Sweet and sour.

Well I had my pre op today at the hospital. My op is planned for Monday 13 Sept. I have been waiting 6 months for this, and cannot wait till it is over and done with. So i can go back to being a Mum that plays with her kids instead  of watching them. You see i had a prolapse of my internal organs in March (14 to be precise, it was mothers day - in the UK). So i am pleased it is being done finally. I am a bit saddened though as it is David's birthday on the Friday and it is touch and go if i will be home with him. I will be so sad to miss him turning 11.  So i am torn between being honest about my health and any pain or lying my butt off to get home! I am not cancelling the op, but i really have to be well enough to be home on the 17th! Heres hoping i can do it.
Speaking of David, he is back to school tomorrow. His last year at junior school.  This time next year he will be sporting a blazer and tie for school, i have a year to prepare for this. Somehow i do not think that will be long enough!                                    

Ok so a bigger update (with pictures) on all of us!

Ok so i have shared to ups ans downs, highs and lows of Becky's flying life, I guess i better let you all know what the rest of us are up to or you will start to think she has hijacked my blog!
So get yourself a coffee (maybe a Thermos) and a biscuit (or four) then take some time to catch up on the rest of us!
Rich has been working SO hard. He is an amazing husband and father and takes his role as a provider to his family very seriously! There was a point we really were ships in the night. And I missed him. Lots.   
Still in August we went on holiday together, with the children... my parents, my brother, his wife and their two children! Time together in a converted barn in Devon. It was lovely. The weather was kind to us, if you don't count the thunderstorm on our arrival nor the fog on our departure!
It was so lovely to spend time away from home with Rich. Seeing him relax a bit. Watching him enjoying time with the kids. Snuggling with him at night, hearing his relaxed breathing.  

I have been ill pretty much all of this year, well since March 14th (UK Mothers day to be precise!). I need surgery. I am getting my surgery. 13th September is my planned date for it.  It feels like it's been a long time coming! And i will be able to blog more, what with being off on "sick" leave. I will be home for between 10 days and 6 weeks depending what they do to me. ha ha.don't you just love surprises?
 I am still enjoying my job and we are now planning to move house. hooray!
  
So what can i tell you about Rae? Well she is still doing amazingly well at school. She took one of her GCSE (UK exams) exams early and has chosen 13 in total to study over the next two years. The average is 8 or 9. I hope she can find time to a) fit it all in and b) still have fun being a kid. I guess time will tell.
She is now playing the Sax, Flute and guitar as well as her singing lessons oh and doing her music theory exam.
It was great to see her relaxing on holiday:

Laughing in the garden in Devon.

    

Walking along the shore.

Becky has also been doing well at school. She is choosing her GCSE options this year. Eeeek! I am NOT ready to go through ALL that AGAIN!

She has a beau in her life, the lovely C. He is good for her. I like him. He keeps a close eye on her at school for me with regard to her blanking out. 

Becky and her beau C.

She spent a LOT of time in the sea while we were on holiday...

About to start a water fight with Uncle Andy.

Losing at the water fight!

So we move to to youngest member of the clan. David, has surprised me lately. He is thoughtful, helpful, caring, funny and about to enter his final year at junior school. That's right I am nearly the mother of 3 children in senior school. YUK!

He is still my baby. He cannot be nearly 11, despite what his birth certificate says. In typical boy fashion, when we asked what he would like as reward for a good year at school, he asked for... drumroll.. wait for it..

2 Giant African Land Snails. Oh dear Lord.

So welcome to the family... Dory and Crush! (Photos soon of those two!!)

David thoroughly enjoyed our holiday and spending time with Dad and Grandad. With all the girls at home he does like some "man time".

Surf Dude!

First Geocache find of the holiday!

Looking good kid.

And so that my dear friends is you all caught up with the comings and goings of me, him and them! I will really try harder to post more often. Promise!

                                        

                                           
  

Forgive me, I am a bad bad blogger!

I know it feels like forever since i sat here and tapped away on the keys. It seems like a lot has happened to me, to us but i have not had the energy nor the inclination to write. I guess i lost my way in the blogging sense. For a little while i have sat here and wanted to type but nothing sprang to mind. I see a lot of you onFB and catch up or read your goings on from there. And although i may not comment i do still read your blogs! SO i guess it is time to put fingers to keys and reciprocate.
So July.. was it really that long ago that i last typed? Whats been going on here then. Crumbs. Lots!
Ok ok so you want a little more detail than that.
Let's go monthly:

July: Saw me return to work FULL time for the first time in 14 years! I am loving it! Really, really loving it! I am a receptionist at British Car Auctions Europe head office!

August: saw us on the Isle of Wight, a small island off the South coast of the UK. We spent the holiday with Richards family. Oh i got my NEW camera from my Dad! A CanonEOS 350D. I L♥ve it!

September: Saw David turn 10! All the kids settled back in to school well and are still happy.

October: Rae turned 14 and Becky became a teenager! Rae is doing extremely well in school and music! Becky is also doing very well. We are still having on going Epilepsy tests for Becky... (explained more in Nov!).

November:
I am diagnosed with life threatening allergies to some fresh fruits and vegetable (but am OK if they are cooked!) So i am given epipens! It is all good fun!
Becky had a sleep deprived epilepsy test today. We stayed awake for 24 hours (not easy in the slightest!) so that she could sleep during her test! She is currently sound asleep on the sofa. Results in two weeks.

And that is a very quick run through to now!

So now i am determined to be a better blogger! I am back, keen and raring to go.

The blog is a bit sparce but i am working on refreshing it! Watch this space!
For now here are some photos of my friends new baby girl, taken with my new camera this past weekend:

Medly post!

Seems all of my most recent posts aremade up ofa medly of things that have been happening to us all.

So this week i have completed my first week in my "big girl" job! I can honestly say i love it! I am having fun and totally enjoying wearing smart clothes again.

Rachel came home with her school report which was absolutely amazing! WOW she blew me away! She not only improved in two subjects she doesn't like but kept her grades up in everything else so she is now a straight A* student accross the board! Her teachers are all impressed that her classwork and homework standards are very high, her work ethic and commitment are a credit to her and the fact that she is involved in so many after school activities also make her one of the top students in the year group! I am so very, very proud of her. She is also (which i think is very important) kind and caring to both staff and students alike, including students she doesn't know too well or hang around with. She will always help them and is always polite to all. "She will achieve great things." (quote from the head of music not taken out of context either!!!!)
So i am glad she is currently sitting by a pool in Lake Garda, Italy with the gifted and talented choir. She deserves it.

Successful op.

Well i went into hospital yesterday afternoon and was first on the list to be operated on. WOW the one time i am top of the list and i really didn't want to be!
While under anesthetic i decided i'd grown fond of the tube in my throat so much so that they had to wake me up to ask me to stop biting on it so they could remove it!Oops!
I recall desperately trying to come round in recovery and seeing a rather large blurred sunflower. It was so bright and big it was lovely to wake to. I had a conversation with a nurse but cannot remember it, only that it took place.
So i left the ward at 1pm and was back on it at 4pm. By 6pm i had tried getting up to use the bathroom...and failing. The floor is not that far to fall too but still hurts! I was being sick by6.30pm so they kindly decided not to send me home but kept me in.
I am now home recovering.
They looked at my right ovary...it originally had a 4.5cm cyst on it. That burst 3 weeks ago. My ovary was clear at that time. Yesterday my ovary had 9 small to medium cysts on it. They removed some to enable them to see my ovary and then decided to remove that too. woohoo. So i am delighted with how it all went...except for the pain i'm in but the tablets are working!

Going away..Please Pray for us.

I will be offline for a couple of days. I am finally having my operation tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully i will be online on Thursday to let you all know how it went :)
And after that i can look to Becky's health or lack of. They will be doing tests next week. They want to rule OUT cancer. Please pray for us.

Thank you.

Pre Op and Extreme socks!?

Okay weird title?? Well it is, that was my day..weird!
I had my pre op - the nurse liked me enough to give me her email address and direct phone number at the hospital, because we live fairly far away (i thought we lived close but apparently not!), and if i need her after the op Rich can email or call her direct for advice! WOW how cool is that?
I am "normal" too..she must have seen some real whack jobs today if i am considered normal! haha.
As far as the op goes it will all be a surprise! They may do..nothing..just look around, find not much and come out or they may do a full hysterectomy {other end of scale} or anything in between. I am okay with that if i am honest. I'd rather they find something than nothing to explain the pain but i'll go with the flow..not too much choice when i'm sedated is there really?? LOL

David did a speech at school today and scored 38 out of 40 which is fantastic for a boy who hates being in the spotlight. Go David.

Becky got told off at school, wait for it..because her socks are long. Yes you read it right! Apparently they are "extreme" and show a lack of conformity. Excuse me?? Apparently children should not stand out so much at school, they should conform so she has been banned from wearing her skirt. Now if her socks were rainbow coloured..i might agree. If she hadn't lost so much weight she looks downright awful in her school trousers i might agree..but when she looks quite sweet in her navy skirt and socks i am putting up a fight! Oh and if she had not been wearing the socks since September {not the same pair we do wash them!} then i might agree! But when my baby girl who has legs that make Bambi look chubby chooses these socks...


I am happy to let her wear them, and will fight her corner when she is told she is too extreme! I am meeting her head of year tomorrow after school to discuss this and other issues such as her health and tiredness. I am not cross about this..bewildered perhaps and even a little bemused..and if i am honest i am a lot amused!

The New Girl

Yes today i was the new girl at work. Yipee! I started my new job and i LOVE it, T, who i work with, is just great, i honestly think we will have a laugh together as well as a great working relationship. Good vibes bouncing round the room!

Went to Bex parent teacher meetings..WOW I am seriously impressed with the girl :) She is above average for everything..needs to slow down a bit with writing in foreign languages..wonderful at Drama and well above average in Music! haha! Science and Religious Education she is starting her GCSE's a year early, so i am a very proud Mum right now. Keep it up kid.

Have a great day all. I am!

Tagged...better late then never!

I was tagged while in hospital..honestly!! The ever so lovely Leah at A Silly Little Sparrow tagged me in secret while i was on my sick bed! he he.

Ok rules are...

6 Weird things about me!! (only 6? !!) and if you wish to tag yourself..go ahead :)

Ok so here goes:

1. My mouth is slightly lopsided to the right..thanks Mum!
2. I have no sense of feeling on the second toe of my left foot. It's never been broken or injured..i just cannot feel it!
3. I can't sing for toffee but i do like to try ;)
4. I'm one of the most tolerant intolerant people my husband knows!
5. I can curl the left side of my top lip upwards whilst simultaneously curling the right side of my bottom lip downwards!
6. I used to be able to put a condom up my nose and out of my mouth! I know really gross!
   

Sick still or again?

You got it! I went to bed a t 5pm on Friday...surfaced on Sat at 10pm...sore throat and ears, you know the one. You can't eat, hurts to speak, move or drink.
Seems not only did a cyst burst but now i have a viral infection so i should be better in 3 -6 days! What?! 3 - 6 days? Haven't i suffered enough this week? So i am here to quickly say i've not forgotten you all..i just feel like death warmed up right now! Watch this space i will be back :)

AWOL

Hi all, i am currently playing catch up. PLease do not think i have been ignoring you all. I spent the last two days in hospital. My cyst on my ovary burst! Yeah i know, NICE!!
I am home and i am now dealing in pain management! So if you tagged/e mailed/ or threw me a question i will get back to you as soon as i am fully able to concentrate.xx

Week 2 of the 52 week challenge.

Are you a mom? Are you missing from the pictures? Most moms I know are and now there is a great new meme that brings us moms out from behind the lens to in front of the camera! It's a lot of fun! Carin over at Forever in Blue Jeans set up this wonderful year long challenge that does just that! Brings us out from behind and puts us in the spotlight! And the best part is, is that you can start whenever you jump in.

Well is it really a week already? It has flown! However here it is for you all to see, week 2.

Myself and my youngest daughter Becky...

This was taken as we were messing around..i was trying to convince her that it was a good idea to do her homework! I can never get cross with her, she really makes me laugh, a lot!

Mom is missing, a 52 week challenge...

Is a great new challenge created by Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans.
I love it because it means i have to be in the photos at least once a week on a Thursday..so one day my brood will have photographic evidence of me and them having fun together!
So here is this weeks....week 1!!
I love this pic taken by Becky when Rae and I were messing around in the living room! So now you see the girl behind the lens!

I think i'm gonna like it..

at my new place of work! I start on the 11th March and after spending the morning there today i can honestly say i am looking forward to it very much. It is not as fast paced as my current day, meaning the children spend more time being children and less time being shepherded from one thing to the next. There is more time to play with them doing the things they choose to do and not making them do things that you plan or expect them to do. aaaah, listen, that is the sound of me..relaxed!
I have enjoyed my current job, the kids have been great, and i will miss them and the parents greatly but i will not miss all the paperwork or paperwork for paperwork's sake! Where one sheet should do we are using 3 or 4 and it takes us away from time spent being with and education in a fun way. I guess the fun has been sucked out of it and when that happens it is definitely time to move on.
David spent the morning at the kids club today (run at my new place of work) and i was a little worried how he would get on as he is quite shy normally but he was swimming this morning and after that did a dance session and hockey. By the time i collected him he'd made friends and was having a blast! I am really pleased about this as he will be spending his mornings/days there during the holidays. And the wonderful things is that it is at no extra cost to me. WOW i am so lucky.
So that's me all happy and chilled now!
Hope your day goes as well as mine is today.

Not me TUESDAY

because this won't wait till Monday!

Today i had my appointment with the specialist at the hospital.
I went with Beccy, my best friend, for support...

I did not introduce her as "my partner"(i did not think that the word friend sounded weird) , I did not then try to recover by saying "erm not my partner...we're married!!", I did not then try to recover even more by saying " to different men!" No, not me, would never do something like that!
So we started out on a goooood footing! Lucky for me she had a great sense of humour which helped me get over that 'special' moment!

It seems i have poly cystic ovaries and a cyst the size of a chicken egg living on my right ovary (rent free i might add). So i am waiting for an appointment within the next 11 weeks to have said cyst and right ovary evicted and re-homed elsewhere, preferably a bin!
But at least now i know that my problems losing weight are down to my poly cystic ovaries and not all the chocolate i ate at Christmas!


Just a quick note at the bottom to wish Barack Obama a successful presidency. Let's hope he does good for all in America.

School reports, Prize Day and Broken Bones!

Well i am noting the date! Friday 11 July '08 is possible my best day this year so far!
Becky and David headed off the their new schools in Alton as i headed off to Guildford to see the fracture clinic about my hand! The MRI from last Saturday was back and apart from one minor "blip" on the scan i am "free!!" I can now carry on as normal but if it still causes pain by Oct i may need a small op to see whats going on. But for now, and the summer holidays i have two cast free hands!
I collected David from his new school, to be told how polite he is and that he had just got on with is day with no fuss at all! That's my boy! Bless him, i know he was nervous in the morning but when i got him back he loved his new class, and all the things they had got up to! Mr Williams (his new teacher) is "Great Mum", he does the best P.E lessons! So one happy kid in the bag! LOL.
we trundled along to collect Becky to see how her day at senior school had been!
She loved her lessons and her tutor, Miss Reed (who is getting married in 3 weeks - she has a huge poster in her class counting down the days!!) is really great, she is called Becky too and my Becky thinks she "rocks".
She had a great time doing science and got a merit for R.E. I think the best bit though was when her big sis' bought her a cookie in the school canteen and all Rachel's mates let her hang out with them. That was a highlight for her! I love my girls and how they look out for each other!

So i get home after listening to all the info and more to school reports for Becky and David!
Becky's was awesome! I was astounded by her! Another straight A student in the house LOL!!
All the teachers like her and she is a delight to be around. Everyone gets on with her. She has worked hard all year but most of all she is likable and polite and fun to be around! WTG Becky!
David's report made me cry! I think this year is the first time ever a teacher has really understood my son. He is getting A's and B's for his grades which i am just so proud of as he finds school a struggle at times. But his social report was the bit that sent me into floods! His teacher said he has a mildy eccentric side to his personality that will get him a lot in life but others wont see it! He is shy, has only a few close friends but with them he has immense fun. But most telling is that he finds it really hard to fathom other kids and when that happens he withdraws like a snail into a shell. She really hit the nail on the head with him. He is bright and fun but its on his terms!! LOL
So as you can imagine i am bursting with pride over my two youngest!
Then I open the mail! Days don't come by like this too often! :)
Rachel is being given an award on Prize Day for the most Exceptional Effort awards in her tutor group for the year. She is getting an award from her year staff and a little bash after school on the 21st - Pizza and drinks! Then on the 23rd she is getting an award in front of the school and parents on prize day, from the Headmaster! I am equally proud of her.
My kids never cease to amaze me i am just so proud of them all.
Am off to make my head a little smaller now! LOL.