So Giving!

Em - Mum, i try to get you to save things but you still throw them away before i say to you
Me - Like what darling?
Em - *thinking* um i dont know like an apple maybe that i dont want all of
Me - Well we cant really save an apple darling it goes all brown and yucky
Em - *a little frustrated because this turned out to be a bad example* Well i mean like things we could send to the children.
Me - What children?
Em - The ones you told me about that dont have nice food and things
Me - *penny dropped*

I started to tell her about the shoebox appeals that happen around the UK and explained what kind of things they send and she got very excited about it and started charging round the house picking out some toys (her favorites lol) that she would be willing to send.

So i decided to do a little research and have found a 2011 Christmas shoebox appeal organised by the Samaritans and i have ordered a resorces pack and me and Emily are going to try and get 50 people to put together shoeboxes for the children in Liberia, Romania, Ukraine, Blearus, Kenya and lots of other disadvantaged countries.

I cant wait to show her the stuff when it arrives, she is going to really enjoy putting her shoeboxes together!!

Gillamoor Farm Camping

This year we joined our family camping at Pete and Vickys farm.  Dads band had been booked to play at the village hall on the Saturday night but we all went accross on Friday after work.  Emily got very excited when i told her we were going camping and as per usual wasted no time packing her own bag and helping me get stuff ready.  Unfortunatly by the time we got their on the Friday it was already dark and the girls had some supper and went pretty much straight to bed.  Hannah slept in the travel cot in the caravan and settled quite quickly and Emily slept on her little air bed in the tent with us but didnt go to sleep till nearly mid-night as she was too excited to sleep so laid there listening to classical fm on the radio (which is her favorite music)

Emily was upset because we had invited Sara and Alicia for the weekend but they couldnt come because her aunt is poorly, Emily burst out crying when i told her Alicia couldnt come "but i love her and it will be no fun without her" bless her.  It did cheer her up when i told her Cath and Lottie would be there and that Ross and Lia wee coming and sleeping in our tent with us.

Emily loves to be outdoors, it doesnt matter if there is entertainment or not, she will entertain herself collecting things and pretending to build things or catching mini-beasts.  The kids spent most of the time playing with an old mucky wheel barrow taking it in turns to have rides in it (curtesy of Ben and Joseph who pushed them about in it all weekend)

Id taken some drawing pads and skipping ropes for the kids.  Hannah must have been watching the big kids closely and was trying her best to have a go dragging it behind her and hopping along laughing.

 On the saturday at the village hall Emily was excited to see Big Bobs grandkids (her new best friends) and couldnt wait to dance with them on the dance floor.  Unfortunatly early on in the night she was rolling down a grass bank with her new friends and got a nasty nettle sting on her arm that came up in massive hives.  I spent the best part of 30 mins trying to find a dock leaf but couldnt find one anywhere which is typical when you want one! 

Poor Emily was so upset, it really ruined the night for her, she cried for ages even after a neighbour gave us antihistamine cream to put on.  She was so upset she curled up in the buggy and eventually fell asleep which didnt suprise me as she was very overtired from her late night and running about all day.

When we gotback from the party the girls were worn out, Hannah went straight to bed without a muff and Emily climbed in her sleeping bag and was out like a light.  They both really enjoyed the weekend and didnt want to go home so im sure they will really look forward to next year!

Hannahs Eye

Since Hannah was born she has had a snotty left eye.  Most mornings i have to bathe it open as it is crusted shut.  She had this all through her hospital visits and on numerous occasions swabs have been taken and medicine given to treat for conjunctivitis which has been hell to put in and made no difference.

At the beginning of April she saw a specialist at pinderfields, we were left waiting in the coridoor for nearly 2 hours and had to put extra time on the car because the receptionist put our file on the wrong pile.  That explained why people who came in an hour after us were seen before us! 

The doctor put dye in her eyes and admitted she needed a small procedure to unblock her duct.

Beginning of May we went for a Pre-Op assessment at Dewsbury where i had to sit and discuss how they would put my poor baby to sleep with anesthetic yet again.
The lady said it may be a while till her operation appointment as the doctor works Mondays and what with all the bank holidays he was a bit behind but she said to sit tight and we would hear something.

9 weeks later im getting a little miffed, not heard a thing, so i rang the central appointment team to find out what was going on.  A young lady called Gemma did allot of shuffling about and putting me on hold to finally admit that no paperwork has been sent over from Dewsbury therefore Hannah isnt even yet on the waiting list ...  I made my displeasure known and Gemma was very embarrassed that this had happened and promised she would personally sort it and told me to pencil in the 5th September and she would confirm by post.

Last week i rang them again (this is 3 weeks since i spoke to Gemma and still heard nothing)  A lady called Katie answers the phone, Gemma is off sick.  I explained the entire situation to her, she diddled about on her computer and couldn't find Hannah on the waiting list, "oh no hang on here is her file, it hasn't been processed yet, I'm terribly sorry i will personally ensure this is sorted ASAP"

Today i got a letter from Kate telling me Hannah is on the waiting list and asking if i can ring the appointment line to book a slot within the next 14 days or it will be presumed we no longer want the operation.  ERM HELLO!!!

I just rang Kate and she said the very soonest they can book her in is 3rd October, that will be 5 months after her pre-op where she was weighed, measured and a full health check was performed to check she was fit for surgery .............

This is crazy! Im so cross! I know she is not in any pain and there are people out there with more pressing medical problems but these people are the eye people, they only do eyes, why should my baby still have a gunged up eye at 19 months old when she has seen the amount of medical professionals she has seen in her lifetime.  Unbelievable!

August Sunshine

We have had a couple of weekends of lovely weather which hwas been great and in true Dolben style we have seized the day as much as possible.  We have been to Oakwell Park a couple of times, Wilton Park and out playing on the trampoline as much as we can before the autumn kicks in.

Hannah is getting such a big girl now, she is so independant and loves doing what she considers "big girl" stuff likes drawing, colouring and making a bee-line for anything little that has been put out of her way.  She still loves climbing and is very robust but just of late she has been very cuddly and has learnt that a mummy kiss can fix almost any bump or scrape.

 Emily is a beautful sweet sensative girl, she loves her little sister very much but gets very frustrated when Hannah copies her every move, even yawning which really gets on Emilys nerves hehe

 Emily is getting allot braver too, im not sure if it is an age thing or that she sees Hannah being very brave and trying new things, she really enjoys playing with Liam too now they can chat away to each other, they really enjoyed climbing on the spider web.

 Hannah is trampoline mad like her sister, this leads to many arguments as Emily bounces much harder than Hannah which makes her fall over.  She thinks its funny the first couple of times but gets tired of having to get back up and gets frustrated and cross. She does have her own 5ft trampoline but thats not good enough for her she wants to go on the big one like Emily so we try to take it in turns now.

Hannah is saying quite a few words now like Nanna Mummy Gaddy Gargar (grandad) Dog, Ball, weeze (please) and when you say "love you" she blows you a kiss.  She likes to say bye and knows all the farm animal noises.

We are getting ready for Emily starting school in a few weeks, im absolubtly dreading it, im going to miss her like crazy, she seems fairly excited about it so far but is worried she will miss me.  Im sure she will be fine, i just hope she makes some nice friends because she is easily led and gets a little bit too giddy at times.
She is a super smart cookie and knows her numbers to ten and beyond, she can write up to ten and knows the first 3 sections of her phonics already so i hope she will impress the teachers :0)

Skegness - July 2011

This year we booked a caravan at Skegness again. We took Emily a couple of years ago and had a fantastic time. When we arrived we found our van had a full length veranda that was all safe and fenced in which was brilliant for the girls, they were riding their scooters up and down and racing round in and out of both doors in a big circle. There was even a box of toys in the van with Barbies and jig-saws!

The girls were really excited about the caravan and the little bedroom even had butterflys on the walls and a side bar to stop little ones falling out of bed. We decided to try Hannah in the bed because it would have been a nightmare to fit the travel cot in.  Unfortunatly she didnt settle very well as she was standing up messing about trying to get to Emily so we had a swap round and Emily went in with Daddy and i slept in the little bedroom with Hannah.  She soon settled down when she realised it wasnt play time and managed fine in the bed for the 3 nights.

 The weather wasnt very kind to us, although it didnt rain it was very cold and really blustery which spoilt most of our plans so we spent Tuesday and Wednesday walking round the market. The girls really enjoyed it as there was music piped in and they were both dancing to the music.

 On Wednesday the weather was against us again! It wasnt quite as windy but it was still grey and overcast. I was so fed up i decided it would be worth us buying the extremely expensive wristbands for Fantasy Island just to get us out doing something.  Me and Steve arnt really ones for big rides but there was some smaller thrill rides and i figured there was a few rides Emily would go on multiple times.  After a few rides Em was so tired she fell asleep in the pram for a coupld of hours so me and Steve went on some big rides.

 We went back to the Van for tea feeling a bit deflated as we hadnt really gotten our moneys worth from the bands so we decided to go back up after eating and milk it for all it was worth. 

When we got there it was very quiet, hardly anyone about at all, it was like having our own personal theme park! Emily and Hannah went on everything, and then went on it again!  It was brilliant fun racing about trying to get on as many rides as possible before closing time.  Emily even agreed to come on the Rocket Blaster roller coaster (which is really fast and rough) she loved it so much when the train came to stop at the station she didnt want to get off so we nodded to the controller and went round again... and again!

 During the day she wouldnt entertain the thought of the mini dodgems but was glad she gave in, she was very giddy as she was pressing the pedals and steering all by herself!

On thursday the wind had eased off a bit so we decided to seize the day and went down to Skegness beach and had a play on the sand, i dressed the girls in double layers to combat the wind and we managed to have an hours play without too much trouble

The last day of the holiday we woke up to glorious sunshine! About time too! The only problem was there was little black flies everywhere! Like a plague it was horrible, we was batting them off anf they were landing back again just as fast, we couldnt get in the car quick enough!
We went down to Mablethorpe hoping the flys wouldnt be there but they were there too. I was so upset, couldnt believe the weather we had been waiting for was being spoilt by these unbarable bugs but we decided it was for the best to just set off home.

We got about 45mins home when i realised how close we were to grimsby and rang mum on my mobile to tell her to make a pit stop at Cleethorpes to see if it was any better there and sure enough it was bug free and beautifully sunny so we camped up for the afternoon on the beach and had a lovely day in the sunshine building sand castles and paddling.  Ross and Lia even came down to meet up for a cup of tea on the beach!

Very Busy Weekend!

Well yet again we have had a very hectic weekend!

On Friday evening when Daddy got home from work all of us cleaned our new car, the girls had great fun getting soaked and bubbles everywhere.

On Saturday morning we went to Alverthorpe Carnival, not sure why they call it that because its not a Carnival its a Gala.  It was roasting hot and a really nice Gala, the girls watched the Majorettes went on the donkeys which Hannah just loves then they went on the T-cups.

 Hannah loves the t-cups, well she loves any ride she can go on with her big sister but the ride took ages to start and they were both starting to get bored so i gave them a little spin ever now and again.  When the ride started moving they were loving it for the first minute then all of a sudden Hannahs face changed in a flash, she was leaning to the side, here eyes were flashing left and right and she was shaking, poor little babe was so dizzy she lost the plot! The man noticed at the same time as me and stopped the ride straight away for me to rescue her. She was totally fine as soon as her head stopped spinning but it was ever so scary!

The following day we went to a Playday that had been advertised as being at Thornes Park and was going to meet Sara and Alicia there.  We was gutted when we got there and nothing was on at all!  We hung about till Sara and Alicia arrived, went on the train and luckily i got a phone call froma freind letting me know there was a fun day at Thornes School so we headed on over.

When we got their it was late on unfortunatly and allot had been packed away and the bouncy castle had been deflated but we still had fun.  The strangest thing is everything was free, even the food and drinks!  Alicia wanted her face painting so i took a step back to see what would happen and EMily had hers done too! She has been too shy to get it done lately so this was great progress.  The to shock me even more Hannah pointed to the lady and said "Dis!" so i popped her on the chair and she sat still as a statue while the lady painted a butterfly on her cheek, she was ever so proud of herself hehe

 Sara and ALicia came back to ours for a little impromptue BBQ and the girls had a whale of a time playing together, Alicia is a really good friend for Emily, she is a very good girl and Emily sees her twice a week at Ballet and Performing class which is great!  Emily cried for half an hour after they went home she really didnt want Alicia to go bless her

 Today was car booty day and i wanted the girls in nice light summer dresses because it was baking hot again. Hannah even let me put pigtails in her hair and just looked the cutest!

Flood!

So i just did the bedtime routine and read books brushed teeth tucked in, just got downstairs made a cuppa got settled on the setee and i hear this odd noise like tip tapping ... i paused the TV to listen then realise there is a waterfall running down the stairs!
EEEEEEK!
Me and Steve both raced upstairs to find the plug in the sink and the sink overflowing with the tap full on!
Water everywhere!

Emily woke up scared at all the commotion so i had to go re-asure her everything was ok bless her.  The stupid tap! its been playing up for a while managing to work its way back on even when turned fully off but im guessing a certain little 4yr old must have been playing with the plug hehe