Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

And so we say goodbye to yet another year! As ever the year has flashed by and I'm sitting here wondering where it's all gone. This has certainly been a year of big events - Kerrie's wedding, Mum and Dad's new house, decisions on senior schools for the girls and not forgetting the fact that in a few short months I will be starting a new job. I sat down this week as I always do at this time of year to pull together the photos for our annual album and was amazed by how much we have packed in. Rome in February, Skiing in March, Kerrie's wedding in May, France in July and Kent in August to name but a few of the trips, let alone days out, trips to the theatre and days seeing friends and family. I also got hold of the memory stick for the wedding and made up an album for Kerrie and Ryan which was lovely - brought back loads of happy memories even if it's only the female side of the family who can be bothered to look at it! I do wonder for next year whether I wil

It's Christmas eve eve already and thank goodness we don't take it all too seriously. Friends are running around getting last minute bits and pieces, while we had to make a dash out today because I thought we'd run out of baked beans. Turns out there were some in the garage (of course) and so I needn't have worried. As with last year we are planning on taking kids and dogs to Salisbury Plain after we've done presents to blow out the cobwebs before home for ham, egg and chips and a bit of TV. Obviously there are moments when I wonder whether we should make more effort, and whether we are creating a new generation of Christmas Scrooges in our kids, but mainly I'm just pleased that we have found a balance whereby everyone is happy - surely that is what Christmas is about after all. This year the girls have had Christmas upgrades on bikes and bike equipment. This is basically timed to coincide for Christmas rather than be a surprise because quite frankly it

The good news is that after last week's post where everyone was a bit fed up of me being so present, it seems we have normalised and now I'm feeling the love (at least as much as I'll ever feel it with 2 pre-teen daughters!). The last week has been a bit of a whirlwind of travelling from one place to another to see various family members which has been lovely. Even more lovely (I probably shouldn't say this but I will) was that we dropped the girls off with Amanda & Alex on Saturday afternoon, only to not retrieve them until Tuesday lunchtime from Kerrie and Ryan - bliss! I discovered that actually there is no need for a spa break when you have kids - instead you pack them off somewhere else and then revel in the time, peace and tidiness of a house free of your own children. We had a lovely few days pottering around doing bits and pieces but mostly enjoying the fact that there were no children to chivvy along (shout at) at every stage. This included collected o

So this week I have had to deal with such direct feedback as "Gosh Mummy, you're around a LOT at the moment..." My reply (naively) was "Yes, that's a good thing right?" to which of course the answer was "No! Daddy shouts at us more when you're here!" It seems I upset the equilibrium of the morning routine and everyone would prefer I just shut myself in the study until the kids have gone to school, at which point it's safe to come out. I did point out that come March who knows where I will be, but to no avail - I'm definitely in the way when it comes to a school morning routine. In more positive news, Glenn likes me being around the house, the girls like me being here when they get home, and the dogs LOVE me being around as it means they get more walks and more treats. That is why we have animals - they're always happy to see me even if everyone else thinks I'm in the way. It's that time of year again when PlayStation (or

Winter is now upon us, in terms of amount of daylight if not in terms of temperature. The weather is actually very mild, however the rain has been relentless over the weekend and doesn't look like it will ease up for the coming week. Poor dogs are once again having to get used to being jet washed after every walk, and I've come back like a drowned rat on more than one occasion. Having said all of this I managed to get out for my weekly long run today in between rain clouds and actually saw sunshine - that made the effort (up to 9.5miles this week!) all worth while. All week I've had it in my mind that I wanted to try and get down to see Mum and Dad this weekend. No particular reason, it's just been ages and sometimes a phone call just isn't enough. Having checked they would be around we went from me going on my own for Saturday evening, to it being all of us for the afternoon, to in the end it just being me and Glenn for lunch and a walk. The kids were coming bu