Proud Mummy and more layouts

Had a proud Mummy moment the other day I forgot to share. :) Was watching 'The help' (great film) while doing the ironing and the kids were playing on the rug. I didn't think they were really paying attention but when one character said she once told a little boy she was black because she drank so much coffee, Caitlin suddenly turned and said 'Cameron, why are some people pink and some people black?' my heart almost burst at his reply 'I don't know, but it doesn't matter anyway' and both just carried on playing. :) Now I was raised in a very unprejudiced household, race, religion, gender, sexuality, it wasn't important, and I'm glad my two are turning out the same. :) It was strange to think though that it was so different as recently as when my gran was younger, I wonder what those people would have thought if they were told within 50 years that America would have Obama as president lol.
On a less serious note thought I'd share more of the layouts I did on the retreat :) I was trying to use up some of my long forgotten kits so most of them are with the same papers. This is one I did when I was actually nearing the end of a kit. I LOVED these papers, they're a Bo Bunny range and I got them in a recent kit swap on UKS. They were all ice cream/cake related so got my photos out from when we went to a theme park in great yarmouth. There was a brilliant ice cream parlor that did huge ice creams and cones covered in coloured sugar. Caitlin picked a pink cone with strawberry ice cream. :)

Cameron surprise surprise picked a blue cone, lol, but did make a change and chose chocolate ice cream rather than blueberry. It did prove a bit much for him however as he ended up giving most of it to me. I didn't complain, lol.

This photo is from the same trip but used a different kit. We went to the Sealife center and Cameron loved it :) He was amazed by their underwater tunnel and by the huge windows showing all the fish. He particularly liked this guy lol.

More from the cupcake kit :) I dont often print photos out in black and white but I like this one. :) We make cakes all the time at home so I have quite a few photos of the same kind of thing, loved how much Caitlin was concentrating this time while usually she just chucks the mixture in, lol. Shows how much shes grown up :) Was getting down to scraps with this kit by now so nice simple one. :)

Last one :) When we went to the sealife center we bought the kids some pirate hats and swords. They absolutely adored the things, lol. Caitlin still wears hers all the time. :)

Think that's enough layouts for now, lol. My mums bringing Mollie over this afternoon to decorate easter hats so kids should enjoy that :) We were planning to have an easter egg hunt too but the weathers gone back to grey and horrible so think thats out lol.

Poorly babies :(

Well had a bit of a surprise at the drs yesterday. Took both kids, to be honest I wasn't too worried about Caitlin as shes had this cough on and off since before Christmas and had no temp or anything, how wrong I was, Camerons got a chest infection (expected that) dr thinks Caitlin has asthma! Was strange as the day before my Mum kept saying she sounded like Lillie, who has pretty bad asthma, must be some kind of Nanny sense kicking in there! So have anti-biotics for cam, and an inhaler for Caitlin with some strange face mask thing to help her take it. Well that went down like a sack of bricks. Both kids were up a lot last night, think Camerons coughing kept waking Caitlin, so nobodys had much sleep. Camerons also a bit sad as he missed his Easter bonnet parade today at school. :( Have to go shopping later though so planning on buying a few sweets and having our own Easter hunt to cheer him up. Think Mummy and Daddy can do with a few treats too as Mummy is shattered and Daddy is still poorly himself! lol. Plan for tonight is tv (or a book depending on if I have a child on my knee) and this.

This was my FAVOURITE Ben and Jerries flavour when I was at university but they discontinued it. Saw it in Morrisons again a few weeks ago and I admit I actually squealed in the middle of the ice cream isle (sad woman that I am) buy hey, I'm not rich and don't lead a very exciting life so good I get happy about the little things. lol.
Camerons currently on the couch feeling sorry for himself and Caitlins sulking because I won't let her have the paddling pool out, hard to believe this happy photo was taken just last week!

Well better get on as can see getting jobs done being a difficult one today! Hope I have some healthier news tomorrow. lol

Mums birthday

Well yesterday was my mums 50th birthday. We decided not to do anything big as after work then Mollies swimming lessons there wasnt really time to, so just went to mums for a few drinks instead. Turned out to be a really fun night :) The kids had a mcdonalds picnic in the garden, and then some bright spark got out the mini water pistols. Our quiet drink was soon inturrupted by hyper children with water lol.

As it was my mums 50th, she got very spoiled :) My dad bought her some beautiful flowers, and had a cake made with a Lilly on the top as that's her favourite flower. Hes getting her a new ring once he gets the pennies together too, lol.

One of my sister, me, my mum and dad. Pity we couldnt get Mark in too but someone had to take the picture, lol.

Just the girls. :)

The kids had a great time playing together in the sun. :) Made the most of it as supposed to be raining again next week. lol, Loved putting Caitlin in this dress too, was another one of my Next buys that didnt fit her at the time but I wanted it so its been hiding in the wardrobe for ages. lol. It's actually a size 5 but fits nice. :)

Everyone was having so much fun we didnt notice until it got dark that it was WAY past the kids bedtime, lol, so we gave them a bath and got them cuddled up before taking them home and putting them to bed.

Think my mum had had a few by the time this photo was taken lol.

All in all everyone had a great time. :) Think it took a lot out of the kids though as both were very poorly last night :( Both have had coughs for a few weeks but got worse last night and Cam had a fever so both off today and curled up on the couch watching tv. Have drs at 5 so will see what they say :)

Sarahs cards retreat!

Well Monday I got back from the Sarahs cards retreat. As usual had a great time and done some amazing classes. Stayed an extra night too as was so tired driving home last time. To be honest I was tired driving home this time too as idea for a nice relaxing early night went out the window but was fun anyway! lol.
The classes were great and all very different. This one was Helens class and involved glitter. lol. Not something I'd usually use as I hate the mess it makes but this wasnt too bad (probably because it wasnt on my carpet lol)

Close up of the glitter.

This was Lous class. I admit when I first saw the photo of this I inwardly cringed thinking I was going to hate it, but the photo seriously doesnt do it justice. Lous layout in real life looked amazing with all the different details and patterns and I love how mine turned out. It's a bit different from Lous as I did the first few masurments wrong so had to make it up as I went along but I like it :)

Love these clear buttons too. I never bothered with them as they seemed like so much hassle, but Lous told us to put the twine through first, then stick it onto the paper and cut around. So much easier than doing the paper first, sanding the edges then trying to do the twine lol.

This is Traceys class, and I think my favourite of the weekend (closely followed by Jens, but can't show you that yet as I ruined the photo!) I hadn't picked any of my photos before I left and just pulled this one from my pile once I saw someone elses finished creation. I think it goes brilliantly with the layout and I love all the layering and the ink frame.

The technique here was inking. I love the effect misting and frames does but I'm dreadful at it! Usually just ends up a mess with no detail at all. Here we cut out two paper frames and some stars and inked over the edges with a sponge. I love the subtle effect it gives and I can see myself doing this a lot more. :)

Last one for now, this is Claires class. SO pretty but doesnt photograph well. We made the window from chipboard, ink and paint. Was surprisingly easy. We also made he flower which wasn't as easy but still fun. lol

I went with the 'Cover it in glue and squash it together' method. Usually ends up a mess and in the bin but worked this time! lol

Well thats it for now, I didnt do Ifas class as was so hot in the classroom so I just stayed in the hall, and have done Jens but I cut the photo too small so need to print another one. But overall a great weekend. :) Missed the kids and think they missed me as both were very cuddly when I came home. :)

Flower swap :)

hectic week so far. In fact I'm typing this while brushing my teeth (dont tell mark cos Im at his computer lol) Been trying to keep on top of the housework as off on the Sarahs cards retreat this weekend :) Also have more social services meetings and dealing with all that, oh, and the kids need to make easter bonnets for next week and their birthday invitations need to be sent out too. lol. See what I mean about hectic.
I also finished the flower swap I was hosting this week. :) Some beautiful flowers made I think. :)


See :) I love this swap as so many different ways to make flowers. I'm also in a tag swap which I haven't actually started yet but plan to do this weekend. Oh, and I managed to finish my mums book in time. :) Not overly pleased with it but I struggle with little books as only so many ways you can do it I think. Hopefully she'll like it though :)

Mothers day

Well yesterday was my mothers day really as we were at a christening all day today. So yesterday I got my cards, my breakfast in bed, and Mark watched the kids while I spent the day crafting upstairs :)
This morning was more active, lol. Told Caitlin yesterday we were going to a party so woke up this morning with her standing by my bed, holding one of her party dresses with her vest, pants, and matching tights she'd got out of her drawers. lol. she was thrilled though when I told her she wasn't wearing that one she was wearing her super special one I bought from Next 2 years ago. £20 reduced from £90 so only kept for special occasions, lol. It didnt fit her at the time but I REALLY wanted it so got it anyway, lol. Cameron was wearing his new shirt from this years Next sale. Put it on him, looked all smart, went upstairs to get a hairbrush come back and he's got butter on it! He'd reached over the table to get a drink and lent in his toast crusts I hadn't had a chance to move yet. Grrrrrrr. So had a mad rush to handwash it in the sink, dry it with a hair dryer and iron it before we had to go. Was amazed we were on time to be honest. lol.
Both kids were really well behaved in the church. Was a very proud Mummy, Caitlin was a bit upset as she wanted to be christened too but pointed out she hates water on her face so she calmed down quick. lol. The after party was great, they both loved dancing to the dj. :)

Family photo with Caitlin blinking lol.

Caitlin stole my camera and took this picture of the cake. Pretty good picture for a 3 year old I thought :)

There was also a magic show for the kids and balloon modeling. Cameron went up to do a trick where he put flowers and bits of paper into a cake tin, then said a magic word to change it into cake. The first time he did it though it turned into a huge rubber spider, so he's not looking too sure in this photo. lol. The second time though it turned into lots of sweets so that cheered him up :)

Second family photo, caitlin smiling, dont know what camerons doing lol.

Nice one of Caitlin and mark though :)

At time to go home we were also given bags of sweets for the kids and boxes of chocs for the adults! My Aunt and Uncle throw the best parties :)

Busy day

I like busy days :) always sleep better when I feel like I'm achieved something that day. On the agenda today is school, nursery, tip, shopping and town center to put money in the bank, home to get Caitlin from nursery and hopefully a visit to my grans depending on how grandad is feeling. Hes doing well at the moment, drs say his arm is healing well though not quick enough for grandads liking. The trips back and forth to Leicester and nottingham are taking it out of him though. Think whats taking it out of Granny the most is having to re-explain it to him every time they go. :(
Anyway onto more positive things. :) Cameron came home yesterday with another certificate for singing. :) He brought one home before christmas and its adorable to see how proud he is. He's also going into school without screaming, which is always good, lol. Still not done any more of my mums book 'hangs head in shame'think I'm going to sit down tonight and plan the pages and tomorrow night and force myself to just do the lot of it. In the mean time heres a few more of the ones I finished the other night. :)
This is an american crafts one I honestly dont know how long its been sitting there. My local TK maxx was selling AC kits with an album, papers and embellishments for £3 last january. As a result even though I've sold and gave away loads of AC papers, I still have a huge pile left to use. lol. I had planned to cut out loads of flowers and butterflies from the papers for this layout. but lost interest in it pretty quick so ignored it for ages. lol. In the end decided just to put together what I had, quite like it anyway :)

This was a scrap lift from an old Scrapbook inspirations. I admit I wasn't too sure about it when I saw it in the magazine and still not too sure now lol.

I think the sides just look too different, like two different layouts stuck together. i do like this little corner though :)

Well better get on. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some mothers day books pages to show you!

Layouts!

Ok I admit it I haven't actually scrapped, god knows how I'm gonna get mums book done at this rate, lol, but I did finish off the pile of layouts that have been sitting on my desk since November :)
This was a scraplift from Scrapbook magazine, the papers came from there too. I love this photo of Cameron and Caitlin, was the start of last year when we had all that snow and they were patiently waiting for me to get their sled out. I don't think they've patiently waited since so glad I got it on camera, lol.

How cute are they, lol. After I put it on I decided I'd prefer the 'Angels' above the photo rather than on it, But getting the letters back off just wasnt happening so there it stays. lol

I LOVE this photo and layout. Its from an old Sarahs cards kit, think they scraplift was from there too but cant remember who it was.

Love this leaf bling. Think this was one of my fave kits actually. The photo was taken on Camerons tranfer day at school. Hopefully I'll be slimmer for Caitlins, lol.

Well sister and neice are supposed to be coming round this morning to make a few phone calls so that should be nice for Caitlin. :) Think she gets a bit lonly when Camerons at school. Will be a different story when she goes I'm sure, lol. I'm dreading it if I'm honest, its hard enough when Cameron has an 'off' day and doesnt want to go, not looking forward to dragging two of them. lol. Cameron had a major meltdown yesterday, I wouldnt let him take a cup of juice into school and he lost it big time. Screaming, crying all the way round to school, typically I bumped into loads of people I knew while he was doing it, and got so many knowing smiles from other mums on the way. He made me laugh though, halfway round he started to quiet down, so I asked if he was done yet. His reply:
No I'm not done! I'll never be done until you let me have juice!
I wonder if I watched braveheart too often while I was pregnant? lol

Sunny day :)

Sunday was SUCH a beautiful day we decided to go to the park :) Mark was feeling a bit poorly still so he stayed home but the kids were very excited to be out in the sun. Caitlin decided she wanted to try out her roller skates we got her for christmas and she was pretty good on them. :) Plus she looked adorable I think :)

Cameron went on his bike as usual, he's getting really good on it now and Mum thinks hes ready to try it without stablisers. I disagree lol.

Well the weekend was interesting. Sister got battered again and kicked out the bf for (we hope) good. As a result she spent the weekend at my mums which was nice as my two got to spend time with Lillie. Who was also good on caitlins skates, lol. Love this photo of her and Cameron, Lillie looks very confused while Cameron looks so regal, lol.

Well loads to do today so better get on!

Friday :)

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

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

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

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

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. :)