Sweets, sobbing, sewing, scrapbooks and scones

this is a bad pic of the left hand but you can start seeing the smudginess

right hand - smudgy nails very clear

I said to Mandy earlier this week that there are two types of mothers:

1. one doesn't say anything and hopes for the best with Mother's Day (and is often disappointed)

and

2. one makes her requests known and is sure to have at least some expectations met :)

I'm the second type so I told D to get gifts from him and the kids (we do small things) AND a card.

And then I said a good day for me would be church, lunch here at home (just us 4) - because I can't stand spending "theme" days in restaurants where they squeeze in more tables than necessary, charge the earth and give slow service, and then some alone time while the three of them visit his mother.

He agreed with me that it sounded lovely.

last Sunday the kids thought I was the coolest mother in the world when I said, "do you want lollipops?" D said, "are you SURE that's a good idea?" and I whispered, "it's all yoghurt!"

I love when they run around the garden like crazy kids. And yes, shorts in May - unheard of!

But then we had a little bit of drama.

His sister phoned to find out what they were doing for his mother.

He told her what our plans were and she wanted us all to have lunch together.

Normally this is not a problem but you'll all remember that they are not easy people to have over
(easy people for me means you get on with it and help yourself to coffee/ tea if you feel like it - I have TWINS) and are real work.

I heard him on the phone say something like, "well, it's Marcia's day too. It's not just about Mom" and my chest swelled :) I was so proud of him.

Anyway they were both a bit miffed (the mother gets all "cold" and "British" - no offence to anyone!) but that was that.

the moon last Sunday night - pic by D

So today we went to church and there was a new teacher at children's church. Connor announces immediately, "we're not allowed sweets" which was also a very proud moment - I loved it. 

Boundaries straight off the bat.

Afterwards we raced home for lunch - pizza, salad and garlic bread - and a milestone. For the first time ever the kids were allowed to sit at the dining-room table with us, on my suede chairs, with carpet! I still think of that carpet as new even though it's been 3 years already.

Of course, I put towels over the chairs and they had to wear bibs but all in all, they did well. We had to remind Connor that if he wanted to walk around, he'd go straight back to the high chair. 

my morning orange - this is my routine when the weather starts cooling - don't you love the colour?!

After lunch they set off and even though I was sorely tempted to clean, I quickly tidied the dining room and bathroom (this potty business means they trash the place every time we go do the business) and went to the study.

I had to have a cup of tea so caught up on my google reader and through a couple of clicks, read this post that made me cry the ugly cry. Seriously, I sobbed. Not for the same reason the lady cried. I sobbed so hard at the thought of those boys waiting 341 days for a sponsor. I can't imagine how abandoned they feel when other kids are being sponsored all around them. Oh, I'm a marshmellow inside.

Anyway, had to get myself together so I decided to sew. Except I didn't thread the thing properly and the thread bust loose and I can't remember how to thread the machine. So I gave up on that for now.

And finally did what I actually wanted to do today - my Sabie mini-scrapbook. I'm telling you - there's no better way to get things done than a quick mini-book. When this post publishes, I'm going to go through my pics and choose the ones to have printed and then I can take pics...

I'm thinking of doing a monthly craft afternoon if there's enough interest - I've seen something similar on at least two blogs where a group of ladies in the city come together once a month to do a craft. One group does the same thing but the other group comes together and each one does whatever she wanted to get done that month.

I like a combination of both ideas. Maybe every 3rd one the same and then on the other two, catch up on your own ideas. So I would start the thing by showing how I do the mini-scrapbooks and provide all the materials for each person to make their own there and then. The ladies would then just pay for the stuff so each one doesn't have to run around finding things and can just come to create.

What do you think? Would you come?

And lastly, I did a favour for a friend of mine and bought something for her (with her money but it had to be on my card using my loyalty points) and yesterday when I got home, D told me she'd just been and dropped off a box for me. When I looked inside, I SCREAMED! Yes, I did. It was a box of scones. 

Now here's the thing - she honestly makes the best scones I've ever tasted (and I'm a scone person) and she knows I think so, so this really felt like a labour of love just for me. My love language is acts of service :) D just came in and said, "please tell K those were the best scones in living memory " 

LOL

So I had a lovely day (even the sobbing was kind of lovely).

How was your Sunday?

Manicures and pedicures

Today when I woke up my manicure and pedicure were both ruined.

After they did the pedicure I wore slip slops for about 7 straight hours and then I wore my bedsocks to bed.

What? You don't wear bedsocks? :)

And today my big toes are all smushed and horrible.

Same with my fingernails except nothing on hands but normal sleep behaviour resulted in smushing of 4 out of 5 nails on each hand.

This is nonsense.

my hand against the Sabie Falls :)

Yes, it was a Groupon but it is still R290!

This was only my second manicure ever but they literally painted one hand, then the next, NO BREAK for the nails to dry, and then straight onto the second coat on each hand, NO BREAK and then top coat.

I actually said to her, "are you SURE that's going to be fine? Even with my quick dry nail polish I still leave 10 minutes between coats just to let it dry completely."

"Yes, it will be fine," she said.

Liar.

So I've already taken off the fingernail polish because I can't stand that smudged look (it's bad - I tried to take a self-portrait - not sure if the pics are any good because of light and I was pressing the shutter with my left hand) and I'm now sporting green nail polish.

I'm 80% convinced I should complain.

Would you?


For those of you who get regular mani/ pedicures, is this normal? Don't they let the nails dry properly? Do your nails ever smudge?