July's Fledgling Flyers : The dc's drive us round the bend, the school holidays descend, our sanity we will lend, and flying will be our friend

[elliepac]

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

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, old and new, from July 1st.

Back from work.
Have been relieved of visit to parents, they came to us, instead. Bearable visit which is always pleasent these days. Mum has alzheimers and dad is either just learning behaviour from her or going down the same route.
Ordered george Foreman mega grill thingy from Amazon. I just hope DH gets a job before the credit card bill arrives!! (Eeeek)

Feetheart I too had my wisdom teeth out and all was fine. Not half as bad as I thought. I had thought I would lose weight through not being able to eat properly, but no such luck. I was able to suck chocolate buttons straight away and by next day was on other stuff. Hope it all goes well.

Ellie you are incorrect!! the Small was the cryptic clue, so I can see where you got that idea from, but married small lady. Definitely not spread on toast, a toddler might try, but would get in a mess!!

Right, DCs just want to have a DVD day, so suits me fine. Trip to Blockbusters after lunch, then cosy up on sofa for a few hours. Nibbles galore on the table.
Must do the bathroom, or I really will feel lazy today.

See you all later.

Why did my "lose weight" go like that????

Whats going on???? Its gone now????? Is it me???? I have spent too long with my mum!!! Its happening to me now.........

Quick post to check up on myself!!

Look at missions and zone cleaning done
Nag 2xteenagers to bin all their 'paper' from school and find their floors!done
Change bedlinendoing
Wash (me and laundry!!)done
Do very small pile of ironingnotyet
Go out for lunchnotyet
Wave 2x teenagers off with mad granny for a night away.later
Remind mad granny to drive carefully!later
Consider talking to DH!hmm

Ironing it is then!!

Just had a text from my DS1 who is in Australia so I feel much more cheered. He's obviously having a fab time and has been on a train in the Blue Mountains today - lucky thing!

Ellie - good that your phone is not arriving til later so you can do your duty and buy nappies!!! Always best to play with new iphone minus stinky child I would have said!!

PA -your criptic clue is too criptic for me,I demand another clue and so does Ellie!! Enjoy your afternoon....We have been watching DVDs every evening so far - 'Pride and Prejudice' (DD and my fav) followed by a zoom back into tweenie land with Hairspray (jolly and silly and funny!!) DS2 and DD away with Gma tonight so no DVD today!

sorry cryptic - doh

Damn, I thought I had it sussed, I was sure it was mm I am clearly not intelligent enough . Please give me and om and easy clue.

om i bloody love Hairspray. I show it every year when I teach civil rights and spend the whole time wandering round school telling everybody they can't stop the beat .

Too much to read on here today! I'm going to have to come back later. But Ad, the DC's passports cost £49 each, plus £8 for the Post Office check-and-send service. Had some very good news about the passport for DS2 - when I phoned the helpline, they told me they'd made a mistake and I didn't need to send a 'statutory declaration' after all. The passport is now on its way. Phew.

Went to outdoor pool. It was FREEZING! Fortunately, DS2 agreed with me and decided to paddle in the toddler pool, which meant I could stay warm and dry. DS1 went into the pool and splashed around with his friend. I have no idea how he did it because he's skinny as a rake and must have been freezing, but he enjoyed himself anyway.

Ellie - i love that thread! Am saving it for later to have a good read. Could add many of my own DH's contributions.

House in a mess again, thanks to rushing out first thing this morning. Friend and her 2 DC are due here in half an hour, so have to get going. Talking of due - she is due to give birth today (hope she doesn't go into labour on our new sofa).

Back later.

Kitchen - a mess, have failed AGAIN
living room - one built coffee table (looks very nice as is still clutter free)

Cardboard boxes and little plastic bags every where, I have to ring the rubbish collection place to ask if I can put all our cardboard out or if I have to take it somewhere.

feetheart hope you feel OK after the dentist. I have 2 wisdom teeth left in - one of which ha sto come out as it's pushing the other teeth but I am such a wimp.

toffee sonds about similar in price then, my 2 will just have to accept that they are little half Germans! Good that they don't need the declaration anymore. That sort of thing can be such a hassle. A friend's wife passed away last month and we're still trying to sort out a death certificate, can't understand why it's so complicated to get anything official like that. He can't even go and cancel her bank account or anything without it and over here banking is not free.

PA - Kensington buns a HUGE success. Will need flannels and lots of water to clean up sticky, chocolatey DC before we go to library/bank Thanks

Come on, I thought it was easy!!

A married lady is a Mrs, yes?
Small and also a make of something a toddler might play with.........Dinky

Now who feels a big DOH coming on????

DCS have done the DVDs and have been sat too long vegging and have all decided to be crabby with each other. lovely!!! I could easily bang 4 heads together at the moment. I HAVE to go out tonight, just worried about leaving them all alone cos I know if they dont go to the beach, DH will go for a bike ride and they will be left to argue by themselves.
Oh well, they havent killed each other so far, so maybe they will survive.

Meant to say, Ellie, I will happily post when you are away in August if you would like me to. I would prefer not to do the whole month, though if thats OK.

feetheart - glad buns were a hit. Rather yum, arent they!!

august thread title
"a year of flying and we are still not done ; come and join us and we will have some fun"

My goodness you have all been very busy today!!

I however have not done a lot

dc to swimming lessons
out on boat in pouring rain too wet to go crabbing off the edge even.
Had lovely dinner at restaurant

still to do:
wait for mil to come round for advice on loft/ room extention options
house rescue only minor [chuffed emotion]
spend some time with dh as I have been grumbling about not spending time together.
Oooo must find today's mission didn't manage yesterdays oh well!!

ellie love my iPhone never use anything else. Mnetting takes a bit of practise. Soon as you get it please email tech to nag about a mn app to make reading easier. Sorry ur dd is temper tantruming. I cant believe mine is at it already only 21m too early. Not managing as well as I did with ds. I don't know if that is me or different personalities.
feetheart my heart goes out to you. Still in pain from
yest dentist trip. However had tooth taken out at dentist was sedated and I don't remember anything. I've still got my wisdom teeth, some people have theirs out other have fillings in them
pa I'm sure your dc will survive, go out and get back late so any fall out can be dealt with by dh before your return.
admylin who needs nice clean kitchen when you have sparkly new coffee table
toffee well done on avoiding the freezing pool
om ah well done ds1 for phoning home and cheering up mummy
linzer where in the Uk are you going to? Hope you have lovely time and dparents are so happy to see you all that any slight noise/lack of eating is forgotten. Depends how good they are my ddad is useless at keeping his thought to himself so you know when you have outstayed your welcome.

Better go mil is here for loft discussions.

Have lovely evening all

Evening all. Am posting on my shiny new iPhone which I am still getting used to!

Too busy playing to write anything meaningful apart from to pa how unintelligent do I feel now? .

MOrning all,

Hope we are all OK this morning. DS slept at Dsis's last night so am going to post here and then dash off to have a crack at his bedroom while he is not here, so apologies for no round-up this morning.

pa I will take you up on that offer of helping out next month if that's ok. I will lead when I am here and then if youcould take over when I am away that would be fab. Thank-you.

Am going now to post steps and get cracking, back later for proper catch-up!

Good morning everyone. [bleary eyed emotion] my ds won the get out of bed war 7 times to dd 2 I feel like a haggard old troll.

Anyway I need focus and I must get certain tasks accomplished today

wrap present and card for e
wrap present and check card stock
for c
wrap present and card for b and ready for post office
buy new baby girl card and present for s
buy present and card for z
check other cards needing sent

I must do above most of them are late

also to get dc ready for nursery
get me to work
morning routine
load of washing!

Mil came round last night and everything has changed loft is no longer going to be wardrobe but will be ds room instead! We will then move into his room. Sort out our room then dd will move in there. Will
be a snug inbetween 2 dc bedrooms for them. We will then use spare room for dressing/guest room I am.
All I wanted was hanging space. Ah well
will be good and will effectively make this a four bed house. God knows where storage will be for all toot but must get up and get on. ellie with iPhone can
post in bed sometimes only peace I get

have a lovely day y'all

Today's babystep is looking after yourself, an important one.

The mission for today is here.

Have a good day!

Good morning ladies

Beautiful morning here. I ahve already done my work for the day and am waiting for the shops to open, to doa little shopping on the way home. I can get twice as much work done in half the time when I start at 7am, without the phone interruptions or anyone popping into the office, with the line "it will only take 2 minutes".... yes, right!! I am sat here with sun shining and patio door open onto the garden and birds hopping about and twittering beautifully. My new office is lovely!! (Door actually open to remove the smell of the rather yummy breakfast I just treated myself to )

DCs did not kill each other last evening. Apparently they were absolutely fine. DH either had a deaf 5 minutes, or they just behaved!!! I wont ask........

haggard troll Nettie, sounds like a big job for the house. Have to say I dont envy you, but it is always worth it once things are done. When will you be starting?

Ellie have fun with the i-phone. Please give me warning of your departures, just in case I dont log on EVERY day. Thanks.

Ad Glad you do like the table now. We have a rule that our front lounge coffee table is cleared every day before DH gets home form work. It gets stuff dumped on through the day, but is nice and clear in the evenings. (ie: pile just dumped somewhere else, normally!!! )

Feetheart Hope the dentist went ok and you are not too sore.

Toffee Those passports are a nightmare. DD4 is dual Nationality and we HAD to get her the Russian one, but then the Greeks wouldnt let her in to the country with the Russian one, so we had to gt a British one as well. It cost us about £150 in all, just for her. Then another few hundred for the Brituish passports for the rest of us. I'm glad the other palava isnt necessary though.

After 2 fairly quiet days, today is back to normal busy, busy.
Somehow I have managed to say yes to taking my lot and an extra 3 to the carnival tonight. But apparently they are all arriving at 10 this morning to spend the day, then can I drop them home at 10 tonight after the carnival. Its a really good carnival tonight, so will be fun, but a housefull of hungry teenagers for the day.... I can see I ma going to be baking for most of the time!
So, in between baking I must:
GET HOOVER OUT!! please shout at me if I dont do this!!!
Washing x4 in preparation for DD2 going away on Friday at some ridiculous time in the morning, for 11 days.
Sweep fron lounge floor.
Clean kitchen floor - may not be the best day to do this, with so many feet in the house, so I'll see!

Hope you all have a good day and enjoy the sunshine.

PA GET HOOVER OUT

can I just say about today's mission I really couldn't give a flying fat fairy what is on top of my doors!!??!!!???

Is it just me am I really a slattern?

Nettie - I'm with you on today's mission.

This morning i have:

tackled DH's hotspot (perhaps I should rephrase that - I mean the rubbish that accumulates on the floor beside his side of the bed)

emptied and cleaned the fridge

put the washing on and remembered to include yesterday's swimming stuff

emptied the dishwasher

washed up

swished and swiped in the bathroom

helped DS2 make a railtrack for his ant city (which has spread out of his bedroom floor and into the garden)

watched DS1 play a computer game (because he wanted to show it to me)

spent half an hour trying to log onto this computer - what is wrong with it?

Am just off to hang out the washing, make packed lunches and then am taking the boys out for a picnic with other mums and children nearby. Linzer - if you get the chance to look here - I have the clutter book and am taking it out with me in case I get a chance to read whilst DC play (I can hope).

When I come home, I have to sort out the Tesco online grocery delivery, sort out sheets for MIL who arrives tomorrow, do more washing, hoover (PA - get the hoover out!) and work out a budget to get through the holidays.

Back later.

Just a very quick hello - I'll try to come back and catch up properly later, but I'm still trying to sort out my Internet connection (have bought a wireless broadband dongle but connection doesn't seem great, or even existent in fact) so am limited to using the computer in my brother's room for the time being.

Toffee Hope you find the decluttering book useful. I'm going to try to do some decluttering here at my parents' as the DC have a ridiculous amount here, especially clothes - I just counted a total of 24 T-shirts that DS has here!

Nettie My parents live in mid-Wales, where it is currently cool, grey and rainy (typical summer weather here, in other words).

admylin We flew with Ryanair so have to pay for each piece of luggage (15 kg max each); I only brought two pieces over with me but will probably splash out on an extra two for my return journey.
My dad sounds very similar to yours - he also tends to follow us round with a hoover (or dustpan and brush if the damage is not too bad) and woe betide any of the DC who attempts to eat a biscuit without a plate!

Must rush, but waves to everyone else.

Evening everyone. Well work has started in ernest here and he doesn't need stroking! One velux window in. Insulation and boarding tomorrow. Visitors next week (big smile mind the dust) (cough cough).

Today I have

wrap present and card for e-done
wrap present and check card stock
for c-done
wrap present and card for b and ready for post office-need card
buy new baby girl card and present for s-still to do
buy present and card for z-still to do
check other cards needing sent
dc ready for nursery-done
get me to work-done and home again to look after ds who had runny tummy and sent home from nursery. Went back this afternoon
morning routine-done
load of washing -done

also done picture clear up
15 bookcase rescue
collected some swim badges from around house
swept kitchen and living room floors
cleaned sink and s/s bathroom for this evening.

linzer ah gorgeous countryside. I'm envious of those places with beautiful green hills and mountains. I'm from Scotland living in Essex which is so flat! My dparents asked me what the point of the pier was when there is nothing to look at!!??! They do have the isle of Arran on their doorstep so rather spoilt.
toffee my dh has one of those two and I afraid I never tackle it!

Sorry got stuck wasn't finished posting.

pa have lovely carnival. Your house sounds so exciting I'd love to be I'm the throw of it but secretly think I'm too anti-social
feetheart hope you are ok.

Big waves to all everyone wherever you are

PA DID YOU HOOVER?

Lovely time at picnic. Could have stayed all day. Just back in time to find Tesco delivery van at the door.

This afternoon, I tackled DS1's bedroom to make it tidy and clean for MIL's visit tomorrow. DH had taken out several boxes of children's clothes to sort through. They had been in DS's room for about a week, so I put them all back in the cupboard again. Hoovered. Wiped and dusted. Tidied.

DS1 has just come in, so have to go now.

Good morning ahh a good nights sleep. Phew!

Today

go shopping this morning for cards and presents if I can steal time off work as ds can't go back to nursey till about 11
dd to nursery
dw/wm
put away ironed clothes
gym (first time in weeks)
find mission and see if can do
I think that will do for now

enjoy your days