My Super Babies

Tobes at Costa

Rosie and James at Costa

Toby, James and Rosie playing in the cubbyhole under the stairs at Costa.

Busy but not much happening here at the moment. Lots of organising going on. Toby's birthday party is in July and we've decided to throw a bash since it's his fifth and his first year at big school. We're inviting the whole class plus all of his other friends so we're looking at about 35 - 40 children plus siblings in one space. I'm going to hire a hall and some kind of entertainment. I'm trying to find a Power Ranger to come to the party (that's the theme, of course) but they're really expensive. What I really need is to get a friend to dress up for us. I can think of loads of Americans in the States who would do it, Jon would be brilliant at it, but no one here. (Andrew, are you reading this??)


The party is going to be fancy dress as your favourite super hero and Toby is going to be a red Power Ranger. I've seen a little pink Power Ranger costume that I'm very tempted to buy for Rosie but I don't know if she'd wear it. She has very firm ideas about these things.


And speaking of Rosie, please bear with me for a moment and just let me get this out... Today at Rosie's music class Rosie walked over to the piano and started pushing down the keys. Most children in the class do this at some point but everyone stopped to listen to Rosie because she was almost making a little tune. After class the teacher showed Rosie how the keys made different sounds and taught Rosie to make a bird sound (very high notes) and an elephant sound (low notes) then said that Rosie was a natural! I was so proud. We left class and I rang J on my mobile and told him we had to buy a piano. One of J's grandfathers was a pianist so maybe Rosie has inherited that talent. I know I'm being silly since she's only 18 months old but still...


Last weekend St Margaret's held an auction evening to raise money for the new playground. Local businesses and parents donated items and services and then parents could bid on them. I thought I might be able to get a bargain and give some money to the school so I went along with a bit of cash and the promise to be back home in a couple of hours. Four hours and sixty pounds later I rolled in full of red wine and high spirits. The whole evening was not what I had expected at all. Rather than bargains parents were paying well over the odds for items because it was for a good cause. Things like twenty pound grocery vouchers were going for double or more! I ended up paying fifteen pounds over the asking price for a memory foam pillow. There was wine and bread and some lovely cheeses donated by the local deli and everyone was getting quite sloshed by the end of the evening. Not quite how I imagine PTA meetings going in Texas.


And I've made a new friend. Her little boy is in Toby's class and they live on Quentin Road. We went over to their place for tea after school today and it was lovely. She has what I consider to be a very English home - beautiful things though well worn, with no pretentions, no design other than comfort. I loved her kitchen. It's all made from mismatched reclaimed pine units painted cream years ago and now rubbed around the edges. It's the kind of kitchen that's warm in the winter, full of sunlight in the summer and is perfect for a cozy cup of tea in the evening. Lovely.