Merry Christermermas!

So I thought I would blog Christmas before the New Year hits. It was very relaxing, actually (for me, anyway). Doing dishes is SO much more chilled than actually cooking, which Elaine did singlehandedly. It was all really nice. The girls loved their gifts and shared well all day! They both got a new bike, which helped, I think!

They enjoyed having Nana and Papa around and although there was one stealth attack on Papa, they do love him. My advice is never to sit with your back to 4 year olds.

I got some lovely gifts as well. One that we all liked is my new spider catcher. It catches spiders humanely and remotely ( it's a stick about a metre long), so you can deposit them outside, instead of trying to catch them in a box, scream and drop them to the floor, to run under a bed. Mae and Lauren loved that and Lauren even tested it out!

On Christmas night the adults had a civilised game of Cranium. You can tell Geoff and I won, as it is being blogged. But Geoff enjoyed it, as much as he enjoys any board game, and there was a classic moment when we all had to watch Ross try to mime 'edible underwear'- if I had had one more drink I may have died laughing. Honestly....

On Boxing day we went to Lilian and Ross's- where Ross had set out the old Scaletrix set that Chris and Geoff used as kids. The girls had a blast. Lauren was a speed demon and Mae just smiled the whole time!! It didn't last too long before they fell out, but I think it will be used and loved for a long time yet!!

We got back yesterday and went for a brisk (and maybe one more year and its traditional) walk on Mersehead Reserve, where the Barnacle Geese come every year. It was cold but bright and I think I may have found an arrowhead! Although I think it was just a cleverly broken piece of slate....will take a pic. We took Mae's new metal detector, but didn't find anything this time. I think we should hit Residential Homes, myself, for a big catch...

And Tuesday we are off again! This time to Nottingham, which I am looking forward to- more kids to play with Mae, more friends to chill with.

So Happy New Year to all! Hopefully I will speak to you all in 2009!

Back to the Future

Great TV this week- Mae has already seen these two:

E.T.

and Peewee at the Big Top! She really liked both- a real mama's girl.

Besides almost breaking my wrist (Mae knelt on it- I actually cried), and having friends to visit, we have been baking loads. When you bake, you need groceries. The funniest thing by far this week was being at Tesco shopping, when one of the shelf-stacking dudes was walking behind me, singing very quietly (and I imagine, through gritted teeth):

It's the end of the world as we know it (REM)

Ha! I almost peed!!

surprises

Finally, it's the holidays! We all still have stuff to do but have taken it really easy today, particularly because Geoff and I were out for our Christmas parties last night and Liza had Mae sleep over, and having had about 10 vodka and ginger ales, I wasn't up to much.

We all went out this afternoon to see Madagascar 2, though, which was cute. But the real surprise was that on the way to the cinema Mae spotted a flock of starlings and we watched them dance around an old church spire in town.

If you have never seen this phenomenon, it is unbelievable. I have downloaded this from YouTube. I have seen this twice since we have moved here, and it's the kind of thing you just have to stop what you are doing and watch. It's beautiful. The flock we saw today was really small, about 100 birds, but here's what they do:

children

are so wierd. I think Mae is getting stranger by the minute.

She said tonight at the dinner table that her childminder, Liza, only feeds the kids ketchup. Obviously she doesn't - we'd be paying alot less if she did.... but I got in on the joke and sternly said I would have to have a chat with her and Mae paused and said.....'but I like her style'


The other day she was talking about a pet dog (afer Rumpole dies, which will be never at this rate) and I asked her what she would name a dog if we got one.

'Earplug.'

Are they all like this? Maybe Henry needs to have a meeting with her.

Happy Birthday Chris!!

39 reasons to be happy.

Grampy Bear (with snake tie around his neck), Arthur, Ganoonoo, Junior Bear, Garrr, Maisie, Mae, Holly, Peck Peck bird, Apricot Bear, Owen, Fifi, Nancy, Lola, Rabbit, Horton, Chicken, Big Head Dog, Snow Bear, Lucky, Flower, Purse Dog, Santa, Rosie, Shakey Chicken, Love Bear, Puffin, Millie, Merlin, Snowman, Pig, Frog, Panda, Canada Duck, Spot, Leopard, Horse, Swishy, Lamb.

Nuhin'

That's how people from Dumfries say nothing- nuhin'. It's great, and it's what I have been up to this weekend, as Geoff and Mae are away in Edinburgh.

I have been reading the paper, doing a bit of shopping, watching movies (The Darjeeling Ltd- very good.), snoozing, getting Geoff's windscreen replaced as he busted it last week, baking a bit, having a bath, wrapping some Christmas gifts and ordering a few on the net. Nuhin'.

What haven't I done?
Got a christmas tree, decorated the house, mopped the floors, cleaned the bathrooms, shaved my legs, dusted, recycled, washed windows, cleaned out car(s), watched anything of cultural significance on tv (although, remember, I did read the paper). There's a lot I haven't done and I feel great about that!!

So it was a good weekend, although I am looking forward to seeing my little family later.