HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM US!!!!!

An incredibly rare species other wise known as Husband and Wife. I think in 16 years we have about 3 of these rare photos (excluding the wedding photos!!). Xmas Eve we went out for a childrens party with Chrissie and Josh and then picked Mark up for some Grub!

ps: I think Georgia may have taken this photo! (not bad for a beginner, our heads aren't cut off!!)


At home Georgia put out her Santa stop here sign and sprinkled her magic Reindeer Dust so they can see their way clearly with the sparkly oats.
thanks to Helena who rescued me from a tight spot!!! I was planning on sending Georgia up to her room whilst I quickly made some, but by then I wasn't feeling very well and just wanted to get it over and done with quickly until Mark pulled out 2 bags of beautifully made reindeer Dust complete with instructions. I must remember to complain to the school about her not bringing some home!! Do you think she'll still be making it at age 11?

She couldn't wait to set out the milk and carrot for Rudolph, who last year made the mistake of giving her a present and she has remembered this 12 months on and is wondering if he will give her one this year!! I tried to convince her Snata onlu had room for one mince pie but she wasn't having it. I could hardly remind her that he'd just been out for tea!!


Then Georgia made an arrangement of her nativity figurines for Father Christmas to see. I'm not sure what the blue balls were all about in her mind though!!


SOME OLDER PHOTOS:

I took this one but it hasn't turned around..(sorry you'll just have to look at it sideways or turn your monitor!!)

another sideways one taken near a funky tree at Panto...loved those colours and the the huge ornaments.
Bens best Xmas treat was the ride on La La he loves Telly Tubbies and couldn't stop flirting with her!!!
Taken at the beginning of December but I love his smile and wanted to share it with the Grandparents.

EARLY ON XMAS DAY

The kids opening their presents on Christmas Day.

Ben spent the whole day playing with his table and putting things in and out of his wooden toy box and trashing the wrapping paper which we kept on finding everywhere!!
I had had enough by the afternoon and the sickness bug had kicked in by then!!!

Night all.....love to Granny Sylvia and Grandad David, Nana June and Craig, Grandad Peter and Granny Brenda and thankyou so much for helping to make this another magical Christmas for us.

PS: Hello to Alex, Reecie, Elliot, Sarah and Linda in NZ xxxx

Love and mince pies from the Philps family xxx

Hi all...a quick up date before collecting Georgia from school. Ben says Hi through his snotty face!! He is full of cold. This piccie was him in his better days!!!

Looking gorgeous if I do say so!!

Georgia was an Angel in her school nativity play yesterday. She looked gorgeous. The video may be on the Telegraph Site in a few days, I'll let you know when.

She had to take baby Jesus a present from New Zealand....she took him a Rugby Ball!!

Love Ruth and snotty xxx

The Case of the Poisonous Pringles

Georgia had a lovely birthday party of which I only have a couple of photos so here they are:

Georgia and Ria popping Nana Junes sparkle popper things outside!!

The left overs so you can share in an imaginary slice of your grandaughters bithday celebrations!
I was too busy in the kitchen sorting out food and drinks to take photos!! So much for me being a scrapbooker!!

After I had cleaned the mess away I started to feel sick, nothing unusual there when you have had hot-dogs and birthday cake and a stressful day!! Then I got stomach cramps and I assumed I had a tummy bug because Aimee was poorly and couldn't come to the party.

However nothing really happened I wasn't sick or the other...... ......and after a very long 5 days and nights (at work) with severe cramps, being unable to sleep comfortably and back pain I decided I must have an infection of a different kind so a trip to the Emergency GP confirmed that I had gastritis. Gaviscon and some tablets and I was eventually cured. My massive tummy full of wind disappeared overnight!! I am however literally left with a sour taste in my mouth, thanks goodness the kids didn't eat the crisps.

We have concluded that it was the Sour Cream and Chive Pringles which were totally covered in a thick layer of flavouring that caused an irritation to my stomach. At the time I said there was something wrong with them because they had too much flavouring on them and I was going to send them back to the manufacturer now I definitely am!!! I don't think they'll compensate me for loss of wages and the price of the prescriptions though:(

Mark also paid a trip to the emergency Dentist on the weekend as he had a massive abcess and the poor kids suffered for our ailments.

I plan on making it up to them this weekend though by taking them to Sundowners to see Father Christmas! I can't believe it's only 4 weeks away and I still have so much to do.......really I should spend less time on here and more time doing things!!

Love Ruth xx

We have just come back from having a lovely weekend at Peter and Brendas Lodge. Mark went with the mission to fix the pc and I went with a mission to shop......... (for xmas presents of course!! What else were you thinking?)

After a late night rush hour friday drive we woke up to a glorious sunrise the next morning and when I turned around there was a rainbow arching over their house!! How cool is that I knew it would be a good day once I'd seen that! It took 3 landscape photos to fit it all in, but I'd have to blend and do fancy things in photoshop so you'll just have to use your imagination.

I found this little pumpkin in the woods and thought he was good enough to eat!!

Saturday we shopped and shopped and shopped or should I say window shopped. Brenda had already collected Georgias pink DS but we pretended to her that they are impossible to get, until she walked up to a shop assistant and asked her if they had any!! Typical the only shop in the whole country that had them and Georgia had to go and ask!

The one time I didn't have my camera on me and this guy painted Georgias face for free and he normally works at Harrods and had just done their Christmas parade. he was amazing so I used my phone camera but haven't figured the technology out on that either!!

I discovered Dunholme Mill which still sells fabric by the metre a rarity in this part of the country. I was in heaven but the kids were bored and the sandwhich shop was too posh for Georgia who just wanted a cheese sandwhich. So we moved on....to Toys r us and Brenda bought Ben a high chair for Xmas. I wasn't going to get one but he is so inquisitive and sticks his hands in the dishwasher and turns off the washing machine and sometimes I need him up and at my height when I am cooking. So that solved that problem.

We squeezed in a trip to The Range and I added a few goodies to my Xmas list and a couple for Helena. Then it was off to see Ruth and Graham and the boys as Ruth hasn't met Ben yet and she is so good with babies. Then home for a lovely Chinese takeaway. Phew we were all worn out!! The boys had nearly finished but they'd been at it for 12 hours so it was an early night for all.

Sunday...we set off early to get to Build-a-bear for Georgias present from Granny and Grandad. Linda if you read this take out a loan and buy a franchise...Auckland needs one of these and it's easy money!! (see how long the que is)

First you choose your bear and then wait in line for the girl who operates the machine. Then you choose your sound and a heart to put into it. Georgia chose a Hannah Montana Bear, clothes and voice box. There is rack after rack of clothes and shoes and accessories to choose from. And yes lots of grown ups have these teddies too! I thought the Harley Davidson Jackets would sell well in NZ.
First the girl had to stuff the bear, then Georgia had to make a promise to look after her bear and she had to touch the bears heart to her heart and ears and knees and jump up and do star jumps. It was so cute and so believable...Georgia took it so seriously that last night she thought she had hurt her bear when it fell out of the box!!

From my heart to yours I promise to good care of you forever.....

After she was all stitched up.The trolley that had the extra stuffing for the machine had this printed on top of it. It was like something out of Santas workshop.

Mark helped guide Georgia through the computer registration system in case your bear gets lost. It was so sweet watching them and she concentrated so hard because at the end the information you put in produces the birth certificate for your bear!!
Ben just went with the flow because that's the kind of cool guy he is!!!

The finished product kicked Ben out of the high chair at lunch time so she didn't get dirty!! I can tell she is going to be a prima donna already!!

Georgia had a surprise birthday cake at lunch time thanks to Grandad and Mark, she wasn't expecting it and took a while to compose herself enough to blow out all of the candles. We had lunch with the Hullites who are now a premier league team by the way Dad! The footballers that is not the children.

I'm still not sure who had the most fun this weekend? But these 4 enjoyed themselves!!
Time to start tidying the lounge for tomorrow...it's the Grimsby crowds turn this time!!

Love Ruth xxx

How far should you go?

Just how far is reasonable in the quest to please your child on their birthday? Or christmas for that matter!! I have never bought Georgia the toy of the year.....you know the one that has waiting lists as long as a new channel handbag. The type of toy that can be bought but only on e-bay and only at a price!!

The pink Nintendo DS has been the "it" present for at least 12 months, well it's been on Georgias list for 12 months but I refused to buy it for her last year saying she was too young. This year I have run out of excuses, she has been patient. I keep on telling her that she may not get a pink one and she should be very grateful for any DS that she get considering how expensive they are.She is well aware of this and I don't for a minute think she would complain at the colour, but I still wanted to give it my best shot!!
So I have been scouring the net for the best deals, eg: 2 games and a case, 3 games no case you know the type. This is the way it works. Toys r Us have 5 games but hardly any available as all good games sold out!! Asda can give me 10% off but no pink ones on-line and only in store on a blue moon.
Argos have 5 different packages and 10% cash back this week only and they have pink ones yipee!!!!! (But no accessories packs in stock which you need to make them work!! I think?) Oh and you can't collect half of your deal and then wait for the accessories pack to come in it doesn't work that way!! The till would charge you full price for each item. So I was told reserve the package on Wednesday as it will all be in store on Friday and you can pay and collect. However on the net and couldn't find the deal I wanted this morning, they have changed them since yesterday so I thought I'll try in town they can't have changed their catalogues in the store. Sure enough deal was still available phew!! However no pink ones left now in Grimsby. What about York I enquired seeing as we are going there on Saturday .....4 available at various locations......20 minutes later and a personal phone call from the Grimsby store to get the reserve period extended till then and voila I have a piece of paper with a reserve number on it!! Now it's not a receipt just a scrappy bit of paper so chances are I'll get to York and it won't be reserved or someone who works there will have been bribed into selling it to their best mate!!

Tune in to find out the result on Monday...................

Love Ruth et al xxx

Fireworks and Freedom

Last night was the dullest wettest most disappointing bon-fire night a 5 year could ever have. Georgia spent half of it on a bus going to the Doctors at 6pm and then having to watch it out of her bedroom window. It kind of snuck up on me and I hadn't bought any fireworks after the year of the stray one!! (another story).
I was washing up saying yes I'll take you out to look but don't forget I am poorly (sinus infection) so we won't be long and then I noticed Ria's Dad lighting theirs. They were nearly finished but she saw 3-4 and the finale of the Catherine Wheel!! So we shared our last years leftovers of sparklers with the other kids. Rubbish I know but there wasn't mush else I could do.



Today we both woke up with smiles in our hearts:) Not on our faces because we are competing to see who is the sickest still!! But today was the new car day!!!! YIPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Peter delivered the car bang on 11am, he's far more efficient than the Royal Mail. Mark went outside and did the boys thing for a couple of hours and later on he drove his Dad to the train station with an extremely excited Georgia in the back seat. Poor Georgia she is wary of driving with me as I'm always saying "have I got my phone in case we break down?"

So tonight we all thought a nice drive to experience what freedom really feels like and then Waaaa Waaaa Waaaaa...Ben cried all the way to Cleethorpes and all the way home....45 minutes of crying..not a pleasant experience. So we will have to condition him to liking the car this week as we are having a sleepover in york next week so Mark can fix Dad's PC.

If you have seen my other blog you will have looked at our old car. I hope you like this layout Mum and Dad it brings back so many happy memories. God I love scrapbooking!!!

Night Night she says with a hint of a smile on her face.........especially as Ben is so exhausted he has just had a bottle and gone back to sleep in the dark for the first time in 2 weeks!!

Now that Ben has been poorly for 2 weeks in a row he has developed some bad habits!! So last night I ignored his crying after his usual coughing fit, however he continued for an hour and a half until I gave in at 10:30pm. Sure enough he came downstairs and thought it was play time!! The sooner this cold goes the better. Mark only had 3 hours sleep as he is full of it still and then had to get up for work at 6.

Ben however remains a bag of beans during the day no matter how much I try to wear him out with crawling games!! Today he decided to look inside the washing machine, he spied the open door from the opposite end of the hallway and went like the clappers to get to it before I closed it. He discovered that putting things in the drum makes a noise so thats where that name came from, nothing at all to so with the shape of it! Once he popped his head out I realised that he had duck in there so maybe he was just giving him a wash!!

The river is very high and we have the white vans on alert and some diggers down there, but I don't think it will flood I just think they are much more cautious now.

The death trap did not bring sweet rewards, they offered us £20-30 pounds depending if it had good tyres on it. I nearly spluttered!!!! Good tyres it's got good everything it just doesn't want to work. Kind of like a posh housewife!! Every cloud has a silver lining though and Peter and Brenda are kindly letting us buy their car off them and they are bringing forward the purchase of their next car. (Thankyou guys xxx)

xxx

The dreaded winter cold already

Midnight again on Sunday!!! Georgia is back at school in the morning I have a dreadful head cold having caught it from Ben who has progressed straight from getting better to being poorly again and Mark has just informed me that he has a sore throat!!

Lets hope Georgia doesn't come home from school with it or we will all drive each other barmy!!

Georgia was a good girl today whilst I was busy blowing my nose!! She crafted in her room on her own!! Found a book, followed the instructions and made a crown. I was very impressed at her patience.

Mark praised her tonight for her good behaviour and apparently she beamed from ear to ear.

Mark put up a new curtain rail at the fromt door. Yipeee we have a normal entrance at last!!

The car died completely on me last night at 7pm outside a pub just as we were leaving a halloween party. So I have officially dumped it and we will organise a tow truck tomorrow to take it to the scrap yard, that thing is just a money pit and a death trap!!

Thank goodness scrap metal is worth something and they will pay us for it this time!

Love to you all Ruth xxx

All good fun!

Halloween started with Georgia wanting to put on her costume at some ungodly hour of the morning and then pestering me all day to paint her face. I kept on telling her not until she had her lunch so then she spent all morning asking me when lunch was!!

I couldn't resist getting Ben a little costume which doubles up as pyjamas on a cold night!! And seeing as we are expecting ice tonight it will no doubt be used alot in the next few months.

Georgia in full regalia or is that dressed and ready for battle? Either way they both had fun and are finally fast asleep......back to normality on Monday ie: school and work so I am going to relax this weekend!!

PS: we got the hallway wall papered this week so I must take a photo of it for you all.

The midnight hour is nearly apon me and the day will be over but knowing our estate it is probably about to begin!! In fact I can hear the police helicopter as I type.....

..............night all and Happy Halloween Nana June xxxx

Land of the Long Nights

Hello, its me a very frazzled version of me.........Ben has been poorly for 6 days and each day just when we think he is getting better we then have a terrible night.

At first I thought it was teething then maybe a virus and then he started sicking up his food, which makes Georgia cry!! Anyway another day has dawned and I am hopinng he has finally got over the worst, but then I've been saying that for days now!

Yesterday I had a break and took Georgia to see High School Musical 3 with Helena and Aimee. The girls had fun singing along and having their photos taken, which I'll show you when Helena sends them to me or she might put them on her blog today.

The clocks went back so I woke up thinking I'd had a sleep in until 8 yipeee, but sadly it was only 7:(

School holidays tomorrow and we have something planned everyday, Monday Arts and Crafts, Tuesday a trip to Hull and The Deep, Wednesday watching a play, Thursday keep fit class, Friday a halloween party and Saturday a halloween disco!! Phew I am exhausted just thinking about it all!!
All courtesy of our local childrens centre. God-bless the government for giving it to us!

I have finished my jewellery course and will take some photos for you. I really enjoyed it but will stick with my scrapbooking, I haven't got enough room for any more stuff!!

I need to paint my skirting boards today in the hallway as we are supposed to be getting it papered some-time this week. I feel like I need Ben tied to my back in a papoose to get anything done!!

Have a great week.

Love Ruth and family xxx

Mark and I decided today that we would keep a blog for ourselves and for the grandparents who are in different continents. I wanted to seperate the photos of the kids from my crafting pictures and Mark has obvious concerns about strangers viewing the children.

I have temporarily named it Land of the Long Grey Cloud....this stems from my childhood.
New Zealand is known as The Land of the Long White Cloud and so grey seems fairly apt for the UK!..............Maybe one day I can change the title to White Cloud !!

Hopefully we will both contribute to it and keep some sort of family diary full of photos of the kids and they too can look back on our memories when they are older.

Love Ruth and Mark xxx