Only another 17 to use......

Back in January this year I orderd these scrapbooks, as I thought they were cute and useful, well they've been sitting in my cupboard all that time till July this year, when I actually parted with one.

One of the assistants in Stevens school was retiring, so thought it would be nice to give her a one of the little books with some photos of past and present pupils in it. I found is very hard, as never done a scrapbook for anyone before and was not sure how she would take it, as some of the pupils are no longer with us.

The lady in question has been a part of our lives since Steven started school back in 1995, as she was one of the assistants in his first class and luck would have it, she was working with him when she retired in July (Steven now being in the 6th form).

Was a little worried how she would take it, so left it at reception to pass onto her, as we had already said our goodbyes at the prom the week before.


Well I had nothing to worry about, as she loved it, I had a lovely notelet from her thanking me for it saying...

what can I say about my album, it touched my heart, as I know how much 'you put into it'. I cried when I look at the 'old pictures', especially of 'K' & 'E' [2 pupils that are sadly no longer with us] as I didn't have any of these. I have shown it to some of the old girls who left before me & we shared 'a few sentimental moments'. I saw the pictures of Steven and me at the prom, it was a bit of a shock to see how he has grown up so much as I have known him and you all so long, his a very special young man and I so wish him well for the future. Thank you once again Maria, I will always treasure your gift.

The nice thing is now that she is not connected to the school we can meet up, in fact we met up for lunch last Friday with a other few mums from school.

I think since having Steven, it has made me see things differently, you appreciate life for one and I have met and made some wonderful friends.

The funny thing was I was talking to another member of the school staff the other day, and I was telling her how I've had lunch with a few ex- school staff, and she asked if she could join 'us mums' when she is longer attached to the school lol...

...as she misses the contact of parents since the school changed in 2006.

Slide show to follow hopefully...

Weight lost recipe: no 2

Tagliatelle with Meatballs

Low fat cooking spray
240g (8 1/2 oz) tagliatelle
1/2 pack of fresh basil, chopped

for the meatballs

4 thick slices white bread, crusts removed and torn up
4 tablespoons skimmed milk
400g (14 z) extra-lean minced beef
2 garlic cloves, crushed
75g (2 3/4 oz) mozzarella light, chopped into small dice
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 pack of fresh basil, chopped

for the sauce

400g can chpped tomaotes with herbs
200ml (7fl oz) beef stock
1 teaspoon sugar

Place the bread in a large bowl, add the milk and allow to soak for 5 minutes.
Add all the other meatball ingredients and mix together, roll small amounts in your hands to make about 20 meatballs.
Heat a large frying-pan and spray with low-fat cooking spray. Fry the meatballs in batches for 5 minutes to brown on all sides. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.
To make the sauce, drain any oil from the frying-pan and add the sauce ingredients. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile cook the taglitelle in boiling water, drain and keep warm.
Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer for a further 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check for seasoning, sprinkle with basil before serving with pasta.

1st prize

Got a surprise when I picked Steven up from Beechside, as when I checked his school bag, it seems he had won 1st Prize for his Jack Sparrow costume, he has a certificate to prove it, lol...

....well I think it's his...

...as they didn't spell his name right, (spelt it with a 'ph' instead of a'v'). Good job I know they have no other Stevens at the school, lol

Oh well, they've only know him 13 years, so I suppose it's early days.....

Jack Sparrow

Steven had a sponsored walk at school yesterday, but was also fancy dress, we knew this at the beginning on term, but couldn't get my head round what to dress him up in that was from the TV but was also practical for school and having a stay at Beechside afterwards.

Clive and I were down town last Monday, so went into a novelty joke shop, that also sold fancy dress costumes to give us some ideas. (Would not buy a costume, as they are not usually washable and not very pratical for Steven, with lots of bits and pieces on them). We came away with an idea of doing him as a pirate, like Jack Sparrow (pirates of the Caribbean), but didn't buy anything as wanted to think about what I would need. Came home thinking, had lunch then I nipped back down town, and came home with a hat/wig and a gun from 'U need Us' (the joke shop), and 1 mt lace and brown cord from fabric land, pinched one of hubbies old long sleeve white shirts and set to work, pinning lace round the shirt.

Picked Steven up off the school bus at 3.30, to read in his book that the 6th form was dressing up as superheros, I could have cried, they've know about this sponsored walk for nearly 2 weeks yet 4 days before the day they decide they what us to do superheros, well then I had a dilema!!

...do I carry on with my costume but then would worry that Steven looked different from all he's other class mates, or on Tuesday go back down town seeing what I could do. Spoke to Clive and a couple of other mums who said carry on with what I had started, so wrote back in the school book the next day, saying had started my costume already and sorry it was not a superhero, they were fine, (just a shame they had left it to the last minute to tell us about being superheros), saying that the people I spoke to said that Jack Sparrow was a superhero, lol.

So the rest of the week in the evenings was cutting and sewing, did end up back down fabric land getting some suede type material for a waist coat. So yesterday morning dressed him up, Clive did the markings on his face (tash and beard) with one of Sam's eye pencils, took a few photos, then put his hat and gun in his school bag with a clean t/shirt and some face wipes, asking school to clean him up and change his top before sending him to Beechside. We did get some funny looks walking to the bus stop, but saying that we sometimes do from people that don't know us, lol.




I went down the school as 10, as they were having a coffee morning, and had a 'friends of Mary Rose' AGM (I'm on the fund raising committee). Saw Steven and was pleased with the way he looked, there were a few Jack Sparrows, but all different which was good. (so he didn't look out of sorts, thank goodness).

After the meetings went to the local pub with another couple of mums, as I had arranged for us to meet up with an old school assistant that left in July and a few other mums who's children have also left the school for lunch. But that's another story......

Sam's 21st Pub Crawl

Thought you might like to see a piccy of us before Sam went on her pub crawl back in August, (remember the theme was silly hats or wigs), lol...




You have 'me' in the rasta hat,
Matt in the sailor outfit,
Sam in her glamour wig and outfit,
Clive in the Afro wig and wearing the wooden tie that I bought him for his Birthday, (well what else can you give a hubby that has everything!!!),
Shane, (my nephew) in the star wars outfit and trying out the local booze, lol
and in the front you have Steven is the Scottish wig/hat....

Weight lost recipe: no 1

I feel Clive has done brilliantly with he's weight lost, so thought I would share some of the dishes I made, so here is the first...

...Chicken and Potato Masala

2 onions, sliced thinly
450g (1lb) skinless chicken breast, cubed
4 tablespoons medium Masala curry paste
400G (14oz) canned tomatoes
200g (7oz) mushrooms, halved
550g (1lb 3oz) canned new potatoes, drained and halved, (I always used fresh steamed potatoes)
200ml (7fl oz) boiling water
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

Dry-fry the onions and chicken in a non-stick pan for 5 minutes.
Stir in the curry paste and the tomatoes, mix well, and add the mushrooms, potatoes and boiling water.
Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in the chopped coriander, and check the seasoning to taste.

We also had puppodums (cooked in the microwave), lime pickle and mango chutney served with it.

Forgot to say...

... Clive phoned Virgin after we lost the Internet yet again this morning, and they are going to send us out a new modem box, so hopefully will be back to normal by the end of next week. (we've lost it 4 times this evening too, arhhhh)


Oh gotta go, am watching Match of the Day, going to see if I can see 'US' on TV, lol