Celebration Time (Well, For Some Anyway)

To celebrate the **th birthday of our dear Mother, we managed to pull ourselves away from the thrilling Federer - Nadal match for long enough to sing happy birthday and eat cake. Actually, it was during the rain break so no conflict of loyalty there.

Here is the family about to sing - not quite worked out the lighting effect on picasa!

Look, you can see who went in ahead at the rain break! Stop smiling Nadal Fan!
Thanks to Dad for this new talent he is developing
What a thing to during your birthday sing-along! In her defence, it was sister Evs on the phone from South Africa, joining in the singing too! Nice to have her present in voice, if not body.
The girls are always happy to help out with candle blowing
To while away the rain break, Uncle MJM kindly read to LissaLou, though his accuracy in conveying the author's original plot left much to be desired... And in addition he tolerated CassCass bouncing up and down on his knees - we could all do with an Uncle like that!Ah, the Birthday Girl herself.
And of course, we went home to listen out the rest of the match and hear Nadal pip Federer to the post. Sniff. On the good side, in his joy at the result, Bertie kindly overlooked our bet and cooked for me the following night!

Joyeux Anniversaire!

Late in the day, but still 50 minutes left to wish a very happy birthday to the one and only Gorgeous Giulietta aka Mum! We are looking forward to celebrating with you tomorrow!

Fraternal Affection

Much to our delight, the girls continue to adore their baby brother and are constantly asking to hold him - not sure that he is quite so enamoured by this, but he certainly loves their attention. Here are some recent shots of sisterly love.

A Taste Of Trinidad

I don't think I got one good photo from our visit to a friend's today for a mighty delicious Trinidadian meal of jerk chicken, rice and beans, sweet potato, plantain...(aren't you drooling at the mere thought?!) A great time was had by all and then we swept along the A406 to visit some other friends we haven't seen for perhaps four years and enjoy another marvellous meal - it's a great life when you are soon to move! Thanks to both sets of friends for their hospitality! Oh, and to Bertie and the girls for the sparkling clean car!

Entertaining Fairies

CassCass and her BFBig Hug!

What a cutie! Seconds later he pulled himself out of the supposedly secure bumbo and tipped right over...!I was going to put the nicest photo but then I figured I would put the one that reflected how hard life is photographing children. CassCass and BF were not amused. Baby JoJo had just sicked up everywhere, and BF's baby brother started howling after falling flat on his face. What a life!

Mastering The Pencil

LissaLou has suddenly started drawing flowers! May I also point out that she made them into a pattern (big/small) - always fun to see a new step in their development.
Additionally, she is getting much better at writing - who can guess from this masterpiece what the occasion is?!

We had LissaLou's first ever parents' evening this week - well, ten minutes chatting with the teacher about this, that and the other! It is nice to hear about what she does and is like all those hours of the day when she is off at school. They were very positive about her character and ability (ahh, just like her mother!!) and commented that she was a chatterbox with them! (Can't imagine where she gets that particular trait from...)

Back At The Pool

We are working very hard at preparing for life in the West Indies - hence another visit to the azure warm waters of the Heath! LissaLou and her BF had a great time running around in the ice-cold water, whilst CassCass for some reason stripped off her swimsuit and put on her dress to wade around instead. Why? I have no idea. She was soaking by the end, so we changed her, only to get caught in a ferocious rainstorm on the way home and end up soaking all over again!

The thing that strikes me most in this photo is how long the girls' hair looks!

Is it just me, or does this remind you of a scene out of Baywatch?
Keeping Baby JoJo company
Praying?
Nope, practising pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake!
Can anyone tell me what I did to the camera to get this ethereal shot?!
And for a wonderful new talent that CassCass has acquired, have a look here!