116/365

116/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

I've been having a serious sushi craving this week....so I decided to make my own. I poached some salmon, added roasted sesame seeds and avocado and rolled em up!

Yum. Not QUITE as good as Wasabi...but certainly satisfied me!

115/365

115/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

Toby spent this afternoon, the last of the Easter Holidays, naked in my parents' garden squirting everything with a hose....including himself....

Lovely way to end a lovely break

114/365*

114/365*, originally uploaded by sally_re.

Lovely Sunny Easter Sunday.....and I bought myself an Easter Egg....Happy Easter to those who celebrate it.....

(*yes I did airbrush myself JUST a tad on picnik!)

23rd April

23rd April, originally uploaded by sally_re.

It was roasting this morning. I'm very grumpy and tired today cos I wanted a lie in and didn't get one....

Have spent the day chauffering Rob to work, then to Bluewater to get his iMac fixed....The kids came when taking him to work (he works at the Royal Observatory in the middle of Greenwich Park) and the boys and I sat in the sunshine too long which might be adding to my grump.

However NOW I'm a bit grumpy cos the sun has gone and it's more like a typical Bank Holiday weekend - this is the view from my downstairs extension to my loft extension! I quite liked it - it also shows me how dirty my Velux is......

Hoping the rain will come and go - we're going to Whitstable on Friday to avoid weddings so please universe - save the sunshine for us then!

112/365

112/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

My lovely lovely friend Pearl came round to see the recuperating invalid today - only I was definitely up on my feet and fine....

We had a lovely sun-filled lazy day - on sunloungers in the garden with cappucinos and cupcakes, eating pizza, doing silly Goddess tarot like card things....reading interior design magazines (well Pearl did...)

She also chucked a glass of water over Toby (who was naked and dancing) in the garden which made him wail (and made us piss ourselves - I'm such a bad mother).

The loveliest thing she did? She lives in Wimbledon but diverted her journey ALL the way up to Liverpool Street to get me Wasabi onigiri triangles - my favourite food - and then came all the way back down to SE London to see me with a cool bag FULL of them. Enough to last me 2 days...

I love her. I'm lucky.

111/365

111/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

Back in July 2010 I had an operation on my left ankle to remove some nasty bits of loose bone and some spurs. I hadn't been able to point my toe or rotate my ankle for over a year.

The op went well but the wound got infected and was like that for 3 months.l I ended up with a stiffer ankle than when I first went in - constant pain, limping...rubbish

Today I had an MUA - Manipulation Under Anaesthetic - basically they numb you or put you to sleep (I had a spinal) and then move your joint around like made and loosen up the scar tissue and adhesions....

I wanted to to be better but I was terrified of this op - the idea of it made me sick - like a cartoon or something...and I was sure I would be in agony afterwards.

I WAS WRONG! I could walk (once the spinal wore off - took bloody ages!) and the pain was less. And I can point my toe! Look! I'm pointing!

It already feels much better - have to do physio to build up the muscles in my left lower leg cos I've been limping so long....

Amazing though.

110/365

110/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

Can you guess where we visited today (and the answer is NOT central London)

109/365

109/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

I should have been sharing a picture of how gloriously sunny it was on Tuesday...instead here is a picture of my wounded son - he smashed the glass door panes in our shed while hiding in there and getting stuck (we think....it's been hard to work out what actually happened) and then I think he crawled through the lower hole to get out, gashing his back open. Considering he was stark naked at the time (paddling pool), I think he got off lightly.

We spent 2 hours at the hospital....Toby was being the clown, making other kids laugh, Oscar got to play on the Playstation and toys they have there - I think he thought it was fun...until they glued the cut shut - he screamed the place down and it was awful......

Could have been MUCH worse...and he hasn't been to A&E for at least a year which is also good...but not a fun thing to remember for the 19th....

108/365

108/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

Rob has 2 weeks off work - started today. He really needs to de-stress and unwind (though not sure 2 weeks of childrencentric time will do that).

The boys love it though.....They are watching telly here....

107/365

107/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

We went - the whole family - to the local boot sale today - it's the UK version of yard sales for my american friends - People come with lots of junk in their car boots (the British word for trunk) and you sell it in a field...we wandered up and down the lines of cars looking for....
Pokemon cards (for Oscar)
A robot with guns for hands (for Toby)
Lego (for both)

I spotted this in the first row. I know...I know....they aren't exactly the epitome of style, figures like this. But I really like this one - it's a bit more rough hewn than some I've seen in bijou knick knack shops... It makes me think of me and my two boys. And it was 2 quid. Hoorah!

106/365

106/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

Old friends

I met an old friend today who I haven't met in the flesh since I left school in 1989 (though the pic was taken the first year we met in 1986). Thanks to Facebook we found eachother again, as I have with lots of old school friends. And thanks to Facebook she's swapped homes with a friend of mine so we get a chance to reconnect properly - she also has 2 boys and we're going out to dinner tomorrow night....it's slightly surreal - where do you start after 22 years? I'm looking forward to just me and her tomorrow night - it was kind of crazy with the kids today and just getting used to being in the same room together!

I'm so happy we've got this chance to rekindle an old friendship. Thank goodness for social networking eh?

103/365

103/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

We spent most of this afternoon in an adventure playground called The Dumps. The boys had a wonderful time climbing things, running amok and playing with the pet bunny rabbits. And it was free. And they sold cheese toasties for 30p. What more could a boy want?

102/365

102/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

Not very indicative of today but I forgot to take a picture of what we did - had a VERY chilly picnic in Mountsfield Park...so to warm myself up here is a pic I took last week in the sunshine....I know everyone does shadow pictures but it's my turn now so I'm unapologetic!

101/365

101/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

I love my Mum. I love that my kids love my Mum. I love that my Mum loves my kids....

She and Toby had a lovely time today - she was looking after him while we took Oz to the ADHD clinic. Came home to find them both lounging in the garden having a pretend picnic - Toby was feeding her barnacle souffle (blame the Octonauts)

100/365

100/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

(woo hoo! A hundred photos!)

So....I saw this recipe on Tesco Real Foods...
http://www.tescorealfood.com/Recipes/Hot-cross-bread-and-butter-pudding.html
and it looked easy. So I made it. Slight variation - I didn't have dark chocolate chips so I used white ones. And as you can see they didn't melt very well. But I don't care. It was lush. I ate one bunful. Rob ate three. Then finished off the boys....

I am (slightly) ashamed to say I've never made bread and butter pudding before as I thought it was difficult. I thought premaking the custard would be hassly. I have now found various recipes where you just do what this one suggests - whisk egg milk and sugar together and pour it over. The buns were very crispy on top - the boys didn' tlike that but Rob did - so I might soak them in the mixture before baking (or make a bit more so they were more covered). They were crispy on the outside, soggy and chocolatey in the middle....

Lush.

99/365

99/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

It was a lovely sunny day again today. And I was being lazy in the garden waiting for the Grand National....meanwhile wonderful husband was getting busy with a shovel....

I only asked him to trim the edges back but he found a half dead treelike bushtype thingy and decided it had to go.....he whacked it with his mighty spade and dug it up. It was very macho and very impressive.

98/365

8th April, originally uploaded by sally_re.

Today is the last day of school before Easter Holidays...and the weather for the last couple of days has been GLORIOUS! The trampoline has been the main source of the boys' entertainment and they've actually been playing really nicely together. I'm actually looking forward to a couple of weeks of chilling in the sunshine (if it lasts) and not rushing around anywhere (apart from me, I'm working every morning next week!)....

We're off to Whitstable on the 28th April for the weekend - not really interested in staying in London for Royal Wedding fever.....but have no concrete plans for the next couple of weeks - we'll see what the weather brings!

97/365

97/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

Oscar has been attending cooking club after school - a challenge for his ADHD since he's often rebounding off his medication which wears off at around 3pm.....a challenge for his teacher too!

This is the first recipe he's brought home and the thing I love is that I could read it easily. He's made so much progress with his writing and this is written when he's not on his meds and I can still read it clearly - a bit step forward...

So in case anyone wants to make Oat and Raisiun Cookies - here's the ingredients (he didn't get as far as writing the method!)

96/365

96/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

It was my lovely Hubby's birthday today (well yesterday cos I forgot to upload this until today) and as his main present was being shipped in from America (roleplaying manuals), I got him a special cake for his big day. It's a family tradition - we always have cake for breakfast on birthdays and this one was SCRUMPTIOUS.

He's now the same age as me until August when I will again be ahead....

We went to our favourite restaurant (yes Sapporo again) and it was a lovely if slightly quiet, birthday. It was also the 20th birthday I've shared with him....we got together just before his 19th birthday....I feel OLD!

95/365

95/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

Tomorrow is Easter Bonnet Parade day at school and the boys have been sticking small furry bunnies (from the £ shop) and fluffly yellow chicks (also from the £ shop) onto a straw hat with yellow flowers already on it (funnily enough from the £ shop too!). In previous years I've attempted to be all creative with hatching eggs and chocolate bunnies on strings like an Aussie cork hat. This year I'm too knackered so glue and cheap ornaments.

I'm sure they'll look a picture!

94/365

94/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

Today was a very important day for a lot of my friends whose eldest child is the same age as my youngest. Today they found out which school they'd got into. My youngest is already a shoe-in at Torridon as my eldest goes there. Most of my friends who were on tenterhooks today also have younger children - so getting the eldest into the right school is SO important as siblings automatically get in....

And I was so so hoping that my friend Clare would get her son James into Torridon - Toby and James have been friends since they were about 7 weeks old....and it will be so nice to have Clare in the school.....(I'm already talking about her becoming a Governor!).

And today she got the great news that she got her first choice - our school - Torridon School. A lot of my friends have got their first choice - not everyone though -and my heart goes out to them. It's such a big deal - you have a gut feeling often about the school, you really love it, then you don't get a place cos you live ten houses too far away....

I'm hoping with people going on waiting lists, that eventually all my friends will get what they want. I'm really happy for those who already have, and especially for my BFF Clare!

92/365

92/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

This is me and my lovely husband. We've been together 20 years this week - half of my life. He's amazing. That's all.

91/365

91/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

I was going to try and be clever and do an April Fool photo but I couldn't think of anything and then it was April 2nd and I'm uploading a day late so it seemed redundant!

Instead I'm sharing this. Earlier this year I became an official "Chairmum" for Netmums.com - a fab parenting website that encourages meet-ups for mums in the local area to get to know each other and hang out with and without their kids. I'm the Chairmum for my local area along with my wonderful chum Clogsilk Clare who was the person who started me on PAD in the first place.

We've been meeting on Tuesday afternoons at a soft play centre with our kids and it's been going really well - have met some fantastic women. This was our first night out with out the kids - at Sapporo of course, my favourite Japanese/Chinese restaurant.

We had a BLAST! We were very loud, very giggly and very full of yummy food. It was lovely to have a night out without interruptions from small people and two of the Mums have kids with chickenpox at the moment so they'd been quarantined for days.

I'm so happy to have brought together this motley crue of fantastic women. I'm really loving spending more time with them - getting to know some of them better from being school yard nodding aquaintances - and a couple who bring their kids to my class but who I've never really spoken to. I'm also quite proud of Clare and I who have put this whole gang together.

So no fooling - just happy women!

March collage

March collage, originally uploaded by sally_re.

Yay! Another month - and if not exactly done on the DAY, then pretty soon afterwards. Another month of keeping my original resolution and photo-ing every day...hopefully by the end of the next month (or the month after) I'll be using a Nikon D60 as well as my point and click/phone....

90/365

90/365, originally uploaded by sally_re.

Neither of my boys have been very interested in drawing or writing. I was never one of those Mums who had lots of pictures come home from nursery/school.....Oscar certainly has only recently started writing without bribery - he still wouldn't voluntarily pick up a pencil or a crayon and draw for pleasure.

Toby is a bit more arty - he LOVES playdough with a passion but again, not a great drawer. I've been working with Oscar a lot on his writing and Toby has wanted to join in - here he's using a grippi to help him learn how to hold his pencil properly - someone recommended it for Oscar's fine motor skill problems and now Toby is really enjoying the better control he has with it. He's still drawing "whirlwinds" of circular scribble...but he's enjoying it. And he is making progress at writing his name. I know a lot of 4 year olds can do it already but he's taking his own time and I'm not pushing....