It's a small gesture for 2 young children who havent started their new nurseries or schools yet, but M & M rated me as "the bestest mummy in the stars"... a high rating by my own standards!
Yes, they were fiddly. Yes, they were messy. And yes, they sent the girls on a frenzy of chocolate induced hyperness... but it was so worth it. The look of delight and eagerness on their faces as the two sides of the bunny popped out of the mould and mummy glued them together with what can only be described as fumbling-fingers, will be forever embedded in my memory bank.
A cheap, productive, and relatively easy Easter activity that pefecty followed our Easter Bonnet making fiasco yesterday. I have to say that the hats looked more like Indian feathered headresses than Easter bonnets, but did they care? Of course not! Did the hats survive the day? Of course not! Did they have endless fun with their imagination? Most definately!
And the scavenger hunt on Monday went down a treat as well... I drew up a list of things that she knew the girls could find in the garden; bugs, leaves, petals etc. Armed with the list, wellie boots, juice, and a ball we set off down the hideous three flights of stairs ready to hunt. Okay, so it ony lasted about twenty minutes, but the sun was shining, and the girls soon began to amuse themselves and even dug me up a daffodil which has just started to open this morning! It didnt cost me a penny, I had some time to relax with the warm spring sun hitting my face, and yes there was mud and soil squiged into their clothes but who cares! It was perfect and full of laughing and smiling, and intrigue.
I have proved to myself, again, that your children don't need to be at school every day and you don't need to have a ton of money to have fun and learn with them. You just need an imagination and some motivation :) x
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Pasta Pesto and Peas Nightmare
Before I start today's blog I just want to point out that not working is driving me insane... so please, if you have anything that needs designing get in touch. The situation is so bad I am considering designing my own toilet roll... just for fun?! Move over Andrex... Smelly Cat is the new asswipe in town - Hmmm.
On a more serious note, I'm not the type of person who wants to live off the government and other people's hard-earned-quickly-taken-tax's but I will take what is offered now that we are starting out again.
For the first three months of living back in the UK we survived off our wedding gift money... it didnt last long! Once the husband found a job (a good one a that!) we applied for working tax credits, child tax credits and child benefit... I think we're entitled to a little help, no?
That was nearly 16 weeks ago... After many phone calls to the appropriate "processors" we are still none the wiser as to when we will receive our benefits. All they can tell us is that it will take a maximum of 28 weeks... so we're over half way!? Just.
I suppose the up side of it taking so long, or so my husband seems to think, is that they wll back date our first lump sum from the 22nd October... a nice 3k?!
Trouble is we need it now, not in the next three months. Charlie's job will start to bring in good money as of next month, but at this moment in time we are living on pasta pesto and peas. I cant take M and M to swimming or dance classes as promised (bribed) before we moved back. I can't replace my holey tops, get my top sales rookie another suit to add to his collection of 2, or actually begin to cook food that any domestic goddess would be proud of (pp&p's are not a cuisine... they're a ruster meal!).
So for dinner tonight... well, no pasta as we ate it all last night! What can I rustle up out of a tin of tuna, peanut butter, bread, milk, celery, and onions? Whatever it is I'm sure its gross and unedible! :)x
On a more serious note, I'm not the type of person who wants to live off the government and other people's hard-earned-quickly-taken-tax's but I will take what is offered now that we are starting out again.
For the first three months of living back in the UK we survived off our wedding gift money... it didnt last long! Once the husband found a job (a good one a that!) we applied for working tax credits, child tax credits and child benefit... I think we're entitled to a little help, no?
That was nearly 16 weeks ago... After many phone calls to the appropriate "processors" we are still none the wiser as to when we will receive our benefits. All they can tell us is that it will take a maximum of 28 weeks... so we're over half way!? Just.
I suppose the up side of it taking so long, or so my husband seems to think, is that they wll back date our first lump sum from the 22nd October... a nice 3k?!
Trouble is we need it now, not in the next three months. Charlie's job will start to bring in good money as of next month, but at this moment in time we are living on pasta pesto and peas. I cant take M and M to swimming or dance classes as promised (bribed) before we moved back. I can't replace my holey tops, get my top sales rookie another suit to add to his collection of 2, or actually begin to cook food that any domestic goddess would be proud of (pp&p's are not a cuisine... they're a ruster meal!).
So for dinner tonight... well, no pasta as we ate it all last night! What can I rustle up out of a tin of tuna, peanut butter, bread, milk, celery, and onions? Whatever it is I'm sure its gross and unedible! :)x
How we got here...
So we arrived back in October '09, two weeks after the most amazing day of our lives only for the next 3 months of our "new life" with our two children to be spent sleeping in family's spare rooms, scrimping, saving, and being generally miserable! Note to self... NEVER STAY WITH FAMILY!
Here is a prime example of why: Sister-in-law wont give us a key which means we go out when they go out and we come back when they come back. She does her weeks worth of washing on one day and expects us to do it on the same day but after her (usually late into the night!). We spend £250 on food for the two families first week we get there with no contribuion from them or even a thank you, yet the two phone calls my husband made to prospective employers that cost a total of £3.56 is a MAJOR liberty apparently!
Needless to say we only lasted 4 weeks with her. I would just like to point out that She is married to Charlie's brother Michael and is not blood related to any of us thank the lord. She has a real chip on her shoulder and everything is a competition for her as our daughters were born 3 days appart (Molly Dolly is the younger of the two yet unsurprisingly more advanced :p)
From there it was onto Charlie's cousin's 2 bedroom flat in London... now for a Cornish country bumpkin like me this was a real eye opener! We were lucky that our relationship with Blue Eyes is so strong (I forgot to mention she's one of my best friends too!) as two months in a 2 bed flat with three adults and three kids created "cabin fever" at times! But we will be forever grateful to her and her cheeky monkey.
True friends and close family, I have realised, are as much a part of your social life as they are of your entire life. When you find true friends, keep hold of them, ring them (or skype them!), and think about them always... I know I do. This is the first time I have been "away" from my family, and I cannot begin to tell you how much of a culture shock and sense of aloneness (I dont think that's a word?!) it has brought me. I miss my family, but look forward to the many trips back and forth to Cyprus and France and Cornwall and Devon to see them this year. I am sure that my suitcase will be filled with goodies for the Cyprus Motley Crew; shopping lists on a postcard people!
And now we are back down in Ashford (where The sister-in-law lives) for some ungodly reason, living the next couple of months in a two bedroom apartment above a loud music loving pub. Great. :) x
Here is a prime example of why: Sister-in-law wont give us a key which means we go out when they go out and we come back when they come back. She does her weeks worth of washing on one day and expects us to do it on the same day but after her (usually late into the night!). We spend £250 on food for the two families first week we get there with no contribuion from them or even a thank you, yet the two phone calls my husband made to prospective employers that cost a total of £3.56 is a MAJOR liberty apparently!
Needless to say we only lasted 4 weeks with her. I would just like to point out that She is married to Charlie's brother Michael and is not blood related to any of us thank the lord. She has a real chip on her shoulder and everything is a competition for her as our daughters were born 3 days appart (Molly Dolly is the younger of the two yet unsurprisingly more advanced :p)
From there it was onto Charlie's cousin's 2 bedroom flat in London... now for a Cornish country bumpkin like me this was a real eye opener! We were lucky that our relationship with Blue Eyes is so strong (I forgot to mention she's one of my best friends too!) as two months in a 2 bed flat with three adults and three kids created "cabin fever" at times! But we will be forever grateful to her and her cheeky monkey.
True friends and close family, I have realised, are as much a part of your social life as they are of your entire life. When you find true friends, keep hold of them, ring them (or skype them!), and think about them always... I know I do. This is the first time I have been "away" from my family, and I cannot begin to tell you how much of a culture shock and sense of aloneness (I dont think that's a word?!) it has brought me. I miss my family, but look forward to the many trips back and forth to Cyprus and France and Cornwall and Devon to see them this year. I am sure that my suitcase will be filled with goodies for the Cyprus Motley Crew; shopping lists on a postcard people!
And now we are back down in Ashford (where The sister-in-law lives) for some ungodly reason, living the next couple of months in a two bedroom apartment above a loud music loving pub. Great. :) x
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