Sunday 29th November. We went to the Cinema to see The Good Dinosaur (it was sweet! Fun, not too scary for H) and bought some bits afterwards in Sutton, including H’s first dressing gown, as modelled here.
Monday 30th November. Rainbows. I have just completed a second row of badges on H’s Rainbows shirt. Considering she still has two terms left there, it’s going to be one seriously full shirt by the time she leaves!
Tuesday 1st December. And so we’re off again – the elves are up to no good. As usual I’ve forgotten to plan anything, so we’re making it up as we go along – a bit like life!
Friday 4th December. I appear not to have taken a photo today. Not sure why…
Saturday 5th December. Spotted there were previews of the Snoopy & Charlie Brown movie happening at all the cinemas locally, so took H – we loved it. A proper family kind of movie with nothing scary and many many nods to the Peanuts gang I grew up with. I approve big time!
Sunday 22nd November. A trip to Igtham Mote, a National Trust place in Kent that we haven’t visited, which was really charming and all set up for Christmas. Oh god, it’s Christmas soon. Good job I’m vaguely organised. Where is this year going? H took her class bear and we got a few photo opportunities.
Monday 23rd November. Morning! A pink and blue kind of morning to wake up to, heading on my commute to work. Getting colder.
Tuesday 24th November. So Shaun and I went through everything under the stairs, recycled loads and gave away some toys that H has forgotten about. Relief! Space! Which will be filled soon with more things I’m sure. I found my lovely Snoopy which I had back in the 1970s – H wants to adopt him. I’m having none of it. She cackled “hahaaha one day this will be mine anyway. WHEN YOU DIE!!!!” which was a bit weird.
Wednesday 25th November. I don’t remember Wednesday this week. Although H’s friend came to play after school, but I won’t be posting the pic as I don’t have his mum’s permission to do so – just take my word for it.
Thursday 26th November. I really resent having to buy costumes for H for school because I don’t have the time to make them. Fortunately a local selling group on Facebook had this wonderful costume for sale, so she will go to her year’s Christmas event dressed respectably (otherwise she’d have been relying on my needlework skills – I got a CSE4 in it…)
Friday November 27th. H wrote this poem about fireworks for her home learning from school a few weeks ago. She worked on it well, after writing loads of words which reminded her of the fireworks, sounds, smells, feelings, we looked for ones that rhymed and she wrote this poem.
Saturday November 28th. I woke up feeling weird, my ear making a banging noise – not good. So I did the sensible thing and we took H to football. Mid-way through Shaun went home to get the car, it was THAT cold. Sensible move. H stood in goal, and was sweaty hot – she did get some running around. Someone needs to make clothes suitable for football mums like me…
Sunday 15th November. West Run London day – and it’s probably a good job I couldn’t take my camera with me. A photographer positioned himself in front of H and I and took a picture, never to be shown. Well firstly, we didn’t get the free Fun Run t-shirt everyone had (we got a number, mind) – though I’m hoping that will arrive in the post soon. It was a well-run event with changing rooms (I’ve never seen that before!) and goodies from Wholefoods afterwards too. Our sponsorship total is almost at 100% as well – and H and I ran the whole ONE mile which is quite an achievement for me, and H has never done anything like that before. Next stop Race for Life! Oh, and I’d recommend West Run London – but just make sure you get your t-shirt at the event.
Monday 16th November. Achey. Busy work. The District line has trains like on the Overground – you can get on at the furthest carriage and walk all the way up to the front!
Wednesday 18th November. A Lovely album. Played a lot in the office, and I weakened and bought it. I don’t buy albums very often, so they have to be special.
Friday 20th November. H got the class bear. We need to make our lives interesting for the next week. Super proud she is Star of the Week (she did well in her maths, she said other kids did more than her, but I pointed out it’s not about comparing herself to others, it’s about doing what her teacher wants her to do and getting it done accurately). So I’m happy with that!
Saturday 21st November. Blogfest 2015! So much to do, so little time. Brilliant content, yummy food, skipped the awards bit (as I didn’t really care) and hung out at the bookshop instead. My phone takes terrible photos, although this one at King’s Cross came out well. Not sure why. I attended the photography session and I’m going to get the DSLR out again and have a proper play, as it has taken a back seat this last year or so.
Sunday 8th November. A calm day after a crazy night before at the local bonfire. I decided I need to wear the clothes I buy rather than keeping them “for best” – so wore my lovely new Seasalt Cornwall skirt. Love it, and a good length for me too.
Monday 9th November. Would I like to try some chocolate which has no sugar? Oh yes please. So I’ve been trying this, at my desk, at work. I’m not sharing, I need to test it properly.
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Tuesday 10th November. Completely random – we were left a blank envelope on our doorstep which had this inside – a random act of kindness. I’m thinking about adding the amount to the sponsorship money we’re collecting for the fun run we’ve done, as we’re raising money for the Little Princess Trust. How random and kind though! I have to admit, once I’d got over how nice it was I then got paranoid – that’ll be living in London that does that to you.
Wednesday 11th November. I’ve been given the chance to test a Leafcard via work for £1 for a year – if you’re with someone and eat at one of their partner restaurants, you can get a vegetarian meal for free. So if I use it once I’ve made my money back. Interesting, but we’ll see how we go.
Thursday 12th November. Giant crumpets. So giant I had just the one and felt full. So good though, I do love crumpets. They’re also handy as a quick breakfast when you’re heading out for a fun run (I now speak from experience).
Friday 13th November. Work is crazy at the moment, to the point I’m getting home and still doing some work. This is all due to our biggest album release (possibly ever) next Friday, and the lead-up to it and where my work kicks in. It has involved sleepless nights and worried days, but it’s worth it. Fortunately I keep my regular hours and work has employed someone to help me out (he was off sick for two days though, so Thursday and Friday wore me out) – so to get home and get a package for H from my mum-in-law was a good break from it all. There is a Christmas shop in Toodyay which is open all year round, and she sent H some things, two of which are here.
Saturday 14th November. Back in March I bought tickets for H and I to see Annie on stage in Wimbledon. She has never seen the stage show, and didn’t know the songs which didn’t feature in the films (until I bought her the soundtrack for her birthday), and I hadn’t seen it on stage since the eighties. We HAD to go. I may have had little tears in my eyes re-living my youth with my daughter, and she loved it. No Craig Revel Horwood as Miss Hannigan, we had Lesley Joseph (and I was fine with that) – she was good too, although I couldn’t spot her American accent too often! But she was well suited for the role.
Sunday 1st November. The last day of the holidays, and a lazy one at that. Plus we were recovering from Halloween, even though we didn’t do very much apart from drink and be tired. H, on the other hand, went trick or treating with her friends and came back with all these sweets. Sigh.
Monday 2nd November. Sorted for the fireworks this Saturday!
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Tuesday 3rd November. We got the Call of Dooom from school, H had been sick in class so that’s a straight 48 hour exclusion from her classmates from the last bit of sick. Luckily, the first bit was the last bit, but it meant Shaun took off Wednesday with her and I took off Thursday. So I took this photo to show her Nanna in Australia she was doing fine. Seriously, had she not been so tired, and been sick I wouldn’t have believed she was unwell!
Wednesday 4th November. The only photo I took today was of my list of bands I have to check daily at YouTube which I’m not about to post here! So take my word for it that I posted a photo.
Thursday 5th November. H’s elbow and knee pads arrived from China, and they included this in the package which was sweet.
Friday 6th November. I ordered a Himalayan Salt Lamp on Thursday from Salty Lamps, and it arrived the following day – great service, and a lovely glow. I’m hoping it helps with how rubbish I always feel at home, as it’s meant to help clean the air. I always feel at my best when I’m by the sea, and being stuck in South London is too far away from it, for obvious reasons! So we’ll see how we get on.
Saturday 7th November. Fireworks, the annual trip to Carshalton’s display. It actually felt quite uncomfortable this year when they were cheering the guy (called Boris) until he finally burnt. I think I’m overthinking a lot this year! It was still enjoyable, and H got to play with her friends so she was happy (apart from when she wasn’t!). A good night.
Sunday 25th October. H was desperate to ride her bike, so we headed to Beddington Park. Actually, Shaun and H did, and I had a lie down as I felt achey. I drove up there and we stopped in the park for an Ice Cream (as you do in October), H was happy as they had Candyfloss Ice Cream.
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Monday 26th October. A Rainbows Bear Hunt day which started well, but soon got a bit chaotic (and scary) when we were evacuated from Centrale in Croydon. Fortunately most girls were just worried, though one was scared. We got back into Build a Bear within 30 minutes, the girls chose their bears (and dog in H’s case) and got on with their party. I love this Princess Leia bear – I’d have bought the costume too, but it had sold out. Obviously popular…
Tuesday 27th October. We did a daytrip to Dover today to visit Dover Castle. The journey was an hour and a half and clear, once we were parked and inside the castle there was tons to do – including a Ghost Walk suitable for kids which was particularly hilarious when we were stood by the trebuchet and Shaun decided to wander off to a tower which looked interesting, while H and I stood and listened. Just as Shaun was about to enter the tower, an actress dressed as a ghost came running out (as part of the walk) and scared the living daylights out of him. Fortunately I did not see this as I’d have laughed for the rest of the day!! It was an awesome day, a fantastic castle, and we’ve many more to visit now!
Wednesday 28th October . I can’t go for long without buying stuff. At Dover Castle found this excellent book which covers historical people – and has some H is doing at school at the moment. It was selling for £9.99, plus Shaun gets a 15% discount with his CSSC membership at English Heritage shops – and it’s brilliant! A great book, and now H has read up on Guy Fawkes, ready for tomorrow at school. I should also add, our Dyson v6 cordless arrived today – and Shaun, H and I have been fighting over who gets to use it. So far, so good (and so dust-free)!
Thursday 29th October. We headed to London Bridge to The Golden Hinde for a Tudor Fun Day. Lianna had spotted a deal via Little Bird where tickets were £3.50 each, and it was great fun. Mostly for the kids, but adults got involved too. Almost two hours of Tudor-based games and a good laugh, although it took H a while to warm up.
Friday 30th October. A day off doing anything, just relaxing at home. I posted this picture from the day before on Instagram. H is pulling a “Mean Explorer” face.
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Saturday 30th October. Halloween, and H is all dressed up. We never did Trick or Treat-ing when I was younger. Actually, that’s a lie – we did it once but my mum got cross and made us take the sweets back, so we never did it again. H does it with her friends and I don’t really know what to do apart from dress her up. Fortunately she didn’t want me to go with her at the last minute (as I wasn’t dressed up and felt a bit fragile), so she headed out dressed like this and had a ball. That’s my kind of night. I stayed in the house and watched the Rugby World Cup Final and tried not to depress Shaun too much.
Sunday 18th October. I was sent some Snazaroo Face Paints via Mumsnet to try out some Halloween faces. While I’m sure the face painting brigade won’t be calling on my services any time soon, H loved her vampire face. I thought I did okay, but I need to work on getting the white paint thicker.
Tuesday 20th October. My sister in law no longer lives in China, she’s in Viet Nam. However, my mother in law did get around to posting some things for us she picked up when she visited. Pee Pee Boy now has a friend.
Wednesday 21st October. My serious skater child. The top she’s wearing is an age 4-5 – possibly the first and last time she’ll wear it. She wanted to wear it with just tights, and I had to persuade her otherwise. While she has lovely long legs, it was just that bit too short… looks cool with denim shorts though!
Friday 23rd October. We had an inset day! I had booked us a hotel in Warwick a while back, so got a good £30 deal, so we decided to drive up to Warwick Castle, in the hope there might not be too many other Inset Days, plus the Halloween activities weren’t due to start until the following day. The gamble paid off – we got to Warwick Castle at 11am and left just before 5pm and it was really quiet. We did almost everything – though missed a few presentations around the grounds. H’s topic at school has been about castles this last term, and we still have another castle trip planned this half term too. With our Merlin Passes it was free to get in, the food came to around £15 (all you can eat buffet), and our hotel had a food deal on in the evening too.
Saturday 24th October. We had a Shakespeare Day. Stratford Upon Avon was just up the road, no more than ten miles at most. While H is still young, she’s had a fabulous book of Shakespeare which breaks all the stories down into cartoons, which she reads from time to time (current favourite Romeo and Juliet). We bought a Five Houses Pass to visit as many of the properties as we could, and managed three. Fortunately Vouchercloud had a deal where you could get a ticket free to the same value of one you’re buying, so H got hers for nothing. This saved us around £50 and meant we got to Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Mary Arden’s Farm. All of them were wonderful, and we all learned a lot. I’ve been in the past but didn’t remember a lot about it – so it was good to revisit.
Sunday 11th October. We borrowed next door’s carpet cleaner and gave our front room some much needed attention. It needed it. Look at all that space, which of course would be taken over with “stuff” again once it dried. It worried a few FB friends, wondering what was going on.
Monday 12th October. And so starts our theme for this week. My sister sent some birthday money for H a bit late, and after chatting with Shaun about it, we thought we should get her some roller skates as she had wanted some for a while. At the moment she’s just indoors while we wait for her knee and elbow pads to arrive, but she’s taken to it really quickly. So this was pre-Rainbows.
Tuesday 13th October. After school.
Wednesday 14th October. After the Very Tiring School trip. But she wasn’t too tired to skate.
Thursday 15th October. Still skating…
Friday 16th October. A break. We had the dentist after school followed by a haircut in Carshalton Village – H has her school photo on Monday. Seeing as I cut her hair last time, it needed someone who knows how to do it. We stopped at our local Costa before haircut time, and had a much-needed treat. Extra bonus, the abscess I thought I had isn’t one. I had an x-ray done, and asked the dentist what those two suspicious looking black holes were on the image. My nostrils, apparently. He may have laughed at me.
Saturday 17th October. I was sent some Snazaroo face paints via Mumsnet, so this is a pumpkin skater.
Sunday 4th October. We had our Harvest Festival for Rainbows, so popped along to that. W had a quick stop in the park afterwards, where happy child enjoyed the swings.
Tuesday 6th October. So at church on Sunday it came to light H has never heard the Lord’s Prayer. She doesn’t go to a religious school so there’s no reason why she should – but it did get me thinking, as the majority of her Rainbows friends do know it, as they do attend a religious school. When my mum gave me a load of my old books, one of them was Lucie Attwell’s Little Book of Prayers – and I dug it out for H. So now she can learn it, and I don’t feel quite so bad for not being religious enough. Or something.
Wednesday 7th October. Had a fabulous delivery at work today from Disney – a box full of Star Wars goodies and books for Star Wars Reads Day on the 10th October. A damn fine delivery too – as some of the blokes at work said “I wish maths was as interesting as this when I was at school” – they’re not wrong!
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Thursday 8th October. When your pals all have Star Wars costumes but you don’t, there’s only one thing you can be at a Star Wars event – a Star Wars kid. These leggings from Next help – a LOT.
Saturday 10th October. H’s football was on first thing, followed by me going to South Kensington to Dyson’s showroom, to see the Dyson v6 and what it was capable of. I tell you one thing it is VERY capable of – getting glitter out of the carpet. Even our 12 year old Dyson can’t do that (although it is probably due a bit of TLC what with being that old). A very enjoyable afternoon, which I spent the entire time wearing a badge which should have been given to another blogger called Jo. I’m so dozy I didn’t realise until I got home. Whoops. Early night for me then!
Sunday 27th September. Sunny day, and a stay at home one after our busy Saturday. So we sat outside, ate ice lollies and toasties and played Bananagrams.
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Monday 28th September. Mastered the Rubiks cube. Way back in the 80s my dad had a book which showed you how to solve it, which was MASSIVE. Online, it’s one page and easy.
Tuesday 29th September. H’s Street Dance after school club started, so I got to go shopping to pick up more Clarins bits I needed as they were about to run out. Clarins are doing the Feed 10 deal again, where you buy two full sized products and get some large sample sizes, same as last year.
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Wednesday 30th September. Autumn Treasures – conkers and more. One was a double conker which H was really excited about.
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Thursday 1st October. H’s Halloween outfit is sorted thanks to H&M.
Friday 2nd October. I went out tonight with three friends to a local pub which we really like – and it happened to be karaoke night. We stayed till almost midnight, starting with Bohemian Rhapsody and finishing with ABBA. I was grinning for most of the next day! (and quite hungover) Look at this choice though – Pixies and PJ Harvey! Saturday 3rd October. Hangover day, took H to football and stayed at home tidying up all afternoon. This giant spider decided to make a web in our yard.
