We have spent the past week shovelling snow, sledging, skidding, rescuing and generally enjoying the seasonal weather!  I decided to keep the girls at home for the week, playgroup was closed 1 day but apart from it being easier to stay at home, it was fun!!

 

 

 

We hope you have a great day and a fun time at the zoo!

 

 

We hope you have a fantastic day!!

 

 

It's great to have Peter back home.  He spent the whole of last week away and we really missed him.  He finished his work early on Friday morning so was able to come home before the girls finished Playgroup and collected them.  They were thrilled to see him, so much so that Martha squealed and burst into tears, Lauren ran shrieking to him and both decided to walk out holding daddy's hands and I was pushed to the back!  Peter cannot believe how much the girls, especially Martha, can change in a week.

 

The added bonus today was the snow!  It meant that Peter had an extra day at home with us, which part was spent doing his paperwork and the other playing in the snow!  The snow depth has doubled since we were out this morning and judging by both the current conditions and forecast, I expect we'll all stay at home again tomorrow!  I've posted a few photos of us sledging this morning - we're blessed to have a fantastic hill right behind the house.  Martha still shows no fear over new things and happily boarded the sledge and plummeted downhill at quite a scary pace!  I think the fact that she lay herself flat against the sledge had a lot to do with her super acceleration!  Watch this space, future UK Luge competitor!!  Lauren is still more reserved and cautious and went downhill on Peter's knees and then was happiest being pulled along the flat sections.

 

As I've been writing this, the snow has changed from big, fat flakes to tiny, tiny, fast falling ones - those are the ones I think build up quickly on top of the existing snow.  The whole place looks beautiful, I so love our woods when they're snow/ice covered.  They look like a Christmas card scene - ah ha, there's my idea for this year's personalised Christmas cards!!

 

Our rental house has been eventful this past week.  We found out that our tenant had departed one month prior to contract which isn't a huge issue.  However, the agent checked the place over and basically said it was "fine, nothing to worry about".  We picked up the keys on Friday to inspect ourselves and discovered that the newly (well it was at the start of the tenancy) laid carpet had been burnt by logs/coal falling out of the fire.  They'd left a rug over the burn marks which I'm really mad about as it doesn't appear that the agent has picked up on this "dirty marks on carpet" don't really describe irrepairable damage in my opinion.  The place is quite filthy, my dyson hoover filled up when I hoovered the place and my new cleaning cloths are now grey - I don't mind cleaning, in fact I've come to expect I have to do it between tenancies, however the damage to the property is something I really struggle with - they also drilled (badly) a telephone extension through a door frame and tacked it in halfway across the property. 

 

Good news though is that we've found (hopefully!) another tenant through a friend.  We've decided to call it a day with agents who to be honest, do no better a job than we can do ourselves, even lowering the rent we'll be getting more money per month than paying them to do an inadequate job.

 

Today has been wonderful.  We got up relatively early and surprisingly lively after a really rough night with hardly any sleep.  I had made the night/early morning before a list of a few tasks that had to be done before we left but otherwise everything was ready. 

 

We waited until the last possible moment to get the girls into their dresses, they looked beautiful and I'm afraid the intial photographs do not do them justice!  Lauren was very, very excited in so much as she ran down the Church path and inside alone!  Everyone commented on how beautiful they looked which thrilled them both.   Our Vicar, Matthew had borrowed some staging from the school to allow the girls to stand at the font with ease.  They had a couple of minutes practice before the rest of the congregation came in.

 

The service was a regular Holy Communion with Baptism, and I was very happy to be singing the hymns we sang at our wedding five years ago, Amazing Grace and Jerusalem (we had another two in addition as well).  Just as Matthew was about to invite Lauren, Martha, Godparents, Peter and I to the front, Martha declared that she needed a wee-wee!!  I had to make very quick apologies and dart out of the Church after a sprinting Martha with Matthew for comedy affect running after us!  It was very funny indeed and the congregation took the slight delay in proceedings in very good humour!

 

After the commitments were made, we made our way to the font where the Godparents, Peter and I poured water to accompany the water already there which represented the congregations contribution.  As is customary with Matthew's baptisms, those gathered around the font are "reminded" of their own baptism by being splashed with water.  Lauren was very impatient to get to this part and as such, was both very accomodating and happy to make the process go as quickly and smoothly as possible!  She took her hair clasp out to allow Matthew to "wet her hair properly" and Martha, as always, was led by Lauren and both were lovely to watch hugging, comforting and generally egging each other on.  Thankfully Matthew pulled the plug before we were all too soaked!  The service was very well attended and we are touched at the number of people whom attended the 0930h service rather than their regular 1100h to watch the girls be baptised (by choice rather than invitation!).

 

Afterwards we all headed back to ours for a buffet reception which I'm pleased turned out to be possibly the smoothest and most relaxed one we've done!!  Unfortunately, I discovered about 40 minutes ago an entire platter of ham and cheese sandwiches that got "lost" in the refrigerator - there was so much food that I'm sure they weren't missed!

 

Thanks go to the Godparents for their continued and future support - they were vital contributions in making the day so very special.

The girls are being baptised on Sunday and as such, the house is a pig-sty, their faces are scratched (by each other!) yet I suddenly feel remarkably calm!

 

Yesterday morning I spent an hour or so with our Vicar going through the service and talking about how we'll handle the girls being that bit older.  I was nearly brought to tears when he told me he'd looked up our wedding service (we were married in the same Church, by the same Vicar), and hoped we didn't mind but had chosen two of the hymns used then to use at the Baptism.  I was so touched by his thoughfulness and it wasn't something I thought of doing yet the hymns are (obviously) my favourites, Amazing Grace (which is my Granda Jim's favourite too) and Jerusalem.

 

Last night I spent the evening icing fairy cakes and adorning them with decorations that mum had made for me.  It was really good fun.  I have a two tier stacked fruit/marzipan/icing cake to decorate too and was really struggling about what to do.  I rather bravely decided to make a couple of figures, hoping to emulate Lauren and Martha.  Well I've made the figures, whether they look like the girls is another thing, but I'm actually quite happy with my first attempt at figure modelling, I really enjoyed it! I'm going to upload photos into the January album.

 

I am now crossing my fingers that the colouring fades from my hands before Sunday - eek!!!

Thank you to wonderful timing and a fabulous friend, Peter and I now have not only a new bed to replace our broken one (the girls decided to trampoline on it one too many times!) but a kingsize one!  We picked it up on Saturday afternoon and have now had 2 very good sleeps in it.  It's amazing how much better we've slept with the extra space!

 

Everything here has thawed out and it is now a muddy mess everywhere, I dread getting the girls into the car as each of my four "parking spaces" are now muddy - I think the time has come where we need to get one of the areas concreted however I really don't fancy it as I'm sure it will just divert the water elsewhere and perhaps cause more problems.

 

I'm sending some positive thoughts to my sister Jan and hope things get sorted out as quickly and efficiently as possible xx        

Happy New Year!!

 

As per last year, I thought I'd dig out the resolutions I made for 2008 and report how I fared!!

 

1. Show my family respect each and every day (I would love to be able to say 100% "yes!" to this one, however I think it would be honest to say I achieve this 6.75/7 days!)
2. Take the girls out (and encourage Peter to join us if he can) thanks to Jan, Nigel and the girls for making this even easier to do this year! (Hurrah!!  This is definately a big YES!!  We have enjoyed a number of outings this year primarily to Fountains Abbey and Brimham Rocks thanks to the wonderful gift membership I recieved - this was so good, I renewed for this year!)
3. Get more involved in my local community (Another YES, I continue in my second term on the Playgroup Committee, am now involved in the Church cleaning rota (1/month), and am part of another committee organising a parish picnic/fundraiser for the Summer 2009)
4. Continue not to put energy into negative people/projects (Hmmm, I think I must be doing this as I don't remember anything too negative, the couple of people who did impact my life negatively are no longer in it and I'm learning what people I should associate with and those I should attempt to avoid!)
5. Definately lose weight and increase activity level (Whoops!  Is this still on here?!?  Well I have walked a lot with the girls, not only to the main road and back, but have started taking the swimming and even purchased the Natalie Cassidy fitness DVD (ahem, still to be played!)

 To be honest I don't think I will need to change a lot for this year, apart from placing more emphasis on 5.  The main events of 2009 are Lauren starting school in September, the court case re crash in June, hopefully going to Center Parcs at least once out of school holidays whilst it remains an option and likewise travelling to Scotland (and elsewhere if he'll take us!) with Peter for his work.

 

New Years' Eve itself was a great event.  Our friends Heidi and Patrick kindly invited us down to their house, where our other friends also were attending.  Martha had a great nap in preparation whereas Lauren did the die-hard and didn't sleep at all!  I cooked a duck and took it down with some plum sauce, cucumber, spring onions and pancakes to join the wonderful feast that was there!  We played games, chatted, laughed, ate, drank and generally had a lovely, relaxed evening.  The children all behaved wonderfully and everyone of the lasted right through.  We arrived back home, the girls in bed asleep at 0055.

 

I wish everyone a truly wonderful, happy, healthy 2009.

Merry Christmas!!!

 

I know it's seems a long time ago now, but I have only just managed to wind down enough to blog about it!!

 

We had a lovely day which started at a very respectable 0715 with us getting woken by Lauren and Martha with their arms laden with goodies - we decided this year (and only this year!) to place their stockings in their bedroom as opposed to normal outside of their bedroom door.  They had eaten a few chocolate coins, wore headbands, half eaten an apple and satsuma and tooted their way to us with a plastic flute/recorder!

 

We all crept into the living room to see if Santa had been (it was a bit touch and go this year and the girls had really played up the fortnight leading up).  Thankfully he had and the girls were thrilled to see all the presents.

 

We are so grateful to everyone for the wonderful presents.  The girls loved everything they received and we're still enjoying getting new stuff out as I had to "park" a lot of things so as not to overwhelm them after opening.  I was lucky enough to get a lot of everything I love, pampering sets, cookery/baking books, budget living book, twinkling LED tealights (these are truly fantastic and are such a safe, authentic replacement), Hotel Chocolat dipping set, underwear, envelope making template and instructions, Mamma Mia! DVD, Manners from Heaven, blank certificates, business cards (I might use these for good behaviour vouchers or "day off" ones for me! - I wonder who would accept them?!), wrist angel, and the word that we will have a staircase in the new year!!

 

I took the girls down to Church for the Christmas Day service which was, as always, very enjoyable for all.  The girls didn't behave particulary well, but hey ho, Christmas excitement and all that!

 

Thankfully I spent Christmas Eve preparing all the vegetables etc for dinner so it was straightforward.  My dad brought some lovely stuffings to accompany our massive farm turkey, massive array of vegetables, pigs in blankets and yummy gravy.  We borrowed MIL's hostess trolley and it was such a benefit keeping stuff nice and warm and out of the kitchen!  After dinner the planned desserts of Christmas pudding, cheeseboard and Christmas cake had to be postponed and in the case of the pudding called off entirely due to eating too much! 

 

After lunch, we took a walk around the gardens and ventured as far as the main road which must have burnt off at least some of the dinner!  We were so cold we returned home to hot chocolate and Christmas cake, thank you to mum for a lovely cake!

Hurrah!  In this mornings' post, I recieved a competition win which I entered into last month!  Great thing is it's something that the girls will enjoy, downside is it wasn't one of the many, many spa breaks I'd entered hoping to win for myself and Jan!

 

The girls have been giddy, naughty, cheeky, etc the last few days and I've had my patience stretched to breaking point (again!).  I think that they might have a touch of sickness so am giving them a little bit of leeway.  Peter is away until Christmas Eve, he's been away a lot this month (or so it seems), and I've really missed him.

 

Tonight I'm expecting the arrival of Laura and Kev on their Southward journey to Julie tomorrow - I'm looking forward to seeing them and hope my frangipan topped mince pies will be ready in time!   These pies are wonderful, at least the ones I tasted were, and I give my great thanks to Lucy for sharing the recipe with me! If mine turn out anywhere near as nice I'll be happy and very full!

 

 

This week has been an action packed one so far in terms of the girls playgroup.  Peter was called out to Scotland which turned into a happy accident for me as it meant he could take the "gift box" to my sister instead of me posting it, which would probably be extortionate!

 

I baked all Monday from 1500 through until gone 0100, with a short dinner break with the girls in the middle.   It was all in aid of a cake stall at the girls playgroup on Tuesday.  I made tiny banana muffins, Christmassy decorated ginger biscuits and packed up some shop bought mini smartie cookies into press seal food bags and labelled them with nice festive labels I  made.  Therefore, you can imagine I was a little bit upset when I brought possibly at least 50% of the muffins and ginger biscuits back home!!  They people were crowding the cake stall like vultures and the good thing was it made £60 which considered most items were charged at 10p and 20p so the children could buy them themselves was really good, although in turn in makes it more annoying/upsetting that mine were left - what's wrong with them?!?  Lesson learnt??  Don't spend time, effort making things yourself buy them, repackage them as homemade and have a good sleep (ALL the shop bought crappy cookies sold!)!

 

Today the girls, together with the rest of their playgroup performed their first ever nativity service at the local Church.  It's not something the playgroup has done before, they've had the children sing the parents carols and festive songs but never the first Christmas story.  It was wonderful to watch them all get dressed up and was pleased that Peter's mum came along to see them too.  To the astonishment of many of my friends around here and whom I know through playgroup, I do not possess a homevideo camera, handycam, dv camera or whatever they're called nowadays.  I did however try my very best to record using Peter's XDA video function, but the quality is pretty poor and the sound even worse.  I will try to upload it below (Lauren and Martha as to the left of centre as you look at the stage - told you it was bad!).  It lasts 12 minutes so if you are planning to watch it, get yourself a coffee first!!

 

 

Well my blogging seems to have worked!  Seriously I don't exactly know what happened, although I suspect a number of positive factors came together with an overall positive end result! 

 

Lauren's behaviour has, apart from the little, manageable blip, has turned right around and she is being polite, helpful, kind to both Martha and myself and best of all no tantrums!  Martha has improved also, however less dramatically, although I do suspect that Lauren egged Martha on quite a bit when it was very bad!  I can now deal with Martha's issues with more ease now I have more focus and more patience thanks again to Lauren's improvement!

 

I have been getting the house straightened for Christmas visitors (if we actually get any unexpected, but very welcome guests) and it really works wonders for my mental health to have things in their proper places and going to bed with a tidy living room and kitchen.  I have even managed to tackle the girls room which I had left for as long as possible, and despite several nags, pleads, threats was never tidied by the girls.  The big news this week is that Martha is now sleeping in her bed without the bed guard on, we're all very proud of her and it certainly makes bedtime story more comfortable for Peter and I!  The girls have also slept fully through for the past few nights, which again makes me feel so much better!

 

We had snow again last night, it was very odd.  It was incredibly foggy but snowing as well, I don't think I've seen that before.  Anyway the girls and I cosy inside and didn't have to leave the house today so spent it wrapping presents!

The last few days (and today) have been awful.  I feel at the end of my rope with the girls.  Typically we are embarking on a week off playgroup due to the Village Hall being used for the Christmas play by the local amateur dramatic group.

 

I can just about cope with having toys strewn around the house, it's the wanton disregard for property, mine, Peter's, theirs, the house you name I cannot cope with.  Lauren has been pushing boundaries far too much recently and I just don't have the energy or skill it feels to deal with her.  The worst part is when they fight each other and Lauren can really hurt Martha (don't get me wrong, Martha can hurt back pretty well) - I just don't know how to stop them doing it. 

 

If my attention is taken off them for a millisecond (as in just now) they're in the bathroom filling things with water, splashing water around, breaking into biscuit tins, bread bins, fridges.  They are like wild children - they can't be hungry as I've just given them lunch, which they've eaten.

 

Last night I put the Christmas tree up and decorating not only the living room but also crept into their bedroom and put up a tree there too complete with fairy lights and another set around the wardrobe.  I thought they'd be happy to see it but Lauren's response was "I wanted THAT one in my room!".  I packed up the decoration boxes ready to return to the attic this morning only to go into the living room this morning to see them scattered. some broken too around the room.

 

I try to do activities with them but as soon as we stop, they misbehave again so I think "why bother?".  I really hope that this is just a stage, a short one preferably, as I don't know how much longer I can cope.

 

I've had them outside today as well which normally they enjoy but the misbehaviour just returned when we came indoors.

 

On a postive note, last night I worked out how to get photos from my mobile onto the PC so have now got some good ones which I've uploaded into the December album.

Yipeee!!  We have snow, and proper snow at long last!  I have posted just a couple of photos, we were too busy either playing, helping neighbours off the lane, or grocery shopping (bizarre I know, Peter thought it would be a good opportunity and he was correct, it was deserted!).

 

The girls and I took an impromptu trip with Peter on Monday afternoon/evening to Castle Douglas in Dumfries and Galloway.  We actually stayed in the Premier Travel Inn at Dumfries which was really nice.  I changed the booking from a single to a family room with both girls in beds rather than a bed for Lauren and travelcot for Martha.  They were very accomdating at short notice so a big "Thank you" to them.  Martha slept wonderfully and far better than previously, I think she really has outgrown it now!  We awoke the next morning to a carpark that, without any exaggeration I promise, resembled an ice-rink and we literally slid our way across to Peter's van.  The girls and I had a lovely breakfast in a coffee shop whilst Peter worked, went to the library (a free and warm way to spend an hour!), visited the playpark and finally the pharmacy to get some cough relief for Lauren.  We then started off home, where we learnt that it had already snowed and there was about 6 inches. 

 

 

Brrrrrr!!! It's soooo cold today, I have struggled to keep warm after getting very, very cold this morning.  I took the girls up to school at 1100 where we had our special Church service.  I have started taking Martha along now and she is really starting to enjoy it, however today she took got upset when Matthew, the vicar who is very nice, spoke to her.  She had the same reaction earlier in the month with the dentist, perhaps it's the white coat/cloak that does it, I don't know.  All I do know is that she and Lauren are due to be baptised in late January, so I hope it's just a blip as she used to really like Matthew, so much so that she'd chase him around the Church!

 

This afternoon we attended Phoebe's 2nd birthday party, where not only the girls, but Peter & I had a great time.  Julie and Andrew put on a great spread, party food for the children and home-made curries and nan bread for the adults, they were the best curries I've had.  It's not something I've tried cooking myself but I might have a go!

 

We came home and Martha fell asleep within 5 minutes so a good day must have been had!!  I caught up with Jan's blog and enjoyed reading about her birthday activities and gifts.  One gift led me to this site, and in particular these Tops for Recycled Jars, what a brilliant idea!! I think my family are getting fed up with painting jars and sticking tea lights in them!!

 

I can't believe a) it's Monday again tomorrow and b) it's December!!!

 

We hope you have a wonderful day! xxx

Today has been a wonderful one.  I've been busy, entertained, creative, alone, accompanied and eaten well!  It started this morning when I called around to my friend Heidi's house, after dropping the girls off at playgroup, to make Christmas reindeer tree decorations from old soft drink cans and wire (I will try to get some photos, they are brilliant!), they will be sold at the school Christmas Fayre tomorrow.  I left there and headed to Playgroup to do my stint on the washing up rota, which was great as there wasn't a great deal to do!  We came home and enjoyed a family lunch as Peter arrived home from work shortly afterwards.  After lunch Peter entertained the girls whilst I ventured to the shops birthday present hunting on my own.  On my way back, I spotted a group of people, one of which was in a fluorescent coat - not far from our lane end.  As I got nearer I realised it was my family, so I abandoned my car in the field and joined them on their walk which was lovely.  We all came home in my car with Peter driving and the girls and I bobbing around in the back (we were only on our lane!).  I made my special, easy, but very tasty spagetti carbonara with Martha's help - we all enjoyed it very much!  After dinner, Martha put on a ballet show for Peter and Lauren - she has been talking about it all week!  She looked adorable and I took a lot of photographs which I've uploaded to the November album.

Well I have been to the new LIDL!  One of the reasons for the lack of an update has probably been due to me stuffing my face with all sorts of treats, brioche, own make mini Bounty's, cheese and chive snacks etc!  Of course (honestly!) I am kidding in part but I did buy all the stuff previously mentioned!  I was really impressed with the range available of not only fruit and vegetables but chilled produce.  My non-food items are very exciting!  I bought Martha a pair of snow boots which were only £7.99 and are both waterproof and windproof.  I bought a window painting kit (christmas themed) which Lauren and I started last night, a paper cutter (with straight, wavy and perforated blades), fancy glue stick and a regular glue stick. I can't wait to go next week!

 

The girls haven't settled down very well since returning from our week away.  They've been getting up at 0630 which isn't too bad in itself however coupled with a disturbing night, makes for a very tired family!  I'm planning on taking Martha to playgroup next Friday and keeping Lauren at home with me for a change.  I think it will help Martha as she is evenutually going to be there on her own, plus if Lauren is poorly I'd rather she at least was familiar with attending on her own.  Playgroup have told me that she will be fine, I just don't know if I'M ready to do it so perhaps it will happen another day.

 

Peter called this afternoon to say that he had been called out to Milton Keynes.  I don't think either of us expected him to be away from home as much as he is, especially not like today, where he hasn't got the opportunity to come home first.  I'm reluctant to suggest that he keeps an overnight bag with him at all times, I just feel it's either tempting fate.   In some ways, the house runs more smoothly when Peter is away, but I'd rather he were here and the house be untidy, than a tidy but incomplete house.

 

We still aren't any further with the staircase situation.  Peter is of the opinion that every phonecall (there have been none) will cost money.  I am of the opinion that the occasional phone call to try to organise either a date or even approximate timescale is beneficial as I have an awful lot to organise but can't really do too much in advance as the girls still have to sleep in their room! 

Phew!!  I think I've recovered from what has been a wonderful but tiring week in Scotland.  We left last Sunday morning and headed straight to my sister's house where we were greeted not only by wonderful people but a fantastic Sunday roast!!  The girls loved spending time with their cousins and it's great to see how close they are becoming now that we're able to get up a bit more often, the shyness that used to occur seems to be reducing.  The girls settled to sleep pretty well meaning that Peter & I could enjoy the evening with Jan and Nigel.  On Monday, the four of us took the train through to Edinburgh where we had a meeting with our solicitor and counsel re the accident.  I must admit I have been so apprehensive over this meeting for a long time, however it was so much calmer, pleasant, friendly than I expected (thank you to Jan for the wonderful relaxation aid).  We enjoyed a coffee and hot chocolate for the girls whilst we waited for Laura and Kev to meet us and take the girls for an hour or so.  After the meeting, we had lunch and headed back on the train to Jan and Nigel's, where Peter had a rest before driving off to Carlisle.

 

On Tuesday, it was great to be able to accompany Jan to collect Lucy and Georgie from nursery.  I really enjoy the opportunity to take part in people's everyday life and be able to relate to the people and places I hear talked about.  We enjoyed a lunch at the fresh seafront before heading back to enjoy cakes from the bakery!  The girls and I said our temporary "goodbyes" before heading on 3 trains to meet up with Peter who was now on route to Glasgow.  I was really happy that the girls behaved so well on the train, although I could have done without the need to enter the train loo for a non-existent wee twice!!  Normally Peter stays in the Glasgow Central Premier Travel Inn but as this was booked, he had to change to Premier Travel Inn at Charing Cross.  The entrance appeared very smart and the reception staff were very pleasant.  The views over to the adajecent car park where Peter had parked were ideal however, the place was being "spruced" up and the smell of paint was so overpowering, I could feel my nose hair disintegrating!  We opened the window to get some air but as you'd expect from such a central location the noise was loud!  It was so different from the other Travel Inns we'd stayed in, it was disappointing.  The bed was a twin divan thing clipped together meaning that when Martha decided to join us in the morning, one of us kept rolling down the middle!!  Anyway, whilst Peter went to work, the girls and I decided to look around the shops which was a novelty!  We bought some hairclips from Primark for £1 each, a bargain!!  After Peter finished his work, we drove to Alloa where Martha had a sleep whilst Lauren & I took in the beautiful scenery whilst Peter worked again.  We then drove to Dundee to stay in a really nice Travel Inn.  The girls and I decided to go for a walk the next morning although we managed to get ourselves lost, tried to go to a Tesco Extra for loos and directions, only to discover that it wasn't due to open until February 2009!!  Thankfully we found a Sports Centre that were really helpful but we still couldn't find the playpark that we had now been directed to twice!!  We arrived back at the hotel about 5 minutes after Peter so it all worked out well!  We then went to St Andrews and again waited in the van while Martha napped and Peter worked.  Afterwards, we spent a bit of time walking on the beautiful sandy beach and admiring the quaint fishing harbour.  We then drove back to Edinburgh where we went back to Jan's on the Friday before setting back home again. 

 

One thing that struck me this time as we were driving around, were the number of "chalet style villas" that there are in Scotland.  This prompted me, now back home to search the web for house listing to get some more ideas about how we go about configuring upstairs and also to give Lauren an idea of what her bedroom might look like!  We were blessed with lovely sunny, fresh weather during our trip and laughed when as we entered Nidderdale again it started to snow!  This morning we awoke to a wonderful sight of a blanket of snow, some of which is still lingering now, however most has melted.  I'll be glad though when tomorrow is here to get the girls back into their regular routine and more importantly visit the newly built/opened LIDL in Knaresborough - "Martha guess what you're doing tomorrow morning!?!" I was going to go on my own on Tuesday but the temptation is too great!!  I shall report on my visit soon!!

I recently bought myself a laminator from ASDA for the wonderful price of £9!!  I also bought a couple of packs of pouches (25 for £1.97) so I could have lots of fun!