Weekend in London

Dru was jetting off to Amsterdam last Saturday so me and the kids decided to go to London.
We set off Friday evening and dropped Dru off at his mates house in Basingstoke and then headed to my parents house.
We didnt get there until about 10.30pm and the kids were hyper as anything to get there.
After a while we all hit they hay. Max went in my mums bed with her and me and Alfie slept in my sisters bed (she was staying at her boyfriends house).
Saturday morning Max went to my dad's football and me and Alfie went to the shops.
Later on, we went to collect my sister and we all went to my grandparents house.
It was nice to see them as we hadnt seen them since August. They spoilt the kids as usual! Im sure Max and Alfie ate their body weight in sweets/crisps/junk
After spending the day there, we went to collect my dad and me, Nicole, dad, Max and Alfie went out for a meal.
Once back at my parents house, the kids went to bed and i spent the evening with my dad.
My mum was doing the Shine walk (13 miles around London for charity) so she arrived home early hours Sunday morning. She done the walk in 4 hours which she was pleased with.
Sunday, Nicole came back round to my parents and then Chantel popped over too.
It was a nice chilled weekend.
We arrived back in Norwich at about 5pm and had a McDonalds.
The kids loved the weekend and it made it easier to have the family about because the kids were missing Dru.
We're back in London during half term so they are already looking forward to that...

Alfie's third birthday

Alfie woke up on his birthday and was very excited.
We spend the first part of the morning, opening pressies and cards before preparing the house for the party.
Dru's mate Craig came over about Lunch time and the kids were bouncing off the walls with excitement!
We got the kids into their costumes and my mum, sister, nan and grandad arrived.
The kids opened yet more presents before their god mother Mel arrived and you guessed it.. more presents!
Chantel arrived next with Charline's kids Pedro and Julius.
By this point i had put up the decorations, food and got the place ready for the bombardment of children!
The guests started to arrive about 3pm. We had Mia (Belle from Beauty and the Beast), Amy (Tinkerbell), Jessica (Tinkerbell), Ethain (Pirate), Amina (Fairy Princess), Maddison-Kay (Belle), Kerri-anne (Cinderella), J'Dice (Sleeping Beauty), Nikita (Cinderella), Joe, Pedro, Julius, Haydn and Tegan (who didnt dress up).
We had dancing, face painting (done by Nicole and Mia and Amy's Mum), pass the parcel, musical statues and generally had loads of fun!
It was nice for the kids to say goodbye to their friends and i got a chance to say goodbye to mine too!
Max and Alfie had their faces done as tigers and then Alfie rubbed it off and wanted to be a pirate.
We all had a great day!

Alfie's Nursery

Alfie started nursery on Monday.
All weekend he was really excited and on Monday morning he was excited to wear his new uniform.
Me and Dru had to stay for part of the first session to ensure he settled all right so we dropped Max off first and then headed to the nursery.
As soon as we got there, he was in and off playing. They done snack time and he played outside.
The teacher, Rachel, said that we could go and come back at 11.30 so we said goodbye and he started to get a bit upset but i distracted him with a car and off we went.
Came back at 11.30 and he was buzzing about his day.
Tuesday morning, Alfie was excited again until we got to nursery. We said goodbye to him and he started crying It was horrible leaving him but Rachel said it was best if we just went.
So i dropped Max at school and then popped back to the nursery to check he was ok without him seeing me. Rachel said he was fine.
When i collected him he was telling he that school was hard work. I asked him what he had done and he told me that he had played playdough, cutting and drawing.
He was going on and on about it and how good it was so i thought today might be better.
This morning, as soon as we set foot in the nursery, he burst into tears. Max said goodbye to him and he cried more and when i said goodbye, he REALLY went for it. I gave him Tiger which calmed him a little and then we left. I wanted to cry. I felt awful leaving him.
When i collected him he was hyping about he played with all the girls and how he got a stamp on his hand because he done "good listening and not talking on the carpet".
Fingers crossed for a better day tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Max's First Day at Reception

Max started Reception on Thursday 6th Sept.
The Thursday and Friday was only until 12 to ease them in...
A few days before, Max was starting to get a bit nervous. He kept saying that he was worried because he wouldnt know anyone.
On the Thursday morning, he woke up bright and early and had his breakfast. Then me and him had a bit of a cuddle before he got dressed, done his hair and teeth and was ready to leave.
We got there and were all taken into the assembly hall. The teachers called class by class and we all walked through to the coat peg area. Max found his name and put his p.e. bag on his peg, then kissed me, Dru and Alfie goodbye and off he went into class.
We came back at 12 and he came out buzzing! He had a great time!
He was telling us about how he played outside in the playground, played in the play house. He said he was playing with a boy called Elliot and a girl called Jemma.
He enjoyed it Friday too!
This week he has had packed lunch and stayed until 1pm.
He's loving it!

Max's 4th Birthday

Max woke up VERY excited at 6am. He opened his presents and was instantly addicted to his Nintendo DS! He also got a couple of games for the ds, some toys dinosaurs, photo frame for his new room, decorating plate set, harmonica, a book and some clothes.
He played the ds all morning until we had to go to playgroup.
They played and said their final goodbyes at playgroup and then we came home for lunch.
Then me and Max headed to my dad's football so he could play some matches in the afternoon.
My dad gave Max his present (a new Brentford kit with his name and age on it) and his card. Max got changed and off he went...
I went for lunch with my mum and sister and came back later.
Max scored a goal whilst i was watching and was getting really stuck in!
After football, my mum gave Max his presents (two pairs of converse and a bow and arrow set).
Then we came home, he had dinner and we done the whole cake thing.
Max had a lovely day and was knackered at the end of it!
Cant believe he's four!!

Legoland!!

We went to Legoland today and the kids loved it!
We arrived just after opening and it was drizzling so it wasnt too busy.
I think the longest we had to queue for anything was about 15 mins so that was good as i know the kids have very little patience.
The kids got to go on most of the rides and there was lots to do.
There was a submarine ride which Alfie loved! You get in a submarine thing and it takes you through the water of the aquarium so you get to see lots of fish, sharks, sting rays etc.
The boys learnt to drive.... they drove around in the little cars and got their driving licenses on yellow paper. They took their photos and you could buy proper little driving licenses which we did. The kids were very chuffed!
Children had to be between 3-5 to drive the cars and we heard the guy who worked there turn away one boy who was 2 (the dad said that the kid would be 3 next week) but they still wouldnt let him on The man asked each child individually how old they were and went on their answer so in the queue, we said to Alfie, "How old are you Alfie?" and he said "I'm two" (which yeah he is but considering he will be three next month we told him to say he was three). So when the guy asked his age, he said "I'm three" so he was let on. I know i shouldnt get him to lie but it is only a month away!!
We went on the carousel, hot air balloons, boats, safaris... you name it!
They had an absolute blast!
We let the kids choose a treat each and they picked a teddy so they got one each.
All in all, great day!! And the sun came out too!

Oooh nearly forgot, we saw a pirate show and a puppet show too. It was great!

Busy weekend in Norfolk!

We left our house on Saturday afternoon so we arrived at my aunts house about 6ish.
Max and Alfie spent all evening playing with my cousin Paige and when we finally left, we didnt arrive at the hotel until late.
Sunday morning we all got up and went to Little Chef- awful! The food wasnt great and they charged a small fortune! (Ok exaggeration but we got a bowl of cereal for each of the kids and a fruit-shoot each, i got 2 pancakes and a cup of tea, Dru got 2 pancakes, 2 pieces of bacon and scrambled eggs and an orange juice and it came to over £20. If it was nice food, i wouldnt of minded but when it wasnt nice, that takes the mick!)
After breakfast, we headed to North Walsham to go to the summer fete.
When we arrived it was hammering down and the fete wasnt on so we decided to have a wander round the town (forgetting it wasnt London and everything was shut!!).
We found that Sainsburys was open so we went in there and bought some bits for lunch later.
After Sainsburys, we went back to the summer fete which was now on as the rain had calmed down.
Not a great deal was there, i think the rain had scared most people off and to be honest, if i lived there, i wouldnt of gone out in that weather but we didnt want to spend the day in the hotel.
Anyways, the kids watched the dog show, had a look at some classic cars and had a look round the stalls.
We ended up buying 6 dvds for £2- BARGAIN! Max and Alfie played hook the duck and won fishing games as prizes and then headed back to the car before the thunder and lightning!
We headed back to the hotel and had our lunch and the kids amused themselves playing the fishing games.
That evening we headed back to my aunts house and watched the England match (bloody Italy!) and didnt get back to our hotel until gone midnight!
Monday morning we all had to wake up about 8ish because we needed to get to Norwich for Dru's interview.
We arrived in Norwich and off Dru went for his interview while me, Max and Alfie went for a look in the shops.
When his interview was finished, we headed back to North Walsham and went to a tea shop for lunch.
After lunch we headed to the preschool where Alfie met his new teacher. Alfie seemed to really like it there and i was really impressed with it all.
Then we headed to the school where we met Max's teacher and he got to ask any questions he had.
The school and preschool both seem lovely and the kids really like it there!
Then we headed back to the town centre to view a house, only to have the appointment cancelled by the estate agent about 10 mins before the viewing so we used that time to go to some more estate agents and got another viewing for that afternoon.
We viewed a house at 4.30 which wasnt very nice at all. We new that it wasnt for us as soon as we walked in!
Then we viewed a place at 5pm which was LOVELY! We both really liked it so we might try and get that one.
Then in the car on the way home, Dru got a call from the guy that interviewed him and they have asked him to come back new week for a trial shift as he done so well in the interview so fingers crossed!
All in all, we had a great weekend!

Father's Day 2012

Max and Alfie woke up and were dying to wake Dru up but i managed to convince them to let him have a little more sleep.
We made him a cup of tea and some biscuits and took them, along with the cards and presents into him.

Whilst Dru was opening his presents, Max and Alfie decided to eat all the biscuits and leave none for Dru, Little monkeys!
After all the presents and cards and after we were all dressed we headed over to my dads house.
We collected Dad and then went to Ruislip Lido.
The restaurant was packed (as we expected!) but we found a table and got our food.
It was a carvery and the food was nice. I had gammon, Dru and my dad had gammon and beef, the kids had sausages.
After the food, the kids played in the park and watched the swans for a bit.
Heading back to the car, dad bought us all ice creams (most of which ended up on the kids faces!).
It was a lovely, relaxed day x

Alfie loves to dance

Jubilee Party

There was a Diamond Jubilee Party at the Children's Centre today.

There was face painting, henna, party food, music and loads of toys!

Max got a Union Jack on his face and hand.

 Alfie got a small one on his cheek, I was so impressed that Alfie sat still for that long but his wiped it off after about a minute of it being finished! Little monkey!

I got henna on my feet which looks pretty.

The kids ate so much food! Alfie ended up covered in chocolate!

They had a great day! It was lovely!