Hello!

September 1, 2008 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)57 Comments

It’s very nice to be back again!

If I had to pick one word to sum up our summer break it would be uneventful – which is pretty much what I was hoping for! We’ve mostly had a gentle-paced, quiet time at home with a few forays into more exciting activities to prevent boredom from setting in and overall it has worked out pretty well.

Of course there have been lows, the most deep of which has to be Toby’s toilet training and the associated mopping up of puddles (and worse) that go along with that. Unfortunately, despite lots of hard work we’ve not made much progress but I’ll share more of our experiences another time in the hope of helping others! Toby has also had many times of extreme frustration and upset which have been very hard to bear but the school hols are nearly over (last day today) and we’ll choose to remember the good times and put the bad ones out of our minds!

The highs included moments spent with Amy, chatting, making things, watching films and just relaxing without any pressures to do anything else. We camped out in the garden together 3 times – once with our good friend Hazel and her daughter Madeleine. We had great fun just girls together, hedgehog watching, hot choccie drinking and larking about under canvas. Amy & I have also been excited to see the things that we planted growing so well. We’ve loved picking and eating our own lettuce, tomatoes and strawberries and we’ve been hatching plans to expand our weenie food patch.

I must admit though to being glad at the start of a new school term. Amy is looking forward to seeing all her friends again and joining some after school clubs. Toby desperately needs to get back into a routine and I’m looking forward to some quiet and a chance to just exist without being pulled about, fetching something, dressing someone or mopping something up! I’m also looking forward to catching up with what everyone else has been up to here in blog land. So at 9.15 tomorrow morning I’ll be grabbing a cup of tea and going for a browse – see you soon!

Summertime, time for a break

July 25, 2008 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)82 Comments

This is a snapshot from yesterday – our first day of the school break.
One naked son in the paddling pool, one lovely daughter drawing and playing in the tent and one mummy enjoying a little knitting in the shade. Sounds idyllic and this moment was, but I know over the next 6 weeks these relaxing moments may be few and far between.

I do find this time of year a difficult one. At the school gate all the mums were chatting excitedly about their plans for the summer break; visits to parks, picnics, holidays at the beach and so on. I stood there and said nothing because to be honest the thought of the long break makes me feel a little sick. Although I like the calmer pace of mornings (no school rush) Toby has a hard time with the change in routine. His autism makes it really hard to do much of the normal family stuff and when we do go anywhere he needs to be so closely supervised to keep him from harm that poor old Amy gets no attention. He’s not good with crowds, new places or loud noises and is oblivious to obvious dangers like lakes, busy roads, going off with strangers etc. Often when we go somewhere he freaks out and we have to come straight back home which is really unfair on Amy and makes everyone feel miserable.

This year we decided not to go away on a family holiday and so we’re based at home for the 6 week break. Hopefully here things will be quiet and manageable although even at home Toby needs constant attention to keep him safe. Amy has a few clubs and activities to go to and she & I have planned a few overnight camping trips with friends and in the garden. I’m really lucky to have my Mum and Dad to visit – we’ll go and stay for a few days and they’ll entertain the children, take us to new places and generally help out.

Anyway, with all this in mind I’ve decided to have a summer blog break and concentrate fully on the children. I will be popping some little cotton rabbits and friends into my etsy shop from time to time and Amy will have fun helping me pack them up and take them to the post office.

I hope you’ll pop back and see us in the autumn when I should have news of the baby hedgehogs and some chat about what we’ve been up to.

Wishing you a lovely August wherever you are and whatever you’re doing,

Julie x

crafts & knitting

Preparation!

July 21, 2008 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)22 Comments

Well, here we are in the last few days of the school year and I’m desperately stocking up with everything that we might need to get us through the school holidays…

new lego for Toby who bites it to bits and then gets very cross when it doesn’t fit!

new colouring books for Amy that will keep her busy for hours (I hope!)

and for me, gorgeously natural, ethically produced, organic alpaca yarn from Farm Yarn

and beads, ribbon and trim from my new favourite on-line haberdasher – Robson & Mason (I love that floral bias binding!)

I’ve also been jotting down ideas left, right and centre and found some great suggestions for keeping Amy busy over on Domesticali and Dottycookie. So, hopefully we’re all set! Now I’m off to soak up the silence and cram in a bit of uninterrupted knitting before the fun begins!