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!

We have left Junior School!

Well yesterday was Becca's last day at Junior school! She has been saying for a few weeks that she doesnt want to leave, that she wants it to stay the same forever! No matter what i say about being ready for senior school, she is adamant she isnt! I never had any of this with Rae because she could not wait to leave the school and some of the awful kids that were in her class, she left with a spring in her step ready for the next stage in her life. So i kinda left Becca to have a think about it all and how things do actually have to change even if we don't want them too!
So i pop along to collect her from school yesterday and waited...and waited..and waited some more! When she finally came out with her posse of friends, with school shirts all signed by friends and teachers, arms full of books and bits they had made, faces all red and teary(wasn't expecting that!)! Mums were poised waiting for the photo call of our beautiful smiling kids only to find crying girls hugging each other as if we were sending them all to opposite end of the planet!
So after a flurry of phone number exchanges and promises of calls and sleepovers I got to hold my little girl and let her cry onto my shoulder! I really did not expect that kind of reaction from her as she left school for the last time! The poor kid cried on and off all afternoon and into the evening! I guess through all the trials and tribulations of friendships, learning and growing she really had come to love her school and being a part of it all.
To top it all as we got in the car Becca handed me a CD. On the cover was a photo of her classmates she spent the past 3 years with and inside was a music CD made for all the kids in the class by their teacher! It had a compilation of all the songs they had listened to, what the song was, the artist and where they heard it..Fairthorne Manor, DT Music, Tidy up Music, school Xmas Show songs, leavers assembly songs! It also had a note:

"Thankyou for being a wonderful class. I hope that when you listen to these songs you will remember all the fun times we had this year. Love from Mrs Marshall"

I thought it was a really great gift, but it set Becca off again! And listening to it made her worse LOL!!
So she is happier today and we are planning a camp out with her two best buddies in the world. Although they are off to different schools i am sure they will remain close.
I am now off to formulate a plan to get her to like the idea of going to Amery Hill school! LOL.
I will post photos as soon as i upload them all!

We also got the SAT results through!! Level 4 for Maths and 5's for everything else! WTG Becca!

Summers Here!

Well we spent yesterday with Andy and Sue, we had our first B-B-Q of the season and took the kids to the beach! I took loads of pics and sat down tonight to make this page of Rebecca in the sea and on the beach. I am so pleased with the way it turned out! I used papers from Lee Scott (Blissful Pixel) and blended the photos in!
I was just a wonderful way to spend the day. So relaxed and chilled out. The kids seem to get on really well too when we are out, no bickering at all!