There are many reasons to why I love where my house is situated, but one of the best is that during Air Show season (which is May to October in the UK) that what is shown in the video below is a frequent occurrence! I'm not a plane spotter or an enthusiast, but there is something about the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (Don't mention the War!) that invokes a lot of emotion in me.
This footage was taken in my front garden this afternoon and the plane that is seen is a Dakota. I only know this because Daddy is an enthusiast and told me what it was!
Monday, 31 May 2010
Sunday, 30 May 2010
Gone rock climbing (On the Telly and everything!)
Do you remember the blog post I did back in February about 99 things? Well I said that some of the stories were cool so here is one that is a little funny/cool!
Many Many Moons ago (fourteen years ago but Ssh!) there was a TV channel called Trouble. A lot of teenagers who had Sky TV would watch it.
I didn't have Sky TV.
I did have a great Theatre Studies class though and one day they were asked for some students to be put forward who would be willing to be in a TV Show to be shown on Trouble. It was going to be a sort of Teenager version of Blind Date called "Its in the Jeans". Instead of Cilla Black we got Ortis Deley (him that's on The Gadget Show these days) and Lucie Cave...
I did have to tweet Ortis to remember Lucy's name, but this was only because of a social faux pas of mine, that meant I will forever remember the name Ortis Deley.
You see when Ortis walked in to the room to meet all his little blind date contestants, he asked us all our names. He didn't introduce himself. Everyone knew who he was. He was famous. He was on TV. He was on Trouble, the TV channel that we were filmimg for.
I didn't know this did I though? I didn't have Sky TV did I? And so I said;
"And you are?"
I know I must of sounded like a right cow.
But I have gotten ahead of myself. Back to the Theatre Studies class and a break meeting for all the Sixth former students, where what was needed was explained to us by our very lovely Theatre Studies Teacher Linda. All those interested had their names put into a hat and then a few were pulled out and I wasn't lucky.
A few days later however one of the girls realised that if she went for the filming of her date she would miss the last day of our schools Help Week. It was a big deal for her at the time because the Sixth formers would come in wearing Fancy dress on the last day of Help Week and she had a great costume planned.
So I swapped with her, I went on her blind date on TV.
I don't remember the name of the boy that I ended up going on a date with, (so we will call him 'Ollie') I do remember that we went Rock Climbing at The Castle Climbing Centre and that it was really corny. This can be highlighted by a very clear memory of a joke I made.
I was at the bottom of a climbing wall with 'Ollie' (the boy I was on a "date" with) up the wall. I was belaying* (holding the rope tightish so that if he fell he wouldn't fall far) and got a great idea for a joke. I actually told the crew that were with me to film me for a minute, because I was sure that they wouldn't want to miss this.
I very gently tugged the rope that was attached to us both and called up to 'Ollie';
"Hey 'Ollie', guess I can say I really pulled you!"
This produced much merriment from the very bored production crew who had higher hopes than following round two teenagers on a fake date for their careers. I then had to say it again, in exactly the same tone and timbre and cadence and all the other words that mean the same thing at least ten times. The only thing was that nobody told 'Ollie' that I was going to have to do it at least ten times and the very last time that they filmed me saying it he shouted back down;
"I heard you the FIRST time!"
I think there is a swear word missing from this quote.
As you can probably guess I don't think he liked me that much and the date didn't really get much better. I mean I had a fantastic time, it was great rock climbing and abseiling but he made his feelings quite clear when he had to pretend to pick me out of a bunch of other girls from Polaroids.
"She has a nice...erm, smile."
That's what he went with. I had a nice smile. Obviously I do have a nice smile, but you know he could of said "She looks pretty" or, "She looks really fun", or "Even though she isn't my normal type I think she is hot", heck I think I would of settled for "The one with the big boobs". It was okay though as I was dating Chris (no silly mistakes here I am not mentioning his last name in case he Googles himself. I learnt from Sally at "Who's the Mummy?" little mistake the other week!!!) at the time.
At least I think I was. This might of been before we started going out... I get confused easily you know.
'Ollie' was also a Young Magician and I remember that he had either won the Young Magician of the year or was a runner up in the Young Magician of the Year, or something to do with Magicians and him. Maybe he was going to be a Young Magician of the year. He also worked in Hamleys on Saturdays selling magic kits or something similar!
Anyway as part of our date we had to sit in the cafe at The Castle and pretend to be into each other and he magically made a paper flower appear to give to me.
It was as bad as it sounds.
Still it means that I went rock climbing, and was on the telly and had a story to tell you all. I did have a video sent to me of the show, but the wrong video was sent to me and I got my friends who went to a Pottery place for her date and I never thought to call them and ask for another video at the time. So I have no proof of this. Unless Lucie or Ortis want to back me up. I am sure they remember me... and if they happen to have a video of me then maybe it should stay hidden eh?
Oh and my friends date that went to the Pottery place? Of course they acted out *that* scene from Ghost. Problem was my mate was quite a bit taller than her date and had to be Patrick whilst he was Demi...
*With thanks to Sara at Kitty Eden who told me what the proper terms for Rock Climbing were as opposed to the silly phrases I was using!
Many Many Moons ago (fourteen years ago but Ssh!) there was a TV channel called Trouble. A lot of teenagers who had Sky TV would watch it.
I didn't have Sky TV.
I did have a great Theatre Studies class though and one day they were asked for some students to be put forward who would be willing to be in a TV Show to be shown on Trouble. It was going to be a sort of Teenager version of Blind Date called "Its in the Jeans". Instead of Cilla Black we got Ortis Deley (him that's on The Gadget Show these days) and Lucie Cave...
I did have to tweet Ortis to remember Lucy's name, but this was only because of a social faux pas of mine, that meant I will forever remember the name Ortis Deley.
You see when Ortis walked in to the room to meet all his little blind date contestants, he asked us all our names. He didn't introduce himself. Everyone knew who he was. He was famous. He was on TV. He was on Trouble, the TV channel that we were filmimg for.
I didn't know this did I though? I didn't have Sky TV did I? And so I said;
"And you are?"
I know I must of sounded like a right cow.
But I have gotten ahead of myself. Back to the Theatre Studies class and a break meeting for all the Sixth former students, where what was needed was explained to us by our very lovely Theatre Studies Teacher Linda. All those interested had their names put into a hat and then a few were pulled out and I wasn't lucky.
A few days later however one of the girls realised that if she went for the filming of her date she would miss the last day of our schools Help Week. It was a big deal for her at the time because the Sixth formers would come in wearing Fancy dress on the last day of Help Week and she had a great costume planned.
So I swapped with her, I went on her blind date on TV.
I don't remember the name of the boy that I ended up going on a date with, (so we will call him 'Ollie') I do remember that we went Rock Climbing at The Castle Climbing Centre and that it was really corny. This can be highlighted by a very clear memory of a joke I made.
I was at the bottom of a climbing wall with 'Ollie' (the boy I was on a "date" with) up the wall. I was belaying* (holding the rope tightish so that if he fell he wouldn't fall far) and got a great idea for a joke. I actually told the crew that were with me to film me for a minute, because I was sure that they wouldn't want to miss this.
I very gently tugged the rope that was attached to us both and called up to 'Ollie';
"Hey 'Ollie', guess I can say I really pulled you!"
This produced much merriment from the very bored production crew who had higher hopes than following round two teenagers on a fake date for their careers. I then had to say it again, in exactly the same tone and timbre and cadence and all the other words that mean the same thing at least ten times. The only thing was that nobody told 'Ollie' that I was going to have to do it at least ten times and the very last time that they filmed me saying it he shouted back down;
"I heard you the FIRST time!"
I think there is a swear word missing from this quote.
As you can probably guess I don't think he liked me that much and the date didn't really get much better. I mean I had a fantastic time, it was great rock climbing and abseiling but he made his feelings quite clear when he had to pretend to pick me out of a bunch of other girls from Polaroids.
"She has a nice...erm, smile."
That's what he went with. I had a nice smile. Obviously I do have a nice smile, but you know he could of said "She looks pretty" or, "She looks really fun", or "Even though she isn't my normal type I think she is hot", heck I think I would of settled for "The one with the big boobs". It was okay though as I was dating Chris (no silly mistakes here I am not mentioning his last name in case he Googles himself. I learnt from Sally at "Who's the Mummy?" little mistake the other week!!!) at the time.
At least I think I was. This might of been before we started going out... I get confused easily you know.
'Ollie' was also a Young Magician and I remember that he had either won the Young Magician of the year or was a runner up in the Young Magician of the Year, or something to do with Magicians and him. Maybe he was going to be a Young Magician of the year. He also worked in Hamleys on Saturdays selling magic kits or something similar!
Anyway as part of our date we had to sit in the cafe at The Castle and pretend to be into each other and he magically made a paper flower appear to give to me.
It was as bad as it sounds.
Still it means that I went rock climbing, and was on the telly and had a story to tell you all. I did have a video sent to me of the show, but the wrong video was sent to me and I got my friends who went to a Pottery place for her date and I never thought to call them and ask for another video at the time. So I have no proof of this. Unless Lucie or Ortis want to back me up. I am sure they remember me... and if they happen to have a video of me then maybe it should stay hidden eh?
Oh and my friends date that went to the Pottery place? Of course they acted out *that* scene from Ghost. Problem was my mate was quite a bit taller than her date and had to be Patrick whilst he was Demi...
*With thanks to Sara at Kitty Eden who told me what the proper terms for Rock Climbing were as opposed to the silly phrases I was using!
Saturday, 29 May 2010
Daddy Guest Post: Boom Bang A Bang
Mummy forgives me for a small personality problem I have. Basically, once a year, normally on a Saturday night in May, I insist that all phones are switched off, all children are sent to bed, I am armed with a pen, pad of paper, and insist on spending 3 or so hours going "where the heck is Moldova" and "Is Georgia a country? I thought it was a US state".
A little history for those that aren't familiar with the contest. Basically, all the countries of Europe, excluding Italy (who think it's naff despite winning it before) but including Israel (who get invited because they are part of the European Broadcasting Union), get together and sing individual songs, whereafter all the other countries ignore the song anyway, and vote for whatever country they (a) are next to or (b) have bailed them out of something.
Hence why Greece and Cyprus always vote for each other, Ireland, Malta and the UK all cling together, and a host of countries in Russia and Eastern Europe, who weren't even countries when the first contest happened in 1956, win every year because there are more of them and therefore win more votes. Ok, not every year - sometimes a real good song from somewhere more traditional wins just because it's that bit better.
But, I watch it because, in 1997 the UK did win.
I really enjoyed it that year. We thrashed the rest of the competition. It was a good song, a good performance. I started watching it in 1990, and waited a fair time for that win. Sadly, I have waited another 13 years without another, but at least I saw us win once. And I watch because I have this weird idea that maybe, with the right song, a whole lot of luck and absolutely no resort to bribery, we may one day win it again.
So, to honour this most odd and unusual coming together (read: clash) of cultures, I have compiled my Top-10 Eurovision songs and memories from years past. See how many of these you remember!
10. Francis Ruffelle. Yeah, I know you don't remember this one. But back in the day, the UK used to pick the SONG rather than the performer, and Francis was the artist chosen to perform for the UK in 1994. She then appeared on a TV show singing a range of songs, and "Lonely Symphony (We Will Be Free)" was chosen to represent the UK. It came 10th. It sticks in the mind because, to my ears, she sounds rather like Cyndi Lauper, and I used to catch the Number 32 bus to the Sunday Market every other weekend, and the driver always had the album "Twelve Deadly Cyns (And Then Some)" on in the bus.
9. Terry Wogan. There are a million anecdotes about Terry and his views on Eurovision. I don't actually share a lot of his views on the contest - any attempt at derision used to vex me somewhat, as I really enjoy most aspects of it whilst Terry took it a lot less seriously. But, what was good was that, before he left for pastures new, he did get a chance in 1998 to swap his microphone for the stage, and host the contest from Birmingham (somewhere most of Europe has never heard of). In fact, he actually managed to present from the stage AND do the commentary over the intros too. But his best moments - his anglicized attempts at French. Wonderful pronunciations of "Madame et Monsieurs, Bienvenue a Concours Eurovision de la Chanson" or thereabouts. Thank goodness for the fluency of...
8. Ulrika-ka-ka (Johnson)! Who got a laugh even bigger than the winner Dana International in her astonishing hat, when an in-vision scorer from somewhere in Europe mentioned that she had once taken part in Eurovision herself, courting the wonderful Ulrika response of "A long time time ago was it?".
7. Ken Bruce. Whose wonderful Radio 2 commentary meant that the Eurovision Song Contest was the only programme I routinely watched with the TV sound off, and the Radio on. Descriptive, informative, funny wiithout being sarcastic. And sadly, since the advent of Digital TV, I can no longer do this - as the radio gets there about 5 seconds before the picture. It's like watching a badly dubbed kung-fu movie!
6. Diggi-Loo, Diggi-Ley - The Herreys. I wasn't very old when this Swedish song won in 1984, certainly I don't remember watching it live. But I did manage to acquire the 7" single of this, in a large box of 7" singles that I bought for £4 at the Sunday Market (see number 10!) and actually prefer the B-side, Every Song You Sing. It goes a bit like this: "Every song you sing, every tune you play, every photograph that you give away. Every time you smile, when I see your eyes, how I'm hoping that I'll be yours someday. All the words of love, in your melodies, makes me wait even more patiently, for the day that I can hear you say that you did it all, just for me". I used to think it kinda sweet. Now seeing the lyrics written down, it's really about a famous persons stalker isn't it...
5. Riverdance. The only interval act in Eurovision history to get a longer applause, rousing standing ovation and greater respect than all of the acts put together. Enough said.
4. Ronnie Hazelhurst. Famous for writing songs for S Club 7 (if you believe Wikipedia), and the themes to Last of the Summer Wine and Some Mothers Do Ave' Em, BBC conductor Ronnie used to conduct the orchestra for UK entries. And, if you can believe it, songs like "Love City Groove", a Rap song (thats almost an accurate typo!) entered by the UK in 1995, had to have a full orchestra backing to abide by Eurovision rules. They did away with the orchestra in favour of allowing backing tracks some years later, but there is a rumour the orchestra may return. Sadly, the late Ronnie Hazelhurst, who I recall once conducted the show with an umbrella, won't be around to help out.
3. Yamma Yamma. Pretty much that is all the lyrics, of my favourite nonsense entry, entered by Finland in 1992. It went "Yamma yamma, yamma yamma, yamma yamma, yammma yah". It came last. Ah well.
2. Ireland. Actually I was going to leave it right there, but I suppose it deserves more of an explanation. Between 1965 and today, Ireland have won 7 times, including 4 wins in 5 years between 1992-1996. And they have managed this because they have catchy songs, strong ballads, ethnic overtones - the works. Alone singer-songwriter Johnny Logan, who they call Mr Eurovision, has won it twice as performer and once as songwriter. They may even be the bookies pick for an outside win this year, by selecting their 1993 winner Niamh Kavanagh to return. I like them because, although most of the entries are now sung in English, in the good old days Ireland had the only other songs you could sing along with. So an Irish win is almost as good as a UK win!
1. Don't Ever Cry - Put. An obscure end to my Top-10 countdown, a Croatian song that came 15th with just 33 points in 1993. But it marked the start of something new - it was the first time Croatia had performed not as part of Yugoslavia, but alone. And this heralded a new era of entries, and wins, from new countries - former Yugoslavian and Baltic states. But, as well as being memorable for that, it tops my chart because it is just a fantastic song - from its "Star Wars" opening to its memorable harmonies, great sentiment and even a chorus sung in English.
So, that's the end of my rather long post. I think this is why Mummy doesn't let me write many.. And I don't know if tonights contest will give me anything new for this list, but if we all keep our fingers crossed and chant... "Royaume-Uni Douze Points" ad nauseum, you never know!
Yes, I like the Eurovision Song Contest. And it's on tonight. And Mummy has decided that I can make my second guest post in its honour.
A little history for those that aren't familiar with the contest. Basically, all the countries of Europe, excluding Italy (who think it's naff despite winning it before) but including Israel (who get invited because they are part of the European Broadcasting Union), get together and sing individual songs, whereafter all the other countries ignore the song anyway, and vote for whatever country they (a) are next to or (b) have bailed them out of something.
Hence why Greece and Cyprus always vote for each other, Ireland, Malta and the UK all cling together, and a host of countries in Russia and Eastern Europe, who weren't even countries when the first contest happened in 1956, win every year because there are more of them and therefore win more votes. Ok, not every year - sometimes a real good song from somewhere more traditional wins just because it's that bit better.
But, I watch it because, in 1997 the UK did win.
I really enjoyed it that year. We thrashed the rest of the competition. It was a good song, a good performance. I started watching it in 1990, and waited a fair time for that win. Sadly, I have waited another 13 years without another, but at least I saw us win once. And I watch because I have this weird idea that maybe, with the right song, a whole lot of luck and absolutely no resort to bribery, we may one day win it again.
So, to honour this most odd and unusual coming together (read: clash) of cultures, I have compiled my Top-10 Eurovision songs and memories from years past. See how many of these you remember!
10. Francis Ruffelle. Yeah, I know you don't remember this one. But back in the day, the UK used to pick the SONG rather than the performer, and Francis was the artist chosen to perform for the UK in 1994. She then appeared on a TV show singing a range of songs, and "Lonely Symphony (We Will Be Free)" was chosen to represent the UK. It came 10th. It sticks in the mind because, to my ears, she sounds rather like Cyndi Lauper, and I used to catch the Number 32 bus to the Sunday Market every other weekend, and the driver always had the album "Twelve Deadly Cyns (And Then Some)" on in the bus.
9. Terry Wogan. There are a million anecdotes about Terry and his views on Eurovision. I don't actually share a lot of his views on the contest - any attempt at derision used to vex me somewhat, as I really enjoy most aspects of it whilst Terry took it a lot less seriously. But, what was good was that, before he left for pastures new, he did get a chance in 1998 to swap his microphone for the stage, and host the contest from Birmingham (somewhere most of Europe has never heard of). In fact, he actually managed to present from the stage AND do the commentary over the intros too. But his best moments - his anglicized attempts at French. Wonderful pronunciations of "Madame et Monsieurs, Bienvenue a Concours Eurovision de la Chanson" or thereabouts. Thank goodness for the fluency of...
8. Ulrika-ka-ka (Johnson)! Who got a laugh even bigger than the winner Dana International in her astonishing hat, when an in-vision scorer from somewhere in Europe mentioned that she had once taken part in Eurovision herself, courting the wonderful Ulrika response of "A long time time ago was it?".
Yes, it was. 1965
7. Ken Bruce. Whose wonderful Radio 2 commentary meant that the Eurovision Song Contest was the only programme I routinely watched with the TV sound off, and the Radio on. Descriptive, informative, funny wiithout being sarcastic. And sadly, since the advent of Digital TV, I can no longer do this - as the radio gets there about 5 seconds before the picture. It's like watching a badly dubbed kung-fu movie!
6. Diggi-Loo, Diggi-Ley - The Herreys. I wasn't very old when this Swedish song won in 1984, certainly I don't remember watching it live. But I did manage to acquire the 7" single of this, in a large box of 7" singles that I bought for £4 at the Sunday Market (see number 10!) and actually prefer the B-side, Every Song You Sing. It goes a bit like this: "Every song you sing, every tune you play, every photograph that you give away. Every time you smile, when I see your eyes, how I'm hoping that I'll be yours someday. All the words of love, in your melodies, makes me wait even more patiently, for the day that I can hear you say that you did it all, just for me". I used to think it kinda sweet. Now seeing the lyrics written down, it's really about a famous persons stalker isn't it...
One of the Herrey's murdering the same song in 2007
5. Riverdance. The only interval act in Eurovision history to get a longer applause, rousing standing ovation and greater respect than all of the acts put together. Enough said.
4. Ronnie Hazelhurst. Famous for writing songs for S Club 7 (if you believe Wikipedia), and the themes to Last of the Summer Wine and Some Mothers Do Ave' Em, BBC conductor Ronnie used to conduct the orchestra for UK entries. And, if you can believe it, songs like "Love City Groove", a Rap song (thats almost an accurate typo!) entered by the UK in 1995, had to have a full orchestra backing to abide by Eurovision rules. They did away with the orchestra in favour of allowing backing tracks some years later, but there is a rumour the orchestra may return. Sadly, the late Ronnie Hazelhurst, who I recall once conducted the show with an umbrella, won't be around to help out.
3. Yamma Yamma. Pretty much that is all the lyrics, of my favourite nonsense entry, entered by Finland in 1992. It went "Yamma yamma, yamma yamma, yamma yamma, yammma yah". It came last. Ah well.
2. Ireland. Actually I was going to leave it right there, but I suppose it deserves more of an explanation. Between 1965 and today, Ireland have won 7 times, including 4 wins in 5 years between 1992-1996. And they have managed this because they have catchy songs, strong ballads, ethnic overtones - the works. Alone singer-songwriter Johnny Logan, who they call Mr Eurovision, has won it twice as performer and once as songwriter. They may even be the bookies pick for an outside win this year, by selecting their 1993 winner Niamh Kavanagh to return. I like them because, although most of the entries are now sung in English, in the good old days Ireland had the only other songs you could sing along with. So an Irish win is almost as good as a UK win!
1. Don't Ever Cry - Put. An obscure end to my Top-10 countdown, a Croatian song that came 15th with just 33 points in 1993. But it marked the start of something new - it was the first time Croatia had performed not as part of Yugoslavia, but alone. And this heralded a new era of entries, and wins, from new countries - former Yugoslavian and Baltic states. But, as well as being memorable for that, it tops my chart because it is just a fantastic song - from its "Star Wars" opening to its memorable harmonies, great sentiment and even a chorus sung in English.
"Don't Ever Cry. It's not worth it okay!?
So, that's the end of my rather long post. I think this is why Mummy doesn't let me write many.. And I don't know if tonights contest will give me anything new for this list, but if we all keep our fingers crossed and chant... "Royaume-Uni Douze Points" ad nauseum, you never know!
Friday, 28 May 2010
Huggies Messy Play Challenge Entry
You may remember that a couple of days ago I posted about the Huggies Messy Play Challenge. Well I was considering entering this photo of Big Cousin because I think it sums up Messy play quite nicely.
I started thinking that technically that photo isn't of my child and so I was wondering if I should enter a photo of Top Ender that I have tucked away, but I decided that I should save that for another day... one day when she has really annoyed me!
This evening however I found the photo (well group of photos) that I am going to enter.
Luckily a bath for Baby Boy took care of his clean up, the sofa covers and pajamas are in the washing machine and the other lumps that I keep finding all over the living room? Well wet wipes aren't just for paint or poop!
That is what happens if you leave your milkshake at Toddler height. Luckily I didn't have to clean her up so the challenge for me was to just take the photo! Auntie on the other hand might of felt a little different.
I started thinking that technically that photo isn't of my child and so I was wondering if I should enter a photo of Top Ender that I have tucked away, but I decided that I should save that for another day... one day when she has really annoyed me!
This evening however I found the photo (well group of photos) that I am going to enter.
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Guest Post: A VROOM VROOM MOMENT!
Hello! I am delighted to be guest posting here at A Mother's Ramblings as part of Little Mummy's marvellous guest post day! I am normally to be found over at my blog Thinly Spread so called because I have four children aged 4, 10, 12 and 14...so I am! Pippa is over at my place so do pop over and see what she's on about!
My smallest boy had one of those breakthrough moments this week. The kind when you can almost hear children changing up a gear and vrooming off. The kind that makes your heart swell with pride and makes you want to shout from the rooftops.
Most children go through these moments of course and if I did start shouting on roofs I would probably be taken away and locked up for a while. But it IS miraculous and even though this is the fourth time I have seen it with my own children and the umpteenth time I have seen it as a teacher it is still amazing.
Bonus Boy moved in one leap from drawing his 'peanut people' (pictures of various members of the family all with one long peanut body without a separate head and with sticks for arms and legs) to 'proper people' with defined heads and bodies and rectangle arms and legs with fingers and toes.
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My smallest boy had one of those breakthrough moments this week. The kind when you can almost hear children changing up a gear and vrooming off. The kind that makes your heart swell with pride and makes you want to shout from the rooftops.
Most children go through these moments of course and if I did start shouting on roofs I would probably be taken away and locked up for a while. But it IS miraculous and even though this is the fourth time I have seen it with my own children and the umpteenth time I have seen it as a teacher it is still amazing.
Bonus Boy moved in one leap from drawing his 'peanut people' (pictures of various members of the family all with one long peanut body without a separate head and with sticks for arms and legs) to 'proper people' with defined heads and bodies and rectangle arms and legs with fingers and toes.
He is obviously very pleased with this and can see the difference himself because he has spent an enormous amount of time doing it ever since. We now have pupils in the centres of our very startled looking eyes.
It will be a while yet until his inner critic makes its presence felt so he is drawing for the sheer pleasure of it and it is wonderful to see. He has no limits and draws with abandon: 'I am drawing the family Mummy and we are blue people cos I don't have any skin pens.'
He branched out into cats, rabbits, hedgehogs and smiley blue whales. He moved onto aliens with extra legs and a complicated picture with rocket ships and moon landings and then got absorbed in drawing the sun in the sky and exotic beach scenes. All in one week!
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Most children go through the same developmental stages in their drawing at more or less the same time and more or less in the same order. This shows it more clearly than I can here but I think it's a wonderful thing to watch and it is well worth keeping a record of it!
Have you noticed the changes and stages in your child's drawing? Are you keeping a record of it? Don't forget to date drawings and write on them what the children call them; it's lovely to look back on!
Messy Play Challenge!
Before we go on this is a Sponsored post of sorts. You see I am a Huggies Mum and this is a Huggies challenge post and I don't have to tell you about this challenge but everyone knows I like a challenge and when Huggies told me and the other Huggies Mums about this Messy Play challenge I was a little excited and started planning how messy I could get Top Ender or Baby Boy in order to win this challenge!
As I am sure you know and as countless psychologists and experts have said before Messy play is good for children. In fact Janine Spencer (who is a child psychologist) said "Giving children the freedom to play messily helps them develop their imagination and social skills. It boosts their confidence and helps them understand the world around them. That’s a small price to pay for a bit of mess."
You know she's right. I don't care about a bit of mess if what Top Ender and Baby Boy and I are doing is boosting their skills or letting us have a bit of fun together. And that's what we are all about in our house, having fun. Now this challenge isn't just for Huggies Mums, it's open to everyone in the UK!
I am thinking that one of these photos might be my entry...
So what you need to do is post a photo on your blog between now and July 14th of your little ones (or big ones!) getting messy. It could be a photo like Baby Boy here covered in ice-cream, or a photo of you covered in flour following a baking session together, or anything that you can think of... as long as you are messy!
The challenge isn't really that hard you might be thinking and you are right. Even if I told you that the real challenge is the cleaning up after you have made the mess, with great wipes like the ones that Huggies make (honestly I love Huggies wipes, they feel stronger than some wipes I have used in the past, but are still soft) it won't be too hard!
So here are the rules as set out by Huggies!
1. The messier your baby is in the photo the better. (The challenge is cleaning up!)
2. Post the photo to your blog with The Messy Play by Huggies Wipes challenge. (It can be an old photo or a previous post).
3. Send a link of your blog post featuring your Messy Play photo to @Huggies_UK on Twitter or online.team@Huggies.com to participate.
4. Check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/messyplaybyhuggieswipes/ to see all the blogger submissions and links to their blogs. Submissions will also be shouted out by @Huggies_UK on Twitter.
5. The top 3 messiest entries will receive Huggies® gift packs of Huggies merchandise.
As I am sure you know and as countless psychologists and experts have said before Messy play is good for children. In fact Janine Spencer (who is a child psychologist) said "Giving children the freedom to play messily helps them develop their imagination and social skills. It boosts their confidence and helps them understand the world around them. That’s a small price to pay for a bit of mess."
You know she's right. I don't care about a bit of mess if what Top Ender and Baby Boy and I are doing is boosting their skills or letting us have a bit of fun together. And that's what we are all about in our house, having fun. Now this challenge isn't just for Huggies Mums, it's open to everyone in the UK!
I am thinking that one of these photos might be my entry...
So what you need to do is post a photo on your blog between now and July 14th of your little ones (or big ones!) getting messy. It could be a photo like Baby Boy here covered in ice-cream, or a photo of you covered in flour following a baking session together, or anything that you can think of... as long as you are messy!
The challenge isn't really that hard you might be thinking and you are right. Even if I told you that the real challenge is the cleaning up after you have made the mess, with great wipes like the ones that Huggies make (honestly I love Huggies wipes, they feel stronger than some wipes I have used in the past, but are still soft) it won't be too hard!
So here are the rules as set out by Huggies!
1. The messier your baby is in the photo the better. (The challenge is cleaning up!)
2. Post the photo to your blog with The Messy Play by Huggies Wipes challenge. (It can be an old photo or a previous post).
3. Send a link of your blog post featuring your Messy Play photo to @Huggies_UK on Twitter or online.team@Huggies.com to participate.
4. Check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/messyplaybyhuggieswipes/ to see all the blogger submissions and links to their blogs. Submissions will also be shouted out by @Huggies_UK on Twitter.
5. The top 3 messiest entries will receive Huggies® gift packs of Huggies merchandise.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
The Family Fun Elephant Parade!
Every once in a while I get a notion in my head about something that we could do as a family. Something that is fun, something that will involve exercise and family bonding and most importantly will be exciting.
Luckily when these notions come over me, Daddy is able to reign me back in and make my ideas more do-able or more suitable for the time that we have available to us. It has happened in the past and it is bound to happen again in the future.
When I was in London last week for the Huggies Mums meet up, I noticed a lot of elephants dotted around. I vaguely remembered that these were being auctioned (after having been decorated by famous people and artists) because of the problems that Asian elephants face with habitat being lost and this will lead to us losing wild Asian Elephants.
My great idea for the weekend was that as a family we walked round London finding all the elephants and photographing them. Daddy suggested that maybe we should only try and find the elephants in one area on this trip to London, and that we could go back over the next few weeks to spot the rest.
The plan was that on Sunday morning we would arrive in London at 8am. However we then realised that even at 8am London wasn't going to be a particularly nice place to be, what with the heat wave and everything. Our plans changed so that we wouldn't arrive in London until 6pm, time for the heat to disparate and we would find the elephants in Westfield shopping centre (four of them) and then the ones that were around Hyde Park.
As you can see, we found elephants...
Somehow we missed one at Westfield Shopping Centre and so we will have to go back (Shame!) to find it! It was only when we actually got to the shopping centre that we told Top Ender what we were doing, and she loved that we were going on an Elephant Parade!
We caught the tube from White City (which is just a couple of minutes away from Westfield shopping centre if you don't know) and walked past the wall of the BBC where the Blue Peter Garden is, and past a van which is from Prank Patrol. Daddy and I also pretended that we saw Kate Adie and remembered when Daddy won the £25,000* top prize on the pilot of "Dial M for Money" hosted by Phillip Schofield.
When we got off the tube at Marble Arch we were greeted with a very large crowd of people. For some reason I had made the Tourist mistake of expecting London to be like Milton Keynes, ie devoid of people when the shops had shut. The second mistake that we made was expecting London to have followed the normal rules and cooled down now that it was the evening. Undeterred we crossed the busy roads to find our next elephants.
Crossing the road in to Hyde Park was a revelation for me. I could see what appeared to be hundreds of people standing around, we ignored them and took the photos of what we had came to London for. Although Top Ender was a little more excited than normal as she was convinced that the building in the background of this photo was Doctor Who's TARDIS...
What I quickly realised was that we were in Speakers Corner and there were a lot of Speakers about on this sunny Sunday evening. It led to a lovely discussion with Top Ender about free speech and having different opinions on different subjects to others, and also why some people felt the need to bring a step ladder or big box to the park to explain their point of view.
A quick walk through the underpass to The Dorchester Hotel (which had lots of Paparazzi standing outside!) and we found our next two Elephants. I tired to delay us leaving the outside of the hotel in the hopes that someone famous would come out, but time was marching on and I knew that we had to keep on walking too.
Back into Hyde Park we marched and found two more friends outside the gates... well I already knew they were there having seen them on the Tuesday, but we let Top Ender find them by herself.
As you can see the second of the Elephants just outside Hyde Park was hollow and was great fun for looking in. This one was Daddy's favourite, and I must admit that I have a soft spot for it too! We then walked back up Hyde Park and I felt very continental as Daddy told me that it was nearly 9pm! It was so light and there were so many people about that it really did feel a lot earlier. We weren't the only people with young children out and about either!
We soon found the last "herd" for the day and peered through the fence at them.
Baby Boy and Top Ender were still going strong and Baby Boy was getting a lot of admiring glances from young women holding on to their semi naked muscular partners as he was smiling and chattering away to anyone within earshot!
We walked along The Serpentine and discussed everything we could think of, watched some people Salsa dancing and tried not to stare at the family having a picnic complete with what looked like bongs!
Luckily when these notions come over me, Daddy is able to reign me back in and make my ideas more do-able or more suitable for the time that we have available to us. It has happened in the past and it is bound to happen again in the future.
When I was in London last week for the Huggies Mums meet up, I noticed a lot of elephants dotted around. I vaguely remembered that these were being auctioned (after having been decorated by famous people and artists) because of the problems that Asian elephants face with habitat being lost and this will lead to us losing wild Asian Elephants.
My great idea for the weekend was that as a family we walked round London finding all the elephants and photographing them. Daddy suggested that maybe we should only try and find the elephants in one area on this trip to London, and that we could go back over the next few weeks to spot the rest.
The plan was that on Sunday morning we would arrive in London at 8am. However we then realised that even at 8am London wasn't going to be a particularly nice place to be, what with the heat wave and everything. Our plans changed so that we wouldn't arrive in London until 6pm, time for the heat to disparate and we would find the elephants in Westfield shopping centre (four of them) and then the ones that were around Hyde Park.
As you can see, we found elephants...
Somehow we missed one at Westfield Shopping Centre and so we will have to go back (Shame!) to find it! It was only when we actually got to the shopping centre that we told Top Ender what we were doing, and she loved that we were going on an Elephant Parade!
We caught the tube from White City (which is just a couple of minutes away from Westfield shopping centre if you don't know) and walked past the wall of the BBC where the Blue Peter Garden is, and past a van which is from Prank Patrol. Daddy and I also pretended that we saw Kate Adie and remembered when Daddy won the £25,000* top prize on the pilot of "Dial M for Money" hosted by Phillip Schofield.
When we got off the tube at Marble Arch we were greeted with a very large crowd of people. For some reason I had made the Tourist mistake of expecting London to be like Milton Keynes, ie devoid of people when the shops had shut. The second mistake that we made was expecting London to have followed the normal rules and cooled down now that it was the evening. Undeterred we crossed the busy roads to find our next elephants.
Luckily, Daddy was once a Scout and so was prepared for the sun that was still out and slapped the suncream on us all whilst we played with the elephants and listened in on some fantastic conversations going on around us!
Crossing the road in to Hyde Park was a revelation for me. I could see what appeared to be hundreds of people standing around, we ignored them and took the photos of what we had came to London for. Although Top Ender was a little more excited than normal as she was convinced that the building in the background of this photo was Doctor Who's TARDIS...
This is Bobby and was my favourite out of all the Elephants we saw on Sunday.
What I quickly realised was that we were in Speakers Corner and there were a lot of Speakers about on this sunny Sunday evening. It led to a lovely discussion with Top Ender about free speech and having different opinions on different subjects to others, and also why some people felt the need to bring a step ladder or big box to the park to explain their point of view.
 |
| Just to give you an idea of how many people were about! |
Back into Hyde Park we marched and found two more friends outside the gates... well I already knew they were there having seen them on the Tuesday, but we let Top Ender find them by herself.
As you can see the second of the Elephants just outside Hyde Park was hollow and was great fun for looking in. This one was Daddy's favourite, and I must admit that I have a soft spot for it too! We then walked back up Hyde Park and I felt very continental as Daddy told me that it was nearly 9pm! It was so light and there were so many people about that it really did feel a lot earlier. We weren't the only people with young children out and about either!
We soon found the last "herd" for the day and peered through the fence at them.
Baby Boy and Top Ender were still going strong and Baby Boy was getting a lot of admiring glances from young women holding on to their semi naked muscular partners as he was smiling and chattering away to anyone within earshot!
We walked along The Serpentine and discussed everything we could think of, watched some people Salsa dancing and tried not to stare at the family having a picnic complete with what looked like bongs!
We eventually made it back to the Tube and back to where we had left our car at Westfield at around 10pm. It was a bit later than we had planned, but it had been a grand day out and nobody minded.
We are planning our other trips to London to see the rest of the Elephants over the next couple of weeks, if you would like to take part then your best resource would be the Elephant Parade Website at http://www.elephantparadelondon.org/ as it has a route map and almost everything you want to know. If you want to know anything that isn't on the website, then you can always try asking me!
*But as it was the pilot he actually went home with a much much much lesser prize.
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