I bid you [a temporary] farewell.

Dear friends

As you may have noticed I haven't written anything here for a while now. It weighs heavily on my mind that this blog was always a family blog, a family comprising me, Simon, Isaac, his two sisters and Rinny. As that family is no more, posting just mine and Isaac's antics here seemed wrong. I also seemed to reach a natural end to our time as a family. 

With these things in mind I have started a new blog to reflect the new chapter in our lives. It is called Adventures and Happienings (couldn't lose the pie now could I?) and can be found here. If you subscribe, thank you and don't forget to your RSS feed.

At the time of writing there isn't anything there yet, but give it time...I'm sure I can fill it's blank pages with enough waffle and tomfoolery for one Pie and his mummy.

I had such fun writing these posts and I still look through them and reflect on days gone by. Thank you all so much for reading over the years and for your lovely comments, it/they really did mean a lot. I shan't be taking this one down, although Blogger seems to have done something weird with some of the images from earlier posts all posts before July 2011!! Rubbish!

Here's to new beginnings and continued friendships. Hope to see you soon!

Peas n love

Sarah :-)

Release

Today I thought: I shall update pieblurb. So here I am! I have no plan for this post, but I think it'll be positive.

After what was starting to seem like an eternity of frustration, Isaac and I are enjoying life together again! I think that individually we were both doing all right, but together was strained and down right unpleasant at times. The past few days have been nothing short of blissful. We've met mummies with similar attitudes to parenting choices (YAY!), I've seen old friends, done two liver flushes, had a haircut and made plans, Isaac is enjoying nursery lots, we're settled in our routine with going to Daddy's house and the atmosphere at home has changed significantly, something has lifted. 

It's happened since he was so poorly (Isaac had a cold then was left with a very chesty cough for nearly four weeks before, during and after Christmas). That one was a milestone; it's the most poorly he's ever been and for the longest. I remember reading something in Raising a Vaccine Free Child a while ago about children changing during illness, exactly what escapes me, but I absolutely see what she means. I know he's growing and developing all the time, usually it passes by unnoticed until we see someone we haven't for a while and they comment and I reflect, but this is obvious to me even though I spend almost every day with him. I can't pinpoint it either, which is fine. I'm just happy that we've found our groove! 

When I lived with Isaac's father there was always so much to do! There was ALWAYS are huge pile of laundry, the never-ending stack of dishes, lots of rooms to be vacuumed/mopped/dusted/cleaned, little girl's and boy's rooms to be tidied, beds to change, [huge] lawns to mow, garden growth to tackle, plans for weekends to be made & carried out, the weekly food shop, meals to be planned and cooked, children to ferry around - I've made myself tired just remembering! I don't at all resent that I did these things and, for the most part I loved doing them. Big up to all the mamas that still do it daily! My point is that it's taken a good six months to acclimatise to there being only mine and Isaac's requirements. I felt useless for a long time, then frustrated, then bored and then I went through a whole phase of simply not giving a f***. At last I've struck a balance, mellowed a bit and the world feels right again. 

I don't think though, that I'd be where I was without the love and support of my amazing family and friends. I'm so very grateful and humbled to have many wonderful people in my life...and that they all still care! You all know who you are; whether you live down the road or bloody miles away, whether I see you once a week, once a year or rarely anywhere other than Facebook, I wouldn't be without any of you. And of course, my little sausage himself. Isaac. For a very long time I honestly believed I couldn't live with him on my own and that he'd be much better off with someone else. Well folks, today I close the door on those redundant affections. I'm DONE! 

Nursery

I've been meaning to write about Isaac starting nursery since he did last month, but haven't got round to it. Today was his sixth session and I was asked to fill in a little bit on a sheet for his first five sessions record which was the catalyst I needed to prod me into action.

Click to enlarge

I had originally wanted him to go to a different nursery, but I missed out on getting him a place by two lousy  weeks! Imagine the frustration when I phoned up! So that's it for the year now. I shall see about getting him on the waiting list for when he turns three, but for now he attends our local day nursery twice a week for four and half hours at a time.

We went to look round the nursery in early November. As soon as we got there he was off! Quite happily played with the toys while I went on a tour with the admin lady. We arranged his two two hour settling in sessions for the following week and those went just fine. The tears started when I picked him up from his first session. The next time we went he saw the nursery gates and clung to me like a limpet shaking and crying that he didn't want to go and he didn't like it. It was so horribly traumatic for both of us that I wondered if I'd made the right decision - I went home and cried for half an hour straight and I know it took him a long time to settle that day. 

Since then it has been easier to drop him off at each session and today he wasn't upset at all!

He LOVES nursery now. When I pick him up he happily jabbers away the whole walk home about what he's been doing and what he likes. He made cakes today! The staff all love him and comment on how good his manners are. He thanked one of them for changing his pooey nappy today! Apparently they've been trying to take photos of him playing, but every time he sees the camera he scrunches his face up in his funny grin or he doesn't see the camera and looks deadly serious while concentrating. Bless.

So, it seems to be going well. PHEW!!

And we're still friends, he even tells me he loves me now *mummy gush*

Since we last saw you...

Isaac's had a birthday

we've been to some play groups

we've taken Rinny for walks

Isaac's kicked some footballs

we've hung out with friends and tried on their sun glasses [post cake]

Isaac' been to a Halloween party with his sisters

and we've done a fair bit of mucking about

We've also had our fair share of tantrums, snotty noses, bloody lips, nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!s, heart ache and tears. It's all about balance, right?

Life is still settling. We'll get there and hopefully my words will come back too and I can articulate myself again. Until then eh?

Pre birthday update

Hello pie fans!

Well, it's been a few weeks at least...actually a whole month (again, I know) since any Isaac related news. So here goes.

Isaac is now TEN DAYS shy of his second birthday. WTF? WHEN? When did my little baby boy suddenly nearly become TWO?! Best get on with birthday presents and cake!

Until a few weeks ago he didn't like slides. He could climb up them, but then didn't know how to do the next bit and no amount of Mummy help would teach him. Then we were at a local messy play morning (that happened to have a slide) and he observed a little girl's technique. Now? There's no stopping him! Literally. He spent half an hour sliding that day. The next time we went to a kids play area he spent another good half hour sliding. He can't get enough! Everywhere that has a slide must be slid upon. He loves the sliding. Nuff said.

He has lots of new words and ways to express himself now too. He says penguin! But called them pengas (with a soft g). TOO CUTE! It's because we have a lovely book (Me by Emma Dodd) that we read at night. I ask him which one he wants and it's usually either 'penga' or 'beebee' (Star Baby by Margarent O'Hair). He loves his bedtime stories. 

And talking of bedtime. I got him a duvet this week to see how he gets on with it. I plan to take the side off the cot soon and want him to be used to sleeping without his sleeping bags before we take the plunge. They've been so incredibly helpful, but I think it's time to move on, especially as I'm starting to think about potty training...but not quite yet. 

Other favourite words include: "Mum! Look!" "Where go?" accompanied by open hands gesticulating 'where?' "Cake" remains a firm favourite. Anyone would think that the boy lived on cake and cake alone. I do feed him a range of foods (when he'll eat them)! Cake seems to be a general term for food or being hungry. He knows "cook" now too and takes great pleasure in telling me that I'm cooking. There are loads, seriously. They all make me smile and some of them make me chuckle. He's ace.

He sees me with my Mummy bag of endless pockets and depth and apparently decided that he wants one too! He purloined this one of mine during an unpacking fit one day and gets very upset if he has to go anywhere without it. I decided I didn't really like it being dragged everywhere because it's one of my favourites so I have made him one of his own in a messenger style. It's pretty good, even if I do say so myself. It will get its own glorious post when I get around to taking pictures of it!

This was taken last Sunday on a walk up at Shipley Country Park. Yet another lovely place to walk the dog and take Isaac to see greenery and wildlife. He loved looking at the birds and the big pond there. He's very good at walking and walks nearly all the way into town without wanting to be picked up now. That's pretty good for one with such little leggies! We still use the hip seat, but much less now as he boldly strides about checking everything out.

The best thing I've bought for him to play with this summer has been his sand and water table from ELC. Hands down. He'll spend an hour at this thing playing with the sand. The water didn't do so well and ended up as part of the sand, so now it's just sand in there. Admittedly he chucks the sand all over the garden, but hey, he's having fun. That's the main thing. 

He still loves his books and we've snuck in a few episodes of Timmy Time on the BBC iPlayer. My GAHD he LOVES TT. Seriously. Then again I love it too. It's beautifully made, has simple story lines without (like a lot of kids TV) being horrifically dumb and makes us both chuckle. We love how different the characters are; even the two grown up characters in it are a hoot! 

Enjoying Mummy's hairband.

On a more serious note: he seems to be adapting well to our new house and living without Daddy. They see each other every other evening and every other weekend. He gets to see his sisters a fair bit too which is important because he loves them so very much. It's important for them to see him too, of course. I'm sure the change in circumstances will have affected him, but I'm doing all I can to make things right for us. We're still busy meeting up with people (when parcel collection doesn't scupper our plans gah!) and going out to parks and on dog walks etc. Busy keeps us happy. He met his French cousins for the first time last week which was great - they all got on famously!

We're headed south this weekend to scatter Grandpa over the Solent and pay our final respects. It will be emotional I'm sure. The whole family will be together again which will be nice. Blended family is a strange one, but seemingly the norm these days. Isaac will grow up not knowing any different. For that I am grateful; he won't remember Mummy and Daddy being together so less pain there than if he did...I hope? Only time will tell. 

Anyhoo, back to happy thoughts of the all important second birthday! See you next month? Or maybe before...

Happy birthday Grandma

This lady right here is my Grandma, my Dad's Mum. I never got a chance to meet her and my Dad didn't know her for very long either; she died when he was seventeen. What a trauma for him! Imagine having your mother ripped away from you at a time in your life when you're still finding your feet. 

I think she has a beautiful face and I can see a lot of my father in her. I like her laughter lines and her lovely smile. I wonder what she was looking at when this picture was taken? I love the spots on her clothes and how dark her eyes are.

This is the only picture of her that I have and I've had it for a good few years now. She's been all over the country with me and has made me feel happy when I've looked at her. 

I wonder what she was like? Dad tells me that she would have loved me very much. I think I have her cheeks.

She would have been one hundred years old today. So happy birthday to you Grandma that I never met. I hope we do one day.

A note on crochet (and a bit about knitting)

I have cancelled my subscription to The Art of Crochet. There are several reasons for this.

1. I have completed all of the square patterns at least once.

2. I'm not so keen on the other patterns in the magazine.

3. I will have very limited space in my new house for storage of crafty items.

4. I don't think I can learn much more from it.
5. I prefer square patterns from 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton and ones I find online. More imaginative and purty.

I've achieved what I set out to and feel no remorse about not completing the throw. I have The Art of Knitting after all! One subscription is enough for anyone. I only know the basics of knitting so I shall see how I feel about it when I can confidently say the first four things listed above about it.

On a crochet related note, I have made another amigurumi! Meet Barry.

He's a bit cute inne? He was made for my friend Kate because she loves penguins...a lot. He's another Lion Brand pattern (link here, you'll need a [free] account to view it).

In other yarn related news: the sweater I started for Isaac in January. You know...the one that nearly made it to finished item status? Well, it's never going to be finished because now it's TOO BLOODY SMALL for him. Plus it's summer. So meh. Nevermind. I learned that sweaters aren't as hard as I thought they would be and that knitting with circulars isn't as bad as I originally thought. R.I.P. lovely jumper. I've edited my Ravelry queue so I should ctually find myself achieving more, especially if I finish what I cast on and don't buy yarn unnecessarily! I'm told it's manageable. We shall see!