Highly Sprung

For a while I've been keen for Tilly to have something, a club that really pushes her and helps her gain confidence and self esteem. She is such a good and lovely girl with plenty of talent, character and humour but she really lacks the skills to shine. She is still petrified of school assemblies and achieving star of the week etc. Just in case she needs to stand up in front of the whole school.

I think she needs something that will bring her out of her shell and give her confidence. There is so much choice out there, trampolining, gymnastics, karate, dance, ballet, swimming etc. I contacted Highly Sprung about their classes and they gave Tilly the chance for a free taster session. I asked Tilly if she wanted to go and she seemed interested.

I took her this morning. They were so amazing when we arrived, interested and engaged in her. We took a seat as the group arrived, I felt her anxiety rise. She started to get teary, as I led her to the corridor so others didn't see her cry, the workshop leader saw her and took her off to see a room. We made a break for it while she was distracted.

I hate seeing Tilly like that, I'm being cruel to be kind but it hurts me too. As I went to the car, I ended up crying too. No wonder she is like she is, I'm an emotional wreck too.

I couldn't rest easily at home. I was checking my phone to see if there were missed calls but also to check the time.

Unsurprisingly Tilly liked it.

As this was only a taster session there was no pressure for her to attend any more sessions. I gave Tilly the option but she wanted to go back. The more the day has gone on the more she has talked about Highly Sprung and how much fun it was.

I am so pleased. She already seems different, I only hope that it does improve her confidence in groups and with strangers.

Breaking News: I love everybody

I found this in Tilly's bag. I've no idea why she's drawn it, what it is about or in response to. However, given all the utterly  awful news that this year has brought so far I think we should all live in Tilly's version of the world in 2015.

New Beginnings

2015

We are only 10 days into the New Year and it has already been filled with horrors. Plane crashes, boats capsizing, terrorist attacks and more. All the news is depressing.

I found a drawing from Tilly, I've no idea why she'd done it or what it was in response to but it is so beautiful.

I give the girls a hard time sometimes but  only because I want them to grow up with respect and manners.
I absolutely adore my girls, I can see glimpses into the ladies they will become, bright, talented, funny and beautiful. Any parent would say the same but although I don't always show it, my heart often bursts with pride.

Tilly is very excited as she has her first wobbly tooth. Everyone else in her class has lost at least one, some in reception have even lost theirs, so she is desperate to lose hers. Of course the loss of teeth means that she'll really start to look even more grown up than she does already. Those awkwardly large teeth have a habit of totally changing faces.

Mima is funny and FULL of character. She makes me laugh daily, especially when she does one of her belly laughs and can't stop giggling, which may well be the best sound in the world.
She is also full of stubborn, a character trait that I know in myself all too well and that is difficult to see in the girls. She knows what she wants and these days it is very much no seams in her tights (or socks). Seams are the bloody bain of my life at the mo, every day is made longer by their sheer existence. But when we've magicked them we can continue and she is back into the normally cute kid that I know and love.

Mary Poppins

I have always loved the film Mary Poppins. I'm not sure there has ever been a time that I've managed to watch it without crying. When I was little it was always the moment that Mary Poppins left. Since being a parent it is always a little bit earlier. The scene between Mr Banks and Bert after the Chim Chimeny song, I think the lyrics

"You've got to grind, grind, grind
At that grindstone
Though child'ood slips like sand through a sieve
And all too soon they've up grown
And then they've flown
And it's too late for you to give"

As the tears rolled down my face, both girls stared at me and questioned why I was crying. Mima got tissues and wiped them away.

Let's Go Round Again, Ring Road 40: BBC Coventry & Warwickshire

Dinosaurs in the jebboom

At breakfast we were talking about being tired. I said I couldn't sleep last night. Tilly asked if I had a nightmare. Mima then turned to me "there a dinosaur in your jebboom?"

I'll eat you up I love you so.

My favourite book as a child was Where the Wild Things are by Maurice Sendak.

Richard bought me a copy of the book several years ago and I have shared with Tilly from an early age. When she came home from school with a project about sharing a family member's favourite childhood story, she already knew which one it was for me.

We decided to do a puppet show of the story. I was really impressed with Tilly, who sketched out the scene backdrops. We filmed the puppet show on my phone and used a package called Magisto to create the finished film. It was very easy for Tilly to use, adding music, graphics etc. Here is our finished product . I love it.

I'd bought Mima a new Rabbit onesie as her other onesie had grown too small. As I was watching her in her rabbit onesie, I thought how simple it'd be to adapt it into a Max costume. ..

I bought Tilly a rabbit onesie the next day. While I was there I saw a big pair of white slipper boots for a £1.

I took a trip to the local charity shops for other bits and pieces and I found the most amazing grey and black scarf, it had a hole in so I got it for 50p! A trip to the other local charity shops saw me end up with two more fluffy scarves, a cream one and a brown one. I bought a square of brown felt and some big buttons.

I'd pitched the idea to Tilly and she was excited but I'd told her that she had to help make it.

We cut off the pink heart rabbit tail and sewed on the grey scarf (in half). We couldn't work out how to make the whiskers but pipe cleaners were the perfect solution. I've had to sew a small piece of white felt over the inside of the ends to stop it from scratching Tilly's face.

We cut open the floppy ears and inserted a cut triangular shape from an old tonic bottle and sewed them back up. This made the ears stand up.

The cream scarf was cut up and sewn over the tummy to cover the pink heart. I added the four big buttons on the front for decoration.

I cut some felt triangles and sewed them at the bottom to make them more claw like, then added them to the slipper boots.

It wouldn't be complete without a wild thing. I got a large punch balloon and paper mached it several times. I have form in this area! Once it was thick enough. I'd gathered some useful artefacts, empty cat food containers, paper bowls, masking tape and newspaper. Tilly and I added the cat bowl eyes, a screwed up newspaper for a nose and then the paper bowls for the top lip. 
We paper mached them into position and added eye bags, eye lids and more definition on the top lip.
Once dry, we cut a hole for the head. The seeing holes are the nostrils!

I painted the basic paint colour on the head and then Tilly came to add the definition again, red nose, yellow eyes and the black lines. We shaped the teeth with scissors.
We cut up our brown scarf and glued it to the head. Ta daa.

Of course, once it was finished we went out into the garden to have a wild rumpus and Tilly dangled from the trees!

Awesome.

Project dolls house

We were incredibly lucky to have been given (yes, given!) a beautiful dolls house from a wonderful friend.

I was astonished not only due to the generousity but also to find the amount of furniture and accessories also included.

We started in earnest with an external paint job. Then all the work stopped. Since then it has sat in the house with the girls occasionally playing with it but they seemed to find it hard to play with it without more structure and purpose inside.  Tilly and I painted the bare MDF walls, stairs, ceilings and floors plain white.

Thanks to Poundland, I've been able to fit out the dolls house easily and for next to nothing. Poundland were selling vinyl floor tiles, which although I wouldn't necessarily use in the house, they were perfect for the dolls house.  I went back to get some carpet tiles and ended up getting a few more bits and pieces.
I got some dowelling from our local DIY store and that made the coving and skirting boards.
A long time ago I'd bought a room border, not for a border but for craft. It was perfect for a modern, bold feature wallpaper.

As the rooms got more structure, the girls started to play more as the rooms had purpose. They had recognisable features. Tilly and Mima had some small dolls, like mini Barbies, they were the perfect size for the bed, counters, table etc. Suddenly the house was great fun.
As I visited Poundland to get one more pack of vinyl floor tiles, I spotted some tiny (slightly freaky) babies. As soon as I got them home and gave them to the girls, they fitted perfectly and the girls started to make them sleep, go to the toilet, watch TV etc.

There is still some way to go. But I feel I've done enough to take it off my kitchen table for now.
So now, I've had my fun, I have to hand it over to my girls and let them play.
Huge thank you to Vicki and Freya for your amazing generousity. X