Home Educating the Puddle Girls…

Right, where was i?

Did forget my entertaining trip into town on Thursday night, which took place during Fran and Maddys double Rainbows/Brownies stay. I had 75 minutes to get the kids a wedding outfit each, plus myself and do sundry other odds and sods. I walked into town to discover that Pumpkin Patch without me knowing, so dashed straight in there and set about choosing 4 outfits. Got some help digging bits out from a nice sales assistant, chatted with the girl at the till and after congratulating myself on getting 4 sets of pretties for £51, asked her to put them into separate little bags so the girls could be handed one each.

At which point i realised i had completely forgotten to buy anything for Amelie, doing my failed mother neurosis about her no good at all Quickly rectified it though and got her pretty tights to make up for it. Still spent less than £70 and it is all casual smart, so will do plenty of wearing.

Dashed to M&S and got myself gorgeous undies and a skirt for the Apres-Melrose-Party plus some sensible but (please do not adjust your set) not black sandals, shoes. Then realised i had only 20 minutes to get to F&M so hurried off again.

Needed to stop for change to get out of the carpark, so went to the bank, only to have every single card refused; some just said they weren’t authorised, some said there was a fault Either way, the minutes were ticking, Brown Owl doesn’t have a mobile and i was stuck in town with my car effectively impounded. PANIC

Luckily i had a brainwave, rushed into M&S, bought some sweeties with my card, which still worked in shops, and got cashback then positively whirlwinded (as much as a girl of my vstature can) back to the car, reaching Brownies just 1 minute late.

Was consequently grumpy and cross, but am blaming it on PMT as have put on 6lbs overnight. So be nicely to me next week you lot, as i may still be grumpy and intolerant, especially as i can’t speak on the Melrose Yahoo group, which is utterly ignoring all my attempts

Friday was also grumpy, but we eventually got to A World and the girls had a good rush about; laughed to see the bigger ones all holed up in a corner den like bit just chatting. Still can’t get used to having the big kids Then on to dancing, but i won’t moan about the show-related pressure being put on my children because we booked 2 weeks away before the dates were even announced

Today i made a fairly snap decision to go to the Toy Fair after all and i’m really glad i did. For one i completely recovered from the stress levels that London induced in me last year (when i definitely think i was suffering some PTSD symptoms) and the Tube didn’t bother me, though i was quite glad my mum didn’t mention that when she came through Kings Cross yesterday it was closed due to a fire! But also, i was much more sure of myself when talking to exhibitors, i knew why i was there and i had my aims and goals in what i wanted. All of which i achieved.

I spent 2 hours with the MD and Sales Manager of my main supplier, talking over doing some PR together, my thoughts on moving products forward and so on; i took on a new line with them, which is massively different and i’m possibly mad, but £350 isn’t such a massive outlay anymore and if it fails i’ll just have a lot of presents for kids for a while. Was very nice to have them acknowledging that my sales and success have been a significant contribution to their achievement of being leading craft kit supplier in the UK.

Also found several other suppliers of crafty/novelty/toy type stuff, some of which i ordered today and some which i’ll order other days and got a good mooch in the small business section, whichi hugely enjoyed. Great to be among my compatriots, as it were. Sarah, remember the Bedlam Puzzle bloke? he had a BIIIIIG stand this year!

Coup of the day was finding a novel twist on the Hama idea, which i’ll be getting in very soon

Home to tea, parcels (Lucy is working next week but i needed to do some for Monday so she didn’t get overwhelmed), a pleasantly busy day on the site and now… um… really must do my tax return…. I need my :wall: emoticon back - where’d it go? Jax… an excellent opportunity for procrastination for you, can you find it?

Expect me late and harrassed tomorrow

Well, it seems everyone else got snow, but we got nothing more than a few patches of it here and there. Very disappointing.

Had a lovely couple of days with my sister and here two; Fran adored playing big sister to 5 and both of them were a big hit with most of mine. Not sure my lot were really at their best (again) but they all did okay. Quite different to have the dynamic of two very little children in the house; i guess they’ve got used to bigger, more self-sufficient visitors. Fran mummied away, Maddy and Amelie did their best and Josie was just plain horrid and grumpy about not being the littlest. Doesn’t bode terribly well for next week Oh well. She and Rowan treated one another in much the way that Amelie and Buttercup once did and that blossomed into a beautiful friendship eventually Have to say though, i think i’d have got fed up with her if i’d been Rowan; as 2 year olds go, Josie is EXTREMELY pissy at times and really likes her own space, so is fairly incompatible with another toddler who is less verbal but likes to cuddle and touch.

We had a lovely walk down my cycling route on Wednesday, which was cold but essential and has ispired me to dso it more often. Fran and Maddy frightened themselves (and irritated me into a fishwife routine) by cycling off far too far, but did come back having realised they’d overdone it I really don’t mind them being off in the distance, but out of sight and calling distance when i don’t have my bike and do have 2 small children to stay with, is a bit too much
My sister and i got lots of time to chat which was pleasant and enlightening; i’m going to join her on the online weightwatchers when i get back from Melrose i think and do 3 months of that, which should get me safely into the cycling season. I’ve got 25lbs left to lose and i’d like it done asap; i’m so annoyed with the half stone i put back on over Xmas, it has really knocked my confidence again and i want it OFF!

The girls have done a good bit of Studydog/EC at times  and today we have a busyish day so i’m off to clear some parcels, finish tidying up and then head out for the day.

Which of my reprobates daughters would say this?

“When horses get married, the lady one shows the boy one her bottom straight away…”

Didn’t seem like anyone was up for going really so we are rescheduling for Feb

I just stepped on Kirsty

Wail. Fortunately, she very obligingly came apart in her component pieces and i’ve put her all back together again and no one will ever know.

Oh. Oops.

… today was tricky.

Children have cabin fever, germs and bad attitude, never a great combination

In actual fact, it started fairly well with all the kids fimo-ing and Fran and Maddy making some rather fabulous wedding parties. I must do a photo. Then i reminded them i wanted some working doing before my sister arrived, to which they nodded but then she did arrive and by the time i eventually got to a level of screaming where i wanted them to go away and be quiet, all i got was attitude.

Sigh. Oh well, it works well for 10 days to the 1 it doesn’t, but i could have done without it.

The 6 children were rather screamy, but in the end i think Rowan and Josie have begun to warm to each other, now that they’ve all established each others pecking orders. I’ve just cuddled Ella and hidden mainly; i think both my sister and i are low on sleep

Have also had a chat with Grey owl from Brownies about becoming an adult helper and possibly doing the erm Brownie Training (thingy) - i don’t want to step on the kids toes but i figure i’m in for the long haul with that organisation so it would be nice to be able to help out. I’ll probably get police checked in the next wave that they do and take it from there . They really need help with Rainbows, but i don’t have childcare for that so i can’t now, but i could when Joey was old enough.

Maddy does her Rainbow Goodbye and moves up (or do they still Fly UP?) to brownies this week. Gosh. She’s going a week early for a visit as she;’ll be 7 the week after Melrose. Timne has flown. I think it will be good for Fran to have her there actually, she often looks a little lost on her own.

Fran and Maddy did dancing too, preparing for the show. Got a little narked with their teacher for pressurising them to be at every rehearsal. We missed last week and will miss next week but those dates were organised before we knew about the show and i think it is slightly unfair to be giving them sh*t about it; they were all worried and upset when the got home on friday.

Right - tomorrow will be better. And i’ve nearly finished my “Kirsty Wedding Project” so as soon as that has done i can do my tax return (argh…. ALWAYS LAST MINUTE… ARGH!) and get ready for going away

Have spent today at The Old Manor with Michelle and Chloe which possibly saved Amelie’s life, given she kept me up till gone 3am this morning and she was by no means a daughter i even wanted to see again first thing today.

I’ve hit a bit of an impasse now and i’m far from sure how to figure it out; she started by (very definitely) faking fear of the were-rabbit in order to avoid bedtimes or get to go to bed in out room. Max gave in. Trouble is NOW i think she has actually suceeded in scaring herself but i have to say that the wee small hours are NOT NOT NOT the time to try my patience with it. She WANTS to be able to sleep in our bed all night, but the only one of them who doesn’t want to do that is Maddy, although when she doesn’t she does then swing it round her head like a weapon at times in the manner of a girl grieviously ignored. Last night Amelie kept up a sold wail/sneak in/be scared of the wind/shadow/toys things for 3 hours or more until i was actually at the point of wanting to murder her slowly and was certainly NOT being a very nice mummy anymore. It is quite hard to be patient to that extent and the crunch of it is i refuse to cope with it; black riders, dementors, these things are scary - plasticine rabbits with wallace inside that like to eat carrots… oh bah.

Anyway, Michelle and Chloe (and Marcus at times) entertained us beautifully with much food, playing, tea (no tea bags HERE now!) and chat.

Managed to divert myself temporarily on the way home and nearly end up in Milton Keynes (why is the Black Cat roundabout called that; anyone know?) Don’t think even Sat nav saves one the mindnumbing stupidity of just choosing the wrong road!

Got home to a few orders (wail) although sympathy orders much appreciated and an email reply (a personal real one!) from my favourite author who i emailed last week after i finished her book. Made me go all silly She’s a bit of a writing idol of mine

Has anyone heard anything? She’s been gone a long time

On thursday i had mild jaw ache when i left Nic’s with enough swollen ulcery skin around my teeth to wonder what was up with it but i’ve had raging earache for 3 days, which has finally begun to subside today, thank goodness. I’m no stranger to stupid tonsils and horrendous temperatures, so it has been almost novel to be only slightly ill. Touch wood, my tonsils haven’t gone into overdrive about it either, so that has to be a good sign. I’ve not had a bad bout of all that now since last March/April. I’m assuming that the odd sensation that my head was spinning faster than my brain and that someone keeps electrocuting me under the chin has had something to do with the ear infection too; the world seems to have stopped spinning

Maddy and i visited the opticians on Saturday; me because i don’t appear to be able to do quick changes between close and far anymore (making road sign reading hard and possibly contributing to getting lost!) and Maddy because she spends so much time asking for plot details of films that we suddenly wondered if she could actually see the screen. But she has better than perfect vision (how???) so i guess it is just a comprehension thing

‘Eye’ on the other hand, need glasses. (Boom, boom) Marvellous way to spend £150. Wail.

The rest of the weekend has just bumbled by; watercolouring for the girls, visits from Grandad, a cycle ride or two, endless tidying and a bit more body part building. I’ve uploaded a load of new prodects to BeadMerrily too, mainly Fimo stuff but it has been woefully quiet on there and i’m feeling fretful again.

Have a collection of things wombling about in my head, but right now, i need to go and stick James’ head on his ****

I now have a dropdown gorgeous archive box

That Painting Place on Wednesday at 1pm ish for Spring bowls. Cost, roughly, £9 a bowl again i would imagine, though i did forget to actually ask!
Rough numbers would be good.