Deutchland ahoy

Continuing my theme of yesterday of a typical parent day, W decided to wake up at 3.45am this morning and didn't go back to sleep until 6.45am. He wouldn't stay in his own bed - and he's not allowed to sleep in mine - so we ended up with a compromise (or rather, I compromised and he got his own way) as I laid down on the floor in his room.

I remember waking during the night a lot as a child but my Mum (star that she is) used to lay on the edge of my bed and stay with me until I slept. I tried, last night, to emulate her (instead of my usual hissing loudly at the child to shut up and let me go back to bed, lol). However, as W sleeps in a cabin bed, I couldn't perch on the edge. Hence the floor. I laid down on my pillow, in my dressing gown, with a baby blanket over me, for nearly 2 hours (and it was very cold and windy last night).

This morning J showed me his latest creation - he'd made his own pendulum out of W's Kid K'NEX. We had a discussion about friction, and then he read up some more on Planet Science.

At lunch I rang the changes from rice cakes, by offering them gf burgers as I'd bought some gf baps in Sainsburys this week. They still had their vegetable crudites on the side. It was followed by a slice of gf cake.

Having discovered our lice infestation yesterday, Roarke de-loused the boys with neat tea tree oil, tea tree oil shampoo and tea tree oil conditioner. I wouldn't mind, but I HATE the smell of tea tree oil! I've just managed to get my done too (a long process as I have thick long hair, down to the middle of my back!)

During the afternoon, the boys practised some of their German, in preparation for the family meal tomorrow at Mum's, when Aunty Dora's parents (German father, Hungarian mother) will be there. I created a worksheet for them each using sections from Allemandfacile.com, Discovery Educational Software (the number mazes), About.com's German for Beginners, German Languages 4 Everyone, and German for Travellers. They then practised with some online activities from Languages Online and LinguaWeb auf Deutsch.

I had a flurry of domestication late afternoon, baking a gf sponge cake for tomorrow, and then making fish cakes and cheesy potato cakes for dinner - suitably arranged in a face on the plate together with pea "hair". Am I the only mad Mum who makes pictures with their children's food?!

After the meal I realised that I had yet to change the bedding - post de-lousing - so that meant stripping duvet covers, sheets and pillow cases from the three boys' beds, and our king size bed. Needless to say, I'm shattered! (and hungry again)

The boys have been playing the same game all day - pirates. That is, space pirates like in the film Treasure Planet. It's been awesome listening in on their game which, as usual, was very involved and complex. They have a crows nest (the high sleeper bed), the Captains cabin (J's room), a galley (our kitchen) and at least 2 ships (I think). They seem to be very good at finding treasure - I know this because the "treasure" is all in a pile on the bedroom floor.

Talking of which, it's now time for the bedtime routine to start, so I'm going to have to go and tell the ship mates to get their rooms ship shape!

Have a good evening!