I’m officially on vacation!! I still can’t believe it. I won’t be working tomorrow and the other 18 days after tomorrow. Uauuu!!!

Tomorrow my daughter is going to school as usual and my son is going to daycare. I’ll have a blood test done in the morning than come home to do some blogging. I want to take advantage of tomorrow morning to write a few posts and try to organize my posts schedule for a couple of days.

I know that my kids are going to request all my attention. I only have 25 days a year for vacation so this is something we long for for almost a year. I really want to spend time with them although I also feel the need to have my own time even if they are around. So, I’m preparing some children craft ideas, movies and other children activities that can keep them busy while I do some of my stuff.

Having the pool at home is lots of fun but also time consuming. When they are in the pool I have to be near to prevent accidents, I don’t want to be on the computer while they are in the pool, I want to keep my eyes on them.

I want to keep up my blogging but I don’t want them to feel that they are sharing my time with the computer. I’m going to try to keep the computer away from me as much as I can. Well…if they are watching TV I can be on the computer…

I thought about not blogging during the vacation but I like it and I don’t want to lose the rhythm of updating regularly. I don’t have scheduled posts, no extra posts to use so I just have to keep writing when I can.

My husband will be on vacation only next Monday so tomorrow afternoon, Thursday and Friday my kids will be all mine.

Today it was the day to go, drive some miles and watch Noddy and The Treasure Map.

Today we had high temperatures, we are used to have a fresh brise where we live so going to the interior made us have hotter temperatures and a dry air. The complex where the musical took place had no air conditioned so we were all sweeting during the show.

The show started half an hour after the established hour, this is something I really don’t like because the children become impatient and it’s a little complicated to control them.

When Noddy and his friends arrived it was a blast. My daughter was speechless and impressed with all those animated characters she’s used to watch everyday on TV. My son was also excited and participated in the activities that were requested from the stage.

The clues to find what the treasure was were English words (the show was in Portuguese of course). The words were: “to work”, “as a team”, “much better” and “together”. Putting them in the correct order:

“Much better to work together as a team” - the message was: when we get together and try to solve something as a team is much better than alone. Friends have to speak with each other no matter what is going on, even in bad days when we are not in the mood.

I personally found the musical very interesting, I really liked it and I’m happy that my kids were able to watch them live.

It was not allowed to film the show but I was able to film 15 seconds movies (my camera doesn’t allow more time) without a problem. It was not possible to get close to them, only at the end of the show we were able to go near the stage so no photos with my kids and Noddy.

Here are some photos I took during the show:

I tried to insert here one of the movies I made but it didn’t work out. This was the first time I tried so I have to check what am I doing wrong.

Surprise, Surprise.

Noddy And The Treasure Map Musical is going to be in a city not too far away from us so today, without saying a word, I bought tickets online for me and the kids for June 28th.

Tonight I’m going to tell them about this and I’m sure they will be thrilled, especially my daughter who loves Noddy.  Catherine is not very fond of masquerades and outfits so I hope she’s not afraid of Noddy and Friends.

It’s a special gift from me to them and I know they will love it.

I read a post at The Domestic Diva called Parents tune into your Kids, this was an interesting post to read. Take two minutes and read it than come back please.

I agree with what is said by The Domestic Diva, completely, we must give our children our best attention and provide them with quality time. I couldn’t agree more.

Now talking about my situation and most full time working mothers with no one to clean the house, to help with the meals, to go shopping, how can we give our children quality time when, even on weekends we have the house to clean, shopping to do and we are so tired that we can’t even walk because our legs hurt so much.

I try to give my kids most of my free time but there are those days that, no matter how much I want to be with them. I’m not 100% with them. There are those weekends when I take them to the park but I just want them to play alone because I’m too tired to walk and play with them. However most of the times when my attention is requested, although tired and not wanting to, I manage to drag myself and play with them. Is it quality time? Maybe for them it is, they don’t even notice that I’m not ok, but that’s for sure not quality time for me. Do they deserve the effort? Yes, of course they do. They are away from me 10 hours a day and they surely deserve a mom that spends time with them and plays with them even if that’s not what she really wants, I mean, I want to, but the tired side says: go to bed, rest and let them play alone.

Most moms (not all of course) I know from blogs are staying or working at home mothers, although I know it is not easy to handle a house and kids full time, at least they are at home and they can prepare some house stuff during the day.

When I come home at 7pm I still have laundry, cooking and some cleaning waiting for me, besides all the other activities (baths, playing) that involve the children. Am I proud of being a working mom? Of course not, my dream (which is slipping through my fingers) has always been to spend more time with my kids, pick them up at school, do the homework with them but the reality is different, I have to delegate those tasks to other people because…I’m working.

Should I have gymnastic classes or swimming classes to easy my stress? Of course I should, but when do I have time, when I should be asleep?

Of course I’m aware there are full time working moms in the US, moms with a career, with high status inside a company, but do they have time to blog? Probably not. The reality I see on blogging world is about moms that follow their kids, who have the computer on all day, who have time to socialize, to participate in forums. I tried to do that but I’m going down the drain, I’m tired because I can’t put up with that because I have little free time.

I’ve been blogging less lately because I’m so tired I can’t stay up everyday until 2-3am and get up at 7am in the morning.

Do I want to be a full time mom? Yes I would love to, but European reality is much different from US. Even if I blog for money, the reality is not good, two years ago if I earned 300US$ I would earn 300€, now 300USD$ means 192€ and it’s getting worse.

Do I want to work from home? Yes, I would love too but in Portugal there are no companies providing that type of work.

If there is a US company that wants to offer me a job I can do from home I will be pleased to accept! ?

I’m not criticizing anyone, on the contrary, I would love to hear from working moms to know how they manage time. I want to improve my parent skills, I’m always looking for ways to be a better mother, that’s why I sometimes instead of writing my own posts I read other mom’s blogs because I learn so much from them.

Are you a full time worker? Leave me your blog URL and I’ll be please to read about your daily life, I’m sure I will learn important lessons from you.

Before the pool I had little time to blog now, I have less time. Let me explain.

Before the pool:
We usually arrive home at 7pm, the kids watch some tv while I prepare dinner, just before dinner is ready there are the baths and then dinner. Afterwards some TV for the kids while I blog a little and than bed.

After the pool:
We arrive home at 7pm, it’s hot therefore the kids want to go to the pool. Once my husband only arrives home at about 7.40pm and I don’t leave the kids without supervision, I have to stay by the pool and dinner is postponed. This means we have dinner too late and later I’m so tired I can’t look to the screen.

Today my son had a birthday party so no pool. They are both asleep now while I’m updating my blogs.

My son and daughter are my priority so I want them to have fun in the pool especially when we have good weather. I could take the laptop outside to the garden table but they want my attention and they sure deserve it after spending 10 hours away from me.

For quite sometime we have been thinking about getting a pool to our backyard. Size does matter and so does price. We will probably have to buy a car until October so we couldn’t spend a lot of money on a pool. We searched a bit and although we preferred other type of pool for now we have to take advantage of a smaller and cheaper one.

Yesterday I bought a average pool (366 cm x 91 cm - 12′ x 36″), it takes 6786 liters of water, it’s filled with air on the border and the walls just come up with the water. I was quite skeptical that the walls would come up but, they did. The walls are built with three layers of strong material and I hope the neighbor’s cats don’t put their paws in there.

Here is a collage of the several stages we went through this morning and part of the afternoon. Today it was a National Holiday so we could do this today, the kids were thrilled of course.

Yesterday it was a public holiday in our country, today I took the day off.

I took the kids to school and I already did some important shopping: nail polish. Believe it or not I’m a chronic nail biter BUT I stopped biting my nails a few weeks ago and now I have “some” nails that need some polish. I’m not used to polish my nails but today I bought a brown and a dark red bottle. I’ll be trying them later.

Being a full time worker I’m not used to be alone at home so I can’t stand being all day at home without my kids on a day off. Today it’s going to be surprise day!!

For quite some time my daughter has been asking me to pick her up at school, as I’m always working, I can’t. So today after lunch I’m going to show up at preschool to pick her up and even stay a little with her in class. She’s going to be thrilled when she sees me.

The original plan was to pick her up at school and later pick up my son, but…I can’t wait and I will also pick up my son at lunch time from school. Today most of the kids are not attending school because a lot of parents don’t work so the teacher doesn’t mind of him leaving earlier.

So, they know there will be a surprise today but they don’t know who will be doing it or what it will be. I know I won’t rest with them at home, but I’m happy to have them around, specially when I’m supposed to be working.

Every year, on the first Sunday of May, it’s Mother’s Day in Portugal. So last Sunday I received wonderful presents from my daughter and son as well as many kisses.

It all starter on Friday when my son, who had three presents to give me (one he bought, one he did at school and one he did in daycare), insisted in giving me one right on that day. He read a poem and I couldn’t hold the tears from rolling down my face. It was so beautiful.

On Sunday I received two presents from my son and two from my daughter. Now I have poems, a wallet, a purse, a Potpourri bag and two recipe books where I have to write my favorite recipes.

But like my daughter learned in pre-school: Mother’s Day it’s everyday and love should be shown daily.

This last few days the Top/Most watched movie in my house was “Enchanted“. This is the most beautiful movie I’ve seen lately and my daughter (4) and my son (9) just love it, meaning this is a movie for all ages.

The story starts with a princess that talks to animals and lives in the woods and looks forward to the day she’ll meet her Prince. The Prince hunts trolls and looks for the day he’ll meet his Princess. That day arrives but a queen is against and will fight to end their love, that’s when the real world movie starts.

Plot Outline:
A classic Disney fairytale collides with modern-day New York City in a story about a fairytale princess who is sent to our world by an evil queen. Soon after her arrival, Princess Giselle begins to change her views on life and love after meeting a handsome lawyer. Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?

This movie has all the fairy tale ingredients for an entertaining and amazing movie:

• Princess
• Prince
• Princess that talks to with animals
• Princess that sings
• Princess Dresses
• Evil queen
• Evil queen with poisoned apples
• Music
• Love
• and much more

This is a family movie, if you haven’t seen it yet, you should. If you want to buy it, it is available at Amazon.

Today we had a perfect summer day. In the afternoon we went to the beach, although we thought it would be windy and a little cold, we were completely wrong. The weather was excellent, the sea, although a little wild, rolled out along the beach giving the opportunity to wet out feet.

Our intention was to drink a coffee, play a little in the sand and come home. All plans were not accomplished. The coffee shop was closed and instead of playing in the sand, once the weather was so good, my kids ended up playing in the sea in their underwear. First it was just to wet our feet but the water was so good, that they start wetting the shorts/skirt/shirt and well, in a few minutes they were playing in their underwear. I was wearing jeans, I rolled them up above my knees but I end up with wet jeans.

We ran, we laugh, we played in the water, my kids were so happy. My DH, has usual, not very fond of this type of fun (arhhh!!) stayed up in the hill while we were down there in the beach having fun.

I wish I had taken my camera but well, what matters is the photograph memory we have of these beautiful and happy moments .

Yesterday I thought I was going to have a relax day although I know with all the housework and kids to take care is a little difficult to accomplish that.

Today it was an important holiday here “Carnation Revolution“, and although I already knew my son was having a birthday party in the afternoon, I thought I was going to have a calm day. I was wrong.

The news came when I picked up my son yesterday at soccer class: Your son has a soccer tournament tomorrow and he has to be at 9.30am in the local park field. The tournament will last until 12.00. What?? This meant I was not getting a calm and relaxed get up the next morning.

Today, my husband went to work early in the morning, I got up to prepare a few snacks, woke up the kids and got into the field. Fortunately the tournament took place in a park where besides, tennis/soccer/basketball fields there is a play park so my daughter could be busy. The problem was that I couldn’t rest a minute. Catherine wanted to swing and swing and swing and I had to push her in the swing all the time. Of course watching a soccer game bothers her so she refused to get near the field. Fortunately I was able to watch my son’s goal.

I went home already tired but I had to cook lunch. At 12.30 Catherine was asleep in the couch, I was cooking in the kitchen. Lunch ready, time to eat, Catherine continue to sleep, at 15.45, Dani and I left home to the birthday party, Catherine was still asleep. I left Dani in the birthday party and I met my best friend who was in the park where we had been in the morning and we spend a few time talking there, this was the only relax moment of the day (beside now).

18.30 time to pick up Dani, I took Catherine with me and I didn’t expect what was about to happen. I ate something at the party, Catherine too but Dani and her didn’t want to leave because all the other kids where still there. I’m not going to enter into details but at 21.05 I was able to grab them back home.

Baths and movie watch ended the day. We had started to watch the “Enchanted” movie the day before and we watched the rest. Excellent movie.

Now, the big moment of the day, everyone is asleep and I’m in the computer all by myself. I needed this!!!!

I know I’ve been away from this blog but fortunately I’ve been having a lot of paid work on the others, and I barely have spare time to write on this one.

Last Friday the daycare party went really well. The kids where fabulous, all of them.

First there was the Ballet class with the “Spring” dance:

Then, after new clothes and make-up, my daughter danced an “Ali Baba” dance and she was dress like the Ali Baba fairy tale.

My son danced HipHop and he was dressed (more or less) like a HipHop dancer. The trousers are really old but…he likes the way they look.

Before the end of the show a known Reality Show “star” from

around here sang a song and the kids where

all back on stage to dance with her.

After the show there was a lot of food for everyone (each person took something to eat) and I can say we had a nice evening.

With this theme I can’t locate the photos in the right places, sorry!