Yes, I do still have children!

One day soon, I will explain this picture. 

It's occurred to me that I haven't really written a post about the children in a while. No particular reason, I just don't have a lot that's new to say about them. They still amuse and frustrate me in equal measure. They drive me bonkers, but are just as likely to stop what they are doing and come and give me a hug.

Both are still doing well at school. Monkey got re-elected to School Council and he didn't even get to use this manifesto promise. Apparently, in the end, they just asked each class to vote for whoever they wanted so I'm proud he got chosen again. Missy Woo wasn't impressed though as she didn't - although she came 3rd last year and got put on school council because one of the children left school. Missy Woo gets some extra attention with her maths because she is doing so well with it. She's now learning the recorder with one of the teaching assistants in a lunchtime session. As you can imagine, this marries well with Monkey's ukulele. Music practice has been relegated to their rooms or I will go slowly mad.

Monkey also joined the school book club which also takes place at lunchtime. This is for the KS2 children so he's one of the youngest in the group. However, I'm not sure how much of this decision is swayed by the fact that he gets a biscuit. Yes, my son is that swayed by food. The book is a David Walliams and he does seem to like it.

Out of school, Monkey seems to have fallen seriously out of love with playing football. He's been going to the FA skills course for two years but it's a faff to get there on time and he tells me he's bored so he's stopping at Christmas - if I can get him to go to the last two as he keeps coming out of school and saying he doesn't want to go. We've decided he can do swimming lessons instead, and he went for a trial lesson on Sunday morning. As we were waiting for the previous class to finish, he confessed to me that he was "a little bit nervous" (later he told me that he was "petrified") but he needn't have worried. He seemed to spend the whole of the half hour lesson with a huge grin on his face as the group was smaller than usual and he seemed to be the best at what the teacher asked them to do.

Missy Woo still loves her dancing, although came out one day with a "sad face" because she couldn't do something in ballet. It turns out that her teacher is trying to prepare them for an exam early next year and she struggles with doing one thing. I had to give her a little pep talk about how she needs to practice things to get better at them and that the teacher still thinks she's a great dancer. She just  needs a little confidence boost every now and then. I can really see now that she has lessons in the way she holds her limbs if she does a little dance move.

They still fight, but equally, they drive me mad by getting the giggles together.They are thick as thieves sometimes but they are just as likely to be outraged if one of them gets something the other one doesn't. Monkey is the main culprit at this - he'll go to tea at a friend's house and have treats galore but complain if in the meantime, I have taken Missy Woo somewhere or let her have a sweet.

And there was me saying I didn't have much to say about them! They are growing every day but still not reached the age where they sleep in of a morning. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to that phase!

Igniting passions... of interest!

I cannot remember the last time I was invited to a dinner party. Obviously, having children really does turn you into a social pariah. I think it's more to do with the fact that we're more likely to eat out at family occasions than anything. And the fact that most of the people we know are also parents and probably don't have the time or inclination to clean their houses, put away the toys, work out a menu, AND cook it whilst making sure babies and children are clean, fed and put to bed before entertaining other adults in the house, as well as the washing up afterwards. 

But still... 

The mystery blogger behind The Boy and Me tagged me in a meme started by Multiple Mummy, who wanted to know about our interests beyond our own families. Just the sort of thing that we could hold court about if we were to get that rare dinner party invite and the subject of our families was strictly prohibited. 

As I said when I was first tagged, I think the subtitle of this blog gives away a lot of clues as to my interests. I wanted my blog to be about those things I am most passionate about, as well as Monkey and Missy Woo, so perhaps I've had some practice at this. Still, that hasn't got me off the hook, so it falls to me to give you some more detail. 

Food - I love food. No surprise therefore that I've struggled with my weight! I love trying new things and I do get bored making the same things over so my meal plans do have a lot of variety, you may have noticed. I cook from scratch most days and my style is most definitely minimum effort, maximum flavour and effect. Whether it's appropriate to talk about food at a dinner party, I don't know but I guess I could talk about it. And food programmes like Masterchef, Great British Menu which I watch in awe of the effort and talent of the people who take part. Thinking about it, cooking it, eating it - I'll talk about any of it!

Football - again, no surprise really, though I don't blog about it as much as I thought I would. Right now, I'd rather not be reminded that my team has been relegated for the first time in the 16 years I have been following them. So, let's focus on the fact that we, as a family, have a huge interest in Spanish football and watch more La Liga games than we do Premier League ones. As you know from previous posts, we have been to the Nou Camp in Barcelona - several times in fact - but we've also been to the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona (Espanyol's old ground), the Mestalla in Valencia, the San Mames in Bilbao, and the Anoeta in San Sebastian. Much as I dislike them, I'd love to go to the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid and for good measure, one of the two grounds in Seville. I can be quite nerdy about it so be prepared to end up face first in your soup.

Competitions - Less so these days but I've been entering online competitions for about 3 years. I've won a few nice things - like a long weekend at Babington House, our Nintendo Wii, and £1000 to spend on a clothing website - and prizes can be few and far between. I am really less bothered about it at the moment but I still do it but restrict entry to competitions with prizes that I actually want to win. I really don't see the point of spending time on an entry of a promotional item I really don't want. The chances of winning a competition that will change your life is small but at the same time, you can win some nice things. I have to admit though, that I probably get more nice things sent to me through blogging than I do comping these days. 

Crime fiction - Children put paid to a lot of reading, but I have read a lot of whodunnits in my time, and still, if I get given one, I relish the chance of losing myself in a book over a weekend. I think I've gone through nearly all the Agatha Christies, and all of Dick Francis's novels too. In recent years, I've discovered Wallander and have been working my way through Henning Mankell's novels. I also watch discovered the Swedish language TV films, which are not based on the books largely. They are brilliantly acted and so poignant in lots of ways, not least because the actress playing his daughter committed suicide in real life after the first set of films were made.

Singing - I was going to say music but I think vocals are more fascinating for me in general. I used to be in a choir and I've sung the services in various cathedrals when the main choir is on holiday. It was challenging - partly because my sight reading of music is rubbish so I have to rely on listening and memorising what to sing! But it was a great buzz. I'm fascinated by the voice as a musical instrument generally. I could probably bore for hours about that. And the person with the most amazing voice? Youssou N'Dour. 

That'll do for me. There's enough there to send you all to sleep. Bet you're all falling over yourselves to get my invite in the post now, aren't you?

Now, this isn't the sort of meme that you tag people in but I'm linking this up to the original post. If you want to take up the challenge, just link up like I have and have a read of some of the other posts. Enjoy!