York craft fair

Wayyyyyyy back in August I booked tickets on a coach trip to York Christmas market. mark and I used to go to York a lot and went to the Christmas market before the kids were born so thought it would be nice to go again. :) Well there was LOTS of drama and we almost didn't make it but we ended up going in the end. First my babysitting fell through, then the car wouldn't start, then when we got there we realised that though I'd given my dad a front door key, I'd left a key IN the front door inside so he needed a back door key! Luckily one of Marks friends Eric lived nearby where the coach picked up so we dropped a back door key into him to drop in to my Dad for us. So all that done and off to york! OMG I've NEVER seen it so busy! There were just people everywhere and queues in the shops were crazy. Due to this we didn't really buy anything but enjoyed the atmosphere and a hot chocolate :)

Guy running the coach laughed when we got back on, he asked my Gran what she got 'A greggs sausage roll' was the reply. Well worth the 8 hour round trip then!

Christmas door take 2

Remember the Elf door I blogged the other week? Well somewhere along the line Royal mail seem to have decided to keep it. So todays job was to make another one which I don't like as much as my first attempt but hopefully my swappee will like it.

I annoyingly finished it, looked at it and thought 'That doesn't look quite right' ugh I'd forgot to draw the wooden panels on the door! Off in the post today recorded so better get there this time!

Got to laugh

When we bought Scamp, I made a trip to the pet shop to buy a bed, puppy pads and of course toys, some of which cost more than the shoes I was wearing at the time. And WHAT are his fave toys?! An emoty crisp packet and this.

Half a roll of sellotape. Reminds me of when the kids were younger and they just played with the boxes and paper at Christmas. Its funny as anything watching him though. His crisp packet is pretty much the same size as him, so when hes strutting along holding it in his mouth its either sticking up, blocking his view and making him walk into walls, or its sticking down, and he steps on it and gets all confused why it keeps being pulled out of his mouth. I think thats why he likes the sellotape a bit better, theres a big hole he can see through :)

Elf door swap :)

One of my Christmas swaps I'm in is an elf door swap on UKS. I sent mine ages ago but annoyingly seems to have gone walkies in the post so will need to make another one, grrrr. But I'm glad to say that mine made it to me safe and sound :)

Isnt it cute! We decided to get 'The elf on the shelf' this year and to prepare the kids for it I told them about a week ago that if they were good santa was going to send us a magic door, then when December came a elf might come live with us and get in and out using the door. Cameron was a bit skeptical but Caitlin was very excited. When I showed them the door when they came home there was a lot of discussion about where it should go. It can't go downstairs, the dog might eat the elf when he comes in, but it can't go upstairs, the elf might fall down the stairs! Maybe on the counter in the kitchen? No because Mummy might make a mess of it when shes cooking, and not in the bathroom, that's just gross! In the end I managed to convince them that the elf can fly, so upstairs would be fine as he could just fly downstairs. That sorted we go to stick it onto the wall. I find im out of blutac. Bugger, lol. SO its now leaning against the wall ready for Sunday when our elf comes to stay :)

Furbaby :)

Told you to expect more posts on the furbaby :) I'm so glad we got him. Mark has cheered up no end and it feels like hes always been part of the family. Marks a little overprotective but hopefully he'll get over it! I ended up sleeping on the couch last night as Mark didn't want to leave the puppy downstairs on his own and obviously he can't sleep on the couch so that was my job! Joy. Scamp was fine though. Woke up and cried at 10:30 then again and 2 but settled easy. Fingers crossed for a similar night tonight.
Hes really well behaved overall to be honest. Still having accidents but he'll learn I'm sure. He's super playful with the kids and cuddly with Mark and me. Mainly Mark who barely puts him down!

On a less happy note though we found out (thanks to google) the lump on his tummy is a umbilical hernia. I rung the breeders who said he saw a vet a month ago who said it was fine and would go away as he got bigger. We have an appointment to get him immunisations, microchip etc next week so will mention it then. :) Long story short, we are all completely in love with the little fluffball :)

New family members :)

Well I did try to blog yesterday but something was up with my netbook and wouldn't let me log in to my account. SO first I will share the new baby my Mum brought into the family on Saturday :)

This is Poppy the cavichion puppy. My Mums wanted one for ages and finally bit the bullet and got her. Shes settling in well so far and obviously all the kids adore her. Its funny as I always said my Dad was going to be a softie but Mum didn't beleive me. Well I'm right lol. Poppy does cry a bit in the night as puppies do when getting used to their homes, but last night my Dad took her into his bedroom and let her sleep on his bed. Then today Mum rung him and asked where Poppy was 'Um, on the couch' was the reply. Mum is more strict and with Dad on the night shift this week hope Poppy enjoyed sleeping in a bed as won't be happening again!
Well now my Mums new baby has been introduced let me introduce mine!

This is Scamp the Pugzu. :) No spend November was half to pay off debt and also to save to get a puppy. Mark has been really depressed for a while, feeling like there no point to getting up in the morning as though I'm in the house I'm usually doing cleaning, DIY etc so unless he needs me to help him I'm not really company iykwim. So we thought a puppy would be a great companion for him and also for the kids and me to play with. We were originally planning to wait until the new year where the rescue centers were bound to be full of unwanted Christmas puppies but then saw one for sale locally for only £350 on Sunday. That was a bargain as most we saw were in the £450-£500 mark so decided to txt and ask for her as we had enough put away for that. We were thrilled when the woman said yes we could collect her Tuesday, but then when we asked for her address she went silent. I eventually phoned her to be told puppy was sold :( Gutted. Mark was really upset and only ones I could find in our area were £75 more and had only been put up for sale that night so I doubted she would take a lower offer. Decided to ring and ask though and she said yes! She only had boys but I wasn't fussed about gender and think Mark prefers a boy anyway. The seller was lovely and seemed really keen that he went to a good home rather than making money so she was happy that he was going to have company all day. She told me her friend breeds puggles and actually had one returned the same day as the couple got the puppy home, he peed on the rug so they returned him! Seriously?! Hope they don't have kids! Scamp certainly isn't house trained and seemed determined to poop on my rug rather than on the huge wooden, easy clean floor we have but we'll get there :) Did try to give him a bath but he kept trying to drink the soapy water so gave up on that idea in case it made him poorly. We're all smitten with him and feels like he's been in the family forever. Kids asked if he was their Christmas gift and I joked he was and they were getting no toys. Both said 'ok' and went back to playing. :) Bella is less than thrilled and is avoiding him like the plague but hoping she'll get used to him. We've been giving her lots of cuddles and as her bed is upstairs which obviously he can't get to anyway we're hoping she doesn't feel too much like her space has been invaded.
Expect lots of posts about my baby in the future!

Day of The Doctor!!!!

Ok I know I've been AWOL the past couple of days but I just haven't done anything noteworthy! Had a few meetings, repainted the kitchen, cleaned, nothing worth blogging about. Today however I've been looking forward to for MONTHS! Its the day of The Doctor!! I've a HUGE Doctor Who fan and so excited about the 50th anniversary episode. When we got our new TV last year Mark insisted on a 3d one. I was never bothered as I tend to be doing something else, like being on the computer or scrapping while watching TV which is a lot harder with 3d glasses on, but with this episode being in 3D I'm actually glad we got it lol.

As we're shoving the kids up to bed early with sweets and a dvd so we can watch it, we thought it would be nice to spend some time as a family first. I bought the 'I'm a celebrity game' form Iceland last week so decided to give that a go. Basically it's like snakes and ladders but if you go up a ladder you eat a treat (marshmallow or choc brownie) but if you go down a snake you eat a nasty. There are lots of these, worms (shaped fish) snot balls (sour apple profiteroles) whitchity grubs (spinich gnocchi). Caitlin bless her had one bite of the gnocchi and quit, while Cameron gave it a good go and had worms and monkey vomit (salsa). I had a snot ball. I didn't think it was goign to be so slimy inside and it was gross! All squirted out and dripped down my arm, eugh.

Mark ended up winning and ate all the gnocchi for fun. Strange man.

Wanted the ground to open up and swallow me yesterday. We were in the queue in Asda when Cameron broke wind. The woman behind us actually started to choke and went to a bigger queue to get away! Cam just looked at me like 'What?'

Disturbing

Cameron and Caitlin don't ask for things very often. They're not the type of kids who see an advert for a toy and ask for it right off the bat which on one hand is good, because obviously I don't want spoiled kids, but on the other hand makes it a nightmare to buy for birthdays and Christmas! Which is why, when Caitlin came to me and asked if she was a really really good girl, and asked really really nicely could Santa bring her a gift, I was very excited. Whatever it was she was about to ask for I would find and buy I was determined, then I asked what it was she wanted. A My little pony dress up outfit. Can I find a suitable one? Can I hell. Its either a tutu dress in the colours of the pony with a picture on, a bodysuit with a mask (for £50!!) or somethign that looks like it should come from Ann Summers. So onto plan B. One of my friends said you can get My little pony pillow pets which I knew Caitlin would love so I thought I'd look into that. Now this is were it got disturbing. I like the My little pony program, its funny at times. But apprently theres a whole group of people called 'bronies' who seem to take it to a whole different level. Want to see what I mean? Google 'Pinkie pie pillow' and see some of the images that come up. I'm SOOOOO glad I didn't do it when the kids were around! Won't be able to look at the show the same way now! Did manage to find a nice little beanie toy and order it though so at least I wasn't traumatised for nothing!
So trying to wipe that from my mind I decorated my Christmas book form Stampin up. I decided to use it less like a planner or more like a 'what we did this year' so I could look back and see how thigns changed. I quite like the front but not sure if the gingerbread man turned out more creepy or cute? lol. I wanted to keep the cover simple and not too 3d so it will last through the years.

Inside I've started to make notes on what I've done so far, such as what gifts I've got for who. Had to cut this picture down as Marks list is on the right hand side and I know he reads this blog sometimes ;)

Well No spend November is still going ok. I've had to buy more food than I'd have liked, don't think I planned my meals as well as I thought I had, but other than that I've managed to resist splurging. I must admit I must have been wasting some money before, as the amount I've managed to pay off on the credit card is surprising even me. We've had a few unexpected expencises; paint for the kitchen after the council ruined the walls putting in new pipes, new duvet for Caitlin after she had an accident and it needed to be chucked, but if I can get the bill down to under a grand by Christmas I'll be ectatic. :) Managed to make about £150 selling stuff so far so that's helped make a dent. Just got to keep plodding on really!

Big kid

I have no idea what I'm doing. I've got soooooooo much to do and feel so behind so have kind of lost all perspective. I've done my usual thing though and made a list so hopefully that will help. :)
Had a meeting with the school tonight to discuss what Christmas events the PTA are doing so that was fun. We've only just started so we're kind of all over the place trying to figure out how to do stuff, what we're allowed to do re insurance and all that so its a bit hectic! Its nice too though as the school didn't really do much compared to other schools I know, they didn't do discos, after school clubs etc so we're putting all that in place and the kids are getting really excited about it :)
As I was at the meeting dinner was just a freezer meal tonight, just made lots of chips, chicken nuggets etc and let Mark and the kids serve themselves. This is what my big kid did.

Got to love the nutter lol. Did lead to an interesting conversation about what was the best meal out we'd ever had. Reminded me of an Italian resturant I went to YEARS ago. My ex boyfriend, me, my sister and her ex (eldest 2 girls dad) had gone on a coach trip together to the Isle of wight. This obviously was back when things were normal lol. Looking back I've NO idea what possessed us to go because we were the youngest there by a good 40 odd years but seemed a good idea at the time! Was actually a great holiday, lots of locally made cider, games of snooker, playing in the pool etc but the food was dreadful! It wasn't too bad quality wise but I think they must have been rationing it or something because the portions were TINY! I ordered fish one night and I swear it was a goldfish. We were all sitting making that squeaking noise you make when you're trying not to laugh. It was included in the holiday so we put up with it but on our last night we decided to splurge and left the hotel for a nearby italian. Now I don't know if we were just starving by that point but it was one of the best meals I've ever had. We ordered loads, pizza, lasania, spag bol etc and the portions were massive! The pizza was hanging over the edge of the plate. We were the only ones there so the staff were joking with us, playing music on violins and everything so was a great night out too. :) Shame really as we used to have a great time together. Oh well. :) Right I'm off to make gifts for the teachers, first thing on the list!

Disney magic

Among other things I managed a quick layout last night. My pile of photos is still wayyyy too big considering I aim to get them all done by the end of the year so need to pick up the pace!
This is a picture from when we went to Disneyland with my niece. Usually like all kids when they get together they end up fighting like cat and dog, so i don't have many pictures of family harmony, but obviously Disney magic was at work here and they were all skipping along happily :)

So want to go back to Disney! Did agree no holidays this year to build up some savings, but come on that's been said before and it didn't happen then either lol.
Today I seem to have a lot of 'get up and go' which is great because I haven't had any in ages! Will be making the most of it trying to get as much done as possible particually as this week is full of meetings, drs appointments and out of the house jobs. Bet it won't last long lol.

I'm a celebrity!!

I LOVE I'm a celebrity!!! I love that its another sign Christmas is getting closer, I love watching people freak out, I love Ant and Dec, I just LOVE it!!!

So my plan for tonight is a tub of celebrations (will share with mark I swear) a cup of tea and the tv, SO excited!!!
Before that though have the usual Sunday routine to go through, homework, tidying up after the weekend, bath, uniforms etc. The kids went to Dads group today for the first time in a while so managed to get lots done there. They had a great time too planing bulbs and making a mess :) Also wrapped a load of Christmas gifts, eeeeeeekkkkkk getting soooo close now :) My wardrobe is seriously getting too full for clothes lol, I've had to reorganise it so all the shorter items, t-shirts, jumpers etc, are on one side so I can stack the gifts higher. Does mean that when the gifts are gone I have more room for stash, so great all round really! ;)

Christmas box

This month is speeding by, and bringing the deadlines for all my Christmas swaps pretty quick! :) So far I've got all the decorations from my swap I'm running (will share another time) and the box from the Christmas box swap. I've showed you what I sent, this is what I received.
Such a pretty box, even Mark was impressed.

This is what was inside. Love the little packages which had buttons and brads inside.

Can't believe how quick this month is going though, I was planning on getting everything done by December so I can just relax and chill, that is NOT going to be happening now! Still have painting, crafting, cleaning to do, it's crazy!

Lots of little bits

Today has been a very all over the place day, started with taking Cameron Scotland project into school with him, he was so proud of it bless him :) We had a huge sheet of white posterboard in the garage so filled it with facts about Scotland, a print of our family tartan, family crest etc. He did ask me to make some shortbread to take into school but bad Mummy I am I didn't get the time so bought some instead. After dropping the very proud boy off at school I had to drive about delivering things people had bought then went to a meeting with Homestart to find out what we were doing over Christmas. I love all the Christmas events as they usually let me take Mark along or they're short enough I can sort him out anyway. This year I'm super excited as we're going to Twin lakes :) I did look into taking the kids there to see Santa but was wayyyy out of our budget, so now we can go! After a few more odd jobs was time for home and watching films with the kids.
Tonight is much of the same, tv and sorting this...

into these......

I did have all my brads and bits sorted at one time but moving them, using them and Caitlin means that they've all got mixed up. Boring, tedious but sure I will be glad when this job is done!

More layouts

More layouts :) But first some amazing news.......are you sitting down? WE HAVE A SOCIAL WORKER!!!! Only took 2 months of almost constant phone calls, camping out in the reception, complaining, threatening to sue etc, but it's done :) Fingers crossed things can get moving now! Was funny as my Mum txt me this morning saying she had a good feeling something was going to happen. :) If she has any feelings about the lottery numbers I'm running off to buy a ticket!
Anyway more layouts :) Still using the papers I bought ages ago I did this one. I love this photo of Caitlin in my wedding dress. She was playing in it when I was clearing out the cupboards and I got some great photos, hopefully will show them on her wedding day far, far, far in the future! Plan to do something different on this one, I'm going to do some jornalling in the jornaling tag uy the birdcage about how I feel about her getting married, and Mark is going to do some in the heart. Its very unlikely that Mark will be here when/if Caitlin gets married so I thought it would be a nice thing for her to have on her wedding day.

Super simple one of the kids playing in the woods in summer. Love these pictures as the colours are so bright and vivid.

Last night was date night and rather than just watch a film like we ALWAYS do I asked Mark to teach me a little how to play 'Magic the gathering'. He plays games similar to this with his friends as its a great way to help try and improve his memory and his thinking so thought it would be a good idea to do it at home. Despite the fact I seemed to change all of the terms (instead of characters becoming 'tapped' after attacked I say they're poorly, makes more sense in my mind lol) and we seemed to make up the rules as we went along it was really fun :) Makes me even more of a geek than I am granted but oh well lol.

Layouts :)

Finally remembered to photograph the layouts I did the other day :) Will share one tonight and there other 2 tomorrow as no idea when I'll get around to doing more lol.
This is a photo from Turkey last year, I try and get a photo of all four of us as often as I can so holiday is a great time as my Mum takes it for us. I've had these papers for ages and was kicking myself when I saw them in a half price sale as it was one of the rare times I paid full price for individual sheets, won't do that again!

Love this sticker :)

Still no change on the social worker front, woman on the phone knows my voice now lol, won't be long before we're on first name basis. Took advice and wrote to our local MP, I've never done that before so will see what happens.
On other news decided my daughter is a bit of a bitch lol, was watching tv when the coke ad came on:
Me - Ohhhh look kids! That ad is only on at Christmas so when that music starts its almost christmas and its all exciting!!!!
Caitlin (looks at me like im mad) - Quick cameron turn it down.
See, shes mean to me.

Tags and decorations :)

Last year I made gift tags for everyones gifts and they went down really well. :) This year I wanted to do it again but kept them really simple as I've not got anywhere near as much time as I had last year! So this is what I came up with.

Not as effective as last year but as they all end up in the bin anyway I'm not going to lose sleep over it ;) I also managed to finish the decorations I was making for a swap.

Hope they like them :) Also hope they turn up as the door I sent a while ago seems to have gone walkies :(
Still no word from social, I've put in an official complaint and wrote to my MP so still just waiting. I don't do well waiting!

Organised :)

Today didn't quite start off to plan lol. Woke up and looked at the clock 'OH MY GOD ITS 8:25!' Considering I had to iron the kids uniforms on top of the usual morning breakfasts, teeth, washing etc I was very impressed with myself that I got the kids in the school doors, on time, at 9am. Thank god its cold though as under my big coat and wool hat was my pj top (shoved jeans on top of my bottoms lol) and unwashed, unbrushed hair lol.
Managed to get a bit more organised after that though :) Rung the social and updated them on the weekends events. Rob showed up at my sisters on Saturday night, apparently she was drunk and with some guy downstairs. Sounds about right. Based on the txts I've been getting tonight I'm guessing she still had some drink left but that's for tomorrows phonecall! Anyway she said she would go see my sister and see how things were but haven't heard back so not sure how that worked out.
After social Mark and I made a quick trip to Tesco for some shopping before town to put money in the bank. Stopped in at costa for a coffee with my Mum too which was nice, :) Mark and my Mum don't really get to chat often as usually when they're together the kids are around and not much chatting gets done! Mark had some of his 'pocket money' left so treated me to a doughnut. Looks a bit messy but SOOOO yummy!

Tonight was really nice. I always say that I can cope with all the crap going on outside the house because I can come home, close the doors and it is perfect. Yeah the kids fight and Mark does my head in sometimes but it really is a little haven. :) Tonight me and the kids cuddled up and watched some 'My little pony' together which I admit I really like! lol. We made some figures from Hama beads then when the kids went to bed I made some Christmas tags. Starting to scare me how quick November is going!

Funny comments from Kids:
Cameron singing 'Jingle bells' - Bells on butt tails ring!

Caitlin - Mummy why don't your shoes sparkle like Cinderellas?
Me - Because I'm not a princess
Caitlin - No but you're like before, when she cleans and cooks and gets told what to do lots.
Not sure how I should take that lol.

No spend November, back on the wagon :)
Shopping - Milk, turnip, fruit, bread - £9.50
Costa with Mum and Mark - Used points from card - £0 :)

Total spend - £9.50

Shopping

With everything that's been going on Christmas has understandably taken a back seat in my Mums mind. With the girls being back at home this weekend (and hopefully back in our care soon) we decided to make the most of it and spend the day Christmas shopping.
Started off with a Costa to plan our attack lol. I tried a gingerbread and cream latte, which came with little glitter starts! Doesn't take much to impress me does it lol.

No I admit my No spend November did take a bit of a slide. Some I can defend as we usually go shopping in December so I had money put away for a few items, others I can't but its done now. We did have an amazing day though. We went over to leicester which I haven't been to since the kids were babies and has changed so much! There were lots of little shops to get interesting trinkets in and a Disney store which is a must for me lol. Ever since Camerons was born I've bought him the limited edition teddy that the Disney store brings out every year. The idea is that I buy him that, plus something for Caitlin like a figurine or whatever and when they're older they can keep them, give them to their kids, ebay them, whatever they want to do lol. I think they're cute anyway, this is this years :)

I also got, amazingly, a dress to wear christmas day. yes thats right a dress! I must be turning into a proper 'girl' or something lol. Its really pretty though, all floaty and flattering which is a good idea for christmas day I always find! Mum got lots of gifts too so shes pretty much finished the kids and most of her friends gifts so was a productive day out. I did manage to hold off buying un-needed things but then we found a paperchase and it all went wrong *hangs head in shame* ended up spending £10 on washi tape. In my defence I could have spent a LOT more so I'm at least learning to cut down! That counts right? :p Also got these wood shapes from TKmaxx which were on offer for £3 for the lot as one box had burst.

Since I drove Mum paid for the coffee and dinner which is our usual arrangement so that wasn't too bad. We went to a pub for dinner and I had a pulled pork bbq burger. It might have been that we hadn't eaten all day and were laden down with heavy bags but it was one of the best meals out I've ever had! lol. So No spend November has had a little blip. Back on the wagon tomorrow!

No spend November (woops)
Petrol £20 (did need this)
Christmas dress - £25 (but this was budgeted for for next month)
Micky mouse teddy for Cameron - £30 (same excuse as above)
Washi tape from paperchase - £10 (no excuse here lol)
Wood shapes - £3 (but was a bargain!)

Amount spent £68 (my bad)

Blog hop!

This weekend is the Frosty Festivities Blog event over at Jennifer Grace creates here I only managed a couple of projects before life got in the way but seems to have kick started my mojo which is what I REALLY needed this weekend. :) First prompt was:

Add an embellishment that goes over the edge of your project
Mix three different paper collections
Include something with a reflective shine

So I made this :) Still have a few decorations to make for a swap so will put this in as think its quite cute.

I did do some layouts but haven't had a chance to photograph them yet so thought I'd share what my beautiful baby girl did :) There was a tutorial to make this christmas pudding bag here

and the starter picture looked like this

and from this my clever daughter decided to make a fire complete with marshmallows to toast! Love the way her mind works. :)

Well not long after that I had to get Caitlin ready for her very first sleepover! She's slept over at my Mum and Dads house obviously but her friend Rosie is having a sleepover for her birthday and Caitlin was invited. Luckily Mark and I know Rosies parents and they're nice people so I don't feel worried about her being in there care, but its still the first time shes stayed away from home so not sure how she will be with it. I've said I will pick her up if she needs me to no matter how late it is, plus will be nice to spend some time with Cameron so fingers crossed will all go well!
Will try and photograph the other layouts I did soon, hopefully have some more to share by then!

Depressing post

Well today has been pretty soul destroying. I've mentioned before about my sister and her numerous problems, and that a couple of months ago the social services finally told us to take the girls away from her or else they would put them into care. Well a couple of days after that happened the social worker who said that left. Since then I've made phonecalls pretty much daily, made visits where I've sat around for hours forcing someone to see me and generally everything I could to make myself a pain in the ass and get things moving. Each time I was made the same promise 'We will allocate someone to your case soon, please hold on and keep doing what you are doing' This week it was breaking point. We've all struggled with the situation, trying to get girls to and from school, dealign with all of them during the holidays, comforting them when they're crying for their Mum etc. So after being PROMISED that someone would be given our case yesterday at the latest we went down today and demanded to see a manager. We did, and she told us to give the girls back to my sister. I nearly fell off my chair. Apprently the social worker who told us to take them didn't make ANY notes on saying that, didn't put the girls back onto the at risk register or basically do anything, so we have to give the girls back until someone can be given our case and assessments made. I admit I lost it, I honestly couldn't believe all we had done was for nothing. The poor girls were just starting to settle in and feel safe and now they're being sent back! Plus lets face it my sisters laughing. When we told her she could have the girls her reply was 'Well I can't have them tonight, I'm going to a concert' I swear to god if she was in front of me when she said that rather than on the phone I would be in a cell right now.
So as things stand our only home is that we can convince Nicola to allow us to keep the girls. But since the girls bring benifits I can't see that happening. Just so amazed that the system can do this. No wonder situations like baby P keep happening :( Sorry for the depressing post but well, thats just been my day. :(

Black forest hot chocolate!

I've waited 11 months for this lol. Ok so I know its only hot chocolate with cherry syrup but I dont care! I LOVE this stuff! When I got an email the other day from Costa saying the christmas menu was starting today I txt my Mum and organised a coffee visit lol. I did want to get it in a cute little take away cup which looks like Santa but thought I'd look a bit crazy asking for a take away cup then going and sitting down lol.

Other than coffee and general housework I managed to get a little bit of scrapping done :) Unfortunatly I sat down to do some, cut a few bits of paper and lost of inspiration. I don't know I think my mind is just on so many different things its hard to focus. I'm not even making my lists anymore which really used to help so might start that again.
On a good note I still haven't spent anything :) And with all the toys and other bits I've sold I've managed to raise £70 so that will go towards paying off the card. Feels quite good to see the number getting lower rather than higher lol.

Christmas decorations

Caitlin bless her has been crafting again :) I've been making Christmas decorations for a swap I'm in so Caitlin decided to give it a go herself.

She had some large chipboard letters I gave her ages ago and made one into a candy cane :) Every year we buy the kids a decoration for the tree representing either a big event that year (first day at school) or a big interest for the year (mario last year lol) The idea is that when the kids grow up and move out they can take the decorations for their own tree :) Probably won't work out that way, probably will end up being one of those things which only come out when they know I'm coming to visit but hey its the thought that counts! Anyway this year I've made Cameron a Skylander decoration as I couldn't find out to buy ANYWHERE, and I've bought Caitlin a little 3d chipboard decoration she can paint and decorate with bling. Girl loves her bling lol. This one I will put on their little tree I think :)

Not enough hours

There just hasn't been enough hours in today. I had aimed to get Camerons room sorted, then do some scrapping before getting dinner and everything sorted for bonfire night. However once I had sorted Camerons room, my room looked like this.

So I set about sorting it. Mark was able to sit and sort most of the clothes for me so that helped :) but it took me nearly 4 hours to photograph and list all the toys and bits for sale online by which time it was time to pick up the kids from school. we were supposed to be going to our local fireworks display but after telling Caitlin there were no seats (she was aghast!) they decided they would rather stay home :)
So despite no scrapping, and starting to feel like I'm getting a cold I've now gutted Camerons room, tidied most of ours, sold some toys and had a nice family evening eating hot dogs, home made apple crumble and playing daft games :) Was glad we didn't go to the display in the end as the kids watched out the window for about 10 minutes then declared they were bored and went off to play lol.

No spend November still going well. :) I do a lot of questionnaires and product testing online cashed in my points to get Amazon vouchers to buy the gifts for Marks family :)
So Christmas gifts bought = 3
Cash spent = £0 :)

Elf door

This morning Mark had a Drs appointment. He's had a headache since Monday so thought it best to get it checked. After checking him over the Dr thinks its caused by neck pain Marks had for a while rather than anything else, so has given him some exercises to try. While there though he checked his blood pressure would turned out to be high :( Apprently the medication he takes can cause it so we need to buy a blood pressure cuff, ordered one from boots but need to take Mark in with me as they come in different sizes?! Nothing is easy is it, lol. On that note yesterday I noticed just how much stuff Caitlin had in her room. Honestly there was NO space at all for her to play properly, let alone how bad it would be after Christmas! So as usual once an issue is in my head its all I can think about so set to work sorting it out today. I did toy with the idea of moving her into Camerons room as he's never in his and its much bigger, but I started to then felt bad so moved it all back (Mark said a few naughty words about that lol) It took me the rest of the day to go through all of her toys and pile up the ones she doesn't really play with anymore. I now have a huge pile in my room to sell and donate to charity :) Aim to do Camerons room tomorrow!
Also another craft project done :) Not the best photo but forgot to take another before I parcelled it up. Woops. It's an 'elf door' for another swap on UKS. I struggled with this one as the criteria was bright, busy and Christmasy. The dots are actually bright red in real like and the edge are lots, lots, and lots of little holly leaves I punched out and glued around it. My swapee lives at number 2 so thought would be cute to put it on the door too :) Hope she likes it!

Pick your precious

Well its almost the end of the year, so almost the end of 'pick your precious' over on Sians blog.
This month I've picked the photos of Cameron, me and Mark on our living room wall. At Camerons baby shower I got some great gifts including a voucher for Venture, a photography company. It included a free photography session and a picture worth £75. Now you would think for £75 you could get a pretty decent picture, nope, it was a normal 6x4 one!
We went for the photo shoot when Cameron was a few months old, and a week later we went to view and pick them. I thought it was going to be like in Boots, they show you some on a computer screen and you pick them, nooooo it was salesmen genius lol. They sit you in a little cinema room, give you a glass of wine, play soppy music and show you them all in a slideshow on the screen. I was so emotional! Before we went in we had set a budget of £250 which got either one large photo in a frame or two small ones. By the end of it I would have remortgaged the house to get them all! In the end we bought this set in the frame.

For the bargain price of..........£3000. Lol. I know I look back now and think '3grand on photos?!?!' but in my defence I was planning to go back to work and continue to make a good wage. Then Caitlin came along lol. In fact I blame her a little, I later found out I was pregnant with her when I went to view the photos (woops on the wine) so think the hormones didn't help!

No spend November is going well :) I've decided to list everything I do buy on my blog to keep track, and also to shame me into sticking to it!
Bought today:
- Cat food (needed)
- Milk (needed)
- Cheese (run out, use in lots of meals so needed)
- Yogurts (afterwards wondered if needed or classed as a treat really, but only 37p so not going to beat myself up about it lol)
- Batteries (needed for emergency torches for car and house)
- Apples, oranges, bananas (needed)
Spent - £12.11 :)

Bonfire party

Tonight was Marks friends bonfire party :) He has it every year and the kids love it! I love it too as its one of the very very few times I get to stay home on my own :) Usually obviously Mark can't take the kids anywhere without help but at the party all his friends are there to help so I know they're all safe :)
As usual kids had a great time :) Sounds like it was a good job I wasn't there as all the kids trashed the living room, getting all the pillows from the beds and couches and rolling around on them. Think I would have freaked out!

Managed to get some more crafting bits done and lots of cleaning too. Amazing how much I can get done in an empty house. Glad I did as two very hyped up children came home after stuffing themselves with sweets, and Cameron had a black eye! He has no idea where he got it. What was it I was saying about them being safe? *rolls eyes*

No spend November

To say we are skint we be an understatement. With one thing or another, and me spending money to try and buy peace and happiness (doesn't work) we are currently in quite a lot of debt. So to try and dig us out of it a little before Christmas I have decided to try 'No spend November.' During this time unless it is NEEDED, for example bills, milk, bread, veg etc it will not be bought. Hopefully this will stop me:
- Going to Asda for milk, and spending £25 on other things which catch my eye or are on offer
- Taking the kids to the shops and buying £6 of sweets because they want one and there's a £6 minimum spend on cards.
- Thinking 'oh thats half price, Cait would like that for Christmas!' When she already has WAY too many gifts!
- Getting home from somewhere, too tired to cook and ordering a takeaway
Ok so I expect it will be hard, was tested today when I went to TKmaxx and saw glittery ribbon! But I need to get back into the routine of not spending. I used to be great at saving, never had any credit cards, then I got one and it all went wrong lol. Plus there will be exceptions to the rules, such as
- Caitlins dancing lessons. £3 a week. Wouldn't be good for her progess to miss a month.
- Upcoming school events £10 per child. Don't want them left out. Plus I'm hwlping run them so bit mean if I get to go and they can't lol.
- My weekly Costa visits with my mum. I NEED these for my sanity! Plus my Mum pays for 2 weeks out of the month and I have more than enough points on my card to pay for my turns so not tecnically spending :p
- Perishable foods, or foods we run out of. All the cupboards, fridge, freezer etc are full, but I'm dreadful for buying more because its half off, or I fancy it, so while I aim to run down what we have we will need to buy more milk, bread, fruit etc. Also if we run out of staples, such as cheese, then thats ok. Non staples, like wine, chocolate, crisps etc well once those are gone they're gone.
To help me stick to this I've made a meal list for the month using items we already have, plus I've set myself the aim that if I don't manage it, I won't go on the trip to York I have booked at the end of the month with Mark, my Mum and my Gran. Its a coach trip we booked months ago to cheer up gran and I'm really looking forward to it so its a good incentive :)
The 'no spending' idea got off to a good start today anyway. First I resisted goodies in TKmaxx, then resisted cheap xmas decorations reduced in argos (£10 to £1.50, it was hard!!!!) Then we accidently got free coffee at Costa lol. Well we went in and sat down, my Mum sent me up with her card to order and pay because shes lazy, but I was told the machine was down they could only take cash at the moment. Oh, we didn't have any :( Thats ok, I was told, just come up and pay before you leave. Fair enough :) So enjoyed our drinks (mine was a spiced apple drink, yum!) chatted for an hour or so then left, saying bye the staff as we went. :) Wasn't until we got home and Mum asked me for her card back I remembered I hadn't paid! Oh well, will pay next time we go in. lol.