End of an era

Today was the last day of Toby's half term. His last day before starting his formal education at the end of which he'll be a young man. God, it makes me want to grip the desk and take deep breaths just thinking about it. We've gotten to this point so quickly. It seems like only a few days ago I was laying in a hospital bed with my new baby boy tucked under my arm. I still remember the smell of him, his tiny hands and hairy ears. I can't believe he's starting school tomorrow.

I had loads of chores to do today but decided to cancel them all and just have a nice day with the children. We went to Cafe Rouge for lunch and Tobes had a citron presse. He loves them because he says it's like making a potion. His potion always contains an awful lot of syrup. Afterwards we flew kites on the heath, bought ice cream and just goofed around for a few hours. When we got home I finished putting labels in Toby's school uniforms and got everything ready.

J is going in to work later so we can all take Toby to school on his first day. I did ask Tobes who he wanted to take him to school and he said all of us so we'll all be trooping down at 8.45 tomorrow morning. This is going to be a big change for me too. No more rolling up an hour late to nursery because we had a bad night or long morning. Nope, I'm going to have to start setting an alarm which is something I haven't done regularly in over five years! Big changes for all of us. We're moving away from having 'babies' to having 'children' now. Ahhhh. Big sigh.

My fifteen minutes continues...

For those of you in the UK, the May edition of Practical Parenting magazine has a small photo of the four of us and a quote from me (page 24) about how old the children were when we started taking them to the cinema. Not terribly exciting but fun to see ourselves in print again.

Springtime

Yesterday was the last day of Toby's half term so we went into town. I was thinking a casual day at the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. They have events for children during half term and good cafes for lunch. Our plans changed when, on the train, Toby said that he would actually prefer to see the dinosaurs. So we got off the train at Charing Cross and hopped in a taxi to South Kensington and the Natural History Museum. We got there fifteen minutes after they opened and there was already a line at the door. It's a very popular place when school is out.

We were lucky though and managed to get tickets to the most popular exhibit, Dino Jaws, which ended today. We also got one of the adventure packs that include binoculars, games, activities and a hat for little explorers. The exhibition was all about what dinosaurs ate and had lots of animatronic dinosaurs and loads of info about dinosaur poo. One of Toby's favourite displays was a big pile of dinosaur poo that even smelled bad. He thought it was so funny. They had some coprolites that children could touch too and that made Toby laugh as well. Ah, four year old boys and their sense of humour.

Today was a gorgeous sunny day and we were all dressed in summer clothes and sandals for a change. I dug out some summer clothes for Rosie that I bought last year in the sales. I try to buy ahead for the kids when I can get a bargain. The problem is trying to guess what size they'll be the following year. I obviously got it wrong this time. Rosie is 17 months old but she is firmly in a size 2 already. The outfit I bought her is 18 mons - 2 years and you can see how small it is on her in the photo. She's going to be a tall girl.

Rosie's communication is really coming along. She's just started two word phrases and can communicate in whole sentences using a combination of words and signing. Tonight is a good example. She is very good at procrastinating going to sleep. She'll ask for more milk, another story, another song, a drink of water, etc, etc. Tonight she asked me to change her nappy by signing. I checked her nappy and told her that it was clean and she didn't need a change. She then signed 'medicine' which is the sign we use for medicine, nappy cream and teething gel. I asked if she needed some medicine and she shook her head no. I asked if she needed some nappy cream and she nodded and then pointed at her nappy and said "bits" which is what we call her vagina (it's an English thing). Of course, I had to check and sure enough she had some nappy rash so I put some cream on the rash and took her back to bed and she finally went to sleep. So nice that she can tell us what's wrong. I'm sure it saves a lot of tantrums and frustration.

Congrats Jon, Angie and Dyl!!

Ian arrived yesterday safe and sound. Angie ended up with a cesarean but Mom said that she's doing well. I've only spoken to Mom so far and have been told that Ian weighs 6lb+, is a very alert and peaceful boy and already has curly hair. Mom has been staying with Dyllin so that Jon can stay at the hospital with Angie and Ian. Can't wait to get all the details!

Ian Black

OK guys, send some positive vibes out Texas way today. My sister-in-law Angie is being induced so baby Ian will be here sometime in the next 24 hours or so!! I'm so excited for them. New babies are just the most wonderful thing in the world. I hope it all goes smoothly and with minimum pain. Can't wait to see photos of the precious little dumplin'. You can tell from his 3D ultrasound that he's a cutie already!

Someone kill me. Now.

Good God, it's the second day of Toby's week off of school and already we're ready to kill each other. Tobes is having a time out in his room right now for pushing Rosie. He's bored out of his mind and so am I. We tried going out on the heath today but the weather is horrible, grey and threatening rain, so we came back home. I seem to have a bug or something and feel totally exhausted and just the thought of going into London makes me feel worse. We talked about going to Bluewater to see a film but Tobes couldn't decided what he wanted to see, I dreaded the half-term crowds and we ended up doing nothing. All my plans for days out have evaporated. All I want to do is lie down with a book and rest but of course that's not going to happen. I think we'll just stay home, bicker and pray for bedtime. Yuck.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Lazy Holidays

A couple of photos taken in the last couple of days. The top one was taken this morning in our home from home - Costa Coffee. The bottom one was taken yesterday of the children playing with friends on the heath.

We're just hanging out and taking it easy. Both of the children have coughs so we're having a home day today and watching Toby's Happy Feet DVD. Well, the DVD is on right now but Toby and Rosie are fighting over a train station and I'm pretending that I don't hear them. Same difference.

Deep in the bowels of PMS

Any guys who read this blog might want to skip this entry. It's going to be a lot of woman talk. Very much Our Bodies, Ourselves kind of stuff. Then again, stick around and you might learn something.

I always thought that as I got older the whole period thing would get easier. It seems logical to me that my hormones would be more unstable as a blossoming 18 year old than they would be as a pretty settled 36 year old. It seems I'm wrong. The older I get the worse my PMS gets. The image that comes to mind these days is someone covered in bees. The natural desire is to swat the bees away, stand up, run, find water and get the damn things off of you. Problem is, if you do that you'll probably get stung about 1000 times and drive yourself mad so you just do your best to sit still, breathe slowly and hope that they eventually go away. This is what I'm like with PMS. It's like tension crawling all over my skin and all I can do is try to stay calm and wait it out.

A good example is the other night when we ordered pizza for dinner. I went to put Rosie down for the night and by the time I went back to the kitchen ALL of the pizza was gone. I thought I might self-combust but decided to give J the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he had put some pizza away for me. We had a little conversation that went something like this:


Me: Is there any pizza left?

J: No. I didn't think you wanted any.

Me: OK, I guess I'll have some cereal then.


Of course, in my mind it played out a little differently:


Me: Is there any pizza left?

J: No. I didn't think you wanted any.

Me: OK, I guess I'll have some cereal then... [pause]... since there's no pizza left you selfish greedy BASTARD. You didn't think I wanted any pizza?! For future reference, if there's any pizza in the house then yes I would like a slice. Just one measley slice would do. I don't think that's too much to ask. Did you really even consider for one single second that I would want some pizza? Noooooo. You just considered YOUR need for pizza and didn't spare a thought for anyone else's needs. And you know, that is just the problem with the world today. No one considers anyone else's needs. It's all me, me, me. It starts with pizza and then it's other food and then water and then petrol and then.... and then a bunch of other stuff and the next thing you know it's WAR. And killing and global warming and nuclear weapons and then the whole world is a big fucking fire ball and NO ONE is getting what they need. And then how will you feel mister?? You and your belly full of pizza!

And that is how J eating all of the pizza led to the destruction of the planet and the end of all life as we know it.

Our chocolate bunnies

Easter morning and already Toby has had one time-out in his room and I feel like my head might explode. I guess that's what happens when children start eating chocolate at 7am. Rosie has been enjoying her special dairy-free chocolate egg and some Jelly Babies made with all natural fruit juice (plus loads of sugar). Tobes has been eating chocolate eggs, Jelly Babies and all of the white chocolate bits off of some really sweet ducks and a lamb that J brought home.

We seem to have fallen into an Easter tradition of going to the circus. Last year Jenny, Kieran, Jack and Kate came down and this year we went with Marija, Andy and James. It's Zippo's Circus on the heath and it's a lovely, little circus. All of the performers are in more than one act and even take turns selling popcorn and drinks during intermission. We had a great time.

Yesterday we did a whirlwind tour of Cambridgeshire visiting J's Mum and Dad, J's Nana and then Jenny & Kieran. Barry & Brenda were camping in their motorhome in Godmanchester so we stopped in for a cup of tea and an egghunt that the "Easter Bebe" had organised for Toby. Then we visited Nana at her place in Sawtry. Nana is 92 and looking quite frail though her spirits were up yesterday. She gave Toby a ten pound note for Easter and told him to give Rosie half for her Easter treat. Toby promptly tore the note in half and handed it to Rosie!

We stopped at Burger King for lunch and then went to see Jenny & Kieran at their house. The children played in the garden, the guys read the paper and talked football, Jenny and I peeled potatoes and gossipped in the kitchen then we all watched the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race (Cambridge won!! Hooray!!) and had some gorgeous Moroccan Lamb for dinner in the garden. Lovely day.

Today we're off to Greenwich Park for some Easter festivities. That is, once we get the children cleaned up and dressed. There seems to be chocolate EVERYWHERE.

Happy Easter!!

Conversations with Toby

After a discussion about evolution and how people evolved from apes:

"Mommy, Daddy is quite hairy and he does like bananas. I think there's some gorilla left in him."

**********

Me: "Toby, if you don't behave the Easter Bunny won't bring you that Happy Feet DVD you want."

Toby: "That's OK. If the Easter Bunny doesn't bring it I'll just ask Nana."

**********

When Rosie started crying in the night:

"It's OK, darling. I'm here."

**********

Playing Twenty Questions at dinner tonight:

Me: "Are you thinking of an animal?"

T: "Yes."

Me: "Is it hairy?"

T: "No."

Me: "Does it have four legs?"

T: "No."

Me: "Does it have a tail?"

T: "No."

Many, many questions later...

Me: "I give up what is it?"

T: "A horse, silly!"

Tv debut and my gorgeous boy

Well, I filmed my British TV debut today. It seemed to go very well. There really wasn't much to it. I was in a group with three other women and we had to stand in front of the camera, look at the camera, look away from the camera. Look at each other, look away from each other. Chat with each other, etc, etc. I'm going to be testing a celebrity weight loss plan and I've been very lucky. I was afraid that I would get Beyonce's maple syrup diet or something disgusting like that but we've got the Slim Patch. It's like a nicotine patch and you stick it on your bottom and eat normally. The patch is supposed to release something that makes you lose weight. Sounds like my dream diet!

The other girls were very nice and we've exchanged email addresses to keep in touch over the next six weeks until we go back to film the results. I really can't imagine that this thing is going to work but it sounds good.

Toby also had his last day at nursery. J took him in along with the cakes and presents and I picked him up after filming. They had a leaving party for him this afternoon and when I asked him how it went he said it was really nice but his eyes 'melted a little'. My sweet boy.

Ms Suki sent home a big envelope of his work including his diary which he would write in every Monday. It says things like "At the weekend I played with my sister. At the weekend I went to the park. At the weekend I played with James." It's so sweet to see it in Toby's wobbly writing and to see how his writing has improved since he started. We were also given Toby's nursery report, a copy for us and a copy for St Margaret's. Please bear with me for the next few seconds, I'm so proud that I have to include some excerpts:

"It has been a joy to have Toby at the nursery. He is a popular member of class... he is a caring and happy child. Tobias is helpful and will help the younger children to wash their hands or do up their coat if necessary."

"Tobias likes to pretend he is the teacher and reads a book to all his peers, turning pages one at a time and showing them the pictures." [He does this with Rosie too.]

It also talks about his skills with letters, numbers, sensorial skills and things like cooking, computer work and physical activities. Tobes left with certificates in French, dance, music, swimming, writing and math. I am so incredibly proud of him.

After I picked him up from school we went to Starbucks and went through his folder looking at all of his work. I was reading his school report and Toby said, "Mommy, are you proud? Is that why you're crying?"

Big week

Tomorrow is Toby's last day at nursery. Ever. I know I'm going to cry but I am comforted by the fact that Rosie will be going to the same nursery in about 18 months. The Blackheath Montessori Centre has been so wonderful and Toby's teacher, Ms Suki, is going to be a hard act to follow.

Toby is doing a whole day tomorrow - 9am - 4.30pm - so that they can have a party in the afternoon with all of the children. It's part Easter party and part Toby's leaving party. We've got two Power Rangers cakes to take in. The cake Toby wanted wasn't big enough for everyone so we just bought two of them! We've also got presents for his teachers and we've made some Easter eggs for his classmates. Mom bought us some of those little plastic Easter eggs a few years ago and we've filled them with chocolates and little fluffy chickens for the children. (Note to Mom: Gonna need more eggs.)

Tomorrow I'm also going to film my bit for the TV show! I'm feeling very nervous about it. I don't mind looking silly or goofy but I would hate to look stupid or ugly. Hmmm, I wonder what that says about my psyche... Anyway, I'm heading off bright and early to a studio in some God-foresaken part of London. Wish me luck.

Then we have a four day weekend. Woo hoo!! It's filling up fast though. On Friday we're planning to go to the little circus on the heath with Marija, Andy and James. On Saturday we're going up to Cambridge to see J's family and Jenny & Kieran. Sunday is Easter and I'm doing a traditional lunch then we're going over to Greenwich Park for an Easter egg hunt and other festivities. The Easter bunnny will have made a visit too, of course, and he's been very good this year and found a special allergy-safe chocolate egg for Rosie.

The traditional thing in England is to give these big hollow chocolate eggs. You do get bunnies too and sometimes ducks or lambs but the eggs are the thing. On Good Friday you should have fish which goes back to the time when meat was forbidden food on Fridays though I can't remember why. I'm planning to make a fish pie which should be nice. Hot cross buns are also traditional Easter food as is a cake called a Simnel cake which is decorated with marzipan balls to represent each of the disciples, so it's either 11 or 12 depending on whether or not you count Judas. Most people do not. Then it's roast lamb and all the trimmings on Easter Sunday to represent the Paschal lamb. We're not at all religious but I do like to follow tradition. I'm thinking next year we might celebrate Passover just to even things out.

It's funny but when I think of the "traditional" Easter food of my childhood I think of marshmallow chicks (what are they called??), those candy eggs that are bright colours on the outside and fluffy white sugar on the inside, hollow chocolate bunnies with blue sugar paste eyes and of course lots of boiled chicken eggs. We don't see many real boiled eggs here but we always dye a bunch ourselves using kits that Mom has bought us in the States. (Note to Mom II: Gonna need more egg dye.)

Then Monday is our day of rest. We're thinking Costa for breakfast, Cafe Rouge or Pizza Express for lunch and lots of just hanging around before and after.

Have a lovely Easter!

Fab weekend

Jenny and I had a great, relaxing weekend at Sopwell House. Yesterday we laid by the pool and read the half dozen trashy mags I had picked up on the way. What is going on with old Britney? And Angelina has adopted AGAIN?!

Then we primped and dressed for dinner, stopping for G&Ts in the cocktail bar beforehand. We had a really wonderful three course dinner in the restaurant. I had potted crab with brown shrimp then duck with morels and an amazing baked Alaska for dessert. Afterwards we went to our room, opened a bottle of buck's fizz, painted our nails, tried out some face masks, watched bad TV, talked and laughed a lot. I slept the whole night without having to get out of bed once! It was such a treat after the previous three nights with poorly children. I managed to sleep in until 9am when our huge breakfasts arrived, which we ate in bed.

Today was more active and I actually got in the pool and did some treadmill. I balanced out the exercise with a full afternoon tea with four kinds of sandwiches, homemade scones with jam and clotted cream plus a tiny chocolate eclair and a raspberry tart. Gorgeous.

The journey home was a bit of a nightmare with railway problems every step of the way but I made it back still feeling blissed out from my weekend away. Must do it more often.

OOoooooOOO

Just looked at the Sopwell House website and they do a traditional afternoon tea. My favourite!! I'll be doing that at least once this weekend. Weeeee! Getting excited now.

Cakes!

Well, Thursday went very well. I do find that most of the time my worry and insecurity about having someone over is really just all about me and has nothing to do with the person visiting. It was lovely having them here and the boys decorated loads of cakes and biscuits. Ate a few too! And of course, so did Marija and I.

The bake sale was today and it went very well. All of our creations had gone by lunchtime, which seems like a good sign.

Tomorrow I'm getting up bright and early and running away for the weekend to Sopwell House. Jenny and I are having a mums' weekend off and planning to do lots of gossiping, giggling, eating and drinking. Can't wait!

Sunshine and neurosis

The sun was actually out today so I took the children to the heath. I thought they could run around and I might get a chance to lay on the grass for a bit and soak up some sun. Wrong. The traffic seems to have some kind of gravitational pull on Rosie so I had to keep chasing her and bringing her back away from the road. We managed to get the kite up after untangling the world's biggest knot in the string. Now who could've put the kite away in such a mess? Hmmmm. It was a lovely afternoon though and I've attached some photos, mostly taken by Tobes. He's really good with the camera.

On Friday is the school bake sale and on Thursday we're having one of Toby's friends from school over with his mum to decorate cupcakes and cookies for the sale. I am so nervous about this visit. The mum is an interior decorator and her house is immaculate. I'm not talking quite nice and tidy. I'm talking IMMACULATE. Everything cream and placed just so. Beautiful cushions and curtains. Actual surfaces rather just places to put books and photos. Our place? Not so much. I do like to keep the flat clean, obviously, but it is quite lived in and rather full of stuff. It's also still only about 3/4 finished so not really a pulled together kind of home.

Having people over to the house is a much more intimate experience in England than it is in Texas. The homes are smaller here so we don't have the same separation of 'public' and 'private' spaces you often get in Texan homes. There's no living room, family room, play room, etc. Just the living room and that's where we hang out, watch TV, the children seem to keep half of their toys in here and it's where we have the home office. There's one bathroom so if a guest needs to use the loo, it's not a perfect little half bath that they go to, it's our bathroom. The one we showered in that morning. The one that Toby uses when he needs to wee (and leaves his mark behind more times than not). The one that holds all of our secret lotions and potions that keep us beautiful and regular. When someone walks from our kitchen to the living room they pass all of the bedrooms so the whole flat is on view. It can drive me crazy trying to get the place ready for a new visitor. You can imagine what I'll be doing between now and Thursday.

Boredom and photos

I've been feeling something that I haven't felt in a very long time... bored. I think it's partly since I joined myspace and I've been reading about what some of my old friends are up to these days. One is an actor and is currently making an action movie with Dolph Lundgren, one is racing bikes and just moved to Trinidad, others are just out there having fun. Now, I know that I'm not getting the whole picture. Myspace is not the place where you hang out your dirty laundry, it's where you do your best to shine because who knows who may be looking. But still, it made me stop and think.

I've been incredibly happy wrapping myself up in domesticity for the last five years. It's what I've always wanted and I've more than embraced it but I do miss fun. I'm not talking playing with the children, laughing with J kind of fun. I get a lot of that. I'm talking cut loose, grown up, dressed up, dancing your butt off, laughing your head off, drinking your ass off until the sun rises fun. I've been trying to remember the last time I did that and it was in Tokyo before I fell pregnant with Toby so it must've been before October 2002. That is so depressing.

The problem is that I've been out of circulation so long I wouldn't even know where to begin. Who to go with? What to do? Where to do it? It's not like when I was working and there was a built-in group of people to go out with on a Friday night. Ho hum. Something to think about.

Anyway, I've attached a few photos from the last few days. There's a couple of Toby and Rosie playing on the instruments at the Horniman Museum on Tuesday. Yes, those are little skulls and crossbones on Rosie's dress (Nik, I thought you would like that.). The scarf isn't just Rosie trying to be cool. She's teething and drooling like crazy so the scarf is a fashion statement with a purpose - soaking up spit. Then there are a couple of photos of Tobes getting his hair cut and a couple taken this morning at Costa. We bumped into Toby's friend James with his parents and sat and had coffee together. The boys looked so cute playing at the window that I had to nip outside and take their picture.

Tomorrow we have a fourth birthday party and a naming ceremony for Pete and Philippa's little boy, Joseph, so it'll be a busy day. I hope to get some photos of us together when we're all scrubbed up for the parties.

Not much

You know, I walk around all the time and think "That would be good in the blog..." and "Mustn't forget to put that in the blog..." Then I sit down to write an entry and my mind goes completely blank. Ah well, I'll just start typing and see what comes out.

Here are a couple of photos taken yesterday. It was Mother's Day here in England and we went to lunch at Carluccio's in Canary Wharf. I had made reservations for the cafe in Covent Garden but was very grateful to Elizabeth who reminded me that it was the St Patrick's Day parade that day. Another time and that might sound fun but after J being away for a week it just sounded exhausting. So we had lunch and looked around the shops a little instead.

Toby and Rosie have been fighting colds/viruses/the lurgy lately and have not been happy chaps. I think I'm going to have to take Rosie to the doctor because she's producing astonishing amounts of snot and coughing a lot. Poor little thing. The good news is that J cancelled his trip to Beijing which was scheduled for this week so at least there's another pair of hands to help out in the flat.

I know there are so many things I want to say but my mind really is totally blank. I think I have a touch of the cold too but then the weather has been so crazy that I'm not surprised. Two days ago we were going out without coats and talking about spring and today we were bundled up again and actually had snow flurries! Amazing weather.

Education and otherness

I got the information pack from St Margaret's today. There's so much to learn! School uniforms, packed lunches, milk money, book sales and fruit snacks. Not to mention all the forms to complete. I love it!

I can't wait to get Toby's uniform. It's not a very exciting one - grey trousers or shorts in the summer, white shirt and school tie or polo shirt with the school badge, black or grey socks and black shoes. They do have blazers but the children don't wear them very often. It's all so exciting and so different to what I wore to school. Tobes is going to look so cute.

It hit me recently how different Toby and Rosie's educational experiences will be compared to mine. Toby's preschool has been studying the continents. They do one a week and last week it was North America. On Fridays the children dress in a costume representing the continent they've been studying and their lunch is traditional food from that continent. Last Friday Toby decided to go to school as a Power Ranger, well I guess they are American, but the other children came as Native Americans (still called Indians here), eskimos, Mexicans, cowboys, baseball players and one was dressed as a moose. For lunch they had hot dogs, fries and ice cream for dessert. It felt very strange to actually be a North American and hear my child talk about it like it's some exotic foreign place.

And then it hit me that Toby and Rosie won't be learning things like the preamble to the Constitution, the Pledge of Allegiance or memorising the presidents and state capitals. It'll be the prime ministers, the monarchs, the Commonwealth. I'll have to learn these things too because I still don't have a clue half the time.

I have a new friend who is Croatian. She came to London during the war and is now married to an Englishman and has a little boy at Toby's school. She and I were talking today about not really feeling wholly a part of our birth nationalities and yet not wholly English either. Just hovering somewhere in between. A kind of 'otherness' that I think will probably last a lifetime.

A Hard Day's Night

The top photo was taken yesterday. I was planning to get out of the house while all of the workmen were here but Tobes started running a fever Monday night and stayed home from school yesterday. We had to stay in so we camped in the kitchen, the only room without someone working in it. It turned into a real campsite when Toby started feeling really rough and I made him a little bed with the dining chairs. Of course Rosie then wanted a bed too so I got some more pillows and blankets for her. They were quite happy to rest, watch Cbeebies and have me wait on them hand and foot. Funny that.

All of the work went quite well. The builders were very nice and tidy and even put their mugs in the sink at the end of the day. I made 14 cups of tea and 1 coffee yesterday. In the end I started using a wipe off marker to write how each person took their tea on the side of their mug to save time. It was chaos with the builders, the cleaner, the delivery people but it was all done by about four o'clock. One of the deliveries came in a big cardboard box and we turned it into a race car for Tobes using paper plates, plastic bowls, markers and lots of tape.

Tobes was feeling better by bedtime but woke up at midnight with a high fever. I got up to get him some medicine and Rosie woke up too. The bottom photo was taken at 1.00am this morning. Since we were all up we decided to go ahead and make a party of it with drinks, snacks and stories. Thankfully, we were all in bed with the lights out by two and slept through til seven this morning.

I took Toby to the doc and he has tonsilitis so no school for the rest of the week. That's fine except I was supposed to go to a meeting at St Maggie's tomorrow morning. This is one of those times when I wish we had family nearby. With J away there's no one to watch Toby so I had to call the school and say that I couldn't make it. They were very understanding and will send me all of the info and I've arranged to go in next week for a chat. Disappointing, but I'm sure it'll work out.

On the other hand, it's quite nice to be forced to wipe the diary clean. We went to the chemist in Sainsbury's today to get Toby's meds and it was strange to have nowhere else we needed to be. So often I'm checking the time, calculating how long we have until we need to be somewhere else. Very nice just to dawdle with no expectations. We ended up hitting Starbucks while Rosie napped. It's nice to be with just Tobes a little, especially when he's poorly and needs some extra TLC. Such a sweet boy.

Single Mum

J is in the States this week. He's in Vail, Colorado skiing. He says it's work but it sounds awfully suspicious to me. On Friday he comes home for a few days, just in time for British Mother's Day on Sunday, and then flies off to China on Monday. I'm actually OK with all of his travelling. I do a lot of work on the flat in the evenings when J is away or I rent movies I know he's not interested in seeing and make meals that I like but he doesn't. It works out fine.

We do have a busy week. It all hinges on tomorrow. I've got builders coming in to repair two windows, replace the wall lights in the hall and a few other bits and bobs. I've also got a man coming to steam clean the furniture and rug AND the new TV cabinet is being delivered. My Valentine's Day present is also arriving, a bay tree for the front of the house. I was out today painting the masonry work in preparation so it all looks lovely when J gets back.

On Thursday I have a meeting at St Margaret's, Toby's 'big' school. This is where we get all the details about school uniforms, lunches, activities, etc. I'm really excited about it. I can't wait to see Tobes in his uniform. I know I'm going to be such a silly ass and cry my eyes out on his first morning, but hopefully only once he's in class and I'm safely outside. The years go by so quickly now.

Then we've got the Easter Fair at MC's school on Saturday which sounds amazing and Mother's Day on Sunday. I've booked us in for lunch at a cafe in Covent Garden (that's the pic at the top). I'm hoping the weather will be nice so we can stroll and shop afterwards.

And that's my week ahead.

Addendum to previous post

Just tidied up the hall and had to add the folloing:

You know you're parent when your umbrella stand contains any or all of the following:

• an unbrella decorated with Spiderman, Barbie or any other children's character
• a plastic sword, light saber or other weapon
• one of those sticks with a horsehead at the top (what are they called?!)

You know you're a parent when...

You can change a filthy nappy and think about what you want to have for dinner at the same time.

You've ever wondered what sex would be like with any of the following: Sportacus, Miss Hoollie, that Welsh guy on Doodle Do, the pink Power Ranger or any of the Wiggles.

You know at least three of the following: the name of Marv's dog, the names of all of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the sale seasons at Gap/Next, your doctor's emergency number by heart, the time it takes to get from your home to the local A&E, the relative merits of all the schools within a five mile radius of your home, how best to get the smell of vomit out of a rug.

You have done at least three of the following:

• massaged a child's anus because they're constipated
• sucked snot out of a child's nose
• arranged food on a plate to look like a face/space ship/the Taj Mahal
• removed a pea or kernel of corn from a nostril or ear
• made a costume out of a pillowcase
• baked cookies or cupcakes past midnight
• changed a nappy with your coat on
• eaten fishsticks for dinner over the age of 30
• hidden pureed vegetables in a pasta sauce
• applauded for a poo
• realised that the cool new song you've been bopping to in your head all day is actually the theme tune to a children's programme

These are from my own personal experience but I'm sure you can think of lots more!

Last week

A couple more photos to liven things up here. The top one is Rosie taken in Costa yesterday. It's not the greatest photo of Rosie but I love that it captures the current wildness of her hair. Believe it or not I had actually smoothed it down that morning with a damp brush but it has a mind of its own. I should probably get it trimmed but it's taken so long for her to get hair that I just can't bring myself to start cutting it off yet.

I call the bottom pic "Look! New Shoes". After I took it I realised that it's a very Elizabeth kind of photo so I must give credit to Ms Dunne for inspiring the quirky view. I'm very happy with my new Converse. The last pair were cream. Who buys cream canvas shoes in London?? They spent more time in the washing machine than on my feet. You can see that I've opted for more sensible black this time and, though they are what we called stoner shoes in high school, I am loving them.

We had a pleasant week last week and managed to keep busy while J was away. The highlight was having Elizabeth and MC over for dinner one night. It was great to eat and then let the kids play while Elizabeth and I had a chat. Just the kind of thing I'd love to do more often.

J came back a day early from Delhi so he arrived yesterday just after lunch. He arrived with stories of monkeys at his hotel window and cows causing traffic jams but no presents. No chance to shop he said but he did manage to deposit a little something from India in the loo this morning. It was like a bomb had been dropped in the flat. We literally had to open the windows to air the place out. Nice.

Things are back to normal today. Tobes had French this morning and I went to pilates then we all had lunch at the gym. Now Rosie is sleeping and J and Tobes are in the village. Life resumes.

[I don't know what is wrong with the spacing on blogger at the moment but I can't get spaces between the paragraphs!]

Me and my evil twin

Look at these two photos. The top one is me on a typical day in London. No makeup, hair shoved back in a clip, looking disheveled and often slightly crazy. The bottom one was taken in Texas. See the difference? Makeup, hair actually blow dried that morning, even my toenails were perfect. OK, yes I was on vacation in the second photo but I can guarantee that I didn't look like that at Woolley Grange. I've been sorting through the photos and thought that these two made a funny comparison. I'm not saying one is better than the other but I do think it's interesting that they're so different. Now, which one is the evil twin??

Good weekend and good friends

Finally found the USB cable for the camera and I've downloaded all of the photos. I just need to get them onto shutterfly now but here's a couple to liven up the blog. Getting very bare here.

Great weekend. I met up with Jenny in town on Saturday. We had brunch at the National Portrait Gallery restaurant overlooking Trafalgar Square. It was very nice but they do that thing where they pile all the food into a little tower which I do find a bit poncey when it's plain old egg and bacon. Afterwards we walked around the gallery then went over to Covent Garden to do a little shopping.

Went in Neal's Yard Dairy and bought some cheese. I love this place. You can smell it a block away but I love smelly cheese so it's like heaven to me. I got a really unusual cheese called Ardrahan and some quince paste to go with it. I bought some lovely Staffordshire oatcakes too and had them for lunch today. Fantastic.

Then we wandered around, popped into Mac and window shopped. I bought some really cute silver ballerinas that look like toe shoes and a T-shirt for Tobes that says "Sowf London". Jenny splurged on some Mac lip glosses and brushes and a really cute fairy top for Kate. We had a quick lunch and decided to walk back to Charing Cross. Somehow we got turned around and ended up at the British Museum. Not sure how we managed that. Look at a map of London and you'll see what I mean.

Sunday morning J left for a business trip to India and the kids and I headed out to Bluewater. The children have both had growth spurts recently and look like little orphans with their sleeves halfway up their arms and highwater trousers. Rosie's tops barely cover her belly so I finally had a big shop and bought them a bunch of new clothes. I guaranteed Toby's good behaviour by taking them to see Charlotte's Web once the shopping was done (and yes I cried my eyes out when Charlotte died). I even bought some new Converse for me since my old ones are embarrassingly tatty.

Now we're into our week and we've got the usual stuff plus some coffees with other mums and a swimming date with one of Rosie's little friends. Elizabeth is a single mum this week too so we're all getting together tomorrow night for sausage and mash and general jollity. Looking forward to it.

New addicton

I joined myspace.com a few days ago and have thought about little else ever since. It is totally addictive. I've reconnected with people from school that I haven't seen in almost twenty years. It's crazy and amazing. If you're on myspace then do come and see me!

Had the TV interview today and I have no idea how it went. They start filming at the end of March and it sounds like it would be a fun show with no humiliation, thank goodness. They should call me within a couple of weeks but I'm not going to get my hopes up.

The studio was in Soho Square and I decided to walk back to Charing Cross. So nice walking through London at night. I went down Carnaby Street. I had heard that it had become popular again and there were a lot more mainstream stores like Diesel and Miss Sixty there now. Gone are the Doc Marten wholesalers and grubby tattoo parlors. I can't decide if that's good or bad. I cut across Leicester Square just as the Swiss clock was striking six and all of the little mechanical people were coming out to dance. I'm always amazed at how many tourists actually video the whole performance. I enjoy seeing it but I can't imagine ever sitting down to watch it on tape.

Saw all kinds of people, which is one of the things I really love about London. Two Dita von Teese wanabees, one blonde and one with black hair. A Jewish punk rocker. How do I know he was Jewish? Because he was wearing a yarmulke over his mohawk. Lots of tourists and lots of children. What a city.

Stopped in Uniqlo to stock up on tshirts and underwear and got a huge, cozy argyle sweater in the sale. Got to the train early enough to get a seat and made it home in time to put the kids to bed.

Various things

Very nice weekend doing lots of nothing. I went to pilates on Saturday morning and J took the children into the village then we all met back at home for lunch and had a lazy afternoon. Sunday morning J and Tobes went swimming and Rosie and I went into the village. It was a grey, dingy morning but as we left the flat I could hear the church bells at St Margaret's calling people into prayer. Such a lovely sound. Heathen that I am, I headed to my own place of worship - Costa Coffee.

We pottered around the village, went to the farmer's market, had coffee and then met J and Tobes for lunch at Cafe Rouge. Very nice.

Tobes was back at school this morning after his week off for half-term. You could see the teachers dragging themselves into the building and the parents virtually skipping out. I bumped into the parents of one of the boys at Toby's school when I went to Costa and there was a real party atmosphere. So nice to have the children home but soooo nice when they go back to school and things get back to normal. Rosie had a long morning nap after Monkey Music and I was able to sit, read my book and drink my coffee for over an hour. Heaven.

AND, you'll never guess what I'm doing on Wednesday... auditioning for a TV programme! It's a cooking show that teaches people to cook healthy food. I do feel some trepidation after seeing some of the reality shows on now. I'm slightly concerned that I might be stripped down to my underwear and have parts of my body pointed at to show where I need to lose weight. Or be seriously told off for my current diet and then forced to eat nothing but algae for a week. It's all through my mums group and, after some initial emailing and photo sending, they think that I would be 'perfect' for the show. Not sure what that means and if I have the slightest inkling of discomfort on Wednesday then I won't do it. The interview alone should be an interesting experience though. How do I get myself into these situations?

And I've been contacted to contribute to another parenting article. No glam photo session or anything this time but it is nice to be asked.

I am honestly completely not pregnant

Can you tell we've been watching a lot of Charlie & Lola over half-term? Rosie loves Lola.

Well, woke up this morning absolutely certain that I don't have a baby in my tummy. Two more tests were undeniably negative. So that settles that. Mostly feeling relieved but also a little sad as I was already thinking of names (Arthur or Maud), bedding (the lovely new stuff at Gap) and the joy of having a tiny baby fall asleep on my chest like a warm little pudding. Oh well, that's not to say that it will never happen, just not in the next nine months which is really for the best. Rosie is still a baby herself even though she's more of a knee-high whirlwind rather than a warm pudding at this stage. I have my hands full.

Met up with Philippa for coffee this morning. We usually meet while Tobes is at school but it's half-term so I had both children with me. I knew it was time to leave when Tobes almost broke the whole bar off the wall by swinging on it while people were trying to drink their coffee. Everyone had to grab their cups or they would've fallen off. While this was happening Rosie tried to throw herself down the stairs. I ended up shouting and sprinting across the coffee shop, pushing a barista out of the way in order to grab Rosie before she tumbled headfirst down to the basement. As I say, I certainly have my hands full.

Ok, it's like this

Someone forgot to pack the birth control for Woolley Grange then someone else suggested that we just be "really careful". So now I've spent the last 24 hours carrying a stick which I've peed upon from room to room, looking at it under every light and at every window of the house. Funny how patterns repeat themselves.

It's very early, but I've always tested very early as longtime readers will know, and I'm almost certain that the test is negative... but there is a very faint line. Almost not there but still there. Probably one of those evaporation lines that I've read about. But still.

I said to Elizabeth earlier that I keep swinging from one certainty to the other - I'm definitely pregnant. No, I'm definitely not pregnant. The funny thing is that when I think I am I feel almost sick with fear but when I think I'm not I feel so disappointed. Nothing to do but wait and see. Aaarrrgh!

Futers House 4.36pm

Typical scene. Tobes climbing on the furniture, Rosie running around either eating or drinking something. Me looking knackered and bemused by it all.

Not much to report here. Had a wonderful time at Woolley Grange. Photos to come as soon as I either find the camera lead or give up and buy a new one. We ate loads, hit the trampoline, spent a lot of time in the Woolley Bears' Den and had endless cups of tea. Wore wellies every day, stomped around the grounds, played with the house dog, Peanut, and I even managed two naps with Rosie. I also ate three scones in one day and at least half my bodyweight in their incredible butter. Heaven.

We've jumped right into normality with Toby back at school and Rosie at Sing and Sign yesterday. Next week will be different though since Tobes is out of school for the half-term week. We're planning lots of museum trips, they always have fun half-term activities, lunch at the Wharf with Elizabeth and MC, lunch with J and at least one trip to the cinema. Should be a good week.

Bits and bobs

Rosie and I were playing with Toby's Polly Pocket and a Dash from The Incredibles Pez dispenser over lunch today. I was making them dance around and Rosie was laughing. My mindless dance melody turned into Tequila and I was making them dance on the table then jump into the air and shout "TEQUILA!" Rosie loved it. A bit later I saw her playing with the dolls. She was bouncing them on the table then threw them in the air and shouted "TA-KEE-AA!" Her first three-syllable word. That's definitely one for the baby book.

While reading London Peculiars I discovered what the small man-holes you see in front of a lot of houses in London are. They're coal holes. Apparently they're holes that lead to the coal storage in the cellar and were used for deliveries so that the coal wouldn't need to be taken through the house. So interesting. I love that kind of information. I imagine Indiana Jones trapped in some Victorian cellar as it starts to flood then he shouts "The coal hole will save us!" before escaping through the disused coal chute. I love it though it does sound a bit like dirty slang for gay sex - "making a delivery to the coal hole". Hmmmm.

If I take the short cut home from the village I pass a little cottage with a desk in the window. On the desk is a mug full of pencils, all perfectly sharpened. I can tell that they're used because they move around but the mug is always full of the same kind of pencil all sharpened to absolute needle-like perfection. For some reason I find them very calming. Something about that kind of organisation and perfection soothes me. I imagine the owner carefully sharpening each pencil before sitting down to write something marvelous. Ahhhh, and all seems right with the world.

Trying something new

Rosie walking

Favourite Things

A few things that are lighting my fire at the moment:

Eve Lom Cleanser - Why did I wait so long to try it? Fantastic stuff.

Weleda Calendula Weather Protection Cream- Keeping the babies' cheeks from getting chapped this winter.

Challah bread - A Jewish bread that I allow myself to buy only occasionally because I can work my way through a whole loaf in one day.

Pilates - Every Saturday morning. No sweating, no bouncing but a great work out.

Perez Hilton - My trashy addiction.

Flash Dustmaster Extend and Reach - I've dusted all the picture rails, above the windows, on top of the bookshelves, tops of the wardrobes, cleared all the cobwebs...

Costa's medio iced latte with skim milk and a chocolate florentine - Every morning. They start making it when I walk in the door. Seriously.

Comice pears - I've never liked pears but there's a supplier at the Blackheath farmer's market that sells the most amazing pears and apples. I'm totally hooked on these and I'm already starting to worry about how I'll cope when the season ends.

Le Baiser du Dragon - The weather is finally cold enough to get away with my favourite perfume. Too heady for sunny days, I usually save it just for evenings but I can wear it now on cold, dark days. Delicious.

Toby and J did some face painting this weekend. Tobes is supposed to have an ice cream cone on his face and J has a sun, rainbow and birds on his. They obviously had a good time.

Still fairly quiet here. J is in the States this week and this children and I have a busy week of classes, playdates and coffee with friends. Today we went to Monkey Music and then down to the playground at Greenwich Park. It's lovely to have these days to just focus on the children.

On Sunday we're off to Woolley Grange again. We went last year and loved it. It's such a fantastic place to do a lot of nothing. I'm looking forward to getting on the trampoline with Toby this year. I had a go last year but it was just a few months after my cesarean and I had to take it easy for fear that my guts would fall out. This year nothing will hold me back.

We're also taking our wellies so we can do some hiking around the grounds. Rosie even has a tiny pair of Kate's old wellies so I'm sure we'll all get out there and stomp around. I'm also really looking forward to the food. They have the most fantastic butter. Everything is organic, in season and locally produced and it is amazing. I'm living on soup and salad this week so I can really enjoy myself while we're away.

I've been tagged

Elizabeth has tagged me which means that I have to take the nearest book, open it to page 123 and type 6-8 lines of text. The first book I grabbed was a library book called London Peculiars by Peter Ashley but it only goes up to page 117. So I grabbed my other library book, The Debutante Divorcee by Plum Sykes. I'm obviously doing some very light reading at the moment. Page 123 only has a small amount of text and here it is in full:

"I hate Bungalow 8 anyway. I couldn't get in with Christopher. He was too overweight," said Marci, wiping her tears with her lace cuffs. Then, looking at me desperately, she asked, "How long does it take to have reflection, exactly? Three weeks? Could I be done reflecting by Thanksgiving?"

Now I tag Nikki, Dad and Xavier (though X, I know you have other things on your mind).

Just a day

Things are pretty calm here at the moment, which I like. I think it's good for the children to have plenty of routine boring days to stick together all of the more exciting ones. Gives us a nice base to start from and I always enjoy the break.

This morning Tobes had nursery and Rosie had Sing and Sign at Mycenae House. After the usual grumbles and grumps about putting on coats, shoes, etc we made it out the door in time, dropped Toby off at school and got a great parking space. Very good start to the day. Sing and Sign went well. Rosie is really picking up the signs. The teacher is a bit manic though. Almost a caricature of a baby music teacher, very enthusiastic and slightly scary, but Rosie loves it. Afterwards Rosie is always exhausted so we headed over to Costa. I had dreams of a quiet coffee and a trashy mag while Rosie napped. Not to be though. One of Rosie's friends, a little girl called Lily, was there and they played and squawked and had a brilliant time.

Toby was having lunch at school and I soon realised that I didn't have time to take Rosie home to feed her but I hadn't brought anything out with us. We ended up going to a new cafe in the village and getting a jacket potato with plain tuna. Rosie was happy. When we picked up Toby he was not so happy. Apparently they had something yucky for lunch at school, Tobes wouldn't eat it and therefore did not get dessert. Oh, there were tears. Lots of tears.

Managed to calm Tobes down with the promise of a snack then realised that Rosie had done a poo. Nowhere to change her so ended up changing a very messy nappy on the front seat of the car. Finally piled the kids in and took off for Homebase to get some DIY stuff for the flat. I've finally got the urge to sort out the flat and have been hanging photos where I want them rather than on the handy hooks the previous owners left in the walls.

As we were leaving Homebase Rosie did another massive poo. Where does she keep it all? All they had was a very grotty bathroom floor on which to change her so it was back to the front seat of the car again. Twice in less than an hour, what are the odds?

Now we've come home, the children have had their afternoon snack and I have a date with a toilet that needs a new flush handle and a door that needs to be draftproofed. Just another day.

Friends in high places & Toby saves the day

What a fantastic day we've had. It started yesterday morning when I realised that this was the last weekend of the Hockney exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. I rang the gallery to try and book tickets only to be told that they were totally sold out. Oh poo. I emailed Elizabeth to let her know because we were hoping that they would come with us then I resigned myself to missing the exhibition, which is said to be an important one for Hockney. Very disappointing.

Well, a few minutes later Elizabeth emailed back to say that her boss is on the board of the NPG and maybe she could ask a favour... By that afternoon Elizabeth's boss had called the museum director and arranged for complimentary tickets to be waiting for us. Very cool. Not only would we get to go but we would go as VIPs with no time limits on our visit. Very handy when you have a total of three children in tow.

This morning we decided to drive into town and parked at the Savoy Hotel. Parking in London is always a challenge and they have public parking at the Savoy along with the valet parking so we dropped off our keys and headed out. We met up with Elizabeth, Andrew and Mary Catherine at the new National Gallery Cafe for lunch. The children's macaroni and cheese was not a hit. The cheddar was too mature and they had added leeks and breadcrumbs on top. Toby wouldn't take a single bite after asking 'Mommy, what's this stuff on my pasta?!' Mary Catherine did a bit better but there was lots of mac and cheese left over. The adult meals were very tasty and the hand-churned ice cream with toppings for dessert was fantastic. Next time we'll just go for extra scoops of ice cream.

After lunch we moseyed on over to the exhibition. The place was heaving. It was obviously a very popular show. When we entered the exhibition Elizabeth and I noticed a very arty looking elderly lady with a lovely wicker shopping basket on wheels. The lady was obviously in her 80s or later and was very well dressed in a black and white houndstooth jacket and big black hat. She was a tiny woman but you could tell she was a real character. Elizabeth was admiring the shopping basket and as we passed I overhead the lady talking to her companion about the time she shared a lemonade with Picasso! Obviously a real character.

The exhibition was fantastic and had works from each of Hockney's periods including many paintings owned by the artist himself. Mary Catherine had brought her sketch pad and pens and the museum had given the children crayons and activity books so whenever we found a bench we would stop so the children could draw. We had stopped in my favourite part of the exhibition, Hockney's recent portraits, and Toby was drawing away when I heard someone say 'How wonderful! You must always encourage them to draw!' I turned to see the arty elderly lady from the entrance. I was so pleased because I had hoped to speak to her. I love slightly mad eccentric older people as I absolutely hope to be one myself one day.

The lady was really charming. She's half French, half Aussie and has lived in London for over 50 years. She started drawing when she was seven and has been drawing and painting ever since. She illustrated children's books for a while and has had a few shows of her paintings. She spent seven years perfecting a painting of St Paul's Cathedral but the recent cleaning of the building has completely changed the look of it so she's not sure she'll ever be able to complete it. You can tell that we chatted for quite a bit and she asked about the children and said that I must encourage them to be artistic. Such an interesting woman.

When we were leaving I heard a voice saying 'Goodbye Tobias! Goodbye Rosamund!' and turned to see our lady again. Very kind and what an amazing life!

After the museum we strolled around Trafalgar Square and the children climbed up to the lions. Toby loves the lions. Then we all went to Villiers Street for a coffee. As we were leaving the coffee shop J suddenly realised that he couldn't find his keys. He went back into the coffee shop and searched the floor. I searched through the other coats and bags but no keys. For some reason I hadn't brought my keys out today so if we couldn't find J's keys we were in for a very long night. We had checked our coats at the museum so J sprinted off to see if they had been turned into lost and found. Just as J ran off Toby asked what was going on and I explained that we had lost the keys. Toby said 'I know where the keys are.' 'Really darling?' I said but I was more interested in what he was going to say than actually thinking he knew where the keys were. 'We left them with that man where we parked the car,' Toby said. What a brilliant boy! He was absolutely right!

Andrew sprinted off to try and catch J but Jason was long gone. I told them that we would catch up with J at the gallery and said goodnight, laughing at our forgetfulness and Toby's amazing memory. By the time the children and I found J at the museum he was wild eyed with worry about the keys. I told Toby to tell J where the keys were and I swear Jason actually blushed when he heard. We had both just completely forgotten about leaving them at the carpark with the attendant. Thank goodness our gorgeous boy was with us. Toby really did save the day.

So we made it home with no problems and the children fell asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillows. Such a great day out with great friends. Couldn't really ask for more.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it...

I've been trying to find a particular wallpaper and it seems impossible. We had it in our bathroom when I was growing up and I loved it then and would love to have it now. It was black and white, in the toile de jouy style but instead of frolicking sheperds or ruined castles it featured various styles of toilets. My favourite was a toilet that looked like a real throne, fit for a princess. It was fabtastic (actually that was a typo but it really works!). It was cool and quirky and gave you something interesting to look at while you were sitting there.

I've tried ebay and various vintage (god I hate using that word for something from my own lifetime) wallpaper shops from New York to Paris to Tokyo. Nothin'. Anyone who fancies a challenge please have a go and see if you can find it. I would love to have it in black and white but would take it in any colour. Even just something similiar would be great. I want my toilet wallpaper!

I think I've been looking at wallpaper for too long tonight. Saw some beautiful stuff but no toilets. My eyes are feeling like they might actually have wallpaper paste in them so think it's time for bed. So glad to be back on blogger. Night night.

At last!!

I've been trying to update the blog for ages but blogger has been playing up. Finally got the time to do some troubleshooting and here I am. So much to say so here are the highlights:

First and foremost

We have a walking girl! Rosie started walking last week. She still prefers crawling but will walk a few steps on her own now and loves to walk around while holding hands. She's also made a leap in her talking and is adding new words to her vocabulary every day. I've started consistently signing with her and she picks them right up too and is really enjoying being able to communicate with us.

Happy birthday to me

Last week I turned 36. That sounds so strange. It's like saying last week I turned into a chicken. It just seems so unreal that I could be so old. OK, OK, I know it's not really that old but it sure sounds old. I got some lovely gifts and cards from J and the children and then had a day out on Saturday with my friend Natasha. We indulged in a three hour lunch at the new National Portrait Gallery restaurant that has views over Trafalgar Square. It was fantastic. I had the mixed game terrine with chutney to start. Then I had a slice of apple, onion and sweet potato pie with butternut squash puree. It was all delicious and we had timed it just right. We were there from 2-5pm so we saw the sun set and the lights come up. Big Ben looked so beautiful. Afterwards we went to the Velazquez exhibition at the National Gallery. I had heard mixed reviews but I really enjoyed it. I thought it illustrated well his evolution as an artist and I do like royal portraits anyway. I wore my new Celia Birtwell dress with jeans for the day out and realised that I was perfectly dressed for the Hockney exhibition at the NPG! Oh well, next time.

On Sunday, Jenny & Kieran came down with their children and we all went out to lunch. They brought me some lovely gifts too including a navy sweater vest which I think I'll be wearing a lot this winter. We had a great time chatting and causing chaos at Cafe Rouge and the children played very well together as usual.

I know there's more

But I've had a terrible cold for over a week and I'm overexcited about finally getting into blogger. I can't think of anything else!! Well, J is in New York this week so I'm sure I'll be back again soon. Hope you're all well!

Happy 2007!

I can't believe the holidays are over. I feel like I never really caught up and now it's all over. We did have a really lovely Christmas and new year though. We went up to Cambridge for new year's eve and stayed with Jenny and Kieran. Toby had so much fun with Jack and Kate. We even put all four children in the bath together (pictures to follow one of these days!). The kids did really well and were all asleep by 8.00 and slept through just past midnight so we got some grown up time. Some other friends came over and Jenny prepared a gorgeous meal of duckling and red cabbage. There was loads of champagne and buck's fizz and lots of laughter. My head didn't feel so great the following morning but it was worth it.

On new year's day we all went out to lunch and met up with some other friends we hadn't seen for a couple of years. They recently had their third baby so there was lots of talk about what it's like with three children. It was so great to see so many old friends and to catch up. We had all been friends back when J and I lived in Cambridge, long before any of us had babies and before all the other couples had even married. So many good memories. I remember one summer when one of the guys rented a house boat and we had a huge party on the river with an Elvis impersonator. The highlight was when Elvis stood on the prow of the boat and sang Proud Mary as we rolled down the river waving to all of the bemused passersby on the riverwalk. It wasn't quite such an uproarous time yesterday but it was lovely to see everyone, to sit and eat, talk and laugh and see all the new little faces around the table with us.

And now it's a new year. My resolutions for this year are to take better care of my health and wellbeing, to spend more time just having fun with the children, to spend more time with J as a couple and to investigate the possibility of having a baby privately. My birth experience with Rosie was quite negative so if we do it again I'd prefer to go private rather than National Health. I need to find out if that's possible without needing to remortgage.

And since it's been ages since I posted a photo here is our latest family portrait. Please excuse the big copyright stamp across it. I think the photographer must be getting tired of me nicking photos from his website.

Hope you all had a great new year and all the best for 2007!