new car !!!!!!

Yay......we finally picked up our new (to us) car on Saturday. Munch was uber excited and had been bugging me to take her with me to pick it up. It took 3 trains to get there and it was only 25 miles away but was a great adventure. She memorised the route with me and counted how many stops before we had to change. She even randomly recognised a parked car on the last leg of the journey which we walked......just as I was beginning to think we had taken a wrong turn. Still we got it and all is good. The main source of disapointment is that I had hoped that Ttinkerbell's car seat would be able to go in the rearward facing seats thus giving us the added protection of ERF without the expensive new car seat. Unfortunately if the seats face rearward then only the lap belts are available which does not secure the car seat......bit of a bummer as we had just bought a new car seat in the hopes it would last until she didn't need one any more....so a good few years. Also the hope was that the old one we could put in the loft for a short while until needed for a new addition....thus actually saving some money....well at least that is what I told my hubby lol. However if the new law comes into play before then we will have to buy an ERF seat which keeps them rear facing until around 4 years old so we may still have to buy a new seat anyway.

In other news I am such a scatter brain I completely forgot about work on Friday....and I mean completely. Not good when your mother in law/ boss lives with you. She walked in the door about half 7 and said "aren't you supposed to be somewhere?" myself and hubby just looked at her blankly.....and then it slowly clicked that I should have been at work by 6.....not good considering our strained relationship at the moment...still never mind. Although in my defence being half term my routine had completely changed and I had lost track of days....plus other sister in law was here until just gone 7 dropping of her Sugar Plum before heading to her night shift.

Lots of free play happening here this weekend. Lots of imaginative dressing up and dancing. Munch watched Street Dance yesterday and has decided that it is something she may be interested in so the feelers are out for a local group...or maybe we will set one up, who knows.

busy bustling

Another busy weekend here with the children....and a borrowed one as we are helping one of CJ's sisters out with childcare while she works as her husband is working away. Also lots of stress with the ongoing inlaws saga....thought we had things sorted but now they have changed their minds again....so they will all be moving out and hopefully we can afford to stay here on our own. It is not ideal as we were quite hoping to get off the main road and into a bigger garden. However, with less people in this would be a lovely house and we are working on the garden so would be a shame to miss our veggies that we have planted when they would be at their best. Just want it all to be done with now but stuck in a status quo until at least August/September and possibly not until the new year :-(

Munch will be devastated though as she loves having nanny here everyday .......and even aunty foofee.

So back to more cheerful times. Before everything happened at the weekend we went and looked at a new car...good job really as mum will be taking hers, although we can't really afford one. It is a bus, at least it felt like it to drive...an 8 seater toyota to be exact. Plenty of room for our camping gear which is the main priority and plenty of room for all the girls, including the borrowed one and room to expand should we be so lucky.

Also had  a family wedding to attend on saturday. Good time was had by all and the bride looked beautiful. Lovely setting too, somewhere fairly local that I had not been to before. Perhaps worth a second visit with the hubby and littles when we go to pick up the car at the weekend.

Sunday was spent at Kent life....one of our go to places....just decided on the spur of the moment really as I had a feeling it was going to be one of those days if we didn't get the girls out and about....especially the borrowed one. A good time was had by all and we were lucky with the weather as the rain held off most of the day...still lots of puddles to splash around in though. Plenty of play time n the indoor soft play too, as well as visiting our favourite animals.

Monday was spent helping my brother with the finishing touches to his secret surprise decorating spree while his wife and children were away for the extended bank holiday. hope she liked it, he worked so hard bless him. Monday afternoon/ evening was spent with my family at a local club where my uncle was hosting a ska night. lots of drinking, chatting and dancing....known as 'skanking' ...classy. Was nice to catch up a bit with everyone though and the kids were safe at home with their dad so I didn't have to worry about them for once.

(Grace getting crafty at Leeds Castle)

On Tuesday we made good use of our Leeds castle tickets and took a picnic to watch the jousting show. Munch had a great day, especially as she bumped into one of her HE friends and family. Tinkerbell has been sword fighting ever since. We liked it so much we went back again on Wednesday with friends. We had planned to go to the coast for the day but decided against it as the weather was looking very unpredictable. All of the children were enthralled and again we were lucky with the weather as the rain held of until we were walking back to the car.

The ginger ninja with a tired sugar plum.

play days

Friday was spent in mote park with friends. 3 families from our home ed groups met up in the park and promptly camped out for the day. We were soon joined by several families from a local attachment parenting group we also belong to so there were quite a few of us in the end. All pick-nicking and playing and enjoying the weather. WE also had our niece with us whom we child mind 3/4 days a week and she was a little escape artist. She kept escaping out of the gate or trying to borrow strangers scooters or buggies. She certainly kept us on our toes....and kept people guessing as we could see the looks on their faces when faced with a black child with 2 white adults who she insisted on calling mummy or daddy...lol.

Today we are off in search of a car....not that we can afford one but we can't afford not to get one either if that makes sense. The one we borrow from the ninja's mater is ok but a very expensive to run 2 litre petrol.....ouch...and actually not big enough for all of our camping gear etc which we definitely need with the summer coming and my BSL course soon finishing. Freedom will soon be ours again although I am seriously considdering studying the pre level 2 BSL course. It is something I am keen to do but is a commitment of 30 weeks so once again we would be tied to the school timetable.....not to mention if we continue with our plans of TTC later in the year. The level 2 BSL itself is then another 30 weeks after that which means a 2 year commitment and I am really not sure about that. It is a real sticking point with me at the moment....especially as I would be able to continue to study with the friends I have made which makes a big difference...we could continue with our 'practice' sessions at the local bar. *cough*

Still it has been nice to go out and be myself for 1 night a week.....the first time in years actually as I can relax knowing my girls are safe with their wonderful daddy.

I haven't forgotten

I keep meaning to post and then get distracted by the lovely weather and by the time I get back I am exhausted. Lots of busy days here...last forest school at Blean on Wednesday, It is an all day one for the last six weeks or so and Munch has thoroughly enjoyed it. Adults are not supposed to stay so we went shopping in Canterbury and had lunch in the gorgeous whole food cafe which I discovered in my uni days.

Lots of playing has been involved this week. Mostly in the sand pit and paddling pool.....which explains why my carpet is full of sand along with almost everything we touch in the house :-(

Needless to say the housework has taken a bit of a back seat.....it gets once a day even if it doesn't look like ....otherwise I am constantly tidying up a little bit all the time and getting frustrated when the children make more mess.

Slowly having a clear out and trying to have a sort through as we seem to have accumulated a lot of stuff which we are trying to do without....less clutter should equal less mess right????? well maybe we will just have to see.
To this end we did a bootfair last sunday...although my mum bought Munch almost as mush as we sold which did not please the ginger ninja much.

Things have been getting us down a bit recently so the ginger ninja has decided our priority at the moment is for us to get our own car...which will be a diesel so hopefully a bit more fuel economic then mums big petrol car which we borrow at the moment and hopefully a bit bigger so that we can get all of our camping gear in it. Hopefully this will give us more freedom to disappear as often as we like and visit some of our lovely home ed friends who have offered us places to stay.

Lots of free play and reading has added to our week. lots of park play dates and even a jubilee party yesterday which Munch really enjoyed.

The trouble is I either forget to take photos or can't work out how to upload them from instagram ...the ginger ninja usually helps with the technical side of things and he isn't up yet. Too much happens for me to remember it all if I leave it too long between blogs, so probably not the most exciting read......gosh I almost forgot....shopping in CAMDEN baby.....went as a last minute thing with my friend for her birthday....lush...have not been for 11 years and forgot how much I love it. Could have spent a fortune but restrained myself....quite proud of my restraint actually....must be  a sign of maturity lol

Our week in pictures

lots of crafting and messy play this week. Faith is always drawn to the piano at either of the hall meets we go to and whilst looking for a restaurant we had been recommended we found this lovely park...lots of fun activities and a slide etc hidden behind the plane wreckage amongst the trees, definitely planning a return trip soon.

Lots of pictures from a family day on Saturday. Of course the first thing we did was light a fire before starting work trimming hedges etc at my grandparents.

 not quite sure why I have a picture of feet??????

my girls were totally in love with Nipper my uncles Jack Russell and took him for little walks and cuddles all day.

After we popped along to the sweeps festival at Rochester on Monday we met up with my Dad and his brother and walked around Leybourne lakes. Grace was fascinated to find a dummy tree and wondered why they were there. I explained that it was probably parents/ children leaving them for the dummy fairy once they decided they were too grown up to have them anymore.

Also this weekend Munch learnt to finger knit and now cannot go anywhere without a small ball of wool, as testified by her trying to eat breakfast in weatherspoons whilst finger knitting.

Throughout the weekend Tinkerbell was her usual sparkly, stubborn self. At the home ed meet on Tuesday she got straight into painting as you can see by her lovely white top. This was swiftly followed by plastering wotsits all around her face before finally falling asleep in the car on the way to drop Munch at her friends for a sleep over ready for forest school.

All in all a good weekend...met a few nice people, been keeping on top of housework (mostly) strip washed the nappies in the hope that they stop leaking before I get really upset as they are fairly new and cost a small fortune....had some preloved which worked amazingly well so went out and bought 9 more but we are having several issues with leakage so hope they will be ok...really cant afford any more. And also on the look out for a wrap maybe...my friend is going to lend us one next week after we return the lovely ssc buckle carrier she lent us to see which we prefer. I am not quite ready to let go of my baby yet and despite being incredibly broody I just want my little Tinkerbell to be little for a while longer yet......

Woah Noah

well, I thought I would change the background to match this lovely spring weather NOT. Actually to be fair I don't mind too much....we have had a couple of good days in between which we have made the most of. Things have been fairly busy here 2 birthdays in a week to orchestrate and lots of visiting relatives have not left much time for blogging. I have been adding finishing touches to my portfolio which needs to be handed in. Once that has gone it frees up another day and is one less thing to worry about.

 So apart from sign on a Tuesday night, work on Thursday and twilight shift on Friday  I have more time at home so hopefully can get started on the mass de-clutter that we so desperately need. Oh for the days when it would take 10 minutes to tidy the whole house and not much longer to rearrange a whole room..... On a serious note though we do have too many books ( I know, I know but they literally just sit there in our tiny house collecting dust and we need the room ) I have converted to the dark side with my lovely kindle and it takes up so little space. I love books, the smell and the comfort of sitting beside the fire curled up in an arm chair but unfortunately 1200 books in something which takes up the space of one book is definitely a winner at the moment :-(

I am trying to get a little more organised in our home, so that we do not keep wasting money for the most part, having cupboards/ freezer full of food but still eating out or getting take away due to lack of forward planning (ie defrosting something) is not healthy for our non-existent bank account.

Hopefully also I will have time, once we have less clutter to 'strew' some ideas for Munch to try and fire her interests a little more. She is not really one to ask questions as such about things an if she does and I try to encourage her to look things up she checks the dreaded wikipedia or something and goes with the first thing she sees. However, I have lots of lovely things pinned and lapbooks planned so hopefully we can build on these ideas and feel like we are actually learning. I know we try to be autonomous but I feel that school did not teach her the skills she needs....she seems to have little imagination left when it comes to things she wants to do so we just need to gently nudge her I think so that she knows she can make choices and follow her own mind. Wait hang...isn't that a bit contradictory? still, I know what I meant...she just needs to be shown the way as I think she is still a bit blinkered by the years of school training her to be a sheep.