The 6 year old spent most of his time riding a small quad bike or being pulled on a sledge, by Mad Uncle A, on a big quad bike.

When the lambs arrive we’re hoping to take ownership of one. We’ll show the children, first hand, where their Sunday roast comes which should be an interesting experience …

Show your loved one your sweeter side this Valentine’s Day by treating him or her to a 100g lovetub – or  even show yourself that little bit of love! lovetub is a warm, rich, melt-in-your-mouth pudding which can be found in the dessert chiller in selected Sainsbury’s stores!

Available in both Sticky Toffee Pudding and Chocolate Pudding flavours, lovetub can be microwaved to lip-smacking perfection in just 30 seconds, and eaten straight from the tub. Usually priced at only £1.29, it’s a Valentine’s treat that’s easy on the pocket!

To celebrate the tubbing of love I’m giving you the chance to win a fantastic Valentine’s Day hamper worth £60, including Moet Chandon Champagne, Hotel Chocolat Chocolates, a £10 M&S food voucher, a bear and lovetub samples. 

All you have to do is leave a comment below.  A winner will be picked on Friday 10th of February. (Open to UK Residents only).

For a further entry tweet the following;

I want to win the lovetub hamper with @LauraAWNTYM http://bit.ly/wlFvXE #competition #win

lovetub have also just launched a promotion through Facebook to give fans the chance to get a free 100g pudding from their local Sainsbury’s store (they have 15,000 puddings to giveaway in total before the 7^th of February). The lovetub Facebook page is www.facebook.com/lovetubpuddings 

You can also now subscribe to ‘Are We Nearly There Yet, Mummy?’ using the orange ‘subscribe’ button above

Happy Birthday!

Your confidence is rocketing and you are brimming with adventure.  You’ve kept me on your toes for six whole years … Grandma still can’t watch you when you play in the garden, all that jumping and whizzing around makes her nervous.

After having your third set of grommets put in and your adenoids removed five months ago you can not only hear but you have also stopped snoring.

You like things ‘just so’ down to the sheets on your bed, which underpants you prefer to wear and where the sauce has to be on the plate.  You get that from your Dad. The clumsy bit? … that’s all my fault.

You and your sister seem to argue more often than not at the moment. Last week, though, I woke up to find you both snuggled up in your bed chatting and giggling. It more than made up for all the arguing.

You seem to be turning into an entertainer … mainly for the family.  Your confidence isn’t such that you’ll perform for just anyone yet.  You like to make people laugh while maintaining a dead pan expression. That is a good thing. A lover of slapstick comedy, you recreate amusing scenes for your sister.  It makes her laugh so hard that her tummy hurts.

School is a necessary evil, you get on and do what is expected of you, your reading has taken off and you have lots of friends.  You live for playtime, PE and the weekend. “PE is great” you said today “But getting dressed after PE is boring” and then shortly after “How many days until the weekend?”.

You enjoy your own company … taking yourself off to just be, playing a game, drawing a football match, doing stunts in the garden or playing with the dogs.

As you turn six your favourite things are: Football, the Xbox, running, jumping, being outside, pain au chocolat, planets, snooker, having your duvet tucked in a certain fashion before you go to sleep, your bike, biffing with your big cousin F.

Keep entertaining, my beautiful blue eyed boy, make people laugh until they can laugh no more. Be your own person and look after your sister. Six will be a breeze.

All my love

Mum x

6 year old : Bear Grylls just said the F word

Me : What do you mean?

6 year old : He just said shit

Me: Pardon?!

6 year old : Bear said the F word, he said shit.

Me : Who told you about that word?

6 year old : ‘Child Who Will Not Be Named’ told me about that word.

Me : Do not say that word again. Anyway, it’s not the F word it’s the S word.

6 year old : Sh word.

Me : Yes … and I repeat DO NOT say that word again.

The Husband : I don’t know

Me : You are rubbish, you never know. That’s why you always end up with a book token, a bag of Midget Gems and maybe some new socks.

The Husband : I’ll have a think.

Me : OK, by the way, I’m getting you that armchair, for the living room, that I LIKE from IKEA …

Happy Birthday Mr D.

May your bottom feel comfortable in your birthday chair that I lovingly bought for you … for me.

T’wife x

PS – I’m not sure that anything can ever be better than the birth of your surprise son, on your birthday after the pregnancy scans said he was a girl … (more on him in my next post)

Niece : The list says … six wine glasses WITH A THIN RIM, Dara O’Brien tickets, set of mixing bowls, vouchers for Azendi …

Me : I’ll get the mixing bowls

Niece : OK

Two weeks later and three days until My Sister’s birthday …

Me : So, what are you getting your Mum for her birthday?

Niece : Mixing bowls, I still need to get them.  What are you getting her?

Me : I said I AM getting them. Are you getting them now?

Niece : Yeah, after school

Swears to self  and cancels order for beautiful mixing bowls …

Me : Sheesh, so what is left for me to get her?

Niece : She still needs 6 wine glasses WITH A THIN RIM

Peruses internet for 6 wine glasses with thin effing rim.  Realises pretty quickly that there are none and will have to go to an actual shop to measure rim of wine glasses. Swears again.

An hour later …

Niece : [Nephew] is getting her a bike!

Me : WTF!? Does she even want a bike?

Niece : I don’t know

So, happy birthday to my Big Little Sister

May you get some things you want, some things you didn’t even know you wanted … and 6 effing wine glasses WITH A THIN RIM.

Love from Little Long Sister x

I have a love hate relationship with school uniform. I love that the children all look the same, cutting out any decisions about what to wear in the morning. But I hate the palaver that comes with it; That being growing children, stains and school lost property. After 4 years I’ve worked out that certain things need more money spending on than others;

White polo shirts – come home covered in the nuclear school dinner sauce of the day and/or mud from lying on the floor during playtime (still not sure why lying on the floor is necessary). The appearance of ‘stain away’ polo shirts amused me a few years ago, absolute codswallop.  No protective barrier could see off the school spaghetti bolognese. So now I buy quantity over quality.

Cardigans and Jumpers – I prefer to spend a little more on knitwear. Due to my childrens’ scatterbrain nature they regularly come home without the cardigan or jumper they left the house in.  A little part of me dies as I realise that I’ll be spending half an hour with my head in the lost property wheelie bin of doom.  Usually they appear 3 weeks later in a school bag with no explanation.

Trousers and skirts – Skirts with a ridiculous amount of pleats are an no-no for me unless, of course, you like spending an inordinate amount of time swearing and ironing. Trousers need to be good quality, especially if you have a 5 year old who spends most of his breaks playing football and practicing some sort of sliding knee tackle.

I would definitely buy cardigans, jumpers and trousers from Trutex.  The fit and quality is second to none.  As for polo shirts, until my children stop using their t-shirts as a serviette and a goal stop I’ll be buying the cheapest that money can buy!

On another school uniform note … My Name Tags sent us some iron on name tags.  I could kiss the lady at Name Tags, they are so easy to apply, it takes seconds to do and they stay put.  The tags come in a variety of colours with a full range of pictures.  Along with iron on tags they also sent some stickers which are useful for bags, water bottles, packed lunch boxes and anything that leaves the house that you want to come back.

Some of the things that caught my eye include;

Out in February - The Harbour Range. A ferry which you can load cars onto, a pier with a Harbour police station and lockable jail, a catamaran, a police boat and a cafe.  The good thing about this range is that the boats can all be used in the bath for double the fun and the figures are held in place so that they don’t keep falling over.

Out in March - The new Farm Range. A new building, complete with solar panels, a silo, dairy, tractor and farm shop.It’s a great new set with lots of features. You can grow and harvest veg and then sell it in the farm shop. The good news for children is that the silo is fully functional and comes complete with ‘grain’.  The bad news for parents is that the ‘grain’ is the same as the meerkat food from this review.  I still find meerkat food in the strangest of places despite stealth binning it 8 months ago.

Out in June - ‘Take Along Soccer/Football Match’ which is a football pitch, complete with players that have a special kicking action.  You can buy additional players, from different teams, a practise goal with score board and referees.  I know a little boy who will be after one of these.  It all folds up and can be carried all over the place.

Other exciting things - Collectibles; A range of 6 horses with a stable and 6 motorbikes. Easter eggs; Filled with a character and accessories, the same price as a chocolate Easter egg and it doubles up as a money box. A bit early in the year but … a new advent calender range … not all Christmas themed and it was pointed out that you could use them as countdown to birthdays.  Any excuse, eh?

I discovered that you can download instructions for all of the sets, just in case you lose them or a puppy eats them.  Also if you lose a piece from a set Playmobil will replace it for you.  No more sieving the contents of the vacuum cough.

Thanks to the Playmobil team for a most informative day!

Until recently Pierre Lapin, who fits in the palm of my hand, lived on a shelf in the playroom, hidden out of view. I can probably say that the 7 year old hadn’t had any contact with Pierre for 3 years.

She found him again though and had a joyful reunion, it was just like old times as she snuggled down and sucked his ears.

She brought him with us to the theatre, nestled amongst the sweets and carton of juice she had smuggled in her little bag. Later as we walked back to the car, she stuck her hand into her little bag and stopped dead in her tracks. Pierre had done a runner.  The tears started and although we were nearly at the car I did the only thing I could.  I returned to the theatre, up three flights of stairs, against the bustle of people leaving, being incredibly British “Excuse me … sorry … oops, sorry, excuse me … sorry”.

I felt faint panic in my chest, I had to find Pierre. I found him nestled amongst the sweet wrappers and empty juice carton under the seats … looking at me with pleading eyes.

Maybe I’ve watched Toy Story too many times. All I know is that Pierre Lapin is not ready to leave us yet.

In stressful times like these my body has two ways of coping.  My jaw tenses (sometimes for days) which gives me horrific headaches and my brain dumps information … forcing me to ask questions of myself … ‘Does the margarine goes in the fridge or the dishwasher?’ or … ‘Did I remember to pick the children up from school?’ or … ‘What is that thing called that you brush your hair with?’.

I can’t tell you about any of the crap that the Beast of January has laid on my doorstep, nor the exciting stuff that has happened, so I’ll just tell you about the other stuff that is going on round these parts …

I decided that decluttering our house was a good idea. This week I had a toy cull while the children were at school. I got rid of half the playroom and dropped it off at the charity shop. Cue evil laughter. The children didn’t even notice … but I won’t be able to walk past the charity shop for at least four weeks. The whisker on my chin,who I fondly refer to as Walter, has been joined by a new faster growing albino friend, Winnie. I’ve taken up speed walking with the dogs again and started losing weight.  So I may be growing a beard, but I am able to fit into my favourite jeans and still eat cake.

The Husband is falling apart, his back, knee and foot have all had to be looked at by a professional … one of whom told him he was getting a bit old to be playing football. Cue sniggering.

The 5 year old is about to turn 6.  Excuse me a moment while I blaspheme and ponder where those 6 years have gone. He is still only running at two speeds … fast and asleep. All of a sudden he has gone from showing very little interest in reading to moving up the school reading scheme in six months. As far as we know his hearing is still fine, he can hear a whisper from three floors away.  He is currently our family staring competition champion.

The 7 year old, last week, announced “My Daddy is married to a lunatic”. She can usually be found with her headphones on singing her heart out … usually when she should be sleeping. She likes to argue with me about everything and I, being the adult cough, like to argue back. After the Teenager had a late night, at a party, she went into her room and said “You had a long night last night didn’t you… What time did you stay out until? Silly o’ clock?”. She is 7 going on 40.  God help us all.

The Teenager is now living with us permanently. Noticeable changes are an increase in Super Noodles, music, washing, talking in a variety of new accents, kitchen dancing … a decrease in biscuits, cereal and hot water. Other side effects seem to be the regular disappearance and reappearance  of my hairdryer. It’s really good to have her here. She shares my love of crap TV, makes a song stick in my head for days on end and seems happier than she’s been in a long time.

Peanut, the dog, is going senile, deaf and blind. She barks at things that aren’t there.  Last week I took her for a walk which is mainly uphill. She normally manages this without incident.  On reaching the top of the hill she stopped dead in her tracks with her head hanging down.  She started swaying like she was going to keel over.  I decided that if she keeled over I would have to put her on my back and run down the hill to the vet. She weighs about 9 stone.

Jessie, the puppy, is very laid back and the only Labrador I know who is scared of water. She spectacularly shattered her halo this week when she took it upon herself to stealth crap on the 7 year old’s freshly laundered school uniform.

The gerbils are miraculously still alive, although I did have to check for proof of life twice last week.

Come on February, there’s a lunatic on the loose and she’s ready for you …