Life Today

Birthday

2009-12-26T09:05:00.001+13:00

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday dear darling husband

Happy Birthday to you

Advent Swap Day 25

2009-12-25T11:36:00.003+13:00

On the 25th day of Christmas my Advent Swap gave to me...

A home made message board, with pencil, notebook and calendar cards.

Each card has a very cute picture on one side and a month from 2010 on the other.

Thank you Simona from Italy for a wonderful month of gifts, I have enjoyed receiving each and everyone of them, even if some of them I am not sure what to do with, it will be fun learning some new crafts to use my new items with.

Merry Christmas everyone

Christmas

2009-12-25T08:57:00.001+13:00

I keep my snowman in the freezer

Just behind the pies

He likes it there, he told me so

I can see it in his eyes.

I made him on a cold, cold morning

When the snow was fresh and deep

Now he sits in the freezer

Near the fish that we got cheap.

I keep my snowman in the freezer

And look at him each day.
If I’d left him in the garden
He’d simply have melted away.

But now he’s like my Grandma
Living somewhere safe and nice;
He’s in a frosty, snowy palace
On a throne of coldest ice.

I keep my snowman in the freezer
Near a lump of frozen beef
And I’ve got a treat for him in August:
I’m taking him to Tenerife!
By Ian McMillan

Have a wonderful Christmas Day where ever you may be.
With family and friends or colleagues.
If you wished for snow then go out and enjoy it, if it snowed!
Me I will be relaxing in the sunshine at the beach catching up on my tan!

Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T20:40:00.001+13:00

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

Advent Swap Day 24

2009-12-24T11:41:00.002+13:00

I am not sure what happened but I only had 24 gifts in my parcel.
With the fact it went through Bio security so rigiously in November I am not sure whether something was removed because they didn't like the item.

So I decided to open my gifts each day from Dec 1 and save my special gift for tomorrow.

So no gift for today but here is a sneak peak at what I am looking forward to tomorrow

Crafts

2009-12-23T14:23:00.001+13:00

I am a crafty person, love sewing and making etc although I am not an artist! I can not draw or paint to save my life but give me squared paper to design on and I am away but give me plain paper to create on and I get stumped!

My mum is also very crafty but she can also draw and paint, so I know where I get my enthusiasm for all things crafty from, have done since I was about 7 yrs old.

Now Ben can not draw! End of story, we know it, the teachers know it and I think he does too. He is not one to be content to sit with pencils and scrap paper and produce a master piece etc. It may come with age and you never know when he is a little bigger it may suddenly emerge, but we are not too worried if he does not become a budding artist.

Alex, I am not sure on with the drawing part yet but give him some craft stuff and he is flying. He is in his element, so of course he has great fun at Daycare creating anything and everything.

Their theme for the last little while has been puppets and he has happily created every imaginable type.

He created a Santa sat on a sleigh with a big sack of presents being pulled by a reindeer.

Daycare were so impressed with this they put it on the shelf by the register for everyone to see.

The Santa and sleigh are on the shelf and then the reindeer is attached to the wall to make it look like he is pulling the sleigh.

The reindeer is fluffy and has orange wings to help him fly.

He also has a big red nose, so no guessing as to which reindeer we have here?

It is amazing and he is very proud of it, as we are too. He just has this wonderful imagination that is shining through big time.

Well done Alex you are so clever little man.

Advent Swap Day 23

2009-12-23T10:34:00.001+13:00

On the 23rd day of Christmas my Advent Swap gave to me....

A little message holder peg with a heart on it and some cute earrings with a shell and lobster on

Found

2009-12-22T20:17:00.001+13:00

Look what we found at a Chrsitmas party the other day....

Can we keep her? She is only 2 weeks old and so cute. It has been a few years since Steve has held anything this little. All 5lb 6oz called Hannah.

As usual he was very content just sitting there holding the baby. He was the same when ours were little, happy to just sit socialising whilst the baby slept on him.

Now where do we find these and can we get one?

Maybe Santa can help?

Advent Swap Day 22

2009-12-22T10:30:00.001+13:00

On the 22nd day of Christmas my Advent Swap gave to me...

Some gorgeous purple paper yarn.
And when I started searching on the internet suddenly there were oodles of things I could make with this wonderful stuff.

Hand and Neck Update

2009-12-22T08:13:00.001+13:00

Steve is now 7 days post hand surgery and all is going really well.

He has been to the Physio, who took all his bandages off and gave him a splint.

The fingers are looking really straight, although they are being held that way by dressings at present. He has a cotton wool bolster over the finger in the picture below, so you can't see the whole wound.

He still has to wear a splint at present but she made this one out of plastic rather than plaster of paris. It means it is much more usable.

It was quite amazing to watch her make the splint. She first turned on the electric fry pan with water in it.

The she got out a sheet of what ever colour plastic she wanted (she went with red for Christmas) cut it to size and moulded it to fit around his wrist. If she didn't like how it moulded then she simply put it back in hot water or blew the hairdryer over the edge to soften it again and then remoulded.

Her words to us were 'do not leave in the sunshine!' and 'if it feels funny anywhere, then just heat it and reshape it!'

Amazing stuff.

He has since been back one more time and the splint is now been cut to wrist level. This makes life so much easier for Steve as he can now actually move his hand at the wrist. He has even had the bolster removed off the wound.

The next step is to allow the graft a couple more days to heal and then to start bending exercises. He will have to open and close his whole hand and see how fast the graft goes back to pink, this checks the blood flow to all areas. If all is good then he has to start bending the finger every hour doing a small range of motions she has shown him to get use back into the finger that has been bent over for the last 10-15 years.

So everything is on track there.

Me and my neck? Things are progressing slowly, I feel like some days it is 3 steps forward and then 1 big one back!

I am getting a lot of pain at night when sleeping. I can not sleep on my side as this puts strain on my neck. Problem is that I am a side sleeper or tummy sleeper and these are the 2 most uncomfortable positions at present!

I am now sleeping a lot on my back but this is still painful sometimes. So sleeping is fun at present!!! Not.

I can drive but any sudden jerking is not good. So when I come to an intersection and have to keep looking from left to right and back again trying to assess the traffic to pull out, then this is pulling on my neck and hurts. Other little movements whilst driving are also painful. So even though I can drive I'm trying not to very much if I can help it. Although this is slightly difficult given that Steve is not driving at present due to wanting to not do anything that will knock the graft or put any strain on it whilst we are getting it to take! But seeing as he is now in a splint just to his wrist and everyone is very happy with him I don't think it will be too long before he is given the all clear to drive again.

I also found out the other day whilst at the caravan that swimming is very uncomfortable! Just the whole motion of swimming and keeping your head up in front of you puts my neck in a very wrong position that hurts. Even on my back you are trying to keep your head above water and therefore the muscles are pulling etc. So, even though I remember from last Christmas the fact we didn't go swimming at the pool very much as it was very hot and the pool is a hot pool, the boys will want to do some swimming, so I guess I will be sitting in the pool a lot whilst they swim around. Of course Steve is not swimming at all, but he could always get in and sit at the edge, at least that would be cooling if it gets too hot! But we also have the beach to go to so we can all wade in the waves and do wave jumping etc. There are ways around our little problems this Christmas!

So between us we make a right pair this Christmas time, but we will still have a relaxing time and just do what we can with a limitations! Will be fun.

Advent Swap Day 21

2009-12-21T13:28:00.002+13:00

On the 21st day of Christmas my Advent Swap gave to me....

An address book and pen just for me

Christmas Elf

2009-12-21T08:14:00.000+13:00

Think he might be auditioning for the role of Christmas Elf or Christmas Super Hero with Barney Santa Sidekick?

Advent Swap Day 20

2009-12-20T14:27:00.003+13:00

On the 20th day of Christmas my Advent Swap gave to me....

3 candles in a little wooden box

Advent Swap Day 19

2009-12-19T14:25:00.004+13:00

On the 19th day of Christmas my Advent Swap gave to me...

A gorgeous piece of material with cups all over it, now what can I make from this?

Advent Swap Day 18

2009-12-18T15:24:00.003+13:00

On the 18th day of Christmas my Advent Swap gave to me....

Some lovely beads and wire to make a necklace or bracelet

Followers

2009-12-17T16:43:00.001+13:00

I follow about 20 blogs.

I am sure there are more to follow but I try not to get to greedy otherwise I never get to visit them all.

But I am very good at deciding to stop following one if I realise that I haven't been checking them out lately or I get bored with them. Sorry, I am not saying you are boring, just that sometimes people change the focus of their blog and it no longer holds my interest. At least I am honest.

I am trying to get my inspiration back for crafts so am finding all these new blogs that showcase what they have been up to lately and love perusing them to see if it gets me back in the mood!

Once in the mood, I will try to find the time, but seeing as the boys are a little older now and I am not so tired at the end of the day, Maybe I will start getting some little things done.

Now I just need to sort through all my UFO's and see what I can start with, has to be something little though or it will never get done....!

Sports

2009-12-17T14:55:00.000+13:00

Ben also had a sports demonstration at school last week.

At this age they just get to try lots of different activities and give them all a go.

He got to do hurdles, bean bag throwing, high jump, running, 3 legged racing and the potate and spoon race.

He did very well in all his demonstrations and it was a fun afternoon.

Grandma and I got to have a picnic lunch with him at school.

Advent Swap Day 17

2009-12-17T10:08:00.001+13:00

On the 17th day of Christmas my Advent Swap gave to me...

2 little samples of face firming cream
An emery board
2 little samples of anti-ageing cream for the face with Glycolic Acid Complex
A little sample of anti-wrinkle firming cream for around the eye area
A candle in the shape of a women's bodice
A scented envelope to hang in my wardrobe

What a cool little collection of things to receive.
However most items were not written in English so have had the fun of using Google Translates to find out about each product.

This is what the translation meant from the back of the anti-ageing face cream:

Renewing a gel sensitive skin and gives extraordinary brightness alia skin. Its formula based on naturally derived fatty desserts, smooths the surface and respects the natural balance

I love translations from a foreign language to English and some of the words it finds to replace things, glad I have face cream derived from "fatty desserts"!

Junior Production

2009-12-16T15:45:00.003+13:00

Last week at school Ben had the Junior Production.

All the classes from the Junior School took part and they did a little story where Cinderella went on the search for her ball, but found many Disney people along the way.

Ben's class was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

So all the boys got to dress as a dwarf. The closest we came to getting a picture of Ben all dressed up was when he was sat on the ground and we got a good shot of his head with his hat on! Never trust the camera to someone who doesn't blog! Because you do not get the type of pictures you need to keep the blog going!

He also had to sing with the rest of the school and then we were able to get one ot two pictures of him singing and dancing.

It was a very cute evening and all the kids did really well.

I think Ben is the only ginger headed child in his whole school, you can never miss him!

Cats and More

2009-12-16T15:29:00.000+13:00

Alex and I went to the shopping centre today to meet a friend for her birthday and to also get Christmas shopping for Steve.

On the way there I had a rather indepth conversation with Alex, the kind that all parents dread having with 4 1/2 yr olds!

He started by asking about getting collars for the cats. He said something about wanting to take them for a walk! I mentioned that we had them once but that the cats did not like them, but that they are both micro chipped so not too worried. Plus also cats don't like being taken for a walk, only dogs like that.

This lead on to how we named the cats? Alex named Barney and Ben named Prenzel.

Well this lead on to why we named the cats? So I explained but then said why we name things or people.

Which lead onto to him asking about who named him? I explained that it was a joint decision between Mummy and Daddy.

Well who named Ben, that one I answered was chosen by Grandma.

Well who named Grandma? I told him her mummy had done that.

Well where was her mummy? Can you now see where this conversation is going?

So I explained that her mummy, my grandma was dead.

Why? Well because she was really old and got sick. Well where was her daddy?

Same explaination given.

Well where are they?

So I explained about what happens when you die and that you get buried. I explained that my Grandma and Grandad were up in the sky with the stars and the moon watching down on us (I am really not 100% sure on exactly what I want them to believe, but I like this explanation and do believe in that theory, if you know what I mean)

Well that lead on to Steve's Dad, who is currently with us. Was he going to die? Yes I explained, he would one day.

Well why?

Well because he is getting old and that one day he may get really sick and then die.

So where is Daddy's mummy? She has died too, many years ago when she got really sick.

Was she old? Hum...no! So I explained that sometimes people get really really sick and sadly they die.

Then I got...Well will daddy be sad when his daddy dies? Yes I explained, when Grandad dies, daddy will be sad, we will all be sad, but we will look after each other and keep each other happy.

I can't actually remember now how the conversation ended, I was a little choked up having this conversation, but I obviously gave him the answers he was looking for.

Don't they have inquisitive minds at this age?

Resting

2009-12-16T15:09:00.000+13:00

The plan for the next 2 days was for the boys to go to their respective care places and for Steve and I to have some quiet time at home for him to recover from surgery.

With that in mind, Steve decided that he really wanted to stay on top of his pain, so decided to set the alarm for midnight last night to take more pills, he was then going to reset it for 6am to take the next lot. Seeing as today was going to be a quiet day then that was a good choice.

Unfortunately what we didn't count on was finding Alex crawling around the bed at 10.30pm with a rip roaring temp of 39.9! A quick dose of drugs and juice for him.

So midnight did come and go, and Steve took his pills whilst I leaned to the end of the bed and checked the temp (38.9) on the sleeping child on the mattress on the floor of our room! I decided that I really needed to be close to both of them, so we moved Alex into our room as well.

He fell asleep at midnight so we let him sleep and we woke at 5am. His temp (39.3) was back up again so we dosed him again and called Healthline for further advice (just to be on the safe side and to get some unemotionally attached advice) who adviced we were doing all the right things and just keep going.

We all woke again at 6am for Steve to take more drugs and then we all dosed until 8.30am, when I realised that Ben was downstairs watching tv and really needed to be given breakfast and taken to the Holiday Programme for the day.

So Steve's quiet day at home has changed into a Daddy and Alex quiet day at home watching movies.

Alex's temp has finally broken and is now sitting at about 37 to 37.4, which is satisfactory for me.

Steve is feeling fine and has no pain due to taking pills regularly, so a not too bad day after all.

Advent Swap Day 16

2009-12-16T14:06:00.002+13:00

On the 16th day of Christmas my Advent Swap gave to me....

A little stitch unpicker and a Cross Stitch Card Pattern to make up.
I needed something to do at the caravan over Christmas.

Balloons and Hands

2009-12-15T17:39:00.000+13:00

Steve is home from having his surgery.

All went well and a part from feeling a little spaced from the drugs this morning, he is doing well.

His hand is all bandaged up with a piece of plaster of paris running up the front to stop him bending it. he now needs to keep it up on a pillow or in a sling for a couple of days to assist with not having it swell too much.

He had a skin graft taken from his left hip, just below his underwear line, it is a lovely black and blue colour already from a haematoma but he says it is not painful, just looks nicely bruised!

He has a nice amount of pain relief to keep him nice and comfortable over the next couple of days. He has a Physio appointment on Friday and then sees the surgeon again on Tuesday. Busy time for him but also lots of time to relax and get better.

Ben's school has finished today for the summer holidays, so he is now off until Feb 2010! But we thought of this and he is off to Holiday Programme tomorrow and Thursday so he is not at home to bother Daddy, Alex will be at Daycare for the 2 days, give dad some peace and quiet.

The boys and I decided we wanted to do something for him, so while he was sleeping we blew up lots of balloons and hung them around the dining room.

They say "We Love You Get Well Soon"

It was cheaper than going to the Florists and buying a balloon that said the same thing, plus we had much more fun doing this.

Advent Swap Day 15

2009-12-15T15:00:00.002+13:00

On the 15th day of Christmas my Advent Swap gave to me...

Some little chocolate balls, yum yum

Surgery Time

2009-12-15T05:36:00.001+13:00

This is what Steve's left hand currently looks like

It is called Dupuytrens Contracture.

Dupuytren’s contracture is a condition in which tissue in the palm of the hand covering the finger tendons thickens and scars. This tissue becomes tight and shortened, contracting the fingers inwards toward the palm.

The development of Dupuytren’s contracture usually occurs quite slowly over many months, or even years, (in Steve's case it has been develpoing over the last 10 years) though in rare cases it can develop suddenly. It can affect any of the fingers, but it most commonly affects the little finger and ring finger.

Dupuytren’s contracture is a relatively common condition but its cause is not fully understood. In most cases it does not occur until after the age of 40 years (Steve has had this since his early 30's) and it is more common in men than it is in women.
Dupuytren’s contracture runs in families so it is thought that genetics can play a part in the development of the condition. ( No one in his family has this, although my Uncle has, so does that mean our boys are at a higher risk of getting it?) Other factors that increase the likelihood of developing Dupuytren’s contracture include:

Diabetes (as Steve has this then this will be the underliying cause for him)
Smoking
Alcoholism

Once the condition progresses to a point where the condition is limiting or disabling, surgery is usually recommended. Surgery involves removing the excess tissue in the palm and returning function to the fingers.

And this is the stage that we are at now with Steve. In fact today is the day of his surgery to get it fixed on his left hand.
It will involve surgery of just over an hour, where they will remove all the thickened tissue along the tendon on his hand and then his finger will straighten out. Unfortunately this will leave him with a big hole in his hand so they will take some skin from his hip and put a skin graft on to his hand.
So when he wakes up he will have a suture line on his hip and his left hand will be bandaged up with a back slab to stop him moving it!
He will have appointments with the physiotherapist each week to help him to gain use back in his finger.

He also has this disease in his other hand on the same finger, (he will need surgery on that in a couple of years time) his thumbs, his feet and in his groin.

In the picture below you can already see the thickening around the tendon on his little finger on his right hand, but his finger is still relatively straight for now!

However his feet do not bother him so much as he walks on them so this stops the tendon from contracting like his hands due to the weight from his body.

So we are in for a quiet Christmas with me recovering from my neck accident and him out of action with one hand. Don't think we will be getting much done over the holiday time apart from sitting around and enjoying what ever sunny weather we are lucky enough to get!