Photo post!

I just felt like sharing normal life.  I'm going to take pictures of normal life over the next year - I'm kind of looking for a meme if anyone knows of one - but I thought I'd start with today.

Well.  Not today, as obviously today hasn't happened yet.

These are pictures from the last few days.

J's Christmas presents - Mork and Mindy.  He's a salmon boa, she's a pastel boa, and both are adorable!

John Doe, a dot dash California King Python.  He's a bit grumpy, but calms quickly for me.  Doesn't like anyone else though, and this was the first time he'd properly locked on.

The AC getting his Scotty's Little Soldiers present.  It is an amazing charity set up for the children of the fallen by a military widow.  There's a whole back story there as well, but suffice it to say the boy-child was amazed by his present.

This photo shows two things.  One is the traditional (in England) Christmas cake, with nativity.  The other is the gap between the t-shirt of the child and the trousers of the child as yet again he has grown out of clothes.  Currently I keep 3 t-shirts and 3 pairs of trousers (aside from school things) as he is growing so fast that to by more is simply a waste.  And you can see his waist in this picture!  He's also proudly wearing a Royal British Legion wristband.  He has spoken to his teacher, and he puts it on her desk at the start of the day, and gets it at the end.  This enables her to still restrict the use of "shag bands" which are currently all the rage amongst the more sheep-like of the school population.

And the cake.  Oh the cake.  The cake!  It was gorgeous (though I says it as shouldn't) and was dark and moist and dense and much enjoyed.  Admittedly I used ready made marzipan this year, and ready to roll white icing, and I shall never use that ready to roll stuff again.  Bleugh to handle! 

Flyboy.  He's now on helicopters and an indoor plane called a Vapour.  It is a joy to see him learning and focusing.  He looks bulky in this picture.  That may have something to do with the 3 t-shirts and a long sleeved top that he is wearing.  I'm only guessing......

He goes to his fathers today for about a week.  He's back to me on Tuesday night, ready for school to start on Wednesday morning.  I am proud of the fact that his father and I can manage a reasonable relationship, and that I can honestly say I have never stopped his father seeing him.  The AC will come to his own decisions about both of us as he grows, and I would hate to influence that for good or ill when it comes to his father.

So that's a quick trip through the last few days.

More tomorrow - the meme search begins!