Goodbye Nanny

Will today was a hard day. My wonderful mum in law passed  away.
She has really struggled over the last couple of months knowing she had cancer. Mentally it affected her greatly. As a family we all tried so very  hard to keep her motivated but it was really such a struggle.
Last Sunday was the last time I saw her properly. I didn’t want to see her in hospital, I wanted to remember her the way she was. I’m so glad we visited Nanny that Sunday. She was thrilled to see Lauren without her brace and to see her lovely straight teeth.  We all laughed about Grandad’s reaction about Lauren having her nose pierced!

Nanny was a brilliant Nanny, Lauren and Alexander loved her so much. When they were younger she babysat them while I went to work and would pick Alexander up from preschool. She would always let Alexander sit in the front and never complained when he’d wind down the window for a bit of fresh air, even in the winter!!

Monica and I  would chat at least twice a day on the phone.  We could talk about anything for hours! I will never forget that.

So rest in peace Nanny. You are now finally at peace. We will all miss you  so much.  Your lack of a sense of humour, which we all took the micky out of you for! I’m so glad you were able to see Lauren at her prom, I know she was thrilled to see you.
I hope I did your son proud and thank you for letting me be part of your life.
Love you
Lyn x

Not all teenagers are bad!

I’m always reading on social media, how awful teenage children are. It makes me mad! Not all of them are horrible. Take my children for example, yes I know I’m extremely biased; they’re great. Fabulous even. They’re a joy to be around, I love their company and  treasure the time we have together. We share great banter together and have interesting conversations! Yes they can be grumpy; so can I and if you’re truthful, so are you. Teenage children have so much going on in their life’s. The pressure they’re under at school is immense not only with their levels, they have to achieve but also with their peers. I know for one I wouldn’t want to be a teenager in this day and age. If you were to compare them to the older generation are they much better? I’ve lost count how many times I’ve patiently been waiting in a queue, only to have a senior citizen push in front of me. Or how about when you hold a door open for them and not a word of thanks?!  My daughter works in a sandwich bar, on a couple of occasions, a customer has actually sworn at her because she doesn’t have the sandwich filling that they want. How is that acceptable? She and most of her friends would never dream of speaking to an adult in that manner.
Lets all be a bit more tolerant to our teenage children.

Lets not label them #stroppyteenagers. Remember, they will soon be grown up and no longer be such a big part of our life’s. I dread the time when my children leave home. It’ll be the saddest day ever. I know I’ll have more time to spend time with my husband (!) but I will miss them so much!!

Proud

This week I’m super proud of my babies!

Alexander had settled really well back into school, something that has taken me quite by surprise! He’s actually enjoying his lessons and has great teachers as well. Every morning, when I take him to school he chats away, it’s lovely. This afternoon he actually started doing his homework in the car, on the way home!!

Lauren started college on Tuesday. She was both excited and nervous. It’s such a big step and I think she’s been finding it tough not being at school with her friends. When she got home on Tuesday she was genuinely so excited about her course. It sounds amazing! Straight away she wanted my lovely friend Ali to be one of her models!! I wasn’t even asked! Next week she starts the course properly. Right from the start, she’s learning about make up and styling and cutting hair! I can’t wait for her to do mine!!

I’m linking up with my lovely friend Ali. Thanks for hosting your brilliant linky.

Monday monthly melfie

 
There was only one photo to choose for this months Monday melfie. It had to be this one. Lauren and I were both nervously waiting to go and pick up her GCSE results. All I’ll say is, she did fabulously. As a family we are so proud of her.

I picked a couple of others that nearly made the grade!

A family melfie with my sister and Lauren

A fun day at our favourite country park

 Lyn x

Memories of the summer holidays

I can’t believe the summer holidays are drawing to a close. I actually feel really emotional as I write this post. Don’t get me wrong I really enjoy my job, but I adore being at home with Lauren and Alexander, they’re such great company.

We’ve had great days out over the holidays and actually managing to get Alexander to come out was fab!

As I scrolled through my photo’s on my phone, there really are some great memories of our time together. I thought I’d share them with you.

off to see Annie

a little treat for me

Upton country park fun

Fun at Upton country park

We were trying to be arty!!

  
  

even Harry had a go!

skate boarding fun at the beach.

  

Love Poole park. I find walking on here quite scary!

Trying out the exercise machines!!

a rainy evening on the beach

rope swing fun!!

even I had a go!

Love him!

left my phone with Lauren for 5 minutes!

We even managed a BBQ

Strike that pose!

staying cool in the sun

to early for our Rosie to wake up!

Lauren received her GCSE results!

We met up with my sister and her family

cousins altogether

So it’s back to work, college and school we go. I can’t believe how quickly the six weeks have gone by. I say it every year! Only six weeks until half term!!

Lyn x

An outfit fit for the Ritz

In a few weeks, I’m off to London with my sisters to have afternoon tea at the Ritz. The dress code is very strict, smart dress, no jeans! All my friends will tell you I live and die in skinny jeans, I’m not a fan with dressing up and feel uncomfortable in ‘flashy’ clothes! Having been once before to the Ritz, this time I’m definitely not so stressed about what to wear.

This afternoon, I got out the trusty Next catalogue and started to plan my outfit. I wanted something that I could wear all day, we will also be visiting the London dungeons in the morning. With a little bit of help from my fashion advisor (Lauren), this is the outfit I chose.

                               My outfit

The dress is such a lovely colour, I love the shape. It’s perfect for a day in London. Also it will be suitable for work afterwards.

I’ve gone for some black woven tights and finished the outfit of with a pair of black Chelsea boots. For me they need to be flat, for one I can’t walk in heels and two, I’m going to be doing a lot of walking in London so I need to be comfortable.

To jazz it up a little bit! I’ll be wearing my lovely Tiny silver necklace (not pictured) and this lovely heart bracelet. It’s typically me. Not to fancy but adds a bit of bling to the outfit!

So, I ordered the dress this afternoon, next step will be to organise a shopping trip into town to get the other bits.

This week I’ve loved planning my outfit for the Ritz.

Lyn x

photo credit http://www.next.co.uk

Results day!

So the day has finally arrived. GCSE results day! Lauren has been very calm about the whole thing, where as I have been feeling the nerves bubbling up every now and then!

It was an early start. We had to be at school for 9:00, by the time we got there both our nerves were to pieces!! Lauren meet up with friends, signed in and went to get her results. I patiently waited at the side of the room. She brought the envelope over, she was struggling to open it with the nerves! Once she’d opened it, it took a few seconds to get to the actual results, they weren’t set out particularly well! Finally we found them!

 Lauren’s results were brilliant. We are so proud of her. Over the last two years she’s worked incredibly hard to get these results. She can now happily go to college without the worry of retaking any GCSE’s.

 

As a little treat Lauren and I had a Toby carvery to celebrate. Alexander was invited but it was to early for him to get up!!

 It was a funny feeling after Lauren received her results. Almost an anticlimax, that was it, all the waiting was over.

I’m so proud of Lauren and very excited for her next step at college. So this week I’ve definitely loved how proud I am of my daughter!

My dream bedroom

Our bedroom is in a desperate need of  a redecoration! I’m to embarrassed to say when it was last done!! Put it this way, Lauren was 5!! Lauren and I have been browsing the old Internet to get a few ideas. 

  
I love the colour and pattern of the curtains and duvet from Dunelm. I like the country cottage style design. 

  
This bed is from IKEA, I adore the white metal style. It has stylish clean lines and to me gives a grand image and perfect for a smaller bedroom, like ours.

  
This chest of drawers is also from IKEA, simple and not to fancy.

   
 
I love this storage unit and boxes also from Ikea. It’s perfect for the Hubby to store all his medical bits and pieces. At the moment he has a horrible drawer unit.

  
I’m trying to decide which colour to paint the walls. Not sure whether to go for wallpaper or emulsion. Emulsion would be easier as I can do that. Should I go for a block of colour or the whole room? Decisions, decisions!! 

I’m not into really fancy accessories. I like quite plain things. The cushions above would add colour to the room. The frame would be perfect on the wall, I have loads of photos waiting to go in it! I’m not sure on the style of the lampshade, it’s mainly the colour I like, maybe one for the walls!

This week I’ve loved designing my dream bedroom! 

Images from IKEA and Dunelm 

Monday

What horrible weather we had today, I’d planned to go for a run after dropping Lauren off at work but even I don’t run in the rain. I’m definitely a fair weather runner. We didn’t really get up to too much today. I managed to drag Alexander out to get new shoes for school and trainers for home. He’s now in to the whopping size 3 shoes. Yes he has tiny feet for a boy of 13, it runs in the family. His Uncle Chris is only a size 6! At least nobody takes his shoes at school. We visited our local Brantano, the staff are very friendly and helpful. To be honest, with Alexander, he’s not at all interested in buying shoes. So its normally the first pair he tries on we buy! We chose Hush puppies again, they are the same price as Clarkes and don’t come with flashy lights, which at 13 and at secondary school you don’t want (one of the disadvantages of having small feet)! Trainers were also easy to chose, again, I pretty much pointed Alexander in the right direction! I think the whole shopping trip took 1/2 hour! A quick way to spend £76!

Theres not much else for us to buy now. Alexander’s trousers were new just before he finished for school and he’s shirts still fit fine. I’m a bit tight when buying them as each shirt costs £16 but they do last! So apart from a cheap pair of trainers for school and some pens Alexander is ready for school, which is currently a banned subject on his behalf!

Lauren on the other hand will cost us about £500 for all her college bits, luckily she’s been saving her wages to help out! It will be worth it all in the end, especially when she can cut and colour my hair!

His new hobby

With his birthday money, Alexander decided to buy himself a new skate board. I was really pleased about this, at least now he’d spend sometime outside.

Often, when I go out for a run in the evening, Lauren and Alexander will join me so he can practise his moves!

 
Wednesday’s weather wasn’t that special; we still decided to head off to the beach for a bit of skate boarding along the promenade. I must admit I was pretty impressed at his technic, he had  it off to a fine art!

Even Lauren had a go. I wasn’t allowed, they didn’t trust me!!

 
Harry the cat joined in too!