Sunday 31 July 2011

What a busy week

It doesn't feel like my feet have touched the ground this week! So many things going on!

My eyes are getting much better after having the laser eye surgery! They are still a little blood-shot, which my brother commented that I look like some scary 'extra' from a horror movie!! heehee.
Hubby thinks that the goggles I have to wear to bed to stop me rubbing my eyes whilst asleep, is like having someone from the movie 'The Fly' lying next to him!
I am just  so grateful to be able to see without having to reach for my glasses, or putting lenses in : )

Little man has had lots of late nights - down the football club, or over at Nanny's house for a BBQ, means that he has been getting up late - which is not too bad ; ) Though how he still manages to have the energy to be running around like a loony, even at 9pm is beyond me!! I suppose the 2 hour naps in the afternoon must help a little! heehee!
However, as usual with a few late nights, we've now got the grizzly, grumpy little man emerging. Thank goodness we have no more late nights coming up, so he can get to bed nice and early!!

Have been to Hobby craft and had a whale of a time looking round! Have started to collect things to start making my x-mas range of cards - so exciting! Off to get creating! xx

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Am feeling a little scared!

It is the night before the big day, something that I have been wanting to do for years and have managed to chicken out of before now! Tomorrow at about 2pm I am going to have my eyes lasered!
I'm so excited and scared at the same time!

People keep commenting on how much it costs (I am lucky that my mum has paid it out-right and I am setting up a payment plan through her!) but the way I see it, I would be wearing glasses and lenses for ever - laser eye surgery is a one off payment, that altough it is expensive, it will be worth it when I don't have to pay for anymore lenses every month, or new glasses, or to have old glasses updated, etc.
The main pros that I am looking forward to are:

Being able to see and not have my hubby say 'can you see...oh, no you're blind as a bat, as you've not got your lenses in' - flippin rude if you ask me - heehee!

Not trying to find a lense that I have dropped in the sink / on the floor, then having to decide how much it will hurt to put it in, before I end up throwing it away (or when I'm feeling really brave, putting it in, tear up immediately in pain, take it out and then throw it away!)

Being able to get up and be able to see right away, without having to scramble for my glasses on the bedside table, or realise that I have left them in the bathroom, again!

Being able to go swimming without the fear of my little man's enthusiastic splashing accidently getting in my eye and I end up loosing a lense! (I can't stand not being able to see, so the thought of not wearing them swimming was so not an option for me!) Ditto for sitting next to the tub while he splashes away having his bath!

The down sides:

What happens if my eyes REALLY itch? I know I'm not allowed to scratch or rub them! Or I get something in my eye like an eye-lash? Will I be able to get it out??

Getting a big headache - not major, as have had plenty of them! Plus have been advised by everyone I know whose had the procedure to go straight to bed afterwards - no problems there! heehee!

Having to wear a huge face mask thingy at night, to stop me 'accidentally' itching in the night. (all I can say is thank goodness my hubby works nights!!heehee)

OK, feel a little better for looking at the pros and cons! Haven't scared myself, so am still going ahead with it!

So long glasses and lense, you will not be missed!

Do you write thank yous?

All the thank you cards - so far!!
I have been busy making my 'thank you' cards for the pressies that little man got for his birthday.

This got me thinking, do people still write thank yous anymore? When we were youngish my mum had us write little notes to say thank you for pressies we got at Christmas and birthdays. I always thought it was really nice, as some of the people lived far away and we wouldn't see them in ages (Also not the people we would usually 'phone' for a chat).

So when I had Aiden (it did take me a while to get organised!) I made little thank you cards for all of the pressies he's had so far - though I might have forgotten to do his Christening - woops!!

I love it when we get little hand made cards or notes from his older cousins! I can't wait to be able to do them with Aiden when he is older - I mean, what a perfect excuse to do some crafting (plus it will keep him out of mischief for a bit too!! heehee)

It just made me a little sad to think that this might be seen as too much hassle and old fashioned when you can txt, e-mail or facebook a group 'thank you'. There's just something so personal to receive a lovely hand made card (or even a little note - love them just the same!!) that someone has taken care to do - maybe I'm just  a sad 'traditionalist' ??
Anyway, so that I can remember the ones I really like (for future crafting!) here are a few of my favourite ones:

Now off to make 3 more!!

Monday 25 July 2011

My cards

I just thought that I would post the different cards that I make and the prices that I am charging - just to see what people think : )

bargains = 50p


This are my cheapest cards made out of stickers and peel-offs. I made them thinking that little kids might like them!






stamps = £1.00

My stamp cards are the most 'simple' design I have - I find it very hard no to add more, as they seem so plain - but am trying to broaden my styles to appeal to different tastes : )



squares = £1.50






I was worried about how to price these square cards- but the design uses metal (my most expensive topper) so I thought it would be ok.



small decoupage = £2.00 

Decoupage cards are my favourite kinds to make - I love Jolly / Paper Nation and have also started to branch out to other designs as well. Although my favourite, they also take the longest time to make! So less made a day, made me think that asking a little ore wouldn't seem unreasonable. Also I make the envelopes, so that adds a bit to the cost : )


large decoupage = £2.50



Usually more fiddly to cut out!








3D 'box' cards = £3.00

The 'box' cards as I call them aren't the hardest to make, but the packs are the most expensive to buy!





I hope you enjoyed some of my cards - please feel free to add comments - especially about the pricing - don't want to over charge people if they don't seem worth it! heehee

7 years!

Was a little busy yesterday, making cards and going out on my 'date' with my gorgeous hubby, as yesterday was our 7 year anniversary!
I can't believe that we have been married for 7 years! - No one got the '7 year itch' so that must be a good sign right : )

I adore my hubby - he has been there with me through the best and worst times of my life. he might drive me absolutely nuts sometimes and he really doesn't understand my obsession with bags (thinks I have enough already!) and doesn't really get my need to talk to him when he's trying to sleep! Ok I admit, probably not the most ideal time, but it's the only time of the day when it's just us and I love talking things through! It's also only 2 nights a week, as he's a permanent night worker - so I love those moments of 'pillow talk'. (he is getting better though- heehe!)

I am just so lucky to have him, he's the only 'real' boyfriend I've ever had (I don't count those silly ones before I was 10 years old!!)
He stayed with me even though I was 3 hours away for the most part of my 4 years at Uni (I had already picked uni choices before I got together with him!)
He's been there with me though all the horrible years of depression, when I was not eating, constantly sleeping and this year even suicidal. I think that makes him extra special to me - as he didn't need to stick around, he could of hit the road when things got tough, but he didn't : )

I often feel that I don't deserve him - I can feel like a very bad wife at times! But I am working on this and trying even harder now I am on the mend from this latest depression 'spike'.
I even learned how to make bread today:

my first home-made bread : )
 Wow, feels better to have said all of that!!
Love you so much Dean!!
xxxxxx

Saturday 23 July 2011

Birthday Piccies

Have now uploaded the piccies and here are some of my favourites from little man's 2nd birthday yesterday:

I set up all of his things on the 'main' pressie the night before.










We did a 'big reveal' - I carried him in with my hand over his eyes, as we sang happy birthday. This was his reaction when he saw the trampoline! (he called it 'bounce')






The first thing we did was move everything, so that he could 'bounce' : )








I then helped him to unwrap the pressies, in between him bouncing on his trampoline.








He loved his owl computer  : )









Hubby then had to play with the mini digger too - a complete scaled down version of the 'real thing' (not sure who liked it more! Heehee)







Hubby helping him this time.









He LOVED the animal story piano from our friend A. He started to 'la la' along actually using the mike!!







At the farm and nanny helped him open MORE pressies : )









Auntie C helping little man with his last pressies : )









Having his first cuddle with cousin CJ










All of the cards sent by family and friends : )

Friday 22 July 2011

My little man is so cute!

I just had to share this!
My poor hubby suffers from a bad back (degenerative disk disease) and was in a lot of pain today!
Anyway, he was sat on the sofa and sneezed, followed by a groan and 'Ow!'
My little man looked up at him (he was standing just in front of him) and said 'Dadda hurt. Cuddle' and stretched out and my hubby lifted him up and got a great big cuddle! I just thought how yummy and cute of my little man to want to make Dadda's hurt go away by giving him a big cuddle - just like we do for him!
Felt so proud!

Happy Birthday little man!

So, it's now my little man's (LM) second birthday and we've had a brilliant day so far!
LM was really good to us and didn't actually wake up until nearly 8 this morning, which was fab. We then had the job of getting him ready and down to the living room where I had set up all of the pressies and cards last night.
Hubby and grandparents were there armed with cameras when we finally made it down stairs and I covered his eyes as I carried him in. His face was so shocked : ) The first thing we had to do was remove everything from on top of the mini trampoline, so that he could bounce! We then opened the rest of his pressies (not too many as we are still quite strapped for cash where I'm unemployed) but enough for him to have a whale of a time - his face beaming throughout!
We then went up the farm to visit hubby's brother, sister-in-law and their new baby! The other grandparents and aunty C was there as well, so it was more pressies and cards and I got to have lots of cuddles with the gorgeous baby CJ : )
Unfortunately for me I then had to go to my appointment at the job center which was a right pain. When I got back, poor hubby's back pain was even worse, so he went to bed, then I put little man to bed and am now having a few moments to myself (whilst helping to cook dinner!)
BBQ with family tomorrow and we'll hopefully be able to go swimming which we were planning to do today.
Will post some piccies on my next entry, as they're still on the camera.

Thursday 21 July 2011

I can't believe I finally did it!

I can't believe I actually managed to start my very own blog!
I've been thinking through lots of things lately and decided that I wanted to have a little space just for me. My thoughts (most of which will probably make no sense!) my feelings, my wishes, my dreams and my life with my little man and wonderful hubby!
I decided what better time to start than on the eve before my little boy turns 2!
I can't believe how many things have changed since he was born!

Aiden born 22.07.2009

I just wanted to have a snap shot of Aiden as he is now, so that when he is older he can look back at this and see how much he was adored from the moment he was born (and before!!)

So, Aiden at the moment: spends most of his time running around like a lunatic! He is getting quite tall, has beautiful blond hair and blue eyes. He has loads of teeth, plus some evil fangs (honestly!!) and the 'hardy' gap between his front teeth (which all of my mother's side of the family seem to have - me included)

 He wear Salisbury's and Tesco's own brand clothes, plus hand-me-downs from his cousin Sean! (we don't see the point in forking out a fortune for something he will grow out of in 5 minutes!) He chose his latest trainers himself (with dadda's help), size 7, which have a flashy red light when he stamps (which he does quite often! heehee) He loves dancing and going to his little music group 'Little Quavers'.

 His childminder (who he sees 2 days a week) is Zoe, and he adores her! 
His favourite books are the Mummy and Baby animal series which have jigsaw pieces he takes out, looses, we search for and eventually find and put back!

He adores the plastic rings that make up part of his bath toy boat (they stack on it) but only the yellow and purple ones (he calls 'lello' and 'furple') which have had to accompany us to many places! He loves drawing with pens, which for some reason he calls crayons!

He sleeps in a cot with loads of stuffed toys ('bunny' and 'duckie' are his favourite) in his 'grobag' with a blankie (that he snuggles).  

Aiden now - loving the slide!

He is a typical boy - investigating everything, especially the mud in the garden! He is also completely fearless and zooms up and down his slide in the garden and in the local parks.
 He is a 'people person' who says 'hello' and 'bye' to complete strangers in the street!
He is completely bonkers (just like me!) and I just love him to bits!