Happy days

The end of another lovely weekend where the sun has shone and everyone is happy, somewhat helped by the fact that we appear to have made progress with the dog. On Thursday the dog fence went in and Bertie was educated as to how not to zap himself on an hourly basis. To his credit he seems to have got it pretty quickly and is now paranoid about the white flags which are fluttering around the perimeter of the garden. It has resulted in some silliness. In the early training stage (first week) you are supposed to either drive or carry your dog out of the gate so he doesnt think he can continue to walk (bolt) out at will. I refuse to drive him out of the gate only to then get out and walk, so this means we have been carrying him out. He weighs a fair bit and so what we've swapped in stress we are making up for in aches and pains from heavy lifting! Top tip - when you take off his collar to take him out the gate, don't hold onto the electrodes yourself and walk across... it hurts! It's all a learning process!

Abi and Izzy are on top form at the moment, fuelled by the fact that they are on their very bestest behaviour in the hope we will buy them their Reborn dolls, the reward I offered up if they made a real effort to settle into their new school. I probably needn't have bothered, they've settled in so well, but I am very conscious that it is a big thing to change schools and the more effort they put in to the change the easier it will be. They've risen to the challenge amazingly and while the original end point was Christmas, I think we are leaning towards half term. Today they caught Glenn in weak moment (possibly too much champagne last night?!?) and talked him up from a couple of quid pocket money each to £10 each - how he still doesn't know. Apparently he owed Izzy £10 and he'd promised them £3 each so given he didn't have £16 in change but did have a £20 note, it was easier to just have that. They may go far after all! This was eagerly taken straight to Mothercare, where they declared everything too expensive, before heading off to Boots and spending half of it on new bottles, bibs and hats for the Reborns "for if (when) we get them Mummy". I think it's just a matter of time now.

This week Izzy was in the school poetry competition, reciting a poem along with her class. In true Izzy style she easily memorised the whole thing and has been reciting it to anyone who will listen for the last week or so. She always has been good with words like this, and loves to perform, so this was a perfect opportunity so early in the term to show what she can do. Abi's class didn't make the cut - not surprising given there are a few like her who would do anything rather than stand on a stage in front of the whole school and parents. Takes all sorts. Izzy's group didn't win but they did get a special mention and the rest of us will get to hear the poem once or twice more I suspect before the next one gets learnt.

While they have been enjoying school, work has been getting even busier for me, if that's possible. Given there is never enough time to do it all, I'm spending a bit of time getting focused on what I want to do in order to find a balance. It's never going to be perfect all of the time, but I can't let it get to a point where it becomes a problem and gets in the way of enjoying the time when I'm not at work. It helps that I have  Glenn to ground me and the girls to keep an eye on when I'm here and when I'm not. Long may it be the way. This weekend we had friends over whose kids are either flown or moving in that direction. On the one hand that gives some freedom, but on the other hand it's a good reminder to enjoy this time when they are so special - I certainly don't want to wish it away.