All well again now!

Hi! I hope that this finds you well; we are thankfully all well again now and although the runny noses remain, they are getting better too! Silas was very clingy on Monday but he has been back to his normal self again yesterday and today. In fact he has been very cheeky and eating loads, which is a good sign!

I wish I could say the same for Esther who is going through a "I won't eat that" phase which is very tiresome! She will separate her sandwich only then to complain that there are bits on the filling and I cannot persuade her that it is only bread and to eat it! I don't know, she is being very fussy and not behaving well at the table at all, which I don't like! I keep hoping that she will grow out of it, but no sign yet of that happening!

The forecasted snow arrived a day late on Monday night and so we had a day at home, which was very good timing as it gave us all a chance to take it easy! The girls made some pretty cards and we made some chocolate brownies in the afternoon whilst Silas was asleep and we played restaurants in the morning!

The girls had raided my cupboards and drawers and were using real utensils for the cooking. When Silas joined in he too started using my big spoon to stir his little toy saucepan but when I said that I needed a spoon for my soup, he came toddling over with his big spoon and gave it to me to eat my soup with! He was very sweet and funny!

Yesterday though, the snow had gone and it was school in the morning as usual. In the afternoon the girls had their performances at their Ballet / Gym class that we had to watch and it was a long afternoon! We had to be there for over 2hrs 15mins to watch both of them and it was hard! The girls found it difficult to watch each other too, which surprised me but we got through it and I managed to see most of the girls performances. Esther was great at the ballet and on the beam in teh gym and Naomi was really concentrating when she was dancing and knew the steps very well.

Today we have had a problem with our new heating system - we didn't have any heat! And so this morning the man came to fix it. Well, he was here a while and thought he had fixed it but it was still playing up later on today. however it is working now and I hope that it is not going to stop working over night again. This meant though that Ulrike and I couldn't take our usual walk today and so she came here and we walked round here once the man had left.

This afternoon we had a very pleasant afternoon with a  friend at the KidsQuest museum, which was good! Her little boy is only 3 months older than Silas and they had a great time playing with the balls! I have found a super route to the museum which has helped me enjoy it more!

We are expecting some refugees to arrive tomorrow, although until they physically arrive through my front door, I am not confident that they are coming. The family are Burmese and small in number (only Mum, Dad and 2yr old boy) so that is good. Hopefully it will work out well and I don't expect them to be with us after Monday as their appartment is all ready.

That is it for now! Take care!

Parties!

Hello! Hope this finds you well; we are fine but I feel as if this weekend has flown by and I need a couple more days before I can tackle the week again! Ah well! Silas has not been at all well these last few days and so he is clingy and miserable, poor love! He picked up a bit on Thursday and I thought he was well on the mend but on Friday he was really rough, poor little boy and so I was glad that we didn't have much to do that day. He is improving and it has only been a cold but it is a slow process.

On Thursday afternoon we met up with Ulrike and her children for  a run in the park for a bit before finding a handy Starbucks for a quick drink. As this was the first time that the children had met up since before Christmas, we had presents to exchange which was fun and it was a treat for the children to have a drink together! They were brilliant at clearing away the rubbish but were a bit noisy! All good things come at a price I guess!

On Friday morning, I took Silas to Factoria Mall so that I could walk and do a bit of shopping whilst he had a bit of a sleep, which was good. It was really cold here on Friday morning 26 Fahrenheit at 9:45 am! It was too cold to walk outside, hence my attempt to walk inside the mall; however the mall is not as large as I thought and so I had to do a few laps! Still, it was OK and it meant that Silas was warm and cozy which was important when he was not well.

In the afternoon the girls had their sports session and, having had 2 lessons on Soccer, were able to play in a game! Naomi was a good defender and Esther scored a goal but it was very funny to watch! Only one little boy had any idea what to do but the teachers were enthusiastic and encouraged them all along! Next week they either do Basketball or Baseball, I am not sure which!

We were delighted when we came home to find that Tim had also just got in and so that was nice! Our weekend started early! After the children had gone to bed we watched more of LOST which is very exciting!

Yesterday we went to Home Depot (think HomeBase) in the morning and then Tim has been doing all the jobs that we bought bits for on and off the rest of the weekend! In the afternoon it was Elisabeth's birthday party which the children were all invited too, but we dropped Esther and Naomi off in the end and went and did a bit of shopping in the Factory Outlets at North Bend. We were quite successful in our hour and got back just as the children were eating. They had had a fun time!

Today after church, Naomi had a party at the Little Gym which she enjoyed, and then we all had a quiet afternoon here once she came home.

Silas had a lovely play in the sink this afternoon just splashing about with the saucepan brush. When he started to throw water around though, I decided it was time to stop but he had a very happy play for a quarter of an hour! He also likes building things out of blocks and likes to build towers using anything he can find. One day last week he was building a tower out of his juice cup and the salad cream bottle; I decided that he had passed his developmental test if he could do that!

Naomi made me laugh yesterday as she was talking in such a literary fashion! I had read her a story and as we were walking up to bed, she was describing going up the stairs and into bed in exactly the same way as the book we had read! I had to laugh! Esther has been a bit off at times this weekend but is generally OK. She has had several dry nights which is great as I am beginning to think that she might be out of her nighttime nappy this time next week! Thank goodness!

Well, that is it for now! Will write on Wednesday!

Cold, frosty days

Hi! Hope that this finds you well and not too wet! We are currently enjoying some brilliant winter sunshine but it is cold! It is only about 26 degrees Fahrenheit when i get up in the morning outside and in places the frost doesn't go all day! However, it has meant that we have enjoyed seeing the sun!

Poor Silas is not well today. He was a bit off colour yesterday but today he looks poorly and was sick this evening. He has a cold and a cough too so I hope that the rest of us escape it! The girls have a bit of a cough and a cold but are fine in themselves. Silas has not eaten much and has been sleepy and clingy today. I did manage to sit him in front of Thomas the Tank Engine for a bit today but he still wanted to be picked up when I was cooking tea. He actually enjoyed Thomas though and we had lots of "woo woo's" whilst he was watching it!

Silas and I finally met up with Ulrike and Felix today and had a long walk around the Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah this morning. It is a beautiful walk but unfortunately it is very muddy so today was a good day as it was all frozen! It was lovely to see Ulrike again and to have a long chat. We will also see them and Fritzi tomorrow depending on how Silas is.

This afternoon we were due to see another friend but we didn't in the end; both her son and Silas were not too well and we thought we wouldn't share bugs! That meant that we had an unexpectedly free afternoon, which was nice. The girls enjoyed playing and we finished off the big pictures of Wendy and Tinkerbell. We have to decide where they are going to be hung now. The girls want to make a Thomas one for Silas next! I will see how long I can put them off. The pictures look great though and I was particularly impressed with Esther's picture of Wendy as she has done a great job.

We had a day off school on Monday as it was Martin Luther King Day; we went to teh Children's museum with Marie and her children which was good fun. All the children including Silas had a great time and Silas even did some painting on some paper as well as himself, me, the easel, the floor ...! We had a slight delay to our morning as we were waiting for a parcel to be delivered from the British Embassy. I knew it would be Naomi's passport but assumed that there must be something wrong with it as I couldn't believe that they could have processed it in 2 days. I was stunned to discover that it was completed. The Embassy in Washington DC only received it on Monday and UPS had originally tried to deliver it on Friday morning. They must have done it the day it arrived!

We came back from the Children's museum in the afternoon and then later on went to Ballet to make up for the one the girls missed last week. The girls also had ballet yesterday too, which was their last class before the show week next week.

Well, that is about all our news here. Hope that you are all well and I will write on Sunday.

Presents on pillows

Hello! I hope that this finds you well. I am sorry for no blog on Wednesday but I was unwell and wasn't able to write one! I was feeling very dizzy and as if I had "leaden legs" but I am better again now, which is good as I don't have time to be ill this week!

Tim took Thursday off which enabled me to rest and get better and I was able to go out on Thursday afternoon for a while which was good. Tim took the girls to school on Friday morning too which helped enormously and then came home early too; we were both really tired on Friday night and we crashed out and watched 3 episodes of Lost which is most unlike us but good fun!

We had a quiet week really, mainly because we had 2 snow days on Tuesday and Wednesday. The girls had school on Monday morning and Silas and I had coffee with Jen, which was good and then we came home and spent a lovely afternoon painting and reading stories and things. In the evening I had a Homeowners meeting and whilst I was there, it snowed a little - just under an inch I guess. Well, it was bitterly cold and so it froze quickly and so by the morning the roads were icy and so they delayed the school start by a couple of hours. The trouble with that though, for us, is that the girls are only at school for 2.5hours and so it wasn't worth taking Naomi for that last little while. As it was, the snow melted a bit and then quickly refroze making the roads very dangerous and so we decided that it wasn't worth trying to get to Ballet on Tuesday afternoon.

So on Tuesday afternoon we played the new game that Melinda and Chad bought for the girls which was great fun! You have to do very silly things with a prop on top of your head or under your arm or something and it made us laugh a lot! After this, we had an indoor picnic, read more stories and played before tea.

On Wednesday morning I was surprised to discover that the children had another delayed start but by mid morning I wasn't feeling too well and so we didn't do much on Wednesday at all. Tim came home early which was good!

On Thursday Tim took Silas and Esther to Target whilst Naomi was at school and bought me a lovely new tin opener and clock radio alarm amongst other things and in the afternoon we went up to the Highlands Central Park to make huge snow balls! We weren't there long as it was late before we got out (Silas and I were both asleep!).

On Friday, Silas and I had our last music class, which was a relief! He is too old to be doing the class now and really wants to be playing more with the instruments, which is not in the curriculum and so I was glad that we have finished! Silas and I then went for a walk and did the shopping as the girls were staying for lunch on Friday. In the afternoon we had another sports class and then went to the park for  a bit as it was a cold but dry afternoon. The children all had fun on the play set - Silas loves the slide and really giggles coming down it! He is starting to be able to sit down himself but you have to help him get his legs round!

On Saturday it was our Church annual meeting and so we went to church twice this weekend which confused us all! We had a good meeting, the children enjoyed having a social time with their friends and even Silas had a good play, which makes a change! We went for lunch with Chad to a lovely little bakery in Ballard and then popped next door to a wonderful bookshop! It has an amazing children's section and we had to drag the children out with Naomi begging to stay for longer but the meter was up! I think we will go back! I found a great book by the lady who writes the "Grace" series - "Amazing Grace" and "Boundless Grace" and now the new one "Princess Grace" which i read to the girls and it is a very clever story that the three of us enjoyed.

Uncle Chad and Daddy did a brilliant job reading to Silas and found one that read itself which Silas thought was fun!

Today after church we found a great place to eat very tasty pizza, salad and ice cream and then went to Green Lake Park for a bit. Unlike yesterday which was very wet, today was cold and dry and so it was good to get out for a bit again. You never know when you will be able to again here!

Silas is saying more and more words. He can now say "oo oo" for trains and has a few more animal sounds! He is still climbing well but usually manages to get down safely! He and Esther had a great play at the kitchen sink the other day which was lovely to watch! I took them away in the end as they were both soggy but they were quite happy!

Silas has been playing with a toy car that has a remote control which he can use but he comes to one of us with a whimpering noise when it gets stuck and he wants us to get it out! He is starting to take hold of your hand and take you to places which is sweet, too. At dinner time, he likes to lay his head on my arm which is very sweet, although a little sticky! I think Mummy needs to wear a bib with arms too!

Esther and Naomi are fine and were very good this week especially given that I was unwell and we were stuck indoors for  a few days. Naomi loves to make Tim and I little things that she leaves as surprises on our pillows. This week I had a little paper purse that she had stuck together and coloured all by herself and, often, little pictures that she has drawn. Today i made her and Esther a little note to put on their pillows which they both liked and it was lovely to be able to return the favour!

Anyway, I think this blog is long enough and I will end it here. The girls are off tomorrow and we are going to the Children's museum in Seattle with some friends and then onto a make up class for dancing so it is a busy day! The rest of the week is no better but it should be fun! Let's hope there is no more snow! Take care and lots of love....

A RockBand Cheer!

Hello! Hope that this finds you well; it has been a gorgeous winter day here today, sunshine and clear blue skies, so the mountains have looked wonderful. We have been to the beach at Discovery Park this afternoon with Melinda and Chad and have listened to the sea, watched the boats and looked at the sunset, which was very pretty. All in all a good afternoon!

We had a fun afternoon on Thursday as we went to a place called Dizzy's bus stop which was an indoor play area with a trampoline and other gym equipment that the children could play with along with a little market and other toys. The children enjoyed and are keen to return but it had a funny smell that gave me a headache and so I am less keen to go again! We'll see! There were no other children at the beginning and so the children had the run of the place which was fun for them.

On Friday afternoon the girls started their sports sampler class and for the first 3 weeks they are learning soccer skills. They really enjoyed it and it was very active which is what I wanted for them but Silas was a problem as he could not understand why mummy wouldn't let him play with the balls! He kept on running off! Eventually I borrowed one of their balls as he was not at all interested in the toys I had brought with me and we played upstairs from teh viewing area! At one point he was running around the track in the opposite direction and then stopped to look closely at the running machine! I whisked him away before he could join the ladies on it!

The girls were good and scored goals! Or rather they could kick the ball into the goal on their turn! They enjoyed it despite it being "boyish" (Esther's words!) and are looking forward to going next week.

Yesterday we had a quiet morning at home and then went for a lovely walk through a wood and near the lake. There was a playground half way round which the children enjoyed and they also enjoyed splashing in the puddles! They were soaked when we returned to the car! However we all had fun and felt better for it!

Today at church Silas was very funny as the song ended and he let out a really loud Rockband Cheer! He said "aaayyyy" and waved his arms in the air just like Daddy does when he finishes a song! He was very funny!

The girls are fine and are now settled back into our normal routines. We have a few of their friends that we need to arrange to see which will be fun as well as welcoming back Ulrike and the children which will be good! They enjoy playing with their playmobil and we have now moved it upstairs for them which they are enjoying.

I drew a big picture of Tinkerbell and Wendy that they are eager to paint and so  i think that will be tomorrow afternoons activity! They also got a fab Christmas present from Aunty Melinda and Uncle Chad, it is called "I can do that" and has a Cat in the Hat theme to it. I think you collect cards that tell you to do something, I am not too sure. I am sure that we'll be playing that soon though too!

Well, that is about it for now, I will write on Wednesday!

Silas' first hair cut

Hello! Hope that this finds you all well; we have had a difficult start to our week but I am hoping that the end is better! The main problem has been that Silas has not been sleeping well and in fact he spent 3 hours shrieking on Monday night between 2 am and 5 am. Thankfully the girls didn't wake up but we hear him loud and clear in our room!

The girls had a tough day on Monday too as they were getting used to it being just mummy around again but they have been better the last 2 days. Certainly on Monday I was glad that Tim was home early and could take over the bathing!

We haven't done much this week though. We went shopping on Monday after school to have Naomi's passport photo taken and to buy some trainers for the girls. I had a sudden memory that Naomi's passport would expire this year as she was 5 and it is at the end of the month so I am glad that I remembered! The photo was fine and, whilst it was being processed, we went to the cheap shoe shop to buy some trainers as the girls start a "sports sampler" class on Friday afternoon. It took ages for the girls to choose a pair each as they are not used to trainers and kept on complaining how uncomfortable they were around the ankles. However we weren't successful, mainly because the signs that said everything was 50% off was very misleading! I left the shoes at the check out at the end. We bought some trainers yesterday and got 2 pair for $20 from Target!! Much better!

Yesterday, Esther and I took Silas for his first hair cut, which he hated! he was very tired too which didn't help but he yelled and yelled! Anyway, the poor lady did manage to cut it reasonably well and he looks a lot more grown up now! It is still covered with strawberry jam / weetabix / porridge by the end of breakfast though! Thankfully, although he still won't sit down in the bath, he doesn't mind having his hair washed, which is a good thing. He has taken to giggling when he does a wee in the bath and watches himself, fascinated by the whole thing! Ah well!

Today Silas and I went for a long walk this morning and then came home and read lots of stories! He has his favourites, particularly "Hug" which he can say. He also likes one about a farm and Dear Zoo. This afternoon we all had a lovely afternoon with Amy and Elisabeth at their house; all the girls were most upset when we had to leave!

Well, that is it for now! I will write on Sunday again. Take care and keep well!

Silas Sweeps!

Hello! Hope that this finds you well; we are fine here! It has been very cold here today and there is snow on our hill; it looks very pretty but I hope it doesn't come any closer to us!

We have had a quieter day today and have managed to get  a few jobs done which is good. Most importantly, we have bought a new mobile phone for me, which is great! My old one packed up a week before Christmas and so I needed one for school emergencies mainly!

Yesterday we had a lovely final day with Pam and ken before they flew home; they were on the later plane and so we had all day with them which was a bonus! We went into Redmond and then across to University Village. The U. Village car park labels its floors with animals, which make the appropriate sound when you press the button for the lift; we had to go up to the top so that we could hear them all for Naomi on our way back to the car! Silas was impressed!

When we came home, Tim took the lights down from the tree and the remaining decorations and then we hauled it outside for Tim to chop up today. A large tree leaves a lot of needles behind and so Pam was sweeping them up. Silas wanted to help so we found him the little dustpan and brush and he was 'helping', which was very sweet! However he was even more funny when, after tea, he realised he had made a mess and went and fetched his little brush and started sweeping under the table! He is lovely!

On Friday we had a jobs day and we went food shopping and to Target to get a few things. The girls were at school in the morning and then went to a one-off Cheerleading camp in the afternoon, which they enjoyed! It was fun to watch their cheer at the end too. Naomi was very good and had strong straight arms and listened well. Esther was very enthusiastic with her pompom waving but cheerleading obviously needs more co-ordination than she has yet.

Pam, Ken and I took Silas for a walk around the Gilman Village area of Issaquah but we took a long time to go a very little way! He is only just getting used to walking outside and so is fascinated by everything he sees, so it takes a long time! He wears his monkey on his back which is like a backpack with a long tail, that Mummy can hold onto him surreptitiously! He likes walking outside thought and is good at holding a hand which is good. We also had a nice cup of coffee in a cafe too.

On Thursday after school, we went to the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle which was brilliant and I was surprised that I hadn't been there before! THE children really enjoyed it and the girls were obviously very photogenic as the official photographer was taking their photos! I am not sure what she is planning on doing with them, but she sent  a few to me that showed the girls playing with the salmon in the 'boat' area!

The girls went back to school without any problem on Wednesday, although Naomi's teacher has had to go on a visit back to India as there is a family emergency. I don't think she is going to be away long and I really hope not as Naomi is not keen on the teacher that has been left in charge. Esther is fine though. They have been playing well and were very cozy reading stories today before we went shopping.

Silas loves to copy us all at the minute and has been saying new words, although sometimes, without understanding I think. He has been saying "baa" and "moo" and "brmmm" for anything that moves. Today at church he was playing with the train table and was saying "brmmmm" as he played with the trains. I am amazed that he just does that all by himself. It must be a boy thing!

It was funny this morning at church! All parents of really small children are given a pager when we drop the child off so that the carers can page us if there is a problem. Well, Silas has now moved up a class which is much better for him and so he has been settled in the new room for much longer than before. However, after about an hour, he started to cry and was really upset so they paged me to come and fetch him, but, unknowingly to them, the carer had hit the "page all" button which paged every single parent whose child was in the nursery classes (about 20 people!). There was a mass exodus in church as we all went down to our children, getting quite panicked as we realised that we had all been called at once and so there must be a major problem, only to discover that it was just me that was needed for Silas and that the others were there as a mistake! It was funny! Poor Pastor Eugene must have wondered what he had said!! At least they now know that if there was a problem, then we would all be there in seconds!!

Well, I think that is it for now, I will write on Wednesday. Take care!

Happy New Year 2008

Hello and a very happy new year to you all!

We had a very pleasant New Years Day yesterday; our friends came over for dinner and then we all went for a walk in the afternoon. We had a cooked ham that I reheated in the slow cooker and it worked wonderfully, it was really tender and succulent and not dried out at all which was good! However I have decided that I really need a top oven as well as a bottom oven and I can really see why Mum has a hostess trolley for the occasions when there are 11 people to sit down to dinner! If Silas wasn't such a pickle then I would use a plate warmer with tea lights underneath but it wouldn't last long with Silas and would be a bit of a hazard!

It was a beautiful day on Monday - the sun was brilliant and so Tim and I took the children to the park whilst his Mum and Dad were in Seattle for the day. In the afternoon we went to the bookstore and discovered that Silas rather likes Star Wars! He was fascinated by all the Star Wars books and no matter how hard we tried to persuade him to look at all the lovely Children's books, he kept on making his way back to them! I hope it isn't a sign of things to come! I could do without that!

In the evening we watched a brilliant film "The Illusionist" which we all enjoyed very much and spent a long time discussing afterwards. when   I say "all", I mean everyone but Ken as he was asleep through most of it and kept on waking up and wanting to know what happened! But it is a  really clever film and definitely worth watching if you get the chance!

At midnight we turned on to see the fireworks from the Space Needle, which were a complete disaster! They didn't go off and then a poor man had to hit the buttons randomly to send those off that would go off. It was terrible! I was so glad I hadn't stood out in the cold to watch it go off!! I bet the man responsible is looking for another job today!

Today the girls have gone to school this morning and we are going to see Rosie, Caitlin and Cameron at the boat this afternoon. This evening Tim and I are going out, which is why I am writing this now!

I will write on Sunday, bye for now!