Sarah's birthday party

from the left, Olivia, Amelia, Elle, Thalia, Sarah, Daria, Lucy, Flora, Emma. They went bowling. It was fun, actually.

"A monster eat me"

Alex woke up crying in the night, obviously having had a nightmare. When I asked what the matter was, his reply was "a monster eat me". Poor sausage. He and the girls have a great time during the day playing games about monsters - hopefully it won't affect his nights TOO much.

Well, here are the girls on the first day of school (last Wednesday). Olivia is very pleased because now that she's in Year 1 she gets to wear the regular school uniform, which allows dresses and skirts for girls (the Foundation Stage uniform is tracksuit bottoms or shorts only on the bottom). We found out yesterday that she's going to be on the school council this year - they have one representative per class from years 1-6. She's very excited, though I don't think she really understands what it's about. Still, she understands that it's an honour to be picked and that it's something special, so she's very proud of herself... 

Last of the summer whine

Feels like the end of summer today - lovely day, probably about 28 degrees - we had the paddling pool up in the back garden and decided to deflate it and put it away at the end of the day. (We're away for Saturday next weekend, so probably won't use it again before it gets to chilly - and if we have a freak heat wave, well, we have a sprinkler thingy). School doesn't actually begin until Wednesday, so we're off to the Transport Museum tomorrow - a trip aimed largely at the boys (we're going with Lana & her kids), but which I think the girls will enjoy too if they don't get all righteous and prissy about it. And if they do, well, they can just cope and console themselves with the thought of lunch and a browse through the shops in Covent Garden afterwards...

To swim or not to swim

Today was one of those days where you just kept wondering if you were ever going to actually accomplish anything...

The forecast was for 31C, which is hot, even by standards other than British, so we decided to have a walk in Richmond Park, feed the ducks & have a picnic (in the shade) and then toddle along to the Hampton Open Air Pool to refresh ourselves. Well, us and the rest of the universe, apparently. After getting there (about 30 minutes from our house) we find that they are full & we can wait if we want, outside the gate but the queue inside is an hour long and there's no guarantee we can get in anyway. Needless to say, we decided to pass on that. So I rang the local pool we usually go to (indoor) and their main pool is open all day but the little pool is shut from 2-2.30. Fine, we drive back, making a stop on the way, and get there for 2.15, at which point we are told that ACTUALLY, the training pool is closed until 3.30 for swimming lessons. Argh. Off to McDonalds for an ice cream and a quick browse in a few shops and we do finally make it to the pool, but small kids and being told "no" don't really go that well together.

Big rainbow out this evening - more impressive than in this photo, but it's hard to take photos of rainbows... 

Midnight in the bedroom of good and naughty...

I've just finished tidying up after the girls (which includes their friend Thalia, who is staying with us for a few days while her parents are showing longarm machines at a big quilt show) had a "midnight feast" - yes, I do appreciate it's not quite ten pm yet, but at their ages (8.5, nearly 8 & nearly 6), that's quite late enough. I expect to hear giggles for some time yet, though there's not nearly as much stomping and other loud stuff as I thought there might be. They seem to have finally resolved the issue of who has to sleep on the floor (Olivia), with no bloodshed. Which is nice.

Riding in cars with boys

Went to Oxford for the day yesterday - I put Alex in pullups for the day as he was going to have to ride in cars and I didn't know how easy it would be to find a toilet, so better safe than sorry. Anyway, he stayed dry the whole day - asked for a wee about 6 times, though he only actually went once or twice, but still, it's progress. And I've now used the last nappy in the house - we'll be using pullups from now on, since we only need one a day (at night), or occasionally one during the day, for instance, for our day trip. Hoorah!

Spam, eggs, comments and spam

Unfortunately, unlike some blogs, Blogger doesn't seem to have that option with comments where they let you approve them before they get posted. You either have to set everything so that only registered Blogger users can post (which eliminates legitimate comments from friends or casual readers who might not be) or you have to allow anyone at all to post, regardless (which generates lots of spam comments from people who are pushing their own spam websites). I've had three of these spam comments (now removed) in the past 2 days - they haven't been obscene, luckily, but still bloody annoying, so I'm turning off the comment feature.

If you have a legitimate comment, you can email me and I'll post it, but that does take some of the fun out. When I have a little time I might explore around and see if I'm missing something, or write to the blogger people and suggest that modification. Don't hold your breath!

Queen of the Wild Blackberry

Not quite so garish in real life - a little more purple than pink - homemade blackberry ice cream, made with blackberries gleaned along the side of the road on the way to Alex's nursery - we picked them today...

The Way To Amarillo

For some bizarre reason, my kids and their friends all adore that old pop song, The Way to Amarillo (ok, it's not that bizarre, it's because because Peter Kay did a Comic Relief video using it, but still, it's a strange song for kids to like - or maybe not, after all the words are fairly clear and not too obscure for kids). Anyway. I just found out that one of the women in one of my online quilt groups lives in Amarillo (Texas) - Sarah and Olivia would just thing that was SO cool. No idea what Amarillo is like (hot and dusty, perhaps, or maybe it's not in that part of Texas!) but that's not what's important if you are 7. Sha la la la la la la la...

Prima donna kids

Went to the pick your own farm today, in slightly dubious weather. It was alright through the runner beans and the peas, though Olivia had a (rather predictable) strop when she slipped in the mud while picking peas and insisted on staying in the car when we went to get raspberries. It was looking like rain by then anyway. We all had rain jackets on, but the minute it starts raining, Sarah wants to go back to the car. Alex, too, though I think that was more copying Sarah than really minding the rain. Of course, in the next row of raspberries, someone else's kids are running around with abandon and singing at the top of their voices: "We love rain, we love rain." WhenI was little there was almost nothing more fun than playing outside in the rain - we would have done it for hours. Sheesh. Sometimes I'm sure I must have got someone else's kids by mistake...

The boy with no pants

Well, Day 3 of Potty Training and we're doing ok. He had a little leak on the dining room floor today (no carpet - excellent choice of floors, though the kitchen one would be the ideal, being vinyl flooring, while the dining room is wood)but then later actually requested the potty and made a wee in it. Hoorah! He also did a poo halfway in the potty, halfway in his pants, which is a start - but frankly, it works better with no pants on him - if he's wearing pants, he tends to just go in the pants - I guess they feel too much like a nappy.

Under pressure

As though I didn't feel guilty enough already about not updating my blog, I've now been told that my blog has a fan - oh, the pressure - now I will have to be amusing on a more regular basis just so my fan doesn't feel let down. Of course, anyone crazy enough to be a fan will have got used to my irregular postings and assorting whinings already, I suppose, so perhaps I can still breathe easily...

Going potty

Back from holiday (great time, bad weather), and ready to get into the swing of the summer break from school - tomorrow we are going to start potty training Alex, so that should be fun! Maybe the weather will warm up a bit so I can let him run around with nothing on bottom, which would make it easier. Will keep you posted...

where the time goes, revisited.

I always seem to be wondering where the time goes. Guess that's a hazard of growing older. But another school year is nearly finished (hurrah! but also, in some way, oh no!) and we have our little summer holiday - a week off in Devon, and then 5 and 1/2 weeks at home. How long will it take for the "I'm bored" chorus to start, I wonder!

Red, red wine...

Just been on the website of my wine club buying some wine - and I discovered that they'll let you spread payment out for your order over 3 months at no extra charge - this is very useful as it means you can order several cases at once, pay the delivery charge (£5) only once, but not completely bankrupt your food budget for the month on wine (because that would be such a crisis!). I only have enough space to store about 3 cases of wine at once, but it's always nice to have a selection of options. And hey, if they aren't going to charge you for it, you might as well take advantage of it!

Pinkness of Floyd...

Keep thinking I should write something but not being inspired by anything, except maybe the Live 8 concert on Saturday, which was fabulous. Top acts were U2, REM, Annie Lennox, Madonna, The Who and Pink Floyd - wow. I don't listen to them often any more, though I've been a Floyd fan for a long time, but hearing them Saturday reminded me how great their music is. And how modern it sounds. Frankly, it sounds ahead of its time even now and it's 30 years old. They really are amazing musicians, and the music is so sophisticated.

Bad Wolf?

So this morning, Olivia tells me they have a new game at school - all the girls are Daleks (except Hannah who gets to be Rose), the boys are all Dr Who, except if the girls catch them and turn them into Daleks. Suprisingly, Olivia goes along with this, even though she has to be a Dalek instead of being Rose. However, she tells me she's the leader of the Daleks, so I guess that's why she doesn't object. Wouldn't have thought a Dalek was glamourous enough for Olivia, though! The new series of Dr Who is almost over, though, and then no more Chris Eccleston, boo hoo.

Tamogotchi Hell

Oh, and can I say that in my own personal hell (meaning the one I design, rather than the one I will no doubt inhabit as punishment for my evil ways ), in addition to there being a special room for whoever invented the car alarm [with lots of different car alarms, each going off randomly, usually just as you are going back to sleep], there will also be a room for whoever invented the Tamogotchi (or however the heck you spell it). This will consist of walls and walls of Tamogotchis all needing to be fed, entertained, cleaned up after, soothed, and so on - and all of whom have got their sleep schedules off, so that instead of sleeping 12 hours at night, they beep constantly from under the sofa or wherever one's darling children have left the blasted things, at all hours of the day...

French market mishap

So this morning we went to the little French Market they have a couple of times a year in Wimbledon - very nice, got some bread, salami, sausages, and so on. Got home to realise that one of the items we bought at the deli stall wasn't in the bag (celeriac remoulade, which is kind of like coleslaw, only made with celeriac (celery root) and a bit of mustard in the mayonaise) - such an annoyance. It seems like a total waste of money not to go back and get it, but round trip to Wimbledon including having to park the car and whatnot is probably at least 40 minutes, so it's also a matter of what one's time is worth. So we decided not to go back. Missed it at lunch though. Oh well, at least I know how to make it and can make my own after I go grocery shopping. Doesn't stop it being annoying though.

Hayfever. what's it good for? absolutely nothing.

OK, someone out there explain to me precisely what the point of hayfever is. I mean, who gains from this? Today is insane, both eyes and nose still awful even after drugs, and frankly, I'm losing my patience with it. Not that there's anything more to do be done except move to Arizona. My luck, I'd probably be the only human allergic to sand. Sigh.

Leaving abnormal

Right. Half term holiday over - kids back to school tomorrow. Steve & Christine safely home after a nice visit to us and relatives in Spain. Still too much to do and too little time, though. What else is new?

Foreign invasion

D-Day is almost here - my brother and his wife arrive for a visit tomorrow! Hoorah! I've actually never met Christine in person, for one reason and another, but we've talked of course - god bless email - but still, I'm really excited to meet face to face. And I haven't seen Steve in ages, so it will be nice to see him as well. She's been here before ("here" as in England, I mean) as her dad is English so she has relatives here and stuff. Steve's never been, though, so I'm sure it will be fun for him to have his first taste of Europe. Tonight's task is to clear off some space on surfaces in the girls' room/guest room so they have places to put their stuff. The girls are being temporarily moved to Alex's room, which they think is cool. They are arguing over who gets to sleep on the floor and who has to sleep in the top bunk (Alex sleeps in the bottom bunk). There's the different between kids and grownups right there - grownups would consider getting the floor to be losing the toss! (Our solution is to have them alternate - but then of course, they argue over who gets the floor first... If there was more floor space they could both sleep there, but, well, that's the way these things go.)

And that's that.

And Olivia's - she's big on writing at the moment. Partly because Sarah & Thalia spend a lot of time making lists of things (usually important, secret things, being 7 and 8...) and partly because it's something they are working on in school.

The houses in Bobville

Sarah's turn for glory here - this shows her picture and the original she copied it from. She's very fond of copying things - and quite good at it, too.

Cutting edge

Alex's "artwork" from nursery - he was practicing cutting with scissors. He's only 2, so it's not really that showy. But he had a great time with it...

where the time goes

Haven't posted in ages, I know. This is partly the usual, and partly that Olivia's asthma has been acting up a lot and we've had 4 doctor's appts and two trips to casualty in the past two weeks, so I'm feeling a bit inundated with that stuff at the moment. Poor chick. She hasn't had any proper asthma attacks, thank goodness, but her breathing is really tight and hasn't been responding well to the usual treatment. Hence the repeat visits. Of course, it never stops her bouncing around all over the place :)

Anyway, will try to do better in future - I've got some photos of a fox in our garden and the kids' artwork to upload over the next couple of days, so at least there will be something there to look at!

Today we're off to a fair at Morden Hall Park - crafts and entertainments. The weather is supposed to be very nice, so hopefully that will prove to be true.

Well, seems my social life is a bit like buses - nothing for ages, then several things come along at once. Not only have I got the only two activities the entire month in the same week (quilt group meeting & a Pampered Chef party at a friend's house) but also, the weekend I had planned to go away with some quilting buddies for a retreat, my mother will be here visiting from the US, so I probably won't go - will just go for the day. Why does that always happen, anyway! At least I have things to choose from...

Here's the kids playing Pooh Sticks on the bridge at Morden Hall Park. We had a nice day on Friday, finally, so we went out for a little picnic lunch, trip to the Farm, walk in the park, visit to the Garden Centre, etc.

Kids back to school tomorrow - mixed feelings about that. In some ways, it's nice to have a little more leisure, not have to run around taking them places, not have to get up early, and so on. On the other hand, they do better with some structure, really, especially the girls, otherwise they tend to squabble. "Squabble" being a diplomatic word for it. But it's always nice to have a breather, even if it did seem to come almost immediately after Christmas this year. We'll be desperate by the end of May!

So, as I was saying :)

Alex started today at Carousel, a local nursery - he's going 2 sessions a week - Wednesday morning (8.30 to 1.00) and Thursday afternoon (1-5.30). He had fun today I think, though he's a little tired, admittedly. Not surprising, I guess with so much unrestrained playing going on. It meant I could go to Asda (supermarket) with only 2 children in tow - given that last time I took Alex he insisted on getting out of the trolley and pushing, it was a distinct improvement. Next week, no kids at all while shopping, hoorah!

Spent the Easter weekend at Grandma Lucy's house (Geoff's mum) - no computer access for a whole weekend. Weird, but kind of relaxing... Anyway, the kids had a lovely time - it's the first time we've been up since Geoff's Dad died, as Lucy didn't really feel up to being invaded before now (she's come down to us, but it's a bit chaotic going up to her with lots of small kids - better now that Alex is getting older, though). Oops, someone at the door, must go, more later!

So, after our shock snowstorms :) it's turned summer all of the sudden. Wednesday through Saturday were lovely, sunny days with temps up near 20. Yesterday and today more like spring, but still nice enough to do stuff outside. And as the kids finished school at 1.30 Friday for 2 weeks Easter Holiday, let's hope it stays.

Sarah's off this afternoon to a birthday party - Thalia's. She's 8, which I find amazing - almost as bizarre as Alex being 2. They do grow fast. Olivia was slightly jalous she wasn't invited to the party until I reminded her she's been to 3 different parties over the course of the last week. It's birthday season, I guess. Funny how they go in cycles - none for ages and then a whole bunch come along at once - like London buses!

New nomination for Most Boring Task in the Universe - thank you letters for school fundraisers. Necessary, yes, but dull dull dull. Of necessity, am splitting my time between addressing & stuffing envelopes and catching up on surfing. Nothing too exciting yet, but some minor laughs, like If Condoms Had Sponsors. The more bored I get of thank yous, the easier I will be to amuse, no doubt...

Ok, so you know how I said it was sunny? All of the sudden it got that blacky-yellow colour and dumped the most enormous quantity of HAIL all over us. This isn't a light dusting of snow in the garden, it's hail. Snow, sleet (when the snow was beginning to go), rain & now hail - what form of precipitation is left for today? Brimstone? Cats & dogs? 

Snowed again this morning - a real blizzard for a few minutes, but it didn't stick. Now it's all lovely and sunny, though it still looks really cold. The kids are loving this winter - I'm sure it will go down in memory as "the winter where it snowed all the time". It may not compare to many places in the world, but for London, it's been pretty snowy!

We didn't make this giant snowball - it mysteriously appeared in the field between when we walked to school and when we came back. Pretty cool!

Alex building a snowman (with a little help from Mummy) 

A better snow - actually covered the ground a few inches deep and stayed around for most of the day. Great packing snow - really good for big snowballs & snowmen & stuff 

So who says it never snows in London? OK, not a lot, but it's still coming down now, so who knows what it will be like in the morning. I hope there's something left or the kids will be disappointed. (Photo is terribly out of focus as I can't use the flash - but you get the general idea!) 

We went to Kew Gardens on Thursday and saw lots of interesting stuff, including some wondrous orchids. The strangest thing we saw, though, was one of these - an axolotl. Remarkable, in a rather bizarre way!

Well, it's officially the half-term holiday now - no school tomorrow. So of course the kids are manic. We have plans for several of the days, nothing too strenuous, hopefully. Today we are going to take the kids swimming, that is, if they ever finish eating breakfast, etc. You'd think with the exciting prospect of going swimming (which they nag us about all the time) they would hurry up, rather than messing about, but then, that's kids for you, I guess.

Just booked our holiday for July this year - we are going to hire a cottage with our friends Cathi & Dave, who live in Ireland - they have two little girls, Aine, who is a few months older than Alex and Aisling, who is about 9 months old. We're going to the West Country (my favourite part of the country) - near Exmoor this time. Should be fun & the kids will really enjoy being able to hang out together - my girls love the little girls & Alex and Aine are just getting to be old enough to actually play together rather than just fighting over who gets what toy...

We were considering going to France, but it was just too expensive for us this year, so we decided to split the difference between London & Waterford and get something in the UK, but not too far from where the ferry comes in from Ireland. Here's the cottage we've found.

this is a photo from Alex's little party we had today - lunch at the house and then a visit to Cheeky Monkeys, our local soft play place. Doesn't show the kids very well, but it's hard to photograph 2 year olds. Can't believe he'll be 2 on Saturday! 

AFTER - Alex with his new haircut - ta da! 

BEFORE - Alex about to get his first haircut 

Such a slacker. I know. Just seems like nothing to say, except it's darn cold out there right now. Anyone living in Norway or Minnesota will laugh at me, of course, but when it comes to weather, it's all relative anyway. Makes the trip to and from school a little faster, though - even the kids hurry when it's cold & windy. A nice change!

Back to school and back to the normal busy day to day life. Plus my mother is visiting at the moment - came in on Thursday morning. I'm sure that will make the time fly. Today we went to the Farnham Maltings Fabric Sale - they have it every January, and you can often get some really good bargains - fabric for £2 and £3 a metre, which is a great price for quilting fabric. I managed to find backings for several projects in the works, as well as some fabric for a border and several things I just liked - you can do that when it's only £3/metre - when something is £8/metre, you have to be a lot more selective. One of the reasons why quilters in the US have it easier than here in the UK...

Here's my little cutie - this was taken while he was on a little ride - like a carousel for very small kids, with cars they can sit in, but the individual things don't move, just the main platform. Anyway, he loves cars, so he was very happy. Only a month until he's TWO - where does the time go? 

Not much happening here - it's the end of the holiday, almost. Today is a bank holiday (for New Year's), but tomorrow is back to work for Geoff. The kids have one more day, as although tomorrow is technically the first day back to school, their particular school has an INSET day (teacher training), so the kids aren't actually back until Wednesday. It won't be quite as frantic a week as normal, as most of their other activities don't start up again until next week. It's been lovely being able to sleep in (we are blessed with kids who sleep late - Alex is the early riser, normally (around 7.30) but as he's had a cold for the past few weeks, he's sleeping later), but I won't be entirely sorry to have the kids back in school - they just need the constant stimulus or they go ballistic.

Happy New Year!

My house is back to normal (i.e. no Christmas decorations) - spent the day taking them down & then having a good clean. Really feels light and airy now, which is not really something you can say about my house most of the time - it's tidy, but we have a lot of stuff, so light and airy doesn't really describe it.

We all had a lovely lie in this morning - until after 9.30, which is amazing. This is due to most of us being up to see the New Year in, of course. Olivia was the only one to miss out, as she fell asleep on the sofa around 11pm, I think. Alex, however, was awake. Although he'd gone to bed at a normal time, he has a really bad cold, and spent a lot of time half sleeping/half grumbling & coughing a LOT. Eventually, he coughed so much he made himself sick, poor chap. However, as I said to Geoff, if he's going to be sick late at night (it was about 11.30) and then want to be awake for an hour or more, he sure picked the right night to do it - probably the only night we'd all be awake anyway. So he saw the new year in. And Sarah, of course, is a night owl, so she's bound to be awake if we let her.

So, we had a nice family New Year's Eve - watched Spiderman 2 on DVD (Christmas present) and then Jools Holland (music programme) on telly - very civilised, and although drinking was done, it wasn't the hangover inducing type, which put us much more in the mood to spend the day clearing the house. Wednesday, the kids are back to school - calloo, callay!

Well, it' s all done and dusted here, as they say (not literally, of course - the dusting won't be done until the Xmas decorations come down on New Year's Day...). I was going to put up a photo, but didn't get any taken on Christmas except one video of Alex playing with his train - just too much going on and too many children trying to capture my attention all at the same time. Maybe some more will get taken in the next few days. We've had a lovely Christmas with Geoff's mum visiting - she goes home tomorrow - Geoff will take her to the train station and then go on in to work - he's been off today and yesterday as they are bank holidays, due to the actual holidays falling on the weekend. It's confusing, frankly. But anyway, he's working Wednesday & Thursday & then has Friday off on leave and next Monday is another bank holiday. Very useful having a couple of extra grownups around to help entertain the kids. Hope everyone else had a lovely holiday.

Happy Christmas! Here's our tree - with our car in the background, which is a really welcome sight to me, as they've been replacing the gas mains in our street over the past few weeks, and the entire side of the road in front of our house has been torn up and there's been nowhere to park. It was a real relief for them to finish! 

Advent calendar update from a few days ago 

Only a week to go until the big day, and it's calmed down here a bit. School is finished, and all the other attendant things - Brownies, Rainbows, swimming, clubs, yoga, toddler group, whatever. Nativty plays done, carol concerts done, school and activity parties done. So now we get a few days' rest before we have to start cooking for Christmas, which is great. Lana and I have sorted out our menu for Christmas (turkey, bread stuffing, cranberry relish, roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts with bacon, red cabbage, baby carrots - pretty traditional this year) - a big meal this year, as we have 7 adults and 6 kids (our family, Geoff's mum, Lana & co (which is 2 adults and 2 kids) and her new neighbours, who are Russian and at loose ends - they don't really celebrate English Christmas normally - they tend to do New Year's instead - anyway, there are 2 of them, and one kid - Dascha, who is 6 - perfect age to fit in with the other girls!), so we can handle it. Tania (the new neighbour) may contribute something traditionally Russian for a starter. For dessert, we are only doing sorbets and Christmas cookies, because we won't want anything heavy after everything else. Should be good fun. Oh, forgot the gravy - gravy of course!

We also sorted the menu for Lana'a annual Christmas Eve do - they always have a drinks party on Christmas Eve - they used to do it anyway, and then when Keir was born conveniently (ha) on 24 December, they carried on with the tradition partly as a birthday celebration for Keir. That's not a full meal, just lots of munchies, but I always help with the preparation. Lots of good stuff there - sausage and chutney pinwheels, mini gruyere croissants, mini turkey sandwiches, cocktail sausages, roast spicy potatoes, artichoke and parma ham wraps, parmesan curls, hummous & bread, smoked salmon and cream cheese pancakes and at least 2-3 other things I've forgotten. Yum. Food is on my mind a lot at the moment, you can tell...

This is the week for watching kids be in things. First there was a ballet show on Sunday, then one Christmas play and a Rainbows enrollment on Monday, and today, the other Christmas play. All very cute, of course. This is Olivia with her friend Isabella after being enrolled at Rainbows. 

This is my advent calendar - each day has a little mini quilt, you add one each day. Exciting! 

Been ages since I posted, I know. I'm feeling guilty as I just (finally) wrote the Christmas letter, and mentioned in it that I try to update my blog regularly (oops). But it's been the week running up to the Christmas fair at school, so extra busy. But at least that's all over now - went ok, not as big a turnout as some years, but a lot of people were away or ill - Olivia's now got this bug that was going around (not a throwing up one, thank goodness), so I think she'll be off school tomorrow - Sarah had it last week. So far, no grownups have got it, but I guess it's early days yet. And soon it will be Christmas - wow, where did the year go?

Got visited today by a whole flock of those green parrots that hang out in London sometimes. This shows two on the feeder - at one point, there were four of them. And at another point, we counted about a dozen distributed in trees, feeders, and so on. Fun!
 

lotsa braids... 

Another year older (more or less) - maybe another year wiser? One can only hope! So, that's birthday season in our house done with, except for poor Alex who is out of sync with the rest of us - just in time for Christmas, of course. One of my birthday presents is the new Harry Potter, which we will probably watch tonight, based on the assumption that there won't be anything worth watching on telly (well, it's Saturday - what are the chances?). Should be fun - Sarah and I saw it in the cinema, but Geoff and Olivia haven't seen it yet (we thought it might be a bit scary for Olivia in the cinema, with the dementors and all) so a treat for them. And the girls and I actually watched the second HP the other evening while Geoff was out - I braided their hair in lots of little braids while we watched - they had a mufti (i.e. no uniforms) day at school on Friday and they wanted fun hair. Photo to come!

Here's Sarah holding her postcard album - she's not finished labelling them yet, but we're getting there... 

Being a slacker again - so what else is new! Not a lot of unusual stuff going on here - I've been helping Sarah with her collector badge for Brownies (many thanks again to all who have sent postcards - she now has 122). We have to do some other things for the badge, too, like visit some places that have collections (museums, galleries, etc) and learn about the history of the object she's collecting. Brownies badges have become a lot more interesting since I was in girl scouts - not sure we ever actually did badges in brownies, but at older ages, I remember them being a bit dry, to say the least.

Spent the morning today helping in Reception class in school - you wouldn't believe how loud 17 & 5 year olds can be - I swear they were louder in school than at Olivia's party! Or maybe it just seems that way because you expect them to be loud at a party. But it was fun and Olivia enjoyed having me there, although she's not really keen on sharing me with the other children. She'll get over it, I'm sure.

This afternoon I'm doing a mass pancake-making exercise (little tiny ones) because they are having a World Food Tasting tomorrow at school and I'm doing pancakes with syrup (and other toppings for those who might not like maple syrup). They'll have to eat them cold, but I can't imagine the kids will care. So I'm going back and forth between the computer and the kitchen (which luckily are near one another) doing a sentence or two, then more pancakes, and so on. My life is just SO exciting.

But on the plus side, Kiki & baby Kenny are going home from hospital, which is great news :)

Grrr.

So, it's the big day today in the US - too scared to even think about it, frankly. My friend Kiki is in hospital, having given birth recently (by Caesarian) to Kenneth Albert (congrats, and welcome!), so she's probably the only American I know not voting (I hope!) but as she lives in Maryland, it won't really matter anyway. Little Kenny had some issues with his blood glucose levels, so has been spending a little time in the NICU, but hopefully will get the all clear today to leave the NICU and hang with Mummy. Mommy, rather. :)

Anyway, not much here except a minor domestic crisis in the form of the gasket/washer thingie coming loose on my washing machine during a wash cycle - not an issue as it's easy to fix, except that it meant water everywhere during the cycle as it has to be fixed from inside the machine and of course you can't open the machine until the cycle is done (we have frontloaders here in the UK in case you Yanks are bemused). Good timing, though, as the new flooring is (finally) being installed Friday, so the old flooring has to come up anyway, so I just ripped up the floor at that end of the kitchen so the floor underneath can dry faster. Satisfying, really. It will sure be nice to get the new floor down!

No doubt I'll be back tomorrow with comments (hopefully positive ones) on The Election. Until then...