Daily Drivel

Need more hours in a day and more days in a week!

Honestly, times goes by so fast and we're so busy it seems that I stop to check my blog and it's been a lot longer than I can remember, lol! This photo was taken this morning with the kids wrapped up in blankets on the couch. Both of them have a cold so are a bit clingy and extra cuddly this weekend. Poor K has thrown out his back and can barely walk or move so I've been extra busy. I'm also babysitting the next door neighbor's dog as they have gone away for the weekend. I love their dog as she is super sweet but this weekend has confirmed that I never want to own a dog. At least not in the next 10 years until the kids are old enough to take care of it or at least share care of it. Walks 4x a day, constant need for attention, having to pick up poo... it's worse than having another baby and we all know I don't do well with babies. I do feel awful though as the dog is in it's crate when I am not over there as she's not shall we say a well trained dog. She is housebroken but she would probably destroy the house if left to her own devices. I was over there for a while with N yesterday but I've got to be at my own house as well so into the crate the dog goes. That's another reason I couldn't have a dog... too much hassle to have to be home to walk it, etc. A cat is an awesome low maintenance pet. I must show our cat more appreciation from now on, not just for not being a dog but for being easy.

This past week has been full of activities. Both kids are in school a lot but I have C at home in the mornings with me. We went pottery painting on Wednesday, swimming on Friday morning, N didn't have swimming this week so we moved stuff around in her bedroom instead and played a lot. She and C both had a playdate on Friday after school which was a lot of fun. One of N's classmates came home with her after school and then a little while later the Mom brought over her son who is 6 months younger than C and they played well together as did N and her friend. So us Moms got our own playdate as well! I went up to N. London on Thursday afternoon to a charity knitting thing at an old friend's house which was great fun. She has a Chinese friend who made the most delicious dumplings so we all got to eat loads in celebration of Chinese New Years. I also had a gym training session that morning, had a bunch of people over for lunch so it was a full day for sure. On Tuesday I met up with my usual knitty friend and we had a good chat, lunch and got some knitting done. Always a highlight of my week to see her. Other than that it's the usual housework, boring laundry, food deliveries and trying to stay on top of the clutter piles that form around our house with very little effort. I've pretty much given up on having a super tidy house though so I am able to sit and knit with all the chaos around me.

This week will be another one filled with plenty to do. So chances are there won't be another update for a while. Now it's time to get back to a knitting project before I go back out to walk the dog again and then it's lunch and a bit of tidying up. Hopefully K will be back to walking like a non 80 year old before long. Poor guy.  

The Great Yarn/Fiber Diet 2012 and Another Finished Item

I managed to finish another project this month. It's a little shawl/scarf for N's teacher as it's her birthday tomorrow and N asked me to make something. The thing with making lacey shawls for non knitters is that when it comes time for them wash it, chances are they won't be able to block it properly so all the detail will get lost. I chose this pattern as it's super easy to block... just soak, remove water with a towel and then lay flat and shape and leave to dry. I used this pattern which was free and then used some Madeline Tosh Pashmina which is a Sport Weight yarn in a 75% Merino/15% silk/10% Cashmere blend. It was gorgeous to knit with and luckily I have 2 more skeins so I might do a pair of gloves for myself or something!

So, this year I've decided I need to cut back on my yarn and fiber purchasing and actually do what I can to use up/sell/give away as much as possible. In order to do this I had some friends come over to help me with photographing and inventory-ing all my yarns and fibers so I know what I'm starting with and then I'll keep a spreadsheet through the year to track my progress and will update here at the end of each month. I know I can't/won't/shouldn't have to go without any new yarn/fiber this year but I've set myself a goal of 5 yards out 1 yard in. So for every 5 yards I knit I get to bring in a yard. With fibers, when I spin something up, I won't count the yardage in from the yarn made, instead it will count as ounces out, and then when I knit it up, it will count as yardage out again. Otherwise, there's no real incentive/benefit to spin anything. 

Here are my starting numbers:

Starting Yarn Yardage: 171,034 yards

Starting Fiber in Stash: 25lbs approx

Knitted so far: 707 yards

Destashed so far: 13,754 yards

Allowance: 2,892 yards

Purchased (yarn for Kirk's Xmas 2012 sweater!): 1,540

Remaining Allowance: 1,352

Current Yardage: 158,113 yards (8% decrease)

I'm not counting my one sock club yarn against my allowance although I'd probably be fine even if I did. I am in 3 fiber clubs at the moment so might have to drop at least one, if not two, unless I start spinning a lot more. We'll see! 

 

 

 

How easily a week goes by!

Here's another photo taken in the US in December. Noemie wearing her favorite Hello Kitty on her dress and Charlie looking all motorcycle dude in his faux leather jacket. I found both at H&M... a store I generally don't like for adult clothing as it's so cheaply made but for kids stuff is great! 

Noemie has gone back to school and is still enjoying it which is great. She starts swimming at school this term and also takes lessons at our gym one day after school so hopefully she'll gain more confidence in the water. 

We had a new nanny start this past week working two days a week with us. I've been spending a ton more time with the kids and while it's tiring, it's a lot of fun now that they are older! It's been wonderful having help during the harder years of have two kids close in age but now that they're little people in their own right, I'm glad not to have as much help. I'm even feeling like two days a week is too much and I'm considering trying to find someone that just does a few hours here and there. I've got a person in mind so I'll meet her this week as the other nanny is still in her trial period. She is nice but I'm not sure she's the right match for us. 

Charlie's new big boy furniture arrived this past week so Kirk is putting it all together. Our house is a bigger tip than usual with all his bedroom stuff all over the place. I still need to make space in a wardrobe for my new clothes purchased in the US. I have sorted out my yarn stash with the help of some knitty friends and have destashed quite a bit as well. I'll do a blog entry once a month just for me to keep track of what I have, what I use, what I sell, and what I bring in. I'd like to see the total yardage number go way down by the end of this year!

Better go help Kirk with the furniture. Lunch with the neighbors today as it's the little boy's birthday, then coffee with a friend in the afternoon and then some major tidying up at home. Yet another busy week ahead as well!

NYC/American Girl

After arriving in PA on Dec 15th, we took the train into NYC on Dec 18th where we spent 2 nights at the Soho Mondrian hotel. On the first day I went to PurlSoho for a visit. I had been anticipating this for a while as I read a lot of great things about the shop. The staff there were super friendly which was nice and it's a pretty store. I wasn't overly impressed with the yarns mainly as I had seen most of them at Loop in Islington. The prices were however great as it's much cheaper to buy in the US as we all know. So shop I did. I went back on all 3 days and purchased on all days. I won't be buying any more stash for a long long time. 

The next day, Monday, we headed up to 5th Avenue to the American Girl store. We had an afternoon tea booked there but decided to do our shopping in the morning in case it was too crowded in the afternoon. We had read about massive lines forming outside to get into the store and we didn't want to have to borrow a doll for our tea appointment. We definitely had a great time, Noemie, Nana and I all got a new doll and Noemie and I selected a large quantity of clothing, accessories, shoes and even pets for our dolls. We saw the big tree at Rockefeller Center (from across the street). For some reason I had built it up in my mind that it was going to be something really amazing. It was pretty but wasn't quite what I had expected. In fact, I felt that way about NY in general. We had fun but it's not a place I'd want to live. I felt that way the last time we were there in 2000. I think I'm definitely a more West Coast kinda gal. 

Here are the dolls. Noemie got a red head with brown eyes and named her Isabella. I got one with dark hair and dark eyes and named her Audrey. Ours were mainline dolls. Nana got a historial doll. It was named Molly on the box but she renamed her to Emily which was another doll that she originally thought was getting. They had two dolls with the same outfit (which is what she was after) but with different hair/eye colors. Luckily Nana liked the one she ended up with. The dolls get their own little clip on seats so the three of them sat at one end of the table during tea. Noemie has part of the outfit to match her doll. Unfortunately they were out of her size but she does have the matching hat. We all dressed our dolls for Christmas once we were back in PA as well. I think Kirk was a tad worried about our mental state (Nana and mine).

Speaking of mental states... there must've been something in the tea that Kirk drank that afternoon. All of a sudden I look up during our dessert of chocolate mousse and find the flower that was in the dessert is now behind Kirk's ear. As if that wasn't bad enough, he puckered up his lips like Noemie has been doing since she was a baby. I guess this is proof that the crazy runs on the Lindstrom side of the family despite Kirk's best efforts to convince me it's from my side. Charlie brought his stuffed dog toy, Potato, to tea and he got his own little clip on chair as well. This dog sleeps with Charlie every night, was cuddled on the flight out and back and is well loved. I got him at Ikea of all places. When I gave him to Charlie I asked him what his name was and Charlie didn't miss a beat and said "Potato". Remind me not to let him name any future pets. 

Aside from American Girl, Kirk and I went out to dinner at Peter Luger steakhouse in Brooklyn where we had a celebrity sighting of Jake Gyllenhaal .  I have to admit he does nothing for me. The steak there on the other hand was AMAZING. We ate and ate and ate and still managed to have left overs. Portion sizes in the US are insane! Another night we ate at a place called The RedHead which had good food but reminded me of a dimly lit English Pub. And, Kirk and I were by far the oldest people in there. Good job our immaturity helped us fit right in. We originally wanted to go to Momofuku but there was an hour long wait (minimum) and we all know how I feel about waiting. Nana provided us with endless hours of babysitting (thank you Nana!) so Kirk and I got to eat out and have grown up (a relative term here) conversation and we got to shop kidfree. 

Stay tuned for another blog entry soon. Perhaps not tomorrow. I don't want to burn out or anything!

Pre-Xmas Playdate

 C had an inpromptu playdate with a little boy who is the grandson of a friend of Nana's. They got together last year as well though there wasn't so much playing back then as they were still a bit at that play along side each other stage. This time around they totally hit it off and had fun playing with the train set that sat in front of Nana's Xmas tree. Then they did some bubbles outside followed by playing in the hills behind the house. N was the nice big sister and played with both boys very nicely. Near the end of the running around outside, C grabbed I's had and they ran up the hill together and all around. It was so adorable and I'm lucky I just happened to see it in time and managed to focus to get a non blurry photo. Non blurry photos are like gold dust these days. 

Getting a photo of N where she isn't pulling faces is getting harder and harder. Generally I can only get a decent one when it's candid. Otherwise she puckers up her lips, grimaces and generally acts like a diva. Perhaps it's preparation for her day long super model career one day.

Today we didn't do much. K put the suitcases away in the garage so the kids can now access their playroom. We went to lunch, Pizza Express to begin with but then left after 10 minutes as they were understaffed and no one even brought us a menu. We went to Nando's instead which worked out better anyway as the food is better and probably better for us. I've been knitting this afternoon and the kids have been watching far too much TV and playing games on the laptops. 

Can't beleive the holidays are over already. Next up will be halfterm in February sometime... already can't wait for that! At least we have another week before N goes back so no early mornings just yet! Phew!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a lovely day and not nursing a hangover. K and I did our usual cheese fondue dinner last night and I don't drink so no hangovers for me! 

My parents came over and brought the usual traditional Japanese New Year's Food for us. We had a nice lunch together and afterwards, K turned into a declutterer and then I felt a bit bad that it's mostly my stuff so I did a bit as well. Then I decided I'd had enough and sat back down to knit. May as well start the year in the manner in which I plan to continue the year, right?

We've been gone for most of the second half of December, visiting Nana in the US. We had a whirlwind visit to NYC for 2 days as well, supported the economy of NYC and PA, celebrated Christmas there before we headed back to London with our 9, yes, NINE, fully packed suitcases. I had a good time.

I have lots of photos to share from our trip. I've even downloaded them to my computer which is one step further than usual these days. We visited the American Girl store on 5th Avenue and bought N a doll for Christmas. Then I decided I should have one and so did Nana. Then N and I decided we needed several outfits, shoes, accessories and even pets for our dolls. C and K were all very patient and K didn't flip out when he paid the bill. Surprised perhaps but he managed it all very well. N and I are dangerous when we get into shopping mode. I am so proud my little girl is learning so well at such a young age. Just think of the future she has ahead of her. 

I did a good bit of knitting and managed to finish a pair of Cashmere Bedsocks for Nana. She'll take a photo and send it to me so I can share. I finished one of K's Christmas socks on Christmas day and then managed to finish the other one today. I'll consider it my January finished item though I have a few more projects to finish off this month.

Tomorrow is our last day of vacation before K goes back to work on Tuesday and C goes back to nursery. N has another full week off and is excited to get lots of quality Mommy time. Our new 2 day a week nanny doesn't start with us until the following week. 

I'd share my 2012 resolutions with you, but it seems so pointless considering I failed at one of them about 10 minutes after I woke up this morning. I was going to try and be more patient with the kids and then N had to totally ruin it by whining or something as soon as I woke up. I just couldn't help but let her know it just wasn't okay. I think in 2013 I'll just resolve to break all my resolutions on January 1st. 

No!!! Stop!!!

We have a boy who is obsessed with French Fries! I mean, big time. And the best fries in the world are at our local pub. Our home away from home. The place we started going to when I was pregnant with N. The place she practiced walking by holding onto everything. We really are lucky to have such a cool place across the street from our house! Sadly one of the guys who works there is headed back home permanently over Christmas so we all said our goodbyes tonight. 

We were teasing him tonight by taking fries off his plate. He's rarely posessive about much but as you can see in this video, no one better take his fries! N had her own plate but kept taking from C's plate as well just because we loved to see his response!

C finished nursery today and go this report card. Awesome as always. He's just a good natured happy little fella. I've been spending loads of time with him lately and it's been great. He comes out with the funniest stuff and makes me laugh all the time. N had her Christmas Craft club today (as well as yesterday) and had a great time with her friends at school. I'll definitely book her into the Easter club and Summer Clubs for a few days as well.

Our new nanny worked the last 2 days as she was available and I was glad to get time to get stuff done. Kids love her, shes lots of fun so I think so far, it's looking positive. It is weird though having someone new who still needs to find her groove. 

Well, time to head up to bed. Will try to blog again soon!

The Month That Was

So, Kirk pointed out to me that it's been a month since I last blogged. Worked out well for me as I didn't really have to come up with a blog title for today! 

It's been busy to say the least. N had her nativity play last week. She played an angel. For the month or so leading up to the play, she sang all her songs at home (half the time I had no idea what she was singing and then at the play the dime dropped!). She had a few lines to memorize which she did very easily. She had a great time and was thrilled when she looked out into the audience and saw Charlie standing on my lap. Unlike at her nursery, they do performances by class at her school so everyone can actually see what is happening. At nursery, it's the entire school at once, crammed into a space far too small and you only know your child is in the play as you took them there in the first place. Today, Kirk and I are headed to Charlie's nativity play. It'll be great to know he is in the play and I can only hope we can see him. At least I know he'll have a fun time!

Noemie also had her first playdate where Mommy didn't have to go with her. Her classmate's Dad picked them up from school, took them home, they played, got fed and they even brought her home. She had such a wonderful time and it's great as there will be plenty more next year as she'll no longer have her swimming lessons on Friday afternoon which is prime playdate time (I didn't know when I signed her up!)

Kirk and I went out to a nibbles and drinks night with Noemie's classmates' parents and teachers. It was a fun time and confirms again how I feel so lucky that Noemie is in an awesome class with great kids and their parents. We'll be with them for the next 3 years until they go from pre-prep to prep school. The kids all get along so well and genuinely like each other. No bullying or anything nasty going on. I know everyone is not always so lucky so I feel extra blessed. Noemie loves her school, friends and teachers as well so I feel really good that we made the right choice in school for her!

 

Charlie continues to enjoy his swimming lessons. His teacher Daniel is awesome. Just the right amount of nurturing and being forceful. Charlie's doing nearly what Noemie did after 6 months of lessons and it's only about 3 months in for Charlie. He's continuing on next term with the same teacher. I wanted Noemie booked in with Daniel as well but scheduling didn't quite work out so she's with a new teacher next term as I felt like she had outgrown the teacher she had for the past year or so. I don't expect my kids to be amazing swimmers but I want them to be very comfortable in the water for safety reasons. 

Let's see what else has happened... oh! We fired our nanny. She's been having a few issues, shall we say, in her private life and was unable to separate her work life from her issues. She had a bit of a meltdown one afternoon when I asked her to remind Noemie to tidy up her bedroom after playing. She pretty much lost it and started ranting at me and I just calmly sent her home to reconsider her situation. I should've fired her then but it was so out of character for her that I gave her the benefit of the doubt. Next day though, I gave her notice that she was done with us at the end of this year when we all go away for the holidays. She agreed that she felt the same way. That she needed to figure out her life as she's a bit lost with everything. Things were alright for the next few weeks but on Tuesday night I fired her. She forgot to pick Noemie up at school. How someone can forget to pick up a child at school when their sole responsibility is to do things for the kids (she was the NANNY afterall!) is beyond me. I just decided her mind was elsewhere and I was not interested in her problems any more as the kids are my priority. So that was that. The kids don't seem to care much about it. We've hired someone new to do 2 days a week next year and the kids have met her and are very happy with her. She was here yesterday to clean our house as well and they were all over her so it's all looking good for next year.

So, that was our last month. I am sure loads more happened but I just can't keep up! Looking forward to some downtime this holiday. Must go take Charlie to his play now. Noemie finishes school tomorrow for a month which will be awesome! No more school runs for a month! Woo hoo!

Lunch Date

     Our nanny had the day off today so I had a fun morning with C. As K took N to school, C and I got to have breakfast together. Afterwards we watched some Thomas the Tank Engine on DVD before we headed off to the gym-- C to the activity room and me to the treadmills. I managed to run 2 miles before stopping and in total I ran 3 miles. Some walking involved but I figured it was better than passing out. My goal is to be able to run 3 miles without stopping by the end of this year and then to be able to run further next year. 

Once we were done at the gym we came home so I could shower and then we went out to Pizza Express for a lunch date. He was SO good. Said please and thank you without being prompted and ate all his lunch. He chatted at me for most of the meal. I understood about 70% of what he said but it was entertaining nonetheless. 

We've been half heartedly potty training him this past week. He's had a few accidents here and there but has been pretty good in general. Today he was dry all day. I left him in pull ups as it was easier for me (lazy Mom!) but he asked to go to the toilet each time and even did so at the restaurant right after we ate. Hopefully he keeps going like this and then eventually will be dry at night then we can be diaper free forever! 

 

Half Term Madness

As much as I've loved not getting up early to take N to school, I have to admit I am really ready for both kids to go back to school tomorrow! We've been super busy and lots of fun but who would've ever guessed that a 3 and 4 year old could have such a hectic social life? 

We started out with a birthday party at Gambado for one of N's classmates. At least it was at 10:30am so the place wasn't crowded and it was one of the most organized parties I've ever been to. 

On Monday I went out to meet up with a knitty friend for lunch and some chit chat. I am not entirely sure what the kids did that day. Tuesday N had a playdate with a classmate M and her twin sister O along with our C. They all played together so well as M and N loved all things girlie and C and O love all things boyie (is that a word?). They made cupcakes in the afternoon which everyone took home. I am proud to say I managed not to eat a single one!

Wednesday N had a playdate at a friend's house along with our next door neighbor's daughter. It was like a playdate for me too as it's my friend who I knit with :) Afterwards we all went to the library where N and our neighbor's kid got face painted and did some Halloween crafts. 

Thursday we stayed in for the most part as we were waiting for N's new big girl furniture. Once it arrived I put it all together for her and we started the slow process of tidying up her room. Still need to call either the council or a charity to pick up her old furniture. So, our house is overwhelmed at the moment. 

Friday, Noemie had a playdate with another classmate and his little sister at Gambado. It was a lot of fun (more so for them, I sat on the sofa there and knit). It got very crowded after lunch so we left and came home for a bit before the kids went onto the Halloween Party at our gym. They got home at nearly bedtime from that and went to sleep pretty easily!

This weekend has been a bit more low key. The kids played with the kids from next doors then both our families went to our corner pub for lunch. Afterwards, our  neighbors kindly offered to have our two over at their house while K and I went out to buy me a new cell phone. I got rid of my iPhone and got a Blackberry. Ever since the iPhone 4 came out last year and K got it, I've hated how it looks. It is so square and doesn't feel right in my hand. I was waiting for the iPhone 5 to be released which of course didn't happen and they came out with the lame 4s with completely pointless upgrades (other than the camera which sounded nice). So, I've gone to a Blackberry and then in a year if I hate it, I'll go back to the iPhone assuming they come out with something better. If not, I'll learn how to send smoke signals.