As yet unnamed!

More summer photos and getting stuff done!

Since I've taken a self-imposed Facebook ban the last few days, I've had time to do so many more important and interesting things. I've gone through some more photos from our summer vacation and found this cute picture of the kids. It may look like C is about to strangle N but he was actually about to give her a hug. She always make that face when she is about to be hugged or give a hug and C is just being himself, a funny little clown. I swear one day he will win the "class clown" title. 

Another photo is of N getting ready to jump off the diving board at the pool near Nana's house. They have a massive pool at the Golf Club there and they have the diving board/deep end cordoned off from the main pool. Noemie just casually walked over, up onto the board and then jumped into the 13ft deep end. No fear, just jumped right off. Of course my shutter jammed at the precise moment she was in mid air. It was really amusing though as all the other kids on the other side of the cord stopped and watched it all happening. Shouts of "look at that little girl, she's going to jump off the board!" followed by oohs and aaahs once she jumped. Then a handful of kids deciding it was their turn, with most of them getting back down off the board without jumping in. I remember a photo of myself at perhaps this age, maybe a year or two younger, doing the exact same thing. I was and am like a fish in the water so N has clearly taken after me. She loves the pool, loves swimming and has very little fear. 

Back to my self imposed Facebook ban. It's not that I have anything against FB. It's that I was wasting so much time playing meaningless games on there. It's one thing to catch up with friends and look at their photos but I was spending hours playing some stupid game. Stuff wasn't getting done around the house and I wasn't getting stuff done on my hobbies which matter to me. It's only been 2 days but it's amazing how much I've been getting done each day. I've cancelled all my plans for this week so I can focus on doing things I want to do and it has been awesome. It's making me realize I make far too many plans with people and have next to no time to get stuff done for me. And for the house. So I've decided I'm going to make very limited social plans over the next few weeks, perhaps months, as I'm actually enjoying being on my own. It reminds me of before I had kids and had already quit working. I had days to myself to do whatever I wanted. K was always working and traveling and sometimes I wouldn't go out for a week or more at a time and I wouldn't speak to anyone other than K when he was home. I know K found this weird and many people perhaps might as well. As much as I like most people and enjoy myself when I am around them, I am also perfectly happy being alone. With both kids back at school now I'm loving the 5 hours a day I have all to myself :). 

Back to school for N and a little furry visitor

A bit late considering she went back 3 weeks ago, but here's a photo of my Year 1 big girl on her first day back at school this term. She is loving school again and has really made massive progress on so many fronts! Reading suddenly clicked for her so homework has got a lot easier for us. She's always been good at math. She has a best friend so she's thrilled. Her new teacher is amazing and N adores her. She's super active and busy with 4 after school activities each week so she's fast asleep before 9pm these days compared to her usual 10pm antics. 

Charlie has finally settled into going to school in the mornings. It took a little while for him to be okay with the fact that he wasn't spending mornings at home with me, playing and having fun. But he's doing really well at school and they have started reading with him. The rest of his class is learning their alphabet but as he already knows his, they have started reading with 3 letter words. I'm thrilled as it means next year when he starts Reception, homework the first term will be a breeze for him as they pretty much just learn their alphabet then. He's pretty much where N was in her second term in Reception. 

Recently we had a little furry visitor stay with us for a week. Our old Manny, Daniel, had to go away for work and his wife did as well so we were lucky enough to hamster sit. Boris is a Russian Dwarf and is probably the sweetest little hamster I've ever met. I've had a few in the past myself but this guy was super social. He was up a lot during the day, enjoyed running around in his hamster ball all around our downstairs and of course, pooped non stop. The kids have totally fallen in love with him so... we are going this weekend to get two of them. Dwarfs can live with another hamster unlike the Syrian ones which will fight until the death of one of them. Looking forward to picking out our new friends! 

And this is what Mimi Kitty thinks about hamsters... First she didn't even notice the thing for 2 days. What kind of cat doesn't notice a rodent in the house?!? Then once she noticed him, she was scared of him! She laid close to the ground, puffed her tail up to 10x it's usual size and Boris was all "yeah whatever" as he ran through his tunnel, teasing her. It took her a while but she finally summoned up her kitty courage and went to investigate. We kept the family room door closed at night and when we went out, just to be safe but unless the cat knocked the cage down, there wasn't much chance of her getting to Boris. 

Kitty sat behind me on the couch the rest of the time, perking up each time Boris made a noise. Even though Boris has gone back home now, kitty still perks up and thinks she hears him! We've told her we could get her a hamster as well but that she'd have to be gentle with her new pet. Afterall it's only fair all 3 of our children get a pet each, right? 

Charlie goes back to school

Today Charlie started his first day of his last year at nursery school. Hard to believe that this time next year he'll be going to Noemie's school with her! 

These photos were taken this morning on our doorstep before Charlie grudgingly made the short trip to school with me. He really didn't want to go back as he just wanted to stay home with Mommy. 

Once we got there he was a bit better though he had his arms and legs wrapped around my leg at one point. I know one of his teachers and the other one seemed nice enough. The school looked amazing with all the construction and changes the new owner made over the summer. It's wonderful to have someone own the place that is adding to it rather than the previous founder/owner who seemed to do very little but drain the place. I'm still glad it's his last year there though.

While Charlie was at school, Noemie and I had a fun day together. We started out with pancakes and waffles at the Chelsea Bun and K joined us before he went into work for a few hours. Afterwards, Noemie and I went to the garden center nearby and bought a few bits and booked an appointment for the gardening guy to come and give me an estimate to clean up our garden a bit. I'd do it but let's face it, I don't like to get my hands dirty and I hate bugs. Then we came home for a bit before heading out to pick up stuff for our picnic lunch we had planned. On the way to Sainsbury's we stopped at Accessories for a few bits (it's one of her fave stores). Oh, and we bought the latest Thomas the Tank Engine movie on DVD as well (we saw the movie on Saturday). 

The three of us picked up Charlie from nursery and then the kids both had their final jabs. Noemie was a tad late on her booster and Charlie had two shots today. Both did so well, no tears, nothing. To be honest, neither has ever kicked up a fuss during any of their shots. And luckily needles don't bother me so it's easy for me to be calm so I guess they stay calm too. 

Then! Noemie and I went swimming. She had a lesson and I just did laps. My third day of going to the gym in a row. Saturday was a 5 mile run. Sunday was a Body Pump class and today was nearly 1km of laps. Tomorrow is my rest day as Noemie and I have a playdate to go to right after we drop Charlie at nursery in the morning :)