Hot days!

Hello! Hope that this finds you all well. We are all well, although tired as Silas was shocking last night and kept Tim and I awake for a couple of hours! Not fun! The girls slept through it mostly but it does disturb them so they were tired too! Ah well, we have had quite a relaxing day really!

After church today we had our first family gathering for families at church and we met at a local park; it was a very hot day today but the park had a little bit of shade, which was good and a lot of people came so that was nice too! We had a picnic and then watched the children play at the play ground. The children came and sat under the shade too at times and I think that we all had fun. We went to University Village after the gathering to cool off and to go to the book shop; Naomi and Esther were delighted to discover that their favourite Rainbow Fairy stories were on sale  and they came home with one each. I persuaded Naomi to buy the very first story and so now we know how it all began! What joy!!

Yesterday we had a quiet day too, as it was also extremely hot. I went out for a bit in the morning to have a pedicure and came back to discover that the children and Tim had been playing a creating zoo game on the computer. Silas was very keen on the game too, especially the penguins section, and when he saw the penguins he would nod his head and flap his arms like the penguins did! It was very funny to watch!

In the afternoon we went to the library and then onto the Salmon Hatchery, but it was really too hot to do anything else. We came home and had another bash at making some more ice-cream and it was marginally more successful this time and tasted very nice! We all enjoyed it for our tea! A lot of the recipes have egg in them which I am trying to avoid as both Esther and Silas don't do very well with eggs.

Silas has still been wanting to take his day time sleep between about 10 and 12 in the morning, which is fine if you can plan for it! On Friday, we had a long webcam with Mum and Dad which was good and then the girls did some painting whilst i made a picnic. AS soon as Silas woke up we went to the zoo and had a lovely couple of hours there! Silas loved seeing the giraffes and the elephants, Naomi really enjoyed the butterflies and Esther and I loved seeing the monkeys and the orangutans. The Orangutans were funny as one was sitting right up against the window of the exhibit and Esther was sitting on the other side. Every now and then the Orangutan obviously felt that Esther was getting too close as he would then knock on the window and she would back off a bit until the whole cycle was repeated again a few minutes later! It was very funny to watch! 

The butterflies were beautiful and i was very glad that this year Esther wasn't afraid to go in to see them as Naomi was desperate to go in and I would have hated to have said no. Silas found them fascinating too and didn't try and step on them if they landed on the ground so that was good! It was a good day to see all the animals as they were all out and about and easy to see for us all which was good! We didn't get to see the flamingos this time but we will go back again at the end of the summer as one of our church trips so we will try and see them then!

Well, it is not a very long blog today as it is only a couple of days since i last wrote and there really isn't too much news! I will write again on Wednesday!

The explanation!!

OK, so I have just realised that I have published the last blog without telling you what the title is all about! Silly me!! Sorry!

So, when we were coming back from the park this morning, we saw this little mole trying to bury its way under the leaves and grass alongside the edge of the carpark curb. We all watched it, fascinated for ages and then it was trying to get back into the bushes, which it was struggling to do! Eventually, I gave it a "leg-up" with a bowl I had in the car so that it could scramble up and hide again! Poor little thing but it was very sweet and the children called it "Little Mole!"

So there you go! Story of the mole explained!!

A little mole.

Hello! Hope that this finds you well on this lovely summer evening here! It has been chilly and cloudy today but the evening is pleasant! Tomorrow it is supposed to get hot, but I shall wait and see. They said that it was going to be cool yesterday and hot today but it was hot yesterday and cool today!

We are fine here and have had a good week, which seems to have flown by! On Monday we did a few bits of shopping in the morning as Silas needed some summer sandals and Naomi needed a new hat and then in the afternoon I took the girls to the Highlands Park which so that they could do some cycling, which they loved! They had a really good time cycling up and down this very long path, whilst Silas played with the ball.

They both did very well on their bikes but Naomi needs a bit of help starting off which can be a bit of a challenge, when she is miles away and Silas and I need to get to her! It is easier taking them on their bikes when there is 2 of us but it is still possible to do it on my own and as they get older and more practiced at it it will be easier still! At the minute, both Silas and the girls need a lot of attention which is difficult when there is only one of me!

Silas saw something on Monday at the park that made him stop in his tracks and make loud and insistent gestures! It was a skateboard!!!! He was very excited and was very keen to have a go! Mummy was very mean and held onto him as the boys whizzed past! I see my son's future before me! He was also in a very helpful mood again on Monday and brought me my shower cap and my glasses whilst I was washing my hair in the shower! Funny boy!

The girls and I also made some ice-cream on Monday afternoon which worked out OK but very soft at first. I gave it the time that it should have had but I think it needed longer. We made a vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips and it was very nice; we shall have to try something a little more adventurous next time! The nice thing is that you can change the type of cream / milk that you use so you can make low fat versions too, which is good! I doubt that I will make it very often but it was fun to try!

On Tuesday, we had to return Silas' shoes as they broke (!) but we have a better pair now so that was OK and then in the afternoon we went to the Castle Park in Kirkland; all the children enjoyed it and I am sure that we shall go back again before the summer ends! I was hoping that we could get there early but we didn't in the end and so by the time we left we got caught in all the traffic which was a right pain! However, we weren't too late home and it is the holidays so it doesn't matter too much about being in bed at 7:30!

The girls are taking a long time to get to sleep at the minute - I think it must be the summer nights! Esther  will sleep in a bit in the mornings but Naomi is not so good although she is sleeping later than a school day. I think Naomi only needs about 11 hours sleep anyway and so as long as she is asleep until about 7:30 she functions quite well!

Yesterday was a really bizarre day as Silas, who has been waking up very early, was really tired by 10:00 and went to bed for over 2 hours for a nap! I needed to go shopping but we had to wait until he woke up! Instead, the girls and I did some 'big picture' painting and then we went and did the shopping once he was up! In the afternoon, we met up with Ulrike and the children at a newly opened splash center in Crossroads in Bellevue. This was brilliant and all the children had a great time! There is a large plastic Orca Whale with a steady stream of water from it's hole, as well as 2 smaller whales with similar jets of water, several little small water shoot things as well as a frog and a sea monster also with jets of water shooting at you on a timer system. There is also no standing water, so no-one can drown although there is a gap both ends of the fence so I still needed to keep with Silas. The children all loved it and got very wet! It was fun!

Last night, just as we were putting the children to bed, we had a power cut! It was really bizarre as the weather was calm and sunny but it was off for 2.5 hours! Tim and I cleared up and read until it got dark and then managed to have enough battery power on our computers to watch an episode of Scrubs before it came on properly! IT was very odd!

Today, we went for another bike ride this morning, but to the park at the bottom of our hill, but the girls didn't like this one as much for cycling even though we parked at the other end to where we normally go so that we could access the flat paths. There is still a gently incline which Esther didn't like although Naomi wasn't bothered but she preferred the long straight path where she could go "super fast"! This afternoon we went to the twins house to see them, which was lovely as we haven't seen them for a month of so!

Naomi and Esther have been doing a bit of reading and writing practice too, not a lot but enough to help them remember things when they go back to school in September! Naomi wrote a letter to Maddie yesterday and this is what she said (Translation at the end!):

"To Maddie,

I lve yoo. I wet to the Carrsl pac. I wet on mi bic. We r going to the zoooooo"

Translation: I love you. I went to the Castle Park. I went on my bike. We are going to the zoo (extra ooooo's added deliberately by Naomi for emphasis!!!)

Wasn't that clever? I was very impressed! Esther did some copying too and wrote very nicely. They did a good job!

Anyway, I have to do the clearing up and the ironing and so i will stop now! Lots of love to you all!

A delay...

Hi! Sorry for the delay in the blog today; we have had a power cut that has lasted all evening and has only just come on! I will blog tomorrow!

Perhaps summer has come?

Hello! Hope that this finds you well and not blown over! We are fine here and I am cautiously optimistic that perhaps the summer may have come at last. As Tim and I said today, you really can't beat Seattle in the summer, the problem is is that it might only last 2 days!!

The girls, Silas and I were able to make the most of the sunshine at the end of last week. We spent a quiet morning at home on Thursday which was great and then went swimming and onto the park in the afternoon. On Friday we met up with Grania, Aoife and Hugo at Central Park in the Highlands and also saw Esther's friend Brooke too, which was great for Esther as she then played with her, whilst Naomi and Aoife played together. Silas just ran off with every ball he could find, apart from his own! We all had fun though!

On Friday afternoon we made some cards, the girls played for a long time and then we walked round to the post box to post the cards. We then walked round the block, which took ages,  mainly because I let Silas walk with his monkey reigns on his back and he kept on wanting to stop and look at all the ants (or "Bee" as he calls them)! We did eventually get home!

Yesterday I had a pleasant hour wandering round the Farmers Market in Issaquah, without the children and then in the afternoon we went to Ikea. It was warm and dull yesterday so it was a good thing to do. The girls went into the play land but Silas came with us and had a great time playing with the soft balls and other toys that we picked up and put down! At the end, we bought frozen yoghurt cones (like a Mr. Whippy) which Silas thought was great, mainly because he liked licking everyone else's cone!

Today we have been out for ages but it was good fun! Silas did really well in church today and stayed in nursery on his own without Tim or me and without screaming the place down! We were really pleased, although it helped that our English friend Mary Jane was in the nursery this morning! When I went up for communion, I took the children with me, as usual and, unbeknown to me, Silas picked up the microphone that was laying on the chair. Jen, my friend with whom I have coffee from time to time had to rescue it from Silas and put it back on the chair. Although it was switched off, it wouldn't have taken Silas long to work it out and to start singing into it! The worse thing was though, was that I had absolutely no idea that this had happened until some friends told me about it at the end of the service!! I felt like a terrible mother!!!

After church, we ate our picnic at the Fountain and it was fun to watch everyone else get very wet! mind you we had to move at one point as the wind changed direction and we were getting wet from the spray! Naomi was not amused!! After that we went to the Science Museum and had a great time looking at the Speed exhibit that is on there.

As part of the exhibit, there is a maze made out of coloured plastic sheets stretched between metal poles, which we all did together the first time. After that the girls wanted to go in on their own, which they did but if they got a bit lost, they just crawled underneath the sheets until the found their way out!! However they did it a few times and did manage to go all the way round with out cheating which was good! At the front of the maze there was one clear plastic sheet which Esther thought was the exit and ran straight into it and landed on her bottom with her legs in the air! She wasn't hurt, just a bit surprised but it was funny to see her do a classic 'clown' fall!

We took the children to the IMAX to see a film on speed car racing, which was interesting. Silas enjoyed it, but there was one rather long section that showed the cars crashing which was upsetting for Naomi. There was no warning that it was there and the film was rated a U so we were not expecting it; we hope that she doesn't have nightmares tonight!

We also went into see the Lazar show - aka "the Lady show" (Esther) or the "Lazy Show" (Naomi)!  We all laid on the floor to watch it and the children all enjoyed it very much. IT was their favourite part of the day when we asked them so that was good! It was funny because it was set to the Beatles music and, my goodness, I had never realised quite how much of their lyrics must have been written in a drug induced haze until now! "We all live in a yella submarine"? I mean, really!!!

We came back to Issaquah for dinner at a pasta place but not until Mummy had driven Daddy's car on the I5 for a bit! Tim had been playing the piano so had taken his car to church this morning (he has to be there for 7:30 am) and I was driving it home but somehow managed to miss the I90 turn off! I never do it in my car but I have done it twice in Tim's!! I was really cross with myself!!

Silas has been in a very helpful mood this week;  on Friday, he saw me fetch a clean towel out of the drawer to dry his hands on and so when he finished, he very kindly put it back there for me! Later on when i did his hands again, he fetched a different towel too! Then this morning, the drawer with the bread board in got stuck and I was using a knife to try and fish things out so that the drawer would open. Anyway, Silas was watching me do this and so brought things to help. First of all he brought me the pizza slice, then a few minutes later, he brought me the tin opener and then finally the egg separator!! All of which were very kind but not much use especially when then I had more things to fish out of the drawer!

Well, that is it for now! I will write on Wednesday! Until then, love to you all!

Silas says "NO"

Hello! Yes, my adorable little boy who, for the last few months, has only been able to shake his head vigorously if he didn't like something, can now say "NO", loud and clearly! It started yesterday when I said "let's go and have a bath" and he said "No"! I was so surprised! Then today he said it in the car again. Oh dear, poor me! Tim is actually impressed that it has taken him this long to learn it, so I suppose I should be thankful!

We have had a busy but very pleasant week so far. Naomi and Esther have enjoyed having space in their day to play and I have noticed that Esther is much sunnier. I think she functions better when she can sleep in a bit in the mornings and doesn't have to be nagged to eat her breakfast! The only problem is though, that Silas loves to wake Esther up in the morning, which is fine on a school day, but not so good when it is holiday time! I found him in bed with her this morning, having a nice cuddle, which was nice for him but I hadn't intended him to get in the room. It was still past 8am though so it wasn't early!

Naomi is better too this week although she still has been unsettled and a bit grumpy at times. She is very cross with the weather, which is difficult because there is nothing I can do about that but she was fine this afternoon. She was very tired this evening, so I hope that she has a good night's sleep and has a bit of a lie-in tomorrow morning. I think she is just relaxing a bit which is good.

On Monday we went into Seattle in the morning to meet with another Mum to arrange some family outings for parents over the summer, which was good. In the afternoon we had some time at home and then went back into Seattle in the evening for a party at Minhee and Eugene's home. They are off to Korea on Monday for a couple of months on a sabbatical and so it was a good chance to say "Bon Voyage" to them as well as to say Goodbye to a few people who are moving on to other things. Our wonderful Children's Ministry Leader, Karis is leaving to have a baby, so it was a farewell party for her too, although she is still remaining at church which is good!

The party was fun - we all enjoyed it very much but the children were late in bed on Monday night. However, yesterday we met up with Elisabeth and Amy at the park in the morning for a while and then had swimming in the afternoon. It was very cold at the park in the morning and we left earlier than normal because Amy and I were cold! It brightened up in the afternoon though, which was good as it did today. After swimming I took Naomi's bike to the bike shop and we hope that it is now fixed, although time will tell! I am hoping that the children will get to ride their bikes in the next couple of days, what with such wet weather, we have had very few days that we could have ridden them and often the days that we could have taken them out, we have either been in Seattle or have had met up with friends at the park.

Today we went food shopping this morning after a lazy start and then went to the park with Ulrike and the children. Unfortunately, Fritzi wasn't very well so they didn't stay very long but we still had a good time and the children are keen to return to the park again soon. They had a great time on the zip line (the thing where you sit on a tyre that is attached to a thick cable and go down a slight slope, can't remember what they are called!) and even Silas had to have a couple of turns!

I have been trying to do some reading with Naomi and to encourage Esther to learn the few letters that she is unsure of. I am definitely having more success with Naomi than I am with Esther! Naomi's reading seems to be coming together but Esther still struggles with a few sounds. Hopefully by the end of the holiday she will have learnt them all; she knows most of them! Silas of course always wants to join in if he is awake!

Well, that is it for now! Will write on Sunday again! Hope that this finds you all well!

Wet and Sandy Silas!

Hi! Happy Father's Day to all the Daddy's out there! I hope that you have all had a good day and know that your children love you!! We have had a good couple of days and celebrated Father's Day in style with pancakes, sausages and bacon for breakfast!

Our friends, Becky, Darin and the boys have been staying with us this weekend, which has been lovely! They arrived on Friday evening and all the children were very excited about seeing each other again! We were pleased to see each other too and talked until too late on Friday night! It was lovely to have a good catch up though!

Esther was very funny on Friday though as she was wondering where Eli was going to sleep. She was very kind and suggested that he could sleep in her bed but I said that he couldn't. She then went onto say that if she moved her toys down to the end of the bed, she would sleep on the rough pillow and Eli could sleep on the soft pillow! I was very impressed that she could think so selflessly but still said that it was not possible,  not least because Esther likes to sleep at 90 degrees across the bed rather than lying straight!

Yesterday morning we spent the morning at home, Tim, Darin and Becky had a group session on the Rock Band game which was fun for them all and in the afternoon they went to the zoo and we had some other friends over for the afternoon!  These friends are the other English family at church and we took them to the Pine Lake Park which was great fun! Naomi and Rebekah get on really well together and this morning when Naomi arrived at church, Rebekah had saved her a seat next to her and was looking out for Naomi, which was really good!

We had a fun time with the family and I cooked the ham in the pineapple juice that Mum made when we were home; it went down very well!

Today, Becky and I cooked breakfast and then we all went to church. After church we said Goodbye and we went to Discovery Park with 2 other families. WE had a great afternoon; it was warm and sunny and the kids had a great time! Silas loved the water and spent a long time throwing in stones or sticks as well as playing with a plastic drinks bottle. I put the monkey reigns on him, so he couldn't go too far in but he still managed to get soaked and get sand where little boys really shouldn't!  One of our friends gave me a shirt to put him in on the way home, which was good otherwise he would have been a bare boy!!

Although i had at the last minute remembered to take our prepacked bag with the hats, sunscreen and towel in, we weren't really planning on going to the beach and going in the sea. The girls ended up hitching up their skirts into their knickers, a most strange sight to our American friends but it did the job! At least their skirts stayed relatively dry! I am past caring now!

The children spent ages building dams, filling up sand holes with water and generally having a great time! We hope to do it again soon!

Naomi finished at the Montessori school on Friday and she was very sad, bless her! She cried for ages when I picked her up and we sat in the car for about 20 minutes before we came home. We had had 2 lovely days with the girls Carnival at school, which is where they can do lots of craft and there is an extended playtime that parents and siblings can come to. I ended up going on both Thursday and Friday and the children all had a great time. They had their face painted and went on the bouncy castle as well as just enjoying playing outside! IT was a great end to the school year!

Silas was funny this week; he has really learnt how to say "May mee" (Naomi) and shouts it loudly when he wants her! He can't say Esther though, which is funny! He does love Esther a lot though as he went in to wake her up the other morning and I found him, with just his nappy on, giving her a huge hug in bed! Bless him!

Well, that is it for now. I am going to bed and leaving the ironing until tomorrow, something I will regret then but there you go!!

Love to you all!

Only 2 more school days left!

Hello! Hope you are well! I have a stinking cold but the children are not too bad!

We have had torrential rain this week, it has been awful! It has been hard to drive in and you have got soaked just getting out of the car. The girls and Silas are now back to wearing their 'spring - season' clothes without complaint, even Naomi, which goes to show how miserable and cold it has been! However, there is hopefully an end in sight with better weather being forecast tomorrow; let's hope so! Ulrike and I both agreed that we are looking forward to the children not being in school but that it will be much easier if the weather is good!

We have not done too much as a result really, we went to Jo's house on Monday afternoon which was fun and yesterday Silas, Esther and I did a bit of shopping before collecting Naomi and then the girls had swimming in the afternoon. We went to Target after swimming so that Naomi could buy a little goodbye present for her friends tomorrow, which was good!

Last night, I had a HOA meeting that included a vote to increase the dues from $95 to $150. It was an unpleasant evening with people making wild and untrue statements like "no-one told me what this vote was for" and "no-one told me that there was a website", all of which was a total load of rubbish!! However, for once the board was unified and we went for a beer afterwards which was actually quite fun. It was a proper American bar and I was glad that I didn't have to open my mouth and that I was there with 4 other Americans! It was a local bar for local people if you know what I mean!

I am going to resign from the board of the HOA at some point in the not too distant future but can't leave just now when there are so few of us and a secretary is important!! At least having made the decision is helpful. I don't deal with conflict very well and take unpleasant comments far too personally! I am also way too passionate for most people!

Today, Ulrike and I took a slow walk around the Bellevue Botanical Gardens and then went for a coffee. I am coughing badly but the fresh air did me good and at least it was dry! We let the boys have a lovely play at a park nearby and it was so funny watching Silas copy everything that Felix did!! They are very sweet but Felix is a year older than Silas and so can do a lot more! Silas kept up though!

This afternoon we did a bit of shopping and then went next door to look at the pet shop, which Silas loved! This evening we have been hard at work with John, planning our kitchen and working out which units go where; it took forever but it is mostly done now and we can go ahead and order them in the next couple of days!!

Silas is a right pickle! He has been dragging the blue chair across to the side and pushing the button of the loud carbon monoxide monitor! I put it there so that he can't reach it! He also likes to wear his Thomas the Tank Engine Apron and do the washing up! Funny boy! The girls are fine but tired and are looking forward to the holiday!

Well, that is it for now and I must go and do the ironing!

Ups and Downs!

Hi there! How are you? We are fine here although we have had a weekend of ups and downs! All in the course of life I suppose! We have had a sunny day today, which has been lovely and we enjoyed playing out at the park this afternoon. It has been so wet here this week that even us Brits have been complaining!! Naomi asked me on Thursday morning as we were driving to school in the driving rain "When will the winter end, Mummy?" She was not impressed when I told her that this was in fact summer!

Esther, Silas and I did the shopping on Thursday morning before coming home for a bit and collecting Naomi. I spoke to Vanessa at lunch time and the children and I read stories before going swimming. After Swimming we went to see Grania, Hugo and Aoife at their house for an hour or so; I was disappointed in Silas this time as he did not play well with Hugo, having done so well last week! Never mind, he is only little!

In the evening, I went to my Book Club, which was in Alki Beach; by this time, the rain had cleared somewhat and I had a lovely drive to the meeting. The book club was fun, although there is a new and very irritating member, and I drove home with a magnificent sight of Seattle in front of me. Although we have lived here for several years now and have visited Alki Beach on a number of occasions, it was the first time I had seen the view at dusk. It was extremely pretty, there was a ferry boat going across the Sound and Seattle looked lovely all lit up. It was an extra treat!

On Friday it was too wet to walk and so Silas and I did some jobs; we took a dinner to our friends who have been sick, called in at the community center in Crossroads to collect a programme of Summer events and then had time to take Silas to the Play time at the Issaquah Community center, which was good! Silas is addicted to playing basketball and will spend ages trying to throw a ball into the hoop and usually wants me to help him! I can't get him to play soccer (as a good English child would do!) but all he wants to do is play basketball! A real American!!

On Friday afternoon we went to the Kidzbounce bouncy place with Brooke and Blake, Naomi and Esther's friends from school. It was packed! I think everybody decided that it had been such a wet week that the children needed a good play somewhere indoors! We saw other families that we knew there too which was nice! We then went back to Blake and Brookes house for a little while; we had a good time! Arden (the mother) has just returned from a trip to Russia (she works for Boeing I think) and had stopped in London on the way home. She had brought with her a huge box of Thorntons Chocolates and asked if I had heard of them!!! I did get one too!! Yummy!!!

Yesterday, we spent most of it at home really although we had a family over for dinner in the late afternoon. Nathan and Emily have a little boy, Ethan who is 6 months old and they were rather amazed to see Silas who was up to his knees in puddles, hands covered with mud (and goose poo, at one point!). I pointed out that this would be Ethan in a years time, which rather scared them I think!!

The children were in bed a little later than normal but I wasn't too worried as today is Sunday. However, something has got into Naomi in the last 24hours  or so and she took over 2 hours to get to sleep. she kept on crying and saying that she was coughing and in the end coughed so much that she made herself sick. she got herself into a right old state and in the end I put her in our room and laid down with her until she was nearly asleep. We were concerned yesterday that perhaps she was sickening for something but she has been fine most of today, although she has had a couple of occasions where she has started to get worked up again. For some reason, she has got it into her head that if she coughs she is going to be sick and can't stop although when she is calm or like today, distracted from it she has been fine. Understandably, I haven't had much patience with her this evening when she started again 5 minutes after going to bed! hopefully though she will go to sleep soon and have a good sleep; she must be shattered.

Today after church we found a fun park to have quite a long play in, which was lovely. The structure is the same make as the park near Mum and Dad's and even has one of those funny shaped roundabouts that Dad fell off last year! The children all enjoyed themselves, although Silas was playing football and fell over and bit his lip! There was blood everywhere but actually isn't that bad! After we finished at the park, we called into see Chad and Melinda as they literally live only 3 minutes away, which was good as we haven't seen much of them lately.

Esther is fine and said to me today that she would like to be in the Bible! She goes through her day, singing along, much to her teacher's despair I think and is usually a happy child! She has been eating quite well recently although still would prefer to do anything other than eat half the time and will pick out tiny bits of 'meat' that she can spy! she is doing some wonderful drawings at present, which is good!

Silas is fine too! His favourite toy today has been my colander and a ball which he has spent all the time we were at home throwing into the air and running after it! He even went into church happily this morning although didn't stay in nursery on his own at all! At least he has stopped crying the moment we approach the building though!

Well, that is it for now, this is our last week of school which is great but I am really hoping that the weather will improve! The holiday will go much more smoothly if the children are able to get to a park each day!

Silas and the Air vent!

Hi! Hope this finds you all well. We are fine here, although longing for Summer to arrive! I was in Target yesterday and saw all the summer banners up and thought "that is funny, I wonder why they have all their summer advertising up now? It is a bit early!" only to realise that it is in fact June and it is the weather that is late rather than Target that is early! I am very confused with my seasons as you can tell! Ulrike was saying today that they have had their gas fire on and have had hot chocolate by the fire this week, which seems perfectly common sense to me!!

Apart from shivering and wearing winter woollies, we have been out and about a bit this week. On Monday after school the girls and I made some oat and raisin bars to take to a couple of people and then we met up with Amy and Elisabeth at the park, which was good fun! It was nice to see them as it has been a while.

Silas was such a pickle on Monday morning though as he managed to take off the air vent cover and stuff Naomi and Esther's playmobile toys down the vent! We were webcamming Mum and Dad and Silas had been around for most of it but had then gone into the girls room. I wasn't too worried and then Naomi went in to get something a few minutes later and I suddenly heard a loud wail! He really had done a good job of stuffing things in and was quite happily sitting there quietly occupied when I came in! He was most put out when I moved him! I think that I have recovered most of the stuff but it is hard to be sure; playmobil is such tiny stuff!! At some point we will get someone in to service the vents and maybe they will catch anything that gets blown out then!! Poor girls - they were upset!

Yesterday morning, Esther, Silas and I popped to Target quickly and then went over to Seattle to see a friend of ours who has had a new baby! He is lovely and my friend and I discussed various sleeping and feeding techniques, which I hope work!! The Dad looked after Silas and Esther and did a great job at entertaining them! I had a lovely long cuddle with the baby so it was a good morning! We drove home in driving rain and picked up Naomi from school who had stayed for lunch. In the afternoon we had swimming as normal.

Today, Naomi had a funny five minutes before school but has otherwise been absolutely fine all day. She had been playing with Silas this morning and then had eaten all her breakfast but as she came upstairs to get ready she had a little cough. I don't know whether the coughing upset her tummy but something made her feel a bit funny and she started to cry and cry and say that she felt sick and she couldn't go to school. Well, I eventually calmed her down and persuaded her to get ready for school anyway as I was going to take Esther and she managed to get ready. She didn't have a temperature and had been so well that I couldn't really believe that she was really going to be sick. Anyway, we got in the car and she was fine! I told school what had happened and they promised to call me if there were any problems, but they didn't need to, which was good! I don't know! IT was all very odd!

Naomi was telling me a very funny story this morning about a little boy in her class called Ethan who is a bit of a pickle (Naomi's words!) by all accounts. Yesterday he had inserted a Hama Bead up his nose and the teachers couldn't get it out. They had had to call his mother who had managed to get him to breathe sharply through his nose and it had eventually came out! After that the teachers were sharing stories of other children who had done the same thing. I am not sure what Naomi was supposed to have been doing during all this but I know from her retelling the story that she was listening to it all intently!! Poor Ethan and his mother!!

Naomi is doing really well with her reading at the minute and is really sounding out simple words. She can read simple sentences quite well now and is really determined to work them out too, which is great. She has been reading one of Silas' books in the car and although she has needed help on some words she really is starting to put the sounds together to make a word. I am really proud of her.

I am really proud of Esther too as she too has been starting to write simple words like CAT and NO and ON. She has made a wonderful map of the world which is great! I need to put it up on the wall but it is quite large and I need to find some space!

Silas' speech improves gradually; he is now calling Naomi "Mee Mee" which is very sweet and can now bellow at the top of his voice "Mum", which is not so sweet when it is 5 am!!

So that is it for now, we have swimming tomorrow and then I am going out in the evening to my Jane Austen Book Club which I am looking forward to as I haven't been since February!!

Fun and Games!

Hello! How are you? Hope that the weather has improved with you! Everyone I have spoken to, no matter where they have been in the country has said that it has been a terribly wet week! I am sorry! It isn't much better here - it has been cold and dull all week and looks like it will continue for a while longer!

We have had a good weekend and I am glad that we have only 2 more weeks left of school. The girls are getting very tired and needing a holiday. I don't think that they need 11 weeks holiday but they need some and we are looking forward to not having to get up and rush for a while!

On Wednesday, Silas and I went to Costco in the morning after going for a walk where we saw lots of ducks, which was highly exciting for Silas! In the afternoon we played at home. We have been enjoying playing "Crafty Badger" which is a game that Esther had for her birthday and the "Cat in the Hat" game that the children had from Melinda and Chad for Christmas. They are both quite fun! After Silas woke up we went to Target and the girls spent a dollar in the dollar section. The tooth fairy had brought Naomi a dollar and she was keen to spend it!

Naomi bought a diary and wanted to know what to write in it, so I suggested that she write what she had done and so she wrote 'On Satuda mi tooth cam at' (On Saturday my tooth came out) all by herself! I was very proud of her! Today she wrote "Welcm", which was good too!

On Thursday Naomi had school in the morning and Esther and Silas and I went to the Community Center for playtime, which they enjoyed. We came home after a bit and did some jobs and then went to get Naomi. After swimming, we went to see Grania (Mum), Aoife and Hugo at their house. We all had a lovely time and both Grania and I said how lovely it was for Hugo and Silas to be able to play together. They are only 4 days apart in age and so they were both happy playing together!

In the evening I went to a board meeting for the HOA. Enough said!

Friday was school for the girls and Silas and I went for a walk in the State Park. It was good fun and Silas enjoyed playing for a while at the playground. In the afternoon we went back there with the girls as they wanted to push their buggies and it was a good place to go with lots of paths!

Yesterday, I left Tim for a few hours to go and be a host at Minhee and pastor Eugene's home (with them of course) as there was a gathering for new parents. We had a good time and it was lovely to be able to chat to some of the couples who needed a bit of help! It was a bit like being a Health Visitor again! After I came home, we all stayed put as the weather wasn't that wonderful and the children were happy. Daddy had been a patient when I was out and had to be examined for Ants in his ears!  He also had to play at Crafty Badger and at Crazy Chefs!!

Today after church we had some friends over at home from the UK who are thinking of moving here. It was fun to chat to them and the children all played really well! It was a pleasant afternoon but was late once the children were in bed and we had cleared up!

The girls had a story this evening where the lady shouts at the end and so they were shouting too. This was bad enough but then Silas has to join in as well and my goodness, he can make a lot of noise for a little one! He is such a monkey! He had a great time playing with his basket ball and hoop today! He is quite good! Better than me!

So I am going to end it here! Will write on Wednesday again! Bye for now!