Halloween Fun for Flashback Friday/Project 52/Country Kids

So Halloween is over for another year!  It remains one of the year's most contentious holidays with many people objecting to it for numerous reasons.  I've seen arguments against it based on the fear of the 'un-Christian' side of things.  Some dislike the whole 'begging' element of Trick or Treating.  Others hate the commercialism of a day that is seen as being very Americanized.  Me, on the other hand, I love it.  I love the Pagan roots of Samhain with its rich history.  I enjoy the traditions.  Horror is one of my favourite genres of film and literature, so I love celebrating that.  I enjoy having an excuse to throw a party for my family with such scope for theming the food, the costumes and the activities.  We have fun together and that to me, is the most important reason for celebrating this special day.  My kids don't go trick or treating (it's too damn cold for one thing!), but we do have a tub full of sweets ready for the neighbouring children who come calling.  They are mostly very polite, friendly and enthusuastic, and generally they have an adult lurking in the shadows keeping an eye on proceedings to keep them safe.  

We really enjoy going to Alton Towers for their annual Scarefest.  With a blend of cute, fun characters and activities for the little ones to enjoy, to the heart-poundingly thrilling scares of the horror mazes, there is something for us all to enjoy.  This year we introduced Kizzy to her first horror maze!  She is truly hardcore. 

The Sanctuary is a live action walkthrough based on a correctional facility run by the Ministry of Joy, whose techniques for 'correcting' patients are questionable.  The patients, doctors and nurses have all become 'broken' by the barbaric goings-on.  Visitors are invited to look around with a view to becoming advocates of their programme.  Scary stuff!

The Carnival of Screams is a travelling fun house that has fallen on hard times.  Guests enter...but never leave.  With twisted terror and disorientating illusions hidden within the maze, you get to brave the experience while grotesque clowns tease and taunt you and jump out from the shadows.  It's the stuff of nightmares!

Freddy got to enjoy a story time and a musical show with Skelvin and his friends.  He wasn't too impressed getting his photo taken with them, but he loved the activities. We also went on a few rides and attractions  including the awesome Nemesis - Sub Terra to finish our frightful day out.  We were blessed with a beautiful, crisp Autumn day. Wrapped up warm and snuggly in our thermals kept us all cosy.  I love this time of year.

Flashback Friday - My Son Joe at 24

This week it was my son Joe's 24th birthday.  I still find it amazing that I have adult children, it seems like only yesterday that he was my little boy.  He was such a funny, energetic little lad, always up to mischief. Now he is a successful young man...even though he has not grown out of his mischief making!

He was quite a demanding little baby after his stressful birth.

But he grew into such a funny toddler who was always getting into funny situations and trying to make us all laugh.

Joe was a cheeky school boy.

He loved his football and his sports.

He's always been a good big brother.

We missed him so much when he moved out of the family home to live with his girlfriend at 21. 

Today Joe is at such an exciting point in his life.  He has a great job working in IT.  He is engaged to his lovely girlfriend and they are expecting their first baby in ten weeks time.  My baby is about to have his own baby.  My son is about to become a dad.

I hope that my son enjoys every second of being a dad, as I have enjoyed every second of being his mum.  At times there have been challenges.  I was a teenage mum on my own with my baby boy, but we muddled through and our little family went from strength to strength.  I've watched my son grow into an amazing young man.  He has given me so many reasons to be proud of him.  He is a wonderful big brother.  He is incredibly funny and always makes us all laugh.  He is loving and caring.  Sometimes he drives us a bit mad, but he wouldn't be Joe if he was 100% sensible all the time! 

This is going to be a big year for Joe.  I can't wait to support him through the next step of his life journey and see him as he becomes to a daddy to his own little boy.  I don't expect it'll all be plain sailing, but he knows that we will be here for him all the way!

My Double Digit Daughter!

Flashback Friday 

My little Kizzy is just a few days away from her tenth birthday.  My little ray of sunshine is turning into a real young lady.  I watched her walk into school this morning.  She is a good 6-12" taller than the majority of her peers with an inner confidence that allows her to stand tall.  

As ever, when a birthday is imminent, I can't help but reminisce about the years gone by and I've enjoyed pouring over the photographs of Kezia taken since her birth in October 2002.

Kizzy was the willful little baby that came into the world so fast that her dad missed her being born.  While she was making her appearance, Ian was on a motorbike from Birmingham oblivious to his daughter's arrival! She was a dream baby.  Calm and content.

At 2 she was an adventurous little soul with a zest for life and a cheeky sense of humour.  Shortly after this photo was taken on the London Eye, she squeezed an entire tube of suntan cream all over herself after sneaking it out of my handbag.

When she was 3 she used to tell me elaborate stories about her life before she was born!  She used to say that she missed her old family.  She told me that she lived before in 'French-Africa' where she ate Crocodile Soup.  She also said that she and  her parents were killed by a friend they owed money to and that she went up into the sky where she searched for the right family to be born into.  When she found me she flew into my tummy because I was just right.  Her stories were so descriptive and detailed I did wonder if my baby girl's soul had previously existed in another person.  It was pretty spooky for a toddler to be telling these tales of a past life.  Whether there was a paranormal element to her past life memories, or whether my little girl had an extraordinary imagination, I'm very, very glad that I got to be her new mummy!

At 4 she was developing her own sense of style and loved her hair clips, pretty clothes and her floral  afghan coat.  Her Great Grandma called Kizzy her "little star" as her personality shone so brightly.  She was such a loving little girl with an empathy beyond her years.

At 5, my little school girl became a popular member of her class at her new school and wowed the teachers with her imagination when it came to story writing.  She looked so cute in her school uniform. 

My 8 year old was growing up fast and taking her new Junior School by storm. Her confidence increased and her sense of humour developed, making her one of the most entertaining kids I've ever known.  She took to her role as big sister to Freddy beautifully and their relationship has blossomed over the years so that Freddy adores her.  She is like another 'little mummy' to him.

Now almost ten, Kizzy is a fabulous young lady.  A great big sister to Freddy and a brilliant little sister to her older siblings who all love her to bits.  She is an amazing daughter and we marvel at how mature she is and enjoy how much fun she is.  She is always so helpful and so eager to involve herself in everything we do.  She's a joy.  She might be messy and she might procrastinate at bedtime, but other than that she is no trouble at all.  She has been a model daughter...long may it continue.  She talks to me about everything and I hope that this openness and honesty lasts so I can help her through the years to come.  I count myself extremely blessed to have all my children.  They are my world.

This weekend we are off for a girlie shopping day with lunch at Costa.  She wants clothes for her birthday and we'll be picking out some lovely things for her Winter wardrobe.  She also wants pierced ears but I'm holding out on that one (due to my extreme allergy to metals).  

Happy Birthday to my awesome ten year old daughter!  You make me proud every single day.

Flashback Friday 11/11/11

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them."

None of my direct family fought in World War 2, as both of my grandfathers continued working due to their jobs being deemed important enough to keep the home front going.  However my own dad was conscripted into the army in the early 50s.  He was a Coldstream Guard who served during the Suez crisis and marched in the Queen's Coronation.  

My dad left the army after he married my mum so I have never known what it is like to have a dad who was a soldier.  I've never had to endure the separation or suffer the fear of the unknown associated with having a loved one go off to fight for Queen and country.  I am so proud of my dad and the military career that he had before I was born, but also feel very blessed that he left unscathed and able to enjoy civvy life as a family man.

My dad, the soldier.

Today on 11/11/11 we give remembrance to all those who gave their lives, lest we never forget. 

Flashback Friday...Kezia

My youngest daughter has just turned 9.  My funny, bright, gorgeous little girl is growing up so fast.  I am so proud of the way she has developed into such a unique and characterful individual.  She is a fabulous big sister to Freddy and a delight to have around with her tendency towards being such a comedian with a frighteningly mature sense of humour!  

She loves pink, sparkly, glittery things....but she also loves doing science experiments, the messier the better. She has researched theories on how the universe began and the plausibility of time travel, in between watching episodes of Hannah Montana and iCarly.  I love how she has no boundaries and never pigeon holes herself according to her gender or intellect.  She can be a girlie princess and a science geek at the same time!

When she grows up she wants to be a scientist, inventor, research chemist and make-up artist!  She is currently writing her Noble Prize acceptance speech for "Scientist of the Year" for solving global warming and designing the packaging for a new brand of environmentally friendly, health inducing make-up that she plans to invent and sell in her beauty salon called Ultra Violet.  She wants to take a year long honeymoon with her husband (who most definitely will NOT be Justin Bieber or Zac Efron...she hates them!) photographing all the landmarks she wants to visit around the world.  

Looking back for Flashback Friday I found some favourite photos of my girl.

Newborn.

Water Baby on the Beach with Ella.

Halloween Pose.

Colour Splash

Her Official 9th Birthday Photo!

I think one day she might change the world...or she'll be an awesome stand-up comic...or a big player in the cosmetics industry....or all three!!  Whatever she grows up to be...I'm one proud mummy!

Flashback Friday...Ella and Freddy

This week's Flashback Friday post is dedicated to the relationship between Ella and Freddy.  Freddy adores all his siblings but I found this particular photo yesterday that I wanted to use as my Flashback Friday picture.  It is of Ella with her newborn brother back in July 2009.  She was 13 at the time and I wasn't sure how the relationship between a teenager and a newborn would work out.  I needn't have been worried though.  Straight away I could tell that she was going to be an amazing big sister. She adored him and has continued to do so.

July 2009

Now he is a boisterous toddler and she still can't get enough of her brother, even though he gets into her stuff in her bedroom!  She constantly takes photos of him and posts them to Facebook.  They play together and laugh so much.  She looks after him and is a massive help to me.  I'm so glad they have each other...and the rest of their siblings, to have these relationships with, enriching their lives and bringing such love and fun to our family.  

August 2011

*I could have made this post about any brother/sister combo in our family...but I just loved these photos and the story they tell!!

Don't Judge Our Teens!

My Ella has just finished her first week of work experience at the local solicitor's office.  She is doing an amazing job.  I am so proud to see her walk into the reception every morning with such confidence and poise.  The staff that have worked with her have written such positive things about my "lovely, willing, friendly and enthusiastic girl".

In a society where teenagers are vilified, treated with suspicion and considered to be wannabe criminals with ASBO's, it's nice to be reminded that that stereotype is nothing more than a media hyped image, pertinent to only a minority of young people.  Most teenagers are hard working, ambitious and thoughtful.  They are the future of this country and fully deserve our respect and support.

I love parenting teens.  It is such an exciting adventure. There are challenges but if you keep the channels of communication open, it is an amazing time where you see glimpses of the adults they are fast becoming.  I love watching my older children's friendships, talents and personalities develop.  As they become more independent it is so rewarding.  Seeing them find their own way in life evokes such feelings of pride.

This post is dedicated to my teenage daughter. 

My beautiful, smiling baby who was never a day's trouble.  She was so easy and such a delight despite suffering ill health and worrying us so, so much!  She kept smiling throughout everything. 

My funny toddler was a ray of sunshine. 

My big school girl was finding her feet and proving to be a real little star!

My beautiful daughter!  My Ella x

Don't judge teenagers.  

*Flashback Friday*

Flashback Friday...My Anniversary

On Monday I will celebrate my 14th wedding anniversary with my utterly wonderful husband.  Ian proved to me that marrying your best friend really is a good idea, and that platonic can become passionate!  We are a perfect fit and I couldn't imagine my life any other way than with Ian by my side. We are Team McD, better people for being together!

Who would have thought that this little girl...

 ....and this little boy...

...would become this teenage girl...

 ...and this teenage boy...

...who would fall in love and get married...

 

....and live happily ever after!

Flashback Friday...Freddy the Foetus!!

This week on Flashback Friday I thought I'd post a scan photo taken two years ago when I was pregnant with Freddy.  We made the decision to have a 4D Realtime scan and find out the sex of our baby.  We had never found out before and with this being pregnancy number 5 and our last baby, we thought we'd make our experience different and take advantage of the amazing technology available.

The private clinic was in the heart of the countryside in a converted barn.  We took our three girls with us who felt so honoured to be a part of the experience.  I fully expected my baby to be a girl.  I didn't think Ian did Y-Chromosomes!  When the sonographer announced that she had found a willy, the girls were so surprised and very excited to be having a younger brother.  Big brother Joe who was at this point 20 years old and about to move in with his girlfriend had always wanted a baby bro...and I was finally about to deliver on that request, just as he was leaving home!

Aside from finding out that I was expecting Freddy (and not Tess as I have thought!) we also got to see our little man's face.  He looked uncannily like his dad.  It was such a different experience 'knowing' who it was kicking me and moving around inside me.  I was able to bond with him as an individual, which was very different.  I'm glad I did it...but I'm also glad I didn't know with my others.  The surprise at birth is a miraculous experience too!  I've enjoyed doing it both ways.  But with  a nursery to decorate and clothes to buy, knowing he was a boy made the practicalities so much easier!!

Flashback Friday...My Big Kids

My big kids Joe and Meg are coming home at Easter.This is even more special this year as it is my birthday on Easter Sunday.  It is great to have all five of my chicks back in the nest.  The best present I could have!

For today's Flashback Friday I'm looking back to a time when they were my little ones.  This photograph was taken in 1996 when Joe was 8 and Meg was 5.

They've always been close.  They used to play outside together on their bikes and sneak to the local sweet shop (I can't imagine letting Kizzy out without adult supervision nowadays...am I just more protective or have things changed?)

They are still close now.  They are very supportive of each other and their relationship fills me with pride!

I've enjoyed every stage of motherhood from the early days right through to them being adults.  Sharing their life journeys is a wonderful experience and I am honoured to be their mum.

Flashback Friday...My Husband

Today's Flashback Friday post is dedicated to my husband.  I've had Ian as an integral part of my life since I was 15.  He is the unwavering constant, upon which I have relied, for my entire adult life.  I have written about our love story and how, in spite of some very major complications, we have made our way to where we are now.

I don't know whether a week and a bit of illness sweeping through our house has made me feel all over emotional and loved up with my husband, or whether Heather's post yesterday made me appreciate my relationship, I don't know...but anyway....I'm flashing back to 1993!

My husband is known as the "weird one" at work (albeit in a fond way!!) because he doesn't flirt with other women, nor does he "phwoar" when a girl walks past the office window and he doesn't want a sneaky bit on the side to spice up his life!  But saying that, most on his workmates' wives seem to feel disillusioned by their marriage and they merely tolerate each other for the sake of the kids or the mortgage.

We feel a little smug that we are still utterly in love with each other. Maybe because our journey wasn't straight forward we appreciate what we've got.  It hasn't always been plain sailing for us...it took Ian a long time to understand my depressive tendencies (but now I think he could write a book about coping with a slightly bi-polar missus!)  We've muddled through together, with a foundation of being best friends to support all the other roles in our relationship.  The older I get, the more I appreciate him and everything he does (including being the sole breadwinner, doing the washing up, the laundry, hoovering, DIY, PC maintenance, occasional cooking, gardening, putting the kids to bed, making me cups of coffee and taking charge when things go beyond my control.)

So for this Flashback Friday, here's some photos of my husband and best friend Ian back in 1993 when we finally got our act together and realised that as soul mates we were destined to be together.  He sported a fine mohican...very Puck-from-Glee-like!! hehe

My Ian x

With  Joe aged 5.

Flashback Friday...Grandad

This week's Flashback Friday photo is a favourite of mine.  It's a photo of my Nan and Grandad from the 50's.  I love the "we've partied too hard" expression on my Grandad's face.  Fag in hand, pint in hand, party hat perched on his head at a jaunty angle!  A real man's man.  My Nan looks more serene with her sherry, but still a little jolly.  

My Grandad Bill died when I was about 9 years old and I don't have many memories of him before he fell victim to the bone cancer that killed him.  But I do remember him as being a big, strong man who used to make me wooden toys in his shed.  My favourite was a red and white set of shelves which was my shop.  It had my name painted on the top and I remember copying the letters to learn how to write my name.   We went for dinner and tea every Sunday at their house and we'd have cucumber in vinegar and tinned ham.  I wish I had more memories of him.  My mum sadly did not have a good relationship with her dad and the tales I've heard of him over the years do not sit comfortably with my image of the big, strong, toymaker that I remember so fondly.  So my memories forged with the innocence of my youth are the ones I hold dear of my Grandad.

  

Flashback Friday...like mother like daughter

This is one of my favourite photos, taken at Butlins (probably Barry Island) in the mid '70s.  I am the little one sporting the rather fetching swimsuit and trying exceptionally hard to pose like my very gorgeous mum!

My uncomfortably sexy pose really demonstrates to me how much I wanted to be like my mum.  She has always been very comfortable in her skin.  She still poses when the camera points her way...even at 77 she knows how to work what her mama gave her!  She has real poise. There was obviously some hero-worship going on at this point, with me trying to emulate her effortless posing.  Bless little me!!

Flashback Friday...Rock Star

My little guitar was a favourite toy...but my musicality never went any further than this.  But I struck a pretty good rock star pose!