in a whirlwind of party games, birthday cake and lots and lots of present opening…..she had a multi sports party and invited her whole class. She requested a 'dog' birthday cake because she is currently crazy about animals, particularly animals. 

Happy Birthday Maisie!!

but instead it turned into a bunch of photos that i had on my phone….

1. Isaac does his homework perched on the dining room table like a cat. I finally realised that he had grown a bit too much for some of his PJ's and got him some more…..

2. I took Matilda to a local outlet and we popped into a pet shop and she had a blast wandering around talking to the 'wish' and the 'piggies' (guinea's) and the bunnies. I love that when she looks at this pictures she says 'tilda' 'wish' 

3. Maisie on her birthday. She was totally made up with the London 2012 olympic top and the dog was her present of choice from us. It barks and walks on a lead….oh and she has called it Sally. 

4. Our car has joined the list of inanimate objects that are choosing this moment in time to pack up in this house…..the oven is now fixed(thanks to my talented husband) and the tumble dryer has been replaced but the car could be somewhat of a bigger and longer problem. Thanks goodness for the AA man who towed us home and we now are awaiting the estimate…!!

5. We had some friends drop by and spend the night with us on saturday. They were dropping their son at university in Manchester and came up to see us. The last time they were here was our wedding…!! So good to see them, its just one of those friendship when the years not seen fall away and you are suddenly picking up where you left off. The kids loved them because they bought a ton of chocolate with them!!

6. There never seems to be enough hours to sleep round here….

7. Poppy is finally in a her first week of full time school. She seems to be flourishing there and her teacher remarked to me how confident she is. Always good to hear. She had her phonic sticker book last week which she approached with real enthusiasm..wonder how long that will last.

8. Sometimes life feels like there is a lot of 'up hill'

9. Matilda makes me laugh out loud a lot at the moment, she is fast learning words and seems to add more and more every day. She is a bright little button too…she followed me around the other day saying 'pooey' and i asked her 'have you done a poo?' She said 'no' and then next time she appeared with the change mat and said 'pooey'…so i checked it out and discovered…well suffice to say it would have been better to listen to her sooner….!

10. Im moving on to Isaac's party plans now. He is 8 in just under 3 weeks…..8…..how in the heck?

~ Confucius

from one of such obvious selflessness….

but im wondering how wrong it is to feel so happy that i have a new tumble dryer….yes..i know that it is sad, depressing, even slightly hysterical that i am reduced to the wonder of being able to put some clothes into a tumble dryer and merely press go and it actually starts. Our last one was getting so old and squabbly that i had to often times stand with it for about 20 minutes moving the washing round the drum to try and get it to turn. 

see….sad…..

But anyhow, we finally replaced it and now there is a big shiny new dryer and it amazes me every time with its ability to obey…stop…go…stop…go…it just does whatever you say and the clothes come out dry….awesome.

It truly is the little things that matter…

and speaking of little things…a certain Canon camera arrived home today and i felt like kissing the UPS guy. The best bit is that it is now back to working order..now just to try and find someone who wants to give me this lens just because they are feeling generous..hahaha…

it did get me some lovely pictures tho 🙂

On the left of the picture is my dear friend Mel, on the right is me…incredible i know…not sure what i was thinking with that look on a million levels but anyway…this post is about Mel. This picture was taken just after i left university and just before i went to Canada for 6 months. We were out for dinner with Mel's mum and dad in this little bistro in Canterbury. So i guess something like 17 years ago……woah…..

I have known Mel since school. So a looooong time and we have managed to keep in touch over the years. A few years back Mel and her family went to live in Australia and have been thriving over there every since. We miss them…

Mel is either today or tomorrow (not sure with the time delay) having her head shaved in support of a friend who is currently suffering from cancer. When she sent me the link on facebook i was not in the slightest bit surprised. This sort of solidarity, loyalty and commitment comes ever so naturally to my dear friend. Lets face it as well, not giving a hoot toot what you look like either.

Mel is the sort of person who I could imagine throwing her arms around her friend who is suffering and fighting this horrendous disease and saying  'C'mon if you are going to loose your hair, i will too' and not think twice about it. 

The cost to Mel would be nothing…but the benefit to her friend is probably priceless.

Her donation site is www. everydayhero.com.au/melanie_odonnell

If you can go support her. I think that Mel probably doesnt think she is doing anything that the average good buddy would do for a friend. But i think she is going above and beyond and showing the true gold in her character. 

Good on yer Schmoo….