June 08 - 79 days (and counting) til Christmas, has Deb started her shopping yet?!

[KnittingisbetterthanTherapy]

Thought we should update the thread!

looks interesting Spider - let us know how the mothercare dash goes tomorrow - that's a good price on ebay! Don't think I'm tall enough for one though DH wouldn't have a problem!

Dewin - hope the proof reading isn't too tedious. The new shoes are so comfy. I have been getting more and more into comfort footwear since my mid twenties. I shudder now when I think of the heels I crippled myself in when I was first working. It would seem that I am officially getting old too

Knitting - good present idea thanks. Does anyone else find that the responsibility for all present idea generation falls to them, and the GPs all call up wanting to nick th best ideas? IIRC h&s has an easel for Edie at her house maybe she will be able to tell you where it came from.

X-post Biscuits. I called the big Mothercare and they don't have it on display. There are a couple of independents that I will phone in the morning.

My p's are getting S an easel for Christmas. They're getting the gltc one which ticked all the right boxes for us. There is a bargainous one in ikea which is great value too. It's a bit taller than the gltc one.

Hi all - busy and e teething so had couple of very disturbed nights.

Easel was a gift - it's by Janod and think it came from amazon . Has paper rill on one side and blackboard the other. Also her noahs ark toy and toy picnic set hugely popular.

Janod wooden puzzles also nice - that said we have plenty of plastic tat. ...[[
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1066295-to-want-my-DC-to-only-have-wooden-toys-Or. Pfb toys]]

Away for weekend tomorrow so will try and catch up - waves to all.

Amber, how's Luke's eye today?

Result here, you know we're trying to sell the car, well in July when we had those huge hailstones we had quite a lot of damage to the car. Called the insurance but they said there'd be an excess to pay so we didn't bother as we were selling it. Anyway a friend has recently said that we could get compensation instead for it. We had to take it to a garage, get it liooked at by the insurance and they have just agreed to put 2,888 Euros in our bank account It's no wonder that insurance here is ridiculously expensive!

good result Deb

How is Luke's eye Amber? That sounded horrible.

First day of half-term here. I have a stinking cold and would ideally spend the day in bed. How likely is this I wonder? We're being very lazy which is nice.

Luke's eye is almost back to normal - thanks all for asking. Plenty of antihistamine seems to have helped.

Luke's got an easel and he loves it. I draw pictures on the blackboard and he 'colours them in' . We are learning numbers at the mo and I write them on the board and he points to the right ones so it's been great for learning I totally agree knitting. Not used the other side much as it's magnetised and we only have letters which Luke has no idea about. We did make a picture of Humungasaur from Ben 10 using them although I doubt that's the intended use!!

Deb - wow - lend us a fiver!

Glad to hear Luke is better Amber it did sound nasty.

I am planning to get J an easel for christmas so thanks for linking to that thread, I'll go and have a look at it.

Knitting, I am trying to get some photos on FB of Ethan with the easel, did try to get him to create something magnificent, but he wanted to paint a fireman sam print out!!Oh the shame for a Nursery teacher!

Poor Luke getting stung on his eye, glad it's a bit better now.

Luke was very brave at the hospital and said to the nurse 'Uncle Alan's going to smack the wasp's bottom!'

Where is everyone? Its very quiet on here at the moment.

Poor Luke Amber, but very cute!

Hmm an easel, that would solve the problem of all the drawing paper having to be put away as H tries to eat it. Mentioned it to DH last night and he thinks I've already got too much for J, but he is notoriously stingy. I may suggest it to my Mum. How much are the Ikea ones, couldn't see them on their website. Struggling to think of much for H, as we already have a house full of suitable toys.
Went back to B&M bargains the other day and an update, the Thomas ride on train is £59.99 (I thought fifty something had stuck in my head!), if anyone (with a lot of spare space) was considering it. I got the Peppa Pig remote control car, I'm a little bit excited about playing with that.

Footwear - I am considering some of these as my old lady sensible winter footwear, more than I'd normally spend but I have some of the flip flop type and they are extremely comfy. Plus extra points this weekend and cashback. I may cave in.

I got cross last night as I went to a display of plans to do opencast mining in our area, on a nice bit of countryside, next to a nature reserve and a lovely old village, I don't think we are close enough for the traffic or dust to be a problem, but we may be able to hear it. They have been refused planning permission twice so fingers crossed. I've gone all NIMBY!

£125!!!!!! They are nice though...Thinking about Uggs myself or some Clarkes riding boots

I got some suede ones. The thought of my Mum's bunions (which are apparently hereditary) have persuaded me into spending the cash on comfy sensible shoes. If they aren't the comfiest things in the world I'm sending them back.

Now my credit card is really groaning, the book people catalogue came today and they have Hairy MacLary and Julia Donaldson bargains, I added Peppa too to get free postage . Plus they are on topcashback if anyone else is tempted. We'll end up with some duplicates but I can save those as gifts. DH will not be impressed.

J has just taken the Screwfix catalogue to bed with him.

The ikea one is about £15-£20 ktpie. I think the paper roll thingy is seperate but fits onto it? It's only a few quid I'm sure. I'm only 5 minutes from ikea and need to get something so if I get round to it I'll double check.

Am 'working from home' this afernoon so should really do some...

Ktpie - let me know how you get on with the boots. I tried them on on Tuesday, but couldn't get them on i.e. round the bend at the heel (no zip). The shop assistant had warned me that they are hard to get on, but it could just be my pregnant state that was the limiting factor. They looked lovely and comfy though (once they are on).

Biscuits - I found the B-dual this morning in the flesh. As suspected it's a bit of a beast compared to my Chicco. P does fit into it, and it seemed pretty easy to manoeuvre. For the discounted price on ebay I am seriously considering it. I wouldn't pay full price though.

I got some fly boots last year Spider that had no zip and they were impossible to get on initially. They take a bit of manoeuvring still but I can get them on ok now.

at living 5 mins from IKEA!

spider, please can you link that ebay pram - my friend was asking me about it this afternoon!

Was lovely to see you - A slept all the way to my friend's house, and M slept all the way back! Hope P managed some sleep too .

Knitting - as well as the shopping options, it's a great place to entertain toddlers (on a quiet day). Play area, train set, kitchen, easel etc all to play with!

Stop rubbing it in !

We live about 10 mins from IKEA - it's also a good place to have lunch on a wet day.

C is poorly, had to pick her up early from nursery. I had a bit of a hurried end to my last day at work though.

Knitting thanks for having us over today, and for the clothes loan for P.

I have just bought the pushchair! Feeling relieved that hopefully I can stop obsessing about it and boring everyone on here.

Here are some links for your friend:
Ebay listing: here
Baby Centre Thread: here
Review here
Shop in Camberley in case she wants to see one in RL: Babygear (Surrey), Haywood House, Portesberry Road, GU15 3SX, Camberley. 01276 20404

I would say it isn't the "best" double looking at the review site linked to above. For us it should be the best combination of fitting a tall toddler and a narrow hallway at a price I can live with.

Biscuits sorry that C is poorly. Well done on starting your ML. Must be a relief after all your exams as well as the day to day job.