Calling all Brownies

No not the edible ones but the ones that come in and clean your house when you're asleep. I have a very important visitor arriving in two days and have just spent the morning cleaning Mollie's bedroom, although according to Mollie she cleaned it yesterday so I'm wondering how she'll account for the two bags of rubbish and two loads of washing I found up there.

I still have the rest of the house to tackle so if there are any volunteers come on over...and yes I have the edible brownies here for all helpers.

Mollieitus

Thank you for all your well wishes and I'm feeling a lot better although apparently I sound like a pneumatic drill when I'm asleep but I've only woken myself up a few times with the noise (Joules on the other hand has been having trouble sleeping)!

Last Friday when I felt cold, shivering and had a headache which wouldn't shift I spent the morning in A&E. Of course with Mollie. On Wednesday Mollie came home from school complaining that her toe was sore but she hadn't knocked or hurt it in any way. I had a look and it seemed fine, no swelling, no broken skin. An hour later Mollie couldn't walk, her toe was red and swollen and she couldn't walk on it. By Friday it was very sore and she had resorted to using her crutches (luckily the hospital had refused to take them back because it costs too much to sterilize them). An x-ray confirmed no fracture so the doctors decided to take blood to check for arthritis which if I say worried me slightly that would be a huge understatement, worse still, it would take a week to get the results. It was a long weekend in which I felt rotten and worried far too much. On Monday I managed to get hold of my GP who chased up the results and was able to tell us that Mollie doesn't have arthritis or any form of infection and to continue to rest the toe. We were very relieved to hear this and Mollie had named her condition Mollieitus. Today there is some improvement, Mollie is still on crutches but the swelling has receded and it is not as sore.

After that stress it was great to receive this joke from John.

Sainsbury condoms - making life taste better
Tesco Condoms - every little helps
Nike Condoms - Just do it Peugeot Condoms - The ride of your life
KFC Condoms - Finger Licking good
Minstrels Condoms - melt in your mouth, not in your hand
Abbey National Condoms - because life is complicated enough
Coca Cola Condoms - The real thing
Pringles Condoms - once you pop, you can't stop
Burger King Condoms - Home of the Whopper
Goodyear Condoms - For a longer ride, go wide
Muller light condoms - So much pleasure, but where's the pain?
Flash Condoms - Just sit back, relax and let flash do all the hard work
Halford Condoms - We go the extra mile
Royal Mail Condoms - I saw this and thought of you
Andrex Condoms - Soft, strong and very very long
Domestos Condoms - Gets right in the rim
Heineken Condoms - Reaches parts that other condoms just cannot reach
Carlsberg Condoms - Probably the best condom in the world
Pepperami Condoms - It's a bit of an animal Polo Condoms - The condom with the hole!! (VERY poor seller !!)
McDonalds Condoms - I'm Lovin' it!
American Express Condoms - Don't Leave Home Without it, or: That'll Do Nicely!
Microsoft Condoms - Where Do You Want To Go Today?
Radio Times Condoms - If it's on it's in
Pedigree Chum dog food condoms - Top breeders recommend it!
Daily Express condoms - Express Delivery
Martini Condoms - Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere
Churchill Condoms - OH,YES
Kellogg's Fruit and Fibre Condoms - They're tasty, tasty, very, very tasty
Veet Condoms - Take the bull by the horns
XXXX Condoms - Australians wouldn't give a XXXX with anything else
TV Times Condoms - I never knew there was so much in it
Boddington's Condoms - The cream of Manchester
Cadburys Condoms - a Glass and Half in every one
Mars Condoms - Help You Work, Rest & Play
Special K Condoms - If You Can Pinch More Than An Inch
Bisto Condoms - Ahhhhhhhhh.!
Fruit Pastilles Condoms - Bet you can't put one in your mouth without chewing it
DFS Condoms - Open every bank holiday
Kwik Fit condoms - you can't get quicker than a Kwik Fit fitter!
Nintendo DS condoms - touching is good
Maxwell House condoms - good to the last drop
Rice Krispies Condoms - Snap, Crackle, Pop
EA Sports Condoms - It's in the game
Ebay Condoms - Buy it. Sell it. Love it.
Capital One Comdoms - What's In Your Wallet?
Morgan Stanley Condoms - One Client At A Time
Heinz Condoms - 57 Varieties
Creme Egg Condoms - How do you eat yours?
Nokia Condoms - Connecting People
Frosties Condoms - They're Grrrrreat!!
RAF Condoms - Rise above the rest
HM Revenue & Customs Condoms - It doesn't have to be taxing
Windows Vista Condoms - The Wow Starts Now
Mac Mini Condoms - Small is Beautiful
Philadelphia Condoms - A little taste of heaven
FedEx Condoms - When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight
Burger King Condoms - Have It Your Way
Yellow Pages Condoms = Let your fingers do the walking
T-Mobile Condoms - Simply Closer
Ikea Condoms - Screw yourself!

F.A.M.E.

Mollie has three very close friends and last week she was invited to Anna's house for a sleepover to celebrate her birthday. After the success of painting this, Mollie decided to paint a picture for Anna. The initials of the four girls make the word F.A.M.E (Florence, Anna, Mollie and Eve). Anna loved her painting, the other girls all want one and I've hinted that maybe Mollie could paint the family for me for Mothering Sunday.

Don't mention the P word!

It looks like I made the second clue way to easy and you were all right but my mother was the first to guess correctly so I think I'll have to blackmail her. Mum when you come and visit us I will present you with your prize!

Once a year the dreaded P word is mentioned in our house.

The dreaded P word is Project.

While I understand that children have to write projects they cause a lot of stress and tension. Ben was looking forward to his first project until Mollie started telling how boring they were then it was moans and tears all the way.

Yesterday there were smiles of relief as he finished it.

Lucky Ben.

Mollie's project starts on Monday and she has two and a half weeks to produce twenty pages on Luxembourg. The children were all given an EU country and guess what? The school library has a book on every single EU country except Luxembourg. The children have to write to their countries embassy for information and guess what? There is no Luxembourg embassy in Ireland so Mollie wrote to their UK embassy, it could take a week for her letter to get there which leaves a week and half to receive their reply and use their material in the project.

I'm really not looking forward to the next two and a half weeks!

What to call a post when you've got brain freeze?

Yesterday was not a good day. Well it probably was for Dillon because there was no mention of phone bills. First I had a disaster in the kitchen. As you know I introduced the USA to flapjacks...well some of you anyway. I was so good at making them I could do it standing on my head, blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back, (you want to come and see me try)? Then I lost my baking mojo. I blame it on the lack of sunlight last summer but for the last few months I've been very uninspired in the kitchen and if my family got a decent meal they were lucky. Somewhere along the line I've refound my baking mojo and have even been trying out new dishes when I remembered that I owed the wonderful Laurie some flapjacks. So I baked a batch yesterday, they looked perfect when I took them out of the oven and I was dying for them to cool so I could sample one. Then I forgot to remove them from the parchment in time and they stuck...solid...they were not budging an inch without bringing all the paper with them. On the bright side it was better than sticking to the pan, as the only place for them was the bin. Guess what I'm making today?

Also Mollie decided to have her third preteen temper tantrum in ten days. I was not the easiest of teens, in fact I'd go as far as saying I was very difficult, argumentative, stroppy and sulky. When Mollie was little she had some pretty bad tantrums but we found a way of dealing with them, she got over them and turned into a nice, pleasant, helpful girl (most of the time). I think mum will probably be smiling and thinking what goes around comes around, as for me? I'm hoping for a longer break before the next one and I'm hoping they don't go on for too many years.

Now after a bad day like that I need a laugh and who better to provide me with one than John:

THREE LITTLE DUCKS!

Three little ducks go into a Bar......

"Say, what's your name?" the bartender asked the first duck.
"Huey," was the reply.
"How's your day been, Huey?"
"Great. Lovely day.. Had a ball. Been in and out of puddles all day. What else could a duck want?" said Huey.
"Oh. That's nice," said the bartender. He turned to the second duck, "Hi, and what's your name?"
"Dewey," came the answer from duck number two.
"So how's your day been, Dewey! ?" he asked.
"Great. Lovely day. I've had a ball too. Been in and out of puddles all day myself. What else could a duck want?"
The bartender turned to the third duck and said, "So, you must be Louie?"


"No," she said, batting her eyelashes.
"My name is Puddles."

While the boys stay home the girls have fun away.

Apparently four of you know me well enough to guess who left the lights on...me! Although I have to admit I'm not sure how but I was the one sorting out the car on Sunday night ready for the early start Monday morning (typical) and somehow must have turned the lights on when moving the seats.

I'm sitting here with the lyrics from The Sound of Music running through my head as we've just returned from a trip to London where we saw the show at The London Palladium. This trip was actually mine and Mollie's Christmas present from last year (only we couldn't get tickets) and mum's present this year. Mollie and I had religiously watched a tv show where a Maria was picked by the audience and we were dying to see the musical in London's West End.

We had to get up early to catch our coach to London then it was time for a quick breakfast before we dumped our bags at our hotel and headed into central London. The last time I was in London was seven and a half years ago, back then both Sam, my sister and Simon, Joules brother lived in London so we visited every year and always had a place to crash. I was five months pregnant and took Dillon and Mollie up for a few days where we visited the London Dome (which I really enjoyed) and the aquarium. All Mollie can remember from this trip was the pokemon lollipop I bought her so it was time to show her the sights. We visted Covent Garden and found a road full of shoe shops (Mollie's weakness, although she resisted making a purchase this time) then walked through Leicester Square, Picadilly and down Regent street keeping our eyes peeled among the throng of shoppers for Hamleys, so say the world's biggest toy shop. It was in Hamleys that Mollie managed to part with some of her money spent on a hospital for My Littlest Pet. By this time the rain was pouring so we hopped into Liberties for a wander before stopping off for a hot chocolate and cake before it was time to see the show.

Connie, the original winner of the tv show, was not on stage that night but another girl from the tv show called Aoife was playing the role of Maria. We had fantastic seats in the middle of the stalls and the whole cast was excellent. I had never seen this musical before and it is slightly different to the film. The set design was brilliant, my favourite had to be the moving mountain. Mollie really enjoyed the show and is busy planning dreaming of her next musical in London!

Yesterday, after a huge breakfast in the hotel, we decided to go on a sightseeing bus tour of London so Mollie could see all the sights in one day. Lucily we got a seat on top under the cover so we did not get too cold as we spent a few hours touring all the sights in London and learning a brief history as well. Unfortunately we did not have enough time to partake in the free river cruise but we managed to squeeze in a walk down Oxford street and a visit to Selfridges where I bought Mollie a skirt reduced to £10 from £88 (who in their right mind would spend £88 on a denim mini) and myself some kitchen tongs. We were rather taken with the jewellery in Tiffany's but knew it was out of our price range.

All in all it was a lovely break and I hope it's not another seven and a half years before I return to London again.

School's out.

Today is Dillon, Mollie and Ben's last day at school before they have a weeks holiday known as the mid-term break. It's been a long and busy two months since they went back to school so they are really looking forward to their week off. Mollie and Ben were allowed to dress up as a charity fundraiser. The photos didn't turn out too well because the light was bad and they were rushing to catch their bus.

Mollie is a wicked princess.

Ben was going to wear his uniform as he 'doesn't dress up' but I persuaded him to dress up as....

BEN

And yes he did do his button up before he left for school!

An open letter to Mollie

Dear Mollie

I love you very much.

When I have spent the day making up your new bed, finding your lost scout shirt, picking up and throwing away a sack load of rubbish (including numerous tissues) and broken toys, sorting out your clothes and shoes, washing your dirty laundry and sweeping your bedroom floor it would be really nice to receive a thank you not a full blown strop like a toddler tantrum.

I do appreciate that you've been away all weekend, camping in the fresh air, getting lots of exercise and very little sleep but surely a thank you takes a lot less energy than a toddler tantrum.

I'm so glad you woke up in a good mood this morning, I told you an early night would work wonders so maybe you'll believe your mum the next time.