Our Gymnast

Posted on | January 9, 2012 | 1 Comment

Emma is a busy girl. As of right now she has an after school activity everyday. But, despite her loving swimming and ballet, she would trade all that for more hours at the gym. As of today her aspiration is to be a very good gymnast – college even. With this new goal I hope that one day we’ll live near a gymnastics club. Sitting around for 2-2.5 hrs a day is NOT productive. Yes I grocery shop now and then after I drop her off but for the most part, it’s not productive. Thankfully I have a decent toddler. As long as she get her iPad, a snack, the toy box, and little friends she’s fine.

Any of you a gym mom?

Today’s page was created using January’s Scarlet Lime Frugal Fab kit. LOVE this kit. So so so pretty!!! I love the vintage feel of the chipboards and the colors are just lovely!

Have a great day and until next time!!

M’s Day

Posted on | January 4, 2012 | 3 Comments

Maybe 2012 will be another great year for Emma. I hope so!! But, whether it will be or not, the first week of 2012 has been surprisingly wonderful to her!

We went to ballet today. First day back since the break. We got there a tad bit late but they haven’t started. I thought maybe they were doing a little chit-chat about what the term has to offer these little girls in pink leotard.

There were clapping. I did hear that. But I figured it was just excitement over a new (fun) dance they’ll be learning.

Ballet ended and the door opened to let us parents in. M was there, not hiding behind the radiator as usual, and said, “Mommy, I got a gold.” Me, all smiles (and most likely with a blank look), said, “That’s nice, Emma. What’s a gold for?” And Emma said, “For my ballet exam, I got gold, a distinction!!” Finally it clicked and (with most likely a shocked look) with excitement I congratulated her and told her how proud I was.

As we were leaving, after I spoke to the teaching assistant about purchasing M’s character skirt, the assistant asked the main teacher if she was going to tell me. So I smiled, thinking that she was going to officially tell me that Emma got a distinction, and while she did do what I thought she was going to do she also said, “and I want to also tell you that Emma got the highest score.” To that I answered, “Oh, that’s great! So the highest for her class?” And the teacher said, “No, for the school. She got the highest score amongst all the girls who took the exam.” So there was M and I, both in shock, since Emma wasn’t informed of this little bit of detail. We thanked her teacher and off to the car.

After we got in, here was M:

(SHRIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) I got the highest grade in ballet!!! I got an 87!! (SHRIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEKKKK!!!!)

I had to laugh. That came out from a little girl who never acted competitive or wants to be above and beyond everybody else (although my good friend said, many times, that M is competitive). It’s great that she did so well because M never got the highest of anything, at least when it comes to scoring/exams. It’s a memorable experience, especially since it’s not one we expect (merit was Emma’s goal).

Next stop, gymnastics exam. THAT I’m not so confident in. She just learned her routine yesterday and the exam is next month (where ballet she prepared months before the exam date). Plus, she’s only been in gymnastics, properly trained, since August, and one needs to be realistic. As much as that girl has improved (she’s about an American level 3 now), gymnastics exam will be a tad bit more challenging for her compared to the other girls.

Ok, that’s what I want to share today.

Hope you enjoy the scrapbook page too. The photo’s old but I just did the page using November’11 Scarlet Lime kit. PRETTY paper!!!

Happy 2012!!

Posted on | January 1, 2012 | 1 Comment

Hi all!! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and I wish you a great 2012!

It’s been quite hectic here, thus the lack of activity on this blog of mine, and I hope that things will settle down a bit after school starts back up again.

As a family 2011 was good to us. It was extremely good to Emma. Her biggest accomplishment was to get rid her fear of water and is now in level three swimming. Compare to other kids, she’s progressing slowly, but for a kid who used to scream and yell (as if we were torturing her) when water gets on her face she’s doing awesome. Her next biggest accomplishment is to, on her own, want to participate in different extracurricular activities, stick to it and do well – actually quite well. We’re proud of her gymnastics development and amazingly her ballet. I just never thought she’d even like it. So VERY proud of our oldest and we hope 2012 will be as good if not better!

In 2012 we, I, hope to do the following: Potty train Jovie, walk Jovie to her first day of preschool (sniff, sniff), work or simple use my brain in a more productive way while Jovie’s at school, move to a period house (I want a thatch house but hubby refused and so the next thing is just an old old old ooooooold house), travel some more, figure out ways to overcome some of my bad behaviours, and use my time better by spending less time on my electronics.

Nothing huge but still very important.

Have a great all and I plan on being here regularly again {::SMILES}.

Above project created using goodies from December’s Scarlet Lime scrapbook kit and mix media goodness from the store.

YEA for

Posted on | November 22, 2011 | 1 Comment

Open grocery stores on Thanksgiving day!

As I am finalising our Thanksgiving menu, putting together a grocery list for the hubby (for the base) and writing down all the rest that I need to get at the local farm shops/grocery store I am thankful that Thanksgiving is a US holiday. It’s not that I am selfish about turkey day but it’s been quite nice you see to be able to send the hubby off to the grocery store two hours before dinner without wondering if it’s opened/closed. Also, it’s awesome that we don’t have to fight a crowd to get that 1lb of sugar for the cranberries.

It’s the little thing sometimes, right?

Here’s a little page using November’s Scarlet Lime kit. A simple little page which I really like. The photo’s old. It’s even somewhat scratched up but I love it! Emma was 2-ish and unlike Jovie she had a lot of hair, quite a little lady for her age and very articulate. Jovie… we still haven’t gotten her first hair cut, still baby-ish (super cute though), and if there’s an app to help us translate her speech we’d get it (she still signs but she doesn’t know enough signs to say all she wants to say). It’s so odd how two kids, from the same parents, can be so different!

Adieu for now! I might come back but if not, happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends! I will be busy prepping a dinner for 14. It’s not to bad really, 6.5 adults (one is almost a teenager thus the half) and the rest are kids aged 1, 2, 4, 4, 7, 8 and 8, but I want it to be nice still so wish me luck {::SMILES}.

I Don’t Run

Posted on | September 23, 2011 | 3 Comments

I used to run in college and a bit after I graduated. It wasn’t because I loved, or even liked, it but it was due to vanity. I’ve always pride myself in being skinny (or is thin the PC word for this?) but I gained a few pounds, 20 to be exact, the one year I lived in the dorms. Freshman 20 was no joke!! So after I found an apartment I not only went to aerobics I also ran. I’d run a good 30 minutes every other day and even though I lost the whole 20 lbs within a few months (three months I think) I kept running for a few years.

Now, you’d think running would get easier and I’d come to like it after a few weeks (or even months), but nope! I quit running a few years after graduation. I didn’t quit because I was ok with my weight or that I found something more enjoyable to keep myself in shape. I quit because my ex-husband said I ran funny. He wasn’t serious but ya know, being self conscious (and vain) I freaked out and quit. Since then I would only run on a treadmill and my workout routine consisted of high impact aerobics and weight training. For a few years, until before I got pregnant with M, I had a BMI of 13.

Now at 18 (BMI) I feel a bit large but, I haven’t seriously worked out since Emma threw up on me after Jovie was born. We were still in Missouri. I was doing the P90x and the whole “banan-superman” routine made M sick. I did try to get into it again but after one P90 and a few days of Wii Fit with Jovie all over me I lost motivation. I can’t wait to go to a real gym and do circuit training or something!

Back to running… I still won’t run. Lately a lot of my friends have been getting into running for all sorts of causes. Now and then a few of my friends would post on Facebook about finding a partner or two or three for some race, or just to run with for practice. Now and then I’d post a smarty pants comment like: Have fun but I only run if a Libyan terrorist is after me. While the comment was meant as a joke (I am full of sarcasm and smart ass-ness) I really have no motivation to run unless I have to. I do wish I have the want (and a slight like once I get going) but I don’t. There’s nothing enjoyable about the pressure I feel in my lungs when breathing while running. The only thing I like about running was that I sweated and I did loose weight. Ahh… too bad cause running is so cheap too!

Page above created using Scarlet Lime’s September kit.