Reasons to be Cheerful

I am a happy bunny today!
My reason to be cheerful is just in the satisfaction of a day where I feel I have achieved
Something
anything

Today was a good one.
I love being able to list of my achievements to hubs when he gets home from work.
He doesn't question or quiz what I do with my days, with the children, he is just happy and proud that he is in a position to enable me to be a SAHM.

On the days that I have a list, I am as happy as...........I don't know what.
Simple things really.
Today it was stripping the three beds, washing the bed clothes and getting them all back onto the beds.
Having a tidy kitchen and house in general.
And showing him the tins full of lovely cookies.
He won't eat them, he is too strict with his diet. Silly boy!
But when I reel of my list, I know he appreciates what I have achieved, mostly for the fact that it creates a happy wife.

I am full of appreciation for my lovely hubby for going to the shops, first thing this morning, to get the few things I needed to get on with my baking (School Fayre tommorrow), so that I didn't have to hash and bash through my day trying to do it all.

Today has been finished off so lovely by my turning on the box to discover that there is a film on, about the book I read just last month!
Happy times!

A good day all round really!

People Stamping

I just had to try out the stamps we got at the car boot sale at the weekend!

Dervish got straight in about it all

His masterpiece

Darling worked away quietly making her little person

Dervish decided on a better way to play with the sponges. He had us both in stitches with his carry on. He tried to squish as many as he could under his chin!

We decided to try spots and colour combos

Do you think she had fun?

Our combined masterpieces

Well worth the £1 I paid!

Magpie Monday

My first Magpie Monday blog.
I just love rooting out bargains, so I think this one will suit me!
Car Boot sales are my favourites! Going between the tables in a hall, or up and down row after row at an outdoor sale.
I live in the back of beyond, so real carboots are few and far between.
When we go sould , to visit the inlaws, I make Hubs plan it around a big sale!
I get twitchy if I don't go for a look around the charity shops for a while and I Love that we finally have a second hand furniture shop!

This week there was a car boot sale on at my local hall, so I took the family along for a look and a chat with the stall holders.

As soon as I walked in I spotted something.
Big purple and yellow Sponge rectangles.
On closer inspection it turned out it was big shapes for stamping.
Check it out!

We can make people!
I thought my two would have the best time with these.
And how much did she want?
Just £1 !

Same stall had a packet of facepaints!
Yippee. I have been looking into buying some for my two for ages, but they can be so expensive!

Another £1 !
Punching the air now!

Here is my attempt.

Ah, now not so sure. I am, of course blaming the paints. They were not very creamy and it turned out they were teeny tiny thin disks.
(Dervish is meant to be a bumble bee, Darling is a cat)
Still. We should get a few goes out of them and they were happy with my efforts!

I picked up a DVD for our evening viewing (telly was poo that night anyway) another £1.
My two had their faces painted by someone who knew what they were doing and I got a load of plant plugs for £6
I forget, now, what she told me they were.
I know I got six cabbages, for hubs, some red ones that will come up with my daffys. Some more red ones that will be about 50cm and droopy (haha. They sounded interesting to me, anyway!) and some blue ones that will come back year after year.
All planted out immediately!

Yahay!
I love a good sale me!

Silent Sunday

Reasons to be Cheerful

It has been so long since I have written Reasons to be cheerful, I think it is about time I did!
I re-found Mummy from the Heart the other day and realised what a lovely idea it was to look for the positives even when times are tough.

So here are mine this week.

Reason no 1
My house is Not selling.
Might seem like an odd reason to be cheerful but this is a good thing.
The way the market has gone we have had to drop our asking price, to the point of zero profits.
So hubs and I have decided that selling now might not be for the best. Perhaps in a couple of years.
However, to take it off the market costs over £200. So it will remain on for the time being.
If someone offers us the reduced price I feel we ought to sell. A bird in the hand. . . . . and all that jazz.
So I am happy that it is not selling for now.

Reason no 2
Dervish had his third taster session at Playgroup yesterday and seems to be really enjoying it!
I was really worried that he would be all clingy and scared but all he was scared by was the bell going as we were in the corridor, on our second visit.
On this third visit, he whimpered a little as he went in, but was Immediately distracted by glueing and sticking! haha
By the time I came back he was chattering away ten to the dozen and teh leaders had been finding him really funny!
Very proud of my little boy today!

Reason no 3
My children are happy.
In general they are happy wee beans and they get on well together.
I mean, I know they are only 4.5 and 2.5 and that this will not last forever. But, for now, it is lovely to see them together playing and laughing.
What more does any mother need?

Butterfly bag

Every week we go to a music class locally aimed for my childrens age group.
In fact it is aimed at three parents and their children.
We each have one child who is 5, or nearly 5, and a sibling who is 2. The class is geared towards our children specifically.
The other classes that she holds are more aimed for babies or toddlers so it is just great that we have this music session to go to, especially for us.
Dervish is in his element when he is there. He is a huge fan of music in general. We rarely have a quiet house for long before he is requesting 'dancies' on. I don't mind in the slightest because he doesn't mind what I put on just so long as there is a beat of some sort for him to jig along to.

The teacher is just great with Dervish too and his constant requests for a specific song that he calls 1,2,3. That is what you do in the song, listen then jump the 1,2,3 beat or shake your jingly bells into the centre etc etc. It is only 1.30mins long but it is all that Dervish needs to keep him happy!

A while back we were doing the butterfly song, which envolves gentle music and little butterfly finger puppets that we make dance to the tune.
The teacher laughed at the bag that they were contained, or rather, not contained in. Saying that she really had ought to get a bigger/better bag for them.

So I put this piece of info away in my brain as the perfect wee gift to give for our last session.

Last week she reminded us that this week would be the last session and she didn't say that the next would continue on from the last, as it had the last time.
So I thought righto, better get on and make that bag.

But, as is my way, I forgot until the very last minute!
Class at 2pm, I remembered at about 1230 just as I was thinking that I ought to make lunch!

So lunch was on the hop as I scrambled to find the blank canvas bag I had and my fabric paints.
I had been thinking about how I was going to do it.
My fave idea was for Dervish to paint his hand, slap it down on paper, then fold, to make a buttefly image.
But I was concerned that the fabric paint is kinda funny to work with and it might dry out too much before I could transfer it onto the bag.

But now I had Darling at home so I would have to incorporate their two hands (that was better anyway cos they both go, afterall)

So, last minute, I decided rainbow hands, hers on top as the bigger wings, his on the bottom as the smaller ones.
Fingers crossed for it working!

I had 4 colours, but needed five, so asked Darling B what colour to make.
Silly question, Darling is a huge Orange fan!

One Stripe per finger

One hand each
Looking ok .....

Getting the second hands in place.
(Oh, I put newspaper into the bag so that the image wouldn't leave a ghost on the back of the bag)

Time to add in the body.
Darling B took the brush and painted an impressivly straight line.

And there we go, One Butterfly Bag

Proud children!

Hope she likes it.
DH saw the pics and now wants us to make one for his mum.
I want one too!!

So long?

How can it have been so long since I have posted anything!?
We have been away for a wee easter break, down to the inlaws for a few days.
Dervish's spots didn't come to much, so I am still unsure if he had Chicken Pox or not. I guess he did, but it was so mild that it didn't seem to affect him. I expect it will return with a vengance when he is older. Darling seems to have avoided it completely.
I am sure it would have been fine to go see my big brother and his girlfriend, but I think it was better not to cause any upset or worry.

So, for the last couple of weeks we have just been moseying along.
It has been lovely actually.
Very carefree.

Silent Sunday

Silent Sunday