And so to pastures new...

It's the moment that I knew would come round quickly and as much as I had been craving this moment since AandE were born I was also dreading it.

Yes I'm talking about the need for the girls to gain their own independence, make friends of their own not just my friends' children and begin their educational career.

Since we have now moved to Israel I had two options. Either to send them to a private nursery in English or send them straight to nursery in Hebrew. I consulted friends, relatives, various nurseries and in the end went with the most cost effective option (huge consideration for two) as well as the option that would help them the most. So yes, I guess it was sink or swim, and we opted for full day-care in Hebrew.

Ideal for working parents they can go any time from 7am until 3.30pm. They have to be in by 8.30am for breakfast so AandE tend to arrive at 8am allowing me time to get to my Hebrew language course.

We are now one month in to their new regime and I can look back and honestly say it hasn't been that bad. Had we stayed in England I had all these marvellous ideas that they would not be going to nursery with a dummy, and their pink bunnies would certainly be staying at home. However, as I'm not a completely cruel Mummy there was no way I could expect them at age 2.5 to go off to nursery in a foreign language in completely new surroundings for a whole day including a sleep without the things they love most. So they are very much together with an assortment of dummies and bunnies and do you know what, they are thriving.

The language barrier has not been a problem. Their nursery leader is lovely. I know that they eat lunch, I know they have a sleep every afternoon and every so often they bring home lovely pieces of art for me to stick on the fridge.

Do they play with any other children? I have no idea. Are they happy? They seem to be. There are still a few stifled tears from both of them every morning but I know that's just for me and as soon as I leave they are completely fine.

How am I feeling now that I don't have to look after them 24/7? Liberated is a word that springs to mind. I do miss them but I also love that they have a packed day and I haven't had to entertain them. And of course the best part of daycare is that at
3.30 when I arrive to collect them I get two huge smiles and two little girls who almost knock me over every time with their hugs. Priceless.

A lot can happen in 3 months

I haven't had a chance to blog for 3 months but I do have some excellent reasons:

1. After deliberating the pros and cons of moving our family from England to Israel for the past number of years we decided to seize the moment and put plans into action in early June and moved country in mid August.

2. With A & E forever under my feet, any spare time was spent de-cluttering 12 years of junk from our home.

3. We had to rent out our house in the UK and find a property to rent in Israel.

4. Eldest daughter and boy in the middle spent a lot of time planning goodbye parties, photos with friends and special times with their special friends.

5. DH was working flat out on his own business venture and didn't have a moment to help me.

6. Once we had moved it took almost two weeks for us to achieve Internet connection not to mention all the other beurocracy we have had to deal with.

And now here we are, two weeks into the start of the school year and my family have moved on in leaps and bounds and we have all overcome some major challenges.

We packed up and stored most of the contents of our house in the UK.

Four days before we moved we threw a garden party for all of our kids friends and then an hour after the children left our friends arrived for a BBQ.

We packed 18 suitcases, 6 large hand luggage bags, 2 matching Peppa Pig backpacks and enough snacks that could have fed the entire plane load of passengers.

We said our final tearful goodbyes, boarded the plane, landed, were processed as new immigrants in Israel, spent a night in Jerusalem, received our Israeli ID cards at the Kotel and arrived in our new home.

Two weeks after arriving eldest daughter and boy in the middle started in their new school and A and E started in daycare for the first time ( but that needs a blog post all of its own).

Looking back it has been a whirlwind of excitement, fears, tears, new beginnings and for me the realisation of a dream I have had since I was 7 years old.

I am extraordinarily proud of my whole family and I hope this will be the start of a great new adventure for all.

Slides and Ladders

With a total washout half-term week I decided to treat my kids on their final day off school to the local attraction at Willows Farm.  Even when it rains the kids can have a great time in the giant soft play barn. I arranged to meet my friend and her three kids there and we hoped that it wouldn't be too busy as with sideways winds and torrential rain a hilltop farm isn't normally a top attraction.

Well needless to say we were wrong. The place was packed. Taking two toddlers to soft play is reasonably stressful at the best of times but yesterday took on a new level of challenges.

I found a small corner to park my double stroller. Once eldest daughter and boy in the middle knew where I was they ran off to throw themselves down the slides.  A&E pulled off their wellington boots and dived into the small and compact toddler area suitable for 2-4 year olds. They were happily running around and climbing and I even found that I managed to sit down for approximately three minutes before toddler E got confused as to how to go down the slide and toddler A noticed there was a larger world of soft play tunnels and slides to explore.

In a flash they were off and disappeared from my direct line of vision in different directions. Moving to a central spot where I could survey the mass of bridges, tunnels and slides I made a mental note in my head as to what they were wearing in case I lost either of them and then felt relief when I noticed A daringly cross the rope bridge and E happily watching bigger kids hurl themselves off the drop slide. All was going well until seconds later A was getting crushed on the bridge by a group of 4 year olds trying to step over her on the bridge and E was refusing to move out of anyone's way. I had no option but to rescue them both and persuade them it was lunchtime.

I secured them into highchairs so that my stress levels could be reduced at which point they both needed to go to the toilet!

We did have a fun packed day. Not long after lunch A climbed into the stroller, found her dummy and her bunny and went to sleep. I really tried my hardest to encourage E to copy her but instead she took the opportunity to have me to herself and persuaded me on to the slides again!

After four hours in the sweaty indoor soft play zone we managed to get outside in the drizzle, see the animals and other attractions before heading home. I successfully loaded my four wet and muddy children into the car, E was asleep before we left the carpark, and I drove home with four happy children and with a sense of achievement that I had kept my kids entertained all day and I hadn't lost any of them.

It's all about the bog!

Yes you did read the title of this blog post correctly.

It would be extremely remiss of me not to write a blog about the major accomplishment that A&E have achieved over the past month. They are now fully toilet trained, having completed their sticker charts and have received their own Baby Annabel dolls and it is fair to say that I have spent most of my waking hours (and indeed some sleeping hours) crouched on a toilet floor with a toddler desperately trying not to fall into the toilet, or to get any of her clothing wet.

Since A&E were born, I dreaded the thought of having to toilet train two toddlers. Would I do them both at the same time, would I do one first, then the second, would they both need to go at exactly the same time and would I ever leave my house again?

Well I thought toddler E was ready so I took the plunge and decided to start with her. I couldn't have been more wrong. In the space of a day toddler A was running to the toilet every 20 minutes proudly showing anyone that wanted to see her Hello Kitty knickers, and toddler E was traumatised and safely back in her nappies. Five days later toddler E clearly wanted to get stickers on her chart so rose to the challenge and succeeded.

Seemingly overnight I became smug mother of toilet trained twin girls but didn't really dare to leave the house. When we did go out I wondered how many extra changes of clothing to take with me and as soon as I went anywhere I searched for the proximity to the toilet. I am extremely aware of the preferred public toilets - the winning one being the toddler sized toilet in the fabulous building that I go to twice weekly for twins club and a playgroup.

I no longer have to spend hundreds of pounds on nappies but the amount of toilet paper I am getting through is huge. Only on one occasion when I was helping one of them on the toilet did the other proceed to go at exactly the same time - in her underwear. My downstairs toilet did start to smell like a public toilet but we have invested in some great floor cleaner and a lovely mango room spray.

Thankfully when we have been caught short A&E actually delight in being held out and enjoy weeing in the open! This backfired somewhat in the early toilet training days where they thought it was acceptable to wee in the garden because it was outdoors and then there was the one occasion where boy in the middle watched toddler A crouch down and do a number 2 in the grass. Lots of dog related references and explaining later and thankfully I don't think anyone will be using the garden as a toilet again!

Now that I have succeeded in toilet training I can look back on the last month and realise that it was extremely hard work but a clear indication that they are really growing up and becoming independent and fun little girls.  On the plus side I have had some great conversations with both girls when they are sitting on the toilet and the smiles that I get from them each time they go are just priceless.

I have now mentioned the word toilet far too many times for a bog posting so must sign off.

A date with a difference!

It's been a month since my last blog and things have been pretty hectic but we did it! 

Since A and E were born two and a quarter years ago I don't think dh and I have managed to spend much quality time together. On 30th March 2012 we spent 2 hours,13 minutes and 25 seconds together catching up, chatting and running 21.1 km around Tel Aviv. Not much of a date I know but quality time none the less.

The months of training in the pounding rain around the streets of Hertfordshire paid off and the cool temperatures at 7.30am with the sea breeze helping us along were much more enjoyable. The run itself went very well, the last 4km were a struggle and the following day I couldn't walk up or down stairs - luckily we treated ourselves to a night in a hotel afterwards so we really could try and relax - if it's possible to relax sleeping in the same room as our 4 children!

Looking back now I feel a massive sense of achievement. After A&E were born I felt the need to lose weight and get fit but I never imagined it would lead me to running a half marathon.

As a family we raised over £12,000 for a Magen David Adom rapid response bike in memory of my amazing Mum who would have been so chuffed, even though she used to tell me I was crazy to have taken up running - didn't I burn up enough calories running around after A&E?

I have given myself a well deserved break and actually haven't run since the big day. However as A&E were watching the London marathon runners on TV last week, they pointed at the runners and said "Look - Mummy running" - they are clearly very proud to have me as their Mum as I am of my Mum.

Thanks to everyone who took part in the "Team Running for Elaine", all those who sponsored us, helped us with training and physio, babysat the kids on the day of the race and attended the dedication of the bike. It is always extremely rewarding to do something so positive in response to such a sad event and this bike is now helping to save lives on the streets of Israel and for us it is keeping Mum's memory very much alive.

Lock all the doors - A&E are heading your way!

I don't feel that I'm a bad mother or all that negligent. It's true that I sometimes shout; it's true that I should probably find time to sit and read with eldest daughter and it's true that perhaps A or E would like a bit of time with me without always doing everything together, but life is busy and sometimes there just isn't enough  time.

Having said that I am feeling extremely guilty and a little shakey when I think of two things that happened to me in the last week. On Sunday the weather was great and everyone had enjoyed playing in the garden. At the end of the day dh was taking bikes back to the garage and I was getting dinner ready in the kitchen with A&E. The eldest two were bouncing on our trampoline in the garden. I was busy discussing with A&E what we were about to make as I turned to wash up my cheese grater in the sink. I was still talking to them but they didn't reply and when I turned round a few moments later they had disappeared. I assumed they had gone upstairs or into the garden to play on the trampoline again. I called their names but no reply came. I popped my head out of the back door but couldn't see them. I ran past the two eldest children on the trampoline but they said they hadn't noticed them. I hurtled down the side passageway of the house through the open gate and into my front driveway where I found them standing on the doorstep holding hands with our neighbour from across the street.

In a matter of about 40 seconds they had run through the garden, down the passage, across the drive and decided to cross the road. Thankfully we live on a reasonably quiet street and my neighbour knew they were our kids and when she realised they were out alone calmy brought them home to me.

It took me a while to get over the shock and now we ensure that the routes out of the garden are always firmly locked.

Thinking I had put this episode of adverture behind me I was shocked when a similar event happened again yesterday. The girls were heading upstairs for a bath. I was just finishing putting boy in the middle's dinner on the table and then twenty seconds after A&E left the room I followed them. I screamed in horror as I saw the front door was wide open. I ran out and saw a lady opposite with her dog staring into my drive. I saw one girl and screamed "Where's the other one". The lady pointed out she was right behind me. I scooped them up, told them off, came into the house and firmly locked the door.

My other kids never behaved like this. Perhaps it's safety in numbers that they think it's fine to leave the house provided they are together. As for me - I am locking all exits from now on and starting to feel that all those people who say "Double Trouble" to me may just be right!

How far would you go for a friend?

Everyone should be lucky enough to have a wide enough circle of friends who will be there for you at different times in your life. There are those friends who will cook you a meal if you have had a bereavement; those who will come and hold your screaming newborn so you can have a rest; those who will drop everything and help you in an emergency and then there are those who go to extraordinary lengths to help you through a challenge in your life.

My mate Jonny deserves a medal as he has seen it as his personal goal to get me ready for running the Tel Aviv half marathon in 3 weeks time which I am doing to raise money in memory of my Mum. Come rain, snow or hail he has been there at 7am on Sunday mornings, banging on my front door, dragging me through the streets and encouraging me to keep up with him and run. He has advised me how far I should be running each week in training, insructed me to buy running gloves and a hat to get me through the winter, encouraged me that it's all for a great cause and entirely ignored the hatred that I felt for him in the early weeks. With no goal of his own in terms of a forthcoming run he has helped me purely for the fun of it.

It was by seeing him run the London marathon a few years ago that inspired me to run, and so a few months after the birth of A&E and with plenty of weight to lose I took up running with Jude (Jonny's wife). Under his instruction we built up speed and stamina and ran a 5k and 10k together.  As Jude had a hip injury and couldn't run anymore I felt inclined to stop too, but then Jonny took over and took me on as a challenge.

He complains that I moan too much, blow my nose too often and chat too much.
I complain that he runs too fast, spits too often and makes me go too far.

Having said all of this I know I owe so much to him. Last Sunday we ran 11 miles together - well almost together - and now I know that I will be able to achieve my goal.

11 miles - it's a really long way to go for a friend - thanks Jonny - you're a star!

If you would like to support my cause please see the fundraising page:

www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/runningforElaine