As yet unnamed!

Blogging Hiatus

Our router is not working well at the moment so I can't seem to stay online for more than 5 minutes before it shuts itself off. I've got a new one coming next week but until then there might be minimal blogging. Just didn't want anyone to think anything was wrong!

Play date

Noemie went to her first real playdate this morning over at the house of one of the girls from her nursery school. Another girl who also goes was there too. Charlie got to go as well and he had a fun time as well. We started off with some arts and crafts and then the girls got to go on an Easter Egg hunt in the gardens to the front of the house. Lots of colorful plastic eggs (imported from the US) with yummy candy inside. It was really hilarious as Noemie knows what it's all about but she's just so laid back about it all. The other two were racing all over the place to get eggs and Mimi just kinda walked along picking eggs up. The other Moms were cheering their kids on so I couldn't just stand there and say nothing so I joined in with the cheering as well. It was a ton of fun though and the candy was SO good! Afterwards we made felt hand puppets from kits, all enjoyed a homemade spaghetti bolognese and then some more playtime. 

We got home when it was time for S to go to nursery and I had to go meet with Alice anyway so it worked out well. One of Mimi's little friends was meant to be there today but woke up really sick this morning. We saw her yesterday at school so fingers crossed Mimi hasn't caught it as well. There's definitely a bug going around these days and it seems to be vicious but at least doesn't last too long. Still....

Rabbah Stampers

Noemie is fascinated with my rubber stamps and various paper crafting tools. I gave her a set of small stamps and some inks but now she wants to play with "Mummy's big rubbah stampers and big ink!" She calls it rabbah stampers (rubber stamping). Today we played together in the afternoon at the dining room table. I bought her a little craft mat (more to protect the dining room table) and gave her some stamps and inks and off she went. I even bought her a little set of markers so she wouldn't touch my Copic Sketch markers. When she went to bed tonight she asked if we could do more rabbah stampers tomorrow. She has a little English accent hence she says rabbah. When she wanted to put ink on her nose she said nose as nowse. It's cute but it's going to so strange for K and I to have American accents and our kids to have English ones. I suppose it will make a difference how old they are when we leave the UK one day as well. I didn't get as much done as I had hoped but Mimi had fun so it was worth it. I'll do more tomorrow while she is at nursery in the afternoon.

Lost my blogging mojo

Lately I just can't be bothered to blog. Maybe it's the tail end of the miserable winter days and I just need to see some more sunshine. The kids have been fine and having fun though both have a cold that just won't quit. It seems like getting extra sleep this weekend has done the trick though as they are both coughing a bit less. Charlie has struggled the most and had one night this week when he coughed every 20 minutes throughout the night. Sucked for both him and I. 

One of the things that Charlie likes to do is bring a book to you and sit on your lap. Noemie likes that too, in fact, I often have both of them trying to sit on my lap and sometimes they both end up on my lap and find it all very silly. Good job they like each other a lot lately or else it could be chaos. One thing I have to comment on... Charlie is NOT ginger as the first photo might suggest. The lighting in the kitchen is not great. His hair color is the one in the outdoor photo. He needs a haircut soon as well as it's getting way too long. I found a cute place and will book an appointment. 

Not much else to report. Need to order birthday presents for Noemie's birthday next month so will do that tomorrow. I also need to do a trial run of a robot cake I want to make for her. No idea where the days seem to go but it's frustrating me that I seem to get very little of anything done lately. Must go back to writing my lists, staying offline, perhaps staying home more often and prioritizing a bit more!

The boy loves his ketchup

Noemie was like this when she was younger, ketchup made her eat just about anything. Definitely a Daddy trait as I am not all that fond of ketchup. Never was and probably never will be. Even when I have it with fries I have to have a bit on the side and dip to get tiny bits. Charlie had a quesadilla for dinner and he started out without ketchup (if you give it to him to begin with he just licks the ketchup and refuses anything else). He ate 2 slices and then stalled. So I rubbed ketchup on the remaining pieces and he ate another slice. Then I guess he was full but wanted more ketchup goodness so he continued licking the remaining 2 slices. Then when he was done he asked for more. So I gave him a bit more. He got tired of dipping his slice in to lick it so he just went in with his hand and it was just so cute I had to take photos before I cleaned him up.  

Really need to get photoshop on this laptop!

I tried installing an older version of PSE 2.0 to my new laptop but it didn't like it so I removed it and need to find my disk for the more recent version. Worst case I end up downloading the latest version but I'd rather not pay for anything else. I need to see what else I can use to edit my photos. Tried iPhoto today and it lets me edit but I can't workout how to resize so these images are print size when enlarged. Takes way too long to upload for me as well. Anyway, Noemie asked me to take a photo of her today in her "bus". It's the cardboard box that Kirk and I converted into a bus for the kids. I ask every few weeks if I can throw it away and she says no and they still play with it so I suppose it's okay. Charlie didn't ask me to take a photo but I had to capture his grubby face complete with drool, snot and paint from the paintbrush he was trying to eat while watching his sister paint earlier in the day. I also love how blue his eyes are so any chance to show them off!

My parents came over to see us for lunch today. I know it was Mother's day in the UK but we celebrate in May when most of the rest of the world does. I made lunch for everyone and cooked my eggplant parmesan that goes down a treat. My Dad loves it so much and got to take left overs home for dinner tonight. I got to eat it as well as it's low in points as long as I watch my portions. Kept me full all day too so that worked out well. After they left, Kirk took Charlie out for a walk to get me a coffee. They decided to go without the stroller and Charlie apparently had a wonderful time. He's a bit out of control though and has no fear so Kirk had to keep a really close eye on him and carry him across the street and such. Hopefully he'll sleep well with all the exercise he got. It's not a long walk for us but he's only little :)

Mommy's Day at school

Today was "Mommy's Day" at Noemie's nursery so all the Moms of the kids in her class were invited to join in for a few hours. It was a lot of fun and I hope they do a Daddy's day as I think Kirk would love it! I was of course the nutty Mom who joined in with the jumping up and down while the other Moms watched on. It was the only way I could get Mimi to join in as she was clinging to me. I know she participates when I am not there so I didn't want today to be a change to her routine. It was nice to meet the other Moms, the other little kids and to put faces to the names we read about on the weekly reports that the school sends home. On our way to school we ran into the little boy whose birthday party we went to last weekend. He grabbed Noemie's hand as we walked to school and she was a bit concerned but went with it. Then while at school, she was looking out the window while sitting at a table and two of the boys in her class came and sat next to her and stared at her staring out the window. I wonder if it's a sign of things to come when she's older. Hope she stays as aloof then! After she came home later on, she was so excited that I was at school with her today. Let's hope she doesn't get upset on Friday when I can't go with her!

Must be my lucky day!

I remember when Charlie was first born and I used to take hundreds of photos trying to get just one image of the two of them looking at the camera, eyes open, smiling, etc., at the same time. Usually Noemie would move away, Charlie would get annoyed or both would be crying. Today it was easy. Noemie sat down to eat some chocolate, Charlie came and sat next to her, I grabbed the camera and this is my fav out of 8 shots. I wonder how many months it will be before I get another one like this? 

 I was on my own last night with the kids and K just got home moments ago. The kids have been so good though and both went to sleep easily for me both nights. Noemie went to nursery this afternoon and had a bit of separation anxiety as she has spent so much time with me lately. She ended up having fun though and was full of hugs and kisses in the evening. Charlie was as well and they were both vying for lap space. 

I've been back on Weight Watchers for 2 weeks now and have lost 7lbs so far. Hopefully this time around I will learn NOT to gain some weight back and just be more careful about what I eat. While the weight shifts relatively easily, I am sure there will come a time when it's not so easy. I still have 1pt left tonight though so am off to see what I can have!

Birthday Party

Noemie was feeling better so we went to the birthday party for her little classmate up in Holland Park. They rented a room at the Ecology Center which also had a nice outdoor area for the kids to run around. It was gorgeous sunny weather though a bit chilly as it was windy. Beats having rain and everyone being stuck inside though. It was amusing as there were many of us who didn't know each other though the kids knew each other. Noemie gave the little boy his present and his parents were doing a DVD of it and told him to give N a kiss. She was slowly inching away from him as he approached her with puckered lips. It was hilarious. He was quite persistent though and tried for nearly a minute while we all laughed! Being in London, there are so many nationalities and this party was no exception. Happy Birthday was sung in French, Spanish, English, German and other languages that I have no idea what they were. I'm glad though that Noemie is growing up with all sorts of nationalities and hopefully will get a good understanding of different cultures as well. It's one of the many things about my own childhood that I enjoyed so I'm pleased my kids will experience it as well. 

The host's friends had brought along these electrified kids' ATG bikes. Noemie spent most of her time on one or the other though she was very good about sharing when we would tell her it was someone else's turn. You plug them in overnight I guess and charge them up and they have pretty darn good running power. These things were going on stop for around 3 hours today. Of course they don't go fast but they are easy to drive and the kid just has to hold down a little red button on the handle bar. Guess what Noemie would like for her birthday next month. Yep, "Mimi wants a car!" Never in a million years did I think we'd hear that this early on in life. My parents didn't hear me say those words until I was 18 (though to be fair I made up for lost time and bought 7 cars in the 9 years I spent in LA). So I am now on a mission to find one of these motorized cards and the purple chair that Kirk promised. Wonder if a purple car would count? 

Afterwards we stopped at the ELC and bought some toys then Kirk and kids took a cab home and I walked the 2.3 miles for some exercise. Not bad as it took 30 minutes and so tonight I will treat myself to something yummy for dessert. My weigh in isn't until Monday and I know I've lost some weight this week as I'm back into a smaller size again which is great as I can wear more than 2 outfits again! 

  I'll leave you with a photo of the kids on the footrest of my red sofa this evening before dinner time. They were watching Mr Tumble on Sky+ and Charlie was also perusing a few books. He climbed up first and scooted over and Mimi climbed up next to him. They have been getting along so well lately, I hope they stay friends as they grow up.

I may be laughing now...

But I won't be laughing if he turns into a serial killer later on in life and this is just an early indication of something sinister. Poor blow up penguin toy being stabbed over and over with a crayon while Charlie laughs like a maniac. Charming huh what boys do?

  Just another little video to prove he's just a sweet little boy who loves to hand out the wide open mouthed kisses. Usually quite sweet unless he has a cold then it's a kiss that only a mother could love. Ick! 

Poor Mimi threw up this afternoon while they were out at the park. She's been fine since and ate a massive dinner and is fast asleep. Hopefully it was just something she ate at lunch that didn't agree with her tummy. We all went to Pizza Express with Alice and Mimi had some soft serve ice cream so maybe it was that? Who knows but fingers crossed she's not sick as she has her first birthday party to attend on Saturday! Not to mention Charlie usually catches most bugs that Mimi has and I'd rather not spend the weekend clearing up puke. She was her usual cheerful self tonight though and running around like a nutcase. Apparently after lunch she was very subdued and lethargic. I'm just glad I wasn't around for it all! Nice Mom huh?