Sorry Mum Domestic Goddess is not Genetic!!

Ever since I can remember my mum has had a `thing' about tidying up, my toys would all be placed neatly in a toy box, and if anything stood still long enough it would get hoovered or polished!!
Unfortunately the clean freak streak has not been passed down to my sister and I, much to my mum's disappointment - you know `the look' when she walks in and surveys the chaos shakes her head and says "Oh Amanda!" (Yes she even uses my Sunday name!)

Don't get me wrong, my house isn't dirty, just messy, well it does have six children living in it....

No sooner have I hoovered the lounge, then the children decide to get out something messy such as Art and Craft, I am not going to stop them doing it, but Oh how I wish it would clear itself away!!

My washing machine and tumble drier are permanently on, and the ironing pile can sometimes resemble Mount Everest, the only thing that saves me with this one is that I find Ironing relaxing and I have a HUGE Steam Geberator Iron, which means I don't have to keep refilling the water every three items...

I am currently running a Natural and Clean Competition and there are some fab tips written by my followers here obviously some people enjoy cleaning, or at least have some good tips that I may well use.

Over the past fourteen years of having children I have learnt that there isn't that much point trying to keep everything immaculate because it just is impossible.

However, there are certain things that I have found invaluable.

~ A Big Box - When there is mess or little toys lying around I scoop them all up into a box and then find their homes as I go around the house, it also makes the house look tidier!!

~ Hoover when the children have gone to bed, that way there is no chance of them making a mess until at least the next morning.

~ Always have a large supply of teabags! If it all gets too much, sit down and have a cup of tea/cofee guaranteed to make you feel less stressed and ready to tackle the next onslaught!

~ Don't offer to wash the entire Men's Rugby Kit, it may seem like a nice gesture but you WILL get it nearly every week!!

~ If you have a large family like me, then consider hiring your washing machine, I have been through so many washing machines, that I have given up and now pay £15 per month, safe in the knowledge that if something goes wrong with it, they will either repair in 24 hours or replace it, meaning I will never again have my entire bathroom taken over by dirty clothes (this happened the last time the washing machine broke and we were without for 10 days- it wasn't pretty!)

~ Pretend that housework is part of a game, and get the younger ones to join in... Unfortunately Eowyn put so much water on the floor, I then had to admit defeat and mop the kitchen!!

And finally....

~ Invite your Clean Freak mum around every so often to babysit for the grandchildren, knowing full well that when they have goone to bed she will give the downstairs a nice big clean !! THANKS MUM <3

Chick Update

Well, it is 9 days since I put 18 eggs into our incubator, we have candled the eggs and have 8 little wrigglers!

So from 18 eggs that have been through the Royal Mail system I am very happy, so are the children.

We did have a slight problem, I had put the eggs in the incubator on their sides and could only just get them in, but the incubator was advertised as a 24 egg incubator, so I turned to the source of all knowledge - Youtube!!

It turns out I had put them in wrong, this actual incubator stores the eggs upright, with the pointy end down, and with the design of the incubator, you can just turn it on its side, which will turn the eggs for you, instead of me having to turn them by hand every four hours!! It isn't a problem the way I have put them in, but it is quite time consuming turning them all...

I contacted the lady we had got the eggs from to tell her we had some fertilised eggs and she offered me a fantastic deal on some more eggs, so we made the decision to transfer the 8 eggs to a smaller incubator, that does store them on their sides and put the other eggs into the large 24 egg incubator.

So, this Wednesday evening, exactly one week after the other eggs were put in, we have set 24 Orpington eggs in the incubator-pointy end down and I now just rock the entire incubator one way or the other every four hours.

I will report back in a week, how many of the 24 eggs we have fertilised.

If, obviously I am now a super egg hatcher we could end up with a total of 32 chicks, its a good job the children are on school holidays to help me take care of our new babies, especially as the two hatches will be a week apart, we will need to supervise them and ensure the bigger ones don't intimidate the little ones, I envisage a school playground scene!

The eggs that we have chosen are all Orpingtons, but a mix of different coloured ones, all running together, so I cannot wait to see what amazing colours we achieve.

Feeling Broody ?

No, it's not me, in fact it isn't anyone, much to the children's disappointment, the chickens that is, not mum!
Two years ago we had a very broody hen, so we decided to try and hatch some eggs, however for one reason and another, none of them hatched and our poor chicken became quite poorly, so I declared that we would NEVER try again because it was far too distressing.
However the children have managed to talk me round, but not with  a Broody Hen, this time we are going the incubator route...

Last weekend we ordered a Brinsea Octagon Eco 20 incubator and found a lovely lady on Ebay selling a mix of Orpington eggs, this is our favourite breed of chicken as they are big and fluffy and will tolerate all six of our children!!

On Wednesday evening we placed 18 Orpington Eggs into our incubator.....

We have made a chart to remind us when to turn them, which we are doing five times per day. My calculations mean that if we have a successful hatch they will appear on 3rd April, whilst the children are on their school Easter Holidays, I shall keep you informed on our progress.


If anyone has hatched chicks successfully and you have any tips, please feel free to comment, fingers crossed for some little chicks xxx

 

No More Holidays In Term Time!

It was announced last week that the Government are intending to ban parents from taking their children out of school for family holidays, during term time.

I will put my hand up and admit I take my children out of school for family holidays, and really do not see a problem with it, we only ever take a week, mainly due to the fact that my husband actually works in tourism, so he is very busy trying to encourage people to holiday on the lovely East Coast of Britain.

This is our first problem, we usually take our holidays February/March or November, because these are the least busy times for my husband and we are not a family that enjoys big crowds of people!  Some might call it unsociable...

I agree that some parents do take liberties, I think that taking a child out of school five or six times per year to go on holiday will be detrimental to their learning, and I know that it is hard for headteachers when Oftsed inspectors question their attendance rates, but we are not all the same and I would argue with anyone, that our holidays are just as educational for the children, as sitting in a classroom.

Our last holiday we took the children to Wales, whilst there we saw Dolphns, we took them rockpoolong and they caught various creatures, they went to a castle and had a fantastic time, not to mention the growing bond between all of the children and a brilliant, stress free week with both of their parents.

We do not take many trips abroad now, due to the logistical nightmare of six children and planes, hotels etc. However we did take four of the children to Disneyland Paris, travelling by car and boat, and I definitely think they got lots out of the trip, visiting French Supermarkets and tasting different foods, not to mention the sheer delight of all the Disney characters!! We took them on 9th december (I remember because it is my mums and Asa's dads birthday) for four nights, the only thing that they were doing at school was practising for their Christmas performances, therefore I would argue that their five days spent travelling to France taught them more than they would have learnt in their classes.

Even holidays in England, taken during school holidays increase by a minimum of £300, which I would rather use as spending money on a trip taken during term time.

What do you think ?

Cloth Bum....Here We Come

Tyrus before the swap...

One of my New Years Resolutions was to try and save money and to help the environment a little more, so I have begun by ensuring I tie my food shopping trip in with a school journey, therefore one less car journey each week (who am I kidding, probably three a week!) I did consider stopping the children eating - that would save me a fortune, but they didn't seem to like the idea !!!

Another was to consider changing Tyrus into reusable/cloth nappies. Each of the other children have always been in disposables, and thinking back I really have no idea why I didn't consider reusable nappies before.

Since starting this blog and being in touch with many different mums and baby outlets, I have begun to look into the change, Tyrus also seems to have quite sensistive skin and the edge of the nappies always look uncomfortable, although that could just be his rather chunky little legs!!

After getting lots of advice, I have purchased a number of different preloved ones, so that we can give them each a try and see which ones we like the best, so fingers crossed that it will all work out!!

Along with the nappies I have decided to make the switch to reusable wipes, my washing machine is permanently on, so it makes sense to just include the wipes in with the daily wash, and there are so many cute wipes out there, it seems a shame not to use them, I always find the scented wipes too harsh for Tyrus and the unscented really smell of nothing!!

So please join us on this new journey, if you have any tips or advice, please leave me a comment xxx

Happy New Year at last !

At last my internet seems to be staying connected for more than ten minutes!
I guess you don't realise how much you need something until its missing, as in the case of the internet!
We have been without for a little over two weeks on and off, some days it would work, others absolutely nothing.
It seems to have sorted itself out-I hope.

So I would just like to wish all my blog followers a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR and I hope 2012 is going to be a great year xxx

New Years Eve for us was very enjoyable, we seem to have settled into a pattern of staying home with the children, playing lots of games and having a little party type buffet, which they all love.

I am not one for going out without the children on New Years Eve and there aren't really many places around our area that you can take children, so this shall be our standard New Year, at least for the next couple of years until the older children decide to go out partying!!

Christmas with The Morrisons....

Christmas in the Morrison household is quite a busy affair, with six children there is a lot of noise, chaos, fun and enjoyment.

I was very lucky this year, because Asa was able to have the entire Christmas Break off from work, which enabled us to get ready for Christmas in a sort of calm manner!!

The wrapping took me approximately 36 hours in total, over a period of four days, next year I shall attempt to wrap as I buy, but I am sure that won't happen!!


A tradition in our house is to go out for a walk on Christmas Eve, the children get some fresh air and I like to think it helps them go to sleep quicker at night!!



After a few attempts at balancing the camera on the flask of Hot Chocolate, we managed a photo of the whole family, which doesn't happen very often! We had a lovely walk to the Roman Fort at Burgh Castle.
Christmas Eve, the children put out a Mince Pie and a glass of Milk for Santa and a Carrot for the Reindeer, they also sprinkled Reindeer dust on the patio so that they would know where to land.

I think they all eventually fell asleep at midnight, except for the eldest Xene, who was still awake when we went to bed at 2am...

Christmas morning arrived and I was amazed that they all slept in until 8, which was lovely because it meant no grumpiness later in the day due to tiredness.

Our three year old Eowyn arrived in our bed at 8am, and just climbed in-she had forgotten what day it was and just snuggled down for a little rest, with the help of her elder siblings, she suddenly remembered that she had put one of daddy's rugby socks on the end of her bed last night and maybe she should check if it was still there...

She was overjoyed to find, that, not only was it on the end of her bed, but it wasn't empty. Kaide was also just as impressed with what he found....

All six children came and opened their stockings, well I say six, the other five gave Tyrus a helping hand!!

Once our bedroom had been filled with lots of wrapping paper and various stocking items, the children were eager to go downstairs and see what Father Christmas had left.

Every year we take a photo of the children at the bottom of the staircase, and every few years, another child has been added, it was quite a poignant moment, as I am pretty sure this will be the last Christmas we see a new addition to the family.

First stop downstairs is always their playroom, I have made a Stocking for each of them over the years, and they get hung on the fireplace, they are usually filled with slightly larger presents that won't fit in the Rugby socks...

And Finally, into the lounge....

We finally finished opening presents about 10.30am, everyone was extremely pleased with their gifts and they all received what they had asked Father Christmas for.

Next was the job of getting Christmas Dinner ready for eighteen, which included eight of us, both sets of parents, my sister and her husband, and Asa's sister, partner and our two nieces.

Dinner was being eaten at 3pm, all guests arrived at 2.30pm, leaving just enough time to exchange gifts, and serve the food.

All was looking to be on schedule and the table was filled with Christmas Food, when I suddenly remembered the Cheesecake and Pavlova were still sitting patiently in the freezer waiting to be defrosted!!! (Oh well I can't remember EVERYTHING!)

Despite my efforts to convince everyone frozen Pavlova and Cheesecake were a new trend, everything else went very well and I think everyone left about 7pm happy and full....

I had thought that with such a busy day, the children would go to bed early, leaving Asa and I to enjoy a peaceful evening, but I think the last child eventually gave in at 11.30pm, oh well i'm sure Asa and I will get an evening to ourselves one day, far, far in the future....

Wishing Everyone a Very Happy 2012 xxx

Preschool Visit for Eowyn aged three !

Eowyn celebrated her third birthday last Monday, so we have reached that time in her life when she is going to start preschool. Today was her first visit......

All of my children have attended the same preschool, and it did seem strange entering the building for my fifth child to start, although I have to say, not a lot has changed over the years.

We got off to a good start, whilst we were waiting to go in, Eowyn suddenly had THAT look and said "Mummy I need a wee" luckily we were able to sneak in and use the toilet, otherwise that could have been disasterous!

We were allowed in at 9.15am and the first thing that Eowyn headed for was the Painting Table !

Which made me smile, as I have fond memories of Neva ( now aged eight) doing exactly this each morning that I used to drop her off for Preschool.

Five very soggy paintings later and she moved onto the Christmas Craft table, which consisted of lots of Stickers, Glue and Glitter.....

I am obviously THE worst mother in the world, because the look of glee on my daughters face, when she discovered the Glitter, made me realise that I obviously have never got the Glitter Box out at home....

Eowyn decorated a lovely Christmas Tree Card and made a stocking, FULL of glitter, in fact Tyrus is still sparkling three hours later, it really does get EVERYWHERE.

Next it was time to decorate the Real Christmas Tree, which was the funniest thing to watch, nine children aged 3 and 4 completely covering the first foot of the Christmas Tree with baubles, tinsel and beads, with the rest of the tree completely empty! The adults discretely moved some of the sparkle higher up the tree, and it looked wonderful.

It was then time for snack, we had chosen the right day to visit as it was a little boy's birthday, which meant we had cake!!

Eowyn then decided to play dress up, she looked very cute in a Pink Princess Dress and continued to wear this until the end of the session.

We did some puzzles, read a couple of books and surprisingly, helped to tidy up, which was amazing as she never seems to have that ability at home, I hope she brings that one home with her!

Finally, we took part in their rehearsal for the Christmas Concert, singing such wonderful songs as When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney and Jingle Bells.

All of my children have reacted very differently to attending Preschool, some were keen, others, not so, but I have a feeling Eowyn is going to be the easiest to adjust, but I guess we will just have to wait and see when she officially starts two mornings per week in January!

Never Can Say Goodbye!

Don't worry, I am not talking about the Jackson Five/ Communards Song, and I have no intention of singing...

It's about my inability to say goodbye to my husband. I don't mean each day that he goes to work, or Rugby, but any other time.
He has gone to a conference in Bridlington today, which means an overnight stop, and I HATE it!
He only goes away a maximum of three times a year, but I have been like it ever since he started doing it ten years ago...
Not the actual being away or coping with the six children, but its the actual giving him a hug and a kiss before he leaves, it reduces me to tears everytime, from about 24 hours before he leaves I feel sick, when I think about it, as soon as he goes to hug me prior to leaving the house I become a blubbering mess,once he has gone and I am back looking after the children, its not a problem...
I take my hat off to all of those couples whose other half works away, I just couldn't do it....
So, am I a freak of nature or does anyone else have the same problem ?

Options - Not the Chocolate Drink!

Xene as Luna Lovegood- Not her usual School attire!

Xene is approaching that age where she has to decide which GCSE options she is going to take, and that is quite a scary thought, she said to me yesterday, but what if I choose the wrong ones!
Which made me think about my own career path and would I have chosen differently if I could turn back the clock....
I definitely remember exams playing a big part in my choices-I was never very good under pressure, so anything that involved continuous assessment, or coursework (as we called it then!) was a big bonus.
Hence I chose Business and Information Studies, Integrated Humanities and Information Technology-all with no final exam.
I had a love for languages, but favoured German, which also meant two trips to Germany as part of the course!
The mandatory English, Maths and Science, which left one choice, so I went for Childcare!

And now, twenty years later, I think I made the right choices....

So how can I ensure that Xene does the same and decides correctly ?

At present she is unsure which career profession she would like to undertake, therefore, she will need to have a broad subject range, but at the same time I would rather she enjoyed her lessons and didn't look at her timetable and say YUCK!!

And so the search for the perfect balance of career, happiness and the desire to go to school begins...
Follow us on this journey and any suggestions or tips from mums who have already done it would be welcome, as this is a first for me, although by the time Tyrus is chossing I shall be an expert...I hope x

School Photo Day!

A few weeks ago we got `the letter' telling us that 2nd November would be individual and family photographs at school from 8.50am.

Now for those of you that have got children at school, this may not be a problem, but for our household it causes somewhat of a nightmare. 

Xene, now aged thirteen has been doing school photographs for eight years and is a pro, however since she began school, I have always had a younger sibling to take along.....

Throughout the years, and the ever increasing family we have had various scenarios that always make this day very entertaining!

I have given up trying to comb their hair into some kind of style, because my children being neat and tidy just looks wrong! 

One year Lochlan toddler, flatly refused to have his photo taken, and no amount of bribery would work, in the time that we had been sat there waiting, he developed a spot on his back, by the time we eventually gave up, this had increased to about ten spots-yes you guessed it, he chose that day to come out in chicken pox....

One year I had a lovely photo of the three eldest, but no amount of clapping or cheering could wake a baby Kaide, so we decided to have the photo with him fast asleep, very cute, but he was so wrapped up in his little cardigan, you could barely see him!

Two years ago Eowyn, aged one, was fine until the male phorographer came and moved her leg, the resulting photo was two very happy children and one petrified one in the middle!

Last year, Eowyn was going to be very brave and have her photo taken, we were the very last family to have it done and after 20 minutes of coaxing, we eventually settled for a photo of Neva and Kaide without Eowyn...

Xene and Lochlan had their High School photos a couple of weeks ago, and that was painless. 

So today arrived and I calmly got them ready, Neva insisted on having her hair straightened because it was `too puffy' (I think she is getting to that age!) which I had time to do, Eowyn let Neva brush her hair and make the sticky lolly bit disappear! Kaide however was perfectly happy with his bed hair and no amount of water or styling spray would make it like flat, so I admitted defeat and took him with a surfer dude look....Tyrus managed not to throw up all down his outfit for a change, so it was looking fairly positive.

When we entered the hall I did actually find myself crossing my fingers, but I had nothing to fear, Kaide jumped up on the stool like he did it every day, Eowyn still didn't like the man, and insisted that Neva helped her on the stool, facing Kaide, which was fine, Tyrus sat between them both and Neva stood behind them-everyone else had a maximum of two children, so the stool wasn't very big...

He took five photos and I am pretty sure that one of them will be acceptable (I hope)

So for any mummy that feels like me, it may not be as bad as you think.....

Then again, I still have the next three years of younger sibling photos to survive....

I guess the proof will be when I get the photo back xxx

The Start Of It All



This time 15 years ago saw the beginning of the rest of my life...

Asa and I had been working together at the local Leisure Centre behind the bar. Asa had just finished University and I was filling in time until I began my Nurse Training in Jan 1997.

We spent the whole summer working alongside each other as good friends. When the summer season finished Asa left Norfolk and went to explore employment in Surrey. He was all set to leave, and we went out for a goodbye Night Out. It was on this evening that we realised it was more than friendship and I reallly didn't want him to leave. He postponed leaving for another day and we went out properly.

However the next day I wept a teary goodbye as he departed.

The next week was a mixure of letters(I still have them all) and telephone calls (sorry Leisure Centre phone bill).

Being the independent, mad person that I am, I went to the newsagents, picked up a copy of The Lady and set about finding myself a nannying job in Surrey....

One week later I had three interviews and I secured employment,I quit my play area job at the leisure centre, said goodbye to my mum, dad and sister  and began working for a lovely family in Esher, taking care of three boys, aged 18mths to 3 years, a live-in position, working 7am-7pm, leaving me every evening to spend with Asa.

After my three month contract finished, Asa made the decision to move back to Norfolk with me, as I was due to start my Nurse Training.

Fifteen years later, six children, a rabbit and eight chickens and here we are, I wouldn't change a thing xxx

Our Wedding Anniversary xxx

This time ten years ago Asa and I got married. Its hard to believe that ten years later we have four more children!
The wedding itself was lovely, memorable, fun but at times very hard. We made the decision to get married when Lochlan was just 17 months old, he was not yet walking, so Asa carried him to the church in a backpack, followed down the road by his Best man and Five Ushers...
The morning for me whizzed by in a mix of hairderssers, make up and amusing Xene aged 3 at the same time getting her and myself ready.
I am not one for having my photo taken, but I allowed it this once, and in fact I was very relaxed, with no nerves, other than hoping both children would behave in the church.
When the car arrived to take my mum and bridesmaids to the church, my dad and I sat chatting at the house, it is a moment I will always remember.
The car then showed up for us and we drove to the wonderful St Andrews Church in Gorleston-on-Sea. I am not usually known for my time keeping, but on that day I was actually early!
The service was wonderful and my father-in-law kept little Lochie happy with some sweets he had stored in his Top Hat!
After the endless photographs Asa and I travelled to a beautiful park to have some more photos taken, just the two of us.
Then on to the Wedding Reception with very funny speeches, a three course meal and a fantastic five tier wedding cake courtesy of my dad x
The evening reception flew by in no time, the children eventually settled in bed at midnight, leaving Asa and I to party for the remaining one hour.
I love you so very much Asa Morrison and you are truly my soul mate xxx

 

That Will Teach Me !

Lochlan was invited out to Pleasurewood Hills Theme Park on Sunday for one of his best friends birthday. He had vsited there previously this season, so had obtained a discount voucher to gain entry for £12.25.
They had all decided that they would also buy lunch there, because they didn't want to carry a packed lunch around when going on the rides, which was fine. So I gave Lochlan a £20 note with instruction that I would like some change...
When we arrived at the Theme Park his friend's mum very kindly paid for them all to go in as it was her daughter's birthday. I only had the £20 note, so Lochlan was given clear instructions to return with some change.
When I returned home I told Asa what had happened, that he had been left with that amount of money, Asa looked at me and laughed, saying that he would not come home with any money, I said very confidently that of course he would return home with money....
On collecting Lochlan at the end of the day, Asa asked him did he have any money left, which he replied "Yes dad, but I am young, carefree and incapable of taking responsibility for my actions!"
Lochlan had indeed returned with some change, so i technically was correct, apart from he only had £1.36 left...,.

The Final Countdown..

This time in 19 hours four of my six children will be back in Education. Kaide moves into year one, which has a super new classroom built to accommodate the system of 5-11years. Up until two years ago Suffolk Schools still had a Middle School that the children transferred at age 9 until 13. This has now ceased which means that both Xene and Lochlan will begin High School together and Neva's Year 4 are no longer the oldest in the school.

As you can imagine getting six children up and out in the morning is no easy task, so I have decided to write a New School Year Resolution List, how long I can keep them up who knows...

1. Make Packed lunches the night before and put in the fridge.

2. Ensure PE Kits are ready Sunday evening-remember to wash them Friday Night

3. Iron shirts/blouses/jumpers/trousers as they come out of the tumble drier to avoid ironing mountain

4. Ask children when they come home from school if they have homework for the next day to avoid bedtime homework panic.

5. As soon as newsletter arrives put dates on calendar- check for said newsletters at the end of each week to avoid disappearing into bookbag black hole!

6. When a letter comes home requiring signing/payment do it immediately DO NOT leave on the side for the gremlins to eat it.(the invisible ones that take everything not referring to my children!)

7. Check every week that their shoes and trainers still fit and are not falling apart...

8. Ensure EVERYTHING is labelled.

9. Get up when the alarm goes off, DO NOT hit the snooze button.

10. Discuss with opinionated toddler about what she is going to wear the next day and put out on chair to avoid full scale tantrum at 7am

11. Put out bowls, spoons and cereal choices on the table so they can help themselves.

12. Attempt to give instructions in a calm and quiet manner (I can try!)

13. Do not allow the television or games consoles to be switched on under any circumstances. 

14. Read younger children's reading books with them, BUT remember to write that you have in their reading records.

15. Sign homework diaries for the older children to avoid encouraging signature forgeries. (so glad my surname was Lee as a child!)

16. Ensure older children's ties are tied correctly. 

I Mandi Jane Morrison shall try to  achieve these New School Year resolutions for at long as is possible, maybe I will reflect on these in a month and see if I am still sticking to any!

If you have any more please feel free to add in the comments box xxx

Only Two Days Left ...

Oh my blog, how I have missed thee...

This week has been a family week, Asa has had a weeks holiday, so we have visited a theme park, had family over and finally climbed onto the top of the washing mountain and defeated it...

The four big ones return to school on Wednesday, which is a little sad, crazy I hear some of you say, but Yes I do enjoy having them all at home. The thought of the dreaded alarm clock and four packed lunches does nothing to excite me.

However I will be able to write up some wonderful products that we have reviewed over the summer and I can research all of the activities going on in and around Great Yarmouth and Waveney and list them on my local neighbourhood at Made For Mums.

So I shall say goodnight and speak to you soon xxx

We Saw The Dolphins!

We have just returned from a lovely week in Wales, staying in a fairly remote cottage between New Quay and Aberystwyth, it was very quiet with no phone or internet signal, which was surprisingly quite nice, although attempting to make a phonecall whilst Asa was driving along little narrow roads in our family bus was quite entertaining!
We had stayed in New Quay eight years ago and we were amazed by the dolphins just swimming around the harbour, we had promised to take the children again, so eight years later and three more children we did!
I do feel that I have to publicly apologise to my children as I was not the most happy mummy on our holiday, mainly due to sleep deprivation, a little to do with feeling ill with swollen glands and quite a lot to do with the constant scrutinisation of other people. I did feel like getting a T-Shirt made saying Yes I have Six Children, Yes it was our choice to have a large family, No I do not live on benefits and Yes my husband works very hard in a fairly well paid job....
I'm sure people don't mean to stare, but I constantly felt like I had to ensure the children were on their best behaviour at all times, which of course is ridiculous, but it was just how I was made to feel. I would like to add that they were in fact brilliant and did behave themselves.
so A BIG FAT SORRY for not being funny mummy and more like moody mummy! But I can't be chilled and relaxed every day of the year xxx
Anyway, we went out on a lovely boat trip for just an hour, reasonably priced and very pleasant, we did of course see the dolphins, but by the time we had ended our trip they were swimming happily in the harbour so as Xene pointed out we could have just stood and watched without going on the boat!
The entire week consisted of going to different beaches and doing the children's new found favourite pasttime Rock Pooling, they caught numerous crabs of varying size, shrimps, fish and the Beach Hoppers proved entertaining hopping all over the beach, although I have to admit to one crab disaster, I had only taken my eye off the bucket for a second to look closely and realsie that the bigger crab had in fact eaten the smaller crab and it was not hiding underneath as I had promised the younger children! Obviously crabs do not all live happily together...
Now we are back home and working our way through a mountain of washing thinking that the school holidays are passing far too quickly and I do not want the children to go back to school.

What I Dream Of Owning the Most ....

I have been tagged by the lovely mymummyspennies to share what I dream of owning the most and here it is

A Farm Park, combining my love of children and animals, I dream of owning a place that families can come and spend the day with the animals stroking and feeding the animals and handling them, lambs, goats, rabbits, pigs, chickens and maybe a couple of ponies.

We are fortunate to live in a quite rural village and have eight chickens, although I keep trying to persuade my husband that we could have some more! When I was a teenager I used to own a horse, and my love for them has never faded.

How this will happen I can only imagine, but everyone has to have a dream, and that is mine.

I'm tagging  bubbaloves, Here Comes Trouble and BusyMumof3 to share what they dream of owning the most and link back to The Wonderful Adventures of Spud & Spike!

Six Children Already, What's Another Six !

Last night Xene the Teen had a sleepover, originally it was supposed to be nine of them including Xene, but two were unable to make it, so just six extra bodies.

Usually when Xene has a sleepover it is about four or five friends, which means they can sleep in our playroom, but I thought that nine teenage girls, with half of them bigger than me, would never fit in the playroom, so we decided that the sleepover would take place outside in the tent!

They began arriving at 7, just in time for the heavens to open...luckily they didn't get too wet, they put all their belongings in the tent and came back in to watch Vampires Suck, with three large bags of crisps, two bags of popcorn and a couple of bottles of fizzy drink (apparently it keeps them awake all night!)

I pumped up a few airbeds for those sensible enough to bring them and they took them out to the tent, two minutes later they were back followed by screams and shrieks-the canopy had been left open and had gathered a large pool of water on it, which ended up on the airbeds and the inner compartment, so numerous towels later and a whole Sunday Telegraph and the floor was dried!

I have to admit to the best nights sleep on a sleepover ever, usually I am still kept awake til 4am with the noise, but this time I heard nothing, so much so that apparently Xene came in during the night and asked if they could watch the rest of the film and I said "Yes, just be quiet" I have no recollection of this whatsoever...

I came downstairs at 8am to find seven very bleary eyed teenagers, made some cups of tea and got breakfast for those that wanted it and the rest of the morning passed very peacefully, I will definitely be doing that again!

Help Disney Junior Support Great Ormond Street Hospital

Help Disney Junior support Great Ormond Street Hospital

Help be one in a million by sharing your first Disney memory on Disney Junior's Facebook page here

Once 1 Million Disney memories have been shared Disney Junior will donate £1 million to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital (GOSH).
So please help by speading the word for this fantastic cause by sharing your first Disney memory and then Disney can do their magic once again and support such a fantastic Hospital.

Great Ormond Street Hospital is a fantastic place, no child wants to be in hospital but as we all know this is sometimes inevitable and GOSH do a fantastic job of not only caring so brilliantly for poorly children but make it feel like a home from home while you are there. A close friend of mine has been a nurse at GOSH and they do a wonderful job.

I have donated my memory - Going to see Snow White with my dad, I can remember sitting right at the front of the cinema and hiding behind him when the wicked queen turned into the old woman, I was scared, but had to keep looking, I still love Snow White now.

Please head over to Disney Junior’s Facebook page and donate your Disney memory too, I would love to see them reach 1 million memories very quickly.

Well done Disney this is a brilliant thing to do!! I hope you reach your goal.

To help spread the word I was tagged by mymummyspennies and Busymumof3so I am tagging 3 mummy bloggers and hope they will share this with their followers too:

Wonnablogger

Mummy Vs Work

Emma and 3

Keep this going and spread the Disney love.

If you would like to donate to GOSH you can do so directly here.