The sign of the times

 Any body who knows me or comes to my home knows I love signs and pictures and letters as decoration,something draws me to them I have maybe 12 different displays of affection on show around my home

but my wish list is ever growing as I recieve the new catolougue for  Not on the high street.com and i am drawing some inspiration

I can feel some crafty moments coming on!!!

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Project cardigan complete and my new favorite place to go

 I have completed Lucys cardigan at last,and I am quite pleased with the results.I dont think I would have quite got so in to this if I had not had such terrible back pain recently as I am still a seamstress girly by nature but i have actually really enjoyed cozying up at night with a good film and my knitting needles,its defiantly a winter hobby.

Lucy actually hated the cardigan and I had to bribe her to wear it for me so I could take some photos.!! Just typical!!

She did wear it though when we went out later that day to have a little brows round the last of the sale bargains.......I just about cleared out Jarrold store of their joules sale items I cant resist I got a dress for Lucy reduced from £32.00 to £ 8.00 now that's a result!!

Anyway here is the finished cardigan

When we were out today I went to visit a new store that has opened called Hobby Craft and I just know i am going to be a regular there it was 2 floors of everything craft and I was like a kid in a candy store,in fact Andrew had to about drag me out of there .

You can try out all the stuff as well in the craft corner so you get to see how things work

I came away with some new wool to knit Daniel a hat..........watch this space I may get it finished before winter is out

A good reason not to do piano practice

When you have spent ages strategically placing you soldiers in prime spots to commence battle then how could they possibly be moved so that army Sergeant Daniel can do some piano practice!!!

A clever tactic on Daniels behalf and as you may tell his new years resolution is not to concentrate on scales and chords.

I knew this piano would give us hours of enjoyment for all the family

I have also made no resolution this year either as mostly mine are to get fit and lose weight and that may last a few days at most.........although this year I really am going to get fit and lose weight!!!!

I have decided that its come to a time when Andrew and I need to make extra special time together,we are always so busy with the children that we sometimes neglect our relationship,I can count on one hand the times we have made a date with each other and gone out with no children and this year that will all change and we have decided that we are going to make that extra effort to get out together rather than one of us staying in to babysit while the other one goes out and I'm looking forward to my first date of 20011 already.



We are already back in to the swing of routine here and Christmas is almost a distant memory although I did find a couple of photos from the end of 2010

Christmas eve

Chrismas morning ( I actually forgot I had taken these as it was some enearthly hour in the morning)

Lots of daddy snuggle time

A belated happy christmas and new year to you all

 During the christmas period I have little time to do what needs to be done let alone any posts,top that off with siatica pain on every movement,dosed up the eyeballs on pain killers and maybe you can understand my lack of cheery christmas posts....bahhh humbug!!!

I worked through it though and had a wonderful christmas time with a big focus on friends as well as family this year and it made christmas extra special to spend some time with great friends.

I was spoilt christmas day by rebecca who cooked a fantastic meal for us all,even though she put the oven on grill for the first 3 hours,the turkey was fine and cooked to perfection,maybe grilling is the way to go!!!

I was amazed at Lucys understanding of the whole christmas thing,she was very in to it all (my party girl) right down to choosing her own outfit and shoes for christmas day,she has style!!

I sadly didnt take pictures this year as I could barely lift myself up let alone a camera so I am afraid this year I will just have my memory of events and those I will cherish! My back is not good right now and so I have not been very creative either although have taken up some knitting,project cardigan!!

One thing that has brought me great joy this holiday season is how well lucy has come on with her speech,its truly amazing and very understandable

Last night she rattled this big sentence off as I was putting her to bed

Me "Time to go bed now Lucy"

Lucy "Ok,Me go in my bed,Gaga (her name for Daniel) go his own bed,he naughty,mummy go bed,daddy go bed,megeg go bed,everybody go to bed.

she then lay in bed chatting to her doll asking dolly if she had missed her and that she needed to put her covers on

It was so sweet and its great now to hear her opinions and her humor is amazing,she is very funny and cheeky and now she can use words to express her personality,im loving this independance its giving her and she loves it too,she is soaking up these words and putting them in to context.

Also just to document another first,this time for my big boy Daniel,he has lost his first baby tooth,and guess what ................the tooth fairy came to our house last night.

frozen back in time

today was a normal kind of day,well if you dont count the root canal filling at the dentist (ouch)!!

I was driving to pick up Daniel from school,happily singing to the radio when Leona lewis blasted out the radio,bleeding love and it froze me to the point of tears and sent a shiver down my spine

Then I realised its almost three years to the day that I had conformation that my beautiful baby girl had prader willi syndrome and this was the song that was playing on the radio the day the consultant told me,he told me over the phone at my request as I could not face the wait for an appointment to confirm that my worst fears were true

Today the song is not played much and at any other time its never really got to me like it did today,the tears fell for my little girl once more and the words seemed even more apt,I keep bleeding love for my daughter and at the time of her diagnosis I thought I was going crazy and although I dont dwell ,today it took me right back to that life changing moment and it made me see how far we have come in the last 3 years and how much love and happiness my special girl has brought me and our family and she has taught me so much,far more than she could ever know.

Monday makeover

 Now that winter has defiantly arrived....first frost last night

weekends have taken on a new dimension and we are all feeling homely and have that dark night cozy up time,no nipping off to the seaside for fish and chips.....well maybe now and again!!!

Its home and shut the door,fire on,warm winter fodder on the stove and lots more dark hours to fill and so I stumbled on this

........http://www.newdressaday.com/

I think its amazing how she can turn the most horrendous dress in to something great to wear and although i am not brave enough to do this challenge on a daily basis I thought maybe I could have a makeover Monday each week ( although dont hold me to it) on my blog and see what I can up cycle over each week

here is my first up cycle object.............pretty horrendous huh!! And it was £4.00 from a local charity shop,seriously though this came with a skirt to match (another monday makeover project)

Its 5 sizes too big for me but I was drawn by the buttons and the winteryness of it

I used a tunic that fits me to establish the size and basic shape I was looking for

I then cut up the sides and shaped the arm holes and after a bit of nifty stichery ended up with

This............

its going to look cool with a pair of wool tights and black boots,looking forward to wearing it!!

Next project mission

 There is a definite chill in the air now and the dark nights are drawing in,yes winter has arrived and my thoughts turn to coats and boots always at this time of year

I pour over the glossys of winter woolens and this year the theme is certainly military and as a non follower of fashion I had not considered but on my drive to school every day I have seen this lady walking along in this

I didn't know where it was from until Megan had asked me to take a look at an item on top shops site,and there it was the military coat that I am now putting on my wish list

It then got me to thinking that I could not find a coat that I really loved for Daniel and Lucy,I'm not talking about every day coats but something a bit eye catching and so I decided to make a coat......as you do!!!

I got the pattern for this coat from http://www.ottobredesign.com/ 

It was a real happy accident in the fact that I ran out of wool for the front bodice and ended up with the spotty lining on the outside too and then a great find for the matching buttons at my local sewing shop just a walk in to town away

And I added a kinda military edge to the front

Now its Daniels turn and in this months Ottobre design magazine

I am just waiting for my delivery  of this months issue and to find some nice soft wool and this will be my next project,Im very excited to get this one made as my little chap will look such a dude in this

hospital and hearing

Well thankfully Lucys little op is over and all went really well

She was a little star and seemed so grown up in how she conducted herself.We had no tantrums over her getting no breakfast that morning and she was quite happy to let the Drs and nurses deal with all the hands on stuff they needed to do

I was more than proud of my little lady and had no need to have worried about how she would react to the anasthetic as she almost jumped off the bed straight out of recovery

One thing that did surprise me was her appetite after her anasthetic......it was HUGH!!! She has not stopped asking for food all day so I am hoping that its just a side effect that will wear off and not a new stage of her pws

Here is a little picture of my cheeky green munchkin

sew much fun

When I get a bug for something I get it big style,it could be photography,cake making,cooking,knitting and right now its my sewing machine that is getting my attention

I love crafting,could you guess!!! I want my children to grow up with the ability to make and create,even more so important for Lucy who may need to keep busy hands when she gets older and so I try to surround them with made with love items to inspire them

On my last post I had put up a mention of a book by Emma hardy and I also found this book in my local library by the same author,its great for getting your littles in to making and has some really sweet ideas and will be on my list of books to buy once it goes back to the library

I dont as a rule make much stuff for my only boy Daniel as I find boys clothes need a lot more tailoring,something that intimidates me a little but when he asked me to specially make him something nice how could I say no and I only have a window of time when my cool boy will wear something that I have created so I set to and made him this rock out dressing gown

Note his cool kung foo moves........its his chinese genes

My boy lives in his jammies at home and so he can now cosy up in his rock strar house coat too

Little red riding hood

A rainy saturday at home left me feeling creative and a little project I have been meaning to do for a while took shape in the form of a little red cape for lucy

I made it in wool with a soft cotton lining and as Lucy doesnt like the restriction of chunky coats this I felt was an ideal cover up without the hassle of feeding her reluctantly in to a coat and with only one button we can escape out the house in a flash

I can honestly say this was so very easy to make that even a complete begginer would find it a breeze

The book that I took the pattern from was from Emma hardys making childrens clothes

There are some really neat patterns in there and all very simple but effective,Im going to make the little boys dressing gown next and have some rather groovy material already and waiting

All I need is some time!!!!

These rolled fabric flowers are so easy to do and look great as a hair corsage as well

 http://portabellopixie.typepad.com/RolledRosesTutorial.pdf I have a link to the web site its a really fun project and I have a feeling i am going to be making many more of these

The little lady is 3 and she blew all her candles out

 Ok so to some this may not seem like a massive thing but Lucy blew all her candles out twice!!! this comes from a little girl that didnt have enough muscle tone to even cry for the first 3 months of her life and could not suck from her bottle or make a sound

she has some huff and puff now and her third birthday marks the start of candle blowing!!

We had a quiet affair for her,just family,and she loved it even though she wont admit that she is three

when you ask her her age she says she is two......this could be a bonus when we go to the zoo as three year olds have to pay..........hehe

A little lucy update

 Around a month age we set out to Sheffield childrens hospital to get Lucy fitted for a new back brace and see the spinal surgeon and now finally i have a second to update

We had 2 appointment over 3 days so we stayed with my mum (thanks mum,I know we kept you busy)

Lucys xray showed that the curve had not progressed and in fact it actually looked a little better at the bottom end although the xray in my opionion was a little rushed and my little wiggly girl would not stand still,I didnt want her xrayed laying down as it doesnt show a clear picture so we got a just about to run off picture of Lucys spine

Mr cole her surgeon is happy with how things are and we are still not at a stage of operating although he says its likely that one day she will need surgery but as ever I stay the true optimist.

She is still too diddy for a spinecor brace yet and they are really hoping that another year will give her enough growth to be able to fit in to a spinecor brace.

Lucy was cast for her rigid brace and she did so well,no tears no crying,she was amazing and now she is the proud owner of a very pink very pretty butterfly brace

This will hopefully be her last rigid brace as we hope the next one will be the spinecor

Lucy has adapted very well to her brace and we are putting her in it a little more during the day now to get her back in to line again and then hopefully we can just brace her at night again

All in all a good apointment and we dont need to back till 6 months time.

Another little note on Lucy is she has started pre school and she got funding for a one to one support worker who is really looking after Lucys needs well.She is doing 2 morning a week  and although is not too happy about leaving me she is settling in nicely

Here is a picture of my little brave girl deciding what she wants for her birthday