Santa's Visit!

Friday was the day of Buttercups Christmas Party. A hall with two bouncy castles, 100 children (yes 100 children) PLUS parent(s) is a very scary prospect and although noisy, everyone had a ball!

Last year, Callum slept through most of the party (and was asleep in Santa's arms). Santa did seem quite scary to the little ones; all of Callum's friends cried and didn't want to sit on his lap!

Callum has moved up a gear on the walking front and kept wandering off making his bid for freedom. Just had to keep a close eye out for the floating red balloon that I tied to him.

Afterwards we headed to a little cafe in Thatcham for a sandwich and coffee. Kids were brilliantly behaved although with pushchairs galore, we did take over the place a bit.

Today was deja vu as we were back in the same cafe having lunch and coffee as there was no Buttercups. Tomorrow will be spent catching up on the ironing and housework as Wednesday and Thursday are really hectic catching up with folk before Christmas ... and my in-laws arrive Thursday evening.

Nan

David, Callum & I made a quick trip up to Barrow this week. Nan is in hospital (and has been since the end of November) and sadly she not going to get better. She's refusing all food (and hardly drinking anything).

She's lost so much weight and can barely summon the energy to open her eyes, let alone talk. I don't think she realised David & I were there, but she knew Callum was. A flicker of recognition, her hand moved out to touch his and she just about managed to wiggle her tongue at him. On Tuesday she asked to sit in her chair (for the first time in a couple of days) so the nurses took the opportunity to put an air mattress on the bed. No sooner than she was sitting up though, she wanted to get back into bed as her head was getting woolly. The new mattress though only caused more problems as she fell out of bed during the night and has bruised her head and gashed her ankle.

I just keep trying to remember Nan the last time she was down at my parents, surrounded by all four great grandsons and a big smile across her face. This is how she should be remembered, not lying in that hospital bed.

The Perfect Tree!

What a lovely day today has been. Cold, but at least the sun has been shining (for the first time this month). Just as well, as today we'd be heading out into a field of Christmas Trees in search of the perfect tree. Jon and David wanted to choose the first ones they came too (a bit sparse on the branch front!) but we persuaded them to walk a little further into the field. You bring your own saw to cut down whatever tree you choose and carry it back to the pay point/exit.

David & Nicky only wanted a "little tree" this year. The one they selected must have been at least 10ft tall! Whether it fits in their house is anyone's guess. However, their tree was not as big as some other people chose. Wide was not the word to describe them - the tree would have filled the width of our lounge!!

Ollie & Tom got their own little trees (branch off-cuts) but Ollie was disappointed that his couldn't go through the netting machine (bless!).

We're really pleased with the tree we've got and just needs decorating now. Last years tree was fantastic and hardly dropped any needles ... and a bargain at only £15. Yattendon Estates would be £60+ for the same tree.

Snowcap Christmas Trees: http://www.newbury.net/christmastrees.htm

Mum's (& kids) Day Out

The Thames Valley Air Ambulance held a fund raiser at Highclere Castle today so instead of meeting up at another Mum's house, we thought we'd pop by to see Lord & Lady Carnavon! Very nice pad they've got and the entrance hall brought back memories of Carole & Mark's wedding there almost 6 years ago. We ended up carrying the kids around as they [the organisers] changed their minds about allowing buggies into the castle. My arms have now doubled in length - he's soooo heavy now (solid!).

It was a Christmas Shopping Event but most of the items on sale were way out of our price range. Clothes that were £400 reduce to £200 (think this was the ladyships own clothing range), Pearl Necklaces and the slightly more affordable cashmere slippers at £20 (were £60 so a bargain).

Right at the end there was the Air Ambulance stand where things were very affordable so bought some Christmas Decorations and raffle tickets.

Oh and Callum left his mark on the place ... he dribbled on two posh chairs in the hall!

The Tea Rooms at Highclere were jam-packed so decided to head to the bookshop at the retail park for a coffee - Trinny & Susannah popped in for a book signing while we were there too. I don't watch their programmes, but the blonde one looks much older in the flesh than on telly!

Oh still haven't got my car back from the repairers (Grrr). So much for their on line system (rubbish). It keeps saying that your car will be ready tomorrow and when it isn't, it just slips back another day. That's been happening for a week now and am getting cheesed off.

Accident!

The results of making the wrong decision can mean getting home on time ... or 30 mintues late! And I was only deciding which way to head back home from town.

The A4 heading towards Thatcham was really busy when I headed into town, as was Hambridge Lane so I'd avoid those routes and head back via Greenham Common. A split second change of mind at the St John's Roundabout saw me head down St John's Road instead of going up Newtown Road - big mistake.

Ten seconds later, someone ran into the back of me.

I'd stopped as a car was turning right into the Vets Surgery and the car behind me stopped (lovely BMW 330 Coupe ... or it was prior to the accident), but the Volvo behind her didn't and pushed the BMW into me.

No-one, thankfully was hurt in the accident. The Volvo driver was heavily pregnant (found out today that she was 10 days overdue) and her son was very upset. Callum was completely fine and oblivious to all this going on and just kept giggling. Details were duly exchanged in the pouring rain. Apart from a few scratches to my car and a broken number plate and surround, it doesn't look too bad at first glance. The boot door needs checking out to make sure that it's not twisted etc.

When I got home, I reported the accident to my insurers and 20 mins later was off the phone. Within 30 minutes, I'd had calls from the Hire Car People and the Repair Centre (booking me in for Tuesday) ... and 10 minutes later had a phone call from Direct Line saying that they are not disputing liability and would pay for the repair and a hire car. So far, very impressed but will reserve judgement until I've got my car back, fully repaired.

The only thing that really got me (and the other ladies) annoyed was the Biffa Refuse Collectors, shouting abuse at us that we were blocking the road! GGrrr.

Learn To Walk Before You Can Run!

The confidence we see in Callum each day now he's started walking is unbelieveable. He started a couple of days before my birthday (17th October to be exact) when he took his first step ... or should that be he launched himself from one toy to another. Each day he has got a little bit braver and gradually moved onto to taking a couple of steps between toys, furniture, and us with plenty of falling down lots in fits of giggles in between!

Now he can manage the length of the lounge, he's trying to be clever for his own good ... he runs, falls over and hurts himself (hence lots of tears and sobbing). Aaaarrrgghhhh - he got a lovely bruise today from head-butting the wooden frame on the settee.

Daddy and Callum spent a whole day together yesterday as I disappeared with MJ & Dawn to a craft exhibition at the NEC. A great day was had by all, but it was lovely to get back in time for Callum's bedtime routine. One big plus now he's walking is that he really tires himself out in the afternoon so settles himself down to sleep really quickly. Result!

Busy week ahead this week ... we're trying to finish the Christmas shopping on Tuesday and Thursday (with lunch of course) fitting around the usual weekly "mother's meetings and gatherings". We have our last totally free weekend before Christmas next weekend so we're planning on making the most of it.

Mastermind Meltdown and Fish Fingers

We were watching telly last night and flicked onto Mastermind (nothing on at all!). It was semi-final round so all the contestants should have been pretty clued up ... or so you'd think. One lass did particularly well and scored 18 on some trilogy, another two scored 13 each, but you had to feel sorry for the next chap.

It was an odd choice of specialised subject: Jim Carrey Movies (the chap was in his 50's) and you knew it wasn't going to go well from the first question. "It's oh, um ... PASS". And so it continued you could see the guy wishing the ground would swallow him up. He got 1 point, ONE point (we even managed that and we're not keen on JC movies!) and racked up 8 passes.

Things didn't get too much better in the next round but at least got 8 more points (and finished rock bottom last).

Watch out for this on TV's Most Embarassing Moments!

I've introduced Callum to Fish Fingers ... I haven't had these since I was little and I'd forgotten how scrummy they are. Not sure who enjoyed them more; Callum or me!!

New Shoes

Callum got his first pair of shoes today - and came close to setting a world record for losing one. Two hours after putting them on, mum noticed that one shoe was dangling precariously by his toes. He wore them no more - I had to get two shoes home.

They call them cruising shoes (sounds very dodgy) and we had the grand choice of one style to choose from: "Dougal". He's a 3.5 H (mega wide) - any wider and he's off the scale.

He was so funny when he tried them on. Anyone would think we'd strapped concrete blocks to his feet - they were soooo heavy he couldn't move! He's now meant to get his feet measured every 8 weeks to make sure his shoes still fit ... and at £18-£26 for a pair of shoes, it's going to be expensive.

Breathe Photo Shoot

Very excited today – our photos were ready for collection from last months Breathe photo shoot. The photos are mainly of Callum and are just stunning. We really liked the 6 photo montage they did of Callum … but at 45” wide without mount and framing, we would need to build an extension to show the photo off - a little excessive!! We opted for a cut down version that still looks great.

The Monday routine also means we head off to Buttercups for a couple of hours in the afternoon and this week we managed to get a few more Christmas pressies ordered. Handprints on tea towels for the grandmothers! Callum was not a happy chappie and screamed all the way through, but thankfully we got some decent handprints on the first attempt, and the added bonus of getting Callum’s hands clean from blue paint before he got any on his clothes … and on me!

Homegrown Lime !

Jon and I rarely have success with growing things - we tend to kill our plants before they flower or bear fruit. Yet tonight with sit down with a G&T in hand that has a slice of lime grown by our own fair hands.

It looked like a lime ... was a lime-size shape ... but were fully expecting it to be manky on the inside when we cut into it. But no, it was fleshy, juicy and even smelt like a lime. We've bought the lime tree inside for the winter (and given it a haircut) and our fingers are crossed that we'll end up with a couple more limes next year.

This afternoon was spent up at Mum and Dads. They're off on hols soon and needed their CF cards cleared of photos ... so guess who got the job. Dad's only had a Digital Camera for 6 years and he still hasn't got the hang of downloading his own piccies. I gone through it with him on numerous occassions and he's taken detailed notes. The only problem is, he can't read his own handwriting (it's far worse than your average doctors!).

Parents shouldn't be let loose on computers without a support contract in place ... well, that'll be Jon then!