Yawn...

I don't know what is up with my sleep pattern at the moment..but it's not good!Having been way too hot the last two nights (I finally fell asleep on the sofa at about 4am Tuesday morning!) I thought being cooler this evening I'd be fine.But no,it's now 1am and I'm still awake.And it's not as if I haven't been busy today (now yesterday!) This morning we walked into town to stock up on paint brushes,clay etc from ELC .

Holly spent most of the afternoon in the pool (apart from a nasty fall during a mad dash for the toilet!),along with Em.So as I had to be in the garden I thought I'd cut the hedges in the back garden.My dad has just given me his old hedge trimmer (to save me borrowing his new one!) and it was so bloomin' heavy I was exhausted by the time I'd finished (bear in mind the hedges are about 7ft high and the garden is long,I wasn't being a wimp!)

I spent this evening sorting out some photos to order online as Holly is desperate to do some scrapping and my ink is running low!

These are a couple of things I made with the last Scrapping Angels kit.Anna seems to have lost her photo of the note book which I did at the crop back in June so I don't think it's in the gallery yet! I made the bookmark by Cropadile-ing an acrylic heart and threading the ribbon through.Em has her beady eye on it!

Right,it's now heading for 1.30am so I am off to attempt to sleep again!

Better late than never!

Pencil Lines has now gone live and this week we were sponsored by Riff Raff designs.I painted and glittered the butterfly and purple heart (very badly I'm afraid, it's not my strong point!) The photos show the results of the face painting marathon that went on on Saturday!

I also used

Fancy Pants paper & rub on

Angel Kiss flowers

Bazzill spotty brads

MM alpha stickers

AC Glitter thickers

Prima crystal swirls

It's still sweltering hot here ,I guess I shouldn't complain! The girls have spent the afternoon in the pool keeping cool.It does mean that I have an excuse to sit in the garden and chill,even if I did have to move into the shade after a while!

Hot hot hot

Sorry, I couldn't think of a more original title!

Yesterday afternoon we went over to Anna & Peter's for the Bowkis family bash (yeah, I know...we're not family so I felt very lucky to be invited :) ) We had a lovely time despite Holly getting stung (a rub from a 2p coin and a bit of bubble blowing and she calmed down!) ,we soaked up the atmosphere of a wonderful family occasion.Good food,a bouncy castle,a pinata,LOTS of face painting and skipping competition all made for a great time! Thank you so much for inviting us!

In the morning I decided to head into town to try and find something new to wear for the do.Now WGC isn't exactly the best place to go 'urgent' clothes shopping !For a change I went for a look in Monsoon and came home with the most gorgeous piece of clothing I have bought in a long time!No way would I have paid full price for it, but half price was too good to miss!And if I ever go off it, I think Anna has her eye on it!

After the late night last night I was lucky enough to have a lie in this morning which meant that we fianlly got home from food shopping after lunch time! This has to be the best bargain of the day, £2 garden sprinkler from Tescos! We tried it out this evening before the girls bathtime and it went down a storm :) We also came home with other bits, flip flops,bargain swim gear for me,cute bags for the girls and the all important sand for the sandpit!

Pencil Lines will be going live tomorrow night (for a change!) so I'll back with my layout tomorrow.

Keep your fingers crossed that the sunshine lasts!

Freeeeeeedom!!

There is definately something about the first day of the school hols...the realisation that we don't have to be toing and froing all day,I don't have to make packed lunches every morning and we get to have some lie-ins!Mind you,five hours in once the arguments have started I wasn't feeling quite so happy and carefree!Maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration..the girls don't argue that much..they do however have whiney ways of saying each others names ie Em -maaaah and Holl-eeeeee which do get really grating after a while!
So, two days in and the weather has been fab so I've been making sure I spend as much time as possible outside,let's face it,it won't last forever:)Even the boring jobs like pairing up all the odd socks is a bit more bearable in the sunshine!
My scrapping head seems to have gone for a long lie down in the shade though,absolutely nothing going on here!!

Tomorrow will be spent food shopping first thing,then cleaning the pool and then we are off to the Bowkis bash in the afternoon:) Looking forward to having our faces painted by Izzy and enjoying the barbecue!And I'm looking forward to seeing Anna too,it seems like ages since I last did.

And...ahem..where did my little girl go?!

Drained...

So that's it,all over and done...:(,my baby is no longer at junior schol...
By the time Em came out of school this afternoon, she was pretty much all cried out having done two performances of the Leavers assembly this morning,as well as shedding a few tears this morning after a phone call ;).I spent most of the assembly in tears (they started by singing Bridge Over Troubled Water!!)and at the end of it,so many of the children were sobbing too :( They danced their hearts out though, no wonder they're worn out!We took photos of Em by the tree as requested,I need to get the photo from 2000 out of its frame so that I can scan it and show you the difference! She has blossomed from the cute almost four year old to a beautiful young girl and I am so proud of her.
It feels a little like we are in limbo land now, not belonging at her old school and not a part of her new school.
Fingers crossed that we get some decent weather over the next few weeks,am hoping that the girls will be seeing lots of their friends. Holly has drawn up a long list of things that she wants to do over the holidays,though I'm not sure we'll manage them all!

The advantage..

...of being an iPhone widow for the last week is that that I got to use it today :) I went with Geoff whilst he had an appointment today ,but sat in the car and watched When Harry Met Sally while I waited for him!
Emotions are running high here with the final day of school tomorrow.I usually look forward to the last day and the onset of the holidays ,but it feels very different this year.This time round it feels like it signals the end of Em's 'chilhood'.I know she's only 11, but it all changes once they go to senior school ,doesn't it? This evening they had the first performance of their Leavers assembly,Em came home tired and very emotional ,bless her :( Seeing her upset ,set me off too,even just seeing her empty and abandoned PE bag hanging the kitchen started me off earlier!
Right, I am off to prepare myself for tomorrow.....

Waiting for the floodgates...

So, the last week of term is finally here...tissues at the ready!!Em's uniform has been ironed for the final time (yep, all three days worth) which made me feel a bit strange...:( Roll on Thursday in a way, I feel like we haven't stopped to breathe this past week!Busy again this week, Em is out to a friends house after school tomorrow and Holly has a friend round,Tuesday evening is the first run of the Leavers Assembly and then Wednesday will be upon us :( We have the Leavers assembly first thing and then they finish at 2pm.Em has already been taking her autograph book in(so glad I managed to get one in John Lewis for her, I wasn't sure if they still made them!) and will come home with signatures all over her polo shirt too!She wants a photo taken outside the school ,by the same tree she stood next to in the photo from her first day at nursery!Just as well the tree wasn't inside the school grounds as that would be frowned upon otherwise!
Father Christmas has been out and about stocking up early this year...it's amazing what fab HSM stuff you can get in the sales!
I am pretty much all done with uniform shopping,except for shoes and all the stuff which is on order.
This is my Pencil Lines layout for this week:)
I used KI Pop culture papers
KI Lace cardstock
Doodlebug letter stickers
MM noteworthy

The photo is Holly with her water pistol ,bought for her 'splash' session on the school field tomorrow afternoon! From what I can make out,65 kids will be soaking each other with water pistols!!

Winners and losers

Yesterday was Sports day and as the title says there were winners and losers here! Both girls are in the same house at school and whilst in the infants they won the trophy,ther juniors sadly came last.So that's another 'last' hurdle over and done...they get the kids all fired up and shouting for their houses and then they walk them on to the field to Chariots of Fire full blast! Yep, I shed a few more tears, though I did a good job of squinting and making out like the sun was in my eyes! The school no longer allows photography or videoing of any events and yes,it does pee me off.This will be the first year I have no sports day photos, and I can't help but think that so many children these days will grow up with no reminders of anything they did at school :(I took a couple of pics of the girls in their house colours when we got home, but it's really the same is it?!
This evening Holly went to her first roller city party .She came home,hot,happy and with a sore bottom from falling over on it!

Yum....

Whilst I was in The Works on Friday buying up High School Musical stuff for Christmas (yes, I am actually starting early this year!),I came across this bargain of a book.If I'm honest, I was swayed more by the shiny muffin/cupcake outline on the cover than the fact that it was only £2.99! Some of the recipes look absolutely gorgeous,Em and I have written up a list of which ones we fancy trying and are planning on a cooking day one day a week during the holidays :)Looks like we need to invest in some new cooking trays !

At last....

For what seems like the first day in ages....it hasn't rained!
So, what's been happening....on Thursday Em was at her new school for the day.She headed off to call for her friend,taking a back door key with her for the first time :) Mind you, she'd managed to break the keyring by the time she came home!In the evening we went back for a headteachers talk and to order PE kit etc.I was fine,until later in the evening when I went in to kiss Em goodnight before I went to bed.She was fast asleep with her head on her Big Monkey cuddly she has had since she was 1...she looked so young that I burst into tears at the thought of her being old enough to leave junior school :( This next week and a half are going to turn me into an emotional wreck!
On Friday I went as a helper with Holly's Brownie pack on a nature walk through the local woods.It did look as though it would be rained off at one point but the skies cleared about half an hour before the walk started so it went ahead.And the heavens opened again once we set off !Such a shame as the woods are gorgeous.The girls had fun jumping in all the mudy puddles though and catching tadpoles with their hands from the pond :) Don't worry, we were with the Wood Wardens who said they could!
Yesterday we were supposed to go over to the fete in Anna's village but with the weather looking decidedly dodgy and the fete apparently being very small,plans were cancelled :( I'm sure Anna will get her Margo hat on and whip something spectacular for next year ;)
This afternoon the girls and I went for a rather stinky walk round the lakes...there was a seriously nasty whiff down there,I think some serious dredging of the water is needed!We made our way home after encountering the nasty smell and the girls went in the pool for a quick dip.
On Pencil Lines this week, we have the wonderful Morag Cutts as our guest :)
For my layout I used
Scenic Route Laurel & Loveland papers
Prima Crystal swirls
Doodlebug letter stickers & button
Maya Road sheer

The photos are of a very dinky & cute Holly from 2002!
Lots of school/kid stuff going on this week so we will be busy bees!

Splish splash

Hmm, I'm sure at this time of year I should be buying light ,floaty summer clothes.....but no, today I went out and bought a waterproof jacket and new boots! The joys of the English summer....not!
Tomorrow is 'change over' day at school, Em is off to her new school for the day and Holly finds out who her teacher will be next year too.We have spent the evening filling out forms and watching the pennies disappearing before us! Em is excited and nervous,not to mention the fact that we had to do an emergency dash back to school at 5pm to pick up her trainers that she had forgotten to bring home as she has to wear them tomorrow.Luckily there wer still teachers there and she was able to collect them :)
The Wii has been getting a fair bashing the last few days ,I've been jogging with Holly the last htree days.Running really isn't my thing and I really need to get a sports bra before I do myself a mischief!
No photos to share as I've only taken a few due to the rubbish weather, and they are still on the camera!

Why is it...

that if I don't blog for a few days, when I go to, I haven't got a clue what to write?! Not sure why I haven't posted since Tuesday..I'd like to say that it's because I have such a busy action packed life,but I'd be lying!
Thursday we had open evening at the girls school,getting absolutely soaked in a down pour on the way there.Luckily the weather was nice on Friday for Holly's brownie bbq,held at the most gorgeous house,she came home very tired!Yesterday was just a quiet day around the house.And today Geoff was working and we then went to Lyzzy's anniversary tea party :)


This is my Pencil Lines layout this week :)

I used
Creative Imaginations Holey cardstock
Bazill
Pink Paislee papers & stamps
K&Co brads
MM magnetic stamps
Maya Road felt bird

As far as scrapping July goes..errrr! I have written my journalling in a book and made sure I've taken photos,but not actually made any pages yet.I think I need to just sit down and cut a load ready and then I can get going!This week Em has a day at her new school,followed by an open evening for us too.End of term is approaching far too quickly for my liking...!

Dare I..

...actually commit myself to trying to do this ?!I think I can handle just one month! July is always a bit emotional anyway being the end of the school year,but this year will be even more so as it's Em's final year at junior school.The calendar already seems full with open evenings, senior school visists, sports day and end of term parties...so I think this is a perfect month to do this.Not sure what format I'm going to go for as I've only just decided to do this about half an hour ago. I may go for 7 x5 pages in Bazill and use up some of my 'scraps'.

This afternoon I went shopping...pretty unsucessfully :(Though I did get a few good bits,I didn't actually get what I went for so will have to head off somewhere else. Holly is pleased with the pink HSM duvet cover I got her anyway!

This is another of the layouts I got done on Sunday.I'm going to do a matching one of Holly and pop them up on a wall somewhere :)

Right, off to write about my day today before I forget and fall off the wagon before I've started!