August's 1st Anniversary Fledgling Flyers: It's our party and we'll fly if we want to.

[elliepac]

Welcome to the August edition of the Fledgling Flyers where we are going to attempt to restore order in our houses, chatting as we go.

This month is officially our first birthday so we are celebrating sink shining and swishing and swiping in style!

Here you can do any of the following:

• repeat or start baby steps (again!)

• repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone

or

• reinforce babysteps and do daily missions if you have finished decluttering

For those who are curious, these are the Babysteps which we all hope will restore order in our homes and make our lives a little bit easier with lots of support (and chat, and wine, and a little more chat )

So please come and join us for our birthday party, old and new, from August 1st.

September Starting School Checklist - please add anything and any advice on routines AM/PM for us newbies at the gates this September - copy and paste ?

Basic Uniform
School Shoes
PE Kit
Pumps for PE
Craft Apron (?)
Lunch bag
School Bag
Book Bag

AM Routine

PM Routine

knee is better, back sore from diy but it is a content i have done something sore. Cant wait tohave discovered the bath so i can have a long hot soak later

Well done on your list again. Must ading laundry to mine starting with rising through the load that has sat in the machine wet since friday that i didnt know was there.

Homserve policy that includes pest infestations does not include mice in a detached garage! Dem send your cat over!b

Seriously what would you do?

The best is located in a large storage bag that has a zip on it, should I just zip it up put in car and take it to tip?

a) this doenst seem very humane
b) yuk what if it manages to get out in my car and pooed and pee peed?

I need to go in there tomorrow to get lawn mower out

DEM glad knee is better, hope you find some lovely bubbly bath to enjoy your soak with ,

I am guilty of allowing stuff to sit in machine, I cringe at how much washing powder I have wasted through having to re-wash clothes.!

Sorry not me with the cat. I have severe cat allergy. I have just armed the might death traps. So if there is a mouse as suspected here I shall be head butting the ceiling in terror as it goes off in the middle of the night least i will know where the sucker is.

Namechange - thanks for the going back to school list. Very useful. The main advice I can give is to bring snacks when you collect your children from school as they are always hungry. Also, I downloaded a 'First Day at School' book from the Cbeebies website yesterday, which I thought DS2 might like to colour in and complete with me. It's here

Took the boys to a bouncy castle event today. There were about 10 bouncy castles plus Go-karts. They definitely prefer bouncy castles to Roman ones.

There is a thread on Primary Education about starting school which has some very useful tips on it. Title is DC starting in Sept, any tips, there are some very good tips, some that I hadn't though of even after two years in school with DS. Also a thread running about how to interact with other parents in the playground.

Been feeling a bit cabin feverish the last 2 days, DH worked all weekend, and the DCs haven't wanted to go out much, also a lot of our friends seem to be away or working this week. So, out most of the day today, shopping, then to a friends house this morning who had a day off work, which was nice, and to the local softplay this afternoon, there were some other friends there, so feeling a bit more normal again now. Will try and pop back later.

Namechange - I have the cats, but they don't travel very well. My advice would be to zip bag up very tightly, and go for a drive. Release mouse when you are at least one mile from your house - unzip bag, give it a good shake or bang, and stand well back!

Today's done list is not very long so far:

Morning routine
Breakfast
Fed dog
Walked dog
Allotment - mainly digging, 4 hours. Annual inspection is coming up and I need to get it up to scratch
Picked leaf beat - spinach gnocchi for tea
Blackberrying
Sorted and froze blackberries
Meat out of freezer for tea
Fell asleep for a couple of hours

The remainder of today's list yet to be done is just too long to write!

Request for opinions please - hope its all right here, I'm not brave enough yet to start a post - if you go to a playgroup/school autumn fundraising sale, would you buy hawthorn jelly? We've got a playgroup fundraiser coming up, and I need to decide what to make, preferably something for which I do not need to buy the fruit, and I feel that blackberry options may well be in abundance. Alternatively would you be more likely to buy hedgerow jelly?

MrsDinkey thanks for thread references, I will look up those thrads tomorrow!

Yeah MrsDinkey - a lot of my friends are away, all seem to be comming and going at mo, even regulars at gym are all different and not the same children there for kids club for DS.

Ihate ahhh its your cats that do the present thing, I knew I'd seen a post about cats - soory I know this has added to your tasks.

Toffe thanks for the link, I will get DH to print that at work. Re snacks, its things like this we need to know. As MrsDinkey has mentioned re thread about how to interect with other parents never would have thought about this, but then I did meet someone at the gym from DS tennis group that is in his class, who by chance I'd started to chat to and have already mentioned a playdate. I've also realised two other families from our estate who goto gym also, who DS is aware of in name only from kids club, also go to my DS school even thought they are olders, its all faces he and I know of - suppose this is ok!

I have to say it does seem to be still the domain of mums to network and organise playdates/school gates stuff but then DH always wonders why I know so many people locally! I would soooooo love to know how DH would do all this if roles were reversed (sheer curiosity) and how he run household - I know he would be ok to cook/clean and do laundry but not sure about having DS allday and organsing all his stuff - correct clothes for occasions/activities!

Thursday List

AM routine
Cut grass back and front
Do weeding at front (blardy neighbours have new estate stylie promtional gardens like artist impressions!)
Get bins in from kerb (its been all three this week! oooh!)
Have bed collected that was got down
Ironing or Clean car (whatever I feel like doing)
Do OU login thing

Weather permitting re car and garden

Good evening everyone.
Does it count as doing the days mission if your mil does it! She did the office dejunk whilst I paid the bills!!
namechange sending my cat right over. She is a really good catcher....of leaves and worms try pa cat
tm welcome back oh grissly bearmeister
dem glad knee wee bit better hope bath eases back.
pa enjoy pictures

Been busy day at work accomplished lots
Morning routine for kids done
Dw/wm done
Dc bathed and bed
Not much else accomplished but begore bed I will
Watch bb
Clean teeth
S/s
Wm on agein
Pull out passports for visa apps

I'm bring s bit of a lacklustre flyer but imwill pick up
By this weekend I must redecorate new Rolland try not to slouch on couch all night!!

Grr bloody iPhone.

I'd go upstairs and out computer on but started couch to 5k training and my hips have seized up.

Hope you are all ok and having a lovely evening

Thanks Neteiesspag I hope it hasnt got flees, does it do beetles in porch

I must confess whenever we squish these beetlr things in loo roll they are very crunchy, wouldnt be out of place in muslie bar!

Well Ive done my list, I am 1000 clubcard points better off and have had vino!

What is going on in BB? (may have just pushed the boundries if chat on this thread)

Nettie whats a Rolland - I have a friend with a surname of that nature and I know a certain keyboard in garage

Oh they've got the housemates out of BB! Please dont falme me when all the FLYERS who've set a bedtime and gone to peeps at decent time come back in AM

MrsD - thanks for the starting school thread mention - I'll have a look.

Ihatecobwebs - I would buy either of those jellies - they both sound romantic and scrumptious. But if I had to make a choice, I'd probably go for hawthorn, simply because - until I just googled it - I didn't know what hedgerow jelly was.

Re: starting school. DS2 has a wonderful childminder and she spent the last few weeks of term making a cushion with him (in his choice of materials), so that when he comes home from school exhausted in his first few weeks, he can lie down on it. I'm not suggesting you all rush off and make a cushion with your children () - I just thought it was a lovely thing to do and also shows just how tired children are when they start school.

Another tip - don't make loads of plans for when they are at school full time in case they get ill. A friend of mine started a new job shortly after her DS started full time at school, but he was so exhausted by school that he caught every bug going and was ill almost constantly for the first term. My DS2 hasn't had chickenpox yet, so I'm expecting that.

Oh, another tip - buy a nit comb!

Am still not doing the bedtime babystep, as you can see .

namechange I meant new room woohoo someone else who stays up after fly lady deems appropriate just to find out what the inmates at bb are up to! "im loving it"

Mmm yum crunchy beetles so if we see cockroach pie (not far from hawthorn jelly )on your list we will know you've had a bit of line dancing going on in your porch

X-posted toffe'sounds lovely the cushion for
Chill out
ds not starting school but will be attending a Montessori pre-school on top of his existing pre-school days. Bit more structure and (mean mummy) forced learning than current pre-school. Im gonna have look at mrsd thread link too. Ds attends pre-school currently 8.30-5-30 so hopefully as Montessori is less hours he should hopefully cope ok with that.

nit comb will pick one up.

WOW lots of chat to catch up on. and past 10.30, I see!!!!

babystep for today another reading one, that I find a bit Yeuch making!!! (reading how wonderful the fat fairy is!!

and the mission is not much better!!
so a day off adding anything for me. I will just plod on with what I am doing.

Right here we go:

Namechange - One of your posts earlier yesterday made me really do a face. I read it as "Hope you had a good time at funeral". What is this talk all about BB??? And as for us being your 2nd best thread......this is not any thread, this is the fat fairy thread, you know!!

Linzer - ORange Wednesday is a 2-for-1 offer that orange mobile phone do. Cinema is always packed!! Didnt work out quite work out as well as I had planned. 3 x2 went to the cinema, so it works out cheaper, but they then decided to see different films at different times, so there was me thinking i was goin gto have a quiet relaxing evening on my own and I end up doing 6 trips in the car for pick up and drop offs with no time for me to rela in between!!

IHate - I would go for the hedgerow jelly myself, but then I'd go for anything homemade that i ahvent done myself!

Nettie it definitely counts if MIL does the mission. I am of you.

Mrsd hope you are nit-less. And good advice for the school starters, well done!!

Toffee I see you were late to bed, watching BB!!!

Big waves to *SC, Ellie, feetheart, Ad, MissB, Nick (or what ever your name is now, sorry) OM, DEM, DWM, and everyone else.

Yesterday afternoon I came up with a really inspirational plan for a family activity - a live remake of the famous "fatal attraction" scene. DCs were not quite getting it, but we could have had 2 attempts and could have finished off with a family rabbit stew as a celebratory meal. I am beginning to think these rabbits are causing me too much trouble. If they are fertility symbols, then they are welcome to burrow to anywhere they are needed. They are not needed here!!!!!!
DD4 had a friend to sleep last evening which has also turned a little sour and more trouble than I had anticipated.

OH yes, DH heard yesterday that e had got the job that he had originally applied foor over 3 mnonths ago. He is happy and starts the day before hte DC go back to school, so timing is perfect.

I am off to have some breakfast and get sorted for a dentist appointment this mnorning I will be able to think straight after thats done!!

Have a good day.

I am going mad. I've just made myself some coffee, went into the kitchen to see how it was getting on and noticed there was very little coffee in the jug. Decided I couldn't have put enough water in, poured it away and started all over again. But I've just come back into the living room to discover I had already poured myself a cup! And now have another two to look forward to... At least I'll be on the tea this afternoon, as we're visiting an English friend (proper English tea - if an Austrian offers you tea, it will inevitably be of the fruit or herbal variety which is just not the same.)

I won't be doing today's missions either. My desk is now clear after the last two day's missions and I've never gone in for "whatnots and pictures" on it either. As for the bathroom mission, I always stock up on toiletries when I'm back in the UK (generally much cheaper) and DH is a bit of a cleptomaniac whenever he goes away on business (taking advantage of all the small bottles of shampoo, shower gel, etc. in the hotel rooms). Mind you, he has nothing on my parents - my dad is incapable of visiting a cafe without secreting dozens of serviettes and sugar sachets about his person.

PA Good luck at the dentist today! That's great news about your DH's new job.

Nettie What hours will your DS be at the Montessori preschool? Austrians are generally aghast that children in the UK a) usually start school at 4, and b) are at school in the afternoons. It seems to be tantamount to child labour. I must admit that I prefer British school hours (which, with breaks etc., probably aren't all that much longer than school hours here - and school seems to be a lot more intense and formal in Austria too).

Ihate I would probably go for hawthorn over hedgerow jelly too, simply because - like Toffee - I wouldn't know what hedgerow jelly is. Although, having googled it, hedgerow jelly does sound lovely too!

MrsD I'll have to look at the starting school thread too - I did wonder about joining one a while ago but was worried I might feel a bit out of place (other children starting generally quite a bit younger than DD2, talk of uniform, etc.) although I'm sure a lot would be relevant to us too.

DEM My usually mild cat allergy suddenly becomes severe when I'm confronted with my ILs' cats for some reason (I came out in an awful rash once). I also seem to be allergic to the dust at my parents' and ILs'; it's a shame I'm not affected in the same way at home as it might motivate me to do a bit more dusting!

Toffee I was looking at nit combs at Boots at the airport on Saturday and was wondering whether I should buy one as I've never seen any here. Thankfully, none of my three have had nits yet (they're quite strict here about children staying home from school/kindergarten until they're clear).

namechange The starting school list is a great idea, although I won't be adding mine as it runs to several pages... I almost had a panic attack at the stationery shop when DD1 started school and I didn't have a clue about all the different types of exercise books she needed.

Have just remembered I have washing in the machine (only two loads today...) so must go and rescue it. Have a good day everyone.

Good morning everyone.

pa lol at rampant rabbits foraging in your garden. There are rabbit stew blogs available on the www if you get desperate.
Linzer ds will be doing 9.15-3pm. he has actually been doing ok recently at pre-school but im looking forward to some time with DD. lol at 3 cups of coffee. posh coffee at that

Im posting at work so better keep it short.

so far done
s/s
bed making
dh did dw
started applying for visa may take some time
ordered velux blind for DS new room
done no work yet

still to do.

bank recon
other odds and sods of work bits and pieces.
visit homebase to buy coloured paint for DS room.
pick DC up from nursery, snack and bed
gym for PT session (i said no to a bacon roll just now) [round of applause emotion needed]
home to paint all newly plastered walls. Hoping Dh will have made a good go of it before i return from training session

missions- a list of toiletries!! hmmm im not sure but then im still fighting against a control journal.
i love listening to the fat lady waffle on and on. I even have a podcast...............

linzer i was thinking i would quite like the Austian school system stern yet productive. (pushy mum in the making) How long do they go to school for in Austria? What age do they start? is it 6?

I am dreadful my eyes start weeping the minute i wallk into a room where cats have been and the sneezing starts within half hour. better with antihistamines but not great. Dust is a killer for me so am liberally dosed atm.

Came across this on my travels through the internet and <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.blogvedete.com/wp-content/gallery/ce-a-promis-enrique-iglesias/enrique_iglesias_2-0-0-0x0-420x317.jpg&imgrefurl=www.blogvedete.com/tag/enrique-iglesias/&usg=__qVk0-lkODCNuqxbFFpIHoUJmKwo=&h=317&w=420&sz=23&hl=en&start=0&tbnid=7VdrhJYnzSvc3M:&tbnh=132&tbnw=188&prev=/images%3Fq%3Denrique%2Biglesias%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D606%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=133&vpy=117&dur=466&hovh=195&hovw=258&tx=76&ty=106&ei=SJZqTMf6A4i6jAe398S_AQ&oei=SJZqTMf6A4i6jAe398S_AQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">thought you might like a bit of a distraction

Today's list:
ice cake done
finish project
dw
laundry
see friend.

its a rest day yippe.

training was good last night, beginning to see the difference that the hard work has put in. So am pleased. Jumps all landed nicely, spins still hit and miss but i know what the problem is so can now workon fixing it. Footwork improving, as is speed and stamina. And Spirals (skate on one leg with other in air behind you) are getting really smart. can now pull my leg up behind my head whilst holding it.

So as for BB - i have no idea because my head is filled with the above.

Morning with vino processing

Oh dear sorry for posting without checking re funeral?

Awww.. PA it was my ante natal thread! I am pleased so much all the FLYING I've done and Ive done it while keeping sane and not getting paranoid about - well everyone else seems to cope syndrome Hope you manage dentist ok

Nettie Cockroaches no they not...

PA - not watching BB, just late to bed, as usual. I enjoy the peace and quiet when everyone else is in bed. I have deliberately avoided BB because if I watch it I get hooked and DH - who doesn't watch it - gets furious with me.

Nettie - DS2 went to a Montessori nursery for a year (from age 3 - 4). He learnt lots of practical skills, like doing up his coat and shoes, and he is also ahead with reading and writing. It was a strict Montessori, which meant no toys, just equipment. DS2 felt very aggrieved about this. He learnt a lot during his time there.

Thank you for the distraction someone posted. Very nice indeed.

Have to go now, but will check back later. Lots of nice chat today.

Morning all,

Good advice re the nit comb Toffee, we have had one sitting in the cupboard for a few years, I have not been checking partiularly diligently (we haven't had the letter from school for about a year now), TBH wasn't really sure what I was looking for. THen DD goes and gets them in the holidays when we are totally off guard. Have been combing away diligently, but it takes ages, especially with my thick wavy hair, and there seems to be hair all over the bathroom, but I think we are winning.

PA - hoorah for the new job for DH, so pleased for you all.

DEM - as one who can barely stagger round an ice rink and gets sent flying by passing 6 year olds I am very impressed with you!

Flying - I never seem to mention any. Not doing a lot TBH, keeping on top of washing and have conquered ironing mountain. This morning I have clenaed basin, bath and toilet, washed kitchen floor and built lego houses with the DCs. The hoovering deperately needs doing. Our desk is STILL the worst spot in the house, really need some sort of storage boxes for all the random bits and bobs.

I have to go now, going to take the DCs to the opticians (I am as blind as a bat and needed glasses since I was 8 so have to assume they may go the same way). It's raining (again). Booo.