The Gallery: April

This photo sums up April for me, the peace and tranquility.

The beginning of April was very busy at work and home. I had a chest infection that went on for two weeks, followed by a stomach bug. All this going on and trying to decorate the girls bedroom things were far from calm!!

From the minute we arrived at the caravan till we left things were so calm just the break I needed. To me this photo is so calm and peaceful just like our holiday. The best part of April for me.

William & Kate's wedding day.

The Royal kiss everyone was waiting for.

After spending the morning glued to the television, which I have to confess I was not going to do. Yes shocking I know but after being a big follower of Princess Diana I did not know if I could watch without getting upset. Well as I thought once the tv was turned on I was hooked and as I thought the kleenex were needed.

We had arranged to spend the day with our friends in Sunny Redcar. Once the happy couple had kissed we all jumped in the car and headed off. The roads were really quiet.

Whilst preparations were made for the bbq Daz took the kids to the park.

Climbing up the rocket ship.

Kids all waiting for their food

Max eying up the food

The Chef at work

Olivia enjoying my home made marinade chicken

To keep up with the Royal wedding I made Eton mess with a sprinkling of chocolate.

All the other puddings ;-) x

This is hilarious either Daz thoroughly enjoyed the wedding or he has had too many lagers.

We had a great day. All the best to William and Kate for the future x

The Gallery: Green

Rather late I know but after reading many blogs I thought I would join in The Gallery. I chose this picture from our holiday last week. Looking forward to seeing what this Fridays Gallery will be.

Hope everyone has a great Royal Wedding Day tomorrow.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone!!

I took this picture of Olivia's eggs in her new room, giving people a sneak peek of all my hard work this last few weeks. I have to be honest we have had the new bed for 8 months but something always got in the way of me starting the room. Decorating a room to appeal to a 5 year old and 20 year old is quite a task.

I started by ripping up the carpet and preparing the floor boards. Steff my eldest wanted white floor boards. After sanding filling etc I decided to test a patch of the floor with white gloss, Big Mistake!! after a week I stood on the floor and it all started coming off!! Another trip to B&Q and I bought proper floor board paint £35.00 a tin! When I arrived home and I did my calculations I was going to need a few tins. I decided to take the paint back and buy a carpet. Lucky for me both girls like it.

The walls were a total mess after removing about 4 layers of wall paper so I had to line them first. I have chosen white to keep the room bright. Building the bed was fun, I was apprehensive opening the box as after having it 8 months it was tough if anything was wrong with it. The bed is a white wood double bed with a single on the top (a lot bigger than we thought).

I still have mattresses and a blind to buy but its getting there. Steff wanted some bunting on the wall, I made my own which I don't think is too bad for a first attempt.

When the room is finished I will do a post and show u my hard work (for anyone who is wondering your right my husband is useless at DIY so its all down to me).

Well I hope everyone is having a lovely time, doing lots of lovely things.

Guess what my four will be asking for when they wake up? You guessed it !Chocolate! Only if they eat their dinner.

Scrumming it with Austin Healey and Will Greenwood

Billingham Rugby Club under 12s won a competition to spend the day with Austin Healey and Will Greenwood. The prize was for up to 50 children so the under 13s and under 11s were also invited along. Lewis was high as a kite and very excited to go.

When they arrived every child was handed a full kit to put on. The children all kitted up then went outside to start warming up. The children were split in to two groups. Austin and Will shared their time equally between the two groups.

THE FULL KIT

SIGNED CAP AND MEDAL

SIGNED SHIRT

KIT BAGS AND DRINKS BOTTLE

SIGNED PHOTOS

A CERTIFICATE TO REMEMBER THE DAY.

All the children had a fantastic time learning new tactics and skills. A camera man came with them so hopefully we will get to see some interesting pictures of the day.

THANK YOU BGL SUPER SKILLS RUGBY CHALLENGE, AUSTIN HEALEY AND WILL GREENWOOD FOR GIVING LEWIS A BRILLIANT EXPERIENCE HE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER.

Super Skills Travel

A week in Ripley

Firstly I would like to apologise for not blogging for a couple of weeks. I was struck down with a bad chest infection which took two lots of antibiotics to clear and as if that was not bad enough my daughter came home with a nasty stomach bug and felt she had to share it with me.

Anyway now that I have stopped feeling sorry for myself let me tell you about my week away in Ripley. A friend of mine has a static caravan in Ripley and kindly lets us use it. Well we say caravan but it has all the luxury of home. Daniel decided to play David Bailey and take photos to give you a guided tour.

Outside our home for a week.

The living area.

Where I practised come dine with me every night.

The master bedroom

One of the two twin rooms

The best power shower.

Having four children and living on a tight budget I would say this is an ideal place for the kids to have fun without it costing a fortune. Before we left home I asked Daz to pack the PS2 thinking the boys could conect to the tv in their room incase we had a rainy day. On arriving at the van Daniel went straight to set it up. Guess who forgot the controllers? Yes you guessed it Daz, oh the boys were not happy and I instantly felt panic set in that two stroppy boys could ruin the week. How wrong I was and what a lovely week we had without two zombies glued to a computer game.

Ripley caravan site is lovely for all ages. The idyllic setting in the countryside with rabbits and ducks roaming free. For the children there is a games room, an indoor heated swimming pool and a lovely outdoor play area. A large grassed area makes a great space for football, cricket or rounders. The site has a shop which is open 3 times a day in high season and stocks all essential items. The kids bought 40 pence bags of duck food which they took to the large duck pond and had a great time.

Entrance to the site.

Olivia monkeying around at the play park.

Phone box at the side of the indoor pool.

For anyone visiting the site with a tourer van or tent they have brilliant shower/toilet facillities. Once when I was staying at the van last year as there were several of us to get ready for a night out we used the showers and they are very powerful and lovely and warm. The laundry room is great and everywhere is kept clean.

The shower block/ laundry room etc.

The site is a ten minute walk from Ripley which is famous for its ice cream and castle. The kids enjoyed several walks into Ripley. The butchers is amazing and the meat is very succulent!! I also bought vegetables from the farm shop which were very fresh and tasty. The kids love the famous ice cream and I think Daz enjoyed them too.

Walking in to Ripley

The famous Ripley Ice Cream shop.

All enjoying an ice cream.

Lets just leave the kids locked up for a while.

Ripley Castle.

As well as our walks in to Ripley we went into Harrogate which is a ten minute drive away from the caravan site. The boys hated the shopping but I had fun browsing the sales and was even more delighted to see that Harrogate now has a Primarni!! I booked a train to Leeds for the Saturday where Olivia and I were going to meet Steff and have a look at her new student accomodation. From Harrogate you can also pop on a train to York.

We all had a great week away just relaxing and enjoying the country air. If you're looking for a nice break with (or without!) the kids I can't recommend Ripley enough.

Thank you Sally for letting us have a great week. Back very soon for more fun!!

(Oh guess what the boys did the minute we got home? YES went straight on the PS3 oh well we got a week with them).

When do we stop worrying about our kids?

Waking up still feeling very rough!! 3 days of tablets and they still have not taken effect. When I eventually crawl downstairs I am greeted by the two boys. Both fighting for my attention to let me know their plans for the day. Dan informs me he is going to the pictures whilst Lewis tells me he is meeting his friends at the green. It's funny how children make plans these days without asking their parents first. Do they think money grows on trees?

After asking Dan to confirm his plans and let me know his arrangements he begins texting his friends. The replies went along the lines of 'oh did not know you were coming' and 'oh you better ask so and so'. As a parent I began to feel angry how could boys be so heartless and they are supposed to be his mates!! We all want to protect our children so I tell him to forget it let them know he is not going, no child of mine will beg for friendship.

Even though I wanted to just curl up in bed I told Dan we would go get him some new trainers instead. Lewis asks if he can be dropped at the green to meet his mates. Lewis is 11 but I have never left him out on his own before. When none of his friends were at the green I felt relief but hurt at the disappointment on his face.

We went to the sports shop and managed to get trainers and some cut price rugby gear for Lewis so they were both happy. I went to M&S for the dine in for 4 deal only to find they had sold out! Bang goes my easy Mothers Day lunch. On the way home Lewis spotted his friends at the green, so after giving him some money and a lecture on being careful we drove off.

Lewis came back to the house 45 minutes later, I asked if he had a good time and he told me he'd been told by another boy to buy 2 of the girls a drink, which he did, and then the boy asked him to buy some sweets, so he did. One girl left her drink outside the shop so they told Lewis to go back for it, by the time he had got it and returned, they had all ran off! I am so angry that children can be so cruel and was tempted to get in the car and go and tell them what I thought. Calming myself down I just explained to Lewis that they were not worth bothering with.

My heart breaks for them but they have to learn people are cruel and not everyone is as kind and decent as them.

Dianne x

Leibster award

I was nominated for the Leibster Award by the lovely Mum in Meltdown.Thank you very much for nominating me I am flattered.

If you would like to nominate someone for a Leibster award the rules are:

1. Post displaying the award and then link back to the person who awarded you.

2. Choose your own blogs to nominate ( very difficult as I found a lot of them had been already awarded) and let them know they have been awarded.

3. Hope that everyone discovers some new favourite blogs to follow.

4. Spread the blog love.

Here are my nominees:

Buttons Bows & Brogues A blog of a University student that reviews clothes and accessories. A must read as this is my lovely daughters blog and she inspired me xx

Frills and spills The life of a University student, an interesting read.

Mammy dolittle A down to earth working mum of 2's blog.

Mum in Meltdown I am returning the favour and giving Mum in Meltdown the award for taking the time to read my blog TY xx

Mummy daddy and me makes three A lovely new mum with a new blog.

Not supermum

Please continue to share the blog love and check out some of these blogs x Happy reading.