Festive run-up

The final week at school is generally a write-off. Not that work is much different: productivity takes a dip. There was a review of our function of late but fortunately there appears to be no redundancies amongst my peers. There are a few IT roles going though, almost entirely through voluntary redundancy. As ever it is unsettling, especially as more and more well-kent faces with Standard Life experience leave the building.

The schools broke up on Thursday lunchtime. A few mums and a good few kids went to the cinema to see the Rise of the Guardians. It was Angus's first trip to the cinema. Unlike his brothers who did not distinguish themselves on their cinematic debuts, Angus sat happily in the dark and the noise and munched on his sweeties. That made up for him missing out on his concert and nursery parties as his cough and cold kept him at home all week.

Stuart and Lesley came over for tea and an exchange of gifts on the Friday evening then I went out to them on the Sunday afternoon as Angus had fallen asleep in the car and we decided to give him a decent nap.

Earlier on the Sunday we had headed into the city centre for a brunch at the Edinburgh Larder deli in Blackfriars St (Black Bo's in days gone by). I enjoyed my GF bacon sandwich and celeriac soup and the boys ate up too. We walked from there to the Festival Theatre to see The Snowman, the boys' present courtesy of their Irish aunties and Nana and Papa. There is so much stuff in the house these days that these sorts of presents are appreciated by us, if not necessarily by the boys. They were attentive enough, although seemed to enjoy running around the upper cirle during the interval more, Angus flipping seats up and down everywhere he went, running into boxes and generally giving Sharon heart failure every time he went near the edge of the balcony. It was his theatre debut, following on from the cinematic experience two days' previously. Finn preferred the talking of the panto to the mime and music of The Snowman but Sean had keen eyes for the dancing, of which there was plenty. Rowan and Sean liked trying to spot the set changes whenever it went dark. Overall it was very well done, with the snow cascading from the roof at the end a fitting finale to set us up for Christmas.

Driving test

Sharon managed a test drive around the block at the weekend in preparation for Michael's departure on Wednesday. I went the other way though, being barely able to walk and drive this morning after my gout flared up very painfully on Monday. Last night was excrutiating. I took to Rowan's bed (he's sleeping in Sean's bed these days, and Sean is enjoying the solitude of the top bunk in the playroom) but couldn't settle with the pain. Fortunately the Indomethacin has done its job today, but I was struggling to function at work today.

Sean was most put out on Saturday when he missed most of Sarah's ten-pin bowling party. I reiterated he needs to start taking control of his own calendar and not rely on us to remind him of everything. As compensation he got to go to Ross's for a play on Sunday and went to see the film Monster in Paris. I took the middle two to see it too, at the Omni Vue, after a walk around the Old Town and a brief visit to Edinburgh Castle beforehand. Sharon went out to Livingston with Michael and the Meat Ball, also known as The Boy Wonder. So it was a day of divide and conquer.

On Monday night we had the first of the Dubai events in the house, with a few of the prospective qualifiers round to receive a presentation from stylist Judith Campbell on how to pack. Not quite my idea of a big night in but it was a trifle more interesting than my day-long workshop in Business Process Management today.

Finn's party

Finn had his small party this weekend. It wasn't really a party as such, as he only invited Zoe and Brodie, along with Sean and Rowan, to the cinema to see the Smurfs movie and then on to Papilio in Bruntsfield for a birthday dinner out. Sharon was the sole parent on duty but reported they behaved well, once Rowan calmed down and stopped running around at the Omni cinema. After the meal they came home around 9pm and Finn, Zoe and Brodie slept in the playroom. They were tired enough to fall asleep quite quickly, although Sean and Rowan upstairs, especially the latter, were more vocal.

While the rest were partying I took Angus out in the car. He fell asleep so we took the long way round to Dobbies Garden Centre. As we approached the Cockpen roundabout at the south side of Bonnyrigg, it became apparent that an accident had just occurred. A man was lying on the centre of the roundabout receiving CPR from the driver of a van that had pulled up. There was a motorbike on its side and one or two other people standing about. I drove on as there wasn't much I could have done and didn't really want to stop with Angus in the car. Today I found out the motorcyclist had died, apparently after hitting the kerb, coming off his bike and suffering a neck injury. Just goes to show how quickly things can happen. As I was driving through Rosewell the chap was probably still alive and biking his way home to Loanhead: by the time I got to the Cockpen roundabout he was dead.

In the event, Angus and I had a good wander about Dobbies, looking at the fish and rabbits and then outside to survey the sheds and summer houses. Our two huts are in a real bad way and while they'll probably last a few winters yet, we're not really making use of them. The one by the side of the house has a floor that is in danger of collapsing into the inky blackness beneath, whatever terrors that may hold.

Despite having six children in the house overnight, the Sunday morning wasn't too noisy, although I had had to go up to Angus at 5am and ended up sleeping fitfully upstairs. The sound of children in the morning in our house travels more from top to bottom than it does from bottom to top. Sharon and I should really think about relocating our bedroom upstairs. Before lunch and heavy rain curtailed any outdoor activity, we went for a family walk up at Flotterstane. Finn was showing an interest in some of the plants and wildlife (not that we saw any of the latter, save for Angus's tantrums once he felt he'd walked far enough) as he is covering Scottish plants and wildlife at school just now.

Largs jaunt

It's the Easter holidays. I can't believe it's a year since we were in Mallorca. The boys keep asking when we are going back. Rowan especially seems to have fond memories. This year it's rather less exotic - Largs. Once again the Wilsons kindly offered their house while they're away so we took the chance to nip through to the west coast for a few days. Unfortunately the great weather broke and we had a rather wild and windy time, none more so than when we battled the short distance on foot to the swimming pool, now part of the rather bizarre Vikingar attraction. Given that the Vikings never actually occupied Largs, and merely landed to recover ships, men and cargo that had run aground in a storm in 1263 (see more here) Largs has made good mileage out of its tenuous Viking connection.

We enjoyed a good lunch in Nardini's, preferring Tony Macaroni's restaurant at the rear to the rather busy cafe to the front. Needless to say the boys tucked into their ice-creams, apart from Rowan, who has declared that he doesn't really like ice-cream. It can't be a sensitive teeth issue because he likes ice-lollies. The boys had great fun playing on the scooters belonging to the Wilson children. There was one with gammy wheels though which inevitably led to squabbles over whose turn it was to get the good ones. On a walk back from the playpark at the Broomfields I had to stagger the turns so that two were scooting and one was walking.

After a good few years I finally had a round of putting on the Mackerston putting green with one of my own children. It was a mainstay of any trip to Largs: a round of putting with Dad and maybe Uncle Hugh if the Bairds were down too. I was explaining to Sean how there were four sets of 18 holes. The white was preferred, as it was the outermost circuit and therefore the longest. More bang for your putt! The blue was the inner one and therefore the shortest. The other circuits had red and yellow pins. It's not quite in the condition it used to be in but it was still enjoyable playing Sean nonetheless.

Sharon kept up her running regime with a run out to the Pencil whereas I contented myself with walks, reacquainting myself with some of Largs' back streets. Finn finally lost his first big top tooth after much wobbling and a helping yank from Sharon. So he's looking ever more the cheeky wee boy . We were delighted that James and May were able to drop in for a brief visit on their way back from a hospital appointment for James at Inverclyde. He's much better than he was last year. He'll be 86 this midsummer. May has given up the bowls as she was finding they just weren't rolling as far as they used to! It was good to see them both and they were obviously pleased to see the boys, James especially as he sees the continuation of the Wallace line.

Sharon took the big three up to Greenock to the cinema. It was Rowan's big screen debut and he passed the test without howling that it was too loud and dark and all the other complaints Sean and Finn made on their first visits to theatres and cinemas. They went to see Hop! which the boys seemed to enjoy but Sharon rated as pretty poor. Apart from that Sharon and I enjoyed some peace and quiet, reading books and looking out to Cumbrae at the ever changing seascape. Weather apart, it was a good few days.

A slip in the shower

It's officially the coldest winter of my lifetime, since 1962/3. And to underline that fact, the snow returned midweek, once again coating the Pentland Hills and leaving us with a snowy driveway. For the first time this winter Sharon was trapped in the house - by a snowplough! For some reason it pushed the snow up the road for about 40 metres and left it as a 2 foot high barrier across the road. Sharon couldn't take Rowan to pre-school and had to leave him in front of the telly (no complaint there) and Angus asleep whle she went out and cleared a path so she could collect the big lads from school. Not very happy!

Rowan has started swimming lessons at Gracemount. We may look to switching them all as Sean and Finn don't seem to be progressing now at SwimEasy and the ratio of teachers to pupils has dropped as they have advanced to yellow hats. If we can get Rowan to wear goggles and lose the dread fear he has of getting his face in the water (Finn was the same at his age) then that'll be a major hurdle overcome. We'll have to ferry Sean out on a Wednesday afternoon though, as Rowan's class starts at 1530 and Sharon can't wait to pick up Sean.

My new Canon 500D camera has arrived! I've been meaning to get a Digital SLR for some time, as I miss the quality and control that an SLR affords compared to a compact. So, with a wee bonus from my work on the sale of Standard Life Bank burning a hole in my pocket I thought I'd treat myself. I promise to be more timeous in getting the photos up on the site!

Sean was very pleased to get his gold merit certificate at school, which, given it's just past mid-term in the winter term, is a very good achievement. They may drive us daft in the house but we cannot complain about their behaviour at school or when they are out visiting friends. Finn got his sliver merit certificate and said he was really happy that he's never lost any golden time. Finn's writing is very neat and he's steadily improving his reading and spelling, but he's yet to develop the real interest in reading that Sean has.

I had a nasty fall in the shower this morning. My left foot slipped and turned and the toes bent right under as I crashed on to my backside, grasping for a handhold which was not forthcoming. It hurt a lot. With Sharon out, the boys occupied on the Wii and Angus asleep, I had no option but to pick myself up and hirple downstairs. It does make you wonder about the consequences of such falls in twenty years' time. Our neighbour Neil, who is a GP, checked my foot and ankle out later in the afternoon and decided nothing was broken. It was fairly throbbing as I sat in the Odeon in Lothian Road, having taken Sean and Finn to see the Princess and the Frog which was a very enjoyable animation from Disney, a more traditional cartoon in the Jungle Book style.

Semi-final success

"Mummy or Daddy!" is generally the first phrase shouted in our house of a morning. When this is followed by "I've had a wee accident!" then it's not a great start to the day. By and large one of us is awake already, in the room with Angus trying to shush him, when Rowan yells his morning pronouncements. Chances are he hears Angus crying, wakes up, then disregards the fact that his clock only says 6. Latterly his explanantion is "I'm just pretending it's wake-up time." Cute as that may be, we ain't buying it, especially when Finn and Sean decide to "just pretend" too.

Angus's sleeping is slowly improving, with him often going past 0615 before he wakes. He has had some terrible morning nappies recently, which may be waking him up (although he isn't happy when he wakes up on his tummy as he gets stuck) and which we hope are teething nappies. Still no sign of any teeth breaking through though as he approaches the eight month mark. He's getting quite mobile with his caterpillar crawling and hauled himself up on Finn's bed the other morning, tried to take a sideways step then collapsed. I had to lower his cot base at the weekend but I'm not sure it's low enough.

It was freezing at the weekend. With Sharon down in Castle Douglas on Saturday, I took the four lads out to Beecraigs Park but we did well to last an hour (especially with Sean falling twice and screaming the place down) as I fed Angus in his buggy and started to painfully lose feeling in my fingers. The boys were treaetd to a Greggs lunch in the car in Linlithgow then a wander round the Hopetoun House Garden Centre where discs of ice frozen on top of water features were of most interest. On Sunday I went with Sean, Finn and Rowan to climb Blackford Hill which they did very well, especially the littlest 'un. After a hot chocolate in Victor Hugo's which prompted Sean into further dramatics - "I'm going to be sick!" - we went to the East Meadows playpark. Things were going fine until the cold suddenly penetrated Rowan's defences leading to his obligatory dissolution into tears and trauma.

Sharon and I had a curious night out on Saturday, dining at the 110 Restaurant in the casino at Fountain Park which had all the charm of an airport departure lounge. The meal was decent enough but I suspect, given the subsequent bowel problems I've had this week, that I was "glutenized." We were then stuck in second row seats in the cineam, craning our necks to view the appropriately named "Up In The Air." We enjoyed it.

The cold weather resulted in a surprise return of the snow and ice. This didn't stop Rowan going to get his prescription for his glasses, nor did it stop St. Mirren reaching their first final in 23 years as they defeated Hearts 1-0 in the League Cup semi-final. When we won the Cup in 1987 we beat Hearts in the semi-final too. This time we'll have to overcome Rangers in the final. Straightforward enough?

I big tall

Rowan likes standing in his high chair or on the console unit in the sitting room and saying "I big tall!" Finn measured in at 110cm yesterday and Sean at 119cm. Finn still edges it on percentiles: 90% to Sean's 60-odd%. Rowan's 89cm only puts him in the 50-odd percentile so he's looking like the little 'un at the moment. They're all eating better after the festive colds.

Rowan had a great morning before Olivia left, topped by lunch at the Swanston Golf Club. He strode in saying "hi!" to all and sundry and then romped through his fish and chips. Bit of a pescatarian that lad; he likes his fish but isn't great with meat. Anyway, when the waitress comes to collects the plates he looks up and gives her a cursory nod and says "I be finished in two minutes." Where did we get him?

With Sharon away at Leadership Conference in Manchester from Thursday to Saturday evening I was in sole charge of the three lads (apart from when they were at their respective nurseries, schools and child-minders). I took Sean and Finn to see Madagascar - Escape 2 Africa which they seemed to have enjoyed, more so when recounting the tale to Sharon than was obvious at the time. Finn started with the usual complaint that the trailers were too loud and the cinema was too dark but part way through he whispered "I'm having fun!" to me. Sean intermittently expressed hunger and thirst. All in all it was a more enjoyable experience than the last time I took the two of them which was about two years ago to the Filmhouse to see "Help, I'm a Fish!"

On Saturday, despite the mounting gale, I took the boys into town to walk up to the Museum of Childhood. Sean is apparently "doing the Royal Mile" at school and was able to tell me that it was a mile long (there's a clue in the name), that Holyrood Palace was at one end and that the Castle was at the other. The Museum is interesting enough but the boys are maybe still a bit young for it. Sean seemed interest in the old-fashioned classroom display and the audio of children reciting their times tables. He and Finn played a game of snakes and ladders and Rowan played with some Lego. At least it got us out the house, for free!

Christmas past

So, Santa came down the chimney and left a sooty footprint on the hearth. That was barely noticed by the lads as they piled into their pile of presents. Rowan was matched by a Pooh Bear almost as big as him, immediately christened "heavy Pooh", a little tractor and other cars, some bath toys, a Tigger video and a Cars suitcase. "I go on my holidays." Finn came up trumps with a two-wheeled scooter, Mr. Incredible costume and a Mamma Mia DVD which we all sat down and watched after Christmas dinner. Sean didn't get the invisible paint he'd asked for (Santa must have put it down somewhere and forgetten where it was) but did get an Alvin and the Chipmunks DVD, some books, a jigsaw, Moon Sand and Twister. And the highlight for all three boys was two boxes full of Dino track which was soon wending its way around the playroom.

The boys didn't rise too early, managing to wait until their appointed hour, but they were keen to rouse Rowan and thrust the contents of his stocking through the bars of his cot as he struggled to open his eyes! Finn was a little overwrought over the day, still recovering from his cold and acting as through the excitement leading up to Christmas had been a bit too much for him. Nana and Papa had arrived on the 23rd and on Christmas Eve we headed into the Winter Wonderland on Princes St, Rowan and me joining the rest after a detour to Livingston. Papa took Sean and Finn on to the merry-go-round after Sharon and Finn had gone down the big helter-skelter slide. Once home and fed, Santa's supper was laid out in the sitting room and the boys went quite smartly to bed. Finn was a little apprehensive about Santa marauding through the house in the night.

We attempted a trip to church but I took the boys out after twenty minutes or so as they were not in the mood for an endurance test. Finn kept questioning loudly, "Why are we here?" and Rowan and Sean had faces that would have turned milk. After playing outside for a while I took them to the park at Falcon Avenue. It was a mild day and the fresh air was a pleasant alternative to the piles of wrapping paper and general feeling of anti-climax back in the house. Sharon cooked the turkey and trimmings with Marie at her side but Sean and Finn weren't particularly enthusiastic about eating. Rowan was napping by this stage. We were all still recovering from our various viruses I suspect (I took the 23rd off work as I was flattened by the cold and Sharon had a chest and sinus infection) so we were glad to all sit down and watch Mamma Mia.

On Saturday I dropped Marie and Michael into town then the rest of us drove out to Almond Valley Farm Park on a cold crisp day. The boys had a good run around, although poor Rowan was increasingly cold and miserable as his runny nose took hold, and we bumped into the Johnstons. A hot chocolate and a soft play revived the boys and we handed over the reins to Nana and Papa on our return home. Sharon and I then went for a leisurely dinner at First Coast in Dalry Rd and moseyed on round to Fountain Park to see the latest James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. It's not often we get the chance to combine food and the cinema so we enjoyed the evening out. The film itself was OK, a bit of a brisk action film thin on plot: not as good as Casino Royale.

Marie and Michael were waved off today and replaced by the Valentines and Patersons, round for lunch and a play (the children) and some chat (the parents). It was good to get the children playing together (Zoe had asked Karen to text Sharon on Christmas Day to see if Finn was better as she was worried he wouldn't enjoy Christmas) and to sit down with an afternoon glass of port. Merry Christmas!

Three out of five

There was only me, Sean and Rowan sitting round the kitchen table last weekend as Sharon and Finn were in Ireland. It wasn't quite as odd as last October when Sean and I were left behind last while the others headed to Spain, but it's a different dynamic without Finn, so often the catalyst!

Sean had a great weekend though. He was collected and taken to his pal Luke's house on the Friday afternoon (Luke has now switched schools to Buckstone) and then on Saturday Lesley and Stuart came over to mind Rowan while I took Sean to the driving range and then on to see Mamma Mia (again). He was getting frustrated with the golf (who doesn't!) and needs to work on that "I can't do it so I'll give up" attitude but he managed a 50-yard hit and quite a few in the 30-45 yard range; far more than last time. We went putting too but he's not got the touch or alignment for that yet.

Mamma Mia was very enjoyable and Sean was rapt throughout. It is very much a feel-good film with the added familiarity of the ABBA songs (over-familiar in our household - it's a wonder the ABBA CD's haven't melted yet). Rowan had a great time leading Les & Stu about the house all afternoon, chatting away and making demands. On the Sunday morning, Sean went to Ross's house while Rowan and I took a turn round the shops. We then picked up the travellers from the airport, with Rowan repeating "Finn and Mummy, chop chop chop!" from the back seat as we waited for them to appear.

Sean is becoming a bit of a bookworm. He is piling through Horrid Henry books from the library although his level of comprehension and interpretation is still questionable. He needs to ask more if he finds a word he doesn't know. He has given up on an Enid Blyton Five Find-Outers book after a few chapters as I think it was too wordy and a bit difficult for him at this stage. I'm sure he'll be making use of Lesley's collection of Enid Blyton books next year.

Mama Mia

Sharon took Finn and Sean to see Mama Mia at the Odeon in Lothian Road at teatime on Sunday. It was a very successful trip as the boys loved it. This was no suprise as the ABBA CD we have must be close to worn out by now and Sean has been trying to learn the lyrics too. Even Rowan chips in with his own passable versions of Super Trouper and Mama Mia. On the way there, Sean was telling Finn that the film was about a girl getting married on a Greek island. "Who is she marrying?" asked Finn. "I don't know. Some boy," replied Sean, "unless it's a gay wedding. That's when a girl marries a girl or a boy marries a boy." Sharon, to her credit, didn't swerve or drive off the road!

Rowan is developing his terrible twos tantrums nicely. He has added "no fair!" (complete with pout) to his repertoire and has us hounded with pleas to "elp me" when he wants help with a jigsaw or game. He can easily keep repeating this mantra for an hour. Bawling his eyes out and throwing himself to the floor or the base of his cot are other well-worked routines, especially first thing in the morning or last thing at night.

I had the pleasure of stepping into Sharon's shoes yesterday (not literally, unlike Finn, who is fond of a trot through the house in a pair of high heels) as she was down at Ascot on business. Rowan was put in or taken out of his car seat 24 times in all as we dropped Sean and Finn to Pentland Primary, went to various shops, collected Finn, collected Sean, went to the dentist and went to Buckstone Park. The boys behaved well in the dentist, Rowan lying back in the chair eyeing the dentist warily and barely opening his mouth. Sean's teeth are very good, despite being a good brusher Finn may have hypercalcification which means his teeth have a tendency to yellow, and I had a scale and polish. My lip has almost healed following the operation.

Finn started his swimming lessons yesterday, at George Watsons. He was a bit tearful to start with as it is pandemonium around the pool as classes change over but he soon settled down to do diving under the water for toys, pushing out to a lane rope from which he was then dangled like a monkey, and jumping in. He was excited and pleased with himself afterwards which is always lovely to see in Finn as he has a real twinkle in his eyes. Sean re-started his classes too. He'll need to start improving else Finn will soon catch him up!

Wall-E

I took Sean and Phoebe to see Wall-E last night at the Dominion. It's been about 18 months since my last attempt to take Sean and Finn to the cinema which wasn't particularly successful with Sean shouting loudly that he was hungry and when could he go home and Finn going daft becuse it was too dark and loud and he was scared. I was miffed last Frday when the boys turned down the opportunity to see Wall-E. You'd think I'd asked them to dig a latrine in the back garden, the look on their faces.

Anyway, Sean had a change of mind when I brought Phoebe into the equation but he still was asking how long until it finished and was generally fidgety until it was done. I'm not convinced he particularly enjoyed it. It wasn't quite as good as I'd hoped, falling between a number of stools: an entertaining cartoon; a science-fiction story; a love story. The animation is outstanding but the humour was perhaps too subtle, especially for a five year-old like Sean, when compared with other recent great animated films, such as Toy Story. As a character, Wall-E is endearing but very like ET in appearance.

As my nickname was Wally at school (like my peers, by contraction of surname as it was before Del-Boy's "what a wally" phrase gave it a more negative connotation) it only remains to be seen if Sean ends up picking up the nickname "Wall-E". Hopefully with it being the school holidays just now the connection between his name and the film will have passed his school mates by once P2 begins. He saw a few of them at a party at the weekend.