Yes, A level results day finally came as I knew it would! We were all getting more and more tense as the days dragged on and I was beginning to feel that it would never end. Then the boys found out that they could check the UCAS tracker from about 6am on Thursday morning to see if their uni had updated their status and if they had been successful with their application. It wouldn't give them their results just whether they had got a place or not. Both were adamant that they would not be checking it and would wait to collect their results from college. I thought they were very brave and would not have been able to resist if it was me. Helen, my friend, agreed and said if it was her, she would be on there at 6am and pressing refresh every two minutes!
Anyway at 6.10am yesterday morning William crept into my room and whispered 'I'm in, I've done it!' I just screamed the house down and all that leaking from the eyes started again! I just knew he was too much like his mother not to look! He said he just logged onto UCAS and read:
"The current status of your Application is: Congratulations! Your place at University of Cambridge (C05) to study Mathematics (G100) has been confirmed."
There was a lot of hugging and sqeezing going on, as you can imagine. Thomas then woke up with the noise and decided he may as well check his then. Thankfully his was a 'Congratulations' as well.
We did lots and lots of shouting and even more hugging and eye leaking before we managed to calm down! I made them eggy bread and sausages for their breakfast and we waited on pins until it as a reasonable time to ring everyone! I must amit I rang Helen at 6.30am and she was round like a shot to congratulate then and do more eye leaking!
We went to college for 10am where they met all their friends and went into collect their results. William had not dissappointed and came out with AAAA (maths, further maths, chemistry and physics) and Grade 1 in both his STEP papers. Thomas, by working so hard, had achieved the equivalent of AAB and we are so pleased for him. Twelve months ago that would have been unthinkable so he has really turned it all round!
So William is off to Emmanuel at Cambridge to do even harder adding up (maths) and Thomas is off to Ambleside (old St Martin's) to do finger painting and sticking things (Primary Education) and we could not be any prouder if we tried.
......but only 3 sleeps to go! Yes, results day is getting nearer, slowly but surely. It has been a long time coming and we are trying to keep as busy as possible at the moment. Both boys are now a little bit more tense as the days go by and I will just be glad when it is finally over and we know where we go next. I must admit I haven't felt like this for years...all butterfly-ey inside (that's not even a word, is it?) and twitchy. To be honest I don't care where they go, as they have both worked hard and couldn't have done any better, but I think it is that feeling of not wanting your children to be disappointed and to protect them from the nasties in life. That good old 'mothering instinct' is kicking in with knobs on. Anyway I will let you all know on Thursday what the outcome is.
Here is one of my recent layouts. Very plain and simple which is what I wanted really. Lennart is the eldest son of Claus and Gabriele who visited us recently from Germany. He was just so lovely I could quite easily have kept him here and added him to my own brood!
I spent ages thinking of a title but in the end just used his name!
Some really good news though. Thomas passed his driving test last week! Yeahhhhh. He is now eager to get a car of course. We are going to have a look at a couple of garages this morning to see what sort of ting is available. He needs something small and efficient. The cost of insurance is absolutely horrendous for newly qualified drivers and to be honest neither me or John thinks it is worth it but as is expected Thomas won't be talked out of it. He has some money saved for a car but would need to pay the insurance monthly which will obviously impact what he has left for socialising at Uni! Still I suppose he will have to learn from experience!
Gosh, I hope that's right! With a bit of luck it means 'together again' which is just what this layout is all about.
After 19 years we met up again and what a fantastic night we had. Claus and Gabriele had just not changed one bit! (Well apart from Claus' beard!) Their boys are a total credit to them as they are well mannered, polite and great fun to be around. We all had a wonderful time and it was just a shame Kim and her family could not join us. Plenty of food, good wine and stimulating company as well as being in the presence of good friends make a perfect evening. And Tuesday evening was just that.
I hope it is not 19 years before we see them again!
We had a postcard drop through the letter box the other day. As I picked it up I was thinking to myself who it could have come from. I have a couple of friends away on holiday at the moment but would not expect a card from either of them. After further investigation I read that it was from some old, old friends of ours whi i have not heard from for a few years. We met Claus and Gabriele about 19 years ago when we were camping on Black Rock Sands in Wales. We got along really well right from the start. Gabriele was expecting their first child and they both spoken amazing English! It turned out that Gabriele was an English teacher in thier native Germany! Anyway we had a great week together and then went our separate ways. We kept in touch and exchanged news and photographs of our new arrivals as and when they happened. They had a son, Lennart, later that year and surprisingly (and totally unplanned) I gave birth to the twins the following June. They went on to have another son Theimo who is now 12. However over the past few years our communication has dwindled, I am sorry to say, and is now down to occasional Christmas cards now.
But the good news is they are back in England doing a bit of touring. They have brought along their sons and wondered if we fancied meeting up. I could not get in touch soon enough, I was so excited. :) Anyway they are travelling up to Wales in the next couple of days so we are hoping to meet up next week sometime and I just can't wait. It will be soooo good to see them again. The twins have heard me talk aboyt them over the years so are looking forward to finally meeting them and I have arranged for the elder children who of course know them to come round and see them whatever night we get together. What a fantastic thing to look forward to!
Anyway, not that Claus and Gabriele will notice as they have never seen it before, but we have decorated our utility room and it has made such a difference. It is so much brighter! There are just one or two jobs for John to finish off and then it will be complete. I had a trip to our local Range last week and picked up a few bits and pieces for it and I also made myself this really scrummy canvas.
It is just chocolate and more chocolate and is quite enormous! It is about 2' x 2' and I have managed to find a big enough wall to hang it on. I can go in and stare at it when every I get a chocolate urge. It may not be the same as eating chocolate but comes a close second and is much lower in calories! It has been admired by every one who has seen it up to now and I have already had orders to make up 3 for other people. Great news and a bit extra towards the Christmas kitty!Anyway I will try and find time to upload some layouts I have managed to make up later this week. There are a couple of the boys when they were toddlers which have turned out quite well. So bye for now!
