Mummy, that man has stamps!!!

Hi! It has been a warm and sunny afternoon here today, once the sun broke through the clouds. We have had our windows open to get some air through. It is quite a hot house - Tim is already dispairing of July if April is so hot!

The children have not been well so far this week, although I hope that they are on the mend. They both have had a bad cough, fever and a cold. Esther has been very snuffly and has hardly eaten anything today. she did have a good tea though, so hopefully that will keep her going through the night! As a result, we have not kept to our usual routine this week, which has made a nice change!!

On Monday we discovered a lovely trail that runs from Lake Sammamish State park to an unknown (at least to us!) destination. The girls and I found it completely by accident; we had to take the car in for a service and just came across it as we had an hour to spare. The trail runs alongside the Pickering Barn site, which has been replanted with native wetland plants. This made it a lovely nature walk for us! We saw 2 slugs, 2 ladybirds and a woodlouse as well as buttercups, daisies and dandelions! The girls were fascinated by the insects as they were moving (the slugs) and looked suspiciously like mating ( the ladybirds)!! We enjoyed being outside on a beautiful morning and then we went to Naomi's gym class, which she enjoyed!

In the afternoon, after Esther had had an incredibly long sleep, we went to Costco and bought large quantities of apple juice, washing up liquid, and kitchen roll! I am not sure what the American is for "washing up liquid". When I enquired where I might find some, I was met with "what is washing up liquid". I gave up and found it myself in the end!

Yesterday we had a lovely morning playing and reading stories at home, but we were unable to go to our group as I didn't want to pass the bugs onto the other children. However, as Eli was also unwell, Becky and I met up at the zoo and we had a lovely afternoon! We kept the infected together!! The children enjoyed the zoo and certainly everyone was a lot better for being outside! All the animals were sleeping, it seemed, as it was quite warm, but we did see a bear, pig, cow, gorilla all sleeping! Esther loved the rabbits and the chickens! Naomi saw some ponies which she was excited about too!

Today we were hosting a play group but in the end only Fritzi came, although we were quite happy with that!! All the children played at shopping and with the farm animals and Naomi and Fritzi also did some stamping! Esther just ate the stamps!! This afternoon my 2 had the next dose of their immunisations and then we met Fritzi again in the park, where we saw more pigs, cows, rabbits and chickens, this time awake!! Esther really does like the rabbits the best I think!

This week's Naomi-isms include "Mummy that man has lots of stamps" in reference to a large, heavily tattooed american man! To Naomi though, this was extremely special as she loves getting stamps at her gym class!

She also has a new train called Murdoch, but for some funny reason she can't pronounce his name at all and keeps calling him "Moo dock". On Tuesday morning she was looking for him and said to me "Mummy I can't find Moo ock anywhere". Well, as you can imagine, this took some working out and it wasn't until she said "you know, my train" that I had any idea what she was talking about! Moodock has a certain appeal though!

Lastly, and with this, I will end it here, when Tim said to her "Blow me down" she did!! She is a funny lass! She does make us laugh! She and Esther are often in giggles with each other, although it is easy to make Esther laugh!

PS Happy Birthday Grandma!!!

Pleasant weekend

Hello! How are you all? We are really good this Sunday evening having been blessed with a better few night's of sleep and having had a relaxing and very pleasant weekend.

The weather here has been warm and sunny. It is like June already! We have been making the most of it, as you never know how long it will last! We have been to the park almost every day and the only day we didn't (Friday) we spent it in the garden.

On Friday morning we visited the Somali ladies who looked pleased to see us. The girls were good and Naomi chats away to them in her usual way! This is very funny because she talks about her Thomas trains or her books or her stickers and they really don't have a clue what she is saying! I can see them trying to work it out and yet we don't have enough communication between us for me to say "Don't worry about it, just smile and engage with her!" Poor ladies! However, they now know which trains are which and which trains have trucks. I hope that they remember .... Naomi will be testing them next visit! My current plan is to work on the parts of the body with them. we were singing "heads, shoulders, knees and toes" with them which we all thought was great!

After we returned home, we played in the garden all afternoon. I had found the sand for the sand pit and we found the buckets and spades and things. Naomi and Esther loved playing in the sand and Naomi was making dinner for the pony, which was very messy! Esther loved the slide and being able to push her walker around. Once Brooke came, she carried on playing with them whilst I did some housework, which was very productive! TIm came home early and so he played in the garden too, which was fun. Naomi came in from the garden so wet and sandy that I just stripped her off and let her eat tea in just her nappy! At least it contained the sand a little bit!

Yesterday, we had a quiet morning whilst Esther had a good sleep. Tim took Naomi out to buy sunhats for the girls and to buy a strimmer for the garden. In the afternoon we drove a picturesque route (very!!) to a park. The road took us past some beautiful, huge houses that had wonderful views of the lake and the mountains. It was amazing! The park was nice too and had a good play area for the children and then some nice trails for us to do too. It was good fun and lovely to be outside without a jumper or a coat!

Today we had a good service in church. Tim was helping in the nursery today which he enjoyed. The girls enjoyed it too! After lunch we went to the Discovery Park where we have often been to the beach; unfortunately we were not able to get a beach pass today and so explored a different part of it. We saw some interesting trees and some ponds. Naomi had fun running along the trails and Esther loved the trees and the plants. She also got very excited when she saw a dog and we had lots of "woo woo" noises!!

The girls are fine apart from a little cough. Esther is mega loud at the minute and doing everything at the top of her voice! We have singing, shouting and talking all day long! She loves to be upright at the minute and is forevery grabbing your fingers to pull herself up and to start walking round the room. We are spending a lot of time waddling behind her at the minute! I can only do 3 laps round the house before my back and shoulders can't take any more. She gets so cross when you stop though!

Naomi's imagination continues to amuse us. According to her we saw lots of boats on our walk this afternoon and a friendly baby squirrel who came with us! At bedtime, she says to us "All the sings" which means "all the things we have done today" and we go through what we have done which helps her to "turn off her brain" and go to sleep!

The other day, I had got very wet whilst bathing them and had removed my shirt. Naomi then decided that I needed some vaseline on and so she liberally spead it over my back. As I slipped on my pyjama top before I came downstais, it stuck to my back and then the vaseline soaked through. I seriously had enough on to swim the channel. It was revolting - Tim wouldn't come anywhere near me!! It was funny and she was trying to be kind and helpful!

Anyway, had better go - the ironing beckons!

"What happened, Mummy?"

Hi there! Hope that you are all well! We have been enjoying warm and sunny weather here this week - Tim's Mum and Dad are feeling a bit peeved I think!!! I hope that it has been nice for you all too.

Sorry that I didn't get this written last night. We were running late with tea, bath and bed and Esther took a while to settle. By the time I had had tea, cleared up and then done the ironing, I didn't have time to write the blog too! Esther is asleep and NAomi is downstairs so I might have to write this quickly!!

We have had a lovely time in the park this morning with Maddie (2) and Vanessa (Mum). They have come from England only a short time ago and we have met before. the girls play well together and we have had a great time at the park. The weather is a bit cloudy this morning but warm and so it is nice to be outside! WE are going to have to go shopping this afternoon though. Noami is either hoping to have a little trolley to push or ride in the car! At least she is easily pleased!

Yesterday I had to go to the doctors and didn't want to take the girls so Tim had an hour off and took them to a pet shop so that they could see the animals! THey had a wonderful time! Naomi was full of it when I met up with them later and Esther too had enjoyed seeing all the fish, birds and bunnies! We met up with Fritzi in the afternoon and played at the beach by the lake, which was fun.

We had a "catch up" day on Monday and Tuesday morning just doing normal house worky things and sorting out washing etc. We went to the park on Monday afternoon in Issaquah itself and had a good time playing on the trains and in the swings. Esther adores a swing and loves to play a game where she gets a kiss everytime she swings to you! She was making kissing noises to me this morning so that I would do it again today!

We went to our church group on Tuesday afternoon; this is such a good time for everyone! It is so restful to have just 2 hours where you don't have to worry about the children and can study the bible, pray and spend time with friends. I always feel so refreshed when we come home! It is a great service and one that I would recommend all churches across the world starting!!! It was such a lovely afternoon on Tuesday that we stopped off at the park for an hour which was nice too!

The children are fine, although still not sleeping well. Both of them have had times awake the last few nights although it isn't as bad as it could be! Esther feels a little warm today so I hope she isn't going to go down with something again. Poor child! She has two new top teeth and looks very sweet! It always amazes me how teeth can change how you look! She is getting good at climbing the stairs and walking with 2 fingers and will grab your fingers to hold when she wants to start walking!

Naomi is asking lots of questions at the moment; not quite 'why' but 'what happened, Mummy!' A bird did a bird poo on our car windscreen the other day and, automatically, I went "yuk". I then had to explain what had happened, why the bird had pooed, where it's nest was and whether it was going to go home to sleep! It was a long conversation after such a small event!!! But she is lovely and very entertaining!

Anyway that is all for now; I will write again soon!

Some of the sneaths return home!

Hello everyone! How are you? We are fine and are just the four of us again as we very sadly had to say Goodbye to Tim's Mum and Dad yesterday. We have had a super time with them and will look forward to seeing them again in September. We phoned them this morning and so we know that they arrived home safetly which is good!

We haven't done all that much the end of this week. Esther has been really dreadful at sleeping this week and so I had spent more time on the floor in her bedroom than in my bed at one point this week! This meant that we abandoned our plans to all go out for the day on Thursday as I was too tired to drive anywhere far and Esther needed her sleep too! In the end Pam and Ken went in to Seattle for a last trip and the girls and I went to the park in the afternoon with Fritzi.

Alison, one of my good friends in Nottingham has sent me a wonderful book on keeping your toddler entertained; it contains some excellent ideas, some of which Naomi and I tried on Thursday morning whilst Esther was sleeping. We were doing some painting and we squeezed some paint onto the paper and then laid a piece of Cling film over it. We then pushed the paint with our fingers to make a fabulous pattern. We then also laid another sheet of paper over it as we had lots of paint!!! It has made a lovely picture! Naomi enjoyed herself and got very messy!

On Friday I had to take Esther to the dietitian and saw a great lady who gave me some good advice. I feel a lot better now about dealing with Esther's milk allergy and feel that I have a plan of action for the future. I also stopped by the reception and found out a phone number for a doctor who deals with sleep problems! I felt so much better just having the number in my pocket! It has already helped as Esther is already sleeping better and I haven't had to dial them yet!!!

Whilst we were at the children's hospital, Naomi and Granny and Grandad were looking around the shops. They found some new hair slides! On the way home I dropped them off at Microsoft so that they could do the Microsoft thing! The girls and I did a bit of shopping and then came home. Once the children were in bed we had a lovely chinese meal as a goodbye.

Pam and Ken didn't have to be at the airport until about 4pm and so we had most of yesterday with them which was nice. Unfortuntately the weather was dreadful in the morning and our plans to go to the farmers market had to be shelved. We went instead to the Gilman Museum - a tiny museum with a few exhibits in and an old jail! that was about it!!

After we had dropped Pam and Ken off at the airport, we took the children to the park for a run, which they enjoyed!

Today, all the small groups in church were taking on a different aspect of the service, from the worship to the sunday school. Our group was doing the sunday school. It was a little chaotic, but a good way to get to know some of the older children.

After the service we went to one of the parks where we saw some animals and the children could have fun on the play ground. The animals were a big hit with our 2. Esther is getting very good at making the right noise for the animal and so was going baa at the sheep and woo woo at the dogs. Mmmmoo for the cow sounds very similar to the dog noise so you have to know what she means to decipher it!! Esther was very excited by the horse and cow, whilst Naomi spend ages looking at the pigs. She was still talking about them this evening!

Naomi has been making us giggle again this week with her funny sentences. She saw a long haired man fall off his skateboard on thursday and said "lady fall over!" She also said "My need to buy one of those" - a skateboard! PErhaps not!

Anyway, had better go!

Will email on Wednesday!

Happy Birthday!

Hi All! Hope that you are OK. We are fine! We are getting to the end of Granny and Grandads stay which is very sad - Naomi and Esther are going to miss them so much next week. We already are missing Aunty Hannah! It has been wonderful to see them though - the girls are loving the attention!!

It was my birthday on Monday and I was treated to a lovely relaxing day by Pam and Ken and Tim! Pam and Ken kindly looked after the girls whilst I went into Seattle for a pedicure with Becky. I now have beautiful pearly pink toes! They gave us thin spongy rubber flip flops to wear whilst our toes dried and then I went shopping in mine!! I must have looked a real sight! It was a successful shop though - I bought some lovely things for the girls in the Gap sale!

When Tim came home he came armed with a huge bunch of flowers and a CD from my favourite singer - Chris Rice! Both were lovely! In the evening we went out to a very nice fish restaurant in Bellevue and had a delicious meal!

Yesterday we had a quiet day - Pam and Ken caught the bus into Seattle and we had a quiet morning at home and then went to the park and to the shops in the afternoon. We webcammed my parents to wish mum a happy birthday too! Naomi is getting very good at singing it now!! Our family has my brother in law, me and my mum on 3 consequetive days in April and then my Grandmother at the end! No wonder I was forbidden to have Esther last year in April!!

We had to take Naomi and Esther for an eye appointment today. The doctor was pleased that Naomi's eyes are working well with her new lenses and she thinks that Esther will not be far sighted at all. It was Esther's turn to have the drops in today and she spent the rest of the morning trying to focus on things! She looked exceptionally cool in her pink sunglasses though! (THey gave her a pair to shield her eyes after the drops!)

After this we drove to the shopping mall, Bellevue Square. We had lunch and tried unsuccessfull to do some shopping! We gave up in the end and went to the park! We've had a sunny day today.

Our plans for the next few days are a bit loose and so we shall have to see what we do! I shall let you know on Sunday! Bye for now!

A lot about Esther

Hello all! Hope that you are all well. I am sorry that I have not got back to writing the rest of Wednesday's blog but I will tell you all of Esther's doings today. We have had a busy few days and we were out on Friday evening too.

So, to Esther then!! She is still not sleeping at all well - I am literally up for about 2 hours with her each night and have taken to lying on the floor next to her at night which helps sometimes. I think she is teething and last night she was very thirsty but still it is hard to be up for so long each night and then to have to keep going in the day time. I don't function well with so little sleep and find that it affects every aspect of life but I am not sure how I explain this to Esther!

Anyway, despite being a real pickle pot in the night she is a real star in the day and it is fun to watch her develop and change! She has really started to communicate now and understand communication recently and is pointing with enthusiasm to things that she has seen and wants us to see! We have now put her in the "big girl car seat" (Ie one that faces forwards and she was very vocal this afternoon coming home with all the trees and boats that she could see! On the whole she has moved into the new car seat well but she si finding it difficult to sleep in it! Story of her life!

Her understanding of words is coming along and she now pretends to brush her hair if you say so or pretend to talk on the phone! Actually this looks the same thing, but we know what she means!! She can understand words like dancing - she bops! - putting her hat on and she is very good at giving kisses! She loves to give wet sloppy ones on your cheek but failing that she will blow you one! She can also wave bye bye! Yesterday we came up the stairs into the computer room and she saw a photo of Tim on the computer and she said "Dada", which was officially her first proper word!!

Her favourite game at the moment is to go wibble wibble with her finger on your (or her) lips and she also loves to go "wa, wa, wa" with her hand over her (or your) mouth! She thinks that these are very funny! She has also got on very well with walking with her walker or with 2 fingers!

So that is Esther in a nutshell!

Naomi continues to amuse us with her language! She said to me yesterday that she wanted me to huff it clean! I was frowning at her yesterday and she said to me "I want a smile" and so I had to explain that she needed to do as she was told in order for me to smile, although how can you resist a request like that!! Today she said "I want to go pahddy" (no I have not spelt it wrong - try saying it with an American accent and you will see what I mean!) We said to her "Oh you went to the potty" in our good English accent and she said "No, pahddy!" We then wondered if she thought she was going to a party, which would be a big disappointment if she then ended up in the toilet!!!

We visited the Museaum of flight on Thursday which we all enjoyed. There was a section especially for children which meant that Naomi could sit in a plane and pretend to fly it which she enjoyed!

Naomi, Esther and I had a chores day on Friday and we went shopping and did some housework, which was useful! In the evening Tim and I had a wonderful evening at Darin and Becky's. Becky had made me a truly delicious birthday cake! I haven't had a birthday cake in years - it made me feel very special! We had a lovely evening!

Yesterday we went to Snoqualmie Falls with Hannah and we were amazed that Naomi walked all the way down and up without needing to be carried! She was asleep quickly last night though. We sadly had to say goodbye to Aunty Hannah yesterday, which was a pity - we have loved seeing her and hope that it won't be too long before we can be with her again!

Today we have been to church this morning and then had lunch and a walk by the harbour which was very pretty. There were some amazing boats! I am going to have a pedicure with Becky tomorrow and then hopefully Tim and I are going to go out for a meal to celebrate my birthday!

That is all the news for now - I will write again next week! Take care all!

Fishies!!

Good evening! I hope this blog finds you all well and having a great dealmore sleep than we are at the moment! Esther is being a real shocker between the hours of 2am and 4am and consequently I feel like I am living in the land of the Zombie! It is such a shame because she is such a star in the day time but she is a real monster at night! We are hoping that it is a short phase! The frustrating thing is that we know she can sleep through the night and yet I don't know how to break the cycle of wakefulness at 2 in the morning!

However, despite being bleary eyed we have continued to see and do different things here. On Monday afternoon Hannah's boyfriend Dave arrived and so we all went into Seattle so that Hannah could collect him. We had lunch in the Seattle centre where there were a huge selection of inflatable play areas. Naomi was brave enough to have a quick bounce on one tame looking one but soon came off! We then spent the rest of the afternoon in the Children's musuem, a great place for both the girls to enjoy. Esther could crawl round some of it which was great!! There was a small play area for the very little ones and our two had a great time playing on the slide and crawling through the plastic whales! There was an exhibition on a children's book and television programme called "Arthur" which included a slot where the children could see themselves on television, which amused Naomi!

After a few busy days and a really bad night, Tuesday was a quiet day! PAm and Ken went into Seattle and we went in later to our bible study group, which was great! We picked up Pam and Ken on our way home. They had been to see an Imax film on the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in the early 1980's. They both really enjoyed it although it left Pam feeling a little wobbly! They were urging us to go but I am not too sure with my lingering labryinthitis! I might not get to see too much of it!

Last night Tim and his Dad went to a baseball game to see the Seattle Mariners lose! they enjoyed it very much and were greatful that they went with our friend Darin who was able to explain the rules. Tim described it as complicated rounders!!

Today we went to the Aquarium with Hannah and Dave! Unbelievably, we didn't wake up until 9:10!! However Naoimi, Esther and I had all been up in the night! Naomi really scared me last night because I had just got up to see to Esther who was crying when I felt this hand on my arm. In the dark I couldn't see who it was and I nearly screamed but then realised it was only Naomi! I was so surprised as she never gets out of bed on her own~! Anyway, eventually we were all back asleep in our rightful beds and then didn't wake up till late!

We met Hannah and DAve at the Aquarium and we had a fabulous time. The children both enjoyed it immensely. Esther was fascinated by the sea dragons and the brightly coloured fish and Naomi loved the opportunity to feel the starfish, anenomies and the sea slugs. She ran from tank to tank and was really interested in them all. She came home and told Tim she had seen a lion fish and she was absolutely right!

We then went next door to eat some of the fish that we had just seen. I didn't make the connection for Naomi!!!! It was delicious though and we had the most amazing ice cream for pudding! Needless to say, none of us have had much tea! I said to Naomi "Tell Daddy what we had for lunch"
"ice cream" she replied"
"That's right", I said "but what else?"
"dinner" she replied!! I never did get her to say fish and chips - it was just not important after the ice cream!!

WEll, will finish now and hopefully write some more in the next day or so! I have some funny Esther stories to tell you all!

Until then! bye!

Mt. Rainier!

Hello! Hope you are OK! We are fine and returned today from a lovely weekend in Mt Rainier. We went on friday and stayed 2 nights in 2 lodges which were lovely. They were really well equipped in a wooded setting and we enjoyed our stay.

Tim was off on Friday so we were able to get there early and make the most of our stay. Yesterday we drove up to find some snow and had a fun time making snow men and playing in the snow. Noami was a bit unsure at first, mainly I think because it was very deep and her feet kept on disappearing from view and the ground was unstable which was a bit unnerving for her! She soon got the hang of it though and enjoyed jumping and landing flat on her back, making an imprint in the snow! We were jumping into fresh snow and seeing our footprints! Esther was carried in the papousse but was a bit grumpy! I think we had over done the layers myself! She cheered up once we took some clothes off!! After a late and leisurely lunch we had a bit of a drive and headed back to the lodge!

Today we went for a walk up to see some water falls - I was impressed that Naomi walked so far but she was exhausted at bedtime! She was asleep within 2 minutes. I am not joking!! After the walk, it started to rain and so we had our picnic by a field of horses in the car and then made a picturesque journey home! Tim has taken some very good pictures!

We watched the film "Terminal" on Friday night with Tom Hanks. It was as slow as a snail! It should have finished about 45 minutes before it did! Honestly it was the first film I had watched all the way through for about 15 months and it was so dull!!! Better choice next time! Last night there was a bonfire which Tim and his family went to, whilst I stayed and read whilst the children slept!

On thursday we didn't do too much except shop for snowy things and I had to take Esther to the doctor as she had been feverish all week. She is fully better now except that the doctor prescribed her some antibiotics which I think she has reacted to! We didn't have a good couple of nights with her and hope for a better one today!. Tim's friends from the UK came on Thursday evening for supper which was good. I hadn't met them before so it was nice to get to know them. They have a little girl who is one next week! We were commenting about how quickly this last year has gone!

Naomi is making us laugh at the moment with her use of language! She is copying words loads at the moment. PAm said "Gordon Bennett" the other day which we have heard a lot of!! I called her a cheeky like Thomas one day too and she was very proud to tell Tim that she was cheeky like Thomas when he came home!!! She is also making us laugh with the words that she mishears or misunderstands. We were looking at some pictures in the paper of Orca Whales and she said "Esther has a alker!!!" Sounds similar you have to admit. Tim said something about feeling the benefit today which she interpretted as Gordon Bennett and so we had that again! She is funny.

Esther has perfected the art of really sloppy kisses this week! Lovely!! She has also got a top tooth which she was grinding with her bottom ones today - a truly awful noise!! She loves to play peekaboo and is getting good at pretending to be on the phone or wearing a hat! She is also enjoying people being in the seats behind her in the car as she can see them!

Anyway, had better go to bed and try and catch up with some sleep! Dave arrives tomorrow! We are looking forward to seeing him - HAnnah especially!!!!! Will write again soon!