First Holy Communion

Being the very proud mother of a new First Holy Communicant, I am going to obviously do the proud mummy bit and show off a few photographs, there will be a couple more to follow as I have just had another spool developed, yes developed, I still use my old faithful camera!

So here she is, the very sweet, very innocent, Little Miss Windy......

Can you believe it rained on Saturday morning, hence the indoor photograph and deflated bouncy castle (wet bouncy castle) in the background.

After the event, photo's taken in the chapel as it was cold and damp outside

Side view to show off the hair - did I make a good job or what?

Finally back home and it brightened up, stopped raining and we rattled through the photo's so that she could get the dress off and get on the bouncy castle. Brother and sister in harmony for a moment.

"Sweet and innocent now, just wait until tomorrow when I'm knackered"

Still smiling

Mum & dad and the proud girl.

Apart from the rain and the cold wind the day dried up and the kids had a great time, I didn't do much at all. On arriving back from the chapel my SIL's had set out all the food, the hubby attended to drinks, my niece attended to tea and coffee and I sat with my daughter while she opened her cards and gifts. When it was time to eat my SIL cooked the pizza's and Miss Windy's godmother heated the 2 pots of soup. Despite not being able to sit outside everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, the boys took residence in my son's bedroom, occupied by the PlayStation and the girls played contently in Miss Windy's bedroom. The bouncy castle was turns each, boys then girls, we only had 2 injuries, a staved thumb for my son and a winded godson.

I was eternally grateful for my conservatory as squeezing just sort of 60 people in would have been a struggle without it. I enjoyed the day, my daughter thoroughly enjoyed her day, the house was gutted and looked good in it's newly decorated state, the garden looked good and of course my daughter....well she looked fabulous. I am also glad it's over, I can enjoy the summer knowing the house is in order, the garden is in order and I am only left with the normal things in life, like washing, ironing and housework.

It was not cheap, but it was worth it, one day, her day, a day to remember for the rest of her life. The beginning of the rest of her life as a member of the church family. Amen

Reality check......

This morning I was feeling a little bit stressed. The housework schedule is on plan, the shopping list is ready for Friday, everything else has a time and day to be collected, dusted, hoovered etc. I went to the shops and got my Triplicate book and new pens ready to take orders at the school tonight, I bought a communion card for my daughter, birthday card for my son from us and a brother card for my daughter to give her brother, I bought a 50th card for my SIL, an anniversary card for the hubby and 5 cards for a £1, handcrafted, lovely cards as there is always a birthday in our family. I love The Card Factory! I exchanged the shoes I bought on Saturday as they were a bit small and bought a mini cardigan as I don't think the weather is going to be 'all that' on Saturday. I have arranged my parents evening appointments to take place before everyone else this evening and my mum is coming to babysit as the hubby is on night shift. Sorted. And then I came into the unit this morning, looked at all the boxes and the orders that need to be ready for Monday and had instant panic. I am not going to make it and I am taking Friday off to get and do the food for the communion so I am a day short this week .................... aaarrrgggghhhhhh.

I decided to get it off my chest by doing a post, but before I started I thought I would check in on Nicole over at Driving with the brakes on who's little angel Quinn was born at 21 weeks and 3 days gestation and was sadly taken by the angels. This gave me a reality check, so what if the order is a few days late, so what if my living room isn't dusted, does any of it matter? The answers is quite simply no. Nicole has posted all the details of Quinn birth and passing, I have read and wept and prayed for her and her family. If you are going over for a visit I suggest you read alone and with a big box of Kleenex.

My stress has gone......who cares, it'll all work out in the end. For now I remain content that I have my family close by me.

The final countdown

I am on a count down to Saturday the 17th May, not only is it my 36th birthday and my 12th wedding anniversary, it is also the day my daughter makes her First Holy Communion. The house has now been completely decorated and all that remains is housework.

We decided to get a price to have the back garden completely mono blocked in a desperate attempt to have a maintenance free household, the price was to good to refuse so the work started last Saturday and will be complete this Saturday and Sunday. The wooden, collapsing shed has been removed and we have opted for a plastic, maintenance free, shed, although it is unlikely to be delivered before the communion, so we will leave the bikes etc etc hidden in the neighbours garden for the communion, hidden by our new 5 foot fence. I am going to enjoy myself this summer, the house fresh and the garden mono blocked, the fences painted, only housework will remain. I am going to have the most sociable summer I have had in a long time in my new maintenance free world. I know people love their gardens and spend hours looking after them, if I do have hours to spare I want to sit in the garden or play with my children, I don't want to paint fences and cut grass. The only thing that remains to be attended to in the house is the bathroom, but that is next years work and perhaps making the loft into a room that I can use as an office.

Everything is scheduled, the favours are ordered to be collected on Wednesday, the cake to be collected on Friday, my daughters dress is away to be steamed and I will collect it on Friday. We did a Costco trip last week and bought all the fizzy juice, fruit shoots for the kids, plates and bowls. We were fortunate in that we over bought bottles of spirits for my son's communion and therefore still have many unopened bottles left, well scene my father is no longer with us and we might find the bottles no longer contained alcohol, he will be turning in his grave to know all that alcohol has been there, all this time, untouched, if fact he will be turning in his grave to know that my children are catholics, he never saw that coming! An Asda trip for beer is planned for the weekend. I am going to take the day off work on Friday and do the final Costco trip for food, collect the dress and the cake and all being well the house will be sitting perfect and I can concentrate on preparing the food, and than I woke up.

I do have the slight inconvenience of parents evenings, as our schools main uniform supplier I attend all parents evenings with the uniforms for parents to order ready for August. Parents evening being the 13th and 14th of this month, 6-8pm, along with my own appointments on Tuesday. Needless to say I could really do without it this week, so I will have to be super organised.

We also have my son's birthday on the 18th, have I mentioned before I spent my first wedding anniversary and 25th birthday in labour, the whole day, only for him to make his appearance at 1.08am on the 18th. Midwives were delighted I had waited and the baby had his own birthday, I can assure you I wouldn't have minded sharing the day.

I still need to get something to wear, have you seen the fashion lately, the smocky look is ok if you don't have a permanently bloated tummy, the strappy tops all have triangles to put your boobs in and unfortunately being a FF (boast, boast - NOT) my boobs do not fit in these tops, well they might but it's hardly appropriate for my daughters communion. I will have to get my son a present and a cake, the wee soul said the other day 'I don't mind waiting until the summer to have a sleepover with my friends mum' he's such a considerate boy.

One of these days I will have no plans, no decorating, I will be calm and unstressed, relaxed and enjoying life to the full. But for now adrenaline keeps me going.

The Wedding Finale

A few more drinks and the children were called for dinner, they were eating in the dining room next to the bar accompanied by my beautiful niece and her best friend. I was relieved as my daughter was becoming unbearable through starvation. A short time later and we were called to dinner, each person accompanied to there seat. The meal was sensational, I have never enjoyed a meal at a wedding as much as I enjoyed this one, I later discovered the meal was £37 a head. What! Vegetable soup, followed by a sorbet to cleanse the pallet, which sent our men into turmoil, we do not have the most classy family and I think their immediate thoughts were 'have we missed the meal?' I opted for chicken, which was stuffed, wrapped in bacon, with an array of seasonal vegetables, an amazing sauce and boiled and roast potatoes, delicious. To top the meal off raspberry cheesecake.

The children were then brought back to join us for the speeches, they sat all the way up one side of the hall on window seats. The bride not wanting to put pressure on her father, who has the on-set of dementia had asked her brothers to do a speech on his behalf, they carried it off very well. They of course started off with the English - Scottish language barrier and confirmed they had the groom watching Eastenders to pick up the London lingo and that they had been watching Take the High Road, given that Take the High Road has not been on TV for a long while their joke was slightly wasted and perhaps River City would have received a bigger laugh, but they pulled it back quickly when they said the reason for them doing the speech was due to their dad being Irish (which is true) so nobody would understand him. Speeched out of the way and we headed to the Drawing Room for tea and coffee, while the staff cleared the dinning room.

By this time it was nearing 8.30 and I was keen for the dancing to begin to liven us all up as we were beginning to wilt, but it was not yet time for the dancing, it was time for a Celtic Blessing and guess where it was, yes it was back to the great hall, I decided I couldn't face the cold, so I stayed warm and cosy in the Drawing Room with some of the younger children. They returned some 30 minutes later and it was out to the terrace for fireworks. My son, who only had his Gilly shirt on, came back from the Great Hall frozen, luckily I had been wise enough to bring his jacket for the journey home. We watched the fireworks which seemed to go on forever and finally they stopped and the first waltz was to begin. It was 10.15 pm, I was ready for my bed!

The hall was long and narrow with only perhaps 7 or 8 tables set up with 8 to a table, there were approx 80 guests + children and no where near enough seats, the dance floor was mainly taken up with the band and after the initial waltz the band started with the Gay Gordon. My husband and I took to the floor and I think we did the Gay Gordon on the one spot the whole way through. My daughter danced a bit with her cousins and then decided she was too cold and she too got her coat on and went to play for a bit. She returned to my side at 11pm with a sore head, so her and I retired to the Drawing Room where 2 of my sister-in-laws were, she lay her head on my knee and within 15 minutes was asleep, happily sucking away on her thumb with her silky ribbon, taken from one of the favours, oblivious to those around her. We were then joined by my son, who sat wide eyed listening to all the gossip from his Aunties.

The bus came promptly at 12.30, for which I was eternally grateful. A bus full of drink fuelled people and of course the usual sing song starts, it was great, more fun, laughter and enjoyment on the way home than there had been for most of the evening.

I may sound ungrateful and I suppose in a way I was. When the wedding had first been spoken about, the bride, who had said she would never remarry had confirmed it was to be a child friendly, informal wedding. I was lulled into a false sense of security, it was very grand and I'm sure it spiralled out of control the way most weddings do, my husband doesn't come from a grand family and I mean no disrespect when I say that. They are not a couple who have an abundance of money, they have not won the lottery and they have 4 children. To me it seems such a lot of money, thousands of pounds they spent on a grand day, just one day. They could have had a simple, just as meaningful day, one marriage ceremony, no fireworks and a party at night, followed by a holiday for all 6 of them. Instead they are having Barcelona for 4 days with the gift money they received for the 2 of them.

Each to their own I suppose.