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.

Halloween

The other weekend Paul managed to drag me out of the house for a walk to Stanah. I haven't been myself recently, at the weekends Paul has been the one to take the kids out somewhere to the park or beach for a couple of hours and i have stayed in doing my homework, cooking dinner or other tasks, to be honest the last month i just haven't felt like going out, i just felt like hibernating really, although obviously i have had to go to take the kids to school, go to college and committee meetings, but for me i am happy just to stay in (knitting). May be its the change in the season but i do really love this time of the year its my faveroite, or maybe i am just a bit burnt out, its been so busy, so much to do and its only set to get busier, it always is before Christmas. Also i am finding myself in so much pain with my back and neck and i am now suffering with pain in my wrist, but i have an appointment with the specialist so may be one day i will get some help with it. But despite not really wanting to go out for a walk,it was really nice and the kids do love getting out and about, the park is just the right size for Alex and it was refreshing to walk along the river, i enjoyed it.

Before Halloween i took a large delivery of pumpkins (or pumpcakes as Ali calls them!) 10 of them i needed to carve as i was doing Halloween in the woods again and also another one at a different place. As the pumpkins were dropped off after the kids were in bed, we had a plan, we decided to have our very own pumpkin patch in the playroom that and ELFY Guy would return to deliver them. When the kids came down in the morning they were squealing when they saw him, we had a full day of carving and making soup of course with the bits we scooped out, the kids were really upset when Elfy had to leave that night, but he will be back soon! That night we went to the first outdoor Halloween party. Halloween arrived and it was the same as I did  last year with the local councillor and we decorated the wood with glow in the dark props we had made and carved pumpkins, and this year it was even better, we had a fantastic night and afterwards Paul took the kids trick or treating, the only downside was Ewan, he was not really a happy bunny, he had been to the dentist as 4pm, yes 4pm on Halloween to have a tooth removed as the 2nd tooth was coming through already and would have come through crooked, so this meant that although he went out he couldn't eat any sweets so I think that booking that appointment for him was an epic parenting fail!  But despite that a good time was had by all.

This was from the first party, i didn't get any clear pictures of the other one 

ps Forgot to show you the fab, mason jars we decorated at craft and chat the other week, everyone enjoyed lighting them up

Rainbow Unicorn Hat

Ta- Dah RainbowUnicorn Hat!

I promised all the kids i would make them new hats for the winter and this is Mollys

A Rainbow Unicorn Hat and we all want one now!

Sunny weekend!

This weekend has been wonderful! we stayed in and just did what we wanted, which was just what we needed to do. Since the kids have been back at school and i started college it feels like its been a whirlwind with so much going on. Its been hard for me to get back into the homework routine since its been years since i had to do anything like that but i am enjoying it. Last night i sat down to write an essay on  child development and despite having four children i just stared at the screen for about 30 mins but once i got started it was easy. I think its just more difficult when you aren't used to doing things like this. I am really enjoying both courses that i am doing, even the GCSE Maths which i hated at school but i think now with a bit of experience behind me such as work situations where i have had to use it, has made it that much easier, and the other bits that i have never had to use i am also enjoying and its nice to stretch my brain once in a while! we will see if i pass of not next year! The Working with Children and Young People level 3 that is my main course has really started now and i have a placement at the local Childrens Centre where i run the Craft and Chat sessions. As i go to lots of groups their i decided to do my placement in the Young Parents group. I actually really enjoy it and the staff have let me be in charge of organizing the crafts! think i can manage that!

I can't stop taking pictures on my way home from college i have tons on my phone. But its illumination season here so its very busy and all the lights are up. Paul took the kids through the illuminations the other week while i was at college as he had forgotten to take his house key and i had turned my phone off so i was really surprised to find them all outside when i had finished. The last two weeks Paul has taken Ewan to look round High Schools eeekk where did the time go!

Now its just me & Alex during the day we have had some little outings and been going to lots more groups

I have been so hungry recently and needing lots of comfort food,i saw these baked potatoes on pintrest and i have to say they hit the spot. I topped ours with Ham and Pineapple and of course lots of garlic butter

 Soups and stews are back on the menu in force!

I went out to the Conservative Dinner Dance last week and while i was getting ready me and the kids had a mini disco!

This is one little disco lazer that cost £5 i think on ebay but its fantastic and reacts to the music

I love, love , love these reindeer! My Mum and Dad took them to Stannah last week and they were helping kids make them for free!! We are going to dress them up a bit for Christmas

So Saturday night was games night

Chance to knit in between turns

Fred got his first party invite from school, he was so excited

While he was there Molly made some Fairy Bird House

While i started a new project, Socks!

When he got back i made them some gloop to play with

Afterwards Paul played football on the field with them, it was such a perfect day and do sunny and warm,but then nice to come inside and snuggle up with a hot chocolate when it got cold.