Fun day

Once a year our local Homestart center does a fun day for its families. Usually I go with the family I work with but she didn't want to go this year so I went along to help out anyway. My Mum was on a shopping trip with my gran and as my Dad had to take me I offered to take Mollie with me to give him a break. I was a bit worried about the two of them acting up as they were together but they were both on their best behaviour :)

They had a great time painting glasses, playing with playdough and various other crafting activities. We were there 4 hours and they didn't moan to leave once.

Showed my mum this photo and her first comment was 'But Mollie hates grapes!!' apprently these ones were nice lol.

So home now and I'm ready for bed lol. Hoping to do some layouts tonight as done all I can to my mums mothers day book until I can get some photos developed. Got to go garage in the morning and pay for the car. Ugh its gonna hurt!

SIPIDI bin it!

Well went to the garage this morning to give them my key, to be told its going to be around £150 to get the car fixed :( Gutted. Got to think it was for a reason though, better it happened now than when I was on my way down to wales in a few weeks. So that won't be done till Monday so not much else to do today except stay home and try and rearrange bills lol.
Todays photo prompt was 'learn' and I knew exactly what I wanted to pick :) Cameron is doing his SATs at school soon so they gave him a practice exam to see where he needs to improve. One of the questions asked him to show his working, this was his reply.

Yep he wrote brain and drew a picture of a brain. Think he needs to learn how to write his working a little better ;)
Keeping on the theme of prompts, tonight for dinner I decided to take part in See It, Pin It, Do, It (SIPIDI) and try a pinterest method for cooking mac and cheese. Idea is to cook 2 cups of pasta, in 2 cups of milk and just add one cup of cheese one its cooked. The cheese and milk make the sauce and no need to drain or make a complicated sauce. This was the picture given.

The phrase 'nailed it' doesn't exactly come to mind! Dont know what I did wrong but the cheese curdled and went all lumpy. Ended up in the bin and Caitlin had crumpets for dinner lol. Will be sticking to the tried and tested method in the future ;)

Valentines day curse

Mark and I have the WORST luck on Valentines. Someone is always ill, or we get bad news, or plans go to hell for whatever reason. On our first Valentines day Mark surprised me with the plan to take me to Warwick the following day for the weekend to visit the castle and stay in a B&B. Then someone at his work stole £1600 and as he was manager he was stuck sorting that out so we couldn't go. Set the tone for the rest of the time lol. Yesterday started off ok :) I made Mark breakfast in bed and waited on him hand and foot for the day (no different to normal :P) then kids came home from school with valentines day cards. I didn't think kids this young would be giving out cards so was a bit surprised! Camerons was from a girl called Olivia who hes been betrothed to since reception lol. Caitlins was from her friend Rosie :)

Then Mark gave me my gift, a ticket to see Wicked!!! I knew my Mum was taking my niece next week but didn't know I was going too! Very excited!

Caitlin had a valentines day disco at her school so dropped her off, dropped Cameron off at Beavers and popped down to Tesco......

and heres where it started to go wrong. Got in the car to leave and heard a grinding noise from the front wheel. I checked it and noticed it had dropped down. I had had this issue before with an older car so knew the front suspension spring had snapped. Felt about and could feel the jagged end. :( Rung my Mum to get Caitlin as luckily she lives right by the school but as my Dad was at work I needed to ring Nicola to get Cameron. That hurt, lol. Luckily I had just agreed to collect Lillie from nursery in a couple weeks so Nicola needs me on side atm. So rung the AA and was told as they were so busy they wouldnt be there until 7:15, 45 minutes away. I was gutted :( but went back to the car and waited. 7:15 came and went, 8pm came and went and by this time I was cold, freaked out by the car being violently rocked by the wind and was starving! I was also so worried about the price it was going to cost to fix the car and couldnt stop crying. Mark felt bad for me obviously so went into the shop to get me a drink. Came back bless him with some magazines, sandwices, drinks and this pillow to cheer me up.

So not the valentines we expected but at least we were together. AA finally showed at 9 so by the time we towed the car to a garage and got home it was gone 10. Time for a glass of wine and relax..........then Mark accidently knocked over my collectors edition Tinkerbell clock from Disneyland worth just under £200 and smashed it. BEDTIME!!!!!!

Still loves his Mummy :)

Cameron is a boys boy, he likes, guns, computer games and fart jokes. I don't mind this but it makes it hard for me to bond with him as given the choice he would always choose to spend time with his Daddy. I love that they're close but I would like a look in from time to time. Then last night I was woken by a tug on my arm, nothing new, Cameron often wakes at daft hours and asks to watch tv (um no) but he didn't want to watch tv he'd had a nightmare and wanted to sleep in with me. I honestly can't remember the last time that happened. So he cuddled in and went to sleep. The rest of the night I had my baby boy fast asleep in my arms. I loved it :) He's growing up so quick and it won't be that long until he's a teenager and hugs will be a thing of the past! He further amazed me tonight when I asked if either of the kids wanted to walk Scamp with me (usually a no when its cold and they're already in their pjs lol) but Cameron jumped up and said yes. So spent a lovely walk talking about Australian animals hes learning about at school and things he wants to do next week. Feeling in a great mood now :)
Tomorrow is the big legal meeting about my nieces, and to be honest even though I'm happy I'm feeling very drained. It's been a very demanding week so I was relieved tonight to close the door, listen to my babies snore peacefully upstairs and relax for a bit.

Can't wait until tomorrow is over and we at least know what is going on. Then can start to enjoy half term! :)

One of those days

Ugh, today has been one of those days! This morning was nice but then this afternoon/evening was one of those times where everyone was demanding things of me and I was getting it in the neck when I couldn't give it, even though I was trying at expence to myself! Not that matters.
Rant over, lol. Ironically today's prompt was 'What cheers me up' Usually I would pick the kids or Scamp or something, but as I type both kids are sulking because I won't let them go on the PC and Scamp woke us all at 6am barking at the bin men hes not my fave pup today! While wondering what to pick I was scrolling through the pinterest app on my phone and found myself laughing at some of the posts so decided to take a screen shot of that. :)

As you can see I'm still obsessed with Supernatural. Now halfway through season 4 so thats almost a season a week. Don't know how, not like I have that much spare time! Bet if I tried to find that much time to do something else I wouldn't manage it lol.
Something else to cheer me up was a parcel I got this morning, yummy stash!

The letters are supposed to sell Story but the S didnt make it into the parcel lol. Never mind :) Love that wooden arrow.

Doubt I'll be using it until my retreat as still using up scraps and things, but looking forward to it :)

Metal

Todays prompt was 'Metal' I had no idea what to do but then fate stepped in lol. Last night Mark collected the kids from school, which was simply picking them up from class and walking around the corner to where I was parked. This morning Caitlin couldn't find her hat and gloves. Mark insisted she didn't have it when she came out of school so they must be there. So driving up to school this morning Caitlin suddenly shouts 'I know where my gloves at hat are!!' They were waving to us from the fence lol. Obviously Caitlin had took them out of school, dropped them then some nice person picked them up for us.

This afternoon was another social services meeting about my sister. There's a legal meeting on Friday to see if the higher ups want to keep the kids with Nic or move them. The social workers are very confident that Mollie will remain with my Mum long term though when it comes to the younger two they're not sure. It could either be a case of Nicola is given conditions to live by (dont drink, no drugs etc) or that the towel is thrown in and the girls removed. As its the second time within 2 years this has gone to the legal panel it is likely to be that the girls are removed, but I've learned you can never predict these things. To be honest I'm not even sure what I'm hoping for so will just wait and see and deal when it comes to it, but will keep a bottle of wine chilling in the fridge for either outcome! lol

Is it half term yet?!?!?!

In the run up to half term, or any school holidays, the kids become a nightmare! I don't know if its because they're tired, or because they sense a holiday coming up but they start fighting and whinging over everything! So far this morning had two meltdowns and a temper tantrum. One of which was form Caitlin who wanted to take a toy into school. I've banned this as usually it gets broken, lost or she gets upset because people dont play with it right in her mind *rolls eyes* This morning however I gave in and said yes but I don't want to hear about it if it gets broke and ends up in the bin.
Walking to school had almost got there and she hands me the toy 'I've lost a bit somewhere you can put it in the bin now' It didnt even make it to the school!!!!
Todays photo prompt is 'timing' didn't want to do the usual watch or clock photos so took a photo of the new wellies Mum bought me, just in time for the floods and snow we're predicted this week!

Sunday

Todays prompt was 'Relax' so I took this photo of Cameron and Scamp. For some reason Scamp loves to sit on Camerons back, they often watch tv like that together but in this instance Cameron was trying to do his homework!

Today Caitlin is off with my Mum to the cinema and Cameron is on the computer as a treat. Marks still in bed bless him so once again its really quiet around here. Never trust it when it's this quiet, usually the calm before the storm lol. With not much else to do though I'm whizzing through my Mums mini book. I always struggle with mini books as obviously I have a lot less space than a 12x12 page so always feel as though its unfinished. Mum always likes them though so not too worried. :) The last page is going to be a bit of a gamble though; with my sister being pregnant obviously there is another grandchild on the way, but with the situation its not exactly a joyful experience. I spoke to my gran and I decided to leave the last page blank and put a scan photo of the baby in it. Hopefully Mum will like it :)

Love the weekends

My daughter has a nice bed, comfy mattress, soft pillow, warm duvet etc, does she sleep in it?? NO! The amount of times I've walked in and found her sleeping on the floor, then she refuses to move as shes comfy where she is, its mad! lol. So when I found her like this last night I wasn't too surprised. I love how the teddies are all tucked in nice against the pillow while she really isn't.

Yesterdays photo a day prompt was 'game' which I didn't do because I wanted to share the picture of Caitlin with her certificate :) Todays was 'something beginning with F' so I picked 'Finished!' I trimmed these photos for a sketch challenge over a month ago but decided I didn't like it, so last night I pulled it apart and did this one instead. This was a couple of years ago at Easter, my Mum had done a easter egg hunt for the kids Nd bought them these little masks. Caitlin was not a fan of hers and refused to wear it and got upset, made her laugh when I wore it though ;)

Today has been a general weekend day, lots of relaxing, playing and doing bits and bobs in the house :) This afternoon Caitlin shouted down from upstairs and asked if it was ok for girls to wear boys things. Obviously I said yes Nd didn't give it another thought, then she came down dressed like this, love the cupcake in the utility belt lol.

Well nothing else planned for today so nice and dull. Caitlin's off to the cinema with my mum tomorrow so will do her homework today. I have a deal with my mum where she's taking Caitlin and mollie to see 'Peabody and Sherman' (which I REALLY don't want to go see!) and I take them to see the new tinker bell film :) secretly I want to see that anyway but shhhhhhh don't tell anyone ;)

Friday

Poor Mark is still suffering from his headache but he managed to come to the school this morning to see Caitlin get her 'star of the week' award. Earlier in the week her class had been talking about ways to help each other, and those who are less fortunate than them and Caitlin came up with some great idea and was really helpful. :) Very proud Mummy moment :) My Gran came and saw her too which was lovely, the kids always love it when people other than me and Mark come to see them, think they're bored of us lol.

So as Marks still poorly we cancelled his appointment this afternoon. We got a letter this morning re-organising his CAT scan for half term so thats good as we don't need to find a babysitter. We're lucky that the kids are pretty well behaved when waiting for appointments. To be honest they're more patient than me!
So from one award to a layout of another. These photos are from when Caitlins nursery did a sports day. I don't think she looks much different than she does now considering it was almost 3 years ago now. Goes so quick :(

Well not much to do today again. Will just potter about I think until its time to get the kids then take Cameron to beavers. He's still loving it which is good :) Theres a disco at the school next friday but cameron doesnt want to go because as he puts it 'At beavers you play games but at a disco you just dance' Well hes not wrong!

Quiet day

No days ever seem to go to plan in this house lol. Today was supposed to be Marks CAT scan, but hes been up most of the night with one of his migranes/tramadol headaches so hes now in bed for probably the rest of the day. Gives me a good opportunity to catch up on a couple of jobs and to start my Mums mothers day book though :) Each year I make her a mini book with photos of all the Grandkids over the year. I did it when Caitlin had just been born and each year shes asked for another one so its a kind of tradition now. Should help use up my scraps too ;)
I forgot to show my photo a day photos yesterday so here they are. The prompt on Tuesday was 'stripe' so I picked this. I was using the lines everyone was lying in as stripes but everyone pointed out my wallpaper is stripy so that helps too lol.

Yesterday was 'I heard' I was sitting on the PC when I heard snoring and turned around to see Scamp and Daddy having a nap on the couch.

Today is weather, but besides taking a photo of a very grey, dull sky I havent thought of anything for that yet so we'll see if I can think of something later.
I'm still scrapping though :) My chair is still my 'throne' though I have organised it a little better so if mark sits on it it doesn't all fall on him now ;) This photo was from either the world cup or the european cup I'm not sure. Cameron was very excited to wear the football kit we bought him in Turkey and sit with his Daddy to watch football. I was surprised because he actually sat though the whole thing. Usually Cameron can't sit still for more than a few minutes at a time! the novelty wore off I think as that was the first and last game he watched all of ;)

Well better get on if I want to get Mums book started. Theres no clubs or anything to run the kids to tonight so looking forward to getting home from school, putting my pjs on and STAYING in away from the rain!

February counterfeit kit

Ok so up to date now lol. With making the kits anyway, haven't actually done any layouts with them but one step at a time! This month we were given two kits to choose from, the first was mainly black and red which wasn't to my taste, luckily I loved the second choice which was this :)

I don't have many love hearts in my stash but loved the bright colours and all the dots and stripes so put together these papers. Not the best photo but Scamp was trying to eat them so didn't want to risk taking a second!

And these are my embellishments. More bright colours and some 'love' themed chipboard to go in with the romance theme. I really like this kit so looking forward to using it. :)

Well its been a very, very long afternoon so keeping this short. Off to relax and unwind!

January counterfit kit. (yes I know its February)

Ok so I'm behind but not by too much ;) This was the kit we were given in January which is very wintery so I love it.

These are the papers I picked. I've got loads of Christmas papers I bought when they were reduced including lots of foiled and glittered ones which are in the front row. The patterns on some are huge so can see me cutting out a lot of these bits and using as embellishments.

That said I'm not short of embellishments either. I love Christmas so always take loads of photos so obviously need lots of embellishments to go with them ;) You can always get Christmas crafting items for pennies in the sales so I never have a shortage of them. After this year I now have 13 Christmas themed washi tapes too lol. Everything you see here was bought for half price or less. Love sales :)

Well today Mark is off for his 6 monthly appointment at Birmingham. I hate when he goes as always worry they'll find a problem, they'll be an accident, he'll get lost etc. His friend Eric goes with him who is amazing at taking care of Mark but you know what it's like, nobody can take care of them as well as you! To distract myself I've got a morning of housework (boooo) then I'm helping out in Cameron class this afternoon (yey!) Then have rainbows and other errands to run tonight so will be too busy to worry I hope :)
Thanks for all the comments about Caitlin yesterday :) Appointment didn't go as bad as I thought so that was good. Her front tooth is coming in crooked but the dentist thinks that Caitlins tooth will push it into place? Ill take her word for it ;) No tears from Caitlin this time so hoping shes getting used to it!

BAD Mummy!

OMG today didn't start off too well. Taking the kids to school, almost at the gate and Caitlin asks if we're going out tonight. No you have dentist after school I reply. She bursts into tears! She doesn't like the dentist thats true but she doesnt usually get SO upset about it. Tried to calm her down, bribe her etc but she was having none of it. So I had to drop off a sobbing little girl :( Promised I'd make mac and cheese for dinner which is her fave so hopefully that will help. Also keeping everything crossed she doesnt need any work as I'm sure one of her front teeth is coming in crooked. :s
So I'm still scrapping :) My friend Fiona recently started a new monthly meme called SIPIDI. Which means See It, Pin It, Do It! The idea being that once a month you take one of the many projects you pin and actually do one, lol. This can be anything, a recipe, a layout, a DIY project, anything you would like :) It's a great way to kick start your mojo so feel free to join in here.
Well as most of the recipes I've pinned are not exactly diet friendly I've picked a layout to scraplift this month. I pinned this one a while ago because I like the colours but decided to use the layout more instead.

And this is what I did. :) This is another photo from Great yarmouth a couple of years ago, though I think the kids look just the same as they do now lol.

Two birds with one stone as todays prompt is 'square' so think this square shaped layout will do :)
Ugh, it's Monday which means ironing needs done. Marks off to Birmingham tomorrow for his appointment so will be back and forth then!

Farm fun :)

I've been promising the kids for weeks that we would visit the farm but the weather has been dreadful so just hasn't happened. Today however, though it was cold it was bright and dry so off we went. First was a quick trip to Tescos to see if I could find a set of wellies but no luck. Grabbed a few treats to add to our picnic though plus the basics we need for the week so not a waste.
We've been to the farm loads as its not far but this year was an extra treat as we decided to to get the kids annual passes for their birthdays. Turned out to be an amazing deal £100 and that includes access to all their event days such as fossil hunting, berry picking, bonfire night etc. Plus money off their camping weekends and anything bought in the resturant or gift shop. Yey! Its also super dog friendly there and dogs are allowed everywhere as long as they are on leads including in the resturant so can see us spending even more time there now we have Scamp.
Our visit today was really the first time Scamp had been anywhere big. We've took him on walks around the neighbourhood of course but thats not the most interesting area lol. I was confident he would enjoy it and I was very right ;) He was amazed at all the different animals that were there and tried to make friends with this goat by licking his head lol.

After meeting all the animals we dragged Scamp away to walk down to the Troll bridge. As well as the animals (obviously) and the park, the farm has lots of themed areas like the fairy glen, wheres there's lots of tree stumps carved into toadstools and little wooden fairies about, or the witches house, where theres a little cottage with lots of witch themed things inside. It just adds another level of interest for the kids and encorages them to go on walks and discover things :) Anyway the troll bridge is further than we've usually gone so took a slow walk down to find the bridge. Unfortunatly there was a huge flood puddle just the other side so couldn't go any further but the kids and Scamp were happy just jumping in the mud lo.. I remember when we first took Scamp out he wouldn't even step in puddles, he seems over that now! Also using this for todays prompt 'Two' so two happy kids (and one pup) getting muddy.

After the loooong walk it was time for lunch. On other visits we'll probably just eat here (they do the BEST sausage sandwhich and hot chocolate) but as we'd shelled out so much already we had a picnic this time :) Brought a flask of tomato soup and sausage rolls for the kids and Mark and a little bag of dog food for Scamp. I did have a sandwhich but while we were eating some turkeys wandered past. Scamp ran after them so quick he yanked his lead right out of the knot we'd put it in, and I jumped up so quick to catch him it all went flying lol. Got a hot chocolate to make me feel better though ;)

So home, baths all round to clear the huge amount of mud we brought home and time to relax before dinner (sausage and mash, yum) Scamp is currently fast asleep in his cage cuddled up to his hot water bottle teddy to keep warm after his bath. Think he enjoyed his first big day out ;)

Babysitting

Today marks friend Eric has taken him out for a bit so I invited Mollie over to play. Mark stresses when other kids come round so I try and make the most of it when he's not. Doesn't exactly give me an easy day but hey ho thats life lol.
I've still be busy scrapping as much as I can. I have 60+ photos I'm trying to use up before the retreats so got to keep at it! This isn't the best picture of this layout but I've put it away now so it will have to do. This picture was taken the first time we went camping. The kids were amazed by the fire and enjoyed simply sitting with Mark watching it and enjoying a hot chocolate. The second time we went it was tipping it down so glad I got this photo the first time round!

Last night I put a status on Facebook that I loved my new 'throne'. a lot of people asked what I meant and this is it lol. :) Not really a throne at all but thats what Mark calls it. I've kind of stole this chair as mine and set up my scrapping bits around me so I can sit and scrap without hunting for things. On the left hand side are my plastic box of scraps I'm trying to use up, and my little pink box of chipboard shapes. I usually have these behind the computer so they don't come out very often. I've also got my cutter and all my tools. On the right are my photos, random embellishments to use up and some layouts I've ripped out of magazines to scraplift. It's not really everything I would need usually as my washi, ribbons, twine, button ect are over on the desk but at the moment when I'm going for speed rather than really detailed layouts it works well for me :) I'd love to have one of those huge scraprooms I see on youtube but until I win the lottery this will do ;)

Quick catch up on photo prompts. Yesterday was 'culture', so this is a photo of Caitlin in the Turkish dancing outfit we bought her on holiday.

Todays is 'throw away' well these I hope won't be thrown away after I'm gone. These are all the layouts I made in January.

Well kids are currently playing with makeup and resemble clowns/ladies of the night so better go find some babywipes to turn them back into kids ;)

More scrapping

Well today started off a bit different. I woke up this morning with a splitting headache, I do get migranes sometimes at certain times of the months and though I managed to struggle downstairs and make the kids some toast I knew I had to go and lie back down. :( Its times like these I'm so proud of and sad for my babies as they know exactly what to do to get themselves ready and help out their Daddy. I hate asking him to take the kids to school as its a huge worry him getting back on his own but sometimes, luckily very rarely, I have to take the risk and while it took him a lot longer than me he managed it. :) After sleeping until almost 11 I felt much better so was up and ready to slowly start the day.
By start the day I mean move from lying to the bed to lying on the couch lol. Seriously I did nothing all day. I managed to quickly make a simple card for my Grans birthday today but that was it. After I picked up the kids from school we went down to visit her and give her her gift. She asked the same thing of all her grandkids which was a photo of her great grandkids :) She now has 10 with number 11 on the way so lots of photos! When I got there the house was full! My sister and her bf were there with my two youngest neices and my cousin Paul was there with 3 of his kids so was hectic. My Gran seemed happy though :) She later txted me that it reminded her of when me and my cousins were young and she would babysit us all for the school holidays. Her and Granddad were amazing really, there were 5 of us with up to 6 years age difference and they managed to keep us all happy and entertained :) Granddad used to take us for picnics in the woods, or let us help in his vegetable garden while Gran would teach us baking or make up games for us. We were really lucky growing up :)
Ok trip down memory lane done here are more layouts lol.
This is a photo from I think the second time we went to Thomas land. The lego Thomas was in the shop upstairs and Cameron was fasinated by it. I love how he has his hand on the side of his face as he still does that now when he is shocked :) He looks so young in this photo compared to how he is now. I know he's not exactly moving out and going off to university yet but it feels like hes grown up so much since the Thomas the tank engine days.

This is possibly one of the worst photos I've ever took of the kids but I love it because they look so happy. I asked them to say cheese which they did but they said it as through they where trying to take off at the same time which resulted in these faces lol.

Im doing well using up the old photos, only 60 or so more to go! ;)

Joke book

Todays prompt was 'Something beginning with J' I had no idea what to do for this one :s Luckily my son came through and on a trip to the library with the school yesterday brought back a joke book!

The jokes are very much christmas cracker material but he finds them funny :) Heres an example 'How did the tree get on the internet? He logged on!'
This afternoon I have a very sad little girl :( Her friend Rosie was supposed to be coming round for dinner today but she was sent home from school poorly so couldn't come. Poor Caitlin was gutted. She cried most of the way home until a bird pooed on Camerons head which made her crack up so that was good. :) Cameron didn't even mind as it made her laugh. What a sweetie :)
So to cheer her up i bought her a little Hello kitty card kit so she could make a 'Get well soon' card for Rosie, and a birthday card for Granny tomorrow. I think shes still milking it a bit as still saying how sad she is but shes enjoying colouring in anyway.
While shes doing that I'm still crafting. Having everything out and having the aim to finish my old photos and scraps before my weekend away in March has certanly lit a fire under me and I'm doing around 2 layouts a day. It probably won't last and most of them are super simple but I'm pleased with them and its better than the photos just sitting in a drawer. That's how I choose to look at it anyway ;)
This is a photo of Cameron and Mark at Great Yarmouth a few years ago. We went into a 4D cinema but it sprayed water which scared the life out of Cameron so he had to leave. To cheer him up Mark took him on the bumper cars for the first time. Good job I was still in the cinema or I wouldn't have allowed it!

Emotional

Well today is a very emotional day, it should have been my Granny and Granddads 59th anniversary so was in an emotional state anyway. Then I couldn't get a hold of my gran. Every morning on the way back from school I ring and chat to her, EVERY morning. This morning she wasn't answering her home phone and her mobile was off. It's never off so I started to panic. Almost an hour later and still not able to get a hold of her I was ready to go and try and break down her door (she just got new doors so I dont even have a key!) when my Dad txt me and told me she was with them. Mum had took the morning off so she could take Gran out. I was so relieved and burst into tears. Had a good cry and a cup of tea so feeling better now. :)
Todays prompt for photo was 'boring' so I took this one. I find washign boring but Scamp loved to chew on the washing basket, lol. We're really lucky so far as everyone warned me puppies are nightmares when they're teething, but besides him getting a hold of a roll of brand new washi tape his toys and this basket are the only thing he does shew. Fingers crossed he stays this well behaved! He hasn't quite learned that standing directly behind people often results in squashed paws yet, but hoping he learns that one soon ;)

Well kids are at gymnastics tonight so don't need to pickt hem up until 4:30. I'm hoping they get out pretty sharpish as Caitlins dance lesson starts at 4:45!!

What a depressing day!

Wow it's dark and miserable outside today. Its pouring it down and its so dark everyones driving about with their lights on. one of those days we really should be allowed to just stay in bed I think ;)
Life doesn't agree however so took the kids off to school and came back for a morning of housework :) This was waiting for me which certainly brightened up my day! Was ideal for todays prompt too which was inside, so this was what was inside my parcel from Sarahs cards :) It was supposed to be a essentials only order, new album, white cardstock, page protectors etc, but then I found a range of papers called Cameron. I HAD to get them obviously lol. Picked a few I really liked and added them, then a grab bag of paper sneaked its way into my order too ;) £4 for 20 sheets, not bad :) Only a couple not to my tatse so will take them when I go to MB next month and see if anybody can make use of them there.

Not had a chance to use any of my new bits yet but did do this layout last night. Still using up scraps and random bits. I think the flower is actually a large glass bead but thought it was pretty so included it here. The photos are from the first time we went camping and we made smores. VERY messy but very yummy ;) Well me and Mark did, kids hated them lol.

Another proud Mummy today :) The school does gymnastics lessons after school on Wednesday. The kids have asked to go in the past but with it being £30 per child for 10 lessons it was a bit out of our price range. Today I was told that the school had a few free places to give away to deserving children and both mine got a place!!!! They were very excited bless them :)

Time

Since the start of the year, I don't know how but I seem to have a lot more spare time. I admit simple things like Mark being able to have a shower, Caitlins room being more organised so easier for her to tidy herself and all that certainly seem to be helping, but in general I seem to be a lot more on top of the housework these days. As a result I've had more time to myself, which I've been using mainly for scrapping :) Great to use up all my bits and get organised before the retreats next month! So this was my table last night, some cookies with the last of my points, a cup of coffee and scrapping. The perfect end to the day, which was very fitting as 'perfect' was yesterdays prompt lol.

And this is how it looked when finished. I loved how the title really went with the kids personalities shown in each photo. Cameron very much lives in the moment and is very active and bubbly, where as Caitlin is a little more........herself lol. These were both taken in Turkey, Cameron was dancing about like a nutter, and this was Caitlins reaction when I asked her to dance with him so I could get a photo. Thats a no then. lol

Todays prompt was 'group' wasn't sure what to do but then when we went to Tesco this morning we found all these at 1p a bag! As we have the kids birthdays coming up I'm trying to put little bits away for the party bags so these are ideal :)

Well we have Camerons friend Jack coming round for dinner tonight. I've got a huge pizza and a load of toppings so they can each do their own so kids were all excited about that :) Its also weigh in day today so I might have a bit too lol. I only lost 1lb but given the time of the month I expected that iywkim. But it got me to my 5% target so thats soemthing :) Hopefully will be a bigger loss next week!

Cold, muddy, and happy :)

Today is one of those days where I feel really blessed. Its horrible outside, wind is howling, rain pouring down and I'm currently snuggled into a dressing gown (Marks of course) with the heating slowly warming the house while the kids play in the bath. We went for a walk this afternoon and kids (and Scamp) splashed in every puddle going so I've had a quick shower to warm up, bathed Scamp and now its kiddies turn lol. Everyone happy, warm, cosy and safe and I know how lucky we are for that. the kids are similar to me in the way that while we love going on day trips and holidays and all that we're very much homebodies and love simple days where we just stay home and do simple things together. Today that's been making models from hamma beads, playing games and getting books form our local library.
Games certainly caused a few laughs too :) We played 'Headbands' first, where you have a picture on your head and you need to ask the others questions so you can guess what it is. The charades, which was...odd..... lol. For example Cameron was being a horse and prancing on all fours. Caitlins guess 'A walking stepmother!' Then it was Caitlins turn, Caitlin curls up in a ball.
Us - 'Are you a rock? a ball? a pillow?
Caitlin - I don't know what I am!
Fair enough!!
Not managed any scrapping today but photographed two I did last night. First is more photos from Great yarmouth. The kids love the activities Haven puts on, simple crafting games and classes bring them so much joy, even if they've done it at home millions of times before! I've left a gap on the doily to do journaling.

From Great Yarmouth to Turkey lol. I've noticed recently that in the majority of photos Mark hides his walking stick, this one is a perfect example as its hidden behind Cameron. I used a rub on for the title but changed it a bit as it was supposed to say 'Memories of you' which to me made it sound like Mark wasn't with us anymore so changed it to with instead. If you lift the tag with the 'me' rub on theres a photo of me and the kids at the beach, but I HATE the picture so hid it lol. I'm in a bikini which everyone told me looked ok, but in that photo I honestly look like I could have given Jordan a run for her money! You'd have think my Mum would have mentioned that. *rolls eyes*

Well kids are out now so time for dinner, homework and calming them down before bed. Wish me luck!