Christmas

It's Boxing Day evening and here I sit in my new t-shirt, cuddled up with my gentleman, very content. An empty tin of Roses sits between us, we had turkey & stuffing sandwiches for lunch, then turkey risotto for tea. A clear sign it is the day after Christmas.

We went for a walk around Roundhay Park today, second year in a row, perhaps it'll become a Boxing Day tradition of ours :) With all the children happy with their presents, the family came round for a lovely Christmas dinner, and me spoilt like never before I feel like the luckiest woman right now.

A very merry Christmas to all reading this. I hope you were as spoilt, as happy, as lucky as me, and are also feeling Christmas cheer & slight indigestion ;) Roll on 2014!

Over Eager Parent

So today is the day, it's Ellie's first play ever and she's going to be a little Reindeer. Can't wait, it's in 4 hrs! I have my camera charged and now trying to concentrate on uni assignments before I go!

I never knew I was one of those OTT, with camera at the ready, getting there early, beaming from ear to ear parents until recently. Lol I feel fit to burst to tell people that she's going to be in a play, I even told the lady at Morrisons check out this morning. Thankfully she didn't leave me hanging and she got a little bit excited for me...probably forgotten now though.

It's also her last day of nursery this year and I really need to remember nursery etiquette for next Christmas as this year I was caught off guard. She's got more Christmas cards than me! So last night we sat down and each time I wrote her friends a card, she would draw them a little picture on the inside. I asked what each picture was, and strangely she was in the mood to draw volcanos in each one apart from one who got a zig-zag line. Very festive! Next year I will be armed with a bumper pack of cards and have them all ready to bring to nursery on time. Also get something better for the staff than chocolate, they must get lots of boxes!

SIX DAYS TO GO FOLKS! *cough* 4 days till my birthday!! I have to wrap presents still and then I'm done. Simon intends to practice the xmas meal starter this weekend, he has mushroom soup in mind....he's going out drinking and xmas shopping on Saturday, place your bets on if he will still want to make mushroom soup with a hangover on Sunday morning? - Needless to say I bought prawns for a prawn cocktail just incase ;)

This time next week I will be tidying the house, eating xmas leftovers, relaxing, and hopefully feeling very happy that all went well. A couple of quiet days before we head to Wales to celebrate New Year with my fiance's lovely family

Daydreaming of Cork

;) Double take anyone?

So today I find myself half way through an assignment when my brain wanders on to the subject of cork. Currently I sell cork photo coasters and have made lots recently and enjoy making them. I first thought of these as a side line to my shop, but they have become the main sellers over Christmas https://www.etsy.com/listing/171332862/photo-coaster-set? Who can resist when Ellie's baby face is promoting them hehe.

Annnyway, so I was thinking ahead to expanding the range and my mind has gone into over drive! I didn't consider holidays like Easter, Valentine's Day, Halloween etc when I opened my shop. But everyone likes quirky new things at the best of times and people tend to go crazy in the holidays. So I'm planning ahead for Valentine's day now. But also working on two new projects for items to add to the sensory toys too. Not quite sure where I find the time, though I think my tired eyes and reluctance to get up in the morning tells me it's usually in the late hours of the evening and night....or when I'm supposed to be writing assignments!

Its 15:39 now and it's getting dark outside, I have half an hour before I do the nursery run. Hoping that she didn't exert herself quite as much today as yesterday, so we can avoid grumpy tantrums about moving a chair in the kitchen, as this is what happened last night. Two year old's are wonderful aren't they.

Child tries to move chair - chair doesn't move - child ends up crying hysterically (she's tired, but you can't tell her that) - results in Mummy pretending to flex her muscles before heaving the chair up like Superman in the hope that the tears stop - and that time they did. Phew!

Unfortunately there is no photo for this story, but I'm sure you can all imagine how ridiculous I looked!!

It's been 6 days since my last....

I have missed writing on my Blog, I have been so busy with The Blossoming Workshop, assignments, and Christmas that I have neglected it a little bit. My apologies!

So it's a week until Christmas, can you believe it, how fast has this year gone, bringing with it many ups and downs, interesting, and fun moments, and the best moment of all when I got engaged. Though tomorrow may come close, my Ellie is going to be a Reindeer in her first Christmas play at Nursery! *heart melts* Oh boy am I excited, can you tell? I feel I am babbling, or on the verge of loosing my train of thought with silly gibberish speak.

-grabs hold of self-

Isn't it wonderful when fun comes from the most unexpected moments! There I was wrapping up some orders to send, carefully snuggling them up in bubble wrap, when Ellie takes a sheet off the table and looks at it with great curiosity. I suddenly remember when I was little one birthday my mum put a bubble wrap sheet with 'Happy Birthday' written on it outside the door to the room all my presents were in. I had to jump and pop the bubble wrap before I could go in, it was so much fun! So we did it there and then, no Happy Birthday paint, but a good jump around on a big piece of bubble wrap, and she and I loved it!

Needless to say the piece of bubble wrap isn't able to protectively wrap anything anymore! :)

Have some unplanned fun and silliness yourself, I'm sure the benefits will be listed on some scientific fact sheet somewhere

Pink & orange sky

Today:

- Walked to nursery with Ellie under the pink and orange sky as she pretended to be an aeroplane & encouraged me to do the same, obviously I obliged and had a great time.

- Did a whole assignment at uni from start to finish.

- Picked Ellie up from nursery early & had a happy evening together.

- Began my newest customer order, and really enjoyed making it.

- Had a phone call with my marvellous fiance.

- Now watching a film, having a glass of wine, & eating chocolate.

A truly marvellous day. If you haven't had such a perfect day today, I wish you one tomorrow. After a crazy busy week with some pretty upsetting moments, todays perfection came out of the blue and calmed me throughout. I hope for more pink and orange sky in the morning. xxx

Christmas Dinner List

Right-o feel free to comment, add, shout if I've forgotten anything pleeease!

• Stuffing
• Onions
• 1 Lemon
• Potatoes
• Sprouts
• Parsnips
• Peas
• Carrots
• Pigs in blankets (sausages in bacon)
• Gravy
• Cranberry Sauce
• Tin foil (to use, not to eat)
• Chestnuts (not my thing, but t'other half likes them)
• Brandy butter
• Christmas Pudding
• Chocolate Yule log
• No Christmas Cake, last year it stayed in the cupboard until August this year, when it met its demise in the bin
• Mince Pies
• Chocolates
• Crackers
• Drinks: juice/ sparkling stuff/ alcohol

Then I still need to get:

• Crackers
• Napkins
• Candles
• Streamers!

......

and the TURKEY!!!!!

Oh I'm so excited! Can you tell, I've said it quite often. Seriously need to get more decorations to quench my Christmassy feeling. Fake snow too much? Possibly... but the kids would love it hehe. I'll post photos of the chaos in T minus 16 days!! Or maybe 17 if I'm slightly distracted on the big day! (P.S. that is not a pic of my house or table, I WISH!)

Skittles: moreish, yet sickening

Wow I feel like I have neglected my Blog over the weekend with being so busy! But I'm back, ta-da!

So what's happened to me this weekend, well we had all the girls over, went to the Huddersfield Light Festival, which was fab. I recommend you go if you ever get the chance. It didn't start till 5 with the lights but it was well worth such a late trip out and the girls had a great time dancing to the music, watching the light shows, and eating pizza made fresh in a pizza oven from scratch. I could have eaten delicious food from any one of those stalls, but money is a little tight with it being nearly Christmas.

Christmas! Yup, this year I am making Christmas dinner again, this time for 6 people. Only my second year of doing it, but I'm so excited. We got a 'new' extendable dining table from a charity shop so we wont all have to cramp around the tiny circular table we had before. And I am now on a mission to find a pack of 6 placemats, its hard! They come in 4's, so I could buy 8 easily, but 6 is a struggle. Maybe I'll just have to make them myself :)

Skittles, moreish yet sickening. I am sitting writing my shopping list including a list for the Christmas food, while eating a share bag of skittles. Time to close them before I barf!

I will post my Christmas day shopping list so if I've missed anything perhaps you passers by can tell me so I don't forget a vital ingredient on the day.

I could babble on all night, I do enjoy this Blogging lark!