Painting with Will

Had to share this pic of Will enjoying the washable canvas he received for his birthday. What a great gift idea; he had a lovely time experimenting with the brushes.

Jo

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Summer 09 Photos

Will's Birthday

Well last Wednesday my little chap had his first birthday. It was a close call as to whether or not he'd be well enough to celebrate but in the end he was fairly chipper. I was so excited and was up until 3am on the morning of his birthday decorating the family room and wrapping presents. We bought him a Myriad stacking rainbow and a pushalong duck with flappy feet from Treeblocks. I also made him a lovely birthday crown, which he was not too impressed with having to wear, a family of knitted sheep, a felt cube and a bedtime bag. Later he received a new carset (horror of horrors it cost £105 - I nearly passed out from having to part with the cash but apparently we have buckle crunch and so a less expensive one would be dangerous) and a huge array of wonderful unique and handmade gifts from friends and family. We had a lovely party in the evening with friends from church; unfortunately our families live too far away to make it easy to attend such events. He loved the attention and had a super day, not at all phased by any of it.

I can't believe that a year has passed since he first entered our physical world. Of course he lived in our hearts long before that day, but it was so momentous meeting him in the flesh for the first time, especially when we had lived with the shadow of chromosomal abnormality in the preceeding months. When I think that we could have lost him if I'd had the amniocentesis, and he was perfectly healthy after all, not that we would have loved him less had he not been healthy. It's been a fantastic first year. I always worry that you won't have enough love for another child, yet somehow love seems to stretch to encompass the new bundle without thinning elsewhere. He is such a fantastic chap; he is funny and loving and adventurous and a little bit mischievous and I am soooooooooo proud of him. My darling boy.

Jo

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Catching Up

Haven't posted for ages but just a quick note to let you know that we are all alive and well, or wellish at least; William has a throat infection atm. He's being very brave bless him although we are all rather stir crazy at having to stay indoors. If it's not the weather it's a poorly child. Mind, he's not really been ill at all since he's been born so it's a rarity for him to be so under the weather. It's his birthday next week. My wee little one will be 1. I can't believe it. I have been crafting apace to make him some lovely gifts, as well as a weeny Myriad order you understand.

We haven't done much since my last post, although we attended Keswick Convention and got rather wet camping in the rain. It was brilliant, though, and really got us back on track with our Christian lives after sliding a bit recently.

Anyway, enough for now.

Jo

Cornwall and Home Ed Madness

We had a fantastic holiday in Cornwall last week courtesy of The Sun (spit) newspaper. Instead of £409 our lovely caravan cost £215 for the whole week. We had a fab time exploring parts of that wonderful county we had never before ventured into. I finally got to go to St Michael's Mount and we had a lovely day on the beach with the gorgeous Claire and her family who were co-incidentally staying nearby. We had one day of rain but otherwise glorious sunshine. The day of rain we spent at the National Seal Centre at Gweek thinking it would be undercover for much of the day. Not so; we got very wet but had a brilliant time anyway and ds1 actually got to feed the seals himself. Our National Trust membership came into its own, and the Seal Centre was the only day out where we had to pay; we went to the aforementioned Mount, Keynance Cove, Glendurgan Gardens, Cornish Mines and Engines, Trerice, Godolphin and, on our journey home, Castle Drogo. It was all rather lovely and none of us wanted to come home. I will post pics later; you will see that my darling babe loves sand almost as much as compost. The nappies, I assure you, were horrific.

Since we got back it's been home ed madness. We've been out practically every day for horse-riding, bowling and park visits. Tomorrow we're going to an art workshop at a rather lovely stately home so I am rather looking forward to that. Busy, busy, busy. But fun. Glad to be back to bloggin' land, anyway, especially now Jackie's begun her fab Miss Read blog. I shall have to get back to reading fiction; I am such a non-fiction addict that I forget how much I actually enjoy fiction until I pick up a book and begin to read. And I do love Miss Read.

Bye for now
Jo
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Some-Recent-Pics

Recent-makes-and-smallholding-fun.--This-keyboard-makes-it-just-too-painful-to-type-more.--sorry.

Jo

Stuff

I-am-still-harrassed-by-a-broken-keyboard-and-since-I-have-thrown-all-available-funds-down-the-Amazon-(as-opposed-to-down-the-drain)-I-will-have-to-persevere-for-a-little-longer.--Otherwise-I-am-good.--We-are-doing-the-40-Days-of-Purpose-at-church-and-I-am-loving-it,-although-I-keep-getting-behind-with-my-readings.--My-quest-to-de-chem-the-house-is-also-going-well,-with-recent-makes-including-homemade-carpet-freshener-(bicarb&lavender-oil)-room-spray-(water,-a-little-vinegar-and-lemon-oil)-and-washing-up-liquid.--I-am-particularly-pleased-with-the-latter-as-it-really-seems-to-be-effective-at-getting-the-pots-clean.--It-doesn't-have-bubbles-though-so-it's-not-for-diehard-bubble-lovers.--I-found-the-recipe-here:
http://melissagoodsell.typepad.com/day_to_day/2008/08/home-made-dishwashing-liquid-it-smells-beautiful-fresh-and-looks-very-cute-in-this-recycled-milk-glass-bottle-sassafr.html
I-also-need-to-tell-you-that-my-lovely-e-friend-Jackie-is-embarking-on-new-ventures-and-has-a-competition-to-celebrate.--Check-it-out-here:
http://hedgerowfireside.blogspot.com/
I-will-post-more-later-I-have-lovely-pics-to-post-when-I-get-the-time.
Jo
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