Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

Who'd have a puppy? The last few weeks have definitely been more stressful than not where Bertie is concerned. He is a dog that likes to wander, and despite trying to be super vigilant at all times, you turn your back for a second and he's gone. Up until now that probably means he'd have popped round to the neighbours, but over the past week or so, he's been missing for up to a couple of hours - not great for anyone's stress levels or sense of humour. Add to this a muddy corner that's developed in the bottom of the garden that he keeps diving into then roaring back into the house, a tendency to take off when we are walking if he sees another dog / person / animal - it's all got a bit much. This has led to lots of shouting at him, which in turn has made him anxious, which has resulted in him going back to having accidents in the house. Give me strength. Over a long discussion with Mum (still always there to share a problem with, that will never change) we...

So, I've mentioned just how well the girls have settled from a personal perspective into Thorngrove, thank goodness. It seems like they've been there forever and they have both made firm friends in very little time. What we've also been really impressed with however is just how much more structured and organised the school work seems to be. Abi now brings a different school book home each night and each is neatly laid out, her work is marked and commented upon and she is obviously making a big effort. As I write this it seems a bit silly, surely this is what I should expect from a fee paying school. It wasn't what we experienced previously though and I'm doubly pleased as I feel vindicated that we made the right decision. It's difficult to tell whether this is what we would have seen anyway with year 4, but the bits and pieces Izzy has brought home (no prep until after Christmas for  her, a much better idea than hitting them with it from day 1 of year 3) also...

It's been a weekend of celebrations which have spilled into this week and carry on for another little while yet, all to mark Glenn's big 50. It's fair to say none of us feel like he should be 50 - surely that's the age old people were when we were young, but if it's true then let's make the most of it. The party started on Saturday afternoon when friends started to arrive for his birthday bash at the local pub. We had 30 friends from all over come and join us for a lovely evening of food, wine and music from the last 5 decades, all courtesy of Glenn's play list. This meant quite a lot of reminiscing. Not just from him but everyone else. We rolled home just before 2am having had an amazing evening. Given the abstention on my part of late on the alcohol front I decided to drive in the end, proving to myself I definitely don't need to have a drink to have fun. It also meant I was hangover free on Sunday morning, a good job as someone had to walk the dogs ...

Pencil cases packed, name tags sewn, kit all sorted...new school starts tomorrow. Tonight we had 2 slightly apprehensive children given it's all going to be new and they don't quite know what to expect. Abi had another run trial try on of her uniform and decided the culottes weren't quite so bad after all, while Izzy made a special effort to wash all of her hair extra well to make sure she was 'all clean, all over'! I shall be avoiding posting 'first day at school' photos all over Facebook tomorrow regardless of how clean and smart they may look. With the best will in the world only we care whether they look cute or not before they head off, and maybe grandparents. Other than that its just depressing to see how many of my friend's children are heading into secondary school - scary! This weekend we seem to have been running one child down most of the time, always a bit strange. Abi was thrilled to be invited over to a friends house for a sleep over i...

So after another wet August week its back to work with a bump tomorrow - ugh. I've just logged on and looked at the pages of emails with a falling heart... I know there are no show stoppers in there as I've been vaguely keeping watch, but there's probably a whole bunch of stuff that I need to do something with. My strategy is to 1) scan for anything from clients (very little as they had the good grace not to email me as they knew I was on holiday); 2) scan for anything directly related to this week's meetings and 3) wait for people to come back to me on everything else - if it's important it will rise to the top naturally. Oh, and 4) keep my fingers crossed that my strategy doesn't come back to bite me. This week we have mainly been exploring craft activities. With the lovely August weather keeping us more house bound than normal, we have been knitting, sewing and drawing.... well, Glenn and I have anyway. Abi and Izzy have been alternating between asking to...

I couldn't just squeeze our new addition into a paragraph of another blog, so here's an extra little update to introduce Digby, the latest creation from Glenn's handiwork. No wonder Abi and Izzy think Daddy can create anything from his garage - this magnificent example was as a result of Abi saying her toy horse (made by him from an old bed, a set of casters and some imagination) was a bit small and kept falling over. So we did a bit of research on the Internet, I found a training aid for polo players and hey presto, he'd adapted and built this! The girls spent a good while settling on the right name. Nelson was a close second but Izzy didn't like it, and Digby seemed to fit. Now you might think this is a wonderfully cheap way to amuse 2 pony mad children - think again! Wood is eye wateringly expensive these days and it's had to have a bridle, numner, saddle and other accessories. I'd like to make the point that I (successfully) customised a picnic bla...

So what ever happened to summer then? The weather over the past 10 days has been pretty mixed at best, although at least it hasn't been as bad as today where it's has poured down all day. Just perfect for my week off. Despite the weather we had a lovely week in the New Forest with Amanda and the boys. We managed to get away with no major arguments (kids or us!), and saw enough ponies and donkeys to last everyone for a little while. We played on the beach in both sunshine and rain, investigated with enthusiasm a dead barrel jellyfish (sticks were used until the risk of being stung appeared minimal), swam, cycled, walked and lounged. We had fish and chips on the pier (we all agreed the idea was better than the reality) and on our last night a lovely meal in The Ship pub on Lymington Quay. The highlight for all of us was probably hiring bikes and doing a 13 mile ride around the forest tracks from Brockenhurst to lyndhurst and back again. Apparently 1 in 50 hire bikes have a pu...