Look What We Got for Christmas!

Hoping You all had a Great Christmas.

With five children in the house this is the usual picture here on Chrismas morning;

Gifts galore!


And I always wonder where it's all going to go!

Here's some of the contents of those parcels;

Girl Power!


Sir Jacob strikes again!


But best of all - we got this on Christmas day too and it didn't go away for two whole days! I can't remember my last white Christmas - it was FAB!!

Snow on Chrsitmas Day


Another snowy pic


In fact there have been a number of fantastic things about this Christmas. One of them being that Abbie has suddenly become dry at night. One wet bed in more than a week. And WE didn't do a thing - it was all her doing. The best gift she could have given us! :) Another thing was that Phoebe, on Christmas day, said "I love you Daddy" as a sentence - for the first time - another great gift! :)

Now, of course there is the after-marth of Christmas to deal with - which I have not yet even attempted to tackle. It took us all afternoon on Christmas day, plus a couple of hours on Boxing day afternoon to get to end of unwrapping the presents. So yesterday and today have been spent playing with them all and making LOTS of mess!! The boys have been learning the rules to new games (like Junior Cluedo & Battleships) and that has involved us grown-ups playing too, of course :) The girls have been spreading feathers all over the house and generally spreading all the little 'bits' that seem to come with girlie toys everywhere. Tomorrow it is my intent to begin to bring some idea of order to the chaos. I have in mind that Paul is going away for 3 weeks on January 10th and I REALLY want to have the house straight and clean before he goes becasue I'm VERY sure I won't being doing much housekeeping when he's gone, He normally does all the cooking here and as that is going to fall to me while he's away that would be my cleaning time (not that I ever do much of that either) AND we will be back to school and playgroup routine - and he won't be here for drop offs at 9am, so I'm going to have to get 5 children out of the house by 8.30am two morning each of the three weeks - something I have NEVER done, or wanted to do!! At least it is only for 3 weeks and not more than that!

Anyway I digress! As far as storing all the new toys; every now and then I buy new storage places (bookcases, and fabric covered cuboards, IVAR, etc...), plus we have massive double wardrobes in both children's rooms, BUT they are all FULL of either clothes, or toys, or both already! I have been trying to think about what could be feasibly got rid of - what is not played with anymore? What could be stored somewhere outside the house until it's needed again? Problem is, with children ranging from 1 - 7 there is not much that falls into either of those catagories. Maybe I could put away the really BABY toys (outgrown by a 1yr old!) - for the next 6 months!! Even the garage has gained new occupants in the form of a new bike and a set of skateboard ramps, so that's pretty overcrowded too! We have 9 bikes (Jacob's old one and a big pink one waiting for Abbie to grow into (that I got cheap)being surplus), four scooters, 5 skateboards (Jacob has a full-size and a 'trick' board), plus boxes of balls and out-door games (cricket, swingball, etc...) - and three disused wardrobes (of the landlords) full of boxes of clothes & shoes that are not currently being worn, camping equipment (long since used :( ), - I could continue, but I think you get the picture!! We don't have a loft and the cellar floods - as some of you may remember from the summer postings. BUT, when all is said and done - I WILL find room for it all and once all the boxes are got rid of it doesn't look nearly so much!!

Tonight we all sat together after bath time and watched Home Alone 2 on telly. The boys loved it and it was a great way to spend the evening. :) I just love having lots of children and it really has made for a fantastic Christmas this year. They all seemed to grasp the wonder (both spiritual and 'fantastical') of it all and were really gripped with excitement for the first time I think. When Abbie opened her stocking gifts on Christmas morning (before church they just have few small gifts to keep them going until the afternoon) I think she would have been quite content if that was all she had - bless her! (maybe I'll remember that another year! ;) ) I asked her, "So is that lovely. Have you got what you wanted?" Her answer was, "yes, they're lovely. I'm very happy ... except for a ballet barr" (with a little wistful shrug). She didn't know, at this point, about the mountain under the tree, or that the 'Bella Balerina ballet barr' was amongst the gifts. In fact she didn't open the barr until Boxing Day (it was the very last gift to be opened) and she never mentioned it again - but she danced around the room when she eventually opened it!!

Oh, the beauty of childhood innocence and the lack of expectation (although not lack of hope) that it holds. My prayer is that, despite the fact that my children seem to get their every dream each Christmas (thanks to a large extended family on both sides), they will not take their blessings for granted and will always be willing to be generous with what they have and remember to think, pray and give to those who have so much less than themselves. This year Paul and I have decided we will, as a family, sponsor a child. It is something we (Paul & I) have done before and we believe that, now the boys can write too, it would be good for them to get involved in this kind of project. It will help them all see and understand more clearly, we hope, just how less fortunate children live and yet, their faith is not dependent on what they own.

All Good Plans...

Well with all my carefully laid plans you might well know that something would go wrong! Early hours (well 6.30am, but that's early to me!) Abbie came in saying "feel sick" and promptly was - fortunately for once she made it to the loo, but on inspection of her bed it would seem she was a little bit sick in her sleep too and had stayed in it!! So she didn't get to go to the Library with Daddy on Friday morning, or to the Christmas Social. In fact I only took Phoebe to that in the end as Ellie was sleeping and as Boo wasn't well that meant the boys had to stay home too, so that Paul could look after the girls :( I had a nice quiet lunch with my friends anyway!! :) And in the afternoon all of the girls went to bed (Ellie still sleeps twice a day if I can fit it in), I napped on the sofa and Paul took the boys to the sports hall at the college for a game of footy. It was too cold for the skate park in the end :(
Christmas cards remained unwritten (nap took priority!!) and then just as we were getting ready to go out for the evening Jacob was sick! The babysitter arrived and was promptly sent home again, while we deliberated over what to do. Options were take out, or I still take Mum out and Paul stay home with sick kids (although Boo by now was fine!) We opted for the latter, as I felt it was a shame to spoil Mum's evening and I REALLY didn't fancy take out.
Mum and I had a LOVELY meal out, although actually it was quite expensive and 3 people would have been a little steep! I've promised to take Paul there for our birthdays this year - with a new baby in tow (I hope)!

Saturday saw Jacob and Paul both curled in listless heaps on the sofa - feeling pretty rough :( Jacob therefore missed his dress rehearsal, but Abbie and Joel trotted off to that. Abbie then went to Ballet (which I didn't think was on, but was). Mum took Phoebe to Aldi and picked up Boo and then took her and Phoebe out to lunch - at Safeway!! I began to feel a little sick during the morning and there were errands to be run. Paul said he needed to get some fresh air, so he took a very slow walk into town to get the few bits we needed before coming home and crashing out for the rest of the day. I took the girls out to the party, which was actually at 2pm, still feeling a bit iffy, and just sat quietly for most of it while they all played.
Sadly we didn't get to the landlord's for drinks in the evening - I wonder why! :(

Today - so far - we have been to church and the children's Christmas play was gorgeous and very well done. There was also Christmas lunch at church afterwards and happily we are all feeling better today, so it was very pleasant to be fed and to not have to cook :)
Tonight we are back at church for the Christmas cabaret evening. The boys are going to READ their poems in the end., but at least they are taking part. Maybe next year they we might be able to be a little more organized!! (ha-ha!!)

Last Day of School!

Well, Wednesday we decided was to be our last day of school for this term. We did a bit of Maths and English in the morning, which, by the way, went VERY well! The aeroplane idea seemed to have 'stuck' with Joel and the blackboard was a definite help. No frustration today at all :)

Had lunch when Daddy and the girls came home for their various morning activities (exams and Christmas parties!!) and then Daddy announced that we'd spend the afternoon putting up these;

The garland


The Tree



That was that then - no school in the afternoon - not that I had anything planned anyway ;)

I've decided the last few days of the run up to Christmas are going to be (as much as time allows) a messy craft festival in this house! Lots of 'making Christmas things'. In reality the kids have done loads at various places already (playgroups and clubs), but they are eager to do more. I'm awaiting a delivery of Hama from Merry. Most of it is for Phoebe's present, but not all. My aim is try to make some tree dec's with that, although as you might be able to see, there's not a great deal more room left on our tree! We need a bigger tree next year - we have too many creations to hang these days!! Alternatively I might copy Merry's idea and get the children to make some cards for family with the Hama.

BUT, I do also have a few more pressies to buy, a food shop to do and various 'events' to attend.

Tomorrow holds this schedule;
10am - Take girls to Story time at the Library (Daddy's job). Take a trip to Aldi to buy something to take to next appointment (boys in tow - groan!!)
11.30 - Lunch at a friends (with three girls) for our Mum's Bible Study group Christmas Social, while Daddy takes boys to the Barony Skateboard Park and out for Lunch.
Also fit in children making my Mum birthday cards and going out to buy one for her from us. Wrap her present.
Try to write my Christmas card list at some point and maybe even some cards and get them posted.
5.30 - teatime
7pm - kids bedtime
8pm - Taking my Mum out for a meal for her Birthday

Saturday;
10am - Boys & Abbie dress rehearsal for Christmas play down at the church (Daddy to take)
Go shopping for a birthday present for Abbie's friend.
Have Lunch. Squeeze in Ellie's rest
4pm - Got to Birthday party with all the children in tow.
6pm - Get home, rush kids into bed & go out to a 'drinks' evening at our landlords across the road (starts at 6pm!). This will be a 'wealthy' affair, so requires more than the usual casuals!

Sunday.
10.30 - Kid's Christmas play at church, followed by Christmas lunch at Church too
Kids nap when we eventually get home (they'll be wiped out I think!!)
6pm - Christmas Cabaret & mince pies (by Candlelight) at church - this is a really fun evening not to be missed. We are supposed to be trying to get the children to perform something, though quite where I'm going to find the time for the Boys to learn anything between then & now I'm not sure!! Perhaps when they should be napping in the afternoon ?!

Monday - no plans yet, but I'm sure there will be!! If not I'm going out shopping :)

A more productive day :)

Well I told myself today that we really had to DO something! So this morning we did Maths as usual - definitely something not even worth attempting in the afternoon! Joel was on a revision exercise and it glared at me those concepts he has fully grasped and those he has not. He gets number order, forwards and backwards, position and place (eg 1st, 4th, etc...), greater and lesser, the fact that addition and subtraction are opposites (1 + 3 = 4 & 4 - 1 = 3) - but only just, some number 'facts' he has off pat, including most of the '10 bonds' eventually, he gets the idea of making 10 first, but seems to really be struggling with the HOW still! Over the weekend I managed to buy a little desk-top sized blackboard for next to nothing in The Works. So today we did giant sized calculations on it! He had to do the sum 6 + 7. Initially he wrote the answer 11 :( SO... we got out the blackboard. He wrote the sum out. Then we chatted;

Me -"what do you have to do first?"
J - "make 10."
Me - "OK. Which number are we going to make into 10?"
J - "the 7."
M - "good! How many more do we need?"
J- " 3." (so far so good)
M - "Where do we get the 3 from?"
J - "the 7." (sigh!!)
M - "no"
J- "no, no the 6." (no, no really meaning whoops, must be the other one then!)
M - "OK then. Fly in 3 - that's how many we need remember - from the 6."
Joel draws a nice big arrow, representing an aeroplane flying 3 (people) over from the 6 to the 7 and writes a 3 next to the 7. [we have used frogs on lily pads before, people on aeroplanes was a new idea today!!]
M - "OK good, so now how many are left where there were 6?"
J - looking blankly "6."
M - feeling slightly irritated "no there were only 6 to start with and 3 just flew over to the 7, so how can there be 6 left still?"
J - "oh, oh, oh,....4"
M - "try again..."
J - this time actually saying "6 take away 3... 3."
M - "Great! So now we have 3 people over here (writing and circling a 3, whilst crossing through the 6) and how many over here (pointing to the 7 & 3)?"
J - "7."
M - Now with a little MORE irritation in her voice at the fact that he simply does not seem to be looking at the board, or is he really not SEEING what HE has actually worked out!? "No Joel, the 7 people isn't 7 anymore because 3 more people flew over. How many people are there now?"
J - (looking to his left) "6!"
M - (RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!) "NO!! You have 7 & 3, how can you have 6!!"
J - "oh, oh, oh....10!!"
M - "hooray!! (I cross through the 7 & 3 and write 10 - BIG). SO, what do we do now? Look at the sum, what KIND of sum is it?"
J - "a plus."
M - "which means we have to..."
J - "add."
M - "OK. Go on then."
J - " 3 add 10...13!" (that bit was easy!!)

On to the next one 8 + 8! By the time we had done three more like this I think he had just a little more idea of what to do, but who knows!!

Splitting numbers I THOUGHT he understood until today, when he wrote that 16 consists of 16 & 6!! He was given the initial 16 and the part 16, he just had to fill in the 0!!

So after all that was over we 'played' with coloured rods and blobs on blackboards for a while, writing numbers in the colours that the rods represent & colour mixing to represent added together bonds (eg orange + pink = a mucky browny colour (12)!

Then we drew some circles and shuffled about some single cubes (one rods) to represent part and whole numbers moving along subtraction and addition lines.

This was relatively fun and he SEEMED to SEE what we were doing, I just don't know if he will be able to translate it all back into actual numbers come tomorrow. BIG SIGH!! He has another revision exercise to do tomorrow, so I'll keep you posted how it goes - if you're not too bored of reading all this that is!!

Anyway, this afternoon I decided we needed to do something a little less brain numbing! So we learnt all about the various 'Disasters of London', as Jacob entitled it. We read about the Plague, The Great Fire, The use and misuse of The Thames and how London spread out (and why) over the last 1000 yrs. The boys did seem genuinely interested and liked all the pictures and quiz questions in the book. Joel had apparently been reading it on the quiet!! Afterwards, as an English task, I got Jacob to write a short paragraph about what he had learned today. I got him to make himself a spider plan first and then to order and write whatever he wanted. I was SO pleased with what he wrote. He had obviously taken in loads. :)

Jacob's writing piece (click if you can't see it well)



While Jake did that Joel did a little bit of his "Write about Me" and produced this;


Joel's Lion


Writing about a lion (click to see bigger)

A Nothing kind of day!

Oh why is it that I simply can't get going at the moment? We did Bible study and Maths today and that was it. After a hearty lunch for all of soup and poached eggs on Marmite-toast, in various combinations, I simply wanted to sleep! Joel and Abbie engrossed themselves in an elaborate and lengthy game with Boo's playmobil palace and I felt like the baddy intruding on that one - so I didn't! Jacob was busy doing a puzzle and in the peace of the room I dozed off. The two little ones were already in bed asleep. Phoebe takes herself off after lunch these days (I think it's simply because she knows she can only have her dummy if she goes to bed!) and Ellie only just lasted to the other side of lunch-time today (she's teething and definitely under par). At 3.30pm Joel asked to watch some telly - and there they still sit 2 hours later. Most of the afternoon I have drifted in and out of consciousness and feel very guilty (not) about the lack of schooling that's happened here today!

But happily Joel managed to finish of the exercises we had left undone due to frustration on Thursday - with absolutely NO trouble today - here's smiling hopefully that I was stressing over nothing, but somehow I wonder if the problem might rear it's head again in the not too distant future ;)

All in all a pleasant and happy day and Paul has decided that after an exam and an afternoon of study his brain is fuzzed so he's not studying tonight :) He's got videos, so we get to spend the evening together :)) He has another exam on Wednesday and he's done for the Semester - phew - glad that one is over at last!!

I had some business!!

Well, you haven't heard form me this week purely because I had my first customer on editmypics!! It has taken me every available bit of time I have had at the PC to get the work done as the man would like the picture for his wife's Christmas present. It has been a real challenge, but I think I have made a good job of it, so I'm pleased. Let's hope he agrees with me!! :)

School-wise, I can really feel it is the end of term. The children are dragging their heals and to be honest I have struggled to get up steam after having had a few 'lazy' weeks with nausea and tiredness. I am feeling fine in myself now, but I really need to get motivated about school again. Hopefully the Christmas break will do the bizz!

We spent the whole day on Thursday looking at London and actually that was quite enjoyable. The boys seemed thoroughly delighted by their capital city. Then Blue Peter on Friday had the story of Dick Whittington - both the true and the fictional versions, so that was great as I was struggling to find a good copy of it. I used to have a Ladybird book of it as a kid, but that one doesn't seem to have found it's way onto my bookshelves yet! I want to have a brief look at the 'Fire of London', 'The Great Plague' and how much the ecology (pollution & clean-up) of The Thames has changed over the years, before we move on to looking at Scotland. I had hoped to finish of the UK this term, but I think Scotland, Wales and Ireland are going to hang over into next term, but it doesn't really matter that much. We'll probably, in reality, spend most of next term looking at those three countries before we move onto maybe France, or Spain in the summer.

Maths this week was a little frustrating. After Joel getting off to a good start to a difficult concept, we seem to have hit a block. Adding & subtracting numbers over 10 and under 20! 'Making 10 first' So for example; 4 + 7 = ? Now with Singapore the child has to decide which number to make 10 with (the 7), work out that they need 3 more, which they 'move' away from the 4. 4 is made up of 3 & 1. As the 3 is now with the 7 (to make 10) there is only 1 left of the 4. They have basically rearranged 4 + 7 into 1 + 10 - a much simpler sum to do. It sounds REALLY complicated explained like this, but with blocks it is easy to demonstrate and actually in reality quite easy to do - I think!! For a sum like 12 + 6 they have to split the 12 into 10 & 2 (make 10 first), add the 2 onto the 6 (making 8) and add the result back onto the 10, therefore 12 + 6 becomes 10 + 8 - easy!! When it comes to subtraction you kind of work in reverse. 15 - 7 = ? You can't take 7 from 5, so make 10 first. Split the 15 into 10 & 5, take the 7 from the 10 (leaving 3) and add the result back onto the other units (5). 3 + 5 = 8. I do remember hitting the same block with Jacob. He simply couldn't seem to remember what steps he was supposed to take to reach the answer, would get half way correctly and then stop and write down any wild number! Joel is doing EXACTLY the same - it is SO annoying. I am again in a quandary whether to flog it until he 'gets' it, or move on and come back in the hope that with fresh eyes he will see it differently. With Jake I flogged it and he did eventually get it but not without sweat and tears (too many). Having said that, in hind-sight it was worth it, as maths is breeze to him now and he hardly ever struggles with it. The strong foundation was laid and he is able to build solidly upon it. Hmmmn!!!
I'm wondering though if it might be a worn-out brain thing and that with the new term and a breather Joel might just get it and that will be that - here's hoping!!
How did C. do with this concept Jan?

My friend came to do Art again last Thursday and finished up the 'Self-Portrait' theme with a collage portrait. The boys did great (although neither is really a SELF portrait!!). Next term they will be looking at building and architecture - interesting!

Joel's Collage portrait


Jake's collage portrait


Last night was our annual College Christmas Bash. The theme this year was "The Wild West", with a live band, Barn-dancing and a real hog roast (yes, a whole roasted Pig complete with tail (but not head!), which was a fascination to the boys!!)

Cowboy Joel


Cowboy Jake

Not sure about the 'creative bit'!

You are a Book of Kells bird.
The forest is your home. You are creative, and only
show your true nature to those you trust.


What Celtic Bird Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

well maybe....

You're a girl power mommy! You love to be girly,
but you're no pushover. Your kids are learning
that gender differences don't have to mean
gender inequality. You've taken back pink, and
you don't care who knows it!


What kind of a freaky mother are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Ellie's Birthday and Other Pics.

"Everybody's singing to me!!"


Yummy Chocolate cake!!


All cleaned up and opening pressies - "This is a good book!"


"Me looking cute"


Jacob's self-portrait


Joel's self portrait


Angels - top left going clockwise; mine, Phoebe's, Jacob's, Abbie's, Joel's.

Another Week Goes By!

I really must get back in the swing of this, although to be honest I haven't had much chance this week to be on the computer. Paul was preaching on Sunday and is again on Thursday (at college), plus he's doing a 'scouts' talk on Thursday too, so he has been busy on here most nights this week. Oh, to have the luxury of two computers!!

Anyway, what have we been up to..? Well, nothing exceptional really I don't think.

MATHS:
Joel has been working hard on addition with numbers up to 20 and started on subtraction today. He seems to have got a fairly good grasp of the idea, although I don't think he would quite manage so well without the pictures and being able to circle '10', but as he is not required to be able to just yet that isn't a problem :) He seemed to get the subtraction OK today too.
Jacob has been doing 'money' which he apparently loves and definitely 'gets', so that's cool, I'll be able to send him shopping for me soon ;) !

HISTORY :
Started looking at ancient civilizations today - REALLY ancient - like UR!! Interesting - as always :)

ENGLISH :
At LAST I am beginning to see my eldest son able to formulate ideas and put them together in some semblance of a sensible order to create writing that is at least a little bit interesting to read! :) Just Write is working really well for him.
Joel today (in Write about Me) had to draw a picture of his favourite part in a film and write about it . He drew a great picture of Medussa hanging onto a pipe at the end of 'The Rescuers' and then wrote. "Medussa got stuck on a pipe and the alligaters tride to get her." (spellings his) I thought this was excellent for a boy only 1 term into 'Yr 1' (just turned 6). His imagination and visual memory are SO much more vivid than Jacob's and it really shows because his creative writing now is almost reaching a level with Jacob's. He simply has more grasp of vocabulary and language usage and yet I cannot think that he has had any more exposure than Jake. It's not that Jacob is 'slow', he just doesn't seem retain what he has previously learned very well and almost has to re-learn things over and over! I'm not particularly worried any more - I just see it as difference in personality more than anything else and I don't think English is ever going to be Jacob's strong point, but we can't all be fantastic at everything we turn our hand to can we? You watch him prove me Oh so wrong now, and get and a 1st Class degree in English some day!!!

SCIENCE :
hmm - well that has taken a bit of a back seat, must get back on track with that one! But Jacob and I did finish off the first section on 'Classification' the other day (i.e. what it means to 'classify' things/beings), next we will look more specifically at how ANIMALS are classified and the main classification groups.

GEOGRAPHY: haven't done it yet this week - probably one for tomorrow.

ART :
Made some 'angels' for the Christmas tree today with lots of glitter glue, paint and red glitter. The girls have this great Advent calendar with an activity to do most days. Today's happened to fit with Joel's bible reading about 'hosts of angels', so we made angels. The kids loved it - I hated it - I just can't bear the mess that that kind of art brings with it, and with carpets everywhere it's not easy to clean up, but I showed brave, happy face and praised the children for their beautiful efforts :) There's still red glitter in the carpet mind!!

SOCIAL SKILLS :
Went to lunch on Friday at a friends - she has 5 children too, three of whom she is currently schooling. They all played fantastically together :) Plus all their usual clubs and activities that they do (which cover P.E. too). They are not lacking in this department for certain!!

R.E..:
Well that's kind of dropped out of my curriculum this term. There just doesn't seem to be the time to take it as a separate topic and to be honest we are covering so much RE in other subjects (particularly History and Geography, as well as Bible study every morning) that it seems almost superfluous. It is a shame though, because I was looking forward to having a good delve into Judaism with the boys. I guess there's plenty more time this year yet though (and in years to come) and I think at some point it will simply 'slip' into place anyhow.

OTHER NEWS :
Well my sickness is all but gone and my headaches - well I haven't had one for over a week now :) But I have learned in recent days that I really cannot travel long distances in cars! I went to a meal in The Wirral at a friend's house, with 11 other home-schooling Mum's on Monday night. We had a fantastic evening - great food, lovely conversation and nice putting faces to names I have known for a while and never met the people, as well as making new contacts. The Wirral is about an hour's drive away from me and going there I felt just a little queasy, but returning home on a full stomach was another matter! I literally dived into the bathroom as soon as my friends dropped me at my door (at 1.30am) and .... (I'll leave the rest to your imagination!) This completely wiped me out for a whole 24 hours. My poor children must think I am permanantly sick at the moment!! My fabulous friend a few doors down took all four of my 'noisy' ones on Tuesday morning, Ellie slept and I crawled back into bed until Helen returned the children - all fed - at 1pm. I then plonked myself on the sofa with pillows and blankets and allowed the children to overdose on TV and Playstation time! Then sent them to their rooms for a 'quiet hour' while a dozed again on the sofa (with one ear on Ellie who was playing in the room). When they emerged - more telly!! Well actually I did try to encourage them to find a game to play together. The boys got out Top-trumps, but ended up throwing them at each other! Joel then took himself back to his bed and slept til tea-time!! Jacob was then bored and consequently could think of nothing better to do than watch more TV (The girls were still resting at this point). I was too ill to persist with the 'go play something' tac, so more TV it was!!

Paul is doing fantastically well so far this year with his course - upped his grades significantly on last year's average. So all this time on the computer is paying off for him :)

Abbie had a podiatry appointment on Monday because she is quite pigeon toed - I think. The podiatrist said that she has one leg slightly longer than the other (mm's, but it makes a difference) and yes, her right foot does turn in. So we are awaiting shoe inserts to help 'correct' the problems. We'll see if they help...

Ellie celebrated her first birthday on Saturday!! We had friends and family over for tea and she had a fabulous time with the chocolate cake I made her!! :)

Pics to follow shortly!!