Easter fun

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter we've been very busy here the best part of Good Friday and bank holiday Monday were spent working on the garden digging up the old path and building a vegetable plot poor Steven has not stopped! Every spare bit of time we have is spent trying to finish what we have started at least we'll be able to enjoy our efforts this summer. We did take a break on Easter Sunday and had a nice day spent with family.

These baskets are what I did with the children from playgroup this one is Emilys they made the baskets and then decorated a cupcake to take home.

Heres Emilys Easter bonnet she really did do most of it herself apart from the daffs I just stuck on lots of doubled up sellotape and let her with help from Elliot stick on what they wanted from the bag of Easter bits.
As you can see she really enjoyed wearing it.
These are Emilys latest colouring in by numbers pictures she's got through a whole book of pictures in one week I just had to put them on here I'm really impressed with how shes coming on. I'll have to look out for another book for her.


Easter Sunday after dinner we had a egg hunt around the house, lots excitement and chocolate was eaten.

I got some more egg decorations this year so I'm quite pleased with how my Easter tree looks.
This cute little bunny was 99p from the charity shop.

Can't believe that the end of term break is nearly over it seems to have flown by so going to make the most of the last few days we have . Hope you enjoy whats left of it if your children are off.

Emily's Birthday

I'm glad to say that the 4th birthday party that we had on Friday for Emily went really well. Emily went to pre school in the morning whilst me and my mum got everything ready I have to say we were running around to get it all done in time as everything was a bit last minute as I had to fill and decorate the cake in the morning due to a baking disaster with the cake the night before!! The cake you see in the picture was the 3rd attempt! The first wasn't big enough, the 2nd was burnt and the 3rd turned out just right! Oh dear I'd not baked a cake for a long time and thought it would be easy, I now have a good recipe that I will stick to never mind I get there in the end!

The table looked really pretty. Let me point out the details!! Each child had a party popper and bottle of bubbles. The girls had a little rings attached to their name tags and the boys had a badge. See those butterfly mobiles, and straws that me and my niece sat cutting out from Laura Ashley wallpaper do you?!! Do you?!!

We had a bit of an Angelina Ballerina theme going, as Emily LOVES Angelina Ballerina since our special day together here she has been hooked.

This lovely picture of Angelina was put together by my two helpers drawn by my niece Jade and painted by my mum I think it's so nice that I'm going to put it on the wall in Emily's bedroom. We used it for pin the bow on Angelina.


My rushed cake! Which I was pleasantly surprised with that it actually tasted very nice! the pink cake stand was a bargain at just £2 marked down because the little cake stand that should be on top was missing.

All the girls had a butterfly slide for their hair.

Were having fun!

The birthday girl enjoyed herself!

After all the party games each child decorated a cup cake which I boxed up in a marshmallow bottomed box for them to take home as a favour inside their goodie bags. I forgot to take photos of this but we had a tray full of about 8 different cake decorations glitter,smarties,pink and white hearts that sort of thing and a piping bag of icing. This is one I had left and had for supper. surprisingly I have no problems baking cupcakes!


The children really seemed to enjoy themselves and having just five children was just right there was lot's of dancing and excitement but most importantly Emily's face was beaming throughout and loved it.

I can't put it into words how much mummy and daddy love you we can't believe you four where has all that time gone? You are beautiful in every way and you haven't stopped saying thank you for everything which is so sweet. Yesterday we had a mummy and daughter day one to one which was wonderful to enjoy each others company we had lunch at Little Frankie's and tried on all the dresses in the Disney Store then you picked one to buy with you money from Auntie Xana.

Happy birthday Emilyxxxx

Party preparations

It was the last day of January today and it was a beautiful sunny day here in Derbyshire we woke up to a gorgeous sunset casting a pink glow into Emily and Elliot's room. Well January has been a month of organising in the Miss sew n sew household and I am relieved to say that everywhere is now tip top tidy including my studio which was done today so now I can concentrate on other things.

First thing on my to do list will be organising a birthday party for Emily who turns four next Saturday. She is having a little tea party the day before on the Friday I am making the most of being able to do a traditional style party at home with pass the parcel and musical chairs etc.................... I have to admit that unlike some mum's who dread organising children's parties I do actually quite enjoy organising it all although last year I did actually feel quite stressed during the event as I invited 13 children way to many for our little cottage! Having learnt from last years mistake this year she's having just having just 3 of her closest friends yes I know it sounds a bit mean just 3 but if you count Emily and Elliot that's 5 kids then there's the mums and friends and family so that's plenty. I was hoping that this will be much more manageable and less work for me! After planning to keep it small and simple I've ended up getting quite carried and have now got ton's to do!





My mum thought of me and picked this book up for me on her visit to the library kid's parties by Lisa Atwood I can really recommend this book if you need some inspiration for a children's party it has gorgeous pictures and lots of different themed party idea's for girls and boys. I was really taken by this idea a cupcake decorating tea party how cute?





Each child gets to decorate their own cupcake which you box up in a pretty box for them to take home with them we'll be doing ours after the food and games once their filled up with jelly and ice cream and party food hopefully that will avoid any protests of I want to eat mine now!!!



My niece Jade comes round most Fridays for a tea and a chat so I've had a little helper cutting out these butterflies, I knew that extra roll of Laura Ashley wallpaper would come in handy for something. Thursday we'll be decorating the room ready for Emily's big day I hope it all goes to plan I've tried not to mention the 'party' word as she gets so excited but it hasn't worked at all you just can' hide anything from her she soon cottons on that mummy's up to something and she's been counting the sleeps down now for the past week!

Oh well wish me luck I now have a long list of bit's and pieces to make to pretty up the room, a Angelina Ballerina birthday cake to bake and decorate, cupcakes to bake I really haven't perfected the art or the perfect cupcake's mine come out domed shaped like little Mount Everest's any hint's and tips on baking nice flat cupcakes gratefully accepted!! Goodie bags to make decorate and fill! I no! I no!! I'm probably making lots and lots of unnecessary work for myself and I annoy myself sometimes once I get an idea in my head I have to go full out and finish every last detail I tell myself to keep things simple and I can never stick to it. I'll keep you posted on how it all goes next week. Finally a big thank you to Lou at Ludabelle for choosing me for this award. It's so nice to think that somebody actually reads and enjoys this little blog of mine thank you sooo much you brightened up my day!

I'm going to be lazy and take the easy route and not pass on this award, there's so many fabulous blogs out there that I love to read that I just can't choose! Hope you all have had a good week I have some catching up to do in between the preparations for princess tea party central!
Sarahx

Now you are two!

Gosh that was quick can't believe Christmas is over and were heading into 2009 hope you all had a fab Christmas I've been looking around blog land and everyone seems pretty quiet I suppose were all easing ourselves back into the swing of things after all the Chrimbo madness. Well we had a lovely Christmas the kids were happy and overwhelmed with all their presents Christmas morning we had my parents and Grandma over for breakfast and we had our pork pie and poachers pickle a tradition in our family that we have always done do you know anyone else you does this? Then we went over to my sister-in-laws for dinner which was fabulous to not to have to cook and just enjoy the day. Then Boxing Day Elliot turned 2 yes it was his birthday so we did presents all over again and had family over for drinks and birthday cake! Our baby is growing into a little boy and a gorgeous boy we are so proud of you, you are changing every day and a lot at the moment as you are starting to put sentences together and doing lots of talking. I can remember wondering what sort of personality you would have when we had you and you have turned out to be so loving your always there for a kiss and a cuddle, your a proper boy and a cheeky mischievous one too and you never fail to make me and everyone around you laugh. Although sometimes I can be pulling my hair out at times when your up to no good like the number of time's I've caught you kneeling on top of the tv unit licking and putting your hands all over our plasma tv or when you've helped your self to the 4th yogurt in a row from the fridge and spilt it all over the floor and many other no no's too many to mention but on the other hand I will be smiling and laughing in the next moment with your charming ways.
You are a pleasure to look after and I feel like I have the best job in the world being your mummy. We had an awful year the year I found out I was pregnant as Steven also found out he had thyroid cancer and had to have two operations. So it was a year of worry and stress but we were told that Steven was going to be ok and he longed for you to be a boy. So it was the bestest news and most wonderful blessing that we had a boy after everything we had been through.


Emily is so happy to have a little brother it melts my heart to see you play nicely together I hope you will always be this close that's why we had you close together. Of course you argue but I don't know any brother and sister that doesn't I can imagine when your older being quite protective over your sister. As your quite bashful and stand up for yourself now where as Emily is more gentle and quiet.

Happy Birthday Elliot mummy and daddy are so looking forward to every moment and experience with you in 2009 now you are two. x x

Our girly treat!

I mentioned a couple of posts back that I was going to take my daughter somewhere special as I'm very aware that this will be my last year having her at home with me before she starts school full time and I just thought she deserved a nice treat. I also feel that she has very little one to one time with me as Elliott will have that when Emily starts school. She's just started at a new nursery too and has been doing very well and taking it in her stride I was worried we were going to have tears but she's excited every morning to go and her teachers are very pleased with her and say what a lovely little girl she is this week I collected her one morning to see her clutching this



The teacher had given her star pupil for sitting nicely at story time and gave her a ring and a wand how lovely is that? As you can imagine I'm so pleased that she seems to be settling in well it is a lovely little nursery attached to the school I think she will be fine there.


So her special treat was to go and see The English National Ballet perform Angelina Ballerina!

I love the embroidery on these shoes she wore I bought them for £5 Monsoon sale a year ago and I've been willing her feet to grow into them and they finally fit!

Before the show we has a little bit of girly shopping we went to all of Emily's favourite shops including this one her absolute favourite The Disney store so she's already shown me lots of things she wants from Santa which includes the entire Disney Store oh dear!!

Then we stopped off at the Thornton's Cafe for some delicious chocolate mouse cake and headed for the theatre.

This was Emily's first time to a theatre and didn't really know what a ballet was until last night. There were lots of other little girls all dressed up in pretty dresses chattering away in anticipation of seeing Angelina!
The Ballet was gorgeous it was an hour long with a 15 minute interval adapted from the Angelina Ballerina story books, Angelina is putting on her own show of Sleeping Beauty, act 1 is the rehearsals and act 2 is the actual performance. It was a cast of nine dancers the costumes and sets were amazing and it really brought the story to life I kept having a sneaky peek at Emily's face and she was smiling away and mesmerised by it all!



To round the night off we had a ride on this an enormous big wheel which was outside the theatre.

I was quite nervous as to whether Emily would be ok on it but she pestered the life out of me to go on it and insisted she was not scared so after checking that 3yr olds were allowed on it we hopped on. We has a lovely time cuddled up together staring out over the night sky and city lights Emily loved it it was one of those happy moments that I'll never forget.

I am so lucky to have a beautiful caring 3 year old and I'm really loving the little lady she's growing into. This morning we woke up to beautiful clear blue skies on our walk to nursery she nattered all the way about Angelina and hasn't shut up about it all day so I think she really enjoyed her treat and hope she will remember it I certainly enjoyed spending some mummy and daughter time one to one and doing some really girly stuff.

It went ok!

With a sigh of relief I'm happy to say Emily started pre school this morning and it all went well. It felt funny to be up at the crack of dawn feed organise and dress them both to be out the door for 8.30 for our 10min walk to school usually mornings at our house go at a very slow pace Emily is always up at around 6.30 anyway but there is no rush to go anywhere so we are used to lazy mornings in our pjs. Not anymore! I have this school run for the next 16 years gone are our leisurely mornings Arrgh!!!! None the less I had everything ready they both had their porridge and there was no crazy dashing around and I even managed to wash the pots before I left. She was not keen to put her uniform on I already had guessed that this was going to be a problem as she's so used to wearing pink and likes to choose her clothes! So I got a little present for her to open ONLY when she had put her uniform on!

This worked to a certain extent she hurriedly got dressed very quickly to open her pressie then announced that she was going to get undressed and put some proper clothes on aarrgh after lots of wining I managed to distract her with a jigsaw! After that things went smoothly she told me she was a big girl and was not going to cry! We got to the nursery she took off her coat and hung it on her elephant coat hook and I sat her down at a computer to play a game ( she loves playing on computers and amazes me with what she can pick up)I told her I was going to talk to the teacher and said bye to her and she was fine didn't even turn around to watch me go she was just happily sat playing a game.

I just hope things will continue this way with no blips but you never no only time will tell but for now at least I can remember her first day with a proud smile.

Our summer is over and a new start

So it seems our summer is officially over and so the weather is trying to tell us too. This is the horrendous weather our back garden suffered last week, non stop heavy rain followed by thunder and lightening and then huge hailstones!Lovely! Emily starts at a new nursery on Friday she's doing mornings at the primary school nursery where she will attend in a years time. So uniform and new shoes are ready waiting.I just hope that she will settle in well and be happy there. I have everything crossed for no tears and upset. It should be good for her they try and include the nursery as much as they can with the school so hopefully when she starts school it won't be such a huge experience for her. I have been reading about everyone's little people starting at school in blog land and I'm very aware that this will be me next year so I plan to treasure every moment of my last year with her at home. That's why I have a very special surprise for her next week were having a mummy and daughter night out so will blog about that soon!

Looking back at our summer holidays we've all enjoyed each others company most of the time. Of course there's been tears and tantrums and pulling my hair out moments but all in all we've kept ourselves very busy and the summer has passed us by very quickly.

We've had jigsaws,games,building blocks dancing,singing,reading,biking,paddling pool fun,baking,playing with friends,painting,drawing,chalking on the patio,donkey rides, swimming picnics and lots more.

Daddy's had a bit of time off so we've enjoyed some fun days out to the Sea life Centre and Alton Towers. Also walks in the peak district this is Dovedale about 30 min's drive from our house it's a very beautiful valley with a river running through it. The fun bit is crossing the stepping stones. It was very busy so unfortunately there are lots of people on the photos.

I've also won a award. thank you so much to Jane from the blog http://jane-petticoatlane.blogspot.com/ Jane is quite new to blog land and her blog is a great read and she never fails to tickle me go check her lovely blog out.
I'm a bit late with this award and I think it's been passed on quite alot so I'm going to pass this on to everyone who reads my blog as you all really make my day.

Quick update on the summerhouse sorry no photos I don't think pictures of soil and wires would please you! We have been plodding on with the electrical side so I won't bore you with that. I have picked up a junk shop chair for it which I am making a loose cover for so will keep you updated when I have something to show.

That's all for now be back soon with news of our girly night out!

Sarah x