Nine

We had an early start this morning. I crawled out of bed when it was still dark to make sandwiches and get the boys' school bags ready early. Why? Because my youngest son turned 9 today and we had presents to open and cake to eat of course! There was a special card from Mummy too. My eldest son had been begging to see it for several days but I kept it well hidden. Both boys have learned to expect them and anxiously wait to see how I have portrayed them that year. This year's card seems to have been a big hit!

My son is a creative little guy. He loves to draw and has written some great short stories. He reads and reads and reads as well. Inside his special birthday card I wrote "Keep drawing. Keep writing. Keep reading. But please stop chewing your pencils and please stop spilling your food!!!". You see, with the creativeness comes a messy personality! There isn't a pencil in the house which has not been gnawed (any tips on how to get him to stop would be very much appreciated!) and he is forever spilling food on his clothes. Not everything is rosy! However, I love that he appreciates art and craft and so we'll not worry about the chewed pencils and ruined clothes for today!

So, how does the birthday boy look on his card? Well, I have shown him wearing his absolute favourite piece of clothing - his "leather" jacket which make him look so cool! He has his bullet necklace - purchased with his pocket money at The Ayalon Institute clandestine bullet factory some time ago - round his neck, and has a book in one hand and the aforementioned chewed pencil in the other. In front of him is one of his better drawings, a Doctor Who one, which I scanned and rotated a little so that it looks like he is working on it. My son thought that was great! A big orange number 9 declares his age and a favourite toy, Cookie the hamster, is perched on top of it. Finally I added some coloured Lego blocks - another favourite activity - and a big pile of books to the picture. I think it all just about sums him up!

My son's passion for creating means that he very much appreciated the couple of homemade gifts I made for him. He was fascinated when I sewed this little cross stitch, so I made him one for his room too. This one was a counted needlepoint kit and I am happy to report that, even though his bedroom walls are covered with scary looking Doctor Who posters, he seems excited to add this little cat picture to his collection. I put together his very own book as well, full of his own stories and illustrations, but am going to save that for another post.
And what's a birthday without cake? Happy Birthday to my crafty and creative 9 year old. I can't wait for your sleepover next week...

* If you would like to see some of his previous birthday cards, click here, here and here.

Frogs here, frogs there

Last week I was busy finishing off a bunch of customised card orders before the forthcoming holiday and now it is all systems go in our house as we count down to Passover. I thought I'd show you a little cross stitch design that I recently completed and actually now realise that it fits in very nicely with the current theme of Passover since frogs were the second of the ten plagues that God brought upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians, to persuade Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt.

I'll be honest, in reality this little frog doesn't really have too much to do with Passover or plagues. I used to embroider quite a bit as a young girl. My Mum created some beautiful embroidery over the years and she encouraged me to sit with her and have a go too. Time passed and I did it less and less but recently, whilst showing my own boys how to sew on plastic canvases, I dug out this little kit that has been in my sewing box for years and decided to try again.
The result is no great work of art. I don't think there are any mistakes in there, though the experts amongst you might spot one or two! However, I'm pleased to report that I really enjoyed creating something with a needle and thread again and found it relaxing to sit and stitch a little at the end of the day. At the moment there is too much going on with Seder preparations and lots of cleaning and cooking to do but, who knows, maybe after Passover I might get the urge to create something more than a little green frog!