Wonderful weekend!

Well I can safely say that Alex and I have had a wonderful bank holiday weekend and it was so special to see my Gran looking so much better following her ordeal. We left early on Friday to beat the traffic and I am so glad we did as it only took us just over 4 hours to get to my parents house (we didn't stop once and I gave Alex a steady supply of food on the way). This meant that we had all afternoon to play with Grandma, Grandad, Juno (the dog), Luke (my cousin) and Great-Gran. To give Alex some much needed exercise we all walked down the lane to the local small holding where he was able to stroke the pigs, play pooh sticks in the mill stream and then across the fields to the railway line and watch the trains go by. It happened to be the first time Gran had walked that far since her accident so that was also a major breakthrough. She really is improving steadily although she still has a long way to go.

Alex slept really well while we were in Somerset, much deeper than normal, but for a shorter period of time so he woke at 5.30am every morning! Not what I wanted as I then had to keep him quiet until 7.30 when I could take everyone cups of tea and wake them up. On Saturday morning Grandma then read to Alex while I had a shower and got dressed, whereas on Sunday she gave him breakfast while I went back to bed for an hour!

On Saturday morning we went to Blue Anchor beach where we could see the steam trains going by and let Alex play on the beach. Although he wasn't very sure at first he quickly adapted to the sand and stones and was having a great time pushing his digger round, digging in the sand and making sandcastles, watching Mummy and Grandma building towers of stones and knocking them down and generally having a great time. He also loved the steam trains which went by at the top of the beach at fairly regular intervals. Watching the steam trains from Grandma's arms.Alex enjoying watching the sea while having a cuddle with Grandma.Playing on the sand while the trains went by at the top of the beach.He had so much fun on the beach that the only way to get him home was to carry him! Juno also had a wonderful time playing in the waves...the idea was that we throw a ring for her into the sea and she fetched it. All good fun. In the afternoon while Alex had his nap we then did some jobs around the house...removing ferns, ivy and saplings which were damaging a wall. Then we went down to the small holding again to say hello to the pigs before supper.

On Sunday my Aunt Daphne came to see us for coffee and while we chatted Alex and Luke had great games of rough and tumble with great squeals of laughter. Dad also joined in on the action, tickling Alex with his foot...something Alex loves! It was lovely to see Daph as it has been about 18 months since the last time. In the afternoon Mother and Gran looked after Alex while the rest of us took Juno for a long walk (about 6 miles) up on the Quantock hills. Juno had a great time, especially jumping into the pond to fetch sticks...that dog definitely loves water! Despite the weather not being great we did have some lovely views of the estuary and across to Wales with the odd patches of sun breaking through. I wasn't sure how well the camera would cope with the light conditions, but was quite pleased with some of the shots, especially this one which included one of the wild ponies. The gorse and heather were also out and looking beautiful so although it was quite a tough walk in places it was well worth it for the spectacular beauty. When we got back Alex discovered Grandma's reading glasses and decided he wanted to wear them which made me giggle! As he had been trying to ride Great-Gran's walking stick Mother made him a hobby horse out of an old sock and a towel...Alex wasn't too sure about it, but gradually took to it. This morning we decided to head back shortly after breakfast to beat the traffic so instead of going to the small holding to see the pigs Grandma pushed Alex round the garden on a trolley which he loved! The trip back was surprisingly hassle free and we arrived home in time for lunch and as I type this Alex and Tim are playing downstairs enjoying having some time together. All in all it has been a wonderful weekend. Have a great week everyone.

Love,

Caro

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Good week

Well I can safely say it has been a really productive week workwise as I have completed a set of analysis that has taken a month, completed the first draft of a grant application and carried out a set of interviews to name but a little bit of it. I am now on annual leave until Wednesday morning and am so happy about it! What is even better is that I am going to my parents for a long weekend leaving tomorrow morning and arriving back on Monday. I am also pleased to report that Alex is much better and has been a lot less moody in the past few days...breakfast time has been a lot more graceful again which is nice and we have had a lot of fun in the evenings. He has also been getting a good report from nursery again which is nice, especially as he moves class next week.

Crafting wise I have made a couple of shaped cards (a challenge set by CCC) for people who are leaving work this week, both of which were made with my nestabilities. This also fits with the new beginnings challenge for Cute Card Thursday as it is for a colleague who is leaving to have a baby. It is very simple with the second layer raised up on foam pads and the little teddy on the bottom layer. The colours haven't come out very well in this photo as the second layer is actually a pale pink because she doesn't know if she is having a girl or boy.

The second card also fits with the challenge set on crafty cardmakers which is to use contrasting colours, in my case blues and oranges. The papers were free with a scrapbooking magazine and the stamp is from JustRite.

I liked the colour scheme so much that I carried it through into my scrapbook page following this weeks Pencil lines sketch. In this case the papers were from the bloom and grow range, as were all the embellishments and the colour scheme has been added to a little with the pale yellow background and a hint of green. The title of this page is called 'Going Solo' because up until the day these photos were taken I hadn't let Alex go to the top of the climbing frame (about 12 foot) and come down the tunnel slide by himself. The journalling tag reads 'Alex thought being allowed to climb up the climbing frame and come down the tunnel slide by himself was wonderful'. Thank you for reading and commenting on my blog and I hope you all have a great weekend.

Love,

Caro

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mixed weekend

This weekend has been a complete mixture on all fronts. Alex has had major mood swings from wildly happy to miserable and moody, throwing things across the room etc. The weather has also gone from brilliant sunshine to thick clouds and rain. Yesterday was lovely and sunny so we went to Kirklees Light Railway who were having a Thomas the tank Engine day. Alex thought that the trains were wonderful, especially Thomas, although he was in a funny mood so didn't want to ride on any of them really.

He loved seeing the Fat Controller and was talking about him today.

Mavis the Diesel was also a hit.

In the afternoon we went to the Park where he was given a new scooter. He loved it, but got frustrated with it because he can't yet ride it properly. However, for the first time in weeks he regained his confidence to go up on the climbing frame and down the tunnel slide so the park trip was a success.

As there are a number of buddleias in the hedgerows on the way to the park we saw lots of butterflies and I was lucky enough to get this photo using the full zoom on my little camera.

This afternoon we also went to a different park to feed some ducks, however, they were full and were not co-operating so we made do with the waterfalls instead, playing with his new scooter

and going on the bouncy castle which he loves!

I have only managed a little crafting this weekend in the form of a scrapbook page which fits this weeks Scrap and stamp Saturday challenge of 'holiday'. My scrapbook page is of a bank holiday weekend in May when we met up with my brother and his family so that Alex and Daniel could play together. We went to an animal sanctuary which the boys loved. The title is 'Animal Magic' and I used Basic Gray and Doodlebug papers and cardstock, Sandylion stickers, Stamps Away, JustRite and Tapestry Stamps and my fiskars scissors for the edge effect. The journalling reads 'Alex and Daniel had a wonderful time at the Evesham Country Park Animal Sanctuary running round watching the different animals and playing on the slides. The otters were a big hit with both boys and Alex was very fond of the horses and bats. May '09'.

Finally I completed another page of my altered book about nature, this time about ducks and aquatic birds. The background is simply acrylic paint and I added some bullrushes and reed plants round the edge. The quote says 'Be like a duck, calm on the surface, paddling like mad underneath'. I hope you all have a great week ahead.

Love,

Caro

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So relieved!

I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I am that it is the weekend. Yesterday morning was an all time low for us as a family as poor Alex was in such a state and didn’t know how to explain what was upsetting him. I felt like the worst mother in the world as he went in the car to nursery in floods of tears having screamed his way through breakfast (refusing to eat anything) and through getting dressed. In actual fact he was fine and chatting within about a minute of starting the drive and was very good during the day at nursery playing happily in the garden and drawing pictures and earned himself a ‘brave boy’ sticker. We had a lovely time in the evening as well although he was obviously exhausted…I really want this cough to go so that he can sleep at night and we can go back to having a happy little boy again. Crafting wise I have made this very simple layout of a walk we had at my parents in June. It is the perfect place to walk as there is a river to cross, a small holding to walk through and some bridges over a major train line - Alex and Daniel thought it was wonderful. I used Cosmic Cricket and Basic Gray cardstock, my tapestry and JustRite stamps and some black alphabet stickers. The title is ‘A perfect Family walk’ and the journaling is in the form of a recipe for the perfect walk from Alex’s point of view. 1. A packet of raisins to eat. 2. A dog to chase (Juno). 3. Pigs to stroke. 4. A game of Pooh Sticks. 5. A friend to walk with. 6. People to carry you. 7. Trains and diggers to see. I have also made a card following this week’s sketch on My time to craft and fitting the theme of Summer from Cute Card Thursday– I always think flowers, butterflies and bright colours are summery. It is also the week that Papertake Weekly celebrate 100 challenges and as their challenge for this week is to make a card using any of their previous challenges I decided to go back to the beginning and use the first challenge which was swirls. As a result I stamped swirls (Inkadinkado) all over the background to this card and the patterned paper strip also has swirls on it. I would love to know what you think. Have a great weekend everyone.
Love,
Caro
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Another cold!

Poor Alex has another stinking cold which explains his lack of sleep and bad moods, especially in the morning. Breakfast times are a real struggle at the moment with food being swept off the highchair onto the floor and general upset. I hope we come out of this phase soon as it is exhausting, although that said he has apparently been very good at nursery and been good fun for the most part in the evenings, playing with his garage (racing different cars down the different ramps), dancing to music, running round the garden with me, and splashing at bath-time. I am also still not sleeping which is making work rather difficult at the moment, although I am managing to get things done. I can’t wait for my holiday in a few weeks time! Crafting wise I have made a scrapbook layout following this weeks sketch on the Stuck?! forum. I love these photos of Alex looking slightly sleepy and very cheeky and was pleased to scrap them. The title is ‘Hoody in training’ and it used Basic Grey, Sandylion and The paper company cardstocks, Heidi Grace chipboard letters, and JustRite stamps. I have just discovered a challenge site for scrapbooking called ‘Scrap and Stamp' which set a new challenge each Saturday. This week’s challenge is ‘whimsical’ and I guess for me Whimsical means children’s play and imagination. Therefore the subtitle of this page is ‘Imagine’ and the journaling reads ‘Alex was so funny – after his bath he decided to wear this T-shirt on his bead pretending it was a hood until he went to bed – great imagination’. I also made this scrapbook layout of a lazy summers day in my parents Garden in Somerset to fit with the whimsical theme in a different way. I am not sure how whimsical it is, but it was a weekend full of planning for the future and watching to two little boys (cousins) playing together and wondering what the future will hold for them both. I used Basic Grey and Hot off the Press papers, Purple Onion and JustRite stamps, my nestabilities, epoxy stickers and some butterfly stickers from the local post office. The journaling reads ‘Summer weekends at Barr are so special – wonderful meals outside and a beautiful garden to relax in and explore. A place to dream’.
Finally I made a card for the Cupcake Craft Challenge site’s First Anniversary on the theme of cupcakes! For this card I followed the sketch from Sketch and Stash and used my new Cuttlebug embossing folder and Daisy Bucket spotted paper. The cupcake was cut out of some wrapping paper, the flowers are Angel kiss and the stripy paper is Sandylion. This card is for a little girl who will be 2 in September. As usual I would love to know what you think of all these creations. Have a great week.
Love,
Caro
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Sunshine and Showers

I don’t just mean the weather which has been very mixed this weekend - bright sunshine one minute and drizzly showers the next. Alex is so tired that he is happy one minute and crying the next. It gets to the stage where the poor boy doesn’t even know what he wants so there is very little we can do to help him other than cuddle him. Despite that we have had some fun this weekend. Yesterday morning we did our usual weekly shop followed by a ride on the ‘singing truck’, then games in the garden in the drizzle and howling gale, which he really enjoyed. He also had fun playing inside with his racing cars. In the afternoon we went to the park, but tantrums were in full swing about something…don’t ask me what, so we didn’t get any photos, although he did calm down eventually and have a nice time. I think he must have slept better last night because in general his mood has been a lot brighter today, although he has still been inclined to say No a lot. We went to the local Fire and Police Museum this morning which was great fun. Although we fully anticipated that Alex would enjoy climbing up into the fire engines he was very determined that he didn’t want to! He did enjoy running round and pushing the pumps and working the wheels of some of the hand pumps instead. I must say that he got rather confused about the exhibits and didn’t understand why various models of fire engines were stuck behind glass where he couldn’t play with them, but apart from that he enjoyed his ‘Fire Engine Venture’. This afternoon we went to Endcliffe park again where he finally got the idea of feeding the ducks, cheering whenever he managed to throw some bread into the water and clapping when the ducks actually ate it. It was still a case of one piece for me followed by one for the ducks, but he really enjoyed himself! He also had a fantastic 15 minutes bouncing like mad on the bouncy castle which made him laugh no end. A much happier afternoon and much more successful trip out than yesterday. How lucky am I? This huge parcel of JustRite stamps arrived from the States yesterday - my prize from a random lucky drawer on CPS website. These stamps are of excellent quality and consist of sets of letters enabling you to make your own words as well as some pre-designed stamps and the blocks to set them on. I have used them in every crafting project this weekend and am delighted with them. I just wish they were a UK company as I will definitely want to buy more in the future. The first project of the weekend was this double page layout entitled ‘Explore’. This used papers and die cuts from the Bloom & Grow range by My mind’s eye and Bazzil cardstock as the base. I used my new JustRite stamp for the little circle on the righthand page which says ‘June 2009’. The journaling reads ‘Alex and Daniel had a wonderful time exploring Grandma and Grandad’s enormous garden – running across the lawn, climbing steps, shutting gates, hiding under trees, walking between flowerbeds and putting cars in the hedge!’ This page actually fits with this fortnights theme of Blossoms by a new Papercraft website called ‘Crafty Cardmakers’ as it uses flowers as embellishments and there are flowers in some of the photos. The next project was a card using yesterdays Sketch Saturday sketch and my new letter set from JustRite stamps. It also fits with the theme of lace by Daring Cardmakers as I used my Martha Stewart Doily lace punch to generate the edge effect. As this card uses paper flowers by Angel kiss, Making Memories flower brads and a flower paper background this also fits with the crafty cardmakers blossoms theme.Finally I set myself a challenge of using some of my crafting supplies that I have either never used or not used for ages. As a result I generated this card using a cuttlebug embossing folder that I have never previously used and I was given for my wedding anniversary in June, a set of Hero Arts stamps that I haven’t used for any project despite being given for my birthday last October and some orange ribbon I was given a number of years ago. The Hugs and love stamp was generated using the Curlz alphabet set and a decorative border by JustRite stamps. Again this fits the crafty cardmakers blossom theme in a different way. I hope you all have a fantastic week ahead.
Love,
Caro
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