Holiday! Catching up and making "tibbits"

Hello - long time no blog as per usual...so here's a potted recap of the last few weeks. We went on holiday to Hastings - Combe Haven holiday park which was very cheap (and quite chav I'm afraid). It was a pre-school special and very busy. The accomodation was great - we were in a chalet rather than a caravan and it was spacious and well equipped - only problem was, when we came home after a day out it stank like wet towels.

We had lovely days out on the beach - including an afternoon at Camber Sands where BOTH boys stripped off and ran cackling round the beach - glowing in their white and ginger glory! It was hysterical. Thank God a lovely lady gave us a towel as we hadn't come prepared for paddling as it was bloody cold!
Had a fantastic day at Drusilla's Park - where Oz fell in love with an enormous giraffe statue and kept calling it his girlfriend! And they have a Thomas train to ride on which we all enjoyed....really great little zoo.

Also went to the Blue Reef Aquarium in Hastings which was brilliant



And a soft play place called Clambers - (I don't have a picture of that!) highly recommend it if you're in the area and it's raining!

It was a really good week. But it was lovely to get home to a soft bed, no stinks (apart from Toby) and a big bath - I'm becoming a bubble bath addict!

So where else are we. Toby is still difficult - tantrums are the norm - especially when he's just woken up - he'll rage for at least 20 minutes for no apparent reason then it'll just stop....argh! His speech is coming along but he's still behind most of his little peers - he babbles a lot but some words are coming through. He's obsessed with small plastic animals

Oz is actually being generally angelic which is wonderful. He spent the afternoon with Mum and was lovely. Pre-school are saying how well he's behaving. He's starting to write his name and talk about letters a lot more, having not really been interested for ages. I was worried about the fact that a lot of his friends went to "big" school in September and left him but he's actually thriving without them. I'm hoping when he joins the school in January he'll be in a separate class because I think he learns better and behaves better. And he can still play with them at playtime and group sessions.

Rob still isn't smoking which I'm so proud of. Over a month now. He's a star and because of the money he saved us, we managed to have lots of treats on our holiday. And we'll have a great Christmas because he got a good pay rise in this month's pay packet which was back-dated from April so a lump sum has gone in our savings account and Christmas is covered. Which, in times like this when money is so tight, is such a relief. I have actually bought Rob's present for Christmas already! I'm not that organised, it's just it was on sale and he'll be so excited. I had to have it delivered to my Mum's to stop me giving it to him now - can't wait to see his face! I'll tell you what it is on Christmas Day (or whenever I blog about Christmas which will probably be February the way I'm going).

This afternoon I made biscuits with them - or Tibbits as Toby calls them - here's the result! Note on the right is a biscuit snail - Oscar's request and hand cut by me. (I'm quite proud of that) The rest of them were done mainly by Oz as Toby was having a tantrum. It's the first time we've done biscuits - usually we make cupcakes or jam tarts and I was very happy with them!

As were Oscar and Toby!

What other news....a lot of my friends who have children the same age as Oz are pregnant again for the third time. I wish them all the best and am glad Rob's appointment for his vasectomy consultation is next weekend - NO more children for us. It's great that I can coo over every one else's newborns but look forward to January when Oz will be at school and Toby at nursery for a few mornings a week and I can get some life back and possibly earn some money.

I'm loving the autumnal weather - sunny and crisp - though am terrified I'm going to have to put the heating on soon and it's so bloody expensive! I do love this time of year though - bonfire night and Halloween.....I remember the time I was in Detroit for autumn and the colours there - one day I swear I'll take both boys over for a proper American Halloween.

I've started a new gym routine this week with a trainer - I got my doctor to refer me so I get discounted sessions and a free trainer - he had me on the bouncy big ball doing sit ups and pelvic push ups and my caesarian scar is aching and I'm knackered. All good for me though since I've fallen off the Weight Watcher's wagon - I can't be ARSED at the moment! I'm still eating pretty healthily with the odd treat but don't want the weight to creep back on - hence the gym. We'll see. I can always join WW after Christmas when they have all the special offers on - at the moment it's not a priority. I need a vice and it's chocolate!

Right - can't think of anything else.......!