I have been looking at my blogs recently. It's been such a long time since I have written anything. I really need to start writing again. If nothing, it should hopefully improve my written English. One can dream, at least ...

Big Munchkin is nearly 11 years old now. She thinks she is pretty much an adult. She knows everything. She talks back non stop and refuses to put down her phone. She is nearly my height. We share shoes (she takes mine without a lot of asking). She is wearing adult size 10 clothes. Her room is as dirty as it can possibly be and I am ready to ship her off to boarding school in Northern Siberia if there was one there.

Little Munchkin is not that little anymore. He is now nine years old. He talks a lot though his speech is still not clear. My attempt to get him to wear braces has been complete, utter and expensive failure. There is a dentist somewhere who will be buying a car by the time Little Munchkins dental issues are dealt with fully. He is overall a good boy. Though he is learning to talk back from his sister. He loves computer games and would not put down his ipad if given a choice.

I am still staying at home. I have been looking for a job, but short of working at a call centre I can't find anything. I can't blame anyone as staying at home was my decision. In hindsight, it was a huge mistake. Now, after nearly eleven years of looking after the kids, I can't find anything at all - not even a volunteering position that involves any kind of brain activity.

* The school holidays have been incredibly busy. I guess, I have been trying to put in all the things I can't do with the kids because they are at school/nursery. Big Munchkin did a week of drama school. They managed to put in a full production of Oliver. Big Munchkin said that she liked it.

*Last week my DH left for his very long business trip. It has been painful not having him around. I feel absolutely exhausted - tired to the point of nervous breakdown. I can't wait till he gets back and I can hand over Little Munchkin's morning routine to my DH.

*Little Munchkin has been missing daddy a lot. Every morning starts with Little Munchkin coming over to my bedroom to check if daddy is here. Not find daddy in bed, he says: Daddy is not here ... Daddy is not here', with very sad expression.

*His NHS speech therapy started last Monday. It would be nice if it lasted.

*I decided to abandon my attempt at taking him for tennis classes. The last class was an utter disaster. Little Munchkin has a complete meltdown because the teacher did not have a yellow base ( a plastic circle on which the kids stand to practice hitting the ball). He was wailing for twenty minutes.. I could not even put him down. He threw the racket on the grown. There was no point staying. This week, when I asked him if he wants to go for a tennis class, he said NO, laid down on the floor, and made it abundantly clear that he is not going there voluntarily. I gave up before we even left the kitchen.

*This week we went to the Museum of London in Docklands for their Big Dig activity. The kids played archaeologists. It was a lot of work for me because I ended up having most of the digging, but they did have a good time. It seems like all their activities end up being a lot of physical work for me.

* Big Munchkin had a gymnastics competition. Amazingly, she got a third place. She would have gotten even higher place, but she did not do as well in vault compare to the floor routine. Unfortunately, she is still not interested in continuing with gymnastics classes. We have a deal to continue with the classes till Christmas, but if she still does not want to do it then ... well ... it will be the end of gymnastics.

* We went to see We Are Going on a Bear Hunt with both Munchkins. They both enjoyed it a lot. Even Little Munchkin.

* We finally took them to Legoland. They (including my DH) loved it. We spent the whole day there. Came at 10 am and left an hour after closing time, and we still did not go all the stuff we wanted to do. Bit Munchkin refused to go on quite a lot of the rides. At the end of the day I was so tired, I was ready to cry. Big Munchkin has been repeatedly asking if we can go there again, but I don't think I will be mentally ready to do it again for another year.

* I've been doing my best to keep the kids occupied during the school holidays. We've been going to museums, aquarium, parks, playdates and various classes. Last week was the last week of Big Munchkin's summer school and Little Munchkin's nursery. So, now they are with me 24/7.

* I did not realize just how long I haven't updated the blog. So, here it is ...

* We had two birthday parties for Big Munchkin. One for her class mates at the local soft play centre and the other for our Russian friends at home. For her school party Big Munchkin wanted a pink princes cake. But while I was ordering it she managed to put in that she wants a Cinderella cake. So, the bakery went both ways. It was a white cake with pink icing with a Cinderella doll standing on top in a blue 'cinderella' dress. It was a pain to get home and then to the play centre undamaged, but Big Munchkin loved it. It tasted quite good too. The blue icing was very chemical though. All the boys wanted the blue icing pieces because the blue icing would turn their tongs blue.

* For the party at home I baked a cake - chocolate cake with white chocolate cream. Very tasty and very high in calories.

* I haven't been feeling well for a big part of the month. In fact I have been very unwell. I am not sure why - it might have been hormonal, or some virus, or my arthritis, or all together. I even called my DH and asked him to come home one day. I do this very rarely. I am doing better now. I am sure good weather is helping.

* The swine flu has finally hit Big Munchkin's school. It was bound to happen. Couple of kids from her class are sick including one of her best friends. Big Munchkin is fine, but Little Munchkin and I are having 'flu-like' symptoms. There are so many cases now that the health clinics stopped testing for it.

* On a further heath front - Little Munchkin managed to pick up a virus on his foot. It is not dangerous but annoying. He seem to be continuously picking up various skin infections. I have to remember to get him to wear swimming socks at the pool. I am sure it is all coming from there.

* After two cold and wet summers we are finally in for a heat wave. Temperatures have been going up to 32 above zero in shade. For other countries it might not sound too bad, but England is a country where air conditioning hasn't been discovered yet. There are hardly any air conditioned places. In fact, the tube is not air conditioned either. It is brutal.

* Little Munchkin is speaking a little bit more. A few days ago I gave him and his sister a bowl of orange slices to share. I few minutes later he came to me with an empty bowl and said: 'Mum, ****** (his sister's name) is not sharing'. I am sure she was, she probably did not share the last slice.

* Little Munchkin also has frighteningly good spacial awareness. He knows exactly where which route goes. Few days ago we are driving on a highway. Part of the route is the same as the route to the Indian restaurant that Little Munchkin likes. My DH made a wrong turn, then got back to the high way. We are standing at an intersection - the turn right is towards the Indian restaurant, turn left is where we need to go. Little Munchkin is leaning over from his car seat, pointing towards Indian restaurant's direction and says -'That way'.

* Tomorrow is the last day before the summer holidays. Big Munchkin has been awarded two certificates for excellence in English and French, and for some bizarre reason a certificate in achievement in religious studies. It must be some kids of joke, because she can't even pronounce religious and has no idea what she was supposed to have studied there.

* During the half term break I took the kids to see 'The Butterflies'. This is how it is described by the theatre:

Using motion capture technology and a touch sensitive carpet that can be triggered by as little as a movement or a breath, Teatro di Piazza o d'Occasione invites you to follow the life of the butterfly from larvae to grown up. Virtually paint with your arms, compose lullabies with your feet or chase caterpillars on all fours, this is a magical theatrical experience for the eyes, ears, knees and toes.

Both kids loved it. Even Little Munchkin sat through the whole performance. Though he did talk a lot - 'Egg! Butterfly! Grass! Leaf! Red! Blue!' and so on.

* During the weekend we went to check out another British beach - Broadstairs. We made a mistake going there quite late, ended up spending ah hour looking for parking, and parked where we should not have. We were lucky not to get a ticket. The sand was lovely. The sea was freezing; The place was hugely crowded. Still, we had a lovely time.

* We also went back to the Danson Park in Bexleyheath. Kids really like the puddling pool there. They had a great time splashing and I had a nice time reading Economist.


* Little Munchkin is starting to talk a bit more. Yesterday, I gave him and Big Munchkin ice cream. Big Munchkin ate hers and went to Little Munchkin:
- Can you share some of your ice cream with me?
- No. Share mama.
And he gave me a lick of his ice cream, but not to his sister.

It's been awhile. So I'll just give a list of things that happened recently.

1. I took Big Munchkin to see The Lion King musical. It was great. The music itself was nothing special, but the production was fantastic. We went there as a part of Big Munchkin's school group with lots of her friends. We had to separate the girls early on as they could not stop chatting. Big Munchkin really like the musical.

2. I took Big Munchkin for her 'Classics' school trip to Rome, Italy. I really wanted to go myself, since I've never been there. I also did not have high expectations. Overall, it was a good trip. Educational value of it for Big Munchkin was nearly zero, but she had a good time. She played a lot with other kids, ate a lot of ice cream. We talked a lot. It is a first time we spent so much time together, just the two of us. She behaved reasonably well. I had a really good break. We did not see as much of Rome as I would have by myself. We had six hours of guided tour a day. By the end of it, Big Munchkin had no strength left to do anything else.

My DH and Little Munchkin had a good time in London as well. I think my DH was trying to prove that he can do it. The house was cleaner than how I left it. He did the laundry, ironed it and put it all way. He told me that he really understood that it does need to be done with a military precision. You miss one load a day and you'll be drowning it dirty laundry right away. My DH even filled the car with petrol and bought milk.

Little Munchkin was very happy to see us. Gave me and Big Munchkin a big hug and a kiss.

3. We went all together for see another 'traditional English beach heritage town' - Whitstable. I liked it less that our previous trip to Camber beach, This beach was all pebbles. Kids were trying to build a sandcastle out of them, but it did not work that well. They had a good time anyway. There were a lot of seafood there - my DH ate a lot of oysters and other shellfish. Kids had their ice cream.

4. Out of slightly negative news. Little Munchkin has been diagnosed with ASD - autistic spectrum disorder. He had a team assessment and their conclusion that he has communication difficulties on an autistic spectrum. They can't say where on the spectrum he is, but it is not severe. They also don't think he has any learning difficulties, which is a huge relief to hear. Basically, it means that he can learn, but it his own way.

5. Little Munchkin also did not get in into the state nursery, which is right in front of our house. Apparently, they had 15 places - 14 went to siblings and 1 to the only kid who lives closer than us. In a way, I was really happy and relieved that we did not get in. Little Munchkin is very happy in his current nursery. It would have been a hugely difficult decision to make if he did get a place. Now, I don't have to make a decision. I already told his current (private) nursery that he will be staying there and that I want five mornings. So, from September he will be going there five morning a week. Quite a few other kids of his age group are staying there as well, including two kids who would be going to the same private school Big Munchkin is going to (and where we would ideally like to see Little Munchkin go).

6. Today Big Munchkin went for a horse riding workshop. It was a full day event. Nearly half of her class signed up as well. They had a great time. The stables are surprisingly close to our house. And the cost was very reasonable. I think it is something she will be doing more often during the summer holidays.

7. The most negative recent news. As some of you might remember, my DH was supposed to go to Mexico. The trip was cancelled due to the swine flue out break. Unfortunately, it's been reorganized. Now, he is going to Brazil, for two weeks. What is even more unfortunate, he is going right in the middle of the summer holidays for the two weeks i planned as our family holidays. Now I have absolutely nothing planned. All our friends are leaving. I have no idea what I am going to do alone with two of them.

8. We have summer half term break right now - back to school on Monday. Summer holidays will start on a month and they are 9 weeks long. I signed up Big Munchkin for a week to the drama school and for a week to the cooking school. Little Munchkin's nursery does not close for holidays until third week of July. Most of their after-school classes will continue until the end of July. It is the first three weeks of August I have nothing to do. I might start looking for some time summer camp where I can send Big Munchkin, even if it is just for a couple of hours a day.

9. At the moment, Big Munchkin is doing four classes - gymnastics, drama, Chinese language, and swimming. I am having second thought about continuing with gymnastics. She is good, but it is a high trauma sport. If she does get selected into the team, which is becoming more and more likely, I am not sure if she should continue. I don't want to have broken bones there. Her swimming is progressing very well. She can now swim the length of the pool by herself. We are dropping drama next year. It is not a good value for money. She also wants to do a ballet class, and she can't do more than four classes a week. It is just to much. So, if she wants to do another class she has to drop one of the classes she is already doing. In this case, it is drama.

10. Little Munchkin is also doing four classes - gymnastics and swimming without me and dance and music with me. His dance class is brilliant. His daddy takes him there. It is one of the best programmes in London. Absolutely fantastic. Big Munchkin is still on a waiting list for it, but I doubt she'll ever get it. Little Munchkin seem to get in because they had shortage of boys. I think it is the best class that we have ever done with either of the kids.

What did we do in the past couple of weeks? We went to the Woodlands Farm Trust. Not my favourite farm in the area, but we did have a nice (although muddy) time. The weather was good and we had a lovely picnic.

We also went to the Zoo, which was a certifiable disaster. It was raining cats and dogs (and since it was a Zoo, right about any other type of animal). Nearly all the animals hid away, we got soaked. Half way into the trip Big Munchkin declared that she wants to go home RIGHT NOW and she is NOT walking. We took a cab and went home. When we got home, she took a pillow and a blanket, settled on a sofa and went to sleep. She got sick. Fortunately, she managed to sleep it off quickly.

The first week of the school term the weather was brilliant. It was a real summer. We were doing picnics, going to the park and generally had a good outdoorsy time.

Last weekend we went to the beach. It was a lovely trip to the seaside. Kids spent three hours playing in the sand. They had a great time. Little Munchkin was saying ' beach' a lot. He really did not want to leave. When we did finally leave he kept saying 'bye bye beach'.