Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!

This year is really flying by, its nearly December already! I haven't written my cards yet so I was very surprised to receive a card from the Royal household, I have gone up in the world, I hope she is not expecting one in return!!!

This week has seen Beth reach a milestone birthday, it seems minutes since she was born after a long night in labour.

She weighed in at 7 lbs 13 ozs at 5.50am on a cold Sunday morning in November.

As she was our third child we were more experienced, she was quite laid back and easy. She slept well and fed well. She had a big brother and sister who both ran around after her from the word go! Carl used to love to give her a bottle which was a great help .

Now she is a young adult.

This year she was lucky to have two birthday cakes, both made by friends! She likes Stitch so Nicky made her a Stitch cake.

Barb made her a beautiful purple 18 cake.

On the evening of her birthday we went out for a Chinese meal with some friends and family.

Beth was excited to come of age, she got some beautiful presents and lots of money! Thank you to everyone who was so generous, letters are being crafted this weekend, but I know a lot of you this blog!! We managed to keep her surprise present a surprise right up until she opened it. I had wrapped a bag of little gifts, some of them were a clue to the surprise present, the penny didn't drop at all!! so she was shocked when she opened tickets to a long weekend away in Amsterdam (she knows it as well as I do!!) with her friend Hannah. (Thanks Wendy xxx)

Happy Days!!!

I have packed and I am ready to jet off on my winter trip to the Christmas markets. We fly from Luton (International Airport!!!) at lunchtime tomorrow. I think we will get there early enough to have a festive cider in the bar before flying to Hamburg. I can't wait!!

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas.......

Take care

xxx

Budding Artist!!

Beth seems to be following along the creative line and has started to produce some lovely pictures. Her art book is packed with her creations. I really like this one, her latest creation. Laura always had a talent for drawing and painting. I wish she would take it up again as well!!

I have kept quite a few of the children's books and works of art from when they were at primary school. its nice to look back on them and see how they have changed and matured. I wish I could paint and draw!!!

My Little Red Head!

Beth has been going stir crazy stuck in the house with all that snow outside. Not able to go out because of her knee. She has been pestering me to have some chunky red slices put in her hair, so I have given in and used a semi permanent dye on her hair to see how it looks. She can't have it in for school so hopefully it will have gone by the time she returns in January!

I think it has turned out well, I like it!

Two not so Little girls!!

Beth and Megan have known each other forever and although they sometimes blow hot and cold they do get on and when they are together manage to talk non stop for hours on end. They are both quite keen on being photographed so its nice for me to still have some willing models. They are a month apart age wise with Megan being the eldest. In these photos Megan was showing off her smart new hairstyle!

When I look at these photos it takes me back to a time when I was their age, playing with my friend Madeline, no trampolines back then, but we did go for picnics in the hay barn and play on the hay bales!!

A New Life Guard!

Beth is following in her brothers footsteps. She started last year to train as a lifeguard and on Tuesday evening she passed her Bronze Medallion and Life Support 1 award. We are so pleased for her. She had left primary school as a very strong swimmer and one of the few in her class who failed to gain the Silver waterman ship award. This was due to her failure to dive down and pick a brick off of the bottom of the pool. This past year she has worked hard and over come that problem.
So now with the Bronze Medallion firmly in her hand, she will be able to work a few hours down at the school pool. Carl used to do this and still occasionally helps out. Beth is so excited that she will be able to do the same!! I think she already has plans for any money she earns.
She is continuing with her training and will practice for her award of merit.

A few photos from Norfolk.

When we were in Norfolk we decided to visit Cromer, a quaint seaside town, with a lovely pier. We stopped for lunch in a Victorian Tea shop, which looked as if it used to be an old school house.

The food was lovely and they served a mean cup of tea!! Beth made us all laugh, she told us that people from Cromer were called Cromanians!!!

Grace and Beth decided that they were more than 'good friends' they spent the whole of the afternoon hamming it up for the camera!!

In this shot they are recreating the famous scene from Titanic!!

Big Hugs!!! (With Laura and Maddy looking on!)

Here we have the 'men' returning from their exploration of the pier.

Beth and Grace at it again, Laura looking on. It was great to see Laura enjoying herself , she seemed to have a great time and I think it did her some good.

At the end of the day we discovered a little sweetie shop, I love the way John even put his glasses on to get a better look!!

lazy like a Sunday morning.

This picture makes me smile, I was highlighting Beth's hair, she looks happy here, but minutes before she has been tearful, the cap was tight and having to hook through her long wavy hair with a crochet hook was not too comfortable. She was very good and I did try really hard to be as gentle as possible. It turned out fine in the end, although we were both a bit horrified when we initially took the cap off and she looked like a tiger with very pronounced stripes!!! Once it dried it became more subtle.
Before Carl went to camp he received a letter from the RLSS (Royal Life Saving Society) inviting us all to a national presentation at the London Guildhall. Carl has been awarded a certificate of Thanks and a certificate of Merit in recognition of the work he carries out on behalf of the society. But best of all he was nominated for and has won 'Young Lifesaver of the year' for 2008!!!!
So I must buy a posh frock and get ready for the awards ceremony in October.
Why are weekends so short???

Tower of London.

Today Beth was on day Three of activities week, a trip to look around the Tower of London and a trip on the river Thames. It was another hum dinger of a day with the temperatures in the 30's again. So off she went armed with loads of drinks and bottle of ice. It seems some of her friends weren't so well prepared so she sold some of her drinks to them!!!!
Last night she decided that she wanted to take a camera with her, I discovered my very first ever digital camera, a Fuji fine pix 1300. The original point and shoot, low resolution and no zoom (Beth text me to ask where the zoom button was!!) It was perfect for a school trip and Beth made the most of it and took 200 shots! (mainly of her friends and the back of strangers heads, she'll learn!)Here are a couple of her better ones, I hope she takes up photography,


These poor guys must have been at melting point.

Beth looks exhausted in this photo.