Silas sings!

Hello! Welcome from a sunny and warm Seattle! Hope that this finds you well and that you are still enjoying the sunshine too. I hope that a warm and dry April does not mean a wet and chilly June!

Tim is away this week - he left on Thursday afternoon and returns on Wednesday evening, so the children won't see him until Thursday morning. Still, he tells me that he has Thursday and Friday off so hopefully we'll see something of him then. He is in Las Vegas on a conference and has been amazed at the vastness of it all and how many people there are at 7am that are gambling! It is all very hectic for him!

We have been OK, though. On Thursday we went out for a bit in the morning and then met up with Vanessa and the children at the little zoo. It was good to be able to let the children have a run around; Naomi in particular needed it! The weather was too wet for a park but just right for the zoo.

On Friday we had school and dub dub in the morning; Esther was a bit off her usual bouncy self and sat quietly with me during a couple of the songs; I think she was just a bit unsettled knowing that Tim had gone away for a few days. In the afternoon it was raining and so we went to the Bookstore and to the Pet store which was good and the girls were laughing at the dogs that they could see in the 'Pet Hotel' (seriously!). The dogs were running up to them but since there was a glass wall between the girls and the dogs, the girls were quite happy and found it very funny that the dogs were trying to lick their hands!

Silas had not slept well on Thursday night and slept worse on Friday night and during the day on Friday had only had about 45 minutes all together and so yesterday I was determined that he had a good sleep in his cot at least twice. It took him ages to go to sleep but he finally went off and then had a good hour and a quarter, so that was good. However it did mean that we were later than we should have been in meeting up with our friends at the Sheep Shearing day at Kelsey Creek Park. We did meet up with them and the girls had a tractor ride together which was fun. The girls made some fun craft and then we watched the sheep being shorn which was interesting. After this we went and had a late lunch and as Silas was still awake we came home rather than going onto see Ulrike at home as I wanted him to have another nap, which he did.

He slept a lot better last night and I don't feel quite so tired today! We did eventually make it to church today but very late! It wasn't quite all my fault, but nearly! I normally get up at 7:15 so that we are at church for just before 10:00 when Tim is with us but I didn't today as I thought I would just wake up when the children do; normally one of them disturbs around 7:30 but today it was 8:00 before anyone woke me up and then i dozed for a bit longer! Eventually we did get out the door and were doing well until we came into Seattle when i couldn't get across the I5 to the exit. I tried but the car to my left was being a right pain and slowed down when I did to try and get behind him and sped up when I tried to overtake him! I missed the exit and had to come off at the next one; then they had shut 2 lanes and so it took about 15 minutes to do a distance that normally only take 3. I think in the end it took nearly 50 minutes to get to church!

Anyway, after the service, there was a meeting for the parents to get to know the new Children's Director, but since I had been part of the interview team, I had volunteered to look after the children with some others, which we did. Once we came home, Silas had another good nap, whilst the girls and I played and then they watched television for a bit before tea.

Silas has started to sit up on his own really well today and although is still wobbly, he can now sit for a good few minutes without wobbling, which is great! He does love to roll though and so if he does topple, he is quite happy because then he can get to places!! The girls sometimes help him too! He has also become a lot more vocal and has started to babble a lot and so he is saying "dadadadada" and "gagagagagaga" and "bababababab". He sounds so sweet! He was very sweet at church today and was amusing everyone around us because he was singing! As soon as we started to sing our last song, he was joining in with "oh" and "ah"; it was so funny!! He is showing excitement over things too now and clearly gets excited when he has a bath or when we go to the car, for example! Yesterday in the bath, he was excited about Naomi's knee of all things and was grabbing at her knee and sucking it, much to her delight!!

Esther was funny last week when we went to buy some stamps as she didn't realise that I meant the kind to stick on an envelope and asked if they were going to stamp my hand! She is funny! Yesterday she was being very slow and was clearly in a little land of make believe and it turned out that she had her children with her and they needed to have their hands held and to be carried to places! These children were very slow and in the end i made them hold onto the buggy as we were not going to get anywhere otherwise!

Naomi is fine and has been swinging from delightful to very difficult! She has been a bit bolshy lately, which i don't like at all and then at other times she has been lovely and helpful! On Wednesday she was dreadful all day but improved when we went out on Thursday and was fine all day yesterday and Friday. She has been Ok today too, although she was shy at one point and then comes across as rude, which we shall have to work on! I don't know, she is a complicated character!

That is it for now! Have a good week and I will try and write at some point this week, but not too sure when as Tim gets back on Wednesday and Esther's party is on Sunday! So expect a blog when you see one this week!
Take care!

Finding Nemo

Hello! Hope that you are all well, we are fine here. I can't believe that it is Wednesday already and hope that this next week goes quickly! Tim is going away tomorrow for almost a week, which we are not looking forward to!

Tim has had a busy week, being out both Monday and Wednesday night as well as his usual working week and being away from tomorrow. Hopefully things will calm down a little next week once he returns but we are going away with the McNivens for a few days in May, which will help.

The children have been OK, although Esther was very tired this evening; hopefully they will all sleep well and be full of good beans tomorrow! We had our usual busy day on Monday and then in the evening I had a meeting here. I am on the Housing Association Board, now and it was the first proper meeting of the new board. It went OK I think, I need to type up the minutes and do a bit of research into making the neighbourhood safer for children but that is it to start with!

Yesterday we had a quiet morning at home which was nice as we were able to read stories and play for a while. In the afternoon we met up with our friends for our play group which we enjoyed. Today Esther, Silas and I did some shopping this morning whilst Naomi was at school and this afternoon one of the girls in the neighbourhood came round to play with the girls whilst I did a bit more sorting out of the garage! We are getting there slowly!

Naomi is enjoying listening to the Faraway Tree stories by Enid Blyton and we have to read at least a chapter every time we sit down, it seems! She is fascinated by the stories and giggles at the funny things that are written but as an adult you can definitely see the inconsistencies in it! However, when you are a child, you just accept things much more readily and certainly Naomi doesn't notice!

Esther's drawing of people is amazing and has developed a lot in just this last week; so much so it is getting really hard to work out who has drawn which picture. Mind you, both girls have got a perfectionist streak in them and the tiniest little flaw in the picture causes major tears and devastation. They don't seem to like it either when I say "just draw another one!!" Never mind!! Esther is getting excited that she is nearly 3 and her party is on the 6th, which she is looking forward to!

Silas seems fine this week and has had rice with formula milk twice since Saturday. Yesterday he was fine but today he was a little bit sick but not too much. I will try the oats again at the weekend but for now, he is enjoying the rice at breakfast. He can almost sit up but can certainly roll and roll and roll and can go a long way! I lost him the other day as he had rolled next to the green settee and I couldn't see him as I looked over it to where I had left him! I have been putting him in the lounge as it is away from the girls and the playmobile people during the day time. In the afternoon when I am getting tea and everything is tidy, I don't mind him going into the play room with the girls once I have checked it but it is too risky in the day time!

Silas has learnt how to do fish impressions this week and slaps his lips together which is very funny to watch! Esther says he is doing his Nemo impression. He has even said "B" today which was good too! Talking of Nemo, I found the DVD today - it was in the English CD player that was in the garage and I found it because I thought I would just check that there wasn't a CD in it before I put it in the box! We were very pleased to have found it!

Esther made me laugh yesterday, she was looking at the story book and said that they were playing "hocops". It took a while to work out but she was trying to say that they were playing Hopscotch! She has a wide vocabulary but it isn't very complete!

That is all for now! Take care and keep well!

Managing to post - just!

Hello! I guess I am going to have to email this one out too as I thought I had fixed the problem but it still doesn't want to publish it! Sorry folks! I will ask Tim later on.

How are you all? Hope that you are well and enjoying the sunshine that you are all having! We have had some lovely spring days but nothing as hot as you have had. It actually has been very pleasant here as it has been warm enough to enjoy wearing just a cardigan outside but not too hot!

We had a disappointing start to our weekend as our friends, Becky and Darin and their boys, Eli and Zeke were due to be coming on Friday but unfortunately Eli was not well and so they were not able to come. WE were very disappointed, especially Esther who was looking forward to seeing her friend and she was excited that he was going to sleep on the blow up mattress in their bedroom! We hope that we can see them in about a months time but it is not confirmed yet!

So we ended up having a free weekend which we have used profitably! We spent yesterday clearing up the garage. Tim did very well and it looks a lot better on the back wall where the shelves are but it still needs a bit of work where we keep all the tools and things. I spent all day going through all the clothes boxes trying to work out what I wanted to keep, what I wanted to throw away and what I wanted to give away. I did all but one of the boxes so I did quite well and now have got the fun task of trying to work out how much monetary value we are donating to charity so that we can have a tax rebate! I need to itemize and photograph each of the bags and there are about 8 bags so far!! I will do that slowly I think!

Once I have finished with the clothes, I shall sort out the toys and so hopefully in the next couple of weeks, we shall be in good shape! Now I know that Silas is a boy, I won't keep anything once Esther or Silas for that matter - has finished with it and will donate a small bag at a time which will make life easier!

Yesterday the girls played outside all day whilst we were in the garage and Silas sat in the buggy or slept which was good. He had a funny day yesterday and I am not sure what caused it as there are several options! Firstly to tell you that he had a breakfast for the first time and that he had oatmeal cereal mixed with formula. He enjoyed it but then he was quite sick over the course of the day - more so than usual and then he did a large and very runny poo which is not like him at all; he has had quite formed stools recently. finally at bedtime his skin had erupted into these nasty red blisters underneath the skin and it was everywhere. He had not had a happy day yesterday and wasn't too happy on Friday although at the time I put it down to being too tired.

So, I don't know what caused his funny tummy yesterday! Was it just a coincidence, did he have a bit of a bug, Was it the milk, was it the broccoli or water that he had or was it the gluten in the oats? All these things are running through my mind plus a few more and as yet, I don;T know which it is! Time will tell but I tell you something, I hope it isn't a wheat or gluten allergy otherwise I shall never be able to cook anything for any of us that we will all eat!! Cooking has got so much easier recently as well since we have discovered lactose free milk as it means that I can make a white sauce that we can all eat which is great with fish especially! Ah well!

Today Silas has been much better in that he has been quite happy (apart from the fact he still isn't too keen on church!) and he had carrots for lunch and avocado for tea which he enjoyed. He was still quite sickly after the carrots but not quite as bad as the broccoli yesterday! I didn't give him a breakfast though and will wait a few days before I try him with some rice cereal and some formula milk and see what happens! I am fairly confident that all will be well but after having had Esther I am a bit nervous!

Last night I went out with some friends to celebrate my birthday. We went to a very nice Chinese restaurant in Bellevue and had a great time! There were 6 of us there and it was great to be able to all chat together! I wasn't sure if I was ever going to get there though as my the lens fell out my glasses and for a while we couldn't; find the screw. Eventually Tim found it and managed to fix them for me, which was great but by then Silas was yelling and so I had to settle him before I could go off! We weren't too late in the end, only about 10 mins so that wasn't too bad and I had a great time!

Today we went to church in the morning and then stopped off at the bakers to buy a loaf of bread for lunch. This turned out to be a bad move because when I came back with the girls having taken them to the toilet and bought a loaf of bread (in that order!) the battery of my car had died and we couldn't go anywhere! We had left Tim in the car listening to his Zune and unfortunately we had also left the lights on, so the battery objected! Anyway, we decided to try a Mongolian Grill for lunch which was very good and then the car started first time! It just needed a rest!

This afternoon we went to the park and played football and catch for a while before coming home for tea and bed!

On Friday we had music class and school and in the afternoon we were at home, which was good. Tim got in early which was nice too and so we had a pleasant afternoon and evening. Naomi was playing a game of ringing on the doorbell whilst she was out in the garden with Tim and found it very funny when I told her that she couldn't come in and when I said "you again!!" She went running to tell Tim, giggling! It didn't matter how many times I told her that the door was open, she still wanted to have the fun of ringing the doorbell!!

We went to the University of Washington on Thursday so that Naomi could participate in the study. it was fine but a long way to go for a very short time! They thought that the study would take about 30 minutes but Naomi finished in about 15. They asked me if Naomi liked to read stories!!! I found that very funny! The study is to see how children acquire stereotypes and they are in the pre testing phase of seeing whether the test will work at this age group and will give them the data. Naomi enjoyed it and liked the thought that she was helping the lady do her test! She came out saying that there was a duck and a tiger that kept on saying "Good Job!".

After the testing we then went to University Village so that we could have some lunch and go shopping in Hanna Andersson where there was a sale on! We bought some lovely clothes for the summer which was good! The $10 that the University paid me paid for our petrol so that was good!

We were saddened this week to hear of the young man who shot himself and so many of his fellow students in Virginia. I try not to make too many political remarks in my blog because it is a family blog but I do feel very strongly that these tragic events will continue until people in this country decide that it is just not acceptable to own a gun and for the constitution to be amended. It saddens me that people are not willing to stand up and say "we need to change, guns need to be banned" and I have to ask how many more people are going to needlessly die and families suffer before such a change occurs. We celebrate and remember this year the anniversary of the abolition of Slavery, which was unthinkable only a few years before that; isn't it time that we start to voice the need to remove guns from society completely and without exception? Great journeys start from one small step.

Helpful Naomi

Hello! Hope that this finds you well! We are fine! We have had a lovely few days and we have been quite busy.

We had our usual gym/school/ballet on Monday and for once we didn't try and squeeze anything else in! Yesterday we met up with our new friends, Marie and Caitlin, at the KidsQuest museum. We had a lovely morning with them and all the children played well.

When we were at the museum, Naomi and Caitlin were having a grand time climbing up the tree house and then coming down the stairs and then climbing up again. Esther was not at all keen and played on her own happily elsewhere. Caitlin went up at one point on her own and came back a few minutes later to say to her mum that there was a little boy at the top of the treehouse who was crying because he couldn't get down. We suggested to her that she helped him down and I asked Naomi if she would go and help, which she did. Marie and I couldn't see Naomi and Caitlin but we could hear Naomi asking him if he was stuck. We lost sight of them for a few minutes and couldn't see them either but then suddenly we saw Caitlin coming down and she said that he was coming. We then saw Naomi bringing the little boy down very carefully and slowly; she was holding his hand and was saying "here's another step" and gradually she got him down to the bottom. At one point just at the last step, she let go and the little boy wailed and so she took his hand again and brought him down the step! I was so proud of her - she was such a star and she was so good at helping him. When I told her how proud I was of her, she was obviously proud of herself as she beamed at me! It was lovely! The funny thing though, was that no sooner had Naomi and Caitlin got him down, he followed them up to the top again, although this time, he was able to follow them down rather than needing Naomi's hand. In all this, no-one had a clue who this child was with, Marie and I didn't see any sort of carer at all to say something to; can you believe it?

In the afternoon we met up with our playgroup at Kelsey Creek Park and it was a wonderful time too. The afternoon was warm and sunny and we went up to see the new piglets which were sweet!

Today we had school in the morning and then we went to the library and to the Salmon Hatchery this afternoon. Naomi said coming home from school on Monday that she wanted to see the Salmon and it was a brilliant idea. The salmon hatched in early January and are now a couple of inches long. We couldn't see them in the large tanks but there are some in an aquarium on the site that the girls could see. There is also a small interpretive centre there and so the girls could see the stages from eggs to large spawning salmon that we see in October.

Silas slept through the night on Sunday night and I woke up feeling refreshed although jumped out of bed in a fright to check that he was OK! He was of course! I was really hopeful that it might be the start of something new and wonderful but it wasn't! He woke up once on Monday night and was disturbed last night. But I know that he can do it and so we will get here! Generally he has been sleeping better in his own room and I am not as aware as him stirring as I was, which is good.

Silas has perfected the art of rolling over these last 2 days and now does it almost as soon as you put him down. He is the youngest of all the children to roll as Naomi was 7 months and Esther was 9 months (although Esther crawled at 7 months). He is still not too sure about it though and cries after a while. Today he even started to sit on his own but only for about 5 or 6 seconds! It was a start! He is so interested in every thing around him that every time you sit him up he falls over as he tries to reach for something, like his toes, or my toes, or the Vaseline, or the wipes or even a toy! He is delightful and is enjoys his food. Today he had parsnip for dinner and mango for tea, which he loved! he gets very cross when the bowl is empty!

Esther is fine and her drawing has come on hugely in a short space of time, in that she is now drawing people with proper arms and legs. Her faces are quite scary though with large bulbous eyes and straight mouths but they are recognizable people. She and Naomi were making me laugh yesterday in the bath as they were playing at being Alpacas. You might remember that I told you that Esther had been bitten by an Alpaca the last time we went to the zoo with Maddie and there the girls were, giggling and giggling, pretending to bit one another's fingers and taking it in turns to be the alpaca! What a bizarre game!!

tomorrow Naomi is taking part in a study at the University. I can't remember what it is all about but they phoned up the other day asking for her and since it is on a computer, she is keen to go! I will let you know how we get on on Sunday!

Anyway, that is all for now, will write on Sunday

Birthdays!

Hello. Yes, this week I have celebrated my birthday along with Mum and Niels (Poor Helen and Dad!) and it was fun! We have also said Goodbye to Granny and Grandad this week too, which was sad but we will see them soon, along with many others of you we hope!

My birthday was Wednesday and it was a lovely sunny day. We haven't had such good weather as you but it hasn't been bad most  of the time. Tuesday and Thursday were a bit overcast but otherwise it has been very April Showers, which has been fine. we've managed to dodge most of them!

As it was so warm and sunny on Wednesday we went to a lovely park called Luther Burbank Park that is on Mercer Island. From the tip of the park, there is a stunning view of Seattle and of Lake Washington. Most of the enormous houses that are adjacent to the park have enormous boats moored in the lake and my goodness, they were huge! It is a lovely walk though to the tip of the park and at the other end there is a small beach  and an ' earth sculpture' that the girls enjoyed running in and out of. In the middle, there is a playground that is fairly old but the girls still enjoyed it.

It was great on Wednesday as Tim was able to take the day off work and so we all had a lovely day together. It was especially nice as Tim's parents were leaving the next day and so it was good that we could all spend the last day together. I was able to have a lie in in the morning (Silas has been shocking at sleeping this week though!) and then I went to have my hair cut in the evening.

After the children were asleep, Vanessa came round to babysit and we all went out to dinner; we went to a local restaurant that was the sister to the one that Tim and I went to in North Bend in February. I think actually the one in North Bend was better but it was still a lovely meal.

On Thursday, I had a nap in the morning as Silas was awake half the night again and then we all took Pam and Ken to the airport in the afternoon. That was all we did really!

On Friday we went shopping in the morning and then met up with Vanessa and the children in a new park in the afternoon. We had a good time at the new park and will probably go back as it was close to us both which was good! It was fairly shaded as well, which is useful in the summer!

Yesterday we had a morning catching up with jobs and then met up with Victoria and the children in the park in the afternoon. We met at a park that I haven't been to since we arrived - Farrell Mc Whirter park in Redmond and we dodged the showers and had a good walk before going into Redmond for some supper altogether. IT was a good afternoon and we enjoyed being outside despite the rain.

Today we have been at church this morning and then went for dinner with a family that we are getting to know. It was a great time and we all really enjoyed it. We (just the Sneath's) then went to Green Lake Park which is always pretty on a day like today for a walk around some of the lake and a play in the playground. When we came home it was just time for tea and then bed!

We have not slept well this week; Silas has been shocking. So much so that yesterday morning at 6:!5 I moved him into his own room as he was being so noisy! I am hoping that if I don't hear his every stir that he and I might sleep better! We had been changing him in there for a few days sot hat he could get used to it and it seemed to work! he didn't wake up until 5:40 this morning for a feed! It was great! he is still gorgeous in the day time though! He even rolled over from his back to his front this evening although didn't think much of it! He is not quite sitting but is such a fidget that I think it is a few weeks off. Every time you sit him up between your legs or a cushion he reaches to get something-- his toes, your toes, a nappy, the wipes or even a toy!- and he topples over! I am sure that if he sat still he might actually sit! But there you go!

Esther and Naomi continue to love their drawing and will spend a lot of their day drawing pictures, usually for Maddie! Esther's drawing has come on a lot in the last week and yesterday she drew the best picture of a person that I have ever seen her do. Unfortunately, it was on her leg and so we had to wash it off although Tim did threaten to chop off her leg so that he could take it to work!

When they are not drawing, the are playing with their Playmobile people! They love it but it has lots of small pieces that are not Silas friendly! I am going to have to come up with an alternative plan very soon!

Well that is about it for now; Tim has posted some photos, so go and have a look! Until next week then....

A trip to Fawlty Towers

Happy Easter! We hope that you have been able to enjoy this time and we think fondly of the days when we too had a bank holiday!

We have had a bit of a disastrous day today, although we are all fine and it improved as the day went on! It started this morning when we noticed a large puddle of water on the floor of the cloakroom; initially I thought that the girls had missed the toilet bowl and mopped it up but then it reappeared a few minutes later. It seems that there is a crack near the handle that the water is leaking through. We have stopped it for now and need to work out what we do next!

The next thing to go wrong was that we realised that Tim's car has a slow puncture but he can fix that in the morning we think. We went to church which was uneventful and then had booked to go to the newly opened Hilton Garden Inn in Issaquah for a much advertised Easter Brunch. It sounded lovely and as the hotel is trying to promote itself to the neighbourhood as a venue for dinners and things, we thought it would be a good place to go. It was a real shambles though and was a bit like going to Fawlty Towers for lunch!

It started off by us having to wait behind about 30 other people for a table, which after 35 minutes we finally got a table. However, I had to go and fetch a high chair for Esther from the restaurant (the buffet was held in the ball room), and when Pam went to tell the lady on reception that there weren't any paper towels in the toilets, the lady first went to check to see if Pam was telling the truth and then her answer was "Well, there's plenty in the men's"! How unhelpful is that! Finally when we went into the room, we saw the food as it was a buffet and it looked awful, really dried up and most unappetizing. Worse still there was some ham for Esther to eat but that was it, there weren't any potatoes, vegetables or fruit that they had advertised! At that point we walked out and went to Panera bakery for a sandwich.

Although it was much better there we still had problems as they had got our order wrong twice and had run out of half of Ken's choice of sandwich! Still it was edible and the service much better! By the time all this was over, it was time to go home for tea! Well, not quite, we went to Home Depot first!

It was wet yesterday and so we went into Bellevue Square to do some shopping. I was in desperate need to buy some shoes and so we were looking for them but I couldn't find anything. In the end, Tim and I went out again yesterday evening and found 2 pairs, a summer sandal and  trainer pair so that was good!

Yesterday was a complete contrast to Friday which was a beautifully warm day, with temperatures up in the 70's. Esther and Silas and I went to the park and made a new friend, another English lady who has a 6yr son and a 3yr daughter. The boy was at school but Esther played well with the girl and the mum and I were chatting. We hope to meet up again sometime next week. We had to dash off to DubDub at the end and I still hadn't been shopping but we had a good sing and then collected Naomi. In the afternoon we played outside for a bit before making some little chocolate crackelate nests for Easter that the girls enjoyed.

Pam and Ken returned from their trip on Friday evening and they had had a spectacular time although I think that they were glad to return to more normal civilisation! Vegas was a bit too crazy I think! It was good to see them!

Thursday morning we went to the park with Vanessa and the children for a while and then we were at home in the afternoon. Hayley came round in the afternoon to play with the girls whilst I did some clearing up and it was good to have some quieter afternoons last week. This week we shall have a busy start to the week in particular.

The children have been funny this week. Naomi has taken to whispering great secrets to you. These can be quite long conversations but she still persists in whispering it all to you! It is very funny! The great secrets can be anything to "Mummy, I had a spoonful of Grandad's ice cream" to "Mummy, I have hidden your birthday presents so that you can't find them"! She is very sweet!

Esther has been insisting on wearing a dress this week, in fact she has 2 favourites and would, ideally, wear them on alternate days, with no thought of washing or ironing them in between! Anyway, she has then been holding out her skirt with one hand, just like Cinderella and then will dance around with one arm in the air and the other holding her dress. If an adult is around, then you have to be the handsome prince and put your arm on her waist to dance with her. This is not easy but she is very particular! It looks very cute!

Silas is very jolly and very mobile! He has rolled onto his tummy once or twice this weekend, much to his surprise! He loves to blow bubbles, which  is great unless he has a spoonful of carrot in the mouth at the time! I have started to give him a lunch and a tea but it hasn't improved the sleeping just yet! He loves to be involved with things and likes to feel included! He gives great grins to you and has been shouting and starting to say "dadda". I have just fed him again as he didn't feed all that well at bedtime and when he saw Tim he was beaming and beaming and looking very pleased with himself!

That is about it for now; I probably won't blog on Wednesday as it is my birthday and we are going out! Will write next weekend sometime! Bye for now! 

Fluffy Yellow Chicks

Hello. Hope that this finds you all well. Esther has been a bit under the weather today but otherwise we are OK. She perked up as the evening went on and by bed time was her normal self! It was very odd!

We have had a more normal week this week as Granny and Grandad went to Las Vegas on Monday morning. We are looking forward to seeing them on Friday night and hearing all about the Grand Canyon. On Monday we had Gym class, School and music class as normal which went well. Esther's Gym class needs my involvement less and less, which is good as it is preparing her for being in a class on her own next year. Silas also is starting to get a little restless sitting in the car seat so it is good if I don't have to spend all the time with Esther as I can be with him a bit more.

Yesterday was a glorious day - warm and sunny, completely different to Monday! It was so beautiful that we went to the park first thing in the morning for an hour or so before going to buy some shopping. In the afternoon we went to Rosie's house in Kirkland for a craft afternoon and it was lovely to sit in the sunshine and do some craft with the children. Yesterday we made decorated foam Easter Eggs, card flowers in little pots (made from a toilet roll), a caterpillar and a little chick! We had a spring theme as you can tell! The chicks were cute but the mothers did most of them as the children got bored of winding the wool round and round their plastic lid! This was my craft so I am allowed to be critical! IT was good fun and the children all enjoyed themselves! And despite getting lost and confused in Kirkland it didn't take us too long to get home which was a bonus!

Today we had school this morning and Esther, Silas and I went shoe hunting for me, but found nothing. This afternoon we stayed at home as Vanessa dropped off the children so that she could go to a consultation with Maddie's teacher. The girls and I filled our eggs for the Easter Egg hunt on Saturday which I must drop round in the morning on the way out!

That is all our news for now - I will try and write on Sunday if I can! Take care!

A visit to the Tulip Farm

Hi! Hope that you are all well.  I am thankful to announce that we are now all well but that it has taken most of this week. Tim was finally better on Friday but then I had a mild version on Saturday but today we are all well and have had a fun day at the Tulip Farm. More about that later!

On Thursday we had a lovely day in Seattle at Volunteer Park. It was a very warm and sunny day and it was really beautiful to be outside. We had great fun at the play ground and then had a wander around the Conservatory before coming home. The Conservatory had large cacti and beautiful orchids which we all enjoyed seeing. We were delighted that Vanessa and the children could join us, which made the children's enjoyment all the greater! For lunch we visited a great cafe not far from the park which had a large area for the children to play in as well as really delicious food!

It was wet by Friday afternoon although the morning was pleasant. We had school and music class as normal, which was fun. In the music class there are 2 twin girls who adore and look up to Esther (how bizarre is that?!!) and they often play really well at the end of the group especially if I am feeding Silas before we go to collect Naomi. On Friday the twins' Dad was there and when he realised who Esther was, said, "so you're Esther, I hear about you every day!!" I did laugh!! On Friday the girls were playing running up and down the slope whilst the mum's chatted, which was fun for them!

In the afternoon we went to see Amy and Elisabeth. We weren't there very long as Silas was sleeping and I didn't want to wake him up! we had a good time though and it was Amy who was telling me about the Tulip Farm.

Yesterday, Tim and his parents took the girls to University Village whilst Silas and I slept mostly! I had a touch of Tim's bug I think but slept it off.

Today we went to the Tulip farm which was out in Mount Vernon, which is about  a 90 minute drive from here. IT was a long way but we have had a lovely day and the girls really enjoyed it too. The tulips are just coming out and so were very  pretty and the Daffodils are out too so we could see field upon field of daffodils growing by the side of the road. We stopped to wander around a proper garden for a couple of hours this afternoon which was fun. The girls ran and ran and enjoyed the freedom.

We stopped at an inn for some lunch and I had to feed Silas. This caused a great shock to the couple next to us who were not in approval I think! I studiously avoided their gaze but Tim and his parents were watching their reaction. Apparently, the lady first looked shocked with her mouth open, then giggled, then said to her husband "look what that lady is doing - no don't look!!!" It was very funny especially as they were very obvious about it! They didn't say anything and really there was so little to see as most of the time I was facing away from them and even when I wasn't, I covered up using my cardigan and jumper! Ah well! Silas was hungry and needed feeding!

Silas is being a right pickle at sleeping at the minute. WE are having some really bad nights with him and he is not sleeping well in the day time! I hope it is just a phase! We will move him into his own room soon I think. In the day time he is a darling as he is smiley and so talkative! He shouts and shrieks at the top of his voice and is incredibly loud!! It is amazing! He can roll from his front to his back and is almost sitting; I don't think he will be long. He loves his evening dinners and I am looking forward to starting more foods in the next month.

Esther and Naomi have said some funny things this week! Naomi muddles her words from time to time and talks about "mark books" and (my favorite) "man-caves" (cavemen!). Esther talks about "lockers" meaning that she is a gate to get through (you just tickle under her arms and the gate opens!!) and the "doctor practor" meaning the chiropractor!

Naomi was very "David Bailey" today and was organising Tim in taking the photos! She was telling Esther where to stand and what photos she wanted Tim to take "Now take one of me and Esther by the Tulips, Daddy" and such like. She was mystified on Friday when we drove past the Flag that we see on the way to school as it looked like a new one and she, very sensibly, asked how the new flag had got put up!  I think she was envisioning a very large ladder!

Esther the other night got to bed earlier than Naomi and she was quiet so I thought she had gone to sleep. However, when Pam took Naomi up she found that Esther had put on the blue Cinderella dress up dress and was in bed, beaming! She is a funny old stick!

Anyway, that is all for now! Will write on Wednesday!