update on the house.

we got a short notice visit from our housing officer on tuesday (she phoned clive monday). they're not renewing the lease on this property woohoo! BUT she didn't say when the lease was up, jsut that either they would have to rehouse us or we'd have to find somewhere ourselves. i've seen places that would be perfect for us BUT it's trying to find estate agents that will accept housing/council tax benefit as rent alone would take ALL of clive's wages *and* some of our child tax credits leaving less than £300/month for food/bills/petrol/clothes

the shower started leaking again a couple weeks ago. it was fixed yesterday- of course the girls are now covered head to toe in red paint till we can shower them tonight. ah well. a little dirt won't hurt and we haven't gone anywhere today. the socket in teh kitchen that has never worked.... still doesn't as we don't know where it was supplied from but someone should be coming to find out... sometime! AND the girls bedroom door might even get fixed on wednesday if we're lucky!! it's been almost a year now!

for the first time in forever there were places i could bid on in locata.... but they're only big enough for 2-4people and we need somewhere a little bigger. but i have to bid or we get kicked off the list. hopefully they don't offer us one :o/ never thought i'd be saying THAT! i will miss the garden here though

http://www.procreo.jp/labo/flower_garden.swf

wk 8 cartoon

for some reason my pc keeps crashing when i try to copy the rest of the cartoons. so we may have to stop here........... they're all available at http://www.babygaga.com

random pics #3

last of the bubbles.
i loved the tree when we went to osterly park earlier
slightly more zoomed out so you can see the circular shape better
strawberry chops after their strawberry picnic. they didn't even talk about chocolate cake till lunchtime!
sian signing "spaghetti" this has been one of the hardest signs for her. she's done 25 in the past 3wks and learns them sooo fast!

random pics #2

sian may not like the "bematoes" but she will eat any cucumber left unattended!
the girls both learnt to blow bubbles themselves during the last week. enjoy.
such concentration. i love this pic of beth.
see how windy it was? they insisted they weren't cold!
mama overruled them for a neat bubbley picture!

random pics #1

sian on the trampoline at the playgym. she was not having a good day when we went and freaked out on just about everything that she wouldn't think twice about normally. didn't help that i'd *just* found out i was pregnant that morning and was feeling sick to boot.
being a tree on an old tree stump. when we first moved to the area it was a big ol' conker tree. not any more, it's a good climbing frame!
beth shouldn't have been playing in the sand here, this is her "waht have i done wrong?" look.
yes, her fringe needs cutting. again. but i want to wait till the hair wrap falls out so i can give her a bob again, it really suits her and doesn't irritate her neck.
beth and sian raided teh fridge for a snack. sian doesn't like "bematoes" but "me like matoe's mummy" said beth demolishing the packet.

weeks 6 & 7

i love the end results, in fact i even enjoy labour. i HATE being pregnant. 24/7 nausea sucks. and even when you finally get to the stage of (whatever time of day!) sickness? the nausea lingers when you're not praying to the porcelain throne.

Week 5

These cartoons from http://www.babygaga.com are brilliant. and there is so much more there as well!

Sign class #2

i'm a bit late with this one! The girls have another class tomorrow! So, last week they reviewed

• apple
• banana
• orange

and added

• table
• chairs
• cupboard
• bed

it's amazing how fast 30mins flies by. sian picks up the signs really quickly. Dom will show them the picture and sign together first and teach them new ones. then he plays "where is" where he does the sign and sian has to point to the pic. after she has to sign what ever he poitns to. beth doesn't get it quite so quickly, but by the next lesson she knows the signs. i think it's partly her age, and partly she's shy around Dom. Sian has no such problem!!

I have to share these! (Wk 1-4)

Orlando

Sign Classes

The girls had their first sign class when we got back. Mama however, got it wrong and got them there 30mins late. Why didn't someone phone me to ask where we were?! I knew they had a team meeting, but I had memorised it as 11am, so the girls lesson was 10.30am. Nope, it was meant to be 10am. *blush*

Anywho. We got there, and the girls learnt/reviewed some fruit signs

• apple
• banana
• cherries (new)
• grapes (BSL rather than babysign)
• orange

Boo was rather shy, but she did a few signs for Dom. Sian on the other hand, couldn't wait to get there and show off her skills! Of course, she does have a year or so's advantage over Bethy LOL. I did get told they both showed promise though.

We went to our home ed group on Thursday. Sian was sooooo excited to be tehre again. Must try and meet up with some of the otehrs too. We did teh body this week. next time it's road safety, something every child needs to learn. Sian is improving, I sometimes forget she's only 4.

Body Experiments.

Pulse: get a smallish blob of blu-tac or similar, stick a toothpick (we used wire ties from sandwich bags with the same result) into it. Place blu-tac on your wrist, just below teh base of your thumb. can you see your pulse vibrating through the pick?

Stethoscope: get the inner tube of a kitchen roll (do NOT unroll the whole thing, it will upset Mama!) place it on the left side of your chest, get your friend/sister/mama to listen and see if they can hear your heart. Swap.

Last Day Pics

Sian. She's my little model, as long as I just keep snapping!


The girls enjoying the last 30mins before we get on the bus to MCO

Beth catching some last minute rays- SPF50 and my kids are still milk white

Playing with the shadows

I have NO idea what she was looking at here!

I've been trying to get this technique right using the kids. I did it totally unintentionally with a *tree* I love it though. Just needs a drop of water coming off that leaf..............

Character Meals

Daddy and Beth Breakfasting with Tigger

Sian and Beth rushing off after a quick hug with Pooh Bear

Beth with Alice in Wonderland

The Mad Hatter. He was SUPERB!!!

Sian with Mary Poppins, she did say she'd come if the wind was right!

Beth LOVES Chip n Dale!

Mama and Beth with Mickey Mouse

Pluto's done this a few times! He put the girls there!

Make your own cupcake dessert

See the concentration needed?

Lunch @ Hollywood and Vine

Dancing with Goliath

Leo & Compere

Dancing with June again

Dancing around before leaving the restaurant

Handy Manny, JoJo and Goliath

Handy Manny, but his Tools were having a break

JoJo and Goliath... Beth is there somewhere!

I think Goliath really took to her, she didn't mind the cuddles either!


Goliath Cuddles again!