Another Snow Day

We had another snow day today, the novelty is definitely wearing off, at least for me!

Told Kieran that tomorrow (Thursday) will also be a snow day and he says "yesssss" with a big grin, where as Callum wants to go to school, strange boy.  I have a feeling that they wont be back at school till Monday, then they're predicting more snow for next week, aaarggh.

I had so many plans for getting into a good routine of work, gym, house stuff, got off to a great start on Monday and now it's all gone to pot.  Hopefully I'll get back to it one day.

Just ordered Wii Fit Plus, you know the thing that tipped me into actually ordering it... there's a bit on it which lets you track your pets weight!  Both our cats are on a diet and it would be nice to know if it's actually having an effect without carting them down to the vets.  Plus it was only £15 with free delivery and it's supposed to have some cool new features.

Way Past My Bedtime

Been messing around with this blog for way too long, now it's 1:30am and I really should be fast asleep.  Only another 4 1/2 or 5 hours before Callum wakes up!  Another snow day tomorrow, maybe we'll actually be able to persuade Kieran to go out and play in it, he's such a softy southern Californian boy that he doesn't want to get cold outside!

Callum Update

Callum, what can I say about my oldest son, who will be 7 in just a few months. 7, still can't get my head around that!

He's going to our local primary school and has a fantastic 1:1 teaching assistant. He's reading and writing and helps out others in his reading group when they don't know a word. He takes part in all the lessons, sometimes at the same level sometimes adjusted but he's there fully included, fully accepted and loved by his friends.

He still loves to dress up, hence the pirate coat over his PJ's in the picture. Loves to be the centre of attention and make people laugh. He went up on stage at the pantomime in Blackpool last month and was a star, no fear, just loving the claps. He was a shepherd in his school Christmas play and I had several parents come up to me and say how well he'd done and again he was loving the applause.

He's also a stubborn little b***** and tries my patience severley at times. He's now too big for me to carry up the stairs so putting him in his room for a time out is getting harder and harder. He will just cross his arms, turns his back on you and that's it. Sometimes distraction will work but usually we just have to wait for him to snap out of it, then we can actually talk to him and know he's listening. He's also pretty typical though, last time I did manage to put him in time out he slammed the door and shouted "it's not fair!". Made me smile.

Kieran Update

Kieran is now 5, not sure where the times gone. He's loving school, doing great with his reading and is so inquisitive. Last week he asked me what a "tantrum" was, I explained then with a big grin on his face he exclaimed "I do that when you send me to my room!"

What he likes best is playing on the computer - he's already discovered google and will search for his favourite TV programs and games. We've added all the parental controls so hopefully it'll keep him out of mischief for the time being.

This photo is him this morning, chocolate round his face from eating a chocolate pancake, still in his PJ's as it's a snow day and at the computer with his big fake grin.

He's a gorgeous boy who still loves to snuggle, but is getting concious of peer presure so wouldn't admit it to his friends. He got a really cute puppy temporary tattoo on his arm earlier this month, but asked us to remove it before school as he was afraid his friends would think it was girly and laugh at him, sad isn't it.

New Year, New Start

2010, going to be 38 this year, funny how I don't really feel much different than I did at 20.

I gave up blogging for a while, mostly because I'd moved back to England and originally had set up this blog to keep in touch with family. Just because I'm back in the UK though doesn't mean that I get to actually see a lot of my family as they're dispersed all over the place.

So back to blogging for anyone who wants to read...

Busy, Busy

I've been busy destroying my house (well the sitting room anyway). When we moved in it had lovely pink vinyl wallpaper, a very tasteful 1970's brick fireplace/display thing and a patio door that doesn't open and that has been expertly fitted (hopefully you've been reading this in a very sarcastic voice!). So it was time for it to be completley stripped down and made into a room that we'll actually use as an adult sitting room & dining room (has been the kids playroom).





The wallpaper is now gone


The carpet is gone, including the spiky stuff the goes around the room to hold it down and the million and one staples that they used to hold the underlay in place.


The brick monstrosity is gone


and the patio door will be replaced on Monday





We had a gorgeous new fireplace installed this week and I've got undercoat on most of the walls.





We're going to sand and varnish the floor boards, paint one wall a bluey green and the rest a neutral off white/cream with white woodwork.





I wish I'd taken some before photos but here's some work in progress.

Woke up to this

, originally uploaded by * Naomi *.

The garden looked beautiful, I love it when the sky is blue and clear and it's cold and snowy.

Breakthrough!

Okay, I know I've blogged about potty training several times lately, but when it consumes your life for 2 solid weeks there isn't much else to blog about!

Guess how many wet pairs of pants we've had today.....NONE!

Ok we've got another 2 hours to go before bedtime but usually I'm onto my 2nd lot of washing by now and Callum has been through every pair of trousers that he ones.

The best thing was that this morning Callum woke up dry and after being up for about half an hour TOLD me that he needed a wee before he actually started it, woo hoo! He got huge claps for that. The rest of the day I've taken him at regular intervals and after a little bit of persuasion he's gone in the toilet.

We also went and got the boys hair cut today, it was long overdue. Here's the result...

Kieran didn't want me to take his picture

Potty Update

Mima asked how the potty training was going, so here you go. It's still very hit and miss, but we are making progress!

Callum had swimming again yesterday and actually sat on the toilet before the lesson and had a wee in the toilet and I managed to get most of his post-swim wee in the toilet as well! The good thing about the wee before the lesson was that it was a 'wee on command', which is what we're really aiming for.

Little Animals

Click on the pictures if you want to see them in a bigger size