Star of the Week for Holly

How incredible is this, Holly received "Star of the Week" at school this week for progressing and exceling in all her subjects. This is such an amazing achievement for her as she does have some difficulties with her dyslexia and was also super anxious about secondary school. So far she is smashing it. She has even been going to a ready club 4 out of 5 mornings before school starts to help with her reading.

Joshua's 18th Birthday - Come Alive!

Yesterday Joshua's childhood officially expired as he turned 18 and enters the world of adulthood. His main present this year was the maturity of his trust fund which should now set him up nicely for years to come along with the "parent price" which we sold the Fiesta to him for. However we couldn't not get him anything for his 18th so we bought him a Boss watch that he wanted, an 18 throw type blanket (to stop him nicking other peoples) and the obligatory 18 pint glass with some ciders now that he can legally drink. In addition to this Holly bought him a couple of neck chains and Brandon got him a dashcam for his car.

In order to celebrate his big day we had also purchased tickets to watch The Greatest Showman - Come Alive show at the Empress Museum in London. We was somewhat surprised when he asked for this but he does like The Greatest Showman and given that we all enjoyed the movie, it was a rare chance for us to go to an event like this as a family. So we had a nice day in London having a wander around the Tower, Earls Court, the Embankment etc, grabbed some food and then headed over to Earls Court to catch our evening show.

The "Come Alive" show is absolutely incredible. We all had a fab time watching some truly spectacular acts and enjoying some West End quality productions of some of the big songs from the movie. Probably our favourite acts was a woman who performed some aerial acrobatics hung from her hair and a chap who did some amazing gymnastics on a tightrope that was just insane. Also I got to enjoy a beer or two with Josh without worrying about underage drinking restrictions which was nice.  

Your childhood has expired.

Joshua's new throw/blanket for those cosy winter evening's.

Birthday cuddles with the lady who brought him in to this world 18 years ago.

Birthday stroll around London.

A quick lap of the Tower before heading over to the Embankment.

Finally the front facing camera works on my new phone for taking selfies!

Traitors Gate.

Pumpkins out in Covent Garden.

Then after some food it was on to the Empress Museum to get ready for our evening show.

A few displays outside the Museum.

The Greatest Show on Earth.

Lot's of interesting displays and artifacts to walk around before the show started.

The inside was really well decorated out for old school circus feel.

The famous jacket from The Greatest Showman.

Me chopping my own hand off.

Enjoying a birthday bevvy or two with Josh.

It was supposed to be my rest day, but I found some circus weights to play with.

The Greatest Show.

Me and T really enjoying a rare family day out. We don't get many of these as the kids grow up and have their own interests.

Holly thoroughly enjoyed the whole day and had a good old sing-a-long to the show.

After exploring the museum and having some food and drink we took to our seats ready for the show to start. Absolutely fantastic views in a really theatrical top hat arena.

Ready Confetti for Senior School

I was clearing off our letter board last week and I stumbled across an envelope that Holly brought home on her last day of Junior School. The envelope was labelled "Do not open until the night before Seniors" and consequently we had completely forgotten about it. Anyway better late than never and we opened the letter to find a lovely poem and some ready confetti from her old head teach Mrs Blakeley.

Games Night with Holly

With the boys both being pretty grown up now, family games nights are kind of a thing of the past. Luckily I still have Holly who enjoys a good game or two of an evening. On Saturday when Tina was out working we dusted off the electronic Battleship's which she had never played before. Amazingly having not been touched in circa 8 years or so the batteries were still good. Anyway Holly really enjoyed Battleship's and we ended up playing two rounds. Unfortunately she lost both, but she did give me a good run for my money in the first game and took an early lead sinking 3 of my ships before I'd got off the mark!

After the Battleship's we then dusted off the classic Guess who where she completely thrashed me! 

Holly's first ever game of Battleship's and taking an early lead against me.

Then on to the classic Guess Who for the second game of our games evening.

Brandon's Provisional Driving Licence

So only a few months after getting Joshua successfully through his driving test and we are about to start the process all over again. Brandon now has his provisional driving licence and is keen to get his theory test booked as close as possible to his 17th birthday in January. He has already made a shortlist of what potential cars he wants for his first purchase which probably means me and Tina need to start looking now so that he has something to learn in (especially given that we sold the last Fiesta to Joshua as part of his forthcoming 18th birthday so that is no longer available to him)! His shortlist so far is a Ford Ka, Seat Ibizia, Alfa Mito or a Kia Rio (he absolutely doesn't want a Fiesta).

Brandon's provisional driving licence ahead of his 17th birthday. Looks like a criminal but at least he is smiling.

Holly's First Few Weeks at Secondary School

Really pleased to say that Holly has settled in to Beauchamp's Secondary School amazingly. At times she let's her anxiety get to her a little, but she has made new friends, she has no problems walking too and from school on her own, she has embraced the new uniform, she is being really disciplined with homework and making sure she gets at least one piece done each night and so on. So we really couldn't be more pleased with her progress so far. She also seems to be picking up at least one merit every single day which again is outstanding.

Last night was a good example where Tina went to work and I was downstairs sorting some bits and bobs out around the house and without any nagging Holly just quietly went up to her bedroom and cracked on with her art homework. I went upstairs half an hour later to check on her and run her bath and was amazed to see that she had cracked on and done the piece of art homework shown below completely off her own back. Oddly enough I remember doing exactly the same piece of homework 7 years ago with Joshua and having to painstakingly sit at the kitchen table with him going through it line by line.

Holly's first piece of art homework at secondary school.

Summer Holiday Theme Parks

A bit late for this blog post but once we got back from holiday Tina booked a trip to Chessington World of Adventures for her, Holly, Brandon and Maia. Joshua didn't want to go and I was back to work and thus as the numbers were reduced we bought the fast pass thingy again to make sure the kids could go on all the rides they wanted too (and multiple times). 

Brandon pretty much blitzed the theme parks during the summer holidays as he had this trip to Chessington, then he also went to Alton Towers and Thorpe Park with his Maia and her parents. So he kind of covered the bog three in a matter of 2 weeks!  Anyway I won't write much else about this trip or label all the pictures as I wasn't there due to work and can't really comment. Certainly looks like they all had a good day though and picked a great day weather wise.

6th Form Casual Wear

Finally managed to get a picture of Brandon all ready for a day at 6th form. Like I said earlier it is unusual seeing him head off to school not wearing school uniform. He has spent an absolute fortune on smart clothes to wear in 6th form the result of which means it takes him ages to get ready of a morning and will change clothes multiple times asking Tina to keep ironing bits for him!!!! Anyway touch wood so far the 6th form is going well and he is enjoying it. Next is to try and sneak a picture of Joshua heading off to college for his BTEC L2 Engineering.

Smart and smiling. Something must be going right this morning.

Holly's Day 1 at Beauchamps

And just like that the summer holidays are over and Holly has had her first day at Beauchamp's secondary school yesterday. She looked so grown up and very smart in her blazer and tie. Come to think of it, I think this is the first time she had ever worn a tie. Anyway she seems to have enjoyed her first day and settled in as good as you can hope. Tina walked her to and from school yesterday and then today she met up with a friend called Jessie to make their way to school and then walked herself home.

Brandon has also had his first day back as a 6th former - no pictures of him though. It does seem weird seeing him go to school in casual clothes instead of the school uniform. 

Joshua has his first day back at Chelmsford College tomorrow for his Level 2 BTEC in Engineering. After tomorrow we will have a better idea of his timetable for the next year, but now that he has the Fiesta to drive it shouldn't really impact us much.

First day at secondary school and it is all smiles.

How grown up and smart she looks in her new uniform.

Joshua's First Car

With Joshua starting college again this week we had to make a decision regarding whether he continues using the bus/train like last year, or whether to sort out a car given that he has now passed his driving test. It didn't make sense to put him on our insurance on the Fiesta as the premium was too high and it would have meant he doesn't accumulate any no claims discount.

So that left us with two options. Option 1 was to give him an advance to buy a car of his own and then him to pay us back when he gets his trust fund on his 18th birthday. Option 2 was similar only instead of buying another car we sell him the Fiesta (at a discounted parent rate) and put me and Tina on as named drivers so that on the off occasion when we need two cars - we can still drive the Fiesta.

I was completely sold on either option but I couldn't put by finger on why it didn't feel right. So after several discussions we decided on Option 2 and the Fiesta has now been transferred to Joshua's ownership and is thus his first official car. Oddly enough by adding me and Tina as named drivers on his policy seemed to reduce his premium. At least with option 2 we know he has a very good, very reliable, low mileage car that if he takes care of, should last him several years.

In the first few days having the car was very much a novelty and Joshua was off out driving here, there and everywhere. Meeting his mates, driving out to get breakfast etc.etc. It has been weird seeing him drive himself off to rugby training as for many, many years that has always been my job to run the kids to after school clubs. Anyway at least he has a car now and will be able to drive to Chelmsford college which also means I do not have to be late for work in order to drop him off at the station.

You would think he would look a bit happier as we have just sold him a very good car at almost half market price!

Very odd feeling seeing him drive himself off to rugby!