Skiing and jigging

Sean got a sore one on Friday at skiing, careening off the slope at Hillend in the murky weather and skittering across the grass and mud before colliding with a rock. He's got a very nasty bruise on his buttock. At least he passed his Level 6 test. Finn got his Level 1 certificate but was miffed he missed out on Level 2, his turns needing more practice. Credit to them with their skiing - the weather on Friday was misty and drizzly and generally horrible but they don't complain about going skiing. It's the one energetic activity they take part in (not counting Sean's gymnastics) so it's good that they are prepared to go out in all weathers.

Sean's bruised bahookey didn't stop him going to the pantomime at the Kings' Theatre in the evening, along with Finn and the rest of the cubs. It was Mother Goose and they seemed to enjoy it well enough. The sweets, the late night and being out with a crowd of friends and peers are probably more exciting than the show itself. I'm glad they go with the cubs as it saves Sharon and me having to endure it!

On the Wednesday it was the school Christmas disco. Sharon was helping out and took Rowan down for the first part, the P1-P3 disco, before returning him and taking down the big two. All enjoyed themselves although I suspect Rowan and Finn found it a bit noisy and didn't do too much dancing in the gym hall, no doubt running with their pals outside and round the tuck shop. Finn did show that generous nature he has by acting on a remark made by Sharon that she wished she had brought more money to buy herself something, by going off and buying her a sweet out of his own money. He then suggested spending the last of his money on getting sweets for Angus and Rowan and sharing out what he and Sean had left with his brothers. For all he can be a house devil at times, there is that thoughtful side to Finn that Shylock Sean would never think of displaying.

Sean did enjoy his dancing though. He's been glued to Strictly again this year and has been trying out new moves with Rowan. Rowan is willing to be thrown around like a rag doll but he has been coming off second best and has a few bruises to show for it. Sean is easily upset when we point out to him that if he wants to learn how to dance properly, and especially learn how to do lifts safely, he should be going to classes. "I don't want to learn to tap dance!" was his latest huffy response, along with "I can be self-taught!" before storming off to read a book. As with his gymnastics, Sean likes to do things to a point, the point generally being just short of where he has to learn and practice over and over again to get the basics right.

Last hurrah of the holidays

"I was going so fast I banged into the yellow bits at the bottom." "How did that feel, Finn!" "Great!"

Finn and Sean went up to Hillend this morning with Miriam and Margaret Flaherty for a "play ski". (Denoting something as "play" differentiates it from "lessons", hence "play ski" and "play swim". I took Rowan on a play swim the other evening to Loanhead. The emphasis was very much on play. To his credit he can doggy paddle a bit and is willing to try in the big pool but he's not that keen on persevering after a couple of tries. He can now touch the bottom in the big pool and just keep his mouth above the water.) Finn went up to the blue run on his own, couldn't see Miriam so just decided to come down himself. And he did it very well! As with his golf he seems to have a very good natural technique. Hopefully he'll keep at the skiing and the golf but Finn can be mercurial when it comes to deciding what he wants to do.

I was dropping Sharon off at the Gyle so that she could meet someone and maker her own way home by bus. Over-use of the crutches led to blisters on her hands however. I spent the afternoon setting up a print server which seems to do the job with regards to being able to sharing the printer between the desktop and the laptop but isn't going to cut it as a storage server. I was hoping to network a recently purchased external hard drive but it looks like I'll have to splash out more on a proper Network Attached Storage device and just use the external hard drive for back-up, which was the original plan for the home (and Sharon's business) network. I was just hoping to do something on the cheap.

This evening we headed up to Nonna's at the top of Morningside for an early dinner. The boys were well behaved although Rowan let the side down a bit. He has been very hyper recently, like a dog chasing his tail, yelling and wailing a lot and getting up in the night all too often with his mantras of "I've had a bad dream" or "It's too dark". I moved him into the bunk bed last night and gave him a night light which seemed to improve things. At least he lasted till after 7 this morning.

Sean has been re-reading some of the Harry Potter books again. Ask him to name a spell and he'll come up trumps. He's spent a good few hours reading this week, which, given the inclement weather we've had of late has been no bad thing as there have been few opportunities for the boys to get out. Alex and Louis St.John were over yesterday which the boys seemed to have enjoyed, getting a good laugh. Alex is in P5 at Bonaly so, assuming no moves, him and Sean will start Firhill together. It will be interesting to see if they develop a friendship.

Angus is being delightful and demonic in equal measures at the moment. He is full of "I love you's" and cuddles and kisses and keeps talking and talking. He drew blood from Rowan today and drew tears from all his "bruddas" at some point as well as demanding telly and "a movie" endlessly. He had a great time with Barry here, introducing him to soft play at Leadburn and generally looking out for him. A rare chance for Angus to be the big cousin.

Skiing Finn

Finn's run of doing new things in his holiday continued as he had a week of skiing lessons at Hillend, going each afternoon. He went off quite happily despite not knowing anyone, which was good to see. Sharon reported that he progressed well over the week and he seems to have enjoyed it too, fairly working up a sweat. Reminds me of the morning he and Sean spent in ski school in France. Finn was a damp blob after that one! Sean went up for a ski on Thursday afternoon while Finn was having his lesson and was fairly flying about the place. Here's hoping he keeps it up.

Finn had to cut short his last lesson as I collected him and Sean on Friday afternoon and drove into town for their first ever Fringe show. We went to see "Potted Potter" in the Pleasance Grand as I thought that would be appropriate given their current interest in all things Potter. It was good fun, a parody on all seven books done in seventy minutes with imaginative use of props. (Sean says, "It was funny. I liked the part where they acted out the Prisoner of Azkaban using a slide show.") There was even a game of Quidditch in which we, the audience, had to try and get a beach ball through a hoop. Remarkably, our team (Slytherin House) won! According to Dan, one of the actors, it was the first time in five years of putting on the show that anyone had scored!

After the show, we had to dash up to Fairmile nursery to collect the wee two. It was an especially notable day for Rowan as it was his last day there after four years. We draw every closer to him starting P1. He didn't appear unduly upset at leaving Fairmile: like Finn before him he has probably outgrown that stage and is ready for his next big move - school!

Angus has been a bit of a tyke recently, a regular cuckoo in the nest. He just won't stay in bed in the morning and has been bed-hopping, much to the irritation of those he has been waking up. If he isn't in at me and Sharon at 0600, I often hear him padding through to Sean and Finn's room to climb in beside them. Needless to say we're all a bit tired and cranky, moods which haven't been helped by the continuing poor weather.