Bike progress

Sunday is usually a relaxing day at our house, kids are tired from the week and so are the grown-ups so nice to sit and watch TV or play games together. As my Mum is going away this week with my sister and the girls her and my Dad came over for a bit to see the kids. They had been playing on their bikes all morning and I had suggested that the stabilisers get removed but that was a big NO from both kids. Then Granddad came round and suggested the stabilisers get removed, great idea Granddad! *sigh* Oh well they got removed lol.
While the men were out encouraging the kids to ride their bikes Mum and I were looking at old photos I found the other night. Look at these ones! How cute are they lol.
One morning when the kids were young I fell asleep on the couch, I woke up to find Cameron had got a tub of talc from somewhere and had covered the livingroom (and his sister!) in it.

Look at my babies! All grown up now :(

Big breakfast

Well breakfast this morning was fun :) My mum, dad and eldest niece Mollie came along which was nice. I had two 'buy one get one free' vouchers so ended up being just under £20 for 6 breakfasts and 6 drinks. Not bad at all :) Mum didn't want a big breakfast so actually worked out cheaper giving Cameron a big breakfast instead of a small one. And doesn't he look SO sad about that lol.

I was amazed that besides the mushroom (I had that) and the tomato he ate the lot! God knows where he puts it because the kids a stick. Was funny as it ended up being musical plates lol. Caitlin got porridge but didn't like it so she had half my egg/sausage/bacon sandwhich, but didn't want the egg or bacon so Mark had the bacon and Mollie had the egg, then Mollie didn't want her toast so Caitlin had that, and Mark didn't want all his hash browns so I had one..... see what I mean lol. Was good though as nothing was wasted and everyone was full by the end.
the rest of the day was pretty chilled, quick trip to Tesco for a little shopping then we spent the rest of the day relaxing at home :) Kids are now in bed and Mark and I are settling down to watch 'Jack Reacher' on dvd. Heard mixed reviews so interested to see how it is :)

yey its friday!

Well today didn't start out the best. Was called into an all day training session so had about an hour to get everything sorted before dropping kids off at school. Managed it though, all caregiving sorted, dinner in the slowcooker and off I went with my very healthy breakfast/lunch of fruit in my handbag.
So training was really interesting, it was all about how it affects families when someone goes to prison. As you can expect there were a lot of debates about what rights prisoners should have but everyone was open minded to others points which was great as topics like these I think can get a bit heated. Most people were of the opinion that prison was too soft these days, prisoners have too many luxuries compared to those in old folks homes for example. That said I was amazed to find out how little help there was out there for their families. If a father was in prison and his child was taken into hospital for example there would be a good chance he wouldn't be told until a day or two later. While obviously prisoners should be punished it was sad how much of a punishment the families got too.
But yeah back to the healthy lunch in my handbag lol. I WAS planning to be healthy and good, then Maggie who organised the training decided to treat us all with a Pizza Hut. Diet went out the window lol. Was great though as there were loads of leftovers so I brought it home and that was kids dinner sorted. Ended up having a nice night cuddling up with the kids watching a film :) Have a voucher tomorrow for buy one get one free breakfasts at a local restaurant so said we'd treat them if they behaved. :)

'To do list' almost done!

This morning Caitlin didn't want any breakfast, that should have been my first clue something was up. Few moments after getting her teeth brushed, and herself all washed and cleaned and sorted, it became obvious she had a poorly tummy. :( Not the best start to my day! After cleaning her up again, giving lots of cuddles and calming her down I snuggled her up back in her bed and resigned myself to the fact I wouldn't be working at the school this morning either. Swear Thursday mornings are cursed.
With Caitlin being off though it's given me plenty of time to get things done. :) Usually when I'm home I'm downstairs doing jobs, as that's where Mark is. Today though as Caitlin was upstairs I focused more on our bedroom and the jobs upstairs and got loads done :) All the washing is now sorted and put away, HUGE scary pile of ironing pretty much done and the bedrooms all dusted and hoovered. Also paid some bills which was much less fun :( Had £648 this morning, now I have £1.75 lol.
Well after sleeping most of the morning Caitlin seems much better. She had a slice of toast earlier and that seems to have been fine so I relented and let her share a packet of crisps with Daddy. It does seem like something she ate didn't agree with her but she had the same dinner as the rest of us so no idea. :s

Well after wrapping and making tags/cards last night I'm hoping to do some scrapping tonight :) Watch this space lol.

WOYWW

Before my messy work area, today was Camerons sports day :) I was a bit worried as he's not the best loser but he did really well. The rules were different to when caitlins year did it, this time there were lots of different races, egg and spoon, obstacle course, skipping etc, and each child could pick two to do. Cameron picked 'football' where you kick the ball down the track and try and cross the finish line first, and the obstacle course. My heart went out to the poor kid though, Cameron is very black and white, these are the rules, this is how it should be, one of the main reasons I'm sure he has some form of Aspergers. Anyway, before the race had even started I said to my Gran Cameron would lose, I knew the ball would go all over the place and while other kids would just follow it and keep going, Cameron would take it back to his lane and start again. Yep I was right, he was halfway down the lane when everyone else was getting their stickers for finishing. He was a good sport about it though and I was proud that he stood by the rules even though he lost. The obstacle course was even worse lol. The rules were you run forward down the track where you would reach a hula hoop, you had to go through that to reach 3 small bean bags. You had to pick up ONE beanbag, race forward to another hoop and put it in, race back to get another etc. Cameron and one other boy did it right, everyone else just took all 3 bags the first time. Obviously Cameron lost. Credit to the school though, Cameron, the boy and the 2 boys from the second round who did it right got to race again at the end, this time they all did it right and Cameron won! He was very proud of his gold medal badge. :) Was a weight off my sholders too that he'd at least got one sticker lol. Didn't get a chance to get a photo unfortunately as they went right back to class but he was pleased with himself :)
As usual, whats on my workdesk is a mess lol. This week is a little different though, July is very much birthday month is our family. There's my cousins twins, then mine, my niece Mollie, my sister then my niece Mollie; obviously have all the end of school gifts for teachers too, so expencive month! So right now my rug is covered with gifts which need wrapping and cards and tags which need decorating.

So lots of things to do. Easy things though and will use up lots of scraps. Mollies gift is a scrapbook kit which doesn't really come with too much so I've opened the box and I'm punching lots of butterflies and other shapes into it to bulk it up a bit.
Before all that though I've got to sort out my photos on the computer again. I'm dreadful for leaving it for ages and it becomes a huge job, I always swear I won't leave it that long again but I always do. Looking tonight I have just over 200 photos to sort out and hopefully get developed soon. I still have loads of photos to scrap but I'm getting a bit bored looking at them now lol. Really need a good cyber crop or blog hop to get some used up :)

Sports day, day one

Today was Caitlins sports day :) I was nervous about this one as the other night she woke up late, really upset and not wanting to do it. One race she was particually worried about was crawling under the tables, so as you do we ended up having crawling races down the hall at 11:30 at night lol. Must have helped as she loved it on the day :)

They didn't do individual races really, each class would all do an activity and score points on how many children completed it. At the end all the points were added up and the class with the most points were the winners. Caitlins class won! I was so excited when they said 'Group K' I started screaming lol. I think it means much more to the parents than the kids really. That said Caitlin was thrilled, they all got to run around the field showing off their medals and they were all squealing and throwing their arms in the air. Was great to see :)

I was so pleased Caitlin won, but OH MY GOD did she come home with an attitude! No joke when it was bedtime I told her to go get her teeth done, this was the conversation:

Me - Caitlin time to get your teeth brushed.
Caitlin - I don't want to!
Me - Tough, go get them done.
Caitlin - Thats it!!
Me - (bellowing) Thats WHAT young lady?!
Caitlin - (suddenly very timid) I don't know?
Me - Too right, don't you threaten me unless you can back it up now get in the bathroom!
Caitlin glares and me and stamps off.

How old is she again? 5 going on 14? Ugh. Someone tell me it gets better. You don't need to be truthful, lol.

The storyteller

The other day I borrowed this book,

and I've barely put it down since, lol. I love her books, ever since I read 'My sisters keeper' book ending WAY better than the film I have to say, made me bawl my eyes out. Almost gave Mark a heart attack really as I was almost full term pregnant with Cameron at the time and finished it at like 2 in the morning. I was crying to hard I woke Mark who paniced and kept asking me what was wrong but I couldn't answer I was crying so hard! He was about to ring 999 when I managed to explain it was the book lol. Don't think he was too impressed.
Anyway while I didn't cry so hard at this one there were a few tears shed. Amazons description of the book is as follows:

Sage Singer has a past that makes her want to hide from the world. Sleeping by day and working in a bakery by night, she kneads her emotion into the beautiful bread she bakes.
But when she strikes up an unlikely friendship with Josef Weber, a quiet man old enough to be her grandfather, and respected pillar of the community, she feels that finally, she may have found someone she can open up to.
Until Josef tells her the evil secret he's kept for sixty years.
Caught between Josef's search for redemption and her shattered illusions, Sage turns to her family history and her own life for answers. As she uncovers the truth from the darkest horrors of war, she must follow a twisting trail between betrayal and forgiveness, love and revenge. And ask herself the most difficult question she has ever faced - can murder ever be justice? Or mercy?

I won't give away too much but basically Josef admits he was a Nazi who worked in Auswitch. In true Jodi fashion some chapters are from the perspective of Sage in present day, and some are from Sages Grandmother who was a prisoner in Auswitch during the war. Some parts are hard to read as you can imagine and it is genuinely terrifying to this this happened within my Grandmothers lifetime and in all honesty, I don't see why it might not happen again with the way the world is going. But I'm going off topic. It was really an amazing story, while I know about concentration camps from lessons at school and obviously I know it was beyond horrific what happened there, but the little details included in the story make it real. There was one part where a father promises his daughter than when she dies it will be by a bullet to the heart because it is quicker. That was a how he comforted his child. How dreadful to be in a world where that is a comfort to you child. Was worse when I found out that that story was actually true from her research. Unlike most of her other books I saw the twist coming a mile off but it was still well worth reading :)

Worry

Today I took Caitlin to a birthday party. I'm kinda glad I did as I'm always worried about Caitlin interacting with other kids. The problem is is that she's far too much like me, she prefers her own company. I don't have any 'friends' seriously not a one. I have loads of people who I talk to online and meet up with every now and again, but day to day friends in 'real life' I just don't have. I did, but then Mark got sick and everyone dissapeared as they struggled to understand why I couldn't go out and leave my husband home alone. Also lets be honest the fact he was threatening to kill people once or twice a week didn't help matters lol. (his meds are sorted now so he doesn't do that anymore :P) I've always been the odd one out though, I never watched the right TV shows, wore the right clothes, said the right thing, I just wasn't the type of girl to have a BFF. Unfortunately Caitlin seems to be the same. Even at this age the girls in Caitlins class have their own little cliques and shes not really in any of them. I've asked the teacher about this and shes not concerned, she described Caitlin as more of a social butterfly, happily flitting from one person to the next and if they don't want to play its a shrug of the sholders and she moves on. Now this sounds great but I was like that, fine until I got older and these cliques became more obvious. I wasn't in one so didn't go to the birthday parties, the sleepovers, and when I hit senior school I was an easy target for bullies. Cameron on the other hand is a different kettle of fish altogether. That boy walks onto the playground and he gets mobbed by kids wanting to play with him.
Ok went off topic there, basically what I'm getting at is that it made me feel better to see her playing with other kids. While I see what the teacher is saying, she flits about from activity to activity, she was welcomed everywhere she went, with many kids approaching her to play with them as well. Hopefully she will find her own group as she gets older but for now I'm going to have to do what I said my Mum should do when I was young and she used to try and force me in social activities I didnt want to do and just leave her to her alone. lol.

Not quite a bargain

Remember last night how I said I was going to do ironing while the boys had boy time? Well that went out the window lol. Marks hay fever got REALLY bad where his eyes were all swollen and streaming so we ended up down Tescos at 9:15 getting him some medication for it. As it was late I was hoping to get some bargains but no luck, in fact some reductions were not the bargains they seemed to be lol.

I did point this out to a member of staff but he said they had to put the original price into the reduction machine which then makes the reduced price. OK fair enough but can't see it selling anytime soon lol. When we got home Cameron was still wide awake so I decided, against my Mummy, overprotective judgement, to let him stay up and watch dr Who with us. He'd been asking for a while to watch it but some episodes creep me out let alone a 6 year old. Really shouldn't have worried. He kept comparing it to Ben 10 and seemed to really enjoy it. Mark and I less so thanks to the constant questions but there you go lol. He did ask to watch another one on Saturday when Caitlin came home but I while I could manage to let Cameron watch it I realllllly didn't think it was a good idea for Caitlin so said no on that one! Nice to know that we can watch it with him when shes at Nannys though. :)

My cat is evil

Now I've always said our cat is evil. She wipes her dirty paws on my clothes, sats on my layout after I gave her a bath, and constantly climbs in through the window even though she knows shes not allowed. She did it when we first got her then we trained her out of it, shes not done it in years but started to again lately, why I don't know lol. Anyway it really drives mark mad, particually when she jumps in the little window by his desk as she knocks over all his stuff. So, last night Mark went to his friends house for a little while, as soon as he was out the door, Bella took up position here.

Right in front of the TV, by Marks desk. Now she NEVER does this when hes home so I really think this is her way of saying f**k you I'll sit where I like lol. Told you, she's evil.
Well tonight Caitlin is staying at my Mums so the boys are watching TV and I'm doing ironing. Not exactly the most exciting Friday night but the ironing pile is getting scary again so got to be done.

Cheating lol

Ok so I know I'm cheating on my resoultion but oh well who's going to tell me off. :p It's now Monday morning but I'm choosing to blog this as though it's Thursday, so just go along with me here :)
So today didn't quite go to plan. I was supposed to go into the school for a bit this morning but Mark had one of his headaches and was suffering really bad from hay fever so I stayed home. It's weird really, he used to have hay fever until he had the transplant then it stopped; pretty random for it to suddenly come back but there you go.
Well this morning I was going though e-mails and I found one with a picture of this cup.

Ok so it's a cow style cup but a while ago this cup was SUCH a big part of our life I can't believe I ever forgot about it! When Cameron was a toddler he refused to use a cup, any type of cup. We spent a small fortune on ones with straws, ones with lids, ones without, he was having none of it. Then we were in Boots one day and he spotted this little cow cup, which was probably the cheapest ones of all the cups there, and he grabbed it. That was it, the ONLY cup he would drink from. We were just so thrilled he had mastered drinking from a cup and finally gave up the bottle! We ended up having about 5 of them in the cupboard in case one got lost or broke. The things we do for our kids, lol.

WOYWW

Whats on my workdesk this wednesday? Not much different from last wednesday. I've started this layout and hopefully finish it tonight. Still using up old stash and the background paper I bought in March 2011 so while ago! The photo is of Caitlin having a strop after I wouldnt let her paint the wall with me, in my defence it was above carpet and she made a hell of a mess when painting above the wood floor so I put my foot down there lol.

The white cards at the top of the cutting board are the last parts of Caitlins 'Insect facts' book for school, just need to stick them in and bind it and she can take it to school, bless her shes really proud of it :) I also got some ladybird paperclips from Tesco today for 35p to add to decorations, bargain!

Caitlin

My mojo really seems to have made a reappearance :) Did this layout yesterday and another one tonight.

Ok so one a day isn't a huge amount but more than I've done for a while lol. The photos are front Caitlins first day of school, love how happy and excited she looks. The novelty has worn off now and it's a bit of a battle to get her there each morning so nice to have proof that she once WANTED to go.The banner across the bottom reads 'forever, cherish, love, dream, imagine, belive, hope' which I liked as a first day sentiment. The sticker above the camera reads

'To my little princess, I hope that you can see, I've locked you in my heart and thrown away the key'.

 I've kept this one for a while as I loved it but I decided to use it here as it sums up how I feel as shes growing up, she can get older, go to school, move away, but she will always be my baby girl. :)
She will also always be my crazy baby girl lol. Those who read often, or know Caitlin know she is a stubborn little madam (no idea where she gets it from of course) she brought home a work sheet today from school which I think sums her up to a tee. The idea on the sheet was to finish the pattern, so if it went 'sun, flower, sun, flower' obviously you would draw a sun, then a flower. Not my daughter. Hers went 'Gnome, flower, hand drawn sun with smiley face, Gnome, flower, hand drawn sun with smiley face' lol. I asked her why she did that and she said 'I wanted to do a sun' Well, obviously! Can't argue though as she did technically follow the pattern, she just added an extra bit to it *rolls eyes*.
She was on top form today in general, some of her best comments were:

caitlin - Why do I have to go to bed?!
Me - Because its bedtime, besides you always moan in the morning you want more sleep.
Caitlin - Thats because I like to sleep in the morning, not at night!

Caitlin - Poor people don't belive in God, that's why they're poor.

Playing with my photos
Me - Those arn't yours don't touch them.
Caitlin - But they're pictures of me.
Me - Yes but they're my photos.
Caitlin - But its my face!

I've said it before and I'd say it again, god help me when shes a teenager.

Bad mummy but great daddy :)

Well today is Fathers day and both me and my kids are very lucky to have amazing Dads :) Mark is a great dad to the kids, always happy to play or help with homework as much as he can. He has much more patience than I do and never feels silly playing dolls or cars. Brian is just the same as a Granddad. The kids are getting to the age where they recognise I call him Brian and not Dad but I always tell them there are two types of Daddies, those who help Mummys make you, and those who love you and take care of you and Brian is definetly the latter. :)
So today started off like most fathers days will have, me making a huge breakfast for Mark to have in bed lol. 2 egg muffins, 2 huge bacon rolls and a cup of tea later and he was cuddled up on the couch with the kids watching tv.

We had planned to go to Dads group but kids wanted to stay home so had a quiet morning playing then visted my Mum and Dad to give hime his gift and see how mum was holding up. Obviously with this being the first fathers day since we lost granddad she found it hard but she said having the kids round for abit helped. She had gone down to grannies and planted a tree for Granddad which was a lovely idea I thought.
So while the Daddies are in the good books Mummy is in the bad books lol. I've made them do homework, get baths and tidy up! And not only that I've tidied out Caitlins wardrobe and got rid of the clothes that don't fit or have seen better days. Even Caitlins fave cardigain. Shes worn it to death and I did let her wear it around the house for a while after it became too rough to wear outdoors but its getting to daft stage now, its halfway up her arm! And it's got nothing to do with the fact I love the buttons for scrapping. Honest. :p

Creative day :)

Been soooo productive today. Got up, did breakfasts and cleaned kitchen, livingroom etc. Then went out and tidied the garage and re-organised it, did the washing, re-filled the fridge/cupboard from our stocks then sat down for a coffee. Imagine my surprise when it was only 10:30!
Remember that magazine I ordered for Caitlins birthday? All the way back in April? Well after a number of issues I finally got the first one yesterday. Very unimpressed with the service but the magazine isn't too bad. One of the kits in this one was to make a candle holder from a jar and tissue paper. I cut the tree out but left Caitlin to the rest.

She was really pleased with herself :) Was good as was easy enough for her to do without help which little Miss independant likes to do now. lol
Because Caitlin got to do some crafting Cameron asked to make cakes. Now I HATE those kids cupcake packet mixes, the cakes always taste horrible and the mix is always slimey, ugh, but the kids love them. I don't usually get them but I saw a Hello kitty one reduced the other day for 55p so gave in and got one. Out of the whole box it made 6 cakes lol. It did have much more rice paper decorations but the kids ate them. Strange kids I think they're dreadfull and tasteless but there you go!

Last crafty thing :) I never have wrapping paper to hand unless its Christmas. Its so expencive and just ends up in the bin anyway. I have been known to hand over gifts as is lol. So a while ago I got a roll of wallpaper lineing and decided to let the kids decorate it and use as wrapping paper. Turned out quite well. :)
This is my Dads fathers day gift btw. :) Got him a set of car mats which yeah isn't the biggest gift in the world but it's what he asked for :)

Well after a busy day, I'm stressed, hormonal (girly time of the month) and crying at everything. Currently settling down to watch 'The impossible.' what could go wrong?!

ETA - think i managed about 10 minutes, got to the bit with the baby crying in the car and that was enough it's off now. lol

Lazy layout

Sat down to scrap last night, full of motivation and mojo, but also full of backache lol. Did this one before I gave up and lay on the couch.

Seriously a lazy layout lol but I still like it. The back ground paper and the ribbon is glittery and the blue paper is dotty so theres more detail than there looks on the photo. The pictures are of Cameron a couple of Christmas' ago, he was still in his Thomas obsession so when he opened his maths book he looked at his discusted and said 'Thats not Thomas!' Love his face lol. Funnily enough now he LOVES maths and actually asked for maths books for his birthday.

Bad luck day

Well today has been full of bad luck. First I washed caitlins lace dress and shrunk it, then mark lost the passport photos he needed for some ID he needs to get, then I walked into the kitchen to see a huge watermark on my celing so somethings leaking somewhere!
But not been all bad, met Mum for coffee which was nice. I really love when we can get together as its such a break to sit and chat with her about whatevers going on. Looking forward to when Caitlins older and I can do it with her. :)
Speaking of Caitlin I took another photo for the scavenger hunt.
6. Someone or something taking a nap

 

I wasn't planning on taking another so soon but when I went to check on her I found this and it just looked so funny! Think shes dreaming about being robbed or something lol.

WOYWW

Busy post today :) I don't do anything interesting for ages then I do lots at once! lol. Well while blog hopping I found this idea on a friends blog. (look I learned how to do links!)

2013 summertime photography scavenger hunt

I have recently been saying that there are so few cyber crops or challenges around for scrapbookers now compared to what there used to me. Seems much more geared to cardmakers or altered art and I miss it. So this is a great alternative :) Looking through the list some will be easy and others not so much, pity I didn't find it earlier as I could have done loads of them at Disney.
So my first one, 2. Theater for performing arts (not a movie theater) This is the Demontfort Hall in Leicester :) And last night we went to see JImmy Carr here.

1. Open air market

2. Theater for performing arts (not a movie theater)

3. City Hall, Capitol or other similar civic building

4. Airplane

5. A sunset

6. Someone or something taking a nap

7. A sign that is intentionally or unintentionally funny

8. A tower

9. A photo with someone or something that is clearly out of place or doesn't belong

10. A bench that is outside

11. An animal in a zoo, aquarium, nature preserve, etc.

12. A cloud in the shape of something (please specify what you see)

13. A fence

14. A stained glass object or a mosaic

15. A fire truck or police car

16. A windmill

17. Candle(s)

18. Your local pub/bar, coffee house or tea shop

19. A fisherman

20. A dinosaur

21. A photograph of you with an artistic tool or craft supply (you cannot substitute for this item)

Bonus/substitute items. If you find any of the above items too difficult, feel free to substitute either (or both) of these items. You can substitute up to two items, but you cannot substitute Item #21:

A person wearing an outfit (or item of clothing) that symbolizes your country

A sundial

I was worried about going to Jimmy Carr as hes known for picking on people and we were quite near the front. but OMG it was amazing! There were plenty of people shouting out and heckling him so he didn't really pick on anyone, he was so funny and really nice. Afterward you could queue to meet him and get an autograph. By this point however I was feeling really ill again so a member of staff very kindly waited with Mark while I went to get some fresh air. Bless him he was so pleased when he came out :) Rather than just sign our tickets and send him on Jimmy actually sat and chatted with him for a bit, asking if he was ok and making jokes with him. I'm always so grateful to people who take time out for Mark and give him a hand so I was really grateful to Jimmy Carr and the staff there, will be making a point to go back :)

So back to WOYWW. First time I've had anything on my workdesk for a while :) The candle holder is part of a project I can't tell you about it is yet, but if it turns out ok I'll share the end result once its done :)

As well as thats theres lots of other 'works in progress' on the rug. I've got back into crafting lately which is good as I certainly have plenty to use up! It also got me thinking about scrapping style. I saw a post on UKS a while ago asking what your scrapping style was, if I'm honest I don't think I have one, but if I could pick one I'd say 'deliberate'. A lot of my friends, Lesley, Carin, Jess (lots others but don't have blogs lol) do what I call deliberate layouts, where theres lots of inking, misting and lots of little elements which go together and look great. See now when I try it it tends to look more like someone sneezed scrapping supplies on a sheet of paper, while theres looks deliberte and planned, see where I got the name from lol. Here links to thier blogs so you can see what I mean :)
Lesley
Carin
Jess
Well we have 'Silver linings playbook' to watch tonight. I'm not sure if I'll enjoy it or not, didn't look too good but after all the hype I thought I'd give it a go :)

Do I HAVE to go??

Ugh, Jimmy Carr today and I'm still coughing and spluttering. We're 3 rows from the front and I'm seriously dreading getting picked on! Did try and get out of it but my Dad is on nights and nobody else drives so Mark wouldn't be able to go if I didn't and since they were his birthday gift last year might be a bit mean lol. Might have a glass of wine beforehand for courage!
Well I'm getting there with crafting :) Caitlins book is almost done. Didn't do anything huge as obviously its just a few facts for her class but she's pleased with it :) Also managed a layout too.

I haven't done the journaling on it yet but the photos are of Cameron at his cousins christening a while ago. There was a magician there who asked him to help with a spell. Cameron had to say magic words and hit the tin with the wand to make sweets appear. The first time though it went wrong so a giant, fuzzy spider appeared. He asked Cameron to try again btu you can see by his face he wasn't too keen!

He did manage it though and got some sweets. :)

Sick of being sick now. :(

Monday (is it still only Monday?!) is usually a long day as its the first day of the week, and Mark permitting I 'work' all day. Today seems to have took it out of me much more than usual but I'm putting that down to this daft bug not being fully gone yet. I feel SO much better than I did but still not eating so that is draining as it is.
Mark had a Drs appointment after school which ran on long so by the time he came out I admit I was pulling my hair out as the kids were getting hyper. To calm them down (and save me cooking) we took them out to dinner. back to that cheap place we went to the other week, was great as Monday and Tuesday kids eat for only £1! There was a huge 'Mr Bean' episode playing on the wall too so kept them quiet while Daddy ate and Mummy relaxed. I did try and get a photo of Caitlin but the little nutter dived under the table just as I snapped it!

Well early night tonight I'm thinking. We're going to see Jimmy Carr tomorrow night which I'm slightly dreading! Reaaallllllly hope my cough is gone by then!!!!

Sleepy scrapping

Soooooo tired. This stupid bug is still with me, but on a good note weighed myself this morning and lost 3lb this week so thats half a stone gone :) Unfortunatly with my throat still swollen the only think I can eat are ice poles and ice cream so not so sure how long that will last lol.
Today the kids went back to dads group. Its the first time they've been in ages and they loved it. As usual I was amazed at how much I could get done when the house was empty. Think I over did it though as its now coming up to 9pm and I'm very ready for bed. Did manage to do some scrapping though :)
I've made a challenge to myself that I won't get any more photos printed until I've used up at least half of the ones I already have, so these are from Mollies birthday a couple of years ago.

I'm also challenging myself to use up some of my more random embellishments. I make kits up with the majority of my papers and embellishments, but my twine, buttons, ribbon etc are in jars and boxes so I admit I don't use them often as they're not right in front of me when I scrap. At the moment I've poured all my buttons out onto a plate so I can see them and hopefully encorage me to use them.

Well back to Monday tomorrow, ugh, how long until school holidays?

Back to the land of the living. Almost

Remember how I said I was feeling rough on Thursday? Well that night it went from rough to 'shoot me now' I was shivering, aching everywhere and generally felt dreadful. I'm usually one of those who whines about being ill, but really just gets on with it but come 2am when I couldn't sleep and started crying I knew I was 'proper, poorly sick' as Caitlin says. :( Next morning Mark had to get kids ready and off to school. Was worried sick the whole time as he doesn't usually do it himself obviously but I just couldn't do it. I didn't see them off so god knows what they looked like lol. I slept pretty much all day and felt a bit better in the afternoon when kids came home. Thank goodness for automatic shut off however as when I went to make dinner it turned out Mark had made himself some packet pasta for lunch and left the gas on again! As he had put the lid down it had cut the gas off though so no damage done. Kids were thrilled because they basically got a junk food dinner, Greggs sausage and bean pasties, onion rings, wedges and beans. I had an onion ring and 2 wedges. If nothing else being poorly should have helped my diet!
Felling much more 'myself' today though, still not 100% and taking flu/cold pills to help but had to get out and about today so not much choice. Caitlin had her dancing exam which she said went well :) and had to go shopping afterwards. Had a very surreal moment driving through Asda car park, driving along, looking for a space, when Minnie Mouse drives past me in a silver convertable. I honestly though 'OMG I'm seeing things!' when Caitlin started squealing 'There's Minnie! there's Minnie!' Never been so glad to have her scream in my ear lol.

Bowl of coffee.

Been an odd day, poor mark woke up with a headache, he gets them quite often with the meds he's on but I think the fact the neighbours are putting up a fence and hammering away isn't helping. If I'm honest feeling a little rough myself too, had a sore throat yesterday and seems to have moved to my head this morning. Though again that could be the neighbours lol. Luckily Mark slept pretty much all morning so felt better enough this afternoon for me to meet my Mum. We had to take back a toy my Gran got for my niece which didn't work, then go and make the final payment for Grandads funeral. I mustn't have looked 100% when I met her because rather than getting our usual medium Costa she got a large. large was certainly how I would describe it! It was a bowl! lol.

Reminded me of the cups on 'Friends' when they would have coffee at central perk. Helped though lol.

Sketchy scrappers

Ok so I'm late to upload this but something is up with my netbook. For some reason when I put my camera memory card in it, or attach my phone to it its not registering its there, so the only way to upload photos is to either use Marks computer (yeah right) or to take a photo on my phone, upload it to facebook, save it to my computer then put it where I need it. A lot of hassle for a photo *rolls eyes*
Anyway this is the skecth we were given

And this is the layout I did. :) I always struggle using overlays as I think they look good, but tend to mute any colours under them. This one isn't too bad though and I've stuck a few bits on the top too to give some depth.

My crafty 'to do' list is getting long again. Its good really as I need a deadline to make me get things done sometimes. On the list this time are some cards for upcoming birthdays/fathers day, a mini book for Caitlins homework and a minibook for my Gran. I've kinda been putting this off as I said I would do a minibook of photos of flowers from Grandads funeral and I really don't think anything I will do will be good enough, (in my mind not grannys) but can't put it off forever. Think I'll do caitlins minibeast minibook first though, put it off for a little while more, :)

Crazy children

Half term is over :( as much as they may drive me mad I rellly miss the kids when they go back. Ok so they went back yesterday but I was busy all day so didn't get the time to miss them then lol. I miss when they were in nursery, and if we woke up and its a nice day we could just forget nursery and take them to the park or on a day trip, now its all rules and regulations. bah. To be honest I think the big crack down on NO holidays during term time is a bit much. I get it if the child has a lot of time off, or its an important time like during SATs or something but 5 days out of school a year at age 4/5 isnt a big deal I think. It does them the world of good to travel and enjoy different cultures and lets face it, who can afford to go outside of term time, its crazy! When we were looking at holidays in Turkey there was £2000 difference from one week to the next, just because the kids went back to school. I remember hearing years ago that they were planning on bringing in laws to make it cheaper to go on holiday out of term time but obviously that didnt pan out lol.
Well before we know it it will be the Summer holidays, woohoo! Already booked camping at the farm (weather permitting) and we're collecting lots of vouchers from The Sun and various other places to get some cheap day trips. We did send off for the Legoland tickets but annoyingly never heard back. My Mum got some but sods law they were for the day of Camerons sports day so can't miss that. If nothing else we'll have a great time at home :) Caitlin made me laugh over the weekend, Mark was sitting in his computer chair then suddenly shouted out. I ran in to find this

Crazy child lol.

Yesterday

Well today was usual dull Monday stuff, so rather than tell you about that I'll tell you about yesterday :) Obviously yesterdays blog post was about pick your precious but it was also my nieces third birthday. We had originally planned to go to a local fun park but my sisters car ended up in the garage so that was out. Instead we just went to play at my Mums which turned out to be great fun, despite the fact I got sunburned lol. My mum put out some crisps and a slip and slide and the kids had a great time. We got Lillie a DVD, wooly and tig, I'd never heard of it but she apprently loves it and she was thrilled when she opened it. Actually hugged it bless her!

Kids playing in the sunshine. :)

The party went on way longer than we had planned with the girls not going home until gone 5. By this point neither me or my Mum could be bothered cooking so suggested going out to dinner. Theres a resturant nearby that was built a couple of months ago and I was told it was really cheap, had never been though so decided to give it a go. Omg was SO cheap! Meals, drinks and puddings for all 4 of us was just over £20. Can't argue with that :) Mark offered to pay out of his 'pocket money' which I thought was really sweet of him. :) Obviously with his illness he rarely gets to take me out so was nice to feel spoiled for once. Couldn't believe it though, was sitting, minding my own business when suddenly felt something cold on my back, turned to find out some guy had tripped and spilt a pint down my back! He was really apologetic so was more funny than mad but could only happen to me, lol. My Mum said it would be sods law I'd get pulled over for something on the way home, would be interesting trying to convince the police I'd only had a coke when I was stinking of drink! lol

Pick your precious

Storytelling Sunday? There is no excuse for not joining in with this one! Everyone can do it. Pick Your Precious is about celebrating the little things you love: those souvenirs, bits and pieces, things from your past you can't bear to throw out. You know, the special little something you have tucked away in a drawer or up on a shelf? Or the thing you love most in a room? Or the object you would save if you knew you had to leave the country? Your favourite things.

Ready to begin? I still can't do links so here is where to join in if you want to :) http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/storytelling-sunday-three-pick-your.html
This month I picked my Disneyland pins. Most of these are new and while some are just cool some are very special, particually this one. :)

On good Friday this year my Grandad passed away. Obviously it was devistating as we were all really close but I really struggled dealing with it. I didn't cry, I didn't get upset, if I'm honest I didn't even acknowledge it to myself. When we talked about organising the funeral I would say 'getting flowers for Grandad, orgnaising things for Grandad' etc. A couple of times I would feel myself slipping and my eyes whelling up but then the 'being strong' face I usually wear would snap back into place and stop it. Honestly I've spent so long being detached from hard situations I cant help it most of the time anymore. Since I was 16 I've been working with horrifically abused kids, working on helplines where I talked to people who discussed the sad stories from their lives; including one boy who phoned to leave his last wishes with me, then more recently focusing on Marks illness and everything else I think i would go mad if I wasn't good at detaching myself. Problem is is when something bad happens I tend to keep going keep going, then break down. I said to Mum that when I did break down about Grandad it was going to be at the daftest place possible because that just tends to be how things work for me. lol. And this time I was very right.
A few days into our holiday at Disney we went to see Dreams. For those who don't know its a nighttime light/laser/firework show at the castle showing scenes from Disney films. One of which was Brave. As soon as the bagpipe music started that was it, standing there with the kids in front of me, surrounded by hundereds of people I broke down. Honestly I couldnt breathe I was crying so hard. Luckily the kids were so engrosed in the show they didn't notice and I wasn't the only one crying so nobody really looked at me too much. Mark managed to calm me down a bit by the time the show ended so while I was still crying I was able to lead the kids and him through the crowds to try and get out of the park. It was heaving with people so we ducked into one of the shops to try a different route out.
While at Disney we took a load of Disney pins we got from ebay to trade. Over the first few days we hunted everywhere to trade for a Little mermaid pin for me but nobody had one, just as we ducked into the shop Mark literally bumped into a man with this pin who was happy to trade with us. Mark said it was Grandads way of telling me to cheer up and enjoy the holiday. :) To be honest it's exactly the kind of thing Grandad would have done, though he probably would have been a bit blunter, more 'you paid a fortune for this girl, stop whinging and get on with it!' lol. It may just have been a huge coincidence but I like to think hes still looking down and bossing everyone about in his own way.

Hairspray!

A while ago my Mum phoned me and asked what a Capital letter and a lower case letter were. Used to odd phone calls like this I told her then asked why, lol. Turned out she was booking photos for the musical hairspray and needed to do a password containing both. Ohhhh I want to to come too! I shouted at her, think I surprised her :) Anyway today was musical day, so my Dad drove me, my sister, my mum and my oldest niece Mollie down to Birmingham to see it. Was a little gutted when there as there were loads of posters up about the Lion king musical which I would LOVE to see but we can't afford the train, and I don't have the confidence to drive so its a bit of a pipe dream at the moment, maybe next year :)

Mollie quite excited :)
The show was great though, really funny though very adult in some places. I say adult but some of it went right over my sisters head lol. At one point a boy is emptying his pockets and he pulls out a 'rubber' much to the crowds laughter. Sister later asks me, 'why was it funny he had a pencil rubber?' Its becoming much more clear why she has 3, unplanned children. lol.