Christmas banner

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 :)

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 :)

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. :)

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!

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

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

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!!

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

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

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.