The School Fete

Along with the Christmas Fayre, today was the most anticipated event in the school year - the Summer Fete!!

For weeks, we have been sending in goodies for the Tombola, unwanted toys and toiletries and then finally cakes, on a home decorated paper plate.

Isaac was brimming with excitement, as officially this was his first school fete.

I have fond memories of watching kids doing gymnastic / karate / majorettes / dance displays in a little ribboned arena, and even the local line dancing troupe taking a turn, but today there was nothing!

Not exactly buzzing is it?

I counted just 10 stalls..........face painting, books, football, tombola, sweets, nerf shooting, burger, jewellery, baby clothing and cakes!!

Oh, and there was a bouncy castle obstacle course thing:

Talk about extortionate.  I had to pay for Isaac to have a go as I had promised him he could go on the Bouncy Castle and it's a good job it wasn't suitable for Eliza and my mindee otherwise it would have cost me so much more.  Whats more, Isaac only wanted to bounce but kept getting told to move on, so only actually got three go's.

Weeeeeeeeeee

There wasn't even a raffle!

So, all in all, we were there less than an hour, and most of that time was taken up waiting for Isaac to get his face painted.

Batman

I did get some bargain books though. 20p each and the Tonka one was brand new in its wrapper!

Come September, when Isaac has moved from Nursery into Reception, I am rejoining the PFA and I am determined that next year will be much better!!

Saturday is Caption Day - 30th June 2012

This week I took Eliza to a farm for the first time.  Can you tell me what she was thinking here?



Our Day out at Farmer Palmers

Yesterday we had a rare respite from the rain, so I decided to take Eliza to Farmer Palmers.

When Isaac was young I had a season pass for Farmer Palmers and use to go on an almost weekly basis.  I didn't renew my membership last year as I didn't have a car and Isaac was a pre-school from 9-12 every morning,  so it made it a challenge to get there.

As Daddy had an unexpected day off yesterday, he was left in charge of the school run so I decided to take Eliza and show her all the fun of the farm.

What I love about Farmer Palmers is the sheer amount of things to do, and the staff are the friendliest and most helpful bunch I have ever met - nothing is too much trouble! 

The first thing we did was have a wander around to see what animals we could see.

Sat on a wooden cow

Fascinated by the noisy Piglets

Eliza and friend meet a Pony





Calves

We then decide to head off and watch the Pig racing.  This is always a good one to watch, and the kids get really involved in cheering their chosen pig on!

I was excited to learn that they have a deer park, and run tours in the afternoon.  Sadly I didn't have time to do it this time, but it is definitley on the to do list for next time.  I did however get to meet these beautiful fawns.

Red Deer fawn

We then went off to have a go on the toy tractors and the bouncy castle.  Much as I tried to influence Eliza that the small tractors she could scoot were much more fun, she prefered being pushed around by mummy on the big ones!

She was having fun - honest!

Scooting along

Farmer Palmers have lots of planned activities for the children too.  You can cuddle a Guinea Pig, feed a lamb or a goat, watch a cow being milked, groom a pony or go for a very bumpy tractor ride etc.  We didn't do all of it today, but certainly plan to go back very soon.

 

Hello Piggy

Stroking a Guinea Pig

Baa!!

Feeding the Goats





We also spent some time in the indoor play area, just to make sure we were really tired!

Ready to slide!

In the Ballpit

It is easy to spend all day at Farmer Palmers as they have a large picnic area, a restaurant serving both hot and cold food - and Cakes!!  They also have a lovely woodland walk, pedal go carts, an outdoor park with swings, slides and playhouses plus a splash park too!!

If you are a Dorset local, or just visiting then I strongly recommend Farmer Palmers as a great day out!  For admission prices go here, but I have reactivated my annual membership for just £39 for the year which I think is very reasonable indeed!

For more news and offers, you can follow Farmer Palmers on twitter or like them on facebook.



Eliza says Goodbye to her new friend

Hands

The theme for this weeks Gallery is Hands.

I have trawled through the hard drive looking for my favourite pictures.  I've found the kids holding hands, holding animals, even our wedding photo but I always get drawn back to this one.

Eliza isn't a hand holder, so when she climbed up on me for a cuddle and held onto my thumb for what felt like forever, my heart melted and I still go all whistful every time I see this picture!

So here it is...........

When Isaac met Katy

I had completely forgotten that the South West Baby Show was on this weekend, and it was only by chance that hubby spotted a tiny article in the local paper that CBeebies star Katy Ashworth would be attending on Sunday.

Now, if you have little people you will know who I am talking about.  Katy is the star of I Can Cook, as well as appearing in the CBeebies Christmas Panto, Justins House and even hosting with Cerrie, Alex, Sid and Andy.

On Sunday morning, I dropped hubby at work and set off for the Heathlands Hotel in Bournemouth to the baby show.  We had a wander around, and I am sorry to say I was mostly unimpressed.  The event appeared to be filled with Baby Swimming classes and silver fingerprint jewellery makers.  I did find a baby ballet class for Eliza though and Isaac had great fun painting at the Creation Station.

Then, it was time for Katy.

The kids were asked to shout her name VERY LOUDLY four times before she bounced into the room.

Katy had the audience eating out of her hand from the first few seconds.  She was bright, bubbly and entertaining with a mix of songs, slapstick and chat, all of which required audience participation.

The show went on for about half an hour and we heard all about her holiday to the Isle of Banana.  She then proceeded to teach us the language of Banana, which as you can imagine the kids found hilarious!!

This is the first time I have seen Isaac properly belly laughing at something.  Even though this picture is a little blurry, I love it as you can see the joy on his little face!

She also told the tale of Billy Goats Gruff and had three audience members participating on the stage as the goats.  She them picked on one of the dads to play the Troll, which was hilarious!

As you can see the little ones were loving every minute.

When she had finished her performance, she was taken off to meet the exhibitors and then it was meet and greet time.

She was so natural with the children, getting off her chair to greet them and make them feel special.  Isaac normally cries if he meets someone from the TV, but this time he was scooped into her arms for a big squeeze whilst she talked to him about his favourite Mike The Knight dragon!

When Isaac met Katy

Eliza on the other hand, wasn't so sure!

Katy even took the time to say Goodbye as we left - what a star!

If you like CBeebies stars, you might also like my interview with Justin Fletcher.

Todo in Tuscany - The Dog at the Villa

You might think that this is the story of Louise Badger and Lawrence Kershaw and their move to

Italy.

It might seem that it was their decision to look for a house in Tuscany

– into which they could move

themselves and begin a new chapter in their lives

– which took them to Poggiolino, in the foothills of

Lucca. But in truth, it is the story of a small, chestnut-haired dog, known as Todo.

Todo was the reason that they put in an offer for the run-down, tired house. Todo was the little

character known across the neighbourhood who introduced Louise and Lawrence to their new

world - albeit a little sooner than they were expecting, as their plans to move were hardly

formulated. Todo it was who proved that such things as loyalty, courage and determination are not

reserved simply for humans.

Poggiolino was built by Carol MacAndrew, the first president of the Music Society of Lucca, and

when she died, her dog simply stayed put. The house stood empty for two years, with Todo

stubbornly refusing all efforts to re-home him.

When Louise and Lawrence viewed the house, his welcome made it seem to them as though they

had arrived home. He lived alone outside the house and his coat was matted and worn, but he

seemed to radiate friendliness. So it was that Todo

– and Signora Teresa, the equally loyal housekeeper

- proved hugely instrumental in the pair's offer for the house being accepted. Both

continued after the purchase to help Louise and Lawrence to settle in.

There followed the frustrations of renovating - of re-connecting the telephone and bringing in the

internet, of packing up and leaving London, whilst continuing to run their music agency, and of

regular travel back and forth from England.

It wasn't easy; the pressures were huge, but the pleasures grew to be enormous. The locals, from

electricians to policemen, and all who knew the previous owner, proved helpful and welcoming -

but time and again doors were opened to them because of the small dog, who seemed to smile at

everyone.

This is the story of love and devotion and of a precious friendship with an extraordinary dog. Part

memoir, part travelogue, part reassurance that moving to another country is possible, this charming

and heart-warming story of rescue and good fortune will raise both smiles and tears.

Louise Badger and Lawrence Kershaw were both born in the UK, but Louise spent her

childhood in Australia while Lawrence grew up in Liverpool. They met through a shared love

of music and were married in 1987. They have run a music agency for over a decade and

divide their time between London and a small village near Lucca.

Mix Tape Monday

Can't believe I haven't seen this before (I must have been living under a rock!).

Welcome to my first Mix Tape Monday.

Yesterday was the 15th Birthday of my gorgeous boy Callan, so I have chosen the number one track from when he was born!

If you want to see what was number one when my others were born, see this link here

The Children's Traffic Club

This week sees the launch of the successful and award winning road safety programme for 3 to 4 year olds ‘The Children’s Traffic Club’. The Club, now in its 20^th year has undergone a two year research process, complete re-brand and a whole content redevelopment into a new digital format – take learning road safety using multi-media to a new level.

Every 3 minutes somewhere in the world a child dies as a result of a road crash and during Child Safety Week, finding ways to keep our ‘little ones’ safer has never been so appropriate. This year’s theme promotes ‘small steps to safety’, which really implies that it only takes a few small steps to help make a child’s environment safer - the Club’s aims and objectives also advocates this throughout all its material.

The Children’s Traffic Club programme helps make learning how to keep safer on our roads ‘fun’ and ‘interactive’! Parents can join their child to the Club for a subscription and will then receive a series of 3 DVD membership packs through the post, one every 4 months. All DVDs are jam-packed full of fun: new character based interactive stories, games, sing alongs, fun sheets, parents guides, activity books and lots of stickers! In total there is 48 weeks’ of membership material for parents to work through with their child on both a PC or DVD player, allowing consideration to those socio groups who may not have easy access to the latest technologies.

The Club is available for families UK wide, but is also funded directly by some Government bodies and Local Authorities: Transport for London (TfL), Welsh Assembly and North Yorkshire County Council. In these areas membership to the Club is already paid for, so parents and children can sign up for free.

A new CTC website will also launch this summer but in the meantime to get a peep at what you get when a child registers to the Club please visit www.trafficclub.co.uk/taster.

Pimp your Crib Baby Competition

 My gorgeous friend Fleurie has pointed me in the direction of this fabulous competition.

Sadly it is not for me, as my children's bedrooms are in serious need of pimping, but I though I would share it with all of you as I know I have a very talented bunch of followers!

Colief Infant Drops is calling on mums and dads across the UK and Ireland to stand up and celebrate the love, design talent and sheer hard work they’ve put into creating their little one’s room at home. Is your nursery every young girl’s dream or every baby boy’s paradise? Have you enjoyed letting your imagination run wild? Most importantly, do you think your baby’s nursery could inspire other idea-hungry mums and dads?

Colief’s ‘Comfy Cribs’ competition launches online on its new Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ColiefUKIE) on 6th June 2012, inviting parents to share inspiring photos of their little one’s nursery. To enter, simply like the page and follow the instructions to upload your picture, along with a short comment (50-100 words) on the inspiration, or key features, behind your look.

Colief, used by parents for reducing hours of crying caused by colic, have launched the search for the most ‘Comfy Cribs’ to not only showcase everybody’s design talent but importantly, to celebrate how loving families everywhere put their child’s comfort first when they create a special place of their own within the home.

For your chance to win one of three £500 Mothercare vouchers and have your design promoted as the best in the land across the media, simply visit the new Colief Facebook page and follow the instructions to upload your image from 6th June.

Celia Sawyer of Channel 4’s Four Rooms is a mother of two and interior designer to the stars: “A baby’s nursery is often seen as a sanctuary by parents, so a lot of time and energy is put in to making it the perfect place for their little one. Trends today are leaning towards continuity with the rest of the home, so if you like contemporary there is no reason why your little ones nursery can’t be contemporary. People tend to opt for less typical ‘baby colours’ and are being more adventurous, so trends are going against decorating their nursery with the theming of well known characters, with parents adding their own personal touch instead.”

The judges are looking for entries in 3 categories:

·         Best Boy’s Crib 2012

·         Best Girl’s Crib 2012

·         Most Creative Crib 2012

Prizes
The closing date for entries is Monday 6th August, when a shortlist of finalists in each category will then be selected by the Colief judging panel. Pictures of the finalists’ nurseries will then be shared on the Colief Facebook page for the public to choose the overall winners by voting through ‘liking’ their favourite entry. The winners of each category will be announced on 17th September 2012.

The prize for each category is £500 Mothercare vouchers, inclusion in a regional and national media campaign and an invitation to join Colief’s influential Mum’s Panel, sharing advice with other mums.

Sharon Skelton from Colief said, “Excessive crying is one of the main symptoms of colic, which can make it a difficult condition for families to manage. Although colic usually passes by the time baby is six months old, whilst the baby is in distress it is really important, for both the parents and the child’s wellbeing, to try and find as many ways as possible to offer comfort. We hope the ‘Comfy Cribs’ competition will inspire parents with new ways to comfort their baby on any budget.”

Priced at £11.99, Colief is available from pharmacies nationwide. For help and advice, call the Colief Infant Drops Helpline on (0800) 0281187 or visit www.colief.com. For more information and support from Cry Sis – visit http://www.cry-sis.org.uk/ or call the Cry Sis helpline on 08451 228 669 ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions

Why I love twitter!

I didn't got to Britmums Live, even though I really really wanted to, but I followed events on twitter and instagram.

One thing that really caught my eye was a post that was delivered by @dorkymum in the keynotes speech called Twitter is Like.  It completely sums up Twitter for me, and I love the analogy that it is like an "Extra room in your house"

It has made me want to write about why I love twitter.

I joined Twitter on 9th February 2009 and have been tweeting 3 years, 4 months, 1 week, 3 days, 7 hours, 53 seconds at the time of writing this post.

I am the first to admit I didn't "get it" at first.  I initially followed celebrities, but they don't interact and chat.  Although I did get excited when I got mentions from Stephen Fry and Jason Manford!

By 2010 I finally understood twitter and was falling in love with it, but I mainly followed football and Chelsea related things, so it was all about the banter!  I quickly became one of #Brightysbabes - a group of women whom all entered @Mark__Bright football related competitions and started to make some friends whom I chatted with on an almost daily basis.

In January 2011, Eliza came along.  I had a twitter birth, but hadn't yet discovered the Mummy Blogger thing - that came about thanks to the #3amfc.  I couldn't sit and feed Eliza without my phone nearby so I got chat to fellow mums in the same boat and was introduced to such a wonderful world of support, advice and chat!

The thing about twitter, is it is instant.  If you are having a bad day there is always someone there to offer a kind word of support or sympathise.  If you have something to celebrate, people celebrate with you.  Parenting can be a challenge and even if you are surrounded by people you can still feel alone, but with twitter there is always some out there who just understands how you are feeling.

I have made real life friends on twitter too - one whom lives just a few yards from me (yes really) and some whom live miles away yet have been so helpful and kind.

What's more is that some amazing opportunities have come my way through twitter.  Thanks to @EnglishMum my son was a Player Escort at Wembley - one of my proudest moments as a parent ever!

On the pitch at Wembley (Kian is with Yaya Toure)

I have been lucky enough to win some other great competitions and have been introduced to some fab new products which I would never have found any other way!

And then there is the introduction to blogging.........but that is one for an entirely new post!

So, thank you twitter. Thank you for the football banter, the support, the chat and most of all for finding friendships that would otherwise not exist!

A Trip to France

We have known about it for almost a year, but it still creeps up on you incredibly fast.

First, there is the draining of funds - paying a little bit (or quite a lot) each month until the balance is paid.

Then there is the requests for more money, for extra excursions.

Then the meetings.  Teachers, parents and students - all excited and a little nervous.  Who is going to share a room with who, what are the rules, where are they going.

What am I talking about - the dreaded school trip abroad!!!!

I should be an old pro at these, with my older two have been on school trips, but you do worry with every single one, especially as there has been some well publicised accidents recently.

We wouldn't stop any child going on school trip though, unless we couldn't afford it.  I have fond memories of visiting Ypres when I was Kian's age, given a little bit more freedom to explore without my parents watching over me.

So, on Tuesday morning, my alarm went off at 4.30am to wake me up so I could take Kian to school for 5.15am.  Being a typical tween, it took me three attempts to wake him up, but one strong cup of tea later we were raring to go.

We arrived at school bang on time, and he quickly paired off with his group of friends.  Us Mums were moaning about the early set off time, and some were even planning on going back to bed!

Excited boy!

The coach driver was lovely.  Bantering with the kids as he loaded their cases into the coach.  The teachers busied themselves with making sure they had first aid supplies, sick buckets and other such paraphernalia close to hand and then it was time to go.

I was surprised to get a kiss and a hug, and then he was off............2 nights and 3 days without mum and dad watching over him.

Travelling in style

Bye kids - have fun!

He was packed off with his mobile phone, instructed to text when they got to the Ferry, but not to use it too often when abroad as it would cost a lot of money.  We heard nothing for the entire trip.

Some of the other mums have children still in the Primary School and I was drip-fed information from them.  They had had a good crossing, the boys rooms were better than the girls and the food was a bit rubbish (apart from the breakfast), so I knew everything was OK.

Nevertheless, we text him to say we were missing him.  Isaac took it the worst - he kept asking when his brother was coming home!  It is impossible not to worry - was he behaving, was he having fun, was he home sick, has he put suncream on??

On the day he was due home, we were pre-occupied with taking the little ones to see In the Night Garden Live, and then an early meal out for my birthday.  At 10pm hubby finally left home to meet the coach back at the school.

They finally got back at 11pm, feeling ill as the crossing back had been very rough!  Apparently 90% of the class had been sick at least once and they were too scared to visit the cinema in the Ferry as the waves were crashing too noisily on the side of the boat.

I got a big hug and a kiss and off he went to bed, exhausted.

Standing in a bomb crater

We have had lots of stories of what they saw - The Normandy beaches, bomb craters, museums, The Bayeux Tapestry etc and some truly stunning photographs too - history has come alive, and playing even playing his favourite army type games now has an added understanding to the horrors of war!

Was it worth all the worry

Hell Yes!!

Oh - and apparently his phone had no signal!