Last Day...

...of 2012.

I'm sitting here thinking about all the changes both children have gone through over the past year.

C went from barely walking and talking to a running, jumping, chattering little dynamo.  Her vocabulary has exploded, and she's a technowiz with the ipad.  She started attending playgroup once a week in September and has really enjoyed herself there.  We'll be going back next week, starting a new term!  She still naps in the afternoon, generally a little over an hour to an hour and a half.  She's recovered splendidly from chicken pox and has been mastering the art of scooter riding lately.

E was still in nursery (preschool) in January!  He was beginning to read his first words and simple sentences in Jan/Feb, so just before age three and a half.  Now he's reading at a late Year 1, early Year 2 (first grade, second grade) level despite being one of the youngest in his year.  He really enjoyed our trip to France in May, despite having to spend a night in the hospital.  He still enjoys volcanoes and train crashes.  He is into marble runs now, the bigger the better, and often does simple math (counting, adding, subtracting) in daily life.  He has a new scooter which he really enjoys, many friends at school, and continues to display kindness to others which I think will take him far in life.  He has adapted very well to a long school day (9am to 3:20) although he is tired at the end of a day.

Today E and I went to the British Museum.  He enjoyed looking at old clocks and displays of currency.  We didn't stay long because it was rammed with tourists!  Given the crowdedness and relative lack of hands-on displays I don't think I'll be taking him back in the near future - there are museums that he'll get more out of at least at this stage of his life.

B is back to work on Thursday, and then life resumes as normal from next Monday - E is back to school and C and I start playgroup from the Tuesday.

I don't have any current pictures but I hate posting without one... so here is one of E as a donkey in his school's Nativity play.  He did a great job!

We won't be cooking blackeyed peas and cornbread tomorrow... but someday I will.  Depending on time constraints, I may be baking a pecan pie though....

Wishing everyone a great 2013! 

Merry....

Well, the past week has been eventful!  We went off on our long-planned weekend trip to Norfolk, having made reservations to stay at a Centreparcs with friends.  I'm not entirely sure how to describe the place.  It's a lot like a holiday resort.  Self-catering cottages are sprinkled all around (there's also a hotel option).  There's LOTS of things for kids to do - it's designed for a kind of young-middle set, I'd say ages 5-12ish would get the most out of the experience.  Yet both teenagers and babies/toddlers are catered to as well.

The restaraunts, for example, have integrated play areas which is super cool when you have bouncy, explorer children who want to move.  There's a swimming pool with lots of different areas and levels of water slides, there's bowling and other sports, many different outdoor playgrounds and indoor ones as well, children/teenager clubs, and so on.  Sports like archery, clay pigeon shooting, waterskiing, and all that too.

We stayed in a two bedroom place adjacent to friends (4 families in total, plus one who visited for the day and stayed at another local place).  The place is set in the middle of Elveden Forest (there are also a few other Centreparcs around England) and although it's "holiday parky" it does a good job incorporating nature.

There was a loop trail just near our cabin - here the kids are taking turns on E's scooter.  I didn't get many pictures of our time there... mainly because C and I were sick when we arrived.  We spent most of the first day out of commission, recovering enough to swim that afternoon and participate in the Secret Santa our friends arranged.  Fortunately, E and B were well enough to spend the morning Doing Stuff, which included....

E attending a children's club and being Elf-ified.  He was so excited afterward that he temporarily forgot how to give a thumbs up.  He'd made/painted a sled, and "cooked" marshmallow cupcakes.

Meanwhile, C and I....

...yeah, we hung out in pyjamas eating apples and looking at the wildlife through the trees.  It also rained pretty heavily the first day there so it was kind of nice to stay indoors.

Another complicating factor to the whole thing is that our car has been on the fritz for awhile now.  Despite dropping a lot of money on trying to fix it, it still has a propensity to cut out at bad times and then refuse to start.  We thought it might be okay to drive the 70-odd miles north, but it turned out to be... difficult.  Broke down twice, the second time being pretty scary when it malfunctioned at 70mph on the freeway.  Fortunately it maintains steering and brakes, although not acceleration.... when we pulled over, C decided to be carsick.  That was a fun journey.

On the off-chance any SAAB enthusiasts read this blog, could they please let me know what to do to solve an on-board computer problem?  We paid to have the system rebooted but that hasn't fixed the problem.

Anyhow, I'm going to try to forget car stress because it's Christmas Eve.

Our kids went to bed looking like this (sans apples, obv.)....

...and they will wake up to this:

Merry Christmas 2012!  Aren't you glad the world didn't end?

Tuneful Park and 2nd Birthday

C turned two last Sunday.  We were scheduled for a little party with grandparents and cousins in North London.  Deciding to chance the car breaking down, we took a route through Central London that kept us on slower roads with lots of access to public transport if we did break down.  We drove past the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, 10 Downing St, the Horse Guards - I often forget how very close we are to Central London.  Fortunately, the car didn't break down, and we were treated to a big laugh by E quickly reading a Tube sign as "Tuneful Park" instead of "Tufnell Park."  Good stuff.

Duet on Grandpa's piano.

Running amok in the music room with bells.

Blowing out candles on the gingerbread house cake C shared with her cousin, who is turning 1 in a few days.

 Today we decorated our Christmas tree.

It's beginning to feel festive around here, although there is so much more to do before the big day - including a short trip away with friends.  Today while out with the kids we met a baronet!  87 years old and going strong, we had a great chat.  He says nobody ever stops to chat with him... but we did, and it was fantastic.  His baronetcy is in Nova Scotia.

Well, that's all for now.

December Tragedy

Saw the news yesterday.  Couldn't help but feel so grateful we live where we do.  That E's school is superb, with teachers who ensure they hand over children personally at the classroom door.  That the gates are closed during the day.  That even if they weren't, the chances of a scrawny, antisocial little twerp walking in with multiple handguns and an assault rifle is close to nil. 

Thought about how to explain this to E if he saw news on it.  Ran across this quote which is just beautiful:

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.” — Mister Rogers

E and I went to the South Bank today, ogled the ice rink next to the London Eye, went to the adventure playground, saw the carousel.  While I was fine with paying 2 quid for him to go on, they insisted that due to his height he would have to be accompanied by a "fare-paying" adult so we left and got a chocolate crepe for the same price.  Walked down the length of the river for a time, in the midst of Christmassy scents - mulled wine, roasting chestnuts.  Watched boats, saw an entertainer on a unicycle, listened to a man busk while E climbed and balanced on a low wall/circle area, then to the train station for a drink and a snack of chocolate covered brazil nuts on our (short) journey home.

I have no pictures today.  C turned two on the 9th.  We swam, saw cousins, had a gingerbread house cake.  The car is currently broken down and dismantled, in a garage, due to a faulty computer that isn't going to easily be repaired.  Christmas approaches.  E is a donkey in his Nativity Play next week.  I'll have some more pictures soon!

Speaking Too Soon...

...or rather, writing too soon.  Or too little, in this specific case.

While I managed to average 1200+ words per day for the entire month of November, and over 2k per day for almost a week, it wasn't enough to reach 50k by the end of the month.  Well, technically I have a few more hours... but it still ain't gonna happen.

But!  I have over 36,000 words on a new novel.  Given that my last few novels have wound up somewhere between 65-80k words, that's about halfway done.  I think this one is going to run a bit shorter, probably around the 60k mark.

I went into NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) thinking there was no way I could pull it off.  A week in, my opinion changed.  I found time to scribble down passages at C's playgroup, over a cup of tea at a cafe while she played with crayons and paper, during her naptime, after the kids went to bed.  500 words per day seems easy peasy now.  1k is a bit more of a stretch, but I proved I can do it.  So I may not have "won" NaNoWriMo, but I've come away with renewed confidence.  Now if only these editors would get back to me about my submissions....!

This month started off slow, then rapidly became very busy.  There was chickenpox times two in the kids (jury's still out on whether B gets it), a vomiting bug that hit the day after I wrote the last blog post (needless to say, we didn't get ready for school the next day, we sat around the house recuperating - or rather E did, he was the one who got hit).  Then two days ago I came down with a muted version of the cold the children have.  So it's been an interesting few days.

Still, through it all, we dance.

November, Mostly in Pictures

I've been lax about posting pictures... mostly because we've been so busy.  E went through a round of chicken pox and was off school for nearly a week.  That was two weeks ago, and now C has it.  She developed her first spots yesterday and so far it seems like a worse case than E's.

So... what did we do in November?

Well, there was Bonfire Night, where we braved the crowds at an official firework event and stood in squelchy mud while more and more people jostled in (at 20 quid a family they were making money hand over fist).  Still, the kids loved it....

There was a big bonfire (pictured) and fireworks set to music, which they also enjoyed.

Larking about in the nearby green after school.

This weekend we went up to Suffolk to visit friends in the countryside.  Bracing late November walks on the beach....

...led to tea, hot chocolate and checkers (the Brits call it draughts, but I'm sticking to my Yankee ways) in the beachside cafe.

In case you're wondering, E lost the game.  But our friend was very patient teaching him the basics of the game.  We had to use chess pieces in place of actual checkers, but that worked fine.

When we got back to the house, C sat on the tractor as the older kids chopped wood in preparation for hauling it to the woodshed.

Of course, then it was back inside to sit by a roaring fire (cats included), movie and popcorn, building a gigantic wooden train track with bridges, loops and two railway stations in the playroom, and listening to the wind and rain that rolled around mid-afternoon.  On Sunday the three older children did 2 hours of rugby while C and I stayed behind to pack and putter around.  E did pretty well with the ball so we might be looking at getting him into rugby next term.

The next few hours will be spent creaming up the not-quite-two year old who is very poxy indeed, and prepping for school tomorrow.  I've been doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and have 34k words or thereabouts... not quite sure I'll make the 50k mark by next week given how many curve balls November has thrown, but it's the fastest I've ever written, and it's not trash, so there's a small victory.

And that's all for now! 

Dumbphone, Part 5

Scroll down for Part 4.  And maybe get a cup of tea.  Lots of photos here.

C in her brother's rainboots.

Play.

Writing, tea, scones.  Rare, nice afternoon break.  Scuse my finger in front of the lens.

Driving the... uh, contraption... at a local playgroup, just before E started school.

Dancing inside the "disco room" at a local soft play center.

Climbing trees at Wandsworth Common just near the fence separating the park from the train tracks.

Sharing a frozen yogurt during a rare restaurant outing.

Stalking pigeons.

Climbing the wooden pirate ship during her first day at playgroup.

Watching something on the ipad.

"I'm swiiiinging in the rain...."

Inside the gorgeous wooden playhouse at C's playgroup.  Lots of things to do in there.

Off to school with lunchbox and bookbag...

...while C and I become the ladies who lunch.  Or at least have tea and a babyccino (frothy warm milk)

Visiting the London Transport Museum - E posing in front of an old train carriage.

Driving a bus at the museum.

He really wanted to try this fizzy drink but didn't much like it in the end.

This chocolate shake at Hamley's was far more to his taste.

Her Lego Maj.

Reading "The Tiger Who Came to Tea"

Swinging together at the local park.

Building a house with Duplo.

C's first painting.

"New" marble run from the thrift shop, has most of its parts and works fine until one of them dismantles it (which is too often).

E's school project robot.

Running through the leaves past E's school on the way to the park.

The baby "wanted" to climb on the ropes, so C was helping her.

Recent picnic by the duck pond on the Common, they're inspecting their cookies before eating.

Little Red Riding Hood on the round'n'round.

Glittery rocket project.

Today's photo... we made "leaf masks" on our way home from school.  Cuz why  not?

And that's all until next time!