Happy Tenth Birthday Sophie

Last Friday Sophie had a landmark birthday.............10 years old.  Where has the ttime gone, and I have been repeating that ever since.

Unfortunately hubby and Sophie have really bad colds at the moment (we did fear flu to start with) so it is quite quiet here and porr Sophie has not been up to looking at her gifts or playing very much.
Her poor little face is so white and she can not breath at all but she has been in good spirits.  She really is a very good natured young lady.   As I am typing this at 10.30pm she has just joined me at the kitchen table with one of ther drawing presents.  Trying to get to sleep is out of the question at the moment.

For the past few years I have been asked to make individual cupcakes which go on a stand but not this year.  I was perhaps a little disappointed and the above shop bought cake was asked for and I decorated it.  Sophie pointed put that due to all of the reports etc that ihave to do she did not want me to worry about baking.   Ahhhhh!  She was very insistant so I caved in.  Very thoughtful of her but I really could have made those cupcakes!!

Ohh Blogger is playing around with my pictures, anyway...Hubby and I bought a few small items as her main present is a trip to the Pantomime next month with two friends which she asked for nearly a year ago.  The dark evenings meant that her three friends who popped round only went outside for a bit but them came indoors and played in the living room with nice games such a mouse trap, scrabble and other games.  Not once did they ask for a DVD or the television.  The cat got a lot of fuss made of him and I think he got a fed a several times so he thought it was his birthday as well!!

 

For tea we cleaned down the kitchen table and each child made their own homemade pizza, which went down very well especially covering the table with flour and not getting told off.

 

Good old jelly for afters and a small gift bag and a slice of cake to take home.  They were a lovely little group and I think Kieran was great to come on his own but then I was told by Mum that he has three sisters at home.

Sophie is getting too grown up for parties at home but this little after school tea party went well and all three guests did not want to go home.  Proof that a lot of money does not have to spent to have fun.

My reports are done, that is literally all I have been doing since 5th November and I have so much more to show you.  My next obstacle is a lesson observation on 10th December!  So I shall start the paperwork for that at the weekend.

I did reward myself with tonight off and I have been creating a sample for my evening class.  Just a few more bits to do them I will hand it in tomorrow. 

Sorry not to have given yo a peek inside my sketchbook, but now the reports are done I hope I will a bit more blogging time and hopefully a few more early nights.

Take care all

xx

Birthday Fun

Due to Sophie's birthday being in the middle of the week this year we decided to have friends party today.

The food was discussed and purchased, games thought of and the house decorated (including some bunting on the outside of the house!!)

Our first job was to create a little work of art using felt tip pens.  Could have used the paint which came with the little pictures, but I did not want any accidents with clothes, floor etc.

These a little canvases which I found in The Range.  Sophie has used these on several occasions and she thought that here friends would also enjoy colouring them.

Sorry about the picture, but blogger again has other ideas.  Fun pictures though.

We also tried a pinatas ( I think that is spelt right) took a time to open and due to not instructions and thinking there was something inside already, it fell apart and we discovered that it was full of paper!!  We have never bought one of these before and we did shake it and as it was so heavy we thought some sweets were already in there.  So a "Doh" moment for mummy and daddy and we felt awful about it.  In the scheme of things recently perhaps we should not worry about it but it was our mistake and we felt awful.  So a bag of maltesers was produced and we tried to save the moment.  Sophie did say about trying it again another time.  Our new take on pass the parcel by having a lucky dip proved to be ok by having a large bin bag filled with 6 presents and 6 "duds" and each person took it in turns to dip until everyone found something.  One person pulled out two and tried to keep two but there you go.  Basically said put one back.................

Moving on swiftly.................

As in previous years Sophie asked for cupcakes and I tried to make them look a little different to last year.  So plain cupcakes with vanilla or chocolate butter icing.  Decorated with a few maltesers and rive paper flowers.  All from good old ASDA.

The rice paper flowers are lovely and are not too thick, melt a little on the tongue.  I just popped them on top of the butter icing.

Cupcake anyone?

Each girl was to go home with a cupcake, but the next questions was how to do this easily.

So................

.............back to ASDA which is where I found these individual cupcake boxes in the party section.  They come flat packed and has a separate inner base with a hole to slot in your cupcake so that it does not move around. 

All safe and secure.

There is even a little window so that you can see that cupcake loveliness!

Well.......all over for another year and it will be double figures nest time.  So maybe a different approach which  involves taking a couple of friends to the panto.

I have an idea to get some more of these and make some Christmas themed cupcakes for colleagues at work this year.  Will be a little different I hope.

xx

Happy Birthday my Lovely Sophie

I can not believe that it was 9 years ago that the two of us became three.  12.07pm at 8lb 4oz at Treliske Hospital in Truro.  Due to not knowing what was going to happen these coming months with my Dad we had not formally booked anything for Sophie so we decided to have a tea with my in-laws and family presents.

Sophie again requested cupcakes which I made last night and then rushed home to pipe after work.  They have sugar flowers and then little white chocolate stars.

Sophie chose the flower shaped candles and whilst on holiday in the Lewes area we found a number 9 sparkler which yo can see in the picture.

Sophie went swimming first and gained her 200m badge and a very large certificate which was great on her birthday. 

Due to signing up for a craft fayre many months ago for Saturday,  Sophie is going to have a little party for her friends at our house on Sunday for a few hours.  So I have some activities and bits and bobs for them to do.

I just hope that the weather holds up.

Take care

xx 



Sophie's 8th Birthday

Goodness me!

8 years old, my where has the time gone. When you become a Mum everyone says that children grow up and to be honest when you are wadding through piles of washing, changing nappies, dealing with the night feeds and feeling like an alien due to lack of sleep (or none at all sometimes) you can be forgiven for thinking "ya right" pass me that burp cloth please.

Well, they were right. To see Sophie put on her party outfit today, grey leggings with a black and sparkly Hello Kitty top, just how much she has grown up and that time is moving on and the most must be made of each day.

Her birthday was on Tuesday and I made cupcakes with pink and white spotty cases which are a thicker paper than normal and they worked well. I treated myself to some decent piping nozzles.

They worked like a dream. I first learnt how to use a piping bag and nozzles at school when there was a Christmas cake competition and I came second! I have always enjoyed the challenge of creating eye catching cakes and buns. May have missed a calling there, never mind. Grandma and Grandad came round for dinner and then we finished off with low noise, low level fireworks in the garden. Sophie likes fireworks but not the noise that goes with them.

Then on Friday evening the baking waggon rolled again as Sophie and I made more cupcakes for her party today.

Sophie and I had a great time making and decorating them. The look on her face of sheer delight in making them knowing that her friends would be eating them. She said that it was so much fun. I really hope these little fun times last for as long as possible. Sophie loves cooking and making things and I have a feeling that this will make up a part of her life.

They were arranged on my cupcake stand and some candles added. A number 8 was put on the top and as it stands with all of the candles that we have now I am ready for the 12th - 18th birthdays.

They had a great day at Dairyland near Newquay in the bull Pen which has plastic balls, massive slides etc. Sophie and 8 friends were running around so much they all had bright pink faces!!

Fun was had by all and Sophie said that she had had a brilliant day!

She is now all tucked up in bed looking forward to tomorrow when she can start to use her new pens and pencils which she was given today.

Sweet dreams

x

My Little Sophie is 7 today!!!!!!!!!!

pic from google images

I can not believe that my little Sophie has just turned 7 today. She has just had three friends round for dinner and games and is now fast asleep. Tired, but happy. 7 years old, but I glimpsed today the fast growing young lady that she is becoming. My Mum warned me that she would grow up quickly and that I would wonder where the time had gone and she is right.

It is hard to believe that 7 years ago hubby had quickly popped to see his radio controlled car club to make sure all was ok then come home, I was settling down to an episode of "Friends". Then all of the sudden it was a dash to the bathroom (for some reason I remembered to take my mobile phone ??!!) and from there I rang hubby to find out where he was. Thankfully nearly home again. From the bathroom I rang the hospital who once they looked up my records ordered me in straight away.

There followed a steady drive to Treliske Hospital, strapped to a monitor, drips etc then a wonderful TENS machine from Boots, then brilliant Gas and Air, 15hours of labour, the words "distessed" and "C-section mentioned. I left the epidural until the very last minute because I decided that I did not have to be a heroine that day. The rest they say is.....

During the nine months leading up to this I did keep quite a detailed photo/scrapbook with scan pics, (I had quite a few of these due to complications which could have resulted in me, Sophie or both of us not making it) cards, pics of gifts etc and Sophie loves looking through this book and each time she asks new questions. She is fascinated by the pictures of herself as a newborn and the change she sees in herself as she gets older. I would say that it is one of my favourite books of all time, along with the wedding album of course!!

So another birthday has passed, it only seems like yesterday that she started school and she is now in Year 2 already. I would like to slow the clock down a bit but you can't, so I think that making the most of the time while Sophie is still "my little Sophie" is the key.

Sorry no pics due to dashing back from work etc but there may be some follow up pics as she got one or two making toys.

I think it is now time for my beauty sleep too.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHIE

xx

Happy Birthday to you....Sophie...

Sophie simply could not get to sleep the night before her birthday and she knew that Dad and I were decorating the living room, wrapping presents and tidying up a little which may not have helped. Eventually she did fall asleep and I found it hard to believe that the next day my baby would be 6 years old!

Sophie did very well and did not come into our room until 7.50am, she actually asked if she could open a present which I thought was cute. i said which one and she said, 'The really big one from Grandma and Grandad. She was told yes and shot up to the attic conversion then we smiled as little footstep were heard coming down again and kept going down again to the living room as we had moved them down there the night before! How on earth she managed to struggle upstairs with it I shall never know, but where there is a Will there is a way...

The look on her face when she took the paper off was lovely, if only it could be bottled and kept......

This is what was in the BIG box and Sophie was thrilled! Her name is Rosy and she is 63cm high. She has hair that can be brushed and plaited etc and Sophie's first remark was 'we can make some clothes for her Mummy!' I was very pleased with this because that was one of the reasons why she was looked for.

She takes clothes for a baby of 9-12 months so I shall see what baby clothes of Sophie's that I may still have.

As you can see at the top of the post my new Cupcake stand worked well and I was pleased with how it turned out. I used an icing bag and a small fluted nozzle. I then found some ready make butter icing which I do not think is as sweet and therefore not sickly. Sophie and I had lots of fun decorating them in before her friends arrived and she was pleased at having such a different 'cake'.

There were more people coming after the party so I made up a second batch....

The party games started with Pinning the tail on the donkey and a prize was given. By this time the final guest had arrived. Dad was put in charge of music and pass the parcel started. Each girl got a tiny white T-shirt. But who could wear something so small? The girls then coloured in a pre-printed design on the t-shirt with fabric pens and I ironed them to fix it.

Next, using my laundry basket and Sophie's plastic balls we had a lucky dip to find little purple fabric stars.
Each girl then had to come and collect a bag with the following in ...

In each bag was a vacuum pack of stuffing and a teddy body which the girls had to stuff, the back was zipped up then the star was given a wish and this went in the back so that the Velcro strip could seal it in. We had stuffing EVERYWHERE! and some help was needed but the girls really enjoyed their new furry friends.

Then it was clear who was going to wear the t-shirt!.....

Once all of the bears were fully finished everyone sat on a fleece rug in the centre of the living room to have a teddybears picnic birthday lunch. This was then followed by request for musical statues, some of these little girls are very good at this game, more prizes for the winners and then it was home time. One of the girls who did not want Mum to go was saying that she is not want to go home because it was 'the best party ever!' and Sophie was very tired but said it was her best day and 10/10.

Well you can not get better than that.

It was a fully packed 2 hours that flew by but everyone had a great time!

The bears came from http://www.bemybear.co.uk/. I did not want to waste money on party bag rubbish and I have always done things that they can keep, wear, make or use. They were reasonably priced, lots of things to choose from and arrived very quickly.

All over for another year, 12 months to try and come up with another idea just as good but different. However, first of all I am going to think about the next birthday which happens to be mine.

Take care

XX