pebbles

Well done Pickle. It is the exercise that's key for me. We r away at a hotel with swimming pool so although I have been drinking a lot I've also counted and have been swimming everyday and used my activity points - which I don't normally use. Weigh in on Wed so fingers crossed Hope everyone else is doing ok

5.5lbs for me today - but that's over 3 weeks as we've just got back from holiday. Am thrilled to have lost weight on holiday but also as I've upped the exercise so I know that i've increased muscle weight. Nearly at my 3 stone mark. I've been joining Pickle in her walking/free gym equipment and it's fabulous. Lets pray the weather stays dry so we can continue. How's everyone else doing? Hope everyone stays strong over Easter and definitely up for chocolate and upping the exercise :)

Hi everyone, i've been away but following this thread and keeping me motivated when i could have just eaten and drunk for England on hols!!! I started WW on 24th Sept and am only a few lbs away from losing 3 stone - I've got another 2 to go but at least i'm over half way there :) WW works for me as it's my portion size that I really struggle with so with counting points it keeps an eye on my portion size. I also feel with WW that i can drink alcohol (which i like) and eat chocolate and have a take away cos you just work it out with your points for the day or do a bit of exercise. I haven't seen these free classes but will look now and hopefully attend one this weekend - Pickle - r u doing any cos I could come with you? Keep going everyone, it's an amazing feeling for me coming into a summer feeling ok about myself :)

oh cool, thanks, good that we can do the train back - but don't think we will on way there cos apparently we can walk quicker!!

oooo thank you so much everyone. I really can't wait now Does anyone know if he can scoot around - am thinking that might be less tiring for him?

Just booked for my son (4) and I to go to legoland - very excited. Anyway, if anyone has any tips please let me know. Also, are they allowed scooters to get around? Thanks in advance

http://www.theclipper.co.uk/#/price-list-little/4554418117

It's called Little Clipper and is on North Cross Road. I take both my children there and it's great.

okedoke, so..... the bed looks like a day bed (my son sleeps in it as a single and my daughter will be in the next few weeks so absolutely perfect for children - they go straight from a cot into this bed). they sleep on 2 single mattresses - they are thin mattresses however with them on top of each other absolutely fine for children's permanent bed. then beneath the bed are these 3 very deep drawers - these 3 drawers then pull out and on the top of them are the wooden slats which then make it a double bed. then one of the thin mattresses gets put on the wooden slats to make the double. i wouldn't recommend it as a permanent double due to mattresses being thin but perfectly comfortable for a night/few nights (we constantly ask guests and they've all said v comfy) yes you have to buy the mattresses separately the bed is narrower than a normal single so you can't use a normal single mattress - u have to use the ikea provided ones i hope that makes sense - ask if u need more descriptions xxx

it's great bluesurperted - AND the storage is huge :) very pretty as well

I'd really really recommend the Hemnes day bed from Ikea. It's a single bed with 3 big drawers underneath for storage and then fabulously it also pulls out to make a double. It's very comfortable. We've had one in my daughters room since she was born and I've actually just bought one off the EDF for my son so they now can have friends over to stay (when they're older) but also they can share if we need one of their rooms as a spare room. It looks nice as well. I have a few friends who have bought this following our recommendation and they're all very happy.

Our childminder is entitled to 4 weeks holiday a year however she's never actually taken this amount (she's wonderful). She gives us a huge amount of notice so we try to take the same weeks as we would pay her while she's on holiday like any other job i suppose, paid holiday. If we take our children out at other times we pay her as that is our choice. Her ?45 per day is for lunch and tea and all other costs - groups, ice creams etc In the 4 years that I've used her she has never had a day off and from speaking with other friends they all have the same feedback. I'm not sure about her t's and c's and whether we would pay for her sick leave but i would think we would?? We have just had to give our notice as my youngest starts nursery in Sept so I will no longer need her so if you are on the look out for one I honestly couldn't rave about mine more - she is just fab :) PM me if you would like her details

I'm pretty organised as well Filofax is my lifeline and that has everything in it for the whole family. My email inbox only has emails that I need to deal with and all other emails have been dragged into correct directories Clothes are left out night before, pyjamas put on radiator in the bathroom every morning so it's ready and warm for after the bath in the evening Breakfast isn't laid out as that's something the kids like to do while i'm bringing down the dirty washing. Dishwasher always put on last thing at night so i unload it while they're eating breakfast. Washing machine put on while they're eating breakfast for me to hangout while youngest has lunch The only thing i wasn't organised about was food actually however that changed when I started weight watchers and therefore in turn meal planning. I'm always early no matter even if i'm panicking about being late!!! I'm not very good at putting clean clothes away - the most annoying part of my life!!! I'm loving Fuschia's idea of packing ballet, swimming etc into bags kept in a drawer/hall rather than what i do which is put it away in children's bedrooms to get it out again every week.

I shop at Ocado once a week and then will buy "special" meat from butchers - i.e. dinner parties or a stay at home date night. We are a family of 4 and spend about ?100 a week (this doesn't include booze as we bulk buy this in from a friend who is in the wine trade) i used to waste a lot of food but then i got incentivised by Pickle's amazing weekly meal planning and now I do this as well and as Nappy Lady said above if i'm struggling i'll cook something large and freeze. I remember going shopping with my mother 20ish years ago to shop for our family of 5 and if it hit ?40 for the week she was really upset as that was seriously expensive.

I'm currently sunning myself in South Africa. Just fabulous for us and the kids and there's no jet lag which is just great. Not sure of temp in April but currently late 20's.

We went without and just taught both children as soon as they could crawl how to go up and down then safely. I remember feeling it was harder with no.2 as with no.1 i kind of knew where he was in the house the whole time but with no.2 it was very easy to get distracted and then suddenly find her at the top of the house!!! As long as you keep an eye on them initially and teach them how to come down backwards I think it's not necessary.

Regular date nights - especially if you have children. No matter how busy and how poor we are/feel we always have a fortnightly date night.

Mine charges ?45/day. She gets 4 weeks paid holiday/yr and we pay her when we go away if it's outside her holiday weeks. Hope this helps.

I would really recommend http://www.aphroditehills.com/ in Cyprus. We actually rented a private villa with pool so we had our privacy but in the resort there were lots of pools and it was only 5 mins drive to the beach. There was a day care centre if you wanted and they could also provide evening babysitters which we had most nights. There were quite a few restaurants to choose from in the resort and all were of a very good standard. Some were child friendly as well for the nights you might want to eat early with the kids. I would recommend May/June time as during the summer it gets very very hot. If you are interested let me know and I'll try and find my emails as to where we found the private villa. Really really recommend and we will definitely be going back.

I think it does depend where on Friern Rd. When we moved to FR I phoned Goodrich and they said the higher numbers stand more of a chance than the lower numbers. We're in the middle of Underhill and Goodrich and my son got into the nursery if that helps.

Thanks. I really and truly don't think they did say the reg number however I'm now beginning to doubt myself. I'm hoping as I have proof that I paid they will realise I'm telling the truth. Fingers crossed

fab, thanks

I think i'm feeling like a fight :) If anyone knows of any websites that might be able to help please let me know thanks

Yup, I did pay for courtesy car. But as they didn't mention a registration number in the recorded message how was I know to know which car. i.e. if i was a 2 car family etc? Surely they should have told me the reg number for me to say yes or no?

I've just got a parking fine but I think I have grounds to appeal as i paid but need to know how to go about it. I parked in Wandsworth and phoned the number to pay by credit card. They recognised my phone number and said that i have now paid for my parking and when I want to stop it to phone the number again. They didn't mentioned my registration number in the recorded message. At 5.30 (which is the end of the parking time) I received a text saying that my credit had been stopped. In the text it did say the reg number. It was the reg number of our courtesy car that we had in December. I parked in Camden and registered it then. I didn't realise that the same parking people were involved and as they didn't mention my reg number I didn't realise that it wasn't my car that was registered (if that makes sense). I think i have a case - do you? and if so how do i go about arguing my case? Many thanks in advance