Help! A ball of money............

In the night, Small woke up screaming. I thought there was something terribly wrong and that he was in serious pain, however he had had a nightmare. He dreamt that there was a massive ball of money trying to run him over. He was really upset but once we talked it through he saw the funny side of it. He went back to sleep and we didn't hear from him again till the morning.

We decided to keep him off school again. He looked a bit brighter and seemed more like the old Small but he is still not right. So that meant I had both of them at home today. No chance of getting anything done today then!

At the weekend we put out the compost bin with a bag of peelings, leftovers etc. It has been out since we cleared the Sun Room and no critters have bothered it! Until a few days ago when it was tipped up, bag ripped open and much food strewn around the garden. The only reason we noticed it was because there was a half eaten apple on the grass. (Small takes an apple to school and nibbles around it like a squirrel). Small's comment when he saw his apple on the grass was "the raccoon has eaten more of the apple than I do"!. So the day before yesterday we moved the compost bin to the corner, added a couple of bricks on top and made sure it was shut properly. Yesterday it was untouched. Great. Today, the bin was knocked over,the bricks pushed aside, the bag completely missing but no mess! Until you looked in the middle of the grass and there was a small pile of compost! Not much left though. More thought needed for tonight - I don't want to keep it inside if we can help it. I tried this............

Wedged between a heavy pot and the big gates, with two bricks on top!

We had breakfast and while the boys were watching TV, Grandma skyped me. She is not very happy with me because I said how awful the English beaches were and because I made out we were Truly Canadian now. I would like to explain: there are a lot of lovely beaches in England, however the one in the picture is not a lovely beach when there are millions of people on it. I was in no way saying 'don't go to England 'cos the beaches are rubbish!'. The 'Truly Canadian' quote was relating to the fact that in one day we had had a fire pit and played street hockey, both very Canadian things to do. We are still English and very proud of it. There, that's that sorted.

Everyone we invited to the party is coming. How lovely. I hope we can make it special and that Smallest doesn't miss the family too much. However, Canadians don't seem to know what Pass the Parcel is, so that should be fun!

I decided that I would attempt to make a Piñata for Smallest's birthday. So, we got some balloons, made a glue out of flour and water and ripped up some newspaper.

I was the only one happy to get my hands in a mess, so Small ripped the paper, Smallest slapped the paper on and I glued my hands together. Between the two boys they managed to get the string, find the scissors, cut the string and tie it round the end of the balloons. We hung them up to dry before the next layers.

We then had a game of Magnetic Fishing (horror - we have lost Ducky!) and then a game of Monopoly Deal.

Next we got some jigsaws out, while we were jigsawing, we had a visit from ClownRose and BabyMo. They were bringing a tin back (and put some cookies in for us - nice). They stayed for a coffee and a chat and then went on their way.

Sleepy little BabyMo.

Smallest went and collected the mail. Ooh it was for him!

"Ooh is it for me?"

We had a bit of lunch whilst watching Toy Story 3.

At times today, the boys played really nicely together, and then the other times they just annoyed each other.

Small went for a lie down and Smallest payed with his cars in the basement. I was clearing away all the piñata mess and I heard these words from Smallest - "ahhhhh there's a really big spider in here, bigger than in England, really really big"! Now I don't like spiders so this is not something I wanted to deal with! However, I needn't have worried as it was the size of a small pea! Not a problem for me. I scooped it in a tin and put it outside. "Kill it! kill it!" said Smallest. Oh no, I can't do that!

I had another go at doing a layer of paper mâché on the balloons, Small passed me the paper again but Smallest wasn't interested!

My Little Chefs helped me to make fish cakes. Smallest thought the fish felt funny all wibbly, he wanted to batter it (not bash it but put batter on it). The boys took it in turns to make the breadcrumbs in the processor, and each cracked an egg for the breadcrumbs to stick to.

Fish Cakes were yum (all thanks to the many hands that helped make them of course). Small was sent for a relaxing bath to see if he feels ready for school tomorrow. Smallest and I finished one jigsaw and then started another.

Huffle came home a little bit early (he cheated and used the 407 - we have to pay for this road but it is quicker and nicer). Poor Huffle is very stressed at the moment with work. Too much to do, too little time, and problems too big to solve all by himself. He is getting himself in a bit of a state about it too. He is having a meeting with his boss tomorrow so hopefully some things can be sorted out then. In the meantime I am sending him for a relaxing bath too with some expensive bath salts I bought him for his birthday. Soothe your cares away please Huffle.