My simple life

Friday :)

2012-03-09T08:04:00.000Z

Yey its Friday :) I know that shouldn't really matter as its not like I work but even so every day seems so full! Between school runs, nursery, volunteer work and jobs here and there the days soon fly by. I like having a day where I know I can just stay home and get on with what needs done in the house. Today one of my jobs is this

Sorting out my photos. (ignor my daughters dirty sock in the corner she was getting dressed for bed and thought it would be funny to throw it at me just as I took the photo, lol) My Snapfish delivery came yesterday and with the other photos I have being all messed up and out of order thought it was a good time to sort it all out again. As well as putting all the same ones together (all disney, all Thomas land etc) I also need to pick what photos I'm going to use for my mums mothers day album, and for the Sarahs cards retreat. Granted the latter is made so much harder by the fact we have no ink so can't print out the handbook but hey ho these things are sent to try us. lol.
Was a very proud Mummy last night, :) Was Camerons parents evening at school and turns out my clever little boy is reading at the level of a 6 year, 9 month old. A full two years above his age. :) Hes also really good at maths and can do it in his head easily. :) I couldn't stop smiling, lol. Apparently hes really happy in class and plays well now so that's very reassuring too. Its Caitlins turn to stay at my mums tonight so some quality time with my little brain box I think. :)

Productive

2012-03-08T10:34:00.003Z

I love productive days. :) Always makes me feel more relaxed at the end of the day, like I earned it somehow. Yesterday was one of those days. Managed to get a fair bit of housework done yesterday, including all the washing and sorting out the toys which really are never ending jobs, lol. I also managed to list a load of stuff on ebay and even have a few bids! So very pleased with that, lol. I had planned to start on my mums mothers day book last night but my back was acting up :( I hurt it 4 years ago when I was assaulted and its never been the same since. Obviously sitting on the floor for a few hours scrapbooking was out so decided to take some painkillers, curl up on the couch and do some more of my cross stitch. :) Felt about 85 but was relaxing lol. This is how it will look when its done

And this is how it looks now. Yeah a fair bit still to do lol. Looking forward to finishing it though as I did one before Cameron was born of Tigger and Eeyore hugging. It says underneath 'Family is for leaning on' so doing this one for Caitlin now.

Post came this morning with lots of fun parcels. :) I've started joining lots of free sample and testing sites, sometimes get little things like perfume samples but sometimes get lucky and get bigger stuff like this morning :) Box of chocolates, bottle of moisturiser and some foundation. :) Also got my photos I ordered from snapfish at the start of the month so can start planning for the Sarahs cards retreat now. :)

Flowers

2012-03-06T09:54:00.004Z

Bleh, busy rubbish day ahead. First have Marks memory specilist coming to the house to tlak to us about the results of his most recent tests (I say recent we're really going back to october here lol) then I've got my mental health classes this afternoon. So really its a mental health day I guess! lol. Have Camerons friend Zoe and her mum coming over for dinner though so that should be nice. :) Camerons excited about it, don't think I've actually told caitlin yet come to think of it.
Well away from mental issues and onto flowers. :) These are the ones I made for the flower swap I'm running. I made these out of fabric but will be making some from paper too. :)

This is also the first photo taken with my new camera. Still not fond of it but sure I'll like it once used to it. As well as the flowers last night I finished reading 'The hunger games' trilogy. If I'm honest, I was bloody gutted at the ending! I wont give too much away as I know the films coming out soon but the first two books were great, got hooked really quickly, but near the end of the third book it honestly felt like the author ran out of time and had to shove an ending together and I didnt think it really fit with the rest of the books. Nothing worse than spending days reading a book only to be let down at the end. lol

Start of the week

2012-03-05T14:50:00.003Z

This is my favorite part of the week. I sit down with a cup of coffee and plan what jobs need to be done this week. Usually I do it in the morning but Mark had dr again at 9:30 so went there right from school, then off to do shopping etc, so this is the first chance I've had to sit down! Had a busy but productive morning, lots of here there and everywhere including getting this:

Yep I've got a new camera. :) To be honest I'm not too pleased with it but the one I had broke and while I was allowed another one under the insurance they didnt have the same one in stock so had to pick a different one. I think I just need to get used to it as Mark says its a good camera and hey it takes pictures so thats a step up from my old one! lol.
Ive also been making some flowers for a swap I'm running but unfortunatly can't show you those yet :( Been using my tattered florals die in my cuttlebug which pleases Caitlin no end as she gets to turn the handle lol. Like mother like daughter :)
Thanks for all the messaged about the family hassle going on at the moment :) My grand dad is healing well but not heard any more about the radiotherapy yet. Had my neice Evie for a sleepover Friday night which all the kids enjoyed :) They made me laugh as I brought down the 2 mattresses from the kids beds and made a third 'bed' from blankets and pillows. Guess which one they all wanted to sleep on!

Right well thats the week all planned out. got to go get Cameron soon then its nice simple wraps for dinner :)

Family

2012-03-01T09:31:00.003Z

I loved half term, ok its hectic but I love having my family all under one roof and together. Suppose its more of my control side coming out. lol. But now its back to school and back to normal I treasure the time after school and the weekend. To be honest we haven't done anything amazing, we're too skint to go most places and with marks op he cant exactly go far from home anyway, but at this age it doesnt take much to make them happy. Playing the doggy doo game, computer games together or just cuddling up and watching a film. I took this photo of Caitlin yesterday when we were playing on her mobigo. She does have a dressing gown but decided daddys jumper would be much more comfy. :) I have to agree I always steal his jumpers and dressing gown. lol

Thanks for the supportive comments. Do admit with my Grand dad being poorly and trying to make sure my neices and sister and happy and safe (seems to eb getting more difficuilt by the day) its been a bit of a rough time at the moment, but sure things will change soon. :)

Hobby change :)

2012-02-28T09:47:00.002Z

Last night Mark was at his friends, usually I scrapbook but my back was killing me so really just wanted to curl up in my bed and watch tv. Problem is I can never just sit and watch tv, lol. I need something else to do to keep me occupied so I pulled out my cross stiching. :) Havent done any in I dont know how long but was nice to sit and relax with it. Even though mark made fun of me when he came in to find me fast asleep in bed holding it. lol. He's calling me granny now.
Look what I got this morning! A very nice girl called Emilie on UK scrappers was clearing out her stash and kindly offered it to a lucky person simply for the price of postage and I was the very lucky person who got it. :)

Is a much needed pick me up today as problems with my sister are getting worse (more on that tomorrow hopefully) and my grand dad is going for his first course of radiotherapy today. Going for mental health training this afternoon so looking forward to that. I miss studying so will be nice to do something productive. Right lots to do before I go so better head off!

This parenting is fun isnt it. lol

2012-02-25T09:29:00.000Z

One thing parenting never is is predictable lol. One moment the kids can be laughing and having fun, the next crying their eyes out. Go figure. Sometimes its good surprises though, Cameron for example HATED school after Christmas, cried every time we went and screamed he wanted to stay home. It was horrible :( Was dreading taking him back after half term as I figured another week off would just make him want to stay home more. However the opposite seems to have happened! Smiles every morning, off to play as soon as he gets to the play ground, its a weight off my shoulders I tel you. He seems to have calmed down a lot at home too, he was going though a shouting and hitting phase when he was upset but we told him to scream into a pillow instead which seems to be working well. :) He still makes angry faces though. This is his 'You're not being fair!' face. One to show the girlfriends when hes older I think!

Hopefully he wont make this face when he sees his new blue room though. :) Finally finished painting it blue to go with his blue curtains/carpet/wardrobe/bed/lampshade. Can you tell what Camerons favourite colour is? lol. Hes at my mums this morning so gives me time to sort out his toys etc before I put them all back in.
Oh almost forgot Marks op went fine. :) he got home late last night and is on painkillers still but nothing big. :) Caitlin made me cry though, lol. Whenever I say no for anything and shes in a bad mood she does the usual teenage type thing of 'I dont like you!' shouting and stamping feet. Then last night she said this as I put her to bed
Caitlin - I love you when you're nice to me mummy.
Me - I love you too
Caitlin - *hugs me* But even when you're nasty to me and say no, I still love you.
awwww!!!

Ohhhh goodies :)

2012-02-24T08:02:00.001Z

Well bit stressed and worried this morning so was thrilled to have this be handed to me today :) For valintines we were skint but then sold some bits on ebay (got to love ebay) so spent a bit on ourselves as 'gifts'. I was torn between so many yummy new lines from CHA but decided on these two 'My little shoebox' lines.
Lovely day - http://www.sarahscardsltd.com/shop/346/997/2524/index.htm And
Up in the trees - http://www.sarahscardsltd.com/shop/346/997/2521/index.htm
Im not usually a big 'My little shoebox' fan but I LOVE these papers! Actually wish I bought 2 sets as the other sides are so nice too. lol

Plan for today is to finish painting Cams room, bake some cakes with Caitlin (might need to bribe her with the cakes and a dvd to finish the painting lol) basically anything to distract myself. lol

head gone somewhere

2012-02-23T16:55:00.000Z

Well so far its been a scary but positive week. My granddad had an operation on Wednesday to remove a tumor from his arm. We were obviously worried about it but he did well and they think they got it all. :) He just needs to get a course of radiotherapy to be sure. Tomorrow its hubbys turn for an operation. Nothing serious but obviously with general anastetic and a not fully healthy patient there's always worries. :(
Well to keep my mind off fretting I've been painting Camerons room. :) OMG hes got so many more toys than I thought he did! Was moving them all out of the way, emptying his toybox etc just kept finding more. lol. Going to finish painting tomorrow then will sort out the toys before they go back in the room I think. While I was painting on Tuesday I also had craft day on qvc on in the background. I admit I havent watched one in ages but cant really watch Criminal minds while the kids are awake and it was better than cebeebies lol. To be honest there wasnt TOO much I saw I wanted, lol, a couple of good deals on punches and a few dies I liked but nothing I contemplated pulling the credit card out for. Just one thing:

I love my cuttlebug but never bought an alphabet as I only really like Bigz dies and an alphabet in them are SO expencive. This one was only £30 though!! Mothers day coming up, know what I'm asking for :)

Using it all up

2012-02-19T09:43:00.001Z

Like most people, I have q number of hobbies. These include:
Reading
Scrapping
Jigsaws
Cross stitching
Now with only a small house the sheer amount of STUFF can be very over whelming. Particually with all the kids toys and all Marks warhammer stuff (which he never does anymore but dont get me started on that! lol) So I tend to feel quite under pressure to use up my bits. Jigsaws and books for example I very rarely use again once done so will sell on/donate once finished. I always feel good when I've finished with some books or whatever and they're all off to a new home. :) This week I seem to be going through a book/jigsaw phase. A carrier bag of books and a jigsaw have both been sold. :) Last night infact I couldnt sleep so finished this one in one night. lol.

So this will probably be on facebook for sale tomorrow. lol. Pretty much sold all the stuff I did have up so will be hunting for some more during the week. :) I find it strangly fun selling bits, plsu all adds up for the holiday :)
Adding to the pile of scrapping stuff though is this. :) I ran a kit swap on uks and this is what I received. How yummy is this paper!!! So thrilled with it, hoping I go through a scrapping phase next week to use it up :)

Feeding the ducks

2012-02-17T20:23:00.004Z

On Thursday I took the kids to the boating lake to feed the ducks and play at the park. We didnt get to the park in the end thanks to the drunk teenagers there (at 10am! phoned the police, lol) but they enjoyed feeding the ducks anyway :) I didnt take my camera with me but took this with my phone.

It wasnt until i got home that I remembered Id took a very similar photo 2 years ago.

Amazes me how much Caitlins grown since then while Cameron looks about the same size lol. Think I'm going to edit the new one a bit so its black and white and landscape like the other and do a comparason layout. I love the way it shows that although 2 years has passed, not much has really changed :)

Psychic, spoooooky

2012-02-16T09:08:00.000Z

I've been meaning to blog this for ages lol, but you know what I'm like. I went to see a psychic at my mums on Saturday, was pretty impressed! We all had individual readings done and it was strange how similar mine and my mums was at points. She went after me and the psychic didnt know we were related. (mum removed all photos from the house lol) While she was doing my 'reading' she wrote down her predictions, however I'm bound to lose the paper sometime during the year so thought I'd put it here to give me somewhere to look back on. Some have kinda already come true so I'll put notes next to it too :)

1 - Watch my car keys, dont go locking them in the boot! (yeah sounds very much like something I would do, lol, locked Caitlin in our old car once, had to smash the kitchen window to get the spare key lol)

2 - Lucky numbers 2, 3, 19, 28 (I turn 28 this year, Caitlins born on the 3rd, no idea about the rest)

3 - I will get surprising news in February.

4 - In March someone will get a cough. This will worry me badly as it seems a very bad cough but with antibiotics it will be fine.

5 - I will either move, or discuss moving this year (cant see that, spent a fortune on doing this place up and its right next to cams school)

6 - There will be words and a general unease between me and a selfish family member in March. (hmmm, wonder who that could be!? lol. She also told mum there will be family problems involving a solicitor this month.)

7 - My hours of work will change (I'm assuming my voluntary work, otherwise any hours of work would be a change lol)

8 - A nice, kind male from my life will have some bad news about someone close to him. This will lead to a very low time in his life but he will be ok. (Marks mum has been poorly recently :( )

9 - There will be wedding news, it will be a happy occasion (I think i made a face because I thought about my sister lol) The number 13 will be important (I was married on the 13th)

10 - I will take a journey in May. She can see I'm worried about it but it will be fine and the place I'm going is beautiful. (she told mum this too, we're going on holiday together)

11 - A female close to me is hating their job, tell her to hold on it will all change in summer. (told mum her job will change this summer, lol)

12 - Check the cooker, its a minor problem but could get much worse if not checked.

13 - There are health concerns regardning an M in my life. There will be ups and downs for a while but all will lift in the summer (Marks had some problems with his bloods recently)

14 - I have a good relationship, my partner has a kind heart and is a general good guy. Our kids are very different, the older loves their studies while the younger is more laid back (thats an understatement! lol) but will both grow up their own way and will do fine in life.

15 Now this is the big one, she started with this prediction and came back to it twice, adamant its going to happen. Yeah apprently Im having a baby late this year! Ok I SO cannot see this happening but everyone I've mentioned it to has said 'Yeah I think you'll have another one' lol. Well, we'll see.

Since the reading its weird how much has come true for the other girls. Katie was given a lucky number she put on the bonus ball at work and won £125, she was also told her daughters would be invited to a party short notice and she'd be travelling to leicester soon. Lorraine was told a close male friend would move over seas, one of her friends has just had an offer to work in america, she told my mum her dad had an illness in his arm (thats where his cancer is) and said plenty of accurate things about my sister. I think the strangest one is one of the girls was told she'd have a baby boy. After the reading she admitted shes already 7 weeks pregnant! lol. We're all waiting for the scan now to see if shes right. :) Bit of a way to go granted. lol

WOYWW

2012-02-15T09:11:00.003Z

Been a while since Ive done one of these. :) Usually because Ive no idea what day it is, lol.
As usual my desk is a mess. Ive given up saying I'll tidy it and scrap on it rather than the floor because to be honest I know I wont. lol. Not only is it pretty dark under the stairs but I like to watch a film or something when I scrap, and since my pc gave up the ghost only option is our TV, which I obviously have my back to on my desk. lol.

These were also on my desk lol but just discovered half of them this morning. Because I don't have a huge amount of storage, all my spare alphas are kept in a box in the garage. As a result if the alphas I've put in the kit I'm using (I make all my papers and bits into kits)don't fit the layouts I've done, the layout gets put in a pile to finish later. This pile can get pretty big before 'later' comes along, theres actually one there from November. lol.

Well today is a bits and bobs day I think. Floor needs done, toys need sorted, but both kids are home so not like I can focus on one job and get it done! lol. Oh well, going to the cinema tonight to see Cronicle hopefully :) Not been out since before christmas so should be fun!

ohhhhh so excited :)

2012-02-11T11:49:00.002Z

Tonight I'm going to my mums house, nothing too exciting there lol, except tonight she has a tarot reader coming. :) I LOVE all that psychic stuff and apprently shes really good so im so excited! Even if shes not that good will still be a good night out, :) A few of mums workmates and one of my friends are coming round too and we're all bringing a bottle so will be a good laugh either way. :) Really got loads to do today before I go and I've done none of it! wheres the morning gone?! I think I spent most of it uploading things for sale on facebook. Mum and I are clearing out garages and lofts to raise money for our holiday. Going ok so far though my mums got a bit of an inflated idea of how much people will pay for things. £15 for a second hand coat is a bit steep IMO even though it is still new. lol. Funnily enough when I convinced her to reduce it to £7 it sold right away.
On that note I still have these stamps for sale. Now £4 including post. :)

Hope everyones having a good weekend, will be back tomorrow to say how I got on. Think I could ask her for the lottery numbers? lol

Tummy bugs are no fun

2012-02-10T10:49:00.000Z

Well yesterday I had that horrible winter tummy bug. :( Well I dont think it was the full blown one as only lasted 24 hours but what a horrible 24 hours it was! Ah well its good for the diet as still no appitite lol.
I managed a bit of scrapping the other night. :) My mojo was back and was really enjoying it, unfortunatly Cameron wasn't in a sleepy mood (sore legs, head, eyes etc) so that kinda interupted me. lol. It got to 9:30 and I'd had enough of going up and down the stairs every 2 minutes so I just brought him down and sat rocking him on my knee until he fell asleep. Which ment I couldnt scrap. :( Infact the only thing I could do was browse on the internet using only the mouse. Spent a couple of hours watching film clips on IMDb before I got bored and went to bed! lol. I did manage one though.

Took this photo 2 christmas' ago. It was the first time the kids were old enough to really understand the whole thing and put a snack out for santa. :) Made it all the more magic for me. lol.
Well Caitlin was supposed to stay at my mums tonight but didnt want to go as she'd miss me (awww) so both kids are tucked up in bed with a film each after playing games together. Not sure what I'm going to do tonight as its cold!!!!! might just curl up in bed and watch tv :)

Cakes never last long in this house

2012-02-08T08:23:00.000Z

It never fails to amaze me how quick they get eaten. I did a batch bake yesterday of blueberry muffins, and strawberry fairy cakes. I let Caitlin put buttercream and sprinkles on the strawberry ones as I dont like them, lol. I think my floor was covered in the sprinkles more than the cakes granted but she had fun. :)

I think they look quite pretty considering a 3 year old did them. :) We had Camerons friend Zoe round for dinner which the kids loved. Was nice as she went to nursery with both Caitlin and Cameron so was happy to play with both of them. Tired poor Caitlin out I think as she fell asleep on my knee not long after Zoe went home. Was nice having her cuddled up fast asleep on my chest. :) Horrible part of the kids growing up, they grow up!

Feeling good. :)

2012-02-06T10:20:00.002Z

Not sure why, not that I shouldn't feel good mind you but I've just woke up in a good mood this morning. Ready and raring to go, lol. I think I'm annoying Mark a bit as hes really not in the same mood lol. Poor guys walking about like a zombie yawning away and I'm singing and listing all the jobs I want to get done today, which unfortunately involves a trip up town. lol. Hoping the roads arnt too bad after yesterday, but will just take it slow. Caitlins home too as I think shes still ill. Her temperature is gone but shes sleeping loads, not eating much and crying at everything, so still not herself. Going to wrap her up warm and hopefully the fresh air will help.
Still havent done much crafting recently. its bad really as almost makes me feel bad that I have so much stash just sitting there. I will have to make my mum a mini book for mothers day though so my mojo better come back soon! lol. I did manage this one the other night though. Last christmas Cameron woke up way before Caitlin, after waiting nearly an hour we decided to wake her, much to her annoyance. lol. I love how these photos show her yawning and looking deeply unimpressed with the gifts in her stockings. She was happier when she got downstairs though :)

Love this felt stocking, so cut out a few gifts to go inside. :)

Right better get on and head into town. :)

Its snowing!!

2012-02-05T12:00:00.004Z

Lol, pretty sure most people have snow today, amazing how yesterday there was none, then overnight its just everywhere! Must admit I was probably more excited than the kids, lol. So off we went with our sledges. :) Poor Caitlins still not too well so just wanted to walk with me and hold my hand but Cameron was quite happy to be pulled along. lol

We met up with my Mum, Dad and Mollie and Evie at the park. Caitlin and Evie decided sledging wasn't for them so built a snowman instead while the daredevil kids went down the hill. lol. I did try and help them but apprently I was doing it wrong. :s

We couldnt find any twigs or rocks to make a face so after a quick trip to my mums we decided to improvise with some mushrooms. lol I think they made our snowman look miserable but the girls were happy with it, lol.

Got to love my dad, he never just does what everyone else is doing and this time decided a snowman was boring, he was going to make 4 thrones. lol.

Unfortunatly Grandad was a little big for his throne.

Well after all the fun in the snow we're now home for lots of tea, tv and baking this afternoon. :) Hope everyones staying warm and safe!

New week, new start

2012-01-30T10:29:00.002Z

New week, new start, no more moaning, time to get on with it. :) Had quite a nice weekend, didnt do much Saturday and went to a party Sunday. My 'work' homestart had a fun day for the kids so took my two along. They had a great time playing with all the craft stuff and games. There was a lady there doing circus tricks and teaching the kids too. Was nice to see them playing together and having fun. Cameron was so tired out from the day he was asleep on the floor by seven. lol.
Havent done any crafting yet, still reading and doing puzzles, lol. Did do this last week though, wasn't going to show it yet as its for an upcoming challenge on UKS, but decided I didnt like it and did another one. lol. So will show this one but won't tell you the rules. :p

Love these flowers. This is the newest Sarahs card kit and had a sheet of these in it. basically a sheet of pop out flowers you twirl up to make 3d ones.

Ironing to do today, then doimg a roast for dinner tonight as kids were so stuffed on party food yesterday they didnt want dinner! lol

Thank god this week is over. Last money post I promise

2012-01-28T10:31:00.001Z

I said at the start of the week I had a bad feeling this week was going to be rubbish. Oh how right I was! As well as the number of problems we had with Cameorn and school, and my Grandad having scans to see how far the cancer has spread (Wont find out until the end of Febuary!) we got a letter from the benifits office yesterday cancellning marks disability, so we are now £740 a month down. :( We rang around and canceled some luxuries, cut down on what we could and it should be just about manageable, just nothing left for emergencies or treats. :( Mark can't work, all of his drs agree so looks like I'll be looking for a job! He can't deal with the housework either, really he should be on his own for too long as he does stupid things like leaving the oven on, or leaving the door wide open when he goes to the shops. So god knows how we're going to cope. :( We'll manage though I guess. we always do. lol

catch up

2012-01-25T21:27:00.005Z

Ok, this did start as a post about my determination to catch up with all the bits and bobs I havent done recently, but now its a bit of a rant (yes another one) about modern technology. Ok I'm going to sound about 99 right now but I HATE all this new stuff! Take Marks new Christmas toy for example, I got him a external hard drive. We can store all the kids dvds on there he says, can stream them to the tv wirelessly so we don't have a big box of dvds beside the tv. Great, except sometimes the file isnt recognised, and if the internet drops out halfway through the film stops, and sometimes the sound isnt synced right to whoever is talking!!! He also suggested putting all our photos on there to keep as a back up. Now I'm really anal about my photos on my computer, all are organised into folders based on year taken, and all are titled with month and place of taking. Somewhere between copying from my computer and putting it on this thing half have got lost and the rest have lost all their titles and folders! They're still on my computer than goodness so will try and figure out how to fix it, lol. And these Ipods which download the whole flamming album when I just want one song, I miss cds!
Well back to my original blog post topic, lol. Recently I've been SO tired and drained, I think its been all the rubbish lately has taken it out of me, so a lot of little 'to dos' have fallen by the wayside. One thing on the list is to make notes of ideas to scrapbook about. Usually I just look at a photo and base it on that, but sometimes the kids will do something, or I'll think of something I want them to know should I not be around when they're older and I never remember it when it comes to scrapping as theres no photo to remind me iykwim. One thing I made a note of is how quick the kids grow, I know everyone says it but you really don't get it I think until you have kids of your own. Well it made me think of the photo I took of Cameron when he was 6 months old

Not a happy bunny is he, lol, but it was more the size of the 360 controller I thought of, compared there to here

Much more happy with it now playing with Daddy last week, lol. So much has changed between those two photos, but honestly doesn't seem that long. They grow up so fast! lol.
Well didnt get anything done today, Cameron was off school again so made some blueberry muffins at home with Caitlin as obviously missed the cooking class. Were a bit doughy as Cait was a bit heavy handed with the milk but most have been eaten so cant be that bad, lol. He WILL be going tomorrow though so hopefully will be able to do a lot of the little run around bits I need to do. Fingers crossed!

bleh, moany post, feel free to ignore

2012-01-24T18:39:00.005Z

Sunday night I told my mum I had a bad feeling about this week. So far I've been proved right, lol. Cameron was ill yesterday with a sore throat and temp so he stayed home, this morning he went to school but not without a few tears, the social services meeting was a COMPLETE waste of time, sister had a big hissy fit at me as I said I wasn't prepared to babysit her kids anymore if it involved contact with mine. OK sounds harsh on the surface but last Saturday I was supposed to be babysitting Lillie. She was supposed to be here at 12pm and my two were so excited! 1pm still no sign so I rang my sister to find out I was no longer needed. I was pissed off she hadn't even told me and Camerons was gutted he wasn't seeing Lillie. Wednesday we were supposed to be going to cooking groups with caitlin and Evie. Another last minute cancellation from sister, though she did txt me this time so improvement I guess. Then Saturday, she begged me to bring the kids round hers as she last saw cameron in July. Again cancelled last minute, two gutted kids. So kinda had enough now. My two see the girls quite often as when my mum has them I take them round, and we go swimming with them every Wednesday, so no harm for them, just sister. Mark discovered another health worry to add to the pile and then Cameron was sent home early from school feeling ill. :( Tomorrow is busy but hopefully better. I've got a cooking class with Caitlin first thing in the morning, volunteer work then town with and drs with Mark. eugh ignore me in tired and cranky, lol.

Nice relaxing days. :)

2012-01-22T10:19:00.004Z

Yesterday I was supposed to go to my sisters but she had to go to town. The weather was dreadful but wanted the kids to have some fresh air so thought we'd take them to the shops/library on their scooters. Its only a 30 minute round trip walking so didn't think would take too long. Oh how wrong I was, 2 hours and many many puddles later 4 very wet but happy members of the household came home. lol. We'd got lots of books and some chocolate biscuits from the shop so changed into comfy jammies and settled down to a relaxing afternoon reading and playing games with the kids. :) As the day had been so nice we decided to get a Chinese as a treat. We always order a bit more than we need so it usually does Mark for lunch the next day. We ordered it at 5, an hour later it shows up freezing cold. So we complained and they sent out a second order for free! Mark was a very happy bunny, his pile of food was stupidly huge, lol plus plenty of leftovers for dinner tonight :)
All this chilling out seems to have done my mojo the world of good too. lol. Managed 3 layouts last night, can only show you two though as one if for an upcoming challenge on UKS.
This is the first one I did from my new SC kit. I was going to save them up for the retreat but I loved this one so had to use it lol.

I loved this title and thought it went well with most of my photos but picked this one. lol. It doesn't show up too well in this photo but all of the papers used are embossed. I loved how textured the papers were in this kit, I admit I often find it hard to get texture on my layouts without ripping or distressing so this makes it so much easier. lol.

This is the layout I started the other night. Its from a kit I got in a kit swap ages ago and as I'm hosting a new one I thought it would be nice to use up my old one. :) The photo is of Cameron playing on a huge sheet of bubble wrap. I ordered something around Christmas, cant remember what, and he spent ages just jumping about on it. lol

I used up loads of little bits on this layout. There is a whole sheet of rub ons used on the blue paper at the bottom, and lots of diecuts to frame the photo. I love how bright it all is.

Not doing much today. Have to clean the kitchen cupboards but other than that more chilling is needed! I got lots of books yesterday much to marks annoyance as I still have a big pile beside the bed I've not read, not to mention the ones on my kindle lol. but what can I say, I just love books! lol I do read fast which helps, couldnt sleep last night so read one of them then, lol. A few more days of insomnia and I'll be done im sure. lol

More scrapping. :)

2012-01-20T14:12:00.003Z

Well a little bit anyway, lol. As I enjoyed it the night before I decided to do some more last night. Got all my stuff out, picked a photo, put a layout together, then went to bed. lol. Honestly was 9pm and I couldn't keep my eyes open! its all still on the floor so just needs gluing together then done. lol Won't be doing it tonight though as out for an Italian with my mum and some of her friends from work. Should be nice. :)

Also this came this morning. This months sc kit and I LOVE it! Kinda want to stay home tonight and use it, lol. Its got a textured pink woodgrain paper in which I think might join my 'too pretty to use' pile.

Had a nice morning this morning. I admit I'm usually one of those 'I'll play with you in a moment' mums. Unless I've set aside some time to do an activity with the kids I don't often play with them on the spur of the moment iykwim. If I do its usually only for 10 minutes or so before I have to rush off and do the washing or something. Yesterday though I hurt my back, it felt a bit better this morning so I did the cleaning including the floors which obviously put it back to square one. lol. As I result I was stuck lying in bed. Caitlin decided to join me to read books and watch a dvd. Was really nice! I couldn't get up to do anything so all my attention was on just time with her, made me realise I dont do the simple things enough. We go to the park, swimming, childrens centers often, but sometimes they just need some quiet time with Mummy.

Ive actually scrapped, and liked it!

2012-01-19T13:57:00.003Z

While I have done some scrapping since Christmas, I didn't really like the layouts I'd done. I think i made the mistake of using my 'odd bits' while I didn't really have much mojo. So last night I sat down with a few kits and used those instead. :) Granted I only got one done as poor Cameron was up a lot with sore legs (growing pains we're thinking) but like the one I did. :)

This is me on our 'honeymoon' years ago. A few weeks before we were supposed to be married Mark was very very ill and we were told he wouldn't survive the week; so we cancelled our big wedding and honeymoon and just had a rush job at our local register office. Obviously he pulled through lol but by that point we'd lost thousands. We'd also been trying for a baby for a while, we knew from Marks previous marriage it would be difficult as his illness had caused problems for him, but apparently it had got so bad we had a less than 1% chance of ever conceiving naturally. Obviously this was all a big shock so we decided to blow the last of our savings and have a late honeymoon to get away for a bit and take stock of the past few months. This is me on the balcony of our hotel. If I look a bit green its because I was ill the whole time we were away. I thought I had food poisoning. Mum thought different and the day after we returned I took a pregnancy test and discovered I was pregnant with Cameron. :) To say I was shocked was an understatement! So love this title, as I really had no clue how much my life was already changing when this photo was taken :)

sleepy monday

2012-01-16T09:06:00.003Z

OK, I admit it, the words I planned to alter over the weekend look the exact same today as they did on Friday. lol. I did do a bit of scrap booking though so that's something :) More importantly, guess where I was last night! Here's a clue :)

Yep I went to see Billy Connolly live! It was amazing, really good seats near the front, so funny. Was quite surreal actually. Ive been watching him on tv as long as I can remember so to see him actually live in front of my just seemed so strange. My mum watched the kids while we went so considering we weren't back until 12 I bet shes shattered this morning bless her. I cant really remember much of what he said as he did his usual thing of starting one story, halfway through starting another and then going back to the first story an hour or so later. lol. One of my favourite jokes I do remember though was this one. I removed the swearing, lol. (if you're religious don't read!)
A couple is on their way to their wedding when they unfortunately crash their car and die. At the pearly gates they see St Peter and ask if its possible to get married in heaven. He tells them to wait there while he goes to find out. 3 Months pass and he returns to tell them yep its fine no problem. 'Sorry St Peter' They reply, 'We've been thinking about it and maybe eternity together is a very long time, is it possible to get divorced in heaven?' St Peter throws down his clipboard in anger 'Look! Its took me 3 months to find a priest in there you want me to go try to find a lawyer?!' lol. Well I found it funny. :)
Lots of ironing to do today, plus taking Cameron to a friends house to play tonight. His first play date with someone from school, god I hope he behaves!

Square toast

2012-01-13T09:20:00.003Z

One quirk I love about kids is how different forms make things MUCH more appealing. For example, normal pasta, Cameron wont touch, however if its in the shape of a train, then it turns yummy, lol. Its similar to what I call the 'Nannys house effect' where chocolate moose here is horrible, but yummy at Nannys house, carrots here Caitlin will eat a bowl full, but wont touch them at Nannies; oh and they HAVE to be cut into circles, carrot sticks, triangles, anything but circles changes the taste somehow lol.
Now toast, psychologists have probably done a study somewhere to see how you like your toast cut reflects your personality. I did google it to see if they had but only came up with lots of wedding toasts. lol. However in case any psychologists with spare time are reading this this is how toast is cut in our family.
Me - Toast cut in half into two rectangles.
Mark - Doesn't cut it, just one large slice.
Cameron - Cut into four squares.
Caitlin - Cut into four triangles.
Why?! Seriously why does it matter? lol. Ok the adults are not as fussy as the kids, I will eat toast in squares or triangles but the kids, noooooooo, toast HAS to be in those shapes or it will not pass their lips. Suppose it could be worse, Caitlin went through a phase of wanting hers cut into circles with the cookie cutter. Thank god that's over!
Well doing a lot of jobs out the house today. Christmas bits to return, shopping, booking kids birthday party (for April, lol, how prepared am I?) then meeting mum for either a coffee or glass of wine depending how her day has gone. lol. Its Caitlins turn to stay at my mums tonight so will be having a nice night just us and Cameron too. :) Also hoping to do this sometime over the weekend

Mum bought me the Welcome word for christmas. I love the green as it matches my hall so planning to add a bit of bling or some flowers to make it stand out a bit, then paint and alter the photo frame to match. :) Not got a clear image in my head how it will turn out but hopefully will figure it out as I go along. lol

Grrr cant I home school?!

2012-01-12T09:32:00.002Z

OK I know I can't really, well I could do the teaching part but if I home school will hardly solve the issue. lol. The issue being other kids. :( I'm sure all mums feel the same, all the ones I've spoke to have done anyway lol, but I HATE the idea my childs being left out. Camerons been crying every morning before he goes to school, not just whinging but full on heaving sobs, breaks my heart. Been asking him why and he just says he doesnt want to go to school, which is odd because he used to love it. This morning he wouldnt go and play with anyone saying his best friend wasnt there and he went into school all alone and looking so sad. :( Turns out theres also been another party he wasnt invited to. it wasnt just him there was a load of other boys too but still I think its harsh. For Camerons birthday in April I'm booking a big hall and inviting everyone to make sure nobodys left out, just seems sad to be so selective at this age when really very few of them are going to have select friends. Going to have a word with the teacher tomorrow and see how he is in class as he comes out of school happy enough so might just be a morning thing.
Anyway on a happier note took the kids swimming yesterday. They loved it. :) We've never been in the pool since it was all rebuilt and its pretty good. Caitlin as usual put her armbands on, chuck her in shes off lol. Camerons a bit more careful lol. Was great though as by the end of an hour he was in the deep end 'swimming' with me holding him up lol. Going to make it a weekly thing I think as want Camerons confidence built up before the holiday in May.
Right well off to a mum and baby group with my sister today then off to my grans after Cams school, hopefully a busy but a nice busy day. lol

Getting there and stuff for sale. :)

2012-01-09T10:08:00.005Z

I think that's going to be the mantra for the week lol.I've said it before and I'll say it again, it never fails to amaze me that despite having frequent 'decluttering' sessions theres always more to chuck next time I do it, even if I've bought nothing new in the meantime!! This week I'm focusing on the kitchen cupboards, and my desk. Marks even getting into it by clearing out a load of his stuff from the desk too. :) As a result it looks loads better already!
I'm being really strict with myself too, getting rid of things I've had for ages but never used or not used as much as I thought I would. One big thing on this is stamps. I'm always getting stamps I think are pretty, but I never stamp! Never got on with it, lol. So I've given all my part used ones to a friend and selling these ones as still in the packet. Anybody want them? Only asking £5 including UK post.

Also selling this. Its been on my shelf for ages as I really like the whole grunge look, but to be honest its just too much work. lol. I did it once but have to do all my inking/painting outside which is just too cold and too much hassle. £6 including UK post.

Well cameron went to school again today. Still a bit subdued about the idea but no tears so thats a big improvement on Friday! Hoping he'll get back into it soon as he's always loved school. Caitlins home as no nursery today but bribed her with some sweets and Tangled on the tv so I can continue with the decluttering. tackling more of the desk today plus a couple of kitchen cupboards. Not looking forward to that one! lol

Eastenders has nothing on my family

2012-01-08T10:05:00.003Z

Seriously sometimes I feel like I'm in a soap and nobody told me. Honestly its like one drama after another sometimes. Friday was a perfect example, Here was my day:
5am - Up playing with Caitlin who decided it was morning and wouldn't go back to sleep.
6:30am - Caitlin goes back to sleep
7am - Wake up a very tired and pissed of Caitlin for nursery, Wake an even more pissed off Cameron whos a little shell shocked at going back to school after the holidays.
7-8:30 - Deal with Cameron crying about everything from there being too much cereal in his bowl to the fact his best friend isnt in the same group as him at school.
9:am - Pour a strong coffee down my throat and drag a still crying Cameron to school. Home to do quick housework.
9:30 - Off to social services meeting RE sister. Grab a kitkat for brekkie.
10-12:30 - Meeting went not too bad. More information about new years came up, namely that he'd battered her so hard he'd perforated her eardrum. Explains why she wouldnt see me the next day. End result was that Nicolas got to continue to go to groups, and its going to be put to the courts that the girls are removed while she gets the help, then returned later. Not sure how I feel about this at the moment to be honest.
12:30 - talk to gran about grandads appointment. We found out he had cancer just before christmas but they didnt know what type. Were supposed to find out that morning which obviously has had everyone worried sick. Nope, no information yet going to be another two weeks (AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!)
1pm - Meet mum for Coffee to go over this morning, starving by this point on having caffeine shakes but nowhere seems to sell bloody sandwiches!
3pm - Drop mum at home, collect cam from school then go home to make dinner.
4:30 - just as dinners coming out of the oven, get a frantic call from mum. Social worker has rung her saying some evidence has come up and the girls have to go see a dr in northampton that night to be examined. So dinner abandoned, run off to mums to deal with 3 hyped up girls, their scared nanny and very angry mummy and her partner.
5pm-9pm - Go to see specialist dr with the girls. Wasnt actually as bad as I thought little darlings took it all in their stride. All tests/interviews came back fine. Big sigh of relief.
9pm - Home to reheated dinner and a glass of wine.
See why I say my life is like Eastenders! This week brings more meetings, volunteer work and taking my sister and youngest nice to mother and baby groups. So plan for today is chilling!
Another plan for today is to tackle this:

One of my new years resolutions is to scrap more, but over Christmas my desk is just been a dumping ground for anything without a home, probably gonna take a while but got to at least start sorting this mess! lol Hope every ones having a great weekend :)

Too many hobbies

2012-01-05T09:56:00.005Z

As problems go, its a pretty nice one to have, but I seriously have too many hobbies. lol. I promised myself in the new year I'd do more crafting, but I also want to read more, play computer games, cross stitch and jigsaws, oh and puzzles from the magazines I get each week. With kids and housework, theres just not enough time in the day! lol.
Still havent managed any scrapping, been reading lots lately; but these are some more I found on my desk.

Short post today as to be honest my mind is elsewhere. Have a few things going on tomorrow which can either go really well, or really bad. FX for at least some good news! lol

Woops. lol

2012-01-04T09:30:00.000Z

Well I haven't managed any scrapping yet, I did plan and cut a layout, but not stuck anything down yet, lol. However while tidying my desk I found a big pile of layouts I forgot I'd done! Now theres a good chance some of these are gonna be scrap lifted as they're from my sc kit, but as I did them back in November I've no idea which ones are or who did them first. Sorry!!
Been trying to use up the really old photos I've got still waiting to be scrapped, so this one from two years ago now needed to be done. It was around Christmas at my mums so obviously loads of photos were being taken. Cameron was getting a bit bored if you can't tell. lol

This one I know was scrap lifted but cant remember who did it. I loved the way they'd used all the rub ons on the one page though for journalling prompts. Its quite a simple page but I really like it :)

I think everyones got these, and the title pretty much sums it up 'Bad photos but great memories' I took these the first time the kids were playing on kinnectimals, they were having so much fun but unfortunately were in front of a large window so they came up really dark. I still wanted to document it though so used the photos anyway. lol.

Love this photo of Caitlin, we bought this dora doll offline and was amazed how big it was since I was expecting a normal sized doll and it was huge!

Thought this big flower went well with this as obviously huge like the doll. lol. It was a bit plain however I blinged it up. lol.

Well as usual im running late. Money came out of my account this morning and I'm currently on the phone to the bank trying to find out where it went. Typically the guy I'm talking to doesn't know much english and is reading from a script, shoot me now. lol

Back to normal, well kinda, lol

2012-01-02T09:37:00.005Z

Well Caitlin's back to nursery tomorrow, and Cameron's off to school again Wednesday and I'm back to 'work' too so things are starting to get back to normal after the Christmas break. I do love Christmas but after all the hype its nice to calm down and get things organised again. Hardest part is always finding places for all the new stuff! lol. I've sorted out pretty much all the toys, its getting harder now as the toys seem to be getting bigger as the kids get bigger. lol, so just sorting out the adults gifts and housework today. The kids have loads of crafty gifts for Christmas so think I might get some of those out and leave them to it. :)
Typically as I had a lot planned I woke up this morning full of the cold. Been feeling a little rough lately but all stuffed up and yuck this morning. Bleh, so a big cup of coffee needed. :) on that note, look what santa brought me! (and yes that is my to do list on the bottom corner. lol)

This is my Keep cup. :) Its actually one of my favourite gifts even though I think it was one of the cheapest. lol. I admit I'm a huge coffee addict. I love going to costa and wondering about the house with a cup during the day, so this is ideal. :) I can use it for takeaways and it saves a disposable cup, and it keeps my coffee warm for longer and its less likely to spill. Both are big issues any mother will be familiar with! lol. Cant wait to take it on the Sarah's cards retreat as I go through stupid amounts of disposable cups while there. lol.
Staying on the gifts theme here's another gift santa (and by santa I mean of course mark, lol) brought. :) Ive wanted one of these types of frames for ages, and some people may remember me making a paper one ages ago. safe to say this one is nicer. lol. This is due to go up today but still not sure where. lol.

And of course Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without craft gifts! Admittedly I picked most of it out myself but Mark got me the stickers by himself. :) With his problems obviously he struggles with choosing gifts but bless him he did well this year. :)

Look, new dies! Just need to start scrapping again to use them. lol. Also love these felt embellishments, the snowflakes are so cute and quite detailed considering how small they are. :)

I would say I'm hoping to scrap tonight but to be honest since I haven't scrapped in so long my desk has just become a dumping ground for letters, forms and anything else with needs a home over the past month, so got to start sorting that first! lol

New year :)

2012-01-01T10:50:00.000Z

New year, new start as they always say. Well i was hoping for one but that got shot in the foot lol. 1 hour my sister lasted into 2012 before getting into trouble, chucking a hairbrush at her bfs nose and getting arrested. *sigh* oh well obviously starting as she means to go on! So woke up to a txt from the bf at 3 saying he was in hospital getting his nose sorted, went to police but couldn't get any info so home again to try and get some sleep. Just lucky really the girls weren't there. We also found out a few days before Christmas my grandad has cancer in his arm. But as we wont know details of that until the 6th, we're trying to stay positive.
OK so that's all the bad news out of the way! All things considered it was actually a really good Christmas/new year.
The Friday before Christmas I took Caitlin to see Cinderella at our local theatre. She did NOT like the ugly sisters but other than that enjoyed it. If I'm honest there were a few too many smutty joke for my liking but obviously they went right over Caitlin's head, lol.

Christmas morning went as expected lol. Lots of squealing, paper flying everywhere and very happy kids. :) Cameron was in such a frenzy and loving every gift that when he unwrapped his car track which was in a plain white box, he screamed 'look, Santa's got me a box!' lol.

Caitlin was a little calmer than him, but I love the differences in them. Cameron will just unwrap everything madly without fully looking at anything until its all unwrapped, while Caitlin will unwrap one, want to play, and actually need encouraging to open the next gift, lol.

After gifts were opened we went to my mums for breakfast and gifts from Granny. Grandad didnt feel up to coming up which was understandable but obviously sad. The kids were already flagging by this point so we brought them home to play with thier toys. :) Was the first time Ive not had dinner at my mums house for chrismtas which I thought would be weird but to be honest it was really nice it just being the four of us.

I didnt bother with a big roast dinner and just made a little buffet instead which went down well, and we played with the kids new toys and games. We got caitlin the Doggy doo game she wanted. Oh my god what a gorss game. The dog doesnt just poop it makes really discusting noises while its doing it! The kids (and daddy) found it very funny though so thats the main thing. :)

Well hope everyone had a great christmas and new year :) Will be blogging more now things are getting back to normal. Well, hopefully normal, you never know whats around the corner do you! lol

Christmas banner

2011-12-18T20:31:00.005Z

Saturday was my monthly crop. As it was also the day we were giving out our secret Santa's, this is how Deanne decided to dress. lol.

Id been looking forward to giving out my secret Santa for ages. :) I'd got Cazz, who LOVES buttons. So I decorated a celebrations tub and begged, swapped and bought as many buttons as I could get my hands on to fill the tub. Was so excited to see her open it. She seemed thrilled so job well done. lol.
I didn't actually do much crafting at the crop. I mainly made flowers to do decorations (not finished yet) but I did receive the bunting in the post from my last swap on UKS. Everyone had made a bunting flag of one letter then we all swapped so we had a banner that spelt out merry Christmas.

You cant see the M very well but theres a beautiful tree die cut on it.

Mine is the R, but my favourite letter is the C, just beautiful.

Last of the letters. :)

Never done a swap like this before but really glad I did. The finished banner is just amazing and so unique.
Right, got lots of housework to do this morning, then baking with the kids this afternoon. Hopefully will be a fun run up to christmas!

Christmas fun :)

2011-12-15T16:38:00.005Z

Well yesterday, for one,went to plan and Caitlin and I went to see Happy feet 2 at the cinema. As it was wednesday we showed up early as its usually mobbed. Yeah I think there were about 6 people there lol. Meant we could sit in the premier seats though :) lol. While waiting Caitlin had a great time playing with all the ads to the films coming soon. There was also an Alvin and the chipmunks one and she was amazed that Alvin was 3d so she could hold his hand.lol

The film itself was actually really good. I admit I liked the first one so expected to like this, but it was really cute and a generally sweet film. I was amazed though that Caitlin and I were the youngest one there by far! Everyone was about the same age as my gran and grandad. lol. They were all smitten by Caitlin though who got up and danced to the last song. lol.
Today was Camerons christmas tree festival at school. The idea here was that every class decorates a tree based on a christmas carol, then they are all displayed and parents come and have to guess which carol they represent. There were also other games like finding elves and tombola. Apart from it being REALLY crowded it was a nice afternoon out. :) Kids stuffed themselves with cakes and I won some wine glasses. :) All good, lol. This is Cameron standing in front of his classes tree. :) Its covered in pictures of men called Noel. Can you guess the carol? lol

Tomorrow is painting Camerons room, then coffee with my mum and any last minute Christmas shopping we need to do. :) Camerons staying at my mums tomorrow night so will be a girly night here. Thats if he's well enough bless him, seems to have a bit of a cold but managing ok so far. Last day at school tomorrow then hes home for nearly 3 weeks. :) I admit I'm looking forward to having him home. Lots of christmas crafts planned!

Goodies in the post :)

2011-12-14T08:31:00.000Z

Well as this week is going to be a busy one I've actually scheduled this blog post as doubt I'll get a chance tomorrow. lol To be honest theres not much about my day anybody would be interested in hearing. Lots of cleaning and ironing. However I did manage to get to the post office to pick up my parcels, lots of swap goodies!!
This was my second 'found in a ball' swap. Very pretty giant snowball. :)

Filled with all these goodies. :) Loved all the little flowers.

Next one was my 12 days of chrismtas swap. Now I do admit I've never managed to actually open one per day as I'm supposed to. To be honest they usually last untill christmas then all get opened at once. But look at this wrapping! Its so cute I don't know if I'll be able to open it at all! lol.

Last one, these were from the felt embellishment swap. I did snowflakes ages ago for this and am thrilled with all the bits I got back. how cute is that heart!!! This is why I love doing swaps like this, you get back so many unique items. :)

Also got my stocking swap but think thats enough photos of wrapped parcels. lol. Off to see Happy feet 2 with Caitlin this afternoon, assuming no other emergencies come up. lol. Also got to bake some cakes for Camerons bake sale tomorrow. fingers crossed they turn out ok!

Toy box. :)

2011-12-13T08:45:00.000Z

I've been meaning to do this for ages, lol. But obviously with having a million and one things to do for Christmas I decided now was the best time. :) Typical Caitlin, I got the pink paint, pretty stickers etc, settle down to do it 'I want pink and purple please!' she announces. *rolls eyes* couldn't find any purple gloss so ended up using the matt I used for a wall in the bedroom. After a couple of coats it looks ok though. :)

Building camerons tonight and painting it tomorrow. Also have a few parcels at the post office so hopefully have some craft swaps to show you too. :)

Ice skating!

2011-12-12T02:06:00.000Z

Well Saturday we went to see Santa again :) This time with my two eldest neices Mollie and Evie.

Santa was good, but nowhere near as good as last week. Cameron was dissapointed there was no secret door. lol. The highlight of the day was defintely ice skating :) None of them had been before so were given these penguins to help them balance.

Typical Caitlin used the penguin for about 5 minutes, decided she didn't need it and was off on her own! She actually did really well, had to force her to hold my hand for this photo. :)

Included in the price of the grotto was also the mini fun fair. Really got value actually, plus the park was dead so no queues!

Well by now everyone was hungry so we went to a nearby pub for lunch. Cameron was amazed to see this in the car park! lol.

All in all a great day out. :) Caitlins now bugging me to go ice skating again. Not yet though, get christmas out of the way first!

Christmas crafts

2011-12-09T20:59:00.002Z

12 months to get ready and I dont think you ever fully are. lol. 2 weeks to go and I've got SO much still to make! One big thing are these.

Now my mum is a typical non-crafter. She looks at something I've done, and while she loves it, she has NO idea how long it takes or what work goes into it. So true to form on Saturday she asked me if I'd make her more of these. 5 more. I made some 2 years ago and took about a month and shes had another grandchild since then! Granted these alone don't take too long but with kids and housework everything takes 10 times longer doesn't it. lol. So I have 5 of these for my mum, 9 for my gran and two toy boxes to build paint and decorate. Oh and 2 bake sales and 3 christmas parties too, and usual housework, and drs appointments. Is christmas over yet? lol

Lessons to pass on

2011-12-07T13:46:00.003Z

One thing I strongly believe in is that if someone else has needs which are greater than your own, then their needs should be met first. This is a lesson I am pleased to say I'm passing on to the kids too. :) Personally while they're obviously the center of my universe, I think it's not bad thing for them to learn they're not the center of THE universe. So while I'd never let them go hungry to feed someone else, I'd certainly expect them to share.
To be honest I'm amazed how quick they are to do it anyway. Both often sort out their toys to give to charity, and both have done sponsored events with me. I think it might be because they see me doing the same thing, plus their dad and I often explain to them how lucky they are and some other children aren't so fortunate. However moments like today just bring home how lucky I am to have such great kids. I've been promising for ages to take Caitlin to see the new Happy feet film. She LOVES the first one and has been desperate to go since she saw the ad for the second. We were supposed to be going today and were both looking forward to it.
However last night something came up where I had to help some other little girls today who have much less than my two do. I told Caitlin we couldn't go and why, expecting tears, or at least a mini tantrum 'Ok Mummy we'll go next week' she says. Wanted to cry I was so proud!
Just a picture of my wonderful, understanding kids. :)

Touch wood but great day so far!!

2011-12-06T10:10:00.003Z

Well a very happy bunny this morning :) Touch wood though as Mark is at the hospital for his usual checks plus his 6 monthly scan so can go very wrong very quick! But staying positive for the moment. So, sent mark off on the train very early, got the kids ready, had a mad panic about missing gloves so sent Caitlin in in Camerons spare pair, lol, got both to nursery/school and came home to clean and relax a bit. :) Decided to check my boots card. I lost it back in 2009 and wondered if anything was on it. £25! Result. :) Buy myself something nice in the sales I think. :) Then the postman came and brought more goodies. First this :)
This was one of the balls from the Found in a ball Christmas swap. Not the best photo but was in a rush to open it. lol Took me ages! lots of goodies inside wrapped in about a mile and a half of fibres and ribbon. lol

And look what else the postie brought! Yep I won £100 worth of iceland vouchers!!! I never win anything. lol. I was literally dancing around the living room.

well loads still to do and got to go pick caitlin up in 20 minutes! Wheres the morning gone?!

Seeing Santa

2011-12-05T08:47:00.001Z

Yesterday we went to the local farm to see Santa. The kids were a bit shy about the idea of telling him what they wanted so choose to make a list they could hand to hin instead. Caitlin dictated hers to mark and he wrote and drew them. Top of the list was Doggie Doo. A game where the dog poops out playdough and whoever gets the most poops wins. I HATE the idea of this game but shes been going on about it for weeks now so ordered it last night. lol

Camerons list he dictated to me, then he copied it and drew a picture himself. Top of Camerons list was the Micro Scalextric Disney Pixar Cars - RaceORama Race Set. Which again, we hadn't bought (we haven't done too well this year have we? lol) To be honest I think he's too young, its not cheap and when hes played on similar sets in the past hes done the typical thing of holding down the switch so the car goes flying off. But hubby insists that if its top of the list we HAVE to get it, so that went on the credit card too *sigh* oh well will have two happy kids come Christmas morning!

Well lists done we set off for the farm. I've never been there at Christmas, choosing to go further afield even though this is right round the corner, well I'll certainly be going again next year! The santa was amazing. It was in a big barn, you went into the first part and made cards while you waited, then when santa was ready you went into his office. really it was amazing. Santa was sitting at a huge desk covered in papers and toys, one was was just covered in wrapped gifts and there were lights and toys everywhere. Santa asked the kids names and checked they were on the nice list (they were, lol) then spoke to them for a while about what they wanted and about his sleigh etc. Was so proud as both kids were very chatty :) He then pulled a big lever and a toy train came chuffing out of a tunnel in the wall, holding a little scroll. Santa told them the elves used the little scrolls to tell him all about where the children would be on christmas, so if they were staying at their Nannies or somewhere he would still know. After giving them a gift, he pulled another lever and a secret door opened in the wall of gifts for us to leave through. It was really all magic and the kids loved it. :) After Santa we went for lunch. The cafe was in a beautiful old fashioned room with proper log fire. so cosy and really fitting. :)

All fed and off to play! The kids loved the park and didn't even seem to notice the cold, lol. Caitlin was so excited about going on the barrel ride. Its basically pulled along by a little tractor around the farm and through a big puddle. Think by her face she wasn't too sure when she went on it but she went on twice more so think she got over it pretty quick lol.

All in all was a great trip :) Today is a lot more boring. Ironing, washing and hopefully a little bit of crafting this afternoon. Marks at hospital tomorrow for an all day thing so want to get the house sorted so its that bit easier. lol

shh its a secret

2011-12-04T18:58:00.002Z

Ive done loads of crafting over the past few days, but I cant show any of it! lol
Done a few things for swaps which haven't finished yet plus decorated/made the gift for my crop secret santa. But I know that the lady I'm giving to sometimes reads my blog so can share it yet!
I can shre my proud mummy moment though. :) Friday was Camerons christmas play at school, he played a perfect angel, very fitting I thought. lol. The play was really cute, all about an angel who was to clumsy to do all the important jobs, but ends up being the one who led the wise men to baby Jesus. Cameron did his dance and song so well. Very proud mummy. :)

Saturday was a chill out day in our house. We watched Christmas films, ate junk food, put the tree up and baked. I was planning on making mince pie wheels but Camerons reaction when he tried a bit of the filling put paid to that idea! seriously thought he was going to throw up. lol. So put marshmallows, chocolate spread and dried cranberries in it instead. The kids loved cutting up the marshmallows. Cameron took it very seriously. lol

Turned out quite nice for an experiment. lol. Today was another great christmas day, but I'm SO ready for bed now lol so more on that tomorrow.

Shopping!!

2011-11-29T07:54:00.001Z

Well as well as christmas things we've still been selling off computers and bits. Most has gone on the house and christmas gifts, but some we kept for ourselves. So mine went on guess what? yep craft stuff! lol.
I've wanted the bow punch for AGES but never seen it anywhere, so was thrilled to see that, and the Snowflake punch back in stock at Sarahs cards. They also had these circle punches which I used loads at the reteat.

Speaking of the retreat this is a kit from jens class (which I still havent finished, lol) I LOVE these papers and thickers so decided to buy a second. :) Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet but arnt they pretty. :)

Two photos now. :) Of my bargain GRAB BOX!!! I LOVE when Sarahs cards does these. They're always stupidly good value with lots of yummy stuff in. £75 worth of stuff for £25 with free postage. Can't complain can you?! This is photo one. Lots of yummy Christmasy things I've put together in a little kit. Have a crop coming up so hopefully use it then.

This is photo two. Love this glitter paper, really thick and the glitter doesnt come off in my hands. Got to be gettings some more of this. :) Lots of flocked and embossed paper too. If I had the money I'd buy another one of these. lol

Well more shopping today. :) Christmas food shop then off to Northampton with my mum for the stocking fillers and any little bits and bobs we can find (and afford!) Hopefully the weather will pick up. Currently sitting here with the lights all on!

Where has this month gone?!

2011-11-28T07:30:00.000Z

Honestly, I can't belive its been so long since I last blogged! This month has just sped by. Suppose it'll go by even quicker now we're getting closer to christmas!!
Well this month we had Caitlins dress rehersal for her ballet show. Was gutted to be honest as she was really poorly the day before and still not quite right on the day. :( Took her along just incase but while she did try the outfits on she didnt feel up to dancing so just sat on my knee and watched. I'm not sure she's going to do the main show as its on a huge stage in a proper theatre which I think is a bit much for kids her age. But we'll see. :)

We've also started our Christmas celebrations! I LOVE that the kids are that bit older now and I can do more with them. :) We took them to see the Arthur Christmas film last week. Cameron said it was the best film ever! I didnt think it was that great but oh well. lol. We also had our little christmas party for the kids. :) Wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do it this year with my sister and all but went ahead and glad I did. :) The kids and adults all had a good time and all were pretty well behaved. Except my mum who got a bit over excited when she won a board game and made Cameron cry!! Not sure if naughty step will work at her age. lol

Well I promise to try and blog a bit more now! Have lots of fun things coming up so like the idea of recording it here for future journaling if nothing else. lol

Sarahs cards saturday

2011-11-08T13:23:00.000Z

So cold today!!!! As much as I'm missing the good company and fun classes from the retreat this weekend this morning I'm seriously missing the coffee machine!! I'll start by apologising for any spelling mistakes in Thai post. Currently blogging from marks iPad as the computer is doing a disc check which seems to be taking hours. Lol. Anyway, back to the retreat :)
First thing Saturday morning we had a card class, which I forgot about so haven't photographed yet lol. So will blog that tomorrow. :) instead I'll show you one of the make and takes I did. Amazingly simple peg magnet for the fridge.

Another layout with the Christmas kit. Pretty much used up except scraps now, whoop whoop! Just another 13 or so kits left. Lol

love these leaves. Got a pack from the charity table at the retreat so no idea where they're from. Anybody know?

This class was Tactile Memories by Claire Wheatley and it was VERY messy!!! lots of modgepodge covering the whole thing and lots of screwed up tissue. i revisited my childhood and spent some happy moments peeling dried glue from my fingers lol.

An unusual way to use paper clips. Though beware they do go rusty from all the glue.

This is Krafty Adventures by Lou Stevenson and was actually my favorite class. Lots of little details without being too much iykwim.

Lots of twine used here. Wouldnt have thought of simply wrapping it around a circle to make an embellishment.

So lots of classes done we had dinner. Oh my god I've not laughed so much in ages!!! Honestly it was like Fawlty towers with one mishap after another. The starter was stilton and broccili soup. I've honestly enevr tasted anything like it! It was dreadful! everyone sent it back poor staff didn't know what to do. Last year when they kept messing up we were given free wine, this year we got hot chocolate. hmmm, I think we did better last time. lol.

Sarahs cards retreat!

2011-11-07T12:49:00.005Z

Well yesterday I got back from the Sarahs cards November retreat. As usual I had a great time. Lots of laughs, great classes and interesting food. lol. Shopped too much, as usual, so the mess on my desk has now spread to the floor.

Got to sort that out today (said that a few times before havent I!) But first the run down of the retreat. :) We entered to great goodie bags, as usual. The tables were allocated this time which was a good idea as usually its a mad rush for a seat. i was a bit worried I wouldnt be sat with people I'd get on with but I really neednt have worried! I sat with Debbie, Lynn and Jill, 3 very funny, friendly women who were So nice and fun to sit with. :) On all our goodie bags had these tags on to show us were to sit.

Must use them in a layout one time. After settling in we had our first class. Through the Window by Natalie Grant. Here we cut out a window from the middle of the paper, and opened it up to put the picture and embellishments in the middle. A quite simple idea but looked great as added depth and showed the other side of the paper too.

After dinner was scrapping time. I did these two using an old Christmas kit. Which hasn't actually seen the light of day since the retreat back in march! Pretty much all of it is used up now though. lol.

Love the banner across the bottom. Reads 'It takes hands to build a house, but only hearts can build a home'

This one was for the Friday night sketch challenge. Really pleased with it, and used a bling swirl too. Slowly getting over my fear of using them. lol.

Under the vellum is the list of gifts Caitlin got for christmas last year. Well what I could remember anyway. I thought it would be interesting to do it each year for the kids and see how their tastes change.

We also played bingo and scrapped untill the wee hours (3am for me) but no pictures of that. lol. Was great fun though, and the bingo machine didnt fall apart like last time! lol.

double layouts

2011-11-04T09:54:00.000Z

Never done a pre-planned blog post before but as I'll be spending most of today driving don't think I'll get a chance to blog. lol.
One thing I've been doing lately is double layouts. I've never been a fan of them before, mainly the ones where it looks like its one long layout cut in half. As I use D ring albums the layouts have a big gap between them so it never looks right I think. However I've started to do some which which are more like mirror images. Which I'm quite pleased with. :) With two kids I'll quite often have two very similar photos of them, so I like doing a 'boy' version and a 'girl' version of the same layout iykwim. This is one example. :) Both kids made Mark a fathers day card at school, inside they told their teacher why they loved their daddy and she wrote it down for them. Cameron said loads, 'He's silly' 'He gives good cuddles' 'he plays trains with me' Caitlin said 'he dances' lol. Well at least its something!
This is Caitlins one.

Little butterflies. :)

This is Camerons. SO much harder than caitlins, but I do find boy layouts a lot harder. Thank goodness for my Gadget gears die!

Made this little banner :) so cute!

This is another double layout I did. ) We went to a local park and they kids both sat in this story seat. As usual I had two sets of the same photos just with different kids. lol So another mirror image layout was needed.:)

Right well hopefully I'll be at Sarahs retreat safely and will be scrapping by tonight. Will take lots of photos to share when i get back. :)

Woops. lol

2011-11-03T09:29:00.003Z

Well I did mean to blog yesterday but something distracted me. Namely this

I have been waiting for my library to get this book for ages! I love her stories as she tells them from all different perspectives and are full of interesting facts. Such as a strawberry isn't actually a berry its a rose. lol. Was so excited when I saw it on the shelf so my night was spent with a glass of wine, some biscuits and this book. :) Nearly finished it and its great so far but wont say more incase anybody wants to read it. lol
Well got a hectic day ahead, on the Sarahs cards retreat tomorrow (woohoo!!) so have to make a name badge, pack and sort the house out ready for my mum to come over. Anybody else scrub the house from top to bottom when they know their mums coming round or just me? lol. But relaxing with a cup of tea while blogging at the moment. The calm before the storm. lol
Well I said I'd share the layouts I did so here some are. :) This one I did with this months Sarahs cards kit. Love this kit. :) nice recent photos too rather than ones from years back. lol

Dug this rub on from my bits box, love these little envelopes for hidden journaling but thought it needed a little something. :)

More of the SC kit and a few bits from my scraps. Love these pictures. lol. We went to Thomas land ages ago, first time we went and couldn't figure out the map at all. I took a photo of Cameron looking confused so obviously needed to do the same with Mark and Caitlin. Think Marks used to me taking photos with specific layouts in mind now. lol

How cute is this brad! I'm not sure where I got it from but have a feeling its another SC kit. lol

Last one. :) I LOVE this layout. Nice and simple and lots of cute photos. :) This kit works so well with them too with all the apples and the september card. :)

Well I really better get started. lol. Marks still in his bed so first stop is getting his lazy bum up!!

Taking over the living room

2011-11-01T13:46:00.002Z

Well as last night was Halloween we took the kids to a local park which does a huge Halloween party. I have to say I was really impressed! They do a spooky walk through the woods which we did while it was light (poor Evie was terrified enough then let alone in the dark, lol) and it was great. Lots of props, things hanging from the trees, candles etc. Apparently when its night they have around 60 people hiding under bushes and in trees to grab you and scare you. Think that would have killed Evie off. lol
I seem to have lost my camera :( so mum took most of the pictures, but did get this one on Marks camera.

Remember what I said about having too much stash on my desk to scrap? Well here's proof. lol The boxes are ribbons I got from the 'studio' catalog. Super cheap and really nice.

So what do I do when I want to scrap? I go on the rug. lol. Mark says I'm slowly taking over the house. Don't think he's really wrong there. lol

But I am making a dent in the mess. A small one granted which will probably be filled at my retreat this weekend. But never mind. lol. Have been doing lots of layouts, but will share those tomorrow. :)

Lost - my mojo

2011-10-29T01:11:00.000+01:00

Seriously its gone on holiday. I haven't had the desire to scrap anything n ages. :( Don't think it helps that my desk looks like a bomb site. lol. I keep tidying it but I've fallen into the typical crafters pitfall of buying too much and not having the time to use it or space to put it in. As I result I keep tidying but as most of the stuff doesn't really have a place to live it gets messy way too quickly. Anybody have any advice for this?! lol.
Suppose I really should start trying to use some of it up. To that end I've joined some swaps on Uks. :) I love the Christmas swaps but usually only join the stash swaps, this year I've jumped out of my comfort zone a little and joined some crafting swaps too. One of which was a 'felt embellishment' swap. We had to make 10 felt Christmas themed embellishments which will then be sent to the host who will split them up and send them back. I made these snowflakes.

Did plan to do stitching etc on them but when I did it on one it looked too busy, so decided to keep it simple and sparkly :) So from this I managed to use up a bottle of stickles, some sheets of felt and some bling. Not loads but its a start! lol. And at least I'm making something. Hopefully will attempt a layout tomorrow. If I can get to my desk that is!

Catching up

2011-10-28T08:51:00.002+01:00

Well as predicted its been a busy but fun few days. :) Monday we went to sherwood forest with the kids. They had a great time naming all the different animals and insects. Cameron was really interested in the different trees having different leaves and how they grew from seeds etc. Caitlin just wanted to run and climb. lol.
This is Mark and Cameorn in front of the oldest Oak tree in the uk. Think it was around 1,100 years old.

Caitlin climbing. lol

Hiding n the den.

PLaying in the park. Love the happy faces. :)

Tuesday Cameron had his immunisations. Was really worried how he'd react but he was fine! Didnt bat an eyelid. Very proud mummy. :) Speaking of proud he now knows his 3 times table and can count to 120. He seriously doesnt take after me with maths!!
Wednesday I had my neices for the day, which was nice as I cant remember the last time they had a chance to play with my two, with all the trouble going on with my sister. Makes me sad when they ask to visit and I say we can't. Camerons also been asking about her ex Paul, how on earth do you explain all that to a 4 year old. :( If I'm honest I just make excuses. Hes such a sensitive kid, was really upset when we watched Mrs Doubtfire and the dad moved out. Took a lot of reassurance that his Daddy wasn't going anywhere to calm him down.
On a happy note its been great having him home this week. We've been doing puzzles, reading books, watching films, just relaxing together. :) Except yesterday, lol, I woke up and felt So ill! Really sick and dizzy, so I spent most of the day asleep. Did hear lots of laughing from downstairs though so kids were enjoying time with daddy.
Well today Caitlins at nursery, and Marks taking Cameron to the childrens center so I plan on catching up with the housework that wasn't done yesterday, lol. Tomorrow I've promised the kids we'll do a big baking session and Sunday is the dads group halloween party so got to get all caught up!

Half term!

2011-10-21T21:43:00.003+01:00

Camerons first half term since starting school. :) Looking forward to spending some time with just him when Caitlins at nursery. Lots of fun things planned. We're going on a trip to Sherwood forest tomorrow with Sure start, park Tuesday, Halloween party wednesday, Thursday dr (bleh) then Friday another party. :) Think poor Camerons going to be looking forward to school for a break!
ok so old layouts but still done them. lol. When my crop was canceled I'd already packed my stuff to took it upstairs to try and do some there (didnt work too well. lol) but did manage a couple. :) This one is nicer in real life, not so busy. :) But love these papers and these alphas.

Cute little apple again. lol

More Disneyland ones. Caitlin was going through a phase of not wanting her photo talen so was surprised when she actually asked for these ones lol.

Thought the sticker was pretty fitting :)

Last one, really special photos as this was our last big family outing before it all went tits up with my sister. lol Love Evies happy face :)

Well housewok is pretty much done (woop woop) and have plenty of leftovers from last nights dinner to make chicken pie so nice chilling afternoon I think. :) Loads of films on tv so kids will be happy. Got to be careful what we put on though at the moment, Camerons got a bit of a cold which seems to be making him really sensitive. Had lots of tears yesterday when Babe lost his Mummy and when Stitch was sick. Poor kid takes after me. I still cry at the disneyland ad where all the kids are excited. lol

hallway and proud mummy.

2011-10-20T15:16:00.004+01:00

Ok so doing up the hallway and a little outhouse type room might not seem a big deal but I'm so thrilled!!! Our hallway has always looked horrible since we moved in, and since its the first room you see I was always embarrassed when anyone came round for the first time. Obviously bigger rooms, like the livingroom and bedrooms needed to be done first so its taken a while to get around to it but so glad its done now. :)
Love the colour of the door and the shoe cupboard. Much neater than just the shoe rack!

As well as the hallway we sorted the little breeze block room we had too. Its really tiny so couldn't be used for much, think it used to have the boiler in until it was moved upstairs. In a house as tiny as ours though any space can be used! lol. I didn't like how messy the coats looked in the hallway so decided to put them in here. Love this old looking coat hook I found in TK maxx. :)

As our kitchen is tiny, and as this room is always freezing we also decided to make it into a mini larder. So shelves have gone up for jars and theres a drawer set below which holds lots of tins and dried foods like pasta and rice. Also ordered a spice rack for the back of the door but thats not come yet. :)

Also a very proud Mummy. :) Camerons school photos came back yesterday. The one of him on his own isn't great, hes got his 'Yeah Im smiling now take the picture!' face on, but the photo of the two of them is beautiful!!! can't wait to get copies. Will obviously still get the photo of him on his own but getting lots of the one of the two of them. :) Also had Camerons first parents evening last night. Teacher is very pleased with his progress. Though he's easily distracted he plays well, works well and has made a good start to the school year. :) Happy mummy. :)

Hall is finished. :)

2011-10-18T09:46:00.004+01:00

So where have I been this week? One of the following places:
- In the hallway with a paintbrush in my hand
- In the bedroom wrapping Christmas gifts
- at the tip dumping rubbish from the garage
- On the computer ebaying, or posting stuff sold.
So all in all it's been a busy week! But my hall is all done and I love it, and the garage is a heck of a lot neater. :) So back to boring housework now! lol. I have managed to do some scrapping the past couple nights though. I haven't done any in ages and it always amazes me how much I enjoy it when I start again after a break. Also started getting excited about my retreat next month. Getting close now!
ON the note of Sarahs cards I received my monthly kit on saturday. much earlier than I expected as its not usually until around the 20th so was a nice surprise. :) Was a beautiful kit, the papers were from Jillibean Soup - Apple Cheddar Soup, which was funny as I usually hate Jillibean soup papers. lol. But I think that's the best thing about getting these kits, using stuff you wouldn't normally buy yourself.
This was the first layout I did, its of caitlin last september at the farm. It always amazes me how grown up she now looks compared to old photos. I almost forget how big she's getting until I look back so wanted a layout to reflect how I see all these photos and layouts as little parts of her childhood I've managed to capture.

Love these little trees and thought the measuring tape was ideal for this layout.

Another one from the farm, but both kids this time. Different style of layout than I usually do as I'm not often fond of one busy area then lots of white space. But like this one. :)

Still using up the bling. lol. Amazingly easy to make my own swirls and things I've found. Just use my bazzil n stich templates. :)

Last layout for now. :) More summery than Autumn but think the papers still work.

Well as well as house stuff been doing some crafty bits with Caitlin. :) She's becoming much more independent in her play now which is great as rather than being glued to me all the time, she will happily play by herself, meaning I can get things done quicker and spend more quality time with her. :) On Saturday we decided to roll the rug up, get a huge sheet of paper and go mad with pint and stickers. :)

We did start off using paintbrushes but that then went to hand prints which went to footprints. lol. Baths all round afterwards!!!

Well will take pictures of my hall to blog tomorrow. Quieter week this week so hope to be about more. lol

Wheres the weekend gone?!

2011-10-09T16:39:00.002+01:00

Seem to be losing days a lot recently. lol. Like Mark says, rather than spending a day doing one big job, like the ironing, or painting or something, we're doing lots of little things here and there which makes the time go SO quickly! I like it though as I like seeing the difference in the house.
Caitlin did stay at my mums on Friday, which was great as Cameron had some 'boys time' with daddy, also known as playing computer games and eating junk food. While I hid in the bedroom with a pile of magazines and the tv on rom-coms. lol.
Saturday went a bit different than planned. lol. I was supposed to be going to my crop, was all packed, then received a panicked phone call from the woman who runs it. She'd forgot she'd canceled the hall that month and had just turned up to find it being used. Bless her, these things happen. So ended up doing a few layouts at home. Nowhere near as productive as I would have been but did a few :)
Also received a parcel. :) As I've said before, we had a bit of money leftover after paying for hall etc, so Mark got a few more models, and I put in an order to Sarahs cards. :)

Love these alphas.

Perfect for disney layouts I'm thinking. :)

Today we've been painting the hall in preparation for Thursday. Was a bit of a mess as was just planning to re-pain the hall the same colour as it was to freshen it up a bit, however only had a little bit of paint left. Did however have half a tub of the kitchen paint left (both green just different shades) so ended up mixing both together and using that. lol. Got the woodwork and the ceiling to do during the week. Hate painting woodwork but got to be done. Will look great when finished. :)

Layouts and christmas box swap

2011-10-07T08:00:00.000+01:00

God yesterday went so quickly! Did school/nursery run, housework, town, visits to gran, dinner, bath bed for kids then listing on ebay and before I knew it was bedtime for me! So didn't manage any scrapping but still have some from the other night to share. Feel like my mojo is coming back a bit. Still using up the American crafts papers. lol.
When Cailtin moved up groups at nursery they gave me some photos they had taken from when she first started. While they were not exactly the best photos, on normal paper and ripped in parts, I really wanted to scrap them as it shows the part of her life where she first started learning new things and becoming independent outside the family iywkim.
This one is a photo of her doing a jigsaw. I love the concentration on her face. :)

Used one of my new wooden butterflies. So cute and great to tie in the wooden jigsaw in the photo.

Also altered one of my new tags

More random photos from nursery.

How cute is this Owl? Thought with school pictures a wise old owl would fit well.

Another tag I've changed a bit, love how versatile these are. :)

Well a while ago I also received my Christmas present box swap. The idea behind this one was to make a simple origami box, then fill it with lots of yummmy stash and send it to your swapee. I was thrilled with mine. :) Really stuffed with lots of great bits,

Love these little felt embellishments. And you might recognise the stamp from above. lol

Boring day today. I have training for a course I'm doing on how to speak to kids about puberty. Not enjoying it so far as I'm a last minute add-on as someone else dropped out, and while everyone else has children who are teenagers mine are still only babies. Makes it interesting when I fill out worksheets asking 'what do you do when your child asks about changes in their bodies' Well besides cameron moaning about girls having boobs and he wont, which was fixed by Daddy pointing out Cameron can pee standing up and girls cant, they dont really ask much! but we'll see how things go. lol. Caitlins hopefully staying at my mums tonight. She hasn't in a while as she's been super clingy but seems to be improving on that front and wants to stay. Really hope she does as not only will it be good for her, but it means I can leave the boys to a computer game downstairs while I hide in the bedroom ironing and wrapping christmas gifts. lol

Stash shopping :)

2011-10-05T09:55:00.002+01:00

Well yesterday was SO busy but really pleased at how much I got done. :) Payments for lots of the stuff we sold came in so I paid some bills and ordered our hall flooring. :) Very excited about that. :) Had a bit of a bad spell to which is funny now but not at the time! lol. I woke up yesterday with a pounding headache, so took some painkillers. However we were so busy I hadn't eaten so by the time I got to Camerons school to pick him up I was feeling like I was about to pass out! lol. had to txt Mark to come walk with us, Cameron was very confused as to why we had to wait for Daddy to pick us up when Mummy was already there. lol Note to self, taking painkillers on a very empty stomach isn't a good idea.
As well as paying bills etc with our sale money, there was a little left over so me and Mark split it to buy ourselves something. So I headed right to colemans and bought this little lot, lol.

Was so impressed as they had a clearance sale on a lot of stuff so all this was only £22!! Caitlins going through a phase of loving Hello Kitty at the moment so can see this die being used a lot. lol. I think my favourite buy were these wooden shapes though. Theres loads of them and was only £1.99 for the box. :) Bargain.

Right got to get a bath before rushing out so got to go! Hope everyones enjoying the more autumny weather. I've got a stew cooking in my slow cooker as we speak. lol

Gravy swap.

2011-10-04T09:38:00.002+01:00

One of the great things on UK scrappers is the swaps we do. :) These can be things people make, or just general stash swaps. At Christmas theres always loads of fun swaps, one being the Christmas gravy swap.
In this you have to get an empty gravy pot, decorate it and fill it with stash, then swap with someone else. I love it as I get to shop, plus some of the bits of stash I might not use someone else might so its nice to swap that way too. :)
This is the gravy pot I received. :) How cute is that stamp!

And I LOVE these, little chipboard glittered reindeer's and Christmas trees. :) Can see these being all used up soon!

Look, I scrapped! Sat watching tv last night and put a couple together. Love this one of us all at Disneyland. The photos are not the best but it's not very easy to get 3 kids to look at the camera and smile, particularly when they just want to go play! lol

Well lots to do today so better run.Hope every ones enjoying the sunny weather, apparently not going to last long now. :(

Seriously? It's October?!

2011-10-03T10:31:00.004+01:00

Yesterday we went to the car boot sale and then for a picnic. Not something I expected to be doing in October! lol. Loving the winter sun! Caitlin made me laugh though:
Caitlin - Why are the rides not open mummy?
Me - Because its nearly winter love
Caitlin - (looking confused) but its not snowing its sunny!
Few hours pass....
Caitlin - I know why its sunny Mummy! Tinkerbell hasn't brought the snow yet!
So there we go guys, nothing to do with wind from Turkey or climate change, Tinkerbell's just decided to stay a little longer :)

She is so my daughter. She wanted to climb on the climbing frame but Mark wouldn't let her as she was too small. Full on argument began with Caitlin insisting she can do it. 'Go on then' Mark challenged. Big mistake lol, my determined little miss forced herself up and managed it. lol. Hope Mark learned from that!

Was amazed this week at how much craft stuff was at the car boot! you usually find some bits few are far between but one stall had sizzix dies, scrapbooking books the lot! I didn't like any of the dies but did buy these bits. :) £4 for the lot which I was pleased with as the felt is glittery and the little box is great storage. :) I also LOVE this bag! Ok it wasn't a scrapbooking bag its from boots so I think it originally had toiletries in it, but its got lots of little pouches inside so great for crops. And how cute is it!

Look at the zip, love it. :)

Well lots of housework to do today, and errands to run tomorrow. Also have a meeting with social worker as sisters finally been assigned a worker rather than an assessment worker. Joy, lol. Raised enough money to have my hall done though so will ordering that tomorrow. Yey!

stuff for sale!

2011-09-30T20:12:00.000+01:00

One thing about me my poor hubby needs to deal with is that sometimes I'll get an idea in my head and will push and push and push until its done. This has led to carpets being pulled up the night before our honeymoon, the kitchen being re-painted the day after Marks transplant, and more recently clearing out the garage to sell things to get the hall floor re-done. lol.
Ive never liked the hall here, the whole house needed re-done when we moved in and we've slowly managed to redo it all except the hall and the bathroom (THATS going to be a job and a half, until then the door just stays closed. lol). I've lived with it until now, but suddenly decided I cant anymore, so ripped up the offcut carpet we'd put down, bought some paint and its getting there. :) Need new flooring though so selling lots to raise the money. hense the following.
Prices all include postage, open to offers on multiple items. :)
Sizzlet flower die £3

Sizzlet mixed die £3

Cuttlebug disney belle die and embossing folder £3

Cuttlebug disney Ariel die and embossing folder £3

American crafts papers, 23 sheets £7

Christmas papers including glittered and double sided, 24 sheets £7

Right off for a bath while kids are watching rugrats. Nice to have some peace, they were fighting over a stick earlier. Yes, a stick! lol

Fun weekend. :)

2011-09-25T20:16:00.003+01:00

It really was. :) Saturday I went to the Next sale, think it was the first time since I was pregnant I've not bought anything for the kids. lol. Ended up getting a couple of shirts for Mark, and a jumper for me. Nothing big but to be honest was so little there. Sure I wont be saying that at the new year one! After that I popped next door to the range. Well would be rude not to. :) Was thrilled to find this paper pack there!

I'd seen it on QVC last week, but wasn't about to pay they're daft postage for it. Its really similar to an old Christmas range I love, 'colourful Christmas' by My minds eye. So snapped it up. :) Had a nice relaxing day with the kids, doing not much of anything until Mark came home from London that night. He brought dvds for the kids and this for me. :)

I LOVE Glee and was gutted didn't get to see them in concert but this is the next best thing. Had 'Dog days are over' blaring in the car today. lol.
Onto today we took the kids to east carlton park. We all love it there particularly at this time of year with all the trees and conkers etc. They've also made this treasure trail where you follow signs and find all these wood carvings which were really cool.

Cameron was less pleased though when he scraped his finger on the door. Hes usually not too much of a drama queen but honestly the blood! It just wouldn't stop bleeding even though it was a tiny scratch, luckily the lady at the cafe gave us a plaster and an ice lolly soon calmed cam down.

The owl, Caitlin loved and wanted to take home. lol

This was just beautiful. All carved out of a tree with great detail. There was a winding wooden staircase to climb up to get to the seat. Another thing Caitlin wanted to take home. lol

Well tomorrow Caitlins supposed to be going on a trip with mark. I say supposed to as she had a meltdown last week and doesn't seem any happier this week so god knows if she'll go. Cant wait for this clingy phase to end! I've got a big to do list for tomorrow so if she stays home she'll need to either help or play by herself, which she's not great at, lol. Fingers crossed for me!

More layouts

2011-09-24T12:24:00.001+01:00

Cant believe I haven't blogged since Wednesday! Had a nice few days though. Thursday, well Thursday day was a bit rubbish. Picked up a very tearful Caitlin from nursery. After talking to her for a little while turns out a girl in her class wanted to sit on the seat Caitlin was on, so pushed Caitlin onto the floor and sat on her!! She says the girl was told off which i believe as it is a good nursery, but shes mentioned this girl a few times, saying shes been mean to her so having a word Tuesday i think. But anyway we picked Cameron up from school and took them both to Cheeky monkeys play center. Where I got to relax with some hot chocolate and they got to run around like loonies. :) So the day ended on a high note. lol
Friday saw mark leaving to go to London for the weekend with his mate. While I'm not thrilled about him going away his friend is aware of his problems and I can't wrap him in cotton wool so got to grin and bear it. He's been txting me lots though so that helps. I can imagine being this bad when the kids go away without me when they're older! lol
Still haven't shared the other layotus I did so here they are. These are all done with bits from my scrap box and odd bits of paper that won't go into a kit. Love using that stuff up, always feel proud. lol
This is one of Caitlin and Mollie on Caitlins birthday last year.

Love the colours on this one, seem to go together well. The photo was from when me and Caitlin stopped for lunch before starting the monthly shop at asda. Was just us two so the title 'Ladies that lunch' seemed fitting. :)

Still loving these flowers. Great way to use up teenie buttons.

This one looks a lot better in real life than it does on here. lol. I used up lots of odd thickers bits around the edge. Love using up bits and bobs i'd otherwise have thrown away. :)

Other than adding titles to these I haven't done much scrapping recently, I think when the weather gets cold I lose mojo and read instead. lol. Might try doing some tonight as running out of books!

layouts

2011-09-21T11:36:00.003+01:00

Last night I sat down and forced myself to get some of the crafting 'to dos' done. So I made and filled a couple of boxes for swaps (had a mini spree in The Range yesterday lol) I titled some layouts I did ages ago plus managed to do a couple new ones. So quite pleased. :)
This is one of the ones I did last night. In order to use up my kits I've been using as much of it as I can, until its just scraps, before I more onto another one. This usually works but I've got SO many of these American crafts papers its certainly taking a while! lol. This is a photo of Mark and Cameron in Butlins a while back. Cameron had just got into the phase of 'I don't WANT my photo taken'. Still waiting for him to grow out of it, lol.

Using up bling still. lol. Thought it would make the cupcake stand out, plus give the look of black coffee rather than just an empty mug.

This is one of the layouts I did ages ago. Honestly don't remember when its been that long. Just sat there waiting for a title. Done now, lol. This is Caitlin and Lillie last October at my mums Halloween party. Caitlin didn't want to be anything scary so just dressed up as a fairy princess.

Another really old layout. lol. This is happy Caitlin tucking into Christmas dinner last year. lol

Another one from last night using more American crafts papers. I was really struggling with the house paper until I decided to use it with photos of us on the eurostar. Cameron and Caitlin loved watching all the houses speed past, and my mum enjoyed being nosey and looking in every ones gardens. lol. Was really busy paper and a long title so didn't put much else on this layout.

I did do more, and hope to finish more this afternoon but will share that tomorrow. Hopefully going cinema tonight too to see 'I dont know how she does it' so good day planned. :)

Nature trip

2011-09-20T07:33:00.003+01:00

Well yesterday didn't go quite as planned, lol. Caitlin woke up at 4am and came into our room asking to sleep in our bed. She does this a lot, and I'll either be so tired I let her, or I put her back to bed where she complains for a bit then goes back to sleep. Neither happened yesterday. lol. i put her back to bed, thought she went back to sleep, then woke at 7am to find her surrounded by her toys. She'd actually been up the whole time playing! So we took Cameron to school, he was quite happy as usual. :) Then tried to drop Caitlin off for her nature trip with Daddy. Here is where it started to go pear shaped. Caitlin's attached to my hip at the best of times but by now she was getting sleepy so was 10 times as grumpy. So much crying, clinging and just hysterical sobbing later I just went along. So much for getting the housework done then relaxing!
It turned out to be ok though, we went to Rutland water, and Caitlin had a little pair of binoculars which she absolutely loved.

She was also given tomato soup for lunch. Now i HATE tomato soup, even the smell makes me queasy, but she loved it! Must take after her father there, lol.
Home and shopping, as I hadn't planned to go on the trip I hadn't had breakfast, and obviously didn't have the soup for lunch so by now I was starving! I'd always been told never to go shopping hungry but needed must and all that. Well I won't be doing it again! I spent £90 and I have NO idea what on!!! lol. I got some meat, so that was £10 and spent about £30 on cleaning and airwick stuff, but still!
Remember I said Caitlin hadn't slept. lol, this was her as soon as we got home.

Well Caitlin's at nursery today, and Mark wants to drive into the next town to get the new Gears of war 3 game. House is reasonably tidy so hoping to make a dent in my crafting to do list this afternoon. As I've currently done none of it. lol

I'm boring

2011-09-17T10:35:00.002+01:00

Seriously I am, want to know what I've done over the past few days. So would I to be honest! lol. I know I've done cleaning, but the house is no tidier, I've done no scrapping, very little reading and I've not gone anywhere, so where have the days gone?! I honestly have no idea. lol. But today is Saturday, Cameron is with my mum, Caitlins watching the Mickey mouse movie marathon on tv, and Marks reading the paper. I've got a few things to do on my housework to do list but if I'm honest it's my crafty to do list which needs desperate attention! On it today are:
1 - Finish Christmas gravy pot swap for posting on Monday.
2 - Make boxes for Halloween and Christmas swap and fill (I went shopping the other day so have all the bits, just need to make boxes and decorate the tub now lol)
3 - Make mum lots of bookmarks for her recipe books
4 - Title some of the layouts I've done and are just sitting there from weeks ago.
5 - (just added) Use some of my new Sarahs cards kit. :)

So glad to be a subscriber again. :) I had to cancel it a few months back because I had no money, but my mum kindly took one up for me. :) Now things are a little more stable I've back to getting it myself. :) Off out tonight so doubt I'll be using it today but look forward to using it tomorrow.

Layouts

2011-09-14T09:20:00.001+01:00

Well my desk is still a mess from coming home from the crop. haven't really unpacked my stuff yet, lol. Not sure what I have done to be honest as I know I've been busy lol. I think with Cameron starting school, Caitlin going nursery more days, and starting nature club, I spend more time in the car than anywhere else! Today is a bit quieter though, Caitlins home all day and Marks taking Cameron to school so I only have my homestart work to do out and about. Hopefully I'll make a fair old dent in the ironing pile! Anyway, since I've done nothing interesting since the weekend I thought i'd share some layouts I did at my crop. All are scraplifted from the sarahs cards dt booklet which came with the kit. I do honestly do my own layouts, lol, I just always scraplift from kits and that's all I've been using lately
Photo from disneyland. We'd gone out at night to see one of the light parades so got the kids a little treat while I had hot chocolate. Was really yummy, lol.

There were lots of little chipboard apples in this kit, I tried to use the ones which went with the theme of the layout. This one had a big bite form it so thought it went with the eating theme. They're so sweet!

Apple of my eye. Now while I love this title I feel really guilty as obviously I have two apples of my eye, lol. Might change the title or add (one of them) under it at some point. Note the apple with the love heart :)

Love these flowers. Think this die will be my most used.

I love these photos, Caitlin was playing with her little hermonica and decided to get into her baby cot. With the bars she just reminded me of a little prisinor sitting in a jail cell. The apple here does have a little bird on it but its hard to see.

Using up more bling still. :)

Photo of Caitlin at the park. I love the colours in this one and the little word tree. I think this is a great way to use up all the little word stickers I wouldn't usually bother with.

Couldn't find an apple to go with this layout, lol. But did find a sticker which goes with the title, which was good as I used my last S on 'slide' lol.

Right, better go start the ironing!

Crop

2011-09-12T10:33:00.003+01:00

Saturday was my monthly crop[. Great fun as usual. :) Was interesting this time to see all the different crafts that are actually done there, Deanne who runs the crop took some pictures.
So we had Paper mache wall art (will be a lotus flower when done) Knitting, scrapbooking (mine)

embroidery, embellishments, knitting, cardmaking

sewing, scrapbooking decopatching. So lots of things going on! While I really only scrapbook it was really interesting to watch other things I normally wouldnt see. Decopatching for example I'd never have looked at twice but watching Deanne cover the chair and some of her sewing box I think it looks a great idea!

Also took some daft photos for you all to laugh at. lol

Right off to collect hubby and Caitlin. Camerons first full day at nursery today, he went in all by himself so bravely. :) Caitlin and Mark are off to nature club so had some time to do some housework. With all the winds I'm getting washing dry super quick!

Things I swore I'd never do as a parent. Untill I became one.

2011-09-09T10:30:00.004+01:00

I was thinking about this last night while I was trying to get to sleep, there are so many things I swore I'd never do then usually end up doing, for example:
1 - I won't say 'Because I said so.' I do try not to do this, but after the 15th 'Why?' its an easy way out. lol
2 - They will not play computer games until they are 11 - Yeah, I did try on this one. I got them both Mobigos which while are computers they're educational. Problem is Camerons a brainy little boy and even the hard ones he finds too simple. So I let him play on the more educational games on our ds. Then Daddy got involved and let him play racing games. Slippery slope from there! I do limit it to 30 minutes a day however and they need to earn that, so I'm not too bad of a mother. lol
3 - I will not spoil my kids - Yeah, I think every parents is guilty of that one. :)
4 - I will treat both my kids the same - Now while I love them both the same, I never realised how impossible it was to treat them both the same. For example I take Caitlin out with me more often as she doesnt moan 'Are we done yet' half as much as Cameron, while I'm more likely to sit and play a board game with Cameron as he has much more attention for things like that.
5 - I won't push Cameron to play with his sister if he doesnt want to. - My mum always did that to me and I hated it, but I admit I find myself begging and bribing Cameron at times to play with his sister because she loves it. Oh it's hard at times! lol.
So there we go I'm not the best mum, but I'm not too bad, :) I did manage to think of some things I have stuck to.
1 - My kids won't eat loads of junk food - I was so proud when we were watching Jamie Olivers school dinner show and both kids knew all the vegtables, well except califlower but they dont usually see it with green leaves they usually see it just in the florets. lol
2 - I will teach my children manners - Yep, both of them say please, thank you and your welcome. Always proud when we go out to dinner and they sit nicely at the table. :)
3 - They will read!!!! - I was amazed to find out recently that 3 in 10 children dont own a book! That's madness! Me and Mark both love to read so were determined our kids will too. And working so far, both of them have loads of books, have a bedtime story every night (or two if they're good) and we visit the libery at least 3 times a week which they always love.
4 - They will not sit inside all day and watch tv - Given the choice both kids would rather be outside, running, playing at the park, anything. Mum often comments Cameron should have been born on a farm the amount of just running around outside he does. lol. They do watch tv, but like time on the DS that has to be earned too. :)
So see I'm not TOO bad of a mother. though saying that they're only 3 and 4. Lots of time for me to mess them up yet! lol. Oh, just a quick layout before I go pick up Caitlin. :)

First day at school!!!!

2011-09-08T09:28:00.000+01:00

Well I've been dreading this day for a LONG time, thought I was prepared, thought I was ready. um, nope. lol. Look how smart my baby looks!

So today was his first day at school. He was fine, bravest of all of us. :) Went in quite happily, sat down on the mat, came out all excited and ready to go again tomorrow. Very proud mummy. :)

My mum thinks I look sad in this photo, like I don't want to let him go. Which is true but I thought I'd hid it well. lol. Mum was worse than me! We left to take him a little early and went round my mums and dads so they could see him. Both were crying before he even got to the door! At least I held out till I dropped him off. lol. Will be more crying later as found out this morning Caitlins going to nursery 3 mornings a week instead of two. The crying will be from her this time not me though, she hated going one! lol
Anyway on a less tearful note, on my desk at the moment is a pile of forms and bits and bobs I need to do, but this is more interesting. :)
Few weeks back I sold one of my dies I didn't use, along with a few other bits. So I used the money to buy the gadget gears die, and some pretty bling that was on sale. :) Also some thickers which I desperatly need as all mine either have no s' or e's lol.

Well off to pick Caitlin up from nursery and break the news shes going back tomorrow. Wish me luck! lol

Christmas

2011-09-04T10:42:00.000+01:00

Well, Thursday went no better than Wednesday, in fact it was worse. I'd gone to a meeting with the council to try and get Kieron (oldest girls dad) a house so he could try and have them full time. Well Wednesday they were having none of it. Apparently a 2 bedroomed flat is fine for a couple, a baby and 2 girls. Unfortunately his partner disagreed and kicked him out Wednesday night. Thursday we returned to the council to be told by social services to just take the girls back. Kieron cried, I cried, Mollie cried. :( Oh it was horrible. :( So the girls went back that night. Not much else has happened since then. Im avoiding Nicola if I can as I'm just so angry but there you go. :(
Anyway, to cheer myself up I decided to wrap up the gifts I've got the kids for Christmas. I'm hiding them in my mums loft as no room here so will take them round all wrapped tomorrow. :) These are the ones I got for Caitlin.

This is her Hello Kitty Oven. I almost didnt buy this but so glad I did :)

This is Camerons pile.

Now looking at it I now realise Caitlins is smaller than camerons, so will need to buy her a few cheap bits to bulk hers up as we've spent roughly the same on each of them and don't want to go too over that. Oh the difficulties is getting things even!!! I don't envy those who have 3 or more! lol

Another day, another meeting

2011-09-01T05:58:00.000+01:00

Well I said I'd tell you what I did yesterday depending on how well it went, well it went rubbish, lol, so having a second attempt today. I tell you what all this stress and worry is doing wonders for my diet, think last time I had breakfast was Sunday, don't have time to eat until I get home which usually is at night. lol.
Anyway, I said I'd post some more about layouts I've done so here they are, both from Disney again, and both scraplifted from the DT booklet. This one of the main street parade. I took loads of photos here but so hard to get good ones. Still wanted to scrap what I had though as was a big part of the holiday. The 2'11 in the corner is because we went in February 2011 and I didnt have a / in the alphas pack, lol.

More bling, lol

Not a disney one now, this was taken on my birthday last year when we went to Stamford. Was a great day out and kids had a great time. :)

Loved this word tree, such a great idea for using up the little bits I'd probably otherwise not use.

Well Camerons last day at nursery today (tissues at the ready!) He's excited to be starting school but I have a feeling that might dampen down a bit when he starts to miss his nursery friends but we'll see, can't believe hes getting so grown up!!

WOYWW

2011-08-31T09:54:00.003+01:00

Well Monday was ironing and housework, Tuesday was social services meetings with sister (argh!) and dr with a chickenpox covered, very feverish caitlin! Today..... well I'll see how it goes then share todays plan! However, thanks to my lovely supportive hubby I've managed to fit in some reading and scrapping so not all bad. :) Hopefully going to do some more tonight as feeling creative but considering its 10am and I'm struggling to keep my eyes open I'm not so sure, lol. So on my desk at the moment are two sets of papers I;m currently working with. The pile in the plastic bag is this months Sarahs cards kit, which I surprising love as it's not the kind of thing I'd buy for myself iykwim. But I suppose that's a good thing about kits. :) The pile underneath is LOTS of American crafts papers. I love these as while they're all different ranges they all go together really well. have loads of them though so trying to put a bit of a dent in it. lol.

Well as I said I've managed some scrapping. :) Before Caitlin got sick we've been treating the kids by letting them 'camp out' which basically means letting them take their matresses downstairs, making a 'tent' from bedsheets and the couch and sleeping in it :) Obviously I don't like them sleeping down there alone so had a couple of late nights at my desk and sleeping on the couch! Both of these are scraplifts from the DT booklet but cant remember who so sorry! (I know I'm dreadful for that)
LOVE this photo of my two and Mollie at Disney this year. :) All trying to pull the sword form the stone. :) Think it was one of my favorites from the week.

This 'love disney' ribbon is actually from some pjs Mark bought me a few christmas' ago. Kept it for an occasion just such as this :) lol

Another disney one :) Now every now and again I decide I have too much of one type of ebellishments, buttons, ribbon etc, so I'll get the box of whatever it is out and try and use a bit on each layout. This time it's bling. I've got a big bag of all kids of it but usually love it too much to use! Managed to use a bit on these two and another two I did though. Still got plenty left! lol

Used some pins too, and a bling swirl. that was hard, lol. Usually just keep those to look at!

Well I've got to make a Thank you card tonight. Not great at cards so nervous but will give it a go. Its Camerons last day at nusery tomorrow. He's been going since he was 9 months so going to get some chocs to say thanks. Then he starts school next week, next week!! Can't belive my baby is starting school! I'm gonna be a mess. lol. Is it too early to start on the wine? lol.

Date night with mum, lol

2011-08-28T12:44:00.004+01:00

Well last night Lillies dad had her overnight. Which gave my mum a MUCH needed break from babysitting. As a result I think she was a bit desperate to get out of the house so we went out for dinner and a movie. Obviously we wanted to see something funny rather than weepy so mum suggested The inbetweeners movie. :)

I'm a huge fan of the tv show so yep, great, fine with me. :) Wasn't until I had booked the tickets and we were halfway there my mum pipes up with 'So what's this about then? It isn't like American pie is it? That was just daft!' OMG mum!!! I thought she'd seen the tv show too but turns out shes just heard the girls at work say it was good! So that's me in a panic, mums one night out and shes going to see a film shes going to hate! But we'd booked it now so went in anyway.
Anyone who's seen The inbetweeners will know what its like, well the film is worse, lol. In the opening scenes theres swearing, porn, and Jay masturbating with ham while wearing a snorkel and mask. My mum was cracking up! Never thought I'd be so glad to see my mum laughing at that!

got to calm down now. lol

2011-08-26T14:33:00.002+01:00

ok so I've gone a bit mental this week, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday I've been up town *ahem* Christmas shopping. Ok so I know theres a lot of people who would cheerfully have me lynched for that but I needed some retail therapy and except for the new shoes I bought Caitlin, and the new kettle I got we didn't need anything! Didn't want to buy things just for the sake of it so went a bit mad getting toys for the kids. Now finished for the kids and got a couple of bits for Mark so feeling good about that :) Wont when the credit card bill comes in but hey ho will deal with that then. lol
Haven't done much scrapping lately as have been reading more but did this one of the kids at the farm. The wooden bunny sticks are plant pot labels the kids made. Not going to use them as don't do much gardening so thought id use them here. :)

Drama with my sister is ongoing so still helping take care of Lillie. :)

Well tonight Camerons at my mums and Marks making himself scarce so just me and my girly :) Lots of princess films and cuddles I think. :)

Past few days

2011-08-22T10:10:00.004+01:00

I'm SO busy at the moment, between phone calls, finding information and day to day housework barely get a minute! I don't mind though, all for a Good reason plus I thrive on being busy, get too bored if theres nothing to do. lol. On that note I'm off to the town this afternoon to meet up with another mum from Netmums. Her son is starting school the same time as Cameron so I'm going to get some shopping then meet her for a coffee. :) Got to get ready so thought I'd do a quick photo post to recap the past few days. :)
Made 'magic hot dog pasta' for the kids. Cameron hates pasta so when I saw this idea on pintrest I thought it was worth a shot! Its basically dried spaghetti pushed through cut up hot dogs, then cooked. He actually had seconds! Will be making it again :)

Took care of Lillie. Was nice having a baby in the house. Forgot how hard naptime was though, lol. She was so tired but refused to give in, she'd lie quietly for a moment, I'd think she was asleep, then she'd giggle, look up and say 'hiya!' lol

Calmed the children with chocolate biscuits and 'Curious george' on tv so I could tidy up a bit. :)

Oh well, at least one is smiling.

Well tomorrow Marks at hospital and kids are at nursery so have the House to myself. :) Hopefully get the housework done today so can chill out a bit :)

Layout, just the one. lol

2011-08-18T16:16:00.002+01:00

I did do 3 last night but in the light of day I don't like two so going to change them. lol. Think I was distracted as I was watching twilightat the same time. lol.
Was planning on finishing them both off today but bloody sister kicked up again and I had to go get the girls off her. Well I say off her she'd dissapeared in the middle of the night and left them with her ex who was none too pleased. On the bright side the older two have gone to thier dad and the youngest will be with ym mum as social services now agree she's an unfit mother. So at least things are moving forward. :)
Anyway, during my clearout I found a load of American crafts papers I forgot I had. Just after christmas my local TK maxx had a load of American crafts kits with papers, embellies and an album for £5. Now while I didnt really need the papers I did need the album refills which are £6 on their own, so -£1 and I got papers and bits, no brainer really. lol. I love american crafts papaers as they're really bright and versitile I think. :) So this is the first one, Nice and simple one of the kids at disneyland.

Well I did start this post hours ago but have sense been to sisters and had abuse hurled at me. Time for some New moon and chocolate me thinks :)

My workdesk. :)

2011-08-17T10:45:00.003+01:00

Ok so after about the 18th clear out I'm happy with my desk. :) For the moment anyway. lol.
I've had to be a bit ruthless, and pick the dies, punches, mists etc I use the most, and put these out and the rest in boxes under the desk or in drawers. While the OCD part of me hates having some punches in one area and some in another it does mean I use the ones which are out more.

LOVE these! Mark bought some for his spare warhammer bits and bobs (the two on the left) and I thought they were great so bought a couple for myself. :) £5 each, bargain!

This is the main part of my desk. note the cuttlebug and Slice now both close to hand. :) Also have my mini ipod player by my monitor. Not used the ipod in months though so really need to update the music on it. lol

And the best bit, I'm no longer shoved behind the couch!!! I've always hated that so rearranged the living room so the couch is now on the other side of the room. Love it, opens it up so much more. :) Poor hubby had to put a load of his stuff in the garage as the couch no longer hid it all (those white dwarf magazines going next lol) but I'm well pleased. :)

Well poor camerons off nursery with chicken pox. :( He had a bit of a temp and sneezing Monday night but was full of beans next morning so sent him in thinking he was fine. Got a call a few hours later, covered in spots! Felt so guilty but apart from one on his tummy he says hurts he seems fine with it. :) He was more worried about his nipples disappearing as he has one spot next to one and I put cream on it to 'make the spots disappear' and he panicked thinking his nipples would go too! Bless him. lol

more layouts from iphone lol

2011-08-15T09:08:00.005+01:00

Well I'm hoping I didn't plug in the charger right because if not my camera broken. lol. No big deal if it is, hubby intelligently bought me insurance on it when he bought me it nearly 2 years ago now. Gone through quite a few cameras since then so worth its weight in gold! Unfortunately means more Iphone photos.
This layout I did last night in between ironing, wanted to kick myself as I had a sheet of die cuts which I've had for months. I took the car, tree and houses off and screwed up and threw away the rest. Then I looked at the blue house and realised I'd thrown away the door. Woops!

This is one I did a little while ago but needed a title. It's from when we went berry picking at a local farm. I didn't take a photo of Caitlin as she was honestly just purple. lol.

Now you'll notice that a lot of my layouts have these flowers on. Well I finally treated myself to the Tim Holtz flower die which makes these. I've wanted one for ages so decided to take the plunge. I love it! so relaxing sitting making flowers. lol. The cherry is one a friend sent me ages ago. :)

Spot the flower again? lol. Love the colours on this layout. its from Christmas when the kids were waiting not so patiently for dinner.

Another one from the crop. This was a scraplift but not sure who did it as I've thrown the booklet away now. I think it was Rachel But don't quote me on it. lol. Oh and those aren't marks at the top of the layout, I just need to clean my windows. Who said it was a good idea to put a sand table in front of the window?

This one I remember was Rachel E :) I love these photos as it shows how well trained hubby is. lol. When he was at the farm with the kids he asked them to point up and down just so I could do this layout. :) Got to love him. :)

Well big to do list today, including post office and getting a photo taken to renew my driving license. Eugh, hate the town during the summer holidays. Oh well, better hop to it!

Layouts!

2011-08-14T11:08:00.005+01:00

Saturday was my monthly crop. I havent been in a while but forced myself to go this month and really pleased I did. :) wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be and had a great time. I also managed 6 layouts using an old kit. ut first a couple of layouts I did at home the night before. Photos arn't great as I still havent charged my camera yet so these were tkane with my phone. lol
Photo of Caitlin from christmas. The black paper is actually black glittered which wile looks great NOTHING will stick to! lol, actually had to use a glue gun to make the paper stick. Made it a bit 3d though which ended up looking cool.

This was taken after 'dads group' one week. they had made their own pizza and Caitlin was covered in the sauce! ended up having to throw away her top but the jacket got clean. lol. Love her face here so used the title 'Hello, I'm eating here!'

These are some I did at the crop, I used Septembers Sarahs cards kit which was Jillybean soup. I usually don't like their papers as they're a bit more muted than my usual choices but loved these layouts. Also LOVE the spotty thickers. got to find more of these :) This is an old layout of the kids at Butlins dancing with Barney. :)

One of the papers was covered in lots of little birdhouses which was perfect to cut out for this layout. This was when we went to see santa last christmas. He was at a large garden center and I was amazed at how many birds had flown inside and were eating all the food for sale. lol. They were so tame too, kids would just walk up to them and stroke them.

This is another photo from Butlins with the layout scraplifted from Rachel in the SC booklet. I think I might have scrapped this photo before, but as she fell asleep more then once might have been a different night! lol.

I did do more layouts that this but the rest need finishing touches, like titles or outlining so will share tomorrow. :)
Enjoyed using this kit, not used kits in a while as had so many odd bits and bobs to use up.

When I get upset I get dangerous

2011-08-12T10:11:00.003+01:00

More on the title in a moment. lol. On Sunday I took part in a 12 mile walk to raise money for a friends son who has muscular dystophy. The walking part was fine as I walk lots anyway, but about halfway through it became very clear I needed new trainers. OMG the blisters! Theres a bit on the back of one of them where the fabric has wore off and the plastic was rubbing against my heel. By the end my shoe was covered in blood. ow! But I did it so was pleased with myself. :) Felt so guilty the next day though as we were supposed to be takign the kids to a nature park, but as I couldnt put my shoes on for the pain that was right out. lol. So we asked them what they wanted to do instead. They picked baking in the morning, lunch in a resturant and a cinima afternoon at home. :) Easy enough :) So baking came first.

After making Dora and Thomas cakes, and playing in the bath to get rid of all the icing I let them pick what to wear to lunch. Caitlin LOVES this outfit as it comes with a 'crown' how cute does she look! They both looked so sweet I had to take some photos.

Too grown up.

Awwww!

We went to the Harvester for lunch. They both love it there because of the free salad. They love going out to dinner really, not sure what that says about my cooking. lol. Nice picture of me and Caitlin. :)

Now back to the title. Well when I get upset or worried I either cook or clean. Lately things outside of my house have been daft. Sister getting into more trouble, Mum and I not even talking (which will make Turkey interesting!) Well the freezers full so cooking was out, so I went to cleaning. From Marks perspective, this is even worse, lol. He knows I'll get something into my head and won't let it go. When he was first admitted to hospital for his illness I ripped the worksurface and plumbing out of the utility room, repainted it, and replaced the lot. Keeps me busy but works out pricy for him. lol. As we're skint atm I'm having to be more creative (and stay away from the catalogs! lol) so this week I've redid the hallway and reearranged the living room. Also had a anothe big declutter and clearout. :) Seriously need a trip to the tip but liking the results. :)
Also been doing some scrapping but cameras dead so will need to share that tomorrow. lol

blogging from hubbys computer

2011-08-08T09:40:00.003+01:00

My computer has been acting up for a while, showing a blue screen then restarting. Now its saying something about the grapics card so my more technically minded friends think I need a new one. So I'll be blogging from hubbys computer for the time being. :)
Down side of that is I don't have any photos on here yet, lol, so will be a typing post.
Yesterday I did a 12 mile walk in aid of a friends son who has duchenne muscular dystrophy. I ache a bit this morning but OMFG do my ankles hurt! I had 2 big blisters which this morning are a lot worse. I feel so guilty as we were supposed to be going to a park today with the kids but as I can barely walk not the best idea. lol. So I'm letting them run the show today. :) They've picked baking for this morning, picnic in the garden lunch then a 'cinima at home' afternoon. So lots of sweets and daft films I'm thinking. lol

Ugh, how did I get a cold in August!?

2011-08-04T10:03:00.002+01:00

Morning all. :) Well yesterday went really well. :) Everyone seemed to have fun and Caitlin was really well behaved which always pleases me no end. A friend was there with her baby who I spent some time holding and taking care of, Caitlin was NOT impressed with this! 'Why are you holding the baby mummy? The baby wants to go back in its buggy mummy!' lol. I think she likes being the baby in the family. Well woke up this mornng feeling like hell. I was stuffed up last night but thought it was just hayfever. Apprently not, everything aches and my head feels like its stuffed with cotton wool. Got to love my hubby, keeps bringing me tea bless him. Hes so british. lol. Anyway, managed a little scrapping yesterday Decided to do a simple challenge from uks. Rules were:
Use a punch 10 points - Bubble bath on the corners
Use numbers in your title 10 points - done
Include Hidden Journalling 10 points - on the back. :)

I'm not sure about this one. I wanted it to be simple so didnt use too many different papers, but used bling spirals to add intrest. I've got loads of little pearls and bits to use up so thought this would be a good way of doing it.

Well have a scan at hospital this morning so got to go get ready for that. joy, really just want to crawl back into bed! lol

More layouts. :)

2011-08-03T09:33:00.009+01:00

I've noticed recently my style of scrapping has changed. I used to scrap really quickly but without a huge amount of detail as, if I'm honest, I couldnt be bothered. lol. I was more quantity than quality. I think the amount of stash needing to be used and photos needing to be scrapped was quite daunting. However lately I've been trying new, more time consuming things and I love it! This is a perfect example. lol. This was scraplifted from Rachael Elliot in the SC design booklet. The edge around the circle was made by punching strips of paper, then carefully sticking them around the edge. Was fiddly and took a while but looks great I think. :)

Little details like wrapping twine and a charm around the frame I wouldnt have done before either, plus I've always been too scared to use my bling as its so pretty and I didnt want to waste it! So lots of walls broken down in this layout. lol. Plus it didn't take me too much longer than usual. Usually its about an hour for one layout, this one was only about an hour 45. :) Love the title 'Hats love' Mark actually came up with it, hes good with titles for some reason. lol

This is the birthday card Cameron and Caitlin 'made' for me for my birthday. I don't usually scrap them as they make me so much (and daddy obviously made this more than them, lol) but inside they both wrote their names all by themselves! so certainly worth scrapping I think. :)

Well on Sunday we went to the car boot sale. Not been in ages and took a picnic so we could play in the park afterwards. Managed to pick up a few toys for chirstmas and this hungry hungry hippos. Now while my ears regret buying it the kids certinaly love it! lol

Ok well off to rockingham castle to help out with a sure start picnic today. Cameron didn't want to go so its just me and Caitlin. Hopefully the weather will stay dry!

Happy but sleepy

2011-07-31T18:36:00.004+01:00

Quick blog to thank all the lovely ladies for their messages and support yesterday :) been up since 6 with kids so spent the day doing the 3 c's, car booting, chilling and cleaning! So ready for bed now!!! Will be more awake and interesting tomorrow loo

Bad day

2011-07-30T00:04:00.003+01:00

Ok yesterday was a bad day. I usually don't blog them but decided I'm gonna see if it might help. Started off well, went and got my hair don, feeling all relaxed, then come home to find mark stressed out of his mind, Cameron crying after being on the naughty step twice and generally an unhappy household. See, this is why i can't go out. I know mark does his best, and he's a great dad but he just can't handle both kids alone anymore. :( we were told when he had his transplant it obviously wouldn't last forever but I didn't expect things to start going downhill after just under 2 years. His memory is getting worse and he's finding it hard to deal with too much stimulation I guess, like if too many things are going on at once he can't follow and get frustrated. Which is pretty common with 2 demanding pre-schoolers. Plus I worry about accidents. He'll leave the oven on, or the fridge open, camerons at my mums tonight and marks just stood and asked 3 times if I checked on him before going to bed. :(
Which brings me to another issue today, my mum. I've mentioned before I don't get to really do anything without the kids, and time just me and mark is just unheard of. But my mum won't babysit so we can go out together. I can see her point a little as she'll have either one of my kids or one of my nieces every Friday on a rota, which is great for the kids but no help for grown up time, then she's too tired to watch them for a few hours any other night as she's had one Friday. So I tried to talk to her about maybe not doing that so babysitting wasn't such a big issue. Omg HOW bad do I feel now?! It blew up into a huge argument about how she does enough and the kids love going over. Ok they do but I take my kids all over the place, they want for nothing, I just want to exsist outside of being a mother! So it ended with my mum and dad both being mad at me, mark annoyed there's been more rows, me feeling like well what the hell do I do now?! I hate this. Plus I feel guilty as my sisters parter was apparently looking forward to coming round this weekend with my sister. Plans we made before she got herself arrested so now I'm obviously not talking to her are canceled. So I feel like a bitch there too. God sometimes I think I should just not leave the house and talk to nobody. Just stay home and clean. At least that way I can't let anybody down.

tips to make kits last, and stash shopping!!

2011-07-28T00:02:00.005+01:00

As I've mentioned before we have been majorly skint lately. However we received a very welcome £300 payback from Npower. :) Most of it went onto bills but Mark insisted I spend a bit on myself as I didn't get much on my birthday. By a coincidence Craft superstore was selling some Martha Stewart bits on a good deal so I ordered those. :) I got two punch around the page sets, a circle cutter, some fringe scissors (which I'm not sure about) and a big pack of cardstock for just under £60. Bargain!

Anyway back to being skint. lol. Because of this I've been a bit more frugal with my kits and using bits I'd otherwise throw away. I've seen other frugal people do this before but I've never been bothered to. lol.
Anyway, things I've done:
1 - Use packaging. You can always rip up the pizza box and paint it or ink it. But here I've used the backing paper from the rub ons that came with the kit to mat my photo. Prima packaging is particularly great to use as its so pretty!

2 - Divide up a large embellishment. Now I admit I'd never have thought of this myself, seems sacrilege! lol. But I saw Rachael Elliot had taken this flower, which originally had pink and red layers, and made two flowers, one pink one red. They both still look striking as it was a big flower to start with, and now I have two :)

3 - Use sticker edges. There were two layouts I wanted to scraplift and both used the large cloud sticker which came with the kit. So I used the sticker on one, then used the edging to cut out some blue paper to make a second. i actually prefer this one as the edging makes it stand out. lol

4 - Make your own embellishments. In this months kit there were a set of little flags. Really sweet and SO simple to make with a toothpick and a bit of patterned paper. This wasn't my best attempt, was about 2 am when I did this one. lol

So I've actually decided I like being frugal. :) Also like stash shopping. lol. hopefully will be doing more of both in the future!

Layouts and proud mummy. :)

2011-07-27T09:33:00.003+01:00

At the moment I'm a very proud Mummy. :) On Monday poor Mark was in a bad way from all the walking we did Sunday. Couldn't even get out of bed, so I let him sleep until gone 12. Kids were so quiet and well behaved when Mark woke and felt a bit better we decided to take them Pizza hut for lunch, then to see Cars 2 at the cinema. Never been Pizza hut with them before and with it being the summer holiday it was packed! kids climbing on tables, throwing napkins at the waitress. So I was so proud of my two sitting nicely and eating, and saying please and thank you. When Cameron asked the waitress 'May I have a glass of juice please' she looked so amazed. lol. Was funny when she asked him what he wanted to eat and he asked for 'Mcdonalds' though. He meant chicken nuggets. lol.
They were also great at the cinima, was a bit worried as caitlin never been before but she sat really well. So very proud mummy :)
I usually do a Whats on your workdesk Wednesday, but my desk is currently a mess as Im rearranging it, and I'm pretty sure you've all seen that before. lol. I do have some layouts to share though so I'll show these. :) All are scraplifts from the sarahs cards design team but I've now lost the booklet so can't give individual credit. Sorry!
Cameron at Thomas land. He was pretending to be asleep like James. lol

Some photos from the toy story area at disneyland. The title is 'time to be a toy' as everything there was huge to make you feel toy sized. :) Cameron particularly loved the the benches were all brio train track. lol

These were photos from the playhouse disney show. They weren't great as we weren't allowed to use flash but still wanted to include them. The blue journalling page at the side pulls down. I need to go over the title with a black pen but not got one yet. lol

Love this one. the photo is supposed to be of Caitlin with Mickey Mouse, but let my mum take it and this is what she took. NO idea how she did that the kid can use my camera easy. lol.

Having a big clearout today. Dont know why just woke up in spring clean mode. lol

stanwick lakes

2011-07-25T09:09:00.004+01:00

I was planning to blog about this yesterday but was so tired I was in bed by 8:30. lol. As it was Mollies birthday we all went for a picnic at Stanwick lakes. I've never been before but my mum had and said it was great. I was really impressed. :) It was a huge park with lots of water play areas for the kids. Was only £3 parking and had a bbq you could buy food from or just take your own picnic (which we did) was an amazing weather day. My sholders were burtn and I had factor 50 on! Caitlin enjoying the park. :)

The picnic. We all brought lots of food thinking there might not be enough. Really wasnt an issue. lol. I made egg mayonaise sandwhiches and everyone loved them! Even the kids who usually hate eggs Will need to make those again. lol.

Adorable photo. Thats Mollie on the left, Lillie in the middle and Pauls son Rob on the right. :)

Mollie blowing the candles out on her cake. The candle was a large flower, which was supposed to sparkle and play music. Yeah it really didn't. lol. Thought it was a bit of a bargain at £1.

Kids playing. :)

Cameron had a great time playing with Pauls boys Kerion and Rob. They were really patient with him as they're both a fair bit older but played with Cam and included him in thier games. He loved it.

All in all was a great day. For £3 the place is a bargain with loads to do if its sunny. Hopefully will go back next month. :)

Layout and Happy birthday Mollie!!!

2011-07-24T09:29:00.002+01:00

Ok so she can't read this blog (or even read lol) but I'd like to wish my neice Mollie a very happy 5th birthday today. :) Her mum was 'busy' yesterday (where it says busy read 'locked up') so I made her her birthday cake. :)

Its not the best photo, you cant see the pink sparkles all over the cake, or the fact theres three layers of pink sponge, strawberries and pink buttercream inside. :) Hopefully she'll like it. She usually likes anything pink so think I'm safe. lol.
I also managed another layout last night, This is another scraplift, this time from Lianne. I LOVE this photo. I took it on the eurostar as I loved the look of wonder on camerons face reflected in the window as he looks at the trains.

Right short post today but we're off for a picnic soon and I'm the only one not dressed!

A layout, yep thats right!

2011-07-22T20:02:00.003+01:00

The past few days I've spent most of my time reading but did manage to do one layout. :) I used Sarahs Cards july kit and its a scraplift of one by Lou.

I usually scraplift with my kits as while I don't mind using random stash and the layout going wrong I would hate to waste my kits when they're so pretty! plus I love how even through they're similar, scraplifts can look so different even with the same stash. :)
Hoping to do at least one more tonight. Hubbys out and I'm watching After.life but to be honest its nearly over and its pretty rubbish. lol. its one of those 'is she, isnt she? oh I dont really care' films. lol. its miles better than 'Drive angry' though which Mark watched last night. omg what cheesy rubbish! He found it funny though and gave me a chance to finish one of my books so not all bad. :)

WOYWW and blog award :)

2011-07-21T05:16:00.000+01:00

lol. Whats on my workdesk? A mess, as usual! The top drawer of my desk has become a dumping ground for the past few months and I took that it now won't close as a sign to sort it out! So it's currently dumped on my desk for me to sort through and organise.

Well this morning I found out I'd won a blog award. :) It's from Becky over at http://www.craftjar.com/ (I dont know how to do the neat links like she does. lol) Do pop over and have a read, she does lovely cards and layouts but also blogs about her everyday life as well. :)
So to accept this I need to tell you seven facts about myself. So here goes. :)
1 - My husband and I collect retro computer games. :) We have hundreds of mega drive, super nintendo, gameboy games and consoles. Even old commodore 64s and spectrum. In fact as we speak Mark is connecting the commodore to the tv for the kids to play with.
2 - I was told due to Marks illness we'd never have children. We were told in July 06 we had a less than 1 percent chance of ever falling pregnant naturally. September 06 I found out I was pregnant with Cameron, May 07 I found out I was pregnant with Caitlin. lol
3 - I cant stand tinned tomato soup. Even the smell makes my stomach turn!
4 - I LOVE roller coasters but hubby hates them. So when we went to disneyland for the first time I told him the Indiana Jones ride was a simple one. While waiting in the queue you couldn't see the ride because of the trees so it wasn't until we were on it he realised it had a big drop and two loop the loops. He wasn't impressed. lol
5 - Growing up I loved Enid Blyton books. Particularly 'The faraway tree' I love I can now read them to my daughter. :)
6 - I accidentally smashed one of Marks correctable figures worth around £200 when I swung my handbag over my shoulder one time. Woops.
7 - I HATE spiders. I scared the life out of Mark a few weeks back by going to the bathroom in the middle of the night, spotting a huge spider on the floor and screaming the place down. He thought someone had broke in. Kids didnt even wake up!

Lol, ok so I'm really not interesting. I asked Mark to think of an interesting fact about me and he couldn't think of one! Charming. So now for the 7 people I pass this award onto. :)

1 - Jo over at http://buckinghamspalace.blogspot.com/ Great layouts and always funny posts. :)

2 - Karen at http://kkfantasticplace.blogspot.com/ amazing cards and layouts.

3 - Ali at http://alisondj.blogspot.com/ Lots of baby post at the moment as shes just had beautiful twin boys. :)

4 - Claire at http://scrappymess.blogspot.com/ Great layouts and stories about her and her adorable girls.

5 - Lisa at http://life-with-me-lisa.blogspot.com/ Layouts, crafty posts and funny stories. :) What more could you want. lol

6 - Dee at http://deezkatz.blogspot.com/ Makes the most amazing things to buy from felt

7 - Carin at http://lifeloveandscrap.blogspot.com/ So much inspiration here. Love her layouts but never looks the same when I do it. lol

Ok so think thats a long enough post for today! Cold and wet here so taking kids to the library later. Get them some nice books to look at while I scrap a bit I think :)

Transfer day

2011-07-19T05:01:00.000+01:00

Well last friday was Cameron transfer day at his new school. Obviously I made Daddy take photos of this momentous occasion. However Daddys not the best photographer so this was the only one in focus. lol

Well the morning went better than I expected. It was only 45 mins in his new class and there were no tears (from either of us) and he happily played with the other children. There was one little girl Zoe who was from his class at nursery so I think that helped. He was very proud of himself when he was one of two children who could write their own name. Hopefully will go this well in September!

Peppa pig world

2011-07-18T12:19:00.000+01:00

Ok so we came back last week but been busy since then (nothing nice so I'll just gloss over it. lol) ell kids had a GREAT time at Peppa pig world. :) The drive down was horrendous. 4 and a half hours it took as we got stuck in traffic. Caitlin was a little sick bless her but was very brave. So we get there and obviously the first place we visit is Peppas house. :) Was actually quite realistic models telling a story about Daddy pig making pancakes and them sticking to the ceiling. Caitlin loved it here and we came back more than once.

Now before we went I was warned to take a change of clothes for the 'muddy puddles' section. To be honest I wasn't sure what it was but took the clothes anyway. Would have been better off with a swimming costume. lol. It was basically a big area with fountains and water toys. Each toy was controlled by a button, but not the one nearby. So you would press a button and a fountain would shoot up on the other side of the area if you know what I mean. Caitlin LOVED it!

Was really great, lots of things to do. She happily played here for most of the morning while Cameron played in Mr potatoes park next door. Which again was great with lots of peppa themed things to play on.

After drying Caitlin off and changing her clothes we went on a few rides. First was Grandad dogs boats, a simple ride which goes around in circles next to a duck pond (Not real ducks, yellow peppa pig ducks lol) then onto Grandad pigs train. The queues on all the rides were quite long, around 20 minutes, but there was lots to look at while waiting. The park had a great attention to detail, hills, flowers, building, all right out of the cartoon. Caitlin was in her element pointing everything out to me. One of Camerons favourite rides was georges dinosaur ride. Its similar to the horse race ride you get at most other theme parks. Was a nice relaxing ride showing lots more characters from the show.

In madame gazelles school house.

We went for lunch in Grandad pigs cafe. This is next to a big indoor play area which Cameron again loved. Now one thing about this park i cannot fault is how clean it was. I bought a coffee and walking from the counter to the table just outside I dropped the lid. In the seconds it took me to turn around to get it a member of staff had picked it up and put it in the bin. This was the same throughout the park. Despite its size and how busy it was I didnt see any rubbish lying around. After lunch we went into the main area of the park. This was MUCH quieter than Peppa pig world. The kids went on roller coasters, merry go rounds, the lot with no queues. But obviously its not Peppa pig. lol
Rather than drive back the same day we'd booked into a nearby hotel for the night. Cameron was very excited to see this desk and chair and made us all call him big man. God knows where that came from!

Back to the park the next day and more rides. :) These are some photos taken from Mrs Rabbits helicopters.

Cuddles in front of danny dog. :) At least I think it's Danny dog. lol.

All in all it was a great few days. The park is wonderful and plenty to do. :) If it was nearer I'd be back again in a heartbeat. :)

ok enough now.

2011-07-11T11:09:00.002+01:00

Ok, I've been AWOL a while. To be honest things have been a bit crap. Well kinda. As most mums know when you have kids you struggle to still be a person. Theres the 'mummy Gemma' then theres just 'Gemma' and its been a LONG time since 'Gemma' existed. Honestly the last time I went out without the kids except for drs appointments or practical things was March for the Twilight retreat. And while I'm ok about it during the day, at night when the kids have gone to bed it gets me down. I honestly feel like I'm losing myself. I don't enjoy scrapping much anymore, and Mark (bless him) sold a load of his collectibles to give me £100 for my birthday. I took them all out for lunch then bought lots of toys for the kids Christmas. From that £100 I bought myself a bottle of water, I didn't even have lunch. lol. Not because I'm a selfless saint or because there was nothing I wanted (bubble bath punch comes to mind. lol) but because it just doesn't feel right buying things for myself. Theres no reason for it really. Not like the kids ever go without. Mark encourages me to go out all the time but I just don't have anyone to go anywhere with. When Mark first got sick so much of my time was taken up with caring for him and the kids (a baby and a newborn at the time) I just lost touch with them all. I did start going to a monthly crop but since crhsitmas one thing or another has come up and I've just not been back. Things came to a head on my birthday but I won't get into that as I've moaned enough really. Bottom line is I've had enough. I've got to try and get back into my hobbies and home and just get over the fact if I go out, I'm taking the kids. It's easier now they're older granted, and Caitlins starting to want to go cinema and places too, though wont't do me much good when new twilight film comes out but if needs be I'll go alone! lol. But I'll just have to accept this is my life, I'm a wife and mother and thats about it, women in the 60's did it, so can I, and it could be worse. I've just got to focus on what I do have. A loving husband and two wonderful, happy kids. :)
OK soul bared, lol, as it was nice yesterday we decided to 'clean' tha car. I say 'clean' because the kids insisted on helping, so it got about as washed as it would have done in a heavy rainstorm. lo. They had fun though and soaked everything in sight so I don't mind. :)

Love Mark in the background browsing his ebay. lol. Had a few bits ending last night so he was watching to see what they went for. Was gutted as he sold a HUGE star wars puzz 3d spaceship, took em bloody hours to build it to make sure all the bits were there and it went for £1.70. £1.70!! I think I should get a bar of chocolate and a magazine out of that. lol

Well Marks been told to force me to scrap tonight so hopefully will have some layouts to share tomorrow. :)

Wonderful news to wake up to. :)

2011-07-03T08:38:00.000+01:00

Well this morning I woke up to a txt telling me my cousins girlfriend has given birth to their twins! So excited. Its a boy and a girl, 6lb each! Good weight really. Mum and babies both doing fine after a bit of a rough time, no names yet but can't wait to hear. :)
Thanks for comments yesterday about my holiday. :) The hotel we're going to is the 'Hotel tropical' it used to be the holiday village but is now split into two hotels rather than one huge one. Apprently still pretty big though. lol
Well managed a bit of scrapping last night. Mainly watched tv and did puzzles in magazines though. lol These two are of when we took the kids bike riding.
First time I've used my butterfly punch here. :)

ne of Cameron. Had no 's' left so used a 'z' lol. Still works I think. The wooden circle is actually off an old top but I threaded it onto a misted chipboard cog to make an embellishment. :)

Well today theres housework to be done in the morning, then helping out at a sure start fun day this afternoon. Hope the weather holds out as I'm giving out ice creams. Won't be too much to do if it rains! lol

ok no photos

2011-07-02T09:30:00.003+01:00

its not often I do a no photo post but unless you want to see a photo of my freshly ironed clothes I've not got much to share. lol. Oh Wait I've got one thing. :)
LOOK WHERE I'M GOING!!!!!!!!

It's a hotel in Turkey. I'm SO stupidly excited and its not until next year. lol. I've had a bit of a rubbish time lately and we are skint, seriously skint for the next few months. Was so embarrassing last night getting the shopping in Asda and having to hand over a big pile of vouchers. Anyway. We haven't been abroad since our honeymoon when I was pregnant with Cameron (didn't know it yet though. lol) and I really miss the sun and the sea. Mum on the other hand goes away every year but was getting really bored just sitting around the pool and beach, so as a surprise she booked us all a holiday in Turkey next year! We have to pay the rest but she did the deposit which was a fair chunk of it, and was really cheap as both kids went free anyway. So I'm a very happy bunny. :) We've been busy getting more of Marks stuff ready to ebay to add to our dwindling funds so I spent most of last night building a Puzz 3d millennium Falcon. It was NOT easy! There were 800 odd bits and trying to get them to stay together when building it all up wasn't simple. It really was for someone with patience, god knows why I was doing it!

WOYWW

2011-06-29T17:48:00.002+01:00

Ok, I've been a bad blogger. lol. Have been busy this time though so have an excuse for the days speeding by. Last friday we took the kids to Thomas land. We've been plannign to go for ages but were just waiting for a nice day. They had a great time. :) Took lots of photos but will show them tomorrow. Weekend was the usual stuff, dads group and housework. The weather was amazing so spent most of it outside. :) Then monday we went strawberry picking!

Was really sweet as one of the programes the kids like is Special agent Oso. Hes a teddy bear who goes around helping people and in one episode helped a young girl pick strawberrys by 'twisting them then pulling' so Cameron and Caitlin were telling everyone how to pick the strawberrys like Special agent Oso did. lol.
So whats on my desk this week. Um, a mess again. lol. Im hosting a stash swap on UKS so have a few parcels which have arrived waiting for the rest of the group. Ive also got some layouts which need finishing touches before they can be put away. :) You also might notice the take away boxes of letters are still out. lol. When going through my sheets of thickers I found lots which only had a few letters left on it. So decided to cut them up and put the letters into the boxes to neaten things up a bit.

So thats my job for tonight. lol.

Will blog more tomorrow. Weathers getting rubbish again so sure I'll be about more. lol.

WOYWW

2011-06-22T11:37:00.000+01:00

Well thats a few days gone and I've no idea where! lol. I've been doing housework, painting and taking the kids about and the days have just flew by. This blog has came in handy as I've also been organising my phootos. I like to have them in folders on my computer based on what month they were taken. So I've been looking back at posts to find out. lol.
For those of you who were wondering how long my desk would stay tidy. Ummm, not too long. lol. With sorting out old layouts and my masses of thickers and letters its a bomb site again. Pile of boxes ot thickers (and my breakfast bowl. lol)

Pile of layouts which need titles and pizza box full of thickers and letters. lol. Will be working on this tonight. :)

I did manage a few layouts though. :) Like this one of me and the kids on bonfire night. I used an old piece of Core-dinations card I found. :)

Nice simple one of me and the girls at our twilight retreat this year. :) FBG stands for fat bottomed girls. Don't ask. lol

This was mainly to use up the many stickers I had sitting in a box. :) Love using things up

Cameron at Easter. It was a very 'white' photo so wanted the colours to be muted too.

Last one for now. :) Caitlin at the park. Really like this one. Very girly and love the butterfly sticker. :)

Well plan to do more scrapping tonight and maybe watch some nice relaxing tv. lol. Hubby is out again and last night I had to ring him to come home as I was watchign the crime channel and scared myself a bit. lol. Maybe just E4 or something tonight. :)