Advent Swap Day 17

On the 17th day of Christmas my Advent Swap gave to me...

1. 2 little samples of face firming cream
2. An emery board
3. 2 little samples of anti-ageing cream for the face with Glycolic Acid Complex
4. A little sample of anti-wrinkle firming cream for around the eye area
5. A candle in the shape of a women's bodice
6. A scented envelope to hang in my wardrobe

What a cool little collection of things to receive.
However most items were not written in English so have had the fun of using Google Translates to find out about each product.

This is what the translation meant from the back of the anti-ageing face cream:

Renewing a gel sensitive skin and gives extraordinary brightness alia skin. Its formula based on naturally derived fatty desserts, smooths the surface and respects the natural balance

I love translations from a foreign language to English and some of the words it finds to replace things, glad I have face cream derived from "fatty desserts"!

Junior Production

Last week at school Ben had the Junior Production.

All the classes from the Junior School took part and they did a little story where Cinderella went on the search for her ball, but found many Disney people along the way.

Ben's class was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

So all the boys got to dress as a dwarf. The closest we came to getting a picture of Ben all dressed up was when he was sat on the ground and we got a good shot of his head with his hat on! Never trust the camera to someone who doesn't blog! Because you do not get the type of pictures you need to keep the blog going!

He also had to sing with the rest of the school and then we were able to get one ot two pictures of him singing and dancing.

It was a very cute evening and all the kids did really well.

I think Ben is the only ginger headed child in his whole school, you can never miss him!

Cats and More

Alex and I went to the shopping centre today to meet a friend for her birthday and to also get Christmas shopping for Steve.

On the way there I had a rather indepth conversation with Alex, the kind that all parents dread having with 4 1/2 yr olds!

He started by asking about getting collars for the cats. He said something about wanting to take them for a walk! I mentioned that we had them once but that the cats did not like them, but that they are both micro chipped so not too worried. Plus also cats don't like being taken for a walk, only dogs like that.

This lead on to how we named the cats? Alex named Barney and Ben named Prenzel.

Well this lead on to why we named the cats? So I explained but then said why we name things or people.

Which lead onto to him asking about who named him? I explained that it was a joint decision between Mummy and Daddy.

Well who named Ben, that one I answered was chosen by Grandma.

Well who named Grandma? I told him her mummy had done that.

Well where was her mummy? Can you now see where this conversation is going?

So I explained that her mummy, my grandma was dead.

Why? Well because she was really old and got sick. Well where was her daddy?

Same explaination given.

Well where are they?

So I explained about what happens when you die and that you get buried. I explained that my Grandma and Grandad were up in the sky with the stars and the moon watching down on us (I am really not 100% sure on exactly what I want them to believe, but I like this explanation and do believe in that theory, if you know what I mean)

Well that lead on to Steve's Dad, who is currently with us. Was he going to die? Yes I explained, he would one day.

Well why?

Well because he is getting old and that one day he may get really sick and then die.

So where is Daddy's mummy? She has died too, many years ago when she got really sick.

Was she old? Hum...no! So I explained that sometimes people get really really sick and sadly they die.

Then I got...Well will daddy be sad when his daddy dies? Yes I explained, when Grandad dies, daddy will be sad, we will all be sad, but we will look after each other and keep each other happy.

I can't actually remember now how the conversation ended, I was a little choked up having this conversation, but I obviously gave him the answers he was looking for.

Don't they have inquisitive minds at this age?

Resting

The plan for the next 2 days was for the boys to go to their respective care places and for Steve and I to have some quiet time at home for him to recover from surgery.

With that in mind, Steve decided that he really wanted to stay on top of his pain, so decided to set the alarm for midnight last night to take more pills, he was then going to reset it for 6am to take the next lot. Seeing as today was going to be a quiet day then that was a good choice.

Unfortunately what we didn't count on was finding Alex crawling around the bed at 10.30pm with a rip roaring temp of 39.9! A quick dose of drugs and juice for him.

So midnight did come and go, and Steve took his pills whilst I leaned to the end of the bed and checked the temp (38.9) on the sleeping child on the mattress on the floor of our room! I decided that I really needed to be close to both of them, so we moved Alex into our room as well.

He fell asleep at midnight so we let him sleep and we woke at 5am. His temp (39.3) was back up again so we dosed him again and called Healthline for further advice (just to be on the safe side and to get some unemotionally attached advice) who adviced we were doing all the right things and just keep going.

We all woke again at 6am for Steve to take more drugs and then we all dosed until 8.30am, when I realised that Ben was downstairs watching tv and really needed to be given breakfast and taken to the Holiday Programme for the day.

So Steve's quiet day at home has changed into a Daddy and Alex quiet day at home watching movies.

Alex's temp has finally broken and is now sitting at about 37 to 37.4, which is satisfactory for me.

Steve is feeling fine and has no pain due to taking pills regularly, so a not too bad day after all.

Advent Swap Day 16

On the 16th day of Christmas my Advent Swap gave to me....

A little stitch unpicker and a Cross Stitch Card Pattern to make up.
I needed something to do at the caravan over Christmas.

Balloons and Hands

Steve is home from having his surgery.

All went well and a part from feeling a little spaced from the drugs this morning, he is doing well.

His hand is all bandaged up with a piece of plaster of paris running up the front to stop him bending it. he now needs to keep it up on a pillow or in a sling for a couple of days to assist with not having it swell too much.

He had a skin graft taken from his left hip, just below his underwear line, it is a lovely black and blue colour already from a haematoma but he says it is not painful, just looks nicely bruised!

He has a nice amount of pain relief to keep him nice and comfortable over the next couple of days. He has a Physio appointment on Friday and then sees the surgeon again on Tuesday. Busy time for him but also lots of time to relax and get better.

Ben's school has finished today for the summer holidays, so he is now off until Feb 2010! But we thought of this and he is off to Holiday Programme tomorrow and Thursday so he is not at home to bother Daddy, Alex will be at Daycare for the 2 days, give dad some peace and quiet.

The boys and I decided we wanted to do something for him, so while he was sleeping we blew up lots of balloons and hung them around the dining room.

They say "We Love You Get Well Soon"

It was cheaper than going to the Florists and buying a balloon that said the same thing, plus we had much more fun doing this.

Advent Swap Day 15

On the 15th day of Christmas my Advent Swap gave to me...

Some little chocolate balls, yum yum

Surgery Time

This is what Steve's left hand currently looks like

It is called Dupuytrens Contracture.

Dupuytren’s contracture is a condition in which tissue in the palm of the hand covering the finger tendons thickens and scars. This tissue becomes tight and shortened, contracting the fingers inwards toward the palm.

The development of Dupuytren’s contracture usually occurs quite slowly over many months, or even years, (in Steve's case it has been develpoing over the last 10 years) though in rare cases it can develop suddenly. It can affect any of the fingers, but it most commonly affects the little finger and ring finger.

Dupuytren’s contracture is a relatively common condition but its cause is not fully understood. In most cases it does not occur until after the age of 40 years (Steve has had this since his early 30's) and it is more common in men than it is in women.
Dupuytren’s contracture runs in families so it is thought that genetics can play a part in the development of the condition. ( No one in his family has this, although my Uncle has, so does that mean our boys are at a higher risk of getting it?) Other factors that increase the likelihood of developing Dupuytren’s contracture include:

• Diabetes (as Steve has this then this will be the underliying cause for him)
• Smoking
• Alcoholism

Once the condition progresses to a point where the condition is limiting or disabling, surgery is usually recommended. Surgery involves removing the excess tissue in the palm and returning function to the fingers.

And this is the stage that we are at now with Steve. In fact today is the day of his surgery to get it fixed on his left hand.
It will involve surgery of just over an hour, where they will remove all the thickened tissue along the tendon on his hand and then his finger will straighten out. Unfortunately this will leave him with a big hole in his hand so they will take some skin from his hip and put a skin graft on to his hand.
So when he wakes up he will have a suture line on his hip and his left hand will be bandaged up with a back slab to stop him moving it!
He will have appointments with the physiotherapist each week to help him to gain use back in his finger.

He also has this disease in his other hand on the same finger, (he will need surgery on that in a couple of years time) his thumbs, his feet and in his groin.

In the picture below you can already see the thickening around the tendon on his little finger on his right hand, but his finger is still relatively straight for now!

However his feet do not bother him so much as he walks on them so this stops the tendon from contracting like his hands due to the weight from his body.

So we are in for a quiet Christmas with me recovering from my neck accident and him out of action with one hand. Don't think we will be getting much done over the holiday time apart from sitting around and enjoying what ever sunny weather we are lucky enough to get!

Ever The Little Helper

As always Alex is always wanting to help cook things in the kitchen.

Even if it is making pancakes with Daddy on Sunday morning.

Advent Swap Day 14

On the 14th day of Christmas my Advent Swap gave to me...

Some beautiful embroidered squares and a new thimble

Christmas Tour

For the last 2 years, 1 of the blogs I follow has always done a Christmas House Tour, where you go and get welcomed into others homes via their blogs and see how they have decorated for the holidays.

I have decided this year to give you all a tour of my tree. I have so many decorations that have special meaning to me so have decided to share a few with you. A few are old, but most are new to the family in the last couple of years and hopefully will adorn our tree for years to come.

This is the angel on the top of the tree. I am not sure where I got her from but have had her for a long time now. She always gets centre stage on the top of the tree.

This is the oldest decoration I have on the tree. I got it when I lived in Wapakoneta, Ohio in 1985, although I do not actually know who gave it to me, although I know Mum will know, but knowing my luck it will probably be from her and then I will look real stupid!

This is Steve's decoration. He got it from Disney Land when he was there one year, but that was at least 11 or 12 yrs ago! This is the one decoration that he always puts on the tree.

This is the newest decoration we have on the tree. I treated ourselves to this one last year as a reminder of how special 2008 was to us (the year we got married) It is a Hallmark one and I just love the glistening look of it.

This reindeer is from a cute Christmas shop in London. Steve and I brought it whilst there on holiday in 2001. We also got a snowman to go with it, but I couldn't get the camera to take a very good picture of the snowman!

Back in 2001 and for several years after that, the managment of the Theatre dept in Auckland Hospital actually made small token gifts as thank you presents for all the staff. No easy task I can tell you.

These 2 tags are the ones Steve and I got in 2001, the next year they did little terracota pots with christmas cake inside, the pots were decorated with decoupage as well. We had some clever managment. So these remind us both of all the years we worked there.

These baubles are ones I got for each of the boys as they were born. It has their name and year of birth on. They love having their own thing to put on the tree each year.

Back in 2005, Grandma and Grandad were living in Spain. They were there over the Christmas of that year and so they sent us all a little gift for our tree as our presents that year. These gorgeous decorations have hung on our tree each year ever since and will do so for many years to come. The boys both got a stocking shaped one with santa and a snowman on and Steve and I got a Santa and a Snowman shaped one. I love them all.

Last year at the School Holiday Programme in the week before Christmas Ben made me this present. It is a very special present and it made me cry when I received it!

It has a very cute little verse on it.

If you have trouble reading this then you can check out my post on it from last year when I first received the gift.

So that ends the tour of my tree for this year although there is one more thing to show you...and that is the treee itself.

Merry Christmas to you all

Lost and Found Update

A couple of weeks ago I posted this about a camera we had found in our back garden.

I had just about given up hope on the guy at the windscreen place obviously doing anything for us to help find the owner.

But this morning my phone received a text from a lady saying she believed we had her camera and could she come round and collect it?

She has just been round and she was very happy that we had gone to the trouble to find her. She had a lot of pictures on the camera and it would have been a shame to have lost them.

So our good dead for the year has been rewarded, one very happy young lady just before Christmas.

Te Kowhai Tree

This is a picture of the flowering part of the Te Kowhai Tree.

They are everywhere in New Zealand and are a beautiful yellow colour.

Tui birds love them, but then so do lots of other birds, because each of those flower pods holds lots of little yellow seeds that the birds love to eat.

If you discover the little yellow seeds on the ground in abundence, then you know there is a tree near by.

This is what one of the seed looks like from the Te Kowhai Tree.

Very small, not hard but not totally soft that it squashes under your fingers.

Very attractive to kids as you can imagine! And that is where our mishap fun for the day comes into this post.

The above seed is actually the one that the kind Doctor in the Emergency department removed from Alex's ear yesterday morning!

Yes, that is correct, my 4yr old son carmly sat at the breakfast table and annouced that he had something sticky in his ear.

On further investigation it turned out to be true, and there was no way we were able to grab it ourselves. So we wipped him off to ED and the nice doctor flushed it out with Saline.

If that hadn't of worked then we would have had to go to the hospital and have it taken out under sedation, but we were determined to try every other option first!

Alex said that he found it in the garden at Daycare and decided to keep it when they called him in for lunch. Fair enough thought, although why he had to store it in his ear we will never know.

I think he has now had enough lectures about putting things in his ear (Mum, Dad, Grandma, Doctors & Nurses) that we are pretty safe that he won't do it again!

But then he is only a little boy and these things do happen!

Advent Swap Day 13

On the 13th day of Christmas my Advent Swap gave to me...

Several pots of what I do not know, but have no fear I have the internet!

So after several searches with google and a little bit of translation (who ever said an advent swap was not fun) I have managed to find this...

These are indeed several pots of floating beads to use with floating candles for a beautiful decoration effect in the water.
How cool is that, thanks Simona

Advent Swap Day 12

On the 12th day of Christmas my Advent Swap gave to me...

Some paper quills, which I have no idea what to do with?
Any suggestions out there please?

Advent Swap Day 11

On the 11th day of Christmas my Advent Swap gave to me...

A cute little snowman magnet and some ribbon for my stash
I love snowmen, think they look so cute, this one will have to go on my fridge door.