Indian Summer

Hello! We have had a short heat wave this week, although the weather is set to change again this week! It has actually been very pleasant as we have been to the park and have enjoyed being outside! I hope that this finds you well!

We haven't done too much so far this week! Monday was our usual Gym class / school in the morning followed by Naomi's dance class in the afternoon. Yesterday we went to see the Gynaecologist in the morning and then found a new park in the afternoon. Esther had an upset tummy yesterday, with very unpleasant nappies and tummy ache and so we were keen not to do too much. She has been mostly fine in herself and has eaten well but was upset when her tummy was hurting. She has been a lot better today but we didn't go into Seattle for Mum's group none the less.

I was a bit concerned at first that Esther's tummy ache was caused by too much sweet corn the day before! She adores corn on the cob and ate not only her bit but a good bit of Naomi's and all of Tim's corn on Monday night. Since she is usually such a pickle at eating vegetables, I wasn't going to stop her but then had a mild panic that that was what had caused her tummy upset yesterday. However, I don't think it was as Naomi has had a bit of a funny tummy this afternoon and so it is more likely to be a mild bug! I was almost relieved! It is so funny watching her eat it though; she really does enjoy it.

Today Naomi went to school this morning whilst Esther and I did a bit of shopping for Naomi's birthday and went to the park! ToysRUs didn't open until 10:00 and so we went to the park first. I was a bit surprised at how late it opened, but so many shops here don't open until then I should have expected it. A lot of them stay open much later though, which is useful sometimes I suppose!

This afternoon we went to the park with our friends Amy (Mum) and Elisabeth, Elisabeth and Esther played very well together and Naomi gets along just fine too. Naomi met another girl in the park who is also 4 next month and they were playing a lot together. All the girls decided to spin around until they were dizzy and would land on the soft grass but their knees were filthy when they came home!! I am glad that they were going in the bath!

The girls have come out with some funny things this week! Esther's response to "where have you put ..., Esther?" is usually "Somewhere" or if you ask "What is this?" her reply is "something". Both answers are very unhelpful when you are trying to locate something! I was impressed though the other day as we were looking at the book about babies and she saw that there were 2 babies and she told me that they were twins!

Naomi was correcting me in the story tonight! I misread a sentence from one of the library books (not one that we have read too many times) and she stopped me and said "No mummy, she says ' oh my stars!". I felt very put in my place! She was pretending to be a whale the other night in the bath and surprised Tim enormously by saying that she was a humpback whale! He couldn't believe that she knew a specific type of whale! It comes though from the "Snail and the Whale" book that she reads though!

So that is about it really! I will write again on Sunday! Right now, I have an enormous pile of ironing to tackle - yuck!!

A Weekend in Walla Walla

Hello! The Sneaths have been to Walla Walla this weekend and we have returned full of everything we have seen and done! I am looking forward to sharing some of the things with you!

But before that, I will tell you about Thursday! On Thursday morning it rained and rained and we had some shopping to do, so we ran between the shops and tried to keep as dry as possible! Well, I did, the girls had to be persuaded to keep out of the puddles when possible! Eventually we went to Fred's and the girls went into Play land whilst I did a bit of shopping before coming home for lunch.

After lunch, Vanessa and the children came round and we had a good chat whilst the children played. Later on, the girls and I popped out for a short time to see our friend Nina and her daughter Ally at the craft shop! It was a good thing to do on a wet afternoon!

In the evening I did some packing in preparation for going to Walla Walla and then we watched a bit more of Bleak House!

On  Friday we had a bit of a slow start as Tim was technically working and so had some things to do before we could leave! However, we left around midday and, initially did quite well, arriving in Ellensburg for lunch. We had a nice sandwich in Ellensburg and then took the children into the pet shop for a quick look at the dogs, fish, ferrets and mice before setting off again.

The scenery from Ellensburg is very different to here, as I have said before and it feels very alien. When we make this journey, I really do feel foreign in a way that I don't living here, especially now! Walla Walla is not a very big place and is not very cosmopolitan and we have had lots of problems communicating this weekend even using American English in a way that we don't here! The funny thing is though, that when we have been asked where we have come from and reply Seattle, no-one questioned it!! There is no comment of "yes, but where did you grow up" like we get here - we came to the conclusion that those that asked where we came from must just thing that Seattlites sound like us, which is very entertaining!!

We eventually arrived at Becky's parents house (where they are currently living) at about 5:30, although a good 15 minutes of that was spent trying to find their house, which was well hidden!! It was lovely to see them again and to see how settled they all looked! Becky and Darin haven't yet put an offer in for a house, but they hope to soon. Esther, Eli and Naomi enjoyed having a play in the garden whilst we unpacked and prepared tea.

Tim and I were unable to stay at the house as there wasn't enough room and so we were able to leave the girls there and we stayed about 10 minutes away in a small apartment. The arrangement worked very well. We put the girls to bed on Friday and waited until they were asleep and returned soon after breakfast on Saturday morning. The girls had not been worried about us not being there - we had talked about it a lot this week and they know Becky and Darin very well. The arrangement also meant that last night, Tim and I were able to go out for a meal, leaving the children to have tea and go to bed without us! They were fine! I was more anxious than they were!!

Yesterday morning we went to Fort Walla Walla which is a bit like Beamish or Blists Hill museum in the UK, if you know what I mean! there were houses and people dressed up in the time that the fort would have been up and running properly and it was very interesting! The children liked looking inside the houses and the school and spent a long time looking at the jail! We shut them in and they thought it was great fun!! 

Around 12 ish Esther announced that she was "tired and hungry", which was brilliant because then I knew exactly what to do to help her! It was so much better than just yelling! So we left the fort and went into Walla Walla itself to a sandwich shop that Becky wanted to take us to. This was a bit of a disaster really! The shop had recently changed hands and were completely incompetent at making sandwiches!! Basically, our order was taken quickly (and paid for) but then, a good 30 - 35 minutes after our order had been taken we still had no sandwich and the children were getting restless. We had given them a few crisps and they had had some juice but they needed their sandwiches!

Darin and I went back down to where we had ordered at this point just to make sure that our order wasn't sitting on the side and after a few minutes, Darin's order came through. After a little while longer, expecting that our order would follow quickly, I asked how long it would be before we received ours and the man said 20 minutes! Well, at this point, I flipped! I was furious! How could 2 consecutive orders be 20 minutes apart! I lost my temper and shouted, which probably wasn't very good but I was livid! Anyway, it did bring on a result as the sandwiches arrived about 10 minutes after this along with a refund of our money!! I don't think Becky or her family will go back there again though!

After this, we came back to the house and the children all had a rest for a while until we went out into the garden. The garden has a swing and a hammock and so the children played quite happily there all afternoon! It was shady as well, which was great and it was very relaxing all round!

In the evening, Tim and I went for a delicious meal in an old railway carriage! It was lovely and very atmospheric! This morning, after breakfast we met up with the children again and went to the park for a picnic and a play in the playground before driving home. We had an excellent journey home and were home in 4.5 hours, having had a few stops. We took a better route I think! The children went to sleep very quickly, which was good!

Well, that is about it really! I need to go and do the ironing now and so will stop here!

Hope that this finds you all well!

Raining Mummy!

Hello there! Hope that this finds you all well. I discovered today that you didn't receive last Wednesday's blog on Thursday morning and so I am sorry about that and for panicking you all into thinking that I had either had the baby early or had to go into hospital because there was something wrong! Everything is fine - there must have been a glitch in cyberspace somewhere! Hopefully you will get this one!

We have had lots of rain these last few days, much to Esther's surprise at first although after today I think she has got used to it again! It really has been very wet today! The girls have enjoyed a little splashing in the puddles but otherwise we have dodged the rain one way or another! Today, Esther and I went into Seattle for Mum's group whilst Naomi was in school and then this afternoon we went to the KidsQuest museum in Factoria with Jo and her daughter Zoe. We had a lovely time there; it was the first time Jo and Zoe had been and Zoe clearly loved it as she was wondering round with a smile on her face! My two always love it, especially the water play at the end!

Yesterday we took the car in for a major (ie expensive) service and so the girls and I had a day at home! We had a lovely day and I was able to sort out their clothes which was a real bonus! I now know what to buy them when I get the chance to go shopping! In the morning we did some cooking, which was fun and then in the afternoon we went for a walk and collected leaves to make an Autumn tree picture, which they also enjoyed! So the day passed very quickly really! The car is fine - the garage reckons it will last for years, something I can't get too excited about!

On Monday Esther and I had Gym class in the morning, whilst Naomi was at school and then in the afternoon I had an appointment at the Doctors for the baby. I now have to go each week, which does not enthrall me as it takes so long for so little gain! I know I would have to see the Midwife each week if I was at home but at least she was only 5 minutes away and in Beeston, somewhere where I often went anyway! Here it is a good 20 minute drive up the 405 and then we have to come home again! This week we had to be back in time for Naomi's dance class but I next week it is on a Tuesday morning, which is better! Ah well, only another 5 more weeks!

Tim and I are still watching too much of Bleak House and not getting anything done in the evenings! This evening Naomi had put some cream on her face and hadn't rubbed it in and so she looked just like the character who has had smallpox in the series! It made Tim and I laugh!

The girls are fine although Naomi is taking ages and ages to get to sleep at night and then waking up early (sometimes before 7 ) in the morning and then is grumpy all day! We are trying hard to get her into bed by 7:30 and most nights succeed but she is often still awake at 8:15pm! I am not too sure what to do- her brain is just overactive! Let me know if you have any thoughts!

Well, that is about it for now! Will write on Sunday! We are going to see our friends, Becky and Darin in Walla Walla on Friday and staying until Sunday, which we are all very excited about! It is about the last weekend that I feel comfortable about going away (and I have checked that there are hospitals who can do Caesarian Sections close by!) and so we thought we would take them up on their kind offer to see them! I shall tell you all about it when we return!

Bleak House

I apologise for the shortness of the Blog tonight - it has got late as Tim and I have been watching Bleak House, which I know many of you enjoyed last year! We started watching it on DVD the other day and are rather hooked! Consequently I will probably have to keep this short! Sorry!

There is not a lot of news really though; on Thursday the girls and I went to see an entertainer called the Bubbleman with our Eastside Mothers' Club group. The girls enjoyed the bubbles - the man used lots of things to make hundreds of bubbles at any one time and also made enormous bubbles, which all the children loved. However he was a seriously irritating man who used his time with us to spout on the whole time about his political and personal beliefs. They were not appropriate and annoyed my friends and me - if he thinks that we will be so impressed with him that we will employ him for our children's' birthday parties, he is sadly mistaken! I won't see him again if we can help it!

In the afternoon the girls and I went to the park with Vanessa and Rosie and the children, which was great fun, although cold! It is surprising how fast the weather can change - it is now very cloudy, chilly and damp here!

On Friday, Naomi went to school and Esther and I did a bit of shopping before coming home. In the afternoon we met up with some friends at the park, which was lovely! Tim read the girls a story in the evening and was amused by Esther getting very excited by the word "fiesta" in one of the books! She thought that it was talking about "Esther" and kept on shouting "that's me"! They also read a book about baby rabbits and when Tim asked them what sort of milk our baby might like when it is first born (expecting them to say "Mummy's milk", Naomi said "Strawberry!" I am not sure that I can dictate flavour quite that accurately!

In the evening Tim and I watched the film "akeela and the Bee" which was a lovely, fun film with nothing unpleasant at all - definitely worth watching if you get the chance!

Yesterday we went on a bed hunt for Esther but discovered that we are not able to easily buy a top half of Naomi's bed to make it into a bunk bed as the shop no-longer sells that make. We might be able to buy it on line, but we will have to make some enquiries! After this we went to buy the girls some winter shoes - the cold weather has made wearing sandals a bad idea! Esther chose a pinky / red pair which she loves, Naomi has a black pair! They are both happy with their choices and so were we!

After this we went to do some food shopping in one of the nicer stores that is shutting down. They had some good offers on some of their food and we were able to buy some things very cheaply, which was good!

Esther was sitting on my knee yesterday when I was writing an email and she was getting very possessive about the "E" for Esther key! Every time I used it she was saying "no that is mine" but avoiding "E"S are hard to do! She is funny!

Today we went to church in the morning and then the church families were invited to go on a cruise around Lake Union, for free, thanks to a kind captain who owns the boat and is a friend of our Pastors! Apart from the fact that it wasn't very relaxing as you had to keep your eye on the children the whole time, we had a fun afternoon and the girls enjoyed it a lot!

That is about it for now! Hope that you all have had a good weekend and I will write on Wednesday!

The Girls sing in Yoruba!

Hello! Hope that you are all well! Autumn arrived today and it is chilly and dull -still not much rain though! It was funny to have to wear a cardigan again!

We have had a good start to our week. Naomi went to school on Monday morning and Esther and I went to Gym class. Esther is at the upper end of the age range for this class and all the other children looked so tiny but she enjoyed it still. She'll move up in November I think.

Naomi did her Dance / Gym class on Monday afternoon which she enjoyed whilst Esther and I popped to Target to buy me some cheap furry slippers for the hospital since I don't want to take my new ones or my old tatty ones! The girls were both rather fond of my slippers and spent much of the rest of the afternoon wearing them! Funny pair!

Yesterday was the last day that it was forecasted to be sunny and so I took the girls to the park in the morning and then we went over to Ulrike's house in the afternoon. We had a lovely time at Ulrikes. The girls played beautifully together which meant that Ulrike and I were able to have a proper chat! It was very relaxing! We'll do it again soon!

On the way home we were listening to a CD that we had borrowed from the library and it includes a song sung in Yoruba a Nigerian language! Well, I have no idea what it says but the girls (led by Esther!) started to join in and sing the song in Yoruba too! It was very funny! After we had listened to the song twice Esther said "song stopped" in a very disgruntled voice! I managed to persuade her that it was OK for the next song to continue! It did make me laugh!

Today Naomi was at school again and Esther and I went into Seattle for Mum's group. We had a great time and were back in time to collect Naomi after she had stayed for lunch. She was fine and had stayed quite happily which was good! This afternoon we did some painting and then did a bit of shopping.

One disappointing piece of news here is that Esther is now back in nappies! After 10 weeks of trying I have finally given in and have gone back to nappies. About a month ago I really thought we had cracked it but she is just not ready to tell me when she needs to go and even when you take her every hour or so, she still has puddles on the floor and to be honest, I am getting to the stage that I can't keep bending down! We are having at least 3 accidents a day even with a star chart and with me taking her regularly, so it is no good. I will leave it now either until she tells me she is ready or until the spring, when hopefully it will come more easily for her! I am disappointed firstly because I really didn't want two of them in nappies but also because it may mean that she can't start school until April now! Ah well. I always say that you shouldn't try toilet training until they are 2.5 and that you should wait until they are ready and I have been proved right with Esther!

Well, that is about it for now! Had better go and do some clearing up and the ironing if I can!

Last weekend of summer?

Hello there! Hope that this finds you well! We are fine and have had a nice weekend! It was warm and sunny today but the forecast is for clouds and rain and cooler temperatures which is nice and so it really might be the last weekend of summer for us here!

The girls and I had a good couple of days on Thursday and Friday and I was relieved that they were less grumpy than they had been on Wednesday.  Interestingly, when we met up with some friends on Thursday at the park, both their children had not had good days on Wednesday too, so we were debating what was in the water or the atmosphere that day! Certainly they were all better by Thursday afternoon at the play ground!

On Thursday evening, Tim got home early to enable me to get to the hospital to have a tour of the facilities prior to having the baby in 6.5 weeks time. I was glad that I had gone as I now have a much better picture in my head of what it will be like and it answered questions such as when and for how long Tim and the girls can visit. Most people were, understandably, first time parents apart from me and an Indian couple who had also not had their first child here, I suspect. One couple had obviously not had any ante-natal classes as they were asking very basic information and the Dad wanted to go to Mt Rainier (about 2.5 hour drive from here) this weekend when his wife was due on the 14th September! The lady said "No" most strongly!!

I had a bit of a fit on Friday when I realised that I was a whole week more pregnant than I thought I was!! I was convinced that the baby was coming in 7.5 weeks time and so got quite a shock when I realised that it in fact comes in 6.5 weeks time and that Mum arrives 5 weeks tomorrow! I am sure that Mum is well aware of this, given that they are moving house before they come here, but I was quite surprised! I haven't done anything for the baby, so I need to set aside some time to do it soon! The baby is fine, very wiggly but I am having a lot of the false contractions when I move about! however, this happened with Esther too, so I am fairly sure that it is nothing to worry about!

On Friday, Naomi went to school and Esther and I played at home before heading off to the pet shop to see the animals at her request. She enjoyed seeing the fish and the mice best of all. In the afternoon we went to Kelsey Creek Farm park to see the animals there and the girls had a great time playing on the playground.

Yesterday we went to Costco in the morning as I can't go there on my own anymore! Everything is in bulk and I can't lift it! In the afternoon we visited the Salmon Hatchery in Issaquah and were disappointed that the salmon have not yet arrived there. We also went to the library and picked up so many books, that should hopefully keep the girls amused for a little while!

Today, after church we had a little while to entertain ourselves (we washed and hoovered the car!) before having a church picnic. We had a great time actually; I was a bit apprehensive at first but quite  few people came in the end, so it was good to get to know some new faces and the girls enjoyed themselves! They were playing with some large golf umbrellas that were supposed to be providing some shade but the children preferred to use them as a house or tent!

Well, that is about it really! I will write on Wednesday again!

Clean and Dirty!

Hello there! Hope that this finds you all well! We are fine here and enjoying a four day week for a change!

It was our Bank Holiday on Monday and we spent a relaxed morning at home before taking the girls out for a ride on their bikes and for a play in the park before lunch! The girls are getting quite good at riding their bikes, Naomi especially! She is quite fast and can steer! Esther can peddle but doesn't have enough oomf and has no idea about steering! Still it will come with practice!!

After lunch we met up with Vanessa, James and the Children at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens, which was lovely! The gardens were really pretty and were quite shady which was good and we had a lovely wander there! There was also a large patch of grass that the girls and Alex were able to play on without disturbing anyone and we all had a great time! There was a playground in the park next to the gardens which was new to us but we really liked it and will probably go back again another day! There was a tyre / rope slide thing that was low and very shallow and the girls had a great time riding backwards and forwards on it! The Daddies did a great job of pushing and catching them respectively, too!

On Tuesday we had some shopping to do, which we did yesterday morning and then the girls had to go to the Dentist! Esther surprisingly did better than Naomi, who got a bit upset but not for long! After the dentist we went to the park, which was really shady and cool - lovely!! It is still hot here! In the evening I went out with the Microsoft Mum's and had a really great evening with a few other people! We went out for a meal, which was delicious and I was really glad that I went!

Today, Naomi started school properly again and she had a good first day. This afternoon, we had some together time and then went to see Maddie! Vanessa's Dad arrives today and we were able to keep the children entertained whilst Vanessa finished the last bits of sorting out for him!

Esther and Naomi have been playing a lot with the trains this last week or so! Having sat there untouched for a while, Esther in particular has played with them more than anything else all week! She is very good at building her track which is great - Naomi couldn't at this age! Esther also likes to take the trains to bed!! Very odd! They still like playing with their babies but the trains are definitely back in vogue!! Esther isn't so bothered about the programmes or books yet, but maybe she will in the future!

Esther made me laugh today! I had mixed up her Bolognese sauce with the spaghetti and she was very cross about this! She said that she only wanted "clean pasta!" and I got her point! She did eventually eat all her dinner (no great surprise as she loves it!) and when I said "look at your clean plate Esther", she looked at me as if I was daft and said "No, mummy, dirty plate!!" She had a point I suppose!

Esther and I met a very grumpy lady in the post office today! She obviously didn't like children and didn't like Esther at all! She kept on giving her nasty looks! Esther was behaving herself perfectly - she was walking backwards and forwards to me from the little play area, pretending to be a car, so she was not being disruptive or noisy and the lady had no right to be so unkind! Nothing makes me madder than someone who is unkind to my children! It is the protective mother instinct I suppose!! It took a lot of self control to not say anything unpleasant to this woman, I can tell you! Really, does she not realise that not all children are in childcare in the daytime? I was glad when she left! The lady working in the post office smiled at Esther though!

Well that is all for now!! Take care!

Labour Day weekend

Hi! Welcome from a hot evening again! I know that I will be missing the sunshine in a few months but this hot weather is getting a bit too much!

We have tried to find cooler places to go again this weekend with some success! yesterday we went to the University Village shopping mall, which was fun! The girls were able to play in the covered area and then have a good play in the book shop and Tim was successful in doing some clothes shopping. I was disappointed not to find any nice clothes for the girls in the shops there but did manage to find a couple of books to save until I go into hospital to have the baby!

Today, our church service is at a new time of 10:00 and so we were done much earlier than normal. We drove up to Everett to a park that we had seen in our book there and it is definitely a park to return to but not in September! Despite this weekend being a Bank Holiday weekend, the little Animal Farm was closed and the swimming pool shut at 3:00pm! It was a bit crazy! However a nice girl told us of another swimming pool that was outdoors and so we managed to get our swim after all! Esther didn't last too long though but they both enjoyed being in the water!

On Friday the girls and I went to Naomi's school to look around, which was fun! Naomi had drawn Mrs Deb a picture of a princess, which was very sweet! She likes drawing princesses at the minute! Alternatively she draws mummys with very large tummys!! I definitely prefer the princesses!

In the afternoon we went to the Gynecologist for the baby, which was find and did a bit of food shopping for the weekend and then in the evening Tim and I were able to have a nice meal out as Vanessa came round to babysit! I had babysat for them a few weeks ago and so she kindly agreed to return the favour! Naomi was not too keen on us going out though, she said to me "Why are you and Daddy going out?" Given that she was in bed and would be asleep, I explained that sometimes Mummy and Daddy liked some time out together and that she wouldn't know the difference anyway! She let us go!

On Thursday Esther went to her Gym class in the morning and then we went into Redmond to see our new friends who have recently moved here from England. They are settling down well and the boys start school next week! Their cat has arrived and Esther enjoyed stroking it, although Naomi just looked at it!! In the afternoon we played in the garden! The girls got wet with the hose and then we acted out the story of Cinderella (4 times) and the Three Little Pigs (3 times!!). We had fun!

Our relaxed summer is now over, which is a bit of a shame really as we start school and our activities in earnest in the next two weeks. Naomi will be at school 3 mornings a week and Esther will do her music class and gym class on two of the mornings and will come with me to Mum's group on Wednesday. Naomi will do her dancing on a Monday afternoon now. It is fun but I am a bit sorry that our lazy days in the garden will be over soon and that our time together will be more limited! I have enjoyed taking the girls to different places and I know that they have enjoyed themselves too! Still, if we were in England then Naomi would be starting her second year of five mornings or five afternoons a week at nursery and so at least we do have some unstructured time together!

Esther has come out with some funny sayings this week. Often if you ask her a question like, "Where are your shoes?", she will reply "Somewhere" or if you ask her "what have you got there Esther?", she says "something!" Not very helpful!! The funniest thing though is if you say to her "I think it is time to wash your hands" or something like that, she replies "I really don't think so!!" She sounds so funny!  She doesn't only do it to us, but also to Naomi as well! She is such a character!

Naomi regales us with long stories much of the time and asks lots of questions, but often with no history of the context! So she will suddenly come out with a question that has reference to something that happened 3 or 4 days ago and I am left guessing what exactly she means and racking my brains to see what she could be referring to! Acting out Cinderella and the Three Little Pigs was her idea of course!

Anyway, that is about it for now! I will write again on Wednesday! Hope that you are all well!