Countdown

Even Star decided to remind me how long I have left this morning. Seems a long time but tonight Mollie is staying over (so tomorrow won't get much done) and Christmas eve we are off to a panto, so today is really my last day to get organised, Eeek!

Tbh there isn't too much to do. Mum and I are going shopping for the veg and last minute bits tomorrow night and I think the kids gifts are pretty even. Camerons pile is smaller than Caitlins though as we spent more on him I'm not going to panic about it. Cameron doesn't bother about that anyway and got to stop somewhere! Mainly cleaning need to try and get done, and make sure the rooms are ready for the toys that will soon be filling them. Wish me luck on that one!
Picked this up the other day and thought I'd share it. Most shops have reduced their Christmas stuff already so some great bargains to be found. I got this in Clintons, each of the silver figures at the top has a name on, Mark, Cameron etc and when you light the candle they slowly spin round :) I wish they had a less Christmasy one as would be nice to keep out all year but oh well :)

Funny comment from Cameron today

Cameron - Mummy did you know I was psychic?
Me - Oh yeah?
Cameron - Yeah, I can read my own mind!

Not long left!

Yesterday when we were shopping we found these selection boxes which I thought were a great idea. Rather than having sweets in it was dried fruit and fruit and oat bars, all healthy, good for you stuff. Obviously nobody else agreed because there was a huge shelf of them reduced to 75% off lol. Got a couple for the kids though and Star brought them this morning and picked out a DVD for them to watch this afternoon while Mummy gets on with jobs.

That was the idea anyway. Last night Caitlin developed an odd rash on her face and hands. The one on her face looked a little like a bite and the one on her hands seemed to me to be due to washing her hands so often now we have the pup, and its dried out her skin. Anyway we decided it wasn't a big worry and agreed to just keep an eye on it. This morning when she got up she looked fine, shortly after breakfast she complained her stomach hurt :s Lots of tears and panic later she seems to be ok and is cuddling with Scamp on the couch but little concerned. Can't think of a single thing which causes rash and a sore stomach but seems a bit of a coincidence both happened if unrelated iykwim.

Anyway better get on while kids are quiet!

Last day!

Today was the kids last day at School so Star decided to wrap their uniforms up as a trick lol

Well as it was the last time we'd have no kids before Christmas so we decided, along with half of Corby it seemed, to go and get some shopping while we could. OMG it was mobbed! It was like it usually is when I go Saturday afternoon, crazy! Took us ages to do it all then nearly fainted when it came to over £100! Was a big cleaning shop though, washing powder, shampoos, plus stocking up the medicine cupboard and first aid kit. So after all that we get home and I realise I forgot the eggs for pancakes tomorrow morning. Whoops.
On a good note thought I got my slot for the next sale!!!!! I LOVE the next sale and always spend a fortune. Worth it though as I get the kids all the clothes they need for the next year, I save a little bit over the months to pay for it, just in time for the next Next sale :)
After making my shopping list for my slot on Sunday night it was time to go see the kids sing at the church. I'm not religious but seeing them sing and all the candles lit was very emotional and I admit I shed a tear, was special really as next year Cam will be at juniors and they don't do nativities or anything there as they're too big. :( Got to make the most of it while he is still my baby! So excited to have them home now, let the Christmas fun begin!

Coke truck!

Well after a very early night I'm feeling much better this morning :) Obviously after spending most of the day with mark Star took a leaf out of his book as we found her playing 'magic the gathering' with one of my eeyores this morning. I was wondering where all the crisps were going!

Cute pic of Mark and Scamp :) Love the bond they have already. I'm really looking forward to when we can take him for walks as I'm hoping it will give Mark a bit of a push to leave the house a bit more. Pity it won't be until new year once he has had all his jags, just in time for deep snow the poor thing won't be able to walk through anyway! lol.

Anyway onto other things, guess what I saw today? Yeah the coke truck! I'm one of those people where the Christmas season doesn't start until I hear that ad so when I saw it was going to be in Northampton I asked my Mum if she needed anymore shopping and if she wanted to go. Was amazing how many people were there, there was an official photo point but the queue was HUGE so Mum just took one of me here, not often you see pictures of me is it? lol.

Typically we went with a list of everything we needed, came home with a boot full of things only 1 of which was on the list. Got a few extra gifts though, and a couple of decorations that were in the 75% off sale so was worth the trip anyway. Could have spent a fortune in the Homescense over there, its like a Tkmaxx but only house stuff and had loads of crafts stuff. Pretty ribbon, storage, papers, was really good though and bought nothing :) I know I've got some craft stuff for Christmas as I bought it ages ago in the Sarahs cards sale, I can't remember for the life of me what it was though! So waiting until new year where I hope to have it all reorganised and have a better idea of what I need, rather than just what I want. How many times have I said that now? lol

The bug got me :(

Ughhhhhh. I've been feeling rough for a couple of days now, bad chest, sniffles etc. Last night Cameron wasn't well at all. Couldn't sleep for coughing, panicing because he couldn't breathe etc so I ended up sitting up with him. This morning he waves up all fine and full of energy while I can barely get my head off the pillow. Swear he passed it all on to me lol. Oh well.
This morning Star was in the bathroom messing about with my shower gel, glad it wasn't my expencive Lush stuff ;)

Worst part about being ill is getting nothing done :( particually at this time of year. I had planned plenty of jobs as usual but spending the day in bed/on the couch soon put a stop to that! Even had to send Mark to do both school runs but thankfully went without issue :) Cameron brought us home the calender he made at school today. He's be studying Scotland and they all based their calenders on a Socttish artist, Cameron picked a picture of a lighthouse..........

at least thats what he says it is, looks like something else to me! And this gets to hang on my kitchen wall for a whole year, *sigh*

Coffee time!

Seems like its been months since Mum and I sat down to a cup of coffee and a chat. Today it was mainly to plan the Christmas day menu and any last minute shopping we need. Thank goodness not much! Just a few small stocking fillers and some general bits and bobs for relatives we don't see often. Rather than a coffee we both opted for a black forest hot choc as won't be long before these go again!

This morning was Scamps second round of jags, broke my heart again :( The microchip was 10X worse though, he went mental and it bled more than I thought it would. Thats it done for a good while though so yey! Will be able to take him for walks too so looking forward to that :)

Camerons Christmas party

Kids woke up this morning and ran around to find Star as usual, she was being a bit of an acrobat and hanging from the wreath in our living room. :) Was a bit worried she might fall off and get chewed by Scamp but she had a good hold.

Today is Camerons Christmas party at school, I was asked to bring in some cheese and pineapple on sticks but the cheese kept breaking and falling off so I decided to make a cheese, grape and pineapple tree instead, as you do.

Cams teacher asked me to come in and help out move the food from the classes into the hall, what started as a 10 minute job went into a full day lol. I miss being in class so once I started I decided to stay all day and help out. Was busy, hectic and fun :) We live close enough so that I could run home for lunch and during playtimes to check on Mark so all worked out well. Made me wish I could go back to work tbh but can't be helped.
Tonight is all about cards! I've made some but the rest have GOT to be done and posted tomorrow if they have any hope of getting there in time, I've got all the bits out, pizza dinner beside me, Kirsties crafty christmas on tv and Scamp is happily chewing his squirrel toy so better get to work!

Frozen

Today Star brought some sweets and tickets to go see Frozen for me and Caitlin. Cameron was invited but his exact words were 'but at the cinema I need to sit still for AGES!' gave me the impression he didn't really want to go lol. So he stayed home with the men and a fridge full of leftover party food, sure they will be fine ;)
We did plan on going to see the 2d showing at 12:20 but just as we got there we found the road was closed! By the time we had drove all the way back and around the other way it was sold out so we got tickets for the 1:15 3D showing instead. I'm one of those 'just in case' people so I'd brought along our 3D glasses from home, so between that and having free adult tickets from Iceland was only £22 for the 4 of us, not bad :)

I admit I LOVED it! I had read some reviews about it being a bit slow and boring and I think the start was for the kids but I really enjoyed the music and the set up. Olaf the snowman was genuinly funny and I was laughing out loud at a lot of points. I want to go see it again! Caitlin liked it but not as much as me, think I'm a bigger kid than her sometimes :)
After a lovely day out was home to do the last round of sunday night ironing, bath, homework bed. Camerons homework was a Christmas wordsearch (easy) and a Christmas sudoku (not so easy) OMG it was hard! I just couldn't get to grips with it. Took me 45 of working on it because we finished it. Not my finest moment lol.
Just a quick cute pic of Scamp to distract from what a idiot I am :P

Christmas party!

Today was our christmas party, I do it every year for my kids and my nieces and they always seem to enjoy it :)
I went a bit ott with the food, as usual, this is one of 4 photos, :s

We played lots of games, including making snowmen out of my Mum and dad. Whoever made the best snowman out of a roll of toilet paper, sellotape, black circles and a carrot won. Cameron and my niece Evie won this one :)

We also made decorations from lolly sticks, played pass the parcel, musical statues, and made models from Magic chocolate :) Cameron made a skylander, I've NO idea what one.

Kids all had fun and only had a few rows. I'm now completely wiped out. Mark got one of his headaches last night and still has it today. Caused him to throw up in the livingroom which scared the life out of Caitlin bless her so hes been in bed all day leaving all the 'fun' to me. Making the food with a puppy and two kids running about wasn't easy, plus you can imagine the chaos with the 5 kids running about. I had shut Scamp away in the hall by that point. Evie doesn't exactly have the best respect for animals and after her killing Mollies bunny in the summer by manhandling it I wasn't taking any chances! I did let him out to play with them at the end which he loved. They all lay on the floor to play sleeping lions but they had to not giggle when scamp licked them or ran over them. They all lost :) Evie was ok with him under supervision but I did catch her trying to feed him chocolate after I told her not to because it could kill him. Not impressed tbh.

But thats all the big stressful events over with until the big day! :) Just relaxing, meetings and a few bits and bobs to do now. Going to relax tonight with a plate of leftover party food, a well deserved glass of martini and catch up on my Tivo viewing tonight :)

Crazy busy

This week has just been crazy busy, between Mark being ill, school events, pen green events and general housework feels like I haven't stopped! Been getting really bad headaches too, actually made my vision go a bit blurry last night which I didn't realise headaches could even do! Star must have realised I was a bit tired as woke up this morning and she had brought a couple of plates of pastries for breakfast :) Forgot to get a picture though.
Today was Caitlins class party so after getting them off to school with two tubs of cakes I rushed home to start making the food for the Christmas party tomorrow. I've got most of it from Iceland but like to do a few bits myself to make it a bit different. I had planned to make snowman lollies like I made last year but forgot to buy the lolly sticks, so made these instead.

Quite cute arn't they :) Worked at the school this afternoon in Cameron class which was fun. It was that class I worked in last year and do miss it but at the moment really couldn't fit it in, plus I'm not really supposed to help out there anymore because Cameron is in that class and they don't allow it in case of favouritism or the child acting up because Mummy is there. Think I would probably be harder on Cameron rather than softer with him so probably good for him I'm not allowed to ;) Today wasn't a big deal though as was just helping the kids to wrap gifts for each other.
Right I'm halfway through making a chocolate house so better get on!

Christmas tree festival

Ok I admit I'm playing catch up. Most of the blog posts this week I've started but never got around to finishing, so this is me finishing them off and publishing them all at once :)
Today was Cameron turn to sing, rather than being in the freezing cold outside the shops we got to stay inside which was a plus. Each year the school has a christmas tree festival, where every class makes decorations to decorate a tree. Usually they have lots of games and fundraising things but as we had that at the craft fair this yeah we just did the one game and refreshments. We didn't expect it to be too busy but OMG it was mobbed! I was running the 'Guess Santa' game, lots of cards turned over and you had to find Santa, actually had to stop halfway through because I'd run out of prizes.

Forgot to photograph Star this morning before I cleaned her up but found her making snow angels out of icing sugar in the kitchen! Very naughty elf!

Caitlin carol singing :)

Marks stupid cold seems to be trying to get to me now, felt dreadful last night and not 100% this morning :( Kids were both in great moods though, ran around searching for Star this morning before finding her hiding in the fridge, wrapped up in my hat of all things. Lucky my hair wasn't a mess this morning so didn't need it back ;)

This morning was Caitlins carol singing at the local shops. Was much warmer going to see her this year than it was seeing Cameron last year, remember stepping over piles of snow to get a good view of him. Was told that he loudest kids would be at the front and funnily enough thats where Caitlin was ;)

Well works night out tonight and was quite funny. The pub we went to gave us a good deal but were running really behind, we were supposed to get our started at 7:30, 8:40 they cam out. One of the girls had brought a couple of tins of sweets which by then we were all very grateful for! Was a laugh though, I've always found the worse the service is usually the more of a laugh I tend to have; those of you who have been to the hotel on the Sarahs cards retreats will know exactly what I'm talking about! ;)

Elf warning!!

Last night Caitlin had a major tanturm at bedtime. To be honest her behaviour has been less than ideal for the past couple of days which obviously Star has noticed and left this on Caitlins door last night. Think she printed it off from this website ;) Caitlin was moritifed than Santa might know she has been so naughty and promised she will be better now. Will wait and see on that one!

She also decided to build a swing in the hallway which made the kids laugh.

Poor Mark is suffering form man-flu today, been on the couch most of the morning just watching tv so I haven't managed to get as much done as I would like. Finished wrapping the gifts and general cleaning up plus starting to make the Christmas food shop list. It's the first year that I'm having everyone at my house so I'm excited and worried at the same time. Got to go late night shopping Thursday to see if I can snap up some cheap cakes/cookies for the party Saturday so will grab my freezeable items like sausage meat, pigs in blankets etc then. Will be here before we know it!

I have a floor! Well, some of it.

Elf decided to sled down the banister this morning. Her sled wasn't quite as nice as the ones I saw on pinterest but I'm sure she tried her best! lol.

Tried to get some pictures of Scamp last night. He was being really cute and waving his paws at me but every time I took a picture he would hide his face behind his paws, he better get used to having pictures taken if he wants to stay in this family! ;)

It was so sweet though, Scamp was half asleep on Marks knee when Cameron came downstairs crying after having a nightmare. Poor Scamp started whining and got himself all stressed until mark put him down where he ran right over to Cameron and sat on his knee licking his face to make him giggle :) Little sweetheart was obviously worried about him. I know I've said it before but having only cats it does amaze me how loyal a dog is so quick.
Not long now until Christmas! Tonight I've managed to finish off the teacher gifts, gifts for the kids classmates and all the cards needed for the school. All are now boxed/bagged up and by the front door ready to be taken to school tomorrow.

It's great as my bedroom floor has had all this stuff all over it for weeks as I've started to get everything ready and now I'm starting to finish and get it all sent out I have visable floor again! Having the annual party for the kids this Saturday so just focusing on that now. Sooooo much left to do!

Santa!

This morning the kids were very excited to check on their 'Elf seeds' and were amazed to see they had grown into chocolate santas and candy canes! If I could find any that grow into toffee crisps I'd make an allotment full :p

After harvesting the sweets it was time for out trip to Twin lakes to see santa! The kids were really excited to see my friends kids Ben and Erika again and as soon as we arrived the adults settled down with a coffee and bacon roll while the kids ran off to play. Was the best bacon roll I've ever had, honestly, lol. After a few rides on the rollercoaster and a quick trip to the ice skating rink with Caitlin it was time to see Santa. It really was beautiful. First we went through the magic woodland, which was full of snow and animatonic animals, then a train ride through the north pole before meeting the main man himself. :)

Erika was amazed bless her. She's only 3 so really it was the first time she met him knowing who he was. As usual Santa asked them what they wanted:
Ben - a pink panther toy
Cameron - Skylanders giants
Caitlin - some new pens
Erika - a potato
Me - do you mean me potato head love
Erika - no, a potato!
We're still trying to figure out what she actually means, lol.

Christmas craft fayre

Well Star played a trick this morning! Yesterday she was on Marks desk, then this morning when Caitlin took a peep downstairs she was still there! Silly Star made it look like she hadn't moved, But when I went down to make breakfast while kids were doing their teeth she was in the kitchen with a box of 'Elf seeds' We weren't sure what we were supposed to do with them until Santa sent us a txt saying we were to plant them in a bowl of sugar and tomorrow they will have grown into something special.

Caitlin thinks Star was playing a trick by not moving, I think however it was because I didn't get to bed until gone 12 last night, then when I was just dozing off I heard 'Christmas is gone! Christmas is gone! then hysterical laughter. God knows what Cameron was dreaming about! Had to go wake him then settle him again. Was just dozing off second time when I heard Caitlin crying. Go to check on her and she wasn't in her room! By now it was 1:30 so my brain wasn't working and I had a complete heart attack thinking someone had took her and I heard her crying as they dragged her out before I realised it was coming from downstairs still. Poor girl had sleepwalked downstairs looking for me and paniced I wasn't there. Took her to bed and calmed her down. managed to sleep about an hour this time before Cam came in with sore legs so he ended up in bed with us too. managed about 2 hours sleep I think. So rather than playing a trick, I think nobody was asleep in the house long enough for Star to manage to do anything lol.
Today was the craft fayre at the school. We've been planning this for weeks and I've spent ages messaging craft stalls and various other places to find stallholders. I admit I was really worried it was going to be a bust but we made about £420 between renting out tables and running games and craft activities for the kids, including decorating the almost 400 gingerbread men and stars I cut out :) We managed to make £280 at the school disco and have a couple of other events between now and Christmas so hopefully will make about a grand before then.
Really enjoyed today though :) Was a busy one again obviously but Caitlin came to help. Was so proud watching her with the younger with the younger kids. A lot of parents came in and just played with their phones or chatted so she helped them with where was best to put the glitter glue, reaching pencils etc. She looked so grown up and had so much patience with them. Was bitter sweet as shows how mature she is getting but at the same time shows what a great kid she is. :) Another busy day tomorrow! Off on a trip to Twin lakes theme park with Homestart, so excited! Got to make a picnic then early night is needed I think!

School disco

When Caitlin sccidently touched Star she was heartbroken. So much so she wrote a long letter apologising to Santa and sent it with her Christmas list. She still felt really bad though and kept asking me if she was on the naughty list now, I tried to reassure her she wouldn't be bit didn't seem to work. :( Star must have told Santa this as this morning she brought a little gift from each of their Christmas lists, along with a letter from Santa telling them both they were on the nice list and would stay there as long and they kept up the good work. :) So two very happy kids this morning.

Well been a loooooong day! But fun though. Was the Homestart Christmas fundraiser at Rockignham castle this morning which I always look forward to. We sell tickets and cakes to raise money and we get to go around the castle and see it all decorated which really is beautiful. I was up super early this morning baking cookies before dropping kids off and rushing to the castle. Afterwards was a quick trip to town before rushing home to pick up kids, take them home, get them dressed before back to school for their Christmas disco!

It was the first school disco they've been to, mainly because it's the first one the schools had lol. It was basically organised chaos. Overall we had 260 kids which was MAD but it was amazing to see them all having such a great time! They all knew the dance to Gangham style really well which was funny as anything to watch. It was the PTA which I'm part of which was running the disco so I got to watch the kids dancing and running about with their friends :) When they're older they'll probably moan I'm about ALL the time but at the moment they don't seem to mind and I feel very priveleged I get to see all the little bits of their lives lots of parents miss out on.
Well didn't get home until gone 8, so this is the first time since 6am I've actually sat down and my body seems to be screaming 'BED' at me. Not yet though! Its the schools craft fayre tomorrow (also PTA) so I've got all the prep work to do for that first! Better stop gabbing and get on. :)

Girl knows me well

Star brought some gifts this morning :) Each year the kids have a new decoration for the tree representing some milestone or new interest. This year Cameron had a bauble filled with dice to show his love of maths and numbers, and Caitlin has a tree to decorate. It was plain but she drew on it before I had a chance to take a picture lol. I'm going to paint it green and decorate it with glitter and all that when we get the time to do it together.

This morning we posted the kids letters to Santa. Caitlin saw me taking pictures and actually stopped and said 'Cameron was in the way Mummy. I'll pretend to post it again so you can get a better picture to scrapbook'

Girl knows me so well lol.

Quick post tonight as I have around 150 cookies to make for tomorrow. I thought I had until the afternoon but had a call when I was in the bath telling me it was 9am! Cut my bath short anyway!

Daft idea! Wheres the wine?

You know those days where you should have just stayed in bed? Yeah today is one of those. Cameron 'remembered' at 8:10 that he had homework due today so was a mad rush to get that done. Then disaster struck. Star decided last night to watch some TV so was on the couch when we came down this morning. Unfortunatly Caitlin accidently touched her and all hell broke loose. I don;t know if I've mentioned but you can't touch the elf on the shelf or they lose their magic and can't fly back to the north pole, poor Caitlin was sobbing her heart out. I kept explaining if it was an accident it didn't count but she was having none of it. So to calm her down I had to email Santa, (at Santa@thenorthpole.com) and explain the situation. Wasn't long before he txt me back (wasn't me changing Marks name to Santa on my phone and hiding upstairs txting myself downstairs for the kids to see obviously) and said it was fine he would post some magic fairy dust though the elf door today to sprinkle on Star to give her her magic back.

Quick trip to Tesco visit from the elf post and the special star shaped fairy dust was delivered along with a little extra gift for Caitlin. IMO Mummy should have got one too after dragging a sobbing child into school and trying to explain the situation to a very confused teacher who looked at my like I was MAD but I don't think a bottle of wine could fit through that door, oh well.

Well one drama done I thought that was it for the day. NOPE! We had a meeting the afternoon with social services to discuss my sister and how things were going. Well WE should have, however I got a phonecall from the social worker informing me Nicola has banned me from the meeting. Seriously. So I wasn't allowed to go. I was RAGING! I'm a great believer of not airing your dirty laundry in public, even when the kids have been little bleeding nightmares I'll smile, squeeze their hands and hiss 'wait till we get home' but I won't shout. I lost that a little today, think anyone who was at the town center now knows my sister is a selfish little cow and is laughing at the lot of us. Do regret it but done now. Did ring Nicola to ask WTF to be told she didn't want me to have anything to do with the girls. Pointed out I give them lifts, take Mollie dancing and am supposed to have all 3 next weekend at my house, apprently though that doesnt count because Nicola didn't ask me to do any of that Mum did. True, but only because Nicola refuses to do it and Mum doesnt drive, but thats logic, doesnt enter my sisters world. Blind rage aside though Mum says meeting went as expected. Nicola has to go to counciling, alcholics groups and so on. Social worker says shes taking it to her boss though so might change soon. Fingers crossed!

Vets went well :)

Star decided to be a naughty elf last night! I was so tired so ended up in bed at 8:30 and she obviously decided to take advantage of that and tp'd the tree! Kids found it very funny :p I did take the toilet paper off but left her on the star for the day.

Well great news, Scamp did great at the vets! :) Well he did I cried lol. He had his check up and vet sound everything seemed great, then she gave him his jag. I had to hold him on the table and OMG did he scream! He squealled and cried and scurried away from the vet as quick as he could into my arms. I picked him up and he just cuddled in, hid his face in my hair and whimpered. I bawled. I was so touched that after a week he seemed to trust me so much to keep him safe from the 'bad vet' and though I knew he needed it I felt so guilty he got hurt and scared :( After the vet we took him to meet my Gran as she only lives down the road and her perked right up :) My Gran adored him and he was on fine form licking her and wagging his tail. He's such a cutie in my mind its hard not to love him but glad she agrees. :)
My two youngest babies :)

Though he was all hyper down at Grans the meds seemed to hit him as soon as we got home. Was sweet as usually he spends time with whoever will play with him, he has no preference between me and Mark. Today though he certainly seemed to prefer me. if I left the room he followed, if I went upstairs he'd sit and the bottom and cry. Just goes to show even fur babies want their Mummy when they're poorly.
Tonights Christmas activity was writing Christmas lists. I love it when they kids get all excited about asking for things and I think 'Oh yey thats already in the wardrobe' then sometimes they ask for things and I think 'no you're not getting that' which isn't as good lol. Some simple nudging always sets them in the right direction though ;)

On this years list is:
Cameron
- Skylanders giants (did want swap force but convinced him to change his mind, it's £25 more than the Giants one! lol)
- Mario Kart 7 (bought on special back in July from Very *smug smile*)
- Luigis mansion 2 (bought on same offer)
- Camo Skylander (now this one was pure luck! When we went into to buy the Wii U I asked on the off chance if they had any second hand skylanders and at random picked this one as a treat for the elf to bring so very happy he wanted this one for his list lol)
- Despicable me 2 (dvd boxset with number 1 in the wardrobe)

Caitlin
- Merida dress (In wardrobe)
- Make up (yep, despite me hating the stuff)
- Grown up craft stuff (got, obviously lol)
- Pascel teddy (again luck, when Caitlin dressed as Rapunzel at school in February she lost her Pascel. I did try to get her one from Disneyland but didn't have one. When I went to Peterbrough with Mum they had them on special in the Disney store so bought one on a whim for the elf to bring so yey!)
- Epic DVD (yep got that too)

So have a healthy puppy and seemed to have got the kids everything they want for Christmas. Feeling pretty good today :)

Willpower and pretty decorations :)

This morning Star decided to send a message from Santa. Being a typical elf she didn't do it with a paper and pen but more sugar, sugar and more sugar :) Wasn't until after Caitlin pointed out that I realised she was right in front of the computer screen and obviously nobody can touch her or she'll lose her magic, so there she will stay until night time tonight. Woops.

Ok I have 0 willpower when it comes to make things, chocolate, wine, spending, and big puppy dog eyes. When the kids look at me with big sad eyes I melt and find it very hard to say no, last week I discovered it's so much worse when it's an actual puppy! When scamp came to live with us last Monday (wow has it only been a week?!?!) pretty much everything else stopped. Ironing, hoovering, decluttering all stopped in place of pulling a rope around the floor lol. However today I had to get back into it. This morning was a big shopping trip, home for a bit of playtime (cant neglect him can I? lol) ironing then putting up the decorations :) Usually I put up the tree on the first of the month but this year I decided to do it when the kids were at school because I like to do it my own way and don't take kindly to little fingers (or hubbys fingers) getting involved. I'm not too mean though, I bought them their own tree to decorate however they like, lol.

Caitlin also has this thing about NOT wanting Santa to come in her room, so rather than hanging the stocking on the end of her bed she puts it under the little tree on the landing and Santa fills it and puts it there.
Well tomorrow is Scamps vets appontment to get his check up and his immunisations. I admit I'm terrified about it. We have insurance for him but it doesn't kick in for the first 10 days so anything that shows up at this appointment isn't covered. :( I's so worried that I'm going to go in and be told about some long term problem needing lots of expencive meds which we just can't afford. I mean he seems a crazy, healthy, happy pup but you never know whats going on under the surface, so fingers crossed all is well!

Elf on the shelf

It's the first of December!!! And this year that means the Elf on the shelf comes to stay :) Kids were so excited this morning to come down and find the box on Marks desk, but when they opened it it was empty! A quick search and we found that Star (as the kids named her) was in the kitchen with a surprise breakfast for them :)

Cameron read the book to Caitlin and we named the elf and signed the contract promising not to touch her or she'll lose her magic. Can't wait to see what tricks she gets up to :)

As well as being the first of December it is also the last storytelling Sunday of the year! Due to the time of year I thought it made most sense to document the decorations we've bought for the kids over the years. Each year we buy them a decorations which represents something from that year, a hobby or milestone or something. The idea is that when they are older and have their own homes they can take them for their own trees.
These are Caitlin's. The first 3 are because my nickname for her has been Tinkerbell ever since she was born. I wanted to call her Isabelle when I was pregnant but then Mark pointed out Isabelle Steele (is a bell steel) was a bit mean, lol. The ballet shoes I got her the year she started dance lessons and the snowflake will have a photo of her first day of school......when I get around to printing it off that it. This year I've got her a chipboard christmas tree which we can decorate together as she really has developed her creative skills this year.

Cameron has an extra one because we went to York craft fair when I was pregnant and found this little angel and thought it would be good luck to have for out first Christmas even though Cameron wasn't here yet. The two penguins are because he LOVED the film Happy feet when he was a baby and had a teddy penguin named Mumble he took everywhere with him. A train represented the 'Thomas the tank engine' phase before the cars phase started. his snowflake is still waiting for a school photo too *hangs head in shame* then Mario for last year when his computer game obsession began. This year after looking everywhere for some kind of decoration to represent maths, I've decided to make my own. Last Christmas Cameron won two die in a cracker, he spent the rest of the afternoon rolling them and making sums with the resulting numbers. Over the year this has developed from 2 bog standard die, to up to 4 of marks 20 sided ones. The boy LOVES maths and is amazing at it so wanted to get a decoraion to show this. To that end I've bought one of the empty plastic baubles and am currently searching for little dice beads to fill it with :)

I love searching for the 'right' decoration each year, particually now they are both showing such clear interests, and though some of them are cheaper than others (cars one) and some are glued in places (red tinkerbell) hopefully they will enjoy their momentos of their childhood when they are older.