The Lake District

As well as having visited the Netherlands 2 weeks ago (nearly), I also spent last week in the Lake District with my family. By "my family" I mean Graeme, Alice and Dan - obviously - then my sister, her husband and 2 children (aged 4 and 2), my mum and dad and my grandma (aged 90). Luckily we weren't all in the same accommodation!! Each Whit Week my mum hires 3 static caravans and we all troop off to the Lakes. This year we stayed near Ambleside on Lake Windermere on a lovely caravan site call the "White Cross Bay". It had a swimming pool, so because Alice is a mermaid, we spent several hours each day in the pool. We also took in Lake Coniston, Hawkshead (Graeme believes that all roads in that part of the Lakes lead there!), the Aquarium of the Lake District near Newby Bridge at the bottom of Windermere, Hawkshead, Keswick, Castlerigg Stone Circle, Ambleside, Pooley Bridge and Grasmere. Probably a lot more too! The kids didn't enjoy walking too much, although we did manage to coax them on 2 walks, one to Grasmere from the car-park near Rydal Water and one the the cairn on the walk between Pooley Bridge and Howtown (they whined all the way but no-one got a carry!!). The kids also loved being able to play with their cousins everyday, since normally they're way down in Eastbourne and we're way up here in Stockton.

We had a lovely week with very little rain and fairly mild nights (although heating in the caravan really helped) and I didn't miss blogging or twittering at all - couldn't even get a signal on my mobile most of the time! Back to the grind now, though - heyho!

Samantha Hughes

I first came across Samantha Hughes whilst I was recovering from Meningitis about two and a half years ago, through an article in my mum's newspaper(she had to come and look after the children until I was well enough to do so). She was a little girl (aged 2 at the time I think) from Derbyshire suffering from a rare childhood cancer called Neuroblastoma. I found her website and, curiously it was from there that I found the first ever blog I read regularly Support for Christi Thomas written by the inspirational Angela Thomas (Christi's mum). Since then I have been a regular reader, so it was with enormous sadness that I read today that she had died, aged 5 after a recent relapse. I can't believe how upset I am and just count myself very lucky that I have 2 gorgeous, healthy children.

Dan starts full time nursery

Today was a bit of a milestone, since Dan has now started "propper" full-time nursery, rather than his previous 3 days a week day nursery.
Naturally, he has begun Red House where Graeme works as Network Manager and where Alice is already in Yr1 and having a ball. He was so excited all day yesterday he never shut up! This morning was lovley as he got on his little uniform (including cap!) and kept telling me to sort out his bag etc... Even better was that I got to take him on his first day due to our Easter breaks not matching this year so I got to meet his new teacher (a man!...Quite unusual for a nursery, I think). He was pleased as punch to be able to go in with me and Graeme and begin banging things together etc...
I must admit to always feeling a little "poor" on having any dealings with Red House and it's parents, since they're all so extremely well off (Alice is in awell know Dragon's son's class), so I was a little "star-struck" when I well know Austrian Boro player taking his daughter into the nursery talking in German to her (naturally)...I wanted to start talking in German too...will have to get Dan talking in German to her.
Of course all this means, very few of Dan's and Alice's friends will ever be able to come to our house for a visit, as we don't have gates or our own grounds!

21 again

Yesterday was my birthday :o)
I was, of course, 21 again ... well this year 37...only another 2 birthdays to go and then the next one I'll be 40. Must admit that reading Ewan McIntosh's blog post about being 30 today I felt VERY old.
I have to admit that most of my birthday was pretty crap :o(
I had to take Heike back to the airport to go home. After that I was knackered and kept falling asleep in the car. My so-called longest friend (won't mention the name) couldn't find time in her day either on Thursday or yesterday or today, to call round for a coffee (will try to follow Graeme and Heike's advice about not bothering anymore) and Dan was in a hell of a mood.
On a plus side Graeme and I had a lovely meal out, I got a a great bottle of bubbly from Tesco with a jacket round it and Alice amazed me and Graeme by picking out the BEST skirt from Next for a present for me, that she and I had seen a couple of weeks ago, that she actually pointed out to me then as well (how can a 5 year old know my inner hippy so well????)

A week off?

As we approad the end of our half term break, I thought, after a week of doing very little computer wise I'd post about my "week off".
We had a lovely, if not tiring week with my best friend Heike and her two boys Marc (2) and Eric (1). It's amazing how quickly you forget what life with a baby is like...it takes about half an hour to get out of the house!!! (Or is that just Heike??) We explored the Northeast in freezing temperatures and howling gales (seeing us at out best, of course)...but at least it meant that the boys weren't too warm with their tights under their trousers, 3 layers of jumpers, scarves and balaclavas. I must admit that by the end of their stay I'd started to wonder whether I should be wrapping Alice and Dan up warmer. We looked at the planets and railway carriage at Wynyard Woodland Park. We ventured to Seaton Canoe ...oops, meant Carew (when it was 0 degrees outside) and played on the beach, then went to the Marina for hot chocolate and scones and then walked round to "see" the HMS Trincomalee and the Steamer the PSS Wingfield Castle through the freezing fog. We attempted to go to Raby Castle but it was closed until April - although Heike being Heike insisted that I drive up the drive to get photos (and cringe with embarassement!) - so then drove through Barnard Castle and then back to marvel at the toys in "Toys R Us". Finally, on Thursday we made it to Hadrian's Wall - the Fort of Chesters - in the wind. The kids loved being able to run around and pretend to be Roman Soldiers. In addition we watched a couple of German films - "Goodbye Lenin" and "Was tun wenn's brennt" - which were actually quite good. I really enjoyed being with Heike and miss her now that she's back home in France...yes, she's German but is married to a French soldier...very confusing as far as languages go (not for me but for the rest of the family!!!).
So that was my week. Now I have a week of lessons in the dining hall whilst my classroom get "propped", since our building is falling down :os

What an afternoon

Today has been an odd day really, if only because I spent most of it in front of the TV or computer and had a bath.
It started of strangly, since I dreamt all night about my tight throat and cough...so obviously there was something wrong there. When I got up I had become a bass, my voice having dropped an octave or two over night :o( I decided that, since it hurt to talk, spending the day teaching would not be a good idea. So, feeling bad (as I always do, if I'm ill enough to take time off work), I phoned work and told them I wouldn't be in, then I dutifully send in some very high quality cover work. I also took Dan to nursery (felt even more guilty when I did this...however, I was ill), which took ages due to the infamous Ingleby Barwick traffic and the fog. After that the morning was fine.
When it got to the afternoon, the sun was shining and I felt a bit better, I decided (as most mothers probably do), that I could have some bonus children time. So I went to get Dan and then headed of to Red House to get Alice when she came out at 3.30, planning to feed the ducks on Norton Duck Pond. I'd just got onto the A19 when there was a bang and something hit the windscreen and stayed there. Naturally, I braked and swerved, eventually found the hazard warning lights and somehow managed to see through the broken windscreen and thing on it to get onto the hard shoulder. What had happened? Somehow the bonnet had come unclicked at the front and when I began to pick up speed, the wind pressure blew it up and into the windscreen!!!! How me and Dan were OK I have no idea :o) Shaking, I phoned Graeme who, like the knight in shining armour he is, came to our rescue, phoned the AA and waited with us until they arrived. Dan, of course fell asleep (bless) and the whole thing was sorted out. We still got Alice but an hour later than anticipated and we still got to feed the ducks (although they weren't too interested). So now we're in the middle of insureance claims.
I'm just amazed that we're OK...we were in the "middle" lane (which isn't a real middle lane due to slip roads on and off) and things were going very fast around us, HGVs thundering past etc. Me and Dan were both very shocked but I think we're OK now...he's in bed and I'm looking forward to some alcoholic refreshment to help me "come to terms" with the ordeal. I told Dan, when we said prayers tonight that we needed to say a special "thank you" to God for looking after us and he wanted to know who God was. When I told him that God created everything, he thought that was great :o)
Anyway, there we go. Great afternoon! Oh and the voice? Still the same, I think I'll return tomorrow with lots of worksheets...got to get a letter out to Y7 about their trip to Cologne.

Freezers!!!

Our fridge freezer broke on Saturday morning...just what we needed :o( So we headed off to local electrical stores to check out what was available, me dreaming of beautiful, huge, silve creations to find that because of the width of the hole we had to fit it in, we were rather more limited in choice than we had hoped (damn that boat over the road stopping us from selling our house - or is it the poor financial state of the country??).
We dutifully purchased our goods and arranged delivery for today and made arrangements for in-laws to come and let them in. The fridge freezer arrived and...it was dented! We are now left with a quandry...do we just keep it and get some money returned from the company (not a bad choice, given the amount of magnets and childrens' work that we acquire on our fridge door), or get another one delivered in its place (thus having to inconvenience other family members again).
Oh the traumas of every day life :o)
Atleast it gave me a good excuse to a) avoid doing the grocery shopping yesterday and b) not go to choir (far too traumatic and it gave me a headache...lie, lie, lie...)
Graeme will have to decide on this one, I fear :o)

The blue screen of death!

I got very worried last night when my computer just crashed and the screen went blue with lots of writing on it!
I hurridly informed Graeme, who pulled a face and said that it could be very bad news as these things are sometimes called the "blue screen of death"! Anyway, like the hero that he is, he delved into the bits of the computer that I'm scared of and discovered that I had a (some!) virusses (ir is it viri??) since st somepoint my anti-virus software had been told to stop working - not by me :o(
It's now de-bugged and working fine. What a hero my husband is!

Daniel is 3!

I can't believe it but 3 years ago today, our lives were once again changed forever when the lovely Daniel arrived (4 days late!). Having a girl already,we didn't know what to expect - apart from horror stories of friends with boys :o)
3 years on it must be said that boys and girls are completely different. It took Dan until a month ago to figure out what the potty is for but now doesn't have nappies at all - even at night. Alice was out of nappies during the day by her 2nd birthday, but older than 3 on a night. In addition, Alice's vocabulary and language acquisition was amazing, while Dan is only just beginning to master more complicated sentences and words. On the other hand, Dan's hand-eye co-ordination is miles better than Alice's was at his age, as are his fine motot skills (or are they the same thing ??). He also has the cheekiest smile and hits the ground running from the moment he wakes up until the moment he goes to bed! It's so interesting having a girl and a boy and seeing the different ways they develop.
Life is never dull with both of them around, it must be said! We wouldn't swap them the world - when they're in bed asleep :o)

La fête des rois

Until this year I didn't know about this...what kind of a French teacher am I? (One who prefers German, that's what!).
Anyway, being in France last week and (of course) having to have a bit of "booze cruise" trip to Carrefour aCité de l'Europe, I came across a wonderful Galette des Rois with Pirates of the Caribbean crown and fève. Well, being an admirer of Johnny Depp's and Orlando Bloom's "acting talents"(yum), I naturally love Pirates of the Caribbean with all that swashbuckling and unkempt hair etc... so I couldn't resist. Well, I heated it up and divided it in 4 - Alice was very excited at the thought of being a "princess" - and...I won! Got a great "Black Pearl" in my bit of pie. Poor Alice was devastated, so as "Queen" I allowed her to be my princess and wear the crown (which fitted her better than me, anyway). What a nice tradition, and hopefully one we'll keep up in the future (I think I might even be able to stretch to baking my own apple pie). Next year we will also be making the neighbours think we're very strange by doing the old chalk writing thing...20+C+M+B+08 thingie on the door. Isn't it nice being an MFL nutcase, bringing all of these lovely foreign traditions to our homes :o)

Disneyland Paris

After a day of recovery, I can now reflect on DLP.
We had a strange start to our break, after staying at the Travel Inn in Folkstone we got the Shuttle to Calais. Not something we've done very often (apart from once, when we had the caravan and as Calais approached it was very stormy and I wimped out of a ferry crossing - that venture cost us over £300!!!!!). Anyway it was very straight forward and I'd definitely recommend it, specially in the winter if you don't fancy a rough Channel crossing!. The people in the car infront of us not only were in the Travel Inn, but were also going to Disneyland and came from Hartlepool!!
Our time in Disneyland was well spent, eating all things bad for you and going on "It's a small world" and the Teacups among other things. It was packed and freezing. We spent the New Year in our hotel (the Dream Castle) with lots of other Brits and there were fireworks. Dan got a bit upset when he lost his newly acquired Lightening McQueen but was thrilled when some boys returned it to him and Alice wore her new Sleeping Beauty dress. Both managed to make it to midnight and even gave us a lie in until 8.15 am the next day! New Year's Day was also spent in Disneyland and we managed another go on "It's a small world" and the Teacups and a Lightning McQueen ride in Walt Disney Studios - although that was a bit too much like the Waltzers for my liking. We even managed to stand still long enough to see the "Once upon a Dream" parade which included Santa and his (real) reindeer (including Dave!).
We had a lovely (although very cold) time. In addition, my mum's predictive text gave a new word that we've decided to try to get in the dictionary - poinsigog (should have been smashing - no idea how it came up with that one). So one could say we had a "poinsigog" time and look forward to going again soon but probably in the summer time and definitely when Dan is a little older and doesn't want to be carried all the time (despite us having his stroller with us)
Now it's back to the harsh reality of everyday life and having to think about less fun matters such as work :o(

Thawing out!

Just checking though my various bits that need checking through on a regular basis and finding out what I've missed.
We've had a great time away but will update with pics and stuff when I have time to sort things out. Suffice to say that Disney know how to "do" Christmas and New Year...even if there was no "First Footing" in a traditional North Eastern manner so no one crosssed my palm with silver or entered the "house" with coal ...oh well there goes our good luck for another year (what luck...?) but there were fireworks, fake snow, great "once upon a dream" parades (although photos are rubbish due to Kodak Easyshare camera and batteries saga), crowd and freezing cold temperatures...bet they don't have to contend with those in Florida and California :o)
Drinking my last Stella before the New Year drinking ban comes into being tomorrow...oh and eating ban of course...and looking forward to the snow that is forecast.

Disneyland is coming (hooray)

Disneyland Resort Paris is fast approaching. It seems more of a reality now...we got the Euros this morning and I've just printed off the tickets for everything...and have discovered that the Travel Inn in Folkstone could be on the same street as some relative of my in-laws. What a coincidence!
We're now counting the sleeps and we've only got 2 more left before we go and the kids are excited- oh and so are we :o)

Grandma's 90th Birthday Meal

Today we had a lovely meal at a local (posh) hotel for my grandma who will be 90 on the 4th January. We did it today because it's the only time between now and then that we can all be together, as my sister and her family must return to Eastbourne tomorrow.
It was a lovely meal...except Dan wouldn't sit still or eat which ruined things a bit for Graeme! He is only 2 (well, 3 bar 2 weeks) - Dan not Graeme! We got through the meal with no controvertial comments from my sister or my grandma which was a blessing :o)
Alice, of course was very disappointed that she was seeing her cousins for the last time until February but we didn't have tears or tantrums this time...she's growing up.
My grandma enjoyed herself though, I think! She enjoyed seeing the grandchildren all together.

Shattered!

I'm feeling exhausted after another restless night with someone kicking, wriggling and whining all night about being poorly...Dan was very restless too :o)
Poor baby was absolutely red hot all night - at one point I got a cool, damp cloth the dab on his face and cool hime down. It must have worked as Dan fell asleep after than for a couple of hours. We got up at 6.00am after being kicked again for the umpteenth time. Good job we're not at work at the moment! I do hope that Dan's better by Sunday, when we go of to Disneyland Paris for New Year (hooray!).

Christmas

We have spent a lovely Christmas together. Yesterday, we all went to Graeme's parents' for Christmas dinner and then onto mine for tea. The children received so many wonderful presents it was difficult to get them into the car at the end of the day :O)
It then took Graeme 2hrs to build Disney castle for Alice! Dan felt ill and fell asleep on the sofa, which meant that he had a (dry) night in pants. He was, however not well all night - burning up and got up at 5.00 am (with Graeme) and he has continued to be not well all day (maybe he's getting his last teeth - his cheeks are on fire).
This morning, Graeme constructed a Disney kitchen - what an amaxing man he is! (Maybe he'll build me a castle and kitchen one day).
Grandmas, Grandads, Great-grandma, Christina, Jon, Esther and Theo came to tea this afternoon and the children enjoyed playing together. It was fun.
Now it's Boxing Day evening, children have been bathed, the Simpsons are on and we (I) look forward to Pirates of the Caribbean 3 when the kids are in bed.
Ahhh...fun times.

Merry Christmas

Couldn't resist this lovely picture that I found...

When's Santa coming?

Well mummy has broken up from school so that means it must be Christmas...only it doesn't happen like that does it?
The children are über excited and now all of the presents are wrapped so it seems that we're ready.
We had a lovely meal out with friends from the MFL department on Thursday. It was a really lovely evening and I realised what good friends I have - something I often forget! I must admit that my head ached on Friday but I still got on with the distaster area that claimed to be our dining room.
The house now looks like a house again, after about a month of no viewings and exhaustion which meant that very little tidying had been done. Of course by 8.00am tomorrow morning it will look like an earthquake hit it again, after children get up :O) I don't mind really, I know how very lucky we are to have happy, healthy children, especially at this time of year...I wouldn't swap them for the world.
So, as we watch CSI and take a deep breath, we prepare for the mega excitement of tomorrow and our annual Christmas Eve walk up in the hills...at SheepDip - Osmotherly. It really is beautiful there.

The Weekend's here

Well, the weekend was here and now I feel like it's almost over again.
I had a lovely afternoon at Red House on Friday, watching Alice in her Nativity Play "Rock around the Flock". She was a shepherd, along with the other Year 1 class and the whole of Year 2 aswell I think. It was really great to go to St. Mary's and watch. The Church was packed. Graeme also managed to get there from the main school and see her. The mince pies and mulled wine after only added to the fun :o)
We then headed off to a well know toy shop to see what Santa might bring Alice. We came away victorious but a little crestfallen, as the toy she set her heart on is much too small for someone of her age and intelligence.
Friday evening came and Graeme and I headed off to the Riverside Stadium for Red House staff Christmas do. It was a fun night, with lots of dancing to bad music since the DJ (who we both taught at Manor) didn't have much that we liked - NO JAMES SIT DOWN OR SCLUB 7!!!
Saturday evening now and I'm enjoying a glass of wine (or 3) infront of the tele whilst Graeme is having a night out with his friends in Hartlepool.
I'm now beginning to think about what to do with my classes over the next 2 weeks, without resorting to DVDs too early :o)