Thank God It's Friday!!

No matter how the week goes, good or bad, I'm always wishing for the weekend, and you all know why. Anyway, it's raining a lot and looks like we will be having some bad storms this weekend. The perfect weather for staying at home and do lots of things! I am extremely motivated!

Saturday my hubby's parents are coming over for dinner, and he already told me that HE will make it (it's so good when men know and LIKE to cook...) I will probably make a dessert. Sunday is my father's birthday, so we will go over for lunch.

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I've been wanting to show you some things and let you all see what I've been doing, but as you know our camera is not helping. This weekend I'll be taking photos, if not with the *stupid* camera, then it's with the cell phone.

Decisions and changes

I was tired of the other background... and decided to change it. This one is better: it reminds me of Spring! And I can't wait for Spring to come!

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So, me and hubby talked about the "having-dinner-at-my-parents-during-the-week" issue again, and we have made another decision. From this week forward we will only have dinner at my parent's One Night. This has a good side and a not-so-good side. The good side is: I will be able to do something at home during the week and not leave it all for the weekend; the kids will be able to play with their toys before going to bed (something that they always ask for when we get home, but are not allowed to because when we usually get home it's really late and they go to bed the minute they walk in the house). The not-so-good side is: me and hubby will eat dinner at around 10 pm. But then again, we used to do this before we had kids and it's not so bad...

Anyway, now I'll have to come up with a to-do list everyday!! I'm so excited!!! Yes, I am! I love to-do lists, and not having one everyday was really a pain for me! So, what will I be doing today?

Oh, I have so much to choose from... hubby will be cooking tonight...

• wash one load of laundry
• clean real good one bathroom
• clean up kitchen after dinner

I think this will do. I better not make a huge list, I usually get overwhelmed and don't do anything.
Have a good day!

Another Award!

I've started to blog a few months ago, after reading some blogs for several months. Those blogs were of moms, and they talked about their lives, their beliefs, their ups and downs. I loved to read them and I still do! At the time I started this blog, I was feeling really desperate because I wasn't able to organize myself, so I started to write it for me. I never thought that I would be making friends here because, seriously, who would be interested in my messy life?! But some of those ladies came here one day, and the next, and the next... and everytime they did they left me the sweetest messages of encouragement and happy thoughts. I am really thankfull to them!!

This is the 3rd award I receive this week, and it was given to me by sweet lady Alfazema.

The Marie Antoinette Award

Thank you so much! And after reading this, I really do feel honoured!

I would like to give it to

Lara

Sandra

Hadias

and Alfazema, can I give it to you too??

Photos!! Photos!!

Finally, the photos are here!

Remeber I told you that last Saturday we bought some things? Well, here they are:

The baskets for the books. Like I said before, it doesn't have to be pretty, just a designated place for the books that were in the living room. Now when the kids want to "read" one, they go there, take one, and after they're done with it they put the book where it belongs.

The new yarn. Aren't these beautiful?

I think that they can be used both in crochet and knitting. I still have to buy the proper hooks for crochet, and mom said she will give me her knitting needles. I don't know how to knit, but I already have 3 possible teachers: my mom, my grandmom and my MIL. They are all willing to teach me. You know, my grandmom used to crochet and knit a lot. When me and hubby got married she offered us a bedspread that she crocheted. It's beautiful! So when she asked me to show her the pot holders, I did:

They're not perfect, I know that. Just remeber that I don't crochet for a long time AND I was doing this without a tutorial. (I can't tell you how many times I had to UNDO the circular one!)

Anyway, this is what I wanted to show you!

Awards and a meme

From Alfazema:





From Lara:

"This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Thank you so much to both of you!

Lara also tagged me: 6th Picture Meme!

1.Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures.

2.Go to the 6th Folder, then pick the 6th picture in that folder.

3,Post that picture on your blog and the story that goes along with the picture.

4.Tag 6 other peoples that you know or don’t know to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog or an e-mail letting them know you chose them.

In this computer I only have photos on the e-mails that hubby sends to me. So this is the 6th photo of the 6th e-mail. Ladies and Gentleman meet my twins!

Well, actually, their back. This picture was taken in 2006 in Alentejo. We were spending the weekend with hubby's uncle and aunt. It was a wonderful weekend and the kids loved it too!! The twins were almost 2 years old.

I'm not going to tag anyone. Whoever wants to do this meme, feel free to do so. Just leave me a comment saying you did it 'cause I want to go to your blog and see it.

It's freezing here!!

Really, we're not used to such low temperatures. In Lisbon, anyway. I only stop shaking when I'm in bed, and that's NOT good. It's really cold. The weather is definetely going crazy. We've been having some weeks, I think that since Christmas, with temperatures between 5ºC and -3ºC. I'm telling you: WE'RE NOT IN THE MOUNTAINS!! THIS IS NOT NOT A NORMAL TEMPERATURE FOR LISBON!!!

Anyway, the weekend was going pretty well, I took lots of pictures from the things I did and bought. Then Sunday evening I asked hubby to put the photos in the computer and Guess What?! The darn camera didn't let us transfer the photos!! But you know, it's really our fault. We've been talking about buying a new one, and I'm sure that it has heard us and now it's punishing us. I could almost hear it say Ha!There you go, you wanted to put your photos on the blog? Well, I won't let you do it! Hubby is trying to not loose the photos, if he can take them out of that thing I'll post them. But for now, I'll just tell you what happened during the weekend.

Saturday we spent the day with my in-laws. The kids love to be there because they can play outside, I like to go there too because it usually means that we can go to the market! And so we did! We bought some new yarn to me (I'm really in the mood for crochet!lol) and we also found the shelves for the kid's books. Well, not exactly shelves, is more like baskets. I don't mind that as long as the books are out of the living room and all in one place with easy access for the kids.
I took the scarf that I was doing but after talking with my MIL I decided to undo it and made 2 pot holders instead (sorry Lulu, no scarf to show...). You see, the problem is that I don't crochet for such a long time, and a scarf can be pretty easy (and faster) to make when you crochet a lot; the other problem is that I don't have the proper hooks to make a scarf, and mine was getting a little stiff.

Sunday was "Laundry Day"! All day just washing and drying (in the dryer because it was raining!) and ironing clothes. Call me crazy if you want, but I actually like those days. It wasn't always like that, I used to hate doing it and push it aside until I could. But of course, this was worse because then I would have huge piles to take care of and just one day wasn't enough. So now to see that I can do everything in one day makes me feel great!

I knew it wasn't a good sign...

...as I woke up with a terrible headache yesterday! Hubby left to Spain at 3 am and I just couldn't sleep well after that.


At 8 am I had 2 kids claiming to be "starving" and wanted breakfast pronto. So I dragged myself out of bed to prepare breakfast for us, and after a miraculous pill I started to feel better and ready for the day.
We went to look for some shelves for the kid's books (these are still in the living room...), something simple and in plastic. So we headed for the cheaper stores near home (there's four in the same street!) to look for the shelves. But we had NO LUCK.
When we got home the kids wanted to watch "Snow White", so while they watched it I started to clean the house. Gave it a good much needed clean.
After lunch, while the kids were taking a nap, I organized a few things in our bedroom and then ironed every single piece of clothe that was waiting to be ironed. You know when you're doing something "in automatic" and your mind just starts to think about something, and you don't even notice that you're doing what you're doing? That's what happened to me. I was thinking that I had to talk with the kids about grandpa, and then I realized that I just had ironed everything. So when the kids woke up from their nap and after they ate I told them that I needed to talk to them about something very very important and very serious too. I told them that grandma Helena was staying at grandma Ana's house and they immediately asked me about grandpa António. I said that first he was very ill in the hospital and then he went to Heaven. And then one of them asks me: "Because he died?" I was in shock because I had no idea that they knew the "when people die they go to Heaven" thing. But, apparently, their teacher had already talked to them about that, which made my life a lot easier. I made all the recommendations to them: don't ask about grandpa to grandma Helena; she's very sad because she misses grandpa, so if she doesn't wanna play with you it's ok; etc. Their response: "Ok mommy. Can we play now?" I have to say that I felt relieved. I thought that I had to explain everything to them, and I was prepared to do it, but the fact that they already know what happens makes things easier.
Hubby got home at 3 am, so after I put the kids to bed, I started crocheting a scarf with a new yarn I bought last Sunday, until hubby got home.

I'm happy!!

Tomorrow I'll be staying home, I'm not going to work outside!! I always love to stay home! Of course I would be happier if I could NEVER work outside our home, but I can't have it that way so I'm just happy that I can miss one day!

I'm trying to make a plan for tomorrow, you know, just a simple to-do list. But I'm finding it hard to do. I just can't decide what to choose. Between cleaning, organizing, crafting, reading, etc... I don't really know... Maybe a little bit of each?! And also, the kids will be home with me SO I'm not really sure what they will allow me to do.

Oh! I can't wait to be home!! One thing will not be good though, hubby will be in Spain on business. This means that I will be extremely worried until he gets home in the evening. Well, I guess I will just work, work, play with the kids and then work some more just for the day to run faster and he'll be home with us.

Geezz... my brain is working full speed! I just have so many things that I would like to accomplish tomorrow..... I know that this is NOT a good sign. Usually when I am like this I can't do half of what I want, I just stare at things without knowing what to do first. Well, let's see how the day will go. Maybe I'll take some pictures of what I ACTUALLY can accomplish.

Family

You all know that my grandfather was in the hospital last month with heart problems. He passed away on December 30. The next day, my grandmother, who never had heart problems before, had a heart attack and has been in the hospital until last week. Now she's at home, near Castelo Branco, recovering slowly and my parents are staying with her. But this week, my parents will return to their house, in Cascais, and my grandmother is coming with them. And now I need your advice.

As you know, my parents usually pick up the kids from school and take care of them until we arrive at night. We haven't told the kids yet that their great grandfather is no longer with us, and I am pretty sure that as soon as they see their great grandmother, they will ask her for him. My question for you is: how do tell to two 4 year old boys that someone passed away? Maybe looking up for a star in the sky and tell them "See, that's where he is now"?

Happy New Year!

A new year is starting. It's time to make new resolutions and believe that this is the year where everything will change for the better.

My list:

- Stop smoking. For good.

- Have more Family time.

- Sell the house and buy a new one.

- Organize the house.

- Dedicate time for crafts.

What's on your list?