Pictures from this evening.

Laurence, Susannah and I had some errands to run on Gateway Blvd this evening...so we headed over in that direction....we also had to pick up some cake flour for the cupcakes I have to make tomorrow.    When we got home I did my banking and then soaked in the bath for a while.  Rosie made herself VERY comfortable on the bed:

Sam and Abby got back from their Dads at 9:30.  Then they put Garfield on tv and played 'Alphabet Old Mudd' together while they watched the movie.  By the time it was over their Melatonin had kicked in and they were all ready for sleep.  

Old Mudd is a great card game for phonics, alphabet, uppercase and lower case etc etc....Sam is doing so great now but still LOVES this game :)  

He also was telling me about his house he built on Minecraft - he was planning it this afternoon and telling me about it then - so he built it on the server at his dads place and was telling me about it when he got home - how it never snows there...there are no strange animals - just sheep etc...no guinea pigs etc etc....he loves Minecraft :)

Which reminds me - can you believe that after just TWO months, Draw Something has sold for 200 MILLION dollars????  Wow!!!  Good for them :)  thats amazing :)  

Scenic pictures from this evenings drive...

Pot luck lunch....

Today we were invited to friends for a pot luck lunch.  I couldn't resist snapping a picture of the gorgeous mug I used while I was there :)  Isn't it so cute???

Samuel had NOT wanted to go as soon as he had heard that we were going to the home of a friend of Abigails...but I knew he would have fun, so I didn't give him the choice :)

I was totally right - as soon as we were half way there he was already excited - for a start, we had packed his bike and helmet :)  

Abigail and one friend went off on a cycle ride around the subdivision and had a great time :)  They also had a great deal of fun on the trampoline making up 'routines' of tricks!!  Sam had taken a baseball bat and played with that with some of the children - and also seemed to have great fun with the only other boy who was there - although he is happy to play with boys and girls...

He was also extremely thrilled with the bowl of ice cream he was given - especially when he was also given mint Girl Guide cookies to go with it!!!

I enjoyed just chatting with the other Moms....and seeing my friends new home - which is really lovely :)   

Breakfast at Ikea for Spring Break :)

This morning we headed over to Ikea and had breakfast there. 

We haven't done that for YEARS lol so I wasn't even too sure if they still did it, but we took the chance!  

The kids LOVED it - breakfast there is sooooo CHEAP and actually REALLY good!  As well as the old breakfast they used to do - you can now add all kinds of things to the basic selection for just 79c.  So for 5 of us to have a HUGE breakfast which included everyone having whatever they wanted - and yummy fresh fruit, really good cranberry and lemon muffins (still warm), pancakes and endless coffee/ chocolate milk or juice etc....it was just $23.

That was including the basic breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausages and hashbrowns.  So needless to say we were all pretty stuffed!!  :)

There was a fire truck at Ikea today and it was parked right below our table outside, so we got to watch that as we ate - it was there for the children to go in and meet the fire officers and get hats from Sparky or whatever the dog's name is....

While we were there the news cameras arrived and filmed a bit about it...so we got to watch that too, although they weren't there long.  It was CBS I believe???  

After breakfast we all had a walk around the store - Susannah and her friend went off on their own and I took the younger two with me...I only got a few things - including what I went there for - tin openers :)  in colours to match my kitchen lol! And a pretty napkin holder :)  

We then headed home as the older girls didn't feel 100%....they blamed the breakfast lol but maybe they ate too MUCH lol - because the rest of us felt fine!!  They were fine anyway once we got home....

It gave us time to rest for a bit and then Sam, Abby and I headed out again :)

Scenic pictures from my drive home with laurence yesterday.

Our Monday......a few snapshots....

Sam continues to do great with his reading.....all 5 of my children have now learned to read using the Ladybird 'Peter and Jane' books.  We have been doing a lot of work on reading, alphabet, spelling and writing since Sams teeth fell out :)  

Sam's book pile from the library this week:

My Daffodils are now flowering beautifully:

Daffodils are so pretty...love how bright and cheery they are after Winter:

Abby tried a new craft - tie-dye using sharpie pens and rubbing alcohol:

I am loving my new tray - little touches of Spring and Summer in the house:

And rediscovering my love of crochet - after a refresher course:

Rosie has been trying to catch the squirrel.  He lives in our bus shelter but is a regular visitor to the bird feeders.  No wonder the bird table is empty so fast these days:

Susannah's friend came to stay.  We had supper together, the girls made their favourite fruity popcorn and then we had fruit and chocolate fondue again and played a game of Clue:  

A close-up of Abigails tie-dye.  A tie-dyed an old handkerchief that Sam uses when he has a cold.  

Rosie fell asleep on my arm:

It was a busy but fun day....everybody had something fun to do and some one on one time with me or a friend - I headed in to town to pick Laurence up from his friends, we grabbed a few groceries, had a coffee together and spent some time chatting, then in the evening worked on his resume etc...

Games, crafts and school work with Abby and Sam, cooking and games with Susannah and her friend....reading, games and playing with Sam....

All in all a good day :)  

So needed this :) Love you Brave Girls xxx