Splish splash!

This morning we all got up at some silly hour (ok, it was 7.. but that is silly on a Sunday! lol) and went 'swimming'. Unfortunately none of us can actually swim, but we're hoping to change that for the girls. Beth has been having lessons, but isn't getting that far. Thankfully she wants to go, but she's lacking in confidence.. so today was a chance to let her practice.

By the end of our time there she was jumpling off the edge, and going down the slide by herself.. which is quite a step forward for her. She's also slowly doing better with the 'swimming' side of things too.

Amy hasn't been in for a while, and was quite scared at first. But by the end she was having a great time, and doing really well. At this rate, she'll beat her big sister!

As for me... no comment! LOL

She did it!

Bethany decided the other day that she wanted her stabilisers off her bike. Watching her, I felt that we'd spend a long time practicing. However, on her 3rd (short) trip out today, she did it.. she cycled a short distance! Now it's a case on building on her confidence, and practicing.. then we can go on cycle rides together!

Now to get her to swim....

Collecting

Do you collect anything.. or is there anything you would like to collect, if only you had the funds?!

As a child, I realised that I had a few pigs (no, not the type that go 'oink oink'!), and so I decided that I was going to collect them. I started off with small cute ones, and as I got older, I progressed to 'Piggins', which are quite comical little things.

That collecting phase has passed.. I've kept a few of my favourite Piggins, but the rest have gone. My collection had been started by a full set of Natwest Pigs, and I'm afraid I sold them when I needed a new cotbed for Amy.

As for the present day, although I didn't set out to collect anything, I now have a small collection of small teddy bears upstairs. I like Gunds and Boyds, and my favourite is my little Steiff that my mum bought me. :)

Other than that, I do like carved wooden boxes, and if I could justify spending out, I could see myself collecting these too. At least I could put things in them, and actually 'use' them.

So how about you, dear reader..?

Font Change

I've been making my font 'small' in my posts, but I wondered if perhaps that was a bit too small. 'Normal' looks a bit large for now, but I'll try it, and you can let me know what you think.... :)

Site Update / Cat Update!

The extension to the blog that I was working on has actually now replaced my original site. I needed to bring MJMoore.co.uk up to date, and this way it blends perfectly with my blog. I hope you like it - let me know if you have any feedback.

In it's new format, it's easier to add new sections, so I'm using the oppertunity to add ideas that have been floating in the back of my mind for a while. One of those ideas is a section on pc security.. a growing interest of mine. My aim is to explain some of the basics, and then point people in the right direction for more information. One of those places will be SouthernladySecurity, a site that a friend of mine is in the process of building. :)

As for the kitty cats, things are looking positive. Louis appears to be settling well, and has spent most of the afternoon curled up on the sofa, and looking very much at home! Hannah is desperate to show that she is Miss Boss Cat, and is still coming out with the occasional hiss. But's she's not stayed hidden under the bed, which was my main worry, and there has been no fighting. It's looking good! :D

Holding back the tide..

I'm not going to pretend to be a tidy person.. a quick glance at my computer desk alone would prove that theory wrong. However, I have recently found myself pulling my hair out at the mess my young children make!

We have one large room downstairs, and so I can't tuck toys away in another room. I did try telling Beth she had to leave everything upstairs.. but that didn't last long! So, in an attempt to stay organised, I have various tubs and boxes in a couple of corners.. and if everything stayed there I'd be happy enough.

But no.. every single time I put something in it's proper box or tub, I turn around, and it's been pulled out again, and scattered around the room! I am forever stepping on a Tweenie, Fimble, doll or bear, or kicking Thomas along the floor, swearing as it cheerfully goes 'chug chug'! And then there's the case of crayons.. I seem to be forever putting them back in their case.. and always finding the 'one that got away', as it snaps under my feet!

Oh, and then there's the silly idea I get of packing something away, and 'tidying' it neatly in the attic. I choose something that hasn't been even touched for months, let along played with, and quietly send Glen up the ladder with it. Two days later, and that exact toy is being hunted for by Bethany, because she has to play with it.. now!

Ok, now the girls are soundly asleep in bed, I'm off to put the toys away - until they get up in the morning, and drag it all out!

Visit to the Science Museum

Well I'm quite proud of myself.. we managed 3 major trips during this spring break! Yesterday I took Beth up to the Science Museum. Sadly the building for this one is 'normal', so no fantastic architecture to admire. Basically, I enjoyed it, but Bethany wasn't too impressed.

The main halls downstairs are quite impressive.. one in particular looks at how the modern world developed, and it has steam engines (including Stephenson's 'Rocket'), cars, and even aeroplanes hanging from the ceiling! They also have the actual Apollo 10 Command Module - I tried to explain to Bethany that this had actually been in space, with real spacemen, but she wasn't impressed!

I then got dragged down to the Launch Pad, which is where they have hands-on experiments for children. However, Beth wasn't really interested in what she was learning, she just wanted to play! We did go in a show about bubbles, which was alot of fun.. especially seeing a methane filled bubble set alight!

After lunch we went to The History of Medicine section.. Beth had some interest, but not as much as myself. We went to a show entitled 'Medical Marvels', which was ok, but not that well presented. I've studied a little bit of Medical History, and there were more interesting things they could have picked.

Our final show was 'Remedy Detectives', which I was looking forward to.. again, it was different to what I expected, and disappointing.

The final section we visited was about the development of the modern home, looking at the development of items such as washing machines, vacuums and radios. This was a bit better for Bethany, because they provided some buttons to press!

All in all, this is a great museum for older children and adults. There are things to keep the younger ones interested, but also alot that will bore them. For a good day out for all ages, I would recommend The Natural History Museum instead. :)

Extension to blog...

I've been adding a little 'extension' to my blog today. Over in the sidebar you're see 'More About Me', with various links to some new sections. Take a peek, and tell me what you think. :)

Louis Update...

Louis seems to be pretty well settled, but still gets a little nervous when Beth and Amy are running around, or being noisy. But then again, who can blame him!

The 2 cats are able to sit in the same room, but if they get too close, Hannah starts hissing and growling. She's also spending alot of her time upstairs, under our bed, which was my main worry.

We can only do our best, I guess time will tell...

Photo

Btw, here's a photo of Louis. He's officially a black persian, but he looks more chocolate brown. However, prior to coming to us, he had gotten knotty, and so has been shorn. He's very strange looking right now, but looking at his head and 'boots', he's going to be a big fluff-ball!

Miow!

My least favourite sound right now! Earlier in the night it was Louis's miow mixed in with Hannah's swearing each time they met. Then it was on and off during the night. Since about 5:30 this morning, it's been almost constant! I've had to get up and direct him downstairs, so everyone else can sleep a bit more.. but it's still happening.

Maybe after his good start he's now missing his family.. maybe he's just a noisy cat.. or maybe I'm missing something? Whatever, I'm now sitting here with a cuppa, about to search the internet for ideas!

Oh, it appears that he's a 'pillow cat'.. and as he got hissed at in our bedroom, he decided Bethany's would be a good place to go. He kept getting on her pillow.. and she kept coming into us, to say she couldn't get him off! In the end, we swapped. So I spent the night in my daughter's bed, with only a miowing cat for company!!

Miow!

A new kitty.. but will it last?

To start at the beginning, we used to have 2 cats, Hannah and Rebecca. Unfortunately, last year we had to have Rebecca put to sleep, aged only 9. As much as we love Hannah, we're all used to 2 cats, and Rebecca's death left a gap.

Recently we were asked if we could give a home to a persian cat.. his owners have a baby who's 18 months, and experiencing bad allergies. At first I said no, but it stayed in my mind. When we found out some time later that they were still looking, we decided to give it a try.

Rebecca was a 3/4 persian, and we're used to the grooming. We were told that Louis is an extremely affectionate cat, and that's something I miss.. Hannah is much more aloof. Louis is used to young children, and so shouldn't be phased by Amy, plus both Louis and Hannah have experience of other cats.

So, this evening Louis was brought over to us. He's explored, he's eaten, and he's used his litter tray. He's been fussed over, he's purred, and he's napped. Considering that he's been pulled out of his home, he seems really settled already.

However... Hannah is still under the bed. She did wander out, met Louis, hissed, and retreated again! For a while, she sat under the bed growling, and Louis sat not far away, just occasionally miowing quietly.

So now we have to see how Hannah reacts. I'm praying she remembers what it's like to have another cat around, and accepts him. I know that we can give him a lovely home, as long as Hannah decides she can too.

Keep everything crossed for us!

Web Designing

This is something I enjoy doing from time to time. However, it's something that keeps changing, and I've recently had to almost re-learn what I knew before.

My latest project was a site for a friend was hand-coded, and validates in xhtml and css. My earlier sites use html, and were designed in Frontpage. I attempted to make some content changes in MJMoore.co.uk.. and the code is a mess! LOL It really shows how much of an improvement xhtml and css is.. and it also shows how much I've learnt and improved! :D

Trip to the Natural History Museum

Being determined not to sit around for the whole of the Easter break, I sat down Tuesday night, looking for somewhere to take the girls for the day. After having a heart attack about some of the entrance prices, I discovered that London's 2 main museums were free. Also, as our weather hasn't been too reliable, indoors sounded good to me!

So on Wednesday morning, we got up, got ready, and set off on the train as soon as the off-peak prices kicked in! Amy looked a little unsure at first, but soon settled into the ride, and both of them seemed to enjoy their first experience of the underground!

When we arrived at the museum, we were greeted by a beautiful building. You can read more about it here. After a short queue, and a bag search, we were in! Bethany was looking forward to the dinosaurs, and once I saw that a queue was forming for that, I decided that we should head straight for that. Later in the day, I was glad I did!

They have a large moving T-Rex in the middle of the exhibition, and it's pretty lifelike.. although not as big as I expected. I was a bit concerned about Amy being scared, but she just sat in her pushchair, roaring back at it!

Other than the dinosaurs, we saw the blue whale (the one thing I remember from 'my' childhood visit), the 'creepy crawlie' gallery, and the primates. By the time we reached the 'Human Biology' gallery, Amy was snoozing in her pushchair, so Beth and I were able to spend some time playing with exhibitions, and doing some learning. :)

All in all, it was a great day out.. although I haven't done that much walking for a long time!

I'm back!

It's been a while.. sorry! I've been recovering from a 3 day migraine, getting to the end of my daughter's term, and then enjoying the start of her spring break. Oh yes, and designing a site for a friend.. and learning even more xhtml and css along the way! Now it's time to dust off some brain cells, and re-learn how to install a contact form and mailing list.

Our main day out last week was a trip to Rochester.. Beth and I explored the castle, and I realised that I was a little more worried about heights than I used to be! Beth, however, climbed to the top, spotted Daddy and Amy far below, and was leaning over trying to catch their attention!

Then after lunch we strolled around the cathedral - they have some nice leaflets for children, so they learn a little more about some of the features, so Beth enjoyed that. Then it was time for a coffee, and a slow wander along the lovely little high street! :)

I have a confession to end with.. between us all, we've already gotten through 4 Easter eggs!!