Hanging pictures and feeding ducks.

Oh dear - my poor neglected blog. No post for days, and here I am, late at night and rushing to get this done before dragging myself off to bed.

So a quick summary of the past few days, before everyone thinks I have given up blogging altogether.

We have achieved a fair few things around the house, including hanging a really tricky painting. The picture itself is three separate canvasses, and we (aka I) decided it needed to be hung high on a wall above our stairs. This involved DH clambering around on ladders wielding power drills, whilst I issued technical direction. It is a miracle our marriage survived....

But I think the painting looks pretty cool (DH says the work involved in getting it hung and lined up has spoilt all the joy for him, but I bet he will get over it).



The girls have been enjoying some outings, as well as a fair bit of down time at home. They both love being busy, but also need to just unwind and play on their own sometimes. They are big into imaginary games a the moment, and are forever pretending to be animals. The past few days has seen elephants (always a favorite), lions, dinosaurs, puppies (not dogs, puppies), Anacondas, and my personal favorite, willy beasts (I think they meant wildebeests).



We have also done lots of craft (glitter, beads, mess, etc), been out to feed the ducks, played at the park, ridden bikes, cooked, read books, argued, had tantrums (Emily choosing the middle of a crowded cafe to have one of her most spectacular efforts yet), been swimming, and helped Mummy in the kitchen.



Emily's love of Winnie The Pooh continues, and all of her adventures now see her being accompanied by a small stuffed toy Pooh. She speaks in long sentences with no 'joining words' (e.g. Emily pick strawberries own farm, meaning Emily picked strawberries on her own, at the farm), and uses the words, now, no, mine, own, snack, and Pooh a lot. She is a speed demon on hr little two wheel balance bike, can walk for miles, is adventurous and independent, loves to chat to strangers, smiles a lot, doesn't like to wear clothes, eats with her hands, and gives lots and lots of bear hugs.

Sofie is just desperate to know everything right now. She is totally committed to learning to read, has mastered numbers above 20, asks questions constantly, loves animals, is learning to swim, speaks a lot of German, is fond of negotiating, hates her curly hair, is totally confident on her two wheeled pedal bike, is desperate to go to Portugal for a holiday this year, and spends many hours each day climbing and bouncing. She loves dressing up, doing craft, reading, talking, and doing thing for other people. She is a kind and sensitive little girl who although stubborn when the mood takes her, spends a lot of time helping me and teaching her little sister things (even things her little sister may not necessarily want to learn!).