Hasn't he grown

The past couple of days Fraser has definitely shown he's mastered his new skills. I cannot believe how quickly the last 6 months have gone, and am in awe of this little human being that can now sit and snaffled a biscuit (takes after his mama), crawl around and make my heart all but break with one of his belly laughs.

He absolutely loves his reflection, a little bit of vanity never did anyone any harm...

And isn't this just the cutest?

We're two days into being just the three of us, and so far, no problems to report despite Mr Fraser being in a grips of teething, bless him.

A kiss goodnight, twice

I loathe the inconvenience of a dreamfeed, but love the peaceful serenity that envelopes the house during it, a time to sit and contemplate for a few minutes without distraction. Tonight I enjoyed it.

I always check on the children before I turn in for the night, I can't sleep unless it's been done. For Fraser it's a given, he needs a feed, but for Maddie I do it purely for the fact that I get to give her another kiss goodnight and to tell her I love her. And, I have also, for like, forever, given her two kisses, one for me, one for daddy, I do it instinctively when he's not here to do it himself. But it was only tonight that I noticed myself doing it, and tonight that I spent those few minutes of peace and quiet considering it.

Their father, who is a brilliant one at that, is away from them far too often. They are fine with it, Maddie less so because she's older, wiser, but still well adjusted to the coming and going nature of their pa. I find myself in the position of filling this massive void, I don't know whether I do it well enough, but I do it as well as I can and I suppose I should expect no more. I am grateful that when he's here, he is 100% here, he gives his all to his family and for that, the least I can do for him to to make sure that those kiddo's of ours get a goodnight kiss from us both, and know they're loved by us both. It's in my subconcious, isn't that weird?

I hope the two kisses make up for it...

And then there were three...

I'm riding solo again for a little while whilst Rich is in Belize stencilling things. We've been dealt a pretty shoddy set of cards this year with the amount he's been away and I'll be glad to see the back of it in a few months time. But enough of being melancholy....

The weather has turned grim. So with that, I dusted off the slow cooker and whipped up a stew yesterday and I have soup cooking away in it today. Yummy.

Doesn't it make you feel all warm just looking at it?

Also, with Rich going away I didn't want to hole myself away in front of the sewing machine, so made the most of being sofa bound for a few evenings by cracking on with the crochet. Thanks to my wonderful mum who gave me a quick lesson in granny squaring (is that a word? I think not) and away I went. I'm thrilled with how well they're turning out, and more so, to make something out of the lovely Debbie Bliss wool I've had kicking around from the disasterous attempt at making knitted building blocks. I won't have enough to make a large throw, so I think I'll do a cushion for M's bed and see what's left. I'm going to make blankets for the tent, to pretty up those ugly beds and sleeping bags. It's twee, I know, but I love it. 

Hooky Happy

 

 

I also couldn't resist the Halloween outfits when I went grocery shopping today, so Maddie and Fraser are kitted out for trick or treating now, she will be a cat, and he will be a vampire. I love love love them and can't wait to see them all dressed up, I will post some pics when they're in them. I have ordered a few decs too for the porchway, all that's left is the sweets (daren't buy them too far in advance, they'll get eaten) and the pumpkin carving -squeal!!!

 

Right, whilst the baby sleeps I'm going to stick on something trashy and crochet away to myself for a while. 

Hooky hooky

So, on top of the million and one other things I have on the go, I've taken up crocheting. I've always been able to knit, but I've never once crocheted, didn't have a clue where to start. I'd kinda been toying with the idea, bought this book which remained unread for a while. Then I stumbled across this blog, Lucy, with her wonderfully colourful hooking and that she managed to create such beautiful things with a baby sat on her lap at the same time. So, with that in mind, I cracked open the book detemined to have myself a craft I could do without having to shut myself off from the world and children (well, sometimes I least!). I was on I think my fourth attempt of just doing a single crochet chain thing (I really don't have a clue about it, not one iota) that I decided that doing it from a book was not going to work. Fast foward to ten minutes of tuition from my mum and I was hooking myself away into granny square oblivion. I might not be able to do anything else yet, but I have a granny square, so I'm happy.

This weekend is mine and Rich's last weekend together for a little while so whilst we spent it visiting a few family members and have a weekend back home, we also courtesy of my mum got to spend a night away and boy, was it nice. Waking up when we were ready to, nigh on impossible at the moment, was just terrific and much needed.

A quick overview of the weekend was Debbie's. Lunch out. Friends. Chinese. Shopping. Lunch out, again. Night alone. Lie in - ahhh. Shopping. Ikea. Roast Beef. Crocheting. Drive home. Relax.

Summer. Done

We spent the afternoon today clearing out our garden, getting rid of all the bedding plants and just putting everything away. It looks so bare now after the lovely bright summer we had with it. Also this year we managed to get a fairly decent yeild from our crops. Chilli's were by the far the most successful, so much so, we're having to give them away, there is too much hot stuff there for one family that's for sure.

Here's the last pick of the season, not too bad

 Bald bed. This was full of cheap and cheerful annuals, but looked so pretty when in full bloom

It was a school day in our house today, which meant that it was much quieter than usual. We spent the morning doing a bit of research into the new car and came the conclusion we already had before we started, isn't it so annoying when that happens?!

I also finally got around to taking some decent pictures of the current projects. The light in the lounge this afternoon was lovely, so seems a shame to waste it. Downside being that I couldn't find the lead for the camera all afternoon which turned my excitment at sharing the pictures into annoyance. Who put it on the kitchen windowsill, for Christ sake?!

But here you are, the finished cushion cover. All I need is the cushion

 The results of my evening spent cutting up fabric, it's going to get pieced tonight hopefully, I can't wait!

Right, I'm off to burn off the curry from last night. I hate the gym, but I'm forcing myself, I'll feel better once it's over, that's for sure!!!

Yawn

Up far too early and in fact, I don't need to be awake right now, hence I'm have a mooch around Blogland from the confines of my bed with my husband still in his slumber next to me. I can hear Maddie downstairs watching cartoons by herself (a recent introduction to stop us having to get up with her at 5.30am), it's strangly peaceful.

I quite like this time of day, where there are no requirements for my attention to the kids, the ringing phone, or the bland, lame television programme that someone else is watching, or just frankly, something else that I'm meant to be doing. If only I had a cup of tea....

My blog hasn't been very interesting of late, largely due to not much interesting happening. Craft wise, I'm as far as cutting all the squares of Fraser's quilt (I will take photo's I promise), it's at the good part now, where I can start to see it come together and I'm itching to get it done, so hopefully I'll have the time and energy at some point this week to get stuck into it. Aside from that, it's been fairly lack lustre.

But, do you know, I actually quite like it a little bit like that. I have so many periods in my life that are stupidly hectic, I take on too much without the neccesary resources (good old time and energy) and spend the whole time dropping the things I can drop but that usually matter most to me, good quality time with the kids, having a nice house, me. And I get myself so stressed out about it, I hate myself for doing it everytime when I vow that I'll just keep it simple, but I'm a yes person, what can I say?

I've been having a random pondering lately, about blogging and the such like. I follow a few blogs, all by incredibly interesting women who have wonderful families and create the most loveliest things. They are so open about their lives, and I find myself really enjoying that little snippet into their days, and mainly drooling over their gorgeous creations (If only I could be that good?). So in writing my own blog I have been encouraged to make sure there are worthwhile things happening in my world. I'm thankful to it for making me see the simpler things that are most worthy of a blog post - I do believe I wrote about my sparkley toes at one point, ha - but still I'm not quite 'there' with the sharing of it. Yup, I worked up the courage to pop it on my Facebook profile, but I'm not shouting from the rooftops about it, do I want the thought of people reading it to spur me on, but not actually let them read it yet? I'm not sure. So I carry on writing, to no one really about my life and maybe one day I'll let on about my secret and see what happens. Or, maybe I should just go for, put it and myself, entirely out there and....see what happens. But, oh God, what if no one reads it?

It's getting light outside now, which sadly means I'll have to make an appearence soon and start the frantic morning that is Getting Maddie To School. Till then I'm off to indulge in someone else's life for a little while before my own kick starts.

I will come back with pictures later on, pinky promise.

In short

Today I...

• Found time for some cutting
• Got all the laundry done
• Lost 3lbs at Weightwatchers. A total of 17lbs in 8 weeks! 

That's it for today, not much else to report. 

Lazy Sundays

Well, the glorious weather was as expected, shortlived. So, we chucked on easy clothes and just had an indoor day. For me it was wonderful, I spent a good few hours sat in the kitchen finishing off Maddie's patchwork cushion (my first attempt as patchwork and quilting, oh and inserting a zip!) and then took to the much more boring task of finishing off the alterations I was making to Rich's hat. Both turned out well, the hat was a bit of a bugger, much too fiddley for my liking and no where near pretty enough to be spending all that time on. I'll picture the cushion tomorrow when the light is better and stick it on here, I am rather proud of it.

And sparked by my creative afternoon I am getting stuck into Fraser's floor quilt. I was waiting for my rotary cutter before I attempted cutting all the hexagon's in the original pattern, but I'm itching to get on with it, I desperately want to see all those lovely fabrics stitched up, so I'm going for squares, and will cut them with plain old fashioned scissors, eeks!

It's been a lovely day recharging our batteries. I wish there could be more days like this where we can do the things we want to do, and not have to do.

The housework can wait

Another beautiful day here. It was that nice I got 3 loads of washing out on the line...it really is the simple things.

Since it was so lovely outside, it seemed a shame to be inside cleaning the house, so we decided to make the most of the weather and get out and about in it. The question was, where? I've wanted to get out to Stourhead since we moved here, but it was a bit pricey and far away for a couple of hours of wearing the kids out. A few other places were considered, all too far away and eventually we came back to a lovely local attraction, which turned out to be a very good choice as we had a wonderful time, all four of us.

Maddie spent a suitable amount of time running around to wear her out a little bit, and there was a good cafe that served a lovely brew which ended the walk nicely.

Snug as a bug

Climb every mountain climbing frame...

She posed for this, and as I took the shot her words were "did you get me? Can I see?" Vain? Surely not!

Ahhhhh....

The sun shone today

We dug the bikes out today to brave our first, and probably last, bike ride of the year. We spent quite a few days out last year enjoying the good weather on our bikes. This year, not so much what with the whole newborn baby thing going on. Now that Fraser is 6 months old (yesterday, woohoo!) we felt he could be trusted in the trailer, strapped into his carseat, and he loved it, thank God!

The first 4 miles or so were really quite enjoyable, then Rich thought it wise to carry on a bit further, baring in mind the further we got from the car, the further we'd have to cycle back to it. My legs, arms and not to mention bottom are feeling the effects of every one of those 12 miles we eventually cycled, I am pooped. My grumbles aside though, I do so love spending time out in the sunshine with my wonderful little family. Maddie was a cherub on her trail along bike, and pedalled occasionally, when reminded to do so. And Fraser only gave off a few grizzles but quickly got the idea and fell asleep.

You can't really complain though, went you get to see this:

Some family pics

My daughter, no fear

Couldn't you just eat him?

Always time for a bit-o-cake!

Me, hurting, lots

I'm thoroughly looking forward to an evening of movies and munching through popcorn with the husband. Ahhh, well earned I think.

Baby shower

We threw one of my good friends a baby shower tonight at mine. PJ's, lots of yummy (naughty) food, and lots of chatting.

I've spent the last two days busy preparing for it, baking and sewing. And I've loved every minute.

After much umming and ahhing, I decided to keep my gift simple and practical, but still very beautiful if I do say do myself.

Monogrammed muslin

and the finished muslins wrapped with alphabet burp cloths (and a handmade ribbon tie too!) 

 Michelle was most certainly suprised at the baby shower we sprung on her, and given the cold and being all but 9 months pregnant did well to stay awake for the entire time. It was really lovely to get everyone together without the kiddies running around and just be grown ups for a little while, even if we were in our pyjama's. 

I ate too much though, even with the lack of dinner, and there are leftovers that I will try my hardest to resist. But it's hard when they look...

this good

Now, another project to add to the list since the burp clothes and muslins worked so well, I really do need some for Fraser, I already have the perfect fabric in my (mini) stash!! 

Technology malfunction!

Don't you just hate when things that were working perfectly fine when you last used them break?

I (Rich) have spent much of this evening sorting out the laptop, which now thankfully works, and we've sadly had to re-format out memory card meaning the loss of quite a few pictures (yes yes, I know, we should have saved them as we went along, but life gets in the way).

Whilst on the subject of technology, it's been okay'd for me to get a new laptop, happy happy!!! So in a couple of weeks I shall have a shiny new piece of kit which is good the way this current one is giving up on us!

Be warned, this is a mushy sentimental bit, but I just need to say that my daughter is fantastic. Ok, she has her moments, but when she comes to me and announces that I am going to be sooooooo proud of her and show me...

this

her family. She's even drawn Fraser in my arms, love her. She was right, I am proud, bursting with it. How did my tiny little baby that just blew bubbles and slept turn into such a clever little thing. It's at times like that that this gig seems so worth it. {mush over}

Since it's waaay past my bedtime...over and out...!

Wash day, every day

I love days like today. The sun is shining, the kids are behaving themselves and the chores are done.

It leaves me with plenty of time to just sit and be, or do things that I love doing, rather than need to be doing.

So today I am organising my projects, what I want to do, when I can fit it in and most importantly what I need to buy for it.

On my (fun) to do list is:

• Advent Calenders
• Christmas Placemats
• Red/Aqua quilt for the lounge
• Quilt for M's bed (what sparked the quilting obsession)
• Floor quilt for F (I already have the material for this, so that will be first)

There are untold other things I want to make, but I've enough to be getting on with for now. I also need to finish M's cushion cover, and make a few baby bits for a friend of mine.

Back to mentally spending £100's for me with a lovely cup of tea.

Jammies, Blanket and Trash

And by trash I mean the food kind, and the telly kind.

X-factor, strictly and chocolate, need I say more?!

I don't feel like it tonight, so a well deserved veg and normal service to resume tomorrow...

Learning curve

One thing that has come out of today that a) taking more pictures and b) taking more close up pictures, brings the realisation that all three (yes, 3!) of the camera's we have in the house are not up to the job. I drool over the pictures others take where they capture the colour of the moment perfectly, there isn't an ounce of blur (unless intentional) plus they actually get the picture rather than the hideous grimace the three year old pulls a nano second after flashing a beautiful smile.

I have been harping on, to everyone, about my want, and now apparent need, for a better camera, only problem is unless I win the lottery anytime soon, there are no such funds to buy me one. So, I'll continue harping on and hopefully one day I'll be able to take beautiful pictures and until that day I'll just lust after others and show you the few that I manage to take that are passable.

Aside from the camera melodrama, today is quite momentous. After quite possibly weeks of just *reading* about quilting, I've actually completed my first attempt at it. Ok, it's just a cushion cover, albeit a large one at 50cm square, but I started small. I'm really quite pleased with the results. The seams don't all match up, and there was quite a bit of unpicking to do along the way, but once I'd quilted it, the imperfections aren't nearly as obvious as I feared and I really do like it. Now to actually bind and back the thing, oh and find a cushion big enough to fill it and it'll be all done and ready for it's rightful place on Maddie's bed.

Here it is (apologies for poor light)

And a close up, which is blurry, do you see my plight? 

So, here we go!

The new theme to the blog, just us, what I love.

Today was a lovely day, minus the 2+hrs spent at the gym. Today I have been marvelling my sparkly toes, not only because of their beauty but because I was so pleased to actually find time to make them so lovely - thanks Rich.

And even more wonderous vision was that of Rich and Maddie walking up towards The White Horse. She's such a little grown up now, and such a daddy's girl. We had fun running up and down the hills (more Maddie than us, admittadly) and flying the kite. It was blustery and sunny, the perfect weather for kite flying. We came up with the cobwebs blown away and the children worn out enough to make bedtime a breeze....breeze, geddit? :-)

My first attempt at quilting is going well (the craze that I've caught onto very late in the day, but that's sparked my creativity along with a *slight* obsession with blogs about quilting, ha!!) I managed an hours sewing today and really wish I could have fitted in more, but alas, time and in fact, energy say otherwise. I will take some pictures of my progress tomorrow when the light is better, and possibly have a finished top to show too.

I'll leave today with my two favourite things from today...

The pretty toes

Dinner with a smile