just another morning here

More manicness going on here, the camera crew were back yesterday and today with a vengeance.

The girls and I went to Creative Stitches yesterday and had a fab time there, so good that we took the cameras back today to film us in action. I’m now on a mission to see if I can get all essential HE things into the programme – laminator, hama beads, you know the sort of thing I mean.

We had an Ecuadorian meal last night, having done lots of project-related art and craft type activities. There have been lots more interviews, and walking Caitlin & Riona to school this morning was quite a fiasco!

The children have been really good through it all though, and I’m sure they have learnt something! I certainly have, I wouldn’t touch Wifeswap with a bargepole after this!!!

Anyway, we have a busy weekend too, tonight the girls are going to their new kids club, Fri-D-Fish (the children there chose the name!), while Steve and I are going out with friends. Tomorrow is swimming lessons then sorting out the house and packing for our holiday, then on Sunday we’re off to the Arran House Hotel in London for a week, so blogging will be abandoned – and I really do feel like hibernating! We’re definitely looking forward to the holiday – vegging out together as well as all the activity that will undoubtedly happen.

And on that note, I’ll leave you with one of our classic Pre-London quotes from my sword-loving son:

Me: Shall we go to Buckingham Palace?
Anna: What can you see?
Me: Well, there’s the changing of the guards … [showed them a picture]
Joe: Oooh, swords! I want to go there!!

Anna: I’d like to go to the Tower of London. Look Joe, in the Crown Jewels there are some swords with jewels on them!
Joe: More swords?! Yes please, can we go there?

Me: How about Madame Tussauds, then?
Joe: Two Swords?? Oh yes please!!!

Well, I laughed, and I wanted to blog it so that I didn’t forget it! Maybe you had to be there. Ahem. Looking forward to meeting up with MuddlePuddle people while we’re in London too, although apparently the camera crew are having trouble with permission to film anywhere near the Diana Memorial fountain, so we’ll see what happens!

Home again – the school reunion weekend was good, if slightly surreal in places. Seeing people who you haven’t seen for a good 15 years brings back all sorts of memories that you thought you’d forgotten! I met up with one friend in particular who I haven’t seen since Anna was a bridesmaid at her wedding (although we write to each other occasionally), so that was nice – and she was quizzing me all about HE as her daughter’s just started school and she’s not convinced.

We realised that it was time to go when my brother, sister and I all ended up talking to one another rather than anyone else that we might have talked to! Very odd – because those who you wanted to keep in touch with, you have – and anyone else you can only have a very superficial conversation with, really. In fact I started one conversation “did you read that blog entry about …?” and then tailed off, realising that the person I was talking to didn’t have a clue, and hadn’t read this mutual friend’s blog (although they had read the article (Philip Pullman visits my home church about 10 years ago…) I was referring to, so we picked up the conversation a little later)!

We particularly enjoyed staying with Mark, Heidi and Caleb in their new house, and definitely will remember the Sunday Lunch episode! They were testing out the timer on their new oven, you get the picture! We’ve come home clutching Mark’s pile of Tintin books and Anna particularly has really enjoyed reading them.

This week is manic too, or it feels that way, anyway. I think it might be all in my mind though. The cameras are back with us on Thursday and Friday so we have the next couple of days to prepare for the onslaught. I’m looking forward to visiting the Creative Stitches exhibition at the weekend, too.

The children are pootling on with various things; Josiah is practising his reading with Start Right books … the girls are both doing plenty of music practise, reading, playing outside as usual, and they’ve all enjoyed playing with my FF toys – Geomags in particular! We’ve been reading The Story of London too, which they’ve all enjoyed. I keep thinking we must do a science kit soon, the pile of unopened ones is outgrowing its allotted space in the cupboard … something for tomorrow maybe …

Don’t know if that’s really a word, but it begins with U! Joe is, currently, doing a jolly good impression of Mr Uppity most days, think it’s a phase of ‘not quite needing a daytime sleep but not quite able to do without it’-itis. He had a half hour nap in church today which was fab for me because I got to cuddle him (very unusual) so now he hasn’t quite had enough sleep but he’s not tired enough for another one (and then bed before the Grand Prix starts!).

Anyway. We’ve had a lovely weekend, the highlight of which was the Creative Stitches exhibition. Our friend Liz came down to stay with us and came as well, which was nice. Joe was at the childminder’s so we had a lovely girly day!

We were tempted by lots of lovely crafty things – most of all the big New Era Hama bead stall … but we’re saving our money to spend here instead! We enjoyed watching foil art and ribbon craft demonstrations, looking at loads of stickers and stamps of all sorts, cross stitch and tapestry kits – etc! We didn’t spend too much money – I bought some nice coloured card and some stickers, and some ‘Nail Art’ pens (ie nail varnish with a fine nib) which can also be used to decorate mirrors/glass/ceramics so will come in handy for making some christmas presents, as well as giving the pens to friends for birthdays etc. They’re refillable so should last a nice long time.

Looked at a house we can’t afford yesterday – it’s in a lovely position and would be big enough to have lodgers, which is something I’d really love to do … but it’s not imminent. The house in question needed a fair bit of work which isn’t our scene really, so I’m forgetting about it for the minute. One day!

Today we’ve been to our church meeting, now we’re home baking cakes and watching batman (no prizes for guessing who’s doing which activity), then we’re off out for tea. Home in time for the Grand Prix no doubt!

Got home today after spending what felt like all day in the car … picked up a student in Bicester on the way home from Lutterworth (as you do) so dropped her off in Exeter on the way home … was home in time to read a couple of hundred emails before taking the children swimming.

This evening Steve and I have been out with a bunch of friends saying goodbye to Ben, who’s off to London Bible College next week … we ate lots of pizza, then the girls went home, leaving the lads to go off for the rest of the evening – don’t know what time they’ll be home! More whisky tasting was on the cards …!

Anyway. I’ve added some photos to the post below so you can see a bit of what we got up to at Snibston on Monday … and now I must go to bed! We’re off to the Creative Stitches Exhibition tomorrow so I want to get some sleep first, in anticipation of the hard work we’ll be doing (spending lots of money no doubt)!! I must memorise the opitec prices first though, just to make sure I’m not ripped off ;o) At the very least it will give us loads of ideas and inspiration!

Just wanted to add that I’ve been really chuffed while we’ve been away with how the girls have been reading. Anna’s really taken off with ‘longer’ books … for a while she wouldn’t touch anything without pictures and then all of a sudden she’s decided to read things with no illustration – and while we were away she’s started on ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ by C S Lewis, and she’s almost half way through! I’m going to be combing the charity shops and ebay for books – hoping to relive my childhood reading by getting hold of complete sets of things like Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables for her … as well as a few Enid Blytons – she really enjoyed her Famous Five book and I’m sure she’ll whizz through some more pretty quickly.

Abbie has also made big progress with reading – partly (I think) because Anna’s been enjoying books so much recently and she feels left out! She’s suddenly really wanted to learn to read and has made big efforts with some library books while we’ve been away, and when we got home this evening she sat and read one to Steve all the way through and was very proud of herself for having done it. Very encouraging all round!!