Pay It Forward

I visited Alanah's blog and found an idea on there that I quite liked. Its called Pay It Forward.

Here is what happens:

- I will make a handmade gift for the first 3 people who comment on this post.

- I have 365 days to do it in.

- What it will be and when it will arrive will be a total surprise.

The catch is that you must participate as well:

- You must have a blog

- And before you leave a comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going.

Now I must warn you that I am not that crafty, but I figure that I have 365 days and I can learn. It could be a fun challenge.

So, who is going to comment?

I am proud of myself...

I have been teaching myself to sew in the evenings while Gareth studies. And to explain my sewing ability, well lets just say that they only subject I failed in school was Needlework, its not a talent that I have. But today I finished my first project all by myself from start to finish.... and this is the result.....

Now we are trying to convince James that he needs to take the romper off. As you can see, there are some threads still hanging off of it, but he loves it. It is a bit wonky and lopsided in places, but I have learnt a lot. Next project is finishing off a Cape for James and then I am making him a Monster Protection Blanket because he has been scared of them a lot lately, and this fear seems to be growing.....

Activity, Activity, Activity

James and I have been trying to find activities to do this week, and have found some fun ones.

Today I signed James up at our local Leisure Centre. This allows him to do differant classes everyday, except Sunday, for £17.25 a month. So next week he is signed up to do the following classes:-
Adult & Under 4's Swim Session - Learn through play in the water in a session designed for you and your child to experience the pool enviroment with toys and a group fun activity time. Teachers in attendance for advice.
Spring 'n Jump - Jumping and bouncing activities using space hoppers, trampettes, inflatable bouncer and other gymnastics and fun equipment. An ideal introduction to trampolining.
Mini Movers - A mixture of inflatable bouncer, catch and throw games - great for hand-eye co-ordination.
Kidagility - Elementary gymnastics instruction, soft play and inflatable bouncer.
So, that should keep the energy levels at a managable level.........

This week we did the Spring 'n Jump class and the Kidigility classes and he loved both. His confidence increased in just one class. At the beginning of the first class, he was too scared to go on the balance beam, even if I held him all over, and he was to scared to go on the jumping castle. By the end of the first class, he was happy to walk the balance beam holding just one of my hands, and would go a little distance on the jumping castle. That was Tuesday, today he was happy to walk on the balance beam by himself and he ran all over the jumping castle.

Yesterday I asked James what he wanted to do, and his reply was to have a Birthday. So I agreed that we could have a Birthday party for George (his Monkey). We got some Banana Milk, Banana Shaped sweets and Banana's. Put on some party music that I had purchased earlier in the week (this CD and this CD), grabbed some friends and danced away. Here are some photos:

James sampling the foods and drink

Having fun with his friends


James dancing

James dancing with Minne Mouse

This afternoon we decided to make a chocolate cake. James helped me by putting all the ingredients in the bowl and helping me sift them. And then he held the electric mixer while I scrapped the sides of the bowl, to make sure that they mixed properly. Tonight he helped me decorate the cake with ready mixed icing.

The Cake

James waiting to eat some

(excuse the messy top - he had just finished dinner and that is some pasta sauce that was left over for later. And the messy hair. He is on all new ointments for his eczema (which is working really well), but they are really oily and there is emollient that we need to put in his bath. The doc said that we should only wash his hair once a week, eeek.)

Gloop

This morning James and I had some messy play and we played with some Cornflour Gloop. It was lots of fun and wonderful to see my little boy who does not like getting his hands dirty getting really messy and having the gloop run threw his fingers while he was giggling.

To make the gloop you need to mix 2 parts cornflour with 1 part water, and thats it. It goes runny and hard at the same time. Sometimes its smooth and sometimes its velvety. I did keep changing the quantity of the water and the cornflour so sometimes it was runny and sometimes it was harder.

If you do want to do this at home make sure you do it on a hard floor and not carpet. I cut open a black bag and put it on the floor then we sat on the black bag and played. James had a big plastic scoop and a second bowl. So, we were sticking our hands in the gloop and transfering the gloop to another container. For cleaning up purposes, it is easier if you let the gloop dry if it does splatter onto the floor as it will go hard and then when you scrape it, it will go powdery. You you try and clean it up while it is still wet it is likely to spread and leave marks.

Leaves, Clouds and Smiles

What is James pointing at?

Why, his Masterpiece of course!

Yes, he is very proud of himself for running off with the glue.......

And now its time for a rest.