Raisie Bay

I’ll Never Dance La Macarena Again

On Saturday evening we went to a family party. It was a  proper party, you know the type where a hall is hired and decorated, there is a dance floor and a DJ, a fabulous buffet and a couple of the new additions, a sweet store and photo booth.
The hall was full with party goers and everyone was set to have a good time.

The kids had great fun chasing the disco lights around the room before the adults had plucked up the dutch courage to fill the dance floor. They also loved the photo booth and took up so much time in there we had to drag them out to let others have a go. They enjoyed dancing along to their favourite tunes and playing with new friends that they made. I used to love parties like this when I was their age and it looks like they love them too. They didn’t want to go home, even at 11.30pm!

young children chasing the disco lights across the dance floor
chasing disco lights

I was happy to sit in my chair and watch the fun. Having hubby top up the drinks and wait in the queue to fetch me food. I’d been chatting online with someone earlier about how I’d never been much of a dancer, well, not after my teenage years had passed anyway. I would dread that moment when a friend or family member would grab me up to dance. I admit, I have no rhythm, no style, I never knew where to put my feet or my arms and always felt totally clumsy and a little bit ridiculous. Not any more though. Now I can’t dance for real. There is no wiggle, no co-ordination, no balance, nothing. So it’s a good thing isn’t it? Something to be thankful for. Who’s going to drag me on the floor in my wheelchair?

I have a confession to make though. I used to love party dances, oh yes, I knew them all, ‘La Macarena,’ Whigfield’s ‘Saturday Night,’ ‘Oops Upside Your Head,’ even the ‘Cha Cha Slide.’ You don’t have to worry about where to put your hands and feet so long as you already know the routine. You may look as daft as hell, but at least everyone else dancing looks just as daft, it’s all uniform, everyone is doing the same or at least trying too. That’s the only time I felt comfortable dancing. There is one I’ve not tried yet, Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) and my girls were on the dance floor leading the way.

my two girls dancing to Watch Me Whip, Watch me Nae nae
Watch Me!

Suddenly, I felt a pang.

I’ll never whip or nae nae, or hop and slide, or even Macarena ever again. I felt sad.

But only for a while.

I’ve had my time, years and years of parties like this, years of dancing whether I wanted to or not. I’m lucky, I’ve had fun, I’ve got drunk until I’ve fallen over, I’ve danced on tables, I spent the next day in bed swearing never ever again! (some things you don’t miss eh!)

Now I can watch my little ones having fun and get my enjoyment from them.

There is no need to focus on the can’t dos. Life is more than the things you can or cannot do.  I have to let go of the past, accept life the way it is now and have faith that life will still be good.

Dad and the two girls giving me the thumbs up sign
It’s going to be Okay!

I’m on a mission to get 1000 followers on my Facebook Page, would you join me there and make my day?

School Runs and Shopping Trolleys

Debs Random Writings

Reflections From Me

Lucy At Home

My Daughter’s 10th Birthday Dog Making Party – updated

Earlier this year we reviewed some cuddly toy making kids from Splodge Teddy Parties. The girls really loved them so I decided I would buy a pack for Boo’s Birthday party.

I let her choose which ones she wanted, she could have had unicorns, dragons, zoo animals, there is so much choice. Eventually she settled on Dogs. I decided to get the 8inch ones because that was the size we reviewed and they were perfect.

The box arrived with all the unstuffed dogs. Just before the party we put each dog in a bag along with the stuffing and a birth certificate. I kept back the little hearts to give to them at the right time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When all the children had arrived at the party I gave them all a bag and they were thrilled with their dogs. We settled down to stuff the dogs, the girls found them easy, it was just the Little Man and his friend that needed a little help. When they were almost stuffed I gave them all a heart to kiss and wish on before placing inside their dogs. The animals are so easy to fasten, there is no sewing involved. the stuffing goes into an internal bag and that is closed with a pull tag. Then you close up the dog by the velcro strips. The stuffing won’t come out if the velcro is undone, it is safe inside the bag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the girls had stuffed their dogs they chose names for their dogs and then filled in the birth certificates. Then they coloured in their bags, we turned this into a competition with the best coloured bag winning a prize, which was also dog related.

Party Food

It was then time for the party food, we had cheese and ham baps, pizza slices, sausage rolls, crisps, party rings and chocolate fingers. There were also some little cupcakes that my girls had baked and decorated.

When the food was devoured, the girls had one final task. They each had a plain iced cupcake which they had to write on their dogs name with writing icing and then decorate and add a little candle.

Just before the end of the party we presented Boo with her birthday cake, a big chocolate dog, and sang happy birthday to her before she blew out her candles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a lovely day and I think Boo was really happy with how it all went. The dogs were a big success and each child was able to take home their toy in their bags.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just can’t believe that my little girl is ten years old already!!

I bought the dogs myself from Splodge Teddy Parties. I’ve not been asked to mention them in this blog post but I’m doing so because I think they are great!

 

My Sunday Photo – 21st August 2016

No the best quality of photo this week, but that’s what you get when you are at a party with just your  phone camera! Here are my three all sweaty and exhausted after a session on the dance floor!

The original plan was that my Other Half would take the kids to the party, which was his friends engagement party, and I was staying at home with some friends coming over to keep me company. It turned out that my friends had their dates mixed up (one thought it was Friday the other Saturday and neither could make the other day) so we have postponed our night in for a couple of weeks.
This meant that I was free to go to the party and the Other Half really wanted me to go. I haven’t been out in the evening like this since we were on holiday in June and that  was  a disaster. There was no room for my wheelchair, I couldn’t move anywhere and panic set in. We even ended up arguing because we were both stressed.
I really didn’t want to go but I have to go on living my life despite what’s happened to me. So I found some bravery from somewhere and off we went with OH promising that we wouldn’t stay very long.
We had a really good night. The kids were on the dance floor from the very beginning and I found space where I felt comfortable. We ended up staying almost to the end. (There was even a disabled toilet in the cubicles, which meant I could tell Boo to go back to dancing as I’d taken her with me to help just in case.)
I’m so glad I was brave enough to go in the end, everyone had a real good night. The only bad part was the venue was upstairs so it took us a while to get in and I suffered a bit quite a lot afterwards because of the stairs. But it was worth it and I’ve gained an extra confidence point which is always a good thing. 

You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, I’d love to connect with you there.

Photalife

Boo’s 9th Birthday

My Word of the Week this week is Birthday!

I can’t believe my little Boo is nine years old already.
I wanted to do a little post to celebrate her birthday but I also wanted to  tell you all about her party, so I’ll mix them together.

Let’s start with a baby photo 🙂

She was an adorable baby, so  easy to care for. Her birth was pretty quick but she was a meconium baby so she wasn’t breathing when born..she recovered mighty quick though 🙂 
At 2 yrs old she had a febrile convulsion and ended up in hospital. At 3 years old we were back at the hospital with pneumonia. She has had chicken pox with no complications, but otherwise has been quite well and healthy.
She is a little artist, always drawing pictures. Her favourite thing is a book and a pen, I think she takes after me there. It was no surprise when she asked for an arts and crafts party for her birthday.
Her party was last Saturday and the weather was lovely. We decided to have the activities inside though because I have difficulty walking in the garden. 
In the kitchen we used a work top as a biscuit station. I made the biscuits myself and they were just vanilla cookies. I used a large round cookie cutter.
I then set up cake cases full of different kinds of sprinkles and bought some packs of writing icing. Then I let the kids decorate their biscuits. When the icing had dried I put them into little food bags for them to take home. 

Our next activity was to make fridge magnets out of Shrinkies. These are sheets of  thick paper that can be drawn on and coloured in. I did some drawings for the children to trace if they were not confident of drawing themselves. Then we cut around the drawing and put the paper in a warm oven for a few moments. The Shrinkies then come out half the original size and feel like hard plastic. I put some self adhesive magnetic tape on each one to be used as fridge magnets.
Our final activity was box decorating. I bought some plain boxes to be used as trinket/sweet boxes. Then I set out a table full of patterned paper pieces, buttons, string, beads, pens and glue and let the kids decorate their boxes. Then when they had finished I filled each box with sweets for them to take home.

The activities took about an hour to complete and the kids really enjoyed each one. When we were done it was time for food and then they played in the garden until it was time to go home. I had planned a further activity, they were going to decorate their own party bags, I’d ordered some white paper bags with handles but they didn’t arrive before the party. I bought some bags from the local shop and filled them with their boxes, fridge magnets, cookies, a lollipop and a novelty pen. I think everyone had a fun time and Boo was really happy.

Here is a little video of Boo’s Birthday Party.

The Reading Residence

My Sunday Photo – 23July2016

What could  be nicer than a bunch of children having fun in the garden in the sun…mmm, let me think, a nice cocktail on the deck of cruise ship maybe?

Yesterday it was Boo’s birthday party, it’s not her birthday until next Wednesday but experience has shown me that if you have a child with a birthday in the school holidays then it needs to be as soon as possible after they break up!

She chose a craft party and we made some lovely things, decorated biscuits, trinket/sweetie boxes and shrinkie fridge magnets. There was also lots of colouring, gluing and sticking going on. Then after the party feast they were let loose into the back garden for some imaginative play. They all had lots of fun.

Next up is the Little Man’s birthday party in just two weeks time, followed by Star’s birthday (no party) two weeks after that…Summer is birthday time!

Fancy a slice of cake?

Photalife

A little Note About Positive Reviews on Raisie Bay

A little Note About Positive Reviews on Raisie Bay

Some people only write reviews when things go wrong with products, which is good because it lets people know that there could be potential problems. I’ve also seen negative feedback with say things like, I had to return this item because the colour did not suit me…is this useful?

I write reviews on most items I buy because I like to give genuine feedback. If I have a genuine problem with a product I will write my review in the appropriate place.

I write reviews on my blog too, but they are mostly positive. Why? Because I only write reviews for the things I’ve loved. If I don’t love them I let the person who sent me them know with details why and then let them decided if they would rather me write a negative review or not write one at all. It’s always the latter.

This is my blog, my place and I’ll let you know about the things I love. If you want to find out what other people have hated about the product then you will need to look elsewhere.

My reviews may all be positive, but they are still genuine.

Where to next?