Exciting developments yesterday

Wednesday 28th April was a big day for my new business venture Teacups & Tiaras as we had our first photo shoot. My partner Jo and I have been working for months, sourcing, making and sewing items for all the themes. All our hard work paid off yesterday as when it was all put together it looked fantastic. A photographer (www.photogenicimages.com) that I use a lot for events very kindly took the photos for us, his studio is based at ??? House in Kent which is a stunning location with acres of beautiful gardens. Unfortunately we only got to shoot two themes outside as it was so windy but the rest was done in the studio. The website will go live in a few weeks but here are a couple of pics from our shoot...

Things they say...

It is surprising how quickly our little people are growing up and what amazes me is that we soon forget the little things they say and quirky things they do, so to remind us in a few years I am jotting a few down today:

Our little fella
I think some children are born with very good manners, we have never taught Sam at 3yrs old to hold doors/gates open for people but it always amazes me that he does, espically ladies with buggies, etc. He always says please and thank you with very limited reminders and at the most unexpected times.

He is such a caring chap when I asked him for the third time to stay in his bed tonight he said but I want you to sleep with me mummy, I explained that I had a lot of work to do and his reply was 'Don't worry me and you can do it in the morning together'

I love the way he tells Daisy and I we look beautiful when we dress up to go out or wear something new.

He still calls yogurt - gog gogs. He loves smoothies, strawberries, hommous, bacon, beans and pasta.

He loves to blow raspberries on you and giggles until you do them back. He loves cuddles and having his bot bot and back rubbed. He doesnt like showers. He is scared of flys. He will try to pick up every cat he sees. He thinks he is helping me by weeing on the plants 'but mum I am watering them to stay alive'.

He love love love loves steam trains and adores his Grandad Frank.

Our little lady
She insists that she has a light on when going to sleep but burys herself under her duvet, head and all? She loves to draw. She adores her family esp her cousins and her nanny Maureen.

She loves to eat chocolate cake but doesnt like icing. She loves apple juice, pasta and pizza.

She is obessed with changing her outfit including knickers at least 3 times a day which is a little tiring on the washing chores.

She is enjoying telling jokes at the moment: Why did the banana got to the doctors? Because he wasnt peeling very well. Not sure where she got it from but we all found it very funny.

She now showers on her own including washing her hair. She loves raiding mummy's cupboard to use my hair brushes, etc

Her favourite tv show is 'Grand Pa in my pocket' and 'Pepper Pig', I love the way that when the shows come on if they are not together the other will run and shout excitidly telling the other one the show is on.

First paddle of the year

Happy Birthday Matilda

Today we went to Matlida's (daisy & Sam's 2nd cousin) 5th birthday party. Kelly held it at Stanmer House which is in Stanmer Park, it is a stunning location and the weather was beautiful. Daisy and Sam had a lovely time they both got their face painted by Aunty Dawn, Sam was very pleased with his train! It was a Rainbow themed party so there was lots of colour and Matlida looked cute dressed in her rainbow outfit.

The little lady loses another one

this time it is at the top. There was great excitement and a lot of blood when this one came out. Mummy and Daisy were home alone when it happened, I heard a scream from the kitchen so I ran in and I was greeted with Daisy looking like Dracula! Daisy was very brave and Mummy was very brave and calm considering the amount of blood there was.
































As it was a nice warm day, it was time for the Spring school uniform

A couple of first's...

Samuel had his first swimming lesson today, I chose not do do lessons with me in the pool as I could not really see the point paying for someone to tell me to tell Sam to kick his legs. Unfortunately in Brighton they dont do lessons on their own until they are 4 so we are having to travel to Burgess Hill every Tuesday for them. I was a little nervous as Sam has never really done any group/teacher things on his own and he knows this pool for the big pirate ship so I was worried that he would just want to play but he was fantastic. He was good so and listened to everything he was told and in no time at all he was going across the pool holding on to a float kicking his legs. He loved his lesson and cannot wait to go back next week. Well done Sammy boy.

Daisy went to Rainbows for the first time today. Rainbows is the group before Brownies, in our area the waiting lists for these groups are generally over a year long so we were really lucky to get in when we did. It is only for an hour and Daisy knew some of the girls from school and he had a great time, so much so she came out asking when she can get the uniform!

My recovery from the marathon has been a lot better than I expected. I was expecting to be broken for weeks. Yesterday (the day after) my upper thighs were sore, my left knee and my toe nails painful. Walking down the stairs was also interesting!! I had a massage yesterday afternoon for an hour and a half so I think that with the cold bath on Sunday has helped my recovery.

The 1st ever Brighton Marathon - Sunday 18th April 2010

WOW, what a day... it all started at 6.30am when my fellow runners (my niece Cala, brother Carl and Carl's brother in law John) woke me up. After a quick breakfast we made our way to my sister Jo's to drop of the car and pick my other fellow runner up, my nephew Jay. Murphy then gave us a lift to the Start line in Preston Park for the first ever Brighton Marathon.

We hung out in the charity village for a bit, had a cup of tea, gave our bag in and made our way to the start. The marathon was due to start at 9am but there was a slight delay and we finally got over the line at 9.20am, unfortunately we had to make a quick stop as Cala, Jay and I were desperate for the loo (the bushes in Preston Park got a good water). It was then on with the race, we made it round Preston Park and my mum was there to cheer us on and take our tops off us. It was then down London road, where Jo, Murphy, Andy, Gill, Beckie, Kelly and Jennie were there to see us past. Thankfully our supporters had foam hands so we saw them before they saw us - it was such a great pick me up to see them cheering us on.

We went through the north lanes, back up to the Level, down to the Old Steine and then up St James Street where Cala and I picked up another runner James, (Jo and Kelly had also done a fantastic job of running through the back streets to be there to cheer us on). At this point Jay, John and Carl were way ahead of us. After St James Street it was back on the coast road to Ovingdean, we were running behind Fat Boy Slim (Norman Cook) through the school, it was then up the hill to Rottingdean where we saw my sister Debby, niece Kelly and her girls cheering us on. It was such a boast to see them as we had been without spectators for a good view miles.

Thankfully the hills were now done and it was on the flat back into Brighton, our fantastic supporters were waiting for us by Brighton Pier and supplied us with Choc bars, etc. Cala, James and I managed to run without stopping to the 15 mile mark, we had a cheeky little walk before going again along New Church Rd, knowing that Tim and the babies would be there at the bottom of the road kept us going, it was great to see family and friends at this point. It was then back to The Drive, at this point we had over taken Jay (who had an injury) and Carl and unfortunately lost James as he had slowed right down). I was having problems with my knee but poor Cala was in a lot of pain with her shoulder (an excisting injury). We did a mixture of power walking and jogging down to the lagoon and along to Shoreham Harbour. This part was hard as there were hardly any supporters here due to the location, as we turned at the harbour we knew the finish was not far.

We were now on the home stretch and my body was battered. I do not know how we kept going, we just kept telling each other how great we had done and that it was nearly finished. It was such a boast to see Gill and one of my lovely nieces at the Flying Angel, it was only 1.5 miles to the finish line. The crowd and our family were fantastic in cheering us across the line.

Michaela and I started the marathon together and crossed the finishing line with our hands in the air, we were the 5,869/5,870 persons across and it took us 5hrs and 16mins. We had our medal put over our heads, were given a foil blanket, were de-tagged, given endless drinks, a banana, finishers t-shirt and a goody bag. It was nice to have a slow walk through before we were mobbed by our families.

We had agreed to meet under 'F' and as the others were cheering Jay and Carl on Tim and Andy were first to see us, which was great. John had finished just under five hours and Jay and Carl were very close behind Cala and I. Within 40 mins we were altogether under 'F'.

It was a fantastic experience, unfortunately not with out a couple of downsides, after the finish Cala was in extreme pain with her shoulder and was treated with ice packs, poor Jay was in pain with his ham strings, my attention seeking (only joking) brother, Carl got the full treatment with the paramedics re his blood pressure. John and I got off lightly with the usual aches and very sore knees. It was a scary moment for all of us looking on at Carl, not quite sure what was going on as he lay on the ground being treated but he recovered and we all lived to tell the tale and enjoy a celebratory BBQ at Jo and Murphy's house.

I am very fortunate in that I have fantastic family and friends and a few thank you's are due:

My man, Tim: Thank you so much for the encouragement and support in training, looking after the little people whilst I did evening and weekend runs. Thank you for putting up with me being a bitch the day before the marathon because of nerves. Also for moving out of the house the night before the race so it could become the runners camp. On the day thank you for all the support, cheering, energy supplies, the banner, looking after the little people, taking great photos and being there at the finish. Love you sexy pants.

My little people: Thank you for the excitment of mummy going on training runs, the kisses and cuddles and being there to cheer me on.

My mum: Thank you for the encouragement, support and believing in me during training and on marathon day. It was such a boost to see your massive blue hand waving in the sky along the route. Love you loads.

My in-laws: Thank you for looking after Tim and my little people the night before and being there to support me and cheer me on on the day, plus looking after Sammy boy so Tim could be at the finish.

My nephew, Jay: It was great to have you home and do the marathon with you. Thank you for making our last marathon training sessions fun. We all miss you so much when you are away with the army.

My brother, Carl: Thank you for running the half marathon with me in freezing temps and the marathon with me in hot temps and the funny conversations about training. Got to admit the cold bath worked! Love you. x

John: It was good to see you again after many years, thank you for your company and good humour the night before the race and on the actual day. I think the five of us made a great team.

Jo & Murphy: I would never ever be able to thank you two enough for the support and love you give me and my family. No matter what it is you guys are always there behind me. You have always believed that Cala and I can do this and are always there at every race, thank you for getting us through this and for all the delicious food as well. The bbq was a great way to end a fantastic day. Thank you. Love you guys. x

My sister in law Gill and my niece's Katie, Jenny, Becky, Kelly, Kelly and her girls: Thank you for standing on the streets for hours cheering us on, I cannot explain to you how much that meant to me and you really did keep me going.

My sister, Debby: Thank you for being at Rottingdean, wow it was so great to see you there and got me over that final hill. Thank you also for being there at the pier to cheers us on over the finish - you are a star to be able to get from Rottingdean into town when the roads were closed.

My family and friends: Thank you for the encouragement, sponsorship and praise for doing it.

Andy: You are a gret new addition to our family, thank you for supporting Cala through this and for my beautiful present, wearing them as I type!

Finally... Cala Wala Woo Woo: This is all your fault, I decided to jump on your band wagon re completing a marathon. We have trained together from day one, you have put up with me moaning about aches and pains, we have had fun training times, 50p chips, free crazy golf, lovely sunsets, injurys and finished races that would now be a doddle but were hard at the time. Thank you for a great experience and also being you. Like your mum and dad you are always there for me and I am so lucky to have you in my life. Love you loads. xxx

OK OK Oscar speech over with now, wipe those tears!

The day before

Nanny Maureen very kindly had Daisy and Samuel today so the Tim and I could have some time on our own. After dropping them off we went into town and Tim got some much needed new clothes and we had a lovely lunch where we could just relax and talk. We were at home when we got a call from Nanny saying could we be outside the libary in Brighton at 4.30pm. We didnt know what was going on but had a lovely surprise when we got there, Daisy was in a concert. Sam and Daisy had been to a music and singing work shop and at the end they performed to the public. Sam got a little stage shy but Daisy loved it and stood up proud and sang her heart out. We were so very proud.

After collecting the little people we came home and got their stuff ready and then Daddy, Daisy and Samuel went over for a sleepover at Nanny Anne and Grandad's as our house was being turned into the Runner's camp for the marathon tomorrow. My brother Carl, his brother in law John and my niece Cala were staying over. After some parking of cars in town (ready to get back home for when we finished the marathon), Cala, Carl, John and I decided to drive the route - are we mad or what. It was good to see it but I rather wish I hadnt seen the Shoreham bit! It was then back to our house for a runners dinner and a relaxing chat round the table - thanks for a good night guys. x

Life and a PJ day

Life seems to go so fast these days and those non busy days where everything is done never seems to arrive, well in my life anyway. I had a very hectic March with client work, stuff for my new business, looking after the little people, house and husband. Now April was meant to be quieter but the client work has now gone but I had to step up the marathon training and still the stuff for the new business is not done.

The Brighton Marathon is this Sunday, it is the first marathon that Brighton has held and it is the first (and last marathon) that I am going to run. I have done lots of training but not sure if I have done enough, well not for 26.2 miles anyway. I am scared of the public humilation of not finishing it as I have been telling everyone I am doing it, my pride and also the amount everyone has sponsored me, (I am running for the Rockinghorse Appeal) the local children's hospital. So far raised £540 so a huge thank you to everyone that has put their hand in their pocket. I am both very nervous and excited, I saw the barriers being dropped off at the end of our road yesterday (we run past my road twice) and my tummy flipped but I had a good run with Michaela and Jay last night. We are going to try to run the whole thing together which will make it more pleasent. It has been really fun training with them.

Today I decided to have a rest day at home as I was feeling quite tired after a very late night on Wednesday (friends over for dinner) and being in the third week of the little people being on Easter Holidays. We have been out most days and had friends with us as well so it was PJ day although I still did the housework and three loads of washing and ironing. The children wondered from bedroom to bedroom playing, in and out of the garden and watching TV.

'Mum, look what happened'!

Everytime I stood up today I get a twinge in my knee/leg, I think it is my body /mind playing tricks with me knowing I am nervous but I can confirm I do have a runny nose and a very achy neck which I am hoping is not the start of a cold. So I have consumed lots of fresh OJ and fruit today. It will be our last training session tonight finished off with dinner at Aunty Jo's. Daddy is off snowboarding tonight so it will be a very early night for me.

Daisy's top right (as you look at her) tooth is very very wobbly.

Daisy in mummy and daddy's bed on her lap top

History is made today!

1. Britain is grounded - for the first time ever UK air space has been closed for the day and is continued to be closed until at least 1pm tomorrow afternoon due to the volcanic ash from Iceland drifting towards Britain. It is too dangerous for planes to fly.

2. The three political party leaders held a live debate on television for the first time ever, pre-view to the election on the 6th May 2010. Gordon Brown (Labor), David Cameron (Conservative) and Nick Clegg (Lib Dem) stood together and explained their policies and what they would do if they were the leader of the country.

3. Daisy top left middle tooth is really really wobbly!

Happy Birthday Bobbie

Hunt the bunny and painting hearts

Today we had Maisy for the day, both Sam and Daisy were very excited so we decided to plan a bit of a day out. The little people played at home for a while and then we headed along the coast road to Paradise Park, where there is lots to do. We decided to take part in the bunny hunt and had to answer lots of clues to tell us where the bunnies were hiding, they all loved this. We went through the world info bit and into the tropical gardens, through the miniture village trail and then had our picnic. After lunch we went on the mini railway as you can imagine my little fella was beside himself with excitement going on the train (even though he goes every week with Grandad). We then hung out for a while in the play ground outside as the weather was so nice before going inside to the soft play.

It was a hot day so we stopped for ice creams before dropping Sam off with Nanny Maureen so the girls and I could go to the painting pottery cafe. The girls painted little heart trinket boxes whilst enjoying a 'baby chino' to drink.

It was a lovely day all the little people got on together and were all very well behaved.

Today was a productive day:

• Sam and Mummy had a lay in
• Daddy went to the skate park
• Daddy, Daisy and Sam went to church
• Mummy made cookies, chocolate dipped marshmellows and savory food for the freezer
• Mummy made six pink chair sashes (for Teacups & Tiaras)
• Mummy finished off making Daisy's party bags
• Had lunch together
• Did some drawing
• Played/relaxed in the garden
• Washed Daddy's car
• Washed Mummy's car
• Made a raised vegetable plot in the back garden
• Planted our veg
• Had a BBQ
• Nanny Maureen came for over for BBQ
• Watched a film

Oh hoy ship mates...

It was a very exciting Saturday in the Parker household for Daisy as it was Judah's pirate's birthday party. Daisy hasnt seen Judah in the Easter Hol's so was very excited to be going. I didnt think Sam was invited so when Sam was asking to come I said it was a big boys party to which he replied 'but I am a big boy mum' it was hard leaving the little fella but with an offer of going to the park with Daddy he was happy. As soon as I arrived at the party they asked where Sam was!! So I called Daddy to tell him to bring Sam and boy was he pleased (Sam not Daddy) it is about the 4th birthday party (other than his and Daisy's) that he has been too. He loved the entertainer and thought it was great fun sitting at the table for lunch with all the older children in fact I think he had a better time than Daisy.

We hadnt planned on staying at the party but we ended up hanging out with Judah and his family and then as we hadnt done any of the errands we planned we spent the rest of the afternoon chilling at home, although Daisy, Sam and Daddy did escape to the park on their bikes/scooters for an hour or so.

The little people were shattered so they were fast asleep by 7pm, us adults finished off the day with a take away and a relaxing evening.

Our little lady as a pirate

Steam and the sea!

To celebrate the glorious sunshine we are having at the moment we decided to head to Eastbourne to use the entrance ticket we won in a raffle last year. It was to the Eastbourne Miniature Steam Railway, we had never been before so didnt know what to expect. It is a lovely little place with a railway track going round a lake, with a nature walk and a couple of parks for the children to play in. The lovely thing about it is they havent tried to cram in loads of attractions and it is not commercialised with Thomas train branding or any other branding. They also have some other miniature railways to look at and little train tables set up for the little people to play on. It is lovely and clean and run by a family who actually take the money on the door and work the trains. I would defiently recommend a visit. www.emsr.co.uk

The only downside for the Parker's was Sam being the train spotter he is wanted to go on the train all the time and Daisy not being a train spotter wanted to play in the park, with only me with them we had to sit down and work out a plan (train, nature walk, train, park 1, train, picnic lunch, train, park 2, train, etc, etc). Thankfully everyone was kept happy and although there were tears (as he wanted to go back on the train) from Sam when we left he did manage seven rides on the train!

We left the railway and headed to Eastbourne harbour, it was such a warm day we walked round the boats on to the beach for some time spent pebble throwing. They also have a shopping complex there and I managed to get the little people some great bits of clothing and shoes for the summer. We finished off at the marina for ice cream so everyone was happy.

On the way back home we stopped off at Paradise Park so I could spend a voucher I got for my birthday last year. We stocked up on some seeds and seedlings for our veg patch that we are going to create this weekend (hopefully). We will keep you posted on how the Parker crops grow!

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

It's great not having to be anywhere or do anything (actually the bit about doing anything isnt true as there is always washing and cooking) but it is nice not to have to be up and out every morning for the school run.

Tuesday we chilled.

Wednesday Daisy had art club and Sam and I went swimming and ran some errands before it was time to pick the little lady up. I have posted a pic belo of her amazing creation at art club.

Thursday we spent at home and I spring cleaned the kitchen boy did it need it and then we cleaned up the garden and playhouse. The weather was being so kind we even managed to get the sprinkler out for the little people to run through.

Supermarket delivery...

The little people were keen to help the supermarket delivery into the kitchen. The interrogation by a 3yr old and a 5yr old then started on the delivery driver:

Sam: "Excuse me man, did you bring sausages"

Driver: "I did if your mum ordered them" (I hadnt)

Whilst Sam is searching in the crates, Daisy asks the driver: "So you drive around all day in your van delivering food?"

Driver: "Yes"

Sam: "Man, no sausages can you please get some from your van"

Daisy: "Don't you get bored doing that all day"

Driver: "No, I really love my job"

Daisy: "Oh"

Driver starts to leave the house.

Sam: "Where are my sausages"

I think the driver was pleased to leave our house.

Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot - was it ever going to end?

We had a great start to the day with a lay in, then we hung out at home before meeting Aunty Jo, Uncle Murphy, Cala, Andy, Jay, Kelly and Reggie the dog at 11am for our Easter walk on the Sussex Downs to the Chattery and then on to the Jack and Jill pub for lunch. We were all well equipped for the mud with our wellies, thankfully the weather surprised with sunshine all day but there was still lots of mud to be found.

We had a lovely walk to the Chattery and had a quick stop for an egg hunt (you can never have enough egg hunts over Easter), it was then on to the windmills and Gill was open today so we all got to climb the windmill to the very top which was very exciting if not a little steep at times.

After the windmill we headed to the pub for lunch after a long and I mean long wait (even though we had booked our table) we received our food which was disppointing and they got the orders wrong which was terrible for the money they charged, we all left not happy customers (well we still had a good time but the food/service was a let down), I would not recommend it anymore.

We had planned to get the bus back but unfortunately when Andy checked the time table we found that there were no buses running today... so not funny. So we agreed that we would not go the way we came as it was too hilly but try the bridalpath along the A23. Gees I wish we had gone the way we came.... first we had a hairy 15mins of walking along a road with no pavement, then we found a path that lead to a locked gate, then finally we found a path to the services where we stopped off for some much needed ice cream, we then had to decide our route and after some investigating we decided to go up the A23 towards London, cross over the foot bridge, along the bridalpath towards Brighton, over the railway bridge, then back over the footbridge and the final path back to the cars. I must say our little people were fantastic, they must have walked at least 8 miles and we only had requests for a carry in the last half hour of the walk (we left at 11am and got back at 5.20pm).

Afterwards we popped in to Aunty Jo's for a much needed cup of tea and nibble of chocolate.

Unfortunately no pictures as no one had a camera - can you believe it!

Happy Easter

Today started with the little people and Daddy going off to church. We then drove up to London to spend the day with our family at Uncle David's and Uncle Dawn's. It was a lovely afternoon, all the family were there including cousin Jay, there was lots of banter about the marathon that Carl, Cala, Jay and I are taking part in exactly two weeks - yiks!

Aunty Jo wore Aunty Debbie's fantastic Easter bonnet to dish out the eggs to everyone. My little people left with loads of eggs and some lovely clothes so a big THANK YOU to everyone and to Aunty Dawn for a lovely lunch.