Ewan after he missed nearly a page of his maths book:

"But Mum you know I would have got them right.  Can't we just leave it at that?"

Er, NO!

I am so mean.  Nearly as mean as those examiners he will come across in later life.....

I am just heading for the tills at Hobbycraft this morning with arms less full than I expected and I notice some stickers that will be really pretty for a scrapbook page that kids and I are working on.  As I head up the isle I hear Callum as clear as day:

"Oh!  I think Mum got distracted again."

And the three of them drop down into some seats at the front of the store.  I had to laugh.  He has bloke shopping off pat!!

One of those emails that make you giggle:

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a change! The chicken wanted change!

JOHN MC CAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One! that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth? That's why they call it the other side. Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay, too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media whitewashes with seemingly harmless phrases like the other side. That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken 2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken 2008. This new platform is much more stable and will never crash or need to be rebooted.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

Sorry!

Sorry more American politics, but this time from the family perspective.

Albert Mohler posted a blog entry way back in May 6, 2008, entitled "Welcome to the World, Trig Paxson Van Palin" about Governor Sarah Palin's pregnancy and the birth of her son with Down's Syndrome. I urge you to go read it and the AP article to which it links.

She loves her baby boy and is proud of him. "I'm looking at him right now, and I see perfection," Palin told the Associated Press. "Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?"

Trig Paxson Van Palin has an extra chromosome, two proud and loving parents, four very happy siblings, and he will bring his own joy to untold numbers of lives.

He will face some unique challenges, but he has a loving family who will face those with him. They will learn together the wonder and beauty of a Down syndrome child and will learn to see the glory of God in his trusting face.

Mothers Day 2008 is certain to be a special day in the Alaska Governor's Mansion. What an unspeakable tragedy that so many other homes will have aborted that joy.

Hat tip to Chris for the link.

Sibling dynamics are an interesting study!  Today I am missing the two older children.  Ewan and Evie have spent the early part of the morning arguing.  Ewan is trying to build Lego and Evie is getting in the way.  She isn't really very good at building Lego and he has very clear ideas of what he wants to go where. Evie is playing the annoying little sister very well.

Ewan is trying to play the big brother.  Usually he leaves that to Callum but he seems to feel that there is a role to be filled now that Callum is away.  Evie has other plans.  She considers that they are equal even though there is a four year age gap.  Conflict is inevitable!

When the children are together there is a well rehearsed and fiercely fought hierarchy.  When the numbers change, they are thrown into a bit of confusion!  As the morning has gone on, things have settled into a more settled pattern.  Well really they have just decided to leave each other alone! 

Take a look at the graphs below (from the Washington Post), and look past the obvious Republican vs Democrat arguments:

Obama and McCain Tax Proposals

According to a new analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are both proposing tax plans that would result in cuts for most American families. Obama's plan gives the biggest cuts to those who make the least, while McCain would give the largest cuts to the very wealthy. For the approximately 147,000 families that make up the top 0.1 percent of the income scale, the difference between the two plans is stark. While McCain offers a $269,364 tax cut, Obama would raise their taxes, on average, by $701,885 - a difference of nearly $1 million.

If one of the political parties in the UK were to present tax cut plans to us, quoting 2% vs 0.3% which one would you vote for?  Now look at the way the cuts are spread over the income bands, now tell me which one looks the fairest to you?  Which one actually supports the average family and those that need the money most?

I know Philippa would argue, from her tax experience, that such a large tax rise for high earners would have a detrimental impact on investment into this country, particularly within the financial sector.  However, I can't help but see this kind of adjustment of the tax regime as being just what the UK needs right now...

Warning!

it makes your hair fall off!

Big Girl!

Our baby girl is joining us for "school" this year.  Actually she has always been sat at the table drawing or playing with toys so the idea of her joining us is not quite right.  I suppose what I mean is that I will start doing some formal work with her.  I was hoping to leave this for a year but she has started to teach herself to read so I will strike whilst the iron is hot!

Isobel is off camping in Wales with friends.  Callum is with his Grandparents for a couple of days and Ewan is off with Stuart to Legoland.  That leaves Evie and I on our own.  What do girls do when they are on their own?  They shop that's what!!  We headed out for a cake and a milkshake and then hit the town.  She now has a folder for all her "work";  a sticker book for maths;  plastic folders to take art work and her very own pencil case. 

It was a lovely day.  We just needed to mark the fact that she is growing up.  We don't have a first day at school type experience like other children.  I wouldn't want her to either, but I enjoyed celebrating with her that she is a big girl! She is still my baby though!!

Free films for schools which are open to home educators too.  Just book HERE.

We got to see REM on Saturday night, live and in concert!!  Did you get that?  I GOT TO SEE REM!!!  The last concert I went to was 10 years ago.  REM again but in Stirling Castle.  It was fabulous as was Twickenham.

I was a bit worried about feeling old but, silly me, everyone there was at least as old as me if not older!!  Consequently, there was not as much dancing in the isles as there was last time we went.  We had seats which was great but we weren't allowed to go into the middle.  Next time I think we will book standing tickets.  Much more fun!  Still Stuart, Helen, Dom and I were dancing when everyone around us was sat still listening like they were at the opera!!  We had fun!!! 

The special effects were fantastic.  The music was even better.  We don't get to go away very often and we used our time well!!! 

The best bit was that they played a good number of the old songs.  We got Orange Crush, Lean on Me, but no World Leader Pretend or Everybody Hurts.  Still with over 100 songs in their back catalogue I suppose we can't hear them all!

Huge thanks to Mum and Dad who were brave enough to have all 4 kids over night!!