just another morning here

Got home to find a letter for Josiah on the side; it was from Boden – he got all excited as they’d all entered some competition or other a while back, to design a t-shirt with ‘something beginning with B’ on it. Joe had done a really good picture of a bumblebee which turned out looking slightly Lauren Child-esque. On closer inspection his letter was a runner’s up prize just saying well done and there were some special stickers that came with it. He was pleased to have been congratulated on his efforts, anyway

Then after piano lessons and tae kwon do (yes Tuesdays are very busy!), tonight’s entertainment was a showing of Theatre Alibi’s Teapot round at the kids’ school. I think this is the third or fourth time we’ve seen a Theatre Alibi production and they are consistently high quality in every way possible. Great storytelling, stunningly creative use of props, sets, etc., and some incredibly talented performers. The play was accompanied by a single cellist, using various special effects as well, and she was excellent too.

One of the kids’ friends gave them all some sweets which they ate on the way home, then as we got back all hell broke loose. Turned out that Abbie had offered Josiah a love heart which said ‘Cheer Up’ on it, but then in order for him to cheer up, in her wisdom she decided that he ought to be miserable first, so she punched him So he retaliated, unsurprisingly! Daft children. It did make me laugh, even though I shouldn’t have! Thankfully they both managed to say sorry and make up before going to bed, all is now peaceful!

It was Steve’s turn to work a couple of Bank Holidays so he’s been mainly at work this weekend, leaving the rest of us to enjoy ourselves, and we have

Yesterday we spent the day in town. Firstly we tried to take back a cello string that had snapped after a week. I was incredulous that the one music shop in town was closed, I mean, I know it’s a bank holiday but if it were my shop, I’d have kept it open. Anyway.

We wandered down through town, doing a bit of shopping in various places, and ended up at the Cathedral Green in time for a re-enactment of the Crucifixion. We hadn’t quite been spiritual enough to follow the whole Easter story as it had been acted out in various locations in town but it was good to be part of the finale. It was absolutely freezing; Anna commented that the guys up on the crosses next to Jesus really didn’t have to act much to look like they were in pain, and she was right!

After that we ended up in McDs for lunch , we met some friends there so that made it bearable. A bit more shopping afterwards and then I took the kids down to MakeArt and treated them to a session there – definitely lovely but definitely a bit on the pricey side too. They had a great time though, decorating some small animals with decoupage – and I had a nice cup of tea while they were doing it.

From there we went down to Ivonne‘s birthday party where we had some delicious cake and a Wii bowling game to celebrate. The kids were starting to get a bit hyper and annoying by this point, Steve was selling cars so he was late arriving and we left pretty much as soon as he got there!

Invited more friends over for a roast dinner and a showing of La Vie en Rose in the evening, and that was great – the food and the film, not to mention the company

Today has been fairly boring really; we went into town and got a new cello string, popped in to Sainsbury’s, did some music practices, some jobs around the house, Anna went to play with a friend who lives a half hour drive away so that took an hour out of the morning, the other two made a nice looking Easter cake, and they all did some Easter crafty stuff.

Joe had a friend to play in the afternoon, supposedly to practice a short drama they are doing at church tomorrow, but also just to play. Billy came bearing tadpoles for us which was very exciting (for me!). Sorted out guinea pigs both here and at friends’ while they’re away, dropped Billy off, picked Steve up, came home and cooked some dinner. Anna was dropped home and they all got into pyjamas to snuggle in front of Saturday night tv, which is nice, even if we have ended up in front of 2 different programmes!

Can’t really think of how to sum up our weekend as we did loads – as well as having a fair bit of time to relax with family which was lovely.

On Saturday the girls had Orchestra as usual. While they were there Josiah and I went to a little art cafe in town for an Easter Egg making workshop which was great. The cafe itself was lovely (although I can imagine if I start going too much it could get very expensive, especially if the girls were there!), and the workshop was good too, as was the time spent with friends

After that came a manic hour and a half where I dashed round town picking up my sister and all her stuff from her Uni halls of residence, Anna from Orchestra (Steve had picked Abbie up an hour earlier), we came home to drop off the cello, pick up an extra seat for the car as well as our overnight stuff, sleeping bags etc., and have a hurried lunch, then drove back out to the sports club where the kids have swimming lessons for their Gala Presentation. Very important to be there as I’d had inside information that Joe had won some medals so we couldn’t miss his moment of glory! He was pleased with his two bronzes and we were really proud of him, although he did whisper to me later that he would rather have won silver or gold (wonder where he gets that from?!). Next year!

From there we drove straight to my parents’ house in Oxfordshire, where we had a lovely roast dinner and a nice evening of tv and games. Steve and I woke up at some unearthly hour to watch the Australian Grand Prix (well, I didn’t stay awake for all of it but I showed willing!), while the others slept. More time for chatting and eating (croissants etc.!) this morning before we left. Really love having a young brother and sister – not only are they lovely people for me to spend time with but it’s really nice to see the children relating to them too, there’s something special about having an uncle and aunt so close to your own age, as opposed to those who are nearer your parents’ age, I think.

We planned to stop at Cribbs Causeway on the way home, having failed to remember that this would add about two hours to the journey just sitting in the queue to get in! Still, I found some shoes for work (like these except black – boring I know but practical!) and Josiah found some new tracksuit bottoms. We couldn’t decide on sheets (the other thing we’d been looking for) so have put that off until another time. Left fairly soon after that as we really can’t stand being aimless in shopping malls, and it was really busy and noisy. Give me Princesshay any day, so much nicer for being outside. And having the Apple Store

Home by 4pm so time for some tea, sorting out stuff for tomorrow, and all that general Sunday night stuff. Like blogging, and scrabulous

So, I’m at home waiting for the allotted interview hour. Really trying not to get too hopeful but I can’t help it. Abbie made me some special ‘lucky’ earrings in the same colours as my jumper this morning!! Thanks for all the good luck twitters too. I just can’t believe that I wouldn’t get one of the four posts being offered, all my experience and qualifications are in this area, plus I turned down the Apple Store because of the possibility of this one!! Wonder if I’ll find out today anyway? Probably not, they’ll probably keep me in suspense all weekend!

Have had a really full week myself; my parents were in town on Monday as they completed the purchase of a student house here, mainly for my sister to live in next academic year, so I was helping them out for most of Monday. I took on the job of filling it with tenants for the interim six months, so Steve and I have been busy with finishing off the conversion of one room from a lounge into a bedroom and filling it with the appropriate furniture and fittings, to sorting out various other little bits and pieces, answering calls, showing people around, etc. Hopefully by tonight we should have the full complement of rooms let so I feel I’ve done well! Just the broadband to sort out next week. We’ve done the usual work at the garage and at home alongside all that, hence the very busy feeling!

At home things are just ticking over nicely; Anna has had auditions for the Y6 play this week so she’s also in suspense waiting for the casting of that. They’re all happy and enjoying school, with the exception of the odd morning when they’d rather not get up and go out so early, but don’t we all have those?!

Started a new idea with Joe and his violin practice (which can be an area of difficulty in the day) which seems to be going well so far – I make him a tick box list for each day with a few things to practice, and he can tick them off then when they’re done, he’s finished and can do what he likes. This means that however much time he wastes along the way, he still has to play the required things the set number of times. It also means that I can’t put my perfectionism onto him too much by changing the goalposts during the practice session! He likes seeing the goals laid out for him like that, and he seems to be enjoying working through it and colouring in the tick boxes as he goes.

Might try it for the girls as well, actually, as often they whip through their ‘practice’ and I don’t think things are getting practiced enough! The difference is that I attend Joe’s lessons (as is the suzuki expectation) so I know exactly what he should be doing, whereas it’s not quite the same with the girls’ lessons. At some point I really would hope that he would take responsibility for his own practice but we’re not at that stage yet. At least he does really enjoy his lessons when he’s well prepared for them, and feels pleased with himself when his teacher congratulates him on having practiced well during the week, so it *is* paying off and he can see the results of his own hard work.

I splashed out on a Bead Merrily order which arrived on Wednesday and the kids were all absolutely thrilled with the contents. The girls have been beading madly (hence my lucky earrings!), while Joe was over the moon with his treasure digging game (what a mess that made though!) and a paper aeroplane set which is still to be fully explored. I should have kept the parcel until a special occasion really, but hey, sometimes you just want to give your kids gifts for no reason at all other than that you love them. And I do, so I did