As yet unnamed!

WW update

Shock! I managed to lose another 2.5lbs this week taking me down to 10st 2lbs so I'm only 2lbs from the goal that WW set for me. I want to reach that goal so I can be a gold member and not pay for future meetings unless I get fat again. And I won't get fat as I'm not having anymore babies. No weigh in next week as it's bank holiday.

Better get back to my red velvet cupcakes I am baking tonight!

Layouts and Cards

So far in the past few days I have managed to do 6 layouts and 2 cards for the ScrapPad cybercrop week. It's been so nice and laid back with 1 class a day and we have until middle of next week to upload to the gallery for a chance to win prizes. I've had so much fun getting pages done and now am wanting to keep scrapping in the hopes of catching up a little bit. I'm 2 Christmases behind and poor Charlie has next to no pages. I'll just share photos and give credit to the designer but won't get into the manufacturers of the stash as I can't remember some of them already and it'll take too long anyway.  

This was the first class designed by Lousette. She gave us a sketch and as soon as I saw it I knew it was perfect for the photos I had from the other day in the park. 

This class was by Ann and called for using some texture. 

  

Monday's class was by Jean and I used a kit from Sarah's Cards that I started subscribing to the past two months. Purple is my least favorite color but I am pleased with how this turned out as it worked well with Noemie's little dress! We got bonus points for also doing a card version.

 

Tuesday was a sketch by Katie which we had the option to do digi or paper so I opted for paper as I'm not a digi scrapper. I loved that this used multiple photos as I tend to do one photo pages yet have some events where there are more than one photo I want to use. I think I will do pages with more photos in the future. 

  

Skipping Wednesday (haven't done it yet!) and onto Thursday's sketch by Andrea. Another one where we got a bonus points for doing a layout and a card. I love this sketch as it's so simple yet not boring; I can see myself using variations of it again and again! 

Friday's class was by Charlotte (I won't link to her blog as it's not been updated in nearly a year-- hint hint if you're reading this Charlotte!). I think this was my favorite class of all of them as it was something different than what I would usually do. I have done one page like this in the past but with just a bunch of eyelet punched holes which was actually published in a mag about 3 years ago. This one was far more elaborate though and fun to do. You can't tell in the scan but the top layer of the layout is raised up using foam glue pads. 

I haven't yet done Saturday or today's class but am hoping to do at least the Saturday class this evening when we have had dinner and tidied up. No time to scrap tomorrow as I'm off to a quilting group for most of the day and then WW at night. I am dreading my weigh in as I was a bit naughty all week and I'd bet I have gained weight. Not that big a deal as I had a nice time eating it and so long as I don't make it a habit it will be just fine. Have a busy week ahead with some fun stuff planned so I'm looking forward to it all!

Friday Fun

I never got around to scanning my layouts today but will do it over the weekend. I'm hoping to scrap after I do this blog entry. In this photo, Charlie is "chasing" Noemie around the kitchen and she is screeching in a good way. They were running all over the place though of course Charlie had a bit of help with the running part. 

While the kids were out this morning I went up to Ikea and managed to buy very little. I got stuff my parents had asked me to pick up for them and for myself I got a clothing rail to fit into the new "scrap cupboard" I have coming next week, along with some clip things that I am going to use to hang my scrapbook stickers and such. The storage unit I ordered is the same as the one I had bought for my scraproom (now Charlie's room) but in dark brown so it's at least in the same color range as our dining room furniture. I considered getting an armoire from the same place we got out table but didn't like the thought of spending 5x what I spent to get the Ikea unit. I might go back next week once I know what else I need for my new scrap cupboard. I was tempted to drive to Hobbycraft as well but decided against it for now as I have enough stuff and don't need to buy anything else for a while. 

Time to try and get a page done though I'm a bit tired so might end up going to bed and reading instead.

Lots of photos today!

  

I never made it to Ikea today as I was waiting on some deliveries and they didn't arrive as early as I'd hoped so I'll go tomorrow instead as I have no plans. As Noemie looked so sweet in a dress the other day, I made her wear one again today. It barely fits her unfortunately as it didn't get warm enough to wear it much sooner and she's grown quite a bit. It's still very cute though and she refused to wear sandals this morning and insisted on wearing her rain boots instead. Charlie wore his cute little hat I ordered for him the other day. Luckily he doesn't mind wearing a hat. I need to get Noemie one as well and hopefully she will wear it so she doesn't get too much sun when out and about. 

I spent all day doing laundry, baked more cupcakes and then spent a few hours scrapbooking for a change. I managed to get 3 pages done so will scan then tomorrow. I've got another one in the works so hope to scrap tomorrow when I get back from Ikea. The kids went to the park this afternoon and had a picnic dinner there as well with the nanny. I'm sure there will be lots of picnics in the park this summer so I'll definitely go along on some of them. It was great just being able to play all day though! After they got home we played in the garden for a bit before bath time. 

I'll leave you with some photos of Charlie wearing Noemie's new sunglasses. He has already figured out how to take them off so I'm guessing these sort of photos will slow down pretty soon! Sadly he looks like Elton John in the first photo. Far cuter of course but there is a definite resemblance.

      

Then to make it up to Charlie for these embarrassing photos, here is one normal one where he looks cute and nothing like EJ. 

The not so terrible twos-- so far!

I totally forgot to share this super cute photo of Noemie that I took 2 days ago! She's wearing a dress from Grandma J and is playing in our garden with her current favorite toy: the watering can that Daddy got her for her birthday. It even goes in the bath with the kids. She is fascinated with watering the flowers (or weeds at the moment). Good job there is no water shortage this summer. 

I know the terrible twos will happen at some point but at the moment Noemie is going through a super cute period. She likes to have conversations with you though it's not always easy to make sense of what she is saying. She's also like a little echo at times, repeating things we say. At dinner time I asked her if she had fun today and she nodded her head yes. I then asked her if she went on the see saw and she grins, nods and says shee saw shee saw! Then if you ask her if it's time for a bath she says "noooo" and then is it bed time "noooo". It's cool to know she understands what we're saying and is responding properly. 

My parents were here today to celebrate my Dad's birthday. I made him some birthday cupcakes this morning and they are all gone already. It was a small recipe for just 12 cupcakes. April and May are busy months for us with lots of birthdays (Noemie, my Dad and I are in April and my Mom is in May) and mother's day. It's a good thing as it means lot of cake! 

Anyway, time for bed as it's been a sleep deprived week already, despite only being Wednesday. I need to drive my car for a change so think I might venture to Ikea tomorrow to see what I can spend some money on. Hopefully Kirk doesn't read this blog entry until later on as he hates Ikea!

Noemie's new house

I had a delivery from Kiddicare on Friday morning and as it was pretty miserable weather that day, the nanny was trying very hard to get creative and entertain the kids. After they had dinner I could hear activity downstairs but was doing something else so didn't go investigate. When I did go down eventually, I found that Noemie had purchased some real estate right in our kitchen. Prime location considering it's next to the fridge adjacent to the playroom. Here she is at home with some peeping Tom looking in through her window. The house has a doorknob and there is a little bluebird on the roof. Notice the peephole under her house number? Perfect house for a 2 year old. 

Check out her mail slot. No junk mail (we have that sign on our door too but no one seems to pay attention). I love that the slot is cut in the shape of a banana. I haven't tried putting one through yet. Perhaps tomorrow? 

Here she is in her house. I was being the weirdo looking in through the window. 

Pretty cool huh? 

Fat Momma time

 

This is a photo of Noemie's birthday cake. I'm showing it as I am trying to work out how eating 6, yes SIX slices, of this cake equals me losing 3lbs at my weigh in tonight. Granted it's my loss for a 2 week period but that's still 1-1/2lbs a week. That whole Easter weekend was a bit nuts on the food front so I was hoping to stay the same and not gaining anything. It took me nearly a week to get back on track after Easter as my sugar cravings were back in full force, having consumed so much junk. I was relatively careful this week and it paid off. I think it helps to mix it up a bit, not eat the same 20pts every day and to have a treat here and there to rock your metabolism. So far my total loss to date is 35.5lbs or just over 16kgs. I am 4.5lbs or 2kg away from the WW goal so hopefully I will reach their goal in 2 weeks or so. Still undecided about how far my personal goal will be! I think I've now lost 20% of my body weight?

Shee Shaw

Noemie's favorite activity at the moment is the see-saw at the playground. In fact she loves it so much that even when she's not at the playground, she will see-saw on anything and anyone. If I'm kneeling on the floor, she'll climb on my back, hold onto my shoulders and rock back and forth shouting "shee shaw shee shaw". She does it with Kirk and with one of our nannies as well. It's a serious obsession which will probably last for a week or two-- a lifetime in toddler time. The upside to this is that we aren't all passing out while having to blow bubbles 50 times a day. The downside is that she wants to be at the park all the time. 

I have some other photos to share from Friday that I forgot I had but I've caught a cold and feel like utter crap so I'm off to sit on the sofa and feel sorry for myself. It started as a sore throat on Friday, was nearly gone yesterday other than a sniffle here and there and then this morning I woke up totally stuffed up. Been washing my hands non stop as I don't want to get the kids sick so fingers crossed their immune systems do their jobs!

Open wide!

Noemie is very helpful and has wanted to help feed Charlie for the past few days. Not long now until she will be changing his diaper. Ok, maybe not. It's very sweet as she leans over to him, opens her own mouth really wide and says "aaaaa" and then when he opens his mouth she tries to shove the overloaded spoon into his mouth. He takes a little bit from the spoon, mainly as she pulls the spoon away and has it turned in weird angles so it's not easy for Charlie to figure out. Very helpful big sister! 

Had a busy day today as both kids woke up at 7:30 this morning. Late for Charlie (but he got up at 4am as well) but very early for Noemie as she rarely wakes up before 8:30. Once everyone was fed and Charlie went for his morning nap and Kirk took Noemie out, I spent 2 hours in the kitchen making spaghetti bolognese sauce and then a turkey lasagna.I finished just in time to make lunch. The rest of the day was a blur with laundry and other thrilling things. 

Kids are in bed, we had lasagna for dinner and now it's time to go do some more petitpoint. I am not too far off of finishing another project. I wish I was one of those people who worked on one thing at a time and finished projects before moving onto a new one. Though I have never been like that, I still onto the hope that something will magically change and I will become that person. I'm not holding my breath though.

Birth Samplers

Not sure I can even call them "samplers" as they aren't the traditional looking things. I have to admit I think most of the traditional ones are not my taste. I wanted something to hang in the kids' rooms but it had to be fun and modern. So I found these and they are only 6"x6" in size so shouldn't take too long. My goal is to get Noemie's done before she is 2-1/2 and Charlie's before his first birthday. Gives me just under 6 months. 

Had a lovely relaxing day today as I took the day off from being a Mom. I did get up with Charlie at 6:30am (considering Kirk got up with him for a rare 4am wake up) and have to say though it's tiring at first, I love being up early and just enjoying a cup of coffee while chatting to Charlie in the kitchen. He then usually has his cereal and is back down for a nap before Noemie even gets up so I get to eat breakfast with her and chat with her as well. Once our nanny arrived, I just disappeared upstairs and worked on a petitpoint stitchery just about all day long. One more day like this and it'll be finished. Or maybe this weekend I can steal some time away to stitch during Noemie's nap or something. 

I think I'll take a break from the stitching tonight and read some more of book 4 in the vampire series I am reading at the moment. I think there are 2 more to go and then I'll read something else for a change!