Creating a mini Hawaii

Chloe and Elisha were both summer born babies so as a result we get to enjoy celebrating two Birthdays during the middle of the school summer holiday. This has to be planned carefully because so many people go away for a vacation at this time and its no good holding a party when all their friends are away.  Over the years we have tried bringing their parties forward to the start of the summer and we have also stuck to their actual Birthdays.

 This year we decided to hold both parties at home in the garden consecutively on the weekend  which fell between their special days. To keep things simple we decided to stick to the same theme for both parties which meant that we only had to buy one set of decorations. Before you all think I am sounding like a tightwad this meant that we could afford to spend a bit more on setting the scene. Chloe chose Hawaii as her theme and happily for us in practical terms it was easy to convince Elisha to have the same for her party the following day. Time was of the essence with only hours between the two parties if you discount those we would spend asleep.

Chloe decided she wanted to have a miniature version of Hawaii which would be a sort of tongue in cheek arrangement, mini pool, mini beach, fun fizzy cocktails and so on......
We set to work on the basics but as usual we had not banked on my Dad's genius creative vision making things extra special. He decided to build a Hawaiian beach bar in our back garden!

The plaque with Chloe's name on was removable so that it could be swapped with one with Elisha's name on the following day.

The bar under construction. The base was two workbenches with the bar placed on top and a lower shelf (not pictured) which would be hidden behind a table skirt. The doors which already had handy bottle holders  were culled from an old caravan. The green mesh either side of the bar was from old onion bags. I had the task of sewing on the seashells and flowers from leis to decorate it.
With five children vying for my attention jobs like this are not always easy to do without distraction so the night before the party I was to be found in the garden sewing until it was too dark to see properly. I then got up early the next morning to continue long before everyone else even lifted their sleepy little heads from their pillows. Still in my pyjama's with a cardigan over the top to ward off the early morning chill and the obligatory cup of tea, I enjoyed a peaceful hour with only the birds for company.......I admit I did feel like an extra in an Alfred Hitchcock movie they were very, very noisy - that is what you get when you live by the sea!

The finished bar ready for the drinks to be created. We decorated the garden with plastic scene setters to disguise the fencing. The gazebo was in place to provide both shade from the sun and protection from rain given the unpredictability of our Welsh weather. This was decorated with flower garlands and inflatable monkeys and parrots.

To create the mini beach we placed a large blue tarpaulin sheet down on the decking under the gazebo. On top of this we added four bags of play sand, some buckets and spades and fantastic inflatable palm tree.  The blue colour of the tarpaulin resembled the sea around the sand and we used our small paddling pool as the mini pool.

With donations of some bright plastic cocktail glasses from my Mum, lots of leis, a limbo game built by my dad, a chocolate fountain, lots of food, some extra long straws (very funny)  and a brilliant seaside picture painted by my sister for the girls to have their pictures taken behind we were all set to go.

Both the girls had a fantastic time at their parties and we all had lots of creative fun too. If you think my mum got away with it this time you would be mistaken. Both girls requested she make their birthday cakes but they both insisted they be allowed to help her. So their fabulous finished creations are pictured below. For Chloe a replica of our garden as set up for her party and for Elisha lots of chocolate with her name on.

When the parties were both over the kids were able to spend the next few days making the most of the return of the sunshine. I think there is now more sand inside the house than there is left outside. Lucy is happy to stand in it but only when she has shoes on!

I love my kids I really do........

There are times though when as much as I love them, I do wish they arrived fitted with two Anadin, a warning sign and a pair of earplugs as standard. Times like this..........

Twenty minutes ago we heard a huge crash coming from the hallway closely followed by the sound of a small pair of feet clattering up the stairs. Steve dashed out of the living room to find the hall mirror hanging off the wall, half of it wedged behind the radiator. Lucy's little ride on car was lying on it's side near the front door with its seat tucked in next to the shoe rack. The rest of the hall was strewn with clothing, coat hangers and the two metal drying racks which usually hang from the picture rail above the mirror.

At the sound of the crash I had run out of our bedroom to find out  what on earth had happened. I discovered James halfway up the staircase, it seems that fearing he was going to get a huge telling off he had legged it at such a speed that if he can achieve it again on sports day he will win every race he enters!

It turns out he was racing up and down the hall on Lucy's toy car.  He crashed into the radiator at such a speed that he knocked the mirror clean off the wall which in turn brought down the drying racks and the clothing hung on them supposedly out of the way of little hands.

Luckily the mirror took the brunt of the impact. James got away with a bump and scratch on his hand and a big shock it must be said. I dealt with applying the cold compress and wiping away the tears while Steve had a not so fun time trying to extract the mirror frame from the hooks which hold the radiator onto the wall. It could have been worse, at least James didn't smash the mirror!

Half term is nearly over and they will all be back in school on Monday...........................I love my kids I really do ;-)

When I grow up!

This morning Kerrie asked me what I would like to be when I grow up. She had asked me the same question last night as I tucked her into bed. She then sat there talking to her toys and asking them what they want to be when they grow up.

 Silly me with five children, not to mention a husband and a mortgage I was under the impression for the most part that I had already grown up.
 OK, admittedly as anyone who has witnessed me in the company of my sister will testify I do reserve full rights to act like an overgrown child at times, usually for the entertainment of my own children but not always just for them!

Our poor long suffering Mother dreads the days she is in our company on a bus or in department store changing rooms. There is something about both places which propels us to revert back to being young children with, to her great embarrassment uncontrollable giggling and merriment. As she is trying desperately to keep a straight face while simultaneously  disowning us to anyone who had the unfortunate luck to be sat within earshot, she is also muttering under her breath that she will not take us anywhere ever again! (yes I know that means she is doing three things at once but she is a mummy of four, she knows how to multi-task!)

Anyone who has seen my excitement in the run up to Christmas will also know that I am worse than the children, I blame my parents, they were to be found sat on our sofa at 7.30am on Christmas Day dressed as Father Christmas complete with fluffy white beard and his Little Helper with the sort of plaits which would make Pipi Longstocking jealous, handing out presents from a big red sack. I mean honestly with role models like these is it any wonder I have yet to reach adulthood in the eyes of my children?

   I have always insisted that just like my favourite Jenny Joseph poem, when I am old I will wear purple but I have already decided to take the advice given in the poem which is to start now so I don't surprise people too much when I am old. If you do see me doing something sad and boring you can be guaranteed I will soon be up to some mischief to balance things out.

 Kerrie obviously has a somewhat different opinion on this. In her eyes I have yet to grow up just as she has her full life ahead of her.  So I asked her what she would like to be when she grows up, with a completely straight face and no sign of mischief or intended humour she replied 'A kangaroo!'

Erm ok then, not sure quite where to start with this one and not wishing to burst her innocent bubble I simply asked her what she thought I should be when I grow up. Again with all seriousness and no pause or hesitation she said 'A Power Ranger, a big Power Ranger'

So if anyone needs me I will be in the corner trying on my purple Power Ranger jumpsuit (well it has to be purple!) and practising my jump kicks!

Duvet day

Sometimes it just has to be done. I have been fighting a cold for a few days now. Sunday I started to feel rough. Monday was a disaster, every time I went out of the front door to get anywhere I was late.  My feet just did not want to carry me anywhere. I got into my pyjamas as soon as I arrived home after Brownies and I was asleep straight after Lucy was settled. If you know me well you will know what a night owl I am and if I tell you that I couldn't be bothered to switch the laptop on you will know how knackered I really was.  Yesterday I was so sleepy I barely made it through Holby City and this morning was the day to just curl up and give in to it. Chloe answered me with a croak this morning so she is home too. My body was refusing to let me achieve any more than the basics today. I am up, I am dressed, the children were safely delivered to school, clean and fed and that was about all I can manage. Obviously I am still looking after Lucy, I think she is starting with it too, her pretty little eyes look tired and she keeps sneezing which is ever so cute but she is still smiling. She is sat here chattering next to me, dancing to the theme tune from the old episodes of Friends that Chloe is watching.

We have hot tomato soup, crusty bread fresh from the bakery and lashings of proper welsh salted   butter. Outside it is blowing a gale. I am fully expecting the back gate to go hurtling towards the back fence again. Yes this has happened before, there was an almighty bang one night when we were sat watching telly. Steve went outside to find the gate had been ripped off it's hinges by the force of the wind. the noise was so loud it brought our neighbours out to see what had happened.  Standing in the space between the fence and the side of the house where the gate had been hung was like standing in a wind tunnel. After all the rain we have had now the wind seems to have taken over. We certainly seem to have been battered by the weather lately.

I have spent the last two mornings watching James and Elisha take part in their class services. It is so lovely to be welcomed into school to see what the children do with their days. If yours are anything like mine you will recognise the scenario of the mum asking the children what they have done at school today as they dish out the standard response of 'nothing'. I bet hearing that would please the teachers after they have spent so long planning and executing  activities to entertain their little charges. They were all fantastic and they had obviously practised so hard. I might have felt like death warmed up but that certainly put a smile on my face. The other thing which made me smile was one of my newest and youngest Brownies sat down and drew a picture on Monday night. She had put my name on it and she brought it to me with a big smile of her own. I don't think there are many things nicer than a little one saying 'I made this for you!'

Right time to snuggle down under that duvet for cuddles with my eldest and youngest - stay well everyone xxx

Resolution

22nd of January already, when did that happen? I feel like someone wound up the calendar when I wasn't looking! Never mind the Elf who comes to stay causing chaos over Christmas, I am sure we have a mischievous Imp who fast-forwards the clock as soon as I get into bed. No sooner have I fallen asleep then it seems it is time for me to wake up. I suspect the same Imp is also responsible for that particular brand of insomnia which only seems to occur when you know you really need to wake up on time for something important.

 I should have been writing this at New Year, a time when we traditionally make our New Year's Resolutions. I usually start the year making plenty of resolutions and plans. I have it all mapped out, new calendar and diary at the ready with beautiful clean pages. A cloud of ambitious ideas filling the space between my ears............which then slowly leaks out like a slow puncture as I attempt to deal with the here and now, leaving no time for future planning. It is more of a mopping up exercise while the kids throw anything they can into the mix to distract me further from my tasks. I can see parents evenings, birthday parties and dentist appointments already on the horizon.

This year decided to just make less plans and see how the whole thing pans out. Yes, I am resolving to not make any resolutions. (This should be interesting for a self confessed control freak)  That is not to say I don't have a long list of things I would like to do but for the sake of my own sanity I am taking the pressure off. If I don't set the target then I can't fail and anything I do achieve can be classed as a bonus........kind of like cleaning the oven!

Anyway, it is time to get the munchkins up and ready for school and you know how complicated their lives are, it's a good job their 'social secretary' has her trusty list to hand! Today we have one for forest schools - needing to be dressed in her own clothes and wellies, two requiring packed lunches, two having dinner in school, two going to ballet and one going to street dance, three party invitations to be replied to and plans make to get children to and from the said parties and one still needs help finishing homework for tomorrow. I had better get my skates on!

Reflection

So what happened then? This blog was going so well and then it came to a sudden halt as life simply got in the way.  You know what it is like I am sure, the best laid plans of mice and men and all that...I guess being a Mummy of five kept me busier than even I thought because I have not been able to find the time to write. My thanks to those of you who have asked me about it and encouraged me to carry on, your kind words have meant so much.

 I have thought about writing so often, words streaming into my head like long ribbons, rattling around the all too empty space between my ears begging me to apply them to paper. The trouble is all too often when this happens I am busy doing something else and my hands are not free to pick up a pen, I can easily think of things to write about when I am pushing the pram along the prom or filling the washing machine or washing dishes or wandering the aisles of the supermarket trying desperately to remember what I wanted to buy or what I've got at home already. 

Yes, I write lists, I write them in abundance all over the place. I have lists of the children's shoe sizes in case I spot a bargain while I am shopping, I have lists of dates, times and places where we need to be and why we need to be there, my problem is I never seem to have the right list handy when I need it. Maybe being more organised should be my New Year's Resolution, which brings me handily to my reasons for resurrecting this blog. 

It is the end of the year 2012, and a time for reflecting on the year gone by and a time to make plans for the coming year 2013. In 2012 we welcomed our beautiful baby daughter Lucy, I admit to feeling overwhelmed by the thought of another addition to our family but as soon as we met I knew she was meant to be with us. She makes me smile everyday even in the early hours of the morning when she wakes for snuggles, curling up in my arms to go back to sleep. Now just a few days before her First Birthday she has celebrated her very First Christmas with us and she has been our very own Christmas Star. 

Olympic Inspiration

So the London 2012 Olympics officially began with a lavish and exciting opening ceremony. For me, I don't think they could top James Bond escorting The Queen to the venue, I mean who else fictional or not could be relied upon to get her there safely? On Her Majesty's Secret Service indeed! It was just brilliant - the whole thing kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what Danny Boyle would throw at us next.

Who else but J K Rowling who has inspired a whole generation of children to read,  should be chosen to  read us our bedtime story, and who other than Mary Poppins could rescue us from our childhood nightmares?
 Kenneth Branagh led us through yards of British history seamlessly woven into one colourful blanket of entertainment culminating in the lighting of that amazing flame which has travelled the length and breadth of the country carried by people from all walks of life. With the same lack of ego the chance to light the flame was given to our young up and coming athletes, this was truly a momentous occasion.

Meanwhile some days later back in Mummyoffive HQ, Chloe is acting as team coach as Kerrie takes part in the women's gymnastics competition. Resplendent in her pink ballet leotard and using a scarf as a twirling ribbon, she is prancing around the floor, pointing her toes and spinning in the way that she sees the gymnast's perform on the TV screen above her. Ever observant she sees and copies minute details of their performance that would pass me by entirely. Toes pointed, legs straight, arms raised and a big smile at the end.

As the gymnasts sit down between events she too needs a chair. They drink from sports bottles and so she drinks too. I am grateful she is happy to pretend to coat her little hands in talc as I rush to make sure Lucy's baby powder is well hidden from Kerrie's eager eyes. The scarf is now folded on the floor to become the high beam and I am encouraged to 'look at my cartwheel, mummy' I of course am happy to oblige, stifling a chuckle and surreptitiously winking at Chloe as Kerrie performs a cross between a wobbly handstand and a forward roll landing on the floor in a giggling heap. She stands up, takes a bow and thanks us for watching!

I am not a sports fan by any stretch of the imagination, when I was in school PE lessons were frankly my idea of hell, I wasn't very good at it and so I couldn't see the fun in participating.  However I am happy to say that my children all love to play and enjoy a wide variety of sports. There seems to be a much wider range of activities for them to take part in than when I was a child.  I am enjoying supporting Team GB in the Olympics and especially watching it through their eyes, Kerrie has certainly been inspired by the gymnasts!