Notes from suburbia

Today is the third anniversary of when we me and The Husband got together.  Exactly three years and one (calendar) month since our first ' accidental" date .  Over the weekend The Husband could be overheard telling The Baby that it seems hard to believe that it has only been three years.  Particulary, he said, given that we got married last year, have become a family of four, and, on top of all that, we've managed to have been on holiday about nineteen times.  Ok, not quite nineteen times but it would be fair to say that we've packed a lot into three years. I sometimes take time to consider what makes the relationship we have so special.  So different from anything I've known before. What makes it feel (most of the time) so easy? What makes it work?  The Husband helped me to pinpoint an answer to this question recently.  On the day of my 40th birthday party at 'Ju's birthday castle" surrounded by my closest of The Friends, all of us d...

In a recent post entitled " The Parenting Dilema " I said this:- "I found I surprised myself by selecting a Primary Church School for The Eight Year Old to attend despite us having no faith. Put simply, the school was the best that we visited before making our choice. It just felt like the right place for my son to be. And so, regardless of my previous thoughts about where he would begin his formal education, he now happily attends a Catholic School." In response, one of the friends left this comment:- "Interesting that you chose a catholic school, despite having 'no faith'. Were there any good secular schools available? I find the ever-increasing take-over of English schools by church organisations absolutely abhorrent. As The Husband will be able to confirm, we (The Friend and his partner) take our atheism and secularism very seriously. we would be very uncomfortable sending our child to a religious school, but may have little choi...

In my  regular link-up with Mummy, Daddy, and Me Makes Three blog , here's my round-up of the week... Sunday - Harry Potter party time !  The kids were due to arrive at 3.30pm and so we had a frantic morning preparing and trying hard not to panic!  Reinforcements in the form of the (UK) Sister-in-law arrived at midday and we continued getting ready.  At 2pm I was still frantically icing the cake!!  Despite the chaos, all went very well. The Eight Year Old had a great time surrounded by his school pals.  After all the kids had left we collapsed in a shattered heap!  It was good fun, I'm glad we did it, but I'm also really pleased we're unlikely to be having another party on this scale for another year or so now! Monday - "It was the best party I've ever been to" said one of the kids (who came to the Harry Potter party) to The Eight Year Old at school. I hate to admit it but there was a definite feeling of smug competitive paren...

There is really no contest today as to who or what is fabulous on this fine Friday. One of The Friends has a special birthday today...she is 40!  You know who you are lady :-)  The pre-birthday 'fancy lunch' shared by me and my friend yesterday.  This very dear friend of mine is my longest standing friend. We met on our first day at secondary school when we were eleven years old.  We have been through thick and thin together.  From giggling like loons during maths lessons to leaving home and starting our first jobs.  Our lives are so entwined now it feels as if we are family. For all intents and purposes we are sisters.  This is heightened by the fact that our Mums are now good friends too and I love to see our children playing together. We have often found ourselves in the most ridiculous and random comical situations. I could share them with you but they probably wouldn't be nearly as funny to anyone else, I guess it's a case of 'y...

The Eight Year Old was doing some homework last night that was about Human Rights.  A great thing for him to be learning about I'm sure you'll agree.  From a list of thirty human rights he was to pick out five, draw a symbol to represent each one and then write a sentance about why that particular human right was important to him.  Quite tricky for an eight year old really but good to get us talking to come up with a suitable respone. So, imagine my surprise when I discovered he was drawing two aliens getting married.  Not sure if this means he's missed the point completely or if he's simply taking it to a new level! ___________________________________________ In other news, me and The Eight Year Old have been busy cake making together. See how we got on by taking a look at our blog Cocoa and Fig by clicking here. __________________________________________ In other, other news...I've just realised that today I've inadvertantly ...

Well, not only have we survived The Eight Year Old's Harry Potter themed birthday party which took place on Sunday afternoon, we actually enjoyed it in the end.  It was a little chaotic in parts but all in all, it went very well!   The Eight Year Old deemed it to be a success with a score of 9 out of 10 - dropping a point only, I think, because he was a bit overwhelmed at times by the enthusiasm and noise of the seven boys who attended.  It has to  be said that a group of boys together can make a LOT of noise!  Two ring leaders in particular ensured that volume levels were kept high.  The four girls who came were quieter but equally enthusiastic.  We would have had just the three girls if the mother of the child who turned up without having responded to our invitation hadn't also decided to use us a  babysitting service for the invited girls younger sister!!!  How cheeky is that?  I still can't get over it - turning up unannou...

We were so busy with the party over the weekend that I forgot to do 'My week that was' in a link up with ' Mummy, Daddy and me makes three' blog it seems that my week was pretty much dominated by food and party planning... Sunday - The (UK) Sister-in-Law came over for a planning session for the up-coming Harry Potter Party for The Eight Year Old (a belated birthday party for his school friends). We drank a lot of tea.  I made pizza dough for the first time - a trial run for the pizza bases I was planning to make for the party - and we enjoyed home made pizzas for dinner. Monday - We awoke to one of those perfect crisp sunshiny frosty winter mornings.   Me and The Baby wrapped up warm and took ourselves out for a walk.  I walked, The Baby chose to snooze in his push chair.  The In-Laws came up on the train from London to visit for the day.  We were joined for dinner by The (UK) Sister-in-Law and her ...

Of all  the characters in Harry Potter, The Eight Year Old wantts to come to his Harry Potter themed birthday party today as Mad Eye Moody... Image from 'news.bbc.co.uk' Image from 'sodahead.com' You +1'd this publicly.  ‑ ‑ <>  The party kicks off at 3.30pm this afternoon. Wish us luck people!

Welcome to week two of Fabulous Friday.  If you've been keeping up with this blogs recent goings on, you will know that since last week, Fridays are now dedicated to someone or something that I am finding to be particularly fabulous that week. This week, sparked off by a chat with The Eight Year Old last night, I give you, on today, Fabulous Friday, my fabulous wedding ring.  The conversation went a little like this... The Eight Year Old - "I like that ring Mummy". Me  - "Thank you Sweet Pea.  I like it too. Very much". The Eight Year Old - "You wear it a lot don't you?". Me -  "Yes Sweetheart, I wear it all the time, I never take it off". The Eight Year Old - "Why do you like wearing it so much?" Me - "Because it reminds me of lots of wonderful things". The Eight Year Old - "Like what?" Me - "Whenever I look at this ring I think about The Husband.  I think about all the things I love a...

Image borrowed from fanswallpapers.blogspot.com I've mentioned previously that at the weekend we are expecting the arrival of fifteen, seven and eight year olds from The Eight Year Olds class, to attend his belated 'Harry Potter themed birthday party'.  Realising we were going to be seriously outnumbered (what were we thinking???) we've been lucky enough to rope in The (UK) Sister-in-Law - the other Sister-In-Law has been excused due to the fact she lives in the US...and no, she didn't just move there to escape the party, although, if that had been the case then really, who could blame her?  I've seriously been considering leaving the country myself. The first email I sent about this to The (UK) Sister-in-Law read a little like this:- "... we wondered if you had any time free two weeks on Sunday? If so, we're looking for a massive favour....we've promised  The Eight Year Old another birthday party for his school fri...

Image from :- midcentury-modern-doors.jpg You +1'd this publicly. Undo blablablarchitecture.com The Husband has recently become the 'close-the-door-police'. It's since we finally gave up the dream - after three years - of installing a wood burning stove in the living room.  It's just a little bit too pricey for us at the moment and has had to be put down the list beneath sorting out the kitchen and the bathroom.  And so, instead of fulfilling the wood burning stove dream we did the sensible thing and had the existing gas fire recommissioned to get us through the winter.  It's made a huge difference to the house which, even with the heating on is usually freezing in the colder months.  Now we are all toasty and warm and the fire doesn't look too bad either which is a bonus!  When the fire is on, The Husband - quite rightly is very keen (read 'obsessed') with the door being closed to preserve the he...

Apparantly today, 'Blue Monday' is supposed to be the most depressing day of the year.  Not so for me today I'm happy to report.   This morning, where I live it was one of those gorgeous crisp wintery starts to the day where the ground is carrpeted in a minty white frost and the trees stand like ghostly figures peeking through the curtain of mist.  Me and the Baby wrapped up warm and headed out for a stroll.  More precisely, I strolled and pushed The snug-as-a-bug-in-a- rug Baby in his pushchair.  As the sun rose higher into the sky we stepped up the pace and had quite a spring in our step.  I love days like this.  The air is still, the sky is blue and it's much easier to put a positive spin on all of lives goings on. I'm even feeling relatively postive about The Eight Year Olds birthday party at the weekend.  The Eight Year Old became eight during the Christmas holidays and so we thought we'd wait until he r...

The author of another blog about family life " Mummy, Daddy and me makes three " has started this idea of a regular weekend post "My week that was".  I like it!  An opportunity to sumamrise the week in a journal type of way.  And so I've decided to get on board and join in!  So here's Ju's week that was... Sunday - We enjoyed a  lazy family 'pyjama day'. I was made to watch a lot of Harry Potter - by The Eight Year Old and The Husband - as 'homework' in preparation forThe Eight Year Olds birthday party for his school friends. Monday - The holidays were over and it was back to school for The Eight Year Old and back to University for The Husband.  We were all considerably grumpy.  I cheered myself up by discovering Pinterest. I now love pinterest and I'm sure you all will too soon enough. Tuesday - I was very happy to launch our (mine and The Eight Year Olds) new food blog called Cocoa & Fig which will chart ou...

I would like to introduce this blogs new concept for Fridays.  Each week I will choose something or someone that I am finding to be particularly fabulous that week to share with you. We are kicking off Fabulous Friday this week with one of The - very special - Friends who has been poorly.  For some reason his right lung seems to have gotten into the habit of collapsing.  It's happened twice now and no-one can seem to work out why.  When it happens, it puts The Friend in a great deal of pain and is scary for him and all who know and love him, particularly his husband.  Inevitably, after a week in hopsital to let the lung be drained and to reinflate, the whole experience leaves him feeling low and flat. I have tried, along with my dear friend, his husband, to tell my tempremental-lung-friend, not to do it again.  He claims to have no control over the occurance and so I have decided, on this occasion, to give him the benefit o...

Since becoming a parent I've discovered that my, at times idealistic, view of how the world should operate has been brought into question. There are the simple dilemmas of parenting such as 'is it wrong to bribe a child into compliancy with chocolate?'  Pre-parenthood - yes, a parent should develop a more sophisticated approach.  Post-parenthood - a bit of chocolate doesn't hurt to smooth the path, afterall, we all need a sweetner sometimes.  I find it harder to reconsile my ideals with the often harsher reality when it comes to more serious issues.  For example, I found I surprised myself by selecting a Primary Church School for The Eight Year Old to attend despite us having no faith.  Put simply, the school was the best that we visited before making our choice.  It just felt like the right place for my son to be.  And so, regardless of my previous thoughts about where he would begin his formal education, he now happily attends...

Crikey, it's certainly back down to earth with a bump for us this week.  Last night The Eight Year Old came home with A LOT of homework which is to be completed and handed in on Friday.  I'm not sure if it's as much as it feels like it is or if we're making a meal out of it 'cos it's not what any of us - particulary The Eight Year Old - want to be doing in the evenings.  Last night it all ended up in a bit of a meltdown whereby The Eight Year Old declared "it's just all too much for me" - I suspect he may have an element of drama queen in him...a little like his mother. With The Husband returning back to University (where he is retraining as a radiographer) and having assingments to complete and exams to revise for he too, is not in the best of moods. The Baby is, so far, doing ok.  Although, I suspect he may have begun teething so he too, is likely to be a little up and down. I, on the other hand, am obviously floating happily around letti...

Remember me and The Eight Year Old decided upon culinary challenges in place of New Year resolutions ?  Well, we've made a start! As we are anticipating lots of chat about this we have set up another blog to chart our progress.  It's called 'Cocoa & Fig' .  If you get chance please take a look :-    http://cocoandfig.blogspot.com/   It's a work in progress so please bear with us. On Cocoa & Fig you will find an honest account of The Eight Year Old learning to cook and of me trying out new recipes to get me out of the rut of cooking the same old things - it's time to put all those cook books to good use!  We both really like baking so there be lots of that going on too.

Ok, so it's not raining. But it is Monday, and, as it's back to the usual routine for us, it would be fair to say - to reference the Carpenters - that Mondays really do get you down! On saying that, The Eight Year Old was quite happy about being back at school... "I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and teacher" he claimed this morning when me and The Husband were more than a little grumpy to say the least.  It's not as if I even have to go to work so I've got no excuse really.  Thank goodness for maternity leave. On  a different note, I found myself in a reflective mood over the weekend.  And it struck me that I can't really believe that The Eight Year Old is, in fact, eight years old already.  Parents are often heard saying how quickly the time goes by when you have children and it really is true.  What I find even harder to get my head around though, is that by the time The Baby is eight years old,...

Just over a week ago we had our Star Wars themed house party for The Eight Year Olds and The Husbands birthday – I forget now which of the two of them was the most excited about the Star Wars Theme.   Somehow, despite being very last minute with our preparations (as ever!) we managed to pull together outfits that transformed us into Jango Fett (The Eight Year Old), Darth Vader (The Baby), Red Leader X-wing Pilot (The Husband) and a reasonable attempt at Queen Amidala (me). As The Family and The Friends arrived, we added to the mix. Han Solo, 3 Princess Leias, an Ewok, R2-D2 and R4-P17, Luke Skywalker and his future wife, Mara JadeSkywalker, and their son Ben Skywalker and a walking "galaxy far far away” – a joint effort by the In-laws! I managed to cobble together an R2D2 cake, which, although not as professional as it could have been, wasn’t a bad first attempt at using sugar paste and icing if I do say so myself. The main thing w...