Merry Christmas

I know I have been absent of late but I wanted to pop in and say MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all. We have had a lovely morning so far and I am soooooo loving that my kids believe in Santa and squeal with excitement over their gifts. I am so grateful that my Sister and Silvio are here to celebrate with us this year but I also miss my brother Colm and Mum as well.

We are off to lunch at a hotel later and then of course there will be lots of time to play with our presents ;-)

Tomorrow I am going into hospital to have my gallbladder removed. We have had a rough ride this past 6 weeks with health issues in the house and I am hoping the new year will bring lots of good health.

I am grateful for this holiday, my family and my friends. I feel so very blessed today.

Thanks for stopping by and all my best from our family to yours ...

What’s News

I have neglected my blog these past weeks due to lack of energy. I am finally starting to feel a little better now and thank you for all your kinds thoughts, prayers and wishes.

First bit of news has to be about Miss Lulu. Maybe I should show you first …

Yes my dear friends, she has the Chicken Pox. Now if you ask Lujayne she will tell you (very strongly) that she DOES NOT have the Chicken Pops (as she calls them), she has Red Potatoes! It took me a while to figure this one out but basically somewhere along the line when Sami got the CP she thought he got them from eating chicken pops (???). Then when my dear friend Laila took Lulu for a playdate while I was in hospital Lulu had dinner with Noora and they thought the food in front of them was popcorn Chicken which now translates into chicken pops in her mind. But she was told it was not chicken but small round potatoes instead. So from all of this Lulu has assumed that she ate the potatoes instead of chicken and then she got sick (albeit a week later) and so she has Red Potatoes on her skin and not CP.

It is starting to look a lot like Christmas around here too. Last weekend we dragged the tree out and started to assemble it. My sister purchased the tree two years ago when she visited and opted for the largest she could find. I tell you this thing takes hours to put up … thanks Sharon!! … but I have to say it looks great when finished. Now the only problem is that the stand is no where near sturdy enough and for the past two years the tree has had a very big lean which we have tried to rectify with ropes and rocks.

This year my darling hubby went into his “shed” and came out with this frame and what do you know it now stands beautifully! My Christmas tree skirt will cover this so in the end a great result.

Shooey is still recuperating. I am thrilled that I no longer need to give him his evening antibiotic injections and we hope to remove his collar soon. Silly thing still wants to escape and go pick fights with the neighbourhood cats … sigh… what to do heh?

Sami has recovered well from his Chicken Pox and has only a few spots remaining. He fell asleep the other night on the bean bag and I could not resist a photo. I wonder what he is thinking in his sleep?

See, hardly any spots … YAY!

Today was the first time since being home that I felt up to doing arts and crafts with kids. First we started by painting and decorating some plaster of paris stars. Then there was some Christmas colouring / painting followed by a great playdough session.

Here are some of the stars on the tree. These are from my great mate Jess who sells plaster of paris molds here in Oman. I went to see her tonight as she was at a craft fair and I took a shot of her table. If you are in Muscat and you are looking for a nice activity for your kids then get over to see Jess and get some molds. She has a huge variety and they are so affordable and make great gifts too. You can contact her via omanartstudio@yahoo.com.

After getting out of hospital I was still not feeling great so I went and got a second opinion. I am glad I did because he found I had an amoeba most likely from contaminated water I had at some time. The antibiotics I am taking for these really throw me around and I will be glad to finish them tomorrow. Also after sending me off for an ultra sound he discovered I have gallstones. (hmmmm such a pity that after 4 days in hospital neither of these things were picked up!). Back to see the surgeon and sadly I have to say that my gallbladder and I will be parting ways some time in the next two weeks. I feel a bit rough around the edges at the moment but I am glad that a new year will be upon us very soon.

Thanks for hanging out through this long catch up xoxoxox and of course “Thanks for stopping by …”

A Brief Stint Away

Hi All,

I had an unexpected stay at the hospital this week and I am now very happy to be back home. I had been feeling a little off and decided to go to the doctor after picking picking up the kids from school on Wednesday. After reaching the hospital waiting to see the doctor I went down hill fast. Long story short I was admitted immediately and treated for a kidney infection as I was on the verge of septic shock. After four long days of IV, way too many needles etc I am back home where I belong.
I was lucky to have some nice visitors ...
and big thanks to Jess and Laila for the mags, REAL coffee and great company.

I'll be back blogging soon ...

Spotty Boy

 

Poor wee Sami, he is really not very happy with these spots.  Because he was vaccinated I did not expect him to get such a full blown case of Chicken Pox but yes the little champ is suffering. Poor thing they are everywhere, over his head, in his belly button, his ears etc. I had to go out and find some one piece pj’s for him so he could not get his hands in to scratch.  Still he spends a lot of time in the corner screaming at me trying to take them off…sigh.

Looks like our regular trip to Nizwa for Eid is off. Also my sister-in-law is just getting over H1N1 so it a quiet Eid for the family this year.

Today is lulu’s last day at her school as she will return to her previous school in the new term. It has been a big decision to move her but I feel that it is the best thing for her at this time.

Sami and I in bed watching Charlie and Lola while Laith and Lulu are school. I seem to be coming down with something too. A nice cuddle in bed is always a good remedy!

Thanks for stopping by …

 

We Love Reading

I am so very happy that all of my children adore books and reading.

Laith came home after his exams today as he has a cold and this is where I found him (his Dad picked him for me) when I got home with Sami.

Sami quickly dragged the Hubby onto the floor for a book… so sweet.

I feel so very blessed and lucky.

Oh and big shout out to my mum who finally made it home today after months of traveling. Welcome home Mum, I can’t wait to chat once you have settled in and caught up on some sleep. And I am very happy to hear that my brother got the date right and picked her up at the airport. So I guess Col you are still in line for a nice Christmas lunch!

Thanks for stopping by …

Hand Towels

Yes a pretty boring subject I know but it has been on my to-do list for so long.

Done – yay a tick off my list.

Thanks for stopping by …

The Robe and Slippers

I had a request to see the robe and slippers up close so here are a few pictures for you.

For the robe I used Ottobre Winter 04/2005 pattern #19 Childs bathrobe in 104 size but to be honest I could have added another 10 inches to the length and shortened the sleeves. The fleece I used was like a mock chenille and very stretch so that might have something to do with it. I will use this pattern again this year to make the kids some winter robes but I will definitely go up a few sizes and do trial fittings.

FrontClose up of embroidery (this is from Bunnycup Embroidery called Buzy Girls which I got ages ago BUT the great news for you is that Ashley has now retired that set so it is FREE!!!!, she has some of the best quality designs on the market) Back

(I used the Button Appliqué embroidery design set and the Bunnycup font both from Bunnycup Embroidery – who are also having a 35% sale and I got a further 15% off as a special for the month being a return customer – not bad!). Just a tip if using terry of fleece like this use a water soluble stabilizer on top it makes the stitching much neater).

The fabric in the appliqué is from Sandi Henderson’s Farmers Market range. Also the slipper fabric is from the same range.

Slippers – please excuse the hair from the hairdressers yesterday as I have yet to wash them. If anyone is looking to make some house slippers there is a nice site called The Pink Slipper Project that I recommend. For Lulu and Noora’s slippers I just traced a pair of shoes, and took it from there. I used two layers of quilters batting and some wool felt my sister had left with me from her pretty dolls that she makes. I had planned to overlock/serge them but my machine was not happy with the thickness and curves so in the end I just put some packaged binding around them. Not a perfect job but at this stage it was midnight and I needed to get them done – not perfect!

This was a really enjoyable project to do. I was unable to find kids bathrobes on the market here so in the end I got this double blanket and made them myself. Sure they are not perfect but they were made with love and that must count for something these days!

Thanks for stopping by …

Lulu’s Birthday Spa Day Lunch

Lujayne and I had discussed her birthday a little while ago and she wanted to do something special with her best friend Noora. Today the girls indulged in a morning at the Spa followed by lunch with their Mummas at a “grown up” restaurant.

We had such a lovely day. Noora’s nanna had got them identical dresses which they happily wore because they want to be sisters. We arrived at the salon / spa and then the usual notes were exchanged.

They like to write notes and draw each other pictures when they are no together and are forever asking their mums to pass them on.

Then it was down to the serious business of nails and hair. I made the girls some matching robes and slippers. The robe has an embroidered girl in a bath on the front and their names on the back.

When the lady asked what colour they both squealed pink in unison!

The salon is set up with a lovely pink girls room which has a Princess TV and the girls made themselves right at home.

Off to get their nails dry …

and then it was time for hair.

Of course it is very important to have a snack available for princesses in the making so each of them had a little bag with juice bottle and snack box filled with nice (and nutritional) goodies.

While the girls were having their hair done Laila and I had our nails done too (hey when in Rome!). Here is Laila striking a pose!

Here are the girls sharing a post snack moment.

We gathered for a group shot before heading out to lunch.

At lunch we hugged, ate and danced and then all headed home feeling pampered and very full.

Happy Birthday sweetheart … Thanks for stopping by …

Yay for garment sewing & Happy 39th National Day

Oh how I have missed you patterns and fabric and real clothes … time to do some garment sewing again after my few weeks of craft fair bits and pieces.

This is the beginning of 2 bathrobes for Lulu and her best friend Noora who are celebrating (albeit a few days late) Lulu’s birthday with a pampering at the spa tomorrow morning and then a girly lunch. I am now madly rushing to make them some robes to wear as I could not buy any in Muscat that were suitable.

Off to pick up my overlocker / serger (I wonder why Australians and Americans have different names for this machine?? anyone know??) and hopefully sew into the night and get these done and embroidered.

It is National Day today. and should His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said be reading my blog while having his morning coffee then I wish you a very happy day sir and hope for many more prosperous years of ruling to come. Oman is a wonderful country to live in and it is easy knowing that it would not be as it is if it were not for this man and his leadership. It took a lot of convincing to get Sami to wear his dishdasha (national dress) today and silly me forgot to take a picture and no doubt when I pick him up he will be covered in yogurt and playdough and picture worthy LOL.

POST NOTE - Here is a pick of the worn out boy asleep after nursery still in his dishdasha which he WOULD NOT LET ME TAKE OFF, you have to laugh don't you!

Thanks for stopping by …