end of month round up!

It seems like the last day of the month is a good time to recap on my New Years Resolutions. If I revisit them regularly I may manage to keep them. Well perhaps....

My resolutions were listed here. So lets see how are they going?

1) I have managed to send both children to school on tag days in their own clothes, a major achievement as I had not managed this since September.
Housework, I have settled into my routines and am managing, mostly, to keep on top.

2)Item 1 is definitely helping with this. I feel like I have had more time to play and just be with the children. Which is fab.

3) I haven't actually made any yet, although I ordered some swatches from here for both of the children's room, and the kitchen. So once they arrive I can plan these more.

4) I have managed to alter this dress for Stephanie, and repaired several other items of clothing, this counts as make more clothes, right?

5) I have totally paid off one more of my old debts. I now only have the larger ones left, so this will now be a slower process as I need to arrange payment plans etc. But definitely am getting there.


I have also made progress on this quilt I am going to complete it before Stephanie's birthday, what do you mean I have mentioned this already?- a few times!?

So my plans for February;
1) work more on the quilt.
2) plan the garden veg for this year
3) alter the dress I bought for myself in the sales.
4) start to make Stephanie's party bags
5) Start some of the home furnishing makes.

Hmm I think, given that I am also completing a research project for uni in February and taking my skills tests I think that will do for now.

Children can cook.

My children love to cook; always have. They love to come in the kitchen and help when I cook, they love to offer their suggestions of what to cook. Sometimes like today they go in the kitchen and cook and I don't go out until I am called. Usually just as whatever their master piece is, is cooked. They like me to check.

This is today's offering. It was very tasty.

I know many people will read this and think she lets the children cook on their own? My argument is they know how to cook, they know how to use the cooker safely as they have always helped me in the kitchen. I have gradually baked away while they are cooking so they can have more freedom. They know I am only in the next room and will shout if they need anything. 

Dylan is now 12 and has been able to cook a proper meal since he was 7. Stephanie is 4 and looks as if she is going to be able to do the same. I am proud of their ability to cook real food. It is something which is important it is a life skill. 

this moment- during a fab visit to an amazing school

{THIS MOMENT}


{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see
 
 

{THIS MOMENT}

this post was inspired by soulemama if you are inspired take a swing by her blog to link to your own :-)

relaxation

I have spent the an hour or so this evening making hexagons for the quilt. The is something relaxing/ therapeutic about sitting and doing something so simple and easy whilst watching TV. I also like to watch the pile of square fabric shrink as the hexagon pile grows.

At the end of a full day in university it is nice to spend some time to sit. I am also able to consider the research I need to complete in the next month.

a growth spurt

Do you remember the hexagon charm quilt I began last summer? Yes it took me a while to remember it as well. I have seemed to have a love of sewing it, yet I do it in bursts. I blogged about it saying I would have it done by Christmas. AHEM well that didn't happen.

This is how far I had got prior to this week;

 This is how it looks tonight;

I decided last weekend that I WILL finish it as a birthday present for Stephanie. I have spent at least an hour a night working on it this week. I have ran out of little hexagons to sew on now, so need to go and find more materials and make some more. Will check in again next Sunday with some more progress on this.

this moment.

{THIS MOMENT}


{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

This post was inspired by soulemama if you are inspired take a swing by her blog to link to your own :-)

look at this.............

That's right, the weather today was perfect for drying washing. I was very pleased and managed to get 2 loads dry outside today. I LOVE the smell of line-dried washing.

We went on our weekly walk this afternoon the children wanted to go back to Shorne wood and try a different walk. Today was the red walk, we found lots of trees to climb, and even a rope swing which we all had fun playing on. It costs £2.50 a time to park at this woods (not complaining) but obviously being the children's favourite woods to go to it's adding up. So I decided to bit the bullet today and bought an annual pass. This is really good value it cost £35 for the year, but there are 17 different country parks near where we live that we can use it in. So over the year thats quite a saving.

When we got home I surprised Stephanie by finally putting up her princess curtains, I have been promising her all month I will do it soon. So while she was glued to Dancing on Ice I put it up for her.

She was very surprised and happy when I sent her up to bed and found it up. Why do I put off these little DIY jobs, they really don't take more than 5 mins. Next on the list is the TV shelf for Dylan's bedroom........

Fridays moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

this post was inspired by soulemama if you are inspired take a swing by her blog and add your own link :-)

Don't jump in the............

This afternoon my two decided they would like to go for a walk in the woods. I suspect it was in part due to the factthey are trying to convince me to buy them a dog. I have said I will consider it but it won't be decided until the summer and they will need to show me they are ready to accept some of the responsibility a dog would mean. In particular with regards to walking, they love to walk in the summer but in the colder weather if I suggest a walk they grumble and moan.
So anyway we went to the woods wearing their wellies as it has been so rainy it was bound to be muddy and wet, and they wanted to jump in puddles.
So off we went; we jumped in puddles, played in the squelchy mud and tried out the different agility challenges as we went. Like this wonderful balance;

 oh hold on he missed, try again;

thats better you got it!

Given the weather and the location I was suprised how many times I heard the phrase "x don't jump in the puddle" or "don't go in the mud!"
I kind of find it hard to believe all the people who were out had broken washing machines, so why did do people find the need to restrict them so much. Children love  to jump in the puddles and play in the squelchy mud. I love nothing more than knowing my children are having fun and the best way to gauge the fun they have had is by the smiles and the mud they have caked on the bottom of their wellies!

go on get your wellies on and have some fun- DARE you!

{THIS MOMENT}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

this post was inspired by soulemama if you are inspired take a swing by her blog to link to your own :-)

CHAOS

Yep my living room is looking like this right now;

Yep its the time of year I get to spend writing essays! I have been counting down the words all day, aplogies to those of you following me on twitter you are probably bored of my posts!

I need to share this image, yes its food again. I loved this meal as it was almost free. The fish was caught by a family member and given to me. The vegetables were a gift from foodari as a thank you for placing my christmas veg order with them. I have been ordering my veg from this local supplier for several months now. I love the freedom their box scheme allows for these reasons

1. the food is always fresh and tasty

2. I choose exactly how much goes in my box

3. I choose exactly what goes in my box

4. I order when I need food, it is not a regular subsrciption like many other box schemes.

5. They even delivered to me during the worst of the snow when I couldn't get my car out of the road.

6. the staff are all very friendly and polite

and these are just some of my reasons, I could extend the list lots more. It is not just me that gets excited over a vegetable box the children also love them. I never tell the children what is in the box so when I call up the stairs the farmer has brought the veg box it is guaranteed to have them fly out of bed and down the stairs in seconds. This is the box they came down to this morning

Stephanie was particular impressed by the hidden treasures in the paper bag in the back they are her favourite vegetables of the moment, brussels sprouts.

a 'new' dress

A while back, OK it must have been around a year ago, my Nanna gave me an old bridesmaid dress for Stephanie. It was one of my cousins when they were young, must have been around 6 according to the label. I finally have got around to adjusting it to fit Stephanie today. I don't know why I have to put things off for so long it didn't take much effort. Stephanie liked the style of the dress she just wanted me to alter the length. Due to the embroidery and scalloped edging it wasn't a simple case of re-hemming the dress. I had to detach the skirt from the bodice and adjust the length from there. It sounds a lot more complicated than it was.

I didn't chop the excess dress off when I altered it, I have left it attached on the inside so that when Stephanie grows the extra 15 cms the dress holds I can let it back down again.

This is the dress, it is rather vintage looking I estimate its use to be around 1985. If I remember right my Nanna said it was worn at my godfathers wedding, and I attended his 25th anniversary party last year. Stephanie loves it and cannot wait for her friends princess party at the weekend where she plans on wearing it. I will try and get a photo of her in the dress as I'm sure it will look much better than it does lying on the chair.

Today I have been running errands interspersed with an impromptu trip to the park. When we got back Stephanie asked for soup for lunch, so I used up one of the squashes I got in a recent veg delivery and made this;

I don't know what the kind of squash was, it had a hard grayish outer shell very vivid orange flesh inside and it tasted divine. I am very pleased that I have lots left in the fridge for me to eat over the coming days. Stephanie likes a little soup but today she had seconds it was that good.

We liked the squash so much that I have kept the seeds and cleaned them up a bit in the hope that we will be able to grow some of our own later in the year. I need to do some googling to discover what the squash was and also if I need to do anything specific to the seeds before I plant them as I have only used seeds out of the packet before.

New year resolutions!

Well what else do you blog about for the first time in a new year, if not to share your new year resolutions??!

After considerable thought I have decided that my new years resolutions are;
1. to be more organised- everything housework/ school functions/ family stuff
2. to manage my time so I have more of it to spend with the children
3. to make more furnishings for around the home
4. to make more clothes
5. to work at reducing my debts (follows on from last years!)

So to complete this list where else would I start than with more lists?

To work on my 1st New years resolution I have decided to follow an American site fly I have used in the past. Last time I didnot follow it totally as prescribed, but it helped for a while although I have fallen off the wagon someone in recent months. So I am going back to the beginning and starting again. I love the acronyms used in this site- FLY stands for Finally Loving Yourself. CHAOS is used for Can;t Have Anyone Over Syndrome. Its extremely simple to use and Starts to work straight away although you are eased into the housework. What more could you want?
So I have spent this evening making my housework lists, and laminating them so that I can tick off each item as I go. I'm so (ridicoulously) excited about this!

2. I am hoping by having a set time to do each of the normal jobs each day, and a list so that I remember what I need to do, I will spend less time worring about what I need to do so I am more organised and have time for the children.

3. Our home needs more of our personalities stamped on it, I can't actually decorate it until the summer, a recomendation I was given when we moved in was not to decorate for a year as its a new build and needs time to dry out. So by putting my own furnishings in it will look more homely. I have started and some rooms are getting there.

4. I loved some of the clothes I made Stephanie last year and would love to make some of my own, and Stephanie has already put in an order for some new dresses yesterday when we were sorting through her wardrobe.

5. I am going to continue with my thrifty ways so I can continue to reduce my past debts. I posted about this way back when I started this blog. I am managing to slowly do this, hopefully once I have finished my training this will be easier to achieve, as I will have more of an income. I knew when I started that this wouldn't be something I could acheive in under a year, it is more likely to be several years before I have finished this but I am getting there slowly.

So there you go, those are my new years resolutions and the reasons for them- what are yours?