Packing up and moving on

I have been rather quiet recently as I am preparing to move home! t's exciting and daunting at once. I have been spending my evenings rotating the usual tasks associated with my job (planning, marking etc) and the packing. every room in my house looks like this;

 

We also have a furry guest

Who likes long walks and lots of playing time. So we have been rather busy.

I have now emptied every room in the house into boxes, except for the things we absolutely need for the week. Little bits will be placed into boxes as we go I have a box open for small bits we discover as we move around the house (there is always something missed) and once we have been to the recycling centre today we will have more empty boxes for the larger bits- there are a few photographs that don't fit in the spare boxes I do have just yet.

Moving is exciting and a little scary but it is a better move for us as a family. It isn't a far move- just a couple of miles up the road (2.4 according to google.). For us as a family I think this is a good move as we have lots of family nearby- the closest being an aunt 5 doors away!  Then in whichever direction you walk another family member 5 minutes away. This makes me feel easier with my extended work hours- Dylan's school have changed the time of his school day so he now gets home much earlier, a good thing for him and his homework load, but my work has increased so I am getting later. The move means that if he doesn't want to be home alone he can go and visit family, there will always be at least one of them in! It's also closer to my work so less travelling for me.

The move also provides us with a slightly larger and better laid out house for our needs. It also gives us a much bigger garden- we will have a vegetable patch and plenty of room for the children to play still. Father Christmas might even be able to sneak a  swing into his sleigh this year. We will have no home internet for around 10 days when we move as it takes this long for our service to be transferred, I am hoping that the signal on my phone is strong enough as I have a feeling Dylan will be needing to use the internet on my phone to manage his homework during this time, so I may not get on for a little while. I will be back in time to share some of our more frugal Christmas gifts we have been working on before the big day. We also have a secret Christmas visit planned which neither child know about yet- I have to say I am struggling to keep it a secret. It's not as expensive as last years treat but just as exciting- so watch this space.  a little clue- for me Christmas is all about family, and our treat supports this.

Do you have any plans for the Christmas period yet?

christmas presents

Yesterday Stephanie asked what she could buy people for Christmas and started to feel off her to buy for list. After a little head scratching we decided we have lots of glass jars, we could paint them in a personalised way and fill with sweets and/or a candle. Then gift these. She has planned around 20 jars. I already have a huge pack of tealights we can use. Whilst food shopping we boughtsome sweets, all on offer total of around £8. 

Starting to look good. Stephanie has learnt the art of patience when she put on too much paint at once and the colours ran. We are in the process of fixing that design lol 

What gifts are you going to give this Christmas?

Legoland

Yesterday we returned to legoland after an awful visit in the summer holidays, so bad that I complained. As a result of my complaint we were offered free tickets to return to the park. We finally found a day which we were all free, as were my sister and her family. I have to confess I was still sceptical, after all it is still a school holiday and it was legoland's fireworks display last night. We packed a bag of nibbles and drinks and off we went. We decided to do the rides we hadn't been on last time, not a difficult task as we got on just 4 rides last time, hence the complaint!
We managed nearly all of the rides we wanted to go on this time

We arrived at the park not long after opening and left at 9pm after the rides closed. It was a fabulous day. The fireworks were phenomenal, the best display I have seen in this country. So good I didn't take many pictures, I stood and watched. 

I am so pleased we were able to give legoland another chance this year. It was worth the wait, I would never have thought to go up for the fireworks before. I am planning on saving specifically to go for the fireworks here next year, or if Stephanie is feeling even braver with rides perhaps we will go to one of the parks with bigger rides!

What have you done recently which surprised you?