things i want to do.... :: part 2

After a little bit more thought I've come up with a few more things that I'd really like to try and do this coming year, not only for myself, but things I think the boys might enjoy.

created using Blyberg's generator

things i want to do....

created by Blyberg's card generator

:: 2010 ::

This year :

:: My babies started preschool ::

:: We played in the snow, a lot! ::

:: I bought an iPhone that has lots of cool apps ::

:: Two friends got married, we became godparents again, and one of those friends had a baby girl ::

:: I finally finished my blanket, after many years in the making ::

:: Daisy had an extreme haircut ::

:: I successfully (well hopefully) potty trained my two boys ::

:: I watched my dad run the London Marathon at 64 years of age ::

:: We bit the bullet and moved the boys from cots to beds at almost 3 years old ::

:: We holidayed at Disneyland Paris ::

:: We watched the boys little minds expand and explore and imagine ::

::  I attempted to crochet- again ::

:: We had a second, much needed break at Centre Parcs ::

:: I realised my little babies (well one of them, at least) are becoming independent little boys ::

::  I held the tears back at the boy's first nativity ::

how to feel like the worst mother- ever!

1 :: Not hearing your child being very sick in the middle of the night

2 :: Being so concerned about said sick child that you forget to let out your dog all afternoon who then peeps and poops on the floor

3 :: Thinking that said sick child is safe to go back to preschool, when really he isn't (must wait 48hrs) and thus having to explain to child that his brother can go in, but he can't

and for the finishing touch:

4 :: Forgetting what time children need to be picked up from school and therefore turning up late and feeling like the worst mother in the world!

(luckily children and staff were all fine, I however, was not)!!

i like that and that and that, mummy

The new Cath Kidston catalogue arrived this morning and I was overwhelmed with excitement by the time I had a chance to browse through it after our shopping trip out.  I always skim through it quickly before going back through the pages and studying everything intently.  I LOVE Cath Kidston.  Anyway, I squealed with delight when I came across the nightwear section of the dossier.  They had some bed socks which I was desperate for last Christmas (Santa clearly didn't share my love for them) and, wondering why I was so happy, twin one rushed over and proceeded (much to my delight and James' horror) to pick out the following items he thought I would like to have.  He then moved onto these...  That's my boy!

crocheting :: attempt 1

For the longest time I have wanted to learn how to crochet.  I have watched my mum doing it for years and have always been amazed at how quickly she can whip up rounds and rounds of granny squares.  I would say that I am a fairly accomplished knitter- I may only knit fairly basic things, but I can at least hold the needles, follow patterns and tend to know one end of the wool from the other.  When it comes to crochet, however, I am at a loss- the terms all sound double dutch to me and for some reason, I simply cannot hold a hook and manipulate the wool at the same time.

Until the other day....Around Christmas-time I attempted (very briefly) to make a simple chain- and gave up almost immediately.  Then the other week I showed my mum this post, from the wonderful Attic24, as I figured she would love to be able to crochet granny stripes instead of squares.  When I saw her the other day she had started a test run of stripes and, feeling brave, I decided to have a go- and I did it....not very well, I might add.  I am pretty clumsy, count like a madman to myself, cannot for the life of me hold the wool in any normal way, but I managed to complete three quarters of a row.  All.by.myself.  (See the dodgy section- there, in the middle- that's my bit)!!

teddy bear's picnic :: part 2

So, after a few technical hitches here on blogger, and not much free time to boot, here are a few snapshots I took whilst trying to salvage the boy's notion of a teddy bear's picnic.

After the debacle of our failed trip I decided to treat the boys to one of their own, so while they had their nap I quickly downloaded the 'Teddy Bear's Picnic' song, grabbed a few sweety treats and laid out some place settings on our trusty picnic rug.

I think it went down fairly well.

teddy bear's picnic

Is it just me or is this how a teddy bear's picnic should look like.  I took the boys to one today organized by our local children's centre and it was dire.  There were no picnic rugs, tea party toys, enthusiasm, or even many teddy bears in sight!  (We were inside, it was raining, but still)!!  We all sat around in silence with no idea when to start our picnic.  The boys were starving and very bored.  They knew roughly what to expect and they got nothing.  I couldn't really blame them for wanting to run up and down, as there certainly wasn't any teddy bear's picnic going on, but then I felt all eyes were watching me to see how I dealt with this.  Not to mention the staff there have a knack of making me feel like a bad mother (I managed to make one twin cry twice) and I was 'questioned' whilst trying to eat and ended up feeling like I was going to be reported for bad parenting.  Needless to say, we left halfway through the 'picnic'!