Family Update April 2012

HI!!!!!!

Oh hello, yes, I still exist, I am just uber busy these days.

I don't need to tell you how full my days are, you just get the idea.

So..... It's been a good old week.

A few things of development to report.

1) Liam is potty training.

My BABY is giving it all a go. How can this be? So SOON? He's my BABY of the 3. Eek.

On Saturday I took off his nappy in the morning to change him and James had left his potty out in the front room. James will always use the toilet when he can but he is far more comfortable doing number 2's in the potty so we keep it to hand in case we need it. Liam has been showing a slight interest for a little while so he goes over and sits on it. The tiniest little trickle was heard, he stood up and looked so proud of himself as he realised what he had done. So I asked if he needed more wee-wee and he sat back down and did a fair bit more. As if that wasn't clever in itself, he then picked up the potty and tipped it down the downstairs toilet and flushed it. Someone really has been taking tips from his big brother!

The same day we let him choose his own special potty for this new little challenge in child development.

Since then, it's been less than successful. 2 puddles on the floor for a couple of days and nothing new in the potty just yet.

As they say, Rome wasn't built in a day and it took James months to master the art of potty/toilet training but we are on our way. Liam just needs to learn how it feels when he needs to go.

2) James now dresses himself.

 He is at that point now where he LOVES to be independent. This week the newest stage of this is insisting on dressing himself. He does not accept any help offered and to be honest, he does a great job of it. Only once has he had something on back to front  and when I pointed it out, he very quickly managed to fix the problem himself.

3) I sacked my driving instructor!

Last Friday I went on a two hour drive with hubby for practice in the car. I did REALLY well in comparison to the first time I did this. It gave me a lot of encouragement and hubby was great. It did pinpoint to him how much I was NOT learning with my instructor. I admit, that the last few lessons with him has been crap. I don't feel like I am learning anything and at times it even feels like I am going backwards. Hubby explained WHY we do certain things when driving rather than just telling me to do it. I felt I learnt more in 2 hours with hubby than I did in 2 months with Driving Instructor. My DI was really annoying me. In the past 3 months he has changed 4 lessons because he has had something else come up and it was really beginning to grate on me that his priorities tended to lie elsewhere. He knew I had to work round hubby's shift work so changing my lessons often meant I could go 3 to 4 weeks between lessons which is no good for anyone. He has 2 other jobs, one as a school bus driver, the other as a van driver. He's made it clear that his driving school has seen better days and that he makes more money with the van work. It started ringing alarm bells. His attention is slipping from driving and I feel like it's being dragged out. I am incredibly fed up of his attitude and feeling that this was the last thing he wanted to be doing so decided it would be better for me to part company. Afterwards I discovered he is actually the most expensive instructor in the area. Another reason to quit the habit with him. I am now looking to book a new instructor. I am not quitting, I am making a change.

4) Liam has a new date for his operation.

Liam's operation has been rescheduled for May 18th. That's 3 weeks today! They will look to see if his inguinal hernia has returned and fix it if that is the case. The more I see it, the more and more I believe I am right on this. I have no doubt in my mind that this is the problem, so hopefully this time in 3 weeks, all will be resolved and we will have some answers.

5) Hubbys job is going from strength to strength.

As well as the annual payrise of 3% hubby got a further 5% for his extra training he's done, for his new levels of expertise and for generally doing well at his job. He is currently doing a home learning University course helping him to progress with work. He also worked with a boss who is high up in the company (2 bosses above his boss) who recommended that he looks out for jobs in middle management as oppertunities arise. Hubby said this boss is looking for a sort of apprentice to back on the move up the career ladder. Money would be VERY good if this sort of oppertunity arose. It's good to be in a career where you can progress and hubby needs a job that is challenging so this is perfect for him.

6)  Matthew no longer has a girlfriend. They broke up because he wanted to play football all the time apparently.

7)  James had a big day at school on Tuesday.

He stayed for lunch club and had his first school dinner. I had to pick him up at 1pm instead of the usual 11.45 but he loved every minute. He spent his time playing with a girl called Keira, she is now his girlfriend.

Kids are just too cute at this age!

I am sure there are other things I have missed out on but I need to update more often and I need to jot down all the funny little anecdotes my children give out daily. They are such funny little people!

Legoland - The Photos

ELEVEN days since my last post. Oh wow. I think that's a new blog record!

My only defense is it was school holidays and I had tonsilitus from Easter Friday until this weekend. It's a horrible horrible complaint and I did suffer. Eugh. Hubby was off  the second week of the school holidays and we ARE  a rather active family.

Last Wednesday we were away for the night. Matthew stayed at my nans and we took the two boys to Legoland. The ticket was valid for 2 days so we spent the night near to London's Heathrow airport. The kids LOVED Legoland. It's more of a theme park than I ever imagined it would be.

I got nearly 300 photo's but I know Blogger won't cope with that, so here's a few of my favourites and the story behind the pictures.

 At 88-89cm tall, Liam was just under the 90cm limit for alot of the rides. However, my baby did not miss out on much. Many of the rides were suitable for toddlers as long as they were accompanied.

 One ride he loved was a moving boat ride. The boat had a full Lego look and he even got a go at steering.

 James' favourite ride was the Little Learners Driving school. It was aimed at 3-5 year olds. There was also one for bigger kids but James loved driving.

Little James was one of the smallest kids on the ride both times he went for a drive and found steering difficult but he was so proud of himself for doing it. James got a Lego driving license at the end of the session. So my 3 yr old has beaten me to become an official licensed driver! ;)

 James and daddy in the queue for a mini rollercoaster. I especially love this picture as it is VERY rare James will pose properly for the camera and in this smile, you can just see how magical he found the theme park experience. And yes, that is a Lego Star Wars jumper.

On the Dragon Coaster, James looked terrified the first time round but by the time he came round the second time, he was smiling and joining in with the fun.

We do love our trips to London. Here is the London Eye.  Look closely and you will see, it is made of Lego. All the surrrounding buildings are made of Lego. The WHOLE sightseeing places of London was made into a big London cityscape. It was amazing.

 Lego Big Ben!

Lego London Cityscape. From front left clockwise, The Tower Of London, London Eye, Westminster (Big Ben and Parliament), The BT tower, St Pauls Cathedral.

Liam and I went on this ride when we were alone and James and daddy were queuing for another ride. This was great, even for someone like me who hates heights. Yes, I am a big wuss!

James Loved the mini helicopter ride.

When Liam couldn't go on a ride he was so patient and loved watching as much as taking part. He is such a little cherub!

There are plenty more photos to see if you are friends with me on faceboook that you are welcome to look through but these are the ones I like most.

This trip did us all good. Matthew had the oppertunity to come but he's not into Lego and opted to visit Manchester Uniteds Stadium - Old Trafford - later in the year for his special day out. Liam got back into the habit of sleeping in his own bed and it's been improving since we got home. He wants someone to sit with him until he falls asleep then he's fine. He had started off waking 3-4 times in the night for the first couple of days but last night we were down to waking up just the once.

Friday, we left the boys with my mother in law and went off to that grand old Grown Ups "theme park" they call Ikea. We've needed a new matress since we moved house and last weekend we finally got it. MIL stayed for dinner and looked after the kids in the evening so hubby and I could go out for a couple of drinks. We ended up joining up with a few other friends and had a very nice night out indeed.

A Lesson in iPhone and Blogger Combined.

I learnt a valuable lesson yesterday evening regarding my iPhone.

Be very careful when looking at blogger in this format.

It is very easy to accidentally change the language.........

..........To Arabic.

It's incredibly HARD to get out of it since it's not the letters you and I are used to.

In the end after 40 minutes and a bit of help from googling "Blogger change language" they gave me a link directly into the personalise settings.

Good work, I think to myself.

But it wasn't over then.

Most of the options are STILL written in arabic.

Thankfully there was an option to translate to French - It was the only recognisable word.

I then had to repeat the google process to get the "anglais" option (luckily I remember a touch of French from my school days to get Blogger back to how it should be.

Oh and of course, hubby was on the pc, not that the characters would have been any different as it's a linked account and I'd have still been clicking blind so to speak.

The moral of this story???

It's very easy on touchscreen to press the wrong thing in comparison to a click or two of the mouse.I think I'll stick to blogger via PC from now on.

Thinking About Religion.

If you have strong views on Religion in any form, feel free to skip this post. It's more a thinking out loud post. It's not intended to cause offence to any person of any faith but this is where I am with religion and why. Religion and politics are always the things people will disagree on in life

I know I have said it many times before but I am far from what you would call a religious woman. My parents and maternal grandparents are non believers and as for my paternal grandparents, I think my nan was but not my grandad so much. However, I find the whole idea of Religion and Faith very humbling. All the religions have such basic and decent morals behind them.

Different upbringings bring in very many different ideas but the general idea is that we should all treat others as we wish to be treated. To live well, to treat others fairly, to love one another, to not commit crimes, to respect others beliefs and wishes.

Last Friday was Matthews Easter church service and I went along with the boys. They are both at an age where they can begin to sit through something like this. James has been ready for a while but Liam is just getting there. The Church, as I have explained repeatedly, is a beautiful church. The above photo was taken at the entrance for the Harvest Festival last year, Liam would not have sat through that at the time but the entrance hall is stunning on close inspection.

Inside is just as stunning. I sat on the other side of the pillars on the left with the two boys (there's another 2 rowed aisle hidden from this picture) and they were really good.

The school kids told the Easter story with a mixture of readings, prayers and songs. It was beautiful and incredibly moving.

Whether you follow this religion, the story is a devestating tale of hurt, betrayal, despair and loss. I know proper Christians rejoice more in the Ressurrection but the story to that is very sad. It really did make me think and for quite some time afterwards. (Obviously as I am still thinking about it as I write one week on)

Other religions have similar grounds to their stories, of a certain person as a religious figure who became martyrs of their faith and the "second in command" figure to the chosen "God" that religion focusses on.

Belief is something I wish I had more of.

Faith is something I find in other ways. Science creates and explains so much more than it ever did as we discover more and more and understand it all that little bit more but I loved the whole church thing.

I know I sound a hypocrite being a non practicing Christian (I was Christened as a baby by the way - it was still quite a popular thing to do in the UK in the 80's) to love the church environment, the atmosphere, the radiance and glow it creates as it draws together a whole community.

I am looking forward to the Christmas service now and I believe that all kids should grow up knowing the real reasons behind our religious holidays. It's an important part of life whatever your religious background.

As more and more religions are becoming a bigger part of British Society we are seeing more Temples,  Synagogues and Mosques than ever. In certain areas of London and Birmingham Christianity is the lesser
practiced religion as the British become less and less religious. The minority religions total up more than the Christianity followers which is sad and whilst I accept all religions and their tales I also think that the local kids should be bought up knowing about British heritage and that DOES include religion. We were always a Christian country.

I am not blaming the immigrants who come over and continue their traditions on foreign soil, but those of us who are not doing enough to keep the religions, history, heritage and traditions circulating. It's no good blaming others.

So, whilst my kids are going to be eating FAR too much chocolate this Easter weekend, I have that traditional story in my mind as it does create a whole range of emotion through such a simple story that has been told for hundreds and hundreds of years.

The ONLY real argument I have against religion (besides believing that in the early years of religion they looked for answers and Science wasn't as advanced as it is now) is that if a modern day person came along saying they were a messanger of any "God" or  "Supreme Being/Energy" from any religion were to come along now then they would be branded a cult leader. People in the olden times before Science looked for answers, they believed what they were told (and yes, I do believe we are just as bad now but in a different way - it's human nature) and were given a path in life to follow.

However, why did only a set number of religions survive?

Why do different denominations of a larger religion vary so much on practices? (ie Catholics are much stricter than other practicing Christians)

The Romans had separate Gods for separate purposes. Then alot of the Roman Empire was taken over by Christianity. How many years did it really take for the belief of all those Gods to die out.

What other religions were out there but not documented as well as the ones we recognise and see today?

Ya know, I REALLY want to believe more, I really want to find the answers to the worlds age old questions but I don't think I will see it in my lifetime.

If there is an afterlife whether it be Heaven, Paradise, Reincarnation or simply death being it for us mere mortals, I just hope it shows that I did my best in this life to give love, be a good person and did what I could to be kind to others and went through life with an open mind and an open heart and a lot of respect for Holy tales. They do teach us so much in their own way.

So to all blog friends, whatever your beliefs, I wish you all a special weekend whatever you do.

In The Fields

Look at this lovely little yellow flowery thing I spotted in a field this week!

A field that is HUGE.

 Near to where I live we have 7 or 8 big fields of this, and I mean big fields. It covers a good number of acres.

It's incredibly close to my house too.

I pretty much live where the white house is in the mid section of the buildings on the left so you could say I live within a couple of hundred meters of this.

In the next few weeks it will grow into a field like this (car not included):

Ah, the beautiful British countryside hey??

NO!!!! NOT AT ALL!!!!

This is an evil field and will put a dampener on the summer months. Especially around harvest.

This is rapeseed. Rapeseed is a MAJOR allergen and this will cause me a really bad case of hay fever this year. Rapeseed allergy is even noted in England as being more than just hay fever and has it's own classification of allergies and that it is classified as a "polluter" to the British public. Some even call it Rapeseed Syndrome. Though many people will be unaffected by the little yellow flowers that give off a slight scent and fumes, those of us who do get the side effects will experience the following:

Flu like Symptoms
Asthma like Symptoms
Sore itchy eyes
Headaches
Conjunctivitis
Sinus infections
Skin Disorders
Puffy sore eyes
Wheezing

And that's just a few of the possible 32 side effects.

A couple of weeks back, I actually pulled a root out of the ground to try and guess what the green field was and to whether there was anything growing underground. No signs at all as to what it was. Within a few minutes, the top of my hand, where it had brushed a leaf of the bush had me with a load of little blister like bumps so I won't be touching it again ever.

Though I haven't experienced this yet this year, when we moved here 2 years ago I had the worst case of "hay fever" I had in my life. Blaming the surrounding area for it's increase in pollen, I put up with it as much as I could before buying something in a chemist. The harvest was almost unbearable.

It was a rapeseed year. That's why it was worse than ever before. This year I will be visiting my GP to get some proper relief.

The farmers work on a 2 year rotation.

The field nearer my house is just like grass at the moment and last year it was wheat or corn (the grain, not sweetcorn)  I believe. That didn't cause any trouble whatsoever so I am interested to see what the green grass like thing turns out to be this year.

So whilst I am looking forward to summer, I am also looking ahead to a possible summer on prescription.

What Being A Mum Means To Me.

There is another post back one if you missed it. I'm on a roll writing 2 days in a row. It's been a long long time since I did that. :)
 
I am the first to admit that I go through blogging stages where some weeks I have no time on my hands whatsoever then occassionally the oppertunity arises I find I DO have time to blog. But then I am stuck with "Bloggers Block". If authors can get "Writers Block" then I think "Bloggers Block" must also exist.

I am a blogger that generally surveys my family life and my surroundings. I don't write to create arguments, I don't write to try and get as many followers as possible, what my blog is is simply ME and how I see the world. I love new people popping by, I would love new followers and comments by new people or lurkers but it's not the main reason why I blog.

So, it's My World......

The world is a truly magnificent place in my eyes. There will always be those who go through hardships and being the optimist that I am, I see many of these people come out the other side. By no means have I had an easy life, I've been through some rather nasty situations over the years but for every hardship there is a silver lining and part of human nature is to thrive for something better.

I love reading other blogs. I don't always comment as I don't always have time but I do have my favourites with whom I try to comment on regularly if not every post. If I don't comment, there's still a good chance I read, just have little time for anything else.

The world is an ever changing place. There is constantly new patterns emerging. New trends, new friends, new life come out of both real life and fellow bloggers.

I am currently reading a few pregnancy blogs, some related to infertility but many of those have found that silver lining. Some are having less than easy pregnancies, some have even welcomed their little ones from singular births to triplets to this big wide world earlier than they should have arrived but it's good to see them doing well.

For others, every day is closer to holding a long awaited baby.

Now, whilst I understand that many have not had easy pregnancies at times - these are such special times and days that should be incredibly cherished.

In the blink of an eye your baby becomes 2 and a half years old. That's right, somehow, my little Liam is now nearer 3 years old than 2.

As much as I LOVE reading in on the pregnancies and all the excitement surrounding a new birth, I know my baby days are very much over.

I look back with much fondness on my pregnancies. Though the second and third pregnancies were not exactly plain sailing, I LOVED being pregnant.

With James I was admitted to hospital bleeding and the panic set off contractions. I was 30 weeks. An overnight stay and I was sent off home as contractions stopped as did the bleeding. They never got to the bottom of what caused it and despite closer monitoring I never had another hospital visit until the morning he was born.

With Liam, at first I couldn't get excited about the pregnancy. James was very young and very early in the pregnancy I had very sharp lower stomach pains. I couldn't rest knowing how severe the pains were. Again, the doctor couldn't say why I was in that pain and because I never bled, I really didn't know what was going on in there. I was very anxious when it came to the 12 weeks scan. I was prepared for a missed miscarriage but seeing a little 12 week old "baby" with a precious little heartbeat greeted us on the screen.

As the pregnancy progressed I was tested for everything from Gestational Diabetes to Pre-Eclampsia as he was measuring bigger and my blood pressure would vary hugely from each visit to the midwife.

The fears and scares turned out to be ill founded and when I look at my little people, they truly were all entirely worth it. Those 9 months go very very fast! (Faster if they arrive before their due date)

When they do arrive, some do it quietly without much fuss - my 3 certainly did, others enter the world in a more dramatic way but once that little person or persons are here then that's when life really begins.

Nothing prepares you properly for motherhood. Books and people may be on hand for advice but every child is different and so is every mother. I prefer the laid back approach, letting the babies feed on demand, letting them learn independence early on (ie, putting them in a bouncer to do housework is FAR easier than trying to drag them around with you in a sling) to let them develop at their own pace. I never did baby massage though it's incredibly trendy these days, I just gave them alot of love and affection with cuddles, playing games and tickling. All for free.

Everyone takes on motherhood in their own way. Nothing is right or wrong. Sometimes we get it right. Sometimes we won't and that doesn't make us any less of a mother, just a human one.

Having a baby is whole new life of learning and no babies are the same so what works for one may not necessarily work for another. You need to get to know your own child rather than base all your knowledge on another child. My 3 boys for instance are very very different in character and great fun in their own little ways.

There's never a right or wrong path with kids, but it's a whole new journey. It won't always be easy but it's one of the most rewarding things in the world when you see your baby grow and become a little person of their own.

So, whilst I do reminisce about pregnancy and the excitement that surrounds the impending arrival, these days are just as fabulous watching that little life you helped create come into their own as a real little person. Things change and I am never fearful of change, you just need to be able to adapt and that makes it all that much easier.

The new-born days really don't last long then the stages come and go in the blink of an. The rolling, the sitting up, the crawling, walking, the first tooth (teething is not something I miss), first immumisations, eating solids, growing out of clothes, growing out of toys, growing out of the highchair, potty training, nurseries, As much as this list looks crazy these milestones soon come round.

Enjoy every moment of pregnancy and baby-ness. It really does just fly by.

For those still trying, my deepest best wishes are continuously with you to experience this amazing adventure!!!! 

The Day My Sons Met The Queen - Well, Almost.

Liam was taken to the hospital as planned last week for his op. We saw the nurse, the surgeon, and the consultant. Were admitted for the day. Liam had his heart rate checked, his temperature taken and some nice tags put around his wrist and ankle. Then along comes the anaesthetist. At this point, Liam coughs. This is the first time he has coughed in 3 days. She doesn't like the sound of it and checks his chest with her stephoscope and announces that she wouldn't be happy giving him anaestetic in this condition and advised us to go home. The previous night we told the hospital he had a cough and cold and they couldn't see why that would put off surgery but this woman thought otherwise. Frustrated we left and are now awaiting yet another appointment.

So on Saturday we decided to take the kids to London again for a treat and show them a little more of the sights. The boys loved the trains as always and Liam and James act like they use the tube every single day.

They are so happy and relaxed on the trains. It suits them. :)

Liam particularly loves the escalators in and out of stations.

Some stations have 3 of these!!! The general rule in London is to stand to the right so people can ascend or descend the stairs (depending if you are exiting or entering the system). Liam absolutely loved it.

Our first stop in London was to Hamleys Toy Shop. Once the biggest toy shop in Europe, it boasts of 5 floors of toys. It IS big.

This year they have a new addition of a bigger Lego department. This year is also the celebration of The Queens Diamond Jubilee (60 years on the throne for Her Royal Highness) and they have gone all out with models made from Lego to commemorate such an event.

This explains how my 2 sons got a photo with The Queen. Ha!

 Here we have the Lego copy of the Crown that she wore on her Coronation back in 1952.

And here we have a re-enactment of last years Royal Wedding also created using Lego. On the left is Prince Charles, then Kate Middleton, Proce William and Prince Harry. Amongst them are some fools who got in the way of my photo.

After the toy shop we jumped on a tube to Westminster and saw the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben the world famous clock!

Unfortunately, the weather was very very grey (Welcome to England) and doesn't show just how much gold is used in this building. You can just get an idea of it around the clock face.

I particularly liked the above picture as it does show everything that is Iconic of London. Parliament, Big Ben, the Red Bus and a Hackney cab - a pay as you go taxi. This style of cab is usually only found in London. This view was across Westminster Bridge as we stood closer to:

The London Eye. I never realised just how big this thing is. It's amazing. Each "pod" can hold up to 20 people. Though we didn't go on it, we got very close but we know it's not over-priced should we visit London again on a sunnier day, it would certainly be in the running on what we can do.

Closer up, it's still as breathtaking:

Matthew was very impressed to have his photo taken in front of the old traditional Routemaster bus. These are no longer in public service as all busses in the Capital have to be Wheelchair friendly so this is now a rare old bus. Just look at the nice little cabin for the bus driver.

We then hopped on a train to the O2 arena. We went there before and Matthew loved it. We met up with hubbys mum and sister before going to a chinese buffet in the area surrounding the arena. That night, it was St Patricks Day and the big show for the night was The Commitments.

The O2 looks much better at night than it does during the day:

We got home rather late that night but the kids had the best time.

Sunday was Mothers Day and I got a lovely pair of cards made in school with flowers on them and a card daddy picked up at the shop. I also got a couple of jigsaw puzzles and one of those big jigsaw transporter/safe keeping folder so I can start bigger puzzles and leave them out without fear of the kids dinner being spilt on it or Liam taking apart the pieces. Jigsaws are a rare treat for mums, it's one of those things you take for granted when you don't have kids. haha.

We had my mother in law round for Sunday lunch and had a relatively easy day.

On Tuesday we had a trip to neighbouring village Lavenham as hubby had a doctors appointment there. Our two surgeries are linked so if we can't get in at Melford, we go over to Lavenham. The weather was beautiful and I couldn't resist a "first day of Spring" picture.

I have a little more to say but since this is a pic heavy post, I will save it for another day. Wishing one and all a wonderful weekend.

Poorly Babes, Op Week and Stratford - Home of the 2012 Olympics

The little people have all been poorly little people.

James got hit the hardest with a cold/flu like bug. Real fever, real sleepiness and exhaustion. The cold didn't come out until the last couple of days but he was off school for the whole of last week. Matthew has been off with it today but seems fine. Liam hasn't had it too bad. A cough, runny nose but now he has lost his voice.

A nice little dose of laryngitis to end a cold. Normally, a voiceless Liam is nothing to worry about. This week, I am VERY worried about it. Liam is having his operation on Friday. He HAS to be well. I am hoping his little voice comes back quick. Today is day 2 of voicelessness. He is well in every other way but has no vocal ability. A couple of nights in a row he was crying for long periods wanting to not go to bed. He only settled with me or hubby in our own bed. There's a point where this is ok for short term but when they expect it every night, it becomes a strain having 3 in the bed and when the smallest person takes up the most room, keeps waking up, keeps kicking you in the back and generally disturbing one's own nights sleep, then small person should be in small persons own bed and not lying beside mummy like so.

So for part of Thursday, Friday and Saturday we left him in his room, hoping he would fall asleep by himself eventually. Sometimes you have to leave little ones to cry and show who is boss. Of course, LIAM is boss as we gave in every night, there's only so much crying you can put up with and it's not fair on James trying to sleep in the room where Liam is giving it all with his vocal cords.

Sunday morning, Liam was rather squeaky sounding with very little noise coming out at all. He can't cry apart from a small "mew" type sound and sounds very breathy. He is well apart from this, eating well and playing as normal. He just needs his voice back. Today it was still missing, but I'm sure he's a little louder and less squeaky than yesterday. We just need him ok by Friday.

As for the actual procedure itself, I am not completely up with the details. As far as I know it's a tiny incision to use a smaller camera to take a look at what may be causing the problem. Hence why it's called investigative surgery. I don't know what will happen if it is a hernia return. If they can fix it there and then or if they will put us upon another waiting list. We should only be in a matter of hours and home the same day. I just hope all goes smooth enough to  run to plan and we will find out more about after care afterwards I should imagine.

The rest of life appears to be going well. We spent two weekends running visiting a new shopping centre in London.

Westfield Stratford is the biggest shopping centre in London. There are streets upon streets that are famous names, every zone of London has it's "High Street" and town centre. But with the density of London, the shopping centres are outside of London itself. The reason this now exists is because Stratford is undergoing a MAJOR rejuvenation at the moment. This is hubbys photo from one of the viewing platforms in the Center:

The white structure in the background with the white little triangles in the air (though I appreciate it isn't easy to see with the lovely grey skies of England) belong to the main Olympic Stadium.

Security getting into this shopping centre and the Olympic Village is IMMENSE. I have never seen anything like it. You drive through the Village where the competitors will be staying, pass some sports arenas and the main arena to get to the car park. On the 2-3 mile journey we are surrounded by electric fences, security checkpoints and security camera on high every 20 meters. The place IS secure and amazing. The effort that has gone into all this is just crazy.

We didn't do much in the way of shopping, we just like to explore new places.

On Satuday night I won a prize draw through facebook. One of the local pubs in the village chose me to be the winner of a £20 gift voucher for said pub for simply liking their facebook page. Wow! I am incredibly happy. The pub is fairly expensive being in our trendy little villate so hubby and I will have a treat sometime next week. It's pointless trying to get out this weekend as here in good old Blighty, it is Mothers Day on Sunday. I have no idea what to get my mum or mother in law yet but hope to venture into town with Liam tomorrow whilst the two big boys are at school.