A victory well worth waiting for....

Anna has been developing into a good footballer for some time now, but in the teams she plays with is yet to experience the consistent and sweet taste of victory. Today all that changed! She was part of the winning team that took the 'year 3/4 North Norfolk schools champions league' for girls by storm and won all six of their games to come away with the trophy convincingly. Unquestionably the champions! I am just gutted that I did not get to see this, having stood on the side lines and watched many a loss and tried to bolster her with talk of a good performance and progress and improvement as a team. Today she nailed it and I missed it. I had to be careful of Anna's propensity for dramatic licence and having verified it with her teacher as they arrived back, she only went and bloody scored twelve goals during the tournament today! BOOOM! Cue over exuberant, slightly excitable (alright very),  proud and probably embarrassing for Anna dad moment! Who cares. I am going to sing it from the rooftops. Damn fine performance Wiggle and one I would have love to have seen. In the absence of complete details, I got her to describe her best goal of the day and she went with it with much artistic licence and one that could have been scored by Wes Hoolahan himself! Good stuff....

We needed that.....

Simply put - we just needed to spend some time together. The Easter break has been just what the doctor ordered. The last five days have flown by and we have eaten, chatted and giggled our way through the festivities (with the odd and expected Hammond argument thrown in for good measure!) I have lost count of the fabulous meals we have had with family and friends with Roast Lamb in abundance in many variations. My favourite  though, has to be the salted caramel cheesecake made by Mrs Hammond and it was divine and of course fat free! There are still two pieces in the fridge, that are singing and speaking to me this evening. Must resist! Must resist! The weekend kicked off at Libby's with 'so much more than an Easter brunch' on Saturday and the chipolatas were made in heaven. Easter Sunday brought grandma and neighbours around for lunch. Watching Lucy be mother hen and help Amy with the cooking, vegetable preparation and serving the drinks was great to see.The girls were captivated as grandma told her stories and then absconded with the lure of electronic gadgets after the meal. Charming! I loved having grandma around for a meal, you never know how many more of these opportunities to share her company there could be in the coming years and one must seize the day. She told me how proud she was of me and what a wonderful family I had in the car on the way home. I couldn't have wished for a better compliment from an amazing woman. Today, has been one of routine and doing what we love best. Fossil hunting - although slim pickings, chips, ice cream and the arcades, with a bit of shopping squeezed in for good measure - all basking in the spring sunshine. None of this is newsworthy, none of this will ever been recorded in the history books to ensure that future generations can learn form this; in fact it is relatively unspectacular and perhaps even mundane to some, but to us, integral to my and my family's happiness and sharing time with each other and friends. Simple stuff and so hugely important to us. We are busy doing nothing, sharing the whole day through. We even squeezed in time to share in Anna's success as she had a Minecraft picture published in one of her favourite magazines. Initially opening the pages with a glum face and then beaming as she realised that 'Anna from Fakenham' had made it big. Most of Sheringham, including an elderly couple sitting quietly enjoying their ice cream and their day, shared in her joy too as she was very loud!

There only going and leaving me at home...

All the ladies in my life are packing their bags in the morning and buggering off on a road trip to Lincoln without me. Charming! I have a project to complete tomorrow and work on Monday. The sunshine is out and I am a bit miffed that work is again preventing me from spending time with Amy and the girls. I know its only a couple of days, but I just don't like being without my family, I have had enough of that over the years. There is an upside to this though, once I have finished I can settle down and relax in full control of the television, a bit of peace and quiet and the house will be immaculate. With Amy not here, the cat (obsessed with Amy in a weird and unhealthy way) will not sleep on the bed, so one night without the wretched creature purring and fidgeting. Happy days! Have a great time girls. Anna declared with excitement today that they were staying in a posh hotel (umm - premier inn!) You can't win them all Wiggle. Happy travels and museum hunting..

The one with the pineapple that continues to blossom!

School holidays are here. I am work and the normal course of events is that Amy and the girls trash the house and I come home and tidy up as the 'butler' of the house. With Mrs Hammond entrenched in undertaking her dissertation for days this week already (coming on nicely) and Anna at football camp. There is new 'lady' of the house and competing for my domestic throne is Lucy. She has tidied her bedroom, I repeat she has tidied her bedroom to what can only be described as an 'expert' level. Incidentally, she was in danger of not being able to see the carpet, we do have quite a hoarder on our hands! She is a biscuit maker and decorator, an emptier of the dish washer, a laundry assistant, a sweeper upper and an emerging domestic goddess. I am already pleasantly surprised at my eldest daughter's contribution to the household chores this holidays already. Now is a good time to mention I have bribed her with cash, but that is just between you and me! Never the less, more of the same please Looby chick,  the pineapple that keeps on growing....

Everybody made it!

Tempers have frayed a little in the last few days in the Hammond house. Collectively, we are usually a good team and get through most things thrown at us as a family. The second half of this term has been particularly long and onerous,  as we have all become increasingly more tired as each day goes by. Anna, has been at the fore of this, with countless bumps and bruises from football, injuries, dramas and above all an increased unwillingness to do what her parents ask! She just has to impose her agenda on everything and pushes the boundaries every day, from what time she goes to bed, what time she gets up and on and on. I would avidly deny this, if anybody chose to make a connection with this kind of stubborn behaviour with me! After a spate of not so great dealings with her parents a few weeks ago, things are on the up and improving though,  I am hoping the school holidays starting today will bring the sunshine and perhaps a little cooperation into young Wiggle as she starts to get some well earned rest. She has started this sultry teenage years a tad too early and we are not ready for two near teenagers (Lucy moving nicely at the end of this week into moody defcon five) in the house just yet! Onwards and upwards and a good rest needed for all my girls, including Mrs Hammond who has been pushing herself too hard of late. I, will be grafting I am afraid - got to work to keep these ladies in the manner they are accustomed too!

I think we may have nailed it again....

Off we trotted to Cambridge today in Amy's 'yummy mummy' mini (for a little 1.5 litre car, it goes some!) for some retail therapy, time together on a beautiful spring day and a spot of lunch. Today we celebrated all things 'Amy' on Mothering Sunday and attempted in our own slightly clumsy way  to spoil her rotten and show her how much we love her. Mrs Hammond was spoilt for choice, with cash in her pocket, she was not able to choose a new handbag for some hours, as there were several much liked options. Now for Anna and I, who are not lovers of shopping at the best of times, we held our nerve, remembered who the day belonged to and waited patiently for her choice to reveal itself very late in the day. In fact, two choices came forward! We did leave Mrs Hammond to it for an hour or so and check out the Egyptian exhibition at a museum and the girls dragged me into every girly shop possible as well. It was a calm, relaxing, pleasurable day as a family and not an argument in sight! I think we did good girls and showed your mother how much she means to us. She is slowly drifting off to sleep on the couch now, all spent out and thoroughly pampered. Let the snoring begin! xx

Thinking of others....

I was really impressed with Lucy this morning. As she got dressed for the days Red Nose Day fun at school, she was clearly reflecting on why it is important to think of others and recognise how fortunate we are. She told me that a couple of pounds is not really that important to us and for the price of a bag of sweets we could change people lives. However, I am not sure that all her motives were altruistic backing up her well valued statements this morning, as she is clearly quite liking this years 'range' of red noses and was hoping if I gave her loads of money to buy some more, a limited addition Frankenstein nose might come her way! Never the less, the discussion we had about helping others and raising money for good causes, gave me hope that we are doing something right in the parenting department and installing some good basic values in our girls. The urge to spend as much of my money possible on comedy noses aside, I really did think she got it and wanted to help. Anna joined in as well and her generosity shone through, offering to give her only spare pound to charity today. Then it all fell apart and got competitive, as the conversation disintegrated into a sister argument about what the best red nose was. Oh well, you can't win them all!