The adventures of the Sneath family in the Pacific Northwest of America.
Will be written at a later date! I have not been sleeping at all well with Silas and i am very tired! We have had a busy week with our visitors but they are leaving tomorrow. I will hopefully write in the next couple of days!
Hope that you are all well and sorry for the delay!
Hello! Hope this finds you well. We are fine here although I am rather tired, so this will probably be quite short tonight and I will write more another day.
We have had a busy day today - busier than I expected but tomorrow should be a bit easier. more on that later.
We had a quiet start to the week and a successful one as we managed to get my car fixed! It turned out that the replacement battery that we had bought was faulty and so they have replaced the battery and the car now works fine! So we were very pleased! I feel a lot more relaxed about driving it now!
However as the car was in the garage, it meant that we couldn't go anywhere so we had a pleasant day at home, doing some school work, going for a walk and playing. Chad came in teh afternoon for a bit which was wonderful as it meant that I got all the beds made for the family!
the family were delayed coming in and didn't get to us until 1:30 am which was too late for me!! We did a quick introduction and orientation and then went to bed. They had had a 3 day journey! Terrible really! There are 6 of them; Mum Dad and 2 boys (15 and 5) and 2 girls (13 and 8). They are all tiny and Naomi is about the same size as the 8 year old! The oldest boy speaks a bit of English, but not too much!
Yesterday we spent the day at home, trying to work out some sort of common language! The Dad speaks some French although with a strong African accent which can be hard to understand at times! This is not helped by the fact that I find it a hard accent to understand any way! Tim has been delightedly telling people here about the time I spent 2 hours in a Nigerian church service convinced that it was in Hausa only to discover at the end that it was in English, so you can see the difficulty I have with teh french! It is not helped by the fact that the dad uses words in a different context. Yesterday he kept saying that something was dead which sent me anxiously counting them all only it to turn out to be the toilet that needed fixing! Phew!!
Late in the afternoon the family's case worker came to pick them up to take them to a meeting, which meant that the children and I went to the park. IT was lovely to be outside in teh sun again!
Today Esther had an ultrasound on her kidneys (all looked OK although haven't heard for sure) and then I came home and collected the other two (Tim had been at home with them) and I took the girls to the kids camp at church. They had a great time and just as we were about to leave for home, we discovered that we needed to take the family to the second hand store so that they could buy some clothes. We had a successful shop and then they could finally change out of the clothes that they had been in for a good few days! Even had a shower too, so that was good!!
Anyway, going to go to bed now! Will write on Sunday!
Hello. We have been sorry to hear of all the flooding in the UK this week and hope that your homes are safe and dry and that you are all safe and well. Poor people. We haven't had good weather here this week - it has been more like January rather than July and it has been very wet on and off since last Wednesday. We are hoping that it will dry up this week - for you and for us!
For the most part, the wet weather hasn't changed our plans really. We were planning on going to the Imagine Children's museum in Everett on Thursday any way, which we did and not much was happening this weekend either. We did stay at home on Friday morning and our friends came to visit us rather than going to the park, but that was it!
We had a tiring but great day on Thursday at the Children's museum. Rosie, Caitlin and Cameron live not far from the museum and have been before and said that it was a great place to go. It was and I would like to take the children back there one day but the trip was spoilt to an extent by the large numbers of children brought there by their summer day care agency. So there were Montessori schools and the girls and boys club that were there too and the children were not well behaved and ran riot over the museum really. Unfortunately we arrived at 11:00 just as they did and we were also unfortunate that they ate their dinner as we did too.
Having said that it was brilliantly designed and already Naomi has been asking to go back. There was a farm area, a train area, a water area as well as a plane and other sections. It also had a roof top play ground which was brilliant and all the children had a wonderful time up there. I had to carry Silas on the hippy chick ( I was so glad I had it in the car!) but I could put him down in the special under 2 area. On a quieter day I would let him crawl around a bit more but I couldn't let him do that on Thursday.
We left Everett around 3 pm and stopped off on our way home at Bellevue Square Mall as I needed to buy Naomi a new pair of shoes. The ones we bought in June prior to coming to England have not worn well and she needed a new pair. It took longer than I thought as all the summer sandals were put away but I did find her a pair eventually!
On Friday we had a good morning with Marie, Caitlin and Ed and then in the afternoon we met Tim to go to a wedding. The couple getting married are acquaintances of Tim's but he felt that it was important that we went and so we did. It was an outdoor wedding in Lincoln Park, which is halfway to Tacoma (Tacoma is a good bit south of Seattle!) and so it was a long way. The wedding was at 5pm but we wanted to make sure that we were there in plenty of time, so we left just after 3 and picked up Tim just off the I90. We had a brilliant journey to begin with, and were about 20 mins away just after 4pm, so we decided that we would stop for a coffee, a toilet stop for the girls and to buy some shoe laces for Tim's shoes, which we did. To our utter horror and amazement when we got back in teh car to go the stupid thing wouldn't start and so we had to ask someone to jump start it for us!
Well, by the time we got to the wedding it was 1 minute to 5 and so we raced through the park following the signs to the wedding expecting to see the bride and groom in front of us and expecting to be apologetic and late. You can imagine our surprise when we arrived at the wedding site to find no one there except a cellist and another friend of Tim's.
Anyway to cut a long story short we waited an hour and a half for this wedding to happen in the rain!! When we first arrived it was not raining and looked as if it might brighten up but soon after it started to pour and we had lightning!! As we had left the car in a rush and because we were not expecting to be out long I had only brought one umbrella with us and not even our black bag but after about 45 minutes, Tim went back to the car to fetch more umbrellas and the bag as the children were getting hungry! It was tea time!! We were just about to give up on the whole thing when we finally saw the groom and so we stayed to see the wedding. The girls would have been disappointed to have gone all that way without seeing ladies in pretty dresses!
Finally at 7pm we were in teh car (which started thankfully!) and we were half way to Tacoma, it was bed time and the children hadn't had any tea! We drove through a McDonalds on the way home for the girls as we didn't want to stop the car again!! They were in bed around 8:30 which wasn't bad all things considered!!
The car is still playing up although we haven't had to jump start it again. It is going in to be serviced and looked at tomorrow and so I am hoping that by tomorrow night it will be fixed! It is a pain!!
Yesterday Tim had to work for a few hours and so we stayed at home in the morning and then the children and I did some shopping in the afternoon before meeting Tim at an indoor barbeque! We had a fun time with friends!
We went to church today and then did some shopping - our refugees arrive tomorrow night; they are Burundian and there are 6 of them! They are used to living in mud huts in a refugee camp in Tanzania so it is going to be a shock living here. Hopefully we will be able to ease their shock a little bit and introduce them to the joys of running water, electricity and doorknobs!! We will let you know how we get on! Remember us all in your prayers though please!!
Anyway, that is about it for now! Silas is crawling fast and will now get from where I put him in the lounge to the play room! he was having a great time playing with a ball and his train today and was crawling after them both! The girls are less impressed that he can crawl after their toys though! Silas has learnt to wave this weekend which is quite sweet!
Hope to write later on this week! We'll see how the time goes!! Take care and lots of love to you all!
Hello! Tim and I are sitting here this evening with our laptops on our knees tapping away! It is quite funny really! We have had Chad here this evening and are only now catching up with our email and blog! It has been wt today and chilly and hard to believe that a week ago we were sweltering in over 90f heat! This week I want to go and find my jumper!!
Hope that this finds you well; we are fine and Esther has recovered from her cold and urinary tract infection which is good. Naomi went to see the ophthalmologist on Monday and the doctor was pleased with her eyes and so we don't have to go back for 6 months which is good!
We have a very busy next couple of weeks and it is funny to think that when we started the summer, I was worried that we wouldn't have enough to do!! I have done this evey year though and by September, i am thinking "crumbs, how am I going to fit in school as well as everything else!!'. It is a good sign though I think!!
This week we went to the doctors and then did some shopping on Monday morning and then went to the library show in the early afternoon. Later on the lady visited us from World Relief (the organisation that we host our refugees through) to talk about the family we were expecting. Unfortunately, we heard today that they are not coming but we are having a family from Burundi instead! There are 6 of them and not a good age match for our family but they will only be with us a short time and so we will all manage! They arrive one day next week.
Yesterday we met up with Jo and Zoe at the park and then our playgroup met up at a nice park on the shores of Lake Washington, that we don't normally go to, so that was good! Today we met up with Amy and Elisabeth at the bouncy place and the girls all had a good bounce around for an hour or so! Esther was even brave enough to go down the steep slide with me which was good! I like the slide - it's fun but it is hard work climbing up the steps to the top! You use muscles that you don't normally use for some reason!
In the evenings this week, I have been out in the garden doing some gardening. I have enjoyed it and it is good to see the garden looking less untidy!! I like being outside and it is good excesses, which is good too! I have even begun to think about making plans for the garden which is a real shock to the system!!
Anyway, tomorrow we are off to the Children's museum in Everett for the day with Rosie and Ulrike and the children, which is good and then on Friday we are going to a wedding which Naomi is very excited about! The couple are colleagues of Tim and we are just going to the ceremony!
Silas was very sweet this morning. he had had a good night last night and woke up early! The girls came down when they woke up and he came crawling toward them eager to give them kisses! They were delighted with their kisses even though the kisses were very wet ones!!
Hello! Silas has started to crawl!! He doesn't go far yet and is obviously not too sure about it because he still looks a bit perplexed when he does it! He has at least managed to learn to do it whilst smiling - as he has been learning this week, he was whimpering even though we were there encouraging him! He has also this week been practicing how to stand up on 2 feet and has got very good at it! he needs to hang on but is actually quite strong. He has also been practicing how to pull himself up and he and I have been playing a game whereby he bumps onto his bottom from standing and then pulls up to standing using my hands or arms. This evening just before tea, I could hear that he was upset and found him upright holding onto the settee for dear life! Bless him, he is a clever boy! Another stage is upon us!
The girls have been funny the last two days. Esther came running into me the other day saying that she had put the queen onto her fairy Godmother's (Hannah) name. When I worked out what she meant, it turned out that the had put the Queen picture that should go under the 'Q' letter on our alphabet wall hanging on the 'H" letter because Aunty Hannah was like a Queen! She was very sweet! Today the girls were watching "Pocahontas" only Esther pronounces it "Honkaponkas" which has a certain ring to it!
Naomi on the other hand has been shocking fellow shoppers by remarking in the post office on Friday that there was a "rubber on the end of that pen"! Heigh ho! You can tell that she has been at home with Mummy a lot recently, when it is a normal school term she doesn't call it a rubber (a condom over here!) and calls it an eraser! Oops!
Both girls went to school on Friday and they came out wearing volcano hats which were very jolly. In the afternoon they played with teh babysitter whilst I did some clearing up and read stories to Silas which he really enjoys!!
On Saturday we did very little in the morning and then went shopping in the afternoon. Tim went out to Chad's birthday party and returned in the early hours!! Well almost!
Today we had a busy day, so much so that it feels ages since we were at church this morning. After church we took a long time to get to a pick-your-own farm to pick some raspberries. WE were hoping to pick loads and to make some jam or a pie but in fact the raspberries were either unripe or had been picked already. We managed to pick a small amount which the children had for tea!
We had some lunch in Redmond Town Center and then the children and I went to a lovely new play space in the centre. It had a lot of scientific / musical toys as well as a large rain-maker in teh middle that made you get very wet!! Nice on a hot day though!
Tim had to return the shirt that he bought in Eddie Bauer yesterday because when he put it on this morning, it made me feel sick and dizzy and he couldn't wear it! Wasn't that funny! Poor Tim!! He ended up with some nice new ones today though and the selection was better!
We have had to move the cot mattress down to the next level this evening as Silas can now get from lying down to sitting and this morning I found him leaning on the side of the cot on his knees, so lowering it will prevent him from falling out any way!
Yesterday when tea was ready, Esther was being 'helpful' and had started to feed Silas whilst I was finishing brining things in. Tim was in the room, so I wasn't concerned about it and it was interesting to see how she got on. She and Naomi actually do quite well. Anyway, when I took over, Silas started to blow bubbles and cry and Esther said "he didn't do that when I fed it mummy!!" Talk about being put in one's place!
Well,, that is about it for now! Not too sure what this week will bring so will write when I can!
Hello! How are you? Hope that this finds you well. WE have all gone down with a silly cough and Silas and Esther have a nasty cold with it too but otherwise we are fine. Esther woke up this morning with a temperature but was much better by bed time. It meant though that our plans to go out for the day with Rosie and the children went out the window, much to Naomi's disgust but we will try to do it again next week. I don't know, poor Esther, she is not having much luck. If she wakes up OK in the morning, then she can go to school but if not then she will have to stay at home with me. She won't like that that's for sure!
So today we went to Target this morning and then this afternoon the girls started to make a Castle (out of boxes and toilet roll tubes) as well as helping me to wrap up some parcels and playing. At one point we were all playing the air guitar - I blame Daddy and that daft x-box game he has myself!! It was funny though!
Yesterday the girls went to school in the morning and then our friends Lisa, with the twins Katie and Sarah came round in the afternoon to play and to keep cool for a bit. The girls were playing with the hose once they had gone and came in dripping wet but cool! I went out last night to a meeting about the refugee organisation World Relief. This is the organisation that we have hosted the families through and it looks like that we might have another family this month, although it is such a fluid system that we equally might not!!
On Tuesday we met Naomi's school friend Hayley at the park, which was fun and in teh afternoon we were just at home because it has been scorching hot this week and it has been nice to stay in!
On Monday after school, the children and I went to a show at the library. It was free and very good; the children enjoyed it and there is one each Monday for the next month. WE shall try and get to the others as it was fun. We popped into the library for a bit after the show and then came home.
Silas is getting very good at propelling himself forward although he is neither commando crawling or crawling properly, it is something in between. However he does move which he likes! He has tried to crawl but gets cross and cries, poor love! He is also really strong on his legs and can stand with you being there for balance only. He is learning to put his legs down to push himself up too; he is a clever boy!
Naomi is fine and so good with Silas! When she is in a good mood, she is so lovely, she is quite easy going, she is great company and fun to have around. It is another story if she is grumpy mind you but we haven't had any bad days for a while now! She was delighted this morning to hear that one of the children that we now sponsor as a family in Ghana is also called Naomi!
Apart from Esther's bad run of health, she is fine too and is very loving. She loves hugs and kisses and cuddles! She has been learning her letters at home and is beginning to recognise some more of them. Goodness knows what she does at school - it is hard to get it out of her but she hasn't brought much work home with her yet!
I am still suffering from stopping feeding Silas last week, which is ironic given that I didn't have enough milk to feed him. I am hoping that it will improve in the next day or so because it is still quite uncomfortable! Never mind!
Tim is fine!
Anyway, had better go! Will write on Sunday! Take care!
Good Evening! Hope that this finds you all well and slightly drier than you have been this last month or so!! I hate to tell you this but it is beautiful here, warm and sunny and predicted to bet really hot in the next few days! Thank goodness for air conditioning!
The hot, sunny weather has given us a problem of a different kind though. Unfortunately, Esther woke up on Friday morning with a urinary tract infection and has been prescribed some antibiotics. However, one of the common side effects of these antibiotics is that there is an increased sensitivity to sunlight and given that she is so fair anyway, we have been advised to keep her out the sun as much as possible. This is not easy in July when it is hot and sunny! So this week, I am on the hunt for indoor things to do and will need to limit our time that we have at the park, I think. At least the girls are at school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, which will help!
Poor Esther was so upset on Friday when she couldn't go to school; she sobbed and sobbed loudly! She is looking forward to going in the morning which is good. We had a bit of a mix up at the doctors. When we first arrived, Esther needed to go to the toilet and so I went round to ask the nurse for a sample pot and bed pan thing to collect the sample. Well, there was a new nurse there who was drawing up immunisations in a syringe and so when I asked for the sample pot, she asked me to wait, which I understood. However I was a little surprised when she started to draw up a second syringe and by this time Esther was starting to jig up and down! I had to ask her and get quite cross with the nurse before I finally had a pot for Esther to fill up! Poor Esther!
The confusion didn't stop there though as then the doctor muddled up Esther with another girl who also had a urine sample taken. The doctor came in with the result and said that Esther didn't have an infection and gave me some advice and sent me on our way. I was a bit surprised but took Esther and Silas to change his nappy. As we were leaving, the nurse came running after me and asked if we would go back into the room as they had discovered Esther's urine test result and it showed that she did in fact have an infection! Anyway, she is all sorted now, which is the main thing and she no longer has any pain. She is not ken on taking the medication though but the long dormant skills of a children's nurse have awoken and Mummy is winning! This evening she took it without a fuss, mainly because I sang a verse of Yankee Doodle whilst we did it and bribing with chocolate works well!
On Thursday we met up with Marie, Caitlyn and Ed at the park which was fun! Silas woke up with a temperature and a cold, but was well enough to come to the park. In the afternoon we stayed at home and I did some clearing up.
Yesterday we had a breakthrough with Silas as he has started to take milk from a feeder cup. It has to be a specific cup but he has taken it well in teh mornings. He took the evening cup well last night but wasn't too bothered this evening. he hasn't had much sleep today (partly our fault and partly his) and was very cranky by this evening. He was in bed by 6:30!! He is full of cold and coughing and so I hope that he sleeps well and is better in the morning. He still is a bit difficult to give milk to but is a lot better than he was!
We had a quiet morning yesterday and then went out for lunch. Silas was shocking at grabbing everything and anything in his reach and at one point grabbed hold of Tim's lemon. Well, we watched him put it in his mouth expecting him to pull a face and drop it but instead he sucked it and sucked it! Strange child!! He literally devoured the lot!! After lunch we went to do a bit of shopping and then went to a Goodbye party for some friends from church. We had a good time!
today we said a final farewell to our friends who move to Chicago on Thursday and then went to the Aquarium, which we all enjoyed. They have opened the new bit which is very nice and the children all enjoyed the fish and the seals! Naomi said that it had been a nice day when she went to bed and she was clearly very content with life!
Esther was making us giggle yesterday as we were playing "I spy" and after every guess, she said "good guess, try again!" You can see how the game goes when I play with them on my own!! Esther is so unpredictable with the game though, you spend for ever trying to think of things that begin with an "S" for example only to discover that it is a elephant in her imagination!
Well, that is about it for now! Hope that this finds you all well and I will write again soon!
Hello and Happy July 4th as they say here! We have had a bank holiday today and we've had a wonderful day! The weather has been glorious, very hot and sunny and we have enjoyed being outside in the sunshine as well as enjoying the activities of the day.
This morning we went to Kirkland to see the Parade there. We went two years ago with Mum and Dad and then last year were part of the Issaquah Children's parade. however, I didn't want to do this again and so we decided we would go and watch the Kirkland one. We were there in plenty of time and found a good spot right at the curbside so we could all see (even Silas) and the girls could also run and collect goodies if they wanted to. We watched the Children's parade first and then watched the Coastguard helicopter fly past a few times which was exciting before the main parade began.
The girls and Silas enjoyed the parade and there were horses, De Lorien cars, a fire truck, the police as well as the usual mix of soldiers, sailors and bands. It was fun! We went and found a bagel for lunch after the parade had finished and then went to the park for a bit. This afternoon we saw the film "Ratatouille" which we all enjoyed although it was a bit long for the children and they lost the thread of the film by the end. However, I think they enjoyed it and certainly were not put off by their first cinematic experience!
We have had a long day but we will have a quieter day tomorrow, which will help! yesterday we had a quiet morning at home and then went to the park with Amy and Elisabeth, which was great fun! I went to Target in the evening and bumped into Amy there which was nice too! Tim was working from home yesterday, which worked out well for me as I was able to take just the girls to do some shopping whilst Silas was asleep, which made life easier!
On Monday, Esther had her first morning at school and she coped very well. She and Naomi were in the same class but they won't be in September. However, I think that will help Esther to settle as she will be able to familiarise herself with school and the routine with Naomi there before she has to branch off and do it on her own. Silas had a long nap whilst the girls were in school and I did the ironing, which was good! After school we popped to buy a few things from the craft shop that we needed and then went to the park in the afternoon.
A major milestone has been reached this week for both Silas and myself; I have stopped breastfeeding him altogether! I can't say that it is either of our choice, but I am not producing enough milk and he then gets cross and bites me, which is not comfortable at all! He has learnt that the word "no" is accompanied by shaking the head and he will join in with the head shaking when he hears the work no, even if he is in the other room and hears Tim say no to the girls. Anyway, yesterday evening, he was sucking and sucking and sucking and nothing was coming out and he looked at me, shook his head and then bit me! I couldn't believe it! He knew I was going to say "no" after he bit me and so did it for me first!! It was accompanied by such a cheeky grin as well (he gets that from his father!)! I don't know!!
Anyway, as I said, neither of us are happy about the situation as I am feeling sore and uncomfortable at present, although it has taken most of the day to feel bad, which goes to show that I really wasn't producing much milk. Silas is currently refusing to take anything milk related in any vessel! I tried for half an hour this evening to get him to take something but he wouldn't. I tried a baby cup, a bottle and an ordinary cup as he takes things better from an ordinary cup generally. I am tearing my hair out at present as he is too little to refuse to take milk at all! I did get him to take some milk in a baby cup this morning and then gave him the rest in his cereal so he has had a cupful all day and that is it! I tried when we were out today but no luck! I don't know what I am going to do! I did get him to drink plenty of water / weak juice today but even that was an effort! I am worried he will get dehydrated.
We have also had a saga with Esther's spacer for her inhaler this week, but I think it is sorted now! When she went to the doctors last week, she was prescribed a spacer to take the inhaler through. When I went back a second time to collect the prescription they were trying to give me an adult one without a mask, which Esther is too small to use right now. I asked for a small one with a mask and was told it would take 15 minutes to be given to me. Well, I was literally only going in to collect the prescription so I asked them to post it to me as I didn't want to wait with the children. The spacer arrived on Friday and they had sent me an infant one, which was far to small for Esther's face and so I took it back on Tuesday.
Well, the pharmacist was not a happy lady! She blamed me for not waiting around to see the spacer on Wednesday last week and was cross that I had asked her to post it to me. I just told her that it was for a 3 year old and that the one they had sent me was for an infant. IT didn't help that she couldn't just take it back and swap it and so she was upset that she would be wasting money on another one. Eventually she phoned our insurance who said that they would allow her to dispense another one to us which was good. Hopefully we will collect it tomorrow or Friday. I don't know! You can't buy them over the counter here like you can at home and for some reason it costs twice as much to buy them here as they do over the counter in Boots. I know this because I nearly bought one in England and then decided that I would wait and get one here! I wished I hadn't now!
Anyway, I don't like ending on a whingeing note when we have had such a lovely day, so I will end by saying that we are looking forward to more sunshine this week, a trip to the park with some friends tomorrow and a fun weekend. We have also booked our holiday now - we are going to do a house swap with Becky and Darin in Walla Walla for a week and then go to a place called Wallowa Lake for a week. We are looking forward to it and it should be fun.
Good Evening. Hope that this finds you all well.We are fine here but all very tired. ALL of the children were awake at some point in the night and to make it worse, both times that the girls woke up, Silas woke up and then took ages to go back off to sleep. So we have had a weary day and I even had a nap this afternoon so have at least made it through the evening!
We haven't been very productive this weekend as a result! We had a great day yesterday with our friends, Victoria and James and their children, we had lunch and went to the park which was good fun. As we walked passed the Community Centre in crossroads, I said that I would just pop in and collect a diary of events to see if there was anything interesting to take the children to. As I was in there, some of the basketball players (my, are they tall!) came rushing out and saying "dial 911" which was rather alarming. The man on the desk was asking if the man was breathing and not getting any sense out of his friends I went to take a look. when I first saw the injured man, I thought that the coaches were doing chest compressions on him and my heart skipped a beat but when I had a better look, he was breathing by himself although it was very laboured. He was lying in a pool of blood and they were wanting to have something to act as a bandage so I went and fetched one of the muslin squares from the buggy, which the coach used. I left them once I could hear the ambulance on its way and was satisfied that the guy was getting better rather than worse! It was all very exciting! Poor guy, I have no idea what happened to him and only hope that he is OK.
Today we went to church this morning after a very disturbed night as I said and then went for lunch at a restaurant with a magnificent view of the Puget Sound with Melinda and Chad. It was lovely and we all really enjoyed it, including Silas who tucked into the bread with gusto!! We tried to go to a park after lunch but it was too busy and we were too tired and so we came home.
I have been trying and failing to persuade Silas to take some formula. For the last week or so, I have not been making any milk in the evenings and then Silas gets cross as he wants a bed time feed. His reaction to sucking and sucking and not getting anywhere is to bite me which is very painful with his two little teeth! So as a result, I wanted to introduce a bottle initially at the evening but I tried on Thursday and then Tim tried on Friday and Silas was not having any of it! Tim suggested that I try at a different time of the day and so yesterday I did manage to persuade him to take about an ounce from the bottle in the afternoon when he was hungry for milk but today I tried a cup, a bottle, a cup with a lid and still no joy. I don't know what to do with him! However, on the positive side, I have managed to have enough milk for the evening which is good. I am happy to keep feeding him but not if there isn't anything there and if he is going to bite!
Silas still takes a night time feed and although he has been a right pickle the last couple of nights, he did actually sleep through on two or three nights last week, so I know that he can do it!
Naomi and Esther are well; they go to school tomorrow for a 2 week session of summer school. It will be Esther's first time at school, so I hope that she gets on OK. I think that she and Naomi are going to be together so I am hopeful that it will be alright. She also has the advantage of having been into the school once or twice this year so she has a rough idea of what goes on. We will go to the park tomorrow afternoon if the weather is nice, too.
On Friday Tim surprised us all by arriving home early, which was very nice although he crept in and made me jump! Brooke came for an hour in the afternoon and so we both got a few jobs done, which was good. The girls had dancing on Friday, which they enjoyed and have another one this week too. we didn't do too much else on Friday though as it was raining quite heavily and Silas was asleep in the morning. Naomi and Esther have been having "Mummy's school" last week which they have enjoyed! Esther has been starting to learn her letters and Naomi is beginning to learn how to put letters together to sound out a word. We also made some chocolate crackelates on Thursday which they enjoyed!
On Thursday we had a lovely time at a local park that I don't go to all that often which is a shame as it is very pleasant and the girls had a good time. We were there with the Mother's Club and it was good to catch up with a few people.
Naomi made me chuckle on Friday lunch time. I was giving the children some dinner before they went to dancing and somehow, Esther bit her finger and was wailing loudly. I was being very sympathetic but Naomi just looked at her and said "well, that was daft!" IT was so funny it made me laugh, which of course, I didn't want Esther to know as she would have been upset so I was trying not to laugh but it was so funny!
Well, that is all for now, I am going to sort things out and go to bed! Hope that you have a good week. Stay safe!