Christmas in Somerset

Christmas was spent with the Gatenbys in Somerset this year, & what a fab time we had.

We drove down on Christmas Eve morning, then headed straight to the East Somerset Railway for a trip on the Santa Special steam train.

The gorgeous Miss Maisie Gatenby.

Josie, Paul & Maisie having fun on the train.

Charlotte & Jacob.

Helloooooooo!!

The kids all had a fantastic time on the train. There was a clown entertainer while we were waiting to visit Santa during the train ride. He made them all balloon toys, Charlotte had a blue bunny.

After a play & a short journey on the train, we were collected from our carriage by one of Santa's helpers & walked through the train to see Santa in his grotto. Charlotte wasn't shy this year & told Santa her name & her age. Jacob was feeling a little shy though, and closed his eyes whenever Santa was near!

Santa gave Charlotte a special present of a bride's dressing up outfit, complete with shoes, veil, pretend bouquet & jewellery!

When we got off the train, a fake snow machine was blowing heaps of fake snow all over the platform. The kids loved it & danced about in the snow, getting heaps of bubbles in their hair!

Back to Auntie Josie & Uncle Charlie's for some tea & a play with Uncle Charlie before getting Santa's snacks & drink of Jack Daniels ready before bath time. We were a little worried about them not going to sleep for ages, but they were asleep within 1/2 an hour of going to bed!!!

Charlotte & Jacob after getting Santa's snack ready.

Christmas morning, I was awake bright & early at 6.30am, waiting for Charlotte & Jacob to come bounding in asking to open their presents, but they didn't wake until 8.10am!!!

We had our 20 week baby scan the Monday before Christmas & asked our Sonographer to write the baby's sex in an Xmas card we had taken. We opened the card Christmas morning as an extra special present - it's a boy & he's a whopper!! Check out the size of my bump in the pic below!

The children spent the next few hours opening their presents & stopping to play with them every now & then. Lots of fantastic presents were received by everyone.

Time for a gorgeous gourmet lunch, with a 3 bird roast (chicken, goose & partridge I think) & all the trimmings.

Charlotte playing with Uncle Charlie's cool new toy!

The children were fast asleep very quickly again that night, they were sooooooo tired after their fun day.

Back home again on Boxing Day, to try & find homes for all the new toys & presents. There were also more toys back here that Santa had dropped off on the way to Somerset.

What a fantastic Christmas, roll on next year!!

Poorly Sick :-(

Charlotte and I have been suffering with horrible colds since the middle of last week. Miss C is slowly getting better, then every other day slips back into fever, lethargy and is still coughing heaps. Paul went to Tescos this morning to do some food shopping and came back with a special present for his little girl to make her feel better. A new Lightning McQueen car to add to her collection, this time the one with the muddy wheels. He's so sweet with her. She's sat on his lap now playing with her new toy.

I'm suffering quite badly with this horrible cold as, being pregnant, I can't take anything for it worse luck. Honey & lemon drinks & paracetamol aren't going to shift this one.

I'm not sleeping at all, Charlotte & I are switching beds 1/2 way through the night as she ends up in bed with Daddy while I end up in her bed to try & not keep waking Paul up with my hacking cough. After a while I give up with that & end up on the sofa downstairs. Last night I came down at 4am after very little sleep, ended up watching dvds until 8 when I went back up to check on Paul & Miss C who were both cuddled up in the land of nod - v cute!

Seriously hope we're better by Wed when we're due to go to Josie's for Xmas.

Still, good news, we have our 20 week baby scan tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully if the youngest Tucker doesn't have their legs crossed we will be able to see if it's a pink or blue one. One of the other mummies-to-be on the Babycentre website I go on mentioned that they had their scan last week and asked the sonographer not to tell them the baby's sex, but to write it down in an Xmas card they had prepared. They're not going to open it until Xmas morning - what a cool xmas present is that! Wonder if we can get away without telling Charlotte for a couple of days.......

Nativity Play

Time for another Xmas event, this time it was Charlotte's preschool nativity play. This year Charlotte played a King, G was a King's helper one day & a King the other.

Charlotte & the other 2 Kings.

Cheeky Miss Charlotte after the 2nd nativity play. I was so proud of her, she didn't mess around & joined in all the songs.

Netmums Xmas Party

A busy, busy week this week, nativity plays & Xmas parties!

Another day, another Xmas party! This one was hosted by the local Netmums group. It was held at the Thatcham Children's Centre & we had the whole place to ourselves which was fab.

Ann & Jo kindly dressed up as Mrs Claus & her Elf helper to hand out some little presents to the children near the end of the party.

Here is Charlotte opening her present from Miss Claus. Both her & G received a Hot Wheels mini truck & car/motorbike. G asked "how did Mrs Claus know I like Hot Wheels Mel?". I told him I had given her a big hint!!

Xmas Crafts

Miss Charlotte came home from preschool today with a bag of Xmas craft goodies she had been busy making over the last few weeks.

A cold winter's day

Another cold, cold day. We headed over to Nic's house for lunch & a playdate. It was far too cold to venture outside.

Charlotte & Nic snuggled up on the sofa & watched a little bit of tv.

G joined them after his nap for a short treat of tv watching.

Me & My Daddy

We popped on over to a Mustang showroom in Byfleet today to check out route & parking for an event the following weekend.

While we were in the area, we decided to go to Mercedes Benz World for lunch & a look at the nice cars there. Miss C was being a little pickle whilst waiting for lunch, but had time for a cuddle with her daddy.

Decorating the Xmas Tree

After a long, hard search, we finally chose an Xmas tree that we liked!

Charlotte was sooooo excited, she wanted to get the decorations on the tree before we'd even put it in the stand!

The final touch - putting the start on the top of the tree.

Preschool Xmas Party

Today was the preschool xmas party, the kids had a blast.

Here they are watching the scary entertainer!

Charlotte is sitting next to Megan, her best friend at school.

Enjoying the lunch with their decorated crowns. I ran out of time so didn't get to do more than sticking coins on their crowns! All the other crowns put me to shame!

Here she is opening her present from Santa. This year he brought her a little pink sparkly unicorn toy & a Mog the forgetful cat book.

Posed pic with Santa, check out the forced smiles!

This will be Charlotte's last xmas at preschool, can you believe that next year she will be at school!

Christmas is on it's way!

Jenn & I took the kids to the local garden centre to have a look at the Santa display & to buy a few more Xmas decs.

Birthday Bash #2

Our gorgeous 4 year old young lady

Today we held a family & friends bash for Charlotte's 4th birthday. Even Uncle Brendan was able to make it. However he did stand in the corner of the kitchen with his party hat on, asking us not to let the children anywhere near him!!!! We nominated him as the party clown for the day!!

Miss Charlotte blowing out her birthday candles..... Nanny Bea made the gorgeous birthday cake.

Maisie trying birthday cake for the very first time. She loved it, but not as much as the trifle!!!

Miss Maisie & her gorgeous Mummy, Josie...

Charlotte opening her birthday presents.

Playing pass the parcel, even Maisie joined in, preferring the wrapping paper to anything else!

Gorgeous Miss Maisie chomping on the train set with her new teeth.

Maisie showing us her latest party trick - walking!

Almost the end of the day, The Gatenbys stayed over, the Bookers joined us for the kids tea. Then Josie read the kids some of Charlotte's new books.

Sully's Tea

Charlotte made her cuddly Sully a nice tea tonight!

No Preschool this morning

Some plonker decided to cut through a gas main in Newbury town centre this morning, causing traffic chaos in the area. After 40 minutes of sitting in traffic trying to get Charlotte and George to preschool, we gave up and came home again.

To make up for a missed preschool morning, we spent the time making "googly eyed monsters".

Miss Charlotte wearing the crown she had made at her birthday party the day before.

Happy Birthday Miss Charlotte, 4 today!

Wed 26th November 2008 - it's Charlotte's 4th birthday!!! Happy birthday Poppet.

Charlotte started her day by opening presents in bed with Mummy & Daddy. Then it was time for preschool with George, where they had cakes courtesy of Mummy to celebrate Charlotte's bday.

After preschool, we had invited a few of Charlotte's preschool friends around for a birthday lunch & games - pass the parcel & musical statues.

Charlotte & Megan, her best friend at preschool, they are inseparable!

Nic enjoying the hula hoops!

All together now - happy birthday!

The children playing musical statues!

After the fun & games, Charlotte, George, Jenn, Nic and I headed for Krazy Klub - a local play centre. The kids had a blast running around & a yummy tea. I did try and take some pics but they wouldn't stay still long enough!!