Spoke to the DCSF again!!

This time I got to speak to the Team Leader, who is handling the gathering of information on how we change to SN application. She said that the CCAA have told them we need to send

• New Homestudy Report!!!
• New Application Letter (which describes in detail why we wish to change to SNs and how prepared we are to meet SN child's needs)
• All the above need to be legalised and notarised
• They suggest that the wait will only be 3-6 mths shorter than NSNs wait

The DCSF are trying to get clarification on what 'New Homestudy Report' means, does it mean an addendum to the original report? Or does it mean a whole new report? The answer to this question will be crucial in our decision as to whether or not we can move forward with our change over. If we need a WHOLE NEW homestudy report, our LA has already said we will be charged (again!!) exactly what the sw charges them. As our sw likes to go into a LOT of detail, it will likely make the new report extremely expensive and could even be out of our reach :-( Please keep everything crossed that only an addendum is required...

Yet Another Busy Day

Today was yet another busy day!! First I had to take Fraulein to the doctors, as she has been having earache and can't hear properly, she was diagnosed with an ear infection and given antibiotics. I then had to race up to college to drop her off, as she wanted to arrive before the second lesson (General Studies) because this is taught as a huge group (300 ish pupils) in the hall and she didn't want to walk in late and have everyone looking at her!! I think we made it in time lol.
Once I'd got back I had to nip to our accountants to sort sort some stuff out with him, then came home picked up Drama Teen and we set off for her latest orthodontist appointment. She had a late afternoon appointment for a change, so we had time to visit my parents (who I haven't seen since before Xmas, as they were in Australia for 6 weeks over Xmas) before her appointment.

There was some great news at the orthodontists - the treatment is very nearly finished :-) Drama Teen's teeth have moved into position even quicker than the orthodontist expected and she is thrilled with the progress and while we were there arranged a quick examination by the paediatric dentist, who will be making Drama Teen's bridge. We now have complicated co-ordinated appointments with both the orthodontist and the paediatric dentist for early March, when impressions will be taken and then 2 weeks later the bridge will be fitted. Drama Teen will have to wear her brace for a while longer, although the orthodontist was reluctant to say how long this could be (so that she didn't disappoint Drama Teen if it was longer than she estimated) but gave a rough estimate of 2-3 months :-) Drama Teen is overjoyed she will finally be rid of them :-) Although she will be fitted with a permanent retainer, hidden at the back of her teeth, so it won't be visible.

I know Drama Teen is thrilled to be coming to the end of her mega long stint of wearing braces, but I will miss our 'day out' together that we've had every six weeks or so for the past 3 years (or it could be longer, can't remember lol). Its fun to have time to ourselves to chat and sing along to CDs etc :-)

After we'd finished at the orthodontist, we tried to visit another set of Grandparents, but they were out so we couldn't. So instead we went to Pizza Hut for our tea, and then visited my Baby Sister for a while, before setting off home again. It was a loooooooooong drive and we were both extremely tired when we got home - Little Prince is sure to wake up early tomorrow, so I'd better go and get some sleep while I can lol.
Night Night :-)

No News from DFES

I've just rung the DFES (still can't remember their new name!!) and they are still waiting for clarification of a vague message they received previously, stating what documents were needed to change to a SN expedited adoption. Serves me right for thinking anything about this adoption would run smoothly I suppose!! I'm fairly calm about it all though, I know that whatever it is the CCAA say they need we will be able to produce - as this adoption is what we are meant to do :-)

Sunday - Bye Bye LMS

Sunday dawned bright and early, due to Little Prince getting up at 4.45am!!! He came in bed with me and Mr Messy until around 8am and then we gave up and got up!! We couldn't stand the wriggling and complaints of not being tired and sleeping was boring any longer lol.

My Baby Bro and his partner came round to visit on their way home from partner's parent's house, and it was lovely to see them both. We don't get to see much of each other as we live a long way apart, and they are both working full time - so its great when we do actually get time together :-) I know I tease you about still being my annoying Baby Bro (despite the fact that you've towered over me for years lol) but I do like seeing you both really :-)

Sadly it was LMS's last day at home, as she has lectures on Monday and has to be back at university. We had compromised on the return journey rather than Mr Messy driving her all the way back there, he took her to a train station roughly half way back. Drama Teen was supposed to be going with them in the car, but decided at the last minute she hated long car journeys and didn't want to go. I decided that me and Little Prince would go instead, so I got to spend a little extra time with LMS before she went. Little Prince was tired and grumpy in the car (probably due to his early morning!!!) and fell asleep just before we stopped to eat - typical!!! He messed about with his food and didn't really want to eat much, but sobbed when we said we had to go or LMS would miss her train. He was sad again at the train station when he had to say goodbye to LMS, as were me and her dad :-(

On the way home we called in at Mr Messy's mother's house for a cup of tea and chat. Little Prince was even more tired and even more grumpy, so he spent the whole time telling us he wanted to go home and he didn't want anything to eat. Well apart from the left over Christmas choccies Nana gave him lol. When we finally set off again he was asleep in moments and slept the whole way home, he hardly even stirred when I took him off to bed lol.

Little Prince's Birthday Worries

As it gets nearer to Little Prince's birthday he has been coming out with some odd things. He keeps talking about mummies that never see their boys again, when I probed a bit more deeply about this, it turns out he was thinking of Tummy Mummy. He has also been quite clingy, and even cried and said he was worried mummy wasn't coming back, when I went out to run a few errands and left him with Little Miss Sensible. Then when I did get back he spent a long time sat on my knee, sucking his thumb and cuddling his blankie. He has also mentioned being lonely or at other times he has said he is sad, but doesn't really know why. I think he is getting to the age when he is starting to understand that his living in our family, means he has lost another family. It probably isn't helping that he has also recently lost The EX (who he idolised) and he thinks it is something he has done to make The EX go away. Poor little lad :-( We are trying our best to be extra reassuring, and giving him the cuddles and closeness he obviously needs at the moment. Its heartbreaking seeing my precious little boy so sad though - I want to fix it, to make him feel better and I know I can't, I have to accept that I just have to be there to support him and reassure him. Love you Little Prince xxxxx

Birthday Party

Its Little Prince's 5th birthday during the next week, and it was his party today. He was slightly excited, he woke up at 5.30am!!! Then asked roughly every 10 mins if it was time for his party yet?? I'm very practiced at tuning out quite a bit of the never ending chatter kids do, but even I was going slightly loopy by the time it WAS party time!! Me and Little Miss Sensible took Little Prince to the supermarket to chose his cake (Spiderman) and then went round to the indoor play centre for the party. Little Prince was worrying the whole time that his friends would get there before him, but luckily (or probably because we were 15 mins early!!) only one friend was there first!!! He had a whale of a time running round the playarea for an hour with his friends and cousins, before going to a separate room for the party nosh. There were about 12 kids altogether and I thought it would be bedlam in the room with them, but they were all very well behaved (saying thank you when given their food, eating nicely and quietly chatting) amazing really!! When it was time for the singing of Happy Birthday and blowing candles out, Little Prince got so excited that he blew the candles out when we'd barely started singing!! After the food the hostess asked if they children wanted to play a game or two, but they just wanted to get back to the playarea and all charged off!! I didn't even have to clear up - fabulous :-)

Recent things that Little Prince has said!!

Little Prince was in the bathroom with me, and suddenly asked "How do girls wee with out a willy?" Trying not to laugh too much, I tried to explain!!

Later that day (he must have had his thinking head on!) he asked how do babies get in mummies tummies?? I said the mummy and daddy love each other very much and the daddy puts a special seed in the mummy's tummy. How? Do you have to eat it? He replied!! No it gets in a special way, I said "Can you show me?" Aaaaaaargh NO NO NO NO NO!!!!! Definitely not!!! I don't remember the birds and bees talks starting this early with the older two!!!

New computer cupboard

My new snazzy computer cupboard is finally finished, and my computer is installed in it - well almost!!! Apparently my computer is slightly wider than a standard computer, and it doesn't fit in the space in the cupboard!! Ooooops!!! I didn't bother measuring that, I just thought it would fit nicely!! So now Mr Messy has to get a new case and put all the computer brains in the new one!! And I suppose next time I'd better measure things better lol.

Another Busy Day

As Little Miss Sensible, unfortunately, has to go back to university this weekend, I decided we would get some more jobs finished!! I find I'm more motivated when I'm working with someone, and we can chat as we get on with stuff. So what did we accomplish today? We booked for LMS and Mr Messy to go on a Meditation Weekend at a nearby Buddhist Centre. We cut out all the fabric for my July LID and In The Pink Group swaps - just got to get the wishes made and send them out. We got the last bits of stuff (from this times sorting out anyway!!) into the attic. We sorted out the information for the Its a Small World group swap, which is an interesting but fairly complicated swap. It needs a fabric related to represent a country, and an A4 info sheet about that country. I had a quick go at making the info sheet, but being IT challenged, I then asked LMS to help me (well more like to do it for me) and she did a fabulous job - thank you :-)

And we also rang my Handyman, and got him to come and fix the bit of the flat pack computer cupboard that had completely confused both me and Mr Messy for hours last night!! After a bit of umming and ahhing he managed to figure it out and fixed it :-) Now all that's left for Mr Messy to do tonight is to level the doors and move my computer inside it - I hope he appreciates my 'assistance' lol.

Lovely gift from a lovely friend :-)

I was feeling quite down and upset about the lack of progress in our (fingers crossed) change to an expedited SN adoption, the other week. And look what my friend S sent me - isn't it gorgeous? Thank you ever so much S, it really cheered me up :-)

Not so busy day

Me and Little Miss Sensible didn't get up to quite so much today as we have been doing - I think we are both running out of steam a little!!! We sorted out the supermarket shopping, on the internet so it was very easy and hassle free :-) And then we mostly had a lazy day, we didn't even have to go and pick Little Prince up from school as he was going straight to his friend's for tea. Although I had to take Drama Teen to the Beauty Salon as soon as she got home from school, she was desperate for her eyebrow tidying appointment. I had my eyelashes tinted while we were there, it saves all the hassle of mascara (which I only end up painting all over my cheek anyway lol).
When Mr Messy got home he built some more of my new computer cupboard, and after a lot of cursing flatpack furniture, and taking bits off and putting them on slightly differently, he decided he needed a break. I don't blame him, there are so many complicated and fiddly bits to this cupboard - I should have just bought a table and chair!!! But then again my cupboard is going to look very nice once its finished :-)

After a very disappointing 1/2lb weight gain at Weight Watchers yesterday, I've been mega determined today to stop messing about and do this properly. My diet buddy lost 2 1/2lbs and when asked how she did it, the answer was stunningly simple "I stuck to the programme"!!! So that's what I've been trying to do!! Hopefully I can keep it up for more than a day or so.

What we've been doing today

Me and Little Miss Sensible got Little Prince to school, and as soon as we were home we started organising the piles of books all over the dining room into piles. We started off with fiction and non-fiction and gradually got more obsessive. We had a break at lunchtime, to go to a local cafe - much nicer than cooking ourselves and besides we had to go out and get bread anyway lol. When we got back we started putting all the organised piles onto the bookcases. After a LOT of faffing and changing shelves around we finally got all the books on the shelves. There was even room for the cupboard of books, that had never fitted on the shelves before!! We did have to take out all the videos we have, and make a list so we can replace them with dvds eventually. But we finally made it and now all the books are put away nicely, in an order and system that makes total sense to me and LMS but is probably totally incomprehensible to anyone else!!

Even more of the day!!

Mr Messy came home from work and got straight onto building the last two bookcases. We put one in, fastened it to the wall and then realised that there was no room for the last one!! I'd measured it wrong and it doesn't quite fit!!! We are just debating whether or not to move all the bookcases, which means unfastening them from the wall and then fastening them up again, and will be a bit of a faff. Or should we just take the extra bookcase back to Ikea. Or should we keep it and put it somewhere else in the house?!?! Decisions, decisions!!! Me and LMS finished blogging the last of the squishes I received - all done now :-) YEAH I'm all caught up :-)

The rest of the day

Well me and Little Miss Sensible got all our jobs done :-) We took the stuff to the charity shop, took different stuff to the tip and then went back to TK Maxx to look at the coat she'd fallen in love with!! We saw it over the weekend, but said it was too expensive and we'd look elsewhere. She was happy with this, and would have settled for a cheaper coat with no complaints, but she was obviously smitten with the expensive one, which was a very nice coat. So I decided we might as well get the one she actually really wants, and like she says she stopped growing years ago so won't grow out of it. She also told me she loved me and I got lots of hugs - so it was well worth the money :-)
We then spent the rest of the afternoon finishing catching up on the quilt blogs. I hadn't realised how many Squishes I'd already collected!!! I'm going to have to seriously start to think of how to put the quilts together - well after I've got my dining room table back from its current job as holder of lots of junk, while we sort out!! I've also got to get lots and lots and lots of Squishes cut out and sent, I'm in two group swaps that I need to sort out and an RQ swap that I need to do!!

Blogging on the Right Day!!!!!

WooHoo!!!! I'm blogging today on the right day!!!! I've already taken Little Prince to school, well chased behind him as he races off on his scooter!! Little Miss Sensible stayed at home in case my new computer cupboard was delivered, and surprisingly it WAS!!! I thought we'd wait in all day and it would be delivered right at the end of the time scale they'd given me!! That serves me right for being so cynical!! Now we've got to get the bits of old bookcases that Mr Messy demolished last night, and take them to the tip. Take all the books we are getting rid of, to the charity shop (and I haven't any boxes to put them in!!!). And then maybe get my quilt blogs up to date. I'd get more fabric cut ready to send out, but the dining room table is piled high with 'stuff' while we rearrange the hole where the piano was, and put the new bookcases in.

Rang DFES

I've just got off the phone to the DFES, to ask them what was happening with our papers, after they said last week they had both the letters from us and our LA. The man on the phone said the matter was with his manager (who wasn't in today - surprise surprise!!) as they were checking with the CCAA! I pointed out that we had provided the documents that they themselves had told us CCAA would need, so why was it now with the manager and what was being checked. He said he wasn't privy to that information and I had to ring back tomorrow!! All very very unnerving and worrying!!! Hopefully I'll get a better answer tomorrow!!

Ikea shopping

Me and Little Miss Sensible, dropped Little Prince off at school and then head straight off to Ikea. Well we called at the garage first to put some air in one of my tyres first, as instructed by Mr Messy - and I'm glad we did as it was very very wet and I wouldn't have wanted to not have my tyres in tiptop condition in those conditions!! We had a leisurely stroll round Ikea, a lovely lunch in the cafe (sorry Weight Watchers, but I love the meatballs!!) and then picked up the bookcases we wanted from the self service area. We had quite a bit of trouble fitting the darn things into the car, but managed eventually, although LMS had to hold them all the way home in case they slipped and hit me while I was driving!! The weather was still foul, and all in all it was an extremely stressful drive!! Yuk!!! But that should now be enough bookcases to fill the space, and we can get rid of the cheap and nasty ones we have been using :-)

Sunday's happenings

Yesterday we all overslept, so Fraulein was picked up by her friend's parents before we'd even surfaced! She was spending the day with her friend's French exchange student (she speaks fluent French) while her friend had a prior engagement. I woke up to the anguished cry of Drama Teen "Will somebody get dressed and take me to the cinema?" Little Prince offered, but as he can't drive she wasn't too impressed with that idea!! Little Miss Sensible offered to look after Little Prince, so that me and Mr Messy could take Drama Teen. She was meeting her Young Man at the cinema and they were seeing Alvin and the Chipmunks, then we were bringing them both back to our house until after tea. Me and Mr Messy mooched round the nearby shops, before going to the supermarket to get a bit of shopping and pick up some cardboard boxes. However, you have to ring up and reserve your cardboard boxes the night before (!!!!) so we didn't get any. I'd hoped we could get quite a few to empty the old bookcases into, so that Mr Messy can build and install the new Ikea ones.
After the shopping we finally got a call from Drama Teen to say that they'd finished at the cinema, so we picked them both up and headed off home. Mr Messy then decided we should pick LMS and Little Prince up and take them out, as LMS wants a new coat (warm and waterproof but not as bulky as her current one). We saw the perfect coat in TK Maxx, but it was twice the price we were thinking of paying, so we didn't get it. We grabbed a few more bits from a different supermarket, bits the first one hadn't had. And also called in at Screwfix to buy lots of lightbulbs, so that we can finally replace the ones that have blown.
I had to take Young Man home after their tea, while Mr Messy cooked everyone else's tea (too many people to cook for at once lol). So I came home to a lovely roast beef dinner, cooked for me by my own personal chef - Mr Messy :-)

Yesterday's ramblings

I always seem to be blogging a day behind these day, which is highly confusing for a confused blonde!! Anyway Mr Messy took Little Miss Sensible and Drama Teen to London for the day, he was going to a photography exhibition, LMS was meeting some friends and Drama Teen was going to a CLAPA Youth Council meeting. I had planned to take Fraulein and Little Prince to the cinema, to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. However, Fraulein decided she had to stay behind to do her homework, so just me and Little Prince went. He enjoyed the film mostly, but there was too much singing and concert footage and not enough slapstick and visual humour for him. He also found it quite scary that Dave (who the chipmunks ended up living with) didn't want to be a family (kept insisting it was a business arrangement) and then when the Chipmunks misbehaved too much, he threw them out! For an adopted child with security issues, that must have been quite scary too see - Little Prince insisted on having his blankie and sitting on my knee. However, in true Kids Movie fashion, there was a happy ending and the Chipmunks ended up back with Dave and he ended up admitting he loved them and they WERE his kids :-) This calmed Little Prince right down, and he was ready for lunch!! We had lunch in a nearby cafe, had just sat down with our food, when he announced he wanted the toilet!! Great timing NOT! Had to leave our lunches going cold to join the HUGE queue for the ladies toilets, after waiting for ages we dived in the disabled toilets instead. Too late, unfortunately. After finishing off our lunches we had to go off in search of dry trousers and undies, which had Power Rangers on so all was well with the world again :-)
To give Fraulein enough time to complete her homework without Little Prince's "help" we decided to visit the local indoor play centre. The traffic was diabolical, so I tried to detour to a different play centre - it had been closed down!! On going back round to the one we had originally intended visiting, the traffic was still backed up and it would have taken much too long to get there. I decided to take him to yet another one, which was about 1/2 hours drive away - we got there to find that too was now closed down!! Don't kids play any more?!?! Little Prince was NOT happy with all of this, but cheered up when I said we could watch some Power Rangers at home.

Bye Bye Piano

After advertising our piano on Freecycle, it has now gone - the piano has left the building!! Little Miss Sensible is barely speaking to me over this, and I'm hoping that one day she will actually forgive me. For some reason I've gone all 'non-materialistic' over most things - people matter to me, not things and I'm paring down our possessions. Trouble is I hadn't realised that LMS considered the piano HER possession, not a family possession - hence why I'm in trouble!!

Busy Friday

Me and Little Miss Sensible spent the morning photographing the huge pile of Squishes I received around Christmas, and didn't blog because I was ill (and busy with Christmas). It took ages and I ended up with an aching back as I kept bending over to take the photos. We then started to blog the Squishes on my two OHGWQ blogs. We decided to use LMS's laptop so we could sit in the lounge and listen to girlie music on one of the TV's music channels, and we could wail along without disturbing Mr Messy who was working on his final OU essay of this course. We had a great time :-) It took ages though, as LMS's laptop somehow made the formatting of the Blog posts a bit different. We managed to Blog about a quarter of the Squishes - we'll have to work on the rest over the weekend.

When Mr Messy had finished his essay, me and him set off for OU HQ in Milton Keynes!! The essay was due in on Friday and he would fail his course if he didn't submit it!! Talk about leaving it till the last minute!!! LMS agreed to pick Little Prince up from school and look after him until we got back, so me and Mr Messy could spend some time together. With three kids (4 if you count Fraulein) you have to take your opportunities whenever they pop up lol. We listened to the radio and chatted all the way there, had our tea together at a motorway services (highly romantic lol) on the way home. And even had time to stop off at a shop to buy the kids some chocolate on the way home.

Once we were home and Little Prince was asleep, LMS started to play on the piano. She has taken the fact that it is going a LOT harder than I ever thought she would. If I had realised how strongly she felt about it I wouldn't have decided to get rid of it, however, the deed is done and the pick up is arranged for Saturday morning!

Weight Watchers Update

Yahooooooooo I lost 2 1/2 lbs :-) I didn't stick to the points properly, but I made sure I walked a LOT more (up and down to school even when it was chucking it down!!). So it obviously makes a difference :-) I hope I can stay motivated and keep up the weight loss :-)

Wednesday - Little Prince's first swimming lesson

Little Prince was so excited about this swimming lesson. He obviously can't remember when he last went swimming, which was probably last summer!! I put his swimming trunks on under his clothes before we set off, he kept asking if he would wear his vest to swim? His socks? His jumper? He couldn't quite understand that I was going to let him go swimming in JUST his undies!!! When we got to the pool, he was outraged that I was undressing him in a public changing room!! WHY are you taking my vest off?? He was almost bouncing off the walls he was so excited :-) Once it was time for the lesson to start the teacher sat the children (only 5 of them) on the side of the pool and talked to them a little, Little Prince was much too busy trying to touch the water behind him to listen. The children then climbed into the pool, from the side (not using the steps) Little Prince got part way in and then started squeaking very loudly (not sure if it was cold or he was so excited!!) he then held himself half way in as he wasn't sure he would be able to reach the bottom with his feet. Eventually he did get all the way in - and then it got even funnier!! The teacher asked all the children to stand three steps away from the side of the pool, and then pulled them towards her using a broom handle! Little Prince seemed to think this was a race, and that he was losing, so he kept bouncing back to the side of the pool. When it was his turn the teacher had to persuade him to move away from the side and be pulled in. He obviously didn't trust her completely as he held onto the pole, but kept his feet on the bottom of the pool and walked!

Next the children were asked to swim across to the other side of the pool. Little Prince walked and bounced and splashed, but there wasn't a lot of swimming going on - he did get there first though and that's what is important to him!! After a few tries at this, the teacher insisted he put armbands on, as he obviously wasn't listening to her instructions and she wanted to make sure he was safe. The children were given small square floats and asked again to make their way to the other side of the pool, once they got there the teacher told them to go back. Little Prince took this instruction totally literally and tried to make his way across the pool by walking backwards. Me and LMS (who were watching from the side) were killing ourselves laughing :-)

He was extremely confident in the water and would deliberately put his face under water, the trouble is he hasn't worked out that he needs to keep his mouth closed under water and came up coughing and spluttering each time. Didn't stop him trying again, and didn't teach him to keep his mouth closed!! I don't think we have a future Olympic swimmer in our family, but he had a fabulous time and can't wait to go again next week - and that's the important thing - to have fun :-)

Wednesday - LMS is home :-)

I picked LMS up from the station just after lunchtime :-) We did a bit of shopping and then came home, as Little Prince was so excited and very insistent that his big sister was going to pick him up from school. We made the school pick up with time to spare, perhaps we could have looked at one or two more shops lol.

LMS is doing great :-) She is happy, together and just her normal self :-) However, she does now hate me as I'm getting rid of our piano, which has been hers since she was about 7 years old. I have been yelled at, cried at and told I'm mean, but unfortunately the piano is still going on Saturday! I hope that one day she will forgive me.

Shopping Day

I spent the whole day shopping with friends, and have the sore, achy feet to prove it!! I got a few bargains for Little Prince's birthday this month, including a Transformers book that has buttons to press for noises and some Scooby Doo pyjamas that were half price. Also the Transformer stickers for his new Gameboy arrived this morning, sent by a very quick Ebayer!! Now I just have to get rid of the piano (its going on Saturday, sorry LMS!!) so that I've got room for a desk for his computer!! And we should be all set for the birthday boy :-)

SN application progress

I got the copy of the letter our LA are going to send to the DFES today. It looks good to me, and so now me and Mr Messy have given it the OK, it should be sent off to the DFES pretty soon. I've got our personal application letter (in Chinese) printed off and ready to send to the DFES tomorrow too. Once the DFES have both our letter and our LA's letter, I'm hoping they don't hang about and get them all sent to the CCAA soon :-) I'm not sure how long it will take for the CCAA to confirm/deny that we will be able to move to the SN expedited queue, but I'm hoping it won't be too long :-)

Sunday/Monday

Already I'm in catch up mode!!! Well Sunday was a recover from the looooooong drive to see Little Miss Sensible day, and we all stayed in our jammies way too long, watched too much TV and generally lazed about :-) Perfect :-)
Monday. Little Prince and I walked (he was on his scooter) up to school. It was just starting to rain when we set off, but by the time we were half way there it was pouring. Luckily Little Prince had his hood up and moves that fast the rain couldn't catch him lol. I got drenched!! I'm a slower moving and bigger target lol. Fraulein didn't go into college as she had been feeling really ill over the weekend and wanted to see the doctor. Luckily we got a same day appointment, and just had to go in a few minutes early to fill in some temporary resident forms. Once we got in to see the doctor (Fraulein insisted I went in with her) she was examined very thoroughly, before the doctor told her that she had a cold!! I had to giggle at that point, sorry Fraulein. I think she was relieved that she wasn't dying!! She got very melodramatic when we were out on Saturday, her heart was hurting and she felt she couldn't move and lay there wondering how she could write a note apologising for dying!!! Luckily not many people die of colds, and the Ibuprofen she was prescribed made her feel a lot better. She spent most of the day in bed, only getting up to eat and have her tablets - by tea time she was looking a lot better. She is determined to go to college tomorrow, not sure if its to hand in her first lot of coursework or to see her boyfriend!!
I've had quite a few conversations with LMS today, and even though one of those ended up with us arguing, we sorted it all out and are speaking to each other again. She seems to be looking forward to coming home for a while, although she might have changed her mind when I said I was planning to keep her busy, to distract her from feeling too down about her recent split from The EX!!
I can't remember if I've already mentioned it, and I don't think I did, so anyway - I've just booked for LMS, Drama Teen, Fraulein and Little Sis to go to Disneyland, Paris in April. They will be travelling on the direct Eurostar, and using the Disney Express service - which means they can check into their hotel and receive their park tickets on the train. Then when they get to Marne Le Valley they can leave their luggage at the station and it will be taken to their hotel room for them. It will be a lot easier for them that way, and they will get a few hours extra in Disney. Little Prince is jealous and keeps complaining that he hasn't been to Disney for ELEVEN YEARS, bearing in mind he is only 4 and we went at the beginning of December lol. I think me and Mr Messy will think of something nice to do with him on the weekend the girls are away.

We saw Little Miss Sensible

We all got up early and set off to Little Miss Sensible's university. Although not as early as we'd hoped as Mr Messy had a really painful stiff neck and headache :-( Throughout the whole journey Little Prince was asking "Are we there yet?" he was slightly distracted by playing with Drama Teen's old Gameboy, but not much!! We stopped off for some lunch on the way, at a lovely cafe Mr Messy and LMS had found previously, but even food couldn't distract Little Prince from his mission of seeing his big sister :-) Although when we finally arrived and he saw her running across the car park to him, he just stood there and was very nonchalant!!! Even though my Baby Bro went to the same university and stayed in the same halls, this is the first time I'd actually been to them. The room was smaller than I'd imagined, and very yellow!!! I think the bright paint is to try and distract you from the state of the building in general - it is being demolished some time soon and brand new buildings are being built. We spent some time in LMS's room and when Little Prince was getting just a bit too bouncy on her bed, we went off for a walk round the town. LMS showed us some of the different university buildings and then we mooched around the shops. We had a meal together in a local cafe, before once again going back to LMS's halls. LMS took Little Prince to meet her friends, and he decided to stay with them and watch Spiderman and sent LMS back to her room for his snack lol. Too soon it was time to say our goodbyes and set off back home. LMS stayed in her room and waved from her window. We sat in the car while Mr Messy sorted out the SatNav, when all of a sudden Little Prince started to sob and huge tears rolled down his cheeks "I miss my LMS" he gulped. I shot out of the car to hug and comfort him, mimed what was happening to LMS who immediately ran down to hug Little Prince herself. That seemed to help and he calmed down again - thank you LMS. I must admit that once LMS was out of sight I cried myself, she is so strong and brave and I'm so proud of her. And I miss her too :-( Little Prince and Drama Teen spent the start of the journey playing on Gameboys or texting (only Drama Teen did that lol!!) until Little Prince started to cry his tummy was hurting. As we were on the motorway with no services anywhere to be seen, we encouraged him to try and sleep, which he did all the rest of the way home. At one point on the motorway I saw a youngish man stood next to his car on the hard shoulder looking as though he was going to run across the three lanes of speeding traffic!!! I had him pegged as a total idiot, until Mr Messy exclaimed that there was a car crashed into the central barrier - the youngish man was obviously trying to reach that car!! I hope the brave man managed to safely reach the crashed car and that he and the occupants of the crash are all ok.
When we got home I put Little Prince straight to bed, which looking back this morning wasn't a good idea as he woke up at 6am!! Drama Teen and Fraulein (who was feeling a lot better after sleeping most of the day) decided to watch Bridge to Terabrithia. Me and Mr Messy didn't fancy watching that, so we had an early night instead, luckily given the time Little Prince woke up this morning!!

Opticians & Doctors

Well today's interesting news (lol) is that I went for a contact lens check up and my eyes are perfectly healthy :-) Always good to know :-)
Dieting is still going well, even with a lunch out after the opticians :-)
Had to take Little Prince to the doctor as he was complaining his ear hurt and felt like something was in it (always a possibility with a little boy!!) we had checked and couldn't see anything in there, and luckily neither could the doctor :-) He couldn't see any sign of infection either, and just recommended giving calpol as and when necessary. Little Prince wasn't too happy to be taken to school as he had missed lining up, and was a bit apprehensive about what his friends would be doing. However, when I took him in he settled straight down at his place and started to play and chat - he probably should have been working lol.
Little Miss Sensible sounds to be doing well, this morning's report was that she was tired and hungover, but fine other than that :-) She is working hard editting her essay that has to be handed in soon - keep up the good work LMS :-) See you tomorrow :-)

Yesterday's news

Well there wasn't any lol. It was another blah blah day!! I carried on catching up with my emails, I didn't realise how far behind I was - scary!!! My dieting went better so hopefully I've gotten over the Christmas pig out mode now!!

Little Prince had a friend round after school and they played as only 4 year old little boys can - loudly lol. By the time friend had gone home I was ready for bed lol. Fat chance of that, I had to get Little Prince ready for bed, tidy up, cook tea etc. But instead I had a row with Mr Messy, got Little Prince in bed and went to bed myself!!! Urgh! I hate days like that :-(

Blah blah day

I've not done much. I've not been anywhere. I've caught up on more emails, still got loads more to work on. Just a blah blah day really. It didn't get any better when I went to Weight Watchers and found I'd stayed exactly the same weight as last week. I'm beginning to wonder what's the point!! Hopefully I'm just tired and worried about LMS and I'll feel better tomorrow.

Told Little Prince

I told Little Prince there was some bad news as soon as I picked him up from school. I told him that The EX Boyfriend had told LMS that he didn't want her to be his girlfriend anymore. Little Prince immediately grasped the situation and asked if The EX would be coming home? I told him he would be coming to HIS home but not to ours any more. Little Prince asked if he would see The EX again, and I had to tell him I didn't think so. Little Prince said he was very sad as The EX was his favourite, he hasn't cried but has pretended to! His behaviour isn't as mad as it usually gets when he is upset, so perhaps he is already used to The EX not being around and will get through this (relatively!) easily.

The EX Boyfriend is right!!!

One of the reasons The EX Boyfriend dumped LMS (by TEXT!!!) is because he said they were too different and had too little in common. He is totally right.
Little Miss Sensible is brave, I have watched her blossom from the scared little 9 year old joining a new school where everyone knew each other and were loathe to let her join their groups, to a popular, bubbly, vivacious young lady with a large and diverse group of friends. The EX is a coward.
Little Miss Sensible has held down a demanding waitressing job since she was 14 years old. Despite being under a lot of pressure with exams, and with not getting on with one of the cooks at the cafe, she has stuck with the job and is a valued member of the cafe team. The cafe manager told her when she left to go to university that she was welcome to work during her holidays, and just to let them know she was available. She is hardworking, punctual and reliable. The EX despite much prodding from his family has never had a paid job.
Little Miss Sensible, despite the way The EX has treated her is still only thinking of others (her baby brother and even The EX). She is protective of them both, still!! She is the kindest, most generous person I know, which can sometimes lead to people taking advantage of her (I know I am guilty of that) and her letting them walk all over her. The EX is selfish. If he thought of others at all, he would have talked to her when he began to feel unhappy in the relationship - rather than try to deal with it all himself, long term relationships are partnerships, not solo journeys. When The EX stays over at our house, they invariably stay up until the small hours of the morning. LMS will then get up in the morning to see her family and especially her little brother. She fiercely defends The Ex's sleep and no-one is allowed to disturb him, until he finally deigns to get up, usually in the late afternoon. He then mopes around and falls asleep again on the sofa - and again LMS will try and make sure everyone lets him sleep, as he is tired. She never thinks of herself in all of this, and is so totally unselfish in her attitude.
So YES The EX is right - they are totally different and he doesn't deserve the prize he had in LMS. He has lost a rare and beautiful young lady, who will go on to find a new (hopefully much less selfish and irresponsible) partner and have a happy life. One day he will realise what he has lost. Poor The EX.

My poor baby

I've just heard from Little Miss Sensible. Apparently The Boyfriend dumped her via text message from his skiing holiday late last night. He said he had realised that they are too different and don't have anything in common, and now he's back with his university friends he made his decision. The cowardly SHITTY little boy. He could have waited a few days and at least rung her up. Or even told her face to face. They have been together for SIX YEARS and this is how he ends it?!?!?! Little Miss Sensible is being very very brave and staying at university to get a couple of essays written and handed in, and then do an exam early next week, then she might come home (its reading weeks, so they have no lectures) for a while. I just want to hug my precious big girl (who is still my baby) and make it all better. And I want to do VERY hurtful things to the EX Boyfriend!!!!!!!!!!!
Auntie S says - I know I am fuming at the slimy little worm, who does that by text!!! If he's not even man enough to do it properly then he's not worth the love of my Little Miss Sensible!!!!!!! I wish I wasn't in work, I'd be on the next train over there!!! LMS's university I mean lol
Friend F says - she wants to rip his testicles off and feed them to him. I don't think there'd be any point as if he had the balls in the first place he wouldn't have dumped her like this anyway!!!!!
My best friend P says - she is shocked. Will get her paintballing son to shoot him for you.
Fraulein says - she is shocked and can't beleeeeeve it!
Drama Teen says - she wants to go to his university and beat him up. She was demonstrating by hitting her own hand with her fist, and hit it that hard she made a huge noise (scarying Little Prince) and hurting herself!! She also says LMS should wallow in sadness for a week, then try to get back to normal and forget about him - she isn't trying to be insensitive, she is just a lot younger than LMS.
Text I sent to The EX Boyfriend - I do not expect or want a reply from you but just needed to say that after almost six years I think LMS deserved more than being dumped by text message that was extremely cowardly of you. It was also curel to wait till she was back in university rather than tell her when she was surrounded by her family to help her. Hope your conscience lets you sleep at night. Janet

FABULOUS news

My friend answered my mobile on the way home, and it was Mr Messy saying we had received an email from the LA Team Leader!! Apparently she has now contacted the DFES and all we need from the LA to switch over is for her to write a letter of support!!!! This is FANTASTIC!!!! Our LA has never done an intercountry adoption before, and is scared stiff of getting anything wrong, so they cross the t's and dot the i's to the n'th degree - and make us jump through more hoops than anyone else I know of!! BUT this time they have actually spoken to the DFES and listened to what they need. Originally the LA were talking about us having to redo medicals, references and the whole homestudy (with us paying!!!) AND revisit Panel, so this is the bestest news we could get :-) I nearly drove off the road when my friend relayed Mr Messy's message (luckily I didn't and I'm still here to tell the tale). So instead of this change to a SN request taking months, it could take days or a week or so :-) At least then we are likely to get an answer from the CCAA as to whether or not they will let us change over, and I'll be able to relax a little more. I won't relax fully until we are actually in China with our new little one fully adopted - then I might believe it will happen!!!

Sales Shopping - finally!!

I'm way behind the game and the shops have been pretty much picked over (Next was a complete waste of time, but I'm not going shopping at 5am for anyone EVEN Next!!) but I had loads of fun anyway. Me and my friend went to a nearish outlet shopping centre and for a change most of the shopping I bought was for ME!!! Although I did wind Little Prince up by getting him a set of layered tops from Next (not in the sale) he hates going in Next and wasn't impressed that he got clothes either lol. The tops looked great on him, when I finally persuaded him to try them on :-) I bought myself a couple of pairs of boots, a couple of tops, a lovely wrap over cardigan and some new jammies. I was very good for my lunch with a jacket potato and baked beans, but succumbed to the lure of a white chocolate cookie for a snack later on :-) All in all it was a very enjoyable day :-)

Mr Messy worked from home, as we were having our Chav TV delivered today, so he looked after Little Prince and Drama Teen who aren't back at school till tomorrow. The Chav TV is now all installed and working, and the house is vibrating with the noise pumping out of the surround sound system!!!

And while we were out I was chatting to my friend and we got round to the subject of swimming lessons. It turns out she is friends with the swimming teacher that I've been trying to get hold of, she rang the teacher up and Little Prince starts his lessons on Wednesday evening with his Girlfriend from school (friend I was shopping with is Girlfriend's mum). I haven't told him yet as he was already overly excited about the Chav TV - what is it about boys/men and giant TV screens?!?!?!

Back Home Again

Me and Little Prince took Fraulein and her friend to the airport, to see friend off on her trip home. I borrowed my best friend's GPS so had no trouble finding the airport (my major worry) I'm just tired after all that driving (4 hours). Fraulein found it a lot harder than she thought saying goodbye to her friend, and there were a lot of tears. Hopefully she will now get an early night as she is back at college tomorrow, so has to be up very early. She also has the first of her mock exams on Wednesday, and I don't think she has done much (any??) preparation for it!! At least its only her mocks!!

The best bit though, is that Drama Teen is HOME :-) She had a fabulous time skiing and is now a VERY GOOD SKIER :-) She said there was a lot of snow, and she went on one slope that was very steep and fast, and that she made herself fall over as she was scared. She said it took a little while to get the hang of it, and that her bum is covered in bruises (!!!) but she really enjoyed it :-)

Diets!!!

I've decided that as I'm 40 this year (EEEEEEK!!!!!) that this is my LAST diet. I either get slim this time, and stay slim - the harder part lol, or I will learn to be comfortable in my non-size 10 body. I have signed up for a sponsored slim on the UK Chinese adoption site, with a target of losing 40lbs - and sponsoring a pound per pound. Hopefully by announcing this 'publically' I will actually stick to this and lose the weight. I've got a wardrobe of lovely size 10 clothes that are laughing at me at the moment and I want to wear them again :-) I also want to be able to look at the pictures we take in China (could be the end of this year if our switch to SNs works out) and not cringe at my size :-) And I want to be healthy and happy in myself :-)

Sunday's stuff

Little Prince surpassed himself by waking up (and shouting for mummy!!) at FIVE AM!!!! I persuaded him it was still the middle of the night and managed another hour before he demanded to get up at 6am. He came in bed with me for a snoozy snuggle, before disappearing off downstairs at 7am ish. He watched tv and played with his toys, with only occassional visits to check if I was getting up yet!! I finally gave in when Mr Messy rang from university town to say that he was just leaving the hotel to go and see Little Miss Sensible for half an hour, before setting off to get Drama Teen. I dream of having a lie in lol.

I found a few more decorations I'd forgotten to pack away, and now the house is completely de-Christmased until later this year lol. And apart from the Christmas tree that is Mr Messy's job to move. Fraulein and her friend got up late morning and went for a short walk round the village, there isn't that much to see lol. I've not really done much apart from showered and tidying up and playing with Little Prince. I've spoken to Little Miss Sensible, who says its strange to be back at university and that her room is cold, she thinks The Boyfriend turned her room heating off, but doesn't know how to turn it back on again lol. Apparently she met her dad wearing her pyjamas under her clothes and went straight back to bed when he'd left - wish I could do that lol. Little Prince spoke to her a bit on the phone too, but didn't want to chat for too long. He has been complaining of a headache all morning, I hope he's not coming down with something else - he is so happy that its almost time to go back to school!!!

Sad Saturday

Little Miss Sensible worked 9am till 2pm, which was a complete bummer as she went back to university yesterday too. So we didn't get to see much of her at all. We had planned for me and her to take Little Prince out for the day, but she'd forgotten she was working. Oh well as a poor student she needs the money, and it does show how responsible she is :-) When she got home from work we did take Little Prince to Toys R Us and let him chose a present (from LMS paid for by me lol). He must have examined every single toy in the whole shop, and rejected them all!! Until he decided he wanted an Aqua Draw :-) He used to have one of those but we had to get rid of it due to a potty training accident!! I'll leave the details to your imagination lol.

I cried lots when we got home and loaded LMS's stuff into the car and waved her and Mr Messy off. Little Prince kept stroking my cheek and saying "I feel like that too" but he didn't actually cry. He was extra huggy and cuddly, which is always nice, usually he is too busy and active for many cuddles. Later on Fraulein and her friend rang up to say they needed picking up from the station, so off me and Little Prince set to get them. By the time we got there (40 min journey) the girls were shivering outside the station, but they had been asked to ring BEFORE they got on the train, not once it had set off as had happened - perhaps they'll listen next time lol?!?! I was not in the mood for cooking so I took them all to McDonalds on the way home. Little Prince wasn't spectacularly well behaved and seemed to be playing up quite a lot more than usual. Once we eventually arrived back home it was his bedtime, so I got him ready and in bed pretty quickly. Fraulein and her friend disappeared off to her room and I was left to take down the Christmas decorations on my own. I hate taking the decorations down, especially on my own, but I always seem to end up doing it!!! At one point (mid job) Fraulein did come down and ask if I knew where Drama Teen's High School Musical DVD was - I didn't unfortunately. Despite it being obvious I was in the middle of a job, she disappeared back upstairs without asking to help - not happy!! I know, I know I should have just asked them to help, but I was in a bad mood and preferred to play the martyr!!! It was 11.30pm ish by the time I'd got all the decorations down and packed back into their cupboard, apart from the (artificial) tree, as I can't get the box upstairs on my own. Mr Messy will put it away when he gets back later on Sunday. Forgot to mention (I think!!) that he is staying over in university town, before setting off on Sunday morning to pick up Drama Teen after her skiing trip.

Thoughts

I've just gone back and rechecked what the China Adoption Forecast website has had to say about when we can expect to receive our referral. In Sept 2007 their best guess was 14th August 2012. I've just run the numbers again today January 2008 and our referral estimate has pushed out to 3rd October 2013. So in FOUR months our referral estimate has gone almost FOURTEEN months longer!!! OMG!!!! That is unreal and very very scary. I feel a total sense of peace about our wish to change to an expedited SN request, but if any of the pieces don't fall into place (SW, LA, DFES, CCAA) then I don't know what we will do. As a family we can't wait that long. I think we will have to reassess where we are in the process in another 12 months and see what we can do. Hopefully, fingers, toes and everything crossed we will have or be very close to receiving our SN expedited referral by then, but if not - who knows?!?!?!

What China Adoption Forecast say for our LID :-(

Our prediction for LID 2007-Aug-16

Our best guess - a weighted average of recent CCAA velocities, guessing that CCAA will perform about as well in the future as they are performing now, but might return to previous trends: 2013-Oct-03

That's our best guess for when you might receive your referral. Just at a guess, we can suppose that the CCAA either speeds up or slows down significantly, and show you those dates. If they speed up: 2010-Oct-07. And if they slow down: 2019-Jan-18.

Today's Stuff

Today was a busy day - see what happens when I get better lol. I had to drop Fraulein (and her friend who is visiting from Germany) off at college this morning for a revision lesson. They were then going to go into town to the local cinema and needed a lift home later. When we got home Little Prince said he didn't feel well and went all shivery and cold, hope he isn't coming down with another bug, he is so desperate to get back to school and see his friends. Got a call from Little Miss Sensible not long after we got in to go and pick her up from The Boyfriend's house, as he was about to set off on his skiing adventure. She seemed subdued, pale and quiet when I picked her up, but hadn't been crying, which I had expected so was quite a surprise. I'm sure the tears will come later!! We got back home and luckily the deliveries I was supposed to be waiting in all day for hadn't arrived (stand for the ginormous Chav TV and various wires and surge protectors for the same TV). A couple of hours later I had to go and pick up the hire car we've got for the weekend, Mr Messy has to go over to LMS's university and drop her off tomorrow and then stay overnight and go straight to Carlisle to pick Drama Teen up from her skiing trip on Sunday and I have to take Fraulein's friend back to the airport on Saturday too. My car, a beaten up old Discovery isn't reliable enough and is way too thirsty to take on long journies, so we've hired a car for the weekend just to make sure we have two reliable cars. I ended up with a Ford C-Max and I'm not impressed, I just touch the brakes and nearly put my head through the steering wheel, and its all adjusted for a midget, I'm not that tall and I can't see the dials through the steering wheel!! I should get the manual out and adjust it all, but it seems a bit too much faffing when the car is going back first thing on Monday!! I've told Mr Messy he can drive it, I'll drive our other car lol. Anyway after picking up the car, I went to the supermarket to get LMS's shopping that she needs for uni, and to kill time till I had to pick Fraulein and friend up. Just as I finished the shopping I got a text from them saying they would get the bus, so I could go straight home. Which meant I got to spend a little bit more time with LMS, before she goes back to uni tomorrow. Its started to really hit me that she is going again, and I keep crying, but don't tell her or she'll get upset too :-( When Mr Messy got home he put together the TV stand and I've just helped him put it in place, he is all excited, but its just a TV stand and I don't really 'get' why its so good!?!?! It must be a boy thing?!?!

We also got an email from our Social Worker saying she will be coming to see us in a few weeks to start redoing our homestudy, and also saying we would need to redo our references. I queried this with her as it sounded a LOT more complicated than the DFES requirements for an addendum and letter of support from the LA, and she has agreed to contact the DFES and find out exactly what they want/need before coming to see us. I just wish that our sw and our LA Team Leader would actually listen to me when I tell them what is required, they both agree that I know more about the process then they do, but then ignore me when I tell them what we need to do and needlessly complicate matters!!! Hopefully the phone call to the DFES (must learn their new acronym!!!) will clear up matters and make it all simpler - fingers crossed!!

Sad Goodbyes

I've just got back from dropping Little Miss Sensible and The Boyfriend off at his house. He is off on a skiing trip with university tomorrow, and when he returns he will be straight back into his studies. So we have had to say goodbye to him tonight. Little Prince was very sad. I'm very sad. And LMS is the saddest of all. She will now spend all evening/night (she is staying over) arguing and nitpicking at The Boyfriend because she is cross and very sad that he is going (and leaving her). Hopefully he will be patient and kind with her and they won't fall out too badly.
Have a good skiing trip The Boyfriend - you will be missed xxxx

Yes its another catch up post!!

Today is the first time I've felt well since I got sick before Christmas!! Whatever that bug was it really knocked me for six!!! So here is yet another quick catch up post!!
Christmas Day - Little Prince woke us up just after 8am (wow!!!) thought it would be MUCH earlier than that lol. We had hyped him up the night before looking at the NORAD Track Santa website - he loved it :-) The kids all opened their stocking pressies downstairs, while we waited for Mr Messy to get up (he was very very tired). Once they'd opened them, and had breakfast we went to the lounge for the rest of the pressies. We spent most of the morning opening them - we take turns so we can all ooh and aah over each pressie. Little Prince was impressed with everything he got, but his mega mostest fave pressie was Yellow Power Ranger and he spent the rest of the day playing with it :-) Drama Teen was as impressed with her snazzy new mobile phone as with her Playdoh Octopus and Moonsand (yes she did ask for all those things!!!). Little Miss Sensible loved her colouring books (yes she did ask for them!!!) and Fraulein cried when she saw we'd got her an iPod Nano!! We didn't see The Boyfriend that day, but he did complain that it was embarassing to get SO many pressies, and his pile had been larger than the rest of his family's put together - whoops!!
Boxing Day - We went over to Wales for our neice's 11th birthday party. It was lovely to see everyone and catch up on what they've been up to. Its a pity we only get to see some family members at Christmas and birthdays.
Thursday - No idea I can't remember what happened!!!
Friday - As above!!!!
Saturday - Mr Messy and Drama Teen went to his mother's house and picked up Niece to take her shopping for her birthday (Boxing Day). She had told her mum earlier in the month that she was a bit fed up that her brother gets a big fuss for his birthday and her birthday gets swallowed up in Christmas. With all the sales on they had a great time, even Mr Messy!!!
Sunday - Friend's and their four kids (aged 10-16 years) came over to visit. So the house was full, noisy and a bit manic. Loads of fun though :-) Five mins after the friends left, and I was on the phone to a different friend, Drama Teen came running down the stairs yelling "They've crashed, they've crashed!!" They had apparently skidded on some mud or ice on the way out of the village and come off the road into the drainage ditch. LMS rang Mr Messy, who'd gone to fix a friend's computer and I set off to see if there was anything I could do. Luckily when I got there everyone was ok, apart from the youngest who was crying as she'd banged her head. I loaded them all into my car and brought them back to our house. Dosed the little girl with Calpol and put Shrek III on the DVD - they were all a bit shaken even though they weren't hurt, Shrek seemed like a good idea - cheer them all up and distract them a bit!! Rang a farmer friend to see if he could use his tractor to pull them out (he tried but couldn't find anywhere to tie tow ropes to so couldn't help in the end - but what a star for trying THANK YOU farmer friend). Then I went back out to their Dad who had stayed with the car, taking torches, cans of coke and thick coats. Returned home via the shop (for more coke supplies!!) and made all the kids eat something. The AA eventually arrived and towed the car out of the ditch, checked it over and pronounced it safe to drive. The ONLY damage was a light array that had popped slightly out of place!! Talk about Christmas miracles :-) I think all the fuss and palaver was too much for Niece who cried and was quite upset at bedtime, poor little mite.
New Year's Eve - I took LMS, Drama Teen and Niece to see Enchanted. Although the older girls had seen the film just before Christmas (I'd been too ill to go with them) they were happy to see it again. It was a lot of fun, just the right mix of Disney hokum and a spoof :-) Can't remember doing much else lol. Probably as I went to bed at about 8pm - still not 100% better lol. LMS went to a party at The Boyfriend's house and Fraulein went to a different party at her friend's house.
New Year's Day - The plan was for me to return Niece to Mr Messy's mum's house (who would then take her the rest of the way to Wales), and then visit my own parents, who I haven't seen for ages as they've been in Australia. Trouble was that LMS didn't get back from The Boyfriend's house (with the car) until almost lunchtime, by which time Mr Messy's mum had decided she had waited long enough and set off for Wales!! This meant that, despite all our own plans and things to do, that Mr Messy had to drive all the way to Wales to drop Niece off, over a 6 hour round trip!! Not a fabulous start to the New Year really!! He took Drama Teen with him to keep Niece company, which meant that she couldn't get on with her packing for her CLAPA Ski trip (tomorrow!!!). While they were out me and LMS emptied the huge cupboards in the lounge, ready for Mr Messy and The Boyfriend to move them around when Mr Messy got home, ready for the deliver of our Chavtastic 50" LCD TV!!! Despite being dog tired Mr Messy and The Boyfriend managed to move all the furniture round. Little Prince now has THE most expensive toy box in the world - the walnut cabinet we had custom made as a TV/display cabinet (that doesn't fit a widescreen TV!!) is now piled up with his jigsaws/train sets/lego!!! I supervised Drama Teen's packing and we even managed to get it all in the suitcase - do you know how much stuff a teen NEEDS to take on holiday with her?!?!
Wednesday - Me, Mr Messy and Drama Teen got up at 6am to take her North to meet up with the coach taking her on her skiing trip. We got to Carlisle in plenty of time, which was good as we had to hunt round for a parking space and ended up parked ages away from the meeting point. She was very happy to see all her friends and happily went off with them on the coach. Hopefully they will have some snow, as they are going as far North as Aviemore there is a pretty good chance I think :-) Trouble is I won't find out till she gets back as there is a 'technology ban' so I had to get her iPod and mobile back out of her bag and bring them home with me!! Sneaky little moo!!! She did admit she'd tried to smuggle her technology as soon as I asked and said she'd decided there was no point lying she'd just own up if asked.
Thursday - Not much happened today. Went to the supermarket to restock the cupboards that were getting a tad bare!! Especially after the invasion (and re-invasion) by our friends and their four ravenous kids :-) Got a phone call while I was out from one of my friends asking if I'd like to meet up for a coffee and chat, and jumped at the chance - sorry LMS (who was looking after Little Prince AGAIN!!). It was lovely to catch up with K, who has also been ill over Christmas so we hadn't really been up to much either of us lol.

Well there it is - caught up again. I'm going to carry on working on catching up with all my backlogged emails so hopefully you'll hear from me soon :-)