Going back to work

So i have completed my training and have been  back at work for 5 weeks ,when i say back at work i haven't worked there before its a new job, but its been about 7 year since i have been employed. I have worked in that time but as a self employed travel agent and with my husband in our shop, then since we closed the shop and i had Alex i have been lucky enough to be a stay at home mum. But the time came with number 3 at school and to be honest needing a bit more money coming in, that it was the right time for me to look for a job. Looking for a job and applying for one has completely changed since the last time i had to do that and for the first time i have real sympathy for people looking for work, i heard stories like you do in paper and on TV where people say they have applied for over 100 jobs and never heard anything back, let alone get a job and i always though well they clearly don't want one or aren't trying. But now i see the process has changed so much, gone are they days where you look in the paper see a job call them and have an interview the next week and if you are lucky start the next week. For this job i had to fill in an online application which took me the best part of 4 hours, writing and rewriting my skills and competences to make sure i have included everything i possibly could that would be relevant to the job, after all this was my first contact with them and i needed to make sure  stood out from the crowd. I applied for the job at the end of August and got an interview the beginning of October, i found out i had got the job end of October and started the End of Novemeber, Thats a 3 month process!!

What has been the biggest challenge is childcare, its practically non exsistant! my thoughts were get a job first,because lets face it childcare isn't cheap and we couldn't afford it till i knew i had a job, so i got the job and had 4 weeks to get it in place. Alex was easy we put him straight into nursery at the same on all the other went to but they now own several and there is one nearer to us so he went there, for a couple of morning at first in the weeks before i started so he could get used to it and then 3 days when i started and 2 days at my parents. Ewan wasn't a problem either as his school has an after school club with lots of spaces,but for Molly and Fred the after school club was fully booked with a large waiting list that i was told could be years!!! we looked for childminders and looked into so many options, every thing was full. I have been lucky that my parents could do the collections from school for us every night, but they can't do it permanently so currently we are looking into other options,with Paul perhaps getting anew job that would free him up to pick up the kids, so still up in the air at the moment. I never realised just how much of a problem it  would be, there must be so many people struggling with this.

I have really enjoyed making new friends and meeting new people, the job its self is not the most interesting i have ever had, but there is so many other things going on there and some opportunity that sound really good. So i start properly on Monday and a few people from training will be with me on my section so thats all good.

Paul has been off this last week as the schools don't go back till Monday either. I think with all of them at home he has had a good taster of what its like to be at home and he has been doing all the house work,apart from cooking which i have been doing, but we have a good routine sorted for who's doing what now we are both working. so its all coming together. So new year and new start really for all of us this year!

Dezmelda Blanket

Way back in august i think, i started on this blanket for my Mum and Dad for Christmas, thinking i had plenty of time, but other projects got in the way and i finally finished it on Christmas Eve!

I knew they would like this as these are the colors my mum lives so as soon as i saw the blanket on ravelry i knew i had to make it. Here is the link for the pattern Dezmelda Blanket

Unfortunately some of the pictures show it as a funny color because i took them all in the evening but you can see the color palette above. i will take some more i think next time i go to mums

When i went round on boxing day, mum had noticed that the patterns on some of the square match the pattern thats on her couch, so it really matched and went well

I have already started on my next blanket, its the Sophies Cal from 2015

South Lakes Safari Zoo

Instead of our usual Pre Christmas trip to Farmer Parrs to see Father Christmas, this year we went to South Lakes Safari Zoo for a change.

It was great i much preferred it to Blackpool zoo and we got the bonus of hand feeding giraffes and reindeer, walking among the penguins, seeing lions and tigers, and monkeys and all the other animals, we got to ride on a little steam train, which Alex loved!

They all got to see Santa!!

This was the first year they had done this at Christmas, i hope they do it again next year as we will be back!

Our Christmas 2016

The month of December has been filled with illness after illness i had a stomach bug then a cold then a stomach bug and we had one child a week ill with the sickness thats been doing the rounds. But luckily we were all ok over Christmas.

We made mince pies and drank hot choccie

We loved our tree which was a bargain at £11.99!!

Next to our Santa you can see the Reindeer that Paul made us of a fallen branch we found round the corner, which is wonderful and he did a fantastic job,next year he has said he is going to make more so we can have a display in the garden,.

I found this tree hat for 59p in a charity shop and despite the look, he would not take it off!

He is definitely a Christmas Cutie and this year he knew all about it and had no problems with opening his presents and with all the Christmas party's and festivity's at nursery has really started enjoying it, he runs up to the door and presses the bell himself,which is great to see as Fred cried and fought every day he was there, which was such a shame as its a wonderful nursery, that all of the kids have gone to , although Alex is going to a different building as they have opened one near me,but some of the same staff are there so they know our family from all the years we have been going.

Santa and his sleigh passed the house!!

This is organised by the local Rotary club and goings round all the local streets,unfortunately i was ill and the kids were at my mums and they missed it by 10 minutes, but i went out and put some money in the box.

This year instead of our annual Gingerbread house competition, we did a ginger bread tree which turned out perfectly!I made the dough and Paul did this with them while i was preparing the food on Christmas Eve

We used it as a table decoration 

They were so exited but after a late night on Christmas eve we managed to stay in bed till 7.10 am!!!!the lastest time yet i think!

The lounge was chaos but they all got what they wanted, apart from Fred who had asked for a kitchen, my parents bought him a gorgeous wooden kitchen and after inspecting it asked where the tablet was!! turns out he had wanted on from the telly which you could put your tablet on the front for cooking noises!! Think really it was just the tablet he wanted, but we fixed it by putting Pauls phone on the front with a cooking app and that made him happy. They have all played with it lot, its so cute .

I made the same dinner as last year Lamb stuffed with a cranberry stuffing and slow roasted in port and cranberrys

Everyone enjoyed it apart from Ewan who whined on and on about not liking the gravy and it being different, but it was made out of the port, stock and juices, it was delicious!

They got matching minion onesies, i think they looked really cute

Overall this Christmas was really relaxing, i had made lots in advance and made a scheduale over the month for various jobs and stuck to it,which meant that most things were done ready for the day ahead of time. so after all was done i could sit and relax with a bacardi and some Gingerbread cake!

Hope you all had a great  Christmas too 

11 sleeps till Christmas

Only 11 sleeps till Christmas eeek ! As usually right before Christmas the winter bug has been making it's way through the house, just when I started work as well, so Paul has had to take time off and stay at home with them all on separate occasions as well. I am hoping that's the last of it. I am spending lots of my evenings and even break times at work desperately trying to finish the blanket I am making for my mum for Christmas, it's going to be a really close call to get it finished. Everything else has been done really, just waiting for a couple of last minute presents to arrive and wrap. Paul will be having his works outing so I have said that the older kids can have a super late night and we will stay up playing games or somthing fun this weekend.

I have been busy cooking this weekend making some of the Christmas dinner already. I made the festive red cabbage as it takes 3 hours to make so it's done now and I'm the freezer along with stuffing baubles that I have made in advance. I am making the same dinner that I did last year so just trying to save some time on the day and the evening before.

  That's me for today I am so tired night all x

Getting organized

So I have completed my first week in my new job after being at home with the kids for a few years. Firstly I noticed how quiet it is without the kids and you get to drink full cups of tea! Alex always had to pick up my cup and drink the rest of my tea if I dared to put it down for a minute .  I have really missed little Alex and feel awfully guilty that he is at nursery but at least it's only for 3 days and the other 2 he is with my mum. I am feeling really relived that I have hopefully managed to sort out my hours so that I can pick the children up from school for a 3 days and my mum will the other 2 as you can do flexi time at work. Which is great as I had run out of childcare options for 2 of the kids in the evening as everywhere was fully booked. But all sorted now i think and it will work out better as I have missed picking the kids up this week.

I am starting to feel super organised. This first week went really well and everything ran smoothly. I think having started getting everyone into a routine a few weeks ago has really paid off and I am using my diary more than ever planning and making lists of what we will be doing and what I need to do is want to get done, I need more space though so might treat myself to a new planner.

We put the tree up this weekend and as usual I got a real tree and it was a bargain at £11.99! It's not as wide as we usually get but it's still great and as we saved a bit of money a bought a couple of extra bits. It was a bitvsad that Ewan wanted to play out with his friends rather than decorate it but he is getting to that are I think. The rest of us enjoy it and there is noting like that first night when it's all twinkly,  Molly and I made some mince pies and we drank got choc with the works . I think it will be a great Christmas this year! ☺

We got to Switch on the local Christmas lights!!!!!!

A couple of weeks ago now, the Cleveleys Christmas lights got switched on and we got picked to press the button! yay, the kids were super super excited,we allputour hands on the button and pressed at the same time (apart from little Alex who was at nursery)

When we got home we saw it had been filmed , the kids couldn't stop watching it. Ewan is convinced we are now celebrity's haha, but its not everyday you get an opportunity like that

Click HERE to see the video

Now we have our tree up to, its starting to get very very christmassy around here xx