As-tu un animal?

It has been a long hard road, but finally we have made it. Between the children and myself, the many hours of hard work and concentrated effort have paid off. At last. We have chipped away, we have niggled and we have wriggled into any gap that dared to show itself. Indeed on more than one occasion there have been tears. But on Saturday we declared ourselves victors! 

We can now proclaim ourselves to be...........PET OWNERS!  
(The defeated opposition? Daddy!)

Oh, yeah! There's no standing up to the three of us when we band together! And so it was on Saturday morning that we walked into PetCo exchanging high 5's and slapping each other on the back. "Show us your bestest fish!" we announced.

I know, fish? But it's a start and the children are delighted. Once we got passed the quite substantial attitude on display from the shop's staff ("You're not planning on putting fish in that tank today, are you?"), we  had fun picking out just what we wanted.

Never one to do anything by halves, Jodi had done his research and decided on a 29 gallon aquarium, fresh water, no stand, and yes, we know that you have to give the water 24 hours to get up to temperature before you put the fish in. (You're not planning on selling anything to anyone with that attitude today, are you?) We chose a sunken pirate ship, naturally, and a faux log with plenty of hiding places (I told you we'd done some research!) and plenty of pretend plants so we don't have to deal with too much algae build up (See? See? They didn't employ ALL the smart people in this pet shop!) Jodi selected a tank which came with a filter, heater and thermometer so we just needed some food and, eventually (obviously not right now, as the water won't have had time to heat up) some fish.

We set the tank up in the sun room, not in direct sunlight of course, and filled it  with the rinsed gravel, carefully washed ornaments and 'plants' and some of the coldest water I have ever had the misfortune to carry about in a bucket. We took the water from the outside taps meaning it came straight from the well before being messed about with in our complex filter system.  I swear it was 6 thousand degrees below freezing outside and snowing, damn it.

The children and I went back to choose the fish on Monday, which had given the water in the tank plenty of time to get up to an electricity draining 75 degrees F. We were greeted by a lovely sales assistant this time, who gave us her very best information about The Right Fish For Us; Yes, you can have 6 fish in that tank but don't buy them all at once, only buy 2 today. No, you can't buy a sucker fish today, you have to let the algae build up first. No, you don't just feed them once a day, go for twice or three times. No, don't choose Tetras they're not as hardy as the Molly or Platy varieties.

So we took a few minutes to have a look and decide which ones we wanted.

A different sales assistant came over when we looked ready. and had her say; Yes, 6 is a good number, of course you can buy them all today! A sucker fish? Sure! Just get some algae pellets so he's definitely got something to snack on. No, strictly once a day only for food! Molly, Platy or Tetra, they'll all do equally well.   

Hmmmmmm.

We did what anyone would do with a bit of background knowledge and conflicting advice: we believed the bits that suited us best. We bought 5 fish; a pair of Dalmatian Mollies, a pair of Sunset Fire Wag Platy, and a sucker fish, mainly because they are pretty (except the sucker fish, nothing pretty going on there). And they all survived the journey home. Phew!

On Thursday, Meg and I went back to PetCo, not to return any dead fish, they're all still eating and pooping in our tank, but to buy a pair for Meg to have as her own. She chose a pair of tiny orange Sunset Fire Platy and named them both Nippy. They too made it into the tank alive, and seem to be flourishing, along with Spit and Spot, and Falcon and Skywalker. Bet you can't guess which fish belong to Finn?! Ole Suckerooni is still hanging out under the log, we think; he's not very social but he hasn't floated to the top yet either ........

The kids are both fascinated by them,  but Finn is particularly pleased. In French lessons, instead of being the only child to say 'Non, je n'ai pas d'animal,' he can now proudly proclaim, 'Oui, J'ai sept poissons!'

 

Independent woman!

My darling daughter! I thought things had gone a bit quiet one afternoon.......when I investigated, this is what I found..........."I'm hungry, Mummy!" by way of explanation.  So I see.

For the love of.......

...........CHOCOLATE!

 

 

We took a trip to Washington, DC over New Year and as it is a remarkably long way, we broke up the journey at Hershey, Pennsylvania to soak up some local culture, which just happens to be chocolate!

Hershey, as you may well know, makes these:

 

But did you know they make them this big? (This one's for you, Mutti!)

There are loads of things to do at Hershey World, educational and otherwise. I'd advise you not to ask Meg about the singing cows on the train ride round the 'factory'. She is still confused about how they were taught to sing and who looks after them while they are working........

We opted to bypass the educational and head straight for the delicious. We donned the appropriate amusing attire and licked our lips in anticipation of designing our own chocolate bars.

It works like this: you choose the chocolate you'd like for the base of the bar, and a selection of chewy and/or crunchy bits to go in the middle, then follow your bar along the conveyor belt as it's put together and covered in milk chocolate before being boxed and wrapped in your own carefully designed packaging.

We only made three as per bar they are quite expensive  - $15 each in fact! Expensive enough for some of us to look quite concerned as we are doing our 'Chocolate Factory' soft shoe shuffle!

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, pulling out my hair!

Meg wanted a dress like her in Tangled. "Like Rapunzel's you mean?"

"Yes, like Rapunzel's"

"Shall Mummy make you a Rapunzel dress?" I asked a little hastily.

"Yes."

"And will you wear it if Mummy makes you a Rapunzel dress?"

"Yes."

OK then. Promise believed, I set out to find out how to make a Rapunzel dress. Now, I have come accross crafting blogs before and love the fact that there are people out there who sell their handicrafts online or indeed their cleverley designed paper patterns (this purple and green dress I made for Meg in the summer was from one such blog) but I was particularly overjoyed to find a clever lady here who shows how to cut your own pattern using just a t-shirt for reference! Cool!

 

So I did. I tried my best. I struggled with the ridiculous fabric they call costume satin, and a daughter who refuses to try on my creations until they are finished, then with a bodice that was too long at the waist and too short accross the back.....but eventually....success. You may notice that the pattern on the website doesn't have the princess kick pleat in the front; that, I am proud to say is all mine.

 

Anyway, dressing up costume finished. My end of the bargain upheld. Has Meg acually worn the dress? Well, I have photographic proof of the two occasions on which she deigned to put it on right here. She wore it for about as long as it takes to get a decent picture, then took it off.

 

I don't think that really counts do you?



 





High on the hill was a lonely goatherd...

Jodi says he doesn't want me to make one for him. I just cannot imagine why! I'm having one......maybe........

Barking up the wrong tree?

We had a breakthrough last Thursday and it was all thanks to Miss. Madeline. I am talking,of course, about Meg's rather tentative initiation into the world of ice and the skating thereon. We were having many excited conversations in the countdown to each Thursday lesson about how great skating is and just how much fun it can be. then after the lesson there were delighted announcements to anyone who would listen that she had just been ice-skating, what a clever girl I am! But while actually out there on the ice? Hmmmmmmm. Excitement quickly dissolved into a lip-trembling, wooden legged panic with a complete refusal to do the actions to Heads, shoulders, knees and toes. Poor old Meg.

I tried being supportive from the gate, and being on the ice with her but nothing was quite right. I was just starting to wonder whether ice-skating lessons were a good idea for a 2 year old when Miss.Madeline had a burst of inspiration. "Get her to bring one of her toys with her next time." So I did. We spent a week deciding which particular toy should share the ice with Meg - she picked the elephant called Monkey (all Meg's toys are currently called Monkey) and packed him into the car with her gloves and snow pants. When it came to skate-lacing time Meg denied any knowledge of poor old Monkey and refused point blank to take him with her. I put him in my pocket. Meg was duly delivered into the capable hands of Miss.Madeline and stepped bravely out onto the ice. Five minutes later, as anticipated, the lower lip commenced its wobble and Miss.Madeline zoomed over to me with a question, "Did she bring....?" she started.
"Yes, here," I replied holding out the elephant, "she brought Monkey." Madeline cast me a sideways glance but being completely up to speed with the foibles of her younger students (and her older ones but that's for another day), she accepted what I said and skated off to join Meg. And then it happened. The lip tremble metamorphosed into a smile, the wooden legs relaxed and Meg started to enjoy herself. There was the Throw-elephant-along-the-ice-and-skate-to-catch-up-to-him game, and the Let-elephant-ride-around-on-your-skating-helmet game, and the Roll-on-the-ice-because-you're-happy game, and the Drawing-on-the-ice-with-markers game, and the Flying-like-a-butterfly game (harder than you'd think) and generally having fun. Awesome.

Who knew that such a difference could be made by an elephant called Monkey. (And clever, clever Miss Madeline, of course!)

Happy Halloween!

A first for everything.....

.........first time in ice-skates...........

..........first steps........





......first foray onto the ice......

......first taste of speed.......

........and a first ice skating lesson complete......still smiling! Well done Meg!

A Birthday, a Baptism and a Wedding

 

A Wedding, a Baptism and a Birthday.

The Good Life started here!

Sweet nothings

Mummy and daughter hanging out on the bleachers watching son at hockey practise: daughter is climbing up and down the stairs, taking risks and causing other spectators to gasp and reach out to stop the potential fall. Each time Mummy chides her daughter with a firm "hold on to the handrail, please," daughter smiles, throws her arms around Mummy's neck and kisses her cheek. One time too many and there is a telling off. Daughter kisses Mummy then hangs on. "Whisper in ear Mummy,"
"Ok, sweetheart," delights Mummy.
"Poop head." whispers daughter.
"Hmmmmm" says Mummy.

Later on, the same again.
"Whisper in ear, Mummy,"
"Ok, sweetie, what is it?"
"Poop head."
"Why don't you whisper something nice in Mummy's ear, poppet?"
Daughter pulls away, cocks her head to one side and thinks for a moment. A gleam in her eye, she says, "Whisper in ear, Mummy,"
A cautious, "Yes?"

"Nick Junior!"

Behind a perfectly ordinary door......

 ...there is a special space for a special little girl.....

 ...where she can take refuge when the bigger kids get too much and she needs to be alone among the Truffula trees and the Humming fish.

Visitors can stop by......but only when they are invited!

A funny thing happened at Easter.....

...when we were travelling in the car and made a brief pit-stop. I made an unusual decision: I decided to treat my children to some chocolate. Because everyone likes chocolate, right? Well, my eye happened to fall upon some small bags of Cadbury's Mini Eggs. You know what they are? Small chocolate eggs, covered in a sugar shell that looks like real eggshell but all pastel and Easter-ish and pretty.....
"Here you are children, Mummy has a surprise for you!" I awaited the sweet thank-you's and endless gratitude that would flow in my direction.
"What are they?" asked Finn, a trfle suspiciously.
"Chocolate eggs!" (Aren't I fabulous for surprising you in such a way? was what I meant.)
"They don't look like chocolate."
"They're covered in sugar," I was forced to explain, feeling the whole situation turning a little sour. "Why don't you taste one?"
Finn carefully removed one from the bag and sniffed it. Yes, he sniffed it. And examined it close-up. I turned away and helped Meg open her bag and showed her the pretty colours. "Yummy!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. At least I had scored a hit with one of them. I turned back to Finn just in time to see him take a tentative bite. Here we go, I thought, now he'll thank me. After all, what's not to like about a Cadbury's Mini Egg.
And then it happened. The last thing I was expecting. But never having seen anything like it before, however could I be expecting it?
He spat. He spat out his bite of sugar coated chocolate as if it were a live worm.
"Ugh, ugh, UGH!" he shouted, brushing his tongue with his hand and spitting  chunks all over his car seat. "That is disgusting, Mummy help me! Ugh, yuck, pew, pah....."
I sat with my mouth open in utter amazement. Chocolate coated in sugar? Two of Finn's most favourite things? I pulled an egg out of his bag and popped it in my own mouth to see if we were dealing with a tampering incident. No. Perfectly OK.
The Tom and Jerry reaction was still continuing to my left. "I need a drink, Mummy, yuk, foul, disgusting..." He rambled on, wiping the choclate covered drool from his mouth and spreading it everywhere.
I chanced a look at Meg to see how she was going. But nothing to see there except a steady bag to hand action as she shovelled small pastel eggs into her mouth with barely a glance at her brother.
"Did you see that? I asked Jodi, "have you ever seen anyone react like that over a chocolate egg? What would the Easter Bunny say?"
"Well, at least one of our children is having the appropriate reaction," he replied nodding his head at Meg. We both looked at her and noticed her bulging cheeks.
"You enjoying those, poppet?" I asked, just as I realised she wasn't actually chewing. She nodded and continued to sit there, mouth full but not chewing. She shifted her mouthful about then made moves as if to spit something out. i grabbed a tissue (reflex action, this is quite a common occurrance with Meg) and put my hand under her chin. Out came a carefully formed  ball of...........sugar coating. Small pieces of sugar coating separated from their chocolate and gathered together into a ball.
It would seem that sugar coated chocolate is not to the liking of either of my children.

There, Mummy!

At breakfast this morning, the waitress brought Meg's chococlate milk over and she started to drink it down. "Don't drink too much," I said, "you won't have space for breakfast."

 She looked at me thoughtfully for a moment then carefully moved her drink, her cutlery and her napkin to one side. She pointed to the table, "There Mummy," she said, having made plenty of space for her breakfast!

Birthday Girl!