Purls and Roses

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

2011-01-04T21:37:00.000Z

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....

2011-01-01T22:10:00.002Z

created by Blyberg's card generator

:: 2010 ::

2011-01-01T20:24:00.000Z

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!

2010-10-08T13:16:00.000+01:00

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

2010-09-18T20:07:00.000+01:00

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

2010-09-09T20:30:00.000+01:00

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

2010-09-05T21:36:00.000+01:00

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

2010-08-13T14:55:00.000+01:00

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'!

the end of an era

2010-07-15T20:56:00.000+01:00

Today, the boys had their last Jo Jingles session (they don't know that, yet) and for me, this has marked the end of an era- the end of their baby years. We started going when the boys were 7-8 months old after hearing about it from a friend and it has, undoubtably, been the best thing that I have ever signed the boys up for.

The sessions follow the same structure each week starting and finishing with a hello and goodbye song and the children are supposed to copy the actions of a doll sized 'Jo Jingles'. Each term there is a 'song of the term' which the children learn and sing each week, there is always a blue box with a hidden surprise, and plenty of instruments for the children to learn to play. Aside from the musical enjoyment the boys have learnt to count to ten, stay quiet when asked and tidy up at the appropriate time. I can't stress enough just how much enjoyment has come from this 45 minute session. We have watched them grow up there, from sitting on our laps to gaining the confidence to sit either side of their teacher. Twin 1 even took his first proper steps there! It has encouraged them to sing and dance and very recently they have begun to re-enact the actions of our wonderful teacher while at home.

I love the fact that they have (for now) this love of music and dance and I sincerely hope it continues even though we won't be able to go anymore. However, it really does feel that this is one of key moments marking the end of their 'baby' life and the beginning of their 'grown up' years.

that kind of walk- again!

2010-07-13T14:57:00.000+01:00

I think that one of the hardest things about being a mum is the loneliness that comes from spending the majority of your time at home with the children. maybe it's different if you go back to work and maybe it's different once your children start school and you can have large amounts of time to yourself. But, currently, at this preschool age I am finding things tough and feeling quite isolated. It's not that I don't have a wide circle of friends, may of whom I have met since having children, but with all the little ones attending preschool on different days meeting up is becoming harder to do.

I found myself today with a break in routine as we were unable to go swimming. I dread these kind of days when our routine is disrupted and I don't have specific plans to fill it. Typically, it's rained all morning forcing us to stay inside (it's been roasting the last 3 weeks, of course). We tried finger painting for the first time (so messy), watched Disney films, looked at Disney holiday photos (for the millionth time) and still the morning dragged. As soon as the rain lifted after lunch I shot the boys outside on their trikes, thinking that the fresh air would buck them up and give them a bit of exercise- WRONG!!! We made it to the end of our road with one already walking and me holding the trike before indecision forced us to turn back home- thankfully. However, one needed the potty halfway back and would not go in the road forcing me to carry him and the trike whilst yelling at the other one (bless him) to please hold his trike and try and walk/ride back quickly. It must have looked a sight dumping one on the potty on the path once we made it back while running back to scoop up the other child and trike. I could go into more detail about how hideous this makes me feel when made to choose one twin over the other and it's always the same one who gets left. And this always makes me so sad.

Like I said, it can be incredibly lonely, even when you have two beautiful children with you all the time.

big boy beds

2010-05-17T15:32:00.000+01:00

I have been dreading this moment for the last three years, and now it's finally happened- we have put the boys into beds. This is a big thing for me as I do not like change or anything that might lead to a change or break from routine. To be honest I would have held off for a bit longer as they are happy in cots, they don't ever moan when put in them and up until a week ago, they have never (except once last summer) tried to climb out. And even knowing that one could get out, I still felt that they were ok in them. However, we are going away soon and the boys need to sleep together in a double bed and that, combined with potty training, has been the reason we've finally gone with it.

We've chosen little beds from Ikea which extend as your child grows and although at this late stage (some friend's children have been in beds since 18 months) we could have gone for proper single beds, we simply don't have room. So our plan is to use these beds until they no longer fit the bedroom and then move into bunk beds.

We put them in their beds yesterday and I must say that it's not been completely horrendous- so far!! Obviously, this is a HUGE deal for them and there is a massive novelty factor involved as they now have free rein of their room during the daytime (which they are never normally allowed). Yesterday during naptime James sat in their room until they fell asleep, which took less than half an hour (normally a few minutes) and last night we only needed to go in a few times. Today at naptime I went in after five minutes and yelled at them to lie down and within minutes one was fast asleep- the other followed swiftly once he realised that he had no playmate. I just hope this continues for a while longer as I'm not yet ready to give up my afternoons!

my own reality (and blessing)

2010-05-14T16:00:00.000+01:00

Since becoming a mum of twins (almost three years ago, now) I have become even more obsessed with watching reality shows about families, people with lives similar to mine- that kind of thing. And since I've rediscovered the world of blogging, I've realized that I can indulge my obsession even more. One of my favourite blogs to read is 'Life Set to Words' by Maegan Beishline and this post, today in particular, touched a raw nerve. I have these feelings a lot! Except, I almost resent my husband for being the one to go to work and leave the house instead of feeling grateful and content that I am the one who gets to spend the days at home with the little ones!

As a follower of Maegan's blog, I enjoy reading her 'Realities and Blessings' posts whereby she turns the realities of her day to day life into positive feelings. I think this should be my attempt at turning the negative feelings I have into something more positive. It is not easy being a mum of multiples and certain things challenge me and stress me out in ways I never could have imagined when I thought I would have children. However, I should think myself incredibly fortunate and privileged to be in the position where I can spend the time with them and watch them grow up into very determined, young boys. My husband misses out on a lot of things when he is at work and I know he longs for time spent at home with the children. I shouldn't ever forget that!

it's breakfast time!

2010-05-10T21:52:00.000+01:00

I just love how the boys are at the age where they like to imitate everything, and I mean everything, that we do. Sometimes, this can be immensely frustrating as it's often at times when I'm trying to do something quickly or without distraction. Other times, their imagination kicks in and they surprise me with scenes like this...

that's not quite right, mummy

2010-04-09T14:37:00.000+01:00

Currently, it's all about the jigsaw puzzles. The boys spend most of their time doing puzzle after puzzle. They finish one and move onto the next. They quickly moved from 4-6 piece puzzles onto 15 piece ones and can fit together 45 pieces in seemingly no time at all. They only need do one once and can then finish it very quickly from then onwards- even upside down and without looking at any picture. I think that's pretty good for two and a half year olds, but maybe I'm just biased because I'm their mum!

Oh, and if I try and 'help' them with a puzzle their little voices ring out with cries of "that's not quite right, mummy"

it's finished

2010-03-29T15:38:00.001+01:00

This was truly a mammoth effort- more in terms of number of years spent on than actual work involved. I honestly can't remember when I started this blanket other than I know it was a good couple of years before I moved out of my parent's house (that was 2002 and it's now 2010). I tend to knit as the mood takes me, so more often than not, it takes some sort of inspiration to get me going again.

My initial idea for this blanket came from my new found love of Cath Kidston and her 'vintage style' which was probably sometime in the early naughties. I saw this knitted blanket in her book "Vintage Style", immediately fell in love with it and decided then and there that I would knit my own.

Image shown here taken from Tips for Vintage Style by Cath Kidston

I'm pretty sure I stuck to her pattern :: cast on 30 and knit 60 rows to make a simple square, but I think that my squares turned out smaller than hers, judging from the look of this picture. I also tried to stick fairly closely to her colour choices which happen to blend fairly well with the colours we chose for our living room and bedroom (considering I started knitting before moving out was even a consideration, I reckon that I chose paint colours based subconsciously on my balls of wool)!

The blanket even survived a bad case of moth infestation :: after a particularly languid spell idling on my bedroom floor I discovered that some squares and a ball of wool were home to a large number of hatching moths- yuk!

Overall, I have probably done the bulk of the knitting. I opted to knit the darker colours while mum worked on the paler tones and we both sewed up the blanket. The border, however, was completely crocheted by mum. I cannot even say what stitches she used as I have no knowledge of crocheting whatsoever, but I do like the way it has turned out. It's nice to think that this has been something that mum and I have worked on together. I like the idea that this can be an heirloom I pass onto my children/grandchildren as something lovingly made by us, just as some of the blankets my mum has at home have been passed down from her granny and aunties.

I now need to decide where my lovely blanket will reside. It was originally intended to cover the bed and that is where it currently resides (having already passed the comfort test by twin 1).

However, it also feels like the snuggly, tv watching, dog cuddling type, so may well end up draped over the back of the settee where it's close at hand on these chilly, cold not so springlike evenings! It's pretty handy at the moment as it's keeping me warm while Daisy snuggles up alongside.

edited to add:: talk about a mammoth event, knitting the blanket was nothing compared to writing this post. I've been trying to publish it for about a month now and keep on running into technical issues- aahh!! I think I've finally nailed it!

7 little things

2010-03-27T19:00:00.000Z

Because I can't seem to ever get around to blogging and/or taking a photo to put in a blog post I thought I'd post a few random things about me (having just seen the idea in a blog I was reading). So here it goes, seven random things about me...

1 :: I have identical twin boys

2 :: I am addicted to 'real life' reality shows (they have to be American) such as Jon and Kate plus Eight, Tori and Dean, The Hills etc

3 :: Whenever I drink a cup of tea at home (never in public) I always leave a spoon in my mug

4 :: I have wanted to be a palaeontologist for the longest time and when I left university I got the chance to take part in a dinosaur dig in Sundance, Wyomming

5 :: I have a Masters degree in Museum Studies

6 :: I am a typical Virgo and am very picky, finickity and cannot stand mess or untidy-ness of any kind. That said, I am very lazy and hate doing any kind of housework and spend a lot of time moaning about the house being in a state, but doing very little about it

7 :: I strongly believe I was meant to be born an American. I love everything and anything about America. If I read a crime book it has to be American and I really only watch American TV shows

i'm so excited!

2010-03-10T14:22:00.001Z

Two monumental sporting events happening this week.

Tonight :: David Beckham (he's a god) plays against Manchester United for the first time at Old Trafford since leaving the team. I have to see this....

And on Sunday (Saturday, if you count qualifying) :: Michael Schumacher (my uber-god, pardon the German pun) makes his return to Formula 1.

Oh, man. I. Cannot. Wait!

spring was in the air

2010-03-08T15:18:00.001Z

and now it's gone all grey again....

Still, when the sun shines and the sky is blue the days are starting to feel a whole lot nicer. Not always warmer- yesterday was bitterly cold- but, last week we had one or two warmish days.

Because yesterday was so sunny we took advantage of this and got the little ones out into the garden.

Then after a long nap (them, not so much us) we had a nice walk along the seafront with some beach time and cuddle time thrown in.

And as the sun began to set we enjoyed an impromptu tea of chips and vinegar.

We should do this more often.....

a little bit of yummyness

2010-02-13T17:50:00.000Z

The weather may have been cold and wet, but we had the most delicious cupcakes served on gorgeous, vintage china. A little bit of yummyness to brighten our day!

blanket sneak peek

2010-02-10T10:19:00.000Z

I am one full row away from completing the 'joining' stage of my blanket. Then it just needs a border which my mum is going to crochet for me. In the meantime it is now big enough that I can snuggle up underneath it, while I sew away with Daisy snoring beside me.

where has the time gone?

2010-02-01T14:36:00.001Z

Well, I haven't been too good at keeping up to date with blog posting since Christmas and now it's February!!!. I have no real reason other than lack of time, lack of enthusiasm for it? Who knows? Anyway, I have been fairly busy on the knitting front. I realised I was a square short (how did that happen??) and I'm still plodding along with the joining. I also started sewing together a really cute robin fattie from Cupcakes for Clara which I was desperate to finish in time for Christmas as I thought my boys would love it. Sadly, this is far from finished. Maybe next Christmas? Oh, and my little ones started preschool a month ago.

the joy of giving

2009-12-12T12:46:00.000Z

At this time of year I always get hugely excited by the prospect of receiving Christmas cards in the post, largely because the internet has taken away a lot of the more personal form of communication and many people simply don't go to the trouble of writing a simple letter or card anymore. Christmas, it seems for now, is different and we still get quite a number of Christmas cards. The excitement of receiving a batch each day in the post is a lovely distraction from the usual plethora of junk mail/bills. And, likewise, I really enjoy writing Christmas cards. Sometimes, it does seem a bit of a chore, but I try to imagine how it would be if every person feeling this way decided to stop sending them altogether and they slowly stopped landing on the doormat (in our case, a wooden box outside). So, I keep writing them every year and it gets me well and truly in the Christmas spirit.

However, as I was writing a batch yesterday, it occurred to me that I have developed a rather simple 'class' system when it comes to writing a card for a person. I don't just buy one huge batch of the same cards and send them to every person on the list. Rather, I buy cards depending on how well I know the person, their age, their personality etc. If they are very close family members, then they often receive a card that has been sold as an individual (you know, the ones that say 'Happy Christmas, Mum'). I seem to be incapable of writing or buying cards any other way, and, although it can be fun to select each card based on the person receiving it, it does seem to add an element of stress to the act of giving, and at times, can take away from the 'joy of giving'.

progress report

2009-11-29T18:08:00.000Z

I really love the whole world of blogging. I think you could say that I am becoming addicted to reading blogs and browsing various different Flickr pages. The trouble with this is that it takes me away from writing my own blog and while I have so many things I want to blog about, I never seem to find the time to get anything down on paper (so to speak). I also have trouble finding time to take any halfway decent photos. This is much harder to do with small children as I can't just abandon them while I try and pose a particular shot and with the weather being so gloomy, I struggle to find the right light.

So anyway, this is basically a quick post to show how well my blanket is now coming along. All the squares have been knitted and mum and I are now in the process of sewing them all together. Note to self : next time round try and join them as I go along- I think it might be less time consuming than trying to join them at the end!

a wet and windy monday

2009-11-29T17:45:00.000Z

I've got so many things whirling around in my mind at the moment that I don't really know what to write about. Maybe the weather? Blimey, has it been horrible this last week or so and today is no different. I often feel that my mood, and my what I wear, are extremely influenced by the weather outside, so I guess it's no surprise that I'm feeling the strain of today- and it's only 2.40pm. This wasn't helped by me, the boys and Daisy being woken up an hour earlier than usual by my husband heading off to work early- aaaghhh! I could have done with that extra hours sleep! Touch wood, at least the boys felt the same way and have kindly gone down easily for their nap giving me (hopefully) a couple of hours 'me' time, a chance to unwind and relax, mentally.

Moving onto other things, I have been meaning to post a couple of pictures of some of my knitting accomplishments just to show that I can knit and have actually made things. I'd like to dig out all of my old knitted toys and share them on Flickr, but for now they are buried in the ether of my parent's loft and will probably not see the light of day for a very long time. Anyway, to start with here are a couple of scarves I knitted, some time ago now, which I recently dug up from the depths of my wardrobe ready for some possible winter wearing.

I was really inspired to knit the pale blue and green one after buying these mittens from The Gap.

I loved the scarf that accompanied them, but felt a bit put off by the price and decided I could make one for less (in hindsight I think that the Gap one was probably cheaper after taking into account the cost of the wool and the man hours put into knitting my scarf, but I did enjoy the process and it is very warm and snuggly). I did so love the commercials for this particular winter season. I've been trying to find an image, but as I cannot remember exactly what year I made these scarves, a picture of my mittens will have to do instead.

To be honest the pink scarf did not turn out as snuggly as the blue one. I definitely had the knitting bug by then, but if I recall, I chose the wool based on the pink colours and also possibly to match some pale pink gloves I already had, so I think it was knitted in regular DK knit and not in the softer, chunkier yarn of my blue scarf.

thank you

2009-11-14T22:58:00.005Z

I can't tell you how chuffed to bits I am that someone found this and made it a 'favourite'. I am as new to flickr as I am to blogging, so to have someone in the abyss of the world wide web come across a photo of mine has pleased me no end- and after only a few weeks of posting photos. I don't even know the name of this flower growing in my mum's garden (a daisy, perhaps?), I simply liked the colour of it. Thank you, for making my day! xx

almost there....

2009-11-11T16:21:00.002Z

I am knitting my last square. The end is getting nearer.

more of this and more of that

2009-11-08T14:59:00.003Z

Well, it's been a busy week around here with alot of things happening on many fronts. Did I say that the conservatory is now finished? Apart from painting the walls and furnishing how we would like, the basic structure is complete and the boys can now use it as an extra room to play in and I LOVE it!
Last Saturday was Halloween (which I love) and for the first time since the boys were born we decided to participate in all the festivities again: we hung up some decorations, made some cute biscuits, carved a pumpkin etc. We found cute little spider outfits for the boys and Daisy donned her ladybird costume and off we strolled down the street.

We didn't trick or treat, that will be next year, but we had a ton of callers to our house including the cutest Darth Vader I have ever seen. Mum and dad came round for a bite to eat and to see some fireworks, but this was not such a success as it is becoming apparent that one of our boys is having issues with the dark/fireworks and won't stand outside, or even in the conservatory, to watch them.
Sunday was James' birthday so we went off to his dad's for presents and a curry and came back with a gorgeous chocolate cake- yummy!
James had Monday and Tuesday off work, so after securing the boys a preschool place (more on that to come) we set off to the park to enjoy some beautiful, Autumnal weather.

Tuesday was foul weather so we had a day of retail therapy, well I did, at Bluewater and then it was back to normal for the rest of the week with all our usual activities (swimming, Jo Jingles, storyrhymes).
And finally, last night was the night that most places chose to have firework displays in honour of Guy Fawkes night (5th November). We are lucky in that there is always one round the corner from my parents house so we decided to take our eldest twin and leave the youngest and Daisy with my dad. A week after our attempt at fireworks and it is now extremely obvious that he is absolutely terrified of them- such a contrast to his brother who was enthralled by them "look at the big fy-a-works, mummy".

a bit of this and a bit of that

2009-10-25T15:18:00.000Z

This week seems to have passed by in a bit of a blur, like most of this year, really. What with all our usual activities- swimming, Jo Jingles, playgroup and meeting friends, the days have just whizzed by. Even at this age the boys still sleep all afternoon so our day to day activities are usually confined to mornings only, still, I feel like I have achieved (for me) a lot this week- including a spot of baking in honour of National Baking Week.

Most importantly, I have resumed knitting!!!! Yes, I dug out all my squares...

...lined them up on my bed to work out how many more I need to knit...

...and actually started another square! Go me!!

It does help that this was a project for my mum and I to work on together and as she has been spurred on to do more knitting, it kind of gave me the kick up the backside that I needed to start up again.

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2009-10-24T22:23:00.000+01:00

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happy birthday, daisy (for yesterday)

2009-10-16T15:45:00.002+01:00

You're still my number one xx

i heart biscuits

2009-10-12T21:24:00.005+01:00

Well, I did make my biscuits, even though technically my hubbie did end up baking them with me, and I settled down this afternoon to enjoy them with a nice cup of tea. One of the reasons I decided to resume blogging is that I love getting a glimpse into the life of people and I marvel at how photographs can capture simple, everyday routines. One of my favourite blogs to read at the moment is Attic24 and so in honour of this blog and my new ventures into blogging I decided to use my lovely strawberry, blue Cath Kidston mug and a floral Cath Kidston plate (both I'd forgotten I even had) and try my hand at this sort of photography. I think that clearly I may need to work on my photographic skills somewhat, but I am happy with my pretty, pink biscuits.

The recipe came from one of the free Asda magazines which featured their Tickled Pink campaign.

Now, yesterday I was feeling very blah, but today I feel much better. The sun is shining and although my hubbie has gone back to work, I have felt determined to tackle any problems/issues the builders/children can throw at me. We have had one minor/major crisis on the building front- the roof for our conservatory has been made 1m too short so they are doing a rush order to get it re-made and re-delivered tomorrow- but, that's something I don't have to deal with, so all is still good.

My children, however, are a different matter. Last week, due to illness, no one went anywhere and consequently, the four of us were couped up in one, small room. Our house is very small, hence the need for the conservatory. So, this morning I decided to take them on a walk around the block. It's not a hugely long walk, but I think in hindsight, it was a bit too long. Just to digress a bit and set the scene, back in March I tried to walk them down the road- a very short walk- and it was a total nightmare. Twins (on reins) who aren't used to walking much (for this very reason) equals a recipe for disaster. They moaned, wanted to be carried, dragged their feet and basically refused to walk. It was awful!! But this was March and I have since done that particular walk a few more times with more success so I decided that they could handle this slightly longer route. And they did handle the first part really well. They enjoyed looking in other people's gardens and being out in the fresh air.... until about three quarters of the way along when it fell apart. First one wanted to be carried, then the other one, then they both did. I coaxed them along as best I could until we were almost home, and then one sat on the floor refusing to move. Now, they are not really heavy, but I am quite short and it is very awkward to carry one whilst walking another, so I refused to carry them. So they decided to crawl along the pavement- oh man! I was getting sympathetic looks from passers by at this point, but I was determined to finish the walk on a high and not get hysterical. Thankfully, we spotted one of the builders outside our house and somehow, this spurred them into almost running back. Jeez-Louise- I'm not sure we'll be doing that again in a hurry! Such is my life with twins. Even simple things like going for a walk can be fraught and tiresome, but at the end of the day, the struggle is worth it and I have to keep remembering that. Oh, yeah, and it made those biccies taste even nicer when I got to sit down at nap-time with my CK mug and my CK plate.

a blah-di-dah kind of week

2009-10-11T15:38:00.004+01:00

It has been fairly safe to say that this week has been blah! Really blah, in so many ways. So blah that all I've managed to do is lay down and read blogs, not write my own, as I had planned. Until now- not quite what I had envisaged writing about, but probably an accurate reflection of how I'm currently feeling.
After what had been quite a warm (I think) and pleasant weekend, we woke up Monday morning to rather a lot of rain. Not the best of weather for an outing to the woods with my friend and her two children. My little ones are not yet able to articulate themselves fully, but they sort of realized that a trip to the woods was not going to happen, but, after a few phone calls, off to their "auntie's" (my friend) we went and all was good again. However, by the time we got home, the ache I had in my wrists that morning, which I'd dismissed along with other 'symptoms' had begun to resemble something more serious and I was beginning to feel quite unwell. This was confirmed by a very unpleasant night suffered by both me and my husband- oh dear, we were ill! Cue four days of muddling through our daily routine with the little ones (not easy juggling the demands of two year olds when you feel so blah!) sleeping when they slept and oh yeah, juggling the needs of the people building our conservatory. Yep, work started on that this week and while this cannot be described as blah, I dislike things happening which are beyond my control and I intensely dislike anything which may interfere with my boys daily routine (like being ill and conservatory building). Luckily, my hubbie was on hand, albeit as ill as me, to help on this front.

We have only just begun to feel normal again and we did manage to venture out yesterday where I took a quick snap of our magnolia tree in the midst of changing colour, but the weather has remained blah, as has my mood, blah!

One little nugget of brightness (silly I know) but, I've finally worked out how to get a title onto each blog post- yay! Oh, and I'm about to make a batch of biscuits to trial a recipe I found. Hopefully, I can post a photo of my attempt.

medical miracle

2009-10-03T15:13:00.003+01:00

I often catch myself staring at my boys in awe and wonder because I still can't always comprehend that I, of all people, managed to produce two children in one go. Even after all this time I still have trouble coming to terms with this and I think I'm still in shock with the fact that there are two, identical little faces staring back at me and I wonder for the millionth time- how did that happen? And the answer is what's known as a 'medical miracle'- one egg splitting into two, for no apparent reason.

I'm really glad my egg chose to split.

my reality

2009-09-29T15:05:00.004+01:00

Well, so much for me starting a blog and rediscovering my love of knitting. What actually happened was I discovered I was pregnant (planned, so not a shock), found out it was with identical twins (huge shock) and subsequently, my life as I knew it, kind of disappeared. Three years (and two beautiful 2 year old boys) later, my life is beginning to re-emerge and having followed the blog of an old school friend for a while the desire to write my own blog has been rekindled.

I had originally thought that I would like to blog about my knitting, especially as at the time of my very first posting, 3 years ago, I had just resumed knitting a blanket that I had started a few years before that. I was also enjoying following some very simple patterns and making some funky little knits that I had found in a library book and I felt that my hobby was about to take off- so NOT the case!! So, I think that for now, whilst I juggle the demands of my twin boys and my 3 year old dog, I may just ramble on a bit about my day to day stuff and see what happens regarding the knitting.

my dream

2006-10-11T17:12:00.004+01:00

I'm so excited! This is my first ever, proper blog posting. I've used other blog features before, but never on my own blogsite. Yey!! I want to use this space to ramble on about my recent rediscovery of knitting and I want to be a part of the gobal love of knitting that I was amazed to discover existed on the web.

I do have a number of projects that I want to get started on. I have one major UFO that I am determined to finish in the next few months (more on that at a later date- perhaps it is more of a WIP) and I want to explore the possibility of selling some of my knitting projects- depending on what reaction I may get from this blog site. I like to knit simple, eye catching gifts (usually following other people's patterns as I'm not up to making my own up just yet, although I can adapt patterns somewhat) and eventually I'd like to progress to more challenging knitting projects. Oneday.....

Anyway, I think this is it for my first post. I need to start figuring out how to get my site looking prettier and more girly. Maybe I need to get some help with this!

Edited to add: I would never sell anything that is not my own work. I can see how, from reading this blog, that I may have inferred that I might do this, and I would like to state that I would NEVER take credit for any work that was not my own!