Sophie's 7th birthday

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If we thought our little boy was grown up, our little girl has completely outdone him!! We just can't believe how much she has grown up lately....both physically and emotionally. She is so tall she is outgrowing most of her clothes and is very mature, sometimes too mature for her own good! She has her little temper tantrums already...bring on teenagerhood!!

We spent another lovely birthday with our children, which again began with present ripping, then progressed to roller blading! Both Sophie and William are getting very good at it, they are both off skating on their own really well and can even stand up once they have fallen over! We have had a few serious bumps and bruises, but nothing broken as yet (touch wood!!). We went out for lunch at a local cafe and bought yummy garlic bread to go with the lasagne that had been requested for birthday tea. We had invited Mr Kevin and Ms Victoria for tea and they duly arrived, bearing vino....they really do know us now! Ian cooked his little girl a yummy lasagne and she ate for britain! We then had chocolate cup cakes like William did as the real cake has been collected and is ready for the party on saturday! Strawberries and chocolate ice cream followed and she duly ate it all!!

We had a lovely chat on Skype with nanny, who also showed us the lovely snowy view out of the window....the children are both very jealous of the snow over there......we did remind them that roller blading wouldn't be much fun in the snow however!!

We are coming to the end of our 2 week holiday and we have definitely had a rest. William went to school today as they were taking all the children to a local cafe for his and another girl's birthday, which was lovely. He had a fantastic time and another birthday cake. He just told me that he is lucky to have 3 birthdays and the King and Queen only have 2!!! Sophie and I have had a lovely girlie morning as Daddy went out to an interview.....we collected said birthday cakes.......pics to follow tomorrow....and did some schoolwork together this morning. I then took her for a pre-birthday party haircut and then Daddy was home to take her roller blading.

I have to say I am starting to have that "back to school feeling" already. I have not done any work all holiday, and have started to get a bit edgy about it over the past few days. I am pleased to have got myself organised this morning, but I will be working again this evening I fear. I have just discovered the 'Alex Rider' series by Anthony Horowitz and am completely addicted. I have read the first 2 books and am now about to introduce them to my class, I just need to work out exactly how! Our school has a training day on Sunday so I will not be doing my normal 'Sunday evening marking' session...hence the Friday evening working instead! I am very aware that after these 2 weeks we have no long holidays until the summer and it fills me with fear and dread! We have a couple of short breaks, the longest one being a Wednesday to Sunday break at the end of April. Mum has finally booked her flight to come and see us so that it encompasses this period, which is very exciting for all of us....she will be with us for 3 weeks and we have lots planned for her visit. Everywhere we go, Sophie is asking if we can take Nanny there! And of course, she will be draughted into our school also!

So, I must away to finish preparations for the birthday party....pass the parcel is ready, plain paper bowls have been decorated (aka scribbled on) by the children for snacks, and party bag substitutes (aka tickets for collecting the pottery items they all make) have been lovingly cut out by Sophie. We are a little apprehensive about keeping 16 small children quiet in a shop full of pottery for 2 hours, but Ian is ready with his entertainment!! Watch out for the update in the next few days.

By the way, I have been able to put photos on the last 2 blogs today, so go and have another peek if you can!!

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