Our half term break

I love school holidays. I love having the chance to spend more time with my girls and doing different things with them. Katie has been delightful this half term which meant we got to do lovely things together. It makes such a difference to everyone’s moods!

Robyn went away to stay with her dad from Saturday until Wednesday. It works well now that she only goes for half the week. I’m much happier with the arrangement. We missed her loads but it was nice for Katie to have the attention from both me and Anthony for a couple of days.

On Sunday we made biscuits together. This is something we don’t do enough. It was such fun and Katie was so proud of what she created.

On Monday we went to Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway for a day out with Thomas the Tank Engine. Katie loves Thomas and so it seemed a perfect thing to do while Robyn was away.

Tuesday was a lovely lazy day for me and Katie. Anthony was back at work after his long weekend and so we enjoyed some Mummy & Katie time. We had a wonderful day together.

On Wednesday I decided to brave taking Katie on the train to Manchester. It’s only a 35 minute journey so not too far. I met Robyn at Victoria station and got a nice surprise when her dad handed over £50 in birthday money that she got from relatives while she was away. Katie was still being a good girl so we headed to Primark and got the girls some new summer clothes. I love Primark for cheap kids clothes and it was lovely for Robyn to choose what she wanted with her money. I also took them into Next and got them a nice outfit each in there.
It felt so wonderful to be out shopping with my girls. It was the first time EVER I have felt able to take them both on the train and be independent with them. I walked through Manchester with my head held high because for the first time in ages I felt normal… Anthony was at work and I was shopping with my girls. I cannot tell you how much I have longed for the day I could do that. I felt so proud.

On Thursday we had Robyns best friend and her little brother (our godson) round while their mum went to work. We played outside and had chippy chips for lunch. We made chocolate chip cookies and had a lot of fun!

Friday was a good day too although it started badly for Anthony with a migraine. He went to work but was sent home again. Ironically he began to feel better when he got in so we took the opportunity to go out with the girls. We took them out for lunch and did a spot of shopping before dropping them off at my mum and dads. My sister collected them later on and they stayed at her house overnight. This is because we went away!

We booked ourselves into a hotel just 30 miles away for the night and what a wonderful time we had! We sat outside with a pitcher of Pimms and Lemonade after we had checked in and then enjoyed a swim and chilled out in the spa pool. Dinner was delicious, I had mussels and chips (a real favourite of mine) and Anthony had ostrich steak.

The only thing that put a damper on the night away was when the car wouldn’t start the next morning. We called Green Flag and luckily they got us going again.

All in all we had a superb half term and I’m really looking forward to the summer break. I feel confident that I’ll be able to manage some days out with the girls and that makes me really happy!

Snow Sunday

We have snow! Quite alot of snow!

We took the girls to the park earlier with the sledge. When we set off the snow was still coming down but quite gently. As we walked along I was smiling, thinking how lovely it was. Oh how things can change! When we got to the park it suddenly started coming down thicker and faster. Then the wind started! We were in the middle of the park in a snow blizzard lol.

Luckily our park has lovely shelters. We went and sat in one for a few minutes and waited for the blizzard to die down. Then we carried on walking. We threw snowballs and sledged down a big hill. I took some photographs (no surprise there!). Then Katie fell out of the sledge head first! She cried, Robyn whinged that her feet were cold and so we started to walk home again.

It looks beautiful out there. If the snow is still there tomorrow we will build a snowman in the street. I can’t stop humming “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas!”. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?!

 

Best of 2009: Car Ride

I don’t drive so for me going out in the car usually means I get to sit down and relax! We live in valley in the middle of the Pennines. The scenery is out of this world. It often means driving up and down tiny roads that are very steep though. There is one particular back road that I hate, I always shut my eyes and hold my breath when Anthony drives that way… it’s a bit too scary for me lol.

When we drive to Morecambe we usually go along the motorway but occasionally, if we have the time and the weather is ok we go through the countryside. It is so beautiful that I can’t put it into words. In May when Robyn was away with her “Dad” we decided to go for a drive out through the Forest of Bowland. The sun was shining and Katie was being a good girl so off we went!

We drove down the little country lanes chatting, singing and laughing but also in total silence as we took in the beautiful countryside that was surrounding us. Hills, animals, flowers, trees and water. As a child I was totally obsessed with paddling in water. If there was a stream nearby I would be in it. I used to sing to a stream in a caravan site where we stayed once. I cried when it was time to come home. In the Trough of Bowland there are loads of streams. Now you can see why I love it there. To drive through is wonderful but to get out of the car and go into a stream is just exactly what I love to do!

We found a place to park up and went for a paddle. Fabulous! Paddling in a stream is one of those things on my list of things to do with my children. One of those experiences that I need to share with my babies. Everyone should do it!

So while I enjoyed alot of car rides in 2009, this one is the one that stands out for me. We went somewhere just for fun and enjoyed the beauty of God’s earth. I just wish Robyn had been there too. Next summer we will go again, all 4 of us.

This post is part of  Gwen Bell’s Best of 2009 blog challenge

Autumn

I love autumn, it is my favourite season. I love seeing the colours of the leaves on trees and listening to those leaves rustle in the wind. Yesterday we all put on our boots & went walking through the park. We had great fun kicking the leaves up and collecting conkers. We passed lots of people who all seemed to be doing the same thing. Everyone was smiling (well apart from Katie who was on a whingey afternoon!) and the light coming through the trees made Robyn really happy.

“I thought it would be spooky in the woods”, she had said. “But it’s not, the sunshine is coming through the trees and it’s all sparkly!”.

I love autumnal food. Roasted root vegetables with a piece of slow cooked brisket, thick soups and warming puddings! Stew and dumplings, chilli with jacket potatoes! Delicious!

This morning I got the girls thick winter coats out for the 1st time since they got put away in late spring. As Robyn put hers on she said “Ooooh I’ve missed this coat!”. She snuggled up in it and skipped out the front door into the autumn sunshine.

For me, maybe most of all, I love the EXCITEMENT that is in the air! Halloween is creeping up on us (sorry for the pun!), then it’ll be Bonfire night which has all of the elements of autumn that I love… the colours, sounds, chill in the air, the excitement and the warming food. Then of course comes the preparing for Advent & Christmas!

So much to look forward to, so much to be thankful for. Yes, there are things I could be sad & gloomy about with summer ending (did we actually get a summer?! See my point?!) but let us look forward and enjoy autumn. It is such a special time of year.

The Incredible Hulk

That is what Katie sounds like right now. All week she has tested my patience to the limits. This morning I have reached breaking point.

The photograph below was taken yesterday when we took the girls along with my nephew and Robyns best friend to a country park. We intended on staying all afternoon but Katie ensured that we came home early after she did nothing but whinge unless she was doing precisely what SHE wanted to do. Maybe I should have let her run into the muddy bog or fall off a wobbly log into a huge patch of stinging nettles. Maybe I should have let her climb over the fence and into the water? Silly mummy should have conjured up some more bread to feed the ducks once we had used it all up and I should have let her stay stood in the car park when it was time to get in the car.

This morning she has repeatedly thrown rediculous tantrums when she hasnt got her own way. She is now in her bedroom while we both calm down. I love her to pieces, I really do, but I am left wondering where on earth I went wrong with her.

A trip to the park

Saturday morning was stressful in the MeltedMoment household this week. Katie was awake at 6am shouting at the birds on the roof of the old mill opposite our house. Therefore everybody else in the house was awake at 6am and bad moods soon followed.

We’re skint at the moment so places to go are a bit limited. I had thought a quiet day indoors would be nice but soon realised we’d all be climbing the walls if that happened so decided that a visit to the park was in order.

We 1st drove to my mum and dads and got the girls bikes out the garage (we have nowhere to keep bikes here which is a shame). Then off we went. Robyn is too big for her bike really but she needs to learn how to ride it without stabilisers. Once she has mastered that we’ve promised her a new one. For now we have kept the stabilisers on… we’ll tackle it once the weather gets a bit warmer.

Our park has a lovely bike track for kids. Its got little road markings, roundabouts and signposts… and most importantly benches lol. After a good ride around there we carried on to the playground. There wasnt too many kids there which was nice, Robyn and Katie managed to have a good go on everything without queuing up.

Katie sat on her bike being pushed halfway round the park and ran the rest of the time. Her cheeks were bright red by the time we’d finished. Incidently she didnt fall over once the whole time we were out. As soon as we got home though she tripped over a shoe! We’ve concluded that she has no problems with her legs, its the noticing obstacles that she struggles with. If she sees them she can avoid them, she just doesnt notice what is under her feet.

We had a lovely time in the park with our girls. We’ll be making more of an effort to do it much more. It did us all some good.

It’s been a funny old week

I’m really missing Robyn this week. She’s home tomorrow and I’ll be so glad to give her a big cuddle.

We got our new car. Its a silver X Reg zafira. We love it! Its so good to have some freedom back again! Yesterday we drove to Morecambe to see mum and dad for the day. I told Robyn on the phone that we got a new car and she was so excited although she did ask me why we didnt get a blue one lol.

We also sold the old car. Its good to have that one gone and have the cash in our pockets (however short lived that was! It paid for a years tax on the new one 🙂 ).

We found out this week that a 10yr old girl we know has been badly hurt in an accident on her familys farm. She is currently paralysed from waist down and although the doctors are unsure of the permanence of this the outlook isnt good. My thoughts and prayers are with her and the family.

Yesterday we found out that a lady at church has died. It was incredibly sudden and she will be missed by many.

So tomorrow my big girl will be back home where she belongs. I’ll be giving her an extra squeeze as I count my blessings that I have a healthy family xxx

Rainbows and the zoo…

Robyn started Rainbows this week 🙂

She has been wanting to join for ages now and her starting day has been a long time coming! She walked in and nearly all of the girls ran over to her shouting “Robyn!!!”. It was lovely to see my little girl who, not too long ago was really quite shy and timid come out of her shell and get stuck in with the others!

She is desperate to wear a Rainbow uniform. We will be buying it in a few weeks time. Look out for a photo of that one!

Yesterday we took the girls to Blackpool Zoo. Katie fell in love with the monkeys and we had such a lovely day as a family. The weather was superb… better than most of the days we had in the “summer”! I quite expected the girls to go to sleep in the car on the way home but no such luck lol. Robyn told everyone at church this morning about the zoo. I’m sure she will talk about it for a long time to come!

I’ll leave you with a photo of my two wonderful girls taken yesterday at the zoo 🙂

One Year of Marriage

Well we made it to a year of wedded bliss!

We celebrated yesterday with a child free afternoon out in Manchester. Robyn is at her Grannys house for the week so after dropping Katie off at my mum & dads house we got on a train and in under an hour we were in the city centre.

We strolled round the shops without having to negotiate a buggy through crowds of people… what a delight! Funny how we still ended up buying clothes for the girls though!

Next it was off to the cinema but first we grabbed a drink of the alcoholic variety in the bar. We went and found our seats armed with popcorn and watched “21”… a good film!

Dinner was next… a chinese restaurant “YumYums”.  Eat as much as you like for £8.95 each. We made the most of it… well it would be rude not to!

Then we went back to the train station where we watched some silly lads trying to fight on the platform. We were entertained by the afore mentioned lads (who had at first appeared to be so full of it) turn into sheepish boys when the police were called and started taking all their details. It was really quite funny!

We were home at a very respectable time of 9pm (we must be getting old!) so we snuggled up together and watched some TV. It was a perfect day.

Thankyou Anthony for a perfect year. I hope there are many many more to come :o)