Jamie Red Belt!

Just before Christmas Jamie had his first grading for Karate and he got his red belt - well done Jamie!!  Mike took him as I was at a crop and it was a very busy event, there were lots and lots of people doing their gradings at various levels, lots like Jamie taking their first belt.

 Jamie getting his belt from his teacher Mark

At home with his certificate and below striking a pose (this move has a name but can't remember)

Ciao
Sue
Reading challenge 15/16 - currently reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (not off my reading challenge)

Jamie's Christmas Concert

Jamie has been playing with a guitar ensemble for about 3 months or so and it was time for the end of term or Christmas concert.  They were playing a song called 'Big Leg Emma' by Frank Zappa as their part in the concert.  It is a great song and a tune which we had become very familiar with but which I like a lot.  There are some amazingly talented young muscians about and we heard everything from Baroque to Frank Zappa and of course really proud of Jamie, playing with his ensemble to a audatorium full of people.

Ciao
Sue
XX
Reading challenge 15/16 - currently reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Christmas Flower Classes

Not to much to say just some photos of the brilliant work of 'my students' really really proud of what they managed to achieve on this short course.  Great fun despite the atrocious weather and amazing work from total beginners, they were all very pleased with their achievements and rightly so!

 And some from a class where I covered for another tutor.

Ciao
Sue
Reading challenge 15/16 - currently reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (not off my reading challenge)

Not for the Squeamish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have for some time had a real problem tooth, years rather than months.  I've had it filled a couple of times, but because of my really really big fear/hatred/loathing of going to and the whole process of being in the Dentists I have not had the root canal filling which it really needed and gone for the lesser filling, which gave me another 4 or 5 years with the tooth.  But the day was coming when I new I was going to have to go and let my Dentist see it and I was hoping to put that off until our next regular check up.  That was not to be, as the filling fell out and whilst that didn't cause me any pain it did cause me a big problem in another way, but more of that in a moment.

As I mentioned above I have always hated going to the Dentist, this is because dental treatment in the UK in the late 1960's and early 1970's was less than sophisticated, in fact I'd go so far to say it was almost barbaric.  When I was very young only about 5 or 6 I had to have 4 large back teeth out, why I don't know but I did.  I can even now 40 years later clearly remember being sat in the waiting room.  There were a lot of children waiting for dental extractions and as each one was seen they were brought through the waiting room  still in pain and many with blood visibly coming from their mouths.  Then it was my turn, luckily I don't remember that, probably blocked it out, but remember staying at my Grandma's afterwards.  And from then onwards I've hated the dentist.

So I have always where possible avoided the dentist, gone for my regular check-ups when I had to, but largely given the whole thing as wide a berth as possible.  But for this one tooth, I am not doing too badly either a few fillings here and there and a couple of teeth I've lost, but nothing that you can see, back ones.  Anyway my filling fell out and I wasn't rushing to the dentist, but there was a nasty rough edge (here it gets yucky) and it was rubbing on my tongue which quickly became swollen and very very uncomfortable!!  I was lucky as Mike had a dentist appointment so I was able to pinch his appointment to get my tooth done and my Dentist knowing 'what I'm like' decided that the tooth had to come out there and then which he did.  So at least it was all  going to be over before Christmas.

Sadly getting the tooth out was not so easy and I had several injections to start with and then went back into the waiting room, then back into the chair, but I could still feel lots of pain and a few more injections later, still pain, and then one finally right into the middle of the tooth, that got it.  The tooth was out pretty quickly after that and then it was home for some TLC which was duvet and tv on the sofa for a few hours!!

For the not so squeamish - below is a picture or two of the offending tooth and not so nice it was at all and I'm rather glad its not longer there causing me problems and I haven't missed it.

Ciao

Sue
XX

Reading challenge 15/16 - currently reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Start to Christmas

The traditional start to the Christmas festivities in our house begins when the 'Christmas First Box' (as I've labelled it(!!) comes down from the loft.  Its the box which contains the advent calendar, the Christmas CD's, and Christmas cards.  This year Jamie and Mike put up the advent calendar and so the countdown began. 

Jamie Organising the Advent Calendar after Cubs

We love our advent calendar which we have now used year after year after year and it is always a joy to get it down and set it up.  We buy little treats for Jamie to get every day, the traditional chocolate pennies (or Euros are they seem to be now!!) or little Christmas chocolate treats.  He loves it and Mike and I don't get a look in.  I love the advent calendar because we start the Christmas period with a strong reminder about what the season is all about, not the presents, the over indulgence, food, wine etc, and not even the TV specials but about the birth of a very special baby.  I think it sets a great tone for the rest of the month.

Mike and Jamie, Binnie has spotted the chocolate (but none for her it's bad for her!!)

We didn't really have to wait long either in December for the weather to become very wintry, here is a picture of Mike doing what he said he would never do which is walk Binnie in her pink coat.  You can see that we had had our first fall of snow.  It was to get a lot worse. 

Mike walking Binnie in her PINK coat



Our park looks amazing in the first snow, the pond already frozen solid



Ciao

Sue
XX
Reading challenge 15/16 - currently reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Most Improved Player

Now for a few quickies (to help me catch up!!).  I've mentioned before that Jamie has taken up rugby and plays for the U12 team for Ble and this week he was voted the most improved player and so was able to bring home the team trophy for the week.  All the boys in the team work really hard, trying their very best and often the conditions are cold and wet but they all play with such a great team spirit and are so encouraging of each other that Jamie is thrilled to bits to have the trophy this week.  Well done Jamie.

Ciao

Sue
XX

Reading challenge 15/16 - currently reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

The Minefield That Is The Senior School Application Process

We have recently had to apply for Jamie's place at senior school and as in my title this is no less than a minefield.  The school where we want to send Jamie, the school which is our nearest school is over subscribed many times.  It is a good school, has good results and has excellent facilities, as well as being the natural school for Jamie to attend and the school where lots and lots of his friends will be going.  But and here is where it becomes difficult it is not straightforward that Jamie will get a place at that school.

Many factors come into play when they allocate places, some which are understandable and some which are not.  So we filled in the online form - made our 3 choices, you have to put 3 even if you only have 1 school which would be suitable.  The other two choices we made would have involved Jamie having to travel to school via car.

One of the main factors in placement is living within the catchment area, and our choice SBE was the only school in whose catchment area we lived, but only just - from looking at the map, we felt we were really on the cusp of the catchment so we were a little concerned with that.  Families who have children at the school have priority, as do children with disabilities (understandable) and children in care who live outside the catchment (didn't quite understand this one) and several other categories too.

You apply for the place in October, but do not find out until March so it is a long time to wonder about it!!  Everyone is supposed to find out on the same day 1st March and I was told that you find out via email (which I think may be what happened previously) so I spent the day checking in regularly and getting more agitated as the day wore on and the email didn't arrive.  When I went to collect Jamie I overheard that you could check out online so I checked when I came home.  What a relief it was to find that Jamie was going to the school that he and we wanted to go to.

After that it was then just to wait and hear if all of his friends had got into the school too, but I guessed that if Jamie was in they would be too, because of where everyone lives.  I gave my friend A a quick ring and told her you could find out online, she gave us a ring back a little while later to tell us that G had got in too.  Jamie and G have been friends ever since nursery school so it was a very happy household all round.  Overall it was just a great relief to know that Jamie's next school step is now settled.  We will just be waiting for all the paperwork, uniform requirements and his visits to the school.  It's also very scary that my little baby will very soon be heading to the 'big school', but I am so happy that he will be there along with all his friends.

Ciao

Sue
XX

Reading challenge 15/16 - currently reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer