Welcome home Busie

Well busie (the car) arrived home yesterday afternoon looking unusually shiny and smelling of fresh car paint. I am so impressed with the speed of her return, she's be gone for less then a week. She was named and given her gender by DS1 in case you were wondering. Busie is off out again this morning for her MOT, wish us luck!
DH took the hire car (named Silver) back late afternoon causing much sadness to DS1 and DD who were both very upset to see it go. I was quite pleased to say goodbye though. It was too big for me, the seats are not an ideal layout for longer journeys as we wouldn't be able to fold the back ones down and use the packing space. And the electric sliding doors take too long to close. I am discovering just how impatient I really am. Maybe this is why I tend to only knit small easy projects. Instant gratification. ;)
So far the whole car insurance thing has been very easy and efficient which has been a relief. Just waiting now for a letter from the solicitors for the personal injury stuff. Not got back to work yet because of the pain. I did one night but by the end I was in agony so I am taking the rest of this week off and the first two days of next week and hopefully I'll be more comfortable by then. Even 5 minutes on the phone leaves me with spasms at the moment.
DD had a friend round for the day yesterday which was lovely she came mid morning and we took her home after 5:30! They had a fab time. On the way home we called into Halfords and chose replacement car seats, my aren't they expensive! Still not something I scrimp on and it was nice to be able to choose the safest looking seat (I did my Which research too) without worrying about how I was going to fund it.
So the whole incident is drawing to a close by the looks of it. I think the personal injury stuff will drag on for a while yet - as far as I can tell they don't decide how much they are giving you until you are better and that could be a few months yet.

On the Chicken Pox front DS1 seems to have been very lucky and has gotten away with a fairly mild dose. He's all scabbed over and doesn't seem to even be itchy (mind he is in a foul temper with it all so I know he's not 100%) so he'll be back at playgroup on Monday. Bean has a streaming nose at the moment and is generally a bit punk looking so I suspect he'll be next. Still at least then it will be out of the way and fingers crossed I won't have to deal with it again.

On the knitting front I have been doing some but holidays are never a great time for me to get alot done. DH needs far too much attention (LOL) and so I tend to find myself helping him or for this week at least just following him about giving moral support. Still he's away with the school on Monday and Tuesday so I'll have two evenings of uninterrupted knitting and my own choice of TV. I'm kind of looking forward to it :)

Rules:
The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. Ten years ago - Erm nothing much really, 1998 doesn't stand out as a particularly exciting year would have been just working and decorating the house.

2. Five things on today's "to do" list (in no particular order) - I'm going to cheat a little here being as I'm at the end of my day. Jobs for today included helping DH cut down the hedge by the drive, buying oatmeal and calamine cream for DS1, washing up, hoovering and planting up my baskets and the planter by the front door.

3. Snacks I enjoy - So that will be chocolate, chocolate and chocolate. Oh and sometimes crisps and biscuits and cake (chocolate biscuits and chocolate cake obviously)

4. Things I would do if I was a millionaire - Employ someone to clean my house so I can spend more time knitting! Buy and do up a really big old cottage by the sea and then invite everyone to visit :) Plant up a huge garden with loads of nooks and crannies and paths and hidden bits.

5. Places I have lived - Leicester (twice), Lutterworth, South Wigston and Hinckley


And now for some people to tag

Sarah
Wilma and Herbert (hope you don't mind :) )
Anne

and...well thats it I really don't know that many people to tag so 3 will have to do.

Well so far so good

Bussy (our car) was collected yesterday morning and has gone off to be assessed and then repaired. The woman at the garage did try to suggest that I took the car in but I pointed out that the insurance had said that they would collect and deliver. She disappeared for a moment and then came back and said fine when were we in ;)

Enterprise have been brilliant, they chased up the insurance to confirm our "like for like" car so we could have something of a decent size and then picked DH up yesterday evening so he could go fetch the replacement car. I could have gone earlier but opted not to with both the boys at home and a neck that still doesn't turn quite right.

So now we have one of these sitting on the drive - an automatic too!!! It is huge, absolutly enormous. Its going to be like driving a small house. Nice though. It is an 08 plate and an executive model - probably the poshest car I will ever drive, assuming I never win the lottery. It has all the mod cons as well, sat nav, dvd player, parking sensors.

Thankfully come Tuesday morning they will probably get some nice ordinary Zafira's back from hire so I can change to something more managable. Amazing as the Voyager is I can't see how I am going to be able to park it anywhere we go, though the sliding back doors will help. ;)

My neck is still sore, not helped by having to collect DD from school early cos of her "poorly tummy" Bless Her, I wasn't best pleased by her timing as I'd just got myself a mug of coffee having putting Bean down for a sleep. Still it was lovely to see her and DS1 playing the Bill and Ben game on the computer.

And speaking of DS1..........He has chicken pox - finaly. It doesn't seem to be a bad case and with any luck he'll be all scabbed over before he needs to go back to playgroup after half term. Just waiting for Bean to get it now.

What is it about Wednesdays?

Do they not like me or something?

Having spent most of last Wednesday afternoon in A&E with DS1 I got to go again yesterday, this time for me.

It goes like this................

After not being able to take the boys to Grandma's last week cos of DS1's foot I planned to take them yesterday. So there we all were waiting at the traffic lights just before Blaby when there was a loud bang and we are all rattling around in the car! Although I was waiting for the car in front of me to pull of the lady behind me didn't wait for me.

We have been very lucky, aside from some rather uncomfortable whiplash for me (hence my visit to A&E) no one was injured. I had my handbreak on still and the car behind had been queued so she wasn't doing any speed. I must thank the little old lady who'd been struggling with her handbreak at everyset of lights for my good fortune. If she had been pulling off as soon as the lights changed I would not have still had my handbreak on. As it was I knew she would be slow so I wasn't rushing either.

We did the details exchange bit and then I went onto my mums to make the relevant calls and have a much needed mug of tea. Mum had a lovely "present" waiting for me too so that cheered me up.

And now I am just working through all the phone calls to get everything sorted out with repairs, replacement cars and car seats etc, oh how I hate choosing car seats for the kids.

So far though the insurance people (Tesco) have been brilliant. Everything is clearly explained and they have been really patient with me on the phone and I have never once (4 calls now as I keep thinking of other things to ask) felt rushed or that the agent had no idea what they should be telling me. The claim went through at 6:30 last night and at 8:00 am this morning the car people were on the phone to sort out the replacement car. Just need to ring them back. The repair people also left a message while I was out so I can get the car booked in with them this afternoon with any luck. Plus I am assured they will collect and return the car so that saves a trip into Leicester.

So I have an afternoon of phone calls ahead of me but hopefully nothing to stressfull and I need to do my weekly shop online which will please DS1 as he had asked me to do an online shop last week, he loves it when the Tesco man comes ;)

To be fair to Wednesdays though I did have a lovely morning, I went with a couple of friends to the local cannel for a walk and a visit to the tea shop. It was beautifully sunny and we had a fab time, maybe its just the afternoons that don't like me ;)

Hmmm....

Well this hasn't been the best of weeks I have to say.

I've had a horrid cold which has had me floored by half six every night which isn't a great thing when that leaves at least an hour and half of work to go so I've been pretty miserable to say the least. Plus work isn't that much fun at the moment either, roll on the end of term is all I can say!

Added to this Bean has decided that waking up for a feed every two hours is now the done thing. I am so tired. We have planned to night wean him at half term already so only a week till we try that. The plan there being that I can then leave him at home with Daddy and DD and DS1 while I escape to Woolfest. And how excited am I about that! VERY, I am so looking forward to a couple of days away and all that wool. I'm already planing what to buy and what to pack etc.

And of course this was the week that DS1 decided to introduce himself to A&E. He somehow "bent" his foot and was in complete agony. Poor thing, when he realised it mean't he couldn't go to Grandma's he tried to tell me it was all better but he could barely walk on it so off we went to A&E. He wasn't keen on the experience to say the least but the x-rays came back clear and after a couple of days rest he seems to be fine again. Unforunatly we left his puppy dog at A&E and so far no one has handed it in. Rather anoying to be honest as its obviously a well loved creature. Still DS1 has been very brave about it all and I will be much more careful in future.

On a better note DS1's apt for the Dietitian has come through. It's well organised so far in that they wrote and asked me to call and make an apt to suit me so we have one booked for half term which means that DH can have DD and Bean and I will be able to concentrate fully on DS1.

It's going to be a busy half term as we have alot of work to get done in the garden, we have a skip booked for all the junk and I would like to fit in a family day out and a meet up with friends or two depending on what other people are doing.

On the knitting front I am at the heel of my Enchanted sock and am loving the way it is knitting up. I even managed the pattern (so far) without messing it up.

I'm about the graft the toe of my roll top socks though I think these will take a bit of a back seat while I finish the Enchanted socks.

And I'm also being good and getting some more of my face cloths finished. I did a simple moss stitch cloth during the week and am part way a second which I think just leaves me one to go which I may try to get finished during May so then they are all done and I will just need to get the soaps for them. It will be nice not to be rushing to finish at the last minute.

What to say?

Well what to say indeed! I can't believe how longs it has been since I posted last. I guess I have been busy but I have to confess that I have also been holw dwelling in a funny king of way. And even now I am sitting here struggling to write anything.


Its not that nothing has been going on, acctualy lots has its just that I seem to be having problems getting the words from me head to the screen. It's also not that easy to find blogging time without toddler help!



We have been going through some big changes with DS1 recently. He got very ill around Easter with repeated bouts of sickness. When we eventually decided that it wasn't going to clear up on its own we carted him off to the docs who talked to me about his current problems and past history and then recommended a lactose free diet. Not a massive suprise I have to admit but not the dignosis I had been hoping for. Anyhow the lactose free diet has worked wonders. I can't believe just how ill he had been, my poor baby. We traced the really ill stuff back to January but the underlying symptomns have been there for alot longer.

So having completed out trial diet we are now waiting for a dietician apt and possibly we will have a pediactric referal as well depending on what the dietician thinks. One of DS1 playgroup friends is also lactose intolerant and her mum has been brilliant. I met her by chance when I was stood contemplating the free from shelves in the supermarket and she gave me loads of help with what was nice and what he could eat in normal food and the like.



Other than constantly thinking about food we have been doing normal family things like schools and playgroup and tots (thank goodness for tots it really is a life saver some weeks) and work all of which takes up most of me life and isn't really that interesting to write about. ;) I am however enjoying lafe at the moment despite my inclination to curl up on my own for much of the time. Still I have been going out still and getting stuff done round the house and have even had a friend over for lunch one day which was lovely.



Knitting wise I finished my April socks in good time and even managed to blog them well before the month end deadline.



the May socks are well underway



My usual cloth knitting has been going on as well, I will post those to Ravelry eventually for anyone who really wants to see them.



There is one to post here though



This one was done in super quick time for friends of ours who have just moved as part of their Housewarming gift.



Also on the needles (though no pics yet) are a pair of very small newborn socks for a friend from tots who had her baby girl on Monday morning. Baby Abigail has a blockage somewhere in her digestive system and has already had one operation to try to correct it. It's a bit of a waiting game at the moment as food still isn't going through as fast as they would like so she is needing a little more help to get along than was hoped but the outlook is good. She is often in my thoughts and obviously has brought to the surface (more than ever) thoughts about another of my friends and her loss last year. So if you read this my love know that though I am useless at the MSN thing I think of you lots and send you many virtual hugs, I am always here if you want to talk or just need someone to sit with for a while. Go easy on yourself.

On The Needles

Well despite the sickness I have still had time to knit

Cloth Number 4 is finished but for some reason I haven't taken a pic of it yet

The Rainbow Bucket bag had to be re-started from scratch which caused much trauma to me but it is now knitted up and ready to be felted. The colours have striped really well and I am loving it. It was great to knit too so I think I might do one for my Mum for her birthday though I'll get loads of wool and do here a bit bigger.



My April Socks are well on their way to being done. I've just done little anklets this time to wear with my trainers so they are a nice quick knit. I abandoned the idea of a pattern and I'm just sticking to stocking stitch and letting the yarn show off for me.


I'm glad they are a quick knit to because I am itching to cast this on

Isn't it just gorgeous! It's from Mamalonglegs (aka Babylonglegs aka Sarah) and is one of my favourite colourways. I am just trying to decide whether to attempt something with a bit of texture or just stick with stocking stitch and let the yarn speak for itself. At the moment I'm coming down in favour a simple pattern and possibly casting on a second pair for TV kniting where I tend to loose track of what I am doing more easily. Or of course I could do some more of DS1's jumper while I watch TV.

Coming Up For Air

of at least I think we are. It's been one heck of a week here.

To start off we had the Easter holidays and all the chaos that having everyone at home entails. It also doesn't leave me much time for Blogging, although the knitting faired better this time than it did at half term.

DD had a party everyweekend (two bowling and one gym) which kept us busy and we met up with friends a couple of times. The first time at the local soft play with a friend of mine from tots and her three children and the second day out was to the loverly Sarah's for our regular get together with Lottie and Sarah there as well. I did miss seeing Sasha who couldn't make it. Hope to see you soon sweetie.

In amongst all this DS1 was suffering from an onging upset tummy, everytime I thought we'd beaten it it came back and after a couple of weeks of it on and off DS1 was really starting to suffer pretty badly. We spoke to the doc who gave me some things to try and said if he got worse to ring back and he'd get him looked at. So when DS1 almost totally shut down and was just sat on the sofa staring into space and wanting to be cuddled and not wanting to play at all it was time to call back.

This combined with his being sick in the night for a couple of nights together plus Bean having his post jab streaming cold has not left much time for sleep in the Miffy household so DH and I are exhausted.

The upshot is that we saw a fab new doctor at the surgery and she listen carefully to what I had to say and to his past history and then suggested that he may be milk intolerant. So we are trailing a lactose free diet for two weeks and after that we may be refered to a specialist (depends partly on what DH and I want to do) for further tests to rule out any other allergies or intolerances.

And doesn't milk/lactose turn up in SO SO many things, things you really wouldn't expect it to be in - tomatoe sauce!?!?

Fortunatly Lottie is an expert in the area so I'll be able to get loads of advice there. And so is one of the mums at playgroup who I met by great fortune while I started dumbly at the "Free From" range at the local supermarket. H's DD is in playgroup with DS1 and has been lactose free for a while now so I got the lowdown on whats good and where to buy stuff. She has lent me the guide sheet she got from the dietician which was a great help to me when I did the main supermarket shop yesterday.

I have to say though that I think the Doctor has hit the nail on the head, By the time DS1 had been lactose free for 24 hrs we were already seeing a huge difference. He is comfortable, eating again and (touch wood) no sickness or tummy upset. Bless him he is coping well with the sudden change to his diet and the realisation that his chocolate stash (left over from Easter) has been taken away. He was a little sad but lactose free bourbons have cheered him up no end!

Easter Snowday!

We woke up on Sunday morning to find a blanket of snow over everything. Snow looks so beautiful when it's untouched.



We were nice parents though and got everyone dressed up warmly and took ourselves and the kids into the back garden (and later, when we ran out of snow there, the front) for a snowball fight. We ended up rather soggy and cold but we all had great fun.



Even the Bean loved it, such a change from last years snow when he spent the whole day bundled up in my coat.


Later on we organised an indoor egg hunt for DD and DS1. DD had a party at lunch time and then after that we spent the rest of the day chilling out.

Knitting Pictures

Firstly here are my March Socks


And here are the first of my series of face cloths




My plan is going quite well at the moment though my planned Butterfly cloth has had to be abandoned due to it needing more concentration than I can currently give it with DH and the kids all at home.

My favourtie current project is my Rainbow Bucket Bag. I am doing this with the lovely MamaLongLegs I Can See A Rainbow yarn. As ever Sarah's yarn is beautiful and of course forgiving of my need to frog it (rolls eyes) only once so far though. This will be my first felting project so watch this space for updates.

And on the knitting front....

... My March socks are finished already!!! I am very pleased with myself I have to admit. They are a little loose on DS1 so I need to put a little bit of elastic in the cuffs so they so that they stay on at night.

Next up on the knitting front is some more face cloths, hopefully 3 this month but I want to get at least 2 done.

And when all the illness abates and I manage to catch up with Sarah I will get the yarn to start my felted bag project which I am really looking forward to. Once it is started it will be a nice portable project.

No photos yet as I have a new phone and haven't worked out yet how to tranfer them from the phone to the pc. Though it does have a send to blog function so I might experiment with that at some point.

Thanks Goodness for Mummy Milk!!!

Well what a week so far. Bean has been very poorly this week with the horrid sickness bug that has been doing the rounds. For a couple of days he was either sleeping or feeding with no eating at all. To go with this he has had a raging temperature and hasn't been keeping paracetamol down so I was at one point getting rather worried. Still he has settled down a bit now and is even showing some interest in food again. I'm just real glad that he is still breastfeeding or I think this bug could have been really nasty!

My Precious Fairy

Last Friday was World Book Day and DD's school dressed up for the event. All the teachers wore crocodile hats as there was a traveling theatre company coming in to performe "The Selfish Crocodile" and the kids could go in dressed as a character from a book.

The dressing up came with rather short notice and as DD never wears her dressing up outfits we had given them all, apart from a pair of wings, to the the nursery where DH works at half term. I was saved however by my little sis who had passed on a beautiful party dress which her DD has just outgrown. I got some bands for DD's hair with flowers on and a necklace and braclets and covered the wings in glitter and behold..................

"Heather the Violet Fairy"


I have to admit to being rather proud of the finished outfit. I am not the most creative of people so this is pretty impressive for me particularly the bit where I didn't just go out and buy the latest disney character outfit!

Sleeping Through!

Well sometimes anyway. ;)

Well I guess that the big news in the Miffy household is that we moved Bean into his cot in what is now the boys room. Dh and I decorated the room over half term and moved the cot and of course Bean in with DS1. At first Bean was waking two or three times each night plus waking for his normal 11:00 feed and either DH or I would settle him back down. However he is waking alot less now, sometimes around 12:00 for a feed and then through until almost 6:00 for his morning feed. On Saturday night and Monday night he slept right through from bedtime (7.00) till the morning feed.


I have to be honest I am not sure how I feel about it at the moment, I'm a little suprised as to how well he has transfered from our bed and bedside cot arrangement to just being in his cot and to find that he is now sleeping through as well. Saying that though he has a cold at the moment and was up last night from about 2:20 so maybe our night feeds aren't over yet.

Other news in the Miffy household. It was Mothers Day on Sunday and though I didn't get any kind of a lie in at all I did get tea and toast in bed and a couple of nice presents from the kids. DS1 didn't prove to be too good at keeping secrets though so I already knew what one of them was going to be, that one was the Life In Cold Blood DVD. I also got a book from my Amazon wish list.

I have ordered some fab yarn from Babylonglegs for a felted bag project (TV knitting) and needles and some other bits from Get Knitted so I am currently stalking the postie. I should have collected the yarn on Tuesday and I was really looking forward to a day at Sarah's but sadly DS1 has had conjuctivis and so we have had to put our visit off till next week. With any luck the needles will be here by then and I can get started straight off. I am really looking forward to it, I'll reveal more about the project later with pics!

DS1's bed socks are well underway, the first one is completely finished and the second one is about half way down the cuff. With any luck I might even get to the heel today if I get a bit of peace and quiet.

DH's GTP course stuff has gotten a bit complicated at the moment but it should settle down over the next week or so once he and I and the school make various decisions about the options currently open to us. Hopefully I will have more news on this then.

February Socks

I've just realised that I haven't yet Blogged my February socks here. I Blogged them on the SAM5 Blog a while back but just hadn't got around to putting them on here. And so I present to you "My February Socks"


I am really pleased with them and I loved knitting them. I used my Harmonies and I am so pleased with them. Whispers - I have ordered some Harmony Circulars I have enjoyed them that much! Just wish they did straights. ;)

The March socks have been cast on and I am making good progress with them. The first is finished already!!! You've got the love the speed at which childrens socks knit up. DS1 is very pleased with it and is really looking forward to his new bed socks. I am going to have plenty of yarn left (I ordered two balls) so I may knit him a second pair just plain knit at some point.

The Saturday Stitchers

Met up with Sarah and Sarah yesterday for our monthly meet up. It was lovely to just sit and chat and knit and chill out for a couple of hours. Thanks for a fab afternoon girls!

Looking forward to doing it again soon. :)

Hopefuly it will become a regular thing and we can get other Stitchers to come along and join in the fun. ;)

Day Out With Thomas - Part 2

Well last Sunday was our day out with Thomas and it was brilliant. We were lucky and the weather was gorgeous, freezing cold and bright sunshine, beautiful.

We drove over to Quorn and caught our first train - Douglas.


From there we went up to Leicester North and then back to Loughborough station. The countryside was gorgeous. Crisp white frost on the trees and fields it was so cold that the reservior was frozen in places. The train windows were still frozen when we got on!



At Loughborough we got on the Thomas/Diesel train for a short ride up and down the station, Thomas pulled us out and Diesel took us back, the kids loved it. DS1 and DD refused to have their pics taken with Thomas but Bean obliged for us though he didn't look totaly at ease about it all.


We then caught Daisy and went back up to Rothley station being entertained by Singing Sally enroute which the girls loved, especially when we sang Daisy Daisy! We had our picnic at Rothley Station and then it was back to Quorn and back home.

The Day Out With Thomas is definately to be recommended and I think we will do it again when Bean is old enough to really appreciate it.

The Great Central Railway runs through beautiful countryside and each station reflects a different time period, the kids really liked the old fashioned look to Quorn and the real fire in the waiting room so I think we will go back in the summer and just ride the normal trains and maybe go for a walk in the Loughborough countryside.

Time for a Catch Up

Well we finaly made a bit of time today to get some photos off the cameras and onto the PC so here are a couple of photos from our holiday at Centre Parcs in January.

We had a fabulous time, very chilled and relaxed and the kids loved it. DS1 had a fencing session


DD had a hair braid (I did too but I haven't a picture of it)


We also did lots and lots of swimming and duck feeding


And DH and I had a massage each which was bliss. I'd love to go again but sadly I doubt that funds will allow another visit for some time to come.

YAY for DH!!!

I am so proud of him.

We just got a letter offering him a place on the Graduate Teacher Training Programme for September.

We still need confirmation of which school they will want him to attend but it is such a relief to know that he has a place. :)

I've Been Tagged

By the lovely Babylonglegs which is a wonderful of her. She has given me a "Make my Day Award"

The only slight snag is that I now need to tag 10 other people whose blogs I read.

"Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times."

However as you can see from my list I don't acctually read that many Blogs, and I "know" even fewer people online so if I fall a little short (putting it mildly) of the 10 you'll have to forgive me.

And so, in no particular order, here are ten people who regularly make my day.

Sarah who reasures me that life with three small children is possible.

Babylonglegs who is a wonderful enabler and a friend who always knows just what to say to make me feel better.

Lottie who is always there for me and has often dug me out of a self indulgent hole when I've needed it.