Happy Birthday Anna!

(This was written after Anna's birthday as I was in hospital :-( but it is wriiten with the very special date of the 18th November in mind, hence why it has the date of her actual birthday)

My darling daughter is 5.

I'm not sure why but 5 seems like one of the milestone ages. I suppose it is because, by the age of 5, they are in school and suddenly she seems to be a young lady and you can start to imagine them as they get older, even through to the teenage years! She has already announced that she likes Olly Murs, thinks Katy Perry is wonderful (worrying!!) and has asked for the One Direction album. Can I just add that that Anna's taste in music is not all bad as she also likes Queen, Van Morrison and T-Rex and can name several Beatles songs although she is not so keen on the 4 from Liverpool.

Anna is full of contradictions. She loves her Disney Princess dolls but also adores going to football club every Saturday and getting muddy! She thinks Ballet is rubbish as it just about dancing around with feathers and doing too much 'fluffy stuff' (Those classes at 9am on a Saturday morning were a waste of a lie-in then!) but loves dressing up in pretty pink dresses and 'princess shoes'. She thinks Rhino's are the best animal ever and cannot see the attraction in cute puppies and furry kittens one little bit although one of her favourite current toys is 'Littlest Pet Shop'. Playing 'Mummies and Babies' is not Anna's idea of fun but give her a garden to play 'tag' or tell her that we are playing 'pirates' and she is there!

Anna's teacher has already remarked on several occasions how Anna is one of the most strong-willed, determined and eccentric 5 year old she has ever met. Once she has made up her mind about something, there is no changing her and she can be incredibly stubborn. If she was a pupil in my class and I was her teacher, she would drive me crazy! However, along with that mix, she is also one of the most kind, sensitive, considerate and caring 5 year old you are also likely to meet which I think makes for a very special little lady. Anna knows her own mind and isn't afraid to speak it but always looks out for everyone, treats everyone the same and with the same kindness and adores her friends and family so very much.

We adore you too Anna Gibson, for everything you are!

First Day at School

It is fair to say that Anna was a little reluctant to get out of bed on her first day at School. Having to be literally dragged out of bed was not the greatest start. Grumbling as I put her dress on also wasn't a good sign and then bursting out crying and telling me that her shoes hurt did not bode well. (Her shoes didn't hurt at all. Wearing sandals ALL summer meant that it just felt a little strange!).

The obligatory photo then had to be taken, which Anna was refusing to do, until I showed her photos of her friends on Facebook whose mum's had proudly displayed them (Thanks Sophie and Sally). Once she saw Freja and Rhianna in uniform, she cheered up. I think it also dawned on her that his was not only the end of her summer but everybody else too so it wasn't so bad.


Whilst walking to school, we met up with some older children who were heading back to school. They asked whether Anna was 'new' so I explained it was her first day. They were lovely and introduced themselves and what class they were in etc. Anna proudly looked at me said 'These are the big children and I am one of the big children now'! The brother and sister then started to discuss the tedious nature of homework which Anna tried to join by just repeating everything they said, even though she had no idea what they were talking about!

The only sign of nervousness was when we entered the playground. It seems that 75% of the school wait in the same small patch of playground so it was rather crowded and Anna just took my hand!

Finally, the door opened and each of us took our turn to enter the classroom. Miss Hughes, the teacher, gave everyone a very cheery 'Hello' as Anna looked up at her and said 'I'm at Big School now' with an equally cheery smile on her face. As soon as she saw her classroom, she let out a 'WOW! Look at all the toys Mummy'. Her coat peg was found quickly and cubey was safely put in her drawer. Anna then, predictably, headed straight for the writing table while glancing at the book in the reading corner on the way past.

After a minute, she looked up and said 'Are you going to sit and write with me Mummy?'. I knew that if I sat down, both Anna and I would find it much more harder emotionally to get up and leave so I gently replied 'mummy has to go in little while'. I didn't mean that exact moment but Anna had decided, if I wasn't there to stay, there was no point in prolonging the 'Goodbye'. She just looked at me matter-of-fact and said 'I think you should go now then Mummy'. At that point, the tears flowed so I gave her a kiss, wished her a lovely day and walked away. Anna didn't even look up from her picture!

Outside, most of the mum's were holding it together... just. I cried and didn't care! Luckily, Lucy's mum took pity and said 'Come on, we are going for coffee' and we went to the village coffee shop where most of the new starters mum's were also consoling themselves over a cup of coffee!

It was the longest day ever!!!!!! I kept busy but ironing and dusting doesn't exactly stretch the brain so I just kept wondering what she was doing and whether she was happy. I have never felt time go so slowly. I would look at my watch, thinking an hour had surely passed since I last looked... and it had been literally 5 minutes!

At 3.15pm, it was time to pick her up (no easing them in gradually, Full time from Day 1!!!!). I was sat outside the school at 3pm, just to make sure. I think I was even more nervous than I had been that morning. Mornings are so tied up with making lunch boxes and checking book bags that you get lost in the chaos. Now, I was on my own and time to think up awful scenarios where she had shouted at someone or refused to do something! I had visions of her coming out crying and saying she had hated every minute and 'never make me come back Mummy;.

The door opened and 26 parents all held their breath. Then, one by one, the children came out. A few were smiling but the majority just looked exhausted and shell-shocked!!! I feared the worse! Then, Anna came out... with a huge beaming smile on her face. 'I've had a great day Mummy. Miss Hughes is absolutely lovely. I played shops. Quick Mummy, the playground' She then threw me her book bag and ran off to join the others on the new playground equipment (which is huge and better than any park or playground that I have ever been in!).

In anticipation of a bad day (Me, a pessimist, never!!!), we had arranged to meet with her 3 best friends for tea. Normally, she can't wait to see them and I have 'Can we go and meet them yet' for about 4 hrs until we actually do get to see them. Today, I could not get her off the wobbly bridge. 'I'm playing with the big children' she said. She did look extremely small compared to all the year 5's who were surrounding her. The playground had never looked so big as I stood there with my little girl in the centre of it all. It seemed a vey scary place for a 4 year old (or even a 31 year old parent) but Anna was having a good time.

Eventually I managed to drag her home where the plan was to get changed, open the cards that she had been sent (from lovely people who had sent her 'Good Luck' and 'First Day at School' cards) and the massive gift box that the postman had delivered, adreessed to Anna, before then heading out to meet her friends. The cards were opened and the gift box unwrapped (to reveal the most gorgeous balloon ever (butterflies) with a Good Luck message from Grandad Flob, Grandma Lynn and Uncle Henry'). I then thought we could go but No. Anna then had to tell Daddy about how lovely Miss Hughes was and how great the playground was before running around the house for a good 15 mins, so excited!!! Where was the exhausted girl that I was expecting??

We eventually did manage to meet up with our friends where Anna still couldn't contain her excitmement and jumped up and down, telling them all about her day!

At bedtime, I still felt a little apprehensive, thinking there might be tears when reflecting on her day. I tentatively said 'School again tomorrow Anna' (having a horrible feeling that Anna thought it was a one-off event. She snuggled down in her quilt and said 'Yes. School tomorrow. PE too!' and went to sleep with a smile on her face!

I am finding it considerably more difficult (hence why I am writing this rather than doing the ironing, therapy!!) and the second day does not seem to be going much faster than the first. I definitely need to find something to occupy me. I am working on it!

I still anticiapte that the novelty will wear off and there may be tears in the coming days or weeks, especially when exhaustion starts to set in (with no transition and going full-time straight away, Anna will be completely tired out for the next few weeks).

So, as I write this, Anna is on her second day and walked to school this morning, singing 'I'm going to big school'! Let's hope she is as happy this afternon.

(Photo to follow shortly!)

The Night Before the Big Day

I can't sleep :-(

Anna is sleeping soundly and, hopefully, dreaming of wonderful things (see earlier post) but I am sat here, tears streaming down my face and feeling rather emotionally worn out.

Tomorrow is the big day where Anna starts school and I am feeling sick with nerves. I am feeling far worse than when I was a new pupil or even a teacher starting school (and believe me, I was stressed then!).

It seems all I have done today is cry. Of course, I have hid whilst the tears flow so that Anna wouldn't see me but, at one point, I had no choice to present myself as I was hiding in the bathroom and Anna couldn't hold on any longer! She took one look at me, turned on her heel and went in the opposite direction. Only to appear 5 seconds later, holding a tissue and saying 'Don't worry Mummy'. Thankfully, she didn't ask me what I was crying for. I think she just assumes that Mummy is a 'bit weird' sometimes.

I was actually OK until lunch time. We were making lunch like normal and I gave Anna a yogurt pouch which she has always had trouble opening. She asked me to help and it suddenly occurred to me that opening yogurt or other such items isn't going to be done by me from tomorrow onwards. I said 'Anna, if you need any help tomorrow, opening things or doing things up, remember to ask for help. Someone will always be there to help you'. Anna just nodded and promised she would ask! It sounds such a simple thing I'm sure but it just feels so wrong that, for 6 hours a day, I am not going to be there to help. What if she is too scared to ask? What if she goes hungry because I'm not there to help? What if she needs me and I'm not there?

Don't even get me started on the whole playground thing. The school playground is huge and I have these awful visions of Anna just standing there not knowing where to go or who to play with as all these older, bigger children are running around and nobody is noticing her.

I know! I shouldn't have been so protective of her for the last 5 years. I should have made her more independent and tough. However, she is and always be my baby and I have always felt like I should be there. I am sure that this is my problem and I should have let go a little more but it hashappened and I have loved every second of these past 4 and a half years.

4 and a half years! That is nothing! Why can't I have a bit longer without having to say Goodbye to my baby for 5 consecutive days, 6 and a half hours at a time!

I know Anna is ready for school acadmeically and I know it is a passage in life we must all face. Anna probably is ready but I am pretty certtain her Mummy isn't!!!

I think I can say that Anna loves life at the moment. What if school changes that and she hates getting up every morning. What if we have tears before bedtime evry night??? No parent wants to see thier baby upset.

So, somehow and God knows how, I am going to have to put on my best brave and excited face tomorrow morning, walk my baby to school and say Goodbye for the day. I have no idea how I am going to do that as simply thinking about it is making me drown the keyboard in snot and tears but I will find a way. I will try to be brave and then come home to cry for a while!

(Apologies for the soppiness of this post! To all you non-parents, working parents or even just sensible rational parents, I probably sound pathetic!)

Summer Days Drifting Away

Where has the summer gone?? No, I am not talking about the weather but merely the fact that this summer has gone far far too quickly.

At the beginning of August, grand plans were made involving craft days, days out at the beach and parks and lots of meeting up with friends and family. It felt like we had months and months of fun ahead.

I now sit here, on the second day in September writing this. Looking back, all I see is a blur of activity but without the feeling of having had any time to do it, wondering where this thing called 'time' actually disappeared to. Looking forward, I see early mornings, walking to school and my baby girl saying goodbye to me at the school gate, only to see her 6 and a half hours later (Really... that long???? Oh God!!!)

It is not as though we haven't done anything this summer either. In no particular order...

We spent a week with Nanny and Grandad where Anna made very good friends with Max the sheep who lives at Goo-goo's house (and owned by Uncle Steve). Max and Anna would 'baa' at each other continuously for, what seemed like, hours and Anna assures me that she knows every word that he was saying. I have to admit that Max is very cute as he comes running to greet Anna every time that he saw us. He is also quite naughty and likes standing on the fence and getting his head stuck in the feeder. Anna loved him even more when he was bening naughty!

Our week at Nanny and Grandad's also saw us, amongst other things, go to Cadburys World. To Anna, this was heaven when surrounded by this much chocolate. The highlight of Anna's day, and the part she was very excited about, was the fairground-style ride which would take her past different scenes, all featuring cocoa beans in different disguises. I feared the worst when we were met by a 'Cadburys Official' at the entrance to the ride, saying that it had broken down. I imagined tantrums and tears. I suddenly realised that my little girl was no longer a toddler but, in fact, a young lady, when she simply nodded her head and walked on, albeit looking a little disappointed. She made up for her disappointment by consuming more chocolate and spending money in the shop!

Anna attended the 'Hereford Truck Show' as official mascot for Mick Gwynn Transport. She even took great delight in cleaning and polishing the lorries in the week leading up to the Truck show! She also informed me that when she was grown up, she would be painting 'her lorry' purple with pink flowers. Luckily, for Grandad who has to drive the thing, her grown up days are not quite here yet! (If ever in Hereford, try to spot a red lorry with the name 'Anna' on the front of it. It is called Daisy, as christened by Anna). Anna took even more delight when Grandad and his lorries won 3 big trophies and she went up to the front of the crowd to receive her prize.



Anna has been to 3 birthday parties during the summer holidays, including her cousin Isla's. Parties are good!

We have spent days out with friends, whether in the garden or simply having play dates involving lots of cake! The only problem is that you can never have enough play dates with friends, especially when the day-to-day routine of school is lurking just around the corner.

We went to Southampton and spent a day at Peppa Pig World! Anna adored it! It was like a pink wonderland. When asked what her favourite part of it was, Anna insisted that it was 'Muddy Puddles' which saw her getting her swimming costume on and drenching herself under water fountains and sprinklers! I fear that the rides may have been little tame for her though as, after spending the entire day at Peppa Pig World, we fond just enough time to go into the rest of the theme park where Anna chose to ride the pirate ship (which made Daddy feel sick), the roller coaster which went extremely fast and the spinning teacups which made me feel dizzy, just by looking at them. I fear that our daughter is a thrill-seeker and the 'children under 8' rides are just not cutting it anymore!






We went to Cotswold Farm Park. Anna was actually not too keen to go at first, saying 'I don't like farms Mummy, they are too dirty'. Oh No, my daughter had turned into a townie!!! How did that happen? Luckily, she changed her mind once she got there and loved the tractor rides, sand pits, maze, woodland Trail with quiz and playing on the hay bales. She also loved the sheep show but only because the one sheep was really naughty and wouldn't do as he was told, making the staff get more and more anxious, much to the delight of Anna!! I would love to say that she enjoyed handling the baby ducklings, bottle-feeding the goats, stroking the piglets and milking the cow and, although I think she did enjoy it, she didn't seem too excited like the other children were. James seems to think it is because she has done all this before on Auntie Carolyne's farm so it was no big deal for Anna! I'm not so sure. I just don't think she is big fan of animals, unless they have a mischievous streak and she can suddenly identify with them!

I am sure that there are loads of other things we did this summer which I have forgotten.

But now, we are sat waiting for next week when my baby girl starts school. The uniform is hung up, name tags sewn in (thanks to Nanny) and looking rather stiff and formal, just waiting to be worn. Lunchbox has been carefully selected, feet have been measured and shoes been bought and Homework has nearly been done.

I am dreading it! Far more than I ever dreaded my first day at school (as pupil or teacher!!!) and the thought of saying Goodbye to my daughter for 6 hours per day makes my stomach do somersaults in fearful anticipation.

I am not sure how Anna is feeling. She doesn't want to talk about it but there have been days when she has asked 'is it September yet so I can go to school?'. There have also been days when she has looked tearful when I have mentioned it. I am not sure that it has really sunk in. Throughout the summer she has told me how she can't wait to tell Mrs Heath about Cadburys world or show Maisy her new shoes. Maisy and Mrs Heath both are staying at pre-school where she no longer is.

So we wait until next Tuesday when Anna's first day at school begins. I have the tissues ready although I think I will be in much greater need of them than Anna.

Sweet Dreams

My dreams are becoming bizarre at the moment.

Last night, I dreamt that I was facing a class full of 30 children who wouldn't listen to a word I say and I forgot what I was meant to be teaching them. Admittedly I have this dream EVERY year at the end of August but it is a little bizarre when I haven't actually taught for the last 5 years!

Other dreams that I have had recently include...
1. Standing in a changing room with Sir Alex Ferguson, giving the team talk to the Manchester Utd team (I know very little about football and even less about Man Utd!!)

2. After reading the newspaper about two men who did some incredible running Marathon in record time, raising lots of money for charity, I then dreamt that the one man was having an affair with the other man's wife! I have never met these men or know anything about them apart from one photo seen in the local paper!

3. Dreaming that I was a piece of paper and I was in a huge pile of papers that were getting shredded one by one!

After waking from a peaceful night's sleep, Anna has been telling me all about the dream that she has been having. Latest one's include....

1. Dinosaurs on a rocket, taking a journey to space.
2. Peppa Pig meeting Mickey Mouse and going to the funfair together
3. Becoming a princess but choosing NOT to get married and just having fun instead (her words, not mine!!!!)

and my personal favourite...

4. Rhinos dancing in the rain

Oh, I wish I was 4 years old again....

Anna's First Graduation!

Forgive me dear readers (just my mum probably!!), for I have sinned!!! It has been 3 months since I last updated this blog! However, sometimes you just feel compelled to write. Probably because it acts as good therapy if nothing else!

Up until today, I have been coping really well with the whole 'Starting Big School/leaving Pre-school' thing. Anna has been taking it less well. Some of her comments in the past two weeks have been...
"Why do I have to leave somewhere I love. Why Can't I just stay at pre-school forever?"
"It's not fair. Why can't the big children come to pre-school and then I would never have to leave"
"I hate Big school. It has weird food" (After going into school dinners as a transition exercise, and being served Tandoori chicken)
"I love Mrs Heath (Anna's pre-school teacher). Don't make me say Goodbye"
"Noooooooooo".

I was fine when I received her 'End of Year' report and it said 'Anna is a pure joy to have in pre-school. She is a confident, very bright, incredibly kind, thoughtful and lovely little girl. We will miss her so much next year'

I was doing my typical routine of burying my head in the sand and hoping that I wouldn't notice, fooling myself into believing that if I didn't think about it, it wouldn't happen. Even at the Leavers show yesterday, where Anna was lined up as centre stage as she did the 'Bum wiggle Dance' (most enthusiastic by far so had to be centre, according to her teacher) and sang 'Goodbye Pre-school;, Hello big school'. I was fine, more concerned with the fact that Anna's trousers were falling down and showing her pants!

However, this morning, as I watched the clock and waited until 11.30am, when I could pick her up, it suddenly dawned on me that, from September onwards, I will be saying Goodbye to my little girl at 9am and only able to pick her up at 3pm! For the majority of the day from Monday to Friday, some teacher gets to see more of my gorgeous daughter than I do. How is that fair!!! Yeah, yeah, I know all about the whole education and social skills side of things and, as a teacher, I didn't think about the fact that some one's most precious pride and joy was spending more time with me than their own mum! However, as a mum, it is all I can think about!

So when 11.30am came this morning and I watched as Anna, hand in hand with Maisy (who is not going to the same school as her in September) walked in from the playground for the last time, I cried a few tears! I managed to pull myself together just long enough for Mrs Heath to open the door to let Anna out. However, Anna then turned round to give Mrs Heath one last cuddle and Mrs Heath started crying. I was then became a lost cause and wept and wept!!! Anna has developed so much since being at pre-school so I just about managed to utter a 'Thank you for everything you have done for Anna' but, at that point, Mrs Heath and I were both unable to say much else through the tears and snot!!

I was still crying as I got to Anna's music class, which is a whole other story, seeing as though she has been going there since 6 months old and barely able to sit up. Imagine what I am going to be like next week when it is the last music class!!

In fact, I am still crying as I write this. It feels like my baby girl was only born yesterday and it is way too soon to go to Big School. I haven't done everything I want to do yet before I get to spend whole days (Well, 9 to 3) without her! I still haven't spent enough time at music classes,shaking tambourines and pretending to be tractors or singing our lunch time song as we prepare our sandwiches!

Meanwhile, Anna seems to have accepted it all and, today at least, was more brave than I could ever be, as we walked away form pre-school for the last time, she held her head high and walked down the path saying 'Big School next Mummy'!!!

Anna's Second Baby Cousin Arrives!

Anna has another cousin! After a long wait, Baby Gibson was born on the 2nd July to proud parents, Matthew and Ulriikka.

Unfortunately, it feels like she is a million miles away in Finland and, when a baby is as gorgeous as Baby Gibson is (All Baby Gibson's are gorgeous!!), the desire for a cuddle is even stronger than normal!

Luckily, we have been sent lots of photo's and even saw her alive and kicking for an hour and a half on Skype as Matthew held her up to the camera and got arm ache, just so I could get an amazing view and gaze at her for the whole time!! Anna took one look at the photo's and said 'She is so beautiful'. You could argue that she was being biased, being her cousin and all, but I think Anna is also very honest (Too honest sometimes, especially when commentating on my fashion sense) and Anna obviously has good eye for this type of thing!!!

Whenever we talk about Baby Gibson now, Anna keeps saying 'What's her name? I need a cousin with name" but, as is tradition in Finland, we don't get to know that until the 'naming ceremony'. Fortunately, we don't have much longer to wait as it happens on the 6th August. James is going on his hols to Finland so that he can attend whilst I, unfortunately have to stay here. (Cue more tears and frustration). Anna did have the option of going but James thought that Anna's over-excitement at the prospect seeing her Auntie Ulriikka and her many necklaces (and uncle Matthew of course)/going on an aeroplane/airport luggage trollies to push around/going to Finland/meeting her new cousin/escaping from her mother for a couple of days would be far too much to handle and was a two-parent procedure! Has James got no sense of dangerous adventure??

So, along with Isla, Anna finally has a second cousin and what gorgeous addition to the family she is!! We hope to see lots of her, even if it means becoming frequent flyer's to Finland

Huge congratulations to Matthew and Ulriikka (Not that they will ever have time to read this ever again!)

(I didn't want to put a photograph of Baby Gibson without Matthew and Ulriikka's permission but, trust me, she is stunning!!!)

Wedding of the Year!

No, I am not talking about the Royal wedding, which Anna took no interest in whatsoever.

The Wedding of the Year was that of Anna's Uncle John and Auntie Charlotte on 3rd June 2011.



Auntie Charlotte has always been somewhat of a hero in our house. It probably has something to do with the fact that she is very kind, patient and thoughtful whilst being very beautiful and stylish. Basically, everything that Anna;s mother isn't!!!



Anna gets very over-excited when she knows that she is seeing her Auntie Charlotte so imagine her excitement at seeing Charlotte dressed as a princess and marrying Uncle John.

In the week leading up to the wedding, whilst having dinner one evening, Anna said

'Did you know Mummy that Auntie Charlotte and Uncle John are exactly like Cinderella and Prince Charming?'.
"How" I asked, fearing the answer would involve pumpkins and running away
"Auntie Charlotte and Uncle John have fallen in love and will live happily ever after, just like Cinderella".




The wedding actually was something from a fairytale with a church beside the sea and a hotel in the Lake District with a river running by and swans gracefully swimming along!

Anna had an amazing time (as we all did). She was dressed in a dress and accessories picked out by herself from Monsoon (which she believes is the princess show where princesses go shopping), saw a 'real-life princess' (her words), played with Niamh and Isla, got to show all her best moves on the dance floor for hours, whilst dancing to all her favourite current songs (Lady Gaga, Abba, Queen, Mika and 70's disco), become the centre of attention as a circle of guests formed around her and found a new dancing partner (Jemma who is Grandad Peter's daughter) who could match her style far better than her Mummy!




It really was a perfect day so 'Thank you' to John and Charlotte for inviting us to an amazing day. Huge congratulations to you both.

Turning Into Your Mother! (and other Easter Fun)

Oh Dear! Anna is turning into her mother!

As is now tradition in the Gibson household, we took part in the National Trust Easter Egg Hunt at Chirk Castle again this year.

Since Anna was 1 and a half years old, we have been taking part in this annual event. Obviously, the first year was more of Anna having a good ride in the pushchair while James and I looked for lambs. In fact, this is an extract from the Post I wrote when we embarked on our first egg hunt (it also explains how it all works, for those of you interested)

Today (Easter Monday), we went on an Egg Hunt at Chirk Castle (near Wrexham) with the prize being a chocolate egg for everyone that found the Easter hunt answer. It was fantastic. We were a little worried that the staff would judge Anna to be too young for the event (not realising that her Mummy and Daddy were big kids!!) but they didn't bat an eyelid! Basically, our task was to find 6 pairs of lambs (pictures) that were hidden around the castle and gardens. The initial letter of each lamb's name was the clue and once you collected all of the letter clues, it would be an anagram of the answer. For example, the green pair of Lambs were called 'Isabelle' and 'Ian' so the clue was I. Unfortunately, each pair of lambs were not hidden in the same place, which meant that there were 12 hiding spots to find. At first, we thought it was going to be easy after finding the first 3 clues within the first 10 minutes. It was only when we realised that the castle and gardens are rather large that we realised that this may be more difficult than first thought! By 1pm, Anna was asking for her lunch ('Forget the stupid lambs, I'm hungry' thought Anna.) However, by the time we came back outside, the snow was falling fast and within 10 minutes, it was blizzard conditions. Despite being wrapped up warm, the combination of the wind and snow meant that we couldn't see much but we still had 2 lambs to find!!!! However, by this time, we had found at least one lamb from each pair so we knew the answer was 'Spring'. It was just a matter of principle now that made me want to find all 12 clues.

With each year that passes, Anna has shown more interest and taken part with more enthusiasm. This year, she excelled herself.

Anyone that knows me well enough can confirm that I am rather competitive and won't give up anything until it is achieved. It appears that our daughter is even more competitive than me and won't give up until she succeeds.

It was 1pm and we had just spent the last hour looking for the 12 lambs. We had found 11 and there was one baby girl lamb to find. James and I were starting to feel hungry so suggested that we go for lunch and continue with our search afterwards. Anna gave us a look of pure disgust and said

" Why do we need lunch? We have to find the other lamb. The baby girl lamb needs us. Lunch can wait".

James and I just looked at each other with tummies rumbling and proceeded to follow Anna as she lead the way, holding the map and telling us that we would need to completely retrace or steps!

In the end, we could take it no longer.

"Anna, we need to eat otherwise we will faint. We will look for the last girl lamb after lunch and we promise that we will not go home until we have found her'.

Anna just shook her head slowly, probably thinking 'Quitters'.

I am pleased to report that, after a short stop for Lunch, we did find the last lamb hiding in the woodland. (In fact, I confess that it was my fault that we missed her on our first attempt as I dismissed the woodland as not being part of the official egg hunt trail. I was wrong!!!)

Unfortunately, Anna and I are starting to get reputation for being rather competitive and unwilling to give up without a fight! This eater, we also went on an egg hunt with our friends to Delamare Forest. Our friends, Lisa and her little girl, Annabel had been on an egg hunt a few days before but had not found the all the clues to get the prize. Therefore, when starting out on the egg hunt at Delamere, Annabel asked her Mummy

'Will we find all the clues and get prize at this one Mummy?'.

Lisa turned to Annabel and said

'We have Louise and Anna here. We will get all the clues and a prize I'm sure'.

Unfortunately Anna and I also lived up the reputation by being the self-elected 'leaders' of the trail and, clutching our map in our head, strode purposefully in front leading the 'team'.

I am not proud of myself for being so competitive but I do like the idea that Anna is unwilling to give up easily even if that does mean that her Mummy and Daddy end up having a very late lunch!

Driving Anna Mad!

I have always confessed to being a rubbish driver! However, it was finally confirmed recently when my daughter decided to make it quite clear what she thought about my ability behind the steering wheel as well as turning into a teenager, all in in one single comment.

Last Friday, we found ourselves in a familiar car park. However, due to some building work going on, the usual exit had become blocked and it meant cars were having to ignore a 'No Entry' sign to reach the alternative exit (I think the builders had just expected drivers to use common sense and ignore the said sign). However, being the type of person who never likes to get in trouble (being the sad boring person that I am), I refused to believe that we should ignore a 'No Entry sign'. Ultimately, this resulted in us going in a huge circle around the car park and ending up in the same place with no way of getting out. I drove round in a huge circle FIVE times, telling an increasingly frustrated Anna and James that I couldn't just ignore road signs and there must be some way out of this bloody car park whilst still abiding by the highway code. Cue lots of impatient sighs from Anna and James.

It was on the sixth attempt at trying to find my way out of the car park (resulting in just going round in a big circle again), that Anna reached her peak of frustration and uttered the words...

"Mummy, this is so embarrassing. Just get out of the car park".

I didn't expect to hear that I was an embarrassment until Anna was, at least, 13 years old!!! I don't even know where she got that word from as she hasn't been hanging around any teenagers, as far as I am aware!!

(Thankfully, I came to my senses and ignored the 'No Entry sign' and departed the car park as quickly as possible! If Anna hadn't been so vocal, we may have still been going round in circles even now!)

Weekends Away with the Girls

In September, Anna had her first girl's Weekend away. (September seems a very long time ago I realise. However, whilst James is watching football, I am desperately trying to catch up on highlight from Anna's year)

If you asked Anna who her friends were, she would very quickly respond with 3 names. Rhianna, Annabel and Freja. They have grown up with each other since 6 months old (We all met at Jo Jingles) The 4 mum's, Sophie, Sally, Lisa and myself have all become very good friends and the 4 girls are likewise. As 4 year old girls go, they actually get on remarkably well (Sometimes they have a falling out over who gets to be the Wicked Stepmother or Cinderella but, on the whole, get on extremely well for 4 independent, bright, strong minded 4 year old girls). 3 of us all turned 30 in the same year whilst all of our daughters all share their birthday within 2 months of each other.

Tuesday's see us getting together for a gossip, lunch and coffee. Cake also features very regularly although the other 3 can get away with it easily while I continue to postpone that much-needed diet! 5 hours can pass gossiping and putting the world's woes to right while it feels like 5 minutes.

We collectively decided we needed a holiday and so why not go together. No men allowed. Sophie, being the natural leader of the group, got the ball rolling and soon we were booked into a holiday cottage in Snowdonia.

So, on a Saturday morning last September, 4 mum's and 4 daughters headed off with bags packed, copious amounts of wine and chocolate and a determination to have a good time!

Activities for the weekend included walking coastal path's leading down to a deserted beach, visiting Portmerion Village, having picnics and eating yummy Ice Cream while the rain poured down outside (It had to be done!). All of this sounds like simple stuff but, accompanied by lots of laughter and chatting, was fantastic.

However, the best bit of the holiday was the cottage itself. It was down a country lane that looked like it hadn't been used for years. Unfortunately, on the very same day that we arrived, 4 other cars decided to embark down the lane literally 2 seconds after we went driving past our destination. The miles of lane lead to an old barn with locked gates so it then required the delicate handling of Lisa to get us out of a countryside traffic jam but all ended well.

When entering the cottage, it felt like the cottage hadn't been used for at least 50 years. The best way to describe it is to think of the cottage in the film 'Withnail and I' However, it just seemed to add to the charm and I quickly fell in love with the place for all it's creakiness and old fashioned miss-matched furniture. (It would have been the kind of place that James would have hated! He would have taken one look at it and told us we were booking into a hotel!) It was basically an old farmhouse so the kitchen was bigger than our entire house! I'm not sure what it was actually called but Anna quickly decided that it was called 'Twinkle Cottage' (inspired by the Mr Men books) SO that was to become the adopted name for the weekend.



Despite the fact that this was never going to win awards in 'Good Housekeeping', it didn't matter as we all sat around the huge oak kitchen table drinking coffee and eating leftover pizza while Anna taught the girls how to play dominoes (Who said my daughter is eccentric!!!!). In the evening we tucked into chocolate (some more than others, ME) and wine (Some more than others, mentioning no names SOPHIE!) while doing some more gossiping.

To others this probably doesn't sound the most exciting of weekends (especially how I have written it!). However, for the pure 'feel-good factor, it was perfect. In fact, it was so perfect that we returned on the Monday and, by the following Friday, had booked to ago away again in February.

So, last month, we went away again. To be honest, it was much the same as the first weekend but that was just fine by us! You can never have too much cake, chocolate and gossiping!

Unfortunately, it appears that our girls weekend away may have come to a temporary stop for a while. Lisa is expecting a second baby and despite her protests that she would be fine to travel within days of her due date, the other 3 of us are no midwives!!! So what now???

Well, Anna came up with the brainwave of having a sleepover at our house. 4 over-excited girls all sharing the same room for an entire night! My daughter is turning into a teenager way too early! However, I am sure us mum's will also have a good time, talking until the small hours in our pyjamas and surrounded by chocolate! Life is good!



(Before you start feeling sorry for James like my nan does, who thinks I am ill-treating him. Whilst we were away, James got to try out all the local pubs, eat at very nice restauarants and go and watch his beloved Manchester United with family and friends! I think he enjoyed the peace and quiet too although he did admit to being thrilled to have us back!)

Only Boys and Angels...

New Years Day saw us celebrating with Anna's Grandad Flob, Grandma Lynn and Uncle Henry at their house. It was made even more special because Anna's Uncle Matthew and Auntie Ulriikka (Tati) were there too, having flown over from Finland. In fact, it got even more special than that because we were also celebrating that Matthew and Uklriikka had announced that they are due to have baby in June of this year. Anna is to have another cousin!

Henry had also been given a drum kit off 'Father Christmas' this year. I'm not sure Henry believes in Father Christmas any more, being 16 and far too cool for that but for the purposes of Anna, Father Christmas had delivered the same gift to both of them this year. The only difference was that Uncle Henry's drum kit was electric. Anna quickly became acquainted with this new version of a drum kit while Henry accompanied her on guitar. A new band was formed!



Grandad Flob and Grandma Lynn had given a Anna a huge range of Fancy dress costumes so Anna was thrilled. In fact, every half an hour saw her change from one persona to another including a sheep, witch and Cinderella. However, her favourite costume was the angel costume.

There had been some controversy earlier that month, surrounding angel costumes. At pre-school, the girls had been divided in half with the first group being given angel roles in the Christmas Nativity while the other half of the girls were to be Shepherds. One little girl was 'special' and was to be Mary (who just happened to be the PTA Chairperson's daughter) Guess which role Anna had been given? Yes, Anna was to round up sheep! In fact, I don't think Anna cared what she was as long as she got a chance to dress up and show off on stage. However, the other 5 girls chosen to be shepherds were in uproar! According to their parents, there had been tears and tantrums at bedtime as their little girls were inconsolable at the thought of having to wear brown!! Heaven forbid! Anna had picked up the mood in camp so decided to complain along with them when at pre-school. However, when getting her home each day, it quickly became apparent that she actually couldn't see what the big fuss was about!



However, New Years Day saw her chance to shine and, dressed in her new angel costume, she could suddenly fulfil her dream of being an Angel. Of course, this also meant that fellow family members would have to play the other roles in the Nativity. I forget what we all were but I think James/Daddy ended up being a king along with Uncle Henry and Grandad Flob was a wise (old) man. Uncle Matthew requested to be King Herod but ended up being nothing due to his cheek! However, when it came to speaking parts or any of the good bits, there was only room for two actors in this set-up and that were the two angels - Angel Ulriikka and Angel Anna. So the angels would disappear into the back bedroom looking for their lost sheep and then come back into the living room having found them! This carried on for most of the day! Anna loved it! I can only apologise to Ulriikka.

Anna then remained in role for the entire day, including Christmas dinner part 2 (we had a re-run of Christmas dinner as Matthew and Ulriikka had missed it, being in Finland and us being in Hereford). Apparently, angels don't eat much Christmas dinner apart from one potato and a sausage wrapped in bacon). When Auntie Ulriikka got her camera out, I think she intended to take a picture of the 4 men in the room (Matthew, Flob, James and Henry) but Anna soon crept into the picture and Flob announced that 'only boys and angels' were allowed in shot. Anna thought this was highly amusing and kept quoting that 'Only boys and angels' were allowed to do anything thereafter!

Amongst Herefordshire Hills

This Christmas was spent in Herefordshire. To be honest, it seems like an awfully long time ago now but I will do my best to remember what I can (wanting Anna to know all about her Christmas 2010 in years to come!)

Father Christmas turned out to be the hero of the day and, as promised, delivered the Drum Kit. Beforehand, helpful friends, family and neighbours were advising me that I should ask Father Christmas for a set of ear plugs. I thought they were exaggerating! It turns out that even mini-sized drum kits make a LOT of sound! By 9am on Christmas morning, my ears were ringing and my head hurt. Thinking about it, it was a good job we were in rural Herefordshire, surrounded by fields and sheep! Needless to say, Anna was completely amazed at how magical it all was and adored her noise-making machine, AKA her drum kit (as she still adores it 3 months later)



Christmas day was spent at my brother's house this year. He has recently moved into an old farmhouse complete with 600 sheep, 20 cats and 3 dogs (Steve's wife is a farmer). As the snow lay very thick outside, we faced the day in a very old house with no central heating, very old windows and not much heat insulation going on. Thankfully, they knew how to build houses in the old days and each room had a beautiful inglenook fireplace with a roaring fire! It just felt right for a Christmas day. Along with Carolyne's side of the family, 13 of us sat down to Christmas lunch. I thought it was extremely brave of Steve and Carolyne, considering they had never had a dinner party before, let alone hosted Christmas. I have always known that Steve is a good chef but it turns out Carolyne is even better and, between them (albeit mostly Carolyne) they can't half cook a good Christmas feast! It was also lovely to know that what we were eating was all Herefordshire grown/produced food! You can't beat it when it is born and bred in Herefordshire (including my good self!!!)!

The highlight of Christmas came in the afternoon. Feeling very full on a gorgeous Christmas lunch, we decided to take a walk through the fields thick with snow. Hereford seemed to have much more snow than Cheshire so I had already phoned ahead in the days leading up to Christmas, asking my mum to see if she could find a sledge. My mum didn't disappoint and so, trailing our little red sledge behind us, we climbed the Herefordshire hills, overlooking the farm and most of Herefordshire beyond!

We found the perfect hill for sledging! Just the right gradient so we didn't go too fast for Anna but yet still thrilling enough to excite, with enough flat ground at the bottom to come to a slow halt before crashing though the hedge! Anna adored it and actually proved to be the best sledder amongst us, finding the freshly made grooves in the snow so that the sledge slid smoothly and even faster with every turn. I have to say I was pretty good myself! James... well... he actually fell off more times than everyone else put together! He blames Science as he was trying to place his feet in the optimum position for the least amount of wind resistance! Anna and I didn't put half as much thought into it and were much more successful! Sometimes, over-thinking can be a downfall!



I also have to confess at this point that it was the true definition of 'Lazy Sledging'. Let me explain... my brother had recently acquired a new toy which was basically a little quad-like vehicle (although much safer than a quad but I fail to think of the right word to describe it). It basically meant that when we landed at the bottom of this steep hill, Uncle Steve would pick us up, fling the sledge in the trailer at the back and drive us back up to the top! Steve was getting to try out his new toy in the snow while we were getting all the fun of sledging without any of the work - perfect! In fact, I think Anna enjoyed the ride in the quad nearly as much as the sledging itself, especially when Uncle Steve let her steer the wheel!



So, as the sun began to set over Herefordshire, we made our back through the snow to the farmhouse, watching the smoke rise from the chimney and knowing that we had lots of Chocolate roulade, my nan's sherry triffle and leftover turkey to consume! (Writing this makes it sound very idyllic and makes me wonder whether I dreamt it rather than it being a reality but we have photos to prove it was true, plus James and Anna remember it just as perfectly as I do so it really was that gorgeous!) Who needs expensive presents when you have all that!

Is There Anyone There...

I strongly suspect that the handful of people who read this blog have given up and that I waste my time even writing this!

However, 2 recent events have made me want to pick up my blogging again. The first is finding a diary that I wrote when I was 13. It is shockingly bad and very poorly written (my English teacher has a lot to answer for.)However, when it got to halfway through the diary and I faced blank pages for the remaining 6 months of the year, I felt really frustrated with myself. OK, so I realise that a 13 year old doesn't really have much to write about but it gave me a little insight into what my 13- year old self was thinking and feeling, even if it was just proof that I was an extremely naive teenager who thought I knew it all! I then pictured Anna getting extremely frustrated with me when she came to read this blog later in life and realised that her Mum didn't bother to keep up with it and let her daughter have an insight into her Early Years. Again, this may be me being naive, just like the 13 year old I used to be. She may not be interested in the slightest but I want to give her the opportunity anyway.

The other event that made me want to pick up blogging is reading a fellow blogger's most recent post. I started blogging 4 years ago, when a colleague/friend happened to be writing hers when I strolled into her classroom one evening (We were both workaholics and stayed late!!). I didn't think much about it but then, one day when I was desperately trying to find someone else out there who was walking round with baby sick on their shoulder and not the faintest idea what was going on, I started to read some parenting blogs. I didn't really relate to any of them except one! It later emerged that this lady blogger, named Elsie, had her first born child, a daughter, on exactly the same day as me - 18Th November 2006. More than that was the fact that she was a teacher, came from my home town AND got married on the very same day as me as well. All of this was a coincidence which was found out over time but rather uncanny to say the least! Anyway, this week, she wrote a fantastic blog about her daughter starting school full time in September.

Now, I have always known that September 2011 would be the time that Anna started school. I have even gone through the nightmare of trying to choose my 3 preferred choices for schools and filled in the application form. However, none of this felt real. I think I had detached myself from the process, believing that the day when I waved Anna into a strange new building with a bunch of strangers was never going to happen. Reading Elsie's post (http://elsiebutton.blogspot.com/) has just made me realise that September sees me doing just that. Suddenly I have lost my little girl for a vast majority of each day! Oh Bloody hell!!!! I now have tears streaming down my face!

Therefore, I am going to try very hard to resume this blog for 2 reasons:

Firstly, so that Anna will continue to get an insight into her childhood and each new chapter that brings.

Secondly, I am trying desperately to hang on by my fingertips to each and every last minute of Anna's toddler years because reality has just made me realise that time is speeding by way too fast so I need every memory I can cling on to! Writing may also prove to be good therapy because I am going to need all the therapy I can get!