Welcome to the madhouse!!!

It's Mothers Day here in France today. Sophie gave me a mask and a card that she made at school and recited a poem she learnt for the occasion. Ummm OK, she actually got too excited after bringing the present home on Friday and gave it to me then, and she's been showing me "the surprise" through the classroom window for the past week !

Makes a change from the usual pasta necklace ! I'll have to find a place on the wall later. At least we know why they wanted us to buy a chamois leather (or is it shammy leather in English?)

Also, in this cranky country (apologies to any French people reading !) where you get given a medal for banging out loads of kids (you get a bronze medal for four, a silvre medal for five and a gold medal for six or more - I'm not making this up, honestly !!), we were invited to a champagne reception courtesy of the mayor for anyone who had a baby in 2005. After some lovely (?!) accordion music and a glass of bubbly, all the mums and babies received their presents.

Juliette and Sophie are already fighting over who gets the fluffy duck pyjama case (so maybe the mums with 6 kids do deserve that medal after all!)

Plus I'll be getting a present from Mike once he and Sophie get back from their top secret mission to buy a cake (that Sophie whispered in my ear first thing this morning !) I'm not supposed to know about Mike's present either but you can't blame Sophie for letting the cat out of the bag for that one - he forgot to hide it when I opened the car door last week, then had to run upstairs "for something I forgot" to give him a chance to shove it in the boot !!!

... colouring in all the drawing and colouring competitions I keep printing off internet for her to win free stuff !

Her wispy bits were going in her eyes so I chopped a few bits of the front. Looks a bit pudding bowl now though !!! But she's still gorgeous ! Get ready for a masterclass in making Juliette laugh ... she starts off all serious and ends up all giggly !

... and so were these sunglasses !!!

They look enormous on Sophie !!!

Took Sophie to the cinema last Sunday (and haven't had a chance to get on the blog since) to see her first ever film. We went to see "Ice Age 2", which vaguely tells the story of the flood and Noah's Ark. She was a bit scared of the dark and the volume of the sound but enjoyed it all the same so it was definitely worth the money (oh hang on, what am I talking about? They were freebie cinema tickets, of course !!!)

On the way out, she said she was thirsty so I pointed out the drinking fountains and showed her how they worked - first off, I squirted water up the wall and the pressure was so strong that it almost got as far as the ceiling. I told Sophie to put her mouth in front of the spout, pushed the button and ... she got an asolute drenching and looked at me accusingly with water dripping off her glasses and nose and chin. I laughed so hard I couldn't speak and I had tears rolling down my face so I'm sure everyone thought I'd been to see a tearjerker and I was a sap who cried before the end !! Funnily enough, Sophie seemed to forget about being thirsty after that !!!

Sophie's telling me which pictures to put on the blog today !!!

Popping candy (which we used to call space dust)

Before the chewing gum that turns your tongue green (note the rapidly fading scar on her chin)

... and after !

Sophie's entry for "draw a picture of someone looking grumpy" contest - she said it's Mike in the morning !!!!!

The latest work of art !

Playing with the new spelling game

Bootsale Barbies

Juliette discovers windows are see-through !

Sophie's "princess dinner" - otherwise known as, go through the fridge and the cupboards and throw anything vaguely healthy on a plate ! (I told Sophie you wouldn't be interested in a picture of that but she IS the guest editor today !!!)

I just picked Sophie up from school (I had to come home early from work because the childminder phoned the school to say she was sick and I'd have to come and take Juliette) and she walked out of the classroom biting her lip (her "I'm trying not to cry" face). I gave her a cuddle and asked what was wrong and she dissolved into tears - Stanislas (him again) had grabbed her by the shoulder, pinched her and thrown her down on the ground when she was sitting on the bench in the playground. Twice this week (yesterday and last Friday) she came home with bloody/muddy knees because he pushed her over in the mud.

So I went to see the teacher AGAIN (depsite her telling me last week that everyone just has to put up with him) and as nothing else has worked, this time she said "You hurt Sophie so now she can hurt you back" and told Sophie to slap him. She didn't slap him very hard so she got to have another go !!! And the little git still turned around and said "Didn't even hurt". I think Sophie was as upset about hitting him as she was about getting pushed over, to be honest. (I spend my whole life telling her not to hit back and to go and tell the teacher.)

Stanislas's mum was chatting to a couple of other mums in the playground so I went over and said, very politely, "I know it's not your fault and there's no miracle solution but just to let you know, Stanislas has been pushing Sophie around again today, that's the third time this week she's come home with her knees bleeding because he's pushed her over in the playground". So SHE got all shirty with ME and said "The teacher's there, I know what he's done but it's not my job to keep an eye on him in the playground, go and see her if you've got a problem, every night I get mums and dads ... no, never dads, because, funnily enough, my husband dropped Stan off this lunchtime and nobody went to see HIM, they always come and see ME ... there's nothing I can do, go and see the teacher !" What are you supposed to say to that ?!!!

Not sure what you're SUPPOSED to say but what I said in the end is that if he starts again, give him a kick in the willy and he might think twice next time !!!!

PS Sophie's now playing with bubbles on the patio singing a very off-key version of "It's a small world after all" so don't worry, she's not mentally scarred for life !!!

First thing this morning : "It's OK Mum, I don't need to brush my teeth because the bacteria on my teeth haven't woken up yet" !!!

Just before her bath : "My feet are so dirty they can't walk"

Just typed a big long post about what we did today but answered the phone half way and my session timed out so the message got lost when I went to post it. So I'm not typing all that again. The shorthand version is ... Juliette's better ... went to bootsale, bought a Mickey Mouse toy, spelling game and bag full of Barbie-type dolls ... Sophie asked if they were for her or Nanny and added "I'm having that one because it's my favourite favourite doll in the whole world ever" !!! ... got down the end and found bouncy castle and pony rides so Sophie did both. Spent the afternoon catching up on my marking while the kids had a nap then back to the car park with the frisbee and off to the park until closing time, watching the ants carrying big bits of bread back to their hole (Sophie could have watched them for hours so who needs non-stop TV and computer games ?!!)

Whoever said Sunday was a day of rest ?!!!

The new generation of freebie-hunters is already secured. I promised Sophie at McDonalds that we'd go over the road to the carpark and play with her Happy Meal toy - a frisbee. So after a quick nap, she got up and yelled "Mum, can we go and play freebies now?" !!!

Also she's stopped playing "Docteurs" or Mums & Dads and now plays at being .... the postie !! She rides around on the little trike and says "Who are you today?" so I make up a name and she goes "Oh I've got a big box for you. Shall I open it? Ohhh what is there?" And I have to make up a big list of possible freebies (toys and books and chocolate and recipe books ... and she keeps going "What else ? There's more" !!! Then she goes "OK I'll be back tomorrow with some more" and rides off around the table again !!!

(For anyone reading this who hasn't got a clue what freebies are all about, go and sign up here www.totaltwaddle.co.uk/freebies but I warn you now, your postie will end up hating you !!! )

Sorry for the lack of posts but the last couple of weeks have been full of doom and gloom - don't panic, not in our lives but for everyone else around us - so it makes you feel kind of guilty for writing about having a great time and playing silly buggers. Three work colleagues are off sick and popping in and out of hospital, a friend has just gone through a miscarriage, the news on TV is full of the stories of two little kids Sophie's age who were abused and murdered in two totally separate incidents within the same two days ... And the worst thing we can complain about here is Juliette having the runs and being off-colour since Thursday. But that's not really bad news for us but rather for the childminder (Juju seemed to save up all her nappy-busting poos for her !!!) and the poor girl at McDonald's who had to clear up after she threw up all over the table, high chair and floor ! But it could have been worse for her - it could have been Sophie throwing her guts up somewhere halfway round the maze of tunnels in the softplay area !! I did actually point that out and she said it happened once and they had to climb up through the tubes with a bucket and mop !!! So it just goes to show, things CAN always be worse however bad they seem !!!

For the past couple of days, Juliette's big game has been holding on to my two fingers and running around the rooms upstairs chasing Sophie, killing herself laughing. She's been getting faster and faster and holding on to my fingers less and less. And tonight, just before bedtime, she kept walking two or three steps by herself between me and Sophie or me and Mike. Looks like the fun and games are about to begin !!! Especially as she thinks it's hysterically funny and giggles herself silly every time she launches herself into someone's arms !!

Picked up the girls from the childminder's last night.

Sophie got tripped up at school (by the little git Stanislas again) on the way to the dustbin and hurt her chin on the side of the bin.

And Juliette got knocked over because she was standing behind a chair when the childminder stood up (childminder's version) / got pushed over by the childminder's little boy because she knocked down the castle he'd been making (Sophie's version !!!) and bashed her lips/teeth on the floor. It was quite swollen last night but doesn't look so bad today.

But even bashed up, they're still looking gorgeous and all smiles !

Especially when the sun's come out so I can show off my new EuroDisney Tshirt !!!

I was watching a TV programme with Sophie the other day and there were identical twins. I asked her if there were any twins at her school and she had a good hard think and said : "Well, Kezia and Jaouad have got the same colour skin" !!! Awwww !

Well the weekend at Disney was a great success. We headed down to the Haven/Siblu camp near Paris on the Friday afternoon when Mike got out of work. First surprise on arrival - all the signs were in English, all the camp workers were English, most of the holidaymakers were English ... It was basically a UK campside transported across the water, so that was an added bonus for us ! Sophie got loads of Tiger Club colouring sheets, a badge, a pencil and a ball so was well chuffed, then off to the mobile home. Very nice, but freezing cold at night, and only a gas fire so I wasn't keen on leaving it on overnight while we slept.

Beautiful weather all day long on Saturday for Eurodisney. Nice weather in the morning on Sunday for Disney Studios but just after the parade, the sky clouded over and it poured all afternoon at Eurodisney. Luckily we'd done all the outdoor things the day before so we still managed to have fun.

With Goofy ... or Dingo ... depending on the nationality of the kid holding the autograph book !

Gepetto (with Sophie going "where's Pinnochio ?!" )

The wonderful thing about tiggers ... is tiggers are wonderful things ...

OK Help me out here, I have no idea who this is ! One of the Rescuers ?

Awwwwwww !!!

With Daisy Duck (or did I make that up ?! Sophie believed me anyway !!!)

Cup of tea anyone ?

On the teacups

Who's got the biggest grin ? Sophie or the Cheshire Cat ?!

In the Alice in Wonderland maze

Found him !

Time for a refuel

Day two at Disney Studios with a nice blue sky ... but not for long !

Oh Mickey you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, hey Mickey !

I'm no good on the new ones - is this Lilo or Stitch ?

On the choo-choo-train