well we made it

and since 10pm last night we have a 5 year old in the house.

Nathaniel had a lovely birthday yesterday playing with his new toys, being at school and the birthday dinner I made (it wasn't Celia's) but I made yummy birthday cupcakes too!!

We love you Nathaniel, you are such a bright spark and you say the most amazing things, but yet you still have the need for cuddles and a helping hand.

Every day daddy and I are amazed at everything you can do and how quickly you pick it all up, swimming, biking, scooting, reading, sums (even I haven't got that one down).

You have such determination and get so mad if things don't go your way immediately but hey...thats a daddy trait!!

You have taught us to be less selfish (mostly we kind of still like to sleep till 7am)!!

Happy birthday and hopefully the road to 6 will be a fun journey for you, just do

nt get bigger than me YET!!

Today is PARTY DAY!!!

So today is Nathaniel's birthday party, his birthday is in 2 days, on the 22nd September and we cant help but take our minds back to a year ago today.  During the festivities of the party we will certainly be thinking about dad.

Today last year he underwent his first of 4 surgeries and that was his below knee amputation.  No one can ever understand how that must feel like to a person, dad was obviously devastated but had been (briefly) extremely ill prior to this day and appeared to "accept the surgery with good positive thoughts"

Today we will celebrate life, Nathaniel turning 5, and dad still being around to help celebrate it, he has had another tough year but we are so grateful he is here

Due date!

So today 5 years ago was Nathaniel's due date, as I am not celebrating his birthday you understand he didn't arrive today 5 years ago. The pictures are taken from that day!!

So lets recap on that day!!

I cant remember much but I met Emily, (baby Holly) along with Jacky and her pal David for a bite at D Angelo's in Mill Valley, I ordered Pizza - I always did at an italian restaurant, but felt pretty sick and took most of it home. I have never gone back to the restaurant.

This was probably the hardest day of my pregnancy, all my "pregn

ant friends in the US" had gone early so I waited not sure when it would all take off, I maybe expected fire works but I didnt get them.

Fast forward 5 years, I am busy preparing for Nathaniel's birthday party and i swear I am making it smaller every year but here I am having 35 kids and parents to the party!!

I hope he enjoys it and as he started Kindergarten this year he has a few new friends at the party this year!!

Happy due date!! When were your's.  I think only Simon came on his due date

I pledge Allegiance to the United States of America

Today I had the pleasure of joining the other parents as we sat in on the Friday assembly at school.

All stand as the flag enters the room and the kids sang a little song

they then made the pledge - so if you dont know it here it is: - 

The Pledge of Allegiance

I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands,
one Nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Obviously we have no problem with him participating (well maybe a little sadness) but he is american and we are living in America, so thats understandable, I am not ready to stand there with my hand on my heart or left shoulder where ever they place it - it isnt necessary, but we should be able to encourage Nathaniel to learn the words and understand why he is doing it, I am not sure if teachers have discussed this - again i assume not! Your heritage is something to be proud of and lets face it, most of the American population stemmed back from Irish or scottish decent - a few will claim english heritage but it isnt as popular as being of celtic origin. They seem a little young to do this stuff, but oh well, the assembly was far to long and the noisy kids were the 4 and 5th graders!!

It was a nice event to see and I got to wave to Nathaniel - once he had stopped clowning around!!

September 11th 2001

What does this date mean to you??

I am sure you feel devastated, sad and very sorry for the families who's lives are devasted by this terrible event.

I feel all of the above but let me take you back to that day (in my mind)!!

September 11th 2001 Simon and I had been living in the US for 6 months and we had said goodbye to our friends Gilli and Steve on the 9th they had been visiting us.

I awoke with the alarm clock (about 7am) and heard the radio announcers chatting, Sarah and Vinnie were a popular Alice radio presenter, I heard part of what they were saying and I initially thought they were joking about the planes and then something seemed more real,

I ran to turn on the computer to see if there was anything on the internet, (forgetting that I could just turn on the TV) I was doing this as I am terrible for gossip and news!!  As I turned on the TV one of the towers fell down while they claimed was "live" I watched the same piece of filming for about the next 12 hours until I could go back to bed.  Over and over it went the same stuff,  I watched on and off after realising it was all the same stuff, but I could go no- where, the library's, shops and even the Golden Gate bridge were all shut.

I found this really hard to take in - why, mainly I felt because all this happened New York time and in California  by the time I got up, it was over and done with and just "old news", how can you live in a country and not know what is going on till too late - the time difference across the US is so great that can happen.

So the next few days with the Americans hell bent on revenge (you can tell they are new to this) I just didnt know what to think.  You see, terrorism to me is something that I have grown up with, going on holiday and getting the car searched for bombs, bombs going off in town centers the saturday before Mothers day killing fathers and children, buildings and stations being evacuated for "bombs", some blowing up big stations at commuter times! Infact the IRA bombed pretty much anything and everything, so to me this didnt have the affect that it seemed to have on everyone else.

People who do these things are very rarely able to be stopped and the people who suffer are basically the innocent victims of our politics.

So certainly remember September 11th it was a terrible tragedy, but also spare a thought for those who also were a victim of other terrorism acts,  and be aware!!

What do you stare at

What do you think about when you are in a dance class or exercise class??

My mind often wanders to the teacher, how tall/short they are and how they seem to be conveying the information too you and I must admit, my eyes are always drawn to their belly, wondering, how they can be that fat and teach a class, does that mean their class is no good??

I also hate the big mirrors in front of you that force you to look at yourself (never a pretty sight!)

That just gives me even more reason not to concentrate, can you see all the people behind you too!

Oh well, getting distracted never was helpful for me and my whole life is one constant distraction, always thinking about what to do next.

I am however generally enjoying the class and really hope it does help me get in shape even if it is just a little