Smile, play, beautiful, love.

My mojo seems to have gone walkies lately, so I loved the 'ready made' papers I got in this months Like for ever kit.
These sheets are ones which already have pictures etc on while do most of the work for you, in this case it was the circle going around the center of the page. Few extra embellishments and some layering behind the photo and I was done :)

Love this picture. In Turkey there was a kids club and one night they had a 'chocolate party' which seemed to consist of the kids eating and pretty much rolling in chocolate lol. They loved it obviously :)

Cameron made me laugh while I was doing this one. As you can see I cut the top of the L out to put the photo underneath it. Cameron watched me and asked:

Cameron - Are you doing that to put the photo under it?
Me - Yep like this *shows him*
Cameron - OH! So it will hold the photo on so you don't need to nail it on!

Not allowing him to scrapbook in the near future!

Sooooo busy

Today is one of those days when I have a list of about a million things to do. Mark wasn't feeling well and Caitlin was moaning she was too tired to get up so I left them both in bed and took Cameron along to the town.
First lot of jobs done I rewarded my little helper with breakfast from greggs. Has a charming smile doesn't he lol.

So soooooooooo much to do today as my Mum is coming to stay for the weekend. Though shes been in my house countless times whenever she comes to stay I always go into cleaning overload. With the kids being off though its a never ending job. Whats that saying? Cleaning the house while kids are growing is like shoveling snow when its still snowing.
So true.

Recap

Ok it's bound to happen over the Summer holidays, but its been a while since I blogged! So time for a recap :)

Sunday
Sunday was a here, there and everywhere day with me driving Caitlin to a party and running lots of little errands. I also did some Hama bead work but I'll share that when its finished :)

Monday
Every Monday we've booked the kids into a 'Muddy Mondays' class at the boating lake. The kids both love being outside and getting muddy so we thought it would be perfect. First class and they LOVE it! We made 'thumb sticks' where we basically cut down funny shaped sticks then sanded them down and covered them in some kind of oil lol. I didn't quite get it but kids had fun.

Tuesday
Cinema day!!!! I was SO excited to see Inside out :)

Being 100% honest, I loved it, but it was certainly not what I expected. It was a lot more mature than most Disney films. Don't get me wrong it was funny and silly and the kids really enjoyed it, but as an adult watching it I saw all the emotions and meanings behind what the wee girl was going though, how she needed to be sad but the pressure her Mother put on her caused her to bury her feelings and go numb, how Joy was really like a Mother in her feelings towards Riley, trying to shield her from anything that would cause her Sadness but she needed to feel that and have it be ok.
I genuinely think its one of those generational films, kids will watch it and see Sadness knocking things over and funny little characters, teens will relate to Riley and her conflicting and confusing emotions and parents will see Joy trying so hard to keep Riley happy but not knowing how.

Wednesday
My Dad us soooooo tired at the moment. I think the late night/early morning drive back from the airport wiped him right out. To give him a bit of a break we took the kids and Mollie to kids play for the day (thank you groupon!)
I also managed to get:
13. A merry-go-round or carousel

Might get a prettier one later but this will do for now. ;)

Scrap Much?

Todays another day which has flown past. :/ My Gran rung me last night in a panic because the gift she needed for my nieces birthday was sold out everywhere. Quick browse online and I found it cheaper and with free next day delivery :) Very impressed as it was delivered by 9am!
So dropped that off to her, picked up a delivery from Next, did the weekly shop, went round Mums to feed the bunny etc and was back just in time to drop Cameron off to his friends birthday party!
Once he was home though it all calmed down :) Did the kids fave 'picnic dinner' where I put out a load of veggies, meats, cheese etc and they just help themselves. Mark had dug out our old PS2 so they're now happy playing old Spyro games while Mark naps and I blog and listen to Spotify :)
So way back in March I found a blog called ScrapMuch? which sets a couple of challenges each month. One of this months was the following sketch.

I didn't have any landscape photos I fancied using and my portrait photo I liked was too big so I rotated the sketch to make it fit. Aside from the blue spotty paper at the back the rest of the bits I used were all scraps. The pink spotty acetate I actually took off a birthday card I got :)

The photo is taken in Disneyland years ago. This was the last day and to be honest the kids were starting to get cranky with all the walking and queuing. You can probably tell by Camerons tired smile, and Mollie and Caitlins grumpy faces lol. Mum and Mark look happy though :)

Earrings!!!!!

For the past couple of years Caitlins been asking about getting her ears pierced, I wasn't sure she was ready (and to be honest I don't think she thought she was either) so I've put it off and put it off.
This time when she asked though I thought ok, lets see. I looked into where locally had good reviews and booked her in to have them done. I honestly thought she'd get scared and leave so imagine my surprise that she not only had them done, but didn't even flinch! Shes getting too big.

As my Mum is on holiday my Granny is dogsitting for her. It's too much for her to take Poppy for a walk though so me and the kids are happy to help :) Which also got me
3. A person walking a dog (or other animal)

It's actually been a really busy, productive day and it has just flown by! We had planned to go out for the day but Scamp had a bit of a poorly tummy this morning so thought taking him to the woods where he could eat god knows what would be a bad idea. Managed to get a lot of cleaning and jobs done, amazes me how much mess the kids have made in just a couple of days off! I also managed to scrap but I'll share that tomorrow ;)

Summer holidays!!

So today was the first day of the Summer holidays and we did absolutely nothing lol.
Yesterday was Cams sports day so between that and end of year chaos we were all exhausted. Both kids were quite weepy so was home for comfy pjs, cuddles and bed!

Tradition on the first day of the Summer hold is to make a calender showing all the big plans we have, day trips, classes etc, then make a bucket list of all the other things we want to do :)

List done the kids basically hid in their rooms all day playing games and reading. They did come out every now and again for food and hugs but that was about it lol. I love how close they are but I do admit I feel a little pushed out every now and again. God help me when they're teenagers, I won't have a hope in hell!
On that note I read something a while ago that said you need a dog when you have a teenager in the house so that someone is happy to see you lol. Very true as while I was ignored by my children I had this little shadow pretty much all day :)

Well fingers crossed for some sunshine tomorrow as I want to go out! Don't even care where just out lol. Today was relaxing but dull as anything so can do with a reason to get dressed, and hopefully take some photos for the scavenger hunt too :)

I love this!

As we took the kids to the garage sale yesterday we told them they could pick what we did today. Started off with breakfast out as Mum, Dad and Mollie are of to Spain today so was a nice way of saying bye. Going to miss them like mad!
After breakfast the kids just wanted a quiet day so they basically hid in their rooms doing crafting, reading and other quiet things. Honestly I forgot they were there at one point!
As they were so quiet I took the opportunity to do some crafting of my own :)
Another sketch from over at Stuck?!.

and this was my take :) I took two photos from when we went to Disneyland a couple of years ago. Cameron had an amazing time and was so proud of himself when he went on the Big thunder mountain ride. It wasn't until after I took this photo that I realised the little bow in the top corner had moved, so lets pretend its straight lol.

Love these little bows :) Poundland bargain!

Well tomorrow is crazy busy. Trying to fit in a million jobs before school ends and I need to get Cait ready for her disco and rushed back to school. Roll on Wednesday!

Bargains!!!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I like bargains :) So this morning saw me up at 2am, standing outside Next waiting for their sale. Don't laugh, we wernt even the first ones there lol.
I didn't have much hope for it to be honest as it's usually much smaller than the boxing day sale, but it was brilliant! Aside from a winter coat for Caitlin I managed to get everything on my list, including loads for Cameron which was unheard of!
Brought it all home and had the usual fashion parade from a very excited Caitlin and a much less excited Cameron.
Look at my happy little girl in her new outfit, doesn't she look so grown up?! *sob*

So those bargains all sorted and put away we went to a local village which was having a garage sale. Very American but very fun. :) Mark got a couple games, Cam and Cait some books and I got some craft goodies :)

£5 for this lot! Very pleased. The Papermania carrier was supposed to be £5 but think the woman just wanted rid so gave me the lot for £5. Love the little xmas dies and the pack of tags is brand new!
The felt kit is to make 3 Robin decorations. My Mum has a thing about robins, whenever one of the family is having a hard time one seems to show up and it's like a little sign everything is going to be ok :) I aim to make 3, one for my Gran, one for my Mum and one for me..........watch this space and wish me luck!

Scrapping and sad :(

Well today was very emotional but more on that later. First, look! I did a layout! My mojo has gone recently so I had a quick look on Stuck sketches where I found this.

Not a sketch I would usually go for but hey that's what a challenge is for right? :)
To challenge myself even further I pulled out these half used alphas I got in a recent swap. Not exactly in love with them so decided to try and turn them into something else.

Remembering the wooden buttons from my recent 'Like for ever' kit, I took the letter off and filled the gap with stickles. When dry it didn't look too bad :)

So this is my finished layout :) I put another one with red stickles down in the bottom right hand corner. Nice to use up things that would otherwise end up in Caitlins VAST craft/junk collection lol.

So as I said earlier it was a very emotional day. First was dropping a very excited Cameron off for his school trip to twicross zoo. Theres always that little bit of worry when they're away somewhere without me. Then this afternoon was Caitlins leavers play. :(
She played a mermaid who helped teach a pirate to swim. It was adorable and funny but then at the end they sang a song about the sun setting on this part of their life, and autumn leaves falling as they grow etc. Safe to say I cried.
Got a beautiful photo of her and two of her friends though.

Tomorrow we're off to Cams school to see his work so far. Roll on Summer holidays! :)

Hectic!

I don't know about you but end of school year is always crazy here. A mix of Summer holiday prep, end of year trips/concerts/discos and now parties for all the clubs they're in too! So this is me doing a quick catch up post before taking Caitlin to her Brownies party. :)

Friday
Ok I blogged Friday, but I didn't mention that Mark, Mum, Dad and I were going to see a comedy show that night :) Mark has had 'See a stand up show' on his bucket list for a while so when I saw our local hotel was doing one the day after my birthday I snapped up tickets.

Was a great night out. Because they're usually the babysitters we don't go out much with my Mum and Dad so was nice to spend some time with them without kids lol.

Saturday
As we had got the kids reports that week, we had promised them a nice day out if they did well. Both achieved above expected level on all subjects so obviously we were super proud! I rooted around in my vouchers drawer and found a Groupon for Kids play, a 50% off cinema voucher and 50% off pizza too :) So morning we went to Kids play and kids ran riot while I had a coffee (bliss)

Then off to see the Minions movie and home for pizza! Was such a lovely, relaxed day and great to spend time just the four of us. Roll on Summer holidays!

Sunday
Today the weather was dreadful so was a pj day at first. Kids soon got bored though so we put on our wellies and set off for the library. The kids had a great time jumping in puddles on the way, then books picked, cookies bought it was time to head back home for tea, reading and cuddles. :)

Monday
I actually couldn't tell you what I did yesterday :/ Mark hadn't slept well the night before as had a headache so he slept while I did housework. The day just sped by!

Today
Well as I said today is Caitlins Brownie party. They were asked to come dressed as Minions so this is Caitlin all ready to go.

Sure she'll have a great time and I promise to blog a bit more!

Day after day

Well I've been AWOL for a little while haven't I. This week has just gone so quick!
Yesterday was my birthday, it seems an unwritten rule in our family that events such as Birthdays, Anniversarys etc always go wrong on the day; to the point where we have started having a day after day to celebrate lol. Yesterday was no different, I had an appointment to get my haircut and coloured, hairdressers child was ill so that was canceled. Mark bought me a computer game, it didn't work, went to play one of my old ones, the controller broke, Mum and Dad came round with Mollie, kids ended up in a big row. So that over and done with onto today lol.
This morning I plan to spend some time crafting, but in Blue peter style, heres one made earlier. :) Super simple one of Cam and Cait at Disneyland. I loved the paper on this one so didn't do too much to it.

I added some punched arrows an wooden hearts to draw attention to the photo area a bit.

Some stickles, liquid pearls and gems and I was done!

Super simple but I like it :)

Challenge YOUrself

Eeeekkkkk :) Look its my first post as a DT member for Challege YOUrself :) Very exciting.
This months challenge is a sketch/colour combo. As soon as I saw this I knew what papers I wanted to use, the photo however was a little trickier as I'm rapidly running out of photos of me! Snapfish order needed I think!

So after digging in my photo pile I found this photo of me, Mollie and Caitlin on my birthday last year. For one of my gifts Mollie had decorated a t-shirt with all the things I like, owls, pugs, my family etc. I was so touched she had put so much thought and effort into it. Particularly as shes smack in the middle of that 'too cool to care' phase.

I loved these alphas and they match perfectly with the pink party hat Mollie was wearing in the photo.

Love these papers, and the little fabric owl my Mum bought me from Wilkinsons too. Can get some great crafty bargains in there.
Hope to see lots of you joining in with this challenge! :)

Coffee needed!!!

SO last night the girls finally went to sleep at 12:30. I thought they would be tired so would sleep in a bit, nope, wide awake at 6:20! Will need lots of coffee today I think as got to go help my Mum set up for my nieces sleepover later, then help ferry all the girls around to and from the spa then back to mums lol.
Girls have all been collected now and party cups handed out. They used their sundae cups last night so I washed them out and filled them with some nail varnish and nail files, a spoon I had stuck gems on the handle, toothbrush, giant lolly, spa headband and a hamma bean icecream at Caitlins request. She was thrilled with how they looked so I was pleased :)

Well this morning for the first time in ages I actually had the urge to scrap. Typically it was at a time when I really couldnt but I manage to slip away long enough to finish off a layout which has been sitting on my desk a few days now.

TBH I'm not overly in love with it but its done now lol. The kit I'm using is an old one that I wasn't very fond of anyway so didn't expect it to be amazing but glad I'm using it up.

Photo is from ages ago when I took the girls to a fun day. It was with 'homestart' which I used to volunteer for. I took them along to play and ended up having to work so they went off and did their own thing. They loved it and turned out to be the last one we went to so glad I got photos :)
Right well got to go help Mum get ready for Mollies party now, two sleepovers in one weekend, who planned that!? :p

Sleepover :)

So tonight is Caitlins sleepover to earn her Brownies 'hostess' badge. Lots of planning went into it and I was soooo eager for it to go well. Two of the girls had appointments after school so only one came right away. How cute is this photo of them walking home together :)

I'd decorated the living room with the decorations we had made while they were at school. So when they came home it was playtime until the others showed up and the party could really begin! :)
First I stuffed them all with pizza, then they decorated their own spa headbands before making facepacks form banana, sugar and chocolate porridge. I couldn't believe how into it they got! In retrospect it was a bit of a waste of time mopping my floor this afternoon as my floor and most of the doorhandles are now a sticky mess lol

Then there were makeovers and a couple more games before time to settle down with an ice cream, popcorn, biscuits and other goodies to watch a dvd :)

As I write this is nearly 11 and they're still awake lol. Watching Netflix and laughing at Scamp crawling all over them. FX for sleep soon!

Sooooo hot!!!

Don't know what it's like where you are but its been SO hot here past few days! I've had a huge to do list that I wanted to get done but heat really wipes out Mark so I've been taking care of him among other jobs. Poor Scamp doesn't enjoy the heat either.

Yesterday was the hottest day so far so I dragged the pool out of the garage and the kids had a great time playing in there. Heat was too much for Cam though so he went in after an hour or so.

Today we took Caitlin up to the Juniors for a little tour and to meet her new teacher. She loved it! Such a weight off my mind as obviously she's not the biggest fan of change and I was worried she would be scared but she seems excited so far. :)
I'm actually quite excited about her sleepover tomorrow night lol. I've finished the party bags, got lots of food and games for them to play and Caitlin made decorations so should be really fun! Pity the boys though, stuck in a house with 5 girls :p