NYE....

I'd like to wish everyone reading this a very happy new year's eve
and a healthy, happy, stress-free, fun-filled 2012.
With love from me xx
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Stress free magic.....

All the shopping is done!
Presents wrapped and those that need to be have been delivered.
Freezer full, fridge full, cupboards full and even the extra blanket box is full to bursting.
Two trees dressed with their twinkling lights shining on old favourite baubles and home made hanging things that raise a smile every time they are unpacked.
Daughter was here today making last minute presents with the children and will be again tomorrow.
Arrangements have been made for me cooking Christmas Day for me, hubby, daughter, M and the grandchildren. Boxing Day we've been invited into our neighbour's for a meal and the evening and same again for New Year's Eve and on the 27th it's 33 members of my family all here at my house for the day!!!
So all that's left is to sit back and enjoy the magic of our festive holiday together.

Wherever you are and whatever your beliefs I hope this time of year is all you want it to be and may 2012 bring you good health and happiness. xxx

A bit too quiet....

Daughter and her children have been away on holiday all this week, so I'd specially saved all the Christmas gift wrapping and final shopping trips to while they are away to make my life easier....and yes I've achieved all I really wanted to because it's been a lot simpler to leave stuff out till later, a lot less noisy without the regular button pushing on the musical garland, a lot calmer without the fights, a lot easier to plan meals, a lot simpler to stop for lunch when I'm ready to, a lot less Mario, a lot tidier without having to put toys away, a lot less creeping around because of the sleeping toddler, a lot less hunting out specific craft stuff and helping with makes and a lot less tripping in the hall over coats and boots! But I really miss them and can't wait to get back to normal   :o)
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My way (#7)...

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, so I thought I'd share. 


I put a couple of new pictures up on my wall yesterday and wondered if you knew that by hanging the wooden frame of a canvas on two level pins it will always be level and that for a framed picture if you mark the little metal bit it hangs on at the back with a pencil on the very edge then press it on the wall where you want it to hang it will make a small mark where you need to bang your nail in.


What's your way?
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Five big smiles....

Now it's the end of term for the activities that the girls do, it was time for them to display for us.

First smile was going to the music concert Thursday evening where E was on percussion and also in the choir.

Second smile was E at another concert on Friday evening with E on percussion again, this time she had to play various instruments knowing when to change from one to another. Both concerts were good and E was excellent and it is always obvious how good she is for her age as she is one of the smallest in each orchestra.

Third smile was Saturday morning going to see R in her first ever real play for her drama group, it was Aladdin and she was the entrance to the cave and one of the dancing statues and also one of the narrators (the one with the clearest voice I thought).

Two very definite NOT smiles where that E had been unwell all night, so stayed home and missed her last music class of the term and also that no sooner the play had started than O made a run for the door and escaped with Daughter in hot pursuit so she missed her daughters first play :o(

Fourth smile was Saturday evening as R's dance teacher had organised a fun display evening where we all sat around the hall at tables, joining friends and munching on our own refreshments while the dancers put on a fantastic display of all they do and gained trophies and certificates. There was also the fun competition element for child and parent waltz and swingathon style twist (just like R had watched on Strictly Come Dancing) with the judge touching the shoulder of each contestant as they were told to leave until there was a winner. There was also a parade of dancers to win prince and princess prizes plus there was some line dancing and disco too, a very full and fun evening.

Unfortunately Saturday evening had two NOT smiles as well, as E was still not well enough so stayed home with Granddad and M didn't feel well when we got there and O got so restless that M took him to the car to play but we decided they should go home and the easiest way for everyone (except Hubby) was to ask Hubby to come to the hall and then take M O and E home...............thank you Hubby we do appreciate that you did that so Daughter and I could stay with R as she was having such a good time.

Today was my fifth smile and involved just adults. We are four sisters living quite far apart and today SisterP had us all to her house with husbands for a lovely dinner and a good chat. Can't believe we have all reached half-century and beyond and that we have never had an all adult meal together - such a good idea SisterP, thank you so much :o)
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Candlelight for romance.....

....or just because there's a power cut?

Have to confess it was the latter, sorry if that disappoints you but the power went off half way through EastEnders so I was disappointed too. Thankfully it was recorded on sky+ so I know I haven't lost it, phew!

Hubby had gone to bed about 10:30pm and the power went off about 20mins later. I just sat in the dark for a moment planning my next move, not a problem as we always have torches in easy to get places and the main power box is often throwing the trip switch so I wasn't really surprised and knew what to do, however, when a voice from up the stairs calls down "Can you manage or do you want me to come down" I did reply "Well if you are still awake that would save me climbing" (he can reach without climbing), so Hubby got out of bed to come to my rescue.

By the time he came down I'd lit lots of candles and the soft warm glow was really pleasant. Hubby then discovered that it wasn't our trip switch it was a general power cut that seemed to have affected all of our street as no inside or outside lights on anywhere. So we sat for a little while in the soft romantic glow and Hubby said "Can't even have a radio on as we don't have a battery one anymore. Nothing else to do so we might as well go to bed and sort out the clocks and timers in the morning." And that's what we did after blowing all the candles out and taking a torch up the stairs.

This morning we discovered it had been off for about two hours, so I'm glad we didn't stay up waiting and also glad it wasn't longer when things like the freezer would have a problem.

And I will let you know if I get to light all the candles again, for whatever reason :o)
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My way (#6)......

Over the years I seem to have developed some very definite ways of doing things and usually it's for a very good reason, so I thought I'd share. 


We all get spot stains on the carpet from time to time, well I'm for ever carrying mugs of tea or coffee from one room to another. I've found baby wipes the best thing for getting them off and it doesn't seem to matter if they are good ones for delicate skin or supermarkets own value range!

What's your way?   
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Getting from A to B.....

....via X, Y Z!

On Saturday poor Daughter had a cracked windscreen problem. so they all came here and The children stayed when Daughter and Hubby took the car to be repaired then collect again two hours later. Then collected M from the station (he'd been in London on business) and all here for dinner.

Yesterday M had to be in London again but when he arrived at Ipswich station discovered that lots of the trains had been cancelled and although he did eventually sit on a train fir ages there was much debate about if was going to pull out or not and of course that led to the worry that if he got there would he be able to get home? So Daughter said she would drive him to an underground connection and piled the children into the car and I went along for the ride.

The journey started with very thick fog which didn't really clear for about 30 miles. The girls had got up and out without breakfast so they snacked on the stuff Hubby had quickly thrown into a bag for them. O was awake the whole journey and insisted on us playing the CD of his favourite Twisted Sisters track, "We ain't gonna take it", over and over and over again!!!

After what seemed like a short run of easy driving conditions we hit the road works, gas works it said on the sign. A couple of miles at a crawl while two lanes squashed into one! Can't say how many miles we crawled for or how long it took but it felt like a long time. Eventually reached Newbury Park station and dropped off M then we headed for the nearest Sainsbury's because we had invited ourselves to NieceL's house and needed to buy in lunch stuff.

Yummy note here.....we can't get any Jewish foods in Ipswich Supermarkets anymore so while in a Sainsbury's that does Matzos and Matzo Meal we stocked up :o)

Had a really lovely day with NieceL and her family although it took quite a while for the children to get over shyness and play together, then of course they were having a great time just as we wanted to leave!!!

On the subject of transport, while we were there we heard that NieceS had been out in her car when a group of lads threw a stone at her car and smashed the passenger front window, she was cut by some flying glass and was really shaken thinking about what happened especially as she had her two daughters in the car, a toddler and a baby! Hope the police catch them grrrrrrrrrr!

Anyway back to our story, M text to say it was all running really late and it was now due to finish about 6pm, so a couple of us walked the dog to Sainsbury's (again) to buy stuff for a pizza dinner with oven chips. Then it was time to leave with Daughter getting full direction for an alternative route which would avoid the single lane gas works problem, however, when we got to the main junction it looked relatively clear so we went the more direct route and collect M from the station who had been standing waiting for us for a while. Eventually got dropped off at home at 9:40pm so a long day, but lovely to be with family!
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Proud Grandma...

Just a quick catch up starting at last Sunday when Daughter and I went to collect my art group paintings from the art exhibition they had been entered into. Unfortunately this exhibition had been very badly organised only because, I suspect, they had not done it before, but my total understanding wore a bit thin on pick up day when I had to pick up 19 paintings by 6 different artists. The paintings had all been hung randomly around two rooms and they very kindly offered help locating them, which entailed me collecting and wrapping while Daughter and four of their team all running round two rooms reading the label on each painting! I couldn't believe they didn't ask me for the receipts when letting me walk out with artwork and they didn't have a record of one of my members having collected her own....so we all hunted for ages, until I finally rung her! Also after they all hunted for ages for another one I was missing I asked to see the book of sales........out of 450 paintings entered, 19 of which were from my art group, only 15 had sold and one of the sold was by my 9 year old granddaughter E. Her mum and I were sooooooo proud that we kept smiling and giggling and Daughter had to ring home to tell E  :)

The rest of the week has been all normal stuff really. Lots of the days the children were here and we all got to do stuff together or they fought and shouted and we hid with cups of tea till things calmed down! One thing that stands out was when Daughter gave both the girls a reading test and the really difficult words that R was reading with ease proves she is a totally fluent reader (although can't actually remember the reading age that test resulted in).

I've been catching up each day on "I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here" as it has to be recorded upstairs far away from Hubby! I know it's rubbish but I love it. My night out Tuesday with FriendM and FriendH was cancelled but FriendM cooked for me Wednesday, there were four of us and it was a lovely evening. Thursday was art group then to the truck-stop afterwards, giving FriendD a lift as he can't drive for a while.

Now trying to get organised for Christmas presents buying and card writing etc and so so so pleased to have my laptop working properly again so I can attempt to do most of it online!!!
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I'm back....

Yay I'm back online with my own little netbook balanced on my knee thanks to my clever Hubby who in the end had to do a complete rebuild! I guess I'll be tweeking various settings for the next few days to get it back to how I like to use it but it's just so nice to click a button and it does what you've asked and not to have to sit there watching the egg timer for 10 mins each time! I'm a happy person again :o)

Now all I need is something of interest to write about hahaha
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