I think that there are about 5 such friends that Eleni has. They seem to have made their appearance when I was in Australia (maybe she was missing me?). The two most popular are Ally and Keeney – no idea where these names come from. Both are girls who are three years old but apparently Ally has a baby growing in her belly – twins actually according to Eleni. Ally seems to be around a lot. She eats her meals with Eleni then goes and plays with all the other kids (who are also imaginary). She had to go to the doctors the other day too (maybe a baby check-up?). Anyway, it is absolutely hilarious some of the conversations I overhear but very cute. Chris had no idea they were imaginary until I pointed it out to him – I think he thought they were kids at pre-school (they are not, I checked). Well they say imagination is a sign of a good mind – or was it crazy mind?
April was a very sad month with the death of Mum on 18th April. We were all at her side when she passed away and whilst it was a blessing for her to go pain-free and quickly, it was still very sad and very difficult. I have posted the eulogies etc at the link “mum” at the top of the page as well as some photos of Mum. It is still just so hard to believe.April was also a time for celebrating with the birth of Kiara Armstrong – to Tony and Julie. Their beautiful little girl was born a week before Mum died. Unfortunately, Julie had to have a c-section but both her and baby did well. Kiara was a healthy 7lb 8 oz and is now making her presence felt in the Armstrong home!
Back here the kids are doing well. Eleni is at pre-school 2 days a week. We originally took her out of school over winter as she was getting too many colds. Well the first week back she got a stomach bug and was throwing-up all night. She loves going to school so we are hoping the illnesses will stop soon. We also have a babysitter for the twins for 2 days a week (4 hours a day). This gives me a precious few hours to do things with Eleni (we went to the park and plant nursery today but I am hoping to start ice-skating and swimming with her!). The swimming should be interesting as she hates getting her head wet when I wash her hair!
We are also gearing up for Leo and Sofia’s first birthday on 27th May. To think a year ago I had a huge belly with 4 arms and legs wiggling around like mad. They are both standing-up now and can wave bye-bye. Dadda is a common word from them both and I get the occasional mamma too. We will have a small celebration for them at home and I will post some pictures too.
I am back at work doing some consulting for Standard Chartered. It is great to get the brain going again and to earn some money! Next week we go to DC for 2 nights. Christos has to attend a conference and has finally convinced me to come on one of his work trips with the kids. I am dreading 3 kids in a hotel room but we will see how they go. The twins are now in the same room for sleeping with mixed success. They take longer to go to sleep due to their “talking” to each other. The worst thing is that Sofia has started waking anywhere from 5.30am on and waking up Leo as well! This has got to stop as we seriously need that extra hour sleep.
We are still busy putting in a bathroom in the basement – it should be great when it is finished but it does seem to be taking a long time. We have also been doing some garden work and Eleni is getting good at helping me pull out weeds. I often think of Mum when I am in the garden as I liked to keep her updated on what was blooming and growing well. Our willows are doing great but I found out our two beautiful river birches have aphids (sprayed the little buggers today!). I have planted some roses (super hardy ones that apparently can’t be killed) and also some day lillies. I have also finally gotten around to planting two Clematis vines on the trellis against the retaining wall. They are actually blooming! We still have lots to do but it is fun watching things grow (well except out basil and a couple of tomato bushes).
That’s all for now…. until next time – ciao.
Recent Comments