A pink sheep!

Greetings!!

Hope this mail finds you well and that you have enjoyed your long Easter weekend off. we didn't get any thing off here, which I find very bizarre and I missed it a lot! Tim is off on Friday though so that will be nice. We are going to go to Mt. Rainier for a few days, which we are looking forward to!

We have been enjoying a lovely time with Pam, Ken and Hannah the last few days. We didn't do too much on Monday as it was very wet and I had a sewing lesson in the after noon. Naomi and Esther were both very tired after a hectic weekend and so they needed good rests as well that afternoon. Pam, Ken and Hannah took Naomi to the little park in the afternoon which was fun, whilst Esther slept! Naomi went to her gym class in the morning which was good. Esther went to Issaquah with Granny and Grandad, which was more interesting for her!

WE went to the zoo yesterday with Fritzi and Ulrike! We had a fun day! We saw most of the usual animals and Naomi was fascinated by the pretend cow that she could milk! She also spent a long time watching the lady comb the rabbit! It was a very cute rabbit! The girls had fun running around the zoo and we were there most of the day! Esther has been teething the last few days and is spiking temperatures. She is fine in herself and playing normally, just hot, so I am hoping that it is just the teeth that is causing her to be hot. Strange. I'm sure the doctor would say it was just a virus if I took her!

Pam and Ken went off by bus into seattle today and had a good day up the space needle and in the Experience Music Project. We went to our group this morning and then to the park in the after noon. Both girls had a lovely long sleep this afternoon - I got ahead with some meals! MAkes a change!

Grandma Beads has been busy knitting a lovey soft pink poncho for Esther which arrived today. There is also a pink hat to go with it with ears. She wore it in the park and she looks so cute in it!! Naomi described her as wearing a pink sheep! It was quite appropriate really!

Esther has also started to walk using her walker and can get a few steps without needing to stop or be turned round! Both girls are enjoying all the attention as you can imagine! Many stories have been read and jigsaws done! Esther particularly enjoys Grandads dancing!

We are going to go to do a bit of shopping tomorrow in preparation for our trip and then are off to RAinier on Friday! I will tell you of our news from there next time!

Take care!

Granny, Grandad and Aunty Hannah are here!!

Hello everyone and a very Happy Easter to you all! Tim's parents and sister arrived yesterday and it has been lovely to celebrate Easter Sunday with them today! More on that later!

The end of this last week was spent in preparation for Tim's family arriving yesterday and we were busy shopping, cleaning, making cakes and banners and generally getting ready for their arrival. We didn't do much else really!

We had a fun time Thursday afternoon playing in the garden or indoors. Esther learnt how to crawl down the little slide that we have in the garden head first and laughed and laughed when I caught her at the bottom. She also enjoyed pulling herself up to look through the holes to see Naomi and they were playing peekaboo! Naomi is really too big to go on the slide this year but she still enjoyed it and she also enjoyed playing football with the big ball that we bought last week. Esther enjoyed chasing the ball too! We came in when it got chilly and had a picnic in the pink castle! The girls thought this was great fun!! I enjoyed sitting in the castle too! You certainly see the world through a pink tinted lens sitting in there!!

On Friday we had to do a bit of shopping and then went to get our hair cut. This was a fairly last minute arrangement and the hairdressers were able to cut both Naomi's and my hair at the same time. Naomi's hairdresser was a super girl who was just great with Naomi and did a good job at cutting her hair. Esther was sitting with me and was very very tired poor baby and all of a sudden she let out this long wail about half way into my cut. The hairdresser was very good and suggested that I picked Esther up, which I did. The hairdresser was able to finish my cut with Esther asleep on my knee! Poor Esther looked like some sort of YEti at the end - she was so hairy despite our best efforts to keep the hair off her. However once she woke up at home I was soon able to sort her out and she didn't seem too bothered!!

Yesterday we went for an Egg hunt in the pouring rain that is organised by the neighbourhood association. Naomi, Tim and I got soaked; Esther was of course in the buggy with the rain shield on and thought it was great fun to be able to trace the rain drops with her finger. She was quite happy!! Naomi had her wellies on and was able to splash in the puddles. We soon dried out when we got home! We also met the Easter Egg bunny although our girls were a little wary of him! Naomi liked the idea of chocolate kisses in an egg a lot though!!

Tim took Naomi shopping yesterday morning after the egg hunt and Esther fell asleep with me at home. We were able to do our last minute things and then we went to the airport to meet granny, Grandad and aunty Hannah. We were amazed to see their plane land as we drove down the airport way to the car park!! WE were waving and waving but they didn't wave back!!!!! It seemed like forever but they finally came off the plane and we were able to see them again! It was really lovely to be all together again!! We didn't do too much last night, except chat!

Today we went to church to celebrate Easter Sunday which was great and then went onto Fremont to have a wander round the bohemian area of Seattle! We wandered through the market and met some very odd people! One of the sellers gave Naomi an "antique" toy horse!! Not quite sure why!! IT was nearly packing up time!! Perhaps he had had a good day! The people there were very chatty and they all wanted to know what we were doing there! "I do love your English accent" is a common refrain. I have resorted to suggesting that they visit Britain - the accent is apparently quite common there!!!

We went to see Lenin, the Troll and stopped in an amazing antique shop - it was a cross between a museum and an antique store - it had a lot of fascinating stuff in it! There was a chinese bridal bed for example and it was so ornate and beautifully decorated. I am not sure who would buy it or where anyone would put it. It was lovely though! Next door was a very scrummy ice cream shop! We stopped there too!

We hope to have a quieter day tomorrow and then have a day out on Tuesday as there is no group this week. Mummy is getting an evening out on her own with her friends on tuesday!! What fun!! I will blog as usual on Wednesday I hope!!

Bye for now!!

I can't find it anywhere!

Hello all! Hope you are all well! We are fine and very very excited about Granny, Grandad and Aunty Hannah arriving in 3 sleeps time! We have been preparing for them the last few days but have still some shopping to do!

We have had a busy few days! On Monday we did a bit of shopping and then went to Naomi's gym class. Naomi did well and is gaining in confidence! Esther is enjoying sitting with the children at the end for the little bit of singing and parachute game!

We went to church early on tuesday for a meeting about the children's work and then stayed on for the bible study. Fritzi and Ulrike had to come over to ISsaquah later on in the afternoon so we met them at the park and then they came back to our house for a little while. It was a nice bonus time to see them! We'll see them again tomorrow I hope.

Today we went to the group this morning and we made a beautiful butterfly. The girls enjoyed climbing on the soft play and Esther climbed up to the top of the three stairs wedge that they have. I wasn't too sure what she thought she was going to do next but she went headfirst down the slide wedge that was there for that purpose. She didn't look too sure but didn't complain!

This afternoon we met a lady who is also british and new to here. She has a little girl, Maddie, who is 2 and the two girls had fun playing at the park together. Esther also enjoyed herself, she enjoys both the slide and the swings and giggles at both! The slide makes her so static though, she gives me electic shocks and her hair really does stand on end!! Esther also enjoys climbing to the top of the climbing frame (accompanied of course!) and then she can pull herself up and watch the children around her! Naomi and MAddie were enjoying picking daisies and pine cones in the park - it's a good job daisies grow in plenty!!

Naomi made me chuckle yesterday! she asked for some juice in the morning and I said to her "What is the word I need?" So she dutifully said "please". Tim had also heard my question and replied "Lots!" Naomi quite firmly replied "No not lots, please!!" It was very funny!!

Naomi's phrase of the week is "I can't find it anywhere, Mummy" about anything really! I spent all day on Monday looking for Emily - the train - and searched and searched but with no luck. I tried asking Naomi and all she could say was "I can't find it anywhere Mummy!" I asked if she had had it in the car ("Maybe") in the cupboard ("Maybe") or in our room ("Maybe")! So really was getting nowhere! Finally when Tim came in, I asked him if he had seen it and he asked Naomi who then said "Maybe it is in the horsey" and blow me down, she was right!!!! Emily was tucked between the frame and the horse of Naomi's rocking horse and when I moved it I could here it rattling! How she got it in there I don't know and more to the point, why she couldn't have told me where it was earlier on in the day, I don't know!! Anyway, normality was restored!!

Esther is copying Naomi a lot at the moment and was putting a lid on her head this morning like a hat! She was looking quite pleased with herself! She is funny though, she can get so cross at times! She shakes her head vigourously at me especially if I am wiping her face! Naomi has been much better tempered this week, which has made life easier!

Well, will end it here and will write over the weekend! Bye for now!

Granny, Grandad and Aunty Hannah coming soon!

Hello from a wet Seattle! Haha I hear you all cry and no, I don't expect sympathy! I am glad that your weather is improving though and we need the rain here!

You will be pleased to know that Naomi woke up much better on thursday and after a pleasant couple of hours with Tim as he went into work later we were able to go to our thursday group activity. WE went to an inflatable play centre (where we never made it too in January!!) and we had a good time when we finally found it! It took a while for Naomi to feel happy as there were lots of children but she was having fun by the end. Esther was able to enjoy it too and we found a quiet spot to sit and let her enjoy the bouncing!

Afterwards we went with Fritzi and Ulrike for some lunch and ate the nicest pizza I have had since arriving here, which was a surprise! The girls enjoyed it too! Later on, the girls and I went to the park and Naomi enjoyed riding her bike and Esther enjoyed the swings.

On Friday we went to see the Somali family again and it was just like being back at work!! I ended up sorting out a doctors appointment for them but it took an hour and a half! As a result I know now that i need to do some work on times and days with them so it was useful really! It was good to be able to start to get to know them better. Naomi is building up quite a relationship with the old lady though!

Tim went out on Friday evening with some of the other dads from church and finally made it home at nearly midnight! They had had a good evening bowling and then having a bite to eat! It was good! I had had a good evening too! I managed to make the majority of a toy bag for the girls. I need to make the handles now which I will do soon I hope. I got on quite well although I have lots of "how do you do....." questions! Hopefully a combination of people will help me out!!

Yesterday we had a sorting our morning and then did some shopping in the afternoon. Naomi and I spent a lovely hour playing with her duvet when i was supposed to be changing her sheets! We were playing hide and seek and tickling games as well as pretending to roll her up like a sausage and going to sleep! It was funny!

We went to get Naomi's new lenses yesterday and she seems fine with them and they are thankfully not too thick either. She took a few minutes to get used to them but not too long and she obviously is happy with them. The best bit as far as she is concerned is that they tightened them so that they no longer slip down her nose!!

WE found a very nice cafe for lunch yesterday too which was worth discovering and also some very nice shops! One was called "Spoiled by Nana" Grandparents be warned!! It was a very nice shop!!!! We also found another childrens shop that was advertising a kit that you could take a cast of your pregnant body with! They had several around the shop it was very funny! Tim is keen to do this if we have another. I am not so keen!

We had a good service this morning at church and then went to the coffee house for lunch and for a relax whilst the children played. I have done some clearing up this evening and Tim has been also busy! Going to end it here as I need to do the ironing! Will write soon!

Raining, Mummy!

Hi! You who have been shivering for the last month or so will be secretly glad that our beautiful weather has broken and today we have had rain! I have been really trying to empathise with you all when it has been cold and snowy but I am afraid that I have failed miserably! A Drought Emergency was called here last week so every little drop of rain helps, I suppose!

The rain didn't disturb our plans today though as we were planning to go to our group this morning and then have a quiet afternoon at home, which we did. Esther was asleep for about 2 hours this afternoon and Naomi wasn't feeling well so we wouldn't have been going anywhere! I am not sure about our plans for tomorrow now, if Naomi is still is still unwell we won't be going anywhere then either!!

Yesterday we had a lovely morning playing with the playdough - even Esther although she really wanted to eat it! and read lots of stories! Mum and Dad bought Naomi some Usborne Apple Tree farm books and they are really the flavour of the month! Thankfully there are 20 of them so we have a lot of variety but they are constantly being read!! Naomi also had success in her potty training and she managed to "do a wee wee in the potty!" She was very proud of herself and we were of her!! Clever girl! No further success so far though!! We went into Seattle yesterday afternoon to our church meeting and on the way home stopped off in a craft shop to buy empty plastic egg shells and things to fill them for the egg hunt that we are going to! We had fun filling them too! I had to ask someone at church what I was supposed to do as I had no idea!!

Monday was gloriously sunny and we had a good afternoon in the park. Naomi enjoyed riding her bike around and Esther enjoyed the see saw and swings! We had gone to the library in the morning and to Naomi's gym class as well, so we'd had quite a busy day! We picked up a wonderful book called "BAby knows Best" by Kathy Henderson and Brita Granstrom which I read through my giggling to Naomi tonight. For all parents with small children it is a must!! Read it and see!

There really isn't too much news otherwise here! We are all full of cold and feeling a bit run down but nothing too serious! Hopefully Naomi will be well enough to see Fritzi tomorrow! Oh well! Going to end it here! Bye for now!!

Australian's visiting

Hi there! Welcome to the blog again! Thank you for reading it! I am amazed at how many people are reading my waffle!! However, thankfully I enjoy a good waffle and so like writing it!

We hadn't done too much by Wednesday to warrant a blog entry but of course now there is loads to say! We have had a couple of quiet evenings which have been very relaxing. Esther is now sleeping much much better but is now waking up at around 6:30 am so my day is starting early and I am whacked fairly early on in the evening! However, I am really not complaining as it is so nice to have a good night's sleep again after so long!

Tuesday was our routine day but in the evening I managed to get the sewing machine out and make myself a little bag as an experiement! It went OK except for the fact that I learnt how to use the unpicking tool as much as the machine! However, I did managed to wind a new bobbin and thread the machine with some white thread to do some decorative stiches, so I was quite pleased with myself! The only thing is that the material is pulled a little and so I need to see what to do to avoid this. I also managed to do a seem where you can't see any of the frayed edges - I think you call it a french seam (or so mum says!!) by seeing what Grandma had done! I am keen to make a bigger toy bag for the children now and hope to have ago again this week. I was very excited!

On Wednesday, we went to our group as usual but then went on to meet Tim at work for lunch. We had a nice lunch in the canteen and it was lovely to be able to see him for a short time. He was working very long hours last week and the girls did not see him really until thursday evening so it was a good opportunity to get together! After we had had lunch I took the girls to the park where we used to go when we lived in Redmond and Naomi was able to ride her bike around as well as climb, swing and have a slide. We had a good hour or so and then came home for a quieter afternoon!

On thursday we went to Woodinville Fire Station for a fire safety talk and a tour of the fire truck! The man was very good with the children and the children loved it! The children were all given hats and were able to sit in the cab to "drive" the engine! Lots of excited and happy children I can tell you. No good looking firemen though! Very sad mummies!! The truck was huge and shiny so even Esther enjoyed it!
We were there with Fritzi so the girls had a great time together! Naomi was very excited because Ulrike told her that there was only 2 more sleeps before she and Fritzi were going to spend the day together!

On thurdsay evening we hosted our new small church group and were excited by the fact we had 6 people! Hooray! We had a good evening, everyone was happy to talk and discuss the passage in Mark's gospel that we were reading, which was a relief. I am leading this next weeks!

On Friday Tim was off which was lovely! I was not feeling too well and very run down, so I was glad that I had to take Esther to the hospital for a check up on her skin whilst Tim took Naomi to gym class! The doctor was pleased with Esther's skin and has referred me to a dietitian which will be helpful!


On Friday afternoon we went to Lake Sammamish State park and found to our delight a wonderful play area and lake side / beach area for the children. Naomi was on her bike and enjoyed riding around and then they both enjoyed the slide and climbing frame!

There were 2 men trying to paraglide (at least I think that's what it was!) but the wind had dropped and so instead of flying away, greatly entertained us with trying to keep the parachute bit up! Naomi was very amused by this and kept on commenting in a loud voice as only two year olds know how "Mummy it is on the floor again" or "Mummy it is up again!" There can be nothing better to deflate an ego than to have a small child commenting on your performance every other minute!! We thought it was funny!!

On Saturday (the 2 sleeps were up!) we had a wonderful walk and picnic with Ulrike, Fritzi and Leif (Fritzi's daddy). We went to Tiger mountain which had a good trail for the two girls and Esther was very happy in the papousse! The girls and all adults had a wonderful if slightly mischievious day - the adults not the girls in this case!! Naomi and Fritzi were happy to run along the paths and to throw the gravel into the undergrowth and we were happy chatting. Ulrike and Leif had bought a bottle of wine which we had for our lunch, but there is a law here that states that alcohol should not be consumed in a public place, so we had to hide the bottle once or twice when another walker came passed! Ulrike looked so sheepish though - definitely not a person to do a bank robbery with!!!! IT was nice wine though and it went straight to my head! Woo!

That was bad enough but then we changed the girls nappies in the picnic spot too, another law broken and then finally Ulrike and I marked our territory in the bushes, yes, another law broken! Actually I was far more worried about hacking through the undergrowth with Esther attached to my tummy than breaking any laws! Poor child!!! So we were not good! But it was funny!

However the funniest thing was us all being called Australians by an American family!!! This family passed us all just as we started off after lunch and commented on the child carrier Ulrike had for Fritzi when she got tired. Ulrike said that she didn't buy it here but before she had a chance to say where she had bought it from the lady was calling to her husband to say that this was a good carrier but that it came from Australia! We were laughing too much to contradict them!!

A little later they passed us and said that the walk was blocked with a dead end. This was a surprise to Ulrike and Leif as they had done the walk last summer, so we carried on to have a look. Well their dead end consisted of 2 fences that overlap but have a gap in the middle. so we walked through and continued our walk. Can you guess who we met at the end? Yes of course this same family! So they said to Tim "So you managed to find a way through then?"
"yes" says Tim
"It must be because you are Australians - you are used to hacking through the bush!!!!"

I kid you not!!!!!

We don't even sound the same let alone Australian!!!! At this point the rest of us are giggling and Tim is too polite to correct them!!

Today we have had another lovely walk in a park in seattle, which was fun!

Esther has had a busy week this week! She has learnt to pull herself up to standing, which is great, shake her head vigourously for no with meaning and to climb the stairs - not so great!! It all went quiet on Friday evening and I said to Tim "where is Esther" and there she was sitting on the middle section of our stairs!! I am going to have to watch her now - the gap is far too large for a gate!

One thing that has been interesting to note this week is the way Naomi's sense of mishief is developing, although I am sure that I may not be so pleased with this in a little while! When we first came here, we used to say to her 'go and tickle mummy or daddy' and she would nervously do so. However, last week, I was bending over to run the bath and she lifted up my shirt a little and blew a raspberry on my back completely unbidden by either of us!! She giggled and giggled and thought it was very funny!!

It was funny on Thursday afternoon too as the girls were playing in their pink castle and I was pretending to be the dragon. WEll I thought it was the dragon who was supposed to do the "getting" but this dragon got well and truly "got"!! I had both of them at me and for the first time Esther was able to join in with a game of rough and tumble although it was hard work switching from gentle tickling for Esther to more boisterous tickling for Naomi!! It was fun and we all ended up laughing and I ended up with a soggy face courtesy of Esther sucking my cheek!! Yuk!!!

Well, that is all the news here and this is quite long enough I think!!

Will write again soon!!

giggling girls

Welcome to the second part of the blog!!

On our way home from the party we stopped off to buy a lawn mower! We have bought one that is easy to use and is a petrol one! Naomi had a great time sitting on the tractor ones that were in the shop! I don't think that she realised that they were for cutting the lawn! Tim managed to get the lawn cut yesterday afternoon and it looks a lot better! It didn't take too long either which was good!

On Saturday evening, we watched the film "Big Fish" with Ewan Macgregor and Albert finney! It was a good film and we both enjoyed it! It was pleasant, no violence, etc etc, so a good choice!!

Yesterday we went to church in the morning and then joined another family for lunch, which was fun! We spent the afternoon in the garden, which was nice too! I hope to get Naomi's sand pit and slide out soon!

Today we have been shopping in the morning and then went to the park with Fritzi in the afternoon. The girls hadn't seen each other for a while so that was nice! Even Esther was able to enjoy the park as she was standing with me on the climbing frame; she is getting much stronger on her legs! She thought this was very clever!!

The children are fine and have been making us laugh a lot so I thought I would share some of their more whacky moments with you!!

Esther and Naomi enjoy playing peekaboo with each other! This usually involves Esther sitting in the high chair with Naomi standing by the side of it and bobbing up and down. This of course is so funny that they laugh and laugh at each other and we laugh at them! They really are very sweet! The other thing that they like doing at the dining room table is playing "High 5" where I hit their flat palm with my flat palm! Esther in particular thinks this is very funny!!

Esther enjoys giving you things as well at the table at the moment. Today it was a soggy part eaten piece of bread and jam! Lovely!!! Esther is also communicating much better and has started to shake her head when we say "NO". Sometimes she does this as an appropriate response to a question but it is accompanied with such a broad grin that I think that it is just something that she likes to do! She laughs and laughs at us though when we are trying to say NO and joins in so quickly that it is hard to keep a straight face if you are trying to tell her not to do something!!

Naomi was spinning round and round yesterday during the final songs in church! She did look funny and got so dizzy!! One girl came up to us at the end and confessed that she and her room mate always chat about what our girls get up to at the end of the service!! I was not sure quite how to take this!! WE obviously make an impression on people and I don't think that we are ever going to be people who blend into a crowd!!! THe girls are obviously taking after their parents, poor things!!!

Anyway, had better go and do the ironing and clearing up! Yuk!!!

Funny ducks!

Good evening and a Happy Mothering Sunday to all the mothers out there!I hope that you have all had a good weekend and that your upcoming week goes well.

We have had an extremely pleasant few days since I last wrote doing a variety of new and exciting things as well as old favourites such as feeding the ducks and splashing in the puddles!

One piece of news is that we took Naomi to see an Opthalmologist on thursday and she thoroughly examined Naomi's eyes and has found her to be extremely long sighted and likely to be so for the rest of her life; poor Naomi is going to have to wear very thick glasses until she is old enough to wear contact lenses or have laser treatment. However, although we were concerned about the cause of her long sightedness and the crossing over of her eyes, the docotor did reassure us that there is nothing untoward going on and that the crossing over of the eyes should disappear as she wears more appropriate glasses and as she gets older. We were very relieved as you can imagine! I am slightly angry with the girls' primary doctor for not referring Naomi to this lady first, but glad that everything is sorted now.

On thursday afternoon Naomi, Esther and I went to the lake to feed the ducks and to splash in the puddles. Naomi was wearing her new wellies (pink with black spots - Naomi is very keen!!) and she had a wonderful muddy time running backwards and forwards through the puddles! Feeding the ducks was the highlight of the afternoon for us all though! Esther loves to watch the ducks and Naomi is now much braver when she is higher up than the ducks! We were all in fits of laughter at these ducks. The ducks were very hungry and were jumping up to catch the bread in their mouths; they really did look silly! Naomi really got the giggles and it was extremely funny! Naomi continued to giggle helplessly when she threw a rather large piece of bread to the duck who then ran off with it in its beak. Well, I tried to catch it to remove the bread and all I succeeded in doing was to chase this silly duck round in circles with the duck quacking loudly!! I admit we must have looked very entertaining and certainly the girls were entertained!!! Naomi enjoyed it so much that she couldn't wait to tell Daddy that the ducks were jumping when he came home!!

Unfortunately Naomi got so wet in the puddle that she had to go round the supermarket in her coat and no trousers on!! Thankfully no-one seemed to notice!! I must remember to take an extra pair of trousers!!

After our lovely and exciting day, you would think that Esther would have slept well, but no! I was up to her 8 times in 5 hours on Thursday night and she eventually ended up in bed with us again! I honestly despair of her at times -s he is such a Jeckyll and Hyde creature! She is so delightful in the daytime but a real pain at night!! I hope that it is only a phase!!

On thursday evening, we hosted the new small church group for the Eastside area, which we are co leading. We were few in number but I am sure that we will have more people soon! It was a good evening though!

On Friday morning the girls and I went to visit the Somali refugee family with whom I have volunteered to do some work. The time with them went well although it is hard to know how to measure this! However, we looked at an atlas at to find where we were all from and talked a little about living in America. THey have been here only a month more than us, having spent 13 years in a Refugee camp. On Friday, one of the men in the family were present, which made conversation possible; I am supposed to be working with the women in the family where conversation in English will be much harder. They have asked me to take them to the supermarket next time I go, so we will see how that goes!

Coming home I unfortunately got stopped by the police for speeding! OOps!!
Just a warning though, thankfully no ticket! I have been very good since!!

We had a fun afternoon on Friday and it was nice not to have to go anywhere. THe girls didn't need a rest in bed on friday as the journey to see this family is quite long. Instead we were crawling around on our tummies pretending to be snakes! I was sticking out my tongue and Esther was holding it between her fingers! She thought this was very funny! We then went on to be Lions and we were crawling around roaring! It was great fun, but I am glad that none of the neighbours were looking!!

Our friends Becky, Darin and Eli came over to stay the night on Friday evening. We had a really great time! It was a good way to have an evening together without having to worry about babysitters or someone driving home! We put the kids to bed and then had a meal and talked and talked!! In the morning we all went to the park and then onto a party for one of the children at church. Naomi was wearing her fairy costume and looked very sweet! We had lots of people commenting how cute she looked!!!

Well, it is time for me to stop now and go to bed but I will finish this tomorrow! Sorry to leave you all in the lurch!! IT will keep you wanting more!!

Emission testing!

Hi there! Just a quick note tonight as there is not much new news! We have got back into our normal routines this week with our Mum's group at church on Tuesday and Naomi's group today.

We had a busy day yesterday as we went out before our group something we don't normally do as it makes getting to church such a rush! However we needed to do a bit of shopping, so we did that in the morning. After the group, whilst the children were asleep in the car, I took the car to the emissions testing centre to have the car tested to see if the emissions fall within an acceptable limit. It did, but it was a very odd procedure! They don't have an MOT equivalent here - and believe me you can tell; the cracks in some people's windscreens are enormous! - but they do have this emissions testing that is compulsory each year.

You don't need an appointment, you just drive up and take a card. my car was relatively easy to do as the computer tells the man everything you need to know but for some people it was a little more involved although I am not entirely sure what they were doing! It looked like the car was attached to somesort of motor that enabled the car to run without going anywhere. The man made me get out the car but I was allowed to leave the children in, thankfully they stayed asleep, I didn't like the thought of Naomi waking up just as the man was sitting in the car! She would not have been happy! After that he gave me piece of paper and I drove away until next year! So that was easy!

The children's tummys have mostly settled, which is good! Esther has even eaten well today! She is so fussy though! I don't know what to do with her!! IT doesn't help that she is unable to eat dairy products, but she is not keen on the substituted things either! Never mind, I am sure she will get better as she gets older! She is getting much stronger on her legs and can now pull herself up when she is in the bath, although she finds it harder on dry land! This evening, she pulled herself up in the bath and then was taking one hand off as if to say "look one hand!!" Naomi and I were laughing at her - she joined in too! She is also starting to move a little when she is standing up. Today she was able to turn 90 degrees and move her feet too. This is an improvement on yesterday when she was standing up and reaching without moving her feet. I heard her complaining and she was nearly at a 45 degree angle she had leant so far!! It was very funny to look at! Poor Esther didn't think so!

Naomi has been hard work the last couple of days - a combination of tiredness and lack of playmates being the problem I think! She was being very rude and demanding yesterday at breakfast; she kept on saying "More juice, more juice". I said to her "that's not the way you ask for juice is it? How do you ask for juice nicely?" So instead of saying "please" she said "juice more, juice more" Honestly! She knew full well what she was doing too! She's fine really!

Will write over the weekend!