RIP Porgy and Klaus

Oh dear, despite repeated warnings that his behaviour would kill the fish Caleb has finally managed to traumatise both of them to death. Porgy, who didn't seem at all fazed by sharing the fish tank with books, tree decorations, toys, and the occasional cat paw suddenly went belly-up on Christmas day (peace to all men, and for 1 fish...) Poor Klaus has been a sporadically wonky swimmer since we got him but he hung on until today, when I foolishly decided to change all the water and clean everything in the tank in case there was something toxic in there. He didn't even get to die in peace in his own tank, the inside of a Carte d'or tub was the last thing he saw!

I need that sideboard I've got my heart set on, then I can put the next ones out of Caleb's reach. They might at least last a month that way!

Since we're sharing...

... I ought to also mention that Elodie finally has 2 little teeth poking through at the bottom- she's been teething for literally months with nothing to show for it, and I think they're all about to burst through in one go, I'm expecting two top ones shortly. More importantly, our little Princess has started to crawl instead of rolling everywhere. She looks oddly like a dying fish but she's getting the hang of it at least. We're thankful that she was such a 'roller' because the frustration at not being able to get those legs moving was making for a very screamy little Missy and it would have been ten times worse if she'd been completely immobile. It won't be long though before she's got lightning precision- I just don't think Caleb is prepared for this! I'm glad Christmas is coming and they're both going to have new toys to interest them- it might make for a smoother transition into the next stage if they've each got something to engage with seperatly...

I was reading Wendy's thoughts on how relaxed she is about the development of her third child. I've think about this a lot, because our kids' birthdays are only days apart which means I can draw a pretty straight line to what Caleb was doing at each particular stage- nightmarish when you're desperatly trying not to compare! His experience was typical of most first children I suppose, with both parents coaxing and encouraging every little developmental detail. Yet Elodie has for the most part done things exactly as he did- some things a bit later, some things ever so slightly sooner- despite having far less attention or enthusiasm. It certainly adds fuel to the nature-nurture debate when you have more than one child with the same genes- I can't imagine those teeth would have come through any faster if I'd read to her more! :-)

Christmas has come early!

In the past few days, we have been blessed by so many things, not least of which: moving Elodie out of our room, and getting a dishwasher plumbed in. Never has a kitchen appliance been so well appreciated in my opinion.

Too stupid to boil an egg?

I don't do eggs. I will only eat them in cakes or something, or at a push in an omlette if it's loaded with extras. So imagine my horror when Caleb requested an egg for lunch! Since he doesn't have them that often, and he'd come up with something he might eat (rather than smear over the house) I felt I had to oblige. However, Daddy is away for the weekend so I was going to have to take responsibility for it. Now, frying an egg is something I have learnt to do out of love for my husband, but I don't think I've ever boiled an egg in my life! Felt a bit silly, and had to keep reassuring myself that I can make risotto, roast a chicken etc. I confess, I had to ring my Mum to check I wasn't going to poison him...

New additions

We've had an empty fish tank hanging around all week- kindly donated by Nikki- and Caleb's been desperate to fill it. Here was one of his early attempts:



Well, we couldn't leave it up to him (I didn't mind the frog, but a pile of dinosaurs,Christmas cards and plastic McDonalds toys was not my idea of appealing aesthetics) So today we welcomed Porgy (R) and Klaus (L) to the family. Don't ask the relevance of the names, Caleb came up with them (well, he came up with Porgy, then requested 'somefin German')

Hooray and Thankyou God for Mothercare!

For making Navy socks that don't run when they find they're way into a white wash...

Mark's Seven Things

Seven things to do before I die:
1. Drive across America
2. Write a novel
3. Visit Egypt (among many other places)
4. Continue learning Italian and spend some time in Italy
5. Get more sleep than I am now
6. Find out how some of my favourite pupils turn out when they grow up
7. Have a good spiritual effect on our town

Seven things I cannot do:
1. Multi-task
2. Complete the 'very hard' setting on my Sudoku widget. Keeps going wrong!
3. Stand the texture of porridge
4. Cartwheels
5. Lose weight in any meaningful way
6. Comb my 'hair'
7. Understand why pupils continually see 'Q' when I've written 'O'

Seven things that attract me to my spouse:
1. Her smile
2. Her ability to conduct three conversations, at once, over a period of about a week
3. The fact that she likes things to be tidy
4. The mothering skills she doesn't think she has
5. She's downright sexy
6. Her humorous cynicism
7. Her never-ending patience with me

Seven things I say most often:
1. Bonjour!
2. Guten Tag!
3. So you have no book and no pen. What did you bring to school today?
4. Well we're not going to watch Finding Nemo.
5. I love you (obviously not at school)
6. Silence s'il vous plait.
7. Ruhig bitte.

Seven Books I love:
1. Either of the 'Darkness' books by Frank Peretti, or The Visitation
2. Lord of the Rings
3. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
4. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
5. Real Fast Food by Nigel Slater
6. Dogger by Shirley Hughes
7. The CEV Bible

Seven Movies I would watch over and over again:
How the HELL do I limit this to seven?
1. Star Wars (or Empire or Jedi)
2. LOTR (FOTR or ROTK, but not 2Towers - drags more than the others)
3. Leon
4. It's a Wonderful Life
5. Aliens
6. North by Northwest
7. Signs
...and so many more!

Seven people I would like to join in too:
I don't have any friends who haven't already done it. In fact, I just don't have any friends.

Heidi's 'Seven Things' list

*this post has been updated*

Argh! This took me ages!

Seven things to do before I die:
1. Go to Egypt
2. Go back to Corsica for a second honeymoon (for longer than four days this time!)
3. Sing in a smoke-filled nightclub, in a swanky dress
4. Find my vocation- as if motherhood wasn't enough!
5. See a revival (in Carterton?)
6. Not screw up my kids or my husband any more than is inevitable
7. Lose my baby tummy and become a hot young mama! (snigger)

Seven things I cannot do:
1. Maths (by about £35,000 apparently!)
2. Geography- even finding our car in a car park. I kid you not.
3. Say no to people, or chips
4. Give directions
5. Stop my hair and fingernails growing at a ridiculous rate, or even stop time altogether
6. A french plait
7. Survive on a small amount of sleep

Seven things that attract me to my spouse:
1. That he humours me
2. How great he is with kids, not just our own
3. His stamina and determination
4. You've got to love a French-speaker!
5. That he's big and tall and manly
6. His tenderness
7. His bottom (You asked!)

Seven things I say most often:
1. I'm going to count to three...
2. Sweeeeet
3. I need Coke/chips/chocolate
4. I'm knackered
5. If only.../I wish...
6. No way!
7. Right, so...

Seven Books I love:
1. I could probably fill this list with Frank perettis but I'll just say This Present Darkness
2. The Drowning People by Richard Mason
3. Annabel Karmel's complete baby and toddler mealplan
4. The Chronicles of Narnia
5. The NLT Bible
6. You are Special by Max Lucado
7. Trade Secrets

Seven Movies I would watch over and over again:
1. Aliens
2. The Usual Suspects
3. Hello Dolly
4. The Princess Bride
5. Terminator 2, although I already know it by heart!
6. Wait Until Dark, or anything else with Audrey in
7. Finding Nemo (and I frequently do!)

Seven people I would like to join in too:
1. Nikki
2. Robin
3. Alana
4. Colleen
5. Wendy
6. Ben
7. Marky of course- but his answers must be identical to mine, obviously! (tee hee)

Doesn't it take ages? And I didn't even get to add:

THINGS TO DO: See my kids grown up and fulfilled and best buddies with Jesus, win an Oscar(!), get Elodie to stop sucking her thumb, wear an Anni Faith original, get a degree- or at least some more A-levels, get my house cleaned to my satisfaction at least once, have a 50th wedding anniversary bash, get some more sleep

THINGS I CAN'T DO: Contemplate being pregnant ever again, dance, kick my Diet Coke habit, Psychology A-level, eat mushrooms, fish or eggs

BOOKS I LOVE: Dave Gorman's Googlewhack adventure, Anne Mckevitt's Designer know-how, Audrey Hepburn by Barry Paris, After the Fire Trilogy

THINGS I SAY: Caleb, what do you need to say to Elodie? I knew it! No/stop it/get out, I love you Caleb/Eds/Marky, I've been thinking...

MOVIES: Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Wedding Singer, Arachnaphobia, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Signs, White Christmas (always makes me cry happy tears), It's a wonderful life (ditto)

THINGS THAT ATTRACT ME TO MARK: His smile, his sense of humour, his Star Wars obsession, that he's neat, his rich relatives (tee hee)

Alana added Seven Albums I would listen to over and over again, so here are 7 of mine:
1. Tobymac- Momentum
2. Radiohead- The Bends
3. Eva Cassidy- Songbird
4. Maroon 5- Songs about Jane
5. Newsboys- Adoration: The worship album
6. Shirley Bassey- The diamond collection (how sad am I?!)
7. The Virgin Suicides soundtrack

Perhaps the most obscure 'What (such and such) are you?' game

I'm 'Galileo! Galileo! Galileo Figaro! Magnifico!'!

Which Line from Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody Are You?