Eco Laundry Detergent - My Favourite Pick

Finally, an enviro friendly detergent I can get excited about.  Concentrated, compact, cost effective-ish, and -unlike all the other e-brands I have tried or made- it seems to actually clean clothes!

Castle Campbell

Great to have Uncle Rick and kids up this weekend. I missed out on the hike to Castle Campbell (AGM weekend), but good to see everyone getting fresh air in the Scottish "mist". And Glen slacking on the carrying duties.

One day - 30 questions

On any given day, (this was last Friday), from Savvy:

On war
1. What are canons for?
2. Why would you shoot them?
3. Why wouldn't you just share the food and wood?
4. How big would the hole be?
5. How many people would die?

On death
6. What are those cement blocks?
7. Why do they have writing on them?
8. Why do some people get buried?
9. Can we jump on them - will they feel it?
10. Why do we "respect" someone who isn't here?
11. What if someone was really fat and couldn't fit in their box?
12. Have the worms always been in the ground?
13 What was before the very first worm?

On "the bad people"
14. Why do we need jails?
15. Where do the bad people in the jail go to the toilet?
16. Are there still bad people in the [old Stirling] jail...waiting for us [that one gave me the shivers as we were walking by...creepy question]?

On stuff I know nothing about
17. Why is it windier up high?
18. Why can we see the moon now in the day?
19. Where did the moon come from?
20. What makes planets collide?
21. What was there before the things that collided to make Earth?
22. Why don't you know this?

On racism
(Damn the front cover of "the help" on my night table, I was really struggling with this. Found it harder than the Nazi chat- much prefer rainbows and fairy dust)
23. What are the black women wearing?
24. Why are the outfits the same?
25. Who gave them their uniforms?
26. Why is the little girl white?
27. Why do some people work for other people?
28. Do white people look after black children?
29. Why are some people more poor than others even in the same country?
30. Are black people more poor than white people?

A genuine offer

Sav's big into painting nails.  She colours them in like a picture.  I realise she's still four, but I thought I would risk offering some help:

"Aunt Lynnie's a bit of an expert at this.  If she were here, I think she'd suggest painting from the cuticle to the tip of the nail."

Sav says, as though two experts would be exchanging professional tips:
"That's nice.  When I see Aunt Lynnie, I'll show her how I do it."

We like to start 'em young on the bikes!

Still no signs of walking though!

My name is MegaStinky and I love to eat poo

poor Daddy

Stirling Castle - Puppets and Hide and Seek

A great adventure today at Stirling Castle.  The puppet show was fun and the hide and seek out in the grounds was awesome.  But along with castles comes chat of the olden days, jail, bad people, cemeteries, chamber pots...  Why this, why that, why why why...all the way home down the hill and onto the train.

Birthday Bliss

First, some tennis action shots. To get Caldero excited.

Then, on to the most girly Birthday party ever thrown by a Dad. It was awesome.

Manicure by the four year old daughter.  Lynnie would have approved.

Something for Nana thrown in - chocolate. When Mega called me at work to warn that the cake he and Sav made me hadn't quite gone to plan, I didn't know what to expect. Don't judge a book by its cover...it still contains all the required butter and cocoa!

Back to the girl party: Facial. Again, delivered by the four year old after a practise with Dad earlier in the day. Fifteen minutes of quiet was enforced while the mask worked its magic. Almost as wonderful as my  present to myself (the cleaners ... I think Auntie Andrea agrees I am a genius for that one).
Yes, those are alternating colours on my nails.
Yes, Sav and I match.
Yes, Sav insisted that I keep the polish on for valentines day.

Here's just a cute finish - the wee boy in for some cuddles.

Thanks MegaDob for a great night. And to everyone for the gifts and well wishes. x

Living Room Cuddles

Happy Birthday To Me!

Found some local cleaners on Groupon. They came today while we were at brunch. Best Bday present ever.

Oh, and we went skating too.

Play Pots with Mac

Seraphina the Ballerina

We all have to practise ballet with Savvy. She's preparing for her first show in March, and uses a DVD for extra rehearsal. Sometimes I am Seraphina, the clumsy girl who can't dance. Sometimes I am her fairy godmother who gives her a magic pair of dancing shoes.

Sometimes Dad joins in too.

Customer Service - Surprise and Delight

Works every time.

Always chomping on something.  He's prepared to create his own soother out of whatever he can find.
Below: Just before the famous Mac WWF body slam.  The wee bear cub will roll about and tackle you on the carpet for hours with you if you are willing.

I see London, I see France, I see Mackinley's ...nappy cover.  The guys is pretty wee for 13 months.  His 12-18month range is drooping.

Missing Team Roberts

Away for a few days and missing the clan back in Scotland so thought I'd post a wee pic from my phone of the two cuties.

My word of the day email today...all I could think of: Savvy teaching Mac

PRONUNCIATION:

(FAY-gin) 

MEANING:

noun: One who trains others, especially children, in crime.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Fagin, the leader of a gang of pickpockets, in Charles Dickens's novel Oliver Twist. Oliver runs away from the cruelty of the undertaker to whom he was apprenticed and ends up in Fagin's gang where he joins other orphans to learn the art of stealing. Earliest documented use: 1847.

USAGE:

"A fagin crook led a gang of young thieves stealing valuable bikes to order across Tyneside."
Garry Willey; Fagin's Gang Busted; The Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, UK) Apr 4, 2011.