A Mother's Ramblings

Dan Jon is away this coming week on his School residential. Top Ender is excited because she doesn't remember what it is like to be an only child (It's like she forgot the residential he went on last year!) and so she's hoping that the full attention of both parents will be on her! I say it's more time for me to give her food that she's not keen on and not have her brother eat it for her... not that she would do that of course. This week for breakfast, Top Ender and I are having a variety of breakfasts. One day we're having fish (not Top Ender's favourite) but I'm giving it to her with lots of other favourite foods (she's asked for those that contain chocolate) so hopefully, I'll convert her to someone who LOVES fish for breakfast. Yeah, it's so not happening.

Dan Jon is going away on another residential soon. This time, I'm not quite as calm as I was last time, but of course, I've not let him know that. The problem is last time, last time he was only an hour down the road, and happened to be just five minutes from where Flyfour worked. This time? This time he's over four hours and a ferry ride away.

I cried on the phone to my friend today, and all because of Sweet Peas. The phone call had been fine nothing triggering and right up until I started crying, I had been fine. We were talking about booking holidays and about our children, about upcoming social events we were both hoping to attend and the reason why I was having to cancel us meeting up for lunch in a couple of weeks. We talked about some works that we were having done in our homes over the summer and how fabulous my flowers were because she had seen a few pictures I'd sent to another friend of the roses I had on display on my fireplace, that I had cut from my own garden. We talked about the sunflowers that I'd never grown before, and how I was in love with them and would be growing them again in the future.

For years I have told anybody who would listen, that one of the classroom numbers at Church is upside down. I mean look at it. It is clearly upside down right? Well, I've managed to convince several of my friends that it is upside down too and they will often find me standing in the corridor silently fuming at the number. I'm not really one to stand there and shake my fist, but on occasion, some of my close friends have seen me shake my fist at the door.

Fame is one of those musicals that EVERYONE knows. I mean if I were to stand out in my street right now and shout/sing; "Remember my name, FAME!" I can guarantee that somebody would shout/sing back; "I'm gonna live forever, I'm gonna learn how to fly, high!" In fact, I bet you did it too. It's impossible to resist and has to be in our DNA or something. It's not like we all grew up watching the film and the TV Series... oh wait we did! Top Ender and I went to see the touring musical at Milton Keynes Theatre last night (We got the tickets from them for the purpose of this review) and we were so pumped up when we left, talking about how we wanted to go and join a Performing Arts School and which department we think would take us (Acting, Dance, Music) and if either of us was a triple threat.

As many of you know, over on Facebook, when the mood strikes I post a random question. The question, of course, is never actually random if you follow my thought process. You can see how thinking about children, fizzy drinks and the position you sleep in, lead me to ask something like What colour is your toothbrush right? Just me eh? Well, it's normally something I've been thinking about for a day or two and want other people to weigh in on too because my brain is, well as you can see it's a little random and I'm never sure if people think the same as me and I'm also super nosey! This last week I wanted to know what people kept in the butter compartment of their fridge as in ours there is Insulin. It's what happens when you live with a Type One Diabetic, every spare bit of space is given over to the equipment that they need, which is why in my handbag, the glovebox of my car, in Top Ender's handbag, my church bag and a million other places there is

A friend of mine died this last week. It was expected, she had known for several years now that she was going to die and all her friends and family knew too, but knowing what was going to happen doesn't make it any easier. We are all still sad about our loss. We are all still sad that a friend has died. We are all still sad that a husband has lost a wife and his best friend. We are all still sad that a child has lost her mother. My friend and I had spoken many times about what we thought would happen after death; if we were frightened of dying and even what we wanted to happen at our funerals. We talked about funerals we had been to, ones that were big celebrations of life, ones that were terrible and dismal and hard.

It's amazing what a week of "real" food can do. All members of the household are feeling much better and whilst we aren't thinking about doing a no buy challenge again just yet, we have realised that we are what we eat and we like to eat things that make us happy! So, here is what we are eating this week!

Last Saturday, Dan Jon, Flyfour and I set off with Top Ender to our local Stake Center (see here for Church-related phrases I use that you might not know) for Seminary Graduation. We were all really proud of Top Ender for having worked so hard this year to complete her Seminary course despite the many challenges she has faced this year and we wanted to show her this in a physical manifestation, by all being there as she received her certificate. The thing was, none of us had ever attended a Seminary Graduation.

Dan Jon had to go to his annual blood test appointment this week. It's the one that we dread because the first time that it happened Dan Jon claimed that it felt like someone had dug around in his arm with a rusty nail and had left him suffering, all for a measly vial of blood. Dan Jon's descriptions were so vivid and colourful none of us can forget and neither has he.

A few weeks back I was sitting in the living room watching TV when the sound suddenly cut out and was replaced by tinkling music. I immediately realised that it was a mobile phone game and somehow one of our neighbours had accidentally connected to our soundbar via Bluetooth and I was hearing them play a game. I disconnected them and had a bit of a fight when they then reconnected, I disconnected them and they continued to keep connecting to our soundbar, so in the end, I turned the soundbar off and listened to the radio instead.

Top Ender is starting her last set of Mocks of Year Ten today. It's hard to believe that in a years time, this portion of her life will be over and she'll be ready to start the next phase of her education, and before I know it that will be over and the phase after that and before I know it I'll be thinking about my grandchildren taking their exams. That's not what I'm thinking about today, however. Today I'm thinking about Top Ender.

Whilst walking Dan Jon to School the other morning, I let him know that I might not be able to pick him up that afternoon as I had agreed to help a friend and timings were a little tight. Dan Jon was totally fine about this because he is what is called a free walker, it means he doesn't actually have to have a parent at the School to walk him home, but it's a tradition that on a Friday night I'm there and we walk home together. I let him know that when he gets back from a residential in a couple of weeks time that I will probably walk home with him every night until the end of the School year. It'll only be a couple of weeks and Dan Jon asked why I felt I needed to do this. I explained, in a couple of weeks, I'd no longer be able to walk him to School holding his hand as he was going to Senior School.

Flyfour won't read this until he is on the train on his way to work. You see, like the good husband he is, he ensures to keep up to date with what I've written and not just because he wants to know what we have for our evening meals or to see if I've been talking about him! Today was Father's Day. I had plans to write a whole post about how he is actually the best Father, Friend and Husband in the world, but germs prevented me. So I just wanted to put something up quickly to show him how thankful I am for him and for his many talents.

We were trying a new food challenge this month, but with the weather and everyone being super tired (we have no idea why! Everyone is sleeping well but waking up just as tired as when they went to bed. We are blaming it on the weather!), at least half of us are coming down with an illness (or have one) and us all just being ready for the end of the School term it just wasn't happening. Yesterday morning I knew I had to go shopping because if we carried on we would all just freeze to death, miserable and hungry. So I made a quick meal plan based upon what we needed to consume and what we had in the fridge, freezer and store cupboard and didn't care if we spent more than I wanted to. In the end, it was only about £50 that I spent, so I think that is fairly good!

Top Ender and I haven't been to the Theatre together in ages and so we were really pleased to be able to go to see Thriller Live last night, courtesy of Milton Keynes Theatre who gave us two tickets and a complimentary drink each too. We were excited as we headed to the theatre and not just because we had a pack of sweets in my bag! Growing up, my sister and her best friends were huge fans of Michael Jackson and so, I grew up hearing his music, even if I wasn't particularly a fan myself. I mean, of course, I knew who he was and could sing along to his hits, and for Top Ender it's the same as it is almost impossible to not know some of his or the Jackson Five hits as they were practically played non-stop on every radio station until very recently and we have that Michael Jackson Wii game that we do actually still play every once in a while. Top Ender has performed a few Jackson songs as part of the School Orchestra and even in some of the Choirs that she performs i

Every few months or so, Top Ender gives me a look. A look that is probably more commonly known as a puppy dog face, as she looks at me with big wide eyes and a slightly sad, pleading stuck out bottom lip that I just know means; "Mum, I need your help and I know you have your own things to be doing, but could you possibly drop them all and help me pretty, pretty please?" And I do. I drop everything that I'm doing because I know that whilst the thing that Top Ender is going to ask me to do is something that she is perfectly capable of doing herself, she is asking me for a reason. She is reaching out for my help and I'll be darned if I'm going to teach her that I'm not there for her in her time of need.

This weekend I was supposed to be out with the Brownies, but Flyfour has had to work and so the children and I are hanging out together. We're quite excited as we have a lot planned, we may visit a local Carnival or we might go to Town, or we might even just stay at home and play a few computer games because the weather looks to be a little bit dodgy! As Flyfour is off out, we're having a little bit of a treat today with regards to what we are eating and we are eating some of my special favourite food because I'm in charge and nobody can tell me otherwise!

I needed to be a grown-up yesterday. I needed to look presentable and grown-up because I was doing Governor things and meeting with real proper grown-ups and real proper grown-ups seem to like grown-up Pippa a bit more than not grown-up Pippa, especially when she is doing Governor things. So, I got ready for the day, had breakfast with the children and went to the School. Everything went relatively well. At least, I thought it did until I returned home a few hours later, looked down and for the first time that morning saw my cleavage and saw that the chocolate spread I had spread on toast for the children and I, at breakfast that morning was quite clearly also spread across my cleavage. I just have to hope that all the proper grown-ups didn't notice that I had chocolate spread in and on and around my cleavage... I mean proper Grown-Ups would have said if they saw me covered in chocolate spread right?

A couple of months back, whilst we were on a School Trip, Dan Jon was chatting with some of the other students in his year and somehow the subject got on to pocket money, how much each child got and what they were expected to do chore wise for the money they got. I should have, as the grown-up walking with these children shut that conversation right down. Instead, I found it interesting and so was listening quite intently to what was being said I just didn't find it as interesting as Dan Jon who was listening even more intently than I was. When we walked home that evening, Dan Jon raised the subject with me, because in our house, we don't do pocket money. We don't get paid for doing chores.

I made the mistake of saying something about a challenge for fitness near my phone and so now I'm being bombarded with "Personal Challenges" adverts on Facebook and to be honest, it was driving me crazy. So crazy, that I clicked on one of the adverts to see what it was about and saw that for a smallish fee, you could join a challenge where you walk or run or swim or cycle a certain amount of miles (that you have decided you could do from a preset amount) and then after submitting your data they send you a medal, if you reached your challenge goal. I was kinda impressed and wanted to sign the whole family up, which would have cost about £34. To be honest, the cost really isn't that much, but I thought it might be more sensible if to start with the family and I did a challenge to see that we would actually follow through before we started rewarding ourselves with medals and spending out money that we could be spending on other things.

I wanted to include this in the Food Challenge for June post, because I think it is important but realised that it is so long, you'd probably all fall asleep reading all about the Food Challenge and this as well. So I thought a second post about what I include in packed lunches would be in order and it could also help out anyone who is struggling with what to include in a packed lunch. So here we go!

I don't think I've ever done a June Food Challenge before and to be honest I don't think this really counts as being a food challenge either... I think I've mentioned before that I feel guilty for being a fairly useless stay-at-home Mum when my husband works hours on end to support us. I mean I'm terrible at keeping the house clean and tidy and doing the other things that I'm supposed to do. I can't contribute to the finances by getting a job, because who would be here during the holidays to look after the children or on sick days, or inset days or take them to their hospital appointments? There is one thing I can do.

A couple of weeks ago, my Mum and I had a few minutes spare after we'd popped into her local High Street and so we visited a Charity shop that she used to volunteer in and found a dress that was so breathtakingly beautiful, we knew that Top Ender would want it. It honestly looked like it had never been worn, it looked about the right size and so for a grand total of £2.99 it was ours. "Oh, this is nice!" said the lady in the shop "It's for my 15 year-old-daughter" I answered "Oh, for her Prom?" "No, this will probably be a Church dress for her."

This weekend is again one of those busy ones that seem to be happening more and more frequently for me. This weekend is Stake Conference, which I'm excited about as I love getting together with other people in my stake and I love the time I get with Top Ender in the car. Luckily this is one of only two "busy" weekends that we have planned for a few weeks, so I'm hoping that means it is plain sailing for the rest of the summer!