First Day in Year 5

Jamie had a good day today and that is all I can ask for - he enjoyed school and likes Mr Morris, he has some friends in his class, so all is looking good for Y5, fingers crossed. Here are a couple of pictures of him this morning, ready to go ......

Here is Jamie on his way to school, Binnie is peeking over his shoulder inside the house!

Today seemed to fly by and I only managed to get a fraction of what I wanted to get done done, but I will try again tomorrow! Managed to sort Jamie's trousers out so now he has some trousers which fit him.

Mike is ready for the off tomorrow, when he may have discussions about baby sheep reposing in the theatre district of New York and he may be introduced to the 11th Earl of Mar!! Answers on a postcard please!! I certainly will be very interested to hear how it all goes.

Ciao

Sue

XX

Reading challenge 8/16 - currently reading Lovers and Players by Jackie Collins
Jamie's Reading challenge 6/12 - currently reading Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull by James Luceno
SLYMI - 1/52

Friday 17th July

Last Day at School, Nintendo DSi, Guitar Hero Metallica and Pizza Express

Last day at school today, Jamie is very sad to be leaving his lovely teachers Miss R, but he knows he will still see a lot of her around school. We did a little flower arrangement for her as a thank-you, well Jamie helped me choose the flowers, so he did help a bit. A pretty basket arrangement, which I hope will last for a week or so. I added bullion wire to the handle and floated some over the arrangement to give it an added sparkle.

and from a different angle!



I was expecting tears at the end of the school day but there were none, phew! He was more anxious to be home to see what his end of school year present might be. He was hoping for Guitar Hero Metallica, we'd got him a DSi, oh and GHM! He got that bit extra this year as he had had such a bad time at his previous school and had coped so well and settled into his new school so well that we felt he deserved an end of year bonus.

Jamie is mad about Metallica at the moment and we have heard nothing else but how much he wanted this for what seems like weeks! He wasn't very impressed with it at first, but soon got to grips with it and it now rings out on a very regular basis.

Here he is posing in his Club Penguin puffle t-shirt, which he loves. Jamie was also thrilled with his DSi and the game Professor Layton and the Curious Village, which came free with the DSi. We know of one person who paid a small fortune for this when it first came out, like so many others, but then patience was never one of their strong points, but knowing them as I do it probably has hardly been played with and not completed, if out of the box at all!


Jamie is progressing well with the game already and actually for a ds game it does make you think and work puzzles out, so it has a thumbs up, what I've played I've enjoyed. Jamie is going to allow me to use his old ds until it gives up, which probably won't be too long as the screen is fairly damaged. I may even get a chance to have a go with Brain Training and finish Jewel Quest (which I love).



We finished the day off by going for a pizza at Pizza Express, which we love. Jamie had Pepperoni , Mike had Sloppy Guiseppi, and I had Lasagne, all were fab. We had the dough balls, and Tiramisu etc for starters and pud and I think I polished off the best part of the bottle of Pinot Grogio Blush (which is lush). I know we spoil him, but he's worth it and if you can't spoil them well what's the point. We all enjoyed the evening enormously!



Ciao

Sue

XX

Reading challenge 4/16 - currently reading Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Jamie's Reading challenge 2/12 - currently reading Bed and Breakfast Star by Jacqueline Wilson
SLYMI - 1/52

Thursday 16th July

More Certificates and Other Cool School Stuff

Proud Mummy time again. Here are some pictures of Jamie and some of his certificates which came home from school today, the one below is his Silver Award for Merit Points,

Praise Postcard 3

and Postcard 4.

Jamie, Daddy and I are so proud of the way you have settled into your new school, made so many new friends and worked well.

Ciao

Sue

XX

Reading challenge 4/16 - currently reading Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Jamie's Reading challenge 2/12 - currently reading Bed and Breakfast Star by Jacqueline Wilson

SLYMI - 1/52

Monday 22nd June

All the usual stuff today, Mike was doing his Aylesbury Friars bits today. We've been tasked with putting the club's membership forms onto a database of some kind, which I have told Mike I am happy to do, so he is going to set something up for me to work on. I think Friars is just the coolest thing and Mike has done an amazing job with his website, I am immensely proud of him - don't always tell him tho' (perhaps I should!).

Jamie has been practising his fave piece of music for his audition for the school concert, I am in no doubt that he will get through but I'm always anxious for him. He has been practising "When The Boat Comes In" which he can play very well, but when he is practising he is getting nervous, so it's lots of deep breaths. As we get nearer and nearer the end of term things start to get busier and busier with lots of things going on at school. He also has a project due in at the end of this week which is about grey squirrels so we need to do some finishing touches to that as well, although thankfully we have pushed him a bit to do some work on it already. He appears to be much happier sat at the computer writing his project than doing it by hand, but I guess that is the way of the world now.

I had a bit of a funny turn this evening, felt very sick and was a little sick. I am guessing it is something to do with my age and that thing that is on the horizon beginning with M. I have known for some time that I am perimenopause, but have not had too many symptoms but when I looked it up, yes overwhelming nausea, something like morning sickness (and that is just what it was like) is all part of the package. I tend to look at it as there isn't anything I can do about it, so better just deal with it! I might keep some ginger biscuits in from now on as they worked quite well with morning sickness.

Ciao

Sue

XX

Reading challenge 2/16 - currently reading T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton
SLYMI - 1/52

Friday 12th June - I Have A Manicure

Jamie had lots to remember this morning as his scrapbook had to be handed in at school and it was a non-uniform day when the children could dress up as what they want to be when they grow up. So scrapbook in hand, Jamie headed off to school dressed as James Hetfield from Metallica, the question I have to ask is - are we doing something right or wrong? Well he looked cool in jeans, Metallica t-shirt and shades, I drew the line with that hanky in the back pocket that Hetfield does - well it was school after all.

As for me after chores and bits, I headed up to the salon for a manicure! I have never had the best of nails and didn't help myself by chewing them (sorry) but I have grown them and they are long! Yipee!! Therefore, as a little keep going reward to myself for something I can't reveal yet I had a manicure and it was very enjoyable. Hannah the beautician at my local salon was excellent and I'm sure I'll be back again in the future. Although, it won't be a regular treat, sadly, honest Mike I promise.

I am, I'm ashamed to admit, usually a jump in the car person if I go to the salon, post-office, the corner shop but in my efforts to be fitter and healthier I'm trying to walk more in the course of those errands. So I walked to the salon, and really enjoyed it and thus felt pretty pleased with myself too.

As I haven't had nails long enough for a manicure in years, I decided to have the full works and go for the deluxe manicure. So after a good filing, cuticle treatment, waxing and massage, my nails and hands looked and felt brilliant. I choose a dark plum colour for the varnish and I am loving it, very much incentive to keep them nice!

One of the SLYMI challenges is to scrap a self-portrait so I will take a picture of my nails and make a layout out of that, should be a bit different for me. I will post the layout here when it is complete.
Ciao

Sue

XX
Reading challenge 1/16 - currently reading The Stone Rose by Jacqueline Rayner

SLYMI - 1/52

Some More Scrapbooking

Jamie and I have been scrapbooking again - here are some pages we've done over the past few days. Jamie's scrapbook is due to be handed in at school next week so thankfully he is just about finished it.

I've decided to give the UK Scrappers 'Scrap Like You Mean It' (SLYMI) Challenge a go and although they're now into week 22 , it gives me something to get my teeth into. To complete them all by the end of the year will be my goal. The current challenge is from a sketch with the theme of minimalism - so here are my pages .........

Cute - using a super picture of Jamie, I'm really pleased with this and the combination of colours, really works well, this is now one of my favourite pages. The paper is from one of the MME kits, the red strip Basic Grey.

Doug - another Doug Aldrich page (yes I know - but he does it for me!) I turned the sketch around, I like the stitching under the photo (well rub-on) but not as keen with the way I did the journalling. As a style I like the minimalist approach for some layouts, when the picture is striking and you want to really highlight it or you have some fantastic paper.


Then I did another couple of pages in a minimalist (ish) style using one of the MME kits.

My Husband - love this one, just a great photo of Mike and the masculine colours work well too.

The Way You Look At Me - one from our wedding day, with a bit of a private joke between Mike and I! I like the rounded corners, and I just think the MME papers look so classy. So for about £4.50 I have got 3 layouts and I still have some tags and journalling bits left over, pretty good value!

Finally Argostoli Ice-Cream - a page about our holiday last year when we spent the day in Argostoli and ate some of the best ice-cream I have ever tasted, the journalling reads,

"Saturday 19th July, 2008, Argostoli, Kefalonia. We spent a lovely day wandering around Argostoli, the capital of Kefalonia. Jamie is stood outside a bar on the harbour side where we sought refuge from the heat and enjoyed several cold drinks! Mike and Jamie are taking a rest on a bench, hats, sun-cream and water was essential. Later we had some of the nicest ice-cream I have ever tasted. A truly lovely day. "

Another green page, I do love my green, but with lots of layers of paper, I had a go outlining the title and am quite pleased with the result, I will use that technique again. I guess this layout reflects why I like scrapbooking so much, I get to tell the story of that day and just add that bit extra to the photos.

Ciao

Sue

XX
Reading challenge 0/16 - currently reading Only Dad by Alan Titchmarsh
UK Scrappers - SLYMI challenge - 1/52

Thursday 4th June - European Election Day

Just a fairly standard day today with all the usual bits going on. My feet are starting to feel better, the blisters are healing, gosh they were biggies and bloody too (sorry gross I know!).

Jamie is having his school photo taken today, and that will be nice as we'll get a piccie of him at his new (ish) school. Jamie went to a private school between Deanshanger and Buckingham but we had to remove him from the school when he was being bullied. Despite several attempts with teachers and the then headteacher, letters, conversations and formal meetings, the situation did not improve and when his Year 4 teacher showed no support to him whatsoever we decided there was no option but to remove him.

He is now at our local primary school and loves it, yes there are problems here and there, it would be abnormal if there wasn't but he is happy and a happy child is going to learn better than an unhappy one. And the school is a happy place too.

Mike and I have questioned whether we did the right thing putting him in a private school, and feel we took the decision with the best of intentions, what we didn't bargain on was the children in that school being horrid! We all know that children who come from underprivileged backgrounds can have problems, but at the other end of the scale children who seem to have all of the advantages can be just as messed up. I personally feel that it there has to be a connection when the father of one of the main bullies of Jamie, let's call him Bryan Rabbit, at AWJS was never seen. Of course people have to make their own choices and if they choose working over their children that's their right, so long as that doesn't affect others, and I believe in this case it did.

My own view on children is there are really only a handful of things parents need to give children but two of the most important are love and time, back it up with a good set of values and an ability to communicate. If I look back and think about enjoyable days I've had in my life then the one I spent with Jamie in London in September 2007 would rank very high. We visited Shakespeare's Globe, the National Portrait Gallery (to look at the Tudor paintings) and went to Pizza Express. It was a really special day.

That got a little heavy! I am really looking forward to seeing his photo and the class photo.

We went off to vote in the Euro Election after dinner, and the polling station was pretty busy. I had to think seriously about who to vote for as I wasn't going to vote for either of the main parties (too angry at them about the expenses scandal), and I hate extremism in any guise, so was only left with 2 or 3 possibilities. I think it is so important to vote, so many people around the world don't have that right that I am going to use mine every time. Whatever happens in the result, I suspect The Labour Party are not going to do well!

Ciao

Sue

XX
(reading challenge 0/16 - currently reading Only Dad by Alan Titchmarsh)

More Scrapbooking At School - Wednesday 20th May

Jamie's Dad'n'Me Page

I was helping out at school again today, doing some more scrapbooking, with another group of children and Jamie. Here I want to say a very big thank-you to the ladies from the crop I attend who were so kind and generous in donating lots of lovely items for the children to use. There are some chocolates heading your way at the next crop from the school! The session was due to run until about 10.00 but the children were having so much fun that we carried on until 11.15.

Baby Jamie

I was so impressed with the creativity of the children and how they all grasped the idea of scrapbooking so quickly and so well. All of them were producing pages which they should be very proud of. They all wanted to have a go with the various bits of kit I had taken in. I can only say that I am more impressed with the school and teaching staff the more contact I have with them. And I also have great admiration of the teachers as I was totally shattered when I got home and needed a good rest and I was only there for a morning!

Snowy Street

Jamie's obsession with Metallica continues!

This is the lovely card I received from school to say thank you, I had a fab time and really enjoyed myself.

And then the rest of the day was all the usual stuff. I just need to find some time to finish the 3 scrapbook pages I need to complete.

Ciao

Sue

XX

Busy Day!

It was my intention not to get behind with this, but now I have, so I had better catch up quick!

Tuesday was a busy day. Mornings are spent at my Floristry class,which is always enjoyable, but this one went on a little bit longer than normal and I didn't get back to my car till after 12.30 (the class is supposed to finish about 11.45). And the reason for that was a Carmen Rose, or as I keep wanting to call it a Carmen Miranda Rose! A carmen rose is a created rose, it is made from the centre of one rose and the petals from however many roses are needed to create the effect you want. And this is mine, and I am quite pleased for a first attempt, this is a design that needs some practice, but when perfected is quite stunning.


I had a look at a few of these on the Internet and as a Bride's Bouquet they can look amazing, if somewhat costly, starting at about £120 upwards, but the price is some indication of the amount of time and level of skill needed to make one. They also take a bit of dedication on the Florist's part, as they really need to be made as late as possible, so that means getting up during the night. I bound mine with some lovely bright, lime green ribbon, you may notice as time goes on that I have a bit of thing for green, particularly lime green!

After leaving floristry, I popped into Boots to top up our vitamin supply, sun cream for Jamie and get some bronzer. I am what my DH calls 'Northern pale' and am not a great one for a lot of foundation, so as the sun appears to be here I thought replace the bronzer. I then of course did what they want you to do, which is think, "Ah 3 for 2, I'll just top up the stock of ......." so for me that included shower gel, toothpaste, a couple of other bits from the No 7 range (don't tell Mike, but they were 3 for 2!). When I got to the check out I was glad I had saved quite a bit on my Advantage Card! By the time I got home, did the usual bits and pieces, it was almost time to collect Jamie from school!

In the evening, Jamie and I were going back to school for a languages information evening. It was basically a fun and informal way to show parents how they are teaching languages in the school. We dropped into his class and played bingo and match the pairs in French, the children showed how they played a version of Chinese whispers in French and also hangman. The year 3 children were good when they sang us their songs and watching the parachute game in the hall was fun. That has to be seen - I have seen them on the field doing that and I wondered what it was all about, now I know - 2 or 3 children sit in a technicolour parachute and the other children walk around with handles on the outside, until it become tight in the middle and then they all pull and the children inside go flying. It does seem to be very enjoyable for them! We also popped in to see some of the German and Bulgarian! It was a good evening and there was a lovely atmosphere between the staff and the teachers, which any parent welcomes.

So it was quite a busy day!

Ciao

Sue

XX

First Day Back At School

Everything has gone very well at school, so that is good, it is always nice to get a new term off to a good start. Jamie was happy to head off this morning and the weather was so lovely too he had a good time, playing with all of his pals. Mike and I had a lovely long walk this morning did about 5km which we felt was a very good start to us trying to improve our fitness. Binnie was brilliant today and no matter how many times she lost her ball, she found it again, it was a real pleasure to be out and about walking with her and Mike. Jamie had a play in the park after school and then spent some time playing on the PC and talking to a couple of his friends.

As Mike was busy yesterday with his Aylesbury Friars stuff, off interviewing John Otway and 'Wild' Willy Barrett - be sure to check out www.aylesburyfriars.co.uk, we decided to have a roast dinner this evening. We had a lovely dinner and then Jamie headed off to bed.

I am a crafter, so have been pottering on over the past few days doing some scrapbooking layouts. I will upload some photos (once I have checked out how to do it) but have done a layout about Jamie, one about Mike and one of me and Midge Ure, all to follow. So now I am off to watch Ashes to Ashes with Mike and we will finish off a bottle of Zinfandel!

Last Day of the Easter Holidays

I always hate the last day of the school holidays, because I love having Jamie at home and having the chance to just have him around, despite the noise, the mess and did I mention the noise. The house has been full on several occasions with lots of noisy boys and I love it, to hear them playing and having fun simply makes me happy. Now we are getting bags packed and uniforms ready for tomorrow. Jamie always gets to choose what he wants to do last day. But at least this time Mike and I know he is really looking forward to getting back to school and catching up with the friends he hasn't seen over the hols, and I get chance to catch up with the other Mums and find out what everyone has been up to.