Mothers Day Blanket

So better late than never. Tina's Mothers Day present only arrived 2 days late in the end and I have to say it looks pretty amazing if you ask me. Tina seemed very happy with it and there are some lovely memories of our family on this photo pic collage blanket.

Really pleased with the way Tina's Mothers Day present turn out, even if the photo blanket was 2 days late. Worth the wait if you ask me.



Mothers Day 2017

With work being so busy lately I completely messed up with Mothers Day this year. Firstly the present which I ordered for Tina had a 10-21 day shipping time and subsequently didn't arrive in time. Then I left it too late to book a  restaurant for dinner and we couldn't get a table anywhere!!! So I had a last minute panic and had to get a few things sorted out.

 

Fortunately the kids had all made a few presents for Tina at school and then I picked up a couple of extras plus some flowers whilst in town on Saturday. For dinner plans we headed to Aroma at Bas Vegas and jumped in the queue before the doors opened to make sure we got a table for 5 as they do not let you book for anything less than 8 people.

 

So in the end Mothers Day turned out to be quite a nice relaxing day with some good family time. The 3 kids all enjoyed the food and helping themselves to several dishes. I think Joshua was using it as training for when we are all inclusive on holiday this year and left the restaurant with a stomach ache where he had eaten so much!

 

Happy Mothers day 2017.

All of Tina's presents and cards from the kiddies. Not bad considering it was a last minute effort.

Tina's Mothers day card from the 3 kids was almost as big as Holly!

Tina and the kiddies on Mothers Day 2017.

 

 

Enjoying dinner out at the Aroma so that Tina didn't have to cook on Mothers Day.

Minutes Silence for the Westminster Attacks

At today's football matches all the boys from Forest Glade were asked to complete 1 minutes silence out of respect for the victims of the past weeks terrorist attack on Westminster, London. So last night me and Holly sat down and made up 20 special stick on badges for Brandon's team, the opposition and the coaches to wear. Surprisingly the badges stayed on as I did fear we would end up with a pitch littered with "We Are Not Afraid" badges.

 

Its great to do things like this for the kids on the football team as it is important that as a coach we try and teach them good values, respect ad awareness of such atrocities that impact on our country. What happened in Westminster was just tragic with some lunatic running people over in a stolen car on Westminster bridge before breaking in to the grounds at Westminster and fatally stabbing a policeman. We spoke to the boys about this event and they really couldn't understand why people would ever do anything like this. I can't give them any logical explanation as to why terrorists do what they do.

 

Mine and Holly's homemade "We Are Not Afraid" stick on badges.

 

The badges looked really good next to the Forest Glade logo.

 

Amazingly they stayed on the shirts throughout the whole match (which incidentally we won 6-2).

The boys from Forest Glade U8 Tigers and our opposition observing the 1 minutes silence out of respect for those that lost their lives at Westminster earlier this week.

 

Red Nose Day 17

To make the kids aware of Red Nose Day and to raise money for charity the kids were all allowed to have a dress down day at school today. If possible they had to wear something red with a red nose t-shirt and their red noses. We managed o pick up the red noses from Sainsbury, but a t-shirt to fit Joshua proved a challenge. In the end he ended up with an adult small one from out of TK Maxx

Little Holly with her first Red Nose ready for pre-school.

All three kiddies with their red nose t-shirts and red noses.

Mothers Day Meal

With Mothers Day looming this Sunday, Tina got to enjoy a Mothers Day school dinner with Joshua and Brandon yesterday. The 3 of them tucked in to a cheeseburger and potatoes and then some ice-cream for pudding.  Tina desperately tried to get a picture of all 3 of them but the boys kept on pulling faces at the camera.

 

Brandon enjoying his ice-cream and Joshua pulling a silly face.

Finally Joshua puts on a nice smile but Brandon pokes his tongue out.

Finally a nice picture with no silliness.

Ultima Trampoline Club

Currently we have one evening a week where none of the kiddies have clubs to go too, so what do the boys decide to do. Yep, find another club to join!!!! Joshua has been nagging for weeks that he wants to try a trampolining club so on Thursday both the boys went along to the Ultima Trampoline Centre in Wickford for a tryout session.

 

The main trampoline room has 6 full size trampolines and on the beginners one there was 6 or 7 kids. So there was quite a bit of sitting around for Josh and B whilst everyone in the group had their turn. Both of them seemed to really enjoy it though and were learning how to jump correctly and how to use the arms, then they progressed to knee bounces, trying to touch their toes, tuck jumps and a few other bits. So it looks like my free Thursday evening is now gone and yet more chauffeuring around for me!!!!

 

The main trampoline room at Ultima.

 

Joshua getting some height and learning the basics of trampolining.

 

Brandon had good technique but with his light body weight it seemed that no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get much height.

 

Slowly he was getting higher though and his arms were working up and down in circular movements as instructed.

FG Football Tracksuit

Better late then never they say!!! For Brandon 8th birthday back in January we ordered him a personalised Forest Glade Football Tracksuit. Having been promised a 2 week delivery it was delayed, delayed again and then delayed some more. So 6 weeks after his birthday and about 8-9 weeks after ordering, and it finally arrived today. So now Brandon looks the part at Training and matches and looks like a mini-me. 

 

Father and Son wearing our Forest Glade track suits.

We keep joking to Brandon that they have initialled his one after "Burger King".

 

On another positive note Joshua had his first training session with the Puma's team today after our recent decision to pull him from the Tigers. He fitted in with the team really well and thoroughly enjoyed today's session. It was nice to come away from Forest Glade today with everyone happy, smiles on faces and finally not stressed at the way Joshua was being treated. Onwards and upwards...

End of the Tigers for Joshua

Having been at Forest Glade since the age of of almost 5 years old it is with deep regret that yesterday we have formally written to the club advising that Joshua is withdrawing from the U9 Tigers for both training and matches effectively immediately. This decision has not been easy to make, however there have been on-going issues since the start of the season which the club have failed to mediate or come up with a suitable resolution.

 

This past weekend the situation spiralled to an all time low with Joshua receiving just 5 minutes playtime at the end of a league match and subsequently there was some very harsh post match exchanges between coaches and parents with several expletives being thrown around, this is not good for anyone involved. I have battled hard for Joshua for what I believe is right and what is written in the rules and regulations that govern mini soccer, but I guess sometimes you just have to know when to throw the towel in when there is one voice against many. Given what has occurred over the season we now feel that we no longer want Joshua involved with these coaches or the team and that the only possible solution is to pull him from the team. It is such a shame it has come to this as he loves his football and has some really good friends on the team, however we all feel this is the best decision for him, the coaches, the parents and the club as a whole.

 

Since making the decision we are surprisingly all much happier now and it is like a huge weight has been lifted off of our shoulders. Whilst this is a sad end to an era for Joshua we have told him to look at this positively as a fresh start either with a new team and maybe a completely new club, or maybe even the opportunity to try something completely different. The world is his oyster and football is not the be all and end all.

 

The end of an era as Joshua leaves the Forest Glade U9 Tigers.

 

Study Desks

With the two boys bringing home more and more homework it has recently became more apparent to us that they both could really do with a desk and chair in their bedrooms. So a quick trip to Ikea today and we let them both pick out a new desk and chair for their rooms. They ended up picking the same chair but the desks were slightly different as Brandon went for a wood effect and Joshua went for black. So now both boys have a nice little set-up in their rooms when they can go and switch off and concentrate on their homework. Next job is to get them a desk lamp and an USB charger extension lead!

 

Brandon with his new study desk and chair.

Joshua's posh new desk and chair.

Holly Potter

Check out this little cutie. Holly followed me up to Joshua's room last week as she always helps me to do the hoovering. Whilst she was in his room she put on his Harry Potter glasses and picked up the Harry Potter wand to cast a spell on me.

 

Meet the cutest little Holly Potter.

I'll cast a spell on you.

Little Ducklings Stage 1 & 2

Holly goes to her swimming lessons every Thursday at the Wickford pool and this week she was awarded her certificates and badges for Little Ducklings Stage 1 and 2. She is getting really confident in the water now and has no fear of jumping in or dunking her head underwater. She no longer needs a parent in the class with her and just goes in with the instructor and all the other kiddies.

 

Holly with her Little Ducklings Stage 1 and 2 certificates and badges.

World Book Day 2017

So yesterday was World Book day and once again all the parents of school kids have spent the last few days frantically searching around for book related costumes that their kids can wear to school. Meanwhile the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda have been rubbing their hands together with the extra revenue that this event nicely generates for them at the parents expense!

 

Anyway everyone saw Brandon’s Fantastic Mr Fox costume which went down very well. Some of his teachers were really impressed with his costume and it sounds like he was the only one in his school with this costume. Joshua was determined to go as Harry Potter which turned out to be a real struggle to purchase as everywhere we went they were either sold out or not in his size. Literally the day before I finally found one in age 9-10 and managed to snap it up. He was so excited about his costume and really looked good. On the down side it appears half the school dressed as Harry Potter hence why everywhere was sold out!

 

Harry Potter and The Fantastic Mr Fox.

Holly had no pre-school today but still wanted in on a picture with her brothers.

Abacus School Cross Country 2017

 



Joshua and Brandon have both been going to the school cross country training early in the morning since about Xmas time. As a result of their hard work they were both picked for their respective years teams and this Tuesday took part in the inter-school cross country race over at Wickford Town. As always both boys did us very proud indeed. Brandon went first and he came 5^th out of the year 3 boys having to fight from the back of the field after someone fell at the start. He was the first Year 3 boy from his school to cross the finish line. Then Joshua went and came 8^th overall and was the 2^nd of the Abacus Year 4 boys to cross the line. So both of them making top 10 and representing their school exceptionally.