February counterfeit kit

Ok so up to date now lol. With making the kits anyway, haven't actually done any layouts with them but one step at a time! This month we were given two kits to choose from, the first was mainly black and red which wasn't to my taste, luckily I loved the second choice which was this :)

I don't have many love hearts in my stash but loved the bright colours and all the dots and stripes so put together these papers. Not the best photo but Scamp was trying to eat them so didn't want to risk taking a second!

And these are my embellishments. More bright colours and some 'love' themed chipboard to go in with the romance theme. I really like this kit so looking forward to using it. :)

Well its been a very, very long afternoon so keeping this short. Off to relax and unwind!

January counterfit kit. (yes I know its February)

Ok so I'm behind but not by too much ;) This was the kit we were given in January which is very wintery so I love it.

These are the papers I picked. I've got loads of Christmas papers I bought when they were reduced including lots of foiled and glittered ones which are in the front row. The patterns on some are huge so can see me cutting out a lot of these bits and using as embellishments.

That said I'm not short of embellishments either. I love Christmas so always take loads of photos so obviously need lots of embellishments to go with them ;) You can always get Christmas crafting items for pennies in the sales so I never have a shortage of them. After this year I now have 13 Christmas themed washi tapes too lol. Everything you see here was bought for half price or less. Love sales :)

Well today Mark is off for his 6 monthly appointment at Birmingham. I hate when he goes as always worry they'll find a problem, they'll be an accident, he'll get lost etc. His friend Eric goes with him who is amazing at taking care of Mark but you know what it's like, nobody can take care of them as well as you! To distract myself I've got a morning of housework (boooo) then I'm helping out in Cameron class this afternoon (yey!) Then have rainbows and other errands to run tonight so will be too busy to worry I hope :)
Thanks for all the comments about Caitlin yesterday :) Appointment didn't go as bad as I thought so that was good. Her front tooth is coming in crooked but the dentist thinks that Caitlins tooth will push it into place? Ill take her word for it ;) No tears from Caitlin this time so hoping shes getting used to it!

BAD Mummy!

OMG today didn't start off too well. Taking the kids to school, almost at the gate and Caitlin asks if we're going out tonight. No you have dentist after school I reply. She bursts into tears! She doesn't like the dentist thats true but she doesnt usually get SO upset about it. Tried to calm her down, bribe her etc but she was having none of it. So I had to drop off a sobbing little girl :( Promised I'd make mac and cheese for dinner which is her fave so hopefully that will help. Also keeping everything crossed she doesnt need any work as I'm sure one of her front teeth is coming in crooked. :s
So I'm still scrapping :) My friend Fiona recently started a new monthly meme called SIPIDI. Which means See It, Pin It, Do It! The idea being that once a month you take one of the many projects you pin and actually do one, lol. This can be anything, a recipe, a layout, a DIY project, anything you would like :) It's a great way to kick start your mojo so feel free to join in here.
Well as most of the recipes I've pinned are not exactly diet friendly I've picked a layout to scraplift this month. I pinned this one a while ago because I like the colours but decided to use the layout more instead.

And this is what I did. :) This is another photo from Great yarmouth a couple of years ago, though I think the kids look just the same as they do now lol.

Two birds with one stone as todays prompt is 'square' so think this square shaped layout will do :)
Ugh, it's Monday which means ironing needs done. Marks off to Birmingham tomorrow for his appointment so will be back and forth then!

Farm fun :)

I've been promising the kids for weeks that we would visit the farm but the weather has been dreadful so just hasn't happened. Today however, though it was cold it was bright and dry so off we went. First was a quick trip to Tescos to see if I could find a set of wellies but no luck. Grabbed a few treats to add to our picnic though plus the basics we need for the week so not a waste.
We've been to the farm loads as its not far but this year was an extra treat as we decided to to get the kids annual passes for their birthdays. Turned out to be an amazing deal £100 and that includes access to all their event days such as fossil hunting, berry picking, bonfire night etc. Plus money off their camping weekends and anything bought in the resturant or gift shop. Yey! Its also super dog friendly there and dogs are allowed everywhere as long as they are on leads including in the resturant so can see us spending even more time there now we have Scamp.
Our visit today was really the first time Scamp had been anywhere big. We've took him on walks around the neighbourhood of course but thats not the most interesting area lol. I was confident he would enjoy it and I was very right ;) He was amazed at all the different animals that were there and tried to make friends with this goat by licking his head lol.

After meeting all the animals we dragged Scamp away to walk down to the Troll bridge. As well as the animals (obviously) and the park, the farm has lots of themed areas like the fairy glen, wheres there's lots of tree stumps carved into toadstools and little wooden fairies about, or the witches house, where theres a little cottage with lots of witch themed things inside. It just adds another level of interest for the kids and encorages them to go on walks and discover things :) Anyway the troll bridge is further than we've usually gone so took a slow walk down to find the bridge. Unfortunatly there was a huge flood puddle just the other side so couldn't go any further but the kids and Scamp were happy just jumping in the mud lo.. I remember when we first took Scamp out he wouldn't even step in puddles, he seems over that now! Also using this for todays prompt 'Two' so two happy kids (and one pup) getting muddy.

After the loooong walk it was time for lunch. On other visits we'll probably just eat here (they do the BEST sausage sandwhich and hot chocolate) but as we'd shelled out so much already we had a picnic this time :) Brought a flask of tomato soup and sausage rolls for the kids and Mark and a little bag of dog food for Scamp. I did have a sandwhich but while we were eating some turkeys wandered past. Scamp ran after them so quick he yanked his lead right out of the knot we'd put it in, and I jumped up so quick to catch him it all went flying lol. Got a hot chocolate to make me feel better though ;)

So home, baths all round to clear the huge amount of mud we brought home and time to relax before dinner (sausage and mash, yum) Scamp is currently fast asleep in his cage cuddled up to his hot water bottle teddy to keep warm after his bath. Think he enjoyed his first big day out ;)

Babysitting

Today marks friend Eric has taken him out for a bit so I invited Mollie over to play. Mark stresses when other kids come round so I try and make the most of it when he's not. Doesn't exactly give me an easy day but hey ho thats life lol.
I've still be busy scrapping as much as I can. I have 60+ photos I'm trying to use up before the retreats so got to keep at it! This isn't the best picture of this layout but I've put it away now so it will have to do. This picture was taken the first time we went camping. The kids were amazed by the fire and enjoyed simply sitting with Mark watching it and enjoying a hot chocolate. The second time we went it was tipping it down so glad I got this photo the first time round!

Last night I put a status on Facebook that I loved my new 'throne'. a lot of people asked what I meant and this is it lol. :) Not really a throne at all but thats what Mark calls it. I've kind of stole this chair as mine and set up my scrapping bits around me so I can sit and scrap without hunting for things. On the left hand side are my plastic box of scraps I'm trying to use up, and my little pink box of chipboard shapes. I usually have these behind the computer so they don't come out very often. I've also got my cutter and all my tools. On the right are my photos, random embellishments to use up and some layouts I've ripped out of magazines to scraplift. It's not really everything I would need usually as my washi, ribbons, twine, button ect are over on the desk but at the moment when I'm going for speed rather than really detailed layouts it works well for me :) I'd love to have one of those huge scraprooms I see on youtube but until I win the lottery this will do ;)

Quick catch up on photo prompts. Yesterday was 'culture', so this is a photo of Caitlin in the Turkish dancing outfit we bought her on holiday.

Todays is 'throw away' well these I hope won't be thrown away after I'm gone. These are all the layouts I made in January.

Well kids are currently playing with makeup and resemble clowns/ladies of the night so better go find some babywipes to turn them back into kids ;)

More scrapping

Well today started off a bit different. I woke up this morning with a splitting headache, I do get migranes sometimes at certain times of the months and though I managed to struggle downstairs and make the kids some toast I knew I had to go and lie back down. :( Its times like these I'm so proud of and sad for my babies as they know exactly what to do to get themselves ready and help out their Daddy. I hate asking him to take the kids to school as its a huge worry him getting back on his own but sometimes, luckily very rarely, I have to take the risk and while it took him a lot longer than me he managed it. :) After sleeping until almost 11 I felt much better so was up and ready to slowly start the day.
By start the day I mean move from lying to the bed to lying on the couch lol. Seriously I did nothing all day. I managed to quickly make a simple card for my Grans birthday today but that was it. After I picked up the kids from school we went down to visit her and give her her gift. She asked the same thing of all her grandkids which was a photo of her great grandkids :) She now has 10 with number 11 on the way so lots of photos! When I got there the house was full! My sister and her bf were there with my two youngest neices and my cousin Paul was there with 3 of his kids so was hectic. My Gran seemed happy though :) She later txted me that it reminded her of when me and my cousins were young and she would babysit us all for the school holidays. Her and Granddad were amazing really, there were 5 of us with up to 6 years age difference and they managed to keep us all happy and entertained :) Granddad used to take us for picnics in the woods, or let us help in his vegetable garden while Gran would teach us baking or make up games for us. We were really lucky growing up :)
Ok trip down memory lane done here are more layouts lol.
This is a photo from I think the second time we went to Thomas land. The lego Thomas was in the shop upstairs and Cameron was fasinated by it. I love how he has his hand on the side of his face as he still does that now when he is shocked :) He looks so young in this photo compared to how he is now. I know he's not exactly moving out and going off to university yet but it feels like hes grown up so much since the Thomas the tank engine days.

This is possibly one of the worst photos I've ever took of the kids but I love it because they look so happy. I asked them to say cheese which they did but they said it as through they where trying to take off at the same time which resulted in these faces lol.

Im doing well using up the old photos, only 60 or so more to go! ;)

Joke book

Todays prompt was 'Something beginning with J' I had no idea what to do for this one :s Luckily my son came through and on a trip to the library with the school yesterday brought back a joke book!

The jokes are very much christmas cracker material but he finds them funny :) Heres an example 'How did the tree get on the internet? He logged on!'
This afternoon I have a very sad little girl :( Her friend Rosie was supposed to be coming round for dinner today but she was sent home from school poorly so couldn't come. Poor Caitlin was gutted. She cried most of the way home until a bird pooed on Camerons head which made her crack up so that was good. :) Cameron didn't even mind as it made her laugh. What a sweetie :)
So to cheer her up i bought her a little Hello kitty card kit so she could make a 'Get well soon' card for Rosie, and a birthday card for Granny tomorrow. I think shes still milking it a bit as still saying how sad she is but shes enjoying colouring in anyway.
While shes doing that I'm still crafting. Having everything out and having the aim to finish my old photos and scraps before my weekend away in March has certanly lit a fire under me and I'm doing around 2 layouts a day. It probably won't last and most of them are super simple but I'm pleased with them and its better than the photos just sitting in a drawer. That's how I choose to look at it anyway ;)
This is a photo of Cameron and Mark at Great Yarmouth a few years ago. We went into a 4D cinema but it sprayed water which scared the life out of Cameron so he had to leave. To cheer him up Mark took him on the bumper cars for the first time. Good job I was still in the cinema or I wouldn't have allowed it!

Emotional

Well today is a very emotional day, it should have been my Granny and Granddads 59th anniversary so was in an emotional state anyway. Then I couldn't get a hold of my gran. Every morning on the way back from school I ring and chat to her, EVERY morning. This morning she wasn't answering her home phone and her mobile was off. It's never off so I started to panic. Almost an hour later and still not able to get a hold of her I was ready to go and try and break down her door (she just got new doors so I dont even have a key!) when my Dad txt me and told me she was with them. Mum had took the morning off so she could take Gran out. I was so relieved and burst into tears. Had a good cry and a cup of tea so feeling better now. :)
Todays prompt for photo was 'boring' so I took this one. I find washign boring but Scamp loved to chew on the washing basket, lol. We're really lucky so far as everyone warned me puppies are nightmares when they're teething, but besides him getting a hold of a roll of brand new washi tape his toys and this basket are the only thing he does shew. Fingers crossed he stays this well behaved! He hasn't quite learned that standing directly behind people often results in squashed paws yet, but hoping he learns that one soon ;)

Well kids are at gymnastics tonight so don't need to pickt hem up until 4:30. I'm hoping they get out pretty sharpish as Caitlins dance lesson starts at 4:45!!

What a depressing day!

Wow it's dark and miserable outside today. Its pouring it down and its so dark everyones driving about with their lights on. one of those days we really should be allowed to just stay in bed I think ;)
Life doesn't agree however so took the kids off to school and came back for a morning of housework :) This was waiting for me which certainly brightened up my day! Was ideal for todays prompt too which was inside, so this was what was inside my parcel from Sarahs cards :) It was supposed to be a essentials only order, new album, white cardstock, page protectors etc, but then I found a range of papers called Cameron. I HAD to get them obviously lol. Picked a few I really liked and added them, then a grab bag of paper sneaked its way into my order too ;) £4 for 20 sheets, not bad :) Only a couple not to my tatse so will take them when I go to MB next month and see if anybody can make use of them there.

Not had a chance to use any of my new bits yet but did do this layout last night. Still using up scraps and random bits. I think the flower is actually a large glass bead but thought it was pretty so included it here. The photos are from the first time we went camping and we made smores. VERY messy but very yummy ;) Well me and Mark did, kids hated them lol.

Another proud Mummy today :) The school does gymnastics lessons after school on Wednesday. The kids have asked to go in the past but with it being £30 per child for 10 lessons it was a bit out of our price range. Today I was told that the school had a few free places to give away to deserving children and both mine got a place!!!! They were very excited bless them :)

Time

Since the start of the year, I don't know how but I seem to have a lot more spare time. I admit simple things like Mark being able to have a shower, Caitlins room being more organised so easier for her to tidy herself and all that certainly seem to be helping, but in general I seem to be a lot more on top of the housework these days. As a result I've had more time to myself, which I've been using mainly for scrapping :) Great to use up all my bits and get organised before the retreats next month! So this was my table last night, some cookies with the last of my points, a cup of coffee and scrapping. The perfect end to the day, which was very fitting as 'perfect' was yesterdays prompt lol.

And this is how it looked when finished. I loved how the title really went with the kids personalities shown in each photo. Cameron very much lives in the moment and is very active and bubbly, where as Caitlin is a little more........herself lol. These were both taken in Turkey, Cameron was dancing about like a nutter, and this was Caitlins reaction when I asked her to dance with him so I could get a photo. Thats a no then. lol

Todays prompt was 'group' wasn't sure what to do but then when we went to Tesco this morning we found all these at 1p a bag! As we have the kids birthdays coming up I'm trying to put little bits away for the party bags so these are ideal :)

Well we have Camerons friend Jack coming round for dinner tonight. I've got a huge pizza and a load of toppings so they can each do their own so kids were all excited about that :) Its also weigh in day today so I might have a bit too lol. I only lost 1lb but given the time of the month I expected that iywkim. But it got me to my 5% target so thats soemthing :) Hopefully will be a bigger loss next week!

Cold, muddy, and happy :)

Today is one of those days where I feel really blessed. Its horrible outside, wind is howling, rain pouring down and I'm currently snuggled into a dressing gown (Marks of course) with the heating slowly warming the house while the kids play in the bath. We went for a walk this afternoon and kids (and Scamp) splashed in every puddle going so I've had a quick shower to warm up, bathed Scamp and now its kiddies turn lol. Everyone happy, warm, cosy and safe and I know how lucky we are for that. the kids are similar to me in the way that while we love going on day trips and holidays and all that we're very much homebodies and love simple days where we just stay home and do simple things together. Today that's been making models from hamma beads, playing games and getting books form our local library.
Games certainly caused a few laughs too :) We played 'Headbands' first, where you have a picture on your head and you need to ask the others questions so you can guess what it is. The charades, which was...odd..... lol. For example Cameron was being a horse and prancing on all fours. Caitlins guess 'A walking stepmother!' Then it was Caitlins turn, Caitlin curls up in a ball.
Us - 'Are you a rock? a ball? a pillow?
Caitlin - I don't know what I am!
Fair enough!!
Not managed any scrapping today but photographed two I did last night. First is more photos from Great yarmouth. The kids love the activities Haven puts on, simple crafting games and classes bring them so much joy, even if they've done it at home millions of times before! I've left a gap on the doily to do journaling.

From Great Yarmouth to Turkey lol. I've noticed recently that in the majority of photos Mark hides his walking stick, this one is a perfect example as its hidden behind Cameron. I used a rub on for the title but changed it a bit as it was supposed to say 'Memories of you' which to me made it sound like Mark wasn't with us anymore so changed it to with instead. If you lift the tag with the 'me' rub on theres a photo of me and the kids at the beach, but I HATE the picture so hid it lol. I'm in a bikini which everyone told me looked ok, but in that photo I honestly look like I could have given Jordan a run for her money! You'd have think my Mum would have mentioned that. *rolls eyes*

Well kids are out now so time for dinner, homework and calming them down before bed. Wish me luck!

Scary weather!

Well todays weather was crazy! Wasn't too bad this morning, then suddenly went really dark and very loud thunder and lightning started. Poor Scamp was freaking out barking at the window which was made worse when the hail started. It must have been a pretty big storm as a couple of my friends who live in nearby towns had it at the same time. So with all that was very much a PJ day today! As the kids didn't want to go out into the wet, horrible weather I took Scamp for his walk. I quite like doing it on my own as its relaxing walking about listening to my Ipod. This time however got to the end of the street and it died *sigh* So stopped into mums and stole hers, got to the end of her street and hers died! So on I walked in silence, talking to Scamp who looked at me like I was crazy lol.
Crazy behaviour aside todays prompt was 'small' I decided to photograph the small individual embellihsments I've sorted so far. With my very limited space for storage I struggle with the more random embellishments that dont fit into kits so trying to find storage for them all. Not working too well so far as still have a large bag which needs either a new home or using up.

Also took this picture of the small crazy people in my house. This is how Cameron watches TV, and Scamp loves to sit on his back and just look around the room. Strange pair. lol

As trying to sort embellishments isnt working too well I'm trying to use as many as possible so threw together a couple of layouts while the kids watched a film today. This was for the Sketch challenge so I'm all caught up now! :) I haven't done the journaling yet but this photo was taken last year at Haven. At night we would go and watch the entertainment in a little hall. The kids tended to sit on the floor at the front while adults sat at tables further back. This year was the first time that Cailtin wanted to go off with the kids rather than sit with us. This was a nightmare for me as there were times I couldn't spot her in the crowd and while there was nowhere really for her to go it still worried me. She was fine though and I had to let her do it and start letting go a bit.

I took this photo of her from our table, a little pigtailed head among all the big kids *sniff sniff* :(

Chilling :)

Today has been a lovely chilled out day :) Mark has another cold bless him, he can't seem to shake them this year, so he was taking it easy. The house was still tidy from yesterday so aside from the HUGE pile of washing I didn't have much to do so between filling and emptying the machine I set about sorting the craft stash I found yesterday. TBH between that and the stuff I already had I didn't know where to start. I have SO little space to store everything its hard to figure out the best way to do it. I ended up setting it out on the floor and making a number of kits which seemed to work best. Still have a bag of random, half finished bits I need to use or find a home for though lol. After sorting what I could I had a bit of time before pick up so quickly threw this one together.

I seem to have loads of chipboard so glad to have used a few bits here :)
As it was Friday we invited my gran up for dinner. We used to go hers on a Friday but she would run around after the kids which wasn't good for her, so if she comes here its more relaxed and the kids have more toys to play with. I didn't tell the kids so they were thrilled when she was there at pick up time. I snapped this photo quick for todays prompt which was Family :) Cameron had his arm around her but typically removed it just as I took this photo

Had a proud Mummy moment today :) Each Friday the dinner ladies give two children (one from each year) a prize for having the nicest manners and listening skills from the week. Picked up a very excited Cameron who had won from his year Then picked up a very excited Caitlin who had won from hers!

Organised chaos :)

Today was crazy busy but fun. :) This morning I spent cleaning and tidying and while I did I found the box of craft stuff I got for Christmas in the back of the wardrobe. Had forgotten about most of it so had a rummage and put it aside to be sorted through tomorrow. My mojo certainly seems to be back though as managed to quickly do a layout before I had to go out this afternoon.
Told you was a quick one :) Had this embossed paper in my scraps box for ages. Dont remember why I embossed it in the first place but whatever reason I did it for must have changed my mind lol. I haven't done the journalling yet but I've left a space in the bottom corner to write about how Cameron, Granny, Mark and I all love puzzles and problem solving, and one of Camerons fave gifts he got that year for his birthday was a Thomas the tank engine puzzle book Granny bought him.

Today was also coffee with my Mum day :) As usual a quick trip to TKmaxx was needed. ;) After my bargains the other day my friend Jess asked me to get a few bits for her so got some washi tape a couple of packs of pegs. Look forward to seeing what she does with them!

We'd promised the kids we would take them back to kids play with the free voucher, after this weekend events Mum really needed a break so she asked if we could take Mollie too. I was pretty wary about taking 3 kids, one of which wasn't even mine, as I'm panicy enough in those places at the best of times, but wanted to help out and it was pretty quiet last time so we agreed. Worked out pretty well in the end. The kids were really well behaved and it was even more quiet than the last time, though the book I took with me was rubbish so was a pretty boring visit on my part! Ended up reading the social services report from the other day which was interesting as shows the new staff they have in Mollies school seem to be pretty on the ball and very aware of whats going on. Fingers crossed it helps the situation! After nearly 3 hours of play treated the kids to a Mcdonalds then took them home to bed. :) Mum was really grateful so glad I did it. Plus now it looks like she'll be having Mollie for the foreseeable future I'd like for her to be closer to my two. Past events have meant a rift between the cousins and while I can't do much about Evie and Lillie can hopefully improve where Mollie is concerned :) Have nothing big planned for tomorrow except my Granny coming to dinner so might do some more scrapping ;)

Things that make you happy

With everything I woke up feeling pretty down today. By some stroke of luck a friend of mine had a book delivered called 'The little book of happy' or something along those lines. Its a really simple book with simple ideas on how to ift your mood, like doodling, having a junk food day, going shopping for a few small items you want without feeling guilty etc. So I decided to pop into town and see if Tkmaxx had any good storage bargains. They didn't but I did find these :) The pretty flower swirls on the washi worked well with todays prompt which was 'swirl' too, so two birds one stone ;)

Well tonight after dropping Cait off at dancing I've got a meeting at Camerons school about his SATs. I must admit I'm not a huge fan of kids at this age doing exams but not much I can do about it. Personally I'm dreadful at exams. Give me a practical, where I get marks on what I do to show what I've learned and I'm great. Sit me down in front of a sheet of questions and ask me to answer them and I'm lucky I can remember my own name. Cameron is a bit the same. Maths for example he is very gifted at. Will do sums till the cows come home. Ask him to write down his working however he has no clue, 'I just know the answer' is what he says and he just cannot work out how to put down the process he uses to get to it. *sigh* sure he'll be fine. And just think, next year I get to go through all of this again with Caitlin! lol

Ugh

Well today has been a rough day :( But first a catch up, Yesterdays prompt for the photo a day was 'cosy' so I took this photo of Scamp all cosy in his bed :) The green and white jumper used to be mine but it was on the radiator one day and before I knew it he had pulled it off and ripped it. So I let him have it in his bed. Lucky hes so cute ;)

Todays prompt was lying around. I wasn't sure what to do but slipped on the diet a bit tonight and had some chocolates which have been lying around since Christmas. So that counts ;)

Well today wasn't too bad until tonight when my Mum rung me to confirm that my sister was pregnant. Yep the one who can't really take care of the THREE she already has, is having a forth. The dad is apprently the same Dad as the youngest but he doesnt want the baby either and is pushing for a termination. Sister is having none of it though, Ugh that girl just keeps getting worse!!!!!
FX for a better day tomorrow ;)

Monday maddness!!

Well today was hectic lol. We drove the kids to school as we had lots of errands to run, first to Tesco to pick up a parcel I ordered, then Next to return some stuff my Mum bought, The Range for puppy pads and thats where it went wrong. Got in the car, drove to Asda and then the car wouldnt lock. It locked fine if I pressed the button in the car so figured it was the key. Drove back to Halfords, which was right next to The range and got a new battery, still wouldnt work, tried another one, nope. At this point the guy in Halfords shrugged and said nothing more he could do and walked off. Which surprised me as every other time I've been there the staff couldnt do enough for me, but suppose theres always one. Anyway I decided at this point to try the method known around the world when you need to find out something, I googled it. :) Turned out the key needed recoding to the car which was easily done, so followed the instructions and yey! locked car :) So off to Asda for a big fortnightly shop. Ended up spending £125 which was more than I intended but thats us fully stocked up now. Always feel better when the cupboards are full. Think its because when I was little money was tight, my sister and I never went without, Mum would never have let us, but I was aware Mum did so we could eat which always worried me. Anyway after unpacking all the shopping and tidying up from the morning I had time to down a quick cup of tea before taking Mark to his doctors appointment at 3, then going to get the kids. Whew! Poor Marks wiped out now so hes had his dinner and off to bed while the kids watch a bit of TV before their bedtime. :)
Well with everyone quiet and calm might as well show the other layouts I did. I love this photo of Mark. :) We went to a place called the blue lagoon in Olu denez in turkey. It was a smallish cove and the water was so warm it was like bath water. It was great as unless you went right to the back it wasn't deep at all so we could let the kids run wild. We had visited a market that morning and bought them some water guns so they had a brilliant time :) Marks not the best in water, he can't swim and panics if hes in too deep so was ideal for him too. love this photo as was such a peaceful day.

This is another from Turkey. We went on a kiddie cruise where the adults sunbathed on the top deck while inside the boat there was a kids club to keep them entertained. While we were at a swimming stop the kids suddenly came sprinting upstairs telling us they needed to hide as they were playing hide and seek....on a boat.....in the middle of nowhere......fair enough. lol.

I seem to be scrapping more now it's upstairs. Since we got Scamp obviously I can't leave it on the rug anymore and while I use the desk sometimes Mark sits there most of the time as its better for his back so I can't leave anything there either. Bedroom however nobody ever goes in so nobody cares how much craft stuff I leave lying about lol.

Clear, cold and bright

I love days like today. Was freezing cold outside but the sky was clear and blue and there wasn't too much of a wind. We were planning to take the ids to east carlton park but as usual it didn't go to plan! The kids decided to get out the huge amount of Hamma beads Caitlin got for Christmas and were so engrosed at making things with those that they didn't want to go out at all. Left them to it which gave me a chance to sort out yet more washing then decided to make the most of the weather and drag them over to the park. Turned out to be a lovely afternoon :) My dad and Mollie came out with Poppy so the pups ran around together and I bumped into some old friends who I hadn't seen in ages. Was lovely catching up while the kids played :) Stayed until 3 when we had to go as we still had homework/dinner/baths to do. Stopped off at the libary on the way who were selling off some books for 25p and got a couple for the kids. They love their books and I'm happy to encorage it :) Went a bit wrong though as Caitlin was so busy looking at hers she missed a curb coming up and went flying :( Poor baby, she is so graceful when dancing and so clumsy the rest of the time! Scamp walked right next to her the rest of the way home, hes so protective of them when we're out. If they go off a head hes running off after them straining at his lead to catch up.
Well we got home and warmed up with a hot drink and as soon as the kids had finished their dinner and homework they were back upstairs making things with the beads. Mark was tired out from the walk so he went to bed and I cuddled up with a sleepy Scamp and the book I got for myself. Time went on and it was so peaceful I decided to be a bad Mummy and let them go without a bath, one night wont kill them ;)
Well todays prompt was favourite thing to wear; this was supposed to be a photo of me in Marks dressing gown. I do have my own but his is bigger and comfier than mine I stole it so much he asked for a new one for Christmas so he could wear one too lol. When taking the photo however my crazy kids decided to jump on me. Both are wearing their fave things, their onesies so thought I'd include them too :)

Managed to find my alphas so here are two of the layouts I did the other day :) This is a double layout of photos from the kids birthday party 2 years ago, well nearly 3 now! Caitlin is wearing a mask to play pin the tail on the donkey. All the kids did really well which surprised us until they all admitted they could see! Sneaky little beggers lol.

I loved this cake I got them. The party was a simple thing with only family so I splashed out on the gifts and cake. Got this made just for them with the sugarpaste figures of what they loved at the time. Dora, Peppa and Timmy for Caitlin, Thomas, Percy and Lightning Mcqueen for Cameron. The bottom was chocolate and top vanilla and strawberry. Was nicer than our wedding cake lol.

Mini bit of mojo back :)

This morning Mum took Caitlin to Kids play and Cameron was happily building things on Minecraft so I decided to spend some time working on layouts. Todays prompt was 'today' so this is how my little desk looked today :)

Need to find some numbers and some blue alphas for the titles but managed to finish 3 layouts before Caitlin got home, then was dinner and bedtime before I knew it! Feels like today has sped by!

Feels weird Friday

Todays prompt was 'inspiration' so I knew exactly what photo I wanted to take. I won't bore you all with the story of Marks illness and the kids births and all that but simply put the fact that my family is even here with me today is an inspiration that miracles do happen.

Yes Mark is in a onesie ;) At the start of winter 2012 I offered to buy him one as he often moans he's cold, 'No way I will NEVER wear one of those!!' was the shocked and very indignant answer I got. Fast forward to January 2013 where there was a foot of snow everywhere 'Do you think I could get a onesie next time we go shopping?' Um NO! They're sold out EVERYWHERE! Men, *sigh* So this year I didn't even ask. As soon as they were in the shops I bought him a wolf one, then in the Next midseason sale I bought him this one which was supposed to be £40 but reduced to £17. I almost passed out when I saw the price, £40 for a onesie! Its nuts! But it is very thick and warm and does the job great. Wouldn't have paid £40 but was well worth the £17 I did pay :) Can't get him out of the things now :)
Anyway off onesies lol. Today has been a very productive day :) Our house is tiny, seriously tiny, and everyones hobbies seem to take up a LOT of space! As a result I'm often trying to spring clean, or rearrange things to make more space. In fact back in a while ago I got into a routine where once a week I would pick a room and GUT it. Get rid of anything not needed, move anything not used in a while and give it a really good deep clean. With Christmas and everything as much as I've tried to stay on top of it all but things end up getting shoved away until later. So today I decided to tackle the kitchen and the outhouse. Well we call it an outhouse, no idea why as thats usually the name for an outdoor toilet and its really big cupboard/tiny room we keep the freezer, coats and some shelves in. But my Mum always called our room like that an outhouse so thats what I call mine lol. Took the whole day to clean out the cupboards, get rid of some herbs that went out of date a LONG time ago and clean the oven/microwave etc. Looks so much better and more organised now though so happy with it :) Might do the kids rooms next week!
Tonight Cameron started Beavers and he loved it :) The people running it still didn't get back to me so we just took him down there on the off chance they would let him start tonight and they did. There were loads of kids there and he knew most of them so he ran off as soon as we were in the door. He loved it and wants to go back next week. :) More time I'll be spending sitting in the car then, roll on summer! It's been a good night all round for Cameron because as well as Beavers, Caitlin is sleeping over at my Mums so he gets a boys night with Mark. Translation, Cameron plays computer games and they both eat junk food. Feels really quiet without Caitlin in the house but think I'll curl up in bed with my kindle and enjoy the peace :)