What a busy Half Term we have had..

Half Term and school holidays always seem to arrive very quickly. We had several activities and outings planned to fill the days with a little excitement thrown in. Raffi's first excitement came when Eric surprised him by bringing home a mini motorbike..

but his excitement soon turned to crossness when he realised he would not actually be riding it as the bike was just TOO big! (Besides, mother would not allow it and mother was truly thankful it was non functional!!!)

Fortunately grumpiness does not last long with Raphael, he is quite easily distracted, but has a painfully good memory when it comes to promises. I am careful what I promise! Thank goodness I was able to tell him we had all been invited to a Bouncy Castle/Barbecue Party the next day, he was hugely excited about that thought and was soon smiling again!

Bouncing Party Day finally arrived and he bounced for 5 hours flat!!! totally exhausted on that hot afternoon.

The Barbecue was delicious, Eric cooked the meats and I had prepared and taken a Tabouleh (Middle Eastern Salad). Everyone enjoyed the food especially the younger members at the party. Raffi tucked into garlic chicken kebabs with great gusto!!

Bank Holiday Monday (surprisingly) dawned with exceptionally clear sky's, just right for a walk at The Humber Bridge Country Park, Hessle.

We all enjoyed our walk, although having Raffi's bike with us was a nuisance, we spent most of the time pushing it!

Raffi and I enjoying one of those cuddles (they get less as they get older)!

Just Eric

Back in the car-park after our walk, Raphael's Scooter came out of the boot of the car, he just loves this Pooh Bear Ride on Scooter and can get some amazing speeds up. He was wonderfully happy to have so much space and freedom to scoot in.

Friday of Half Term saw us pack up for the day and travel to Hornsea beach, this is our closest beach, about an hour up the East coast from Hull. We arrived at lunch time to buy the BEST fish and chips ever, ate them in the car with tomato sauce and wooden forks, looking out on the breezy North Sea!

Once we got settled on the beach, Raphael immediately started collecting stones, to build a house!


then....digging holes, for chairs!


After digging and playing Eric and Raphael took an amble down to the waters edge, just for a very short paddle in the super cold water!!

Home time and an hours drive inland back into Hull where the sun was shinning 5 degrees hotter. Ah well, it was great to see Raffi enjoying himself so much, worth it for the smiles. It was an excellent but exhausting day on the beach.

Amazingly the sun shone again early on Sunday morning. Just right for The Race For Life for cancer research. Raffi and I planned to cheer our good friends Hannah, Etta and Nicola on in an all female 5K race.

Below, one of many pictures of the staggered start. Runners, joggers, walkers, wheelchairs set off on a brilliant pink fund raising cause, competitors of all ages and abilities negotiated the 5K course with the winner finishing in about 18 minutes!!!

Most participants were dressed in pink or original costumes providing a moving train of spectacular colours around the course. Fantastic! If you would like to see many more pictures of this event please take a look here
http//hullisneverdull.blogspot.com/

This crazy woman started, walked and finished in those wild stacked shoes, nice one!

Raphael has had an exciting week off nursery school. He now enters his final nursery term, I am a little sad, (needless to say, he isn't) about him starting primary school. He is great company and I shall miss him at home every afternoon. He keeps telling me "I am a big boy now" and he is so impatient, wanting to join the older children.....and run as fast as them!!!

Not long Raphael, not long.

Whats all the Twitter about?

I had never heard of Twitter until I came across it through a YouTube clip. I am not promoting what I saw but if you are interested to see what made ME investigate Twitter further click the link below. It makes very interesting watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_zBeYkZw2o

I was interested in their claim that they could increase traffic quite considerably by installing Twitter Traffic Machine. I listened intently to what they had to say. It made me want to look into Twitter further, so I did.

I discovered Twitter is a kind of social networking site, generating huge amounts of interest across the globe thanks to one simple concept. All Twitter.com does is ask: "What are you doing?" Simple in itself, user friendly and HIGHLY addictive! I also suspect this social networking site will become an extremely dangerous competitor and rival to other social networking sites, for example, MySpace and Facebook.

My interest grew, and I registered and started "Tweeting". If you are familiar or have used Twitter yourself, you will know that you are limited to 140 typing characters....not alot to concisely describe "what I am doing". My brain goes into overdrive, challenging boring words and replacing them with interesting relevant information. Definitely Twitter is an asset reviving ailing brain cells. For sure my creative words are flowing freely on my Twitter addiction!!

I did consider, before opening an account if this networking site would be beneficial to ME. I don't have sufficient time to give 100% to chatting with new friends, but I did like the idea that I could promote my own blogs through this network medium, particularly my favourite blog:-

"Hull is Never Dull"

http://hullisneverdull.blogspot.com/

This blog relates to my hometown and something new everyday catches my imagination for blogging. The more readers I have the more satisfied I feel.

Twitter seems to be used for a multitude of purposes, from announcing events, to promoting charities and generally talking about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.

I like it, alot.

An ace marketing tool, I shall be using Twitter to its maximum advantage and hope that this blog will spread the word about its diversity and popularity.

Perhaps you will join, if you do... see you there :-)

Thoughts

I'm listening to Khod Balak Alaya-Elissa on YouTube and thinking, we need a holiday to Lebanon, the beautiful land of my husband and his family. His dear mother who misses him so much, his brother who adores Raphael and scolds us continually for not visiting more frequently. The cost of the flights is our main barrier.

My mouth aches....like really aches, I had a tooth out today. I'm happy though, the dentist fills me with dread every time and its great pleasure to get out of the chair and come home. The sheer RELIEF is a fantastic feeling! I shan't go into the details of my visit....I know it would make freaky reading!!

I picked up a recipe book today from Oxfam, Dr Atkins Quick and Easy New Diet Cookbook. I am running out of ideas of what to feed Eric that is varied and meets the Atkin's criteria. I have found some interesting recipes, no doubt I shall be cooking tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I am attending a meeting at Raphael's primary school, the one he will be attending 8th September 2009. I received his formal letter and felt very excited for him, his name on the letter and the offer of a school place. As his nursery school is attached to the primary school he knows lots of the children and seems to get along with them all just fine. He is happy to go to the nursery and is a popular boy. I am sure he will be as enthusiastic about attending 'big' school. I shall be a bit sad though, I really LOVE his company.

My age is getting me down, not the number, but all the 'womanly' things that go with it...sometimes I despair at being a woman, the hormones just won't settle grrrrr! Nearly time to visit the GP before Eric divorces me for irrational behaviour!!

English weather is something always in the back of everyones mind. Countless visitors to our home launch into mundane conversations about the weather every time!! Our friend Hannah actually studies aspects of the weather and loves nothing better than to give us the benefit of her knowledge. One male visitor ALWAYS tells me the state of the weather.....perhaps I look like I would be interested, or he is just being polite!! I find myself joining in and then wonder why we talk about the weather all the time!

Time to stop rambling, when I read that last paragraph, I thought no more thoughts for now.

Have a good evening, morning, afternoon whilst you are reading this :-)

This is getting to be soooo frustrating.

Perhaps if I write down my frustrations they will seem a little easier to deal with.

Nappies, potty training, dry bed at night are all things we mothers strive for, almost like an ongoing competition between parents. The hot topic of conversation seems to be "is your child dry during the day and night?" Proudly I can say, Raphael IS completely dry during the night....being in a big bed and newly decorated bedroom helped him and me tremendously during this transition. We have had absolutely no wet beds at all, nearly 5 months later. Great I thought, now we just have to tackle our little problem of "total dryness during the day" You see, Raphael intermittently wets and dirties his pants. I have managed to identify that he certainly regresses badly if he has a cold, wetting nearly every time AND pooing (sorry) in his pants too! I have tried getting angry, delivered punishments, promised rewards, reminded him constantly to go to the bathroom, (but I think that had an adverse effect resulting in a major power struggle between us). I have tried ignoring it, staying calm and just hopping the situation would improve. The list goes on, some days I absolutely despair and end up in tears!

Eric is a lot less patient with Raffi than I am and won't tolerate wet pants, raises his voice and tends to punish him loudly. He sayes I am too 'soft' with him but in my defence, I hate confrontation and the resulting tantrums and sulks that follow. Raphael is a stubborn lad, I also think he is 'lazy'...playing is far more fun than peeing!

In desperation I scoured the Internet for answers, putting in a search for 'wetting pants at 5 years old' (he will be 5 in 4 months). It would seem that I am not alone, lots of mums with similar pee happy kids! A couple of suggestions caught my eye and I shall try them. A reward chart and talking to him about wearing nappies at school!

I also discovered this wonderful site on my travels around the net, know to many around the world..

http://www.supernanny.co.uk/Advice/-/Parenting-Skills/The-Reward-Chart.aspx

a very well organised site with masses of reading material.

Today I am starting the reward chart. I talked to Raphael and pointed out that he is NOT a baby and would not be wanting to go to 'big' school in nappies! He agreed and also suggested that as part of his reward, he could write his name. He really loves writing letters, this could be a good tool to use.

Raphael is now tucked up in bed after a hugely busy day. This morning after a fun hot bath and cuddles and fun with dad we all went to the local 'Car Boot Sale'. The sun shone and I was on a mission to find stickers and rewards for Raffi's impending dry days!

A happy Raffi returned from the Car Boot Sale with a reward chart calendar AND Sponge-Bob stickers, he was so excited. I sat him down and explained that if he continued to have dry pants for the remainder of the day until 7.00 pm bedtime he would be rewarded with a sticker of his choice. He just could not wait until 7.00, he kept asking me what time it was.

Mid afternoon Eric took over and joined Raffi at the table to do his weekly homework. He is always thrilled on Friday's at his nursery school when he is handed his 'work' for the weekend. This week was ladybirds. Colouring, cutting, sticking and chat about ladybirds in general. I love to see his enthusiasm when he is searching for the words to explain his thoughts. I also love the fact that Eric enjoys craft with him so much, they get very close.

Eventually the time came and we sat at the table with his stickers. I explained to him that if he earnt 4 more stickers he would get one of the larger rewards he had chosen earl er at the boot sale. He understood fully what I was saying, it pleased me alot that we had reached bedtime with the same underpants on. Here's a happy mummy. WELL DONE RAFFI. We have all had a super day. Lets see if it will last.

Raphael's Reward Calendar

Finally, the first Paeony in our garden, beautifully vibrant, love them.

"Free Fun" is the Best Fun!

PEARSON PARK

Although we live in the city, we are lucky enough to have a large park within walking distance of our home. I have spent many happy years with all my 4 children frequently visiting, walking the paths, duck feeding, fish spotting and playing in the fun colourful playground.

Of course Raffi LOVES it here too, like his siblings did and as the sun peeped out of the clouds yesterday morning he asked, "Can we go to the park after nursery school mummy?". I enthusiastically agreed hoping that the weather would hold out... a cool breeze was blowing but at least it wasn't raining!

12.00 midday came, Raffi's little face lit up like a light bulb when he saw me, park time here we come!

His excitement bubbled as we entered the park. "What shall we do first", I asked, "THE PLAYGROUND" was the excited reply. The playground has 2 distinct areas designed for different age groups. Raffi loves both, but climbing across the rope chain, in the older area was a challenge for him, particularly as I kept asking him to look at the camera! "I can't mummy I am walking and being careful"!!

For the under 7's various climb-on vehicles, slides and rocks entertain the little ones.

Raffi particularly likes the rocks, his daredevil, Tarzan instinct comes into play every time, with him stripping off his top and yelling and beating his chest whilst jumping from rock to rock. I shuddered every time he jumped (he shows no fear) and I got fed up of hearing myself saying "be careful Raffi". I wish his dad was with us, but not today. I need huge energy levels to keep up with Raphael, he is so full of energy, I sometimes feel the effects of being 48 with a 4 year old!!!

The ducks, fish and pigeons all get very well fed when the sun comes out, everyone seems to have the same idea....go to the park....feed the ducks, buy an ice cream! We were no different. I packed some lunch, his scooter, my camera and spare warm clothes in case of climate change!!!

It must be mating season for these noisy park ducks. These 3 males viciously attacked this female in what I presume is a "duck ritual"? They pecked her so hard I felt sorry her. Raffi asked what was happening... I told him they were "making ducklings", what else can you say to a 4 year old!! He was happy with my reply.

With all that playing and 30 minutes charging around on his scooter a well deserved ice cream was needed to refuel Raffman's energy. We had been in the park for 2 hours, time to go home. I had had enough. He only protested slightly at this suggestion I think he was as tired as I was.

What a difference the sun makes, lets hope we get more of the same in the coming weeks.

Raphael March 2009

I love my camera and I love my son, here are just a few pictures taken of him recently.

"JADE"

Jade Cerisa Lorraine Goody
5 June 1981 – 22 March 2009

Mother’s Day came and went, Jade Goody lost her fight with cervical cancer. Her death affected me, and I am not sure why…..so much negative hatred from the general public for this poor girl, it breaks my heart. Too young to die at 27, 2 small boys and I guess thousands of public mourners like myself.

Eric and I watched her first series of Big Brother, we laughed at her, with her and about her. She provided good entertainment. Then we followed her racist blunder a few years later. You can’t help but warm to her, brash but harmless.

Her open manipulation of the media to her advantage, I greatly applaud, she is one hell of a brave woman to expose herself when so vulnerable and sick. She has done a terrific job to raise cancer awareness, that can surely only be a GOOD thing. OK magazine did a beautiful job photographing Jade and her new husband Jack Tweed’s wedding. Although I did frown on OK magazine for publishing Jade’s obituary BEFORE she passed away. Shame on you OK!

Just my thoughts about ‘Jade’, I only knew her through the media and how sad for it to end through the media, for all the wrong reasons.

Rest in peace Jade, love or hate you , YOU will be sadly missed.