Sketch 100 and Girls night out!

Make sure you go over and check out Pencil Lines this week,we hit our 100th sketch and the whole gang is there for it!!

Mine does look nicer in real life,all the circles are hand stitched on ,which took me ages to do! I haven't done any sewing for ages so I quite enjoyed it,even if it did take so long! This sketch was perfect for this photo that I took of Holly in a rope tunnel at the local park :)

I used Scenic Route Laurel papers (my fave and most used paper range ever I think!)& chipboard and a mix up of buttons.

Summer returned yesterday...for one day only it seems as it's back to rain again today! We made the most of it,with the girls spending the afternoon in the pool (even Geoff joined them!) and having a BBQ for tea :) Even the badminton net made a re-appearance having been pretty redundant so far this summer!

I finally managed to catch up on some sleep this morning,waking up at almost 10am,which is unheard of for me! I did feel much better for it though and spent the rest of the morning de-labelling and washing all the girls new uniform.I cannot believe the last six weeks have gone so fast :(

This evening Anna and I headed off to the cinema to finally see Mamma Mia...OMG...I want to go again !! We laughed, cried and stuffed our faces with popcorn.If you haven't seen this film yet ,go!!Roll on November when it's out on DVD! We then went to Frankie & Benny's to stuff ourselves a little more - the perfect end to the hols before routine kicks in again!

Grrrr....

So our neighbours have gone away,leaving their oldest son at home...who has had a party this evening.It's now 2am and I am sick of the sound of them stomping up and down the stairs (they have a loft conversion and the stairs are next to our bedroom),not to mention knackered! I seem to have been awake at this time three out of the last four nights...I desperately need some beauty sleep!I am hoping that my sleeping pattern will return to normal next week once we return to the normal routine.That's about the only thing I am looking forward to though...despite the pants weather, I've enjoyed having the kids at home!
I am off to stick my head under the pillow and try and get some sleep!

London calling....

Yesterday we all took a trip into London for the day :)We went on one of the open top bus tours hopping on and off when we wanted.The ticket also included a free boat trip too so we made the most of it!Our first stop off was Hamleys where the girls were in their element!We then hopped back on the bus where we stayed until we reached the Tower of London,which is where we picked up the boat trip back up to the Embankment.I was really surprised at how quiet it was...I expected it to be heaving being August.We then boarded the bus to Buckingham Palace ,the main place that Holly wanted to see :) It was a bit of a trip down memory lane for me as I used to work not far from there and often sat out on the grass outside to eat my lunch!From Buckingham Palace we walked (the longest walk of the day!)through Hyde Park to the Diana Memorial Fountain.Holly really wanted Em to see it even though we will be back there next week for Anna's race.We arrived home tired but having had a fab day.

On Tuesday we went over to Willows Farm,our usual summer hols day out! And it's another place that was really quiet...maybe everyone was out uniform shopping?!Anyway, we spent ages in the Maize Maze ,watched the Daft Duck Trials,went gold panning and held the guinea pigs and the bunny rabbits.The girls were even happy to stroke the new sheep dog puppies they have as well as the older ones :)
This weeekend we will just be chilling and sorting out stuff for school next week.And maybe,as it's supposed to be warm the girls will get one last splash in the pool before the holidays are over!

Baby love...

As I mentioned in a post last week,whilst we were away the girls became acquainted with Baby,their cousins little dog.Neither girls are big dog lovers..this stems manily from when they were younger and dogs bounded up to them in parks and when we were out for pcnics etc.Em has got a lot better recently but Holly is still not keen! So these photos represent a major break through :) Baby is fairly quiet and doesn't yap or bark much (unless he hears a noise like a hairdryer!) which I think went part of the way to calming their fears a bit.

Today we have been out to get the last few school bits & pieces.I also got a couple of storage baskets for when I finally sort out my stash in my cupboards (definately a 'once the kids are back at school' job!) I had hoped to stock up on nice jumpers from Primark too but sadly the Stevenage store is not a patch on the Liverpool one and they didn't have the ones I wanted :( Influenced by Jakey I went off in search of Sharpies in Woolies... the question now is...what do I do with them?!

Superlambananas!!

While we were up visiting the in-laws we went into Liverpool one day and had fun spotting the Superlambananas around the place :) Holly needs to take a photo in to school to go on an 'Extreme Reading' photo wall,as we won't be going anywhere vaguely 'extreme' ,we decided to settle for photos ogf her reading a mag in front of a few of the Superlambananas!

WE arrived home yesterday afternoon after a nice few days away.On Thursday we went to Formby to the National trust land in the hope of seeing some red squirrels.sadly they are suffering from squirrel pox so there were none to be seen :( The weather really brightened up and we spent the afternoon on the beach :) we then drove back via Liverpool to go and show Em our old house where we lived till she was 2 1/2.

Thursday was spent in Liverpool dragging the kids round the shops!We haven't been into the town centre for a while now since Geoff's mum & dad moved from Anfield out to Widnes.There have been lots of changes ,took me a while to find my bearings! Primark though...OMG...absolutely huge !! Had Anna been there too I think we could have spent all day in there !!

Today I was up bright and early to go over and help at Anna's Summer Workshop for the day.My feet are killing me and I am stuffed from eating too much lemon cake! I finally got to meet Karen,I think I've finally found someone who talks faster than me!! We did one class,though I haven't finished it yet (what a surprise!)

Over at Pencil Lines we were sponsored by the gorgeous Jenny Bowlin kits this week :) Everything on my layout is from the kit except for the title which is done with Doodlebug stickers :)

I am heading off to my bed for an early night :)

Checking in...

..from wet Widnes! We are up visiting Geoff's mum & dad for a couple of days and the rain seems to have followed us here :(
Feeling a bit sore today having managed to fall down the stairs at 4.30 this morning!No, I was neither drunk or asleep,not quite sure what happened but I fell the whole way down on my bum and now have a fetching purple bruise coupled with a huge scrape on my elbow -ouch! I was on my way downstairs to get Holly a drink as she was awake at some unearthly hour!
This evening the girls have gone for a sleepover at their auntie's,just a shame we are both too knackered to go out and make the most of it! The girls have fallen in love with my neice's little dog which their antie is looking after at the moment.They are not dog lovers at all but have been won over by Baby, a little yorkie who is almost blind ,bless him! Though apparently they were a little concerned that he might sneak in to their rooms and lick their faces in the morning!
Tomorrow we were planning on going to see the red squirrels in Formby but as the weather is looking dire (yet again!) those plans may have to be cancelled.

The weekend

Yesterday we finally got round to going to see Wall E at the cinema with the girls.Except there was something wrong with it! We were eventually moved to another screen and given free scratch cards from which we won three packs of popcorn and a drink! Luckily it meant that we didn't have to sit through the adverts (they were abandoned as it was running 40 mins late) ,the downside being that we didn't get to see the High Scool Musical Senior Year trailer :( We were tempted to see if we could fit the lifesize display of the characters in the boot of the car though!! Anyway, we loved the film,and as we were so late coming out the girls got a MacDonalds for tea so they were happy! It was then home to watch the X Factor,yep - sucked in already!! The only problem being that I now feel like I'm on a countdown to Christmas!

Pencil Lines is live ...,mine looks absolutely huge when it's actually just a 6 x 12! Totally my fault,I am useless at resizing stuff without it either being too big or small and blurry :( One day I may learn how to do it properly!
Anyway, I used
Pink Paislee papers
American Crafts letter stickers
Doodlebug button
Heidi Swapp bling

Still here!

I seem to be getting a bit confused and losing days at the moment! Yesterday I was convinced it was Friday...!!(It's actually Friday now as I'm writing this but it will probably be very early AM Sat by the the time I finish it)

So, today was a very rare day with no rain,so I got the boring stuff like cutting the garden hedges and cutting the grass done.the girls had (rather severe!) hair cuts first thing before we headed over to stevenage as Em had an urge to buy herself a Hannah Montana pencil case! I came home with 2 new pairs of jeans - now I'm not really short so why is it so bloomin' difficult to buy jeans that aren't about two inches too long and drag in all the pudddles?! I also found a gorgeous jumper which my mum has bought me 'in advance' of September :) I love this time of year when the shops start to get their winter woolies in.Although I love the summer(when the sun actually shines!) ,I hate having my wobbly bits on display and am much happier snuggled up in a baggy jumper or cardy!

Holly had a friend round this afternoon cue much playing on the Wii and bouncing on the trampoline!


Scrapping wise, my mojo seems to have walked off, or maybe it got washed away in the rain?! I seeem to have taken so few photos this summer I don't know what to use!my Pencil Lines layout for next week is all done (we have some fab sponsership!) but I am still struggling with this weeks and may have to admit defeat :(

And finally, a picture of the rainbow,although this is one from yesterday ,not Tuesday!Love this one as you can see the 'reflection' too :)

All finished..

Yep, I think I am all finished on the joy that is uniform shopping.We went out bright and early this morning to go shoe shopping.Half an hour later and we were bankrupt ;)! Having been a trained Clarks shoe fitter in the past I am pretty strict with getting the girls school shoes fitted properly.Being at the age where she wanted some of the cheaper(ie more 'trendy')shoes,even Em agreed that the properly fitted ones were far more comfy:)At the end of the day I'd rather pay more for one decent pair than keep replacing lightweight ones! At least her walk to school is shorter from September .

The weather has been it's usual unpredictable self all day so plans to go for a walk to the lakes for an ice cream were scuppered.And we went to the corner shop for the ice cream instead!Shorter walk so less chance of being soaked!

This evening Holly has gone for a sleepover at my mum & dad's,so Em camped out in front of the tv with a bowl of popcorn and watched the Disney movie Haunted House :)

Poo,I was going to add a pic of one of the (many) rainbows we had today but blogger is playing up :(

Afternoon escape!

So this afternoon Anna and I made a break for freedom and went shopping for the afternoon :) Let's just say I spent considerably less than Anna but then again she did buy lots of stuff that I'm going to borrow!We saw lots of crop ladies too!Having emptied our purses in Stamperama we went for a quick shop in the town before heading home.It was a really nice afternoon,especially as it was arranged last minute:)


Pencil Lines is live, make sure you go and have a look ,the layouts are just fab this week plus we have Janine back too :)
This is my layout,
I used October Afternoon papers and journal tags
KI Lace cardstock
Prima flower
Doodlebug letter stickers
Scenic Route chipboard letters
The photo of Em was taken when she was all dressed up to go to her last school disco:)

Woohoo :)

I'd completely forgotten that there was a Stamperama show due at Stevenage ...it's tomorrow! So feeling just a little fed up with the non-stop rain and the fact that I haven't seen any real live stash in ages (before I buy it online!)I thought I'd see if Anna fancies going....and we are on!Now,my stash kitty is pretty low at the moment,but I'm not actually planning on buying much...I just want to see it! Though having said that I've just realised that a shop will be there that has some chipboard that I have been after for ages...
I got a fab box of gorgeousness this morning too as Anna went shopping at Capture the Magic the other day.I'd asked her to pick me up some buttons,and she padded out the box with some other very lovely velvety and glittery delights *happy sigh* so that brightened my day considerably before it chucked it down rain again for the whole day :(
This morning we went for a walk in the woods as Holly wanted to see how the tadpoles in the pond were doing.We would have walked further (well, Holly and I would have!) but the rain had set in by then.So we headed back into town and went to pick up Em's school polo shirts.I suppose I should start the name labelling soon really...
The Wii has had a lot of use today (and I am still queen of cow racing...say no more!) and Holly also did a couple of layouts this afternoon using a pack of three 3Bugs papers that I passed on to her :)
I am off to bed in the hope of waking up to a dry day tomorrow....

Lesson learnt....

...when going to the cinema,book your tickets in advance :( Say no more!! Anna, are we on for the end of the month?!

This afternoon we went to Standalone Farm with my sis,mum & dad and nieces.We haven't been there for a while now but not much has changed!One of my nieces is a bit of a daredevil and frightened the life out of me several times in the playground! Sadly Em is a bit too old for some of the things there now as the age limit is 8 on the playground and tractors but I think she still enjoyed herself :)Despite lots of loud thunder,it only rained heavily once and the afternooon was finished off with ice creams :)

Yesterday afternoon,they all came round here and the spent the time bouncing on the trampoline (seriously the best money we ever spent!) and chasing bubbles round the garden!

Not sure what we have planned for the weekend yet,we'll see what the weather decides to do!

Is it April?!

because it certainly feels like it with all this flippin' rain!

Today Anna and the girls came over,sadly due to the rubbish weather we were confined to the indoors all day :( Despite a few tears (from Holly!) things worked out okay and we were treated to a fashion show and a Hannah Montana dance off!Fingers crossed next time the sun will shine!

This is the quick layout I did on Sunday,using a very old sheet of KI memories paper that I found when I was trying to sort some of my stuff out!I think I need to do more layouts like this,just to make a dent in my piles of paper and flowers!

Not much else to reprt I'm afraid! We are hoping to do a trip to a farm park on Thursday if the weather holds, so maybe my camera will get a bit of use then!

Where...

...is the time going?!I realised that this morning that the girls still haven't really seen their friends yet this holiday...but they have something else on everyday this week,so I'd better make some phonecalls and arrange something for the next couple of weeks before they disappear!
On Friday morning we went down to the lakes so that the girls could go fishing and paddling in the river :) It's normally packed on a hot day,but as it was a bit cloudy & overcast and we got there early,we had the place to ourselves!Even the playground was deserted so they spent ages in there too.
The pool has been pretty much redundant the last few days with the disappearaance of the sunshine :(
Pencil Lines is live again ,here's mine :)

I used
Basic Grey Sugared and Sultry papers
MM tiny alpha stickers
AC felt thickers
Prima Crystals
I think it's probably obvious the photos weren't taken by me, but by Anna,last weekend! I used the Sunday Scraps prompt from Jen Hall's blog for the title ,as it suited the photos so well :)
Today the weather has been absolutely pants and I've had no fresh air at all..so expect to see me roaming the net,still wide awake in a few hours time!I did do a quick layout while the girls were eating their lunch though,using a few bits that were easy to put my hand to ,as I couldn't be bothered drasgging all my stuff out from everywhere!Holly has has her toe and finger nails painted today.She was most put out that no-one wanted her to theirs,so I remembered that I had some nail forms upstairs so she had fun painting them instead!
This week we have Anna,Izzy and Lilly visiting on Tuesday :),my sister will be staying at my mum & dad's for a couple of days,so we will be seeing her and her two girls.And I should be going to see Mamma Mia on Thursday with my sis...I can't remember the last time I saw a 'grown up' film at the cinema!