Super long day.

Well this morning I woke up aching like mad, but you get on with it don't you :) I went to my volunteer work were it turned out I was needed to move furniture, sand walls, paint and rip up carpets. Considering I have the gravel coming tomorrow which will need to be carried through the garage and laid I think I'm going to really need the spa night we have planned on Friday!
To be honest as hard as it is I love getting things done so feeling great about it :) I love helping out and can't imagine being in a position where I can't do these things for myself so means a lot to help people who are not so lucky.
Still not had the energy to scrap so another old one :) Still from the kit Jess sent lol, its never ending!
Photo was from Peppa pig world, the anamatronic figures were actually really good, they were made of rubber rather than metal so when they talked and moved it looked quite real. Which freaked Catlin out as you can see!

Well tomorrow is all cleaning and meetings so wish me luck this one goes better than the last!

Exhausted!!!

I'm amazed I'm still standing today lol. The skip came this morning so I've been digging out the turf, filling the skip and flattening the ground for the gravel for 6 hours in the blistering heat. When I ordered the skip the weather said cool with showers, didn't work out that way! lol. I'm so excited to get it done though and I admit I'm proud that I did it :)
The fact I saved £300 by doing it myself doesn't hurt either ;)
Still not scrapped so thought I would share the monocrome layout I did the other night. I never usually get black and white photos but loved this one of Caitlin Mark took with his phone as it shows off her eyes.

Was an amazingly simple layout with some washi tape and more goodies from the kit Jess sent me :) Still have a few bits left!

So magical

So today has been pretty crazy at the start of a pretty crazy week! I have SO much to get done this week its scary!
This morning was ironing and cleaning before meeting my Mum to go shopping and do paperwork. Had a shock on the way, was driving and heard a loud bang, looked in my mirror to see the car just behind me being smashed by another into the division railings. We turned around to check everyone was ok but as they were all out of the car on their phones it seemed fine so drove on. We went to Asda, filled out so much paperwork my hand cramped and did our shopping. Driving back the traffic was dreadful and reaching where the accident was there were 2 fire engines, a air ambulence, normal ambulence and loads of police! Was shocked as really didn't look that serious an accident! :S Turned out later the car had turned the corner too fast and hit the other, one of the passengers had hurt their neck so taking no chanced they had cut the roof off the car and took them to hospital. Thankfully everyone was fine but scary to think if I was just a little slower it would have hit me :s
Well off accidents and onto layouts. I admit I haven't had a chance to do any more projects form the weekend so sharing some older ones :).
This is another one I did with the kit Jess sent me. She included a gorgeous overlay so that did most of the work for me

Some strips of paper and a bit of stickles and this photo of Caitlin meeting Belle was finished :)

SO excited about tomorrow, getting a skip delivered!!! OK most people wouldnt get excited about that but our lawn is such a mess I can't wait to dig it all out and get gravel laid. Can imagine I'll ache a bit tomorrow but will be worth it!

Still refeshing :)

Today was a lovely day so we decided to make the most of it by going for a walk and popping into town to grab a few bits. The idea was that I could get it done today and not have to go tomorrow but I've since been asked by my Mum to go up with her so bang goes that idea lol.
As well as enjoying the sunshine I'm still playing along with Jennifer grace creates here. Obviously haven't got quite as much done today as yesterday but better than nothing!
First project I worked on was this:

Be Inspired:

Make some pretty storage for something in your home

Use some rain boots (wellies / gumboots) or your next project

Layer some paint, mist, and glitter

Was a bit stuck on the storage idea but managed to do a layout with paint, mist and glitter, and added a flair button with wellies on to complete the rainboot suggestion. Not my fave layout but I started this very late last night so think my mojo was tired.

Next was:

Be Inspired:

Make something spontaneous without fussing over it

Drip mist (or paint / ink) over an almost finished project

Cut the corners off some paper

I like this one much better. :) I don't fuss over my layouts much anyway tbh but decided to do even less here and managed to make this layout within 5 minutes!
First I grabbed some scraps and stuck them down. Aside from mounting the surf board piece onto dark paper I didnt even trim them. Misted the papers (which doesn't show up too well in the photo :S) quick add of some embellishments from my 'use up' pile and I was done!

Use up pile slowly getting smaller!!!!!

Declutter!

Hope everyones having a lovely weekend :) We're predicted dreadful storms here so can't see me going far! That's fine though as I'm still playing along with the Jennifer Grace Creates blog event here.
I'm soooo behind lol. I remember when I used to do blog hops and cyber crops and I would have finished the first challenge and actually had time to spare before the next one started! Not now, I'm still enjoying it though. :) I've decided to take the theme of the event to heart and use it to 'refresh' my bedroom lol. Regular readers will know I don't scrap at a desk or table I get the floor of my bedroom. Doesnt do my back much good but gives me plenty of space to spread out! Unfortunatly I've done that a little too much and theres stuff everywhere! Not good when trying to get Mark about. *Bad wife* Anyway so I've decided that all the challenges and projects I do this weekend will be done only with what I have to hand. If I need to get up to get it then I'm not allowed to use it.
Hopefully this will help clear up some of the little bits I have scattered everywhere and lets face it it indulges my lazy side. :P
Just to show you how bad the mess is this is the tidy area, and Caitlin keeping me company of course :)

So onto the projects! First to catch up on from yesterday were these inspiration prompts

Be Inspired:

Make a waterfall / river / sea with mixed-media layers

Create a monotone project

Stitch some wavy lines

Now I had never, ever done a monotone project as I never usually get black and white photos developed and I don't think they look as good with colour photos.........then the other night I used my one and only black and white photo to do a monotone project showing Caitlins eyes. So you can imagine me kicking myself when I read this challenge! Cue lots of hunting for a photo I thought I could use; and I found this one :)

I love this layout! Some scraps, an old rub on and some random bits and bobs and it was done. So simple and pretty :) I did have to get imaginative with the title though as had very few alphas int he right colour. The word 'Splashes' was actually '8dbd9y38'
I used stickles and mists to try to make wave like effects under the picture. If I'm honest when I finished they looked more like um, sperm than waves lol. So I covered it a little with some twine and a Turkish charm as thats where we are in the photo. Not quite so obvious now lol.

Lots more projects to do and craft stash to use up! Wish me luck!

Jennifer Grace creates

So this weekend is the Refesh your craft and soul Blog event on Jennifer Grace Creates here.
I did hope over the weekend to get a few projects done but the kids were so well behaved with their friend I managed to get 4 done just this evening! I won't bore you with them all so far but the first inspiration was PL style card.

I don't really do project life so instead turned it into a card for Mark next weekend. :)
He never looks at my blog but watch him look now there's something he shouldn't see lol.

Next was a beautiful card but I used the inspiration points to instead make a layout.

Be Inspired:

Mount two sheets of square patterned paper at the back of your project

Choose two sentiments instead of one

Use your favourite techniques to keep things simple

I scraplifted a layout I had found on pinterest (original layout here)  and came up with this :)

The photo is from last Halloween where Cameron was Mario and Caitlin a princess. 'Double trouble' and 'we are family' are the two sentiments and layering is my favourite simple technique.

Loving this event so far so hope you can come join in too!

Sketchy scrappers

Well on top of this this month! lol. My mojo seems to have come back in force so I've been doing lots of scrapping recently. I find it a form of therapy tbh, much cheaper than a psychologist! Well, maybe not if I think about it, prettier though lol.
Anyway this is the sketch we were given. Wasn't sure about it when I first saw it as looked like lots of white space which I don't usually like.

However I love the result :) Still using the kit Jess sent me (and worried there wouldn't be enough in it lol)
This photo was taken years ago when we went to a nearby theme park. There was a mini stage and music playing so the kids could dance. The other kids were running around jumping and screaming but Caitlin got onto the stage, closed her eyes and started dancing to the music. Was the first time she had really done that and still loves music and dancing now.

No idea where she gets her rhythm and grace from, I trip walking across the room!

Cinema trip :)

You know it was months ago that Odeon allowed Orange Wednesday to book online, and they still haven't figured out how to stop the website crashing! Managed to book tickets this morning though so after school Mum, Mollie and me are off to see:

Feel a bit bad not taking Cait but I really think it's going to be too dark for her, she got scared of Mor'du in Brave so think this will give her nightmares! Will bring her some some icecream ;)
Staying up late to book the tickets (or try to) I managed a few layouts. Back to the Disney pictures of this one! To keep the kids busy on the train I made goodie bags for them to open full of Disney themed items. They loved it but I think I've shot myself in the foot as they seem to expect these every time we go on a trip now!

I don't know about you but I always have lots of dots and bits left over on my sheets of alphas so tried to use some up here in place of gems or pearls. Quite like the effect.

So cleaning to be done today, then shopping before cinema and home for more scrapping :)

Rubbish day!

Well today has been CRAP! Without going into detail social services have hit a new low. Everything thats been decided on at the last meeting has gone back on so really what was the point. *sigh* Really wonder how much longer this can go on for. :(
OK so not to bore you with that depressing rubbish to much! I have a happy little girl anyway, my Mum bought her and Mollie some Frozen style ribbon bobbles and hair clips. I did try and get a picture of them before she put them in but I didn't get a chance lol. She does look cute in them though :)

Also managed some scrapping last night. Having challenges to do is really helping my mojo so yey! This wasnt a challenge though, just me using up scraps :)
This photo was from Disneyland paris after we went on the Amargedon ride. OMG what a mistake! The kids insisted they would like it even though I wasn't sure, should have stuck with my instincts! They were fine until some water sprayed on them then they both freaked out. Cameron was hiding under Marks coat crying while Caitlin buried her head in my neck while I sung lullabies in her ear to calm her down.

Won't be going on that ride again!!

Expanding blog hop!

Last week my friend Leslie invited me to take part in a blog hop tour. This is an interesting one because the posts are spread apart and the hop spreads OUT as it goes on with the idea to answer four questions yourself, then nominate three fellow bloggers to do the same.
Leslie's answers from last Monday are here if you want a peek :) So without further ado these are my answers, hope they're interesting enough and I'll try not to waffle on too much!:

1. What am I working on?
Ohhhhh so much lol. I'm dreadful for biting off more than I can chew in pretty much every area of my life and crafting is no different. Currently I'm working on:
1 - Cross stitch pattern of winnie the pooh characters - I actually started this before Cam was born with the plan of putting it in his nursery which had the same theme. Obviously this won't be happening now but I've started so I'll eventually finish! It's usually what I pick up when my back is hurting, or I just want to sit on the couch under a blanket and watch TV. Can't really scrapbook in those situations so keeps me busy :)
2 - The hama bead pony parade - Last month I made a birthday cake for my daughter with a Rainbow dash pony on it. Since then Caitlin and my niece Mollie have been constantly asking me to make the other ponies from the show. So far I've done Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity. Mollie plays with hers while Caitlin is keeping them all until I'm done then they're going on her wall. Currently hunting car boot sales for more pink beads so I can finish Pinkie Pie at the moment!
3 - Scrapping! - I'm my own worst enemy when it comes to keeping up with scrapbooking. Others I know scrap big events, or photos they particually like ect. I scrap everything. Yep, if I get the photo developed, I eventually scrap it. This is why even though I speed scrap this is half of my pile of photos waiting to be done, and I haven't even had any from this year developed yet!

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
That's a hard one. Really it probably doesn't. I don't think I have a particular style, perhaps simple if I had to name it. I love the results of other layouts which have paint, misting and loads of detail and elements but whenever I try it ends up looking like I've sneezed scrapbooking supplies onto a page lol. I tend to stick to simpler pages which I can do fairly quickly with lots of layering and embellishment clusters. This is a typical example.

3. Why do I write/create what I do?
Thats an easy one, my family. I'm a carer for my husband who has an illness which affects his memory as well as his expected life span. I scrap so that he can look back on events and read the story behind the photo and hopefully retain some memory of it, and also that the kids can look back and see how much fun we had as a family and how much love we have for each other. My blog is a similar thing. I suppose its cathartic for me to put down what I've done each day, like an online diary, but it's also fun to look back and see what we were doing this time last year and see how the kids and things have changed :)
A side bonus is it helps me keep track of things too! I can't tell you how often I've been in a meeting and someone asks when something happened and I whip out my phone and give the answer. Barely know what day it is otherwise!

4. How does your writing/creating process work?
I tend to start with the papers then find a photo to match. As I scrap on the floor of my bedroom I don't have much room for storing all my supplies to hand so make them into kits.
Based on what kit I'm using I usually have an idea of what type of photo to use, bright kits usually a Summer or holiday photo, Autumn photos for earthy tones and obviously winter/Christmas photos for winter/Christmas kits. I have a scary amount of those :s Once I have a photo and background paper I like I pick a few embellishments I want to use and move it all around on the page until I'm happy with it :)
I don't often take part in challenges as I lose track and forget what I'm doing and for where but have recently changed my blog around and got a notebook to help keep me more organised in that respect. :)
Blog wise my 'writing process' is really me just blethering on, regular readers will have probably guessed that! lol.

So that's my questions answered :) Next week three of my friends will hopefully be answering themselves and further nominating three of their friends to do the same. I've picked:

Jess - A great friend of mine both online and in real life. Jess blogs about her scrapping, card making and whatever is going on in her life at the time.

Fiona - Another great friend online who I am lucky enough to see annually at our Meadowbarn retreat. She blogs about her life, scrapping, cardmaking, stampin up classes and her sewing. Whew! Don't know where she finds the time for everything!

Last but not least Julia, who manages to do those beautifully detailed layouts I mentioned earlier without the 'sneeze' effect lol. She also blogs about her life and family, and has made it so I can never hear the song 'Happy' again without bursting into hysterical laughter ;)

So there we go! Lesley thanks again for nominating me and ladies, can't wait to see your posts next week! :)

The sun is back!

So we woke up this morning to the sun shining!!! Very welcome sight after soooo much rain. Id packed a picnic last night so off we went to the car boot sale and park :) Got lots of little bargains at the car boot but still no Hama beads! Plenty of other stuff though lol.

Including these, how adorable are these! Little teeny cups which measure a teaspoon, tablespoon and I think dessert spoon. Which I always thought was the biggest one so shows what I know!!

Was fitting it was so sunny today really as today is the first day of the Summertime photography scavenger hunt here! I loved this last year and was late to start so very pleased I can cross one off my list today

21. A photograph of you with something representing the season

Mark took a photo of my with his 'Summer hat'. He bought this a few years back when we went to Turkey and every Summer now it comes out. I suggested buying a new one the other week but apprently NO! It's his Summer hat! So thought it fitting here :) I was supposed to be a nice photo of me but Mum made me laugh so there you go lol.

Few more to cross off the list but plenty of time still!
1. A sign welcoming people to your home town (or a nearby town)
2. A garden gnome
3. Birds on a wire
4. A group of tourists
5. A rack of post cards
6. An urban street scene
7. A rural landscape
8. A tattoo on a person
9. A bakery
10. A photo bomb (someone found lurking in the background of photo; the lurker may have intended to disrupt the picture or may be doing it unintentionally, but the background lurker is a surprise to the photographer)
11. A horn
12. A mascot
13. A sunrise
14. A parade
15. A juggler
16. A sign in a language other than English
17. A lamp post
18. A water fall
19. A public garden
20. A bus (not a car, truck, lorry, camper or RV) with a picture painted on its sides.
21. A photograph of you with something representing the season (recognizing that the season will be Winter for our friends in the southern hemisphere). Note: you may not use a substitute for this item.

Think I got a bit too much sun today as I'm certainly red and starting to get a headache, ugh. Thought I would lie down and start one of the books I bought today. Someone else had other ideas.

Good job I can read over him!

Rarity

Word of the day today has been clothes! I've been washing clothes, drying clothes, sorting, ironing, hanging up......clothes!!! Honestly I think nudests have the right idea. But that's its all done and sorted now :)
As today has been dry and quite nice (nicer than it has been anyway) I've barely seen Cameron and for once it wasn't due to his computer! This morning our neighbour knocked and asked if Cam could play with a new toy he'd got, it was a vest with velcro on and a bundle of balls the boys had to chuck at each other and stick to the vests. They had a great time! I loved hearing them screaming and laughing. :) Honestly can't wait until the Summer when we can get out the water guns and all the other outdoor toys for them to play with. I can sit round the front, sunbathe and make the most of my kindle ;)
On that note this is the book I started last night and I'm hooked! I'd had problems with my back recently so went upstairs to read a chapter of to and get an early night. 12:45 Mark took the kindle off me and made me go to sleep lol.

The first couple of chapters are a bit hard going as they introduce lots of different charecters and I often struggle with remembering who is who, but once they all link together it's a really interesting read. I actually gasped out loud at one point! Only 40% in so don't know how it ends yet but can see me finishing it tonight :)
While I was doing a blog post the other day I realised I hadn't shared the My little pony Rairity I made with Hama beads! I know you're all so desperate to see it so here it is lol.

I actually made two of these in an evening, getting quite quick at them now lol. Still no idea what I'm going to do with Caitlins but when she goes back to school next week I'm going to start putting the bits and bobs on her wall. With it being half term pretty much all jobs besides the basics have stopped! As the weather has improved a little we're planning on hitting the car boot tomorrow, so fingers crossed for more hama beads!

Sketchy scrappers

So I spent today scrubbing the house and getting everything neat and tidy as I expected a visit from the social worker at 3:20. So 3:20 comes and goes, 4:20 comes and goes. 5pm I finally get through to the receptionist and no shes not coming; livid isn't the word. Have a meeting Tuesday so that will be interesting!!!
Well away from useless people I forgot to share this layout I did the other week. This months sketchy scrappers sketch was set by Jess and had the added twist of having to use a song name for the title.

This was my take on it.

This is one of my fave pictures of Caitlin. Whenever we're on holiday I love to sit on the balcony, read and watch the world go by. Last year in Turkey Caitlin would sit with me and write stories and draw in her notebook.
I picked the title 'Far away', which is a Nickleback song and actually mine and Marks song so extra special :) I thought it was fitting a Caitlin always looked a million miles away when she was concentrating on her work.

Happy birthday hubby :)

Well today my hubby is 37 :) I keep telling everyone he's 34 as lets face it I'm not the brightest bulb in the box, but at least I'm getting it wrong in the right direction lol.
Plan for today was to take coffee with bacon and egg muffins to the birthday boy in bed, give him gifts, the swimming with the kids and out for dinner with the rest of the family :)
Annoyingly one of Marks gifts is still in the post :( but the kids got him an aftershave set from Next while I got tickets to a show in the next town :) We saw this guy on Britains got talent and Mark thought he was funny so got tickets to see him next month :) Bargain at £12 each!

Gift giving went well :) Mark loved all his gifts and the girls made him some nice cards, I tidied up a bit and off swimming we went.

and as usual the plan went all wrong lol. Turned out everyone had the same idea and the swimming pull was full and nobody else could go in. They were working on a one in one out system but after waiting nearly 45 minutes and nobody getting in we gave up and went into town. The kids were gutted so took them poundland and got Cam some marbles and the girls some colouring sheets.
Dinner was much nicer and we all had a good laugh :) Home now and in comfy pjs ready to snuggle up with the kids and Mark and watch BGT. Overall think Marks enjoyed his day :)

Challenge YOUrself

A while ago my friend Lesley started doing challenges over at the Challenge YOUrself blog, the idea being that they set challenges but the photos you use HAVE to have yourself in. I didn't take part as I tend to be behind the camera rather than in front of it but when I saw their latest sketch on Jessies blog I loved it!
There was a twist this time too saying you had to use a photo of you and a female in your life. Simple enough I thought, I have a huge pile of photos bound to be some of me and Cait in there.
Two, there were TWO photos of me and my daughter.
Have to say it was a bit of a wake up call. As much as I scrap so the kids will remember their dad I'd like them to remember me too! So I've vowed to try and be in more photos in the future. Hard as nobody else in the family seems to take photos but I'll give it a go! lol.
Anyway back to the sketch which was this one here.

And this was my take using the yummy Kit that Jess sent me in our swap :) I picked a photo from Disneyland when we went to eat at Walts diner. The meal was amazing and the service incredible.
Caitlin was dressed as Tinkerbell and the staff all spoke to her as if she was the charecter, asking for some fairy dust and calling her Tink.
Halfway through our meal we heard the parade start in the street outside. Because we were sat upstairs Caitlin and some other little girls ran to a tiny window and strained to see them pass by below. Suddenly a manager type man appeared. Oh no, I thought, We're going to be told off here. Nope! Bless him he ushered the girls to a huge window at the front and asked some staff to move the tables and bring chairs so they could sit and watch in comfort. The girls were thrilled! Because we were so high up we had an amazing view and all the princess' were waving at us.
One of many amazing memories from that holiday :)

Well away from magical Disneyland and back to my house in very, very wet midlands. I've given up now lol. Usually we limit the kids to 30 minutes computer time per day as don't want them playing too much. However with 5 days of pretty contstant rain I've exhausted all our craft kits, board games and other rainy day activities so have given in and told them to play away.
Keeping everything crossed the Summer holidays include a lot more sun!!!

SIPIDI May

Are we in May? I almost wrote April, the months are going by so fast!! I actually did loads of SIPIDI this month as I've got slightly addicted to Hama beads lol. Since I made a Rainbow dash pony for Caitlins cake I got loads of requests from Caitlina dn Mollie to make more ponies for their rooms. I've blogged all the ones I've done so far so won't bore you with them again but will reshare my most impressive one I think :) I saw this image of Princess Celestia on Pinterest

And copied it to make this for Caitlins door. :)

Now as pleased as I am with how it came out I will NOT be doing it again! See how the original photo was before it was ironed? Thats because ironing it was a nightmare! As I was ironing one section beads from another section would pop out so I was rebuilding as I was ironing, stressful! I actually got a txt form our neighbour asking if everything was ok because I was shouting so much lol. Woops!

Rain rain go away!!!!

Well another horrible rainy day here. Had planned on taking the kids to the park but not happening now! Made the most of a break in the clouds by kicking the kids outside on their bikes while I planted some plants in the front garden. Had just finished when my Mum and Dad came up the drive with Poppy and Mollie so we retreated inside. Now my house is small at the best of times but with 4 kids, 2 dogs and 4 adults it was crazy! My poor Mum only stayed a little while then they went back home, taking my daughter with them who wanted a sleepover lol.
So with the boys now quiet on the computer I decided to go upstairs and do some scrapping, only to be stopped by Mark suddenly needing a nap!! Ugh. So with my creative cap on I thought I'd have a bit of a blog facelift :) You might have noticed I changed a few bits the other day but I've had the same background and banner for I don't know how long so thought it was time for a change. Problem was it had been SO long I had no idea how to do it! Thank goodness for google! So a couple of hours faffing about later this is my new blog with a new(ish) title :) I've been thinking of changing the title for a while as like my friend Lesley pointed out a while ago I really don't have a very simple life lol. So its now My not so simple life. :)
Right well even though it is only 4:30 my boy is moaning at me for dinner so I better get on! If he eats like this now I dread when he's a teenager! Quick layout share before I go, another quick one I did the other night to use up scraps, title idea from Jess so thanks for that :) Photo is from the first time we went camping and while all the other kids were running around Cam and Cait were happy to cuddle up with us in front of the bonfire :)

Another rainy day

So another rainy day to wake up to. Usually rain doesnt bother me but when I've got two hyper kids to entertain it's a bit annoying. Did try and take the kids on a bike ride but got the the end of the road and decided that trying to keep two kids from swerving into the road while trying to keep Scamp from going the either their wheels or the wheels of a car was too much so went home and drove to my grans instead lol.
When we got home the sun had decided to make an appearance so I decided to start digging in the garden. We had a lawn laid a few years ago bu the soil around here has dreadful drainage, its basicsally clay, so whenever it rains the garden turns into a swamp and the grass all dies. We want to put down gravel instead but to get someone to do it is around £500 so I'm attempting it myself. Might take me a while as this was an hours work and my back was killing me by the end!

So slightly productive day even with the rain :) Managed to photograph a couple of the layouts I did the other night too. This is the finished one I took a half finished photo of, as the layout was about Mark and Caitlin being big kids I used a sheet of AC stickers I got ages ago but haven't used beceuase I thoguht they looked too child like. Also used lots of scraps here so a great 'use it up' layout :) Journaling says about how they spent hours just walking around the pool with Caitlin on Marks back.

I LOVE this photo of Caitlin. It was her very first school photo but she was really poorly that day and I wouldnt let her go school. After much arguing with her I agreed to take her in for her photo but not let her stay the rest of the day. She wasn't pleased with this so refused to smile out of protest. I'm so bringing this out on her 18th :p

You might recognise the banner at the top from her birthday cake this year, waste not want not and all that!

Scrap day

Every now and again I let the kids have a PJ computer day and I have a scrapping day :) As it is POURING it down outside I figured today would be a good one to let them do what they wanted while I scrapped. I've finished a couple so far and this is my current work in progress :)

Glad I'm enjoying scrapping again. I don't know about other crafters but sometimes I scrap mainly because I feel I should, then other times I do it and I feel great after it's done, like scrapping therapy. So much cheaper than actual therapy, though think Mark might disagree with that ;)
Really not much going on today at all! Besides scrapping I've been blog hopping, sorting my online photos and making lists of challenges I want to do, watch this space!

Half term time!!

Yey its now half term!!!!! As usual on the last day of school I've been playing catch up making sure we're all stocked up to stop me needing to go shopping while kids are off. This morning that meant a sudden trip to the town when I spotted on FB that wilkinsons had reduced all its suncream to £2! During sunny weather Mark needs to use suncream daily as his meds make him high risk for skincancer so you can imagine how much cream we go through. Plus Cameron gets really dry skin and oddly enough, as we discovered by chance in Turkey last year, Nivia aftersun is the only thing which helps. We did think it was the aloe vera in it but tried other creams with no luck. So stocked up on them both :) Saved £85 so cant complain!

Also got home to find my Tassimo delivery had came. Yey! I had a voucher from when I bought the machine and as they were doing a free delivery special I stocked up on that too. Love getting a bargain :)

So kids are now home :) Mark was at his friends tonight so I planned a quiet night scrapping. Was all going well until Cameron came into my room sobbing his heart out. Between sobs I calmed him down enough to find out why. Perry the platapus on tv was sad. *sigh* When he gets tired he tends to get very weepy and had got himself into such a state it took me a while to calm him down. He didn't want to sleep on his own so agreed he could camp out in his sisters room. They didn;t go sleep for another hour or so but were playing nice and looking at puzzle books so let them get on with it. PJ lazy day tomorrow I think!

Did find out some more drama related information today which I won't go into but it is odd. My Mum always used to say whenever she felt like she had had enough, and maybe it was better to walk away something happened to remind her she couldn't. After yesterday I was ready to just throw in the towel and let them get on with it but now my resolve is back full force. Will wait and see what happens now!

Hard choices

Well today did NOT go as planned. The outcome of the meeting was the exact same outcome we had 4 years ago when Nicola was pregnant with Lillie. Nicola has to choose Rob or the girls and has 2 weeks to pick. But we all know she'll say shes not seeing Rob, will lie and see him anyway, we will wait months to get proof by which point he'll probably batter her again, she'll dump him and social will let her keep the girls as obviously shes no longer with him anymore. *sigh* I really didn't expect that to happen if I'm honest. To be 4 years down the line and no further forward, it's insane. I think I need to sit and make some hard choices about the whole thing. :(
While we were in the meeting we got a txt from my Dad saying his scans had come back and his neck and back are much worse. I think he said the discs in his back were starting to pop out or something along those lines but hes got to see a phisiotherapist and has been given stronger pain medication in the meantime.
Well a good point of today was I got happy mail! :) My friend Jess and I decided to do a kit swap and this is what she sent me :) Love all the bright colours and the clouds ;) I asked for the clouds lol. Might actually hide upstairs, lock the door and scrap a bit tonight :)

Well currently no plans for tomorrow! Hopefully a little more positive day than today.

The Lion King!!!!

I'm so excited!!!! I've wanted to see The Lion King down in London since it started but I've either never had the money or time. Mainly the money, lol. Anyway I was talking to a friend today who told me that she gets reduced train tickets and theatre tickets due to her disability so I looked into it and so does Mark! Tickets now booked for August, thats my birthday pressie sorted lol.

On a less fun note we also had another social services meting this afternoon. Was a bit pointless really as was supposed to be to check information before the big meeting tomorrow but as Nicola didn't show wasn't too much we could do. My Dad has a drs appointment tomorrow too as his health is just getting worse and worse so a lot riding on tomorrow. Might be getting a bit stressed out with the whole things as my head is pounding. Off to take some tabs and get an early night I think!

Shopping

Well this morning didn't start off the best, among other things Cameron accidently dropped my phone down the stairs and broke the screen. Poor Cam was gutted and gave me the £5 he had left from his birthday bless him. Told him thanks but costs a bit more than that lol. Oh well its still functional just need to be careful not to cut my finger on the sharp bits!
Well the money finally went through and as we hadn't been shopping for a few weeks other than basics we needed a big shop to restock the cupboards and freezer. Morning saw us going to town for Primark, home bargains, farmfoods and iceland/ Mark was already flagging by this point so stopped for a break. A friend had told me about the mcdonalds app where if you sang into your phone you won a free drink. I was too embarrassed to give it a go but god love him Mark did it for me and won me another frappe, yum. :)

Refueled we went to the next shop on the list The Range. I won't be going back there in a hurry! Was taking something off a shelf when I knocked a giant ceramic duck down and it smashed all over the floor!! the staff were really nice and told me not to worry, but my husband then decided to follow me around the shop quacking at me!!! Mortified! lol. Time to finish our shopping trip with asda and then HOME!
Tonight will be homework, packing away shopping and a good clear out and organisation in the cupboards like I always do after a big shop. Joy. lol

Mojo :)

Well today I was planning to go shopping but my money hasn't been put into the bank yet so that was out. Did some ironing and tidying and decided to spend the unexpected free time scrapping :) Managed two layouts so pleased with that as not had much motivation recently.
First was Cameron and Caitlin when they both got 'Star of the week' awards at school. As I still had my Slice out form cutting Camerons letters I cut a star out from the corner. I always use my Slice, think 'I should use this more often' then put it back into the cupboard for months on end lol.

These are really old photos from when we went to Peppa Pig world a few years ago. I was photographing Cait playing in the water area and think I was annoying her as she ran up, grabbed the camera and shouted 'I've said cheese!!!!!' lol

think she's more used to it by now :)