I've been Tagged by Rosie!?!?

Five things I was doing ten years ago?

1. Celebrating our daughters 8th and 3rd birthdays (not telling you how old I was lol)
2. Celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary
3. Dieting - I've always been on a diet :-(
4. Getting ready to sell our house and move here
   
5. Can't remember anything else!!!
   

Five of my favourite snacks

1. My first has to be CHOCOLATE (white Maltesers are the current fave)
2. Cheese
3. Plain crisps
4. Cream crackers
5. Dry bread (I don't know why, I've just always snacked on it!!)
   

Five things I like to do

1. Spend time with my family
2. Read
3. Watch a good documentary
4. Shop
5. Check the internet
   

Five songs I know the lyrics to?

1. All the songs in Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (and I know the dances too!!)
   
2. Don't Cry for me Argentina (Evita)
   
3. I Don't know How to Love Him (Jesus Christ Superstar)
   
4. Maria (West Side Story)
5. Mickey Mouse March!!!
   

Five things I will never wear again

1. Shorts (except in Florida)
   
2. Bikini
3. Ra-ra skirt
4. Huge primary coloured glasses
5. Frizzy perm
   

Five things I would do with a million dollars

1. Pay off the mortgage (very sensible and mundane!!)
2. Do all the jobs round the house we plan to do
3. Buy the land next door and turn it into part of our garden
4. Donate to charity - CLAPA and Good Rock Foundation
5. Take the kids to Walt Disney World, Florida (and buy a villa while we are there!)
   

Five bad habits

1. Spending too much time on the internet
2. Putting off jobs that I don't like doing (cleaning, ironing, vacuuming, dusting and housework in general!)
3. Dieting
4. Shouting at the kids :-(
5. Isn't that enough???

Thank you for tagging me Rosie (I think!!!)

Feeling sad and blue :-(

Mr Messy and Drama Teen arrived back home in the small hours of the morning - me and Little Miss Sensible waited up for them. So this morning when our two legged alarm clock (aka Little Prince) went off we were all tired!! After breakfast had a lovely hour or so chatting about the trip and looking at the photos. Drama Teen cannot explain why she insisted on sticking her tongue out on every single one though!!

Then it was time for Mr Messy and Drama Teen to leave again :-( This time to drop Drama Teen off at her CLAPA camp. Five hours of busy traffic later, they phoned to say she was safely at camp and Mr Messy was on his way back. Trouble is he has got a banging headache - either due to tiredness or not enough to drink during a long, hot drive or both!! Hope he can manage to drive home safely.

The Boyfriend arrived just after lunch, to spend an hour or so playing with Little Prince. But all too soon it was time for him and Little Miss Sensible to pack their bags in the car and set off for the airport, to start their backpacking trip. Little Prince was beside himself, refused to say goodbye or gives hugs or kisses - we think he figured if he refused to do that then they wouldn't be able to go!! Little Miss Sensible succumbed to tears too, deciding that Little Prince wasn't going to miss her - hopefully I managed to reassure her that the behaviour was precisely because he WOULD miss her!! Once I'd waved them off I had a cry too :-( At least I had Little Prince here to give me a hug, which was a great honour as he wanted to watch Scooby Doo.

UPDATE: Had a call from Mr Messy he has stopped at some services to have something to eat and drink and try and snooze in the car for an hour or so
to see if that gets rid of the headache. Oh dear :-(

UPDATE 2: Mr Messy arrived home at about 9.30pm, tired and still with a headache, but feeling a lot better after his snooze. Phew :-)

UPDATE: Had a call from LMS and The Boyfriend - they are safely at the airport and checked in, all they have to do now is find something to eat and wait for their flight.

UPDATE 2: Had a text from the teenage wanders to say they were safely landed in Berlin. They are being picked up by the Exchange Student's family, so I know they will be looked after. Phew :-)

Plodding towards DTC

Rang the DfES who are now the D-something else, just to check they had received our IMOs and they had :-) Our papers are still at the Chinese Embassy, I'm hoping they'll be back soon and we can finally be DTC :-)

Pink Ballerina Fairy

I saw this outfit and HAD to buy it!! Its just so monstrously, hideous in a cute sort of way, that I just NEEDED it lol. What do you all think?? Do you think MeiMei will ever forgive me when I show her the pictures when she's older??

Quiet day

Its been sunny AGAIN!!! Wow :-)

We haven't done much today - took the recycling to the recycling centre (the tip!). Drove over to the big Supermarket to get a bit of shopping, ended up buying a Scooby Doo magazine, a small box of Mr Potato Head parts (pirate themed) to keep Little Prince amused and give me chance to look at the clothing dept.

Boooooooring!!!

I will finish this riveting day by cleaning out some more kitchen cupboards.

I can't believe I have such an interesting life!!!! NOT!!!!!

Beijing Olympics ~Friendlies~

While we were out earlier, I spotted keyrings of the Beijing Olympics Friendlies, and couldn't resist buying a set. Aren't they cute ? My favourite is Jingjing the Panda :-)

Here's an official website that describes the significance of each of the Friendlies and their joint significance - very clever the way they all fit together :-)
http://en.beijing2008.com/80/05/article211990580.shtml

Another sunny day :-)

Well today has been another sunny day - I'm trying not to get used to it as the long range weather forecasts are for an awful and soggy summer - but its nice while it lasts :-)

Been to Town and had Little Prince's shoes checked at the local Clarks Shoes, they still fit, I thought he had grown!! They have a range of school shoes, with tiny toys in them - and he has decided that is what he wants for Big School :-) Will buy those later on in the holidays though, if I get them now he is bound to have grown out of them before school restarts!!! Dropped the huge pile of sorted stuff off at the charity shop while we were out too, it makes the kitchen look so much bigger now I can see the Aga again :-)

Little Miss Sensible is working all afternoon at her cafe, and then is going back again tonight as the owner's daughter got married this afternoon and they are having the meal in a Marquee at the Farm. Luckily The Boyfriend has agreed to pick her up after work, so I don't have to sort out a babysitter and get her myself :-) Hopefully she won't be working too late, so that she can tackle the final bits of her bedroom tomorrow.

Flying on a jet plane...

Mr Messy and Drama Teen set off this afternoon for their weekend in Germany. They rang to say they'd reached the airport safely, although had a nightmare trying to find the right carpark, and said they'd be in touch once they'd safely landed in Germany. TWO HOURS after they said they'd have landed I finally got a phone call to say they'd landed safely and were at the Exchange Student's family's house!! TWO HOURS!!! Well the stressing out, trying to block out the worrying was productive at least!! Me, Little Miss Sensible and The Boyfriend managed to get all the stuff into the attic that needed going in, including Little Prince's car seat, which I didn't think we'd get up there!! But we managed it, with a bit (well a lot) of huffing and puffing and some muttered swear words!! UPDATE: Hmmph!! Went to bed last night and remembered the bags of grown out of toys I'd put at the end of our bed - that should have been put in the attic!! Aaaargh I thought I was doing so well!!

I also cleaned out and sorted the majority of the kitchen cupboards, only a few left to do!! Amazing what a bit of worrying will do - Mr Messy did offer to not phone again for ages - but I persuaded him that wasn't a good idea!!! Not if he wants to sleep in the house, rather than the garden shed when he gets home lol

Managed to persuade Little Miss Sensible to sort out some more of her bedroom, ready for the big move to university - and without resorting to shouting this time AND we are still speaking to each other!! See miracles do happen 1) she is actually getting on with it 2) we are still on speaking terms lol You never know she might actually have finished it before she goes on her backpacking trip next week :-) Which is another reason for the manic tidying - stops me worrying about that too!!!

Golden Piggies UK DTC Group

I've taken the big step (for me - I'm so disorganised that I'm not sure I'll cope!!) of setting up a DTC Group on Yahoo!! Its for anyone in the UK who is DTC/LID during the Year of the Golden Pig (between 18th February 2007 and 7th February 2008). Hopefully if anyone else joins we will be able to support each other through the long wait for our referrals from the CCAA. Well that's if anyone else joins - if not I'll spend the next 3-4 years talking to myself!!!! Isn't that the first sign of madness?!?!

Well if you'd like to join click onto http://groups.yahoo.com/group/goldenpiggiesUKdtcGroup/

Sorted IMOs :-)

Went to the bank this morning, with a bit of trepidation as other people have had a lot of trouble getting hold of these from the banks - who don't like the fact that they are payable in US Dollars to a Chinese organisation. I had pre-checked with the bank earlier in the week (before payday!!) asking what the procedure for obtaining the IMOs was - and they said it would take 10 mins after a walk in request! And they were right!! Well almost right it took 20 mins!! Wow - great service :-)

I had the covering letter and envelope ready, with me, so went off to the Post Office to get them in the post (via Special Delivery - insured and guaranteed next day delivery). To then hit a snag!! Parts of Royal Mail are on strike today - just my luck!!! The lady behind the counter said that they are trying to get Special Delivery items out, but can't guarantee it will happen. So the letter and IMOs might reach DfES tomorrow or it might be Monday. Oh well - at least they are insured and out of my hands and almost on their way!!!

Turning Aaaaaaargh into aaaaaaah!!

I am so frustrated about the fees going up for the translation, mostly because if we hadn't had SO MANY avoidable delays we wouldn't have been hit with this!!

Anyway I am trying to channel my frustration into positive action!! I've encouraged (she would say bullied!) Little Miss Sensible into getting more of her bedroom sorted out - she is barely speaking to me, but there has been progress!!

After tea I intend to tackle some more kitchen cupboards - cleaning/sorting out accumulated cr*p etc. And I've had a quick look at the bookcases and sorted a huge pile of books ready to go to the charity shop. Don't stand still - the mood I'm in you'll get bagged up and carted to the charity shop too!!

Grumpy = Action!!

I am so frustrated about the fees going up for the translation, mostly because if we hadn't had SO MANY avoidable delays we wouldn't have been hit with this!! Anyway I am trying to channel my frustration into positive action!! I've encouraged (she would say bullied!) Little Miss Sensible into getting more of her bedroom sorted out - she is barely speaking to me, but there has been progress!! After tea I intend to tackle some more kitchen cupboards - cleaning/sorting out accumulated cr*p etc. And I've had a quick look at the bookcases and sorted a pile of books ready to go to the charity shop.

CCAA fees going up

Just received an email from DfES (or whatever they are called now!) informing us that the fee for Bridge of Love Adoption Service to translate our dossier has gone up by $200 to $600!! The aggravating thing is that if we hadn't had delay after delay we would already be DTC and wouldn't be affected by this increase. At least I got the email before I sorted out the IMOs!! That's tomorrow's job.

Saw this and had to try it :-)

I keep seeing this type of thing on other people's blogs and thought I would have a try. Here are the results of the cake quiz - not surprised at the result I LURVE chocolate :-) And all of this cake talk has made me want cake!! So me, Drama Teen and Little Prince are off to the bakery to have some yummy cream cakes for lunch - its raining we need cheering up!!

You Are a Chocolate Cake

Fun, comforting, and friendly. You are a true classic, and while you're not super cutting edge, you're high quality. People love your company - and have even been known to get addicted to you.

What Kind of Cake Are You?

Sunny day FINALLY!!!!

For the first time for ages (it seems like years!!) we've had a sunny, warm day with NO RAIN!!! Little Prince has been able to play in the garden and go down to the park with The Boyfriend and has been a happy, mucky little boy :-)

Drama Teen went round to her friend's house and they lolled around in the garden chatting, making balloon sculptures and listening to music.

Little Miss Sensible and The Boyfriend returned home from a friend's 18th party, held last night in a marque in friend's garden, around lunchtime and entertained Little Prince for me, so I got some more kitchen cupboards sorted and cleaned. What an exciting life I lead!! Later on managed to get Little Miss Sensible to sort out some more of her bedroom, as she now has just a week left to get the job done - she and The Boyfriend set off to go backpacking round Europe this time next week. She has admitted that she is scared by the fact that she is leaving home (for university) and remembers the last time she packed all her things in boxes to move here and how hard she found it. I try to reassure her, but realise it must be so scary for her - lots of hugs needed, probably from The Boyfriend not me lol.

Mr Messy and Drama Teen are off to Germany at the end of the week, to visit the family of our future exchange student. So I need to help Drama Teen pack, and impress on her that she doesn't need to take every single item of clothing/make up she owns!! They are flying with a budget airline, so have a very limited luggage allowance - that will be a challenge for her!! I also need to help her pack for her outward bound type holiday, which starts the day after they return from Berlin!! And we still haven't bought all the gear she needs!! Oh well, I'm sure it will all work out in the end!! Fingers crossed anyway!!

Blast from the Past!!

I had a completely unexpected phone call today! Totally out of the blue - my God daughter rang!! We lost touch and I haven't spoken to her or heard from her for years!! The other surprise is that she now has three children!! Wow!!! Does that make me a God Granny?!?!? It was lovely to catch up with all that she, and the rest of the family have been up to, even though I'm finding it impossible to believe how much older they've all got!! It's bad enough trying to get my head around Little Miss Sensible being a grown up - let alone my God Daughter and her brother and sister!!!

Party day

Little Prince is going to one of his friend's birthday parties this afternoon, a bouncy castle party. Its been drizzling all morning, but hopefully it will hold off enough so that the kids can have a great time. Little Prince has told me that he is big and brave now and wants me to come home while he's at the party!!

UPDATE: The weather was overcast but not rainy - so Little Prince enjoyed himself on the bouncy castle. How come it hasn't tired him out???

UPDATE 2: Me and Little Prince were chatting about what he did at the party. I asked if they played games, and he told me they played Pass The Parcel. I asked him who won - he looked at me like I was soooo dumb "Its not a RACE mummy we didn't do running" then he added but I opened the present in the middle and got this cuddly lion!! You gotta love him :-)

Almost forgot!!

In all the Harry Potter excitement I almost forgot!! We received a letter from the DfES to say that our papers were sent to the Chinese Embassy on 19th July (last Thursday) YEAH!!!!!!

It is currently taking about two weeks for the Embassy to process the papers, which takes us to the 2nd August. That means we should definitely be DTC (finally) in August 2007, twenty (yes TWENTY!!!) months after we first contacted our LA.

We've also been instructed to get our International Money Orders (aka International Bankers Drafts) ready. This is the fee for registering our application with the CCAA and the fee to translate our papers into Mandarin. These IMOs can apparently cause a few problems to get hold of, as they have to be in US dollars but payable to a Chinese organisation. Hopefully our bank will be one of the understanding and helpful ones!!!

Finished reading Harry Potter

WOW!! It was a great read. I laughed. I cried. I didn't want it to end. But that is it, no more books to look forward to.

I was surprised at one of the deaths, I had expected this character to die, but not like that and I hadn't a clue about the 'why' of his death. The other death was a total shock, and very sad. Totally unexpected, but so totally in character.

I loved the ending.

Quiet Day

Little Miss Sensible and The Boyfriend's plan didn't quite go to plan!! They were asleep when their friend finally arrived (2.30am!!) to deliver the book, and were awakened by a text message to say he had tried to deliver but no one answered the door!!

My copy arrived safely this morning, brought bright and early by our village Post Lady, who was quite surprised that she had to get me out of bed to answer the door - she thought I'd be ready and waiting!! I immediately started reading and have virtually read all day long, with short breaks for food/drink/toilet!!!

Little Miss Sensible had offered to look after Little Prince this morning, as she was at work after lunch, and would pick her copy up from friends house on the way home. Drama Teen was upset that she would have to wait so long to read, so persuaded Mr Messy to take her to the supermarket to get yet another copy!! It didn't go well - they only got so far and had to turn back as the road was closed and there is no other way round! Cue one very upset Drama Teen. Hero of the Day (Little Miss Sensible) offered to go and get her copy from her friend's before work - happiness restored :-) I promised LMS that I would finish my copy by the time she was home from work, and I was only about half an hour late!!!

Poor Little Prince has spent most of the day complaining how quiet it is and moaning that no one (except daddy) will play with him. Which did make me feel extremely guilty, but didn't stop me reading - what an awful mum :-( I did give him an extra long and extra bubbly bath after his tea and let him play and splash for ages. Which also gave the girls chance to read in relative peace!!

Busy Weekend Ahead

I'm going to be busy this weekend so don't expect much blogging!! I've had my copy on order from Amazon for ages and hopefully it will be delivered first thing tomorrow. Then I am going to spend the whole day reading, I've bagsied the book first then the rest of the family can fight over it lol. But I'm not going to tell them what happens.

One of Little Miss Sensible's friends is going out at midnight to get a copy, so she's asked him to get her one too!! So she might have finished it before mine even arrives!!!

Anyone else waiting to read it???

Its Raining, its POURING!!

Uuuurgh!!! After an overcast but dry start to the day, this afternoon has been WET!! I really hope the weather picks up again - its the start of the Summer holidays for goodness sake!!! It looks like I'll have to stock up on art supplies and indoor games rather than suncream!!!

The Masterpieces :-)

Here they are the Masterpieces, Little Prince painted them all on his own, choosing colours, design and everything. For someone who doesn't like to sit still for more than a few minutes at a time I think he has done a really good job. The pottery lady glazed and fired them for me, so they are completely usable and even dishwasher and microwave safe!!! I hope the teachers appreciated them.

Sewing on nametapes

I HATE sewing nametapes on school uniforms!!! It is THE most tedious, boring job (apart from ironing) ever invented. And as Little Prince has had a huge growth spurt in the last few months, I've got to get a complete new uniform and sew the dratted nametapes on the lot. I've got the nametapes sewn on about half of the uniform I've already bought, and I'll try to finish the other half tomorrow. Then at the end of the holidays when I buy him the rest (trousers - he's bound to grow out of them if I buy them now!!) I've not got so many to sew!!

Why do my plans never go to plan???

I was going to go to the pottery this morning to pick up Little Prince's masterpieces, but got caught up doing other things and didn't get round to it. Never mind, I checked the opening times and decided to go this afternoon. Me, Little Miss Sensible and The Boyfriend went out for lunch, and then went to the local pottery to pick up the masterpieces. It was shut!!! Despite saying on the door that it should have been open at that time. This is how most of my plans go - that's why I try not to plan anything!!!

Oh well!! Try again tomorrow morning - I have to get the masterpieces then, as Little Prince finishes nursery school tomorrow!! Eeeek!! My little boy is growing up!!!

China!!

No, not the country this time - the porcelain :-)

Me and Little Miss Sensible took Little Prince to the local pottery today, so that he could paint a mug each for his nursery teachers, to give them as a leaving present. It was a daunting task!! We were surrounded by shelf after shelf of delicate pottery items, just waiting to be painted - or in Little Prince's case broken?? We sat either side of him on a chair, and made sure his little legs didn't swing and kick too much, his little arms didn't wave around too much and his little fingers didn't grab too much!! Apart from that we left the 'design' up to him :-)

The lady in charge put blobs of different coloured paint onto a white tile, gave Little Prince a brush and he was away!! He daubed paint all over the mugs, inside and out, mushed all the colours together and had a whale of a time. The mugs will be glazed and fired overnight ready for collection tomorrow - I'll try to remember to post a picture. They are certainly unique creations :-)

And even though he has had a bit of a 'wild boy' day, I am very pleased and proud to report, that his behaviour was exemplary :-) And he didn't break anything. Just keeping everything crossed that I can manage to collect, transport, wrap and give the mugs to the teachers with as much success!!!

Shuffling forward

Just got off the phone to the DfES, I wanted to check that our papers had been sent off to the Chinese Embassy, as they said they would when I rang last week. The answer is NO, they will hopefully be sent to the Embassy this week!!

I didn't see any point asking why things are moving so slowly, even if they do give me a truthful answer (which is debatable) it won't fix the fact that our papers should have been sent last week, and weren't. I'm frustrated, but not at the 'tearing my hair out' frustrated stage. Again - what's the point?? I'd get myself all worked up and upset and our papers would still be sitting at the DfES on somebody's desk. I think I'm at the resigned, can't keep hitting my head against the brick wall, have to accept what is happening stage!!!

They couldn't even tell me how long its currently taking the Embassy to process papers, as the two people who deal with the Embassy aren't in today. The lady said they would get in touch and let me know once our papers have returned from the Embassy, just as they let us know at each stage what is happening!! Which is a joke, as they have only written to us twice, both times to point out problems with our papers!! We never even got an initial acknowledgment letter, to say they had received our papers. At least I have got it noted on our file that we want to send the dossier to the CCAA ourselves, using DHL. The sooner its out of DfES hands the better.

Radio programme

A radio programme called China girl was aired on BBC Radio 4 today, covering the stories of various different prospective adopters as they go through the UK process to adopt from China. The producer is Emily Buchanan, herself the adoptive mum of two little ones from China and the author of a book about her experiences adopting them (From China With Love, The Long Road to Motherhood). The second part of the programme will be aired next week. The programme gives a realistic insight into the trials and tribulations that prospective UK overseas adopters go through and is well worth a listen.

Both programmes are available online using the Listen Again feature for a week after the broadcast.

Catching up AGAIN!!

I really must get back into the habit of blogging more regularly! But as the Summer hols are looming (school and nursery finish on Friday) I'm probably not going to get a whole lot better until the kids are back at school in September!

Not a lot been going on really. Drama Teen had her final Stagecoach lesson on Saturday, and it was a 'bring an adult with you' session. Being the shy, retiring types that we are me and Mr Messy nominated Little Miss Sensible as the adult!! She didn't seem to mind and even enjoyed herself, and most importantly they didn't kill each other after an enforced 4 hours together - a minor miracle!! Drama Teen's got her end of term reports from Stagecoach and they were fabulous, she is doing so well and I'm a very proud mummy :-)

On Sunday we were supposed to attend a village field day, but due to the weather (soggy as usual) we didn't go. It was bucketing it down ALL DAY!!! Drama Teen was highly miffed that we didn't go as she had arranged to meet one of her friends there, and couldn't understand why we didn't want to go and wander round a field in the pouring rain!!!

Little Prince spent the whole weekend counting down to visiting his friend this morning. The days of the week went Friday - Saturday - Sunday - FRIENDday. He and his friend spent a couple of hours playing side by side mostly, but sometimes together, while me and friend's mum chatted. Friends mum was quite incredulous that we had time to have lunch and walk (well Little Prince goes on his scooter and I try desperately to keep up!!) up to school, as she ended up going in the car. Everyone has seen how fast Little Prince moves - that's how we managed it lol.

Over the weekend LMS and The Boyfriend booked their flight to Berlin for the start of their jaunt round Europe. LMS still isn't sure where else they are going, and where they are flying home from, hopefully she will find out sooner rather than later!! Both LMS and The Boyfriend are highly intelligent and sensible young adults - so why am I panicking so much about them going on this trip??? And how many text messages can I send them per day before I'm labeled a neurotic, over protective mother?? And if I can't cope with her being away for three weeks, how on earth am I going to manage when she goes to university in September????

Sports day and Pin Ups!!

It was Little Prince's very first school Sport's Day today. He was a little star and won all his races :-) His first race was a sprint - he won easily and didn't even look like he was trying!! The next race was the bat and beanbag (egg and spoon for little ones) and he said he wasn't very good at this one in practice - but he stormed over the finish line well in front of everyone else. The final race was the hat and bag race (run - put on a hat - run - pick up a bag - run to finish) and once again he was miles ahead of the rest. One of the teachers even jokingly told us off for training him lol. Its me that needs the training to try and keep up with him!! Its quite a change for me as a cheerleading parent to be cheering a winner, as Little Miss Sensible and Drama Teen are athletically challenged!! After their races the nursery teacher presented each child with a certificate for being 'Sporting Super Stars' and Little Prince definitely is :-) He was more interested in the sweets the teacher gave them than the certificate!! After we got home we had to explain to Little Prince that he had won all his races, he thought that as the children had been split into small groups and each race was run 3 times, once with each group - his group being second, that his group had lost!! He was elated to know that he had WON :-) He is highly competitive!! I can see years of standing on the sidelines of sports fields cheering him on, ahead of me :-)


Now on to pin ups!! Little Prince has his first celebrity crush!!! He is in love with Daff-a-nee (Daphne from Scooby Do!!). He kisses her picture in his Scooby Do colouring book, and tells me all seriously 'I LURVE Daff-a-nee' Oh dear! I thought I was the only woman in his life - I don't think I'm ready for a rival just yet!!! We think he has been watching too much Scooby Do recently though!! He was playing hide and seek with Little Miss Sensible and The Boyfriend - and decided to hide in the utility room. Rustling and clunking was heard from the utility room (and just to check he hadn't decided to hide in the freezer AGAIN!!) LMS asked what he was doing?? Blocking the door came the reply. LMS opened the door to find it 'barricaded' with the mop bucket and juices boxes!! It also exposed the flaw in Little Prince's logic - the door opened the other way!!! It does show he is bright and imaginative though :-)

Another hurdle jumped

I rang the DfES today and found out they have received our dossier safely back at their offices, after its two trips to our Notary and the FCO!! I asked them when I should prepare the Postal Order for the next stage (Chinese Embassy), and they told me to do it now and send it off to them!! They will check that our dossier is now ok over the next couple of days, and then it will be sent straight off to the Embassy!! I shot straight off in the car to nearby Big Village and sorted out the Postal Order and sent it Special Delivery (guaranteed next day delivery and insured for up to £500). Fingers crossed that everything is alright with our dossier this time, and that it will be sent to the Chinese Embassy quickly.

Although we have now passed this next hurdle, I don't feel that excited! I know the size of the queue currently at CCAA (only just referred up to 14th Nov 2005!!) and its very disheartening to know that we will be at the very, very back of that!!! Estimates of when we eventually will receive our referral are between 2010 and 2019ish!!!

Evidence for embarassing the Kids!!!

I consider it my duty to be able to embarrass my kids!! You know the sort of thing - kissing them goodbye while their friends are watching, skipping down the road, singing loudly, dancing in public, holding their hands etc. And in that vein, and for future reference, here are Things That Little Prince said!! With translations for those that don't speak KID!!

Is it just Grannies that can drink pommygranny (pomegranate) juice??

I love racing peas (runner beans!!)

Hiya big boobies (to DADDY!!!)

Not liking his best friend cos she had bubbles (bobbles) in her hair!!

Ponk-a-howt-ness (Pocahontas)

Completing (deleting) things

Look Darth Vader (loudly in a shop pointing to a lady in full burqa, given his background we are working on this!)

Mangled Disney Songs

The Bear Ne-Sesames, The simple bear ne-sesames - forget about your worries and your stripes

In the tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room - where the birds sing words and the flowers BOOM (shouted very loudly!)

It's a Small World After All - Just one moon and one golden sun, and Chinese friendship to everyone.