Thursday, October 23, 2014

Happy (early) Halloween...

The kids are going to Castledyke School's Halloween disco tonight. They normally hold it a lot closer to Halloween, but they will be on their half term break next week. So tonight Edith will be dressing as a witch and Dylan will be a zipper faced ninja. Fun, huh?

They are both excited to go to the disco. Last year, Edith won the prize for best costume as the Corpse Bride. They love getting dressed up, and they love to dance. I really just want this night to be over already.

I am at work right now, and when I get home I have to get the kids ready, feed them dinner, and get them over to the dance by 6pm. Oh, and Amy will be there for dinner as well. Then I will need to pack bags for them to go to the caravan with their grandparents for 3 nights, and pack bags for Martin and myself to go to London for the weekend. We will be attending a costume party down there, so the packing is going to be involved. Then I will be back at work tomorrow morning and working until 3pm. After which we will drive over to the caravan sight in Yorkshire and then head down to London. I'm already exhausted!

Things are going well here, though the year is flying by far too quickly for my liking. I have missed all the apples and pears this year. It seems as though they were nearly ripe one morning and falling from the trees the next. I wish I'd made some applesauce or something. But hey ho, it is what it is. Christmas will be upon us before we know it. And I haven't even made my Christmas pudding yet!

Martin has a new boss at work. Chris and Danny sold the business to a man called Phil. Jury's still out on this development. Could be good, could be a disaster. It's still early days. But Martin is at a work related golf tournament today, so he's a happy man for the time being. Green King Brewery, I think. Last year he golfed at their event with our brother-in-law John, and they won. Fingers crossed for this year!

I have been busy doing all sorts of crafty things. Most recently, I made Edith a black crocheted witch's fascinator and fingerless gloves for her Halloween costume. They look amazing. I've also been re-making my living room rug (for the third time!) and sewing a long ivory cloak for an angel costume. Lots of fun crafts going on!

Edith came home with a student of the week award last week. Apparently, she was in charge of supervising an art project in her class, and she did a great job. That doesn't surprise me. She is a very assertive young lady!

Dylan got a gold award for number bonds in maths. He continues to excel in maths and science, and so far he still wants to be a scientist when he grows up. I know that he will be more than capable of that!

Unfortunately, my genius children woke me up at 5am today, after I stayed up until 1am working on Edith's Halloween costume. So I am going to stop typing before I fall asleep at my desk, and get some work done.

PS Watch Facebook or Instagram for photos of the kids in their costumes!

Thursday, October 09, 2014

Let's get physical...

I am at work today, but I still went to the gym. Packed a bag last night so I could get ready for work there. Then I rode my bike to work after I got home, and rode it home and back for my lunch break. I'll be cycling home as well, obviously. It's amazing, how something as exhausting as exercise can give you so much more energy than you normally have.

Been struggling to go to the gym lately. Before I got my job, I was going four or five times a week. Lately it's been more like one or two. Mostly because I ALWAYS exercised on Thursdays and Fridays. Now, well, I'm sitting on my bum at work drinking peppermint tea and thinking about how hungry I am. Body is suffering for it!

Oh well--I have renewed my dedication to the gym. Moving forward...

My baby brother has officially gone on his mission. Well, he's gone into the MTC. He ought to be in Brazil by now, but he is still waiting for his visa. Poor kid! He sent his first e-mail home earlier this week. My mom e-mailed all of us a copy of their messages, and it was adorable. I especially liked the part where he told my mother that if she kept checking his e-mails, he would have to change the password!

Wow, I'm glad we didn't have e-mail, facebook, instagram, etc. when I was growing up. Seriously, my mom would have been snooping on ALL of it (deny it if you can, Sharlene)!

Martin keeps working away at the top bedroom in our house, getting ready to move the kids into it. The wardrobes and built in bookshelves are nearly finished. He built the window seat last night. It's looking really good, and I am excited for the kids to move up into their new and improved bedroom.

I have been using this DIY time to refinish some furniture. We got given some lovely solid wood bedroom furniture, but it had been painted cream with big lilac polka dots. I didn't have the time to do much with it, so I went for a quick fix and painted it all black. It looked good the way it was in the top bedroom, but it's all changing now. So I have been up there with a heat gun and a paint scraper, working my guts out. I have almost finished stripping all the paint off the wardrobe. Then I am going to sand it down a bit and wax it. Because of all the other paint on it, the wardrobe now has a very vintage shabby chic look that would be almost impossible to fake. It's going to be really gorgeous when I'm finished. Now I just need to decide where it's going to live once it's all restored. And then, of course, I will need to move on to the dresser and the night stand.

Dylan has signed up for an after school football club. He's not a very good player, but he's having a great time. He's never been exceptionally coordinated, to be honest. He was super slow to crawl and even slower to walk. He's not very brave about trying new physical activities. It took him ages to learn how to ride a bike with no stabilisers. Yesterday he was trying to run with Edith's skipping rope, and failing miserably. Bless him, he is all about the brain!

Edith has signed up for a multi-sport after school club (different night than Dylan's, unfortunately). She is loving that, as well. And with each kid gone a different afternoon every week, it gives Martin and me a chance to spend one-on-one time with each of them. She is still loving to help out. She is also sucking on her hair almost constantly, and talking like a baby as well. It is a constant battle to get her hair out of her mouth, and I have threatened on many occasions to just have it all cut off if she can't stop doing it. Seriously, driving me crazy!

We are all doing well though. Staying really busy and trying to get the house ready for possible auction in February. Fingers crossed that it works out soon, because we are getting anxious to move back to Utah so we can be with our friends and family there.

Now excuse me while I take a quick nap at my desk. This lady is exhausted!!!