I need a HERO

Everybody loves LEGO.

And it's very popular in our house.

Luckily we've just been kindly given some LEGO Hero Factory goodies.

Now this is really great stuff for your kids to get their teeth into.

The Peaceful One is almost four, but with a helping hand he had no problem fiddling away and completed his Breeze figure in a matter of time.

Breeze is green and mean. Then came the accompanying noises. 'Raaaah'

Then the 'Look what it can do mummy.' 'It can fly' Cue said Breeze was launched across the room.

'Mind the baby.' I cried.

Seems like Breeze is pretty keen too.

I'd say that was a success.

Next up was Meltdown.

No, that's the name of the other LEGO Hero Factory figure, silly.

Wow! I never realised you could personify a meltdown.

This time more work was needed for the building. In stepped The Boy. The Boy can make and fix pretty much anything. I on the other hand can not.

I still struggle with the figure of eight train track that we've had for years, but The Boy got stuck in and enthusiastically channelled his eight year old self.

Again, as if by magic a super hero style figure had been created and The Peaceful One and The Boy steamed around the house making funny noises and jumping on the sofa with their figures.

It was quite a sight to behold.

A MAD night had by all.

It's literally been quite a mad week.

Sleep has been rare as The Goddess has been poorly, but fun was still had.

I was a finalist for Best New Blog at the MAD awards which celebrated mum and dad bloggers.

It was the first award ceremony of its kind and it was a real laugh.

I travelled down to Bognor Regis (last visited when I was kid) with Heather Young from Young & Younger blog.

The super mum of twins was a fab companion and luckily far from boring. We did have a giggle.

Butlins sponsored the event, so off to the coast we went.

Well hasn't Butlins changed? The fusty image has been ditched and it has gone all modern. Or should that be all disco.

Disco lift anyone? Spotlights dazzled and Abba played as we went up and down.

There was a disco shower in the spa and disco lights in my room.

Woah, that's a lot of 70s going on.

Anyway, besides the lights and music there was the awards ceremony itself. I didn't win, but I didn't expect to. The winner of my category went to Slummy Single Mummy and well deserved too.

It was great to finally meet all those people who up until now have been virtual in my world, but ply a load of bloggers with some booze and way hey, the night was a success.

Luckily my bedroom partner, the lovely Snaffles Mummy didn't have to put up with any of my drunken antics because I ducked out of the karaoke and took advantage of a night without being woken by small people, and we chatted away with a cup of hot choc. Rock'n'roll folks, rock'n'roll.

Big thanks to Sally Whittle for organising the beast of the event. Here's too every success for the next awards.

Rosh Hashanah

Tonight marks the start of Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish new year.

Every year we try to celebrate some of the Jewish festivals as a nod to The Boy's heritage.

The Boy is a secular Jew, but we figure that it's only fair that the kids have an idea of their background and what goes with it.

I'm mean, come on, Christian, Jewish, black, white - there's a lot going on here and we don't want them to feel lost in what amounts to be a rich heritage.

Of course, I focused on the on food and sweet things seems to be the order of the day (as a symbol of a sweet year head).

So it was chopped apples and honey for breakfast, and in the afternoon The Peaceful One and I made a delicious honey cake.

The Boy made yummy latkes, gefilte fish eaten with challah bread for supper.

As the years go by, I hope the children will be confident in who they are and where they belong.

Until they have a better understanding, we'll be literally given them a taste of where they come from.

Happy New Year.

6 x 6 = 15

Six years.

Six whole years I've been meeting up regularly with my NCT friends.

That is a lot of tea and biscuits.

Doesn't sound that long, but they really have been a lifeline.

I say 'NCT friends' purely to distinguish how we met, but actually I need to stop saying that because now we're just a great bunch of mates.

There have been good times, sad times, and thankfully laughs aplenty.

Who would have thought that six couples sat in a room, filled with expectation, hope and a healthy dose of fear (regarding childbirth) would still be hanging out through thick and thin?

We've been lucky as our group has stayed together. No one has moved away, no one has fallen out, and only one person works full time and she's a teacher so we still see her in the holidays.

We're all from completely different backgrounds, but inspite of the fact that we met through our children, we just get on fabulously. End of story.

And my how we've grown. In a relatively short amount of time, we've produced fifteen children between us, with the newest arrivals being twins.

Wowzers!

Might not be great for the world population, but when we all met up over the weekend (to celebrate our kids being six years old), it really was ace to see a group of one time nervous first-time parents, all relaxed, chasing after the chiddlers and reflecting on our friendships.

All credit to the National Childbirth Trust as I have another group of lovely pals who I met through having my second child.

I didn't sign up again when expecting The Goddess, not only would I not have time to see a third group, but I almost don't want to jinx it - you can have too much of a good thing.

Do you still see your antenatal friends?

Back to School

So that was it.

Just shy of six weeks holiday, done and dusted.

I admit, at first I was dreading it.

Alone with three kids with just my imagination to fill the gaps between meals.

But as I got my head around the fact that we didn't have to rush anywhere, we got into the flow of things and had the summer has been lovely.

There have been moments I literally wanted to bottle. Den-building for hours, laughing at films, dancing competitions, day trips out. Simple and fun things that stick in your mind forever.

Asking Minxy what she enjoyed doing, she said: "Picking flowers from her bedroom window at grandma's house."

Ah, the joys of being six years old.

A long holiday to France helped massively, and with our batteries recharged, it was finally time to embark on The School Run.

I had almost forgotten how to get up and out the house before 11am, let alone be eating breakfast by 7am. Urgh!

A shiny new lunch box, new uniform and the anticipation surrounding Minxy's new teacher were enough to get us to the school gates alone.

This year there were no tears, just a buzz in the playground as friends reunited, parents lamented the end of the summer and a crisp freshness in the air signalled that autumn was just around the corner.

More than that, I surprised myself with how well I managed (shock, horror, mother looks after her own children) especially as this could be my first and last summer holiday I spend with them before I return to work.

What have been your best memories of the holidays?