Weekly Wisdom

New year - a new chapter, new verse, or just the same old story?

Ultimately we write it - the choice is ours!

The Saturday Update

We've had a wonderful Christmas week.

We spent Christmas Eve visiting family and taking Isabella to church. Christmas Day was just us four and my lovely in-laws came over on Boxing Day.

The kids were truly spoiled - I've never seen so much Playmobil under one roof. We've eaten a lot of chocolate and watched a lot of films.

For the rest of the week we relaxed, stocked up on wood, took the kids out on the bikes, went to a play gym with friends and really had some quality time together.

I'm looking forward to more of the same for the next week!

Links!

Some of these are amazing.

Looking forward to seeing this film next year.

An interesting start of a list.

This man needs a grandchild!

I need to do more of this.

Currently enjoying this book with Isabella.

True notes on learning German.

Really enjoying this series.

December Goals Review

Here's how this month went:

• Get Joshua settled at nursery - done!
• Try two new recipes -done!
• Celebrate a nice, relaxed, family Christmas at home - done!
• Get the house in order - in progress.
• Work out a work schedule for 2018 - in progress and going well.

Mamazon

Reading Review

Small Great Things - Jodi Picoult

This book, passed on to me by my Mum, was everything I hoped for. I read My Sister's Keeper several years ago and I know that Picoult is excellent at making the big issues real on a personal level.

Small Great Things tackles the issue of racism from several perspectives on so many levels. The events of the story are so close to home, it's unreal, following the story of baby Davis who dies before he is even a week old, leading his white power parents to blame and sue the African American nurse.

Picoult writes in such a way that I could identify with all of the characters at times and of course, it was a tear jerker.

Murder on Pilgrims' Way - Julie Wassmer

Another book passed on from my Mum, I enjoyed this murder mystery set just outside of Canterbury.

It was a quick and easy read but it kept me guessing until the end and had some clever twists.

I skipped two of the series but look forward to catching up and I'm enjoying hearing that there's even a TV series in the works!

Shibumi -Trevanian

Nico bought me this book as he is currently reading and enjoying the German translation. It follows the life story of a world-class assasin with Japanese, Russian and German roots right up to his current tete-a-tete with the American government.

It covers such an eclectic and eccentric mix of topics from the game of Go to the Basque language and was a fantastic read, not at all dated by the forty years that have passed since it was written.

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas!

Weekly Wisdom

The magic of Christmas never ends, and its greatest gifts are family and friends.

The Saturday Update

A crazy but good last week of term. Joshua had an early start to the holidays with just one day at nursery before his teacher went off sick.

Both kids enjoyed the Christmas party on Wednesday with Nico while I did my last work shift of the year.

We caught up with friends for a playdate on Thursday, which was also the last day for Nico and Isabella.

Yesterday was a blur of cleaning, washing, shopping, wrapping and kids! We're ready for Christmas now though and looking forward to some quality family time.

Links!

Putting this on my to-do list.

Comedy wildlife photos.

Important words as parents.

Fun idea.

Cute study.

Thought provoking art.

This kid made my day.

So happy for the Unmumsy Mum as four become five!

Christmas Spirit

Mirror

For months, I've been looking for a round mirror with a wooden frame to fill this odd shaped space on the wall in our room.

Finally, on a trip to Ikea with my Mum last month, I spotted this on sale for just thirty euros!

They have a funny system for end of the line products so it cost us in nerves what we saved in money but it was worth it in the end and I'm so pleased with how it looks. It really changes and completes the room.

Recipe: Paleo Prawn and Vegetable Curry

Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• 2 inches of ginger
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 250g prawns
• 1 red chilli
• 1 green apple
• 1 sweet potato
• 300g sprouts
• Oil
• 1tbsp red curry paste
• 400ml coconut milk
• 100ml vegetable stock
• Seasoning

Instructions:

1. Chop the onion and fry it with the ginger, garlic and prawns. Remove from the heat.

2. Chop the sweet potato and halve the sprouts. Fry them with the chilli for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the coconut milk followed by the stock and curry paste.

3. Cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes. Add the apple and the prawn mixture. Cook for a further 5 minutes, season and serve.

Make it Monday - Tree Decorations

 At the Gonis party back in October, my order merited a free gift of two clear plstic tree baubles.

I bought some red and gold feathers to put in the baubles to add a bit of colour that matches our scheme.

I used my red and white Gonis paints. I was making some white snowflakes when the paint spluttered so I improvised, making a white background with a red snowflake too.

It's nice that they are different yet complementary. A lovely addition to our decorations in my year of create!

Weekly Wisdom

Don’t live in the past, don’t wish away right now for the future. This, right here, right now, is where you are supposed to be.

The Saturday Update

I find myself starting this post in the same way every week but this week really has been a whirlwind. 

After a fairly quiet weekend with a nice Sunday afternoon visit from friends, Monday was a day of chores, Kindergarten runs and dance class.

On Tuesday I had a visit to the job centre, an observation for a third company I'm hoping to work for in the new year and a Christmas night out with the girls from my postnatal class.  It was a really lovely evening and we were the last ones out of the restaurant. 

I started my second new job on Wednesday and it went really well.It felt good to be back in a classroom, especially a quiet one with kids who want to learn (kind of).  In the evening I went to Zumba which was also quiet. Lots of things seem to be winding down for Christmas.

Thursday was the one quiet day this week and between the usual daily grind I did a bit of work getting to grips with LaTex software and preparing some school materials.

Yesterday was the usual Friday chaos of baby swimming and housework.  It was also Nico's Christmas do with work so I took the kids to the Christmas market by myself.

Joshua is doing well, getting settled at nursery and Isabella is loving Kindergarten as always.  We're all still struggling with coughs and colds and I am really looking forward to both the quiet weekend and the start of the holidays on Friday to recover!

Links!

Love this parenting essay complete with comments from the teenager in question.

True.

Interested in seeing this.

Thought provoking.

Sad but true.

Wonderful photos.

And a wonderful parent/photo project.

Double standards.

Dance Class

I'm so glad I signed up to this fitness studio back in September. I try to go two to three times a week and I'm always glad when I do.

Usually I do Zumba and a weights class but I recently took part in some different dance classes which have been really fun too. Even though I danced when I was younger, I do struggle to remember the steps so it's a good mental workout too. I'm really looking forward to keeping this up in 2018.

One Little Word - Create

For the last few years I have joined in with Ali Edwards' One Little Word project.  I have intentionally chosen a specific word and built my goals and ideas around it for a whole year, using it to stay inspired. 

For 2017, I chose the word 'Create' and it has certainly felt very appropriate.  This year I completed my knitting course, started crochet, made most of the birthday gifts we sent to people, made all my own cards, started calligraphy, made my own soap and tried lots of new recipes.

I made sure that I created an average of one thing per day, be it a set of Christmas cards or a letter, a crochet patch or a new Project Life spread.  It has certainly been a busy year.

I didn't complete everything I set out to do.  By Christmas I felt completely overwhelmed and resorted to buying many gifts, but I certainly made more and learned more this year than I would have done without focusing on this word.

On the whole I feel like I have acheived a lot this year.  Not the least of those things has been creating a safe and comfortable environment for the children.  It feels like this has been my year with Joshua, as I was on maternity leave throughout 2017.

Looking forward, I am excited about this new phase of our lives, just as much as I am worried about it too.  Joshua is starting nursery, and I am finding my feet in a very new work environment which will be better for us as a family in the long run.  I'm thinking a lot right now about my goals for 2018 and what my One Little Word should be.  I'm not decided yet but I know I will be following this project for another year and look forward to sharing it with you soon.

Reading Review

The Brutal Art - Jesse Kellerman

I was rereading this one after about ten years and while I honestly could remember nothing about it, it was a good read.  It wasn't your average page turner but it was interesting.

It follows the story of a New York art dealer who is tipped off to a huge undiscovered collection of brilliant artwork only to discover that it is linked to a series of brutal, unsolved murders.  The story flicks back and forth through time to tell the story of the artist.

It's really well written and I enjoyed reading it again.

Rules of Deception - Christopher Reich

It's almost difficult to review this book without giving away any big plot twists.  The novel tells the story of Jonathon Ransom who discovers that his wife has been leading a double life when she suffers a fatal mountaineering accident.

For me, there were one or two holes in the story but generally, I enjoyed the book and the various twists and turns.  A good international spy story.

The Saint Plays with Fire - Leslie Charteris

Among the free books I picked up a few months ago are a whole range of The Saint books.  I vaguely remember the television series but did not realise there were books too.  I picked this one out at random.

It is a typical detective story set early to mid twentieth century.  It was a quick and easy read but it also kept me guessing.  It reminded me a little of Sherlock Holmes.  I enjoyed the story and look forward to reading the others from the series.

Make it Monday - Christmas Decorations

 Our tree seems to get fuller every year and I don't really think we need a bigger one. I aim to buy one decoration per year and we've received several as gifts. I like a tree that tells a story. There are memories on there from our first Christmas together, the first in our flat, our engagement, our first as Mr & Mrs, our first in the house, Isabella's first Christmas and Joshua's. This year we bought a small wooden decoration on our Harz holiday and I used my Gonis products to make two that I'll share with you soon.

As a result of this, and since the lower part of the tree is a bit emptier due to our curious one year old, I decided to repurpose some of the basic baubles. I bought a bit of greenery on sale at Netto, trimmed it down and filled four vases with that and the baubles. It was simple but effective. I love that it ties in to the tree and spreads the Christmas feeling around the room.

It makes a lovely centrepiece for the table when we host my in-laws on Boxing Day too. The best part is the beautiful smell of the real fir tree branch. I'll be making this a new tradition!

Weekly Wisdom

We must look inside.

The Saturday Update

Another crazy week here. After a quiet weekend, it feels like we haven't stopped since and we're truly in need of another one.

Joshua started nursery and apart from catching a cold, he's had a brilliant start to this new phase. Like his sister, I seem to have more trouble getting him to leave!

Monday evening was the nursery / kindergarten AGM and it was quite an eventful evening. The meeting lasted almost three hours.

I spent the week making work plans for the new year including some online training. It felt good to get back into the world of teaching.

Wednesday was St Nicholas' Day. We were all spoiled and Isabella had a theater trip too.

Joshua had his check up on Thursday, which went well. He was much braver than his mummy when it came to his jabs.

Yesterday was non-stop! From nursery, to swimming, cleaning at home, cleaning at kindergarten...

We're hoping for a quiet weekend as we all recover from coughs and colds.

Links!

More than one of these made me laugh while drinking coffee.

What an interesting survey!

An interesting article on marriage.

Good tips for entertaining.

Too easy to relate to.

Hilarious and true.

DIY fun.

Staying on track.

Gino

Currently...

...attending meeting after meeting about work.
...Christmas shopping.
...worrying about an unwanted intruder in the house.
...making great plans for 2018.
...loving/hating settling Joshua in at nursery.
...reading this page turner.
...cycling again and enjoying it.
...enjoying this season through Isabella's eyes.

December Goals

Here are my goals for this month:

• Get Joshua settled at nursery.
• Try two new recipes.
• Celebrate a nice, relaxed, family Christmas at home.
• Get the house in order.
• Work out a work schedule for 2018.

Make it Monday - Christmas Cards

 After four attempts, I finally got all of my Christmas cards made and written this weekend. Nico had ordered me some lovely cream cardstock and I put my Gonis products to work.

For the most part I used their stamp set with gold ink. I also took advantage of their example designs, just changing up the last one, which ended up being my favourite.

 Some of the designs had cut outs which stood off from the card with the help of some sticky pads. By far my favourite technique was the new paint pen used for the red baubles above.

I used the white paint pen to make this, the only December birthday card this year. I love the results and will be using more of these products in 2018.

Weekly Wisdom

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

The Saturday Update

Phew, what a week. I'm exhausted. We've all been fighting off coughs and colds while keeping busy.

Our car went in for repairs on Monday. You don't realise how much you depend on something until it's not there.

Tuesday was full of appointments. In the evening I took the kids to my old school for their Winter market.

Joshua turned one on Wednesday. We had a party with family, friends and two cakes. The birthday boy was truly spoiled.

Thursday and Friday have been spent running errands, keeping appointments and generally trying to play catch up. I finally got the kids Advent calenders set up last night.

This weekend will be more catching up, possibly with a sneaky visit to the local Christmas market. We might even get some Christmas decorations up.

Links!

What a bitter-sweet idea.

Dads get it too.

What an epic journey!

This is us!

Love this!

Amazing images, important message.

Another fab Christmas gift idea.

Some Christmas baking ideas.