Canvey Island FC Summer Tournament

Yesterday the Forest Glade U9 Tigers had their first summer tournament of the 2017/18 season. They finished the league 2 weeks ago on a real high with a 4 win streak. The final game was a very good 7-2 win with Brandon getting 2 assists, 2 goals and MOTM. So we had momentum on our side going in to this tournament.

 

We were in a group of 6 teams of which 4 were Lions, we were the only Tigers and there was a Puma's team (so not an easy group). The Tigers started a bit ropey and got sucked in to some poor play with lesser teams that we should have comfortably won against. We were quite lucky to pick up 2 draws in the first 2 games and only concede 1 goal. But then from the 3rd game onwards the boys started to remember how to play football and went on a rampage scoring the biggest goal tally of 5-0 in all our group games and then wiping out the groups top team 1-0 in our final game. Se we ended the group stage with 3 wins, 2 draws and only conceded 1 goal.

 

We were so close to winning the group stage and only lost out on goal difference to Leigh Rockets who we drew with in our first game. So placing 2nd in our group meant playing the Group B winner which was the Leigh Ramblers Lions who are about 2 divisions above us. The difference in class showed and we ended up bowing out in the quarter finals with a 4-0 loss. That aside the coaches and parents were so proud of the team as this is the first time we have ever qualified out of the group stages and thus it was a big step for the team, a good experience and showed that we are making improvements.

 

Super proud of the Tigers making their first ever quarter final in a tournament.

Action shot of Brandon who mostly covered defending duties in the tournament.

Another shot of Brandon going in for the ball.

And finally coach Jason barking orders from the side line.

European Masters Throwdown

 



 

This past weekend I competed in my first ever International Crossfit competition called the European Masters Throwdown in Budapest. I have qualified for this event for the last 2 years however I did not attend the finals last year for 2 reasons really, firstly I didn’t think I qualified high enough to justify the trip, and secondly, In my head I just couldn’t justify £500+ quid for me to go away for a weekend competition when that could potentially be a week camping with the family (or something similar).

 

This year however I qualified slightly higher which made me think that the trip would be worthwhile if we could afford it. Furthermore my logic was that as I get older it may become more and more difficult to qualify for such events and so I should make the most of these opportunities whilst I still can. I was also thinking that from an inspirational perspective that it would be great for the kids to see their Dad competing in an International competition and hopefully motivate them in whatever sporting activities they chose to pursue in their life’s.

 

Anyway you are probably wondering why I am writing about my competition on a blog that should be dedicated to our three children. Well the answer there is to do with family support and helping out your siblings whenever you can. You see with all the justification outlined in the second paragraph, the fact of the matter is that there is no way I could have afforded to selfishly take myself away for a weekend for one competition without the backing of the family. Or if I did it would be at the expense of our family holiday.

 

So for my birthday this year I asked everyone to not get me a present and instead give me some money which I would put towards some of the costs associated with this trip (flights, hotel, food, taxi’s….. and so on). I was extremely grateful for the birthday money but even that only covered a small portion of the costs of the trip. So that’s where my little Sister steps in and sets up various fund raising initiatives successfully managing to raise a significant amount of money to help cover the costs of the trip.

 

Without a shadow of a doubt there is no way I could of, or would of gone to Budapest without the birthday money and the money which Lisa helped raise. I hate asking for money and would never even contemplate asking unless things were really desperate, so for Lisa to help out as much as she did pulling this together and for everyone who contributed to her fund raising ideas, it  is just incredible.

 

The weekend in Budapest was one of the most amazing weekends I have had with some great friends. I exceeded my goal of finishing higher than I qualified and also achieved my stretched objective to make the semi-finals. I achieved some PB’s across a few events, won a heat beating a Games level athlete and also managed my first ever bar muscle up having been trying them for 3 years +. But none of that is what I want Joshua, Brandon and Holly to take from this whole experience. What I want them to learn and appreciate is how valuable your siblings are, to remain close and to support each other throughout life in whatever way you can. I would be more prouder seeing my kids helping each other out as my sisters and brother have helped me, than any amount of muscle ups they might be able to do one day.

 

Weekend away with Crossfit buddies Nik and Brian was amazing.

 

Getting my first bar muscle up at the European Champs was just an incredible moment.

 

But having a supportive family is better than both of the above!



Frozen Peas

Holly is a bit of a Law unto herself when it comes to eating. She is at an age where she obviously feeds herself very well, but is reluctant to try new foods. However our biggest frustration is that she tends to eat when she is hungry and not at set meal times. If you sit down at the dinner table and she is not hungry, then she will not really eat. But then an hour later she will decide she is hungry and eat like a horse. So she sits kind of in between Joshua and Brandon, where Joshua doesn’t stop eating and Brandon just find the whole eating experience a complete inconvenience and poor use of his time.

 

 

One of Holly’s rather unusual eating habits (and in my opinion quite disgusting) is that she likes eating frozen peas. Whenever we are doing peas for dinner and you get the bag out of the freezer, she will quite happily chow down on a bowl of them. In fact sometimes we have even put frozen peas on her dinner plate as she will eat them more than cooked peas!

 

Holly's unusual eating habits - frozen peas.

 

Brandon the Sleep Walker

It looks like Brandon takes after his old man with sleep walking habits!!! Just lately we have had 2 or 3 very weird incidents of sleep walking with little Bee, one of which could have ended badly with me clumping him up!

 

The first two incidents occurred at around 11pm whilst we were downstairs and the kids were all in bed. On the first occasion Brandon walked in to the living room, eyes wide open and started accusing Joshua of soaking his school bag. The second time was another weird one where he was sleep walking and looking for Mum worried that she had been left behind on a water slide. On both occasions we have quickly realised he was sleep walking and safely ushered him back up to his bedroom.

 

The most recent incident really got my heart racing though. We always double lock the doors downstairs when we go to bed and also put the house alarm on to alert us if any intruders were to ever break in. Well it was 1:15 in the morning and everyone was sound asleep. All of a sudden the house alarm goes off waking everyone up in a panic. I quickly jumped out of bed (completely naked) and ran to the top of the stairs in the pitch black where I suddenly heard footsteps coming up the stairs. A chill went down my spine and my heart rate shot through the roof as I thought someone had broken in and was heading upstairs. So I loaded up in a fighting stance ready to throw everything at the oncoming intruder just thinking that I had to protect the family and that I would have an advantage being on higher ground. Then who comes walking (sleep walking that is) around the stairs - yes Brandon!!!! He had sleep walked downstairs setting off the alarm and was heading back to his room still asleep. If only he knew how close he had come to being "Lamped" by his old man.

 

The next morning we had a laugh about it and Brandon had no idea what had gone on or that he had even got out of his bed, let alone his bedroom.

Joshua's Star of the Week for Concerntration

At Joshua's last parents evening the biggest criticism from his teacher was that he is easily distracted and does not concentrate and apply himself as much as he should. After the parents evening we was a little disappointed with these comments and told him that we want to see a change before Year 5 ends and want to hear from his teacher that there has been significant improvement.

Needless to say I am super proud that today he came home with the Star of the Week Award and when you read what he got it for you will notice it says "For having a great start to the new term and showing focus and concentration". So it looks like he took on-board our comments and has turned things around, lets see if he can now maintain this until the end of this school year.

Joshua gets Star of the Week for focus and concerntration - who would have thought?

District Cross Country Finals

So today was Brandon's big day as he competed in the district cross country finals over at Hadleigh Cycle park and he best part was that I had arranged time off with work so that I could be there to cheer him on.

I felt sorry for the kids as cross country should be cold, wet and muddy and instead they had one of the hottest days recorded in April in something like 40 years! to make things even worse Brandon's race was scheduled to start at 12 lunchtime - so peak sun.

I told Brandon that he has done amazing to even make it to the District Championships regardless of the outcome. There was 130 kids in his race so the start line-up was a bit manic as they all dashed off up the hill. Brandon got shut out a bit at the start and also had a little stumble which left him trailing somewhere near the rear 20 places, but he dug in deep and clawed back some ground to finally finish in 45th place. Brandon was disappointed as he wanted a top 20 finish but I told him that to place in the top 1/3rd was an amazing achievement anyway.

In fact out of the four Abacus kids that went to the Districts, Brandon placed highest as the others were 46th, 48th and 90th. So overall I couldn't have been more prouder of Brandon. He ran his little heart out and gave it everything. The only downside was that my arms and face got sun burnt standing around watching him.

Brandon all dressed up in the school track gear ready for the Districts. The track suit didn't stay on long given the heat outside.

A manic start line with some 130 kids ready to sprint off up the hill.

And they are off, Brandon is in that pack somewhere wearing black shorts and a purple shirt.

Coming down the hill and Brandon opens out his stride like I told him and overtakes a few people.

Brandon doesn't like sprint finishes but you can see here that he was giving it everything towards the final straight. (Auntie Lisa - wasn't you saying you always wanted a shot of you running with both feet off the ground? I nailed it with Bee). 

45th place out of 130. Well done Bee.

To cool off in the mid day sun Brandon tipped my drinking water over his head.

Me and my little man after his race. Super proud of him.

Holly's School Placement Confirmed

Some great news for Holly this week as on Monday she had her official letter confirming her acceptance in to Abacus Primary School starting this September. I think I have mentioned before that she is so ready to start school now and is really, excited about joining her two brothers come September. Unfortunately she will only get one year in Primary School with both Josh and Brandon as Joshua will start Year 6 and then he'll be off to Secondary School.

Our next challenge is to try and get her to stop farting and picking her nose and to act more like a lady before she starts school!

Happy Holly with her school place acceptance letter.

District Cross Country Training at Hadleigh

Today Brandon had to meet one of his teachers and 3 other kids from his school over at Hadleigh Olympic Cycle Park for a training session in preparation for the district cross country championships which take place next week. Whilst Brandon was training I used the opportunity to take Joshua and Holly around some of the various cycle which was a little muddy to say the least.

 

After Brandon finished his training we had a nice picnic and then all 3 of them enjoyed another couple of hours over the park doing more cycling and playing in the play areas. Holly is still on stabilisers and so I was pushing her around which makes for a good workout. She also loves going through muddy puddles which means I ended up with very wet and muddy feet.

 

At one point Holly cycled into a huge puddle and got stuck there with her back wheel spinning like a water wheel. Everyone was laughing and wondering how she was going to get out of the puddle and she just jumped off with a huge splash and pushed the bike out herself.

 

At the end of our cycling the kids all wanted an ice cream to finish off and Holly woofed down a lemonade ice lolly. Joshua and Brandon got a pot of black current ice cream of which Brandon didn't like so I ended up eating it and buying him a replacement Magnum instead.

 

Joshua and Holly doing some mountain biking whilst Brandon was training for the district cross country.

Holly is starting to pedal on her own now so fingers crossed I can try and get her off of stabilisers later this year.

Joshua on the stunt track.

Another action shot of Joshua.

Meanwhile Brandon was out running the hills and getting some hard training done.

This was the rather large puddle that Holly got stuck in.

Nice shot of our 3 babies playing nicely in the play area.

Holly is now big enough to do the rope ladder on her own.

Holly on the stepping logs. Again no help needed now.

Brandon found an innovative way to swing his brother and sister, he jumped on the back as it swung towards him so his whole body was hanging in the air with his weight pulling them down.

Brandon cycling after he had finished his running.

Just a little bit of mud. How am I going to get all this back in the car without needing a full valet afterwards?

More action shots of Joshua.

Brandon getting muddy and riding through all the puddles.

And just look at the end result of Brandon's cycling. There is no way in blue hell he is getting in my car like that!

Half Term Activities

I have had a lovely week off of work for the second week of Easter and have been trying to spend quality time with the kids. Keeping them entertained and amused on a limited budget has been challenging but we have managed well and the kids seem to have had a good half term.

 

Earlier in the week I dug out the old easel and paints for Holly as she wanted to do some paintings. Tina would never do something like this with the kids as she hates the mess, needless to say Holly loved this and made four huge paintings.

 

We have also taken the kids to the Colchester Leisure World swimming pool which has the water slides, lazy river, pirate ship etc. What with swimming and having the jacuzzi setup again it seems like most of the week we have been soaking in chlorine!

 

We also managed to sneak in a quick game of bowling earlier this week at the Hollywood Bowl in Festival. Joshua was leading all the way until the last round when he came under pressure from Holly who scored a strike with her final ball. She went from last place to finish on 83 points, just 2 behind Joshua.

 

Messy play as Holly does some painting during half term.

She absolutely loved the painting and did 4 big pictures in the end.

We tried various different brushes and stamps to be as creative as possible.

The kids enjoying a pitcher of slushie before starting their bowling game.

In order of how they finished, Joshua just beating Holly with Brandon coming in last (but still smiling).

Holly meets Skye from Paw Patrol



Today was my 46th Birthday and the day started with an hour and a half Crossfit followed by about an hour in the Jacuzzi. As I have taken all week off work for half term it was a nice chilled morning until the 3 kids all woke up and then joined me in the hot tub.

 

The rest of my Birthday was pretty low key as I desperately need to save pennies to cover my Budapest Crossfit competition in about 4 weeks time. So after breakfast and Holly's swimming class we nipped in to Basildon to do some shopping, grab some lunch (Taco Bell) and then Holly went to meet Skye who is one of the characters she likes from a Children's programme called Paw Patrol.

 

Despite really looking forward to meeting Paw Patrol characters she actually went all shy and wouldn't her picture taken unless I went with her. After meeting Skye Holly also got to do some Paw Patrol crafts and made a little Paw Patrol sign with some cutting, sticking and colouring.

 

 

Spending my 46th Birthday meeting Skye with Holly.

I think the over sized character was a bit intimidating for little Holly.

But Holly really enjoyed her Paw Patrol arts and crafts.

And here w=is her finished craft activity.

Me, Holly and Bee blowing out the candles on my birthday cake. The Superman shirt was Holly's birthday present to me.

Tina ordered a football cake, but Tesco's delivered a Batman cake. Still we got it free of charge due to their mistake.

Out Comes the Jacuzzi



After months of nagging from Holly we finally got the jacuzzi out this weekend. Now that spring us upon us, the sun is threatening to come out, temperatures are back in double figures and more importantly the heating is turned off - it was time to get our Intex out of the shed.

 

New for this year is our half hexagon decking step which I built with help from Holly. Its incredible that I have two strong, fit young boys who would rather play on the PlatStation than help their old man, yet my little 4 years old girl was happy to get her hands dirty and help me build the step. Mind you I guess it is only right that she helps given that we built it mainly because her little legs struggled to climb in and out of the jacuzzi last year.

 

Yesterday was the first day it could be used after letting the chlorine settle down. So as soon as football was over we was all in there. Then late in the evening as the sun was going down it was time to put on some music and chill in the hot tub. I'd forgotten just how much I enjoyed spending the evenings soaking in the tub and listening to some tunes.

 

 

The hexagon decking step that Holly helped me to build. I think we did a pretty good job on that.

 

The kids couldn't wait to get back in the hot tub. And no PlayStation in site!

On go the bubbles for the first time in 2018.

Me and my babies enjoying family time in the hot tub. I think we overfilled it a little!!!

Holly's School Uniform

Well we are only days away from the 16th April when we find out what Primary School Holly will be going to. Although if ever you wanted to place a bet on a "sure thing" then you wouldn't go wrong with betting on Abacus. Given that Holly's two brothers both go to Abacus and it was the only school we added to her application form - then it should be a dead cert.

 

In preparation for starting school in September Holly has already received some uniform from some of Tina's friends who's daughters have outgrown them. Holly was dead keen to try on the school dress and cardigan and I have to say it is shocking just how grown up she looks. Where has my little baby girl gone?

 

Holly looking very grown up in her school uniform ready for this September.

Lamborghini Picture



I keep forgetting to post this touched up picture of the boys with the red Lamborghini which was taken recently at the Cubs hall.