Happy Hallowe'en

I just had to share what happened to us first thing this morning!!   I was getting breakfast sorted and heard Martha shout what I thought was "snow, snow!".  I walked to the front door where she was standing and saw a beautiful young roe deer (like this one) however I wasn't fast enough with my camera to take a photo.  It has really made my morning feel wonderful and I'm sure that it's going to be a lovely day!

 

It's quite ironic actually as yesterday afternoon I took the girls to Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Deer Park (perhaps one followed us home!!).  The girls were fantastic and I calculated that we walked between 2 and 2.5 miles, at least a mile of which was up a 16% hill!  I really enjoy the family self-led activities in Swanley Grange which yesterday were "fly by night" - we made very cute owls and swooping bats.  Thank you again to Jan and the Barker family for the wonderful National Trust membership which has allowed us to enjoy the area so much more!!

Peter has been away all week, I've been poorly, the girls have been poorly - it's been hard work!  He arrived home yesterday afternoon to a madhouse!  I decided to keep Lauren at home from playgroup as she'd had an unsettled night and looked really tired - how wrong was I!?!?!  All week the house has been really tidy, I don't mean just straight, I mean REALLY tidy!  I went to the PC to do an online grocery shop and asked the girls to help choose things, instead in the 20 minutes that I was absent, they managed to dismantle the sofas, empty 9 toy baskets, spill juice and to top it all wee on the floor!!  How do they do it?  More importantly, WHY did they do it 30 minutes before Peter was to walk through the door!?!?!

 

I wonder if they've had too many treats this week.  On Monday we all went swimming with our neighbour Alison which was fantastic.  Martha showed no fear and was jumping in from the side, Lauren has learnt to get in and out of the pool (using her arms not the ladders) and is getting more confidence going underwater.  In the afternoon, we went for a nice walk in Ripley again with Alison and her dog Edna, the girls were really good and had an ice-cream as reward for their swimming and walking.  On Tuesday, they went to playgroup and we played together in the afternoon.  Wednesday is a blur!  Thursday, we went to Paxtons Farm Shop to collect my eagerly anticipated organic veg box which was fantastic.  We also left armed with sausages, bacon, burgers and farmhouse biscuits all for £20!  It's a brilliant find and I'll definately keep going for as long as we can!

 

Today I collected the girls latest photograph from playgroup which I've uploaded into the October album.

 

We have Peter at home this afternoon and Saturday until he leaves again on Sunday for another week.

What a busy week it's been!  It started off on Monday with me accompanying Peter on his monthly work trip to Scotland.  Yes, you read correctly, me, alone, single, without children!!  Peter's mum kindly offered to babysit the girls and stayed overnight in our house which the girls enjoyed immensely, not to mention the novelty of Nana taking and collecting them from playgroup and the added highlight of both Nana AND Grandad taking Lauren to ballet on Tuesday afternoon.  Needless to say the girls didn't miss me that much, although I missed them, yet really enjoyed the opportunity to drive (or get driven!) without umpteen loo breaks, a meal with Peter which we neither had to rush to get finished before behaviour tipped or to relieve babysitter, or sit in a darkened hotel room at 2000 waiting for girls to settle to sleep!  It was lovely to be able to stop in to see Jan and the girls briefly on our way home, although it again felt odd without having the girls there playing with their cousins!!

 

Martha is really settling into playgroup now and we've all noticed a vast improvement in her speech.  Whether the two are connected I don't know, but I am sure that the difference in her behaviour and ability to follow direction is - I think she is starting to enjoy the more formal structure it offers her.  I have started bringing Martha along to Church with Lauren & I and she is enjoying it far more than I expected - I think thanks have to go to Alison who plans fantastic activities for Junior Church and makes it so enjoyable for all.

 

Today we drove over to my sister in law Amanda's house to get our hair cut as we really did look like some kind of cave dwelling family, or at least one without mirrors!!  Martha's hair is so cute, with her curls bouncing around again.  Lauren is now sporting a beautiful bob and after a lot of tears over her hair being cut, shared that she didn't like her fringe being cut so we've decided to clip it out of the way for now - it looks lovely.

 

The girls today both had their first horse-ride!  Martha, being the braver, bolder of the two went first on Amanda's smallest pony named Figgy.  I wasn't sure how the girls would react with her, having never been on a pony before, however they adore the horses and have been asking (at least Lauren has) to go for a long time.  It wasn't planned for them to go on today but sometimes unplanned things have the best results!!  We'd given Lauren a dose of Piriton before we set off so knew that she at least had some allergy protection. 

 

Martha put on her riding hat and looked so comfortable, not to mention cute and that was before she even sat on Figgy!  Once on, she held the reins very tight with a grin from ear to ear!!  She looked very at home and when Figgy (led by Stefan, thank you!) started to trot, Martha started giggling so much it set everyone off - it was not the reaction I expected but was so pleased!!  Lauren was next up and was again such a natural - she even held the reins correctly and said "good girl, thank you Figgy" afterwards!  I plan on letting them ride whenever we're up at Amanda's providing we're able but was so happy that they've had the experience.  As is usual practice in our household, I asked the girls at bedtime what their favourite part of the day was, clear answer from the both, riding Figgy!

 

It's been a lovely day and I'm so proud of them both (and Peter for letting them have a go!).

Hurrah!!! Thanks to Jan for getting me comping!! This morning the Postman delivered my first win - Collection 2000 Magi-Length mascara!!  It's not a big win I know but I needed a replacement after Martha decided to beautify herself with my other one, so this is a perfectly timed win!!!  Thank you to Fabulous Mag!!

 

The week has been a good one with me being kept busy by the girls playing up a tad - but not to the extremes that they have been recently so it was bearable!!  I have still to get outside and do some bulb and plant planting, however as this involves clearing nettles, brambles and weeds I've not had a lot of motivation, I hope this weekend I muster some up to get on with it!!

 

I used a £10 Amazon voucher I received for survey completions to buy myself a book about growing vegetables (Vegetable Growing Month by Month) and with the left over credit, bought Lauren a Charlie and Lola colouring (although I got the "coloring one" as it was nearly £2 cheaper and let's face it she's not going to notice the difference between American English and English English just now!!).  I really like the book, it's well written in plain English and laid out in a sensible way - I can sow some winter lettuces, garlic and some onions, how exciting!!

 

After a long absence, I have updated the photo album with photos from September.