Who Dunnit?

Last night Sean and I were cooking supper together and Shannon was sitting on the counter overseeing operations. Preparing a chicken for rotisserie, I opened the drawer to get out some string and the ball was all unravelled and knotted. So I asked Shannon: "who do you think did this to the string?" knowing full well that it was madam herself, to which she replied "Daddy did it!" In mock horror, Sean staggered around the kitchen wounded and called for a fair trial. He said with great sincerity to Shannon: "hold up your right hand and repeat after me... (she held up her right hand but was unforthcoming with the oath) I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me Dolly!" I could not breath for giggling, it is so much fun being part of this mad trio!

On Sunday night, Poppet was in a bit of a state having been a bit fluey all weekend and having not slept all day. So anyway she fell asleep at about 5pm and, barring a small partially awake interlude for supper, we thought she was down for the night. Bearing in mind how cute she is especially when she is asleep we had left her on the couch while we were having our supper. Even in her sleep Shannon is a clown... she stirred and sat up, looked straight at me and said in a very posh voice "hellooo" then lay back down, stuck her leg in the air, pointed her toes and said "look at me" in the same posh voice, and promptly fell back to sleep. Even the noisy laughter from Sean and I did not wake her again! I have heard that the reason children need so much sleep is so there is plenty of time to remind their parents that they are cute and not just monsters as they can be when they are awake - consider us reminded!

NORBERT UPDATE: Norbert's top leaf is going yellow - apparently he needs plant food! I am off to buy plant food today!

The mangy monkeys carried him off!

That, for anyone unfamiliar with the Jungle Book, is what Baloo says to Bagheera about Mowgli!

I digress.

Shannon was off school today in the attempt to prevent her cold from becoming anything more serious, as it did the last time - we'll see! So we spent the day pottering around together which inevitably resulted in a couple of 3 year old logic moments. Here is my favorite:

We are the (disgruntled) neighbours of a rather large troupe of monkeys who have decided that our complex makes for the best shopping mall in the area. Kitchen doors and windows are invariably left open for beautiful fresh highland air, and this seems to be open season for the monkeys. I don't like monkeys. My kitchen windows are rarely open more than a crack and if I see one monkey the door remains shut fast!

Nonetheless, this afternoon I was hanging out laundry with Shannon's 'help' when the monkeys came to shop. Our neighbour uses the monkeys for target practice in the art of shoe throwing and throughout their visit 3 separate occurences culminated in Shannon's interesting observation. Firstly said neighbour hit one of his targets and we saw the monkey limping off in disgust; secondly we saw a monkey with only half a tail (presumably caused by a fight with another monkey); thirdly Shannon began to think. Then she spoke: "Mommy Brian took the monkey's tail." *pause for further consideration* Then with a fair amount of indignation: "He has to give it back, hey Mommy!" I am sure this is one of those times I was NOT supposed to giggle. Hopeless, I am.

Who stole my heater?

Anyone who knows me knows only too well that I cannot stand to be cold. So as you can imagine I am feeling pretty miz at the moment as it is FREEZING! We in waterfall are not really equipped to deal with the cold: no central heating...no heaters in fact! And I for one don't get warm simply by application of more clothes! What stops exposed face and hands from making the rest of me freezing too? I think we should have a global meeting, find people who like the heat and let them work through the heat of summer, people who like the cold and let them work throughout winter, and introduce hibernation in the interim so that we can miss the discomfort of our less favoured season! OK so sometimes I live in fantasy land but so what - it warms me up thinking about it!

The other thing that keeps me warm in winter is the giggles caused by the comedienne in our household - Shannon. 'Now what!' is Poppets new favourite phrase and she slips it in wherever she thinks she can get away with it, often with hilarious consequences! So yesterday, Sean was working on the computer which, according to Shannon, is where Mommy works! Daddy works in the garage or at the Stables! Shannon said "Daddy is supposed to be working...Now what?" I could do nothing but giggle while Sean tried to get out of that one!

The other time Sean and I came off second best was when Shannon was eating toast and bovril - her favorite! She has a cloth next to her as she doesn't like the bovril on her fingers (!) Anyway, she got the bright idea that if she wiped the toast it would solve the problem once and for all and looked at us in total bemusement when we tried (VERY unsuccessfully through the giggles) to put an end to her brilliant plan!

The Aftermath...

Bulls Survive Shark Attack!

Well, result notwithstanding, Sean and I and a good few of our friends had a BRILLIANT time at the rugby! The specacular view that we had from our seats made for a real close up of a hard fought (error filled!) game with lots of controlled aggression, a blind ref, and PLENTY of atmosphere!

The stands were at once filled with black and white which would vanish at the turn of play to be replaced with a wall of blue. A continual cacophony of raised voices cheered on either side leaving most people hoarse. The final minutes saw Sharks fans change from wild animation to stunned disbelief as the Bulls fans erupted with ecstatic triumphant roars.

So this is now history - The first South African team EVER to win the Super 14 on South African Soil are the Blue Bulls not the Sharks!

Well, as my positive thinking buddy said... South Africa won in the end!

Road Signs Revisited!!!

My Father-in-law (the avid rugby fan of my previous blog) has an uncanny ability to make me giggle! In response to a previous post regarding road signs in Southern Africa he sent me these from overseas... I hope they brighten your day too!!!


This one says: "Also the bridge is out ahead" at the bottom (!)


Uhuh


Who do they intend to charge?

Hmmmm makes you wonder eh?

A Tribute to Dean...(and the universe?)

A friend said to me not long ago that, with enough positive thought, the universe will always provide! Well I spent some energy in positive thought towards the acquisition of some decent tickets to the Final of the Super 14 Rugby which, as luck would have it, (not to mentions blood, sweat and tears on the part of our Sharks!) is to be held at none other than the Shark Tank in Durban (In laymans terms: our rugby team is playing a home final this weekend!).

Now, I married into a family of rugby FANATICS! Sean, his brother Dean, and their father Harry, are probably the most avid rugby fans I have ever met. They wouldn't miss the opportunity to watch rugby for ANYTHING! I suppose it was a fairly safe assumption, based on history, that the Sharks would not make it to the final and even if they did that they would not be playing at home! Well they did, and they are... Dean has season tickets 2 rows from the field right near the tunnel! Dean & Tracey are going away for the weekend! Sean and I are going to the rugby!

Thank you Dean & Tracey (and the universe?) Sean and I are eternally grateful - to all you other rugby fans out there please look out for Sean and I as the players run onto the field...you may catch a glimpse of us in our FANTASTIC seats!

The thing about birthdays....

...is that we - not including the Royal we - only have one a year and it is on a certain date and there is not much that can be done about that! The problem with this organised event occurs when you are coming up for your 3rd birthday.

Shannon's birthday is almost exactly halfway through the year, which means that a good deal of her friend's parties are before hers. Now being Shannon and being nearly 3 means that for the last couple of weeks the little madam has being telling everyone that: "today is my birthday and I am having my own cake!" Not to mention that whenever she sees a cake she wants to know if it is her birthday cake! We have told her that her birthday is in June - that means nothing when you are 3! In fact it encourages a nearly 3 year old to believe that you are slightly insane!

We discovered the other day that any fears we had of Shannon lacking the confidence to stand up for herself and stake her claim on things are TOTALLY unnecessary: Sean dropped Shannon off at school on Monday and she was a little sad because her best friend Ashleigh had not arrived yet. To take her mind off this Sean took her outside to see the school bunny who was playing with some of the older children in the courtyard. Shannon leapt out of Sean's arms, ran toward the bunny yelling "MY BUNNY" and scattered all the older kids away from the bunny! Her teacher understated: "She is a little bossy!" and Sean had to tell Poppet the finer points of bunny ownership and the virtue of sharing!

I know I am EXTREMELY biased but I am secretly proud of her and think it is exceptionally cute albeit VERY bossy!

The Comedy of Road Signs!

I have always been amused (strange I know so just leave it) by the road signs that we see as we drive around our interesting continent. The first time I noticed the funny side of road signs was when we were driving...somewhere...in Zimbabwe MANY years ago, when my Dad said "look out, look out", as he likes to do when some amusing thing calls for it, and we all said "what, what" as we do, and he said "look - dangerous men at work!" which was what the sign said. The men themselves looked fairly innocuous and, in fact, were having a tea break or some such (in)activity that involved lying on the grass rather than actually working!

The other sign that has kept me entertained over the decades (*sigh* scary when you can refer to your life in decades!) is also commonly seen in Zim and that is the one that depicts the hazard of elephants crossing the road - not many countries around the world can claim to have THAT sign on their roads!

Most recently I have HAD to giggle (for fear of crying if not) at the ACTUAL REAL TRIANGLE ROAD SIGNS that say:



Fill them so you don't have to warn us about them! These signs are not on small side roads in the country but IN THE MIDDLE OF DURBAN! Fill! Them!

*pause while I get off my soapbox*

Incidentally according to Shannon - on a COMPLETELY different subject - her cousin Kyle, who she misses greatly as he is in Chicago, has: "gone in the plane to cocoa" and every time a plane flies over she says “there’s Kyle, he’s coming to see me just now!”

The art of language.

At bed time, more often than not, Shannon gets to choose a story which I read to her and then she takes to bed to 'read'! I am a teensie bit bored of the same stories over and over again so this evening I chose Pinnochio! Shannon loved the story and asked questions about it all the way through. I think she was doing this to hide the fact that she was trying to roll the name Pinnochio off her tongue. She didn't quite manage: "Mommy what is Noakipoe doing there?" So Noakipoe he will remain!

On the subject, Shannon loves to play outside. A couple of weeks ago when she asked to go outside, I told her she couldn't because it was raining. Shannon ran to the window and looked out. Then she came stomping back to me and said: "It is not raining on the grandah Mommy so I can ride my bike!" Once again I was left speechless and Shannon went to ride her bike on the grandah!

Last night Shannon had Amy and I rolling with laughter after we had been watching a daddy longlegs flying around. Kim came and knocked on the door so Shannon went running to fetch her to: "come quickly! Come see the daddy fly!"

After Pinnochio this evening, Shannon was going to make her bedtime wee and as she was about to settle herself she was muttering "poor Noakipoe" as she sat down she missed her target and landed on the floor and said: poor Shannon!"

Shameless advertising...

There are some fabulous self employed, work from home Moms (and Moms to be) in my circle of friends and I believe this is the way of the new Mom generation! Not to mention the self employed Dads, and the return of the family business run by both Mom and Dad - our kids have the greatest opportunities yet for the future! And all the generations before us have been building the way for it to be possible for our generation to achieve this (even if they were unaware that they were laying this particular path!).

Society took a hairpin bend at an alarming speed a couple of decades ago (the consequence of many years of women fighting against gender oppression)when the necessity for two income households became the norm. Women wanted to get out into the work place and stake their claim over any job or career they felt they wanted! Consequently careers became first priority and in a lot of cases family was planned for later in life once the career was firmly established! Thanks to these career driven women and the supportive men in their lives we are now able to take another step in the development of the human race. Now, it seems, many of us want parenthood and careers to go hand in hand and so we have become part of the own-business, work-from-home, mother/father/parent generation with the potential (I say potential because it always takes AGES to get the money rolling in!) to earn what we are worth while playing taxi driver, homework tutor and after school carer to our own offspring, and to set a precedent for the future of parethood and careers! Here are some examples of work-from-home moms and dads (of which there are many more) in my circle of friends... one of whom being yours truly!

Firstly, Mom-to-be (next month) Susie Clulow, started an online wedding gift business at the beginning of this year and I think it is fabulous! Susie showcases a whole range of wedding gifts that can be ordered online or over the phone and arrive wrapped and ready to be handed over! To see more about this FABULOUS service go to House of Gifts and check out her site!

Secondly, Mother of two Vanessa Davies bought Art Incentive in September last year and is running it with her Hubby and sister from home in Bothas Hill. They print art and photography onto many different media including fine art canvas - the finished product is BEAUTIFUL and a must for everybody's home! Check out Art Incentive for more information.

My dear husband and daddy to Shannon, is the highly skilled framer of these pictures on canvas, as well as coffee shop owner and property broker (we are trying to whittle it down to one job so that he has a bit more free time - this self-employed option can be VERY time consuming!)

Last but not least (of course) is moi! Mother to the adorable Shannon, I am about to launch Remedial Resources which is a website for parents of children with learning difficulties - watch this space - and is an add on to my Audiblox teaching and Psychology degree research!

Here's to the work from home parent generation!

This 'n that...

We have been trying to get Shannon to learn to take a little bit of responsibility for her things such as putting her dirty clothes in the laundry basket and helping me to make her bed in the morning. There is some sound philosophy behind this idea but at the moment I am not quite sure what that is! I digress. The thing is, that these are recurring tasks that happen with great regularity. Like every day. So this morning when I was making her bed I asked for her help to which she replied "I already did it yesterday!" Which was true! So she had a good argument from the point of view of a nearly-three-year-old. She looked at me as if I were insane when I started to explain that this was one of those recurring jobs, and stomped off to 'help' Daddy with the dishes... this is more like having a bath as she ends up with more water on her than in the sink!

The other Shannon giggle this week happened at her first Catrobatkidz lesson at school. they were doing a balancing exercise whereby they had to stand on a board attached to something unstable and try to maintain their balance. Well Shannon's teacher said she couldn't do it... she was laughing too much. Shannon thought all the other children looked so funny falling all over the place that she got the giggles and was incapable of balancing on her own two feet let alone this wobbly board! My sense of humor reincarnate!!!

FIVE AM (and I don't mean a radio station)

This is the time of day I refer to as Stupid o'clock; it is a time when we should all be oblivious to the world - ESPECIALLY in winter when it is dark - and warmly tucked up in our comfy beds! Unfortunately for many citizens of the world this is a time to get up through necessity. Like me!

ACTUALLY it is not NECESSARY it is SHANNON! Yes, she has decided that she wants breakfast at 5am! It is all I can do to coax her into our bed for half an hour of extra sleep (read kick boxing) before I drag myself up to make breakfast and chatter about all things irrelevant and 3-year-old-ish. The silver lining (every cloud has one, of this I am CONVINCED - more on this another time!) in this instance is that I don't have to give sensible answers as the more befuddled I sound the more Shannon enjoys her morning!

Now, I believe I am a morning person, happy to get up and get going as soon as it gets light! No problem to function on all cylinders in daylight. But Stupid o'clock! It's dark! I want my duvet! Help! There has to be a switch on the body clock to change my 'alert' time, and I have to be able to switch it but NOBODY WILL TELL ME WHERE IT IS! I am like one of those battery chickens: turn the light on and I wake up - when it is dark I sleeeeeeeeep!

I feed her, you know. (Shannon that is) She has a huge supper at about 6pm and usually a yogurt or banana before bed at 7pm. She is regularly dewormed. She has an appetite like an Elephant and seems to grow straight up only. *Sigh* do Mommys ever get a lie in ever again. It's not that Sean WON'T help - its that Shannon won't let him - Rod for my ownback I know, but I LOVE being the most important person in her life ... just not at 5am!

On Coffee Shops and Lemon Trees...

In an earlier post I said I was trying to remember to send my dear husband down to his shop, camera in hand, in order to furnish me with a couple of photos. So on Sunday last we remembered and put the camera by the door with his Important Bag, containing his necessities for the day, so he wouldn't forget any of it. He forgot all of it! Observant me (!) only noticed about 45mins later by which time dh was already in Durban with everything bar bag and camera! So as the caring and considerate wife that I am (!), I jumped in my car and headed off after him to deliver the Important Bag and take the pictures!

So here are Shannon and I enjoying a refreshing Chocolate milk and horlicks milkshake respectively outside the infamous O'Hendry's Coffee Shop!

And dh himself (more commonly known as Sean) serving coffee!!!

Sean's coffee shop is at the Stables Market in Durban - which means, yes, that all the market stalls are IN the STABLES. Very quaint and - at the moment - well worth the visit!

As for Norbert, he has grown yet another leaf and is flourishing in his spot on our kitchen windowsill. He is just growing straight up and I would quite like him to grow outwards a bit, but I can only assume that will happen in due course. I am also considering turning him into a Bonsai version of himself - Not that I know where to begin, though I am sure Google or Wikipedia will lend a hand in that department! As for the rest of us Sean and I are growing outwards quite nicely though I would prefer we stop and thinned out a bit, and Shannon is shooting straight upwards in the same manner as Norbert!

Big words like marmalade!

Shannon is fast closing in on the beginning of her fourth year of being Shannon! Now from where I stand this is a TERRIFYING thought!!! How is it possible that 3 years of being a Mom have already passed??? I still do not feel worthy of the title 'Mother' as I am not convinced thay I am a grown-up yet, but then does anyone ever really feel like a grown-up. I sense that my baby is growing up faster than even I give her credit for...

So yesterday (or today if you go by blogspot time which exists somewhere in America I suppose) Shannon and I arrived home from school, got out the car and started searching for the young lady's water bottle which she had dropped on the journey! Well, Shannon found it eventually, and then promptly dropped it so it rolled under the car. To this she exclaimed: "We probably can't get it, hey Mommy" followed shortly by "Now it is thoroughly lost Mommy!" What was I supposed to say then? Shannon wasn't finished: "Actually is under the car Mommy!" came next. I galantly tried not to dissovle with laughter at her seriousness or faint from shock at her exercise in testing words out for size! A child after my own heart!

Shannon stayed on a roll in the comedy department as she completely floored Sean and I at bed time. She went to bed at 7pm as normal with the usual vague complaints about not being tired and having work to do; Sean and I had relaxed for the evening content that Poppet would soon be asleep. After about 20mins silence from the young lady her little head popped round the corner to inform us that she'd "had a nice sleep Mommy and it would be nice to get up now please!" Help - please send more anti-cuteness potion!

Still no feeling of being a grown up... just seems like a good joke is being played on Sean and I and that someone is watching at a distance enjoying our hopeless giggling in place of parental guidance and a little discipline! I take no responsiblity for the result! Hmm maybe that is where I am going wrong!

I believe...

Everybody has highs and lows, this I know. It doesn't help to know that though when you are the one feeling low. I am also well aware of the fact that feeling down is a state of mind and I can overcome it. What I need to figure out - and if you are someone like me this is an interesting exercise - is what tools I need to overcome it, be they physical or emotional.

While I am typing this I am becoming vaguely aware of feeling better - aaahhhhh computers!!!

Crap! What a day - and it is only half way through!!! I am having one of those days where everything I am willing NOT to happen IS happening and I feel powerless to stop it.

I believe that when we are emotional - people that is - everything is blown way out of proportion, and that this occurs so that we can understand how SMALL we actualy are in the scheme of things and that all the things that are getting us down are silly and not worth the stress we give ourselves.

I am also a firm believer that we can ALL cope with the stresses in our lives if we sit back for a second, take stock and PLAN!!!!

EVERYTHING has to be planned - even down to what time we eat - so that we can ORGANISE everything we have to do and get it all done without the world coming down around us!!!

...it is all very well believing.

Being My Mom....

On occasion, when walking past something reflective, I catch sight of my Mom walking alongside me! I am not talking spiritually or anything ethereal like that, but physically. There she is in the mirror. I glanced at my hand the other day and nearly had heart failure because it wasn't similar to my Mom but EXACTLY the same!

My Mom

Now, my Mom is a fantastic lady with MANY enviable qualities (and some odd ones too I must add) so being like her is not something I shy away from - anymore! She is a lady who, already having had her 3rd 21st birthday, looks and behaves at least 10 years younger than she is. Which is where my problem lies... do I really look 50+??? Please DO NOT answer that! I don't think I look 20 years older than I am so what is the explanation!?!

Perhaps we are both timeless beauties... *sigh whistfully and then choke*

Perhaps our similarities transend generation without registering age!!!

Well whatever, Sean, for what it is worth, at least physically you can guage what I will look like after my 3rd 21st birthday!

On paranoia and dark sides...

I have been quietly worried, since Shannon first started drawing, about the fact that she likes to colour in black and black only! I keep getting Shannon's 'pictures' from school, most of which are in black, which are perhaps for me to have as keepsakes? For a while I thought they were surreptitiously trying to let on that my little angel has a bit of a dark side! To top it all, when we were painting to take our minds off the sudden and noisy storm the other day, she got very cross that her black paint had run out so she couldn't paint any more! It helped not a bit when I pointed out that she had eleven other colours to choose from - painting was over because the black was finished. You can imagine my horror at the thought that I was actually being paranoid to a point where I haven't even mentioned my concern to her Daddy!! Well, I decided an answer was required!!!

Lucky for me I come from a family of many and varied talents and my Auntie Sue, (who Shannon called Soup for ages until I said Susie instead of Sue!) is an artist extroardinair and Art Therapist. Lucky for me again, Sue called me this afternoon (telepathy rocks!) and I told her my secret fear about my precious angel liking black best and guess what... it is merely that it is a bold color for a bold, charismatic little girl - no dark side in view! Children love bold colours because they can see them so clearly and they make a big impression against the light background! So YAY! Fears laid to rest for another day!!

I suppose I am just another paranoid mother - and there I thought I had broken the mould!

Crystal Children

I have read about the Indigo Children and often catch myself keenly watching the teens and young adults around me and seeing in them the characteristics. I can see them achieving their goal of changing the Status Quo for something that is better for everyone around them! Our world will be a better place for our young children to grow up in if we open our minds to the possibilities that the Indigo Children offer us!

Thanks to a message from Tracey: See "Going Postal in the USA!" April 17 2007

(Trace.angel said...Hear Hear TankGirl. I agree with your comments on the ADHD situation. The children of the 21st century are "Crystal Children" (read Doreen Virtue's book on Crystal Children). Here she explains that these kids are of far superior intellect, therefore the teachers who are supposed to "teach" them are now intimidated by this intellect so they thump a label on the kid saying they're ADD or ADHD etc, put them on Ritalin to calm them down. All this does is dope the kid. Not good at all. The kids are getting bored at school. Teachers need to find new ways of tapping into this intellect and enhancing it.)

I was alerted to the existence of Crystal Children, of which Shannon has some characteristics. We are certainly able to communicate much better mentally than verbally (though her speech is excellent!) I always thought this was just a mother/daughter thing but maybe I am lucky! She is exceptionally loving and caring and I have never seen such a young child have such a gently nature towards, and affinity for, animals! I have just been reading an article about these Crystal Children and it gave me goose bumps (what is it they say about womens intuition and following your gut instinct?) so I feel there is a lot to be said for it!

I intend to put in a bit more research and observation and revisit this topic later!!!

Frustrated rantings of a student...and a human being!

I have, over the past 2 months, submitted a number of thoroughly worked assignments for marking. I am going STIR CRAZY waiting for results!!! I have been waiting OVER 4 WEEKS for one of them and NO ONE ANSWERS THE PHONE at UNISA!!!!! Sorry for shouting but I am about to move on to the second assignments of a few of the modules and how am I supposed to know if I am on the right track if the assignments are not getitng marked in time eh? EH??

Grrr. GRRRRR.

OK I feel better now, thanks for listening!

Ha, and another thing what is it with people who think it is OK to chuck litter out of the car window??? Or drop it on the floor when they are 5m from a BIN!!! I am beginning to think that those of us who still believe it is wrong to litter are a dying breed!! DON"T THROW RUBBISH ON THE GROUND, IT LOOKS DISGUSTING!!!

Phew!

Actually, while I am on my soap box (thanks for the loan John Bell! ;oP) DANGEROUS DRIVERS... is there really a need. We have so many reports of peple being killed on our roads in South Africa (the UK annual figure is about our monthly figure!) This information seems to fuel even worse driving! Everbody knows that it is more dangerous driving over the holidays because of the volume of cars going places... so they SPEED UP!!! Very clever! grrr *pause for feeling of relief* hang on GRRRR (better)

On a lighter note - I think - Shannon's teacher told me yesterday that she is much brighter than most of her peers! I said "What a nice thing for a Mom to hear" she said she is not so sure: average kids are the easiest, clever ones are a handful! Explains a lot! Although apparently she saves all her naughtiness for ME and is a little angel at school! Anyway, need to make the most of the time my clever (cutest and most adorable little girl ever to grace Earth) handful Shannon is at school and go back to doing assignments that may or may not get marked!!!

Beam me up!!!

Kyle the Adventurer !

So Kyle, my now-adult-male-no-longer-a-boy nephew, left for Chicago, Illinois this moring... at least that was the intention. As it happens he is still firmly stuck on South African soil, his flight delayed until around 4am! This is only the beginning of his somewhat extended journey, as his connecting flight from JFK to Chicago is cancelled so they have to take the bus! Do you know how big America is??? That is some bus ride! Nonetheless there is no point striking out on your own for the first time without collecting some tales of adventure along the way.

As for me I am over the travelling part of adventure and think it is about time someone invented a machine for instant arrival upon departure!!! Please get onto this right away as we could really do with a holiday... I fancy Seychelles meself!

Have a gas Kyle, your family are all with you in spirit... can't get rid of us just by moving half way round the world you know!

Just for fun here is a piccie of Sean on his Grand Adventure... catching snowflakes brr.

Shannon's new best thing is doing things dagedes! It is such a fabulous feeling for a Mommy when their little tyke says: 'lets do it dagedes Mommy"

Norbert, so named by Suzi incase you were wondering, is growing a leaf at the mo that is as big as the rest of him together... maybe lemon trees also need mommys to help them grow!