Triplets Party Time 

I always feel slightly uneasy at the responsibility that comes with managing my triplets birthday parties; with 3 of them all inviting their friends we end up with quite a house full. Thankfully we have the farm, the play areas and 30 acres of fun and freedom which all their friends find absolute heaven. Never the Less keeping an eye on a class of eight year olds and focusing their energy takes all of mine and I do like to enlist a little help from some of my Mummy friends too! 

Strategic Planning for Success

I like to have a plan for birthday parties and then allow a little "go with the flow" to develop as well.  I opted for a lunch time party with a BBQ and crossed my fingers for the weather. I can't say we were lucky as it drizzled on and off all day but the children were so excited it didn't seem to matter!

The party plan:

1. Free play

2. BBQ

3. Crafts

4. Birthday Cake

5. Water play

6 Parents collect 

A Party of two halves

They are just reaching the age where the opposite sex are to be avoided at all costs and any game has to be girls versus boys. I should have guessed this really. Since most of the class were attending the party had been the talk of school for the preceding week. Right from the start my over active bunch of children wanted to dive into a water battle, all armed with water guns they had brought. However I insisted in this being the last event no earlier than 30 minutes before parent collection.  With the water game vetoed they boys disappeared off onto the farm and play areas whilst the girls tried out our new play side in the garden. Farmer Nick had bought this on e-bay hoping to embed the track into the grassy banks on the lawns and make a floor level safe natural fun slide for our guests to enjoy near the play boat. Sadly the insurers wouldn't have any of it so into the garden it came, much to the delight of my children in time for the party!

Clio shows us the slide in operation:

Everyone Loves a BBQ

Farmer Nick battled against the elements to produce a perfect BBQ. The boys were still wild with excitement despite their hour of dashing around the play areas and so a BBQ was perfect. No need for plates or sitting down, just a grab and run to suit them. They almost disappeared too soon but were soon pulled back by the prospect of toasting their own marsh mellows on the BBQ under the watchful eye of Farmer Nick.

Guy then had the honour of being allowed to dose the BBQ coals with water before anyone could hurt themselves.

Craft Time

After lunch a little down time with crafts was the plan. The girls were delighted to come in and sat down enthusiatically for home made cookie decorating. The boys just gave me that "you have to be kidding" look and dashed back off to our play boat to resume their games.

Moving happily from biscuit icing to glass decorating the girls were blissful. This was such a simple idea, felt pens for glass which you then just bake in the oven to ensure the design remains in tact after washing. The best thing about party crafts is that the children design and make their own take home presents negating the need for party bags! 

Happy Birthday

No party is complete without a good party cake. This was a giant 3 in 1 banana one side and chocolate the other all with a choice of icing for their own section. With eight candles each it took some lighting but even the boys enjoyed this one, if only because it signalled the time for the long awaited water gun bonanza!

Rabbits and Water Play

The adults sensibly split themselves between the rabbits with the girls and watching through the house window while the boys enjoyed their mad half hour in the garden with water guns. Soaked and shivering, but still laughing, the boys, and one or two girls, trooped inside to change just as their parents arrived to collect them. Pictures came back from the rabbits, but none of us were brave enough to risk the water guns in the name of a photo! 

At the end of the day everyone was returned to parents safe and happy with a bag of soggy clothes or or a beautiful glass and buscuit! Managing the expectations of 3 together on their big day is definitely challenging. However they all came up to Daddy and I later that evening claiming it was the best party ever. That alone made it worth all the effort.

I am linking this post to Multiple Mayhem Carnival hosted this month by the lovely Kerry @multiplemummy

and for the crafty section my 1st entry with Red Ted's Kids get Crafty linky with Maggy Woodley 

Small Business Sunday #SBS Winners Inaugural Meet

It is 3 days since I made the trek from Cornwall to Birmingham with Karen Davey of Just Bunting for a chance of a few hours with some fellow small business twitter friends and to hear from our mentor in common Theo Paphitis.  

Expectations for the day

To be honest, I have been so busy with the holiday season coming into full swing for Easter, our new lodge being built, domestic life as Mummy to our 6 children and supporting Nick on the farm with all the spring births I hadn't given it any thought beyond the logistics of getting there for the day.

So how was it: #SBS Meet?

I was totally blown away by the day as it unfolded. From the ease of parking and registering with  Ryman Stationery to leaving with  a quick photo by "The Car" .  

What made SBS so amazing?

Theo of cause!

I think I expected him to make a quick guest appearance on the day and go again. In reality he spent the full 5 hours with us. I shook his hand as he came in; well I could have gone home at that point and still thought the day was great!

Inspiring us

To then go on and hear his engaging and funny speeches, inspiring us with his passion and dedication to business from his own beginnings, challenging us to shout about our businesses, support each other and not shy away from publicity, I felt I was ready to take on the world after that!

A dedicated website

But there was more! Theo had invested time, passion and support with a deserving #SBS winner Chris Wheeler from http://www.metalfrogstudios.com/ to develop a #SBS web site http://theopaphitissbs.com/ Why? For us to have an opportunity to share, develop and grow our business "A website for winners, by winners" and an endorsement from Theo.

Now it was beginning to sink in just how privileged I was on 9.10.11 to receive this little Re tweet: 

Suddenly I felt part of something big, something real and something with so much passion and energy that I truly believe we will as #SBS winners make our new web site work for us and our individual businesses.

Questions and Answers

An electric two way session had me with my hand up in the air like a school girl, not once but twice I stood up to ask a question. If you had asked me before would I have done this I would have laughed in your face, that is how wrapped up in the essence of the day I had become. 

That Photo

Talk about the icing on the cake, a photo and a certificate, I was as excited as the children leaving Coombe Mill with their farm hat and certificate! Thank you Theo, we all loved that one! 

Fired up by my fellow winners

I have never thought of myself as a networker or as having much confidence, but when I look back at my pictures and notes I think I may be more of a closet networker than I feel. Thrilled to be able to meet so many I tweet as I "speed dated" my way round the room. I have become known as the camera and notebook lady of the day thanks to Nicola Cunningham ‏ @woodandwillow1 . I think the two tally and I have those I managed to stop and chat to correctly matched to photos, but please let me know if not! (Hover over the photo for information)

To those I now realised I missed on the day, I will be on your case next time!

Behind the scenes

Huge thanks to Theo's company Ryman Stationery  http://www.ryman.co.uk/ for hosting, organising and picking up the tab for the day. A massive effort in every respect, much appreciated. I am still perusing the catelog and enjoying my goody bag. "Did I mention Ryman Stationery?"!

Going Forward

Are you feeling as excited about your business ability as me by Edgbaston? If you plan to blog your highlights, please link up below and I will add this post with the links to the new web site http://theopaphitissbs.com/ for us all to share. Any format is good, use my headings or your own or simply add a comment to this post.  

Looking forward to keeping the #SBS buzz alive!

Independence Day

Thanks to a great linky from Karen Jones ‏over at http://allabouttheboysdesignerclothes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/2nd-independents-day-supporting.html I have a great prompt each month to shout about some great small businesses I come across on the Web. 

On My Blog for You:

I have an open invitation to any small business aligned to Coombe Mill to advertise free of charge on my blog. There are 3 categories:

1. Local Cornish businesses helpful to our holiday makers

2. Products or services for parents and young children

3. Parenting blogs offering friendly helpful information.

I choose I each week to promote on the front of my blog and tweet, please come and join up with me here: http://www.coombemill.com/blog/adverts/ 

Tomorrow is Special

Tomorrow is the first #SBS meet up from Theo Paphitis of Dragon's Den and as a proud winner back in October last year I am braving the fuel crises and making the Journey from Cornwall to Birmingham with fellow winner Karen Davey to meet some lovely business people I interact with here on the blog and on Twitter. 

So here are some of the people and Businesses I am hoping to meet tomorrow:

littlebigsports with their lovely looking site http://www.littlebigsports.co.uk/ offering great outdoor sports wear and equipment for Kids, perfect kit for a holiday at Coombe Mill

Lights Out Blinds Anne has a great concept in portable black out blinds. We support her Business here at Coombe Mill offering her lovely blinds for parents on holiday with us. You can buy the blinds from her site directly: http://www.lightsoutblinds.com/ 

Jane & Neil at http://www.kidzoutdoors.com/shop/

They offer great outdoor play equipment and more for Kids. A lovely site and lovely people I am looking forward to meeting. Another great match with Coombe Mill 

♥ Martina ♥ at http://www.mycraftycandles.co.uk/ She can do the most creative things with Candles for the home or as gifts and is coming from the #SBS event tomorrow to Coombe Mill on holiday!

A Special Mention

Bondie Bird who has the gorgeous Playwrap designed from birth for babies. A wonderful 3 in 1 devise perfect for Mums and Dads to take anywhere to keep babies happy. We are proud to have one to borrow at Coombe Mill, just ask when you arrive. You can see more about the Play wrap on their site here http://www.bondiebird.com/. I hope they will be at the next #SBS gathering as I would love to meet them.

Do have a look at all the above who are all working hard with their small businesses.

New on the Farm Today

These beautiful little ducklings are hatching in my laundry room as I type. The Gallery theme of extreme close up is perfect today so nipped into the laundry room, brifely lifting the lid on the incubator to bring you this:  

If you hop over to the Gallery on Sticky Fingers you can see what other bloggers have photographed close up too.

What was Top of the charts when you child was born?

I am not a music person at all and dread a meme heading my way on the subject as I know it will involve research on my behalf! This one from the lovely Donna and Elisabeth at Mummy Central and Kelly  @domesticgoddesq is no exception! I have to confess to not having a clue what was even in the charts let alone at the top when any of my 6 children were born. Anyway I have duly some digging and these are the results:

My eldest son born in the last century  06.05.98  

Boyzone was number 1 with "All that I need". They had made it big time with 10 consecutive top 4 singles. Thanks to the internet, I am sounding knowledgeable now!  

 My Millennium boy 07.07.00

 Kylie Minogue was top of the charts with "Spinning Around". Apparently it had been 10 years since she was last number 1. 

My Animal lover 21.3.02, who has just celebrated his 10th Birthday!

Will Young had just won pop idol and  "Evergreen" was at number one and became the biggest seller of the year with over a million sales in the first week alone.