May 2013
2 posts
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Project Ivy and the cute quota
Sometimes people pass on their baby clothes to us - as foster carers who often have children passing though our doors (some arriving only in the clothes they are wearing) we are always exceptionally grateful for the pre-loved wonderfulness of these arrivals, especially as when sorting them I often get to reminisce about the glorious memories I shared with previous owner while they were wearing...
Silence is loaded!!!!
Please excuse my extended silence my laptop died - but now has been brought back to life by an amazing friend! During my silence my rantings have been loading themselves into my brain overloading my cortex and I am about to explode with ramblings, opinions and frustrations!!! So lets do this and get our rant on!
February 2013
4 posts
35 things - a year on!
So a year ago I posted my 35 things to do before I am 35 list a few weeks before turning 32. So here I am, nearly 33 (glup!) reviewing if I am on target!!!!
1. Read every book on the BBC Big read list. My wonderful hubby keeps returning with books off the list from charity shops, yet shamefaced I can admit I am yet to read one!!!! 2. Learn how to and make a quilt. 3. Go strawberry picking. 4....
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A-Z of Ivy
We are passionate about home-made gifts, and what Ivy gets is no different. Last year she got a rocking horse for Christmas, this year she got her own A-Z book! Here are all the pages.
“Being very accessible sometimes makes it hard to connect with people”
– Gretchen Rubin
I recently watched someone get married on the internet. I was not watching a live stream, or skyping – just people’s news feeds. Although the girl is on facebook she rarely posts or comments so it was a strange on sided affair. First the ‘congrats on your engagement’ posts appeared. A few months later the ‘travelling to the hen party’ updates, followed by the intagram...
January 2013
5 posts
Snow much fun
I don’t know if it is because of being a foster Carer and I want to give my littlies the best possible start. Maybe it’s because I am aware that a lot of children Ivy’s age would spend time in a more structured nursery environment. It could be the numerous pieces of training, or qualifications I have undertaken in child care and development. I like to organise and structure...
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Project Ivy and success
Aside from giggles (I had a wonderful moment the other day when Ivy was in the supermarket with my mum and I was coming to meet them. Across the aisles I heard the distant sound of her giggling! My heart swelled, especially when a man turned to me and said ‘is there a greater sound than that giggle’. Personally I think not, but I am biased! )I think my favourite noises that come from my little...
“If you judge people you have no time to love them”
– Mother Teresa
Happy First Year Mr C
Our little boy turned one yesterday, and today it is his year anniversary of living with us! What a joy it has been celebrating the past year with him, he has changed so much. We celebrated with an hour party of singing and cake! His cake featured characters from all his favourite songs and nursery rhymes. Twinkle twinkle star, baa baa black sheep, dish and the spoon, old MacDonald, the...
2012 in Review
Well what a year 2012 was. A year when words like velodrome and legacy became part of everyday conversations, super-humans ceased being things of comic books, for me Africa became a memory not a concept, and my life was enriched by a new little boy restoring our family to 5. It was a year of celebration, and also a year of heartbreak as the breakdown of a happily ever after scars my soul and hope...
December 2012
4 posts
1 tag
Christmas Cakes
This year I had a go at baking my own Christmas cake. I am blessed with a mother-in-law who makes the most fantastic fruit cakes, so I have never needed to before, but as I had completed my sugarcraft course, I thought it would be fun to have something to place my creations upon! As my M-in-L and Sister-in-law have the most beautiful tradition of making the cakes together, and as Ivy and I live...
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November 2012
14 posts
1 tag
Project Ivy and the bored lads
There are occasions in my life when I realise I see things very differently from those around me! Not that I am automatically right, and others wrong- just I am different. I wish this truth liberated me - but sadly at times it limits me! My desire to conform can be some what limiting!
The other Saturday I was enjoying the peace of an empty house decorating away, when a large group of lads (with...
Happy Thanksgiving
I think Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday. I love the opportunity to stop, and be grateful for all I have. A set point to focus on all that is positive.
This year has not been an easy one for lots of reasons, but yet I have so much to be truly thankful for.
I have an amazing husband, who chooses to love me even when I least deserve it.
I have 3 wonderful children who are a source of...
WatchWe have the power in our own hands to create change. Sometimes this involves huge effort, and sometimes someone else has done the hard work for us! In this case Hope for Justice are doing just that. They have written a letter to the new police commissioners being voted in today to flag up the plight of those being trafficked. Slavery is a real issue today - here is a way for us to make a...
“Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.”
– Henry Ford
Cinnamon in the air
It is strange how important cinnamon rolls have become in my life over the last few years. There are several reasons why others may perceive this is so - firstly I make yummy ones, and my friends tell me this, and often request them for birthdays and events. Secondly Ivy is born on world cinnamon roll day, so there is always a joyous event for the first rolls of the season on the 4th October (...
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Project Ivy and Fearlessness
Sometimes I watch Ivy run about, jump, climb, roll and I am blown away by her fearlessness. Her desire to try and have a go is irrepressible, not tainted by failure or fear. I love her conversations, the passion at which she tells me a story, recounts her day or outlines her desires. The conviction in her voice and earnest look upon her brow, is unhindered by her lacking vocab or poor syntax!...
October 2012
6 posts
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Vintage tea
More cooking and entertaining has abounded, this time for the wonderful Fay and her then Bump, now beautiful bouncing boy. As Fay exudes class we went for a vintage tea with doilys galore - even adorning chocolate cakes in the icing.
As a hater of chocolate cake, the enjoyment was all in the making - but apparently it was yummy, so all is good. In a more food related fail, my doily biscuits...
One year
Today it is a year since our boys left for their new life. Its funny how small a year can feel, so cluttered with insignificant moments and full of life changing events. After a year and it still feels so raw, the goodbye still hangs on my lips and a hole resides in my heart. So much has happened since then that makes this such a bitter sweet anniversary. It worries me how broken I am still am by...
WatchToday is anti slavery day. There are more people is slavery today than in any other time in human history. Its not a problem of the past, but a reality of today - there is hope however for a better future.
Hope for Justice exists to see the end of human trafficking in our generation. To find out more about how they plan to do that, visit hopeforjustice.org.uk
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One fish, Ivy's two fish. Seuss Birthday
Eek, can you believe my baby is two - so I guess no longer a baby then! We had great fun celebrating a Seusstastic day.
I had so much fun creating lots of Seuss inspired treats for the tea - because lets be honest - we really do it for bragging rights and fun of creating!
We decorated the table with lots of Seuss pictures (from a calendar) and books that the food was inspired from.
The...
September 2012
4 posts
Meet the Super humans
I recently had the greatest honour to attend the Paralympic games. I was dazzled in the pool, overwhelmed at the basketball court and in awe at the track. It is amazing seeing elite athletes performing at the top of their field. Hats off to channel 4 and their amazing superhuman ad campaign, this wasn’t about disability this was about triumph, competition and success. Goosebumps covered my skin...
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August 2012
7 posts
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Postcards from Uganda mark 2
So you’ve had my ‘serious’ observations, here are some others!
- Standing on a huge millipede in the pitch black in our bedroom and really proving the diversity of my language to my room mates!
- Wooden scaffolding! Just found this fascinating!! Wound you want to build a tower block with bamboo to stand on?
- Geckos climbing up our mosquito nets in the middle of the night,...
“Open your eyes to the beauty around you, open your mind to the wonders of life,...”
– Donna Davis
Postcards from Uganda
I think it has taken me this long to start formulating into words all I saw and experienced in Uganda. I think the headline would be - A legacy of Joy and Generosity.
So, how to start -
Easter Sunday the band struck up and played a few ‘western’ songs, they seemed out of place and a little serious. This is a feeling that the western influence often had on me. The western staff...
March 2012
6 posts
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Amazing Grace, how strange the word
‘A riveting story of love, deception and grace’ read the write up of the film I was about to watch. Grace, what an alien word in that setting. Grace, a word I had grown up, but rarely heard outside the pulpit or pews suddenly seemed highlighted by its out of place setting. How bizarre that grace was a concept I had subconsciously restricted to the sermon when we live in a world so...
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#31 of 35
Here are the 100 films I aim to watch before I am 35! Watch out for the odd review!
1. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972) 2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981) 3. Star Wars Episode V: Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980) 4. Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994) 5. Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975) 6. GoodFellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990) 7. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford...
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Seuss Nursery
One of the many wonderful things about being a foster carer is being able to create special places for the children in our care. One such space, and possibly one of my favorite rooms in the house is our Seuss Nursery.
I have always loved the imagination, creativity and messages of Seuss.
and that quote kind of summed up our heart.
So with my trusty projector and paints - this is our 360!
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