The sunrise here in Walton-on-the-Naze at 5.23am this morning.
And a wonderful way to to start the week.
Absolutely gorgeous colours and so peaceful.
I really am so lucky to have been able to raise my babies here.
Being able to hear the sea from my bedroom window is a noise that I will truly be upset to leave behind.
I’m going to really utterly miss this when we move *sad face*….😞
So my Mum and I have bought a beach hut, which we are calling Doll’s House.
It’s very exciting for us, something we have wanted to do for a very long time, and recently we found ourselves in a position to actually go ahead with it.
I have created a new Blog for our adventure, where we hope to capture the fun we have and keep a record our endeavours. Please pop over and have a read.
http://www.Dollsbeachhouse.wordpress.com
If you have any comments or advice that you want to share, please do!
Thanks
x
So T went to her first Jujitsu lesson at the weekend. We’d spent the week talking about it. She was very excited, she’d asked lots of questions – “Can I take a toy with me?” “Will I get my suit like L‘s?”. The sleeps had been counted, “4 sleeps until Saturday!”, “3 sleeps until Saturday!”, “2 sleeps until Saturday!”, “1 sleep until Saturday!”….until finally it WAS actually Saturday. “Today I’m going to Jujitsu!”
She happily and enthusiastically got dressed, had her unruly and crazy hair tied back. She did the rounds, saying goodbye to Husband and G, exiting the house squealing “I’m going to Jujitsu now!”. Climbed into the car and off we went, myself, T and L (who wanted to come and watch her little sister do what she herself loves.)
Once there T skipped in, but she suddenly became shy and clingy. She can get like this sometimes, but I haven’t seen it in a long time, and assumed that as she had been so excited by attending, that it wouldn’t be an issue. How wrong I was.
She did go in, with some gentle coaxing by Hayley one of the seniors and Tots instructors. Hayley was brilliant, gentle and encouraging, without smothering her. It was unfortunate that T was the only girl in the group. However, that can’t be helped, and she’s never had a problem with boys before. So she went in, L and I went upstairs to the viewing area, we watched, noses almost pressed against the glass. We sat with the other parents, all of whom were all ooing and ahhing at the youngsters doing the warm up exercises. It was lovely to watch all the little people, clearly enjoying it. Renshi came up and introduced himself and explained that the Tots sessions would be different from the Juniors and Seniors, as they would not just be learning solely the art of Jujitsu and self defence, but they would also learn about bullying. He also explained that he would also organise a visit from the local Police to speak to the children. Attending these sessions would also, hopefully, increase their confidence.
I relaxed, and sat back to watch. Blissfully unaware that at that moment Hayley was bringing T back to me. She was in floods of tears. My heart sank. I knew by looking at her that she wasn’t going to go back downstairs and join them. There was nothing wrong, I believe she was just overwhelmed by it all. I suppose I had wrongly assumed that because L loves it, and that T had been to watch and knew what it entailed, that she would slot right in. We spoke to Renshi before we left, and bless him he even tried getting her to go back in by promising to shave off his beard! But when T makes up her mind, there isn’t much you can do to change it.
So we left early, and we’ll try again in a couple of weeks. I know I sound like a pushy parent. Please believe me when I say I’m not, but I am a firm believer of getting back on the horse and facing your fears. If the next time is unsuccessful then at least we’ll know for sure.
(Big thanks to Hayley and Renshi of A S Jujitsu, for the support and encouragement you showed T at the weekend.)
Please visit www.asjujitsu.co.uk for further information.
The weather man has got the forecast wrong, again! No sunshine, no hot temperatures. But as it’s not raining or windy, we decided to make the most of a lazy Saturday and take the kids up to what we call “Windy Tower”. It’s actually called The Naze Tower, but anyone who enjoys sitting through hours of Peppa Pig will understand the Windy Tower reference.
We bundled the two youngest into the trailer which I usually attach to my bike, however, if you’ve been following you’ll know that my bike is currently out of action due to the lack of saddle! The trailer is able to used a large stroller, slightly wider than a standard double buggy, but with more freedom. The children love it!
We had a lovely time, despite the overcast weather. The Naze Tower is approximately a ten minute walk from our house, but once you’re there, you feel miles away from anywhere.
It is steeped in history and was extremely relevant to World War 2. It’s also a very popular place for dog -walkers, families, school geography excursions. Peace and quiet, fresh air, open space for children to run around. You also occasionally get to see the rescue RNLI helicopter doing a practice flight over head or out at sea.
(for further information I would urge you to visit: http://www.nazetower.co.uk or http://www.walton-on-the-naze.com).
We stopped off at the Tower before our walk, for a sit down and a cuppa beforehand. Coffee and bacon roll – YUM! That was me anyway. Everyone had something; Husband coffee and bacon roll (copy-cat), T and G shared a jacket potato with cheese and had a fruit squash each and stepdaughter, E, had coffee and a sausage roll. It’s lovely to eat outside and for children to enjoy it too. But before they got too comfortable and began making requests for ice-creams (!) we left and started our walk around the Naze and following the trail from one Pillar box to another.
We let the children run around and walk with us, although G isn’t as fast as the rest of us, but that made us slow down. We’ve done the walk so many times in the past, but don’t ever really get bored of it. Its brilliant for the children to get in amongst the bushes and overgrowth, to touch things (although we had to watch all the stinging nettles), to try to find insects, etc.
I somehow managed to take 106 photos in the space of 2 hours! But I obviously cannot put them all on here, so have picked out a selections for you.
I moan, of course I do, about where I live about the things that aggravate me (who doesn’t). But I know I am very lucky to live here with such a wonderfully important and enjoyable place right on my doorstep!
English: Beach at Walton-on-the-Naze Looking north from the Mabel Greville breakwater. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
So we’re almost halfway through the school Easter holidays and it’s been lovely. The Husband has taken a week’s holiday and although the weather could not have been more different to what it was like two years ago, ( Easter 2011 we spent on the beach. Not a beach in an exotic location, well unless you class Walton on the Naze an exotic location!) we have had a good break so far.
But time goes so fast. The days get eaten up so quickly. In amongst the plans, days out, entertaining children; you have to maintain a certain level of the mundane routine: Cooking dinner, doing the washing, getting the shopping done. I’m already thinking about the shopping list needed for the school packed lunches (L wants a new packed lunch bag!), locating and washing that dreaded P.E. kit (white t-shirt, red shorts and a pair of those lovely black plimsolls), wondering what the weather will be like; usually its after the Easter break that the summer uniform gets brought out and the winter one tucked away. Not sure that will be the case this year.
I’m thinking about the things we’ve still got planned and haven’t got around to yet. Cookie making, cinema trip, gardening, London day trip, zoo trip.
We’ve had the afternoon of painting nails (mine: orange, L’s: purple and orange, T’s: pink and sparkly but not G’s – boys of 19 months should not be subjected to wearing nail polish, there is plenty of time for that), shoe shopping (you should know by now that I am a shoe fiend and that trait has definitely been inherited by my kids) a good hour or more was spent trying on various shoes, sandals, trainers, canvas pumps, flip flops, etc. We’ve done the compulsory trip to McDonalds, and got the happy meal toy x3 (The Croods), balloon x3 and fought tooth and nail for a table to sit and eat. We’ve been to Pizza Hut and pigged out on the buffet menu and unlimited soft drinks. I have also had to spend a very unpleasant but much needed morning at the dentist, which resulted in me being unable to talk properly, dribbling everywhere and unable to feel the left side of my face and tongue for the next four hours – yes a filling!!
I always dread school holidays; I am not, in any way shape or form a Mum who can naturally come up with ideas to keep my children happy and amused. I like activities which do not make a mess or require 100% supervision. Whereas my girls just love baking, painting, cutting, play dough, glitter, stickers, etc. This is not unusual I know and many of you are reading this smiling and nodding. Yes you are!
However, I dislike having my children in the kitchen cooking or baking; they make too much mess and take too long. I know I know I know. Now I’ve typed that I realise that I sound awful. But my children do not miss out and actually despite what I have said I DO let my children do baking, do arts and crafts. I am getting better.
So here I sit at 5am on Thursday morning, downstairs, unable to sleep. My bed; full of snoring Husband and a restless daughter (I would not recommend letting your 9 year old watching an episode of Jonathan Creek by the way, it causes a night of non-sleeping and climbing in and out of mum and dads bed), I decided to retreat to the lounge, put the coffee machine on and catch up on my recorded Sky+ programming – OBEM, TOWIE (yes I know! I’ve never claimed to have a good taste in television programmes.)
As I type this blog, I am working out what to do with the children today, with the knowledge that in slightly over a weeks time I will be moaning that the alarm has to be re-set and the kids dragged out of bed. But in the meantime, my coffee smells good……………….
littlemisssdc 