Festive Greetings to you all!

Yes I have been feeling really Christmassy since the decorations went up around the house last weekend. All the presents have been bought wrapped and strategically hidden. I have been good and posted my cards to one and all in good time before the various postal (international) deadlines etc. and I am officially knackered!!! My dear daughter and 5 month old son are smothered in colds, which will ensure that the rest of us will be poorly in time for Christmas, que sera.

My dear son looked a treat on stage as a king in his nativity play last night. The offbeat production was frought with some hysterically (unintentional) funny moments, which nearly saw me carried away on a stretcher. I am pleased to confirm that I have successfully captured them on film for future magical merriment. The school hall became very hot by toward the end the play and so various cast members began to discard their costumes mid scene. My dear son kept staring at the hot stage lights and at one point went a little cross eyed in the dazzle. There were beads of sweat on his brow and I became concerned that he would pass out. A good evening was had by all and my little chap walked home happy and fully recovered, bathed in a glow of fairy lights which adorned the neighbouring houses en route.

My dear daughter will hopefully recover in time for her play next week. She has been practicing her lines and songs faithfully and I know she will look cute in her yellow (summer dress) and (tea towel) headress. My teeny tiny man looks really sweet in his motorised baby swing, which is tastefully (honestly) bedecked in golden tinsel. He sits happily gurgeling to himself and pointing to the Christmas Tree. Life feels good when I am snuggled on the sofa with my little family, in the glow of the fairy lights, watching a funny festive film such as 'Home Alone' and/or 'It's a Wonderful Life' and 'White Christmas' et al with my husband. I have a batch of all these Chrimbo themed films that I produce every year to add the anticipation of the big day.

Today is very special, my little sister is having her third baby today (C Section). She was very scared last night but I am confident everything will go well. I have had three operations myself and so I can appreciate how she feels. Unlike me she has always waited until the actual delivery to discover the gender. She has carried differently this time round and she already has two girls. I wonder if she will have a boy this time. I am sooo excited for her and her family. Our mum is on tenter hooks and my nieces have mixed feelings. They want to meet their new sibling but are worried about their mummy being in hospital.

Merry Christmas everyone and sincere best wishes for a fabulous 2007!

:-) xxx

Here we go again!

Hello folks, I hope you are all keeping happy and well.

It is very foggy here in blighty this morning but it is not too cold. My small people are quite tired this morning. October and the early part of this month has been so exciting for them with birthday parties, dressing up for Halloween and over the weekend all the fire work displays. They will barely have time to recover from this before the silly season hype begins. My daughter is already singing her Christmas Carol heart out in preparation for her nursery nativity play and I am scratching my head again about a suitable costume. It is with our typical Chissell luck that she has been selected to be a 'Servant to the Bossy King' rather than be an Angel, the Virgin Mary or even an animal in the stable. No she has to be a servant and wear the colour YELLOW - go figure? I cannot wait to find out what delectable role my son will have for his primary school production.

I am very proud of my little man's efforts last term, he was given a certificate of achievement for his reading and won a (football) pencil for his mathematics on his first day back last Wednesday. I gave him the current issue of the Dr Who magazine as a reward and it came with a door handle sign (similar to the do not disturb signs in hotels). He can now rotate alternate messages on his bedroom door such as 'Out in the Tardis, will be back soon' etc. You would never believe that he has not actually seen an episode in his life. I find them quite scary and so there is no way a 5 yr old with a very lively imagination would cope.

My dear husband flew out to Los Angeles today with work, I wonder if the fog will delay his plane departure this morning? I will really miss him, because he is truly my best friend. I understand LA weather is in the balmy lower 20's this time of year. Oh well time to log off and get down to some honest domestic chores. Speaking of which, I had better call the repair man as the tumble dryer is making an awful din and I think it is about to conk out.

Take care everyone, Mrs C. xx

Hello again.

I am pleased to say my little man looked great in his Holland strip, enjoyed his edam sandwiches and apparently amazed his teacher (and the class) about his new found knowledge about the dutch and key various historical figures. He has also been voted as the class representitive and received a certificate of achievement for his reading ability. I am so proud of him and it has done wonders for his self confidence.

My husband and I went to meet his teacher last night (10/10/06). 'So far so good/very pleased with him, a bright and enthusiastic little boy but easily distracted by others' etc....... As a special treat a trusted carer from my daughters nursery baby sat my mad cap trio for the evening and my husband whisked me a way for a sumptious dinner in a nearby olde worlde village. The company, food, wine and venue were sublime. But alas like all fairy tale evenings, time flew by far too quickly. In fact I am sat here this morning with the mother of all hangovers, having completed a mad dash on the school run in the rain and driving my dear husband back to the village to retrieve his car. I can honestly say I have never been happier and totally in love with my little family.

My little princess had her 3rd birthday party last Sunday. She was ecstatic with her first Barbie doll and she (my daughter) looked gorgeous in her pink dress, tiara with matching earrings and flower garland. She is my little girl and I defend my right to indulge her in girly sparkling fluffy pink sweet nothings (however cliched and cheesy). My baby son also enjoyed all the extra attention and thrived in all the ambient activity. The party went well, with plently of champers, party poppers, calorific goodies and a boogie or three. The children had a good time too!

Oh well I have finished my coffee now and so I had better return to domestic bliss and get on with the ironing.

Take care all, Mrs C. XXX

Greetings to all my distant friends, family, aquaintences and to you!

I have just created this blog for the very first time and so please forgive any errors, omissions, typos and general naffness until I can get into the swing of things.

It is a glorious sunny and warm day, which is wholly unseasonable for a typical mid September day in blighty. I dutifully dispatched my chicks to school and nursery smothered in factor 40 sun block. My son is 5 and adores nature. This morning he found and leaf (an interesting one apparently) and insisted on giving it to his teacher. I could not gauge her reaction however as his 12 week old baby brother decided he wanted a feed and began to yell on the top of his teeny tiny lungs. His older sister (2yrs) who is forever in competition with her brothers began to join in the chorus with - "I want to get out (of the twin stroller) and run around the playground" with the other school children. I could feel the eyes of the other parents boring into my back whispering tuts in superior tones. Popping a bottle into the baby's mouth I glanced up at my daughter who was suddenly quiet and smiling shyly. It seems we had become surrounded by hordes of children who had clearly never seen a baby being fed before. Alas the magic of whispered ahh's and general good natured nudging was dispelled by the harsh commanding sound of the teacher's whistle. I feel true contentment when I watch my beautiful son bounding into the school with a happy innocent, expectant face and pray it will always be so.

Apparently it is world language day on the 26/09/2006 and I have to make/hire or buy a costume based on a traditional dutch boy, wooden clogs included. My son's class has been selected to study Holland. School teachers have these wonderful hairbrained ideas and then expect parents at short notice to magically produce everything and anything required from thin air. Then of course it has got to be de riguer in order to satisy the (over competitive) mothers who are either a whizz on the sewing machine or sufficiently loaded to jet over to said country for lunch and return with the appropriate items in time for dinner. Last term my son was chosen to be a wiggly worm (a character in the song "The Ugly Bug Ball"). My husband and I were suitably confounded and although we finally achieved a costume which pleased my son. None of the obligatory photographs taken at the school presentation will ever see the light of day! I will keep the video footage though, just to keep him grounded in the distant future. Hmm I am visualising my son in the Holland football strip wearing clogs!

My whirlwind dynamo of a daughter who is named after my favourite singer (I do not care if you think this is cheesy and no it is not Kylie, Britney or any type of fruit) will be 3yrs in October and she is obsessed with having a party with "candles and a big cake and everthing please?" This is fine and perfectly normal, but I have a dilemma. I am in the middle of redecorating and have begun stripping off the wall paper in the living room. Should I have the party at home and keep all her guests and family in the dinning room and perhaps ignore any requests to use the toilet? Or arrange something at a suitable (horrid samey) child friendly venue? My children have an amazing social life. They are unashamedly popular and our 'Simpson's' calendar is full of their social engagements (including the baby).

I am now signing off to view the delights awaiting me in my baby son's nappy and get back to the wall paper stripping. Project 'redecorating to sell the house and move to somewhere bigger' has begun and must run to time, to spec and on budget.........

And what is happening with you?

By happy and well,

Mrs C xxx