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!

I am always suspicious when it goes quiet...........

Well lets face it with five children of varying ages living in the same house silence is something of a novelty. Our home is always busy, just the way we like it. There is always something going on, lots of activity, most of the time several different things are happening at once so it is a good job we are both well practised in the art of multi-tasking or we would never manage to keep up. When it goes quiet, now that is when I worry! If there is not a sound to be heard and they are not asleep then someone must be up to something and if they are quiet then that usually means they are in mischief.

Tonight while I was busy feeding Lucy, Kerrie went very quiet. I settled Lucy for a nap and went upstairs to get Kerrie ready for bed. She had somehow and we are still unsure about how she managed this, got hold of a tube of black mascara and she was running around giggling wearing nothing but a liberal stripey coating of Boots No7! She had managed to spread it on her arms and legs with some glittery lip gloss layered around her bellybutton for good measure. With her red hair she looked like a sparkly tiger cub. There was nothing for it but to pop her in the bath and hose her down an outcome which of course she was delighted with. Her doll or to be more accurate my doll which she now plays with, had to be bathed and shampooed too. Kerrie kept up her usual running commentary as these events unfolded. 'Can I go in the bath mummy?, I'm climbing in mummy, don't get dolly wet mummy, oh can we wash her hair?, can I wash her hair too? Ha ha my tummy is all soapy' etc etc etc.

The funny thing was that although she knew that she shouldn't be messing around with the make up she was so proud of herself for putting it on. She wants to be just like her sisters. Chloe is nearly twelve. She has just started wearing a bit of makeup, we have agreed limits and I see no reason to not allow her to experiment with cosmetics as all her friends are too.
 Elisha also has a few bits and pieces which she is allowed to wear for school disco's or when they play at giving makeovers. I rarely wear makeup. To be honest I don't really have time but I do have a full makeup bag for equally rare nights out which the girls love to raid.

 Elisha also wants to copy her older sister which is all well and good until we have days like the one recently when she was quietly getting ready for school........or so I thought. You see I told you it is bad when they go quiet. I wish someone had taken a picture of the look on my face when she came down the stairs in her full regalia complete with plastic tiara, it really set off her school uniform a treat! I am still surprised that she didn't add a pair of plastic earrings and a fairy wand to accompany the full face of make up which greeted me just five minutes before she was supposed to depart for school. On that occasion a quick swipe with a flannel had to suffice.  What made her think it would be acceptable to go to school with her face coated in glitter and shimmer powder I do not know. I must have missed that page of the prospectus. However between you and me and only if you promise not to tell her I will admit that she did make me chuckle......Little monkey!

Days where we can just be......

It is almost the start of the Summer Holidays! My second favourite time of year, my first being Christmas, I have always loved Christmas, all my children home snuggled up together, good food, good company and presents too, what's not to love?
Chloe and Elisha both celebrate their birthdays in August so summer is a happy time for us. James loves being at home whatever the reason and for Kerrie this will be her last summer at home before she starts school in September. As for Lucy well she is a sociable little creature who loves to watch her brother and sisters so I am sure she will be happy to have so much entertainment on hand.

 Chloe has four days left in school owing to her having had a long weekend with no school on the Friday and the Monday  due to two teacher training days. I have no idea why they could not simply tag them onto the holiday as the Primary School has done. James and Elisha both have just two days of term left.

 I am lucky enough to be at home with the children so I don't have to juggle childcare. It can't be at all easy for those parents who will end up needing childcare for some of their family because the schools break up on different days, not to mention the teachers whose children finish before they do.
Why can't they keep these things simple for all of us with standard term dates but then again things which seem simple enough to us mere mortals rarely seem simple to the decision makers. Why does giving humans a bit of power always seem to bring out the worst in their human nature? The mind boggles at some of the nonsense they come up, I'm not going to start ranting though or I will be here all day, suffice to say I may have to stop watching the news for the sake of my blood pressure!

So back to the fast approaching holidays......

I love this time of year, all of our children at home together, much less rushing around having to get to this place and that place and time, time to just be! I suppose they would call it 'downtime' now. It doesn't have to be relaxing in fact we might well end up being much more active than we are during term time but time to be together, play games, have fun and just enjoy each others company. I have a list of activities and days out planned to keep us all entertained. It is hard to find time to be together when everyone has to be somewhere different, it just feels like one long merry go round that wont stop and just keeps on spinning faster and faster. In real terms this is the point when I start to oversleep as I did twice this week. I forget to write things on the calendar. I drop the bat and the fabric of our lives starts to unravel. 'You can tell it nearly the holidays' I can be heard to exclaim several times a day.  Summer is a chance to pick up that golden thread which interweaves our lives with it's rich colour and repair those damaged stitches. We put ourselves back together both physically and mentally and take a break to prepare ourselves for the new term ahead.

The rain has been so abundant this year that I am already planning lots of indoor activities just in case the garden has to stay off limits for much of the holidays. If we can't play outdoors we will play indoors. Out will come the scissors and glue, paint and paper, the scrapbooks and craft. We have plenty of books, games and toys to rediscover. I have bookmarked interesting child friendly websites we might like to explore further. We can bake treats and make play dough.  Dens can be built indoors, picnics can be eaten on a blanket in the living room and I have a feeling the wii and wii fit will be well used this summer so I have plenty of batteries in stock already. Luckily we all have wellies and raincoats so walks involving splashing in puddles can be arranged for when we all get fed up of the four walls. As you can see even the holidays take some forward planning when you have a houseful of children to consider.

 Last year Chloe had lots of friends here much of the time, our home became a sort of half way house for the holidays, I didn't mind at all. I love having a busy bustling house full of noise and laughter, a good job really I mean no one has five children if they relish peace and quiet do they!
Her friends were very good at involving the little ones too when they were here, during one sleepover I popped upstairs to check on Elisha to discover her sat on a stool surrounded by Chloe and her friends who were each painting the nails on either her hands or feet. She looked like the queen and was very much enjoying the attention!

During last summer I was pregnant and still feeling rather sick quite often, between the sickness and the sciatica doing anything was rather an effort and a strain. This year I am most definitely not pregnant and so I am looking forward to being able to enjoy the holidays and some summer food whether the sun decides to join us or not! I am hoping to record our summer adventures here so stay with us and see how we fill those lazy summer days.

That Friday feeling.............

It is Friday tomorrow thank goodness!

One of the things which I like best about Friday is that I get to turn off the alarm on my phone until Sunday night. Admittedly I might not get to wake up totally naturally when I am good and ready because in all likelihood I will get woken up by Lucy at some unearthly hour and, it is also quite likely that one of the other kids will decide to wake us up in the morning but that I can cope with. That will be much gentler than the dreaded beep beep beep of the alarm which jolts me from my slumber on weekdays.
This is one of the reasons why I am looking forward to the summer holidays. Six weeks of waking up when I am ready, my eyes opening of their own accord, brain allowed to kick in slowly, kids permitting of course! Bliss!
 I love the slow moving mornings and I love being able to have an extra cup of tea because we wont have to get ready to go anywhere, not unless we choose to that is.

 My summer 'to do' list has now become even longer. Chloe and Elisha both celebrate their birthdays in the summer holiday and as Elisha reminded me today I did promise them they could get their ears pierced if they still wish. So now I need to add this to the calendar and sort out a date when we can get this done as it is better to do this over the long holidays to give them chance to heal. Elisha asked me today if it hurts, erm only for a minute I answered not sure whether I should tell her that it took me till I was twenty one to have mine done and I won't be repeating the experience anytime soon, best keep quiet about that I think..... then there is uniform, bags, equipment, lunchboxes and school shoes for four to sort out, will put this out of my mind for the moment though, I don't think my addled brain can cope with it all just yet.

 Today has been a strange day, the weather has been very unpredictable with rain, thunder and lightning, well ok rain in Wales is to be expected but the noise from the sudden torrential downpour  this morning made my ears hurt, and lets face it with five children I am used to noise! I know that some parts of the country have suffered more flooding, looking at the sheer amount of water hitting the road outside I was getting worried myself wondering if the drainage system could or would cope.

 Kerrie was enthralled looking out of the window watching the water hit the decking as we sang nursery rhymes involving rain. Lucy was giggling throughout and it seems that Incy Wincy Spider is already a favourite of hers. She is growing so fast and changing so much. She will be six months old next week and I can't believe that time has gone so quickly.
 She is always giggling and babbling to herself and her toys. Lucy reaches for anything which catches her eye and she takes great delight in snatching up her clean clothes if I make the mistake of leaving them too close to her when I am changing her nappy. She can hold things properly in her hands now and can pick things up as opposed to just batting at them hopefully when she saw something she wanted.

 I love the happy look of recognition in her eyes and the big smile when I hand her one of her favourite toys or cover her in her nanny blanket. My mum has crocheted blankets in the same style for each of the children, they all have their different colours but they are fondly refered to as nanny blankets, my own nanny blanket is huge and covers our sofa (if you have 'Liked' our facebook page it is in the picture at the top of the page, all the kids are sat on it.)  www.facebook.com/themindboggle. 

 James went on a school trip today, he says he had a great time although as usual I can't get much detail out of him other than he 'fed animals' and he sat by his friend Alex on the coach. He found it very funny that I could guess who some of the other children had chosen to partner on the trip. Obviously he thinks I sleepwalk through the school run/kids parties/our conversations about school, paying no attention to his little stories and tales, not actually true I might add. James also made me laugh recently when he saw some cakes I had baked. He said 'you are a good cooker mum, maybe when you grow up you could have a restaraunt!' I will keep that in mind for when I grow up..........

Tomorrow he is going to the beach with school for a summer suprise so I really hope the sun decides to shine for them. Elisha is also going to the beach with her class as part of the Forest Schools Programme although in this case it will be Beach School. They are both very excited, their buckets and spades are at the ready. Chloe is less than impressed because they didn't do either when she was a pupil. I have a feeling this will be a familiar theme as the year continues.

It is also cake day again at school so I have made flapjacks this time and they are currently cooling in the kitchen. I don't know how they will turn out because I have not made this specific recipe before but they certainly smell good so here is hoping they taste good too. I am waiting for them to cool now so I can cut them and get them boxed up before I go to bed.  I might have to make a cuppa and test them out, just to check them of course! Night all!

Wasting time online

Lately we seem to be drowning in paperwork. Since three of our children are already in school and Kerrie is due to start in September we receive letters home on most weekdays, often in duplicate and sometimes by the handful.  Forms for school trips and outings, fund raising events, after school clubs, questionnaires, news, and adverts. I understand from the schools point of view that there is a lot going on and they have a vast amount of information to impart, believe me I am not complaining at this sudden burst of communication since I would be the first to complain if we as parents were not kept updated. In fact I very much like it.

 The primary school produces a fantastic newsletter, implemented by the new Headteacher which we can choose to have as either an email or a paper copy. It contains so much information about all sorts of things happening during the school day which we would, under the previous regime have known nothing about. Chloe went up to High School last September just as our new Head arrived so I have had several years of her attending Primary school to be able to compare this to.
 In the past I often felt that what happened during school hours was very much kept in the classroom and we shouldn't really be asking now I am pleased to see we are expected to want to know what our children have been doing with their days, isn't that as it should be?

 Elisha brought home a copy of the latest newsletter on Friday and Chloe picked it up to read. She looked sad and I asked her what was wrong. She replied that she wished she could go back to the Junior school because it looked fun. She was bemoaning the fact that she missed out on so many of the activities which Elisha gets to take part in. Her keen eyes had noticed that Elisha and James are being offered so many more opportunities than she was given during her time there.  I couldn't really offer another viewpoint as although she took part in quite a lot of activities having seen the other side of the coin I am rather inclined to agree with her.

 It is lovely to see so many pictures of the children taking part in such varied activities. Now, it is not just the proud parents of the 'Worker of the week' 'Star of the week' etc who hear their child's news, all the other parents get to hear about it too. It is of course lovely to see my own children being singled out for their achievements,  but it is also very nice to see the other children's own special moments too. I have known many of the  pupils since they were babies, I have watched them grow up and it is lovely to see them do well. The email can be forwarded to grandparents and relatives to show them and for me the on line format is easy to keep track of and it also means that I don't have yet another piece of paper to lose!

The downside of all this information being available  is that in a converse way it can be very hard to keep up with all that is going on.   I try and keep all the letters from school in the same place so I can make sure it all gets dealt with on time. Lately though my days are crammed with the ever changing needs of a small baby and a very active toddler that so much is just not getting done at home.
Bits of paper are thrust into my hands when they arrive home from school and I put them down to deal with later, the trouble is 'later' something else happens which I have to deal with and the pile of letters gets put to one side to deal with 'tomorrow' I then end up riffling through it in a mad hurry to deal with the most urgent things as the children are heading out of the door, not good. What is worse is that I now have three 'to be dealt with' piles of paper and they are stacked in three different  locations due to the need to keep them all out of Kerrie's reach. In other words they are spread around the house.

So today I decided that enough was enough. Deep down I am actually quite organised, no seriously I am! I'm a huge fan of lists and notebooks, I love my calendar, and on days out I am the one carrying the plasters, (what do you expect I was a Girl Guide you know!) so it is very frustrating for me to be juggling such a mess. I needed to do something about it and today came my opportunity.  Kerrie and Lucy very kindly both had a nap at the same time so I grabbed the laptop, calendar and the most recent stack of missives to try and play catch up, well I did say try!

In reality...........

Chloe attends the local high school which tends to post most of it's information and updates in on line newsletters. I had received a text from them (days ago......) informing me that a newsletter was available but I had chosen to ignore it until now bemoaning a lack of time.
 I switched on the laptop and was making a studious attempt to avoid Facebook which I love even though it is the greatest time waster ever.  I logged onto the high school website to check the newsletter which it has to be said contained hardly anything of any real use. It then advises me that for the latest info I should 'like' their Facebook page, in doing so I am of course re-directed to the very place I am trying to avoid - is there a conspiracy going on here?  Back to the job in hand then? Oh stuff it maybe I should just make a cup of tea and check my news feed while I procrastinate some more................

Busy Monday

Monday seems to be coming around very quickly lately. It must be that time of year, we are hurtling towards the start of the summer holidays like an out of control space shuttle.
 I don't know where this year has gone to it certainly seems to be speeding away faster than usual although I am convinced that starting the year off with a new baby and watching her progress is the reason why. Babies grow up so quickly, too quickly I feel, so we just kept having them to repeat the fun all over again.........I jest of course!

  For us the summer holidays herald birthdays for both Chloe and Elisha as well as getting all the back to school uniforms and other things bought and prepared. It is both a busy and an expensive time for us.
 This time Kerrie will start in the school nursery class part time so we will have four of our five going to school. I have already worked out that it will be the year 2023 when Lucy goes to high school. I have also discovered that if she chooses to stay on for Sixth Form I will be fifty-one years old, I am thirty-three now so that is a sobering thought indeed. More soberingly still Steve will be Sixty-one!

So better move on from that thought and look at today. With so many children doing so many different things it is fair to say we always have a lot of things to prepare. The girls enjoy quite a few after school activities and James is starting to join in too. Between them in varying amounts they attend Ballet and  Street Dance classes, Gymnastics, Brownies, and a youth club out of school plus netball and football lessons which are organised through their schools taking place at the end of the  day.
 Some days they do more than others, today was one of those days where I certainly needed a list to get everything ready.
Elisha alone needed seven, yes seven changes of clothes today and that didn't include pyjamas. No wonder I can't keep up with the laundry! The list was as follows

1) School Uniform
2) Swimming Kit - school swimming lesson
3) PE kit - to wear to have her photo taken with the Olympic Torch (which she didn't need in the end)
4) Outfit to wear for the School Talent Competition Final (Her group came second, well done girls!)
5) Gymnastics Kit - Gym Club
6) Brownie Uniform
7) More swimming kit plus jelly shoes for the Brownies to go to the local paddling pool.

Phew on top of all that they all have packed lunches and James started gym class today so he needed clothes for that too. Steve decided to take him and Chloe to the paddling pool too so more swimming gear and crocs required - big thank you to the not so happy souls who sometimes feel the need to deposit broken glass in the pool making footwear a necessity.

One Friday not so long ago Steve got up early to wake up three kids and get them into uniform and ready for school as usual. Total confusion reigned when they informed him that one was staying home as it was a teacher training day, one had to dress up for world book day and the other was in his own clothes for forest schools and needed his wellies. This is why I couldn't function without my calendar, kids lives are complicated!

It used to be that the last couple of weeks before the Summer and Christmas holidays were extremely busy with so much to remember, now with so many more activities on offer they do seem to have upped the ante so now most weeks are like that. I am not complaining I think it is lovely that they are afforded so many opportunities to try different things. James however is not always so keen. He told me last week that he did not want to go to school anymore. He wasn't upset and I know from speaking to his teacher that he is perfectly happy in school but still I asked him why. He replied that school takes up too much of the day!
 In James' world he simply has better things to do with his time and school interrupts that. He loves the weekends and half term to him is heaven. His days are punctuated by things which in his mind are unnecessary interruption's to his fun such as getting dressed!  He is in Reception Class now where much of his learning is still play based. Not quite sure what he is going to make of the next class when things become more formal. I suspect there will be many more 'I don't want to go to school days'.

Hopefully my day is starting to draw to a close as it has been rather a long one and Tuesdays are also a long day around here with dance classes after school so tomorrow will be busy too. I have just finished my evening meal having finally been able to sit down to eat, it has been one of those days (Jacket potato with lashings of Welsh butter, cherry tomatoes and soft cheese just in case you were wondering!)

 Lucy is bouncing in her chair at my feet but she is starting to get restless so I think it is time to get her into her pj's before her last feed. I treasure our evening snuggles as I know it wont be long before she will be dashing off to explore her world along with her brother and sisters. they are all growing up so quickly and time really does fly so fast!

On that note I am going to spend some quality time with my youngest so I will bid you all goodnight xxx