argh.

i still can't upload my pics. i'm annoyed. they're cute (in my not so humble opinion!) oh, i have Flickr... i think. maybe i'll try from there.

Sainsburys quality of food is naff. i bought kids pita from there weds. it's sunday. use by Feb 20. today (jan 27) it's moldy- in an UNOPENED packet. and i have to throw fruit/veg away like 2 days after i've bought it. I'm not getting fresh produce from there any more. they never seem to have our goats milk anyway!

The kids carry ons are short a couple bits (think cuddly toy and couple nappies) and their suitcases need undies and towels and toothbrushes. mostly last minute bits. I'll get onto DH and mine soon. mind you, i need what clothes i have for the week!

I'm giving up on my weightloss efforts for now. I can't find the motivation to keep it up. I think I'm too excited about Disney! Mind you, I plan on trying to swim at least every other day for 10 lengths! And I will continue my crunches streak I started (i'm on day 16 so far!) 2 things I WILL continue however are to drink my water and make sure I get my 5 a day. I'll also try to keep my calorie intake down to 1500 but not going to be too fussed if it goes to 2000.

At The Wet N Windy Park (2)

or at least. that's waht it was *meant to be.

blogger and ie don't want to let me upload any more pics. and i'm nowhere near my space limits. off to mail and see what's wrong. and maybe try again later (3hrs last night resulted in nothing)

At The Wet N Windy Park (1)

On the See Saw (the dryer end!)


And more See-Saw-ing. With added wind chill!


Beth going for a run


Sian wanting to disobey.


Well, if *WE* can't go on the swings....

cycling and scootering

Sian ready for the off. The pedals are a little stiff for her.

Both girls ready and waiting, why must they always shut their eyes when i snap?!

Just a gorgeous pic of Baby Beth

Cheeky Monkeys Peeking out the Door- Not quite what I wanted, but still cute!

Sian can finally reach the pedals AND pedal on her bike (remember our Ebay bargain from the Summer before last?) Daddy tightened up the seat and adjusted it to fit properly a while back. Then Sian didn't want to ride *right at that minute* so he got grumpy. Well, she's taken to asking to go on her bike in the least suitable weather lately (think strong wind/howling rain). So we took advantage of this chilly but still day to go in the garden and play.

Terminal 5 is

MASSIVE!!!

I'm so not joking when I say we walked round it for over 3hrs on Saturday. Clive and Sian went one way and Beth and I the other.

G/B: LHR-Moscow; Inverness-LHR; LHR-Miami; NY-LHR
C/S: LHR- Moscow; (don't know!); LHR-NY; (don't know)

they got back before us though and met us at arrivals. we had so much fun (and travelled so far in 4hrs LOL) The girls Terrence and Trixi Trunki's got a good run for their money! Although the "horns" on Sian's Terrence seem to be a bit loose, and Trixi, well she doesn't like to be opened! THe signage still needs a little work on it (some is lacking!) and they ran out of "luggage" Goodness knows where they'd got all their suitcases from, but there was loads!
Clive and Sian got to ride the transit, and all four of us went on the Shuttle bus.

We weren't allowed to take pics though (pity, cause I'd have LOVED to get one of the girls riding their trunkis) and the lifts aren't operational yet- like shafts with no lifts in! But they ahve the escalators going and a section of the transit working.

What Kind of Mother Hen are You?

What type of Mother Hen Are You?
by Montessorimom.com: Educational Resource

So, we very excitedly went off to the "Kidzone" Sound and Light Exhibition. It was advertised as an installation that worked on movement and sound (so, if the kids moved, the picture changed, same if they talked/shouted) Let's jsut say I'm glad we didn't have to pay for it. The whole thing appeared to be on a continouus loop- we could see it changing from where we were standing waiting for GrannyJan and Grandad. So much for that experiemnt then. But I did get some pictures and the girls enjoyed jumping around on the light pattern on the floor and shouting trying to get it to work!

(the pics should be here, but i can't edit them without the PC crashing)

Cheese Graters are EVIL

I seem to have grated teh top 5 layers of skin off the knuckle of my thumb. Can I say OOOWWWWWEEEEEE!!! It, of course, bled profusely for a while there. Why do the small cuts n grazes DO that?! I did however get the macaroni cheese done. If there's one meal i can guarentee the whole family will eat it's macaroni cheese. wait, pretty much any pasta, but the macaroni is a favourite in this house.

Domitoes.

That's what they are according to Sian. Who's not bad at the game (well, with a little prompting!) Mind you, I call them Donimoes and always have done! We picked up a Dora the Explorer set for 50p missing ONE peice. Of course, now it's missing two. I wonder if we can get some spares...... guess I'll have to go through the tin and find an address. That reminds me. We need more pens for Doodle Daisy.

Brownie Uniforms.

My sister is starting a Brownie Pack near where she lives (the nearest one previously was a good 30mins walk) and if you know anyone who can donate some second hand uniform, they'd be most greatful.

And the heating/hot water saga continues...

So, a very nice man from teh gas repair company came to fix it. He ahd teh part orderd with teh number and reference from the boiler...

IT DIDN'T FIT!!

Apparently the style of boiler we have is notorious for breaking dwon. Great. Oh and without this part being fixed? We're stuck with water hot enough to scald in literally seconds. Guess I'm still bathing the girls in the baby bath then.

I did ask how much it'd be to get teh oven sorted out (remember the 3hr chicken that was still raw?) Got told it'd be safer and cheaper to replace it. Defintley DON'T try to adjust the thermostat myself (like the landlord said when we told him)

MMM HEEEEAT!

They managed to patch up the boiler. They were *this* close to condemming it though. We need a new memory circuit (Monday, earliest) at best but this is the expensive option. Really, the whole system needs replacing, but it's time consuming.

The poor apprentice that came with the plumber scalded his hand on the hot water... that there's nothing wrong with (temp is set right down cause of kids) so, imagine a grown mans hand lobster red- transfer that onto the delicate skin of a 2yo &4yo, and clive wonders why they yell and cry when the shower does it's "I'm going to heat up now" trick

Must go and freecycle my two unused but pretty sure they still work printers (teh last pc was literally chugging along!) and set up the current one. the details to fix teh jam are in my email, just not got round to it yet. i may end up freecycling the baby stuff, but not too sure as yet, i'd like to get something for it really. i do have a pile of cloth nappies taht i can't ebay though.............

I managed to get an appointement with Val on Tuesday mornign (10.50) so, will my PF go up, down, stick around? I've done the last 2 days of pred and still taking the increased symbicort. not sure wehter to carry on the pred or not. proably will keep teh symbicort increased though.

Tomorrow.

With any luck we'll have heat and hot water again. I counted it up. 5 heatin malfunctions since we moved in .. that's in less than 3yrs. so we need one more by Aug 8th and we'll average 2/yr.

Did a bit more bargain shoppng today. Only trouble being the shorts are too small and teh trousers too big! ah well. the jeans were only £5 and teh shorts £3 each. i WILL fit those shorts btw so I'm not returning them! the bottoms, i'm goig to try and find a smaller pair they're so comfy and a belt won't cut it!

2nd day of a new year and

our heating and hot water has broken AGAIN. The girls have gone to bed in PJs and Jumpers and Socks. I'm seriously considering socks (i don't wear them much as I wear crocs 99.9% of the time) and i have a jumper on.

It could have been fixed TODAY. If the landlord had got back to us with an authorisation code. Instaed, we have to call housing first thimg tomrow and hope to goodness taht someone answers and does something about it before we all freeze.

Happy New Year!

So, 2008 Begins.

This is my year to be a loser, in the best sense of course! My year to meet Mickey Mouse! My year to focus on ME!

The TV stays OFF for a large portion of when teh girls are up (they may watch till 8.45am when we leave the house and then 2hrs later on) If they want to play Wii Games, that comes out of their TV allowance.

Screaming, Hitting, Biting and Pinching are NOT being tolerated by me (now to get DH on board as he shouts just as quickly) Trouble is, the girls are VERY like their father who has a volatile temper and is quick to fisticuffs... he's one of 4 boys.

Fruit, Veg, Water and Excersize are going to become a priority here. Even if the excersize is just walking the 0.7mile to Stay & Play (and the same back, turns into over a mile/day) I'm going to make the effort to stick the sling in a bag and leave the stroller indoors... unless it is absolutley freeeezing! Sian would rather ride if the stroller is there, then it ends up with a big arguement.

We bought new suit cases yesterday. Now we need the room for them! Ebay currently has a whole bunch of trousers that are too big for me (ID: wheezeybouncer) but soon there'll be a moses basket, stand, high chair, bed rails (2), booster chairs (2) and a giant toy on there.