Back to school already??

I can't believe that half term is over already - where did the week go?!? I seem to have failed completely to recharge the girl's batteries as we have had a lovely but busy week.  We have seen friends and family, been to museums, walked a lot, played in the sunshine (yes - sunshine, who remembers that after all the rain?), been to the panto and just hung out together at home - lovely. It was a bit of a shock to the system to get all the school stuff sorted this afternoon, particularly when Glenn opened Izzy's spelling book to see she has a test tomorrow - oops!  Let's hope the panic trial run this evening and a run through tomorrow morning will be enough!

We have come to the conclusion this week that Abi is destined for the cadet force as soon as they will have her.  We visited the Royal Marines museum and Abi went off on the cadet challenge which she absolutely loved. She was the only girl in the group (Izzy opted for colouring, a cup of tea and cake) but this didn't phase her in the slightest.  Off she went in full rig with a stick and a smile - one very happy girl!  We've also discovered over the course of the week that she is a bit of a sharp shooter.  Glenn got his air gun out, at Abi's request - they had been playing pretend guns with sticks - and after a safety brief ("use the safety catch, don't stand in front of the gun, don't mess around") she proceeded to demonstrate an ability to hit at will a named target at about 30 paces.  I was impressed when she hit a tin can, but even more impressed when Glenn said come and look at this a few minutes later, only to see her hit a key ring - wow! As I said, cadet force watch out!

Izzy is definitely not as interested in this sort of stuff. She is far happier making up stories, role plays and being generally a creative luvvy. We went to an amateur panto this week (I recommend this to anyone who hasn't tried it - some of the people were hilarious for all the wrong reasons, but all credit for trying) and Izzy was in her element. She loved the fact that one of the teaching assistants was in the starring role, and gave it her all in the audience participation - shouting, singing and dancing. Given this and her starring role in the school christmas play, I think this is something she may want to develop further.  She talked me into buying some bath toys recently - 10 little colourful sea creatures.  I was reluctant, thinking it was a waste of money at their age, but she makes up whole plays with them while in the bath, with dialogue and everything - I guess that's her sweet spot!

Classic conversation with the girls in the car this week.

Abi: "Mummy, how much is a few?"
Me: "I don't know - it can depend I suppose"
Izzy "On what?"
Me: "The context of what you are counting"
Abi: "But how much is a few normally?"
Me: "More than a couple, I don't know 3?"
Izzy: "Could it be more than 3?"
Me: "I suppose so - how about 5-10?"
Abi: "Really, in that case when I ask if we can have a few biscuits, can we have 10?"
Me: "No!"
Abi "I think a few is 3 then."

Yep - outmanouvered yet again!