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Raisie Bay

World Book Day

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This year Boo decided she wanted to be the Gruffalo’s Child. It’s her favourite book at the moment and at Christmas time we went to see the play which she loved. I tried to figure out a way to make her a costume and became worried that it was above me and my limited skills and creativity. Then, I saw a competition to win a Gruffalo costume and entered, the very next day I heard that I’d won. Problem solved on one very happy Boo. Now because it was a Gruffalo costume and she wanted to be the Gruffalo’s Child I figured that what she needed was a stick man and we’d be sorted. I found the sticks I needed and tied them together, then painted on the eyes and mouth.

Star decided that she wanted to be Dorothy as we recently reviewed a really lovely book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It is the original story with some gorgeous illustrations and Star fell in love with it. I was thinking that a Dorothy costume would be fairly simple to make seeing as their school summer dresses are blue gingham and I had one I could adjust. However, because Boo had a lovely professional looking costume I thought it only fair that Star should have one too, so I bought her one from Ebay. The ruby slippers were more of a problem though and when I couldn’t find any I decided to  a pair of old shoes with glitter and sequins.

So although I didn’t make the costumes I did create a little something for each of them.

And here they are. the Little Man didn’t have to dress up but wanted to be in the picture so he popped on a pair of princess dressing up shoes. Boo is showing off her stick man but you can’t see it clearly. Star is holding a cuddly Toto which came in a basket but she didn’t like it.

Ruby Slippers

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I’ll be the first to admit I’m not a very good at crafts so today I’d just like to share this little project as I’m feeling quite proud of myself.

On Thursday it’s world Book Day and the girls have been asked to dress up as characters from their favourite book. Well Boo was set on being the Gruffalo’s child and I was incredibly lucky to win a fantastic costume from Boo, Roo and Tigger Too. All I have to do is make her a Mr Stick and she’s ready to go. Star decided she’d like to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, we recently reviewed a gorgeous new book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Star has fallen in love with this old story. So I managed to get her a Dorothy dress and a little basket carrying Toto. All we needed was the Ruby slippers. I spent an entire evening searching the internet for them with no luck. The ones I did find would have taken too long to get here or were way too expensive. So I decided to spruce up a pair of party shoes.

I bought some glue, glitter and red sequins and got to work.
Here is my work in progress;

I’m thinking they won’t look so sparkly at the end of the day when most of the glitter and sequins have come off!

Mother’s Day Gift – I-pic Review and competition

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I was given the opportunity to choose and design my own photo frame from I-pic and also can  give one lucky person the same by entering my latest competition.

I-Pics are tough magnetic frames that you can personalise with your own images and messages.
It’s really easy to make your own frame and can be done in three easy steps. First you choose a design. There are lots to choose from and they are all put into categories so you can find what you want easily. I did spend a long time browsing through all the designs and found making my choice really difficult. I’d decided to make a frame for myself as a Mother’s Day gift from my three little ones. It helps to have a theme in mind when choosing. You can also choose from Birthdays, Weddings, Anniversaries and lots of many other events. Or you can choose from themes such as animals, family, love, astrology and many more. If you wish you can even design your own frame from scratch using an image which you upload to the site.
The second step is adding  your photo. You upload it, see what it looks like in the frame and edit it if you need to. It’s all very simple to do.
The third step is to add your own personalised message. This is printed directly onto the frame.

The frames are different from regular frames because the photo is encapsulated securely so you don’t have to worry about it ever getting damaged. The frames are magnetic so you can stick them on your fridge if you wish, or they come with a removable stand for display.

I thought the site was easy to use and it was good to have such a huge choice of designs to choose from. Once my choice was made I found uploading and editing my photo quick and easy and it was good to see an all around image of what the finished frame would look like. I love that the design is both on the front and the back. Then came the message, again very simple to add and something to make the frame truly unique.

I put my order in on a Saturday evening and it arrived on Tuesday Morning. That was really quick, it arrived in two working days. I loved it as soon as I saw it, it was sturdy, colourful and unique. Everyone who has been to my house since it arrived have commented on it.

Now for the photo’s;

Now for your chance to win a personalised i-pic just fill in the widget below.

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Facing the Truth

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I wrote a post a while ago about Star’s Invisible Disibility. She has been diagnosed with high functioning autism and at seven years old it’s mostly invisible. Her teachers at school know but I don’t really tell others, like the parents of the other children. I know children can be cruel particularly to other children who are a little bit different. I thought we were getting away with it but sadly it’s already begun. Star is an amazing child, she’s polite and well behaved (mostly) and never says a bad word to anyone. She generally doesn’t bother about having many friends, she has her ‘special’ friend at school and sometimes joins in with the others, but mostly keeps herself to herself. When others try to interact will find that she’s very single minded. Currently her ‘thing’ is Pokemon and everything revolves around them. She will not join in any games unless they are Pokemon related. She talks constantly about Pokemon, she pretends to be Pokemon. She watches Pokemon on tv, plays Pokemon games on her DS and lately her older brother has been teaching her how to play the Pokemon Trading Card game. To say she is obsessed is an understatement.
Then yesterday I was having a conversation with a dinner lady at the school who is particularly fond of Star. She pointed out that she is mostly on her own and she sometimes sits and talks to her. She also told me that the other children make fun of her but it doesn’t seem to bother her, she takes no notice. Although there have been one or two times when her special friend hadn’t been around and Star had got upset. I told her that Star had autism and waited for her to be shocked but instead she replied that she ‘thought so’ and I was the shocked one. I don’t really know why I should be shocked, my child has autism, it’s bound to show sometimes, especially to people who see her almost every day, but just to hear someone say they already knew even though they hadn’t been told was a big blow.
I really believed I had another year or two of getting away with it, but it looks like I’ll have to start preparing myself and Star right now. I will not tolerate her being bullied so will be keeping a check on the school. I know Star won’t tell me anything but there are others who can. I hope I can keep her in mainstream, her elder brother (Also on the spectrum) lasted until he was twelve. Hopefully if I can be prepared we can face the future with optimism rather than fear.
I’ll have to watch out for Boo too as I know from experience that siblings also suffer. I don’t have a plan of action yet, but I will do and I will make sure I do everything in my power to make sure all my children have happy and safe lives.

In the meantime I will count my blessings that my little girl is bright and clever and has very minor physical disabilities and mostly good health. I know I’m very lucky to have her.

The Mummyfesto by Linda Green – review

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I’ve never been a big fan of politics but lately my interest has grown, particularly as a mother. Often the government lets families down and it seems like the whole political world is money focused rather than life focused. The Mummyfesto takes this into consideration as it follows three mother’s on their journey to try and change the world of politics.
From great ideas like funding for children’s hospices  dementia care plans and anti-bullying measures to the ridiculous ideas like privatising the Royal Family and replacing the House of Lords with Mumsnet, the mummfesto starts off it’s life in the kitchen of one of the mothers who ironically lives at number ten!
The three main characters, Sam, Anna and Jackie, each have their own family issues, Sam has a seriously ill child, Jackie a mother with Alzheimers and Anna troubled teenagers. Other issues include unexplained infertility and a loveless marriage. They start out with a campaign to save their local lollipop lady and end up standing in a general election, facing many life changing challenges along the way.
There is something to appeal to all in this book, laughter and sadness, friendship and failed relationships, love and duty. While at the same time making the reader think hard about the changes they would like to see in the way the country is run. The reader is actively encouraged to put forward their own suggestions for a mummyfesto by visiting the site www.mummyfesto.co.uk or by tweeting @QuercusBooks or @lindagreenisms using the hashtag #mummyfest

Linking this post to Catch a Single thought Book week linky;

WORLDBOOKDAY