Half Term Winter 09

The girls were home from school last week for the half term holiday. It was a chance to do some of the things that we never seem to get around to in a normal week, and we got to relax a bit as well.

Josephine came up to me when I was in the kitchen the other day and said, "Want to have a cuddle with me?" It was so cute!

At the playground


Styling hair at the One O'Clock Centre


Tate Britain


Josephine the baby


Making sugar mice


We started watching Meerkat Manor at home, then went to the Battersea Park Zoo to see the meerkats in person


At the Battersea Park Zoo

Valentines Day

Josephine made a Valentine card at school. When I asked her who it's for, she said, "It's for Valentine's Day!" Duh. Pascale got to wear whatever she wanted to school on Friday, rather than having to wear her uniform. It was a big event.

The kids have half term holiday this week, so they get to wear their pajamas all day and don't have to go to school.

On Friday, we were walking through the park on the way to the library, and the girls spent a few minutes chasing pigeons. It was just warm enough to spend a little time outside without being really uncomfortable. It was the first day when I could really believe that spring is imminent.



Pascale made a new toy


Josephine went to a birthday party where they had a face painter and lots of balloons.

Josephine made a valentine card at school.


Pascale made a valentine card, too. Her writing is really nice, isn't it?

Snow in London

Last week's snowfall turned out to be the heaviest in 18 years! The kids got TWO snow days! It was a welcome distraction from our routine, and it was nice to spend some time outside. At this time of year, I sometimes have a hard time living in the moment, and find myself looking forward to spring rather than appreciating what is happening now. The snow certainly snapped me back to the moment, and we had a lovely time playing in it and drinking hot chocolate.




Playing in the snow in our back garden



The view from my bedroom window


Bernie took Pascale to do crafts at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and they made a house and a playground.



Josephine barricading herself at the Science Museum



Pascale asked if she could borrow the camera

Pascale at the helm again.

It's snowing!

It is snowing as I type. The above photo was taken from my window minutes ago. This is only the third snowstorm since we've moved here, so it's kind of an event. I don't even know how I'm supposed to find out if school in cancelled, but perhaps I'm resourceful enough to figure something out tomorrow.

Pascale has progressed far enough with her reading to read a simple book! They send these books home from school for her to read. They're really simple to match her reading level. They problem is, they are so simple that she only struggles through and reads the book maybe twice before she has it memorized and she's not bothered by all this reading nonsense any more. Good thing they seem to have an endless supply of these books at her school.

At Josephine's school this term, each week is devoted to one child, and they concentrate on something that child is interested in. This week is Josephine's week, and they are doing music! She's bringing her guitar in to show everyone. Maybe I'll let her bring in the drum set, too.

It appears as if this week's photos are devoted to precipitation and cubes.

Josephine has spent countless hours lately playing with her blocks


Then there are the legos, which are more Pascale's domain


Outside Pascale's school

Tate Modern

We went to the Tate Modern yesterday. It has to be one of the world's best museums for kids. Currently, there's this bleak and fun installation that supposed to resemble a shelter for people and art in a post-apocalyptic world. It includes bunk beds that the kids can climb on and big sculptures for them to run around. They had a blast.

Every day when I pick up Josephine from school, she has a story about another kid misbehaving. I remember when Pascale was almost 3, she did the same thing. It's like they're just starting to see the difference between good and bad behavior, and are very quick to point out the bad. Josephine's stories are all about who did not listen that day. Not listening must be the cardinal sin in her preschool. One little girl even got kicked out of ballet class for not listening. It's a tough preschool world.



Pascale made a giraffe out of boxes at school.


Bath time


Josephine made a crown and magic wand at school, then Pascale made some for herself when we got home.


at the Tate Modern

Dancing at the Tate Modern

We went to the Tate Modern today, and Pascale was totally into one of the video installations. Here she is dancing like a dervish, while Josephine dances a bit more reservedly.

Venturing out of the house

It was much warmer this week, thankfully. We even managed to hit the playground yesterday, as evidenced by the pic above. It was a nice day for January in London, and the playground was suitably crowded.

Pascale has learned to add at school! She was saying, "5+5=10, 5+4=9," etc, and I thought she had just memorizing some sums, so I asked her one out of the blue. She thought about it for maybe 15 seconds, then came up with the right answer! You could have knocked me over with a feather. At this point, she can only add single-digit numbers, but she definitely gets the concept.

We went out for lunch at a new restaurant today. It's an Italian place, and they had chicken livers on toast for an appetizer. I'm always impressed with a restaurant that has chicken livers on the menu, and these were quite tasty.

All of us have been struck with a nagging cold. Sometimes at this time of year it occurs to me that hibernation might be the best thing to do. The holidays are over, as are the couple of weeks spent recovering from the holidays. Now there's just the long wait until spring. Every day, I notice that the days are getting longer. It is no longer dark at 4 PM, for which I am grateful. There are not many pictures this week.


Josephine playing with her dollhouse. We got the girls new dresses at the January sales. Josephine is wearing hers.