Tuesday and Wednesday I was in hospital having my IVIG treatment. It should have been five days but it’s been reduced to two as I’ll be having treatment again in four weeks instead of twelve. I was happy because the kids are off school this week and I didn’t want to be spending most of my time away from them.

So, Dad took them out for lunch on Tuesday and on Wednesday he took them to see their Nan. I think they had a good time without me, although they did manage to spend a fair bit of money. Not only on the food but on Wednesday they went to a shop near Nanny’s house and bought a load of new books and pens.

On Wednesday I’d still not managed to sort out the shopping so we ended up having take out for dinner, the kids had pizza and grown ups a Chinese meal. No complaints except from my bank account.

Then on Thursday we got to the supermarket, but had decided to go somewhere different where we couldn’t find half the stuff we usually buy and ended up buying a lot of stuff we wouldn’t normally buy. We went to another supermarket nearby but still couldn’t complete our shopping so we’ll have to shop again tomorrow…sigh, at least it will be only for the weekend.

I’ve also bought some new blinds for the kitchen. I’ve been meaning to do so for a while but decided to do it this week, then the following day the blind in the bathroom broke so I had to buy another one! If the bathroom blind had broken first I may have left the kitchen one for another time.

Last week I managed to crochet a teddy bear which was claimed by Boo who loved it. Then she asked me to make her another toy, a mouse this time so I bought the wool for that. Then Star said she’d like a fox so I ordered some more wool. Then today the Little Man asked me if I’d make him a cat! How can I say no? At least they are made with baby wool which is easy to get fairly cheap. I can make them lots of interchangeable clothing from my leftover bits of wool. I’m going to have to buy a new cupboard to store my wool stash in at this rate!

Next week is not going to be any cheaper for me either. We have to go into town for a hospital visit for Star and have decided to have lunch and do some shopping while we are there. We’ve not been into town for a long time. Also, we didn’t manage to have our day out Easter Egg hunting, so a fun day out is on the cards. Only we can’t decide where to go just yet. Graham wanted to go to the zoo, while I thought the Science Museum would be better. He said the zoo would be cheaper but when I looked up the prices it was nearly £10 cheaper to visit the Science Museum. When did the zoo get to be so expensive? Graham would argue that you shouldn’t need to pay to go into a museum!

 

The Reading Residence

 

Crochet

I’ve been having trouble finding a single word that has summed up my weeks lately. This week I saw my consultant at the hospital, the kids have broken up from school and I’ve been shopping for Easter.

But in my down time I’ve been crocheting. I have several things on the go at the moment. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, being fairly new to the craft. Apparently the pieces that are unfinished are called wips. I have plenty of them.

I’m working on a baby blanket which is almost finished but I just haven’t got around to doing it. I am also working on a bigger blanket which is part of a CAL, or Crochet Along. Each month we have a little more of the  blanket to complete. It will take a year in total. That seems long for someone as impatient as me, but at least I won’t get bored of it. I’ll just look forward to the little part each month and get on with the rest of the wips inbetween.

I have just finished a bear called Nancy. I didn’t use the required wool as I she was just a practice bear so I used what I had to hand. I think she turned out okay. I also made a dress, a jacket and some wellies for her. Then suddenly Boo took a real shine to her and has not been able to put her down. This morning I even found her asleep on the settee snuggled up with Nancy under my crocheted blanket. (One that I did manage to finish.)

She asked me to make her a head band, so I did. It only took me about twenty minutes and Boo was delighted with it. Next she wants me to make Nancy a little friend, perhaps a mouse in a ballet costume. I need to replenish my wool collection first but I’m quite excited.

Crochet takes my mind of things and helps me to relax. It’s also something I find quite easy to do with my left hand not working properly. I would love to be good enough to make myself a lovely jumper or cardigan. It’s a pity the wool is so expensive but I’d be prepared to pay a little more to have a piece of clothing that I’d made myself.

Do you crochet, have you ever made something you could wear?

 

The Reading Residence

 

This week has been focused around School.

black board with the word school written in chalk

Star has been having assessments, they seem to have them every term at her school and often there are classroom changes afterwards depending on the results. They could move to a higher class or down to a lower one. Star was incredibly nervous at the beginning of the week but as the week has gone on she has become more confident and feels happy with her progress. I’m happy because it boosts her confidence. I love it when she’s happy and getting on at school, I think the classroom change last term has helped a lot.

Boo is still working towards her SATS which is inciting so much anger in me. I really wish they’d just abolish the SATS, it’s way too much pressure on such young children. She is in year six so her results will determine where she starts in Secondary School but as I’ve just mentioned, they are assessed every term  in Secondary School anyway! So, I’ll try not to get on my soapbox and start ranting here, I think SATS are purely to show how well the school is doing rather than the pupils. Hothousing the poor kids and making them think they have to work ten times harder to get good results really makes my blood boil. It’s not a true assessment of teaching or how well the children are doing.

Deep Breathe, put the soap box away now!

The Little Man has been having so much trouble at school. Every  day he’s in trouble for one thing or another and it’s been going on for a while. He’s been bullied in the playground which we talked to the school about and they promised to sort it. But his behaviour has become a serious issue and after talking to his teacher again they’ve suggested we get him some professional help. So I’ve made him an appointment with the GP to get a referral for a child psychologist. My poor Little Man, he’s as good as gold at home. I really can’t understand why he misbehaves so much at school.

How has your week been?

The Reading Residence

 

busy

Now, I know my idea of busy is probably far fetched from a lot of other’s idea of busy, but I think this word suits my week.

We had a day out at Bletchley Park, which I’ll post about soon, and it was really busy and fun day. It was a fairly long drive, around 70 miles , so it’s a good job hubby enjoys driving. Luckily we found it straight away without getting lost which is a bonus.

We have had fun with some half term activities like painting, crafting and making slime (Which didn’t work again!)

I have sorted the girl’s clothes and removed everything that no longer fits. There is only two years between my girls but Star is in clothing two years above her age and Boo is in the right size for her age. It’s a shame but there are very few hand me downs, I’m not storing clothes for four years!

I have deep cleaned my kitchen. I spent over and hour and a half cleaning all the places that usually make do with a quick wipe. It was hard work but very satisfying.

I have done so much washing this week it’s unbelievable, I thought that with the kids off school there would be less, but it just keeps piling up!

We managed a trip to Hobby Craft where I bought some more supplies (lots of wool and patterns!)

I have even done a fair bit of crochet. I made hubby a new hat, which I may have done a little too big for a beanie so I’ll be keeping it as a slouch beanie, haha, well I have learnt a lesson! I’ve also discovered bliss is listening to a good book on Audible while crocheting, it’s my new favourite thing to do.

I’m planning a busy weekend too… okay, maybe a trip out for lunch and a big pile of ironing!

How’s your week been?

 

The Reading Residence

 

 

On Monday, Star was sent home from school. She didn’t go in on Tuesday and just lay on the sofa all day. Then on Wednesday she had a hospital appointment that she really couldn’t miss.

So Wednesday morning.we set off to the hospital only to find her consultant was running late. We had to wait two hours! The time passed fairly quickly though and Star was great at waiting, in fact she was more patient than her Dad. Then we had a good chat with her consultant. While in his room we saw some post op x-rays that we hadn’t seen before, so hubby grabbed a quick pic. It’s hard to believe that it all started when she was only seven years old. My little girl has been through so much and yet still carries on smiling. Her consultant was a little surprised at how much she had grown in the last year. I think she’s surprising all of us, she’ll be taller than me soon and she’s only twelve.

Star’s x-ray, this is how her spine is connected to her skull!

Thursday she was back at school. She’s been having some problems with some of the kids at school teasing her and getting very upset. The school have been great about it and have told her that there are loads of things they can do to help. The first step has been to move her to a different form class, one that is quieter. So, on Thursday she went into this new class and came home really happy. I’m hoping that things work out for her. We sometimes feel so close to thinking that she’s not going to make it through mainstream school. I so hope she does but when things get bad I can see it all falling apart. But my girl keep soldiering on. That’s why she’s my Star!

The Reading Residence