Life with all the kids in school

Ahhh so much for my daily blog. Where does the time go? Well my little one has blended into school beautifully and is desperate to go each and every morning which I think is all credit to the school. They really do an amazing job both my girls are school mad and all the other children appear to be very keen too.

So what is it like for me having both children in school?

Well it is great after I got over my initial sulk of loosing my baby to school. I took our Indian summer by storm and I was off out riding my horse left right and centre. My house is in more order including the garage that has never been orderly, you can actually walk from front to back.

I am older and wiser second time round (second child) I have realised it's the mums who instigate who goes for tea with who at this early stage. Yes the children have preferences to some more than others but at four and five years old they are not that picky. Already having a nine year old I know they do start to make other friends as the years go by, so these inital frendships may or may not continue but I think by the end of this first year they themselves are really getting a good idea for who their close friend are.

I find there are the fresh new mums who are experiencing this for the first time and then the 2nd,3rd,4th even 5th time mums who are really old hands at this. Wow imagine having all that experience.

Anyway new friendships will form for Ellie and I as we will now be on a journey with this school year right up till they are eleven years old. Funny how school holds groups of people together for such a long time.

Last week end one of the mums and I held a joint 5th party for our daughters. We hired the village hall put up two bouncy castles ( Princess and Pirate) and help a Princess and Pirate party. I did face painting whilst the other mum sorted out the food. we made a great team, the whole school year was invited and it was a lovely opportunity for the children to have a great party and the mums to have a good chat.


I have spent the last week organising vouchers for www.smallfurryhotel.com and www.k9tac.co.uk. I think the are great practical gift ideas for people with pets take a look vouchers start from £6. We have already sold some and people have been thrilled as we have personalised them with pictures of the persons pets. So if your friend or family member has a :

Rabbit
Guinea Pig
Dog
Hamster
Chickens
Ducks
Chinchilla
African land snail
Tortoise
Birds
gerbils etc we will have a voucher to suit them

Hope you have a good week and I hope to be back sooner

Follow this blog

The Big Uniform Day

Today was the big uniform day!! First day of big school is now getting really close my older daughter is all kitted out but we are still to find shoes to fit my youngest.

This year my husband and i have decided to go the easy route and buy three times the amount of uniform we would usually buy including 15 pairs of socks each. The hope is that this will make the morning less stressful. as even though we do not have a large house my daughter still manage to loose most of their socks etc.

Our other make life easier decision is to opt for school dinners as the whole lunch box thing is a pain. As my eldest has slowly decided she doesn't like and sandwich filling what so ever. So at the end of last term i was sick of throwing away lot of good food and woring she wasn't getting a balanced diet. so school dinners should alleviate that stress from my life. I am all for making the new school term as stress free as possible so I can enjoy all the good bits.

Follow this blog

Brownie Camp

In less than 4 weeks my little girl will leave nursery it will be a really sad day for me and that part of our life comes to an end. My youngest being an October baby is really ready to start school and can't wait to get her uniform and be skipping up the road to school with her big sister.

Unlike her sister she will start full time straight away. This year we were given an option of when they could start full time. My eledest daughter was very upset that her group couldn't stay for lunch like the older group. So I discussed it with the girls and we have opted for full time straight away.

I found with my eldest daughter it took her a while to not come out of school exhausted. Back them we did lots of clubs, which I think looking back was too much. So this time we will hold off with clubs till the January.

My Eldest daughter who is 8 is off on her first Brownie Pack holiday later in the year. It goes wthout saying she is very excited. I really enjoyed Brownine camp as a child even if it was a little like Borstal back in the 80's. My three memories were

1. I picked up a Marmite sandwich instead of a chocolate sandwich. Another Brownie told me Marmite tasted of Ear Wax which put me off a little. I was then told I would have nothing else till I ate it.

2. We were bored one night doing arts and crafts. One Brownie stapled her finger and then several other Brownies had a go.

3. I also remember "The Jobs" I can not stand drying dishes and so I developed a phobia which I manged to sell to the other Brownies and Brown Owl which ment I got to wash the dishes - job done out to play and leave the other poor Brownie to dry endless dishes. Mind you I was taught how to wash dishes properly at the Brownies.

Funny the way the world has changed I had to sign to say I was happy for the leader to use plasters bandages etc and I had to sign to say I was happy if they cuddled my child if she needed it.

Anyway the girls will have a marvelous time with all her friends as Brownies is a Great Organisation for Girls

Follow this blog

Virus

Well I have managed to suffer with both sorts over the holidays. My computer gave up last week and had to go to the shop and I was told we had 500 viruses. Since then I appear to have caught one of the viruses and I have been feeling pretty grotty. I am on the mend but feel tired more than usual and have had some sinus pain. I have tried a few things to make it better and a trip to the beach has helped no end. I got to catch up with a friend and the children had a ball.

We are so lucky to have such lovely beaches just a mile or so away, the girls have had a great time in the sea.

The Small Furry Hotel was busy last week but it is a lot quieter this weekend. Last Saturday we raised £200 for waggy Tails rescue at the small furry show. It was lovely to see adults and children alike taking pride in their pets.

Our next show is a Dog show May 2nd for the Bransgore Funday.

We have also had all our bouncy castles up including our adult size castle, as we have a few hires coming up over the next few weeks. I even had a little bounce on it myself. I can see why children get worn out on them - great fun.

Well the holidays started off with a bit of tension between me an my eldest. Not sure if it was excitement of the holidays or tiredness from late nights. But as we are nearing the end of the holidays I will miss them both when they return to school.

Follow this blog

Fancy Dress - One of the best bits of being a Mum

Today was my youngest 1st official dressing up at pre school. We had to do a book character, so she trundled off to find a book. Out she comes " I want to be Pepper Pig Mum" Pepper pig it is then. Thursday we had a make up rehearsal and today was the big day. We were a bit late for school as I decided to add ears at 8.40. So sewing kit out and sewed the ears onto the hat. Lucky it wasn't her head!!! I was very pleased with the over all look and was thrilled that she won a chocolate egg for our efforts - which we both ate.

Follow this blog

What a busy Week.

Well what a busy week. I have been taking bookings daily for the small furry hotel and have just about recovered from Crufts.

Wednesday I went to the Langtry Manor Hotel as I have made it to the final 20 of the woman business awards. The hotel is lovely and the lady that owns it Tara is bubbly and friendly in a genuine manor. Did any of you see her on hotel inspector, it was a brilliant episode.

I had photo's and a video taken at the hotel just in case I make the final 10. I did not fair well in the photos, I look awful in one my eyes were half closed!! The video was a lot better even though I was far more worried about that.

I will find out next week if I make the final 10, if ~I do my video will appear on the echo website and the one with the most votes will win. Very exciting and scary in equal proportions.

My older horses has been diagnosed with a heart murmur and arthritus of the hocks. The vet has given her some pain killers and she appears a lot happier.

Well I have changed the girls beds, ironed their uniforms and have bathed them and got them ready bed. I'm still feeling a little wobbly over my youngest going to school in September. It will be and end of an era. Not sure if I'm sad to leave the under 5 stage behind or looking forward to the new things you can do with older children. Who knows. Off for a bath and a glass of well deserved wine.


Picture is of me at the Langtry - I wasn't as fed up as I looked. I was actually enjoying myself just the camera caught me at the wrong time!!!

Follow this blog

A little introduction.

Well what a privilege to have my blog on Whats 0n 4!

Ok so who am I? Well that can change by the hour or so it seems.

Firstly came Madeleine who is slowly approaching 34. I live in the New forest and as you can tell my main hobby is my animals.

Then we have "Madeleine the wife" who is married to a lovely man that I have been with since I was nineteen. We have had our share of life's ups and downs like everyone, but I pleased to say everyone has made us stronger as a couple.

Then if by magic I became Madeleine the Mummy. We have two daughters my eldest is 8 in a few weeks, she is at the eye rolling and considering what she looks like before she leaves the house stage. My youngest is 4, desperate to start school, most things start with " I'm a big girl Mummy" and she is still quite happy to sneeze and say " oh! I've got snot everywhere giggle giggle". My Youngest has a "take life by the wotzits and go for it" attitude more so than most four year olds.

As a family we have 4 Bearded Collies and a Yorkie. I had my first Beardie at 14, this year after a lot of work within the breed we had our first litter of puppies. The puppies were the great nieces and nephew of my first Beardie who died roughly 3 years ago. Our Beardies can be seen at www.ceilmearbeardedcollies.moonfruit.com . Our yorki's owner died when she was 10 years old, she came to us to foster and she has never left!! For such a little dog who lived in a flat for such a large part of her life she has taken to a busy household like she has always been here.

Before children I worked in an office selling advertising. Even before my baby was born I had her booked into nursery so I could get back to work asap. That didn't last long, I hated leaving my baby, eventually I got out. I began studying an advanced diploma in Canine behaviour management. Later I opened the Small Furry Hotel www.smallfurryhotel.com a purposed built small animal boarding facility. In 2009 I then went into partnership to launch K9tac www.ktac.co.uk - Dog training. 2011 has seen the launch of Party Bounce www.partybounceuk.co.uk.

In 2010 I made it to the final of the Hampshire winning woman awards in the Mumpreneur of the year category and since then I have been refereed to as and Entrepreneur may times, something I am very proud of.

So you can see I can be :
Mum
Wife
Small Animal Boarder
Dog Trainer..........

and I love it. I love always being here for my girl and contributing to the household, doing things that I love and have a passion for. It's been a rocky road getting to this place, I have missed my montly wages many times. But I feel the future is bright I have put a lot of work in over the last few years, so when both girls are in school I wouldn't have to return to work.

Thought of the day: I'm like my 4 year old I take life by the wotzits and go for it. I'm slightly more cautious than her, but then she hasn't experienced life's knocks. I think it's all about resilance to the bad stuff life thows at you ( box it up, file it, move on) and not being scared of making a few mistakes. I think it was Tony Robins that said the man that invented postit notes was the biggest failure as he was trying to develop a super (sticky) glue and got the postit glue instead.