my baby grows up!

Hi all

Just a quick post to say that Izzy starts school this afternoon!!!!

She's so excited! We'll take a photo of her in her uniform (of course!) and post it later.

Izzy's at nursery at Barleyfields every afternoon from 12:45 til 3:15 as from today.

Please all keep her in your thoughts and prayers this afternoon so she has an AMAZING time! I really hope it lives up to her expectations!

Lauren and I plan on both weeping like sad mummys when she goes!! ;o) Poor child - she has double the embarassment of everyone else!

Love to all

Nikki xoxoxoxox

Some new house pics - finally!

Hello everyone!

Finally some pics of the house - just the rooms that are nearest to "done" anyway!

But first - Nick is away in Gerona in Spain this week installing another art work for Jane and Louise Wilson - he'll be back on Friday. He's being a very very busy boy at the moment - lots of projects in the pipeline so if you could keep him in your prayers - so that he doesn't get so stressed and also so that some of these big projects that he's spent so much time on developing actually happen for him. Thanks!

So, the house - finally the red kitchen - we LOVE it! Not everyone's taste but we think its cool - and when it gets uncool we can just change the door fronts!

The dining room - still a few boxes just waiting for the bookshelf but you can see what we're aiming for! Joy to have a dining room! We had Nick's Mum and Dad up last weekend and it was lovely to all have dinner together in there! 'Scuse the ironing pile ;o)

The lounge - kid free zone! The playroom is still a bit of a work in progress cos we're getting totally new storage in there - it works as it is but we're totally redoing it so I'll post pictures of that when its done. The lounge though is our chilling space - Nick, Lauren and I just chill there on an evening!

The girls bathroom - coming together well in bright pink and white :o)

Caitlin's room - needs no explanation!

Izzy's room - ditto!!!!

The cinema room - carpet now down and huge kingsize jumbo corner sofa / sofa bed! You're all welcome!

Quick tour there for you!

Off for sunday lunch with Lauren and the girls at Peter Barratt followed (quite probably!) by a spot of retail therapy and then Caitlin's off for a bowling party this evening!

Izzy starts school nursery on Thursday - can't believe my baby is so big!!! And Caitlin's back to school on Tuesday.

Love to all

Nikki xoxoxoxo

I GOT TAGGED!!

FIVES:

5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago:
- planning my wedding day!! 27th September 1997 – happy anniversary honey!
- actually the above kind of took over my life at that time and was probably way more than 5 things if you go:
- organizing the ceremony
- organizing the reception
- sorting out the bridesmaid’s dresses
- organizing the photos
- hair, makeup, shaving legs…..!!!

5 Snacks I Enjoy
-toffee pops (biscuits) with a cuppa (twinnings assam) (as Lauren!)
- celery with salt and salad cream
- cashew nuts
- tortilla chips and sour cream dip
- blueberries and natural yogurt

5 TV Shows I've Seen Every Episode Of:
- Simpsons (or at least most!)
- Spongebob Squarepants (can’t believe I’m admitting that!)
- Fairly Odd Parents (see above!)
- Top Gear
- Little Britain

5 Things I Would Do If I Were A Millionaire:
- Pay off our mortgage and debts and those of our parents
- buy an Aston Martin DB9!
- give to my favourite charities and organizations – esp those working with disadvantaged kids
- set some aside for the girls
- GIVE UP WORK!!!!!!... and volunteer as a speech therapist or still do speech therapy but to please myself not the system

5 Bad Habits:
- NAIL BITING!!!!!!!
- bossiness
- lack of patience with dumbness
- avoiding confrontation – and sometimes therefore not dealing with issues
- no willpower when it comes to foodstuffs I love to eat!

5 Things I Like To Do:
- spend time with friends and family
- listen to music and chill with a book (same as Lauren!)
- travel – I’ve now got the bug and ADORE travelling
- shopping
- have facials and massages! (pref in Mauritius but I’m not fussy!)

5 Things I Would Never Wear Again:
- puffball skirts
- rara skirts
- batwing jumpers (apparently they’re back in fashion but NO!!!)
- reversible jumpers
- maternity clothes!!!!!!!

5 Favorite Toys:
- Computer = email, msn, blogging, picassa, etc.
- Wii
- ipod
- camera
- singstar on the ps2

5 Things I Can't Stand:
- swearing excessively
- intolerance
- arrogance
- Poor customer service
- bad driving

I know lots of people who READ the blog but very few that haven't already been tagged with this one that HAVE a blog! So - I tag Jo and Lindsay cos I think they're the only ones I know with blogs that haven't been tagged with 5's!

Hugs

Nikki xoxox

couple of picasa pics for you!

Hi guys!

Think I'm addicted to making natty little collages on Picasa!

Anyhoo - here are 2 little collages - the first of the Caves and Peak District whilst we were on holiday (for non UK friends - that's the midlands of England, Derbyshire) and the second of our trip to Alton Towers - fab theme park! Enjoy :o)

Love to all!!

Nikki xoxox

check out our photos

Hi all

Just uploaded all of our most recent photos - and I'll try to keep them updated!

Check out the link in my "sites you might want to look at" feature under Smidgen to your right ;o)

Big hugs

Nikki xxx

The move!!

Hey all...

We'll start with the move and then I'll try to update steadily with all the other news over the next week or so :o) So, don't go far!

Other things to come: Nick and I in Oasis with our best mates Ros and Phil, Izzy's last day at nursery, Caitlin's last week at school, holiday at Alton Towers, new cars (truck!!) and Race for Life.....

In summary, the move has been amazing and infuriating! Moving date, as planned, was set for the 4th July. The week before the move, Nick had been in the house to check out a few bits and bobs and discovered our kitchen was WRONG! The high gloss cream fronts were right but the cabinets themselves were a horrible dark grey :o( No match for the dark wood floor and the dark wood worktop. There were also problems with the tiles, things were leaking, sockets were hanging off the wall and the archway from our bedroom into our dressing room was more of a rectangle than an arch!! There was more, but you get the picture!

Miller Homes (the builder) accepted responsibility for the kitchen, we should have been told that it was a grey cabinet apparently. So, last week whilst we were on holiday, they came back in and gave us a completely new kitchen - more on that later...... ;o)

Back to the move then, aside from the problems with the house it was RAINING and RAINING and RAINING. The weekend before we moved in, Nick's brother Nigel and his friend Olly and his girlfriend Kerry came up. Nigel and Ollie do carpets and flooring and they planned to do the whole house in the weekend. This is them "in action"... by the way, I'm going to set up a Picasa web album with more pictures - this is just a flavour! More on that when I've done it.

Whilst that was going on in the new house, I was skipping rubbish in the old house. On the Saturday, Lauren went over to my friend Ros's house and spent the day with the girls at Ros's house with her 2 boys. Ros's husband Phil came over to the new house to help with the flooring and the lighting etc and we were also joined by some of Lauren's friends. Claire joined me at the old house doing clear up and her boyfriend Nixon and another friend Symmonds went to the new house and got on with painting the girls rooms and helping out there. HUGE thanks to all our fab friends and family cos they all worked so hard.

The Sunday night before we moved we had a final party night in the old house! Singstar ruled ;o)

MOVING WEEK:

Monday 2nd July - Nick was at the new house finishing flooring with Nigel and doing lighting, curtains etc etc. Our main aim was to get the girls' rooms as done as possible - bottom line is that if they are happy, we are happy too :o)

Lauren and I spent the day with the removal men packing up our house. Man they packed quickly!! AND they took so many tea breaks!!

By Monday night, all non-essential stuff was really packed - that was strange. We spent our last night in 29 Castlemartin - truly, we didn't really feel too sad - just excited for the move!

Tuesday 3rd July - official MOVING day!! Izzy had an extra day at nursery and Caitlin was at school. The removal men arrived early in the morning and BOOM we were off! It rained so bad that day :o( The removal men covered the new cream carpets (CREAM!! Daft idea!) in plastic and did a really good job at keeping the floors clean. Nick continued doing things in the new house - as beds arrived for the girls he got those assembled etc. Lauren supervised the packing at the old house (mainly) and I started unpacking at the new house but we all tooed and froed all day. Here's some pics from Tuesday for you...

By Tuesday night, we were aching SO badly!! We stayed in our new house that night by which time the girls were largely unpacked and we had the sofas in place in the lounge. We were also becoming heartily sick of takeaways and ready meals!! Oh well!

Wednesday - Nick was at work. The plan was for me and Lauren to stay at the old house all day cleaning it (one of the conditions of the part exchange) but, as with all best plans, that didn't quite work.....

All day, we had trades in and out of the new house, SKY coming to fit the satellite dish, the gate man coming, painters etc etc so in the end I had to stay at the new house all day. Poor Lauren landed the dirty job at the old house cleaning out each room after the removal men emptied it (they were still with us on Wednesday to do the last rooms). We got through the day by texting each other encouragement!! Probably we got a lot more done without distracting each other cos I unpacked everything of the girls, their bedrooms, their clothes, their play room - all done! I also moved boxes around to the correct rooms and supervised the trades. Lauren scrubbed and scrubbed - floors, windows, cupboards the lot! She worked SO hard - it was a truly fabulous team effort and the end result was a house that looked like a home by Wednesday evening and we got the full £500 deposit on the old house because it was so clean and shiny - THANKS LOZZIE-LOO!!!! Have a look at Lauren and I with an empty old house and boxes in the new house - despite it all, we were still smiling at the end of the day (smiling - and smelling, aching and covered in bruises!!).

On the Wednesday some flowers arrived from Nigel which was lovely and the next day some flowers from Richard, Nick's other brother - also beautiful so the house was really cheered up by those! Here they are...

I guess that's really the story. Nick and I were both back at work on the Thursday and, after some fairly challenging conversations with Miller site managers, by Friday last week, we've got all the bits and bobs fixed and sorted and a brand new red kitchen which we love :o)

Its been a fab experience - one which I'm not in a hurry to repeat! We now have a house that we absolutely love. We plan to be here now until the kids leave home cos we won't need anything else. We've been blessed with fab neighbours - yay!!!! Next door is a family with a 7 year old daughter called Gaby and Gaby and Caitlin are already best friends. There are other little girls on the street and, as the first house with a lawn in the back garden, we have a constant stream of kids playing out the back! Its great :o) We've had barbeques with the neighbours and are loving the new neighbourhood.

It felt a bit weird on the Wednesday of moving week to hand in all of our old house keys to the site office - weird but really positive. It was a bit emotional - after all, Caitlin lived in the old house from being 7 months old and Izzy was born on the lounge floor! We also miss our neighbours Michelle and Kevin with their boys David and Joe but they've already been over to visit. That's it though really - we're just truly happy to be here and feel excited every day by our new house.

I'll post pictures of the new house in detail in the next blog and on the web album.... always leave them wanting more!!

Nick and I are now back up and running on email just fine and Nick's just gone out to the PC shop to get some wireless connectors for Caitlin and Lauren so with a bit of luck, they'll have internet on their pcs tomorrow.

You're all very welcome to come and visit - open house!! Our new HUGE sofa bed for the big attic room arrives this week and then we're all set for armies of visitors :o)

Love to you all and thanks to everyone for their support, prayers and good wishes

Nikki xoxoxoxox

internet ordered

Hi all

Just to let you know that we have ordered the internet this evening!! We now officially have a postcode!!!!! YAY!!! So, Nick ordered the internet this evening and in 2-4 weeks we'll have it :o)

Normal service will be resumed very soon! ;o)

Love to all

Nikki xoxoxoxox

still no internet...

Hey all...

Feels like we've dropped off the world without internet!!

Apparently our postcode doesn't exist "officially" yet and, until it does, we can't get issued with broadband !! This is what comes of having a brand new house on a brand new street!!! ;o)

The postman finds us ok tho!!

Just to say - we're all fine and settling in well. This weekend sees our big office being carpeted and more than one computer will then be active in the house. Hopefully at that point we'll find some way of getting even just a slow connection at home and we'll be able to be more contactable.

Love to you all and trust me - the biggest blog EVER is in store for you all when we're connected again!! So much to tell you - ups and downs of moving, end of nursery for Izzy, new neighbours, plans for the summer and - sniff - how the awful rain is affecting everyone's holiday plans (ours included) and what we're doing instead of camping this year.

Big hugs

Nikki xoxoxoxoox

This will just be really brief cos I've managed to find 5 minutes at work but we're not really supposed to blog stuff and I can't upload any pics - but just so you all know we're in and ok!!

Moving day itself last Tuesday was SOOOOoooooooo rainy!! Fortunately we had a really good removal company and they protected all the CREAM carpets (don't even - who's crazy idea was that!!!) so we didn't get in too much of a mess!

The girls are all settling in well. I think Caitlin, Izzy and Lauren were the first to get unpacked - or pretty much unpacked anyway! Nick and I kind of finished off our stuff at the weekend and we now have a fully functioning house apart from the dining room (boxes of china and "random" bits) and the big upstairs office / cinema room (still waiting on carpet which arrived this morning and is now in the garage). It really is a gorgeous house and we're all lovin the new routines (no food or drink ANYWHERE except the kitchen girls!!), the new space, the new gorgeous furnishings and the fab new neighbours! :o) YAY for non-strange neighbours!

Next door is particularly great cos they have a 7 year old daughter called Gaby. Caitlin and Gaby are already best friends :o)

We hope to have internet fairly soon - some problems with telephone and satellite providers so far which may slow us down a bit. You'll all know for sure when we're back with internet cos Lauren and I will be madly blogging and emailing to let you all know what the house is like and how the move went!

For now though, love to all of you - and we can't wait to show as many of you as possible round our new house! All guests very welcome - from whatever part of the world!!! The Joyce Residence door is now well and truly open!

Big hugs

Nikki xoxoxoxox

see you in a couple of weeks!

Hi all

Well, this will (probably) be the last blog for a wee while! As from this weekend we have no internet at our current house and we can't get broadband in our new house for 2 weeks so apologies in advance for not blogging and not replying to emails!

If you need any of us, please feel free to use my work email address - if you don't have it and want it - let me know! We won't be able to blog until we have internet at home cos its blocked at my work and the chances of Nick doing a blog at work are slim to non-existant!!

Anyway, just to let you know the house move is all going forward just fine and we should be IN our house next Tuesday - yay!!!! So exciting now :o) Nigel and Ollie will be with us on Thursday evening to work through the weekend on the flooring and friends of ours and Lauren are all pitching in to help over the weekend. Gotta love your friends eh?!!

We've got a team of blokes up at the new house laying floors, doing the lighting and fitting the curtains and some girls at the old house organising and starting the packing! Lauren is taking the girls out on Saturday to spend the day with my best mate Ros (her hubby Phil is helping at the new house) so that we can just get really stuck in without interruptions! Very exciting, very stressful and - just this week - a little sad. We're so happy to be moving but this week I felt a little sad to leave our home that has been so happy and where our children were babies - Izzy was even born here in the lounge! Mostly though, we're all excited for the new fresh start with all the junk binned and all the new gorgeousness of our house!!

Last weekend, Nick and I went away to Oasis with our best friends Ros and Phil and had such a lovely relaxing time! It RAINED and RAINED and RAINED!!!!!!!! We were in the outside spa pool in a thunder storm - way cool!!!! I should say - the rain has been unbelievable this month - for our non UK readers - to the point that we have had deaths in the UK from flood water, sudden rising rivers and rapidly rising drains. Its been really crazy weather for June.

Apart from the rain though, we ate out, Ros and I had a lovely facial and on Sunday morning, Nick and I didn't get up until 10am!!!!!! Awesome! :o) Thanks to Lauren for looking after the girls (not forgetting Brent of course) and enabling us to have this special time on our own :o)

So, I think that's it - back to the sorting and packing! We have another skip for this week and Lauren has already been chucking stuff in it whilst we're at work ;o) WOW! Hard to believe that next time I blog will be from our new office up in the attic of the new house!

Love to you all and please do leave us comments - we'll catch up with you soon!

Nikki xoxoxoxoxoxox

So close to moving - but still a lot to do!!

Hey all


Update on the house - do you want to see pics......?!?!?!!!!

Nick went IN the house today - measured everything and had a first check of the fixtures and fittings that have gone in so far (needs to get finished quick cos we complete NEXT THURSDAY - aaggghhhhh!!!!!)

What do you think then?


The ACTUAL front of our ACTUAL house :o)



The kitchen so far

I'll not post any more - leave you some surprises ;o)

Lauren got home safe and sound but she's really struggling with jet lag this time :o( I think it was the rotten flight time that ultimately meant she missed a full nights sleep and ended up awake for 30 hours solid. Other than that, she's fine though and the girls were delighted to see her - I thought Izzy's head would flip back at her jaw cos her grin was SOOOoooo wide!!!

Yesterday Nick and I totally emptied the attic - quite an experience! Nick had put up there a lot of stuff from when he worked from home (including a broken chair which we both wondered WHY he had felt a need to save it, manhandle it with difficulty through the loft hatch and WHAT he kept it for!!!!). We got an ENORMOUS skip - and filled it! All the stuff from the attic and some from the garage. It was a strange experience, tiring, dirty but really exhilirating and carthartic to get rid of all the junk!!

Better go and get on with dinner - love to all and thanks for your continued prayers and support in the last couple of weeks hectic house moving!

Nikki xoxoxoxoxox

update on the house!

Hey all

Just been over to the site (advantages of it being 2 minutes from our current house ;o) ) to show my friend Jane round the showhome (which is the same house as ours).

When we got there - I could see my house just about finished :o) YAY!!!! There's a roof on the garage, topsoil in the garden and an almost complete path to the backdoor!! In the site office, my hand was warmly shaken by Derek who introduced himself as the contractor services manager. He said he'd been in my house all day cleaning it!! I couldn't go in for "health and safety" reasons BUT he said my kitchen is in, my bathrooms are in and there's just the final bits of tweaking and it'll be done on Monday!! AAgggghhhhh!!!!!! This is SO real now!!!!

So, that's made me all excited and giddy! :o)

The reason he'd been cleaning my house all day is cos of the awful weather! Remember we were basking in the sun less than 2 weeks ago? Now, its 10 degrees today, constant rain and biting wind - grim! The forecast for the whole weekend is the same too - whoopeedoo!

Nick's in Cheltenham again today sorting out a problem with the computer sound thingy that had been sent from Austria - it didn't work :o( So, the poor boy had to drive down first thing this morning and he'll be back midnightish tonight. Caitlin and I are doing the Manchester run to get Lauren in the morning - she's back at 11:05 so we don't have to rush out at the crack of sparrows!

I'll leave you with a gorgeous photo of the girls - not that I'm biased you understand! Kids are funny - when we had Izzy, I always said I wouldn't dress my girls in the same clothes. Personal thing, but I really don't like it. I wasn't counting of course on the fact that the girls may WANT to wear the same clothes!! Grrrr!! Anyway, when the sun was shining they decided they wanted nighties instead of pjs so I went to buy some - and they insisted they should have the same! So, here they are in the same nighties :o)



Love to you all

Nikki xoxoxoxox

random

Hey all

Lets go on a random wander in my head today.....

Its raining - and the rain today is VERY wet rain! I know that sounds daft but some rain is wetter than others and today's rain is that constant soggy drizzle that permeates everything and leaves things soaking wet tho its not raining hard.

Having said that, we needed a bit of rain so I'm not complaining!

I think the rain will be causing Nick some difficulties - he's down in a castle in Cheltenham installing something arty... hope that's enough info cos sometimes I can't remember all the details! Anyway, he took his waterproofs when he set off yesterday, despite leaving in bright sunshine - think he'll be glad he did!

So, Nick's away AGAIN! I think he deserves the rain as his last 2 trips have been exotic and / or sunny!! It'll almost be strange to have him home! The girls and I have done well over 2 weeks on our own now over the past 4 weeks - we've got into quite a good routine and they're pretty adorable which helps!

Its definitely tough doing this and working full time and I really don't know how full time working single mums do it cos getting your kids up and where they need to be in time for you to start work and then finishing work in time to get them both from separate daycare and home in time for tea - PHEW!!! In amongst that of course, trying to do a professional stressful job still!! AND trying to be a great Mum still!!!! I've been putting my pants over my trousers in the hope that some superman strength will rub off, I've also tried wearing a cape but....... ;o) I've had a couple of days not at work which have been MUCH easier - tho don't ask me to be a full time mum either cos a few days is great, more than that, and I miss my job!

I'm not complaining though! We've got through it just fine (apart from when Izzy wakes up at 2:30am for a chat like last night ;o) She's still cute at that time though and I can't help getting into her conversation then I'm like - eh, sleep now!!!) and had some good times together. I've earned my weekend break next week at Oasis though :o) YAY!!!!

So, Ros and Phil (our best friends) and Nick and I are off to Oasis WITHOUT the kids for 2 nights :o) We've not been away just the 4 of us for almost 9 years since I was pregnant with Caitlin..... eek! Just realised, 9 YEARS!!!! Where did that go! Anyway, the 4 of us plan to sleep in, eat out and read magazines and books in blissful silence! Wouldn't be without the children for a minute - they are such a blessing but, as all those parents who've been parenting a few years will agree, time just as a couple is rare and special and needs to be protected too.

We exchanged contracts on the house yesterday which means we are legally committed to completing the move! Bit scary but SOOooooo exciting! The plastering is all done and I believe our kitchen and bathrooms are going in as I write!

Lauren arrives home on Saturday morning and Caitlin and I are off to Manchester to be the welcoming party :o) Since it was less than 10 days to Lauren returning, Izzy's found it much easier to understand cos she can see it on her fingers!!! ;o)

This morning I did a story sack session at Izzy's nursery which was lots of fun. The kids were just so attentive and co-operative and they really joined in with the sounds and the actions and the mask. 3 year olds are just truly amazing! Such little people yet they can do SOOOOoooo much! I love that age - still cute, but also REALLY clever! Izzy loved having her Mum in nursery :o) She was just buzzing about the whole thing!

I think that's enough of my musings! No new pics today - but I'll post some more of those at the weekend - including (hopefully) a house update pic!

Love to all and especially Rachel and Andrew who got married on Sunday :o) Big congratulations to the new Mr and Mrs Cornelson :o)

Nikki xoxoxoxoxox

Inside the new house!

Hello and I'm afraid its STILL house news!


Last Friday Nick and I had a "pre-plaster" meeting at the house.. an opportunity for Nick to take note (cos he understands and is interested) of where all the electrics are and the pipes and which way the joists run and for me to say "eeeeee" a lot and jump like tigger in my new house!!!


I'm afraid the pics don't tell you much but I thought you might like to have a look anyway :o)

View from dining room through double doors to bay window in lounge:
View out of front door across (what will be) a landscaped green to the protected hawthorn hedge:

View from our bedroom through arch to dressing room then door through to bathroom with bathroom window at the end (honestly!!):

View of attic from bedroom 2 (cinema room) across wall to Lauren's bathroom and bedroom:

So there you go.... I think the finished result will look much better!!! hehehehe

Our completion date (when the house is legally ours) is the 28th June but, because we are part exchanging our current house with the builder, we have a license to stay in our current house AS WELL for a week :o) So, the plan is to complete on Thursday 28th then Nigel (Nick's brother) and his friend are going to come up on Thursday night ready to start doing all the carpet and flooring from first thing on Friday. They should be finished the whole house by Sunday / Monday and Nick and I and some friends will also be putting up curtains, light fittings etc etc. The removal men will come on Tuesday and that will be the official "moving day" and then Wednesday will be unpacking :o) Sounds like a plan - just hope it all comes together ok!

That's really it for now - Nick's away this week in Seville, he left on Wednesday and is back midnightish on Sunday THEN he's away again on Tuesday until Thursday / Friday. My Mum and Dad are coming up this weekend which will be lovely for us all - I think the girls are getting sick of me!!!!!!!

Love to all and I'll blog again soon

Big hugs

Nikki xoxoxox

WE HAVE WINDOWS!!!!!

Good morning everyone!

First of all, sorry that this blog has taken a while to appear. My excuse is that Nick's been away for 10 days and between work, kids and domestic duties, I haven't had chance to sit at my pc!

So, how's it been? Well, fine on the whole but trying to work in a fairly stressful job THEN come home and do all the kid stuff by myself and look after the house has been trying! The days that I wasn't at work were easier - but also confirmed that I'm not cut out to be a full time mum!! I'm happy cos Nick's now home and its much easier with 2 of us - just to have someone else to talk to and someone else for the kids to chat to cos I think the girls got fed up with the same old Mummy every day too!! We were all fine though and the girls coped well :o)

Nick's away again for 5 days next week but at least I'm prepared! I haven't spent so many nights on my own with both girls ever and I've only done a few nights in the past - mainly when Izzy was a baby. Its amazing the difference having a 3 year old makes though cos Izzy can get herself dressed, eat by herself and doesn't wear nappies and the 2 girls can play together beautifully (well, when they're in the mood!) and they're basically good kids so they made it much easier than it could have been :o) If only I could get Izzy out of the habit of waking at 5:30 every morning!! Truly, I lived the last 10 days on kid time!! Up at 5:30 with Izzy, out, work, home, bath, Izzy bed, Caitlin bed, Nikki tea, Nikki bed at 9pm!!!!!! Hahahahahahahaa - I was SOOOoooo boring!!

Fortunately, Nick's parents came up for the weekend so the girls got a break from me and I got some adult company :o) We had a lovely weekend, we went to see the new house and the show home. At the weekend the house looked like this:

See, no windows and no tiles on the roof but we did at least HAVE a roof at that point!

Anne and Jim LOVED the house and we had a fun time going round the show home and the girls and I explaining our plans :o) All is still on track for moving the last weekend in June. On the Saturday afternoon we went to a "chrome and fins" show at Preston Park where there were loads of big old American cars - Caitlin said they looked like "Grease" cars :o) They also had inflatable slides there and a "hook a duck" stall so we all had fun!!

On Sunday we went to Mass in the morning to the beautiful old church in Yarm. We've pretty much decided that we prefer that church. The same priest as in Ingleby covers both churches so he does 9:30 Mass in Yarm then 11 in Ingleby but 11am is not a great time for Iz cos she starts to get hungry and not a good time for me cos my sunday roast is burning!!! The Yarm church is also a "proper" church with beautiful stained glass windows - but no toilet - and guess who suddenly decided she needed the toilet on Sunday? Yes, Izzy! And when she needs to go - we don't have long! Fortunately the deacon's house is next door to the church and we know the deacon's wife Margaret so we nipped in there - Izzy LOVED the fluffy peach toilet seat cover and asked if we could have one at home ;o) So cute!!!!

Sunday afternoon Ros and Phil and the boys came to play which was lovely cos Anne and Jim hadn't seen the boys for ages. Monday, Anne and I took the girls to Fun Shack which is a BIG soft play place about 30 minutes north of here. We hadn't tried that one before and it was excellent :o) Slides, a little go cart track and 3 different soft play areas - one for 0-3, one for 2-5 and a huge one for 5-12 so I think that could be a fave place for Lauren and the girls this summer :o)

Anne and Jim went home on Monday and on Tuesday Izzy was in nursery and Caitlin and I had the day together. We went ice skating!! I haven't done that since I was a teenager and I got on the ice and thought "aaaggghhhhhh"!!! Fortunately, I got back into it quite quickly and was able to help Caitlin round - she really started to do well by the end and could make it all the way round without holding onto me or the side :o) It was fun!

On Tuesday afternoon we nipped to see how the house is doing and now look:

WE HAVE WINDOWS!!!! Doesn't a house look better and brighter when the windows go in!??!

Our current house is now on the market - if you're curious to see what rhubarb Estate Agents speak when they describe your house check out http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-7937601.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

Nick's home safe from Mauritius and arrived back in the middle of Wednesday night. His trip was VERY successful and he's taken some amazing pictures - some of which will be blown up to decorate our new house! He's becoming very talented with his photography now and his shots look just like magazine shots - very professional! I haven't yet seen the photos in the ghostbusters gear - but trust me, if I get my hands on any, I'll post them!!! ;o) Nick's luggage got stuck at Heathrow however but made it up to Newcastle yesterday and is being couriered down today - so he'll have his shaver back which is a relief cos he looks like a convict with his bristly chin!!!

That's all for now - hope you are all well and happy? BIG hugs to the new Mr and Mrs Snider - saw the photos Sharon and you just looked STUNNING!!!!!!

Love to all

Nikki xoxoxoxox

random pics and bits and bobs..

Hello everyone!

Just a few bits and bobs really this week!

Nick's off to Mauritius "working" tomorrow for 10 days - well, he does actually work but its the kind of work that makes working seem more like playing! As an example, they are having an 80s night whilst they are there and Nick and 2 of his friends will be dressed as Ghostbusters!! Here he is with the wig that he will be wearing to go with the outfit - utterly hideous eh?!?!!! (Thought you might particularly enjoy this one Lauren!!!!!!!)

So, Nick leaves at 9am tomorrow and, with luck, he'll be home about midnight on the 30th May - if he misses his transfer back from Heathrow, it'll be the 31st. Nick has just complained that its "not fair" that I'm blogging the above pic and that its "character assasination" - if the shoe fits....... ;o) hehehehehehe

Other news, our house is getting a roof this week! All is progressing really well still - we have signed stuff at the solicitors, chosen all our options, and our kitchen has been ordered. All systems go for moving the last weekend in June. Many thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers over the past few weeks and your continued support as we get close to the moving date. Its such a short time to get everything done - particularly with Nick away for about 2.5 weeks in the meantime! Oh well, it just gives me less time to get really stressed - if I had longer I would still leave everything to the last minute but I'd have longer to worry!! :o)

This is our actual house last weekend - I'll take another shot when we have more roof and post later this week. We couldn't get right behind it last weekend but they've opened the road now so I'll be able to get a better view next time.

I haven't mentioned training in a while - its been going really well but its going to take a dip the next few weeks cos I won't have chance to run. Caitlin likes to accompany me on her bike but its a bit much for Iz - so I think I'll resort to fitness videos in the lounge!! hahahaha - now THAT's a picture I won't take!!

Today we've been bowling all together as a special treat before Nick goes away. Final score: Nikki 101 (not great but check out Nick's score!!), Izzy (with ramp and bumpers) 68, Caitlin (with bumpers) 61 and Nick 58!!!! Hahahahahahaa - I laughed!!!!!! So funny! Izzy loved the bowling shoes - her first time!

I also got my car back today - all in all this week, servicing cars and fixing and taxing and MOTing my car (annual inspection for cars over 3 years old in case its different across the pond!) has cost us over £800!!! :o( Oh well - they're all running really well now and its just what you have to do when you run cars I guess!

I'll leave you with a rather cute pic of Izzy who kindly allowed me to put her hair in bobbles this morning - she was very proud of her "beautiful" self for about 10 minutes - then pulled it all out!! She's such a tomboy!

This week will be a bit of a toughy. I've taken short days to make sure I can keep on top of the kids, the house and the job so it should all fit in just fine. I'm just praying that the kids stay fit and well as they are now! On Saturday Nick's Mum and Dad are coming for the bank holiday weekend and the three of us are really looking forward to that - particularly taking them round the show home and showing them how our new house is developing. I think that Lauren's friends Claire and Helen might pop round as well one evening - who feels a chic flick and chocolate coming on??!?!

Love to all of you - and particularly love to Sharon and Brad on their last week as single people - this time next week you guys will be Mr and Mrs - aaagghhhh!!!! :o) Enjoy!

Big hugs

Nikki xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Decisions, decisions, decisions......

Morning all!!.... and especially "good morning" to Lauren now back in Canada for a few weeks and to all her family! Hope you guys are having lots of fun :o)

So, yesterday Nick and I went to the excitingly named "options centre" to choose "options" for our new house - boy was that a marathon session!!

We were there 2.5 hours and really needed another 30mins but I had to get back to work!!

We sorted the kitchen, the tiles, the electric upgrades and the wardrobes though :o) The kitchen is going to be amazing we think! If you look at our previous blog, the worktop in the kitchen showhome is the same worktop we are getting - kind of a matt dark brown called (and this seems to be "colour name of the year!!") 'wenge' - whatever that is?!?!? The units are going to be a high gloss cream with stainless steel handles - should look good! There were too many choices though :o) We've picked out cream tiles for the kitchen and utility and (hopefully) Nick's brother Nigel is going to put a dark laminate / vinyl floor down for us - we're excited!

Other things are just to be quite simple - the bathrooms have a nice white tile, very simple but we don't like too much fuss. Then we can accessorise to suit - the girls are going to have raspberry accessories in their bathroom! Our bathroom might be a bit more detailed - we've asked for a quote for a white tile with small glass tiles as a border - can't describe it that well but if we can afford it it will look wonderful :o)

My car went into the garage yesterday - it ran out of warranty in April and promptly my indicator stalk and rear windscreen wiper motor have failed - the pleasure of fixing it - £300!!!!! Daylight robbery! I think in future I'll go to another garage not the main dealer though because every time I go they also try to charge me for random other things that I don't need - Nick has become quite sarcastic with them!

So, breakfast and Backyardigans with the girls.

Love to all

Nikki xoxoxooxoxoxox

What to do whilst waiting for the gas man.....

Hello!

I'm waiting for the gas man to come - so thought I'd do a bit of an update with pics whilst I'm waiting!!

Hopefully, you've read the previous blog on the house and that certainly took up the majority of last week! Few pics from Justin Timberlake for you first tho - we had such a fab evening!

Lauren and I before the show and the opening stage:

The boy sings, dances, plays the piano AND looks hot!!!!!

Nick and I took a few photos in the show home last weekend too - these will give you some idea of the house - just remember though - this is the spanky nice showhome, expensively decorated and filled with all possible luxury upgrades!!!!! Nick and I are going to the "options centre" on Monday - to choose tiles, kitchens, bathrooms stuff - but there will be a whole heap of optional extras which we could choose to upgrade to if we want. Fitted wardrobes, carpets, kitchen appliances etc etc so we're going to have to be very focused to avoid spending ridiculous sums of money!!

Lauren's room, the kitchen, view from master bedroom through dressing room to en-suite bathroom, lounge through to dining room (with my best mate Ros, her son Finn and Izzy!):

Ooohhhh - gas man's here - I'll just let him in - BRB!!

So, the boiler and fire has to be serviced and a safety certificate issued to part ex our house so that's what's going on there!

Last weekend Nick and I went to stay for the night with his friend Sarah and her husband Dan near Manchester. Sarah is the lovely lady from Beachcomber who Nick works for in Mauritius and the Seychelles - and also the lovely lady who is organising our amazing holiday this year. The holiday just got more amazing - as well as the Seychelles, she's also paid for 3 days in Dubai en route flying business class with Emirates!!! Wow!!! We are SOOOooooooo lucky!!!!!!

Whilst we were away, Brent and Lauren took the girls to Beamish. They took some lovely pictures - check out Lauren's blog (link to the right) if you want to have a look :o)

Better get back to the gas man!!

Love to all

Nikki xoxoxoxoxox

a very expensive week!

Hello all

Once more, this will be a quick one cos I'm just about to go off to work - this week I'll have chance to do a proper one but last week was crazy busy - and this is why........

Last week on Saturday (ie Saturday before last) - Nick was in Gran Canaria and Lauren, the girls and I decided to go look round a new showhome in Ingleby Barwick. We'd seen the plans a few months back and the house looked lovely but its always hard to tell til you see it "in the flesh" and the showhome on site is the house that we liked the look of in the plans.

So, we looked round - and fell in love!!!! Guess what happened next..... Nick came back from Gran Canaria late on the Saturday evening and on the Sunday, he came with me for a look round - and also loved it. BUT its a lot of money and we went for a chat at the pub and talked ourselves out of buying it..... by Sunday bedtime, we'd talked ourselves back into having a bit more information!!

Monday lunchtime, I called into the showhome to chat to the very nice ladies there. They could do a part exchange on our house for the new house (not quite built yet - just up to the first floor windows!!) which, if we were able to get a good price for ours, would be excellent. Hassle free - we wouldn't have to worry about showing our house, bringing round estate agents and paying estate agents fees AND it would all be done very quickly.

The showhome ladies arranged for our house to be valued so that they could make us a part exchange offer and estate agents arranged to come round last Friday. All last week, mad tidying took place!! I took Friday off to do the final thorough clean and Lauren had been busy all week. Nick had done some serious stuff shifting on the evening and between us all, by Friday lunch, the house looked lovely! I'd also arranged for our own estate agent to come round so that I knew what the actual value of the house would be - just in case they tried to offer us something ridiculous on the part exchange.

Valuation from the builder first - lovely chap but he didn't tell me what he thought the house was worth. Then the independent estate agent - who told me that my house was worth less than I thought cos of the shared access to the drive (and I agree - we would never buy a house with shared access again!!) and also cos the kitchen is now looking a little dated.

That was a bit of a downer and by this time, Lauren had picked Caitlin up from school so the 3 of us decided to go back and look at the showhome again to cheer ourselves up! On the way, my mobile rang but I couldn't answer cos I was driving. I listened to the message outside the showhome and it was someone from Miller (the builder) head office saying she had a part exchange offer for me (literally 1 hour after the estate agent had been!!) and to call into the showhome for details - so I did!!

They offered us £15k more than I'd been told our house was worth!!!!!!!! I'd be no good at poker cos I squealed with excitement and grabbed Lauren's hand then we went and skipped in the showhome where I phoned Nick who said "did you bite their hand off and pay the cheque"?!!!!

Long and short of it is Saturday morning, as soon as the showhome opened, Nick and I were there with a reservation cheque and ID and we filled out the forms and the house is now ours for the taking!!!! We're just finalising details with the bank this week so its not a totally done deal yet but the house is reserved for us and we're starting to plan decor etc etc!! So exciting!! If it all goes ahead, we should be moving in in early July :o)

Anyway, the bit you've been waiting for - what is the house like...... here's the link!

http://www.millerhomes.co.uk/explore/NorthEast/10842/housestyles/4646

Enjoy!!!!!

More details pics and other non-house news later.

Love to all

Nikki xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

JUSTIN IS SOOOOOooooooo FINE!!!!!!!

AAAGgggghghghghghghghghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.........

I'll write properly later cos I've got to go to work but just wanted to say.....

Justin was utterly delicious!!!!!!!

Lauren and I squealed like teenage girls! It was so much fun! The stage was awesome, the dancers were amazing, the lighting was breathtaking and Justin was a lot more talented than I thought he was going to be - gorgeous voice and his dancing - mmmmm mmmmmmmmmm ;o)

That boy is FINE!!

Anyway - I'll post some pictures later but just wanted to share the excitement - Lauren might get some pics up during the day today so you might want to check her blog later too!!

Love to all - and especially JT :o)

Nikki xoxoxoxoxoxox