Daddys Day Out

Since its the last day of the school half term holidays, I worked in the shop and Dan took the kids for a Daddys day out. Daddys days out are always full of wonderful precious memories. When I saw the photos I so wished I'd been able to go too. It looked like they all had an awesome day together. Dan seems to have captured some real good shots as well, you can see the rest of them by clicking here.

They all took a trip to Newcastle and spent the day wandering the beaches and sand dunes. Despite the fact that its almost winter, it was mild enough that they didn't need coats! Little Barney spent the entire day picking things up and examining them - stones, shells, seaweed, dead crabs, you name it he found it. The kids always seem to enjoy a free day out in the fresh air so much more than any expensive day out!

Anyway, I cant say too much about it as I wasnt there, but here are some of the best pics...

Sparklers in the back yard

I just wanted to post these few photos from today. When it got dark we went out to the garden to light some sparklers. This was Barneys first encounter with sparklers and I thought he'd be frightened seen as he doesnt like fireworks. But he absolutely loved them! He screamed with delight "Mummy, tonight I am going to have fantastic dreams!!" Dan took a lot of fantastic photos which you can see on his facebook account.

Halloween, 2007

Last night was Halloween night, and we had a house full. Steve and I, and our kids; Jenny's kids, and Emma & her daughter. As usual we all got dressed up to go trick or treating, which is quite a big thing in this estate. The kids all collected a whole bag of sweets each, and had a great time together. Here are a few pics from last night. The rest of the pics are on my facebook or bebo.

Belfast got Burlesque

We have now hired the services of a young baby sitter once a week so that Dan and I can get out of the house a bit and spend some time together. We've been trying to find a few different things to do with this time. This Friday evening we went to a Burlesque show in Belfast. It was a fancy dress evening, and some of the belly dancing girls I know went too. We were all looking forward to dressing up for the night!

The evening was ok. The show itself was a bit dissappointing, although I was happy enough to get out to something a bit different. Afterwards Karen (my belly dance teacher!) and I danced the night away and I thoroughly wore out my newly mended toes. There will be some more photos to follow from the night as other people had cameras with them and I'm sure they will send me their pics. In the mean time, here are some pics of me before we left, and some rather dodgy pics taken on my mobile without a flash.

Some quality family time

I just wanted to post a few photos from our family day out yesterday. Despite not waking up until lunch time we still managed a trip to McDonalds in Lurgan, and then a wee play in Lurgan Park - which is Barneys favourite place at the moment. We always have such fun family time when we go here. It's one of the places our kids will remember with fondness when they grow up. I love playing on the swings and things here just as much as the kids do! Especially this big bowl shaped swing. Its just so much fun. Last time we went there I laughed so much on this swing when Dan pushed me so high, that a passing stranger almost pee'd his pants laughing at us. We are just a pair of big kids really.

Today we also spent some family time together. We pulled the sofa round in front of the fire and tv. Dan lit an open fire and me and the kids got a video from the video shop - Meet The Robinsons. We all huddled up on the sofa with popcorn and treats and watched the film together. It was actually a very good film. Even Dan and I enjoyed it.

Recent events

Well, to start my post here is a photo of my darling daughter Annabelle, who has now taken after her mother and gone goth! Ha ha. No, this was her last night on her way to the brownies Halloween party, with my wig, makeup, nail varnish and clothes on. Doesn't she look gorgeous? Or scary, at least.


And here is a ridiculous photo of me and Dan! Taken using some silly camera effects. I think its interesting to see just how we will both look aged 110.

Hehe, but onto other things... today was Barneys 'preschool assessment' with the health visitor - or more importantly, his injections. I didn't tell him we were going until the last moment as he is such a little worrier. When I did tell him that he would be getting two injections he didn't seem at all worried (the fact that he didn't ask me what an injection is or how the medicine gets through his skin might have helped). He was weighed and measured, and (as expected) was at the top of the centile chart on both accounts. He was a proper little star! When the health visitor asked him what foods he likes he replied "I like broccoli, carrots, courgettes, peas and cauliflower"! What a champion! With absolutely no prompting from me. This is the child you spends 99.9% of his waking time thinking about sweets.

When it came time for the injections (1 in each arm - done at the same time by two nurses) they asked him to look out the window and see if he could spot a big crow. He didn't even wince at the pain. I saw a little look of shock on his face as I held him, and he thought about crying, but he held it together like a real little super hero. After we left he told me "Mummy I think the lady might have pulled a little hair on my arm when she gave me that medicine because it hurt a little bit". Oh bless. His Daddy took him to the sweety shop for some treats for being so brave, and tonight he will get the red plate for his dinner.

Now I am off to a belly dancing evening. On the 30th November I am dancing my first solo belly dance at the gothic belly dance extravaganza at Lavery's in Belfast. I'm absolutely terrified. Not only do I have to come up with a new gothic dancing costume, but I have to choreograph and learn my own dance, and not look like a total twit. It's almost impossible. Gahhhh - why did I agree to this??? Am I totally insane?

So many plans

Our house is finally on the market, and we have had one viewing already. I've seen two houses I'm interested in buying but can't really put in a serious offer until we have a buyer for ours. So for now, I'm patiently waiting. The plan is to get rid of our mortgage. It is more than likely that we will be closing our wee shop in January, and so having no mortgage will be a huge bonus, as we dont yet know how we plan to make money.

But as I've mentioned before in this blog, we plan to take a trip next year, with our children. We are finally in the stages of planning this now. If we dont sell our house on time we may still go on the trip and leave the house on the market while we are away.

At the moment we are planning a 19 week trip. Steve found a 'round the world' ticket company in the paper that are offering an amazing deal on flights. If we go with the tickets for which we've been quoted we will be flying from London to Los Angeles on February 11th, and spending 10 weeks in America, travelling around the west coast (California etc, all the beaches) and around the Grand Canyon and surrounding area. Then we will be flying from Los Angeles to Aukland in New Zealand and spending 8 weeks touring the north island of New Zealand. From there, we will fly to Hong Kong (this is not optional, its part of the deal!) and spending anything from 3 nights to 2 weeks (depending entirely on funds), before flying back to London. Once in London we may take a week or so to visit with family, or we may just be desperate to get home!

So now we are just mulling it over in our minds before we decide whether to book these tickets and make it all final. I'm so over excited about it all!

While Im hear blogging, I keep meaning to write another blog post about Tinkhani but just havent found the time yet. He has had his sentece reduced from the death penalty to life imprisonment, but he is hoping that he may get this reduced too. If anyone wishes to send money for him again, please let me know. I have just sent him $30 as he was desperate again for food. But I'm sure that is probably all spent by now and I really need to send him some more. If you want to know more you might like to read this blog post about Tinkhani and the conditions in Zambian prisons. As I said in one of my other blog posts, Tinkhani did put on weight from the food he purchased from your donations, and his improved dramatically. His doctor was shocked at the improvement.

Hama Bead Madness

The last few weeks Barney has had a passion for Hama beading. I mean, a real passion, and its costing me a small fortune. These Hama beads are £30 a box, and we have almost finished our second box. But he loves doing them so much and I guess they are educational, so I'm letting him get on with it.

Here are half of Barneys recent Hama bead makings....

And here are a few photos from last night. We have now employed the services of a babysitter one night a week. It is just sooooooo good to be able to get out of the house without the kids for a bit. Last night Steve took me to a restaurant where I duly set fire to my top on a table candle!!

Happy 4th Birthday Barney!

It's so hard to believe how time has flown and my precious baby boy is now already 4 years old.

Yesterday was Barny's 4th birthday. He has been counting the days for 16 days and was ever so excited, as any 4 year old boy would be. We all sat on my bed in the morning while he opened his presents, which is what we always do. I love watching the delight on little children's faces when they open presents. We gave him his first ever bike, a bubble blowing machine and a few other things. Then at 2pm his Aunties, Uncles, nieces, and Nanny came round for a little celebration. He had a lovely day, was spoilt rotten, and went to bed totally shattered. Here are some photos....

Dont forget, you can click on the photos to see the full size versions.

Pulsatile Tinnitus Forum

Wow, I have found a forum for people who suffer from tinnitus, and I left a post about pulsatile tinnitus. I got many repsonses and I thought I'd post a few of them on here. People really can't understand what this condition is like, but reading how people live with it might help people sympathise. It wsa good for me to see that I'm not alone....

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I have been suffering from pulsatile tinnitus for about 9 months - left ear only. I used to mainly hear it at night lying in a certain position. I now in the past month have started to hear it more during the day. Often it is made worse by certain head movements and sounds like a whooshing noise when I bend over. I have been to my GP 3 times and also went to casualty as I thought I was having a heart attack. Casualty carried out ECG and listened to carotid arteries and said everything was normal. GP listened to carotid arteries, said everything was normaal, they also took my blood pressure which was slighly below normal. GP's have made me feel foolish, but I am concerned about what is causing this noise. I had to insist on a referral to ENT, which I am having to pay for privately. My ENT appointment is on Tuesday 9/10/07 - what should I expect from this. What are the best questions to ask.Grateful for some advice

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I have pulsatile Tinnitus it is more a problem at night it keeps awake and I have trouble sleeping. During the day I feel dizzy all the time and I have to make sure somebody is with me. I have stopped going out as at night time is worse and if I do the noises stay with me and they are still there in the morning. I feel sometimes that nobody knows how you feel. I think that GP`s have no understanding of the condition. I would like any advice or help from anyone as I am at my wits end and dont know how to carry on with a normal life.

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Yes I unfortunatley suffer from pulsatile tinnitus. Last year I thought I was going nuts with this constant thumping in my head and the doctor told me it was migrane. I phoned my ENT and made an appointment last November and I was told I had pulsatile tinnitus but there is nothing you can do. I was really struggling (still am) and was given an appointment in July. II was taking panic attacks with it but I joined this forum about a month ago and have taken great comfort from it. I to don't know anyone with the pulsatile tinnitus and felt I was totally alone. I have started talking about it more and my work are very supportive.

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I got through another day and after having had a decent night's sleep, I had a few hours wher I was so engaged in what was going on around me that I almost forgot about it. I took a walk and listened around the T to hear the birds and all the little delicious sounds I hold so dear. It was a precious moment.

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Yes I also get the neck pain and back of my head. Sometimes I feel as if my head is going to burst. I often feel dizzy and sick particulary when it is bad and need to just sit for a while until it passes. It has affected my quality of life, I even panic sometimes when I have to go out alone but now that I know what it is I feel slightly stronger in order to manage it

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Pulsatile tinnitus is a big problem for me. There are many nights the sounds are so loud, and my head is so painful, that I feel like putting a bullet into my ear, or scraping my ear drums out with a screwdriver.

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Tinnitus

The noise that never stops...

Two weeks ago I had a meeting at the local hospital with the Tinnitus Management team. It was great to finally talk to someone who was sympathetic to the suffering of pulastile tinnitus. And who also knew the difference between pulsatile tinnitus and regular tinnitus. We talked for an hour and I was given lots of advice. They gave me a special pillow speaker, but I still need to purchase some sort of relaxation CDs to play with it. The CD's I have are not really conducive to a good nights sleep. They have also order me a special masking hearing aid which I will get in about 4 weeks time. The idea is that it plays white noise into the ear, at a pitch that masks the sounds of my gushing blood and heartbeat. I think it supposed to train the ear to mask our internal body sounds or something. I'm not sure if it will work, but to be honest, if I can listen to white noise instead of blood noises for a while then it will be a pleasant change. I'll let you all know how I get on with that.

From the day after my appointment I have been suffering miserably with the tinnitus. It is always there, 24 hours a day, but at times it gets worse. They tell me its stress that causes it, but I can't see that pattern in mine to be honest. But now, for over a week, I have been miserable with it. The gushing sounds are louder than ever. I can't sleep, can't concentrate, can't have a conversation without struggling to stay on track. And whenever the tinnitus is bad like this, I get awful headaches, pain in the back of my neck, and pains in my chest. Whether these pains come from the lack of sleep, or are caused by the blood flow problem in my arteries, I have no idea.

I joined a forum for Tinnitus sufferers on the RNID website. There I have met other people who also have the pulsatile form of the condition. It's been good to see how others cope with it. This week I have really come to understand why people get so depressed suffering with this. I have been constantly miserable. I am unable to lead a normal life when its this bad. At night I just want to claw ouy my ear drum with a screwdriver, and I have now come to understand why the tinnitus management team talked so much about suicide and depression. On the RNID website I found a link to this real player sound clip. I urge anyone reading this to listen to it. It plays many of the sounds of tinnitus, so that non tinnitus sufferers can understand better what it is like to live with the sound that never stops. You can listen to it by clicking here. Also, worth watching is a youtube video which tries to show what life is like for tinnitus sufferers.

Spot the mini Bree

Can you spot mini me? LOL. I found this photo of my class on facebook. This is the equivalent of P3. I presume we were 7 or 8 years old here. I think. Can you find me? I havent changed all that much.

Third from the left in the front row.

Barney is almost 4

I just adore these two photos that Dan took last week while I was in England (blog post to follow about that soon). Barney will be 4 years old next month. He has decided this week that he wants to be educated at home and has sat me down for daily 'lessons'! He asked me to teach him how to write. So we practiced writing his name. He can now write the L perfectly, and sometimes upside down. This week he developed an interest in the hama beads that have been on his shelf for months. He made so many patterns, entirely on his own, that I had to reorder some more beads as he ran out. This week he has spent every day in the garden collecting spiders in one of my tupperware pots. Today he sold me 3 for £50 !! I still owe him £49.95 of that £50 but with the 5p I gave him he went into the corner shop on his own, queued up on his own and bought and paid for a packet of 5p crisps. He was adamant that he could do it without me, and I heard him chatting away to various customers as well as the shop keeper. Telling them how he earned his crisps by selling spiders. He he. Life is lovely with my Barney.