! Well like that but dark brown but she looks like Madge! Scary!! Bless her!
We are off to buy the rest of the school uniforms tomorrow and i am helping a friend to overcome the new EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage..teaching nonsense!) stuff we have to implement! YUK!

Awards, Sleepovers and last swims!

Awards
Yup a totally random post title really but it does cover everything i think!
Well i received another award this morning! This came from Deb @ From Stilettos to Sneakers
I am new to her site but its such a fun read! Go check it out! So here it is..my prestigious award!

Apparently a 'brilliante weblog' nomination comes with a few rules, which are:
1) Put the logo on your blog.
2) Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4) Add links to those blogs on yours.
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

So it is quite likely i will be passing this on but not at this moment, it's too early and my brain will hurt! So just a plain and simple thank you to Deb and to everyone else who stops by to read my blog and leaves comments! Makes blogging so much more fun :). Keep an eye out for the links!

Sleepovers
Becky's BFF came home from America this week so she went off for the day to their house. Until i get a call at about 3pm requesting the pleasure of her company for a sleepover!! So that was her taken care of!
Rachel had two of her BFF's over for a sleepover last night! I love her friends they are pleasant, polite and really make me laugh! She has chosen her mates wisely, after lessons learned in recent years she has finally got mates that like her for who she is and that do not compete with her!
So that left David and myself to our own devices! Poor guy was a bit like a spare part bless him! Must be tough being the only guy! Only one or two of his mates are allowed sleepovers so he doesn't have much nocturnal fun, like the girlies!

Last Swims
The kids and i have been swimming A LOT this summer. It has been real fun. Since their lessons began last year and they now "really swim" up and down the pool i get a lot more pleasure out of taking them. We dive and mess about, we race and do lots of underwater play! Normally spending anything from 2 -4 hours at the pool. (They get in for free since i pay for their lessons there!) Well i think today is our penultimate swim before school is back in :(
I will have to take them on Saturday or Sunday mornings again now which is ok but busy!
So today they have asked that i help them master the things they need to move up to the next level in their lessons!! It does help that i bribed them!! "The next one to move up a group wins £5.00" It's a good incentive and the money will be spent on swim things - new goggles or sinkers so its all in a good cause! LOL And i know they are putting a lot of effort in! hehe, bad Mum!
As you can tell i am not of the politically correct brigade and see absolutely nothing wrong with a little friendly competition. They have to learn that sometimes they will win and sometimes they will lose. And life is not always about just taking part. There will always be someone who can do something better than them...and perhaps even someone who they are better than at some things. But that is probably a whole other topic!! LOL

Have a good day all... I know i will!

Our new Nephew!!

Not that we are pleased with the latest addition to the family or anything but here are some of the photo's taken of Ben last Saturday when we went up to meet him!

The Sleeping Babe.

In his moses basket!

Looking to cute for words!I swear that he smiled at me!Don't they look pleased with their new cousin!

Ahh we found a way to deal with it....

Kind of!!
Imagine being woken up to the scream of what sounds like a howling banshee! Well that was my alarm call today from my oldest! Thank you everyone who offered me ways to appease her woes but she found her own way. Not the path i would have taken, but i guess when needs must!
She "stubbed her toe" this morning. Me being the helpful, loving Mum i am said.."oh come on you will be ok. You only stubbed it etc etc". Well after an hour or so watching her foot swell and bruise i guessed she maybe had a right to make a bit of fuss. So we traipsed to A&E where we had an Xray...guess what...we are back to see the specailist on Friday! OMG! So she IS getting attention of sorts, and we spent 2 hours together alone! What a kid..came up with her own plan!! LOL. She will be ok..a tub of Ben and Jerrys cures most ill's in our house! Hope it's not broken, she is back to school next week!!! AAAGH!

And the Oscar Goes To...

And the Oscar Goes To...

My fab bloggin' bud Octamom at Octamom Blog has honoured me with the Arte Y Pico award . Thank's for passing this on to me, I love your blog, photos and musings. I'm continuing the tradition with the rules posted below and the 5 bloggers I'd like to pass this on to:

Choose 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award based on creativity, design, interesting material, and overall contribution to the blogger community, regardless of the language.
Post the name of the author and a link to his or her blog by so everyone can view it.
Each award-winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award.
The award-winner and the presenter should post the link of the “Arte Y Pico” blog ( http://www.arteypico.blogspot.com/), so everyone will know the origin of this award.
Please post these rules.

In no particular order...

1: Has to be Darwins blog. One of the first blogs i ever found and really loved reading. Darwin.

2: The blog of a broken man. I really really hope his dream comes true..it's a good one! Broken Man.

3. Jen has to get an award. This is one wonderful lady who i just adore! She is giving, loving, caring and genuine..as has two really cute kids!! Jens Blog.

4: Lady Divine! She has to get an award..for all the crap she has suffered, she has a good following on her blog. Proud to be a divine reader!! Lady Divine.

5: Last but absolutely NOT least... The Blissful Pixel. I've known Lee a couple of years (net buddies), she is inspiring, an awesome photographer and so damned likeable! And another one with beautiful kids. Her girls are just scrummy! If we do make it out to Oz she IS getting a visit!!
The Blissful Pixel.

Oh dear Lord...it's the wrong kid!

*** Warning - period talk!!***

Well today one of the girls came down to tell me she thinks she has "started". And you guessed it, it was the younger one! She is 11 years old, 12 in October and her body has decided that now is as good a time as any to add to all the issues she already has..changing school, leaving junior school etc etc. I am sure she really didn't need this on top! But it's here, and i guess it's here to stay!
The older daughter was okay with this happening to her sister she's sensible enough to realise its out of all control. But her face dropped when Dad came home with roses for her sister. He bought them for her as her first bouquet as a "lady"..(and all the while i have been saying "it doesnt change you, you are still you and it is not that overnight you become a lady"!! haha)
So one is sad that it's not her getting flowers from Dad and the other is crying because she really doesn't want to be a lady!
We talked a lot previously about "it" happening and how we deal with it all. They are fine to come and ask me about things and worries but i never in a million expected it this soon or with the younger daughter first! I was a late starter and really hoped they would be too!
My heart breaks for my oldest as it has got to be really hard seeing your kid sis develop and start before you.
Has anyone else had this issue arise? Please advise as to how you dealt with it because i really feel stuck between a rock and a hard place!
(Next time round i'm coming back as the Daddy!!)

Bex got a new guitar!

Becca was given her new guitar this week. Thanks to Grandad who bought her this lovely gift, for doing so well at school ;) She is very proud of it!!

Look at my Guitar!

Fingers here....

Using the pick...

Getting a chord out!!

Suffering for your art!!

What is a house? A Home or Bricks and Mortar?

On Monday Octamom discussed her "old" home...where they lived with 6 of 8 kids and then the family moved..their house still has not sold and when they went back all the memories came back with lots of emotions.
Since Rich and I are hoping to drag the kids 1/2 way round the world to Tasmania it did get me thinking about all the places i / we have lived and which were houses and which if any were homes!

First a bit of background on us...
I am from a military background, i have never lived in ONE house for more than 7 years! I have lived in various countries and moved a lot within those countries!
Rich has moved less than me as a kid but a lot as an adult!
Our kids have lived in 8 homes in 3 countries!
So we really seem to be "nomads!"

I can remember what my houses looked like when i was 5 -8 years, 8 - 15 years, 15 - 17 years and then all the army accommodation and properties!
I do not remember the houses in Hong Kong or Dortmund pre age 5!
Have any of these houses been a home to me? That's the million dollar question really. None of them were "home ", as a child..home was always classified as any place Mum and Dad lived! If i was with them then i was home!
Then i left "home" and joined the army...Home now became the place where Mum and Dad were..."I'm going HOME on leave" etc!! So home was still technically where my parents rooted themselves!
At 21 i married Richard and home was the place where we lived together! Although his family thought it was their house "are you coming home for Christmas?" Yet my family had decided that Rich and were a family so we would be "visiting" at Christmas and no longer "coming home!"
We always talked as though our house was home when we married and our parents "homes" were just places to stop at in order to see family over the holidays!! But were no longer home!
Even after the kids came along whenever we say "it's at home, let's go home, wait till i get you home" (hehe) and other home orientated dialects we are referring to the place we currently live in with the kids!
So while to some the bricks and mortar are their home, their place in the universe that makes their family complete, i guess it is not he same for me. I think for me home is and always has been the one place where those i love are. If they are with me then i am home.
Of course this does bring the dilema of where will home be when the kids grow up and leave home!! But i am more than happy to wait to find that out!

News on the "MOVE"

Well Ste' rang Rich this morning and discussed the interview with him. A company will be sending paper work for him to sign and send back and he is having a conference call tomorrow! He could be in Tasmania in 6 - 8 weeks! The kids and i could be there in 3 months after Rich arrives but i said i'd rather wait until Jan to go, as then they have had a term at their schools and can have one last Christmas in England!
It seems a little more real now and a lot scary!
I keep looking rounfd the house thinking OMG what do i do with everything?

Oh and it's August....it's snowing in Hobart today!! LOL

Your week is up...give 'em back!

Well tomorrow the silence will be broken, there will be bags on the floor to trip over and noise, blessed noise!! Yep, i survived the week and i am going to get my kids back :D I cannot wait!
The girls have been fine, they always are, they ring daily and tell me they love and miss me...then i hear all the things they have been up to and guess, they haven't missed me that much, but it's OK because they at least have the heart to tell me they have missed me!! David HAS missed me! I know this because he has phoned secretly with his mobile (thanks Dad it's been a lifesaver for my little guy.) to tell me he misses me and can't wait till Saturday!! I LOVE my son heaps!! he he.
I have missed them a lot but i have to say i have been quietly pleased to watch my favourite Olympic events in peace, without the who's who and what country are they from game!
I can't wait to see them though. And then tomorrow Becca gets her new guitar from Grandad (my Dad) so i have the camera ready for it!! She earned it this past year at school doing SO well in her Sat's so i really hope she has fun with it.
So now i am off to enjoy the last of the peace...while it's been lovely i am really looking forward to noise and laughter.

100 best books..

I saw this idea on blog of a broken man basically there is a list of 100 of the best books ever written according to someone from some paper, and you put in bold the ones you have read, and bold and italics the ones which you think are really good. So here goes..with notes...
I did not italicise but loved most of 'em that i read!!

1. Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes

2. Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan –

3. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

4. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift - read as a child!

5. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding

6. Clarissa Samuel

7. Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne

8. Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos De Laclos.

9. Emma by Jane Austin.

10. Frankenstein Mary Shelley

11. Nightmare Abbey Thomas Love

12. The Black Sheep Honore De Balzac

13. The Charterhouse of Parma

14. The Count of Monte Cristo Fantastic!

15. Sybil Benjamin Disraeli

16. David Copperfield by Charles Dickins

17. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

18. Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte – lovely book :)

19. Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray

20. The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne

21. Moby-Dick Herman Melville'

22. Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert

23. The Woman in White Wilkie Collins

24. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland Lewis Carroll - read as a kid!

25. Little Women Louisa M. Alcott Victorian – My Nan gave me this book. Lovely read.

26. The Way We Live Now Anthony

27. Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy

28. Daniel Deronda George Eliot

29. The Brothers Karamazov Fyodor Dostoevsky

30. The Portrait of a Lady Henry James

32. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson

33. Three Men in a Boat Jerome K. Jerome - hysterical

34. The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar - in my list of top ten books!

35. The Diary of a Nobody George Grossmith

36. Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy

37. The Riddle of the Sands Erskine Childer

38. The Call of the Wild Jack

39. Nostromo Joseph Conrad

40. The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame – read it, saw it, watched my kid act in stage show of it :)

41. In Search of Lost Time Marcel

42. The Rainbow D. H. Lawrence

43. The Good Soldier Ford Madox

44. The Thirty-Nine Steps John Buchan – My first “grown up “ book when i was a kid.

45. Ulysses James Joyce

46. Mrs Dalloway Virginia Woolf

47. A Passage to India E. M. Forster - good but prefer room with a view

48. The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald

49. The Trial Franz Kafka

50. Men Without Women Ernest Hemingway prefered old man of the sea..i think thats what it was called

51. Journey to the End of the Night Louis-Ferdinand Celine

52. As I Lay Dying William

53. Brave New World Aldous Huxley - was very into this as a teenager - well all Huxley stuff

54. Scoop Evelyn Waugh 55. USA John Dos Passos

56. The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler

57. The Pursuit Of Love Nancy Mitford

58. The Plague Albert Camus

59. Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell

60. Malone Dies Samuel Beckett

61. Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger

62. Wise Blood Flannery

63. Charlotte's Web E. B. White – LOVED it!!

64. The Lord Of The Rings J. R. R. Tolkien – was heavy going when i was 12 but enjoyed as an adult!

65. Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis

66. Lord of the Flies William Golding – cracking read!

67. The Quiet American Graham Greene

68 On the Road Jack Kerouac T

69. Lolita Vladimir Nabokov Humbert

70. The Tin Drum Gunter Grass .

71. Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe Nigeria

72. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Muriel Spark

73. To Kill A Mockingbird Harper LeeScout

74. Catch-22 Joseph Heller

75. Herzog Saul Bellow

76. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia -

77. Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont Elizabeth Taylor

78. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy John Le Carre – passed to me by my Mum – I enjoyed it!

79. Song of Solomon Toni Morrison

80. The Bottle Factory Outing Beryl Bainbridge

81. The Executioner's Song Norman Mailer

82. If on a Winter's Night a Traveller Italo

83. A Bend in the River V. S. Naipaul

84. Waiting for the Barbarians J.M. Coetzee

85. Housekeeping Marilynne

86. Lanark Alasdair GraySeething vision of Glasgow

87. The New York Trilogy Paul Auster

88. The BFG Roald Dahl – Wonderful read – i read it to my kids J

89. The Periodic Table Primo Levi

90. Money Martin Amis

91. An Artist of the Floating World Kazuo Ishiguro

92. Oscar And Lucinda Peter

93. The Book of Laughter and Forgetting Milan Kundera

94. Haroun and the Sea of Stories Salman Rushdie

95. La Confidential James Ellroy

96. Wise Children Angela Carter

97. Atonement Ian McEwan

98. Northern Lights Philip Pullman – read the trilogy – bloody awesome books.

99. American Pastoral Philip Roth

100. Austerlitz W. G. Sebald

You choose - or ....Please help!!

I took this photo of my friends son N. Well I was going to just print out the original but had to go and play with it a bit ;)
Now i cannot decide which one(s) I like and want for her!! So please comment and let me know which one(s) I should do because at this rate she is going to get them all and i will be out of ink!!!
Thanks in advance!

Colours!

B&W - the top is the original in basic B&W to give me an idea where to work from!

Time alone!

Well the kids are having a great time at Grandma and Granpa's house. Yesterday they went to Dover castle for the day. There were two highlights for David..1. He was allowed to turn off the air raid siren they had and 2. The traffic jam on the way home was "just HUGE Mum!"
Today i got a call, they are going swimming this morning and then this afternoon they are off to the Dog track to see Grandma's dog racing. They love that as they are normally given a few pence to place bets! And yes they do normally win!!

I on the other hand have blitzed the lounge and am halfway through the kitchen. Pulling EVERYTHING out and cleaning anything that stays still long enough! Boring yes but it is uninterrupted so it's being done properly and in my own sweet time!
Does anyone else have cans in their store cupboard that ran out in 2005!! The shame!

Still i know that as i tidy and clean it will stay that way at least until Sunday night (the kids are home on Saturday)!!

If i can get everything done by Friday, Rich and I can spend his day off together just hanging out and not doing a lot at all!

I am off now for round two in the kitchen! Wish me luck! haha.

Losing my kids..

I am taking them all to my mother-in-law for the week tomorrow. I normally love doing this, one whole week, no kids time to myself and time with my hubby, just us. But this time..well this time i'm not so keen. I know i will miss them and want them home as soon as i drop them off! I don't know what's diferent this year but i really do not want them to go! Yeah they will have a blast and go on all sorts of day trips out around London but i just want to keep them here, with me!
At least next Saturday when i pick them up will be a good day whatever! I know i should be greatful and no not everyone has the luxury of their kids being taken off their hands for a week but i really like being around them!

Richard has a job interview on Wednesday for a job in Hobart, Tasmania....could mean a family move!! LOL not a small one either!
Wish us luck :)

DSLR straps

Want a new look for your DSLR? You have GOT to check out this store
COTTON CANDY by NATALIE . I am asking my hubby for one for my birthday :) They just look SO cool and funky, and i bet they don't hurt your neck!! LOL. Isn't it cool?

Uninspired!

Yep i guess it does eventually happen to all of us! I have been totally uninspired to write this past week! It isn't like we aren't doing anything! We've been swimming loads, I took Becca to get her senior school uniform (omg she looks so cute in it!), they guys have had hair cuts and i "have" to shape Davids into a Mohican!!
I just can't find the energy or inclination to blog!! But with new people arriving to drop the odd comment here and there, i kinda feel it's obligatary to leave somthing new for them to read rather than looking at the same old same old!
Becky has her new electric guitar...but it is at "Grandad's" house. She keeps begging us to visit him but forgets that Nan and Grandad work and although its the summer for us it is not the summer for the rest of the world!!

On one of the blogs i visited recently MY CHAOS MY BLISS ,Cecily gave her camera to her offspring and set them a challenge! Well yeah i loved the idea so I do intend to set my kids up with my prized possesion and let them do a similar list :)

Other than that not really a lot happening here, the girls are alternating their preteen "i have issues" days which i find highly amusing, and that kinda makes it all a whole lot worse! And David is keeping out of their way but is, "sick of watching chick flicks" and hates being "outvoted by two girls that think they are grown up!" Bless him!!