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Well I didn't have a smiley morning - simmering cabin fever exploded - but I did have a smiley afternoon. 

Wheelchair handling skills have improved although it helped that it had handrails so I could push myself as well! 

The garden centre was full of an assortment of people who caused us amusement as we people watched. 

And I bought two new items of clothing. 

Yummy dinner with Rösti and Grüner Vertliner. 

Oh and I'm going to Switzerland in 3
weeks and so is my 'other half' :)

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Smiles today came in all my classes at some point. Some funny answers, some very good questions, and some mangling of the Spanish language that led my native speaking Y6 and I to swiftly choose between wry smiling over crying in despair!

Coming home on a Thursday always makes me smile - no school on Fridays!

And the ball pit episode of TBBT is guaranteed to make the tiredest person giggle!

Today's photo is from this time last year. I miss Swiss shop displays. So amusing and quirky.

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Kids do the funniest things!

This was last year at IPC - Benjamin inside the drum kit case, zipped in by his brother.

Some very earnest Y3s today made me smile with their attempts to help me, and the 'creative'  spelling of some Y5s amused me no end.

GBBO does Sport Relief was on and made me smile as always, this time mainly because I could bake a better cake than most of the contestants!

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It's Thursday! No teaching on Fridays although I have plenty of work to do!

It always makes me smile when children ask really interesting questions and we had lots of those in Y5 this morning related to space. Most of them I couldn't answer so hopefully we'll find out together this half term!

I did assembly this afternoon about new beginnings and told KS2 about my life sort of beginning again when I was 40 and moving to Switzerland. Choosing the images to use was a long task but the children  seemed to enjoy the pictures, especially the man polishing the traffic lights! I miss the idiosyncrasies of Switzerland sometimes...

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It's been a year of two halves - Swiss and English. Lots of smiles along the way - tears too or I wouldn't be human, but lots of smiles and laughs.

Happy New Year to you all and thank you to my lovely boys for providing so many of the smiles, many unrecorded. 

I'll leave you with some of my favourite pictures from this year. But I'll be back tomorrow, by popular demand, with ...

MoreSmiles365!

And here's the link to all the photos from the year!

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My Narnia lamppost. I miss it! Thanks to the Pickups I got a Christmas card to remind me, and this was taken on this day last year.
Made me smile thinking of it though!

Smiles today as we shared cracker jokes and watched TV.  Jude made us all smile with his annoyance at the ending of The Italian Job - "I'll be awake all night wondering about what happened!" And the sunshine on my run made me smile too.

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I refuse to start Christmas until December but the Steiff shop window made me forget my usual reluctance.

Other things making me smile - 

the excitement caused by chocolate in the staff room;

Good feedback on my observation; 

More Innocent Smoothie hats. 

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Fun and games in and around Zürich. Thank you to Zoëand András for having us and to Lils and Hellraiser for the giggles and hugs. 

You'd think this was dusk across a lake. It's actually taken from above the clouds, mountains peeking through! Beautiful and this photo really doesn't so it justice.

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Meeting Yvette for a chat - and Prosecco!

A beautiful husky - I'm sure Jude wishes I'd bought it home!

Beautiful Zürich.

And dinner in a hut at the airport!!

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I've been to Darwen! And 'the Lisas' were reunited!

Very smiley!

And look at those hard and cupboards! I didn't take a picture of the wonderful

AGA as I was too busy warming my bum on it ;) 

Bonfire and fireworks in spite of torrential downpour - including innovative use of a broomstick to 'nudge' a non spinning CatherineWheel (to cries of dismay from children well versed in the Firework Code!) and some highly amusing 'firework reenactments' from the younger guests. 

Brilliant time had by all! Thanks for having us!

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Picking apples from my own tree and making apple crumble (with a Swiss twist - Bircher-müesli topping)

That's made me smile today.

I now have enough apples to be bobbing from now to Christmas ;) (That's only 1/10 of the ones in storage - and I've already processed two bagfuls!)

And the Ten Commandments according to Switzerland http://www.dicconbewes.com/2013/10/27/the-ten-swiss-commandments/ also made me smile - the 11th commandment is "Thou shalt be obsessively tidy to the point of picking up every stray leaf and polishing traffic lights, and thus ensure full employment!"

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I have to take a "small object of positive significance" with me to a meeting this evening and I'm taking a snail shell. It's very special to me because it was given to me by special people, reminds me of special times and always makes me smile when I see it.

I also have new glasses. Perhaps I will actually wear them in public... ;)

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On this Saturday last year...

I intend to spend my birthday a little energetically this year! Having said that, if I hadn't broken my foot I would have been running 10K around Tamworth. And if I still lived in Switzerland I'd have been having another go, and this time paced myself better in the hope of breaking that elusive 2 hours!
As it is, I've done all my planning and intend to have a restful day. And then celebrate again when Jude is back from Boreatton.

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I'm in survival mode. 

Today my 'weapon of choice' is a raging waterfall, a fluttering flag and  a rainbow.

And a (rather weak but still there) smile.

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After today, I needed a mountain! So I went and found one and it worked - it made me smile!

So I found another...

and another, this time with a lake too.

And then I had to stop because, although I was still smiling, it made me cry. 

Life's like that sometimes.

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I failed to take any photos of International Day at WPS but someone did! Here's one I can share of "Heidi" and "Hawaaiian Barbie" ;)

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This time last year....

Stein am Rhein - that was the day we met a man dressed as Jack Sparrow. Like you do!

A good day at school (although I'm exhausted!) 

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A duck in a shower in Dubendorf - and it's emigrating to the UK!

Great to have the boys back after their sleepover too.