Twisty ties, and swim meets

I keep meaning to write about twisty ties. They really are something else, and so often help me out of a hole. I have found when there is something I need to fix and cant find any other way to do it, I use a twisty tie, of the bread closing variety.  So far I have 2 on my car, one for holding up the sun visor, where the clip has been snapped off, and the other holding on the front bumper.... literally.  We asked the mechanic to do it but the clip that clips it in place has broken off, and every time I parked in one of the car parking spaces here that have the raised concrete block at the front to prevent you from driving too far, it would pop off again.  Not so now I have tied it together with a twisty tie.  Brilliant!  And the other day, whilst in some diy store or other I found a giant twisty tie, which I bought for my husband.  I figured we could use it on a trip away somewhere, for something ingenious.  I haven't thought about what that might be yet though.

As I say, I meant to write about twisty ties, but my life has been taken over by swimming.  Not me, the kids, of course.  And today was the final swim meet.  The Champs.  I must say, 2 years on and we seem to have been swallowed whole by the American life style, in particular the total unBritish habit of getting up very early on a weekend and doing something.. 6am this morning I was up, and breakfasting, making snacks and sending the boys off to the swim meet. Husband was out the door before even this time and we (me and 2 babies) followed an hour or 2 later.  And tomorrow, cycling at 10am with the scouts FTLOG!  And our 3rd Pot Luck of the week.  Honestly the Americans are mad for Pot Lucks...  I wouldn't mind a lie in, but the other week I had 3 drinks before bed and the next day, not so much HO but certainly sluggish the next day. To be honest, it wasn't worth it and I won't be doing it again.  But they are very much into their 'volunteering' over here. You join a club, there are certain number of volunteer hours to fulfil, for the parents of course.  Today I was handing out Heat Treats (sweeties to the winners of swimming heats, for the Uninitiated), it was good fun, but in 80+ degree heat, tricksy, in a very pale-skinned-easy-burn kinda way.

Family camp is coming up fast, the boys cant wait. This is year 2 and I am crocheting a rug out of old t shirts! Madness, but I couldn't bear the horrible floor of the cabins last year and sometime you just gotta go bear foot.

So woo hoo to the Olympics.  I sported my (Old Navy) London 2012 t shirt today, but was over shadowed by the very athletic looking mom in her black and gold Adidas London 2012 shirt.  Oh well, story of my life. But I have found that I am more interested this year than before (ever - really, sport on tv turns me cold, except Wimbledon) because of the swimming that we have recently become involved in.  Honestly, I think enthusiasm grows and only requires just the tiniest bit of involvement.  I wouldn't have expected this sort of interest from me at all!  Plus it's in London, a place I am just a bit familiar with, which probably adds to it quite a bit.

So that's it, today's brain dump.  I am going to stop this now as the laptop on my lap it making me a bit hot, even though its 10pm and things have cooled down a bit.

BTW just read John Grisham's Calico Jack, about baseball - another sport I am interested in now because of the kids.  A bit disappointing. Although I am not really a Grisham fan, his lawyery books are a bit more exciting and less predictable.

Paper folding, for idiots

So I am thing of teaching myself origami.  I read in a blog or on Pinterest a list of things to keep kids occupied and I figured that this is a good tip that might entertain my children at some point.

I would love it if one of them would just sit down and write in their journal off their own bat, or just because they enjoy it.

I also need to play more.  I find it hard to play with them. There is always something that needs to be done or I just need a break from them, to escape into my own head.....

Another brainwave I had to see us through the summer holidays is Boredom draws.  I put together som travel bags with age appropriate activities, some were puzzles, some coloring, some work - Maths and literature.  I visited the Lakeshore learning store and got a couple of books that they either use in school or that seemed fun.  I broke up the pages and scanned them so i can print out a bunch of pages a d then use them again when the next of my children is at that level.  I am trying to wean them off tv, or at least dramatically cut back.  I figure if they are ever going to make something of themselves it would be good for them not to be too dependent on tv.  I think I was too dependent on tv, even though I didn't have tv on demand.  It shaped my life so much and it sucked up so much time.  I think it has it's place and the youngest boy has learned a lot from watching shows like the Kratt brothers or Diego.  I want to encourage them to learn how to deal with their own boredom, to find something to do and not just switch on the tv.  There is nothing wrong with TV, its great when they are getting too wound up and are fighting, or if they are tired, just winding down in front of tv is a good thing to be able to do, but I do think it stunts their imagination - I have seen this first hand, when I find the inner strength to be able to switch TV off and deal with the consequences.  There is whining and begging, but once I have stopped all that (brum, chish - that was a drum roll and a cymbal FYI), they settle down to imaginative play. And then I know it is worth it.

Bingo wings

Since having the bairn I have lost not quite a stone.  It was fairly straight forward, I just cut out bread and cakey things, so no sandwiches, cut back on evening munchinesses and eating a proper lunch that mostly consisted of this , which is a fantastic idea, or eggs. Sooooo I have kind of plateaued for now, but still want to lose another 14lbs, as I am still in the Over Weight category, but at the moment I am living the life - we have had 3 birthdays, end of term and a 2 week holiday so it has been tricky keeping on track, and I haven't gained weight - I have stayed pretty much off the bread, not so much off the cakeys, but I am trying to practice restraint.  So, apart from that - which I will need to apply myself to, I want to try and tackle those bingo wings.  I have always had them, even since I was young, I have been  blessed with chunky thighs and less than slim upper arms, but I figure I will leave the legs to themselves but I am going to tackle the arms.  The plan is 1) zumba, 2) chair dips 3) triceps flips (I don't think that's the proper name, but you hold your arms behind you and straighten them, whilst holding some kind of weight.  And I am going to document it, just to see if I can make any difference or just have to accept this is the way it is supposed to be.  Living in the States, in partic. CA where the sun shines and the vest t shirts are a must, is kind of my impetus.... so lets see eh...

So here's the before pics

Today, I went to zumba for the first time in over a year.  It was fun, but I have been weary today.  I am hoping for a good nights' sleep as a result.  I am going to measure said wings now.......eek, 13".  OK time to take action.