Bathtime

Today was ace. In the morning we had 5 guests for brunch and made lots of pancakes, eggs and bacon, stacks of toast and things like that for a Waltons-esque feast. Husband had a night out overnight (his turn!) so Leah kept me company for some takeaway and trash TV. Before we settled down to that though, we had to get the children ready for bed. Zac wanted the photo taken, Tab didn't - you can tell...

Another week done

Leah, Denise and I are displaying our floral corsage bracelets and glasses of a bizarre pink cocktail, purchased in big pitchers for £11.50 a pitcher. Bargain! It wasn't very nice though. However, the night was a lot of fun, and much dancing was done. We were all in high spirits having planned a weekend of the utmost fun, and it did not disappoint.

Friends

Zac insisted that I took this photo as we left Fun Club (Tuesday afternoon activity of choice). It's a photo of him and his little friend, who spent most of Fun Club building bizarre structures out of soft foam mats.

Red noses

Pester power led to the acquisition of these today. I had to take the photo in a tearing hurry once the children had lined up, because Tab's nose is so dinky that the foam noses fall off very quickly. Irritatingly, the foam splits quite easily so a tantrum or two was had later on due to ripped noses.

Tea party

All was quiet in the sitting room, so we crept through to hear Tabitha, Zac and my nephew Sebastian helpfully dishing out wooden cakes to each other and making tea-party-appropriate small talk. Very cute. I took this photo in a hurry so it's a bit rubbish.

Health vs. pizza

Lovely day. Train journey on my own (aren't such events blissfully peaceful when you have children?!), a yummy lunch and an afternoon of girly shopping. Then husband joined me and we went to a housewarming party, and I only got us a little bit lost finding our friend's house.

This photo is of my lunchtime pizza. The rocket and olives give a satisfying illusion of healthy goodness.

Aquadraw

This is a photo I took last night, at my friend Leah's when she was making us yummy home-made pizzas. My friend Denise brought her lovely little boy Oliver and he amused us all with his comedy toddler comments and scribbles on the Aquadraw.

Reunion

This afternoon we went to soft play and met up with friends who moved out of the area last summer. Zac was delighted to be reunited with his little friend Anna, and they were inseparable all afternoon. Tabitha became quite jealous.

Rocking out

Today was a much better day at work than yesterday. And, it being half term, the afternoon was nice and relaxed too. Yasmine had a friend round and they dressed up and put on "make-up" in order to play Guitar Hero on the Wii.

Forest green pins

Today was a most excellent day. Well, my morning at work was the most stressful one I've had so far this year, but we made up for it in the afternoon. Leah, Denise and I went shopping and then Yasmine joined us to go to the cinema where we watched "Confessions of a Shopaholic". It was all mightily good fun.

During the shopping trip I bought these tights. The picture isn't great (getting a photo of my legs the right way up was no mean feat!) but they are a beautiful shade of "forest green" and they are delightfully, completely, opaque. I want to buy all sorts of different colours now.

Happy Anniversary

Husband and I have been married for 6 years today. The children are at Grandma's, so we celebrated by going out straight from work (unheard of!). I also bought this book so I can see what all the fuss is about.

Grandma's

All 3 of the children went to stay at Grandma's from today until Tuesday. We dropped them off mid-afternoon, and I took this photo of Tab and Zac doing puzzles in relative peace and quiet. The slippered foot in the photo belongs to my mother-in-law and she is very proud of the slippers, having bargained for them in a soukh on their recent holiday.

Swimming lesson

Zac really loves his Friday afternoon swimming lessons. I can't take a photo of his happy little wet face though, as taking photos of swimmers is banned - so here's a photo of Tabitha's toys, that she brought with her to play with while we waited for Zac. There's her "tiny baby", with its teddy and blanket, and her book "Contrary Mary" - which could have been written about her. They're all tucked up in the corner of the swimming-pool windowsill, resting on a pillow made from a cloth shopping bag. Tabitha said they were fast asleep, which left her free to potter about and practise "sunbathing" on the poolside loungers.

It's back!

Snowflakes the size of ten-pence pieces started drifting down at lunchtime - I've never seen snow like it. By 5pm the roads had ground to a halt. My sister in law took 3.5 hours to do a 10-mile drive, and my dad got snowed in at our house.

Two things

Here are two things that are pleasing me today. On the left is a leather-bound notebook that I bought years ago in TK Maxx - I've dug it out to use it for Lists of Stuff and life goals and things like that (inspired by my friend Len, who is doing similar). On the right is my new Plushglass lipgloss from Mac. It is a perfect colour and tastes of vanilla - it's genuinely amazing how happy an item of make-up can make me.

Fancy ladies

Zac and Tabby were suspiciously quiet this evening, and spent a long time in Tabitha's room with the dressing-up clothes. This is how they emerged.

Besties

Jenny came to stay this weekend. I definitely don't see her often enough. During the course of her stay we also managed to go running twice, and it was great having company on one of my runs rather than just the Ipod!

I got the husband to take a photo of us before Jenny went home, and my two little sproglets ambushed us to pose in the photo too (although Tab got shy).

Playmobil

Zac and Tabitha spent absolutely ages setting up this little scene with their Playmobil and asked me to take a photo of their handiwork.

Back in action

Leah and I were out dancing again tonight after far too long away from the dance floor.

Here's my celebratory photo of our (nearly finished) vodka + cokes.

Snow at last!

Proper snow! We couldn't get to work. It started snowing at about 7.30am, and this was our garden by nine-ish.

I took the sledge when I collected the kids from school, but they were less than impressed. "I think it's scary," said Zac, and Yasmine chipped in with "Mum. I'm over ten years old. Did you really think I'd want to?"

Sigh...

No, I don't know either

It was a bedtime-delaying "funky dance". She was aghast when I took a photo! Apparently she was playing a tune on her pyjama elastic...

Baby

My friend Nikki came round with her girls, the youngest of whom is just a teeny-tiny baby. I was almost broody. Almost.

Disappointing lack of snow

The rest of the country has severe weather warnings and three-foot snowdrifts. Here in the frozen North we have a token scattering of sleet. This is the view from my office window...

Playing

I am tired all the time at the moment, and after a late night cinema-going last night we decided to have a very lazy Sunday. I took this photo from my position lying on the sofa, which is where I spent a lot of the day.

Tab was wearing several dressing-up items at once (with a witch's dress on top) and carefully setting out a dolls' tea party for me.