5th Birthday Super Mario Stylee!

 

I lie in a heap on the sofa as I type; exhausted by the last 2 days of birthday activities and a week or so of planning & prepping!!! My delicious Finn is now 5!

We celebrated yesterday with a family trip to see In The Night Garden Live at the Trafford Centre – mainly for Archie as he loves it, but Finn would admit to liking it too. It was the first show type thing that we’d taken Archie to, and felt it a good first experience as it is really geared for little ones. The show dome wasn’t too big, it wasn’t too busy and the seating was terraced rows, not seats which meant he could trot up and down to his heart’s content – we were up near the top so had plenty of space. Considering we were in there 15-20 mins before it started, & the show was about 50-55 mins, he did really well to last until about 10 mins before the end, when Rich took him outside before he got too frustrated. He really liked seeing the big characters and reacted to them & enjoyed the images projected round the ceiling – it was a success!

We popped into the Trafford Centre for lunch and let Finn buy a coupe of DS games with some of his birthday money!

In The Night Garden Live Show

Today was the big party. I booked the Space Hopper Lady, to come and entertain 27 5yr olds!!! It was another great success. However, it didn’t start out that way!!! We were due to leave the house at 10.30 to go set up at the scout hut. At 10 am Finn is lying in a ball on the bathroom floor, crying in agony, with stomach pains!! Not to be too graphic but he was a bit bunged up IYKWIM!!! What to do?!?!?! I ended up going to the party to set up, hoping he would “go” and Rich could bring him up after.

We got set up, the guests arrived laden with presents….no Finn. The party started…no Finn. The party was about 35 mins in, when….hurray, he walked in in Daddy’s arms with his Donkey Kong teddy looking very pale and peaky!! After a litte while watching, he felt well enough to get up of the chair and go talk to his pal, Jamie, and from then on he was up an running…..phew!!!!  I did shed a couple of tears, hiding in the kitchen, when I thought I’d be throwing this really cool party and have no b.day boy there 😦 To comfort myself  I HAD to eat 4 or 6 danish pastries, which meant I HAD to go for a run this afternoon in a vain attempt to burn the guilt off!!

As mentioned the theme for his whole birthday was Super Mario, and we went to town! The presents & cards, tableware, cake, cupcakes… you name it, it was Mario themed!!

B.Day Pressies - 1st Bike, Donkey Kong, Mario Tshirt, Mario racer cars & Mario b.day cards!!!

 

Space Hopper Party!Mario World B.Day Cake

 

He had enought puff to blow out his candles!

 

Mario Cake Toppers

 

Donkey Kong Party Bags for the boys & Peaches Party Bags for the girls

 

All in all, it’s been a great B.Day for him and tomorrow we do it all again for my Mum’s b.day!! Here is her cake –

Mum's B.Day Cake

 

My latest creations!

Finally, I have a few mins to myself and can blog away!! It’s been a busy couple of weeks, what with birthdays and parties, school activities for the kids, night class for me & cakes for other people!!

An old school friend asked for 20 cupcakes for her little one’s 1st birthday & another friend asked for a christening cake & a cake for her wedding vow renewal (taking place in the service with the Christening! How lovely!).  And yes, they were all for the same weekend!!

Lilac & White Dragonfly & Flower 1st Birthday Cupcakes

I had seen a Dragonfly cupcake in Mich Turner’s Cake Masterclass book (highly recommend the book!), and wanted to try to recreate it. I was pleased with the result, although will make the wings thinner next time!

 

 Then came the Christening cake for sweet Zoe. The colour theme throughout the day was pink & burgundy, so I made the cross with pink & burgundy blossoms.

Christening cake with cross design from pink & burgundy blossoms

 

 

Then to sit alongside this, there was the cake for the lovely couple who were renewing their wedding vows after 10 yrs of marriage….

 

"Vintage Rose" blooms with scattered pearls on cake surface

 

So, now the kids are on half term holiday & it’s raining!!! We had an exciting day yesterday as we bought a NEW car!!! BRAND NEW!!! Unfortunately it won’t be delivered until mid/late June, so for now we wait!! Today I am going to make the birthday cake for a certain, scrumptious, delicious, soon to be 5 yr old!! My little Finn, is 5 this week & we’re going all out on a Super Mario Theme!! More on that to follow in another post!

We were also lucky enough to get hold of an iPad 2 a couple of weeks ago. Archie is so visual and really needs that visual cue to help his communication. We’ve hear good things about iPad aiding communication in Autistic Kids, so we’re keen to give it a go. It is safe to say both the boys LOVE playing on it. I am amazed how quickly Archie has picked it up and he does lots of puzzles and games on it. So now he is engaged with it, we’re going to load all his PECS stuff on and see how much we can encourage him. He is now copying some animal noises which is FAB!!

Happy Birthday To Me!!!!!

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me -eeeeee, Happy Birthday to me!!!!

Yep, that’s right, today is my birthday!! I am 36yrs young (in my head that is! My body feels about 72!)  Actually in my head, I am 23 so that makes it even tougher to accept the aching joints and fading memory, not to mention the pure white hair I am finding daily in my red tresses!! So, it’s not really much fun when you’re a grown up and your birthday falls on a week day, and there are kids to get to school, & kids to get to a variety of  playgroups  and preschool sessions & kids to get to after school clubs. It’s business as usual! Did get some nice cards from the kids & the other half, and the promise of a Marks & Spencer Dine In Meal, cooked for me and presented with a nice glass of wine once the rug rats are in bed!

It might be just me, but there is just nothing exciting about anticipating a birthday anymore! The day always feels anticlimactic & for some reason I always feel just a tad let down. Which is crazy, I know. What do I expect? A full on Space Hopper party like I am planning for Finn next month; a house decorated like a kids tv programme like Archie had last month – I dunno. I guess it just feels like I am forever planning other’s celebrations and going all out, but am never on the receiving end. However! I must state that the other half has been asking me for the past fortnight “what do you want to do for your birthday?” to which I have consistently & unequivocably replied “I dunno!”. So, I can hardly blame anyone or anything for the lack of festivities really. If I wanted a party, I should have said “Throw me a party!”. But actually, I don’t think I do want a party!  See the problem!!  So instead the other half took me shopping to a local mall at the weekend and I got a few nice pretty dresses, shoes and bits & pieces – just have to organise a night out to wear them, lol!!!

My lovely school mummies festooned me with flowers and chocolates today (obviously the diet & fitness regime won’t start for a few days!); and my lovely friend of 25 yrs(yikes!) came round this afternoon and brought lunch with her – which was great! She also brought a Caterpillar B.Day cake for me – you know the kids chocolate swiss roll types!

This is all that remains – the littlies can finish him off tomorrow.

He was delicious!

So, before I knew Anji was coming to see me avec cake, I had made my own. Yeah, what’s wrong with that picture – lol!! Inspired by something I’d seen on Ace of Cakes tv show (OMG!!! Am so addicted to it!), I had a go at decorating a cake with a bird silhouette. And to be fair, I am really chuffed with how well it came out! And yes, that is a lovely, pretty, gorgeous, lovely new cake stand!!!

Bird Blossom Cake

Oh & Archie came out of his playgroup with a birthday card that he had “made” for me. The girls had done it and chased him round until they could put a paint loaded stamp in his mitts and wave a piece of paper in front of him!! I don’t care – I have it and it did bring just a few tears to my eyes!!

So, that brings a close to my day… just waiting to win the new £85million Euro Lottery tonight! Figured a bit of b.day luck would be in order! Off now to scoff my M&S dinner and drink my Rose wine. Bye xx

Pretty Cakes, Pretty Purchases

My most recent forays into the production of baked good have been some birthday cakes for friends and some delicious White Chocolate & Raspberry Cakes (again, thanks to www.thepinkwhisk.co.uk  for the recipe!)

Happy Birthday Cake

 

 

 

 

Zoe, the youngest daughter of a lovely friend turns 1 today, so to help with the celebrations I rustled up some cupcakes for her. Hope she likes them! Lemon Cupcakes with vanilla frosting and sweet pink, pale green & white decorations.

 

 

 

Yesterday, after a morning trip to the zoo, I managed to escape on my own for an hour for a quick retail park fix!!! Pretty things are my one weakness (a la Dorcas, in Candleford!). We have painted (& chipped!) farmhouse chairs in the kitchen, which though lovely are not conducive to lengthy stays at the kitchen table = numb bum! Couldn’t resist these chair pads.

 

 

Oh, and the pretty dustpan & brush, and floor mop. Well, if I must spend my life cleaning at least I have pretty tools to help me along!

 

 

Oh, and this pretty pot with citronella candle for keeping flying pests at bay when sitting out in the garden

 

 

Oh, and this cute square baking tin

 

 

Could have spent a lot more, saw some gorgeous bedding & cushions  (have a thing for bedding & cushions too, lol!), but managed to resist (other half, is very pleased about that!)

 

Forward Momentum

It feels like we are definitely in a period of forward momentum where Archie’s communication is concerned. I have everything crossed that it continues! Some of his new words, recently acquired are: Lolly, Jelly and Squeeze! And whilst he has always understood the signs we use, he had only been bothered enough to master the sign for “More” (it being the fastest route to more cake, biscuits, juice, chocolate, yoghurt, banana, raisins…you getting the gist?!) Well he can now sign for “Bird” &  “Biscuit” YAY!!!!!!!! It fills me with such confidence that he will develop his communication, we just have to keep plugging away and keep him motivated! The problem we have now is that he KNOWS how overjoyed I am at the sight of his grubby little palm banging his opposite elbow, that he has demolished the biscuit tin today! Boundaries will be re-established tomorrow….maybe!

Sleep (I know that by merely thinking about this, I have totally jinxed it!) – we have been getting a little more! I ordered a weighted blanket after a friend had considerable success with it. Yes, I know what works for one may not work for another, but at the moment I’m on the willing  to try anything/everything bus! So it arrived, and it is a considerable weight  – a good 5 lbs. We ordered it from www.sensorydirect.com – it’s the Midi one and it cost £79.95 plus postage.  Once he is asleep we lay the weighted blanket over him; he does still make some noise in the night and wakes for a drink around 11pm-12am. Once resettled he’s been going through until 6.30 – 7.00, which is brilliant. I really think the quality of his sleep is much, much better as his body and brain are able to relax more, and make that much needed melatonin.  LONG may it continue, lol!

He got a lot of noisy books for his birthday – you know the kind that have buttons down the side that correspond to pictures through the book, and make a variety of annoying noises. It seems to be the way to engage him with books at the moment. He was busy pushing the buttons on one this morning & I wanted to know if he was able to transfer the labels he knows, when they’re presented differently in different media. How pleased was I that he pushed the right buttons when I asked “Where’s the pig…bird…boat…clock…cow…sheep?”  Very!!!!!

Easter Weekend

Pretty, Pretty, Pretty!

 

The sun has been shining, it’s lovely & warm, the clematis is blooming and I love my new bunting!! It never fails to make me smile!

Easter celebrations began with Archie’s 3rd birthday on Good Friday! A beautiful day, and he spent it playing in the garden with his new water table (a present from me & the other half), which is a big hit!

Happy 3rd B.Day Archie xxx

The other half & I also managed an evening out – a surprise b.day party for my cousin (we are a family of a crazy amount of shared birthdays!), which was a rare treat.  Today, I am home alone with the boys as OH & my dad have gone off to watch Everton Vs Manchester United, with corporate hospitality – lucky for some! Easter Sunday after the kids have found, and most probably ate, the chocolate eggs & animals that the Easter Bunny has delivered, we are off to N.Wales to see Nanna’s new caravan.

Easter Treats!

And on a non-Easter related note…. 

My friend Karen, made my morning today, by awarding me a Versatile Blogger Award!! Thank You Honey! I will tell you more about it later – gotta go get dressed and get the show on the road to N.Wales xx

In The Night Garden Celebrations

Well, my little munchkin Archie will turn 3 on Good Friday!! I cannot believe it!! We had a little tea party for him at home this weekend, and went all out with an In The Night Garden Theme.

Finn & I printed, coloured in & laminated characters from the programme and hung them around the garden with balloons & bunting. You name it, we had it in Night Garden Theme: Invitations, Thank You’s, plates, cups, napkins, banners!! I made party bags filled with Night Garden goodies (bubbles, blow outs, balloons, personalised chocolate bar wrappers, stickers!!). I had some cellophane bags, lined them with lemon/green tissue paper and filled them. I even made name tags from images cut out from the Night Garden Magazine!!

Party Decs

 

 

In The Night Garden Party Bags

 

The cake (!) – I had been planning this in my head for weeks, and was a bit nervous. However, despite a few fraught moments, I was really pleased with the end result. I’d been collecting little characters from the Night Garden Magazine for a few weeks and used them as cake decorations, as I’ve yet to master (or start, for that matter!) modelling! This was also the first 2 tier cake I’d done, and a practice run in that sense for another I have to do this week!

In The Night Garden Cake

To go with the cake, which was chocolate, I made some vanilla cupcakes and topped with buttercream and Night Garden Rice Paper Cake Toppers.

We had 12 little ones, including our 2, round to play and a good time was had by all. The sun shone and the kids had fun in the garden.  Bless him, Archie had no concept of it being his birthday, which does make me a little sad, but he had a ball, so it’s my problem not his! Hopefully next year he’ll be more aware of it.

Party Fun!

He was spoilt rotten with great presents: lots of bubbles and water play things (his favourite thing at the moment!), Peppa Pig books & DVDs, Noisy Books and Teletubbie DVDs!

I am now exhausted and lying in a heap on the sofa!!!

Cupcake Bouquet for Mother’s Day.

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day. My scrumptious Finn, who cannot ever keep a suprise, gave me his handmade gifts as & when they were made throughout the week!! I was presented with a cute tealight holder decorated by his own fair hand on Tuesday; a bunch of daffodils (from school, that I paid for, lol!), a gorgeous handprint/poem picture on Friday; and a handmade card today. Hopefully Daddy has kept control of a few suprises to bestow on me tomorrow (he’d better have, lol!!!).

My Daffs

 

Mother's Day Card & Handprint Poem xx

 

For my mummy, I decided to have a go at making a cupcake bouquet. Ruth of  The Pink Whisk makes one with the cakes held up on clear dowels, like flowers on a stem, arranged in a vase. I didn’t have time to get to the supply shop for dowells, so I used a terracotta flower pot and aranged them in that.

I took a plain flower pot, lined it with some cellophane, a sheet of tissue, and a big handful of shredded paper.

Flower Pot

Lined Flower Pot

 

I made some lemon cupcakes and some butter cream which I divided and coloured pink and lilac using edible coloured dust.  Then I piped the icing using a star nozzle on 2 of the cakes and a ribbon nozzle on the other 2, to create some texture on my cake “blooms”. I sprinkled them with some edible shimmer crystals and arranged them in the flower pot.  A few sprigs of foliage from one of the plants in the garden, a gingham ribbon around the pot and hey presto! Am very pleased with this first attempt, hopefully Mum will like it too!

Cupcake Bouquet

Spring! & A FULL Night’s Sleep!

Spring has Sprung, finally! Well, for this week anyway! What a difference a bit of sunshine makes to my mood & outlook, remarkable as I am one of those wierd people who likes Winter (!), but it’s been long enough now. Windows open, radio on, washing hanging out & not all draped over the radiators – a sure sign that longer, brighter days are on their way. Even housework doesn’t seem to be quite the drag it usually is, when the sun is out and fresh air is circulating through the place!

Wonders will never cease! Despite me not going to bed until midnight last night, I got a FULL, UNINTERRUPTED 6 hrs and 45 mins sleep – YAY! Get the flags out!! Archie had a busy, outdoors day yesterday, so was obviously too tired to wake up as usual! One of his friends, Caleb, from playgroup came round for the first time, it was lovely to see them playing alongside each other and bouncing on the trampoline together, and with only a couple of squabbles over watering cans, it was calm & enjoyable for all! Caleb’s mum & I even got to finish 3 cups of tea while they were still warm, as we swapped stories and experiences of our scary first few months in the world of Autistic Spectrum Disorders!

Archie & Caleb play with the water

 

 

Archie & Caleb Smile

 

On a baking note, two of my lovely girl friends have birthdays this weekend and we are all gathering for cake & coffee this afternoon. Last night saw me rolling lots of sugarpaste to make them a little something sweet to celebrate!

2 small square chocoalte cakes. 1 in a black & white theme, with large Gerbera/Daisy decoration, the other shell pink & white with a blossom decoration.

Black & White Theme Gerbera Cake

Shell Pink & White Blossom Cake

Am hoping to try a new chocolate cake recipe this weekend, courtesy (again) of Ruth from the Pink Whisk. Will keep you posted.

Have a good weekend!!

Red Nose Day & Getting Busy with PECS

To celebrate Red Nose Day for Comic Relief, we made some Red Nose Cakes for after school!!  I also impressed myself with some homemade cupcake wrappers, which looked fab! (they are gorgeous to use, but pricey to buy in the shops, especially when the cakes are just for us!). The kids loved them, particularly the icing!

Homemade Cupcake Wrappers

Red Nose Cupcakes

 

I got the boys Red Noses from Sainsburys, but their little snozzes are too small to keep them on!

It was a beautiful sunny day today, and Rich was home from work really early, so we had some fun in the garden before tea!

         

Archie loves the trampoline

      

Joyful bouncing!

 

We had a busy weekend working on Archie’s PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System). I’ve been taking photographs of everything I can think of in his/our lives, laminating them and putting them on a big key chain, or on the kitchen wall. He is so visual, and we’ve already had success in showing him photos of the main places we go to in the week before we go, so he understands where he’s going; and he’s been making choices between pictures of food/snack items we show him, for a while. The next step is to get him to initiate the communication with them and to develop his understanding of “now” & “next” – something that’s tough at the moment: if it doesn’t happen instantly for him, he gets very upset! Over the weekend, he repeatedly brought us the photo of the juice bottle and said “kee” (drink), and twice brought me the cereal picture (so we had to give him some, despite it being 3.30pm, lol!). It was brilliant to see! Hopefully he will pick it up quickly and we can develop some more language as well as understanding!

Archie's PECS Keyring

 

Archie's Wall PECS

 

I’ve also put together a “Bag of Tricks” for Preschool to use. They’re having a tough time calming him if he gets very distressed, so am hoping that if they can get him to a quiet space,  a bag of goodies will get his attention enough to calm down & re-engage! We can only try, lol!

Archie's "Bag of Tricks!"

Archie's Bag of Tricks