Mixed bag sort of day

This morning started out fab, I had my Ladies bible study @ Mount which I always find encouraging whilst thought provoking,gently rebuking on times.
Then grabbed a quick sandwich before a meeting @ school with the educational psychologist to do with Reuben's assessment for statementing,which went fine,but after returning home I began to feel very down and tearful, I think sometimes these meetings where I have to go back over what has happened to Reuben and who's the stroke has affected him ,really get to me,I'm not sure if I have ever really dealt with " it" , I'm just so thankfully to God that he has given me a good close family and a very loving church family to help me through these times, and I know that God is there and all I need to do is pray to him for help and peace through his Holy Spirit and remember all that Jesus has done for me x

Autumn Blanket is progressing

The Autumn coloured blanket is progressing nicely, which is a nice surprise as I have never worked with this combination of colours before

Paul has a kitten under his chin

Rogue has fallen asleep under Paul's chin

New blanket project

I've been inspired by nature to make an autumnal themed blanket

In shades orange, green, brown,red,and also a neutral beige colour,
So here is the start of it

Finished Reuben's quilt

I have been working on a patchwork quilt for the last few months for Reuben,mainly made of Cath Kidston fabric,and I have backed it with a lovely fleece blanket from Ikea

Pouring with rain

First day of the holidays,half term,and it is pouring with rain
So a cosy Cwtchy day at home with the tv,blankets and the cats it is.
Rabbits have been fed and we need to check on my mum's dog at lunchtime but apart from that we are not venturing outside the door today.
We had an amazing day at Mount yesterday with the Kids RBT lunch and afternoon together,I love my church family and it was lovely spending time with them.

We have a new kitten

We have a new kitten,who we have named Rogue she is so sweet,she is black and white and a ginger/ biscuit colour ,she was the last of a litter of my mums neighbours cat

She means we are now a 7 cat household

Amazing wedding

Yesterday saw two of my friends get married, the last of 6/7 at church this year.
It was an amazing wedding which me,Paul and the boys attended with my Mum,we also went to the evening reception which was great fun with fruit trees and chocolate fountains and barn dancing,which was fun to watch but looked far too energetic.
This morning I have so far put a Beef casserole in the slow cooker for lunch and read the boys RBT verses with them,as it is Kids RBT this morning
I love how they have their own bible studies and their contributions amaze me .
I'm just so lucky to be a part of such an amazing church family xxxxxxxx

And breathe

The last few weeks have been mental,endless physio,drs and and hospital appts,not just for Reuben,but Zac and myself also.
Today Zac had the fracture clinic where we waited for an hr and half after his appt time to see the consultant who took one look at him and said he is healing nicely and she will see him in January,Arrrrrggghhh
Just what I needed on a busy day
Just had lunch and time to chill for a bit, before the school run, making tea for friends of ours who have had a new baby,delivering said tea ,then 6:47 for the boys and a friend who has started going with them
Maybe I can relax at 9pm.....by which time I will probably be asleep


On the positive side, I have enjoyed reading Leviticus this week and have read most of it
Also been doing a lot of art journaling,writing poetry,doodling,writing quotes and bible verses that have helped,all in one journal...sort of like therapy 

We have Love

We have a new grey rabbit called Love

It is Pratchett our baby rabbit's mum, and Love is the name she had when she came so we have kept it.
So this now takes the grand total of our animals to 10, 6 cats, 2 guinea pigs and 2 rabbits

I would sooooo love to have some chickens,as a friend of mine has just had 4, if I had a bigger house and garden I would have more animals for definite

The rabbits have been fab therapy for Reuben he loves smoothing them and helping look after them

And they are more than just pets ....... They are a part of our Family

Physio physio and more physio

Yesterday Reuben had his first day of 3 days of physio this week, followed by 3 next week, which considering he is looking and acting very tired already, will be fun by the end of the week.......

Zac has his 2nd physio session today, following the dislocation,fracture and chipped bone elbow incident earlier this summer... So we shall be off on the delights of local transport in a shirt while


I'm quite looking forward to the boys being back at school,hich is 2 weeks tuesday, just to be back into some sort of routine, and some me time, is that bad,

I mean being able to go to lunchtime meeting and ladies bible study at church, and tea at church prior Tuesday night prayer meetings, I'm a bit of a creature of habit who needs routine..... Well to a certain extent anyway

Fab weekend

This weeks has been fab but strange,
My mum has taken the boys away for the weekend, only the second weekend I have ever not had the boys since they were born, they have stayed 2 nights in my nana's when I had work training courses,but that was during the week and only in swansea
Well thursday night they went to stay at my mum's and then Friday they went on their hols, to Market Harborough to stay with my brother David.
They have had an amazing time by the sound of it and are due back sometime this afternoon/evening.

So what to do when you are child free.......
Friday night we went for food at a Toby carvery and then a sunset walk along the beach and home to 2 Fleetwood Mac documentaries
Saturday we went to Mc Arthur Glen for lunch and shopping, and hubby treated me to a fab new Saltrock Maxi dress, then we came home fed the cat and my mum's dog, and went out on a 10k bike ride,well I was on my bike ,Paul was on his skateboard, had a lovely time
Today I was up early as I was on sound at church, which is both an honour and a pleasure to do, I was truly blessed by the service this morning, and can't wait to be there again this evening

Mental week

Last Wednesday night I was meant to be going out for a meal with friends from church for a surprise birthday meal for our friend Tami, as I was about to go in the bath I realised I didn't have a towel, so youngest went to get me one, he fell coming back down the stairs( downstairs bathroom) and caught his head on the doorframe, we could see immediately that it as a Hosp job, plus he is on aspirin due to his stroke, so it bled lots, he required 3 stitches in the end because they couldn't glue it,and almost had to take him to theatre to do it.

Had a fab day in Mount yest , wasn't on sound this week and really benefitted from just being able to sit and listen to what God wanted to say through Steve,then I had a blinding migraine come on during the end of the meeting, which made me feel rubbish but I still managed to listen

Then early hours of this morning, me and Paul awoke to the sound of cats fighting, there is a nasty black cat that keeps trying to come in our cat flap, we don't know who the cat belongs to but our6 really don't like it, and it spooked Suki, my silver tabby to the point that she ran upstairs and scrambled to get onto the boys windowsill cutting Reu's eye in the process, we then found her curled up in the corner of the windowsill, so a disturbed sleep Had by me Paul and Reuben, Zac slept through it all

I love my church family

Ive had an amazing weekend so far..... Spent yesterday morning into earlier afternoon with my church family, playing cricket etc in the beach, having breakfast and lunch together and just generally spending time fellowshiping together This morning's service was another example, kids RBT first thing always me time to sit and chat with fellow members whilst our children do their studies,then I was on the recording team, my eldest sat with some of the older boys but Reu was having a bad morning,emotion wise but Jaime came to the rescue with a big hug and a chat and Reu spent the rest of the service sat with him and Lora I just thank and Praise God for such a fab family

Busy few days

Had a busy few days this week Zac had his 2nd op yest to take the k wire out of his elbow, which went fine,and he was In and out of theatre in barely half hr,we had a journey home on the bendy bus Today was a trip to town to get a 2nd water bottle for our new baby bunny, who is called Pratchett,will try and post a pic later Then this afternoon has been cleaning the kitchen and the boys doing their bedroom Almost forgot Zac didn't need a second cast so we can do fun stuff this summer

Feeling tired

Feeling rather tired this week, Reu had to have a load of blood works done this week,11 vials, poor little brave soldier, he also had a his last physio session until August yesterday, I myself have some random sore throat couch chest sort of thing which I leaving me feeling like pants

Been at the Hosp again

But this time with son number 1, he managed to land awkwardly on the trampoline last night and managed but dislocate and fracture his left elbow, resulting him having to have his elbow wired,and then put in a cast, back on Friday for. Full cast, then 2nd op in 4 to 6 wks to remove the wire and then another cast will be needed,so a summer in plaster for Zac

Camping....... In the garden

Well the boys managed all night in the tent, they were asleep by about 9.30 and they came at 5.50 am , they thought it had been raining, it was infact dew. They are so much braver than I was at that age and they have said that they are sleeping in their tonight, mind u they did have cot mattress and pillows and sleeping bags and crochet blankets and a quilt and a throw, sounds fab to me

Sorry for the long hiatus

Things have been rather busy with us recently, Reu's neuro appt went well and we don't have to go back for. 3 mths,his physio is going well as is his occupational therapy,he is also back at school for2 mornings a week, last week he did do 1 full day but it really took it out of him Church is amazing, I'm loving serving as part of the sound team, and am currently getting to grips with the recording system, before even thinking of going onto the desk, it has been far too long away from a desk to rush these things Reuben has been talking about Baptism for weeks if not mths now, and has had a chat with Steve, our pastor,who has said that he will chat with him again in a few weeks, Reu has been such an inspiration to all of us , his faith is truly encouraging.

Physio went well

Physio went well, she was impressed with how well he was doing, he has 6 weeks of physio, one session a week, and then they will see if he needs more, 6 weeks how pants is that. We then walked from his house into town, that took about 40mins, and it only started raining as we got to Walters road. We then had a toasted sandwich and a cup of tea in the market, bought a storybook bible and a few other bots in the bible shop, then bought some welsh cakes and jam splits, then we went into the works and I bought some books and crafty stuff, also bought a crochet magazine in whsmiths. We are now cwtched up in bed watching DVDs and eating sweets and jam splits.

Today we are off to physio

Well today ware off to physio, Reuben has only been home from Hosp since the 30th March,but that is another story,children's stroke care in Hosp is amazing,out of Hosp it is shocking

What a fab weekend

Had both the boys home on Friday because Zac had some viral throat infection,so the four of us went to Techniquest, the kids science museum in Cardiff, he also went to an American style diner for lunch, then visited the Millenium Centre and the Senedd- where I had my scissors and Swiss army knife confiscated until we left,oooops. Then yesterday we went to 2 friends wedding, Shima and Anthony thank you for an amazing day and night, it was such a fab mix of British and Iranian, so fab spending so much time with friends and family, and I managed to get. My groove on, much to the surprise of some of the youth

Oh fun

I now have 2 little boys at home Reu because he is currently only on school part time And Zac because he is coming down with what might be some viral infection, we have to go back to the GPs tomorrow for her to have another look

Well school went pretty well, we stayed until lunchtime and had lunch. Reu did some reading,some maths and researched the Queen's Diamond Jubilee online, He also went out to play where he got bumped on the back with a football, only Reu can go to school just for the morning and have to have a first aid form filled in. Zac has gone to bed feeling unwell, with a sore throat so who knows I might have both of them home tomorrow Reu wants to make a start on our project on the Olympics tomorrow, we going to compare and contrast this years London Olympics with those past.

Off to school

Well myself and Reuben are off to school this morning, for his first morning back since his stroke 8 weeks ago today, it will be strange but also nice to have some sort of routine again,I have more blankets to post pictures of again.

missing houseparty :(

im sad to be missing houseparty-we hadnt booked to go this year as i found it quite hard last year on my own with the boys-and also wasnt sure if Reuben would sit through all the sermons now he isnt in Sunday school-then of course Reuben had his stroke and we didnt know how long we would be in hospital for-then by the time we came out the date to book had been and gone

nevermind we will definitely go next year-was lovlely this afternoon going down to church to prepare the veg for lunch on Sunday with Mum and Luned-will be lovely heairng how it went-and cant wait to get the cds and listen to them

I love my family and my Mount family xxxxxx

and here is my craft area

my craft area

my wool storage

home improvements

yesterday i painted a nest of 2 tables with some pearlesent acrylic paint-they look fab-will post a pic soon
also got Paul to put up 4 fabric covered letters in the living room- one for each of our initials-again I will put a pic up later

Baby Payne's blanket

this blanket was made for my other friend also called Helen-who's baby is due today-i'm currently making another blanket for her little girl Megan who is 3

raining on a bank holiday

surprise surprise it is raining on a bank holiday monday in wales
i dont know why i am surprised it always rains in wales
but it is the holidays and i wanted to go out and do something with my boys


i cant complain too much we have had a fab easter weekend-lots of fab family times and amazing services at Mount-including my husband and nana coming <3

busy boy

Reuben has been a busy boy so far this Easter time
we had a Good Friday service yest morning-and he really enjoyed it-walking in so proud with his bible
then yesterday afternoon we went to Mumbles for a coffee etc
today we went to Rheola market and then back to Mumbles again-the fresh air has done wonders for him
he is soooo excited that his dad is coming to church with us tomorrow morning

blanket made for a friend ages ago

this blanket was made for a friend's son about 2 yrs ago-but still havent managed to get it to her -ooops

some recent blankets

here are some of the blankets I have made recently

 the blue one is for my friend Tami's baby Adam

 this one is for my friend Hannah's baby Lydia

and this one for my friend Helen's baby Bluebell who was born yesterday

the ball is rolling

I phoned the education dept this morning to get the ball rolling about when Reu starts his visits back to school-as he will need ramps etc to get in and out of the classroom-and they are emailing school for a referral

also got occupational therapy coming out tomorrow to assess the house and see if we need anythign to help with Reu's care needs now he is home-as far as I can tell it would only be handles for the bath possibly

start of our first week at home

morning
well today sees the start of our first full week at home-and also the start of the Easter holidays-after having been in hosp for a month with Reuben, it will be lovely spending 2 and half weeks with Zac and Reuben together. We have already got swimming with some church friends planned for Thursday-and my brother is visiting this weekend-and also an outing for the boys is planned for sometime next week with someone else from church.
Paul has the day off today -not sure what the plan for today is yet-as Paul Reuben and I are currently sat in bed watching breakfast news and Zac is still in bed-but I do know that I need to buy some stitch markers to help keep me sane with the vast quantity of blankets I have just purchased wool for.

sorry for the long hiatus

since my last post i have been crocheting all the time

but also gone through a tough time the last month

my 7 yr old son has had a brain stem stroke resulting in some paralysis in his left side-he is now walking but still has a weakness in the leg and arm-he was released from hospital on friday-and the recovery has been lightening fast-he only had the stroke 5 weeks ago tomorrow

my faith in God has been greatly tested during this time but also strengthened due to the love and support shown by all those from not just my own church but from other churches in Swansea-Reuben@s own faith is mind blowing-he has a true child like faith-which would put that of an adult to shame