5 on Friday

Hey y'all

Thought I would partake in five on Friday this week.  Here I have five things I have learned while being on my own with my kids.

1.  11 days without my husband is a really long time!  He flew out to Europe on the 7 th February and didn't get back till the 18th.  I managed without him, but it is not something I would choose to do again any time soon.  I know these things can't be helped, and I know a lot of other people who go a lot longer without seeing their husbands.  But it was hard.  We work so much better as a team, and our lives are happier when we are together

2. My kids are awesome...... And very hard work!  Give them their dues, they step up when necessary. There were times they were brilliant.  Other times they were a nightmare...... Money are brilliant in public, yet at home, they can make things very difficult.  Thank goodness I didn't have any uni work, or deadlines to meet, otherwise I would have struggled.

3.  Sewing calms me down.  After hard days with my small children, there is nothing more relaxing than getting the sewing machine out.  I am working on a quilt for one of the boys.  It is my first attempt. 

And not a usual quilt.  It is a learning process, but is quite enjoyable....  I have also started doing some cross stitch on the nights that it is too late to get the sewing machine out.  Very calming

4. South Carolina really can't handle winter weather.  So the boys were already off on Monday for Presidents' Day.  Monday afternoon it started snowing/ sleeting/ ice raining, and continued for 10 hours.  

                              

We awoke on Tuesday to a good inch of snow/ ice. My kids loved being off for the day.  I didn't mind it.  But when it was announced they would be off Wednesday.......  Well, it was a very long time......  I was relieved this morning when they started school at the normal time, unlike the county schools.  The roads were quiet, and pretty safe too. I think they were more than ready to get back to school.

5. I am exceptionally glad we have found a babysitter.  We only found her last year, I got talking to her mum in the local store, she said her daughters loved our boys, I asked if she would babysit, and it went from there.  She is a college student and lives on our subdivision. She has sat in the evening when Paul and I have gone out, when Paul has been away, she has sat for 2 of the boys while I took the other to sports.  But she came into her own on Wednesday night.  Paul's flight was delayed, and I was able to call her to come and sit the kids.  She came an hour later, the kids were in bed, and I was able to head out and get Paul in freezing temperatures without having to drag the kids out.  We are so lucky to have found her!  (If anyone local wants her number, let me know, and I can pass it on!)

That's my five this Friday.  Have a good weekend!

                                  

My birthday and other musings

Hey!

So I am now a 33 year old. I got nicely spoilt with lots of cool presents.  We went for a very adult breakfast once we had taken the kids to school.  It was delicious

First time I Have had eggs Benedict, it was delicious.  From there we went to the fabric shop, the perfect place for me on my birthday! Then to the mall for a bit of retail therapy, before picking the small one up from School.  I was even able to get some peace and quiet while paul took Seb on the school run. 

I may have gone a bit nuts at the children on occasion for more silly pointless arguing on my birthday, how dare they!  This seems a constant thing in out house at the moment (more on that another time).  

We had arranged for the babysitter, and paul had booked us a table at Rick Erwin's West End Grille.  My word the place was heaving for a Thursday night.  I completely understand why.  The food was out of this world.  The service was exquisite.  Well worth the amount of money it cost....  

Two days later, paul left for Europe.  Luckily I have great friends.  We went to the Barton's on Sunday evening for dinner, with plenty of other families, and lots of children.  And all the children actually ate their pizza dinner.  

Monday was a usual day.  To be honest, it's been a fairly quiet week.  Oliver has had basketball twice.  I took all the children once, the second time the babysitter looked after Seb and Isaac.  Just makes it easier.  Here is Seb at basketball. He was most insistent on the ear defenders, but he behaved, so I was fine with it.

Oliver has a knockout tournament starting Monday.  His team have only won a quarter of their games, so I don't think they will advance very far.  Bit of a shame, but he has really enjoyed it, and wants to play again.

Isaac has been doing well. Not getting so many emails about his behavior, about once every 2 weeks now.  His teachers think he is learning to control his emotions better, which is great.  His reading and writing are going from strength to strength.  So proud of him, on many levels.

Sebastian is turning into a righ chatter box, and a general pain in the butt.  Ok, still no proper words, but we can make out what he is saying.  And the frequency is ridiculous! Honestly, think he is going to be more of a chatter box than Oliver, help us! Please some one, help us.......

January, where did you go???

Gonna try and make this short and sweet.  

So Seb had his birthday, loved all his presents.  He is coming on leaps and bounds.  Still not talking properly, but the effort is definitely there.  He has a word for me, and constantly shouts for me at home.  This is a good and bad thing!  At least he is really trying now, makes me less worried about him when we go out anywhere.  He is still really laid back, and will only try talking if something is not going his own way and he doesn't like it.

We went to Frankie's fun park for his birthday. They all played a round of mini golf, and went on the go karts.  They love it there!

Thanks Aunty Jen for his Paw Patrol stuff.  He isn't really into coloring yet, but I am sure the time will come!

Every January Monster Jam comes to Greenville.  We thought we would try it out this year.  Tickets were reasonable, hardly anything is cheap when there are 5 of you!  After the initial noise, Seb got used to it.

Thank goodness for ear defenders.  They have been a priceless purchase!  Monster Jam is good, the Bon Secours Wellness Arena is good.  The two together, not so good.  The arena is just too small, the trucks kept breaking down, it seemed to take a good while to set the courses ready for the next race.... I could go on.  I re kong in a bigger arena, like Atlanta or Charlotte, it is probably awesome.  Not so much so in Greenville.

But we have seen it now, and the kids seemed to love it!

Oliver's basketball season is slowly drawing to a close.  So far they have won one game.  Big change from baseball!

But he has really enjoyed it, and has improved so much.  He even scored tonight.  Okay, it was from a free throw, but he is even fouling without realising it, and that's a good thing, right?!?

Seb and I got busy last week, and made these.  My first time making rice crispy treats.  The choc chips are a nice added touch.

The boys do after school clubs on a Wednesday afternoon now, so paul collects them, meaning I get extra time with Seb.  We tend to hit the library and a dollar store of some description.

There is a new gappy Gosling in the house! Isaac lost his first tooth on Sunday night.  I had noticed they have been slightly wobbly for a while.  All of a sudden on Sunday morning he is complaining of it being really wobbly, take a look, and you can see the adult tooth coming in underneath it!

The tooth fairy visited, and left a dollar.  She wrapped it in the same kitchen roll the tooth was in, so someone thought she hadn't been! She only wrapped it, as the tooth fairy bank was out of notes, and only had quarters.......

So January is done, as is my dryathon.  Thank you so much. To everyone who sponsored me.  With gift aid I raised well over 100 pounds for Cancer Research UK.  So proud of myself, and I know my mum would have been too.  I have had a few beers since though......

But with the giving up drinking, I also gave up smoking.  Didn't know I smoked?  Only in the evenings since September, not around the kids.  Had been a smoker for 16 years.  Much worse when younger.  I have now been smoke free since 1st January.  This is such an achievement for me, I am so proud of myself for making this life style decision, and I feel so much better for it health wise.

Mental health wise?  Some days are a real struggle at the moment.  Things get to me very easily.  Anything bad will out rule the good.  Today was a prime example of that.  Cemented some good things for the summer, then something came through the post to make me doubt something and bam!  In tears for an hour.....my moods seem all over the place.  So contradictory in the space of one day. Trying to take a day at a time, a morning at a time.  I have so much in my head, I need a list everyday to remember what I am doing!  Some days better that other, weekend seems harder.  Think it's the pressure of trying to please everyone.  But I know no one is perfect, and it doesn't matter if things go wrong.  But when they do, I feel so awful....

Sorry to end on a sour note.  If you have got this far, you have done well!  I will make more of an effort to post more often, especially if I have things on my mind.  Might be time to say what I really think about certain things......

Oooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh😗