Happy 8th Birthday Lily

Well, we've been quite busy with baseball the last couple of weeks, the team play well but unfortunately manage to lose more often than they win, they scored 10 runs in the 1st innings of a game last week but still ended up losing 19 -17 which was very disappointing for everyone.

I finished my gardening course last week although we are meeting again this Thursday to visit a
very well run greenhouse, should be interesting, and I am still going out to Lanark to help out there on Wednesday mornings. On Friday we went down to Destin for our final family floridian frolic however the weather was against us so it was slightly more of a flop than a frolic. That said, we did have fun and no one got sunburnt! Dorothy and her kids came with us so Friday night was spent catching up and drinking wine until around 1130pm with Saturday night being a more subdued affair (I think we all called it a night by 930pm). Paige & Lily found and adopted 2 hermit crabs which they named Bobby & Sally. They were very keen to bring them home but we finally persuaded them to put them back in the sea.

After a long day at the beach being buffeted by the wind and the excitement of the hermit crabs it was time for the kids to wind down with some munchies and the tv.

On Sunday we went out for breakfast and then drove home, Nick went into work for a few hours while I took Tom to a baseball practice. Then it was home for dinner and to let Lily open her presents a day early as we won't have time to do it on Monday because of school, baton and baseball. Lily gets to stay home this evening and have Nik look after her while I take Tom to another late ball game with team photos first. Our Nick will turn up later and then I have to work the concession stand for the evening so don't even get to watch the game. Hopefully we will be home and have Tom in bed by 10pm.

So poor Lily doesn't get much of a birthday celebration, I did manage to buy a cake today, havent had time to bake a birthday snack for her classmates though, that will be a job for tomorrow.

Happy 10th Birthday Tom

Well, I got to relax on Monday then on Tuesday I was at a seminar about Tomatoes all day, Wednesday I gardened, Thursday I was at class all day and Friday I was helping at school for the sports day - this included manning the cotton candy machine (and getting covered in sticky sugary flossy mess) and helping out with kickball. We had 2 nights out watching Tom play baseball (won on Monday , lost on Thursday) and then Nick & I got to go out properly on Friday night to the theatre to see 'Lettice & Lovage'. Then I was back up at Lanark on Saturday helping out with the plant sale at an open weekend until 3pm before rushing back to the ball field to collect Lily from watching Tom practice baseball so I could take her to Catherine's for a sleepover. Finally I got to go home and relax until Sunday.
The day started early with Tom opening presents around 6.30am, he was very pleased with everything he got especially the above Lego game (Pictionary with Lego instead of pencil and notepad) and his Waterworks science set - we have all now seen how a vortex works! After the vortex demo and a quick game of Creationary I was off out to collect Lily and get some shopping so I could create a culinary masterpiece for Tom's birthday. I had mentioned that my memory of turning 10 was having 2 cakes baked for me by my godmother, Ruth, a 1 and a 0 cake, so obviously I had to try and do the same for Tom (without helpful number shaped cake tins). As you can see, Martha Stewart/Nigella Lawson (delete as applicable depending on US/UK knowledge of tv chef personalities) has nothing to worry about.

It may not have looked good but it certainly tasted good and was all eaten up and enjoyed - at least I didn't see anyone gagging on it.

Before eating the cake Nick took the boys to the cinema to see 'how to train your dragon' and then came back with pizza and 6 crazy boys. They all jumped in the pool and then had a water fight (Tim, Deanna & I had filled round about 200 water balloons while the boys had been away at the cinema).

Nick setting some ground rules for the water fight and the water balloon fight in full swing. It's amazing how quickly 6 boys get through 200 water balloons!

Thankfully, it was soon 5pm and I got to wave goodbye to everyone and sit down and relax for a while before starting another (slightly less crazy) week tomorrow.

A Happy Easter

Baseball season arrived with gusto this week and Tom has played 2 games so far, with another 2 scheduled for this week (along with various practices) , unfortunately his team has lost both games but they have been very exciting and close run things.
Stephanie & Iain made it to Montgomery on Friday for the Easter weekend which was great and Lily & Grace were pleased to see each other again. As it was warm and sunny all the children ended up in the pool for the first time this year (Andrew being the eldest (and most sensible ) was first out and didnt go back in again all weekend!) Grace, Tom & Lily however, were in and out all weekend.
After a relaxed Friday afternoon we did a spot of sightseeing on Saturday morning, due to most of Montgomery being shut we managed to play at the playpark by Old Alabama Town before heading off to the Civil Rights Museum.

Then it was quickly home for Tom to grab a sandwich before heading off to baseball practice and then on to the IO Culture Day at Maxwell AFB to sample some cuisine from around the world.

So another busy day meant a nice relaxing evening at home playing games again. All too soon it was Sunday and after an egg hunt, a mini game of cricket, a splash in the pool for Grace, Tom & Lily and a bite of lunch it was time to say goodbye again until July when we shall meet up in St Andrews.

Now it's Monday and I have a busy week ahead of me with gardening stuff every day this week except Friday when I am at school volunteering at the Sports Day.