Last blog before going off to Kessingland. I've been trying to pack since about 2pm and it's now after 11pm and there's still stuff to do - I'm leaving the rest till the morning now.
Tamsin fell asleep at 5pm, and I left her there hoping she was so exhausted (long story) that she'd stay there all night, but no, she woke up at 8pm and is still up with us! We're all off to bed shortly, though.
Looking forward to the week!
See lots of you soon!
Friday, June 24, 2005
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Must get on with stuff....
No packing been done here yet ... must get on with it tomorrow afternoon, which is the only chance I'll get. DH isn't coming ..... or at least, he is going to drive the caravan to Kessingland and stay till Sunday and then come home again for a week getting stuff done at home. Chance would be a fine thing, is all I can say ....
I feel like I only got about 3 hours of sleep last night, what with one thing and another. Had to work this morning, with a fussy and irritable Isabelle stopping me get a thing done, and the same will happen tomorrow morning.
Hmm, this is just disjointed ramblings really. Too tired to blog straight .... must go to bed.
Oh, I know what I was going to say. Benjamin's anniversary passed unremarkably yesterday. I would normally have a candle burning all day, but was out too much to do that. And I even forgot to take the cute little stone trough and plants up to the grave last night - took them this morning instead. I still think of him pretty much every day, even after 6 years, so really an anniversary day isn't that much different to any other.
I feel like I only got about 3 hours of sleep last night, what with one thing and another. Had to work this morning, with a fussy and irritable Isabelle stopping me get a thing done, and the same will happen tomorrow morning.
Hmm, this is just disjointed ramblings really. Too tired to blog straight .... must go to bed.
Oh, I know what I was going to say. Benjamin's anniversary passed unremarkably yesterday. I would normally have a candle burning all day, but was out too much to do that. And I even forgot to take the cute little stone trough and plants up to the grave last night - took them this morning instead. I still think of him pretty much every day, even after 6 years, so really an anniversary day isn't that much different to any other.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Sunday night fever
And Monday night fever. Tamsin's not well - she's got what Bill had all last week, with what I guess must be laryngitis (not much of a voice and very croaky) and a bad cough. And a bit of a high temperature, especially at night. Poor thing was quite delirious last night for a while. Of course, as soon as she gets up in the morning, she's fairly bright and lively, and won't do me the favour of languishing on the sofa all day, like other people's ill children do, to let me recover from the disturbed night. Anyway, she's learning about normal body temperature and the immune system fighting off infections as we go!
So, Monday was quite good. We started off the morning with 'track', of course - a pretty much daily occurrence for at least the past year. We also had another game of Pairs, and some skittles, and then Linda, my hairdresser, came to the house to give us a trim. It was her first time back since having her baby Louisa, who was born 3 weeks before Isabelle. We were supposed to be due about 2 months apart, but then I was 2 weeks early, and she was over 2 weeks late and ended up with an emergency caesarean. Anyway, Louisa and Isabelle sat and looked at each other and played with the toys and grabbed them from each other and cooed and were generally extremely cute! Tamsin, however, refused to let the scissors anywhere near her hair and generally threw a complete strop, but I guess I'll let her off on the grounds of being rather under par. But please excuse any resemblance to a scarecrow next week at Kessingland!
Then Isabelle needed a nap and the dog needed a walk, so I got Isabelle into the buggy and we all walked into town where I picked up a few things to eat, and met several people to stand and chat with :-)
Home again, and we sat in the shade of our lilac tree and had some lunch, and then Tamsin complained of being tired and cold (!), so she curled up on the bean-bag and watched some TV. At about 3pm I asked her if she would like to go and see Henry the Harris Hawk, with whom she appeared on the front page of our local newspaper a few weeks ago after he had visited playschool. She said yes, so we set off up to the Falconry centre. We arrived in time for a demonstration, so we saw a falcon being flown, and then we asked if we could see Henry, so the man got Henry out to fly. He did several low-flying manoeuvres very close to our heads, which freaked Tamsin out a bit and she started to say she wanted to go home, and she didn't want to hold him :-( Never mind - I'd forgotten my camera anyway! We looked around a little, but Tamsin was really a bit scared of the birds, even though they were in cages, so we left, not really having had £7.50's worth! We wandered up to the nearby Batsford Garden Centre, where I used to work before I had Tamsin, and said hi to some ex-colleagues. Isabelle coughed a lot and consequently did a major puke while I was sitting in the office talking to my ex-boss! We had a brief wander round the garden centre where I got a small stone trough and some low-growing plants to make a permanent pot for Benjamin's grave, to take up there on Wednesday. We've had some spring bulbs in the plot, and also occasionally go up and put fresh flowers, but most of the time it's just been bare grass by the headstone, and that doesn't feel right. I'll feel better knowing there's a permanent flowery indication that he is not forgotten.
After getting home and a quick salad tea, I bathed Isabelle but Tamsin refused. I at last got round to changing the sheets that had been on the bed all last week while Bill was ill. Tamsin and Isabelle fell asleep quickly, and I lay there for a while, relaxing and dozing. 45 minutes later, Tamsin woke up confused and feverish, and vomited on the clean bed :-( I was just about to get the Calpol and dose her up when she just conked out again and slept fitfully for the rest of the night in our bed.
So, Monday was quite good. We started off the morning with 'track', of course - a pretty much daily occurrence for at least the past year. We also had another game of Pairs, and some skittles, and then Linda, my hairdresser, came to the house to give us a trim. It was her first time back since having her baby Louisa, who was born 3 weeks before Isabelle. We were supposed to be due about 2 months apart, but then I was 2 weeks early, and she was over 2 weeks late and ended up with an emergency caesarean. Anyway, Louisa and Isabelle sat and looked at each other and played with the toys and grabbed them from each other and cooed and were generally extremely cute! Tamsin, however, refused to let the scissors anywhere near her hair and generally threw a complete strop, but I guess I'll let her off on the grounds of being rather under par. But please excuse any resemblance to a scarecrow next week at Kessingland!
Then Isabelle needed a nap and the dog needed a walk, so I got Isabelle into the buggy and we all walked into town where I picked up a few things to eat, and met several people to stand and chat with :-)
Home again, and we sat in the shade of our lilac tree and had some lunch, and then Tamsin complained of being tired and cold (!), so she curled up on the bean-bag and watched some TV. At about 3pm I asked her if she would like to go and see Henry the Harris Hawk, with whom she appeared on the front page of our local newspaper a few weeks ago after he had visited playschool. She said yes, so we set off up to the Falconry centre. We arrived in time for a demonstration, so we saw a falcon being flown, and then we asked if we could see Henry, so the man got Henry out to fly. He did several low-flying manoeuvres very close to our heads, which freaked Tamsin out a bit and she started to say she wanted to go home, and she didn't want to hold him :-( Never mind - I'd forgotten my camera anyway! We looked around a little, but Tamsin was really a bit scared of the birds, even though they were in cages, so we left, not really having had £7.50's worth! We wandered up to the nearby Batsford Garden Centre, where I used to work before I had Tamsin, and said hi to some ex-colleagues. Isabelle coughed a lot and consequently did a major puke while I was sitting in the office talking to my ex-boss! We had a brief wander round the garden centre where I got a small stone trough and some low-growing plants to make a permanent pot for Benjamin's grave, to take up there on Wednesday. We've had some spring bulbs in the plot, and also occasionally go up and put fresh flowers, but most of the time it's just been bare grass by the headstone, and that doesn't feel right. I'll feel better knowing there's a permanent flowery indication that he is not forgotten.
After getting home and a quick salad tea, I bathed Isabelle but Tamsin refused. I at last got round to changing the sheets that had been on the bed all last week while Bill was ill. Tamsin and Isabelle fell asleep quickly, and I lay there for a while, relaxing and dozing. 45 minutes later, Tamsin woke up confused and feverish, and vomited on the clean bed :-( I was just about to get the Calpol and dose her up when she just conked out again and slept fitfully for the rest of the night in our bed.
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Some like it hot.....
but I don't. Phew, days like this mean I just lie around feeling lethargic and sweaty. Attractive, huh?
The day started in a wobbly kind of way too, with Isabelle being awake from 6am and despite yawning and appearing to be quite tired still, wouldn't go back to sleep. So we got up and came downstairs, and I did a quick round of the blogring. Or at least, I got as far as Merry's blog, which reduced me to a sobbing heap and I had to go and get my beautiful, cuddly, perfect baby and just hug her, crying madly. She is just so perfect right now, so adorable and beautiful, and I wish I could keep her like this forever and ever. Of course, it's exciting and lovely to see the development too, and I love so many of the stages to come, but something about my current mood is just making me feel grief and loss at her moving on from what she is now. (Oh, DUH! I only just thought of this - could it be because the anniversary of Benjamin's death is coming up on Wednesday...? Strange how the grief can get you even when you haven't been thinking about it. You might not think so from reading this blog, especially as I have recently had another baby which brings things up again, but I really feel the loss of Benjamin is a fairly small corner of my life now, but I guess this is what it means when people say you never totally 'get over it' - it pops up at odd times even when you aren't anticipating it.)
After recovering, the day went fairly nicely. Tamsin has developed a very husky voice and a cough so I didn't think we ought to go to church this morning, even though she is well apart from that. So yesterday and today we have had much splashing in the 'paddling' pool, which is actually what I bought as a birth pool but never had time to get into for the birth. I put Isabelle on the lawn with a bowl of water and utensils to splash in it, but she either didn't 'get it' or wasn't interested, unlike when she is in the bath when she splashes madly with great delight. However she was happy to sit there for quite long periods of time.
What's this green stuff?
Love the pool!
Later Tamsin played on one of her Learning Land CD-Roms, which included identifying various insects among other things. We've played some games of 'pairs' with a set of cards she got for her birthday, and she's got a pretty good memory for the position of the cards. We went for a walk in the woods, and talked about the different leaf sizes of many of the plants, and I showed her how to identify a fern. Oh, and yesterday we did the 'OW' lesson in 'Sound of the Week' and she did a fabulous job of looking at the pictures I had printed off, and finding the appropriate word to go with it. She was probably mostly just choosing by the first letter, but slowly, we are making progress. I am thinking of making a semi-serious 'start' on reading, if she seems happy to, in September when she would 'normally' have been starting Reception class. No push and no rush, but as long as she is comfortable with it I think she is beginning to show some readiness for reading. She has all the letters extremely confidently under her belt, and, having learned them in the 'phonic' way (a, buh, cuh, etc) she is now thrilled that she has learned the 'ABC song' and sings it several times a day. Also, having agreed to purchase a good portion of the Sonlight Pre-K curriculum from Katy B, we will probably start that in September too.
While Isabelle had a nap this morning, I watched the 'Sign with your Baby' video that I had and used with Tamsin. Isabelle is about the right age to start signing to her, although it is likely to be 2-3 months at least before she starts signing back. We did some of this with Tamsin, although we found it difficult to remember to do the signs consistently so it was never a major thing. She did learn signs for milk, Poppy (the dog), aeroplane and flower and maybe a few others. I would love to be more consistent with Isabelle, though, because again watching that video I was welling up with tears because it is such an amazing thing to see such little children so clearly communicating.
I'm sure there's been other stuff today, but can't remember what. As far as other members of the family go, I think one of the hens might be going broody. She's sat in the nesting box just about all afternoon. It could be the heat, but she definitely needs keeping an eye on. It means she would sit there for about 3 weeks barely eating enough to keep going, and not laying, and blocking up the nesting box so the others would find it difficult to lay. To stop it you're supposed to put them in a wire cage for a few days, but (a) I haven't got one and (b) it seems a bit harsh. I'm going to do a bit of online research to see if there's anything else I can do.
The day started in a wobbly kind of way too, with Isabelle being awake from 6am and despite yawning and appearing to be quite tired still, wouldn't go back to sleep. So we got up and came downstairs, and I did a quick round of the blogring. Or at least, I got as far as Merry's blog, which reduced me to a sobbing heap and I had to go and get my beautiful, cuddly, perfect baby and just hug her, crying madly. She is just so perfect right now, so adorable and beautiful, and I wish I could keep her like this forever and ever. Of course, it's exciting and lovely to see the development too, and I love so many of the stages to come, but something about my current mood is just making me feel grief and loss at her moving on from what she is now. (Oh, DUH! I only just thought of this - could it be because the anniversary of Benjamin's death is coming up on Wednesday...? Strange how the grief can get you even when you haven't been thinking about it. You might not think so from reading this blog, especially as I have recently had another baby which brings things up again, but I really feel the loss of Benjamin is a fairly small corner of my life now, but I guess this is what it means when people say you never totally 'get over it' - it pops up at odd times even when you aren't anticipating it.)
After recovering, the day went fairly nicely. Tamsin has developed a very husky voice and a cough so I didn't think we ought to go to church this morning, even though she is well apart from that. So yesterday and today we have had much splashing in the 'paddling' pool, which is actually what I bought as a birth pool but never had time to get into for the birth. I put Isabelle on the lawn with a bowl of water and utensils to splash in it, but she either didn't 'get it' or wasn't interested, unlike when she is in the bath when she splashes madly with great delight. However she was happy to sit there for quite long periods of time.
What's this green stuff?
Love the pool!
Later Tamsin played on one of her Learning Land CD-Roms, which included identifying various insects among other things. We've played some games of 'pairs' with a set of cards she got for her birthday, and she's got a pretty good memory for the position of the cards. We went for a walk in the woods, and talked about the different leaf sizes of many of the plants, and I showed her how to identify a fern. Oh, and yesterday we did the 'OW' lesson in 'Sound of the Week' and she did a fabulous job of looking at the pictures I had printed off, and finding the appropriate word to go with it. She was probably mostly just choosing by the first letter, but slowly, we are making progress. I am thinking of making a semi-serious 'start' on reading, if she seems happy to, in September when she would 'normally' have been starting Reception class. No push and no rush, but as long as she is comfortable with it I think she is beginning to show some readiness for reading. She has all the letters extremely confidently under her belt, and, having learned them in the 'phonic' way (a, buh, cuh, etc) she is now thrilled that she has learned the 'ABC song' and sings it several times a day. Also, having agreed to purchase a good portion of the Sonlight Pre-K curriculum from Katy B, we will probably start that in September too.
While Isabelle had a nap this morning, I watched the 'Sign with your Baby' video that I had and used with Tamsin. Isabelle is about the right age to start signing to her, although it is likely to be 2-3 months at least before she starts signing back. We did some of this with Tamsin, although we found it difficult to remember to do the signs consistently so it was never a major thing. She did learn signs for milk, Poppy (the dog), aeroplane and flower and maybe a few others. I would love to be more consistent with Isabelle, though, because again watching that video I was welling up with tears because it is such an amazing thing to see such little children so clearly communicating.
I'm sure there's been other stuff today, but can't remember what. As far as other members of the family go, I think one of the hens might be going broody. She's sat in the nesting box just about all afternoon. It could be the heat, but she definitely needs keeping an eye on. It means she would sit there for about 3 weeks barely eating enough to keep going, and not laying, and blocking up the nesting box so the others would find it difficult to lay. To stop it you're supposed to put them in a wire cage for a few days, but (a) I haven't got one and (b) it seems a bit harsh. I'm going to do a bit of online research to see if there's anything else I can do.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
New baby must-haves
I could have done with some of these a few months ago, *especially* number 4 and number 6. Number 3 would still come in useful!
Monday, June 13, 2005
Tamsin's party
Phew, it's taking a few days to recover! All went extremely well, except that I forgot to take any photos. I managed to take one of the cake after everyone had gone!
.
It was a Dora the Explorer party. Bill had done an amazing job constructing an adventure at the bottom of the garden, and drawing a map, and a friend had helped me make a Backpack for each child. They were told that Swiper the fox had stolen some of the gifts they were supposed to take home, so they had to go and look for them. They had to go through the Grumpy Old Troll's Secret Garden, who wouldn't let them through until they made him happy by planting some nasturtium seeds in a trough. Then they had to go over Rainbow Mountain (our climbing frame), collecting a Dora bookmark to put into their backpack on the way, then down the slide, look for Swiper because he lived somewhere near the bottom of the peartree, shout "Swiper no swiping" so that they could reclaim their prizes (a Kinder Surprise egg), then find a lost baby animal and take it through the bendy tunnel to reunite it with its mother at the other end. We also had Dora the Explorer dot-to-dots when the children arrived, and I had prepared Pin the Backpack on Dora, and another running round game, neither of which we had time to do. We did some dancing, some Musical Statues, and some general running around and playing, followed by lots of food and the Dora cake.
Tamsin enjoyed her Dora the Explorer house she got as her main present :
.
Unfortunately, Bill having been ill in bed all day on Thursday (his birthday), he made heroic efforts to be up and busy and helpful on Friday and Saturday, and then relapsed and has been in bed ever since. He really has been feeling rough. Nevertheless I can't help feeling somewhat envious of a few days in bed sleeping (yawn)!
.
It was a Dora the Explorer party. Bill had done an amazing job constructing an adventure at the bottom of the garden, and drawing a map, and a friend had helped me make a Backpack for each child. They were told that Swiper the fox had stolen some of the gifts they were supposed to take home, so they had to go and look for them. They had to go through the Grumpy Old Troll's Secret Garden, who wouldn't let them through until they made him happy by planting some nasturtium seeds in a trough. Then they had to go over Rainbow Mountain (our climbing frame), collecting a Dora bookmark to put into their backpack on the way, then down the slide, look for Swiper because he lived somewhere near the bottom of the peartree, shout "Swiper no swiping" so that they could reclaim their prizes (a Kinder Surprise egg), then find a lost baby animal and take it through the bendy tunnel to reunite it with its mother at the other end. We also had Dora the Explorer dot-to-dots when the children arrived, and I had prepared Pin the Backpack on Dora, and another running round game, neither of which we had time to do. We did some dancing, some Musical Statues, and some general running around and playing, followed by lots of food and the Dora cake.
Tamsin enjoyed her Dora the Explorer house she got as her main present :
.
Unfortunately, Bill having been ill in bed all day on Thursday (his birthday), he made heroic efforts to be up and busy and helpful on Friday and Saturday, and then relapsed and has been in bed ever since. He really has been feeling rough. Nevertheless I can't help feeling somewhat envious of a few days in bed sleeping (yawn)!
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Party preparations
Oh my goodness, I can so see why people pay lots of money to have their children's birthday parties elsewhere than at home. I wasn't thinking clearly when I invited 15 - luckily a couple can't come, but it's still a mammoth task! I have a mountain of tasks to get on with, but just had to have a quick blog while Bill took the kids out to the library.
Bill was in bed ill all day on his birthday - didn't even feel like opening any presents until 7pm. I have a very sore throat and he is still majorly coughing. But I had more success than I anticipated doing Tamsin's Dora cake last night - it only took me until 12.30am - I thought I might be up till 2! Photos later, or tomorrow!
Bill was in bed ill all day on his birthday - didn't even feel like opening any presents until 7pm. I have a very sore throat and he is still majorly coughing. But I had more success than I anticipated doing Tamsin's Dora cake last night - it only took me until 12.30am - I thought I might be up till 2! Photos later, or tomorrow!
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Birth-day Part 2
So, 4 years ago, I woke at 1am with definite pains. I left Bill asleep in the chair next to my bed, while I went to find a midwife, who suggested I get in the bath. I had told them I wanted to use the birth pool but it was too early for that yet (so we thought). While I was in the bath, Bill woke up and panicked when he couldn't find me! Despite expecting to find the bath comforting, I wasn't getting any benefit from being in there, so had just decided to get out again when Bill found me. We fixed my TENS machine in place, and then as things hotted up, the midwives suggested I went upstairs to the delivery room. I remember walking up those stairs and having to stop in the middle while a contraction came. At my request, they started filling the birth pool, but it quickly became apparent that there wasn't going to be time to get into it. She was born at 2.55am.
This morning, she wasn't in such a hurry to see the world, and I was waiting and waiting for her to wake up, and in the end had to wake her up at 8am. She was going to playschool for the morning, so we had limited time. I had got all her presents out the night before, but I went downstairs and hid all but one as there just wouldn't be time for them. She was a bit bleary for a while, and didn't show much pleasure at her new Dora the Explorer outfit which I thought she might want to wear to playschool. We all got ready and then I took her to playschool along with her big Thomas the Tank Engine cake to share with her friends at snack time. I had to work from 11-1pm, so Bill (who had the day off) collected her from playschool. She'd had a lovely morning, and shortly after I got back we got the presents out and had a fun time as she opened them all. She got some clothes, a bit of cash, a sticker-making machine, a few small toys and the much-sought-and-eventually-found Dora the Explorer Talking House which she was absolutely thrilled with and played with for ages.
Unfortunately Bill was fighting a losing battle against some sort of cough/general viral infection (which I am showing signs of too) and went off to bed for a couple of hours, so the rest of us walked the dog and then played/read/babbled as appropriate!
Dinner, bath and bed were followed by preparations (mine) for Bill's birthday tomorrow and Tamsin's party on Saturday, for which I actually need about another week to prepare, I think!
This morning, she wasn't in such a hurry to see the world, and I was waiting and waiting for her to wake up, and in the end had to wake her up at 8am. She was going to playschool for the morning, so we had limited time. I had got all her presents out the night before, but I went downstairs and hid all but one as there just wouldn't be time for them. She was a bit bleary for a while, and didn't show much pleasure at her new Dora the Explorer outfit which I thought she might want to wear to playschool. We all got ready and then I took her to playschool along with her big Thomas the Tank Engine cake to share with her friends at snack time. I had to work from 11-1pm, so Bill (who had the day off) collected her from playschool. She'd had a lovely morning, and shortly after I got back we got the presents out and had a fun time as she opened them all. She got some clothes, a bit of cash, a sticker-making machine, a few small toys and the much-sought-and-eventually-found Dora the Explorer Talking House which she was absolutely thrilled with and played with for ages.
Unfortunately Bill was fighting a losing battle against some sort of cough/general viral infection (which I am showing signs of too) and went off to bed for a couple of hours, so the rest of us walked the dog and then played/read/babbled as appropriate!
Dinner, bath and bed were followed by preparations (mine) for Bill's birthday tomorrow and Tamsin's party on Saturday, for which I actually need about another week to prepare, I think!
Is anybody out there?
Where have all my commenters gone (except Merry)? I'm feeling a bit lonely here! Is anybody listening?
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
4 years ago....
we'd all just voted in the General Election, and then I'd gone to hospital to have Tamsin's birth induced. I was highly anxious and stressed, knowing far more than I ever wanted to about stillbirths and neonatal deaths after losing Benjamin. Tamsin had a very irregular heartbeat, which the consultant assured me was nothing to worry about, but hearing it on the monitor, I could so easily imagine it just stopping, and I knew I'd feel happier with her out than in. So the Prostin gel was applied in the morning, then we went for a wander round Cheltenham to wait for things to get going. I started to feel a very slight something in Marks & Spencer, and hoped my waters would break there so I would get free clothes for life, or something like that, but sadly it was not to be. We returned to the hospital for a second Prostin gel in the late afternoon, and although I kept on my feet in the hope it would get things going quicker, in the end we gave up at about 10pm and I went to bed. I woke up at 1am..... ah, but that's tomorrow's story.
Anyway, back to the present. We had a full day today, catching the train at 9.20am to go to London and the Science Museum. My Mum got on the train at Reading and came along with us, which made things a great deal easier. We saw lots of obvious home-edders milling around, and chatted to Carol from Andover who is on the MuddlePuddle list. Tamsin really enjoyed "The Garden" in the basement, but wasn't impressed with the other galleries we had a quick look in - "I'm getting quite bored, Mummy," she said. So, of course, we then went to the shop to indulge in some retail therapy, where I bought her some 'Magic Plastic' balloon-making stuff; some no-spill bubble mixture, and a little glow-in-the dark 'box of bones' which we put together on the train on the way home, during which I took the opportunity of teaching her about the skull, jaw, shoulder blades, names of leg and arm bones and the pelvis and ribs. Oh, and I treated myself to a necklace in Accessorize on Paddington Station!
Isabelle was just a dream baby today - she is amazing! The journey to London was perfectly timed for her nap, so she slept all the way there. She was quiet and relaxed all the time we were out and about, had another nap in the buggy during the afternoon, and was happy and cute on the train on the way home.
Tamsin was disappointed we didn't get time to go to the Natural History Museum and look at the dinosaurs which I had told her about, so I think she'll be demanding another visit to London before long. In the meantime, I still have some preparations to be done for her birthday tomorrow, so I'd better dash.
Anyway, back to the present. We had a full day today, catching the train at 9.20am to go to London and the Science Museum. My Mum got on the train at Reading and came along with us, which made things a great deal easier. We saw lots of obvious home-edders milling around, and chatted to Carol from Andover who is on the MuddlePuddle list. Tamsin really enjoyed "The Garden" in the basement, but wasn't impressed with the other galleries we had a quick look in - "I'm getting quite bored, Mummy," she said. So, of course, we then went to the shop to indulge in some retail therapy, where I bought her some 'Magic Plastic' balloon-making stuff; some no-spill bubble mixture, and a little glow-in-the dark 'box of bones' which we put together on the train on the way home, during which I took the opportunity of teaching her about the skull, jaw, shoulder blades, names of leg and arm bones and the pelvis and ribs. Oh, and I treated myself to a necklace in Accessorize on Paddington Station!
Isabelle was just a dream baby today - she is amazing! The journey to London was perfectly timed for her nap, so she slept all the way there. She was quiet and relaxed all the time we were out and about, had another nap in the buggy during the afternoon, and was happy and cute on the train on the way home.
Tamsin was disappointed we didn't get time to go to the Natural History Museum and look at the dinosaurs which I had told her about, so I think she'll be demanding another visit to London before long. In the meantime, I still have some preparations to be done for her birthday tomorrow, so I'd better dash.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Not much of interest today except a trip to the dentist for me to sort out some discoloured old fillings on my front teeth so now I don't have to be embarrassed when I smile (vbg). I've been smiling at myself admiringly in the mirror since I got home. Bill took an hour off work to supervise the girls while I was drilled and filled. I'm having an old veneer re-done too, so soon I shall really have a totally new smile and then I'll have to start planning the botox and the tummy tuck to really qualify for the "Ten Years Younger" programme. OK, I'm kidding! I prefer to save the money and cultivate the attitude that my burgeoning wrinkles and grey hair give me 'character'!
Tamsin and Isabelle were really good with the very boring morning driving to Oxford, waiting in a car park and then driving back to Moreton. Stopped off on the way to sort out some wrapping paper, birthday cards etc and then home to sort stuff out. As well as Tamsin's birthday on Wednesday, we have Bill's on Thursday! And Tamsin's party on Saturday. So there's a lot to get ready!
I'm a bit worried about one of the chickens - the one which lays blue eggs hasn't laid for 3 days now .... the trouble is, I don't know which one of the 3 it is. I've put a call in to a friend who knows more about this stuff because I don't know if it's a big problem or not.
Tamsin and Isabelle were really good with the very boring morning driving to Oxford, waiting in a car park and then driving back to Moreton. Stopped off on the way to sort out some wrapping paper, birthday cards etc and then home to sort stuff out. As well as Tamsin's birthday on Wednesday, we have Bill's on Thursday! And Tamsin's party on Saturday. So there's a lot to get ready!
I'm a bit worried about one of the chickens - the one which lays blue eggs hasn't laid for 3 days now .... the trouble is, I don't know which one of the 3 it is. I've put a call in to a friend who knows more about this stuff because I don't know if it's a big problem or not.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Sunday
Didn't go to church this morning, as it was the annual Outdoor Service. I have extremely clear memories of being at that service in 1999 with Benjamin, so happy and full of pride in him, and I don't think I can bear to go now. Or maybe I could bear it, but I want that memory to remain his, and not be overlaid with others.
Instead I tried to take it easy, having been woken for the second day in a row at 5.30am by Isabelle, who wasn't inclined to go back to sleep after that. Tamsin took the hint I had left out the night before, and started filling in a handwriting workbook, as she has shown much more interest in writing recently. She enjoyed it, but didn't take well to being corrected as to how to write some of the letters. "I'm doing it my way", she said. "I'm only trying to show you how to do it more easily", I said, and she responded, "but I like doing things the hard way." Hmmm, what can you do? Leave her to do it whichever way she likes, in the hope that the correct way of writing will gradually sink in if she watches others do it, or keep on trying to show her the right way? I certainly feel it bodes ill for anything that I might try and 'teach' her in future!
Bill did some fantastic stuff in the garden, preparing for Tamsin's Dora the Explorer birthday party next Saturday. There's going to be some sort of treasure hunt/exploring thing, so he's constructed a whole adventure playground sort of affair, out of old fence panels, LOL! In the meantime, after a lot of effort, I have managed to track down and obtain a Dora Talking House, whew! Tamsin doesn't even know such a thing exists, yet, but once I saw it I really knew that's what I wanted to get her, but whenever I located a supplier, they stopped being able to supply it by the time I wanted to order. Eventually found an Ebay shop that could send me one.
I also put another coat of paint on one of Tamsin's little toyboxes that we got months ago and have been meaning to paint (still one more coat to do on this one, and then need to do the second one); tidied up the living room a little; had a good long nap with Isabelle to try and catch up on some sleep; had a picnic on the lawn for lunch; set Tamsin to 'painting' with water on the patio, and then she 'washed' the windows (i.e. made them dirtier); cleaned out the chickens; and tried to get my head round the busy week ahead.
Instead I tried to take it easy, having been woken for the second day in a row at 5.30am by Isabelle, who wasn't inclined to go back to sleep after that. Tamsin took the hint I had left out the night before, and started filling in a handwriting workbook, as she has shown much more interest in writing recently. She enjoyed it, but didn't take well to being corrected as to how to write some of the letters. "I'm doing it my way", she said. "I'm only trying to show you how to do it more easily", I said, and she responded, "but I like doing things the hard way." Hmmm, what can you do? Leave her to do it whichever way she likes, in the hope that the correct way of writing will gradually sink in if she watches others do it, or keep on trying to show her the right way? I certainly feel it bodes ill for anything that I might try and 'teach' her in future!
Bill did some fantastic stuff in the garden, preparing for Tamsin's Dora the Explorer birthday party next Saturday. There's going to be some sort of treasure hunt/exploring thing, so he's constructed a whole adventure playground sort of affair, out of old fence panels, LOL! In the meantime, after a lot of effort, I have managed to track down and obtain a Dora Talking House, whew! Tamsin doesn't even know such a thing exists, yet, but once I saw it I really knew that's what I wanted to get her, but whenever I located a supplier, they stopped being able to supply it by the time I wanted to order. Eventually found an Ebay shop that could send me one.
I also put another coat of paint on one of Tamsin's little toyboxes that we got months ago and have been meaning to paint (still one more coat to do on this one, and then need to do the second one); tidied up the living room a little; had a good long nap with Isabelle to try and catch up on some sleep; had a picnic on the lawn for lunch; set Tamsin to 'painting' with water on the patio, and then she 'washed' the windows (i.e. made them dirtier); cleaned out the chickens; and tried to get my head round the busy week ahead.
The first ....... of many?
Here's what Tamsin did on Friday:
I was a pony-mad girl; loved riding from age 3 or 4 till I was in my 20s, dreamed of owning a pony, but by a bit of bad planning managed to be born into an impoverished clergy family, and had to make do with helping out at the local stables and riding other people's horses and ponies occasionally. So I thought it would be nice to see whether Tamsin might like it too, even though she's born into a moderately impoverished family too!
By going through the Fair Shares scheme (which is where I work) I arranged a trial ride for Tamsin with Sarah, who also happens to be her playschool leader. Being prone to being a bit of a nervous child at times, I wasn't sure how Tamsin would get on, but she absolutely loved it. I foresee more riding in her future!
I was a pony-mad girl; loved riding from age 3 or 4 till I was in my 20s, dreamed of owning a pony, but by a bit of bad planning managed to be born into an impoverished clergy family, and had to make do with helping out at the local stables and riding other people's horses and ponies occasionally. So I thought it would be nice to see whether Tamsin might like it too, even though she's born into a moderately impoverished family too!
By going through the Fair Shares scheme (which is where I work) I arranged a trial ride for Tamsin with Sarah, who also happens to be her playschool leader. Being prone to being a bit of a nervous child at times, I wasn't sure how Tamsin would get on, but she absolutely loved it. I foresee more riding in her future!
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