At the supermarket with 2 monsters

Do your children embarrass you when you are out?

I have my 2 older children at 11 and 13, they don't really embarrass me when we go shopping now unless Calvin decides to run down the aisle and do a big skid along the floor.

When they were younger I remember one funny but embarrassing trip to the supermarket. They were about 7 and 9 at the time. I got one of the trolleys, headed into the shop and calv asked if he could push. We must have been in there for 2 minutes when I heard Calv crying and Lauren laughing.


I looked around, and Calvin was lying on the floor with the trolley on top of him. He had somehow tipped the trolley over backwards on top of himself with the handlebar lying across his chest!
I decided it best if I pushed. 5 minutes later the pair of them were running up and down aisles when suddenly and inevitably they collided and Lauren somehow knocked one of Calvins teeth out, there was blood everywhere!
This was all in the same shopping trip, looking back it makes me laugh!

So today, I went to the supermarket with Charlotte and Finley. I am aabout to start potty training Charlotte so bought her a pack of 5 Peppa Pig pants. She likes to hold something whilst she is in the trolley as it stops her poking Finley, so I gave her the pack to hold.

Within minutes, she had opened them and was wearing some on her arm and a pair on her head. I was getting funny looks of others, but as I always say, better to do it now than when she is 18!

It is not just my children that embarrass me, my dad is a right one for it.
My mum has a heart condition and can not walk far so has a wheelchair. Whilst on holiday with my parents last year, dad was pushing mum along and trying to eat his icecream at the same time. Without thinking he let go of her wheelchair on a slope to concentrate on getting the wrapper of his cone and mum rolled away and ended up in a gutter. She was not best pleased.

The next day, mum wanted to walk, so Calvin decided he would have a ride instead. When Mum got tired, without thinking, dad said to Calv, 'come on, out you get' and tipped him out the wheelchair! there were some strange looks as people watched my dad tip a seemingly helpless boy out of a wheelchair.

How do your children or parents embarrass you when you are out?

Week 4 March, my week!

My week, with fun factor ratings!

SORRY..... did not update last week but have a very good excuse. My lovely brother and his family moved to another country yesterday and I wanted to spend as much time with them as possible before they went.

OK, so they have moved to Wales which technically it is another country, it will take us 7 hours to drive there in which time I could have flown to New York!

 

My brothers daughter is just 7 weeks older than Charlotte and it was so sad when they said goodbye to each other as they don't realise it will be a few months before they see each other again. They are the best of friends and spend so much time together. (wipes away a tear)!

 

 

Best friends x x

 

So what exciting this did I do this week? Lets sum it up......

 

Bought a new Animal Dyson Fun Factor 5,  

Used my new Animal Dyson Fun Factor 8, Yes sad I know!

Met up with 'baby group' mums, Fun Factor 8,

Made butterfly cakes Fun Factor 8

Ate butterfly cakes Fun Factor 10,

Said goodbye to my brother Fun Factor 0,

Hired boat on Norfolk Broads Fun Factor 8

Big family meal and BBQ Fun Factor 8

Watched dancing on Ice Final Fun Factor 7

Fun fun fun with my monsters all week! Fun Factor 10

 

As you can see, I rated the fun I had with my new Dyson Animal an 8/10. I hoovered in the morning with my existing Dyson, and then had to give it to a tenant. Realised I was not getting it back and had to get a new one.

When I used the new one, I was seriously amazed at how much dirt it sucked up even with what I thought were clean floors. It was mainly hair from my 4 cats, but WOW amazing stuff!

 

Well, this week I have not got too much planned. Finley has suddenly outgrown all his clothes so will have to go on a bargain shopping trip I think.

 

WEIGHTLOSS UPDATE!!!!!

I have lost 0lbs this week, but also have not gained any either.

My mini goal is to lose 1 more lb, my big goal is to lose 15lbs.

Allergic to being pregnant!

Allergic to being pregnant!!

In all 4 of my pregnancies I have suffered from Hyperemesis Gravidarum, a severe form of sickness not to be confused with morning sickness.

I knew I was pregnant with Lauren instantly, I was being sick from 4 weeks pregnant and really struggling. I was admitted to hospital at 5 weeks pregnant and put on a drip and medication. I was readmitted countless times, I was being sick up to thirty times a day, only easing off at around 6 months to a couple of times a day. I carried on being sick until she was 2 days old.

The same happened with Calvin, except I was far worse. At the time the BBC were about to embark on a huge project, due to my illness, I was chosen as one of 22 mums to be followed by the BBC for a new documentary on millenium babies. Calvin was due around the start of the millenium. I was filmed at scans and on my many stays in hospital. calvin ended up being born mid October weighing just 3lb. When the first programme went out i was glad it highlighted hyperemesis.

So, When I discovered I was expecting Charlotte everyone wondered if i was going to be ill again. Well, at 5 weeks pregnant I had the first of many visits to hospital. It had been 10 years since my last pregnancy and the treatment seemed more sympathetic which was good. Again, I was sick until Charlotte was 2 days old.

When I found out I was expecting Finley, my first thought was how would I cope being sick and with a baby and 2 other children. I visited the doctor straight away. He was fantastic and said that as I knew more about the illness than him, he would take guidance from me. I asked for a specific medication which he agreed to. I made it passed 5 weeks without being in hospital, and still no-one knew I was expecting.

Amazingly I made it to 12 weeks before the sickness kicked in badly and back off to hospital I went.

People think I am mad to have done 4 pregnancies knowing how ill I would be, and they are probably right.

After Calvin, I said never again, this time I really do meant it!

CSA update number 1

Well, though I would give you an update on where I am at with the CSA.
Have a read of my First article on CSA here.

Quick history of me and CSA:
* 2 children with ex, split up 10 years ago. Decided not to use CSA but said if he missed a payment then I would use them. He missed a payment so used CSA until last year.
* Previously he has missed many CSA payments but sadly they are never chased by CSA.
* Ex decided to set up own business 5 years ago, he pays his own wage so only lets CSA see what he can get away with.
* last year, Ex asked me to do a private arrangement of £140 per month instead of the £2.50 per week per child the CSA had decided. He insisted I cancel using the CSA.
* I cancel CSA, he tells me he won't pay after all. I have so far not recieved any money for over 1 year and he is very much in arrears.

December 2010, I wrote to the CSA to reinstate and currently in the awful process of trying to get something to happen. So, this is where we are now..............

3rd March So, I spoke to the CSA and told to expect a call within 5 days. I assumed this to be working days. Surprise, heard nothing!

11th March, enquired as to where my phone call was and informed I have not been allocated a case worker yet so can't get a phone call. Also told that as he claims to earn less than £100 per week, I cannot get any arrears paid to me either

22nd March, I called to see if I had been allocated a case worker yet, and told no. Again, told to expect a phonecall in the next 5 days.

Will keep you posted next week!

Would love to hear your views on this, thanks.

The first time I had all my clothes stolen!

When I was 19, I set off travelling on the other side of the equator. The plan was to go to indonesia, Thailand and then Australia for 6 months, and that's just I did. The 6 month deadline came and went as I was having so much fun, working and enjoying the Aussie way of life.

My sister Amanda, 20, decided to spend her 3 month holiday from Uni, visiting me. I had saved some money for her visit, and we bought ourselves an old people carrier we called Redvan!

We made little curtains and kitted it out for our adventure, we had a fridge, and a big trunk with all our belongings in it, and a rucksack full of clothes, plus 2 sleeping bags. One of the window catches was missing so we superglued the windowshut! Where the catch was missing, we filled the hole with Fart Putty!We set off from Canberra which is where I had been based, and began our fun!!

Every night, we would sleep in our van, it was cosy but would get really hot. We bought some mosquitto nets and sellotaped them round the open windows at night to try and keep us cool and the bugs out.

We didn't have much money but that made it more exciting, we would go the the all you can eat at PizzaHut every week and literally fill ourselves up on food.We stayed at campsites, and sometimes just outside a campsite and would sneak in for showers.

One night, after 6 weeks, we decided to treat ourselves to a night in a motel. We set off for the pub that night armed with our passports for ID. We were still wearing our bikinis from earlier in the day, with a vestm skirt and flipflops. We had a fab night and enjoyed sleeping in a proper bed rather than a metal floor.

The next morning I enjoyed  alovely shower and as I sat in my towel our motelroom phone rang. It was the manager informing us that the side door to our van was open. I ran straight outside to the carpark, still in just a towel, and could already see that we had been broken into. All our clothes had gone, the camera and 1 sleeping bag.

What could we do? We went to the police station to report the incident and laughed as we said 'all our clothes have gone'! We had what we were wearing and that was it. It is so expensive to replace everything, even underwear soon adds up.

We stayed in the van for another coupl eof days, but the trip had lost it's sparkle, so we headed back to Canberra, having travelled over 10,000km around the country.

Little did I know that years later I was to suffer a similar fate!

My week, with fun factor ratings!

Hooray, it is Friday today, infact today is Comic Relief, which means an evening infront of the telly being grateful for the life that I have.

Since being made redundant 2 years ago whilst expecting Charlotte, I have not worked. We struggle moneywise, but if we can 'get by' then I will stay at home with the 2 little ones.
I had a good career and had a stressful senior management role previously, so sometimes I get sooo bored! I have to come up with ways to make my brain still feel useful, like watching Countdown and doing the numbers games and making up useless spreadsheets!

So what exciting this did I do this week? Lets sum it up......

I spent some Xmas vouchers and bought a new pan! Fun Factor 4
The car had it's MOT! Fun Factor 2
OOh, rang CSA! Fun Factor 1
I went to the butchers and bought some sausages to cook in new pan! Fun Factor 4
The cat bought a live bird in! Fun Factor 0, Fear factor 8
We ate sausage casserole with sausages from butchers cooked in new pan! Fun Factor 4
I took my brother to A&E with a broken arm! Fun Factor 7
Dyed Calvins hair green for Comic Relief! Fun Factor 9
Fun fun fun with my monsters all week! Fun Factor 9

Yep, that's how fun my week was!

Charlotte is coming up to 2, and boy is she heading for the terrible twos already! She is so mischievous and I have to try hard not to laugh when she does certain things. For example, this week I have found myself saying the following:

Charlotte, Finley is not a horse, don't sit on him!
Charlotte, why is there ketchup in your hair?
Charlotte, why is there ketchup on the window?
Charlotte, did you put these strawberries in the washing machine?
Charlotte, the cat does not want you to draw on him!

Cheeky Charlotte

So, the weekend is upon us, I am hoping to practice making easter eggs this weekend! Sounds very adventurous, I worked in a chocolate factory many years ago and made eggs there, so Lauren and Calvin want to attempt their own this year. Pictures may follow!

Have a fab weekend too...........

OMG, the cat just brought a LIVE bird in!

Seriously, I was about to write a post just now about my week, when the cat came in with a living breathing blackbird in his mouth! I did strart screaming like an idiot and was flapping around more than the bird was.

Charlotte was looking at me as if to say 'what is wrong with you mummy'?.
I could see the bird lying on the floor still breathing, I do prefer it when they are dead as I hate to see them injured. As I got closer to the bird it suddenly got up and started flying round the room, which Charlotte thought was hilarious! I did not!

It flew into the hallway, where one of my other cats was waiting, I quickly opened the front door and the cat ran outside with it.

I have 4 cats who I love dearly, I just cannot deal with the animals they bring in. It is only occasionaly that they bring a bird in, pigeons are the worst due to the amount of feathers and ooohh, the blood.

They do bring mice in, and leave them under the same chair all the time. Actually, when Charlotte was born, for the first few weeks they kept leaving dead mice next to her moses basket, it was quite gross but also sweet.

The worst thing they have ever brought in was a squirrel, god only knows how they managed to catch the squirrel as they are nippy little things.

Phew, morning drama all over now.

The time I won some money on 'This Morning'.

Like I always say, I am either very unlucky, or very lucky, this occassion was defintely a lucky one!

Back in 1999, when Lauren was nearly a year old, I decided to go and do the weekly shop. The popular morning programme 'This Morning' with the legends Richard and Judy was on in the background and I herad them saying they would be interviewing the cast of cold feet. This was my favourite programme at the time, so I decided to go shopping after the interview.



A phone in competition was coming  up, all you had to do was watch a video clip and ring up with the answer to the question. As I was at next to the phone I though 'why not'?

About 5 minutes later, my phone rang, it was a production member of staff from This Morning telling me I was the chosen one for the competition and to stay on the line.

OMG, I was shocked, I could actually win some money. The competition itself was a giant Xmas scratchcard with 6 numbers, all I had to do was pick 3 numbers, behind 3 of the numbers were Xmas style booby prizes, behind the other 3 were £2000 each, wow!

As I waited I was a bit bemused as to why you could still phone in for the competition as I had already been chosen, however many years later it was revealed how ITV had been scamming money out of people for these competitions.

Eventually my time had come, I had put Lauren in her highcahir and given her loads of biscuits to keep her quiet, she still made loads of noise though!

Suddenly I found myself talking to Richard and Judy, it was so exciting. I really can't remember the numbers that I chose, but behind the first number I picked was £2000, the second number was also £2000 and the third number was a box of 50 Xmas crackers.

I was over the moon, the call was over so quickly and I sat there in shock wondering what my partner would say when he got home!

Minutes later my next door neighbour was knocking on my door, as I answered she was jumping up and down with happiness for me, it then sunk in that I had won £4000!

So what did I spend the money on? Well we had a nice meal, paid of some debts and got some new bits for the house. As for the Xmas crackers, they didn't arrive. I called ITV after Xmas and they said they could either send me the crackers, which would have meant waiting another year to use them, or they could send me on an all expenses paid weekend in London, with a trip to a West End show.
Erm, let me think about that one! Naturally I chose the weekend away, and ended up using it as a honeymoon a later that year when we married.

It was great to have something so nice happen, writing this has brought back happy memories so I might just have to enter another competition soon!

Being on TV for 10 years

If you have read bits of my blog, you will have realised that for over 10 years, my family has been appearing on BBC1 Child of our Time, a documentary about millenium babies (MB).

Lauren and Calvin with Professor Robert Winston

The question I get asked often is 'How did they find you to take part'?

Well let's go a long way back to the start of 1999. It was about March, and all the tv programmes had on was that of you got pregnant in April, you could be having a millenium baby! I already had a 14 month old Lauren and we had decided to leave it up to nature if we got pregnant again. I was sat watching the old favourite 'Tomorrows world' and they were discussing MBs too, at the end of the programme they showed an address to write to if you were indeed expecting a MB. For some reason I did write down the address and thought nothing off it.

A week or so later, I felt sick, and knew that I was indeed expecting again! The due date was at the end of December 1999, however if I went over the date then I could give birth on 01/01/00. The way my luck goes I knew this could be possible, I am always very lucky, or very unlucky!

Anyway, I wrote to the BBC and thought nothing of it. I was hospitalised at 5 weeks pregnant with Hyperemesis Gravidarum, and then at 7 weeks, and 9 weeks and so it went on.....

Whilst out of hospital around 10 weeks pregnant, i got a phone call from a researcher called Ruthie. We chatted for over an hour about my life and the pregnancy and she arranged to come and visit me.

On the day she came I was still very ill, at 12 weeks pregnant and I was having bleeding aswell as the sickness. She did a filmed interview to see what I came across like on camera. I was so stiff and didn't know what to say really, I must have looked odd, but they decided we would be filmed for the programme.

The programme sounded fascinating, as far as I was aware it was a one off programme about pregnancies and MBs and it would be shown after the millenium once all the babies were born. There were 25 families involved from all different types of backgrounds across the UK.

As the months passed, I was admitted to hospital countless times with sickness, I would spend a few days on a drip and then go home, then after a few days I would go back in again, it was really tough.

I had been so ill I could not work, but at 28+6 days, I finally returned to work. The next morning I felt odd, I knew my body and something wasn't quite right so I called the midwife. Whilst waiting for her to call me back I had a show, i went to the hospital and was told I was in labour and they could stop try to stop it. I stayed in overnight and had steroid injections for the babys lungs. I was only allowed to be discharged back to my parents house as it was closer to the hospital than mine.

A week later, I woke up at 5am to go to the loo, I started bleeding very badly. I called the hospital and then woke my dad up to take me in. I was in a daze, I thought that would be and I had lost the baby. I wasn't in any pain whatsoever, and felt normal.

I arrived at the hospital and told my dad to go, I didn't want anyone near me, my husband was on his way too.
I was examined and to my surprise was told i was 7cm dilated and in labour and would be having my baby that day. How could I be that far in labour and not be in pain? I had to have an emergency caesarean as my placenta was coming away, Calvin was born weighing 3lb 2oz.

The BBC had been informed, and Ruthie made it to the hospital 1 hour after Calv was born. I was in shock and had not seen him yet as he was in an incubator being treated. She quickly said hello, then went off for a bit.
When she came back, she showed me her video Camera, and there on the screen was Calvin, how weird that the first time I ever saw Calvin it was on Telly! I was so glad for what she had filmed, as even today I have those first moments on camera and without her I would have missed them.

Studio filming

I left hospital after a week, and when Ruthie was filming me leave, she mentioned that the programme would be over 20 years! They would follow Calvin and the other Children through milstones and assess them on nature versus nurture. Gosh, I thought it was a one off, did I want to do 20 years?  Surprisingly the filming was not intrusive, we were also not paid as many people think we are.
The programme was to be presented by the wonderful Professor Robert Winston.

Calvin did so well, he left hospital after 5 weeks at just 34+6 weighing 4lb and we could finally get on with living properly again.

Iwas pleased I was involved in the programme. Anyone who has had a premature baby knows the worry that goes with it, will they develop properly? being involved in the programme over the years has meant Calvin has had access to world class experts who have reassured me that he is doing just fine.

I have to say, it isn't weird being on TV, it is once a year and we can go about our daily lives as normal, most of my neighbours don't even know we are on it! Calvin is not recognised often, and on the rare occasion  he is, he is polite and certainly not a show off.

And so the show continues, we are over halfway through this fascinating project. I have become great friends with some of the parents involved in the programme too.
I am incredibly lucky, I have the most amazing documented life of Calvin which money could never buy.

Filming out and about

There are 2 books about the programme which are a great source of material for expectant mums upwards.

Who's at fault, CSA or absent parent?

I feel the need for a rant!!

My older 2 children live with me and not their dad, therefore he is required to pay some sort of financial assistance for them. In the past he has, however for a year he has not paid any money.

I use the CSA and don't always agree with their actions and they have not managed to get my ex to pay any money either, which makes you wonder why they exist!

Now, let me say, my financial situation is my responsibility, we are not well off, we get by with few treats for the kids, but I chose to have 2 more children, and it is not financially viable for me to go back to work, plus I like being at home with the children. Until 3 years ago I had worked hard in my career and was running the sales department of UKs largest BTL mortgage broker. I have always provided for my children, I have never recieved any benefit payment, but I do expect their dad to pay his fair share.

The childrens dad is the director of his own company, and therefore claims to earn the minimum to avoid paying tax, I don't blame him for doing this, if their is a loophole then naturally it will be exploited. This means the CSA have said he should pay £2.50 per week per child! Bloody ridiculous. Also, he does not have to pay arrears as he earns so little.

This poor man who earns so little has just sent one of his older children skiing abroad with school for the week, in the past year he has been abroad himself for holidays in Mexico, las Vegas and New York. He lives in a large modern house, drives nice cars, and leads a decent life. Yet claims to have no money to pay.
If running his own business pays so little, why not get a job that does pay?

It costs a lot to provide the basics for the kids. School uniform and school shoes are a huge cost, and as the children have got bigger so have their appetites!

Despite the CSA ruling, I believe their dad is in the wrong. He coud say stuff the CSA, I am a responsible dad and I will pay for my children no matter what. He could write out a cheque anytime he feels like it, but he choses not to. It doesn't matter what excuse he gives, ultimatley it is his choice.

I just don't get it, how can someone live with themselves with no guilt whilst holidaying abroad in the new year, and not even bother to pay for their kids?

It does drive me mad, the CSA can enforce rules, but often I don't think they do use their full powers. If you miss any bill payment, you can get a CCJ, and taken to court to ensure you pay, yet any parents most important bill and it is not paid.

I am not some mad moaning mum, I understand everyone situation is different, and I am also not apportioning blame on all dads, mums can be equally bad, it is just some parents feel they just don't have to pay for their kids for reasons I will never understand.
I don't want a lot of money. There should be a minimum cost payable regardless of circumstances.
I mean, how much does it cost to feed 1 child for 1 year, and I really do mean a minimum amount for a child to eat healthily for 1 year. How much does it cost to clothe a child for 1 year, no designer labels, just basic clothes, basic uniform, sensible shoes etc. If this is worked out, this should form the basis to start making payments, everything else should be a bonus.

I think my rant is nearly over, I would love to hear your views and your stories too.

Would you pose naked whilst pregnant?

As we all know, Victoria Beckham is expecting child number 4 and she is rumoured to be doing a nude photoshoot with her bump. I don't know if this is true, she doesn't ever let us see her bump albeit tiny bump through her clothes so I'm not sure if she would go the whole way!

Demi Moore started the trend so long ago now and the pose has been copied numerous times. I think it is a beautiful picture. Some people will say that every pregnant woman looks beautiful, erm I hate to disagree but we are not all perfect. If you are posing for a magazine you can at least have your stetch marks airbrushed out!

It is true that in pregnancy women get a glow, and the bump can look great, but I just looked puffy all over, I am not sure why but my nose always gets really fat whilst pregnant, weird!
I looked best around 6 months pregnant, I had a big bump and I definitely looked pregnant, I just don't know how some women have such tiny bumps, but I guess we are all so different.

Me at 6 months pregnant with no 4

All my pregnancy bumps have been huge, you can see above how big I was at just 6 months pregnant. I was happy to wear my bikini on holiday in France as no-one knew me, but my bump is my bump, not for all to see. In fact when I flew home, I had my bump frisked at the airport!

So to conclude, if I could have been airbrushed, I may have had a photo done to look back on in the future, but only at the right time of my pregnancy when my bump looked just right.

Joke!

My hilarious joke of the day!

Although these jokes are very British so I don't know if you have to be British to get them, please let me know! Check out this link JOKE

There was an Englishman, Irishman and scotsman and a Welshman in a pub.
Englishman: Did you know my son is called george because he was born on St Georges day?
Scotsman: Wow, My son is called Andrew because he was born on St Andrews Day!
Welshman: No way!! my son is called David because he was born on St Davids day!
Irishman: Gosh, wait til I get home and tell pancake!

Well I laughed!

OUCH! at the end of the day.

Nearly at the end of a busy day.
As I write this.....
My partner is at cricket nets getting ready for the next cricket season.
Lauren(13) is doing a quick bedroom tidy before bed.
Calvin(11) has just gone to bed after a last minute dash to get his homework done!
Charlotte(1) is sleeping soundly surrounded by teddies and possibly one of the cats
Finley(6m)is ready to go to bed too.

That just leaves me and a quiet house, oh and a load of tidying up to do, a few loads of washing, and then time for some kettlebell exercises. I am currently reading Sir Alan Sugars autobiography, it is fantastic, so I may get an hour on that before bed for me.

Hooray, tis pancake day tomorrow, yum! We will be having french galettes for tea, followed by traditional crepes for pud. I had a sneaky practice tonight attossing a pancake, and this has never ever happebed before, but as I tossed the pan, some oil flew out and burnt my arm, ouch! I then spent the next 20 minutes keeping the burn cool. At least I got a tasty treat afterwards to cheer me up.

AAaahh, my first trip to ALDI...

OMG, I have just got back from my first (and possibly last) ever trip to Aldi.

As Finley was at my mums, and Charlotte and I had just finished swimming, I thought I would take advantage of nipping in whilst it was just the 2 of us. My impression of Aldi before I went in was that it was a low budget supermarket with some great bargains, I kind of assumed all other aspects of my trip would be the same.............erm no!

Firstly, no baby parking spots existed, had I driven past them? no, there were none. Not a good start.

Now, where are the trolleys? Ah, right over the other side and you have to pay for them. So, I took Charlotte over to the trolleys and realised I did not have a £1 coin. I had to go in the store, get in a queue and change some money, then back to the trolleys. OK, the trolleys did not have safety belts and Charlotte can be a right little wriggler and a daredevil who wants to stand in the trolley. Luckily all she did round the shop was sing twinkle twinkle little star and play with the dangly chain that you poke the £1 coins out with.

I entered the store for the second time and could finally begin the shopping, yay, here we go!
I wandered up and down the 4 aisles, yes just 4 aisles, and tried to hunt down some bargains. One whole aisle was dedicted to ski jackets and boots, and despite what looked like a great price I had no need for a ski outfit. Nor did I have any need for the pancake maker at £16.99, or the 5 piece bed set at £9.99.
I wanted to find food bargains, but everything was strange brands I had never heard of.

I ended up buying a very strange selction of goods as listed.
pack of 4 kitchen rolls, bunch of daffodils, mozzarella sticks, squirty cream, easter bunny chocolate, olive oil spray, 4 isotonic drinks, 1 pack biscuits, 6 pack of crisps, 1 loaf bread and some catfood.
As I made my way to one of 2 tills, I queued with everyone else and realised you had to buy your shopping bags before you got to the checkout, I quickly assessed my shopping and thought 2 would be enough, 9p each for the 'strong' plastic bags, 3p each for the not so strong plastic bags. I got 2 strong ones.

At last, my turn to pay, I put my shopping on the conveyer belt and went to the other side to pack, this was to be another learning curve.

There was nowhere to pack at the other end, how odd I though! The checkout lady explained I had to turn my trolley backwards and she would put the items back in the trolley, if I wanted to pack I would have to take my trolley to the 'packing area' after I had paid.

Ahh, this was all so new and complicated, Had I been pampered too much by the standards of Tesco and sainsburys? was I a snob?

Well, I got all my shopping for  bargain £14, not bad and I guess it was worth the trauma!

Will I return, hhmm, not sure but I will let you know!

Weight loss and bingo wings!!

Good morning, welcome to a new week.

Let me start by saying that I had a rubbish sleep last night, Finley who is 6 montsh old, wanted to go to sleep, but could not get comfy. He did end up in bed with me, and daddy had to go sleep on the sofa!

When I checked on Charlotte at 11:30pm, she was still awake in her cot too, just chilling out and singing to herself, must have been something in the air last night keeping everyone awake.

I have woken up this morning very tired and with an achey back. I have been attempting to lose weight since I had Finley. Many many years ago, I was always around the 8 stone mark (112lbs), after having Lauren 13 years ago I put on sooo much weight, I eventually lost most of it in time for getting pregnant with Calvin.
When I had calvin I was so ill my weight dropped to under 7 stone (98lbs), then he was born very premature, and so I never got that big. All the stress of him being in hospital meant I stayed very slim.

Skip forward to 3 years ago and my weight had started to creep up to 10 stone (140lbs), I knew I had to lose some as this did not suit my frame. I then fell pregnant with Charlotte and after having her stayed around the 11 stone mark. Before I had a chance to lose the weight I was expecting Finley. After having Finley I was the biggest I had ever been, 13 stone(182lbs)!! Eek, for me I was huge.

So, I have been trying to lose weight for the last few months and have so far lost 3 stone through eating less junk and chocolate, and recently by finally geting of my bum to do some exercise!!

I bought a kettlebell and have been doing 10 minutes per day with this. It has made a huge difference and I am starting to tone up now which is amazing, the flab and wobbly bits are disappearing!! Actually I say that, I am struggling with the bingo wings, so only started an exercise yesterday to combat this. I will keep you updated on their progress!

I have 1 more stone to lose which I reckon will be enough, if I can actually lose that much. It is true that losing weight as you get older is so much harder.

Anyway, after digressing there, my back really aches because I think I overdid it with the kettlebell yesterday. My new found enthisiasm may not last for long, I either love exercise or hate it, so will take advantage of my new found motivation.

I am going to take Charlotte for a swim today, I think it is important to get them confident in the water.
The pool had health and safety rules, so I am not allowed to take Charlotte and Finley by myself as you can't take 2 children under 5 without extra adults, so Finley is off to my mums for a bit.

The time I met JLS!!

January 2010, my whole family were heading off to the famous BBC tv studios in London to film the 10 year anniversary special of Child of Our Time. Out of the 22 families involved, I think 19 families turned up and we had a fantastic weekend.

We knew that in the studio next door to ours that JLS would be performing on 'So you think you can dance', and some of the families reported spotting JLS in the corridoors, we were very jealous.

At the end of the first day of filming, we were waiting to be taken to the coach to head back to the hotel, as everyone headed off to the coach, I spotted JLS through a doorway going down a coridoor. Me, my sister, and my daughter followed them and they went in a dressing room, apart from Marvin who was standing outside. I had expected some big burly bodyguards to stop us from getting to speak to them but Marvin said Hi to me and then asked who Calvin was.

I though, how does Marvin know Calvin, then I realised I was still wearing my name badge that said 'Calvin's mum'! He asked if we wanted a photo, and as I cuddled up next to him I forgot about my excited 12 year old daughter standing there star struck, I grabbed her into the photo too.

Marvin, me, Lauren

One of the runners found us and said we really needed to get on the coach, so we were dragged away :(
I cuaght up with carol, one of the other mums and showed her my photo on my phone, she was so jealous and said 'right where are they, I want to see them too', and off she ran with her son in tow. At thispoint my son Calvin disappeared too and I had to chase after Calvin.

I spotted calvin having his photo taken with JLS and as I ran to get him I tripped up and went flying across the floor, landing a few feet from JLS on my knees. How embarassing!!

We had a quick chat with all the boys who were incredibly nice and polite, and again we were dragged off to get on the coach. I hobbled off towards the coach with 2 very bruised knees.

It was one of the highlights of our weekend and a great memory to have.

Calvin with the JLS boys

The time I was sucked into a jaccuzzi outlet pipe!!

Whenever I go on holiday, some disaster happens, this has got so bad that friends and family have become concerned about travelling anywhere with me. Yes seriously!! I will tell you about the other disasters soon.

A few years back, I escaped the children for a week and embarked on a med cruise, infact it was Stellios's Easy Cruise, cheap but bloody good!
Every morning, I would get up early and go sit in the jaccuzzi on the deck. It was a great way to travel and relax. In a jaccuzzi you are meant to sit, however if no-one was in the jaccuzzi then I liked to float around on my front, far more fun!

One morning whilst floating around, I was suddenly sucked under the water, the front of my thighs were being sucked into some pipes and I was stuck. The suction was incredible and I was desperately trying to pull my legs off. My partner was in the water too and asked what I was doing. I was yelling at him that I was stuck and my legs would not move. This kind of weird thing always happens to me so he dismissed it and laughed.

Eventually, after a few minutes I managed to pull my legs free, I got straight out the water and looked down to inspect the damage and there were 2 huge red rings on my thighs. They were raised and really hurt. I informed the reception about what had happened and they didn't believe me, they thought I had made the marks with the top of a pint glass. When I said that if it had been a man sucked in it might have been another part of his body (his man bits!), and not his legs, the male receptionist closed the jaccuzzi!!

Rings on my legs

It turned out that the cleaner had forgotten to put the safety grill back and I was the unlucky one. I was quite embarrassed by the marks on my legs, it was 6 weeks before they faded. Being on holiday in shorts or a short skirt with red rings on your legs is not good!

I met Stellios a couple of times on the trip, he appologised for the jaccuzzi incident and said he had never heard of this happening before. Was it just me, or has this ever happened to anyone else.

Me with Stellios

My 4 monsters

I am the very proud and lucky mum to 4 monsters.

There is Lauren, aged 13, Calvin aged 11, Charlotte aged 1 and Finley aged 6 months.

I had Lauren and Calvin when I was 22 and 23 with their Dad whom I split from when Calvin was just 1 year old. Due to very bad pregnancies ( I am allergic to the pregnancy hormone! More on this to follow) I vowed never to have anymore and begged to be sterilised. The doctor would not allow this as I was only 23.

Skip forward to 2008, I had been with my current man for 3 years and discovered I was expecting Charlotte. Wow, big shock!! I had a great career at this time and was wondering how I would cope, fate intervened and although not ideal, I was made redundant on Christmas Eve whilst 20 weeks pregnant.

When Charlotte was 6 months old, I found out I was expecting Finley, wow wow, even bigger shock this time!

Each pregnancy was certianly interesting. I lost count of how many times I was hospitalised, but certainly around 50!

I had a huge baby, ventouse, emergency caesarean, 2 elective caesareans, a premature baby, severe anemia, 3 lots of steroid injections, constant medication, and a BBC film crew following me throughout 1 pregnancy!

I look at the photo above and know it was all worth it.





Let's begin....

All blogs have to start somewhere, and this is the start of mine.

I am not a celebrity mum, I am not rich, I am not famous, I am fairly normal, well normalish, well quite unusual actually!

Lets get this straight, I have nothing against celebrity mums, in fact I love some celebrity mums, Dannii Minouge being the top celeb mum. I just get a bit fed up with all these celeb mum columns that gush about how wonderful life is and about all the wonderful things they have done that week, and the wonderful new range of organic clothes they have just bought their child and the wonderful exotic minibreak they are off to and the wonderful blah blah blah

Hello??  Come one, let's get real here. Life for the majority is not like that and do we want to read about it? Well yes! I guess we are all curious as to what goes on in the lives of the rich and famous. I want to read about how the other 99% live too, something I can relate too.

And so begins my blog.......