Santa's Grotto, Colchester Zoo

Well, we thought we'd celebrate the start of our Christmas Holiday in style.

Yesterday we took the children to the Santa's Grotto at Colchester Zoo. I think we've been every year since they were small and we went along again this year.

It seems to have completely changed since last year, they've added and changed some of it and it was really lovely.

It's nice we got another chance to see it and it wasn't very busy as not all the school's had finished for the holiday.

The children both had a lovely time, they had their dinner there and then we took a look around the Africa area...which was lovely.

A very nice start to Christmas.............

Mamma Mia!!!

Well, it wasn't only Charlotte who got a treat at the weekend.

I went with my great friends The Cavender Singers, to see a fabulous show on Sunday night.

We went to see ABBA the Story, a show presented by the brilliant ABBA Tribute band Voulez Vouz.

They were utterly wonderful.

They had a lot of screens up where they played old footage and music video's of ABBA, and the songs they sang were in synch with the footage, Very clever and well thought out....and excellent show....and a real treat for me.

Next....Queen and ELO in February.....and so much more local and cheaper than the real thing....perfect!!!! :-)

A Night at the Oscars!!!!

Well, the past weekend was absolutely fantastic.

As Charlotte's birthday is Christmas Eve we usually celebrate it at the beginning of the month. However, this year Charlotte was involved in the musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at school, which coincided with the time we would've normally had her party.

This year however it's a bit special.......my little girl is going to be a teenager........I'm not sure how that happened, and I'm still reeling from the shock.

So, we decided that we would have a big celebration for her this year and Charlotte said that she wanted to have a celebrity party. After throwing around a couple of idea's between us we decided that "A Night at the Oscars" would just about cover it, and thats what we did.

On Saturday she had an amazing party.

When her guests arrived they had to walk through a gold curtain and onto a red carpet. At the end of the red carpet was a Hollywood backdrop, where they had their photo taken.

Each had brought a picture of the celebrity they had come as. There were an awful lot of James Bond's, a Terminator, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Amy Winehouse, Kiera Knightley, Audrey Hepburn....and so many more.

They all danced to the disco, sang on the karaoke, and had a wonderful evening.

At the end of the night Charlotte announced the Oscar winners, and everyone got to take home a gold goodie bag.

When she got to school this morning her friends had great pleasure in telling her...

"Charlotte....your party rocked!!!!!!!"

I'm Back!!!!!!

Hello everyone!!!!!



Well, I didn't realise how long it has been since I last wrote a blog....I had no idea that it had been over a month. So....I'm back.



Life has been pretty hectic...school has been utterly manic.



I've been on courses and had meetings galore.



I'm taking my LDSS NVQ Level 4 too....which is an enormous commitment. There are 11 Units with a fair amount of work in each.



Its quite complicated but the work is made up of assignments, observations, written work, mainly tables and reviews, Professional Discussions, Peer Discussions, Knowledge Questions, Witness Testimonies, an ongoing Reflective Diary and Case Studies.



Last week I completed 2 of those Units....and have been told that I passed them, so I'm getting there.



The one thing I really dread is to have to do a Professional Discussion. Its me and the Assessor in a room with a voice recorder. He asked me a succession of questions, and you have to do your best to answer them, including evidence of case studies, covering the criteria that has to be covered in order to pass the P.D. It's not my favourite part at all.



I had one last Friday and passed it, and I have another on Wednesday this week, and really just want to get it over with. Its a real biggy. This PD covers 3 units, and there's something like 30 questions to answer.



I have an assignment to do over the holiday and a couple of smaller pieces of work, then hopefully....fingers crossed I'll have completed another 4 Units.



I'll keep you posted!!!!

Happy Halloween

Well, I'm almost at the end of my Half Term Holiday, and it has gone so quickly.

We got back from Norfolk at around lunchtime.

Tonight is Halloween. Both the children have party's to go to.

Charlotte is spending the evening with her group of friends and Tom has been invited to a special Halloween party too.....so they're both very excited.

They've already got their outfits on in anticipation.....

I hope everyone reading this has a lovely evening.

Blickling Hall

Today we visited Blickling Hall, nr Norwich, Norfolk.

It is a most amazing building, and there are so many things there to see. It has a Tea Room and a Restaurant. A lovely shop, a Garden Shop and a Second Hand Book Store. There's a Garden, and an area where they grow plants and vegetables to sell.

The house itself is enormous. Apparently Anne Boleyn was born there, and every year since her death she has turned up at the house in a ghostly horse drawn carriage....on Halloween night.

Spooky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had a lovely day looking round the house, again the children both had quizzes to complete, which they did very well, but we couldn't move on to the next room until they'd answered the question.

So...........until tomorrow.........

Oxburgh Hall

We visited Oxburgh Hall today. It is a very beautiful building in Oxborough, Norfolk. It has a moat.

We arrived about 12.30pm and went straight to the restaurant.....we were all very hungry!! LOL

We then had a look around the house, Tom did a quiz about dragons, and Charlotte did one about Kings and Queens.

The house is owned by the Bedingfield family....yes...thats as in Daniel and Natasha!!! Although their side of the family no longer own it.

It has a Priest hole....and it really is a hole, none of us wanted to venture into it!!

The family still live there, so part of the house is closed off.

We looked in the shop...as always....and bought a few bits and pieces, then looked in the Second-hand Book Shop.

We went and had a look around the chapel. The whole place is very picturesque...but it was so cold today.

So, thats our day today....I'll write again tomorrow.

Take care x x

A Novel Wedding

Today I have been to one of the most amazing Weddings I think I have ever had the fortune to be invited to.

My friend Louise married her fiancee of 20 years, Darren today.

They got married at The Lawns, nr Southend.

The theme was "Gone with the Wind".....and .....Oh Yes.....she was Scarlett O'Hara.

The service was a civil one , but the Bride and Groom had written their own vows....which were beautiful. Its the first wedding I've been to where everyone was crying,,,,including the Bride and Groom. It was very emotional.

Their eldest son Josh was an Usher, and their three daughter's Armani, Phoebe and Scarlett were their little bridesmaids, and her sister Amanda was her Cheif bridesmaid. The Best Man was Simon, Amanda's partner.

It was a lovely day......

Day 3

Good evening everyone!!!!

Well, today has been a really productive day, especially for the children.

I didn't feel great when I first woke up this morning, just couldn't stop coughing. I got up, did some tidying and then nipped to the shop to get some groceries. Came back and made dinner.

Once I'd tidied up from that, I took the top off the pumpkin and Tom took out all the innerds and the seeds for me, then he sat down and drew a design for pumpkin face, after which I did my best to recreate his masterpiece....I think it was ok....he seemed quite pleased anyway. I'd got some Halloween activity books, so he put stickers in it and did some colouring in.

Charlotte made a Devil's Food Cake....a really lovely, rich chocolate cake....very nice.

I decided to create a group on Facebook, for a tv series that used to be my favourite....Beauty and the Beast, with Vincent and Cathryn...I used to love it. It was on about 11pm on a Friday night....it was brilliant. It was quite good fun looking on Youtube to find some clips to show Charlotte....and now she thinks it's brilliant too....

I'll write again tomorrow.

Goodnight everyone x x

Day 2

Sorry I didn't leave a message yesterday. I was full of cold, and couldn't stop coughing, and all I wanted to do was drink water and sleep.....

Today however, I do feel much better.

Today has been pretty good actually.....

Nic and Tom went to Colchester, they had breakfast at McDonalds and then went to see "Fly Me To the Moon 3D", which they said was wonderful. Nic thoroughly spoiled Tom, and they had a great time.

Charlotte went to see High School Musical 3 with some of her friends, which meant "freedom" for a couple of hours for me.

I went into town this morning, and bought an outfit for Charlotte, as my friends daughter had invited us to celebrate her 15th birthday with her this evening.

When I got home Nic and Tom had already returned, so I had a quick bit of lunch, and tidied round as my friend was popping round to see me at 3.30pm.

Then Charlotte and I got ready to go out, and the taxi came and took us to The Moon and Spoon, as its affectionately called by my friends.

We all met up and went inside. We ordered our meal and had a drink...everyone had a soft drink. We were just about to finish our meal when a Security Guard came up to my 12 year old daughter, pointed at her, and asked for her ID.....what for???? Permission to drink a J2O????? I explained that I was her Mother and we were having a quiet meal out with some friends. It stipulates in there that all children are to be gone by 8pm....it was barely 7.30pm!!!!!!!!!

My poor daughter was so embarrassed, so I decided to have a chat with the Bar Man. I explained what had happened, and politely suggested that if children were not welcome in this establishment then maybe it would be better not to advertise the company as a family restaurant and to not put children's meals on the menu, then the situation would be clear....I asked him and his counterpart Bar Maid how they thought the Security Guard had made my daughter feel,,,,,they both looked pretty sheepish,,,,mmmmm....exactly!!!!

I shall think twice before eating in there again !!!!

We left and went to watch "City of Ember", which was a very clever film.

We came home and got ready for bed.

It's actually been quite a good day, despite the blip.....the funny thing was that I became all "School-Marm-ish", and changed from Karen into Joyce Grenfell....I was desperate to go up to the Security Guard and say...... in a condescending voice....

..........."George.....don't do that!!!" :-)

Thomas - My Lovely Little Man

After all that happened having Charlotte I had to have a scan. One of those where they put you through a giant tube and you have to remain still, and hopefully not claustraphobic, for what seems like hours....but is only actually minutes....according to the medical staff.

It appears that I have a straight pelvis. Most other lady's have one which is slightly curved, this therefore helps the baby's head to find it's way out...mine, however, get stuck !!

So it seems.....caesareans are the only option!!

On Sunday 21st May 2000 I had to go to Colchester Hospital. This birth had been carefully planned, and I was due to have another little bundle the very next day.

I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything. I was taken to the ward.... very nervous.... "have a good sleep"....I was told...as if !!!!

At 8am the next morning I went and had a shower.

Nic arrived, and at 10am I was taken down to theatre.

It seemed to take them ages to wire me up and pump my spine with drugs, so that I could stay awake this time. I shook from head to toe for the entire experience. I really wasn't sure if it was through fear or the side effects of the drugs. The Anaesthetist was a young, but very sweet man, who did his very best to keep me at my ease.

They put a screen in front of my face so I couldn't see a thing. All of a suddenly it felt like they'd all decided to jump on my stomach, I think it was two surgeons, pushing and pulling on my stomach to get the little bundle out.

When he came out he wasn't breathing, he was blue, not that I was aware of it, good job really, but Nic was. They worked on him for a little while, and suddenly I could hear him crying. Here he was on 22nd May 2000, 11.10am, Thomas Edward, 8lbs 1oz. Our Little Millennium Man.

He was gorgeous.

He's 8 now, and a very bright little boy. He says he wants to be an Astronaut....well, you never know !!

Charlotte - My Beautiful Daughter

My waters broke at 2am on 22nd December 1995. I was in labour for 48 3/4 hours. I'd been transferred from Clacton Maternity ward to Colchester Maternity Home. I was 36 weeks and Clacton didn't want me there, because it wasn't 37 weeks....and apparently 1 week makes a whole world of difference in the teeny tiny baby world!!!!

We were put in the private labour room, then I was put in the ward, then in a delivery room. I was there so long we'd been given the black and white tv and then progressed to the colour....I was a VIP by then.

My tummy was the strangest shape, she was all on one side and the other side was flat....well...relatively.

Eventually after the drugs....and the waiting, hadn't worked, they finally decided that maybe this little person wasn't going to do the job on her own. We were both getting rather stressed and the Dr decided that it might be rather a good idea to knock me out and give me an emergency caesarean....great....just what I didn't want to hear. Unfortunately it was several people against 1, so I had to relent.

At 2.45am on Christmas Eve, a little girlie bundle was born...Charlotte Emma ...she was 7 1/2 lbs and despite being 4 weeks early was one of the biggest babies there. She was beautiful and I couldn't stop looking at her....once I'd come round that is.

So here she is all growing up and nearly a teenager.....and even more beautiful....

It's Half Term at Last

Well, finally after 8 weeks of school, we have got a half term holiday. We've made a few plans...so we'll see how it goes. Lots depend on the weather really, and you know what that is like in England this time of year.

Today has been OK...very busy, so I'm relieved to have a week to chill.

So, I think its time I got some shut eye and I'll catch up with you tomorrow.

Night, night!!

Welcome

Welcome to my blog!!!

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my Mum's friend Sally for the inspiration to do one of these myself.
I hope you enjoy reading it...and any comments and idea's would be gratefully appreciated. I've only just started so please be patient with me :-) x x
Happy reading
Take care
Karen x x x x x x x x x x x x x