December 31st 2015 - Happy New Year

Happy New Year and all the best for 2016.

Today is  the last day of my 365 pins, 1 a day.  It has been hard but worth while.

December 30th 2015 - School uniform

For the past 3-4months my eldest son has been wearing a school blazer that has been too tight and too short in the sleeves.

I have ordered him a new school blazer a couple of sizers bigger than his current one so hopefully it will last for while.

December 29th 2015 - Comms and Listening skils

Although SJA don't meet during the holidays I don't fully get a break from them as I need to sort and print out the next courses.

The next course for the cadets is Communication & listening skills.  I don't have 1 pin for this but a whole board as I have used many of the pages linked to it for games/activities etc for the cadets to use during the course.

I never realised how hard it is to find activties linked to comms and listening.  But I have managed to do so and got enough extras than what come with the syllabus from SJA.

December 28th 2015 - year in review

As there is only 3 days left of 2015 I thought I would do a review of the pins of the year.

At the beginning of the year I started out with the following:
2 accounts
a total of 121 boards (58 of these are linked to the SJA courses),
on these 121 boards I have 7,016pins (681 are on SJA). 
Some of those on my personal account are already in a board named challenge and completed - a total if 19! 
This means that I have 6,316pins

Therefore the pin a day should have been relatively easy to do!  Wrong!  this was much harder than I thought it would be as some days when I wanted to do a "set pin" I was unable to, mainly because of the pain in my knee etc.  However, I have almost done it, yes some pins have been duplicated and I have pinned many new things.

At the end of the year I have:
2 accounts
a total of 146 boards (57 of these are linked to SJA courses)
on these 146 boards I have 11,000 pins (1,200 are on SJA)
19 were previously done as a challenge
this means that I have 10, 981 pins to do the challenge and that I have made 25 more boards and added 4,665 new pins. 

I think that's pretty good considering how much time I spend on Pinterest, I thought I would have added many more than this.

I have enjoyed this pin a day even though it hasn't been easy.  A few times I wanted to give up but I don't quit things unless I have to!

December 27th 2015 - santa and reindeer

My lil man was playing with an empty box and this reminded me and my sister of us many years ago when we were kids and we were using an empty box as a car.

My sis started pushing him round with the broom but was worried she would break it so we spent a good 10-15minutes trying to work out what we could use to move the box instead.  We decided that we could use string and duct tape.  Lil man decided that is was a sleigh and he was santa - he ran off and came back with a santa hat.  Then when my sister started pulling the box he said it was his sleigh and my sister was a reindeer.  To which he ran off and came back with a set of antlers for her!

At this point we did have a bit of a laugh, but my sis played along and was pulling santa in his sleigh around the room.  Then it got even funnier as he wanted to be the reindeer and made my sister be santa in the sleigh.  He couldn't pull it on his own so his brothers helped and as they did my sister split the box as she fell out of it!

We fixed the sleigh with more duct tape and the older 2 took turns in it as well.  THEN I decided I was going to be santa!  I got to the floor and in the box (just) and put my santa hat on.  My sis was still upfront as the reindeer.  Hubby had the camera and we couldn't do anything but laugh, it was so funny!  My sis tried and tried to pull me which made us laugh even more and then she managed to move it and i broke the box as I fell backwards and her forwards which made us laugh even more.

There was no alcohol consumed in us being silly  and having a good laugh but it was a great evening.

December 26th 2015 - Boxing day sales

Me and my my sister decided that we were going to hit the boxing day sales up town.  There are a few shops that she wanted to go to as the stores are not local to where she lives.  We thought we would only be a couple of hours.....6hrs later and a missed lunch we finally came home.  She had spent a fortune, me not so much but we had nothing worth while to show for it! lol!

December 25th 2015 - Christmas day

Today is Christmas day!  the most brilliant day of the year!  I love christmas.

I know I did the same when I was a child but really boys 3:10am and telling each other to wake up and see if santa's been is TOO EARLY!  Yes daddy told you to go back to sleep for bit longer but 4:15am is STILL TOO EARLY!!!  hence grumpy mummy telling you to shut up and sleep or she would get santa to collect everything!!

6:15am is just about acceptable as it is christmas day.   I did get up and have a coffee and then could start to think about the day and opening presents.

We started easy with stockings (which were full to bursting with odds n sods - thanks santa for that!)  we then had breakfast and got dressed before we started on the huge pile of gifts under the tree:

And this was me cutting down!

December 24th 2015 - christmas eve

It's christmas eve!!!  The elves have left the kids a christmas eve box like they do every year.  In it is a craft, a dvd, a book, pjs, bubble bath, snacks, stockings and elf socks.

Not sure who is more excited me, my sister or the kids!!!   I have never known my sister to be this excited.

Her and my eldest son went to the cinema this afternoon to watch the new star wars movie and the younger 2 watched a dvd on tv and had popcorn to go with it.  Once my sis and son were home they got into their new pjs, we all had snacks for tea and watched the dvd.  They then put their stockings upstairs and all went to bed very excited!

December 23rd 2015 - Sister

My sister lives over 5hrs drive away from us since we moved north few years back.  Sadly we dont see each other as much as we would like to due to her job and our money situation.  SO today is a good day as she came up to stay with us for christmas.

This pin is sooooo us:

 

I'm hoping that in the near future she will also move up here with us, not in my house as 1. it's not big enough and 2. we would kill each other after a week!  Here's to a good few days and christmas together.

December 22nd 2015 - Pain Doctor

I had the Chronic Pain Clinic today and the doctor said that  I need to do more and stop worrying about the pain as i'm not actually doing damage to my knee.

It's ok saying do more, but when I do i'm in more pain for a few days afterwards which isn't good and it's not him in pain!

He was going to do another injection but as I said i'm managing at the moment he didn't and said will re-assess in the new year as to whether I need another one.

December 21st 2015 - junk modelling

my lil man loves nothing more than being able to make junk models from empty tubes, boxes and tape. 

We have been trying to stop him making anymore before christmas as 1. we have tidied things away and 2. so that he has extra boxes n tubes to go with the big box of odds n sods my sister has collected and bought him for christmas.

Well I had to nip out today and when I come home he was running around with a 2ft junk model space ship that he had made!  He was so proud bless him, and it does look good.

December 20th 2015 - Rain

I have just about had enough of the rain, it is non-stop!  The area was hit by floods a couple of weeks back and we have had rain most days since and we are back on a high flood alert.

Today's rain was accompanied by really big hail stones, it actually sounded like proper stones hitting the windows!  Some of them were huge. 

The kitten thought it would try and attack the rain drops as they fell down the windows!

December 19th 2015 - Scentsicles

OMG my kitten is the devil re-incarnated!!!  She absolutely hates my christmas tree, she has trashed it.  She has bitten my mini parcels hanging from it, has chewed the tinsel, got tangled in the lights, chewed branches, climbed up it, knocked baubles off it and it looks like it has been dragged through the cat flap and back (not that I have a cat flap, but i'm sure this would be the effect!)

I posted on a forum that I am a member of to see if anyone had any ideas - some I was given included sliced oranges under it as cats don't like orange smell - she licked it and then laid on it to sleep.  Cinnamon sticks under it - she bit them and ran off with them in her mouth.  Water spray gun - she just ignored it.  Shout at her - she just ignores you!  And lastly a lady suggested scentsicles.  I had never heard of them, googled them and ordered some.  They arrived today.

I can safely say they stink (I got the natural pine smelling ones) and although the smell fades after a few days if you walk past them and make a breeze the smell is strong again.  BUT on a good note the kitten absolutely hates them more than I do!!!  She has not gone near the tree let alone attacked it.  I'm so glad someone told me about them.

It has also meant that I have been able to re-decorate the tree and make it look nice again.

However, the little cow decided that as she couldn't damage the tree she would claw the corner of my fireplace wallpaper to bits and by bits I mean shred it!  I can't even re-decorate before christmas as the paper as at the back of a cupboard that has god knows how much stuff in it.  So I have now put a stick there as well.  And i've covered the damage with her scratching post that she has no interest in what-so-ever!

I have never known a kitten like her and I have had many cats during my life both as a child and as an adult.  None of them have attacked the tree, clawed my walls etc.  She has cat toys and we do play with her loads.  She is just totally nuts and never stops, she is constantly on the go and doesn't sleep much, she runs around jumping on/off things like something possessed!  Again I have never knwon a kitten like it.  I swear she has ADHD!

December 18th 2015 - Last day of school

Today is the last day of school and my kids are anything but calm.  They are bouncing off walls, hyper as an anything and on a countdown to lunchtime when they finish!

I don't envy the teachers if anyone elses kids are as bad as mine are.  BUT on a good note it means we are all home for a couple of weeks for beating each other up/fighting/argueing quality family time!

December 17th 2015 - Aladdin Panto

Yesterday a lady from the local food bank gave me free tickets to the local panto Aladdin.  It was being put on in town by 1 of the local youth theatre groups.

They did a really great job of it and me and the kids really enjoyed it.

Before the show started my lil man was dancing around infront of the stage to the christmas songs being played.  I'm sure others enjoyed his pre-show entertainment as well.

december 16th 2015 - UV/Glow in the dark party

For the SJA christmas party this year we decided that we would do a UV/Glow in the dark party.  Back in July the cadets did a sponsored silence to raise money to buy the glow sticks and things that we would need.

They made t-shirts with UV fabric paint a few weeks back that they were going to wear on the night.  When the members arrived they were all given UV face paint (if they wanted it), glow sticks, finger lights, glow glasses etc and were taken to where the disco was (normal disco lights only at this point).  Once everyone was there and had thier bits n bobs we turned the UV lights on.  The reactions from the kids as their clothes n things started glow properly was brilliant.

Everyone had a great time and Santa was in his grotto for a short time and gave them each a present.

december 15th 2015 - pinterest

I have done nothing today but follow links and pins and ended up miles from where I started as was looking to see if I could find any similar ideas to pin!

December 14th 2015 - Bath time

Today I bathed the bearded dragon as he is starting to shed his skin again but he seemed more dry than usual.

Unlike most images of the beardies in a bath of water that seem to be enjoying themselves mine was just trying to get out of the sink!

December 13th 2015 - Glow in the dark snowman

On wednesday of this coming week it is the sja christmas party.  The party is going to be uv/glow in the dark.  It should be a really good night.  I think the kids are going to be quite shocked when the uv/ lights get turned on.

I have spent to day painting a glow in the dark snowman that we can use as a "Pin the nose" game.  It was painted with glow in dark and white paint.

december 12th 2015 - dvd profiller 2

a few months back me and hubby started to re-do the dvd profiller.  However we never got it finished and the kids have taken dvds from shelves to watch and put others back in their place etc.  So we had no idea where we had got to.

Today I decided that we would do it.  It has taken over 6hours to do.  This is because not all of the dvds came up by title and had to be found either by the barcode or via being put into laptop.

I can now say that I own over 700 dvds and they are all documented.  We just need to added any new ones we get at christmas.

December 11th 2015 - Loom bands without a loom

Despite all 3 boys having loom bands and loads from various sja events I could not find a single loom in the house to use.

This was abit of a problem as I needed to makke some ready for the sja christmas party this week.  I found this pin on how to use a fork as a loom.

bit fiddly to start with but ok once you get the hang of it.  it worked for what I wanted.

December 10th 215 - Christmas tree lights

So after the kitten has trashed my Christmas tree by running through it and climbing up it and pulling the lights off it.  Me and Hubby have spent today re-doing the tree and adding a 2nd set of lights to it so that they are more spaced out and less likely to be pulled off.

However, there has been quite a bit of discussion as to how many Christmas tree lights you need for the size tree.  We have a 6ft white tree and it has 200lights on it, 9m of tinsel and too many baubles to count.  But depending on which site you visit on the net the answer you get will vary from 150 upto 700 lights for a 6ft tree.  Hubby says he would like to know HOW you fit 700 lights on a 6ft tree!

I am just hoping that the kitten stays away from it.  We have tried slices of fresh orange under it the kittenlaid on it and went to sleep.  We have tried cinnamon sticks and she just chewed them.  We have tried scrunched up tin foil and she just batted it around the floor.  We are now waiting on the arrival of scentsicles that are also meant to stop cats from going near the tree but I don't have much hope.

In all the years I have had cats as pets as I have never had 1 attack the tree like this kitten does, most ignore it and walk off.

December 9th 2015 - Christmas cookies

Tonight at St John Ambulance we are going to be decorating some Christmas Cookies.  This pin of tea cakes into Christmas puddings is just 1 of the things we are doing.

To make a Tea cake Christmas pudding like this:

You will need the following:
chocolate teacakes
white icing (or melted white chocolate)
red icing balls (or red icing pens/red sweets)
green icing leaves (green icing pens)

They are very simple to make: 

Take a tea cake and unwrap it carefully.  Place the foil wrap pattern side up on the plate and place your tea cake back on it.  Place a spoonful of thick white icing on the top of the tea cake and let it drip down the sides.  Add 2 of the red icing berries and a couple of the green icing trees as holly leaves in the middle.

Another  thing we are going to be doing is decorating gingerbread men:

 You will need the following:

Gingerbread men (pre-made)

white icing

chocolate buttons

decorations for face - sweets/icing pens etc

Take a gingerbread man and some icing and place on top.  You can use the icing balls (assorted colours) as eyes, mouth and nose or choc drops (baking).  you can use the icing balls or chocolate buttons as buttons.

The third thing on our decorating list is gingerbread reindeers:

You will need the following:

gingrebread men (pre made)

icing pens

red icing balls

green icing leaves

chocolate button for nose

Take a gingerbread man and turn it upside down so that the head is facing downwards.  Using small amounts of icing draw antlers in the "leg area", turn the "arms" into ears and then add a face using icing balls or choc drops (baking) and a chocolate button for a nose.

The last thing on our decorating list is melted snowman biscuits:

 You will need the following:

 digestive biscuits

thick white icing

icing pens

white marshmallows

 

Take 1 digestive biscuit, place a blob of white icing on top of it, stick a white marshmallow at one side.  Add 3 buttons (icing balls (assorted colours) infront of the head.  You can either use the icing balls or icing pens to make the eyes and nose and mouth.  Scarf is optional as are the arms.

Hopefully it should be a good fun night for them all and they make some lovely snacks to take home.  The ideas may also give parents ideas as what to do over the holidays.

December 8th 2015 - Beauty & the Beast

My local community centre organises day trips for the local residents during the summer holidays and then at Christmas to the Pantomime.

Tonight was the Christmas Pantomime.  A local theatre group were putting on a production of Beauty & the Beast.  Over the years I have seen most of the pantomimes - Jack & the Beanstalk, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Mother Goose, Snow White etc but I have never seen Beauty & the Beast.

It was brilliant.  The boys sat and watched it and joined in.  Sadly myy lil man ended up going home with Daddy at the interval as he was going hot n cold, shivering, very pale and felt sick.    I was not able to take any photos though.  However 2 of the cast were running around with a selfie stick taking photos of them and the audience.

December 7th 2015 - Sofa bed

I have been saying for a few months that I need a sofa bed for when friends and family come to stay rather than them having air beds on the floor.  This was ok in theory but the biggest issue (aside from paying for it) was where were we going to put it.

Well the kids kept fighting at the dining room table at meal times, it was used as a dumping ground for anything and everything and caused more arguments than it was worth.  So I did what all "normal" people do - saved up for a sofa bed, dismantled the table and put it in the shed and put the sofa bed in the dining room!

I didn't just want any old sofa bed, it had to be lather or faux leather  so that it matches my main sofas.  I did look at the one that was the same make and range as my sofas but it was dearer than the actual sofas cost so I didn't bother.  But I did find a nice £495 one reduced on ebay to £114 so I got it.

It arrived today and after much trying we managed to get it built.  It has opened up the dining room area no end, and will provide extra seating at parties etc.  Plus the kids can use it with the folding card tables for meal times.  AND it is open between the base and the floor, so we are going to get some under bed storage boxes and put lil mans train set there (well what he's not using of it anyway).

December 6th 2015 - Christmas Cards

I have spent today writing out my christmas cards so that they can be posted tomorrow or tuesday.  I just need to finish adding address's to them.

They are not like the picture but it was the best I could find.  I didn't realise how many I had in a bag and then remembered I bought loads in the sales.  Oh well the kids will use about half of them for school friends.

December 5th 2015 - Flooding

We  decided to take the boys to the local farm even though it was cold and wet. 

Along the way some of the roads were starting to flood in places, but were still passable if you went through slowly.  We got to the farm and the road into it had big puddles and the world and his wife also had the idea of the going to the farm in the rain as it would be quiet!

Well the boys went to see santa and the reindeers and played in the soft play area and the rain didnt stop.  We had dinner and let them play some more but at 1:30pm we decided that we would leave as the rain had still not stopped and we didnt want to get stranded due to the flooding.  So we left early and got half way back when we hit stand still traffic and cars stuck in deep flood water so we had to turn round and find another route.

We could not get any internet signal so we were unable to get the satnav to work to help us find a way so hubby pulled into a petrol station and asked for directions.  The way we were advised to go did get us home eventually.  We followed a milk tanker for many miles and this was pushing the water out so we could follow easier.  Then we met a fire engine that was on its way to pump out, when we got home it was actually on road we had passed.

We had to stop about 20miles from home as we had a catching sound on the wheel.  So we pulled up and hubby had a loo and it was the"mud guard bit" in the wheel arch that had come off.  He couldn't fix it so rang the rac.  They came out and cut the plastic off so we could get home.

Due to the flooding the usual 1hr trip home took us over 3hrs.

We are actually really lucky that our house is up hill and very unlikely to flood.  Some people in the local areas are not as lucky and parts of the area are under 3ft+ of muddy, dirty water.  And there is more to come.

December 4th 2015 - Mould and mildew

Due to the weather being cold and wet outside and the house being nice and warm the windows are all getting condensation on them.  This inturn is turning into dots of mould and mildew.  As and when we are seeing it we are cleaning it off.  But this isn't stopping it coming back.

So I bought a bottle of mould and mildew remover.  I have applied this to my windows and cleaned it off and it has worked so far which is good.

fingers crossed it stays that way.

December 3rd 2015 - Touramaline knee supports

I was reading a blog post a few days ago that was linked to crystals and healing.  It said that Touramaline is a good gem for healing the body.  I had also found some Touramaline knee supports that said they were good for healing.

I bought them and they arrived today.  I have been wearing them for a while and can't say after a few hours that I notice any difference but I am guessing that long term they may help.  But I will have to wait and see.

December 2nd 2015 - Winter Wonderland

As part of the Family Learning course at the school we went on a trip to Walby Farm which has a Winter Wonderland been set up inside of it.

The children got to write letters to Santa and post them, have photos taken in a photo booth with props, play in a giant snowglobe, meet santa and get a  present, make gingerbread men, meet the reindeers in the barn and take part in a nativity play that had a real sheep and donkey next to the stable.

We all had a lovely day out.

December 1st 2015 - Smells like christmas.....

.....it smells like christmas they say!  Makes your house smell nice they say! 

Errrrrr....... NO IT DOESN'T it STINKS!!!

I can safely say that adding the ingredients to either a pan of boiling water or slow cooker and leave on low makes your house smell nice and of christmas is a load of rubbish.  I added the ingredidients to water and put on the hob and left it.  Within 10minutes my house smelt horrible and I was feeling sick.  I turned the hob off and put the pan outside in the rain!

I have had to light scented candles and spray air freshner to try and cover the smell up!  This is most definately a pinterest fail!!!

BUT on a good note it's decemeber 1st and this means only 24 sleeps until santa comes!!!

November 30th 2015 - Christmas gift box

I have spent today playing about with bits of paper and cardboard trying to make christmas gift boxes for my SJA cadets to make on wednesday night.

I did have a tree shaped box that I planned to use but when I printed them and tried to make 1 it didn't stand up so the template shape is wrong.  So I had to look for a replacement.  The replacement works ok and I have printed them off ready.

Each box will have a couple of sweets placed inside them.

November 29th 2015 - Reduce, Re-use, Recycle

Since we moved to where we live now we have started to recycle much more than we did before.  This isn't because we have more facilities to do so or they are closer or that we have choosen to, its just sort of happened.

We have a small crate outside that the bin men collect every fortnight.  In it can go tins, glass jars and bottles and newspapers/magazines.  Ours doesn't get put out all the time as its never really full.  We have a brown bin for garden waste, plus we have 2 compost bins at the bottom of the garden but these are used more in the summer than the winter.  Then the local supermarkets have other recycle points for plastic, cardboard, glass etc so we take to these when we go shopping.

My fireplace surround is made from recycled wood that was the gate over the drive way (we had to remove the gates as our car was too wide to go through them.)  The gates were treated in a thick black substance which we sanded off, we cut the wood to fit the whole in the fire and then varnished the wood in a natural pine stain.  It is fixed to the wall with haard as nails.  It looks lovely, much better than the big fire sticking out into the lounge.

Part of my decking has been made from pallets that a local company was getting rid of - listed as ideal for DIY projects or fire burning.  They let us have a 2nd lot as well so that we could finish it.  Again it was cut to size, sanded and treated with a wood stain and then varnish.

(picture was before it was stained)

I have used more wood from the old gates to make a 3 tier shelf unit that sits on top of another unit but being 3 tier means I can put alot of junk items on it.  I don't have a photo of it as its full of odds and ends and not tidy at the moment.  The last of the gates was used to make 3 shelves over a doorway of which the was sealed as not needed nor accessable from outside as has a shed infront of it.

We have made pillows from clothes that no longer fit the kids so they have them on their beds as scatter cushions.  Here is the crocodile that was a onesie:

The latest recycle project comes in the form of the old kitchen lino.  There wasn't anything wrong it and it would quite happily have lasted a few more years in the kitchen BUT I wanted a new 1 that matched the colour of the walls and woodwork.  So we rolled up the old one and stood it by the back door and laid the new 1.  Today we emptyied out the outdoor storage cupboard that technically isn't outdoor anymore as we knocked the wall through so its accessable from the kitchen instead of outside.  We swept the floor, filled in gaps around the old door with sealant and then fitted the old kitchen floor to the cuboard.  This involved lots of cutting and moving etc, it's not perfect but hubby is not a floor fitter!  BUT if it makes it a bit warmer in there than walking on concrete then its worth it.  It also helped us to get rid of loads of rubbish and junk that had been dumped in the cupboard and was no longer needed.

November 28th 2015 - Workington Winter Wonderland

Workington is a town near where I live, it has more shops than where I live so we go over quite alot.  Today was the towns Winter Wonderland and Christmas Light switch on.

It was very cold, very wet and very windy.  This meant that many of the planned events throughout the day had to be cancelled for safety reasons.  A lot of the stalls couldn't stay as the wind kept blowing their goods around or actually demolishing the gazebos.  The local theater allowed some of the stalls to move into there for most of the day but not all of it.

It was a real shame about the weather but there was still lots of people about in the town which is good.  It was nice to get home in the warm afterwards.

November 27th 2015 - 3-in-1 sofa bed

Following on from a post a few days ago of changing the boys room around to make more space and buying a 3-in-1 sofa bed I can now report that it has arrived.

2 big boxes with the postman outside the door in the pouring rain!  Good job neither were heavy or it would have been a 2 man job to lift them.

We have a blue and silver version of the 3-in-1 sofa bed as boys room is blue.  My 1st thoughts were they were not going to be very comfy as  didn't look that deep.  But when we opened it out and I sat on it, it is actually comfy.

the 3-in-1 sofa bed is made all in 1 piece of foam and covered.  It can be stored folded as a cube, opened out with the small ends up as a low sofa or opened out fully with the small ends as a sofa bed.  This is going to be stored as a cube so that the boys have room to play etc and it will only be opened out when people stay.

The boys have all laid on it and said that it is really comfy and we have had arguments over who was sitting on it to read.  The cat has also given her seal of approval and has been laid on it asleep since we got in from the school run.

The only downside is its not long enough for adults to sleep on and we thought it may be as it was listed as a uni/student sofa bed.  but if we have to buy a piece of foam the same depth then we will do, but as its mainly going to be used by the kids and their friends its not a big problem.

November 26th 2015 - Beef Stew

As the weather is cold and wet and horrid I have made a lovely beef stew in the slow cooker today.  All 3 of the kids when they came in from school asked what was for tea as it smelt lovely.

It tasted as nice as it smelt and apart from some gravy left in the slow cooker there was nothing left. 

November 25th 2015 - Christmas Crafts

 I was at the school for family learning today and we were doing Christmas Crafts and making things that could be given as gifts.

There was loads of options for them to do.  They had the option of making tree decorations from sewing kits, making christmas pictures, and many more.

Lil man made a reindeer from brown paper and added magic reindeer food to it and needs to sprinkle it on christmas eve.

The middle one made a christmas bauble but as this was still very wet it got left at school to dry and 1 of the teachers will give them out later.

Lil man decorated a mini treasure chest and said that him and Daddy are going shopping for a diamond ring me to go in it.

They both  made snowman countdowns to christmas.  This confused lil man as he thought it was from today and didnt realise it was from dec 1st, but we explained he was fine.

The boys also decorated cakes as melted snowmen but these got eaten.

We also made candy cane star decorations which involved a hot glue gun to fix them together and to fix the decorations onto them.

november 24th 2015 - jazzing up xmas jumpers

A couple of weeks ago I bought the kids xmas jumpers and although they have designs on them they are very plain and boring!  So I asked the kids if they wanted them made better and they did.  So today has been spent jazzing up the jumpers

Here are the 2 original jumpers:

 

To modify the 1st 1 lil man asked for a santa hat to be added, so I took 1 small santa hat, stitched it together and then to his jumper.

Lil man thinks his jumper looks good and is now ready for xmas jumper day.

The middle ones jumper wasn't such an easy task, well it was but it just took longer to do as I had to wait for bits to dry.  He wanted the baubles on the reindeer to look more 3d, I did think pompoms but it didn't look right so I decided on bells!  

I only had gold effect bells and they didn't look right so I set about painting them with blue nail varnish:

They had to have 2 coats and I was only able to paint the tops and then the bottoms each time because of placing them down to dry.  Once both coats and all of the bells were done I set about attaching them to his jumper with black thread in the same place as the sewn on ones are on his jumper.

so now when he moves he jingles.  He did ask about them going on the back as well as it's the back of the reindeer but we decided not to as they may dig into his back when he's sat on a chair at school.  Again he is happy with his jumper.

November 23rd 2015 - technical difficulties

This picture is  very true for today - i've done some walking to do the weekly shopping and I am now expiriencing "technical difficulties with my knees.  Both of them are hurting like mad, pain killers are not helping, rest is not helping, heat is not working.  It's going to be a long afternoon and evening if it continues.

November 22nd 2015 - toilet roll yule log

 I'm sure by now you are aware that my lil man loves making things, and especially likes using toilet rolls.  Today he came downstairs with 2 toilet rolls and asked what he could make.  He was told to wait 5mins as I was helping his older brother with something but I had an idea for a Christmas craft with them.

5mins later, we are working on making pages to print out and collecting our supplies to make the toilet roll yule log.  To make it you will need the following things:

toilet roll tube
double sided tape
pictures of holly (or plastic holly)
birchwood effect printed paper (if you do the whole of an A4 sheet it will cover 2 tubes)
fake snow (optional)
glue (optional but needed for snow)
robin
paper plate
stapler
scissors

supplies and printed birchwood paper and holly.











Cut the paper in half so you have 2 pieces.  place a line of tape from 1 end to the other on the tube.  put 1 piece of the paper over the tape and wrap all the way round (you may need to cut it slightly smaller).  Make sure both ends are fixed with tape on the tube, you shouldn't be able to see anyvof the brown tube now.  If your paper is longer than the tube you can tuck the excess into the open ends of the tubes.

Take the stapler, the wrapped tube and the paper plate, fix the tube to the plate with the stapler on the middle of the tube so they are no visible from the top.

You next to cut to out the holly.  we flipped our picture b4 printing so that we could double side it but you dont have to.  As ours is double sided I taped them together before we cut them out so only cut once.   Lil man folded our leaves slightly so they had shape rather than looking flat.  We then putt a small piece of tape on the underside of the berries and stuck to the middle of the tube.  This was then stapled as they kept falling off with tape.

Sadly this was as far as we got as we realised we didn't have any robins to fix  into the middle and we cant add fake snow until we have the robbins in place.  I have ordered some robins and they should be here in the next few days.

November 21st 2015 - Space saving

There is so much on this blog about space saving in a shared bedroom, some of which I have already done.  My 2 older boys share the smaller of the 2 big rooms (I have the biggest).  They are always moaning that they have no space to do anything (they would have more IF they tidied it!)

Anyway we already have bunk beds in there and use the space under them as storage with plastic boxes - shoes, lego drawing/colouring stuff etc.  The bunk beds are in a corner of the room so not to waste any space.  However, I would prefer a straight ladder rather than the angled stick out one, I think we may have a play at some point and see if we can make its straight and fixed to the bed.

The wardrobe that they had in their was old and not very safe and the drawers were broken.  So we decided to dismantle it and move the clothes into the fixed cupboard in the wall, we did have to buy a new set of drawers to hold the clothes that don't hang like pjs, undies and jumpers.  We also kept the fabric hanging rack so that they had some shelving as well.  This has worked really well and reduced 1 item that needed to be in the room.

Next came the old computer table (still with computer on it) that hasn't been used in over a year by the eldest as he has a mobile phone and uses my laptop if he needs on the net for homework etc.  This has been removed from the room as well, again giving a little bit more space.  The younger ones computer is on his chest of drawers that hold his clothes so the drawers have a duel purpose, they are also tucked up in a corner out of the way.

The eldest son had a small square unit that he had when he had the small room on his own.  It had small plastic trays in the square shelves which he has random things in - deodrants n bits in one, mini figures in another, odds and ends in another and so on.  I wasn't sure where I was going to put this and then noticed that there was a spce at the end of the bed on the wall and it was as though it was made for the unit.  So he has still has his shelves and baskets of odds n ends and they are out of the way.

They both have a 6ft high bookcase, which houses their tv and books.  The younger of the 2 boys also had his games n bits on his bookcase and no room for more books.  So hubby went to argos and bought and upright shelf unit (bathroom storage one) and this is now stood beside the head of the beds with the games and all other toys n stuff off the floor. 

We are now pretty much sorted in their room and they had a big space down one side of the room.  Me and hubby said about getting them a sofa bed as it would help if family/friends come to stay as well as their friends.  Plus it would give them somewhere to sit and play rather than on their beds.  We have bought a 3-in-1 sofa bed thingy - it can be stacked as cubes, opened to make a sofa or laid flat as a bed.  I wouldn't say it will be great for daily use as a bed but for the odd night here and there it will be ok.  This hasn't arrived yet but i'm sure I will do a post about it when it does arrive.

The boys are happier about their space, not so happy that they still have to share (but unless I win the lottery I can't convert the loft or build an extension.)

November 20th 2015 - Vinly lino flooring

A few days ago me and hubby had gone to a shop to return a product and whilst we were there we said may as well have a look around "just encase there is anything we need". Well as you do on these impromptu shopping trips a few randoms bits went in the trolley - bottle of champagne for Christmas Day, candy canes for family learning at school etc.

Then we went round to the DIY section and looked the vinyl lino flooring.  They had very little of it and a sign that said "reduced to 33.99 per square meter".  Sadly they didn't have any of the black and grey "mis-matched tile" pattern that I had seen in there and wanted over 6months ago.  But they did have a couple of blacks that I could live with.  I turned round and nearly tripped over a roll of lino on the floor - it was black and grey tiles (not what I wanted but similar) and had a size of 3m by 2m and a price of £49.95.  This was more than I really wanted to spend but the right size.  I said to hubby that has got to be the price before it was reduced and I think it would be about £30 now.  He went to find a member of staff.

Him and 2 members of staff came back and we asked them if that was the correct price on the roll, he said it was but as its all now reduced would be about £25.  YEP i'll take it - hubby then asks IF it is the correct size we need - yes!  SO the 2 members of staff carried it to the till for us and when it went through it came up at £19.95!  BONUS! I can cope with that sort of price for a new floor.

We left it rolled up and then today cleared the existing floor (pile of laundry to be washed, the rack that holds crisps and a perching stool), hubby removed the kick boards, swept all the crumbs that had managed to get under them and lifted the old lino and re-swept the floor.  All ready to fit the new lino down. 

I helped hubby a couple of times but left him to do most of it  as I would have got stuck on the floor with my knee.  Once hubby had cut it all to fit he put the kick boards back on the cupboards and then taped the floor on the door edges as we don't have any of the grippers at the moment.

It looks really  nice and fresh in the kitchen, the only snag is the grey in the floor is different to the grey on the walls which now look more blue.  The wood work still needs finishing from when we moved in 2years ago!

I have to say I personally prefer the Lino to the slate tiles that we have laid by both the front and back doors.  Lino is warmer for 1 thing.  It is easier to clean with a steamer, the grout doesnt flake as there isnt any, it doesnt chip if things are dropped on it (yes it splits if knives get dropped), it is easier to fit and you dont have to wait hours before you can walk on it and it was much cheaper than the tiles were as well.

November 19th 2015 - Spayed

Today my poor lil kitten went on a trip to the vets to be spayed.  As much as I love kittens and as cute as she is I couldn't risk her getting pregnant (there are loads of tom cats around here) and many people with kittens who cant find homes for them.

This does mean that once her inscison site has healed and her fur has grown back she will finally be allowed to go outside, that is assuming we dont get too much bad weather/snow etc.

Everything went really well with her operation, she came home a few hours later and was begging for food.  She has been climbing and jumping like she normally would, she doesn't seem to realise she has had an operation.  I just hope she doesn't do herself any harm.

November 18th 2015 - Snowman card

As there is only a few weeks until Christmas we are doing Christmas crafts at St John Ambulance for all the youth members as part of their craft badges.

Tonight the Badgers made Snowman Christmas Cards like the link shows.  I had made them all scarves from plaited wool, cut out triangle noses from orange paper, added  googly eyes to the bag along with plain white card.  I showed them the card I had made and left them to do them how they wanted.

Some added christmas tape others added buttons etc.  They all looked really good and i'm sure whoever they were written to will love them.

November 17th 2015 - Parents evening

Today was the younger 2 boys parents evening at school.  both are doing well but could do better.  they both need to work slower (it's not a race and they dont need finish first) and this also links in with them writing neater - when they slow down its not as messy and they need stop talking as much.

however both are polite and honest, they do their homework most of the time and get on well with others.

Well done boys. keep up the good work.

November 16th 2015 - personalised christmas sacks

As I live along way from my family they send me money to buy the kids christmas presents.  Over the years I have bought paper and plastic santa sacks and they don't last.  This year I have decided that I will make them personalised christmas sacks.

I have bought 3 packs of pillow cases and some christmas ribbon and I am going to make my own sacks.  My friend is going to make me some "labels" from material that I can attatch to the sacks so that we know who they are from.

above are the blue set before I start to make them.  Below are the red set which I have started:

November 15th 2015 - Rain

Rain, rain and even more rain!  We have had so much rain the pats few days that there is flooding everywhere!  Loads of areas  are on high flood alert and some are on caution of being evacuated.

I'm quite lucky my house is near the top of hillside, and is also up a flight of 13 stairs to do the front door, so we're not likely to flood.

Sadly though today we had planned to go to town for the Christmas light switch on but due to the rain I decided that we were not going to go and get wet.  It wouldn't have been fair on my middle son who has really bad asthma and would have ended up ill.  So we stayed at home in the warm instead.

November 14th 2015 - Invisible

Chronic pain is invisible to all other people, however this doesn't mean it doesn't exist.  The person that is suffering with it knows its very real and sore all the time. most of the time people put on a bright face to try and hide it.

November 13th 2015 - cleaning

As per todays pin "I get more cleaning done b4 someone comes over than all week."  Due to my knee being very sore this week and us altering the kitchen the house was a mess.  however my eldest son had asked if he could have his friend round and stay over for his birthday.

I agreed but this meant non-stop sorting out.  We ordered take away for tea and sat and pigged out on the floor.  the lads then played with lego and on their tablets upstairs.  They were told they had to shut up by midnight or I would be yelling.  i'm not sure what time they shut up and went sleep but i didnt hear them so all was good.

November 12th 2015 - 13yrs ago today

13years ago today at 05:12am I gave birth to my eldest son.  Right up until he was born I was adamant that if it was a girl my Mum could bring it up as I knew what a cow I was (especially as a teenager), well lucky for me I had a son.

Although he was of normal weight (7lb 2oz), there was nothing to him, he was small and newborn clothes were too big so my Mum had to go to town and buy me some tiny baby clothes for him.  He soon outgrew these and was in what I had bought.

Over the years we have had many good and bad days and many ups and downs, he has turned from a tiny baby into a gorgeous son.  He is very loud, crazy and mad, but these are his traits and make him special and he's my son and I wouldn't change him for the world.

Happy birthday Jay.