Give up lol

I think I should give up attempting to blog daily for a while lol. Just been so busy with everything the days are speeding by!
Ive been crafting for the party again, making gift bags this time.

Lights for my niece.

and another pony as a thank you for Mollie letting me steal a load of her black hama beads :)

Caitlin has also been crafting, making this Christmas log in her Rainbows class. :) Was so impressed with it! Its an actual wood log with plaster for the snow. Now takes pride of place in front of the tv.

I've also been enjoying baby snuggles!!! My Mum was babysitting for our friend while she went out so I took Cam over to see Nanny while I had cuddles. Swear mine were never this tiny.

Cameron bless him was terrified of Lucas! This was as close as he would get lol. I suggested giving him a cuddle and Cam very carefully reached out, rubbed Lucas' back, and said 'Alright mate, you ok?' Bless him! Not a baby person then lol.

Well don't know about you guys but its def getting colder here!!! Scamp seems to agree as this was his response when I suggested getting out of bed today.

Fx I blog a bit more now a lot of jobs are done!

Lots of very busy days!

Well, I finally have a chance to sit down with a coffee and blog lol. its been lots of very busy days here but in the run up to Christmas that's expected really.
So a quick run down of what I've been up to:
- Took Scamp to the groomers. Poor boy was shaking like a leaf when we took him in but the staff were lovely and he soon settled. He even got a free scarf saying 'My mummy loves me' doesn't he look impressed lol.

- Hama beads, hama beads, hama beads! I'm making wall decorations, games and other gifts with these little toys. :) This is a tic tac toe game I made for Cameron and Cody next door.

Also finished Caitlins Elsa finally! I had to put an extra half snowflake on the bottom corner after my husband spilt water on it!!!!

- Christmas decorations. This year my Gran has changed her living room colours so is using silver and red. To save her shelling out lots of money for new decorations I've been making her some. So did these lights.

and these flowers. Also did some for Mum as her colour scheme is silver and orange and shes having a hard time finding those colours.

- Taking care of a poorly Mark. He's had another one of his headaches so has been laid up for the past week.

- Children in need fundraising. Been making cakes, other things to donate and dressing kids up for superhero day at school.

- Birmingham christmas market. This was SO much fun! We went to York last year and it was heaving! You couldnt get to most of the stalls. This was much quieter and managed to get a few unique gifts for people so was thrilled. Loved spending time with my Mum and Gran too :)

- Watching Christmas movies. It's certainly turned colder here, and its been raining a LOT so we've been spending a lot of time cuddled up watching movies together. Caitlin watched A santa clause' foe the first time and loved it so we've now watched all 3 in the series lol.

- Watching Im a celebrity! I LOVE this show! Its another sign that Christmas is coming :) Its tradition to watch the first one with a tub of sweets so this was me on the sunday night :)

- Snuggling with my dog dog. I was worried about him at first because since it's got colder hes really clingy. He usually loves his cuddles anyway but lately hes been glued to one of us at all times. I asked about though and apprently this is common for his breed as they are lap dogs so he's fine which is a relief! :)

- Making Christmas hampers. My Gran, Mark and the teachers are all getting Christmas hampers this year so was thrilled when my orders started coming in and I could get those made up. More crossed off the list!

- Shopping with mum. Took my Mum to Dunhelms the other night and Cam came too. Had a great time playing with all the christmas toys!

see what I mean!

So well done if you made it through that lot! Im spending today making up more christmas crafts so expect more photos soon. Swear this month is speeding by!!!!

More crafting

Had a very productive day today! :) First finished off another layout from the frosty festivities blog event. Loved the result on this one, never thought to use glitter ribbon to make little trees. :)

Decided to go a little different for the next one :) As I've mentioned I'm throwing a Frozen themed party for the kids next month and this prompt inspired me to make some more party favours :)
Be Inspired:

Add a hat and scarf to a character on a card, layout, or other project

Alter a shop-bought bauble / ornament

Paint a swirly branch

So I dug out some old wooden showflakes I bought for 10p each in the sales last year and made these :)

I love them! I cut the twine off and covered the hole with the gems. Glued some coffee stirrers together and wrapped them in ribbon for the handles and added some more ribbon to make it pretty. Hope the girls like them too :)
Last one for today. Went a little off with this one lol.

Be Inspired:

Wrap wool or thread around an embellishment

Add baubles to a tree or stars to a wreath

Use paperclips on your next project

I started by making a star from hama beads which I planned to make into a mini hama bead wreath. That turned into a hama bead tree, which turned into a huge wreath for Caitlins door. Got the mojo flowing anyway!

So I'm thrilled with all my crafting done today. :) Might have to do some housework tomorrow, bedroom looks like a bombs hit it again.

frosty festivities

So yesterday to take my mind off Caitlin I took part in Jennifer Graces frosty festivities :) I love her blog events so it was a brilliant distraction and Caitlin joined in today too.
First prompt was:

Be Inspired:

Cut a giant aperture on your next project

Make a journaling card or tag in the shape of a Christmas themed item

Stick a big flower at the top of a Christmas tree
I copied the layout on offer and made this. Seriously old Christmas photos of Cameron opening some of his gifts. Not sure about this one as seems a bit plain compared to the one on the blog.

Loved this next layout though :) Prompt was:
Be Inspired:

Use felt to make a gift, decoration, or embellishment

Create a Santa with a coat that’s NOT red (eg. use stamps, die-cut machines, or hand-cut paper)

Use brads, buttons, and beads on your next project
I did this layout of Cam and Caitlin opening their Disney gifts the other year. We had wrapped up some old park passes, Mickey ears etc and asked them to guess what they thought it meant. I love I was able to get a picture of Camerons face when the penny dropped.

For the prompts I used a felt embellishment and some brads like the little stocking and gift in the corner.

Was a lovely relaxing day after yesterday :) Hopefully manage to do more tomorrow!

This week in one post

Another catch up post. Getting used to this now lol.

Wednesday
Bonfire night! We don't really do much as standing in the cold waiting for fireworks isn't really our thing lol. This year however Camerons school had a baking contest where they had to make bonfire/firework themed cake and bring it in. Camerons not really into that so picked a nice easy cake for him to do. Few chocolate fingers, some icing and food colouring and we're done :) He was pleased with it and though he didn't win he was happy just to take part.

In the end we watched some fireworks the neighbours let off. cait was terrified bless her. She gets so anxious about everything these days, got to keep an eye on that. :s

Thursday
Well today poor Mark was in bed with a headache so I put the monitor on and spent the day at Gemmas crafting. :) We're doing a craft class at the school so I was doing some simple designs on bunting to give the kids some ideas on what to do.

Tonight was very exciting for me :) I LOVE all the Christmas themed food that comes out and a big one is the Costa cups and flavoured hot chocolates. I got an email saying they were opening late on Thursday so you could come in and sample the new range before it went out on Friday. I was so excited! Rung my Mum and asked if she wanted to go for coffee Friday, she suggested going Asda late night Thursday then popping in for coffee on the way home. Yey! Love my Mum, she supports my insanity lol. Throughly enjoyed my brownie hot chocolate and Mum loved her prailine cappachino.

Friday
Well today was difficuilt so had a bit of retail therapy. I know I said about no spend November but everything seems to be going wrong so just keeping an eye on the spending instead. Think I'm going to need a few small treats every now and again! So I picked this up from Poundland :) Mark called me cruel but Scamp loves it! Ok he hates the hat but he loves the collar with the bells on lol. I took it off him and he followed me and stood looking at the cupboard I put it in until I put it back on lol.

Saturday
Today was so hard!!! My baby girl went on her first trip without me. :( Shes been on school trips before but I've gone too (perks of being on the PTA) so this was very hard. She was going to Drayton Manor with her Rainbows troop and I knew she'd have a great time so I had to let her go. 11 hours without talking to her through......

Was SO pleased when she got home :) She was shattered poor girl and I had to give her a massage, hot water bottle and neurophen as her legs were causing a great deal of pain but think it was worth it for her. :) Might be a bit easier next time. Doubt it though.

Back to normal :)

Love my dog but he makes me laugh. As its been warm we've had the door open over summer so he's just gone and used the garden whenever he pleased. Now we're trying to teach him to ask to go outside when he needs to so whenever he does, then goes out and does the toilet he gets a little treat when he comes back in.
However he now thinks just going in and out deserves a treat so I've been up and down to open the door 14 times already! lol. He simply scratches at the door, runs out, runs back in and sits and looks at me wagging his tail. Um, no, lol.
So today we're all back to normality. :) Which was a bit of a rush this morning as my alarm didn't go off so we woke up to find the neighbour knocking on our door to leave at 8:30! We moved quick though and they kids were dressed and out the door by 8:40. Thank goodness for pop tarts :) Great portable breakfast lol.
Back home and hit the cleaning, tidying and finishing off a few bits including this elf door. My neighbour is buying an elf for her son this christmas so I offered to make a door for him. She seemed pleased so one job done.

Also I can now share my notebook I made for a swap as its been received. The theme was flowers so I picked some vintagey flowery paper and used that with some fabric ribbon down the side. The recipient liked it so thats the main thing :)

Sadly have a very upset little girl tonight :( She's going on a trip with her Rainbows group on Saturday, but its also one of her best friends birthdays so she won't be able to go to the party :( Broke my heart as she was really upset and couldn't stop crying. Said she could sleep in our bed tonight so hopefully that will help.

Last day of half term!

This half term seems to have lasted a looooong time. Don't get me wrong I love having the kids off and spending time with them etc but seems they've been off for way longer than a week!
This morning they woke up in great moods however as my Gran is babysitting this afternoon. Mark and I signed up for a free craft class to do together so really looking forward to it. :)
Don't know about the weather where you are but it's starting to feel much more like winter here! Caitlin was in a bit of a sensitive mood this morning so I let her wear her new super fluffy, oversized jumper. Funnily enough it's a trait we both share, Mark has a fluffy jumper which is obviously too big on me, but whenever I'm feeling ill or sad it always cheers me up to snuggle up in it. Scamp decided to join the snuggle too. :)

The kids have been colouring and crafting a lot this morning (in between cuddles) so I've been making some of my christmas crafts too. Getting excited now :)
Well my elf door is only half finished so back to more layouts :) Thank goodness for these or I'd have nothing to blog for a while!
Simple layout which again needs journalling. Last winter I had my Eeyore hot water bottle out when Caitlin decided Scamp needed it more and put it in his bed. I didn't have the heart to take it back lol.

Like this layout :) The photo was huge so didnt need much to it. Used up lots more from the old embellishment pile too :)

Hopefully something new to share tomorrow :)

Catch up day

Sunday is always catch up day in our house. A chance to finish all the little bits and bobs that have been started through the week and get organised for the week ahead.
Now we're getting even closer to Christmas that 'to do list' is getting bigger and bigger so while kids were happy colouring I jumped at the chance to get as much done as humanly possible and finish off some bits and bobs. It turned into a very productive day! Again I can't share what I did because its for gifts, swaps etc but there were a fair few things crossed off which is a weight off my mind at least. :) Was also the first time I actually sat and used my new craft desk. Caitlin was on the bed watching a film with Scamp and I sat and finished off the snowman boxes for the kids to give to their friends. Was a lovely, peaceful, family day. :) Considering the weather was dreadful it was just what we needed :)
So as I can't share anything I've made, back to layouts I did while away!
Not my fave layout, but really wanted to scrap these photos. When Caitlin finished nursery they gave me some photos they had taken of her during her time there. They wernt the best photos, and most were laminated and dog eared from being stuck on the wall for so long but they were important to me so still wanted to scrap them. As they were so large I didn't do much to this one, just added a few scraps and a tinkerbell I've had in my stash for I think 6 years now so yey used it up!

More using up here. I had a huge sheet of chipboard leaves and other Autumn embellishments so decided to use them all on one layout. I plan to do the journalling in the right corner which is why its a bit empty, but I hate my handwriting so tend to do that part after photographing ;)
The photo os from a visit to the farm. Caitlin had asked and asked to go on the barrel ride, which she had been on countless times before, but for some reason when she got on it this time she looked terrified!

So lots done today, and I'm very excited about tomorrow. Our local childrens center is holding a free craft class each Monday in the run up to Christmas with the aim of teaching people to make gifts for Christmas to keep costs down. As we used to go there often, and I volunteer there they are very aware of Marks illness so we both decided to sign up. It's not often we get to do an activity like that together so I'm really looking forward to it :) My Gran is babysitting the kids as it's a teacher training day and to be honest I think they're more excited about that than they are about Christmas!

No spend November spend so far £0. Good start lol.

No spend November!

Wow we're in November! How did that happen?! So another catch up :)

Wednesday
Caitlin had a birthday party tonight and Cameron had his very first sleepover outside the family. Both had a great time though think our neighbour regretted offering to let him sleepover lol. Neither Cameron nor Cody (their son) are bad kids but when they get together they just go nuts! Think it was gone 11 when she txted me to tell me they'd gone to sleep.
So while Cam was there we took Caitlin and Evie to the birthday party. They had a great time though Mark and I were bored out of our minds. Glad we could take them though :)

Thursday
For the past two months we've been saying about going out for a chinese, but something comes up every time. So we were all surprised we actually managed it! Was a lovely night as the kids played nicely while the grown ups ate and drank. What more do you need! Caitlin took a lovely photo of us all :)

Friday
You know this was only yesterday and I'm not overly sure what we actually did all day lol. During the day Caitlin went out with my Dad then round her friends for dinner so we barely saw her, and Cameron was quite happy playing in his room so was such a quiet day!
I managed to get some bits made for gifts and swaps which I can't share but can share another layout :) Simple one of Cait and Cam in Turkey last year :) Seems so much longer ago than that!

Well as it was Halloween we had planned to stay home, get into PJs and watch a kids scary film. Then Cody knocked on the door trick or treating and that was it the kids were desperate to go! Luckily Cameron was wearing his Captain America onesie so he just went out in that. Caitlin threw on her blue princess dress and off we went! Considering we only went to two streets the kids got loads! They were so excited so I think its going to have to be an annual thing now lol.

So we're now on Saturday and the first day of November. Just like last year we're skint. I've put too much on cards and gotten in way over my head, so this month will again be No spend November!
Basically we're aiming to spend as little as possible this month and only on things we NEED not things we want. With the aim of running down the masses of food we already have and paying a little bit more off the card.
As last year there will be some exceptions:

- School trips for the kids. Don't want them left out.
- 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.
- Advent calender for Cameron. Haven't bought one yet and kind of need to do it this month lol.
- £30 for a day trip with my Mum and Gran. I booked a coach trip to Birmingham Christmas Market ages ago for November 15th. Now I don't need anymore Christmas gifts really but I don't want to go with nothing. So I plan to sell as much as possible by then, and if I'm doing well on not spending I will take £30 in cash and leave the cards at home to avoid any temptation.

As last year, I have a reward in mind. We've promised for ages to take Cameron down to London to go to the museums there, so if all goes well we're taking him on the last day of the month. IF we have paid off some of the cards by then!