Strike One!!!!!

Or nearly!!  I got started with the help of mum and dad on the conservatory/office/phoenix stuff.  Dad built the shelves (gotta love Ikea) and I filled them..  Well it says nearly for a reason.  It is looking better but I still have a LONG way to go!  I did manage to get all my Phoenix stuff into one place, (the shelves) and mum seriously tidied the kids area she even separated boys and girls stuff so they have a set of shelves each and they can all now reach the things they want to play with which is quite exciting for all.  I do love it when tidying has been done because the kids come in and they seem to think they have all new toys.....not true they are just able to get to them and can see the ones they buried months ago :-)

Tomorrow, I'm having the morning off and meeting some girlfriends for coffee.  2 of us will have no children with us, 2 with but only littlies.  I haven't caught up with these girls all summer so it will be a great morning.  Should really be carrying on tidying but you know what, nah!!!  Life is too short!

Just realised I've blogged two days running, my friend Jen will fall off her chair!!  Probably a patio one too
:-)

School, Autumn and a new chapter!

Well that is it, I now have 3 children at school and none at home!!  Bless my gorgeous little girls, they are doing brilliantly and I'm really proud of them.  We changed schools last year so that our girls could go into different classes giving them chance to make their own friends and  become their own person rather than hide behind each other.  This week is weird because mum and dad are here so our first week is not normal yet..  The school run has been good so far, we leave by 815am and walk just over a mile to get there for 845am.  It's a fun walk if its sunny but not quite so much if it's raining like it was today!!!!  It has been pouring with rain accompanied by 60mph winds!  Fun, it was so chilly in the house today I even had to turn the heating on, welcome Autumn!  The girls are still only going to school till 12 this week then 1pm next week and finally they go to full time finishing at 315pm by the 19th...I have so much on my mind till then I am beginning to feel overwhelmed!!

Firstly, our summer was awesome so different for the last 2 years.  No breakdown for me and no illness for Dad, phew!  We did a bit of camping, went to France, met friends and managed to get to the park a few times.  We had 6 weeks and even though day to day it felt long the whole thing really did go soooo quickly.  I promise I will post pictures soon but they are on my parents computer at the minute so need to get them on here first.  Kids had a blast all summer and Bill was off for nearly 3 weeks which was so wonderful.   Now I have to face reality!

I have so much I want to get done and feel I need to get done and have absolutely NO idea where or how to start.  I can't even get motivated to get running again.  I did my 10k at the end of July and knocked 8 mins off my last time which I was thrilled about but have barely run over the summer and am dreading going for my first run in the morning (6am!).   I think I may have to write a list on here so that I can maybe check things off as I go along, please be aware it is a nightmare of a list and will be all over the place!!!!  Any suggestions on how to do it, or if anyone fancies helping, I can pay you in cake!!  Oh all this below is once we have the got the girls birthday over this weekend.  Mum, dad and I spent the morning getting supplies for it and so far I think I am getting there.

Ok here goes my list!!!!!

1. Clean, 7 years of proper cleaning needs to be caught up with.  I've put this at the top but so much of can't actually be done until I've done so many of the other things on my list
2. Phoenix - I've got my Christmas stock and supplements that need to be sorted.  I have great plans but still no time at the minute and I'm really looking forward to getting my teeth into it. 
3. Put up new shelving unit which will lead into tidying the conservatory/office/phoenix space.  I look in my conservatory and just want to be ill.  It is such a mess, you can't see my desk for kids stuff that just hasn't quite made it to it's home and paperwork...where does it all come from???  This also leads to making more room in my understairs cupboard as my phoenix baskets get to go in the shelving, which then leads to me being able to put my Kenwood mixer, my slow cooker and my breadmaker in prime positions in said cupboard.  Currently, the breadmaker is stuck in a cupboard, the mixer is taking up lots of kitchen counter space as is the slow cooker, and this one is also covered with paperwork.  Any US readers, please bare in mind that my kitchen is tiny, if there is more than one person in it you can't move!!! 
4. Run, more!
5. Pray more!
6. Making weekly menu plan and then actually sticking to it.  I find meal planning one the hardest jobs I do as a mother/wife..  I need to get my weight under control, see point 7.  I've started to do this today and have made my first planned meal.  I have all the food I need for it all as I shopped online and it got delivered today!  Cooking for 4 adults and 3 kids though is a challenge as my fridge is feeling a little tight!
7. Blogging more consistently. This is fairly low on the list however much it changes but I miss it.  I spent a couple of hours checking out my old posts the other day and wow, did it bring back some memories.  Some harder than others but the pictures were awesome.  I want carry on doing that!
8. Catch up with neglected friends.  The summer played havoc with friends, we didn't see anyone really for 6 weeks and although this was great for our family, I've missed them.
9. Touch up paintwork, esp white wood work. It is all starting to look messy from where we have all knocked it!
10. Garden, we've done alot with it over the summer but it is now time to put it to bed for the winter, today's weather wasn't really conducive to that, let's hope we get some better weather soon.

Well there we go, I said it was long and that I had no idea where to start!  Sorry for such a long and rather boring post but as most of you know it is so lovely putting your heart and head on paper, as such!  I plan to come back to this post and strikethrough as I go along...wish me luck!!!!

Anyway, finish the week off and see in the girls 5th birthday, that is the plan so far.
xxxx

Williams 7th Birthday!!!

This is what we did yesterday!!  We deposited the girls with our lovely friend Vicky and took 10 boys out for the day!!  They got to do Archery and Crate Challenge at Blackland Farm.  It was AWESOME!!!!  Happy Birthday my Gorgeous Boy!!!!!

Blogger Frustrations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I have just spent the last hour and a half blogging about us al, catching up as feeling so bad about not posting only for BLOGGER to loose half the post....I cannot go over it all again so will be back when I am in a better mood!!!  I am soooo annoyed as it was such a lovely long post...sorry guys xxxxx

Holidays

Hello!  If anyone out there is still looking at this, it's the Easter holidays and the sun is shining so we are all out and about soaking up the sunshine....I haven't known an April like this in forever and we are all just too busy hanging out together....girls in summer dresses, William in shorts playing in the garden!!  What more can we ask for.

Off to Cornwall on friday to visit my sis, I'll be back soon with all the pix of that visit and all the other lovely things we have been up too...

xx

My ABC's

Stole this from Joy, who got it elsewhere and I've never done one before so thought I'd have a go.  If you do it yourself let me know so I can be equally nosey!!

A. Age: 39!!  Can't believe I'll be 40 next year

B. Bed size: Double, would love to go bigger but no room

C. Chore you dislike: All of them, before kids I was Monica from friends now, I just can't be bothered, as soon as you tidy give it just a minute then it's trashed again!

D. Dogs: Mmmm, sore subject!  When in severe post natal depression I agreed to get a gorgeous springer puppy, called Mabel, 2 years later I resurfaced into normality and realised I/we really couldn't give her the home she deserved so we rehomed her

E. Essential start to your day: Shower on weekdays but if it's a pj day, tea!

F. Favorite color: Yellow - sunshine

G. Gold or silver: Gold, but can only wear silver earrings

H. Height: 5′ 4"

I. Instruments you play(ed): I wish!  Have just joined the church choir and LOVING it

J. Job title: Mum, homemaker and Independent Phoenix trader

K. Kids: William (6), Millie (4) and Jaime (4)

L. Live:  Kent in the UK

M. Mom’s name: Hazel

N. Nicknames: Mummy, Mama, Vix, Ki and Bicki

O. Overnight hospital stays: 7 nights with William - he came 5 weeks early and 3 nights with M and J, they were C Section

P. Pet peeves: I've lost my vocabulary, since I've had the kids I just can't use my words.  I'll literally stumble over them all which gets quite embarrassing esp in professional situations

Q. Quote from a movie: “you had me at hello" - I know, cheesy but soooo good

S. Siblings: Gorgeous and lovely sister - Clare.  She now lives 5 hours away which I hate but she is loving it and it makes a great place to go stay but wish she was closer

T. Time you wake up: 540am mon and weds to run the rest 645am

U. Underwear: yep and they have to be from M&S

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Pretty much like them all

W. What makes you run late: Kids!!!!!

X. X-rays you’ve had: Teeth

Y. Yummy food you make: WW moroccan lamb and most recently a fab pavlova, recipe courtesy of my gorg mum.  I've the recipe for years but never had the guts to make it.

Bikers in the family

As most of you probably know, Bill is bike MAD!!!  He would cycle all the time, he mainly mountain bikes but has just got a road bike which he is really looking forward to taking to France and doing some of the Tour routes on.  I no longer have a bike but think I will eventually have to get one because the girls learnt to ride 2 wheelers over half term!!!!

My dad was over from France and we had a nice day so decided to see how they would get on, it took them about 10 mins!  With all 3 of the children we have invested in Puky balance bikes  and they have been worth their weight in gold.  They now just want to ride them all the time, although we haven't managed to get out as much as we have hoped as the weather hasn't been great but hey ho!

Look no stabilisers!

No really, no stabilisers!!

Me too, me too!

The Bike Gang!!

William was so sweet while this was going on, he was really encouraging and played on the girls old balance bike or his scooter because his bike is just a bit too big to ride in the road with both girls out too.  I was really lucky as well because we were given Jaimes bike and I managed to pick up Millies for £8 at a second hand toy barn....bargain and loved by her as it is pink and purple!!

We've done lots of other things too, but this was just too precious not to share.  It won't be long till we are all out on family cycle rides...how exciting

xxxxx