Clark's First Shoes .... a moment to remember

Clark's First Shoes .... a moment to remember

My son has been cruising for a while, the first time we got his feet measured they were too small for shoes. Now he was on his feet more we felt now was the time to get him his first shoes.  I chose Clark's because they have a good reputation for good quality, they also have staff trained in measuring children's feet. When feet are growing it is important they are wearing correctly fitted shoes.  Also for free, they take a photo of your child when purchasing your first shoes. I was also offered 20% off anything else in the store, when purchased at the same time. Unfortunately, lack of money stopped me having a shoe spending spree! 

And here is the result, my son and his first shoes!

Book Folding ....

Book Folding ....

It's been some time since I last wrote my blog post. Best get writing!

I made my first book folding sculpture.  The picture below is my first (and to date only) attempt.  It's hard trying to find a book that you know is no longer going to be read.

Basically, you fan the pages, mark your design and away you fold. Alternating each edge of the block. I can't find the link with how to do it, perhaps I'll try and do my own tutorial to share!

Watch this space for more info!

Injections

My son had his first year injections today, and it was the first time I wasn't there to give him the much needed cuddles afterwards. Luckily he had lots of Daddy cuddles instead.

The injections he had were:

• Hib/Men C booster
• Measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine
• Pneumococcal (PCV) vaccine

NHS have a great Injection schedule which I use to remind myself when his injections are due, as well as my iPhone calendar and paper diary!

I know in the past there has been much controversy over the MMR vaccine years gone by, but following the severe measles outbreak in Swansea earlier in the year, parents have been urged to rethink and there has now been an all time high following the MMR catch up programme.

Poor ...

Rich is when you have too much money left at the end of the month 

Therefore poor is when you have too much month left at the end of the money!

This month I am the latter. I am forever the optimist and know that things will get better, it's just a matter of time, but unfortunately some tough decisions have had to be made today to make it through. I've still not done the action that needs doing as I'm hoping I'll wake up to a pot of gold sitting at the end of my bed. Here's hoping!

Sorry this post is a short one, it's been a busy day!

CCx

The Big Read for small people at Painshill Park

Today my family attended the Big Read for small people held at Painshill Park and organised by Surrey County Council.  This was a really fun and well organised event.

The BIG read for small children

Surrey County Council has a new Early Years Reading Strategy and The Big Read is an initiative to get more children under 5 growing up with a love of reading. Reading is not only essential to get ready for school, it's also a great way to build up other skills such as learning to express yourself and make friends.









Painshill Park

Painshill Park is a beautiful 18th century landscaped garden. In total it's 158 acres and within its ground are bridges, follies, water and wildlife.  It was created by the Honorable Charles Hamilton between 1738 and 1773 - quite some time ago! The gardens are well kept and some of the landmark follies are have been recently restored, such as the Grotto, the ruined Abbey and the Gothic Tower. It's really worth a visit. 

Check out their website http://www.painshill.co.uk/come-to-painshill/ for more details.

Our Day

We met at our local Sure Start Centre, and travelled to the venue by coach! It was J's first time on a coach and he loved being able to see everything out of the window while sitting on Daddy's lap (strapped in of course!) He soon fell asleep after 10 mins or so which was ideal as he really needed the energy when we got there.

Once we arrived at Painshill Park, we were given a map of the park and the purpose was to walk around the park collecting as many stickers as possible. To get each sticker you had to undertake an activity (such as listening to a story, making a mask, catching a plastic duck).  J was a little bit young for this so we made a point of watching someone perform their task in order to get one!

J had fun using the binoculars Daddy made, and he also loved getting his face painted as a tiger.


















At the end we were all given a goody bag which included a handful of books including Dear Zoo, one of the activities featured. This is a really popular book with the under 5's, written in 1982 by Rod Campbell.  It features lots of flaps to live which really keeps the attention of the young readers.

All in all, a lovely day and I'm really looking forward to taking J again next year when he's walking!

CCx

The next countdown has begun

Today is my 39th birthday, so the countdown to being 40 has now begun.  I hope you can see the lovely timer I have added to the right of this.  I've not idea how to trim it to size and the fact that it overlaps the margins is bugging me, like colouring over the lines as a child.

Today was quite a nice day all in all ....

My son, J, woke up at 4.15am to wish me a happy birthday. So sweet of him! He's 13 months old and sleeps in the same room as us at the moment. He will eventually go in the second bedroom once we've got some bunk beds in to make some space from the 2 single beds in there.  More on that another day!

We all went back to sleep again and then woke up in a rush at 7.37am.  Fortunately F, my fiancé, was able to get J ready while I got ready for work.  Knowing that I had little time available I decided to wash my hair and put on some make up! I rarely wear make up to work unless I know we have a client visiting. Somehow I managed to get out of the house at 8.20am and dropped J off at nursery before the 8.30am breakfast cut off! Phew!

My colleagues at work are lovely, as there are only a few of us we all buy each other presents.  So I was greeted some lovely gifts including bubble baths, picture frames chocolate and coffee. I got loads of birthday greetings on Facebook and by text which kept me going through the day.  Work was pretty average, got quite a few jobs finished and a few new ones underway.  

I had the joys of calling HMRC's debt recovery department for a client today .... they've changed the telephone hold music to something so awful the first time I heard it I had to laugh, but now it's a little bit annoying. Actually it's a lot annoying! Imagine the theme tune to Family Guy, now jazz it up. Jazz it up some more and speed it up a little. Then, put it on repeat after every 16 bars. How do you like it? I'm sure some thought must go into what track is selected for the hold music. Perhaps they think it will encourage taxpayers to pay their debts quicker by not wanting to endure the torture by telephone again?

Managed to finish dead on 5.37pm, so was running a few minutes late for the nursery run.  I hate those sort of journeys where you are trying to make up time but also well aware that you can't break the speed limits as it would be just your luck to get pulled over thus creating more catch up time for later. I managed to get there by 6pm so all was well.  

I'm told J has been a bit greedy lately.  He keeps demanding the other kids foods and then shouting if he doesn't get it! That's in addition to grabbing the other babies bottles.  How do you explain to a 13month old that he doesn't own everything in the world? (I did try all the same!)  

One thing I love about collecting your children from nursery is that moment when they realise your there, one second they're playing, then they look up, realise you're there to pick them up and come crawling/cruising over (he's not walking yet).

Got home, F is in a bit of a rush to wrap some presents so I take to entertaining J by singing songs. I don't have a big repertoire of children's songs at the moment.  Many seem very depressing (e.g. not being able to put Humpty together again, cradles falling when the bow breaks) it's not good. His favourites are row, row, row your boat (he loves to scream at the crocodile and roar at the lion) and Thomas and Friends song.  I think we may have a Thomas fan on our hands. It was worth the wait (see the picture above) presents included a cake / cupcake box carrier, a huge bar of diary milk and a cook book (Save with Jamie).  

Song for the day: 

I am feeling loved!

Cx

PS: If any of my tangent ramblings interest you and you'd like me to expand in another blog, let me know!

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday to me!

39 years ago I was born .... it doesn't feel that long ago though, I still feel like I'm in my twenties. I wish I was still in my twenties with smooth skin and a clearer complexion, I had such confidence back then, I felt that if you put your mind to anything you could achieve anything. What happened? I feel like I am nearing the end of my youth, wrinkles are appearing, confidence is lacking and I still haven't really sussed out what my purpose in life is.

Well I have 365 days until the big 40, and my Aunt gave me a lovely idea about blogging this year in my life.  I've tried and failed at blogs before (see http://jarreplace.blogspot.co.uk).  So how am I going to make this difference? I have idea of a theme, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.  This could end up being a nice collection of musings of random thoughts and useful information, or it may end up being so dull that watching snail racing seems more appealing!  I shall let you be the judge!