Goodbye 2010

Every year seems to be a year of changes in recent years.

Someone said once that "The only constant in life is change." That certainly is true from where I am standing.

2010 will certainly go down as a memorable year.

Things have been very good in many ways but there have still been those shit scary moments.

Early in the year my great uncle was diagnosed with a brain tumour, he died around a month later.

Shortly after moving into our new home, hubby was hospitalised with his diabetes as the doctor at the local surgery wasn't happy with his high blood levels.

A little later in the year I had my first ever health scare myself as I recieved the news that abnormal cells had been found in my latest smear test. A month later I recieved treatment and the cells were removed. I am now due a repeat smear test as it's already been 6 months since that time. It's certainly something I will be doing next week. As horrid and invasive as they are, they save lives. They give us the warnings before things are left too late. I will never be able to stress that enough. As terrifying as it was at the time, I'm glad the problem was found and fixed as far as they could at the time possible.

I end 2010 being in my thirties with a new name, a new marital status and a new home.

Hubby has a new job.

Life is great.

With moving house, comes moving on and accepting a larger change.

Friendships alter. Some almost wither away completely. I guess that's part of growing older too.

Obviously one of the highlights of 2010 was moving house to a beautiful village and getting to meet a number of new lovely people. Long Melford has recently been voted in the top 20 of the most happy villages to live in the UK and trust me, there are hundreds of them. I for one am much happier here than I was in Colchester. Life is very much slower but now I am alot more used to it, it really is slower in a good way.

Where the little block of houses are on the right just above the bright green field, my house is about 2mm up from there. Not quite in the main village but it feels much more rural with the fields around us.

The other highlight of course was when I stopped being a Ms, and became a Mrs. It's already been just over 4 months since I got married. That's a third of a year done already!!! Crazy.

We have also had some lovely holidays this year. Some alone and some with the kids.

I am looking forward to the new year and hope it is almost as good as this year has been in certain ways and better than other things in other ways.

I have had 2 friends give birth in the past week or so, 3 friends due to give birth the first week of January and over the christmas week I've heard announcements for 2 summer babies so I am very eager for 2011 to bring alot of happiness to a few families in the coming year.

I would love to see a little baby boom next year, I think there are a few people out there who really deserve the happiness that a baby can bring and I am behind them every step of the way.

There was also the birth of this blog this year. Thank you for reading my pages over the past months.

I wish you all health, happiness, love and luck in 2011.

Its Been A Long Time Coming

It has been 5 years and 9 months since I left my parents home.

For 5 years and 2 months at the old house and 7 months here, we've been short on something rather important.

We have now finally got a form of bedroom storage going on.

For getting on for 6 years I have lived from a bundle of folded clothes in a corner. Now we can finally get the house around a litte bit more and I can have some well needed organisation. Which for a clean and tidy, obsessive and organised to-the-point-of-almost-being-annoying- virgo/libran is a living nightmare

So here's a peek inside my bedroom.

The walls are called "Jazzberry" it's a raspberry/plum colour and we need a second coat on the walls. I don't know if I would could it pink or purple but it's dark. Like the living room we can get away with deep colours due to the high ceilings and the white edge around the top of the room.

The floor is painted "granite grey" and looks pretty good. (its slightly more visible in upper picture)

The little chest in view is completely full of the kids things but I took a little time to make it look a bit more special and a bit more me.

My wedding flowers tie in perfectly and I've always loved the little Me To You teddies.

It won't take a lot to finish the room. I'd like new bedding, some dark curtains and a picture or two on the walls.

I woke up this morning feeling like I'd woken up in a hotel, it certainly didn't feel like my bedroom. It was so smart.

I have spent half my day putting all things that need to be put away into the wardrobe or the kids box. I've been a busy woman!

I will certainly be starting 2011 a little more happy with the house and having achieved something that has taken almost 6 years to attain. It feels good to be almost there.

Christmas Day. A Photo Entry.

So then friends and followers, I hope you all had joyful exciting christmasses. I certainly did.

The kids were spoilt, we ate too much, I had a few glasses of wine, the kids got to play toys all morning and it was lovely not being tied to the clock.

Christmas at home certainly had it's benefits. The babies were able to have a rest before dinner in their bedroom without us having to worry about heading off to someone elses for dinner.

The dinner went great. Turkey cooked well, the veg all came out perfect and we were truly stuffed by the end.

I recieved some lovely gifts. The necklace in the picture to the left is part of a set the kids got me. I also have matching heart stud earrings to match, not visible but the are really sweet. Hubby bought me a coffee maker. I've been wanting one for a while so was TRULY impressed with that. My mum and dad gave me a set of cooking oils and some earrings as well as some money to spend. Hubbys dad and wife gave me some luxury hand creams and a giant box of chocolates. My brother and his girlfriend got me some make up and cranberry scented bath things.

The rest of the family gave me and hubby money so we can go on a shopping spree soon.I have already purchased a black kettle and toaster to match the coffee maker, The old ones were at points where they were looking old and worn so it was the perfect time to change.

In a couple of weeks we will be having a second christmas at my mother in laws where we will have another christmas dinner, and more presents that have been held back so the kids get to experience christmas all over again. There will be us, mother in law, sister in law, brother and law with his wife and hubbys grandparents I think. It will be busy! The day we are doing it is also 2 days before Matthews birthday, so someone really be a spoilt little boy I should imagine.

Speaking of which, He was truly impressed with all his football clothing, here he is in his Colchester United team shirt. Looking as proud as ever.

The little ones had A LOT.

It took around 30 minutes to take off all wrapping paper and around 1 hour 20 minutes to remove all toys from the lovely packaging they get hidden in.

Christmas dinner is always fun with little boys and my little boys love their roast dinners!

Liam will always eat a good dinner. He loves all food except tomatoes.

And where is the fun in christmas if you cannot have fun with a mini christmas tree!

In the afternoon we went over to my mums where we caught up with my parents, brother, his girlfriend and her little girl. The kids got more snacks and chocolate. Somehow, Liams clothes remained clean, unlike his little face.

James amused himself with the extra presents we got at my mums. My bro and his family had bought them over on the day so the kids had a bit more to play with. We stayed on and had tea with everyone and just let all the kids play together for a while.

All kids were tired little souls by the time we left at 9pm. James and Liam had been up since around 7am and did incredibly well.

 

Lovely little Liam proved me wrong and is still not quite walking. He just hasn't got that final bit of confidence to let go! Though, the speed he moves around on the floor or holding onto things, mobility certainly is NOT an issue at all.

We had a wonderful day and I do think it was incredibly special this year. I can't say just why exactly but I loved all of it. Lets hope the last few days of December remain as good.

Christmas Eve 2010.

Christmas Joys
Evergreen boughs that fill our homes
With fragrant Christmas scents,
Hearts filled with the loving glow
That Christmas represents;  Christmas cookies, turkeys stuffed,
Festive holly berry,
Little faces bright with joy,
Loved ones being merry;  Parties, songs, beribboned gifts,
Silver bells that tinkle,
Christmas trees and ornaments,
Colorful lights that twinkle;  Relatives waiting with open arms
To smile and hug and kiss us;
These are some of the special joys
That come along with Christmas.  By Joanna Fuchs  It's that time already. Christmas eve is more than half gone and I have been a busy young woman today.

I sincerely love christmas.

This is the first year I have done christmas. We're in a new home as a new family so it's nice to start married life off with something new and exciting.

Today I have done alot of my food preparation for tomorrow. The turkey is defrosted, spiced braised cabbage ready for reheating tomorrow, sausage rolls made just need to be baked so hubby comes home to a warm snack. Chestnuts are roasted. Vegetables peeled and ready to cook. All little things, but little things that won't have me tied to the stove all day tomorrow. I get the morning and time with the kids rather than spend the whole day in the kitchen.

All presents are all hidden in the outhouse and the cupboard under the stairs ready to go under the tree when the kids are in bed tonight. There will be a lot of things for them to open, I don't know how we'll fit it all in one little corner of the room.

I have given out the ideas for presents to people but here is a list of christmas wishes.

1. I wish for all those who have suffered a loss of some kind this year to find a few hours for happiness, a little time for reflection doesn't hurt this time of year but it's a time for celebration and loving what is around us right now.  Remember and Love whats not there, but remember to love the current days too.
2. I wish for everyone to have good health.
3. I wish for a few christmas miracles. A few christmas babies in particular. I know of a few babies due in the next couple of weeks and I know of people trying for babies. I wish all sets of people all the best.
4. I wish for families to be close, to enjoy one another and to get some much needed time together.
5. I wish for safe journeys for anyone making the smallest of trips.
6. I wish for my christmas dinner to go as I have it planned in my mind.
7. I wish for my kids to enjoy thier day. I know they will, but I can't wait to see the real excitement in their faces tomorrow.
8. I wish for a happy christmas to all.

Winter In London

Hyde Park London, 19th December

It's Thursday so it feels a little late to write about the weekend. Yet it was exciting and beautiful and deserves a mention and a few pictures.

On Saturday, hubby and I had a trip to London and spent the night in the West End (the nice end). It was fairly last minute as we only booked the hotel last Thursday.

We left home with lots of greenery. Almost toour train station we were faced with blizzards and arrived to 5inches of snow.  It was chaotic getting the tube trains but we visited Covent Garden, Regent Street and Bond Street (The main shopping streets of London), Trafalgar Square was boarded off so we didn't see much. We took a walk around the famous Hamleys toy shop, 5 floors of toys. The kids would have loved it. Just not the crowds. In the evening we dined at a mexican restaurant with hubbys bro and sister in law. We then visited a couple of bars and a comedy club before returning around 2am to our hotel.

Back Entrance to The Hilton

We stayed in The Hilton Hotel at Paddington and it was a very nice room. Not as posh as I expected and looked a little worn but when it is something so well used it must be hard to refurbish at any time of year. We were very lucky to get the room at the price we did. We got a £330 room for around £70 as we booked through a late booking company. It was a gamble we took since we didn't know where we were going due to them not publicising what Hotel they were offering until the booking had been placed. The public areas were beautifully and tastefully decorated.

Hyde Park Christmas Market

The morning after, we walked through Hyde Park and thier winter wonderland fayre and market. It was a beautiful walk through the snowy park. Everything seemed to be in monochrome as white was everywhere and the things standing out were black silhouttes.

A touring big wheel dominated the skyline as we approached the market.

We made our way through the park and had a good look around Harrods department store which was just too massive to do the whole thing. We particularly liked the food court, from speciality teas and coffees, to chocolates, to a sit down caviar bar, a sushi bar and an ice cream and soda parlour. It was quite something and something I would certainly tell any London visitors to try and see.

So, beyond the trip to London, we've been super busy with the kids and christmas preparations. I do hope I get a chance to do a quick update tomorrow evening between the food preparations, putting a small truckload of presents under the tree and eating a mince pie or two on santas behalf. If not, I wish you all the very best for the festive celebrations.

Merry christmas to all. 

Matthew

"Mummy. Does Santa really exist?" Matthew asked me on the way to school yesterday morning. "Just some older kids say that it's not Santa that brings presemts but mums and dads."

Faced with 2 choices I debate whether to tell the truth. He is nearly 7, he's heard it in the playground, I won't be killing the magic of christmas as he heard it elsewhere, I'd just be the one who confirmed his fears.

"Forget what the other kids say Matthew, what do you believe? Do you believe in Santa?"

"Of course I do mummy, those big kids just want to upset us smaller ones!" he explains "And  I believe in the tooth fairy, God, Jesus, Mary and Joseph and all the desciples even Judas who got Jesus murdered."

My son is a great believer it appears.

"I believe in ghosts and aliens and UFO's too you know."

Matthew has moved into a rather religious school. Though none of us in the household are religious in any form Matthew will often talk about God, creation and so forth and offer prayers at the most random of times. The other day he wanted to pray before he put his socks on. He sits in the back of the car and wants to pray. He's a very thoughtful little thing.

I don't want Matthew to grow out of Santa just yet. He's still only 6. (7 next month but thats not the point) I want the magic to remain in christmas for all 3 of my boys as long as possible.

Yesterday I saw him in his nativity play. At LAST! It's his third year of doing them and the first year I have been able to see it since he was ill for the past two performances. He did really well, singing loud and clear, he did his dance, he did fantastic. I could have a real little star in the making. His role was as a wise man and part of his act was to ride a camel through the desert, he did very well on his pretend camel and danced as he was shown. My great little fella.

December Is Going TOO Fast This Year.

Do not be fooled.

She may look innocent but boy is she being hard work! Give me another baby any day.

Babies do not destroy clothes, break things or attack other kids until they are much older.

We will get there.

This weekend will be the first time we can take her out for a walk, so hopefully this will burn off some excess energy. Because of the snow, she didn't want to be outside and running about too much earlier this week but now we are warming up a little (we're out of minus figures) then it can only be good.

The past week has been filled with christmas shopping and getting out and about on hubbys days off. We are all done apart from a present for his grandparents. We bought them a camera but it doesn't work so we will have to return it and get another one which is a major pain but then we are done completely.

On Saturday my baking skills are needed. I have promised to make my niece (my brothers girlfriends little girl) a cake for her 4th birthday. I like the idea of girl cakes more. I have the design set in my mind, I just need to do it. I will take pics I promise. We are spending some of the afternoon at theirs back in Colchester as we've all been invited to a birthday tea party. We just need to find C a nice girly present.

We have a lot going on all of a sudden. Tomorrow is hubbys christmas dinner for his works do. It's a day thing and he is on call so will probably be off working directly after.

Next week I am going to watch Matthews Nativity play at school. I am looking forward to this. I've never seen him in a school play yet, since he got ill at the time of the last two at his old school. So I am really keeping my fingers crossed that this year is not the third time it happens. Today they were doing a dress rehearsal for the other kids in the school. His main performances are this Friday and Monday. I am going to the latter. Then on the 17th, he finishes for christmas and the rest of 2010. This year really has disappeared. He has also been invited to take part in the carol service at the village church on Saturday but we already had plans and have to start delivering some christmas presents.

It's hard to believe that in just over a month my big man is going to be 7 years old. Wow.

It's now been over a year since my little hero boy has seen his dad. It's been over 2 months since we last heard from him. He did disappear between October and May last year too and he just hasn't tried that much this year. I am far from complaining! I just don't want him to be trying to get in and out of Matthews life and messing him about. Matthew has a happy family unit at home, he's happy and doesnt like talking to him anyway. It seems very strained and Matthew doesn't have time for a man who doesn't make the effort with him. He does have a way of disappearing at the most important times of Matthews life (ie christmas and birthday season) so promises are broken and Matthew has a good memory. I do think that since we have moved out of Essex, he has realised we are further away than ever and he is accepting we've all moved on. He needs to do the same.

Next Saturday, me and hubby are having a date night. It's been a few months since the last one and it will do us good to have a night out before christmas and enjoy the festive spirit with a few festive spirits and probably a meal out.

Phew, I think I have just about caught up.

Here's a photo of my two babies to end.

 

I love it!!!!

Learning Fast

Britain is currently in the grip of a big freeze.

We've been in minus temperatures for days and much of the country is in inches of snow.

Where we live, we've avoided the worst.

Where we live, the local council is amazing.

Where our old town Colchester is a mass of chaos 18 miles away with many school and road closures, our roads and pavements are clear as my photo shows.

Yesterday, I dropped Matthew at school and I passed a number of council workers gritting the pavements ready for the next possible load of snow fall. This was at 9am in the morning and there wasn't any snow or ice that were a hazzard to pedestrians or road users alike.

I mentioned it to the lady who runs the library kids group on a Tuesday afternoon on how well this council worked compared to Colchester. "Well" she said with a smile "Let's just say Melford is a very wealthy area. The council can't have the villagers being inconvenienced with a little snow."

I was surprised to hear it from a local but I've been amazed by how much this village is so different to Colchester. This village seems to have so much people power compared to a town. It's just unbelievable that a place with only a population of 3000 (approx) can be so well maintained compared to the 104,000 in Colchester. It's crazy.

Other than the snow, the week began well. The weekend was better.

On Saturday, we left the boys with my mum as we headed off on a kid free day out. Hubby first drove his mum to London. We offered to give her a lift to Wandsworth, central London as she was returning hubby's brother's dogs home. She had been dog sitting all week since bro and sister in law were in America celebrating Thanksgiving with her family. (She's originally from New York). So we took pity on mother in law having to take 2 lively dogs on trains and busses all across London and took them there direct. The dogs were great in the car and slept most of the journey. Once in the right place, we headed off to a furniture superstore to decide what wardrobes we are going to order. We had the idea we'd seen online but wanted to see them in action. That made up our minds 100%.

We then took a trip into the Essex town of Basildon and got a few christmas presents done.

On Saturday we took the kids into Colchester. It was cold, but hadn't started snowing in our neck of the world just yet. Matthew really enjoyed his day. Especially when he got to be photographed with his football teams mascot Eddie The Eagle.

He was so pleased and proud. Love him. Dressed out in the Colchester United club strip, he did look warmer than what I felt. We have got Matthew the football shirt as his main christmas present this year. Matthew seems to be over toys and into nothing more than football, football games on the PS3 and the occassional book. His reading is brilliant, his spelling is rather good, he just needs to master writing. He's trying so hard and I can't ask for more than that but I want him to succeed and hope he gets there soon. I am so proud of that boy.

Sunday I also got to the point I couldn't wait any longer so up went the christmas tree. Matthew even left the PS3 long enough to help me. So the tree this year is kiddy friendly but traditional.

Baubles, presents, crackers, pine cones, candy canes, tinsel, flashing lights and snowflakes adorn the plastic tree. A star sits on the top.

The kids love it. We've already lost a couple of presents as James was curious as to what was inside the shiny giftwrapped boxes but it's all ok for now.

Rosie is becoming a lively little soul. She loves to run round the garden in the snow. She doesn't mind her little paws getting cold and wet. She is doing really well settling in. We do of course have the odd little nip and all that but she's getting there. It will hopefully ease up more so in the coming weeks. I'm looking forward to being able to take her out for walks soon. She needs to get the exercise and is yet to stumble across another dog. But it will all be good once we are up to date on the injections and she can get some proper exercise in.