London Baby!!! (part one)

What an awesome weekend! Kicked off with an hour wait on the freezing cold station platform! Yes, an hour! We decided, in our wisdom, that we ought to leave nice and early in case the forecast snow hindered our journey. How wrong we were! We flew through the twenty minute journey in twenty minutes! So we had a long, cold wait at a train station with no café, not even a drinks machine! What a start!

Next up was the battle for seats on the train. We spent the first ten minutes blocking the doorway with the six of us, and enough luggage each for a fortnight in the sun! As soon as we saw a couple vacate their seats, my friend and I practically shoved them out of the way to bag them, despite us being the youngest two members of our party! We left the others to fend for themselves. Another stop later and the table opposite us was free, so again, we leapt up, called down the carriage to where the other four had sat and claimed the table. Then came the great debate...

We spent a good quarter of an hour discussing whether we were allowed to drink on the train. We'd packed a bag full of lager especially for the journey. My theory was, they sell it on board the train, therefore you must be allowed to drink it! But we weren't sure, so being the sensible people we are, we Googled it! Yes we can, as long as we remain sensible. There were no guarantees, but we'd give it our best shot! So out come the stumpys, bought specifically for their convenient size and twist off caps. Or so we thought! Apparently we'd bypassed the twisty caps and bought regular bottle caps instead! Of course, no one had a bottle opener (why would you when you've got twist off caps?!) We were about to give up when one of the girls admitted she could do it with her teeth! Cue us other five squealing like girls and saying 'ewwwww, you're such a man!' But hey, manly or not, we got into our lagers! 

So, that was the journey. We arrived at Euston relatively in tact. We then had to navigate the tube, half drunk, with our mountains of luggage during what I imagine to be one of the busiest times, Friday evening! Oh, and four of the others had never been on the tube before! That was a fun experience! Somehow we made it to the hotel, checked in, and then continued our little party in our room. The aim was an early night so we were up and ready to hit the shops first thing. This actually turned into us still being up drinking at 2am! Oops! 

Saturday was not quite the early start we'd hoped for. And none of us were really in much of a state to be shopping, so instead we decided to go to Harrods. Not the best idea, we got lost in there several times! I'm pretty sure we looked as rough as we felt, because we received a fair few funny looks. And after being told off by security for lingering too long in the doorway (we couldn't decide whether we needed to go up or down to get to where we wanted) we decided to just leave. It was far too posh for a bunch of hungover women anyway! 

We went for a mooch round Covent Garden instead. Then we eyeballed the pub, and almost in unison 'pint?' Why not! We had a couple of hours to kill before show time, what better way to spend it than in the pub!

And that's where I think I'll leave you. I'll tell the rest of the story next time.

To be continued...

I'm going to London, to buy a Heat magazine! :-D

As the title says, I'm off to London this afternoon for a girl's weekend. Two nights of peace and quiet. And by peace and quiet, I mean lots of wine and childish pranks between a group of 6 women ranging in age from 26 to 50! You'd think we'd have grown up a bit by now! 

But peace and quiet from the children it will be. No 'but Mummy, I'm not tired yet', or being woken at midnight for a cuddle, or having to get up at 5.30am because 'it's wakey up time'!!! I will be able to shower by myself (a rare novelty in my house) and will actually have time to apply my make-up instead of the usual slick of mascara I generally rely on to make me look remotely presentable! No matter how much I adore my children, I need the occasional weekend to myself to preserve what's left of my sanity!

Then, on the other hand, I can guarantee I will be pining for them before the train has even left the station! It will take all my strength (or my friend stealing my phone!) to stop myself from calling every hour to make sure everything's ok. It's not even that their dad isn't able to cope. In fact he copes better than I do at times! I just like to know exactly what my babies are doing. Are they hungry? Has the little one had a sleep? Have you wrapped them up well enough to play out in the cold? Of course, I already know the answer to all of my questions, my husband's not stupid after all. 

I have, however, prepared outfits for the children. Goodness knows what they'd end up wearing if I didn't! They'd probably still be in their pyjamas from tonight when I return home on Sunday. My husband just doesn't seem to get that my daughter really can't wear her yellow top with her pink trousers, or that leggings must ONLY be worn with tops that cover the bum. It's really not too difficult! But it just makes his life easier if I get their clothes out ready for them. He won't get it in the neck for getting it wrong then. 

So, London. I can't wait! We'll arrive by tea time tonight, have a nice relaxed evening with a few glasses of wine and a bite to eat. Then tomorrow we'll be hitting the shops first thing, followed by the matinée performance of We Will Rock You. I have promised my friend that I won't sing along (she thinks we're far too young!), but I was brought up on Queen! I'm not sure I'll be able to hold it in, haha! Not entirely sure what our plans for after the show are. Most likely some of the afore mentioned childish pranks will feature! Then Sunday will be more shops, a bit of lunch and then a mid afternoon train home. 

I'm sure I'll have an anecdote or two to tell for my next blog. I'll look forward to sharing my weekend with you all when I get back.

Snow... Not so bleughhhh?

Well, I have succumbed to the whining! My little darlings have had me playing outside in the snow!! 

Yesterday it was decided that the snow on the drive was better than the snow on the back garden (mainly due to the fact that there was no way of telling if the dog had taken a poo on the garden before the snow had fallen!) So I was forced to take them out yesterday afternoon to build a snowman. (see previous blog entry for my general consensus on snow!) My little sister now lives too far away to just pop round to play in the snow, she'd have to get a bus and they weren't running!

After much deliberation (and failure to get any snow to actually stick together!) we came to the conclusion that the snow was just too fluffy to build anything with. So we set about making footprints with our wellies and I hate to admit that I was actually having fun! That is until my eldest hit me full on in the face with a handful of snow. I screamed a little bit, and pretty much acted like a mardy girl, but I got over it and we carried on our snow play. 

My eldest decided he wanted to go for a walk, so off we went for a plod round the block. He came across a patch of untouched snow and decided it would be the perfect place for a snow angel. Down he got and started flapping his arms to make the wings and my other 2 thought it looked great fun. Now my daughter is about as brave as me at being cold and wet so I was a bit dubious when she got down on the floor to do one. Then in true drama queen style, the second her bum touched the snow she flounced up and screamed 'it's coooooooooooold' and burst out crying! I'm still not entirely sure what she was expecting of it?! Luckily it's a very small block, so before long we were home again. My daughter decided she'd had enough for one day and, much to my boys' disgust, we headed back inside. 

This morning all I heard was 'mum, what time can we play in the snow?' and 'mummy, I need to build a snowman', so I relented again. Yes, I've been out in the snow, 2 days in a row! The little ones had a mini snowball fight, then we build the eagerly awaited snowman! Now, he's no masterpiece, but considering I can barely bring myself to touch snow, I think he's quite lovely. And I can't wait for my husband to get home later and see it sat there on the front lawn. He'll never believe that I actually took the children out there myself! 

Having said all that, I'm fed up now. It's cold and wet, and I'm sick of looking at it. So if it could kindly melt away by the morning, that'd be much appreciated! I won't hold my breath though! 

Snow... Bleughhhh!

It's snowing! Yuk! I really can't get as excited as the rest of the nation over something so cold and wet. Snow makes me grumpy, fact. 

Walking to school this morning, there were countless children shrieking and throwing snowballs (well, not even snowballs, there's no where near enough snow for that!) at each other. The other parents must have thought I was a right miserable cow. Every time either of my older 2 so much as looked like they were about to pick any up I'd shout 'DON'T TOUCH IT!' in true neurotic fashion! 

It's not that I don't want them to enjoy the snow, but when they come crying to me that their hands are hurting because they're so cold, there's not a great deal I can do about it on our mile walk to and from school. I know it's difficult for them to resist it, but really, if they could just wait until they are at home this afternoon, they can play all they like with the snow in the garden. I can handle that, because when they start crying with cold/turning blue I can just bring them in and wrap them up warm. 

Last year when the snow hit, the kids drove me insane asking to go out and play in it. We still lived in our old house back then and the garden wasn't visible from the house, so I couldn't just let them out to play. There was no way I was going out there to play in it with them! Daddy was at work. So when my little sister informed me that her school was closed I had a brainwave. Teenagers will do anything for a bit of cash, so as much as she too hates the snow, she couldn't resist the offer of a tenner to come round and build a snowman with the little people! Yes, I paid my sister to build a snowman! Now we've moved, the garden is far more family friendly. The children can play safely outside whilst I observe from the warmth of the house, armed with towels heating nicely on the radiators ready to swaddle them when they've frozen solid! 

I hate the way everything slows down in the snow. The route to school is a steep hill and it's hard enough getting my pushchair up it on a good day. Throw snow into the equation and you've added a good 15 minutes onto the already half hour school run! My 3 year old had to stop and show me every single footprint she made!  There's only so many times I can say 'that's great sweetheart' without starting to sound sarcastic! My youngest, in the comfort of his pushchair, was still freezing. He cried all the way there and back. He kept knocking his hat off (something else that forced me to keep stopping!) and he hates being trussed up in blankets. Then there's the 50 children and their parents all crammed into the tiny nursery cloakroom, fighting for a space to change their wellies to school shoes! 

I hate it! Snow should only exist on Christmas cards! I vote hibernation! What's the point in winter anyway? Once Christmas has been and gone, we should just skip straight past all the miserable, cold weather. Summer is the way forward! 

So there you have it. My take on snow. Not my favourite weather, in case I hadn't quite made that clear! 

Birthday Boy

Today is my eldest's 5th birthday. This makes me sad. I'm really not ready for my children to be getting so big! Yes, I realise they have to grow up, but I remember giving birth to him like it happened yesterday, not 5 years ago! In the blink of an eye, I've watched him grow from the tiny, totally dependent newborn into the thoughtful, kind, albeit very mischievous little boy. I can't be the only parent who gets the birthday blues on their children's birthdays. Can I? 

Then there's the chaos the birthday entails. We had tears this morning because I was a 'horrible mummy', not letting him open his presents before school. I like to take our time over them, making sure he's fully aware of who bought him what so he knows who to thank later. I am officially turning into my mother!

I'm now cooking my way through Iceland's party food selection in preparation for the few of his friends coming over for his birthday tea later. My oven is far too small! It frustrates me that I can only cook 2 trays of food at a time. Stress! 

I've spent a good hour cleaning the kids' bedrooms, Lord knows why! I'm sure my son and his friends will soon upend the toy boxes! I've not had chance all day to stop and have a coffee, so I'm running on Red Bull. Something I may live to regret come midnight when I'm staring at the ceiling! Although I'm sure the half bottle of wine I've got earmarked for later will help me to drift off! 

And in amongst all this, I have the usual jobs of keeping the children entertained, trying to stop the dog from rounding them up like sheep (take my advice, never get a border collie if you have small children) and the general housework. Anyone got a second pair of arms I can borrow? 

So all that's left to do now is await the arrival of our guests, whilst ensuring the children don't keep making a mess. And, of course, clean up again once they've gone! Next year I'm doing a party at the softplay. It's got to be easier than this!?  

Until next time. xxx 

An Introduction

Right, where do I start? 

I'm a 26 year old stay at home mummy to 3 little monsters (who will no doubt become the main feature of this blog!) I met my husband when I was just 19 in the grottiest pub in town. He was 33, recently separated from his wife with 2 young daughters. Imagine my dad's face when I introduced him to my new 'boyfriend'! I don't think my parents thought it was the smartest move I'd ever made. 

Well, things moved pretty quickly. I moved into his flat after a couple of months, we got engaged after 9 months and were all set to marry by the time we'd been together for 18 months (between me turning 21 and him turning 35, 'so the age gap looked slightly less'! His logic, not mine!) 

I fell pregnant with my first child 14 weeks before the wedding (another awkward conversation with my very traditional parents!) and gave birth to a son in January 2008. 6 months later, on our 1st wedding anniversary, we found out we were expecting our second child! Our daughter came along in March 2009 after a very stressful pregnancy. Then, true to form, 6 months later we discovered that we were to have a third child! Our second son was born in June 2010. Phew! 

Ok, that's the family, now for more about myself. I'm a fairly confident outgoing girly girl (I still feel young enough to carry the title of girl!) My favourite pastime is shopping, although I have neither the time nor the money to shop as often as I'd like. I'm a very sociable person, I love getting together with friends regularly. I enjoy music. I have a very eclectic taste, ranging from The Beautiful South to Westlife to Rihanna to Kings of Leon. Totally random! I spend far too long trying to keep the house tidy (impossible when you have 3 little people to contend with, plus 2 extras at the weekend!) I love to read. I have lost countless evenings inside a book that I've picked up to read just one chapter of. What else can I say about myself? That's pretty much me, in a nutshell. 

So there you go. A little introduction to the person behind this blog. Enjoy.