Its Beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

The last few weeks i have been busy getting ready for Christmas ahead of starting work (not that we have a tree yet) but we have been doing lots of craft and put a few bits up here and their.

We made Stained Glass Biscuits, we made a pile of these, the kids favorite part was smashing up the boiled sweets!

We made Salt Dough decorations and painted them the next week one they were baked

Molly and Alex did the Santa hand prints and Fred did the Snowman foot, then each of us put out thumb print on the last one, Ewan was out with his friends, although he still likes making things i think he has got to the stage where he is not as keen as he was, he did make a spiderman thing out of the dough and we got him to put his print down

This has to be one of my favorite makes, i walked all the way into Cleveleys just to but plastic cups so we could do this once the kids got home, instead of fairy lights we put a colour changing spot light of Molly's in it. It is rather fragile though so i have it last at least a bit longer, but at the moment its making the lounge feel Christmasy till we get the tree at the weekend

I had bought a few new lights from a charity shop so i bought a bow and some baubles and we made a bit of a display

and in the morning ELFY GUY WAS BACK!!!!!

With a new jumper we bought him as a welcome back pressie, to make those nightly trips back to the north pole warmer

I got the kids the Snowman & Snowdog DVD for the big screen

I made a Gingerbread house at one of the groups i attend and when the kids got home they picked all the sweets off it! 

I am loving the frosty morning we are starting to get, really really hoping for a white Christmas this year

Finally we made these mason jars as presents for the kids teachers, we have a couple more to make yet but i think they are fab!

My new brushed cotton bedding, all i can say is it is absolute bliss! and looks great too!

Hope to put the tree up this weekend x

Little Nordic Jumper

The little Nordic Jumper for Fred is finally finished and it looks so cute and cosy and cuddly on him.

Its suits his personality somehow, hes like a little elf!

It was a free Drops pattern, that should have been made using DK yarn however i went and bought Aran for some reason so i though i would try knitting a size smaller and generally winging it and it worked! the perfect size

I really do like the way these are worked from the top down on circular needles, seems to make it workup quicker and when its finished its finished no making up to do just a few stitches under the arms. 

Fred loved his little photoshoot!

Hes such a character, we love him!!!

Big Changes

I have been lucky enough to have not worked the last couple of years since the littlest was born, Its not been easy we have been on a very limited budget and had to work at making it all fit together, but on the whole its been a great experience for me and i have had the opportunity to be there for the kids and do some vol entry work as well. But we decided now that Fred is at school that we really need for me to go back to work. I have been lucky and got the first job i applied for ,i did apply for others after it , but its been a long, long process, with various tests and interview but i was offered the job a couple of weeks ago and will be starting in another week. Its a full time job and i will have my two college courses on top of that so i have had to give up some of my volunteering posts which in all honesty has been harder than i imagined it would be. On Friday i attended my last Advisory board meeting for the Childrens Centre and was presented with some flowers and thats when it hit me really hard that i was going to miss it so so much, also i have had to stop running Craft & Chat and also my placement at the Young parents group. The feedback and comments i have had have been amazing and i know that i must keep on with my college course so i can eventually become a support worker and then a Social Worker, which is what my work at the Childrens Centre has inspired me to do. But for now i have this new job which is not my dream job but it will bring in the money and its a good employer for family's as they offer flexi time and hopefully next year i can cut my hours once i start my degree.

So i have been very busy the last few weeks, organizing things and making lists. I have been completely turning the house upside down sorting cupboards and getting rid of stuff and trying to bring some order to the house before i start work. I always have a big sort out before Christmas anyway, its just a bit earlier this time. I have started some chore charts for the kids and they have been doing them for a few weeks now and Molly and Fred are really into it and doing well, Ewan is struggling and keeps trying to opt out! but unfortunately for him, he can't! Everyone will have to pitch in now and its not like i am asking too much, just making beds and putting there own stuff away etc

I have been making the most of these last days at home with Alex as a stay at home mum, cuddling up and watching tv while i crochet,i am going to miss these times so much

This is another part of a Christmas Pressie

After the last advisory board meeting i got off the bus and saw this hat on a post..... clearly Fred had dropped it,thank god someone put it out to be found.

These are the flowers i was given, still feeling so sad to be leaving, but heres to the next chapter x

Rainbow Unicorn Cake & Knitted Poncho

A neighbor asked if i could make a cake for her daughters birthday,but it had to be unicorn related, so this was the cake that i made. In the past i have made rainbow cakes but they have been quite pale so i treated myself to some color pastes and wow what a difference the colors really pop!

I took the core out of the cake and filled it with skittles

It went down a storm and i have requests for other cakes now!

I have to say i think this is one of the best cakes i have made and Molly is after one for her birthday

I finished this a few weeks ago, i made the pattern up myself after seeing quite a few on Ravelry. The yarn is Style Craft brush strokes and i think its discontinued now but i had lots in as i was going to make myself a poncho but never got round to it, but this really suits Molly and she has been wearing it out with a big jumper underneath.

Lightpool & Bonfire night

Now the clocks have gone back I seem to be waking up even earlier that I would have if the clocks hadn't gone back, I really do enjoy that though especially if the kids are in bed still and I can sit in the quiet and watch it become light across the field and have some nice hot tea and snuggle in my blankets. I have finished another few projects over the last few weeks, I don't seem to put my knitting down much at the moment, if I am sat down then I am usually knitting! I do have to watch little Alex-scissor hands who I recently discovered had been taking my scissors out and randomly snipping at the wool!, I have found him some random old balls of yarn now and I keep an eye on him while he is cutting and hide the scissors when he is done. This is a new jumper I have started for Fred, well I an aiming for him but I have adjusted the size so if it doesn't work out and it ends up smaller at least it will fit Alex.

Lots more soup is getting eaten here and I have been discovering and experimenting with new ones, my favorite so far is Broccoli  & Cheese soup, I can't even describe how delicious it is, but I will be making ALOT more of it!

Lots more family games night now the kids are not so keen on playing out and anyway the nights are getting darker sooner. Alex is such a smart cookie, even he joined in with junior scrabble this time and managed to quickly match up the tiles with the letters printed on the board.

Fred went to his first school disco, so sweet, he was so excited, it was a bit of a night as Molly, and Ewan also had discos on the same night but all at different times so we were back and forward all night.

It was also Roald Dahl week and Fred won First prize in his class for dressing up as Willy Wonka!

One night in the holidays, we had a spare of the minute trip to Lightpool, which is basically part of the blackpool illuminations. They project various short films and light shows onto Blackpool Tower and they had various different forms of entertainment on such as illuminated drummers. It was wonderful to have am impromptu outing at night and wander around like we were tourists, it was busy as well. We are so lucky to live so close to this type of attraction there is always something going out and fun to be had.

On Bonfire night we took the kids to the Football club around the corner, unfortunately there was  nothing going on that night on the one across the field which would have been fantastic as we could have watched from the comfort of our front room, but no the one we went to was round the corner. That afternoon me & molly made our own candy apples, I have never made these before and genuinely though they would not turn out well and would be soft or chewy, but they were spot on they can out perfect and were hard and cracked just like the shop bought ones, I think we have found ourselves a new tradition in the Ellison house. We all enjoyed the fireworks, Fred as usual snuggled in the pram and promptly fell asleep, he is so stuck in his routine it makes me laugh, but its a good thing really, Little Ali fell asleep before we got there, so really it was just us and the big two that actually got to watch them and when we got home we made hot chocolate with the works, cream, marshmallows and twirl, I had to go to bed an hour later as I was cold right through and just could not get warm.