The Twins First School Nativity - 12 December 2011

We attended the twins first school nativity this week. They were very cute. They wanted to dress up as sheep... so had vests with cotton wool balls stuck all over them, and black leggings on their legs and arms... and fluffy headbands with ears! I know the ears were placed quite right... they should be on the side of the head.... but I think they looked very cute anyway!

(Apologies for the below par quality of the pics... I used my new little point and shoot and was experimenting with a different setting!!)

A Catch Up Post - Half Term at Leeds Castle - October 2011

I have so many photos, and events, to catch up on. (Bet you can guess what my New Years Resolution is going to be!)

At the end of October (Half Term week for Halloween) we took the twins to Leeds Castle. It was a beautiful day and we had lots of fun playing in the grounds. It was unseasonably mild and a beautiful day.

The Grounds still had all their autumnal colours.

Ollie hiding under some giant leaves!

The Twins and Daddy are playing under the tree!

Playing by the River

Ollie and his stick!

Playing by the Lake!

(The fascination of sticks?!!)

The gardens always provide amazing photo opportunities.

I love Leeds Castle!

They had lots of activities going on, including face painting. The twins love it!! Ollie picked his usual Princessy/girly type design... and Mimi picked Spiderman!!!

Mimi - Spider Girl

Ollie - Happy Fairy

A FAB Day Out in London (With Beautiful Light in Trafalgar Square)

A few weeks back (well, August actually - but you wouldn't have believed it because of the rain) I went for a girls day out in London with my wonderful friend Toni. We spent the day going round art galleries, eating lovely food, wandering around Covent Garden and then, to top it off, we went to see 'Ghost - The Musical' at the Theatre.

As we came out of the National Gallery and looked out over Trafalgar Square the light was beautiful. It had just stopped raining, but the sun had come out and the pavements were shining. I had made the decision NOT to take my camera (didn't want to carry it all round London), so had to take a picture with my i-phone.

We also had:

Macaroons from Paul's Patisserie (my favourite) in Trafalgar Square

Nachos and cocktails from TGI Fridays in Leicester Square

Noodles from Wagamamas in Covent Garden

The production of Ghost was brilliant.. with the most amazing special effects. The vocals, and vocalists were great.

We had a lovely time... made a little more exciting by Barbara Windsor and her husband sitting in the row in front of us! (haha).

First Day of School

The twins started school at the beginning of September... they started on half days at first... well not quite half days... 8.45-1130, but then they started full time at the end of September. My little babies are getting big!!!

About to go into school.

Leaving the classroom after the first day at school... complete with smiles, pictures and a rocker (made by Jemima).

Mother/Daughter Outing - last day before school - Wednesday 7 September 2011

The last day before the twins started school I took Jemima out for a Mother/Daughter day. She said she wanted to go shopping for a treat, build sandcastles, and go to the park. We didn't make the park, but we had a great day shopping and then going to the beach. My friend Louise came with us and provided the transport, as we have no car at the moment. A bittersweet day... my little girl's growing up.

(Ollie had a day out at the park with daddy... he has simple tastes!)

Jemima's Gingerbread Man

A new bucket and spade

Look what I made!

Having fun!

Matching Footwear

Sand Angel

A walk on the beach with Auntie Louise

We ended off the day with a delicious ice cream. Thanks Auntie Louise for sharing our special day with us!

(I was a little devastated to drop my small camera in the sea as I was playing in a rock-pool with Mimi! I fear it is beyond recovery.... but at least it was not my DSLR! Phew)

The Time Is Far Spent.....

..... The Summer Time, that is!! Where has time gone!

The past month or so has been spent helping my friend prepare for her daughter's wedding. It got a bit fraught there towards the end, but the wedding happened on 29 July, and all went well, apart from a few last minute catastrophes ... like:- a bridesmaid being injured, and not being able to make it to the wedding!; The photographer getting stuck in the USA because of a cancelled plane!; the caterers turning up 3 hours late on the morning of the wedding!; the Grooms father getting pulled by the police for answering his phone to the father of the bride on the morning of the wedding whilst driving a bridesmaid to the bride's house!!!! Fortunately, none of these events marred the wedding, and solutions were found and things were dealt with. The Bride was beautiful and a good time was had by all.

The Mother of the Bride didn't look to0 bad either!!!

Dad certainly enjoyed his dance with his newly married daughter!!!

The week following the wedding the twins went for their first 'solo' (can it be solo with twins?) stay with Auntie Diane, and on Monday morning my husband and I travelled to North Wales (Snowdonia) with the youth from our church, and other leaders, for their Annual Summer camp. The boys and girls campsites were several miles apart, and each day the youth met up at the 'Kent Mountain Centre', where they went on different activities from Kayaking to Rock Climbing, Gorge Walking to Mountain Climbing, Raft Building to Orienteering. It was an exhausting and very enjoyable week. The Testimony Meeting held on the Friday evening, before Saturday's return, was a spiritual feast.

The girls campsite was immaculate, the boys much more 'rugged' for want of a better word, but they did have extremely stunning views of the mountains!

Snowdonia is really a very beautiful part of the world, and I will definately visit again. I travelled the UK a fair bit with my parents as a child, but Wales was never something we 'did'! Scotland was a much more common destination. Upon thinking about it, I think I have to attribute it to my father's bad experiences in Wales as an evacuee during the war. They were horrible to him! I remember his relating tales about his bad experiences a few times, and I think it left a bad taste in his mouth and he never really wanted to visit wales after that! A lot has happened in the last 60 years or so though, and the welcome we got from the Welsh was a very pleasant one.

The twins start 'big school' at the beginning of September... surely not... they are still so tiny... only just 4!!! I am struggling to come to terms with this fact and am trying to make the most of the next few weeks before this new chapter in their (and our) lives begins.

A Long Absence

It's been a while, and lots has happened... The main thing being my father died. I have not felt like blogging, or doing much at all actually.... it has been harder than I expected.... but I am starting to get things together again... My photography blog has really suffered as well. But onward and upwards! I will be more regular from now.

I can't believe we are at summer... and the twins are nearly 4! Their school has been decided and I'm getting scared.. My babies are going to school... it's the end of an era! We are trying to make the most of having them at home during the week, and going out for days, but the weather has let us down the past couple of weeks!

Dad passed away after a long illness, and it was a blessed relief for him, but it is always hard for those left behind isn't it?

His funeral was attended by some very dear and old friends. It was a beautiful service, with some wonderful talks and lovely music. Many commented that it was a good send off. Below is a little montage of pictures that I put together of him for the back of the Order of Service. He was a wonderful man, with a bark worse than his bite, a unique and wry sense of humour, and was a strength and example to many... I am who I am partly because of him. Thanks Dad... Love you.

Funny Faces!

I was taking pictures for my photography blog the other day,

and Jemima started posing like this......!!!

and this.....!!!

Oliver tried too....

But it took him a while to get it.......

And then Daddy Joined in.....

Once again, it took Ollie a little while to catch on.... but her got there!!

Delightful!!!