As yet unnamed!

Charlie Bumped his Chin :(

I got a call at around 12:30 today from a number I didn't recognize. "Is this Mrs L?" "yes it is…" "This is Lesley from FPS" (school nurse). Of course I instantly ran through various scenarios for each kid… pukes? broken bone? deep gash that needs stitches? Then she says "It's Charlie but he's totally fine so don't worry. He fell in the playground and grazed his chin pretty badly. There were lots of tears but I've cleaned his wound and put a plaster on it and he's okay now, but I thought I would let you know so it wasn't a surprise at pick up later today".

As soon as I heard he was fine I relaxed… do I dare admit I was then thinking "oh please don't make me have to come pick him up early". Yep, bad Mommy moment once I got over the initial panic. You see, it's a hassle to have to pick him up, take him home and then 4 hours later go back to get Noemie. All that back and forth on the bus or tube unless you HAVE to for an emergency is just a hassle.

When I picked him up he was a bit sad and delicate but I took him to the coffee shop while we waited for Noemie for an hour as she had school club today. He had a cupcake and Daniel the caretaker had given him some milk when we were heading out so he perked up quite a bit. Then we spent 15 minutes cuddling in the school playground before N came out and he was back to his usual self. It looks a bit painful but he asked me to take the bandaid off when we got home, telling me that "Lesley said it will get better quicker if I take my plaster off". At bedtime though he wanted a new plaster on so it his graze wouldn't rub against his pillow and hurt.

Naughty Children (not too bad, but a bit)

There's always some weird dynamic that takes over for the first few weeks of school ever since Charlie started at the same school as Noemie. He gets all alpha male (he tries at least) and then Noemie gets all upset and wound up and she reacts and before you know it they are squabbling non stop. I know siblings are supposed to squabble but this is just non stop irritating meaningless yipping and yapping at each other. It's almost like those little dogs that just bark over nothing.

Anyone who knows me even a little bit knows I don't like ill behaved children. I have very little patience and when that small amount is pushed, I flip. I started my count from one towards five and got to four with both kids after school yesterday in the school playground. In less than 200 yards/10 seconds, we got to 4.75 (once I reach 4 I so in quarter increments to give them a chance). I warned them that if either of them reached 5, they would BOTH lose their Xbox privileges for an entire week. Not just a day or a few hours. The entire week, including this coming weekend. You'd think that would stop them both but nope, Noemie couldn't help herself and when when Charlie said he hurt himself when he fell in the playground she said "I don't care Charlie". So, they both are banned from the Xbox for a week. So, yesterday we went to a playdate at a friends house and they both were surprisingly good; no doubt trying to win back the Xbox as soon as possible.

Today they were both very pleasant. When we got home we each did a mosaic kit. Then they decided to make their own TV and Xbox console out of boxes we had waiting to go out in the trash tonight. They had me print out controllers for them so they could cut them out. It was pretty hilarious as they were talking each other through things as if they were playing on the real Xbox. They had fun and it was amusing to watch.

I've been spending all my free time at my studio, organising photos by date/event. I also did another 3 pages so progress is being made. It's so peaceful in there with my music and my pretty papers and stash. I'm still keeping up with my gym visits at 6am. I know that if I waited until after I dropped the kids off I'd never make it to the gym as I'd go straight to my studio instead. By getting up early and getting it out of the way, I can spend my entire day guilt free playing away. Our house is even more neglected than usual. We make a mess when we're home in the evenings and then no one is around to clean it up during the day. It doesn't bother me though… I'm not home to see it!

Blissful stash acquisition & Basil the dog

I've had a bit of scrap stash arrive this week and most of it was bought in the January sales. The best part about being out of the loop for so long is that all the stash from the last 3-4 years is pretty new to me and as I wasn't buying it as it came out I got great bargains on it now! I am using my stash as I've knocked out 10 pages since I've moved into my studio. I'll have to remember to upload them to my album.

Charlie brought home a stuffed friend called Basil for the weekend. In his Reception class each kid gets a weekend visit from Basil during the school year. It's a reward for something positive that they have done in school or as encouragement for continuing with a new positive behavior. Total relief that he finally has his turn as there really wasn't much reason why he didn't get it sooner so all we could tell him was his turn would come. I nearly told him to punch someone one week then not punch anyone the next week to see if that would do the trick. After all one kid in his class peed in the playground (and I don't mean he had an accident) and still got Basil before Charlie so clearly not peeing the following week did the trick for him.

In any case Basil had been at all meals and slept with Charlie last night. Today K baked cupcakes and we had a little party to welcome Basil as well. Charlie's already sad that Basil has to go back on Monday morning. At least he has a chance to get him again before the school year ends. Better work on his bad behavior skills then ;).

 

Kids are back at school...

So I went to my Chateau and spent a glorious 5 hours just playing. I organised a bit more and did 3 total pages. Still trying to get the hang of it all but at least I'm getting pages done again.

I got up this morning at 6am to go to the gym. We're going skiing in February so I really need to get into shape so I can ski for more than an hour (that's optimistic at my current level of fitness). I started C25k and just about died. Who knew that running for a minute with 90 seconds of walking in between could be so traumatic? In any case I'm feeling proud and will go again on Thursday morning.

Gingerbread Houses

Each year the kids decorate a gingerbread house. Actually, that might be a lie. I'm not sure we actually got around to doing one in 2012. I remember buying the house shells from Ikea but we never did them. The year before I remember we were in the US and Nana had a kit for the kids. The year before, Nana and I were up late baking 2-3 of them as I stupidly invited someone over for a playdate to decorate gingerbread houses and THEN realised I need to bake them and put them together ahead of time. Where were the ready made Ikea ones when I needed them several years ago?!?

This year I was super organised and bought the bits for the decorations well in advance before they sold out. At Nana's suggestion I put them all into cupcake baking tins rather than the usual 10 bowls we end up using. It worked well. I bought ready made frosting which ran out part way through but more was made and the decorating continued. They kids were far more creative this year and thought about where they were putting things. Charlie had the great idea to put gingerbread men in each window insider so they were looking out. Noemie copied him but went a bit further and had Santa looking out as well. I'm looking forward to next year to see how the next round of houses look.

Kids have one last day off tomorrow before they head back to school. I'm sad to have them go back (they are actually pretty good company and just get on with each other and I get a lot of free time and I don't like school runs). The main reason I am glad they are going back is that I can get back to my studio. It's been a few days and I'm itching to go back and scrap more layouts. I've taken advantage of some of the sales and ordered a few bits to be delivered there. I'll leave with you pictures of the 3 pages I finished last time I was in the studio.

This boy doesn't like spicy food...

Kirk made us dinner last, chipotle chicken and sweet potatoes in the slow cooker. I'll admit it was a tiny bit spicy but manageable (and those who know me realise I just don't do spicy). This was Charlie's reaction to his dinner! Noemie was okay, said it hurt her tongue a bit but I think she ate most of it.

Chateau 3.6 (aka my studio)

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to rent myself a small office space for this year, perhaps even longer if I get so attached that I can't let it go. It's not far from home and it's super close to the kids' school so I'll drop them off and then at least 3x a week I plan to head there to get caught up on my scrapbooking from the past 6 or so years. 

When I first had Noemie, I scrapped all the time. I had a craft room (now Charlie's bedroom) and I only had one kid, and she napped regularly and gave me plenty of time to do my own thing. Then 18 months later Charlie came along and I gave up my craft room as I wanted my kids to have their own bedrooms and then of course the whole lack of time thing with two kids, despite having full time nanny help. I lost interest in scrapping for a while and turned to knitting which I could do anywhere, with minimal mess and nothing to really tidy up from the dining room table that was my craft area. This meant Noemie has around 100 layouts and Charlie has maybe 5. 

Now that both are in school full time, I have 7 hours or so to myself each day. When I'm at home I get too distracted by the Call of the Internet, housework that I should be doing but don't do due to the aforementioned Call of the Internet and anything else needs my attention (usually ignored by yep, the Call of the Internet). What a waste of time really but I've always been the person that gets nothing done if I have too much time to get it done in. I also am so easily distracted so I figured an office space that I'm paying for each month, where my laptop won't be allowed to go, might work for me. 

It's tiny, as Noemie pointed out the first time I took her there the other day. She said "I thought it would've been bigger". It's probably around 1.5m x 2.5m at most. But it has a window, a built in desk and is in a secure serviced building. I spent 2 days setting everything up and just need a low bookshelf or something to put some stuff on. I'm going in today to measure the space to see what will fit. The above pictures show the room as if you're standing at the door looking in. The desk is to the right, the window right in front and then the left side which I decorated with decal stickers. The carpet is a horrible shade of blue but I'll crochet myself a rug to make it a bit prettier in there. Finally a use for all the tee shirt yarn I bought last year! 

I'm on my way there shortly to measure for the bookshelf. And perhaps to knock out a page to start me off. Oh, the name... it's space 3.6 (third floor room 6 I guess?) and Chateau sort of mocks the size. I'm guessing I'll be pretty darn happy there :)

Bye bye 2013, Hello 2014

I remember when I was in my teens and we'd read about the year 2000 and how far away it all felt. And somehow it's already 2014. 

The kids both managed to stay up until midnight last night to watch fireworks from the bedroom windows. Kirk and I were so sleepy and had it not been for the kids, we'd have snoozed our way into the new year! Noemie was up for at least another hour afterwards as well. She's our little 6 year old teenager.

I have to admit, 2013 was a good year. Nothing major happened but it was a good year all around. I think we've been lucky and most years are good to us. Looking forward to seeing what this year brings. Can't believe the kids will turn 6 and 7 and that N will be going to upper school in the Fall. We're going skiing in February to Switzerland. And probably back  Stateside for the summer break. It's also our 10 year wedding anniversary this year AND Kirk turns 40 right after that. I remember he turned 30 on our honeymoon in Africa.

As for me, I rented myself a studio in an office building so I can hopefully get back to scrapbooking and stuff in general. My crafting time took a serious hit when Charlie arrived and I lost my craft room and then being in the dining room means having to tidy up each time which is just annoying so I pretty much quit scrapping. I'm hoping to catch up on the years worth of photos I've got stashed away. It's also cleared up a lot of space in the family room. We're also going through some major decluttering as the house is seriously overwhelmed at the moment and we have no desire to move as we love our house. 

Resolutions... haven't really made many as I kind of find them pointless. I figure you're going to do what you're going to do whether or not you spell it on on New year's day. I do need to lose some weight and get into shape so I can do more than 1 run when skiing. I want to cook more often which will sort of go hand in hand with losing weight by eating better. I want to get caught up on scrapbooking. I want to blog more. The big thing though is for me to just say NO when people ask me to do things/help out/volunteer. I overcommited a lot of 2013 and I can't say I loved that aspect. So this year I'm choosing to focus more on myself and the family. I think it'll be a good thing in general. So that's about as close as I'm getting to making any resolutions. 

Now it's time to have a cup of coffee and move some furniture around as part of the reorganising/decluttering of the house. My parents have come and gone for lunch already and the kids are happily playing Minecraft together. It's pissing down with rain outside so might as well take advantage and get stuff done inside!