Princess Party

My eldest baby turned 4!  I don’t know where the time has gone.  One minute she was a super-cute dark haired squishy baby and now she is a beautiful, very blond, intelligent, funny, cuddly, cheeky princess.

 

Last year we had a Toy Story Party but this year she is far more grown up, girly and all about fairies and princesses.  I thought I would blog about the food, entertainment, party bags, etc. because when I was looking for ideas I really appreciated other peoples party idea blogs.

Luckily for us Fairy Princess Daddy is a bit of a computer wiz and whipped up this invitation.

The party bags included:

-          A pen/pencil/rubber/or similar

-          Packet of sweeties

-          Star or heart shaped crayons (we made these with old crayons – lots of great recipes on the website but I can't find the ones I used - will post when I find them.  Beware though – I still haven’t worked out how to get the ice cube moulds clean yet!)

-          The girls got tutus and the boys got superhero capes (the tutus I found in Poundland -guess how much?  And Ellie loved the one I bought her so much that I thought they were a good idea for party bags.  The boys got a bit of a raw deal as I couldn’t find what I wanted for them so ended up making them.)

As the tutus and capes wouldn’t fit in to ordinary party bags I knew I wanted brown paper bags similar to Primark’s little bags.  It was difficult to find these but eventually we found them in Wing Yip (Croydon) for £3 or 4 For about 300 (at least we will never be short of paper bags).  Then I got the Birthday Princess to decorate them.  We decided on Butterflies and Crowns so I drew a faint outline in pencil and she painted them.

Entertainment:

We had a bouncy castle (ABC Castle Hire) – A princess castle of course.

I put my sister in charge of glitter tattoos (surprisingly popular among the adults too!).

And I also bought some elastic which I cut in to shorter lengths and some cheap beads and my lovely friend S helped the kids make beaded bracelets.

Food - We went a bit healthy this year and had

-          Salmon

-          Rice and peas

-          Couscous with roasted vegetables

-          Sticks of vegetables with dips

-          Bowls of cherry tomatoes

-          The fruit bowl was out filled with tangerines, bananas and packets of raisins

-          I got the mini Muller corners for pudding

-          And of course a big bowl of sweets

-          To drink we asked parents to help themselves to tea, coffee, etc and made up jugs of apple juice or blueberry juice mixed with fizzy water

Surprisingly the food went down really well and most parents seemed to appreciate the lack of junk food (I hope – maybe they were just being nice).

My sister made a beautiful fairy garden cake and flower cupcakes but we only have one photo of that which is still on my sisters phone!

Even the baby FP joined in the dressing up!

So anyway this is far too long a post so I think I will do presents and decorations another day!

Have a fairy happy day

Fairy Princess Mummy
xx

Catching Up

My legs and arms have gone in to shock and have decided to stop working in protest at the exercise I did last night!  I finally had my induction session with a personal  trainer who came across as lovely but made me work like a mad thing – it obviously worked though.

Anyway I haven’t blogged for ages so lots has happened that you may or may not be interested in.

We went to Cornwall on holiday and it was lovely.  I felt like I was the only person in the whole world who hadn’t been and now I know why.  It was beautiful and I’d love to go back – no wonder everyone raves about it.

On a frustrating note – I had to miss what should have been my first appointment at Guys hospital for the egg donation.  I got sick with a throat virus while on holiday and was just too sick to make it.  I was desperate to go but eventually after a few tears my lovely husband persuaded me not to go and share my germs with others.  I am emotional at the best of times but horrendous when I feel sick so I cried quite a bit then calmed down and phoned the lovely A at Altrui who was so nice and sweet to me that I cried all over again!! (How dare she be so nice to people !)  So we have rearranged for a couple of weeks time.

While on Maternity leave, the baby FP and I completed an OU undergraduate module in Psychology.  I finally got the grade through and I got 73 (apparently the equivalent of a 2:1 or a B), so that was good.

I also have confirmation that I have a place on the Masters course I want to do and am, geekily,  incredibly excited about it even though it means I will probably not have a social life for the next three years!

And finally my eldest FP turned 4 this weekend so we had a lovely princess party!  Here is my Fairy Princesses.  Soon I will blog about the party properly, including party bags and decorations.  My very talented sister has also promised to explain how she made the beautiful birthday cake (I might even show you a picture!).

Happy days

Fairy Princess Mummy
xx

Extraordinary me

Just a quick - completely off topic post about the documentary series on BBC3 - Extraordinary me.
I caught the last 20 minutes of Jamie: Drag queen at 16 and the went on to watch all of Alex: A Life Fast Forward.  What incredible young people!  Jamie was so brave and honest (how dare his school ask him not to go to his prom in a dress!  Shouldn't they be trying to foster tolerance?)

But I was completely blown away by Alex, his family and friends.  It sounded like it was going to be sad from begining to end.  And yes, it was heartbreaking and yes, I did blub my way through most of it but it was also incredibly uplifting and should teach us all how to live and grab the opportunities that come our way.  But also how to be positive and hopeful when, on paper, life looks like it should be awful and miserable.  Here is what the BBC 3 website says: (Click on his name to watch the docummentary on iplayer.)

'Alex Lewis has a remarkable zest for life. Aged 21 he confronts death while falling in love and encourages his friends and family to join in the celebrations.
Alex was first diagnosed with bone cancer shortly before his 18th birthday. After three years of intensive treatment, he realises he is running out of options. He decides to cram as much life as possible into the time he has left.
On the first day of filming in June, 2010 his only sadness is not being able to commit to a long-term relationship. That evening he goes to a party in Swansea, kisses a girl, falls in love and within weeks they are inseparable. In September Alex and Ali become engaged to be married. This is a story of the power of love, as a young man confronts his mortality in the most emotionally charged circumstances imaginable.'



Anyway I should stop raving about these fab people and let you go and watch it!

Have a fun weekend!

Fairy Princess Mummy
xx

Zumba

Anyone else tried Zumba?  I had a go today (as you know it's in my training plan).  And was really disappointed!  I had been so looking forward to it but it was a bit quick for me and no one seemed to be having a giggle.  Instead they were mostly trying to look very cool while shaking their bottoms like Beyonce while I was in the background looking more like Mr. Bean at a disco.  I think I've surprised myself cos I thought this would be my kind of exercise but instead I am loving the manic circuits class I've been going to which makes me feel like I'm going to collapse at the end of it - weirder and weirder.  So I'm going to look again and see if there is another class - maybe Spinning? Haha, only joking, I'm not that mad yet.
In other news - I found out I have the funding to start my masters degree next year - now just waiting for the university to let me in. Fingers crossed.

Fairy Princess Mummy
xx

Another positive kick up the bum

I had the loveliest email today saying that Altrui have matched me with a couple and soon my appointments will start to be arranged!  It’s a strange emotion – very happy but also a quite nervous.  There was also the reassurance in the email that there is lots of support for me from the two lovely ladies I have already blogged about.  They make you feel like you are doing something really amazing which gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling.  It is a bit odd though because I don’t feel like a really good person for doing this or that it is a big deal.  I just feel very lucky to have wonderful fairy princesses and to have had such great parents (don’t tell them though – I don’t want them to get big headed). 

Any way – enough mushy stuff!  This email gave me extra incentive to lose more weight.  I only lost half a pound this week.  Anything is better than nothing but I really need to be losing 1 – 2 pounds a week so I am rethinking and reassessing my diet and exercise.  So starting Sunday (I know you’re not supposed to put things off but I have a wedding tomorrow and I don’t want to miss out on my glass of bubbly or the mini platter of desserts I know I’m having for pudding!!) I am going to attempt to follow this plan.  (There is a lot of exercise in there because I know I generally will miss one or two sessions a week.)

Sunday	Run on treadmill followed by Yoga class
Monday	Circuits class
Tuesday	Rest day
Wednesday	Run on treadmill
Thursday	Zumba
Friday	Run on treadmill
Saturday	Rest day (as restful as possible with 2 pickles around!)

That makes it sound like I’m a proper runner – I’m not! But would like to be so will be basing these runs on the Zest Running book for beginners – which is fab.  And diet wise I will probably be following Rosemary Conley’s GI diet.  I know she has updated it since writing it but I know it works for me.  I also will try to blog about my progress every day – apparently a good way to stay on track.

Happy days

Fairy Princess Mummy
xx

My baby is growing up!

It has been quite an emotional week this week as my eldest princess starts school in September.  It has all come around so quickly and I half expected (or hoped?) that this wouldn’t ever happen.  However, I am aware that this is very much MY issue!  She is soooo excited and has been talking about school since last September when her older friends from nursery went.   It shouldn’t be a big deal really as she has been going to nursery full time since she was about 7 months old – but to be honest that doesn’t seem that long ago.

Yesterday I took a couple of hours off work and picked her up early from nursery and went to meet her new teacher.  She had a good look around her new classroom, met Miss B and got to ask any questions about starting school.  I think Miss B is going to be a great teacher for Ellie.  I really liked the way she interacted with her and took the time to talk to her.  It was a bit of relief to go and see the school again and feel more comfortable with how she’s going to settle in.  I also took her to the after school club she is going to go.  Again, I’m very happy with her going there and the ladies who run it are lovely and helpful.

I’m very lucky that Princess Ellie wants to go to school so I am not having to reassure her about it but here is how I have tried (or will try) to make it an easy transition for her.

-          If I did it again I would have taken her to the open day but as it wasn’t our first choice I didn’t worry too much about it.

-          When we found out what school she had got in to I drove her past it and pointed it out to her.

-          After the new parents meeting I told her all about it and how lovely it was.

-          When I did the visit with her (explained above) I made it a special afternoon.  I made sure it was just the two of us (if hubbie had been able to come then we probably would have brought the baby princess but I wanted to make sure as much attention as possible could be focused on Ellie).  After the visit we took her out for hot chocolate so she could tell her daddy all about it.

-          Before we left the school and the after school club I made sure that Ellie had the chance to ask her teachers any questions.

-          Just before she starts school I’ll take her out for another special day to buy her uniform and school bag, etc. and she can help lay everything out the night before she starts.

-          If we decide that she is going to have packed lunch then we will probably go for lots of picnics so she can practice opening her lunch box and getting in to the packaging on her own.

The BBC website has an advice page as well that is really nice and gives sensible advice. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/child_development/primary_starting.shtml)

Happy days

Fairy Princess Mummy
xx

Photo Finish

I had some very exciting news yesterday!  I had to send off two lots of photos of me (a grown up one so the people at Altrui can physically match me with a couple and baby photos of me to give to the couple).  And very quickly after sending off the final photos I had an email saying they have a couple they want to match me with - so it sounds like it's all go!!

One thing I don't think I've mentioned is the obvious fact that this might not work.  A couple may get their hopes up and we could all go throught this process and there is a very definite chance that this may not work.  I do however try to ignore this and pootle along in blissful ignorance and assume that all will be well.  Nothing like a bit of positive thinking!

Happy days

Fairy Princess Mummy
xx