Easter egg competitions at school

We’ve been dusting off our crafting skills (well the kids have – not so much me, ahem) this week and coming up with new ideas for things to make for the annual school character egg competition.

Last year I blogged about the calibre of the entrants and how it was more likely to be a case of the mum’s sweating it out over the glue and paints than the small people.

Yeah, down with all that sort of thing.

Here, it’s a kid effort.

So, with much further ado, here is this year’s creation…..

Ohhhhhhh, the Grand Old Duke Of Yolk,

He had 10,000 chicks

He marched them up to the top of the hill

and he marched them down again.

See all the little chickies marching up the hill to the Grand Old Duke of Yolk at the top.

We toyed with the idea of putting 10,000 chicks on there.

Then realised you’d need a farking great big board to put them all on so that amount you can see would have to do. 🙂

Didn’t win 1st, 2nd or 3rd main prize though.

Maybe next year….

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The demise of land lines and the rise in popularity of mobile phones – Phone Nostalgia Linky

When you think how used we are to our mobile phones nowadays, it seems hard to imagine a world without them.

How can they have only become common at the end of the 1990’s, for crying out loud?

I remember on moving away to start college, I moved into a student house with no phone line.

Even though I was only in the house for a few months before moving onto another one, I had to go through the rigamole of going down to the local phone box (remember them?!) to ring up the BT helpline so they could install a phone line for me.

Could you be bothered with all that now? No, instead of relying on a cumbersome phone attached to a wall that you could only be reached on if you were actually IN at the time, you’d have a phone that would sit in your palm and could be taken anywhere in the world with you.

Phones used to be great big things with a number dial.

Dialling a number seemed to take the best part of a day as you had to put your finger manually into each number, dial it to the top, let go and wait for it to dial back round again before putting the next number in.

Our pampered, technology obsessed selves would be losing the will to live nowadays.

Phone boxes seem to be a thing of the past too, which is a shame – but if you think about it, when was the last time you actually used one? My bet is about the same time I used one to install the phone line when I went to college in the mid to late 90’s…..

This post has been added to other phone memories in the Phone Nostalgia link up

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Having a Baking Day and this is what I’ve made …..

I love baking cakes, buns and decorating them, but have been rubbish lately and not made any for absolutely ages.

So today, as I felt I really should pull my finger out and start baking again before old age properly sets in and I forget HOW to, I’ve made these:

 

 

Buns with melted chocolate and Mini Eggs for decoration (well, it IS nearly Easter) and some apple muffins.

Nothing fancy, but baking nonetheless!

I predict they’ll last about five minutes as soon as the small people get back from school and clock sight of them….

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BIB’S National Blogging Awards 2013 – vote for me, please?!

I know it doesn’t seem like five minutes since I was last asking for votes, but with the up and coming BIB Awards, as you were all so lovely last time. I’d like to ask for your help again.

With the National MAD (Mum’s and Dad’s Blog awards, I was exceptionally lucky and happy to get through all three voting rounds, only to get pipped to the post by the other blogs when it came to whittling it down to the finalists. Waaah.

So, (because I’m nothing if not resilient and optimistic) I ‘d love it if you could all vote for me again, but this time in the BIB (Brilliance In Blogging) Awards.

I’m eligible for the Writer, Social Media, and Family Life categories so votes in there would be brilliant. 🙂 )

I’ve even stuck a badge on the right hand side of this post, which acts like a magic button.

If you just shout some magic words (read Harry Potter, he’s got some great wizardy sounding words.)

It’ll act like a Portkey when you click on it, and it’ll magic you to the to the BIB’s nomination form.

You’re all great, and love you lots. I’ve heard flattery apparently gets you everywhere

❤

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At the Light Centre, Leeds for Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway Super Computer! :-)

It’s not every day my favourite Saturday night entertainment comes to town, so when I heard that Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway computer was visiting The Light Centre, I had to go and have a nosey.

I went as it was setting up, so managed to bag a prime viewing spot right in front of the computer.

I knew I wanted to be near the front so I could see (as I’m only a shorty and anyone tall in front of me would have resulted in me looking at the backs of people’s heads.)

In fact I was RIGHT at the front of the computer and cameras for the crowd shots, so in all probability I’ve just made a complete tit of myself on national telly come Saturday night.

The loon doing the YMCA for the cameras and grinning inanely?

Yep, that’ll be me.

Attempting a Mexican Wave? (Not easy when your arms are crammed in next to the people at the side of you… )

Oh yes, that was me as well.

Everyone was there. Hey, even Elvis turned up as I took a picture of the machine.

I was going to have a go, honest.

Until I found out everyone in the huge queue had already pre-registered that morning and there was a two hour wait for when more people could join in.

Then a queue after that too.

If I hadn’t have had to get back I would have waited.

I was there though when someone won the Las Vegas tickets. Right behind them in fact.

So if you see me on national telly, give a little wave. I’ll do the Mexican one… 😀

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Dressing up for World Book Day… or maybe not

Looking at pictures and tales of children having to dress up as their favourite book character, it seems I’ve got off lightly with our school as there is to be no funny costumes.

We don’t have to run around panic buying costumes and spending a small fortune on things that are only going to be worn once.

Which is what I would be doing as I don’t ‘do’ sewing.

If I did ‘do’ sewing, I’d end up sewing part of myself to the costume, or the whole thing would fall down in the middle of school assembly or something.

We celebrate World Book Day at our school by having a big book stall instead, where we can buy books.

Now that’s MUCH more up my street.

Any excuse to buy new books is fine by me.

Is your small person dressing up? If so, what are they going as?

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Did Kate say daughter? Did she? Didn’t she?! Oooo…. :-) Or oh…

The Duchess of Cambridge, who is expecting her first child and heir to the throne, has apparently ‘let slip’ that she is expecting a daughter this summer.

Today’s papers and news sites are now feverishly expecting all things pink come July.

All because a lady offered her a teddy on a walkabout the other day and Kate thanked her with ” thank you, I will take that for my d…… for my baby.”

Oh, come on people. Really?!

It’s a well known fact that Kate and William have a dog. They’ve been pictured out and about with it enough times.

My bet is on the fact that she wasn’t about to say daughter. She was automatically going to say ‘dog’ and thought better of it, as she didn’t want the lady bearing the teddy gift to be traumatised at the thought of little Ted being hung upside down by his earholes and being used as a chew toy/ slobbery bed time pal.

When said lady was probably envisaging little Ted becoming ‘Royal Ted’ and having his own little throne in the Royal Nursery.

I wouldn’t be Kate for anything. Poor soul knows she can’t say anything without it getting twisted and analysed by the entire nation, the world (and it’s dog too.)

If I was in in her shoes, I’d be hiding in the Palace with my feet up, chain eating HobNobs as I know every sneeze and syllable would be scrutinized the next morning.

Never mind Royal protocol and all that guff.

I’d be in hiding until everyone got bored of Bump Watch.

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Do we have to like everything that our children like?

If there’s one thing that’s guaranteed to get my eyes glazing over, it’s somebody mentioning that dreaded ‘F’ word.

Yes, football.

I’ve always, for the life of me, never been able to fathom what’s so blinkin’ fascinating about people booting a ball around a football pitch for hours (and hours) on end.

Grown men in floods of tears when their team doesn’t win. (My baffled look and the words “um, it’s only a game, no-one’s died!”) never seem to be warmly received when I’ve uttered them in the past.

Which is why I’m probably being rewarded with a sense of football karma now I have two boys who are obsessed (and I mean O.B.S.E.S.S.E.D) with football.

If they’re not talking about overhead kicks, man of the matches, dribbling skills (and probably a lot of other terminology, I couldn’t tell you as that’s probably at the point my brain tuned out) then they’re playing it.

They’ve been at their football clubs this morning, playing football solid for a few hours.

Then come straight home, had some lunch and gone straight back out into the garden to play yet more football.

It’s a wonder their legs don’t fall off.

I’m ready to confess I don’t actually go to their football club anymore on a Saturday morning.

I tried.

I tried the whole standing around and cheering them kicking a ball about. It was lovely. To start with. Do you know how long football matches last?! 90 minutes!!

That’s a long time when football is that glazy mind numbing subject thing.

Their dad loves football too. I’ll leave it up to him to stand on the sidelines. They can tell me all about it when they get home.

Me? I’ll stick to things like the Easter Bonnet Parade, and clubs such as Cubs and swimming….

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