Ding dong, saved by the bell!

First and foremost, he’s in!

Yep, the ridiculous system of getting your child in to a school has come good and Joseph has secured a place for reception at the same school as where he currently attends nursery class.

I knew full well that there would be worry and stress when trying for secondary school places but reception class, give me a break!

Can you believe M and I were nervously waiting for the postman this morning? I actually hung up on my brother when I heard the gate swing open and tore the letter open, running up the stairs with M shouting for me to “open it, open it”.

The relief invariably led to tears but there was a funny moment.

Joseph won £50 on his premium bonds this month and upon my opening the school letter this morning, M and I cheered and she turned to him saying, “well done Poops, well done my love”.

To which he replied, “what Mum? Is it the premium bonds again?”

The past few weeks have been very busy. I trust you have not tut-tutted at my lack of detail on these pages? I’m sure you may not have noticed and it is probably only wishful thinking that you are desperate for greater minutia of our household.

A lot has happened however.

Annabel has changed a great deal. Her face has lost its baby chubbiness. She is also talking non-stop and being extremely sweet; it is absolutely wonderful to watch her and Joseph together. He is still a little annoyed by her attention and adoration but I suspect he would miss it if it were to dry up.

After dropping M off at the tube station this morning for her to go and assist a friend in search of a wedding outfit, the children and I went off to a garden centre to choose something for Mother’s Day tomorrow.

It was strange.

I mentioned to them that it might be nice if we didn’t go for flowers today, as they wouldn’t last very long. With spring around the corner, it might be nice if we got Mummy something to plant in the garden so she could see it throughout the year. With that in mind, they both wandered off and amazingly, they only pointed at and asked for things that had some longevity rather than just flowers.

Not impressed?

Well the proprietor of the shop said to me (when I went to pay), “You know I heard what you said to your children and then I watched them and they never once stopped at or were interested in perishable flowers – uncanny”.

There.

Even if YOU weren’t amazed, the flower shop owner was so hah!

After a nap for Annabel, we had our first afternoon of the year out in the back garden and although it was a little cold, it was great.

After about an hour and a half, we went to the shops to buy some snacks as I had promised Joseph that he could watch (his new favourite TV show), “You’ve Been Framed”. Ham, fresh olives, stuffed courgettes, party size scotch eggs and Hula Hoops made for a fun tea.

Joseph roared with laughter for the entire show and Annabel cried at the canned studio laughter, so I sat with her.

And then, it became apparent that a generation had come full circle.

I put on Star Wars (after my brother-in-law lent it to me), and answered non-stop quick-fire questions from Joseph. “Who’s that Dad?”, “why did they shoot him Dad”, and “will he die Dad?” after seeing R2-D2 get zapped by the Jawa people at the start.

Oh boy, 2007 will be the 30th (yes, the 30th!!) anniversary of Star Wars and I was looking at Joseph, as totally transfixed as I was all those years ago. The best bit however, was that Annabel was knelt behind him, kissing the back of his head and pulling his ears outwards. The light from the TV in front was showing the veins in his ears which delighted her and kept making her kiss the back of his head, over and over.

Hilarious.

Anyway, we stopped the film at exactly 19 minutes so we could get ready for bed but I have promised to pick up where we left off tomorrow.

Tomorrow promises to be a busy one too.

Things I have planned include;

A Mother’s Day breakfast for M

Short naps

Australian Grand Prix on TV (still not sure whether to get up and watch it live at 3am)

A table booked at an Italian restaurant near where we used to live (the one that M and I got engaged in) for a late lunch

Mend the puncture in my back tyre

Watch the rest of Star Wars

If I’m not asleep by 8pm, I’ll let you know how it all went.

‘ Night

Ooh, for some strange reason I’ve remembered that Joseph is exactly 4½ years old today. That’s all