School disco

When Caitlin sccidently touched Star she was heartbroken. So much so she wrote a long letter apologising to Santa and sent it with her Christmas list. She still felt really bad though and kept asking me if she was on the naughty list now, I tried to reassure her she wouldn't be bit didn't seem to work. :( Star must have told Santa this as this morning she brought a little gift from each of their Christmas lists, along with a letter from Santa telling them both they were on the nice list and would stay there as long and they kept up the good work. :) So two very happy kids this morning.

Well been a loooooong day! But fun though. Was the Homestart Christmas fundraiser at Rockignham castle this morning which I always look forward to. We sell tickets and cakes to raise money and we get to go around the castle and see it all decorated which really is beautiful. I was up super early this morning baking cookies before dropping kids off and rushing to the castle. Afterwards was a quick trip to town before rushing home to pick up kids, take them home, get them dressed before back to school for their Christmas disco!

It was the first school disco they've been to, mainly because it's the first one the schools had lol. It was basically organised chaos. Overall we had 260 kids which was MAD but it was amazing to see them all having such a great time! They all knew the dance to Gangham style really well which was funny as anything to watch. It was the PTA which I'm part of which was running the disco so I got to watch the kids dancing and running about with their friends :) When they're older they'll probably moan I'm about ALL the time but at the moment they don't seem to mind and I feel very priveleged I get to see all the little bits of their lives lots of parents miss out on.
Well didn't get home until gone 8, so this is the first time since 6am I've actually sat down and my body seems to be screaming 'BED' at me. Not yet though! Its the schools craft fayre tomorrow (also PTA) so I've got all the prep work to do for that first! Better stop gabbing and get on. :)

Girl knows me well

Star brought some gifts this morning :) Each year the kids have a new decoration for the tree representing some milestone or new interest. This year Cameron had a bauble filled with dice to show his love of maths and numbers, and Caitlin has a tree to decorate. It was plain but she drew on it before I had a chance to take a picture lol. I'm going to paint it green and decorate it with glitter and all that when we get the time to do it together.

This morning we posted the kids letters to Santa. Caitlin saw me taking pictures and actually stopped and said 'Cameron was in the way Mummy. I'll pretend to post it again so you can get a better picture to scrapbook'

Girl knows me so well lol.

Quick post tonight as I have around 150 cookies to make for tomorrow. I thought I had until the afternoon but had a call when I was in the bath telling me it was 9am! Cut my bath short anyway!

Daft idea! Wheres the wine?

You know those days where you should have just stayed in bed? Yeah today is one of those. Cameron 'remembered' at 8:10 that he had homework due today so was a mad rush to get that done. Then disaster struck. Star decided last night to watch some TV so was on the couch when we came down this morning. Unfortunatly Caitlin accidently touched her and all hell broke loose. I don;t know if I've mentioned but you can't touch the elf on the shelf or they lose their magic and can't fly back to the north pole, poor Caitlin was sobbing her heart out. I kept explaining if it was an accident it didn't count but she was having none of it. So to calm her down I had to email Santa, (at Santa@thenorthpole.com) and explain the situation. Wasn't long before he txt me back (wasn't me changing Marks name to Santa on my phone and hiding upstairs txting myself downstairs for the kids to see obviously) and said it was fine he would post some magic fairy dust though the elf door today to sprinkle on Star to give her her magic back.

Quick trip to Tesco visit from the elf post and the special star shaped fairy dust was delivered along with a little extra gift for Caitlin. IMO Mummy should have got one too after dragging a sobbing child into school and trying to explain the situation to a very confused teacher who looked at my like I was MAD but I don't think a bottle of wine could fit through that door, oh well.

Well one drama done I thought that was it for the day. NOPE! We had a meeting the afternoon with social services to discuss my sister and how things were going. Well WE should have, however I got a phonecall from the social worker informing me Nicola has banned me from the meeting. Seriously. So I wasn't allowed to go. I was RAGING! I'm a great believer of not airing your dirty laundry in public, even when the kids have been little bleeding nightmares I'll smile, squeeze their hands and hiss 'wait till we get home' but I won't shout. I lost that a little today, think anyone who was at the town center now knows my sister is a selfish little cow and is laughing at the lot of us. Do regret it but done now. Did ring Nicola to ask WTF to be told she didn't want me to have anything to do with the girls. Pointed out I give them lifts, take Mollie dancing and am supposed to have all 3 next weekend at my house, apprently though that doesnt count because Nicola didn't ask me to do any of that Mum did. True, but only because Nicola refuses to do it and Mum doesnt drive, but thats logic, doesnt enter my sisters world. Blind rage aside though Mum says meeting went as expected. Nicola has to go to counciling, alcholics groups and so on. Social worker says shes taking it to her boss though so might change soon. Fingers crossed!

Vets went well :)

Star decided to be a naughty elf last night! I was so tired so ended up in bed at 8:30 and she obviously decided to take advantage of that and tp'd the tree! Kids found it very funny :p I did take the toilet paper off but left her on the star for the day.

Well great news, Scamp did great at the vets! :) Well he did I cried lol. He had his check up and vet sound everything seemed great, then she gave him his jag. I had to hold him on the table and OMG did he scream! He squealled and cried and scurried away from the vet as quick as he could into my arms. I picked him up and he just cuddled in, hid his face in my hair and whimpered. I bawled. I was so touched that after a week he seemed to trust me so much to keep him safe from the 'bad vet' and though I knew he needed it I felt so guilty he got hurt and scared :( After the vet we took him to meet my Gran as she only lives down the road and her perked right up :) My Gran adored him and he was on fine form licking her and wagging his tail. He's such a cutie in my mind its hard not to love him but glad she agrees. :)
My two youngest babies :)

Though he was all hyper down at Grans the meds seemed to hit him as soon as we got home. Was sweet as usually he spends time with whoever will play with him, he has no preference between me and Mark. Today though he certainly seemed to prefer me. if I left the room he followed, if I went upstairs he'd sit and the bottom and cry. Just goes to show even fur babies want their Mummy when they're poorly.
Tonights Christmas activity was writing Christmas lists. I love it when they kids get all excited about asking for things and I think 'Oh yey thats already in the wardrobe' then sometimes they ask for things and I think 'no you're not getting that' which isn't as good lol. Some simple nudging always sets them in the right direction though ;)

On this years list is:
Cameron
- Skylanders giants (did want swap force but convinced him to change his mind, it's £25 more than the Giants one! lol)
- Mario Kart 7 (bought on special back in July from Very *smug smile*)
- Luigis mansion 2 (bought on same offer)
- Camo Skylander (now this one was pure luck! When we went into to buy the Wii U I asked on the off chance if they had any second hand skylanders and at random picked this one as a treat for the elf to bring so very happy he wanted this one for his list lol)
- Despicable me 2 (dvd boxset with number 1 in the wardrobe)

Caitlin
- Merida dress (In wardrobe)
- Make up (yep, despite me hating the stuff)
- Grown up craft stuff (got, obviously lol)
- Pascel teddy (again luck, when Caitlin dressed as Rapunzel at school in February she lost her Pascel. I did try to get her one from Disneyland but didn't have one. When I went to Peterbrough with Mum they had them on special in the Disney store so bought one on a whim for the elf to bring so yey!)
- Epic DVD (yep got that too)

So have a healthy puppy and seemed to have got the kids everything they want for Christmas. Feeling pretty good today :)

Willpower and pretty decorations :)

This morning Star decided to send a message from Santa. Being a typical elf she didn't do it with a paper and pen but more sugar, sugar and more sugar :) Wasn't until after Caitlin pointed out that I realised she was right in front of the computer screen and obviously nobody can touch her or she'll lose her magic, so there she will stay until night time tonight. Woops.

Ok I have 0 willpower when it comes to make things, chocolate, wine, spending, and big puppy dog eyes. When the kids look at me with big sad eyes I melt and find it very hard to say no, last week I discovered it's so much worse when it's an actual puppy! When scamp came to live with us last Monday (wow has it only been a week?!?!) pretty much everything else stopped. Ironing, hoovering, decluttering all stopped in place of pulling a rope around the floor lol. However today I had to get back into it. This morning was a big shopping trip, home for a bit of playtime (cant neglect him can I? lol) ironing then putting up the decorations :) Usually I put up the tree on the first of the month but this year I decided to do it when the kids were at school because I like to do it my own way and don't take kindly to little fingers (or hubbys fingers) getting involved. I'm not too mean though, I bought them their own tree to decorate however they like, lol.

Caitlin also has this thing about NOT wanting Santa to come in her room, so rather than hanging the stocking on the end of her bed she puts it under the little tree on the landing and Santa fills it and puts it there.
Well tomorrow is Scamps vets appontment to get his check up and his immunisations. I admit I'm terrified about it. We have insurance for him but it doesn't kick in for the first 10 days so anything that shows up at this appointment isn't covered. :( I's so worried that I'm going to go in and be told about some long term problem needing lots of expencive meds which we just can't afford. I mean he seems a crazy, healthy, happy pup but you never know whats going on under the surface, so fingers crossed all is well!

Elf on the shelf

It's the first of December!!! And this year that means the Elf on the shelf comes to stay :) Kids were so excited this morning to come down and find the box on Marks desk, but when they opened it it was empty! A quick search and we found that Star (as the kids named her) was in the kitchen with a surprise breakfast for them :)

Cameron read the book to Caitlin and we named the elf and signed the contract promising not to touch her or she'll lose her magic. Can't wait to see what tricks she gets up to :)

As well as being the first of December it is also the last storytelling Sunday of the year! Due to the time of year I thought it made most sense to document the decorations we've bought for the kids over the years. Each year we buy them a decorations which represents something from that year, a hobby or milestone or something. The idea is that when they are older and have their own homes they can take them for their own trees.
These are Caitlin's. The first 3 are because my nickname for her has been Tinkerbell ever since she was born. I wanted to call her Isabelle when I was pregnant but then Mark pointed out Isabelle Steele (is a bell steel) was a bit mean, lol. The ballet shoes I got her the year she started dance lessons and the snowflake will have a photo of her first day of school......when I get around to printing it off that it. This year I've got her a chipboard christmas tree which we can decorate together as she really has developed her creative skills this year.

Cameron has an extra one because we went to York craft fair when I was pregnant and found this little angel and thought it would be good luck to have for out first Christmas even though Cameron wasn't here yet. The two penguins are because he LOVED the film Happy feet when he was a baby and had a teddy penguin named Mumble he took everywhere with him. A train represented the 'Thomas the tank engine' phase before the cars phase started. his snowflake is still waiting for a school photo too *hangs head in shame* then Mario for last year when his computer game obsession began. This year after looking everywhere for some kind of decoration to represent maths, I've decided to make my own. Last Christmas Cameron won two die in a cracker, he spent the rest of the afternoon rolling them and making sums with the resulting numbers. Over the year this has developed from 2 bog standard die, to up to 4 of marks 20 sided ones. The boy LOVES maths and is amazing at it so wanted to get a decoraion to show this. To that end I've bought one of the empty plastic baubles and am currently searching for little dice beads to fill it with :)

I love searching for the 'right' decoration each year, particually now they are both showing such clear interests, and though some of them are cheaper than others (cars one) and some are glued in places (red tinkerbell) hopefully they will enjoy their momentos of their childhood when they are older.

York craft fair

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

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

Christmas door take 2

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

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

Got to laugh

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

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

Elf door swap :)

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

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

Furbaby :)

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

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

New family members :)

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

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

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

Day of The Doctor!!!!

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

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

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

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

Disturbing

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

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

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

Big kid

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

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

Disney magic

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

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

I'm a celebrity!!

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

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

Christmas box

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

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

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

Lots of little bits

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

into these......

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

More layouts

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

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

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