Nothing of great excitement, but a few things to record.

Last Monday, Amelie got her cast taken off but was told at the same time to take it easy (no cartwheels) for another couple of weeks. She’s back at gym (was as soon as the red cast went on) but this has actually good for her i think as it is making her be raring to go again instead or nervous and also teaching her to listen to her body and test it gently, skills i think will be good for her.

The older 2 stayed home and tidied the house and prepared a party for her, complete with games, banners, prizes and clown act.

Tuesday i went and swapped my Blackberry phone which was dying rapidly, for a iPhone, which i love. Though i promptly got addicted to a game called Farm Frenzy, which Fran now also has on her computer and is just a bit too good. But definitely educational as it involves management skills, logical thinking and problem solving.

Then we went off to my parents house to say goodbye to my brother who was about to lave for Australia; he is moving there for 3 years had a lovely time (and my sister came up for the night too which was lovely) but was very emotional really. Do love my brother an awful lot; even though i only see him a few times a year and he probably thinks i am a radical loony, he is easy to be on good terms with, lovely at family gatherings and going to be missed by many, not least his lovely girlfriend i would imagine. Feels like he is leaving a lot behind – but that is limited employment options for you. Just not that many jobs for Drs of Geology.

Came home Wednesday rather wrangled and having not taken proper care of myself, told Maddy off (she left the back door open when we went out!) fought with Fran, was grumpy and eventually ended up sat on my bed crying till Max pointed out i probably ought to eat,drink and sleep. Which i did. Did however make it to gym for all the girls, including Fran’s coaching session, so was not a bad mummy.

Not sure Thursday was much better so we loafed a lot but also did a fair amount of work. Fran is doing equations, Maddy is working on some history on the Stone Age, Amelie is using some books to find out more about houses and we read together. Girls have been watching a 1998 (or 1999) version of Alice in Wonderland, which is excellent – and acting it out/playing it a lot. i think there was a good bit of PlayMobil all together that day too.

Friday they all worked hard while i blogged. Normals currently consist of music theory, music practise, maths, reading, EC and then normally some other topic of interest. Afternoons tend to be freer at the moment with some focus from the older ones that they are interested in. However, that day it was lovely weather, so we grabbed lunch and went off to the Garden of Surprises at Burghley House. Will blog it separately as have nice pics. Dashed back to dancing. Fran was very pleased to have got Highly Commended (despite a cock up!) in her Theatrecraft exam. Not bad given she did the exam as a duo with a very talented boy (recently down to last 6 for Billy Elliot and only lost the part to an Oliver reject) who got the highest mark anyone had ever had at their dancing school! All girls also excited by the next show dates and title and the knowledge that there will be parts for the class F and M are in. Something to aim for.

Saturday the older 3 all went to audition at the local youth theatre which is one of the three town theatres (not the one they normally do shows at, a 1920′s restored cinema which recently suffered an arson attack ) They liked it there lots and were very keen but had to wait until Monday to find out if they had places. Fortunately they all did I’m really pleased about this as i had fabulous (and stretching) experiences at youth theatres and got lots of opportunities from it. I like that they’ll get a chance to stretch away from familiar territory a bit, be with a very different set of teachers and be in big and pretty diverse groups. F and M are in one with 50 kids in it so that should be interesting for them And getting to rehearse and perform in a real theatre regularly will be good too. However, as it is relatively expensive, so they all have to make some choices about what will be dropped instead. Tricky conversations.

In the afternoon we went to Mini-Violet’s 4th birthday party. Her mum is now also working for us so it was nice to spend some time with her

Sunday we had planned to go out but Maddy was poorly so we all stayed home. My brother flew out in the evening and it was all a bit emotional

Yesterday (Monday again) Fran did some geography, Maddy did history and endless bits of stuff happened to make it a productive but fraught day. Didn’t make it to Jazz, did make it to gym. They all did well there.