Slipping through my fingers ...

Well, the Big Day arrived this week. Kezia started Lower School!

And to be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about it. A very large part of me beams with pride at the sight of her in lovely uniform as she skips off into school with a happy smile on her face. Another part of me is quietly weeping that our four years together before school are now over. And an even smaller part of me has a internal tantrum every morning now that we have to get up to an alarm!

But in all seriousness the last 4 years with Kezia have been an absolute dream. I have made the absolute most of everything. I've been there for every single milestone she's achieved and I have loved every minute of it.

And I will be there for the ones to come too. This year I can look forward to seeing her in her first proper nativity play, her first real sports day and so much more. Already I am looking forward to October half term hols!

So, here she is. So grown up.

It was the summer of ...

... 2013.

ok, so that doesn't scan, but you get my meaning!

Let me share our summer adventures with you. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.

Throughout the summer hols Kez and I have had some lovely summer adventures. About once a week we would spend the morning up the horse with Grum, then we'd have lunch out and take the dog for a walk around Wrest Park. We really made the most of our English Heritage tickets this year!

We also took Kez to History Live, which is a huge re-enactment and living history festival held at Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire every July. We've been lots of times before but this time Kez was able to really join in too. We even took little Star, who coped very well with both the journey and the excitement of the day!

We had an amazing day out in London at the Pompeii Exhibition at The British Museum. Grum and Grandpa very kindly drove us down to London and whilst we were at the museum we took Kez in to see the Egyptian section. Well, she surprised us all immensely by immediately telling us that the sarcophagi were the boxes for the mummies! She knew all about them. I have a lot to thank Scooby Doo for!

And of course we had lots of lovely days meeting up with families at various events and days out. We've been to country and county fairs, swimming with aunts and cousins, lots of days out at old houses and Kez also spent 2 nights with her grandparents all on her own and went to Canons Ashby with them like a grown up girl! Times are moving on folks.

So, just before Kezia starts 'big school', here is a glimpse of some of the highlights of our Summer 2013 holiday.

Did someone shoot the bugler?

Well, hello everyone!

How are you all doing? We've been really busy since our last blog entry and have lots and lots to share with you all - but before I start off with all of that, I'm going to share what we did last Saturday.

Saturday was quite possibly one of our best days out EVER! Chance, Kez and I all travelled up to Chatsworth House in Derbyshire to go to their country fair.

 "Derbyshire?" I hear you cry "Isn't that 124 miles away from your house??"

Why, yes. Yes it is. It is a very long way away for a day trip but we had a special reason for going so far. This particular country fair had a special performance booked in - the King's Troop doing the musical drive and my amazing cousin, Bombardier Wyatt, was firing one of the guns. 

I have been dying to see Ruthie in action for years now but something has always got in the way of getting to an event. But not this time! Oh no. I was determined to get Kez and I there this time - even if I had to crawl on hot coals to make it happen!

We drove like bats out of hell in the Rangie and made the journey in just under 2 hours! Gold Star to Chance for that feat. We arrived just in time to dash to the RHA (Royal Horse Artillery) camp and give Ruthie some hugs and snogs before she had to dash off and get everything ready for the first performance. 

I was so darn excited waiting down on the front line for the troop to arrive. At one point, you could see them all stood waiting to come down the concourse into the main arena and that started to escalate my excitement! Then, blow my stars, if Ruth didn't march straight passed us! I was so surprised and excited and proud all at the same time, that all I could do was whoop really loudly and wave my hands in some sort of demented fashion under my chin! I was so close I could've reached out and pinched her bum! chuckle. 

And then it began and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. There is something truly majestic and incredibly patriotic about watching the drive. It makes you soar at the best of times, but when you can actually see someone in your family doing these amazing things it bowls you over completely. Pride doesn't really come close. 

After the first performance we met up with Ruthie again and she took us 'round the camp to see all the horses that were there that day. Ruthie has moved up the ranks in the troop and she is also one of the saddlers, which is totally amazing because it meant we got a really detailed little session on all the tack and stuff that the troop use. It was incredibly interesting - I think all civvies should have tack like that too! chuckle. Save a fortune on saddle fittings! Little interesting factoid here: Ruthie is already next inline to be Master Saddler in The Troop, which means that she will be then be the youngest Master Saddler they've ever had AND the first female. Which I think is pretty impressive. 

We learnt all about the different brandings on the horses; what they mean and what would happen if a horse fell 'during the war'. We had a fab time looking at the guns and Ruthie showed us how you fire them and what her job with it all involves. On Ruthie's gun there is a slight (!) scratch - which was put there by our very own Bombardier! Whoopsie Daisie! And they call us the Go-Lightlys ...

We bought Ruth an ice cream and watched some classic cars drive by before she had to go back into camp again to prepare for the second show. We said our goodbyes and snogged a lot, then Ruthie returned to camp and we set up for round 2! The second show was just as amazing as the first one. And when those horses and guns fly past you at full gallop at the end - oh my goodness. The ground actually shakes! Totally and utterly amazing. Never seen, heard or felt anything like it.

We weren't able to see our gal again before we toddled off back home so we yelled our love yous at the end of the show. Kez didn't want to leave Ruthie there on her own without Suzie or Harry. She would like Ruth and all her horses to come and live with us on a permanent basis and was very distressed when she realised that wasn't going to happen on many levels! Bless her. And so we started the 120-odd mile journey back home, with Kezia chatting non-stop about her day all the way home!

It was a lovely day. And we would definitely go to that country fair again. Next on our King's Troop viewing schedule is Windsor next year. where we will be able to see the full drive with 6 teams of horses, instead of 4. I can't wait! 

Arrivederci Roma ...

... we all went to Cromer ...

Oh yes. A girlie 3 days in Cromer with mamma and Kez and it was absolutely lovely!

We set off early on a Monday morning - with me navigating - and arrived in Cromer at about lunchtime. We booked ourselves into our amazing room. We stayed in a 4* B&B called the Red Lion Hotel and I would recommend it to anyone who is staying in Cromer. It has beautiful rooms - we were in the old Billiards Room which is now done out as a Superior Family Room. It was gorgeous - roll top bath, great big bed, lovely fireplace etc and the room was huge! The hotel is also right on the promenade and has it's own little set of steps down to beach. Kezia decided it was called our Holiday House!

Every day we poddled down to the beach to splash and dig in the sand and we also made good use of the arcades and burger van. After 2 attempts of trying to get down to the bottom of the pier (I have an irrational fear of heights and floors you can see through! and wind. and seaweed. So I'm ideally suited to seaside holidays!), I was determined that my own hangups were not going to prevent Kezia getting to the bottom of the pier and going to RNLI museum. So far I had only managed it halfway down - generally to about where the tideline was - before my knees went wobbly, my palms sweated and a general sense of panic overtook me. So on day 3 the tide was all the way in and we grabbed the opportunity to walk very quickly down to the bottom of the very long pier! The panic did set in a bit and an unnatural fear of goodness only knows what, but mamma took Kez and I just focussed on getting to the museum and ignoring everything that was going on around me! It was totally worth the effort. Kezia loved looking at the lifeboat and learning all about the RNLI.

Every evening after supper, Mamma and I took Kez for an evening stroll along the sea front before we all snuggled up again in our lovely room  - me with a latte and mamma with a beer! Kez had a lovely double pull out sofa bed thing to sleep on, but the first night she chose to sleep in a made up bed on the chaise longue at the bottom of the grown up bed and the second night she slept in the big queen sized bed with mamma and I! It was really lovely.

I'm really looking forward to going away on another girlie holiday next year at the same place. And next time, as the hotel turned out to be dog friendly, we will take Star as well. :D

Bingo Bongo ... It's my Birthday

How do folks.

Well, would you believe it. Kezia has turned 4 years old!

She had a lovely birthday which included no less than 3 birthday parties over one weekend. Chance and I were totally pooped by the end of it!

Kezia's birthday fell on a Monday this year, so on the Saturday before we had a big family party to celebrate. Everyone that was free turned up and we had a lovely afternoon. We all played pass the parcel and Kezia was very excited by all her lovely presents from everyone. Huge thanks to you all for your lovely thoughts.

On the Sunday before Kezia's birthday she had 3 friends 'round for a tea party. We had considered doing a really big kids party and hiring the local church hall, but when it came down to it, Kez could only name 3 kids she wanted to spend her time with so we kept it nice and simple!
For those of you who don't know, our dining room is permanently set up to resemble a Mad Hatter's Tea Party. We have big paper balls that hang from the ceiling, mismatched plates and cups stacked around the table along with a myriad of teapots and creamers -one of which has a squeaky dormouse in it! There are drinks with labels on of *drink me* and small containers with sprinkles in that say *eat me*. The idea being. that once you have had a drink, you shrink down small and go over to the bureau to play with the little dolls china tea set, then you eat some sprinkles and grow big and can play with the big tea set on the dining room table. Since setting it up, it has been a huge success with Kezia and often I will go in at the end of the day to find dolls and teddies lined up on seats at the table! Her friends also love playing in there with her so when the theme for the birthday party arose it was a bit of a no brainer! I stuffed crisps into jugs, put jam fingers into teapots, served dips in china tea cups - every tea pot (and there are about 9 of them!) had something different hidden inside it to eat. They absolutely loved it. We had a few rounds of pass the parcel, musical statues and musical bumps before they all toddled off home with their little goody bags.

Then came the big day itself. Kez opened her pile of birthday presents from Chance and I before we toddled over to mamma's for another birthday tea and for Kez to open her present from them. Dearest mamma and pops excelled themselves this year and bought Kezia a vintage 1960's Silver Cross dolls pram. It is really beautiful and now we take it everywhere with us. The only trouble with this is that it now takes ages to get round the weekly market, as all the old ladies stop us to admire Kezia and her pram!

So all in all, it was a great success. Thanks once again to everyone who gave gifts and sent cards. It was really thoughtful of you and very kind.

Grabbing all the sunshine

Well. What a wet and cold March and April we've had! In some ways, there isn't much report. In other ways, there are quite a few nice days out to share from when the sun popped his hat on and came out to play!

Firstly, Mamma, Kez and I grabbed an unusual day of sun at the very end of Feb and toddled off to some local swings. It was a lovely sunny day and we had a lovely time just chilling. Rather foolishly we thought this meant that the weather was on the turn for better days ... oh how wrong we were!



Kezia brought us our first ray of March sunshine by performing in her ballet lesson. Unfortunately, Mr Morris had just had his foot operated upon, so the lesson was run by another lady. To say it was organised chaos would be an understatement! It really does make you appreciate just how ordered Mr Maurice keeps the girls and also reinforced for me that Kezia was at the right ballet school. At the end of the lesson, Mr Maurice came back to the fore to show us parents what the girls had done as part of their second ballet exam. You may remember that just a few months ago Kezia passed her first ballet exam with a merit. Well, this time it was disco. Mr Maurice very proudly handed me her certificate and informed me, with a knowing nod, that not many girls had achieved the pass rate that Kezia had ... watch on to discover more!



April saw some days of sun for us, although it has mainly been on the chilly side. No more snow though! Hurrah! Never thought I would feel as though I didn't want anymore snow, but when it was still blowing a blizzard in the month of March, enough was enough!

At the beginning of April, Kez and I toddled over to see my grandparents and then zipped over to Emberton Park to feed the ducks and have a go on their playground. Grum had packed us a delicious picnic and supplied lots of breadcrumbs for the ducks. I'm not sure how much bread the ducks got, as Kezia's shoes were fairly filled with it all by the time she had finished! A hearty lunch and good duck feeding session proved to be too much for poor old Grandpa, so he had a nap in the car whilst Grum and I played with Kez.



This adventure was shortly followed by a trip to Waddeston Manor to meet up with Uncle David and Anna. We had a lovely time. We walked 'round the gardens, and played hide n seek, what's the time Mr Wolf and tag. We also found some adventure playground bits that we didn't know were there and it turns out that no one in our group fitted into the age categories specified! Not that we paid that any attention. After all, in true pirate style, these things are not so much code as guidelines!



At the very end of April, dearest mamma and pops went off on a cruise of the Fjords. All very well for some, you may say! Whilst they were away, Chance and I organised for Kezia to have an early 4th birthday present ...

Yes, you guessed it. We got her a 9 week old Siberian Husky puppy called Star. And he truly lives up to his name. In the three weeks that we've had him he can already sit to command, give his paw, fetch, drop, stay and is fully  housebroken. Kezia and he are bonding at a great rate of knots and she totally adores him. 

As mamma and pops were away for mamma's birthday, we had a belated celebration when they returned home. One day we met up with David and Anna, and then us Hoopers threw a little party for mum at the weekend.



Next on the blog: Kezia's 4th Birthday ... but don't worry folks. She's told me that she's not grown up yet. She's still just a short four, and won't be going to school and until she's a grown up four.

Shaboom - Birthdays and snow

Well, who would've thought that I would be posting in March to show you our fun in the snow!

It really has been bitterly cold and icy up here in the wilds of Bedfordshire; pretty much non stop since Christmas.

We have had snow, wind, snow and for a change, some more snow!

Whilst for some that may be a pain in the ole wossname, for us snowbabes it is a blessing.
Chance has had some nice time 'working from home' *coughs* as the buses stop running as soon as half a centimetre hits the ground.

So, what is there to do in those situations but grab the sledges and boards and head for the hills!

Really, a Christmas update now?!

Yes, folks. This is our rather late Christmas entry for the blog!

We had a lovely Christmas. As you have seen already, Kezia did lots of wonderful things in the run up to Christmas Day.

There were some fantastically humorous moments to the whole affair, but none more so than when Kezia sang us Little Donkey. It was only then that we realised she had misheard the word Bethlehem. Our little girl, god bless her little cotton socks, was singing "Ring out those bells tonight. Daphne-hem, Daphne-hem ..."

Actually, the amount of Christmas songs that Kez has regaled us with over the last few months has been ever growing. For those who don't know, Kez sings all the time. Wherever we go there is a little hum accompanying us along the way. She likes to make up her own songs too ... most of them revolve around Harry, Massive Ruth, and the Pretty Lady (who are my lovely cousins that she visits regularly).

So, the first part of our Christmas gift to you all: Kezia singing her favourite Christmas Songs



Christmas itself was an amazing affair. On Christmas Eve we took Kez to see the Christmas Display and The Big FC at Milton Keynes Shopping Centre, before rushing home to put out the reindeer food in the garden just before clambering into bed.
She awoke with great gusto on Christmas morning and opened all of the presents in her stockings on our bed. Then we went downstairs to open the final piece of our advent calendar. Grandma Watkinson makes myself and my brother a home made advent calendar each year. She used to do it for us a lot when we were little and since Kezia has been with she has re-started the tradition. It must cost her a small fortune in sweets and little stocking filler gifts, but we do love it. Thanks mamma! xxx Anyway, on Christmas morning we opened our last present - which Kezia initially thought was just tissue as it was wrapped up in reams of the stuff!
We went into the front room to discover that Father Christmas had drunk his sherry *hic* and eaten his chocolate coin (we're non-conformist in this house!) and written us a lovely letter. Then the mountain of presents was destroyed within seconds! chuckle.

We had a wonderful time ... thank you to everyone who sent us gifts. We loved all of them and it was lovely to be thought of.



Love to you all
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