Today is My Birthday

Happy Birthday to me. Today is my big three zero. I'm not really sure how I feel about this. I was always so convinced (even until recently) that it's just another number and no big deal, so why does it suddenly feel like a bit of a big deal? Hmmmm.

Baby me

Toddler me

3 year old me

I am one of the last of our friends (not the very last though) to reach 30 and it doesn't seem to have adversly affected them. I'm certainly not feeling any older than I did yesterday, so perhaps it's just the thought that I've entered the next decade and I can no longer say I'm a twenty-something? I'm in the whole next bracket and no longer elligble for 18-30 holidays (not that I ever wanted to go on one, but it's the thought that I'm now not allowed). I think it's also a little bit to do with 'where am I now' and 'what have I achieved since leaving school'. In terms of career, I've kind of been idling (until a couple of years ago when I started with the OU) thinking I've still got all of the time in the world to work out what I want to be when I grow up. Do you ever get that? The feeling of not really being a grown up, just playing house, and hoping nobody notices you still have the sense of humour similar to your 6 year old?

7 year old me at school

7 year old me meeting my new baby sister (I have a brother too, but no meeting him the hospital pic)

8 year old me feeding my baby sister ice cream on holiday. I really remind myself of the Small Person in this picture (my sister could be the Smaller Person!)

Maybe that's another thing. I always considered anyone over the age of 30 as a 'real grown-up', now that I'm here and part of the secret gang, I have the growing realisation that this is as grown up as it gets, which worryingly means the entire world is being run by six year olds in adult form! Eeeek! Scary thought. Explains a lot though...



Really grumpy 15 year old me on holiday



16 year old me during Rag Week at sixth form (me and my best friend are dressed as 'dirty old men'!)

I think mostly the 'ugh' feeling stems from the state of limbo we're living in right now, and it just happens to coincide with a big birthday. I love studying with the OU, it's hard work, but I feel like I'm improving and learning. It's restricting though, and now moving into the 3rd and final year, I still can't quite see the end in sight. I know it's there, but it's just out of view behind all of these other things that are between me in the here and now, and me in my graduation gown next year (fingers crossed!). Me not working leaves us very short on funds and with a lot of pressure on Mr Bogert as the only earner. We've reached a point now where the two years has worn us down a little and we're stuck repeating the same tasks every month. We miss being able to just go to the cinema or out for something to eat on the odd occasion, we miss being able to treat the kids, we miss the ability to work on the house and get it finished, we miss not having to rely on family to help us out (it's a good job they're so good!). Mr Bogert had something fantastical planned for my birthday which was super-duper top secret, but then we had car issues and I broke my glasses, so whatever it was (he still wont tell me) has been postponed due to the usual lack of funds until next month. I'd be lying if I said I'm not disappointed, but you know, these things happen, and at least I have something super-duper and fantastical to look forward to next month. Whatever we can't do now, we can always make up for in the future. This is what I mean by our state of limbo. We're just kind of suspended here for a few years unable to do much! :)



17 year old me with my 'new' boyfriend - Mr Bogert

Mr Bogert and me on my 18th Birthday

Mr Bogert has secured a few pennies and a babysitter for Orange Wednesday at the cinema though, and we are taking a magical family mystery tour somewhere during the day, so not all is lost :)



21 year old me on holiday in Woolacombe



24 year old me with my baby girl

Despite me not working, there is never any time! We seem to get swept along from one thing to another without a chance to come up and breathe. Uni work and assignments and tutorials, photoshoots and meetings, Mr Bogert's work and work trips, the Small Person's school events, homework, projects, her dance classes, her acting club, her swimming lessons, toddler group, the Smaller Person's appointments, this person's birthday, that person's wedding, their baby's christening, village activities, meetings, groups, fundraisers and more. I've never understood the phrase "Stop the World, I want to get off!" more than I do right at this point in my life. Not get off for long mind you, I do quite like it here ;) but a short break to gather my thoughts and relax a little would be ideal. Most of the things we get caught up in are supposed to be enjoyable social activities, but we just don't seem to get chance to actually enjoy them as we're mentally preparing for the next day's onslaught!



25 year old me gets married to Mr Bogert

Mr Bogert turns 30 (last year) and celebrates with a masquerade ball.

Don't get me wrong, I know 30 isn't old by anyone's standards, I also know I'm very lucky, because what I might have fallen behind with in terms of career, I've certainly excelled with in terms of family (and career will catch up). I guess I'm just feeling a little tired and worn out, so excuse me if I don't celebrate with quite a much gusto as may seem appropriate to such a milestone. I promise I'll make more effort when I turn 35, have had a good nights sleep, have a completed degree and a job that reflects it, and a little spending money in my pocket wouldn't hurt either!



29 year old me and family Newman - my best accomplishment

* I apologise for the less than brilliant quality younger photos - they are taken on my phone from prints stuck in a scrapbook my Mum made for my 21st birthday. They were the only ones I had handy at short notice. I know, I've had 30 years notice, but hey!

Baginton Party in the Park 2012

As part of our busy lives, Mr Bogert is a member of the Baginton Events committee who last year arranged the very first Party in the Park.

This year they aimed to make it bigger and better, and they did rather a good job.

Mr Bogert slept in 'The Spaceship' on the Millenium Field on the Friday night as security. He ctaully took the Small Person with him for a mini adventure and she was super excited. She went to sleep no problem, but at about 1am I got a phone call "Can I bring her home? Now?" It seems she woke up and then couldn't go back to sleep.

Saturday morning we squeezed the Small Person's dance class in then rushed back for the event which started at 11am.

I painted the kids faces before we left the house because, to be perfectly honest, we can't justify £3 per Small Person for face paint. It was difficult though. I had no black! Just about every single design you can think of involves black in some form or other. Enter the saviour of the day: my liquid eyeliner. Not the easiest thing to draw with, but it did the job. I also didn't have any thing paint brushes, but we got there in the end.



Zacky's Dragon - Raaaaarrrr!!!!!



Alexandra's Flying Butterfly

We had told friends about the event and ran into some of them there. I met an old school friend that I haven't seen since school, the Small Person blew bubbles for Little Miss T, Zachary's friend.

We listened to the brass band and watched the dance school perform on stage.

We also watched the dog agility show with Auntie Charlotte and Uncle Anthony and their dog Suzie. Mr Bogert and the Small person even took her around the agility course (without much success!).

Auntie 'potato salad' Heather, Uncle Andy and Auntie Heather's Mum met up with us and we watched the tug of war which my cousin and my Dad were both in. I hen got handed a camera as Mr Bogert decided to lend a hand. The facial expression crack me up!

My Dad and his partner were running a tombola stall and my sister was selling cupcakes and cakepops. My cousin was helping out on the Rugby Club stall. Mr Bogert was busy lending a hand where he was required and taking all of the official photographs of the day.

The kids had lots of fun playing on the fire engine and trying the helmets on.

Mr Bogert's Mum came along with her friend and took the Small Person off for a little while to go on the bouncy castle and some stalls. I took the opportunity to finally make it around to the craft stalls again. I was a little disappointed there weren't more stalls, but supposedly there should have been more and they just didn't show up. I could have spent quite a few pennies on the stalls that were there though. There was a lady who had some lovely knitted items and the price she was selling them for was so cheap! I couldn't believe it considering the time and effort that must have gone into the lovely things she had. Zacky had a knitted teddy bear (who he takes to bed) and it was only £1.75! If I'd had a few more pennies in my pocket, I would have bought a few more things. Alexandra did go back to that stall later with Mr Bogert and bought a similar bear for herself.



The Smaller Person with the two knitted bears later in the evening.

There was a petting zoo that we never even made it around to for the simple fact that every time we started to head in one direction, we raninto another friend or neighbour, which is not a bad thing mind you. It's lovely to see so many familiar faces out enjoying themselves.

AND we actually had decent weather! The weather we had been having was awful! Even the night before it absolutely threw it down. One of the roads on the way to dance class on Saturday morning was flooded. The field actually drained quite well so it wasn't boggy (Except near the one entrance) and it didn't rain all day. I do think ho the weather had been affected how many people chose to come out for the day - it still looked a bit uncertain.

The bad weather came just after the day event had finished and the change over was being made for the evening, but almost as though it had been ordered, it cleared up well before the evening event started.

We sat (we being me, the Small People, Auntie Heather, Uncle Andy and Auntie Heather's Mum) inside the big event marquee that had the craft stalls in earlier with a couple of other groups. The committee had hired a huge stage for the event and they started with Mr Ben, a cover band who were brilliant. As they played more and more people filtered into the field. The food stands and beer tent kept running right through, so instead of the Chinese (like we had last year) we had burgers from one of the stands run by the village shop.

After Mr Ben, there was Espressivo, a quartet of singers who were also very good, followed by the Spires Youth Orchestra who played in the firework finale.



Mr Ben



Espressivo



Mr Bogert on camera duty chatting with one of the other committee members during the performance.

It turned out to be quite a lovely evening, with weather good enough to sit outside. The Small People did not tire and did not get grumpy. The Smaller Person did actually fall asleep in his pushchair just close to the end of the evening meaning he missed the fireworks, but he'll get to see fireworks over on the field in November for the annual village bonfire :)

I'll Be Back...

...with lots of pictures and news. Just so as you know, we have been REALLY busy. I've got heaps to show and tell and I'm in the process of sorting out my jumbled thoughts.

We've had Baginton Party in the Park, the Small Person's dance show, there's a few crafty things that the Small Person and I have been up to, it's my [big] birthday in a couple of days - eeek!, and we have lots of wonderful Summer plans.

The Summer holidays are already here, so we're already well into enjoying our time together. I love having both the Small People at home. I don't even get tired of it by the end of the summer break. I do not love the idea of homeschooling though (I'm just not disciplined enough!) so the Small Person will be returning to class 2C in September.

In other news, I got my course result back for my Children's Literature course. A pass 3, which is equivalent to a 2.2 classification. Kind of funked me out :( It's the third time it's happened now. I work really well all through the course getting high pass 2s or pass 1s for my written work (for instance, my average for written work on this course was 81%, yet my examinable piece was 63%), it comes to the final assessment and I do something not quite right and get a much lower mark than usual. It's frustrating because I have proved time and time again I can do a lot better, but the feedback doesn't give me any idea where it all went wrong (because it's just vague categories awarded a grade level) and so I seem destined to repeat the same marks for every module.

My module marks affect my overall degree classification, so at the moment it looks like I might get a 2.2. I really need a 2.1 to carry on where I want to study. A 2.2 also doesn't actually reflect my capabilities. If that was the level I worked at, I'd be really happy - a 2.2 is a good level, I just know I can do more. I have 3 more modules to complete for my degree, only 2 of which count towards my classification. I HAVE to get a 2.1 or higher for both of them in order to still get a 2.1 overall degree, I have no chance of a First class honours degree anymore. The pressure is truly on, and I have to admit, I feel a little defeated already. I'd really appreciate it if you could all silently cheer me on over the next year ;)

Toddler Group Tuesday

We've had a little Olympic inspired crafting today. We've all been making Olympic torches.

For this craft you will need:
- gold cards
- scissors
- tape
- glue
- gold glitter
- tissue paper, felt, holographic paper and other bits in gold, yellow, red and orange. (any combination you like)

First start by drawing a curved line from one straight edge of your gold card to the other so that you have a quarter circle shape.
Cut this out.
Fold the gold card around on itself to form a cone and fix with a little tape. If you find that the opening of your cone is uneven at this pont, you can trim it straight.

Rip and cut wavy strips from your selection of gold, yellow, orange and red materials.
Put glue all around the inside of your cone, and glue your wavy strips in randomly. These are you flames.

Use glue and glitter to add extra special sparkle where ever you like.

This would be great to start off a sports themed day, you could even make some medals with discs of corrugated card and ribbon (collage, paint and glitter would work just fine).

Only one more week left of term!

Toddler Group Tuesday

Well, I almost wasn't going to Toddler Group today. It was supposed to be the Small Person's Sports Day at school, but it got rained off.  Mr Bogert's Mum normally helps out t Toddler Group, but she's off gallavanting on holiday again :)

The Mums who had offerred to help out and cover our absence had put a craft together from left-over bits from other sessions, which they found hiding out in the filing cabinet and cupboard. The created an underwater scene. (This would be really great to follow on from reading Tiddler and other Terrific Tales by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler.)

For the underwater scene, you will need:
- Blue and Green shades of tissue paper
- Glue
- Felt
- Shiny paper
- Scissors
- Glitter
- Pencil
- A4 sheet of paper or card

Rip your tissue paper into rough strips.
Cover your sheet of A4 with glue and arrange your blue strips horizontally for the sea. (you can use a bit of yellow for the sea-bed too, or even a strip of sandpaper).
Glue your green strips of tissue paper vertically on top of the blue to form seaweed.
Draw and cut starfish and seahorse shapes from your card and stick onto your picture. (A tip if you're not that confident creating your own shapes - Find a book with a suitable picture and trace the outline, or, print off clipart to use as a pattern piece. Alternatively, just stick to the simple shapes. A group of shimmery fish is just as effective as a whole range of creatures.)
Cut fish shapes from the shiny paper and glue into place.
Finish with a little sparkly glitter to add some shimmer or bubbles to the water.

Don't they look lovely all finished?

I had also prepped a craft because I realised I'd forgotten to ask anyone (but they are wonderful and just did it anyway!). So we also made summery ice cream cones.

To make ice cream cones you will need:
- Glue
- Cotton wool
- Plain card
- Brown or cream card
- Scissors
- Red paint/glitter glue
- Glitter

First of all draw a triangle the size you would like your cone to be. Draw a semi circle on top of the cone (where the ice cream would go).
Cut this out. This is your base.
Cut a second cone shape out of your brown/cream card. You can leave this plain, or you can draw or stamp a patttern on. We have stamped ours with bronze ink and a plaid patterned stamp.

Glue this to your plain base.

Glue cotton wool to the semi circle of the base.

Paint red paint, or squeeze red glitter glue (actually, the Smaller Person is using pink here) onto your cotton wool ice cream for sauce.

Whilst the paint is still wet, sprinkle with glitter.

You could substitute glitter for actual sprinkles, but may need to add a little glue to your red paint before you paint it on, to help them stick. If you want strawberry or banana flavoured ice cream, you could get pastel coloured cotton wool balls (we didn't have any!), and you could a red button for a cherry or a strip of corrugated card as a chocolate flake. If you're lucky enough to have some brown/cream textured card or wallpaper you could use that instead for the cone, or even use brown collage scraps to create your own unique cone.

Happy crafting :)