UP

Hello! There is a Dr. Suess book that we read occasionally called "UP" and as it is Silas' favourite word at the minute, I thought it would be a fitting title for the blog!

I am amazed at how such a simple word can mean so much! It can mean, "I am done with my dinner, I want to get down" or it can mean "I need a hug" or it can mean "I want to have a story" or it can mean "I want to go and have a bath now". It can also mean that "I want to climb up Naomi's ladder" or that "I am climbing up the stairs, Mummy" both of which are not such good meanings of the word "UP"! He is very funny and very mischievous but with a winning smile - just like his Daddy!

Silas is also cutting another tooth - one of the front bottom ones and so he has been very clingy this after noon although he cheered up after tea and, when the girls were watching television, I gave him his dummy which helped a bit!

Tim has been off work and not well this week with a nasty cold with flu like symptoms; poor love he has been very spaced out for the last couple of days and has been at home. We are all enjoying having Daddy around even though he is sick though. The children like to watch him play the guitar game on the XBOX from time to time and Naomi even had a go this afternoon! Silas also had a go this afternoon and was jigging up and down and waving the handle as a true rocker! If my son becomes a punk rocker and tries to earn his living through such dubious means I shall know exactly who to blame!!!

It was Veterans Day on Monday which meant that the children were off school. As it meant that we had a free day, I took the children up to Everett to teh Children's museum there as the girls had been desperate to go again ever since we went in the summer. We had a great time and were there for a good few hours. It was much easier this time as Silas is more mobile and is able to walk a little bit with one finger; this meant that I didn't have to carry him as much which was great! (You are not allowed to take the stroller in). We went in the restaurant bit, the vets bit, the farm bit and also watched a puppet show which was truly awful but the children enjoyed it! Silas had a great time playing on the small soft play area and with the trains; we were in both of those for a while.

It took about an hour to get home and so we weren't in until about 4:30 but Tim was already home. I went out again in the evening for a Housing Association Board meeting leaving Tim and the children at home which was a mistake as they took advantage of Daddy not being well and played up whilst he was asleep I think, which was naughty of them and they were tired and grumpy yesterday.

Yesterday Naomi went to school in the morning and then in the afternoon she and I went to the library whilst Esther was in dancing and read some stories and then Esther, Silas and I went to Target whilst Naomi was dancing, so that was good.

Today the girls had school in the morning whilst I walked with Ulrike and then we had a quiet afternoon at home. I read stories to Silas for a while and sorted a few things out. Tomorrow we will see Ulrike and the children in the afternoon; I am not sure if Tim is going to go to work or not.

I had a very argumentative day on Monday! It wasn't really my fault though! The first argument I had was when we were at the Children's museum. In the soft play area the children are only allowed in if they are 3 or under, which is fine but doesn't help much if you have a group of children of different ages. For the majority of the time whilst Silas was on the soft play, the girls were in the vets area which I could see. But after a while, they came into the area to talk with me about where we were going to go next. As they were both too big to go on the structure, I wouldn't let either of them go on it and so they were standing talking to me whilst I was standing with Silas. One of the ladies who works there came along and said "they are too big to be in here". So I agreed and explained that they were with me, having a conversation and that I wasn't letting them on the structure. Well the lady still didn't like it and wanted me to send them out but i refused as I was still having a conversation with the children! This went back and forth 3 times before she walked off in disgust and a few minutes later we all left the area anyway as we had made our decision where we were going next!

After the puppet show, we were sitting in the rest area, having a snack and this same lady came over and apologized if she had offended me. I explained to her that I totally understood the need to ensure that the older children were not on the structure but felt that it was unrealistic to expect families to not allow their older children to even enter the area! In the end, she agreed and was going to talk to the supervisor about being more flexible about the arrangement to stop it happening again!

Later the same day, at the meeting, I had a right barney with the rest of them about their strong desire to be so particular about the rules and regulations. Heigh Ho! I keep threatening to resign but don't like giving up and I am not sure that, just because the others are so pro the rules and regulations, that that means that the rest of the neighborhood is. I will stick with it until the spring but will decide then what to do next year!

Anyway, that is enough of my rants, so I will end this here! Take care and I hope that you are all well.