Brrrr....

Well the snow stayed and there's still some out there now as it's been freezing cold all day!We were out in the garden bright and early, before Holly decided she was cold and wanted her breakfast!
It's been very strange seeing lots of Autumn leaves surrounded by snow !
After lunch we went back out and finished the snow person.I dressed it as a witch and then Em changed it to wearing Hollys cowboy hat.We then went for a walk to the lakes to see if there was any snow left and see if the ducks wanted to be fed.For once they did! There were loads of ducks on the river and then we went to the lakes to find the swans.We came home very muddy !

What's going on?!

It's 12.30am and I have had 31 hits already?! Where are you all coming from, have I missed something?!
Let me know because I'm curious!

Pumpkins...and snow!!(Yes, really)

Bit of a barmy title I know,but that is what today has consisted of!This morning we headed off to Willows to meet up with Anna,Izzy and Lilly.I have never seen it so busy and we had to queue for ages to get in! Admittedly the pumpkin field wasn't as good as last year but that maybe because this year we have gone earlier in the week before everyone else had trampled the greenery down a bit! The girls insisted on choosing pumpkins that were green,so I popped into Tesco's to get a nice orange one on the way home! We did manage to get a few photos of them with various pumpkins though (not that that was the reason we went!) They also had fun feeding the baby goats (Anna's latest thing to put on her 'I want' list ;) ) and Holly was most put out when a cow slobbered over her mitten whilst eating grass off of it! We had a nice picnic out in the cold,Anna brought the practical stuff like lollipops for the kids whilst I brought WW yoghurts (plus spoons!) and Alpen Light bars ;) The girls also went gold panning and had a go on the water cannons

As we arrived home,it was raining and really cold.By 7 o'clock however it was snowing...heavily and has settled!Absolutely mad weather for October,and it's still snowing now!

You can tell

it's half term...the weather has turned rotten again ! That said,there is sunshine forcast for Tuesday,which is when we are off to Willows for Pumpkin week :) The girls have been warned that there will be cameras present as we are meeting Anna,Izzy and Lilly there :)
Today as it's been raining nearly all day we've pretty much stayed indoors apart from a quick walk round the block to grab a bit of fresh air.I've done lots of housework and made a cottage pie whilst the girls have been quite happy either drawing or just playing together.

This week on Pencil Lines we were sponsored by one of my favourite manufacturers,Scenic Route.Sadly,my layout looks pants as I just couldn't get the photo to show the true colours:(
All the papers and stickers used are from the Sonoma range.
It doesn't show up in the photo,but there is journalling about her likes & dislikes around the edge of the red circle.
Geoff is home this week for half term,hence the trip out to get pumpkins!We also need to go swimming as Holly wants to show us what she's learnt in her lessons :)On Friday Holly goes away on her Brownie pack holiday for two nights -yikes!I think I'm more nervous than she is!!I need to remember to get a sleeping bag from Anna on Tuesday or I will be in trouble!On Saturday night we have a pizza and X Factor evening planned with Em and on Sunday I will counting down the hours until we go and pick Holly up!

I am useless...

..at blogging at the moment :( And I can't even pretend that it's because I lead such an action packed life either!
So a catch up on the week just gone...
On Tuesday I went over to see Anna for the day as Karen was down visiting :) Anna's suggestion of a girly trip to Ikea was not well received by Karen (can't imagine why not!!) so we opted for a stay at home girly day instead.We got all Anna's kits packed for her next couple of teaching weekends.Believe me, the kits are fab and jam packed :) We sang our way through a very good film which is now definately one of my faves,before heading out for a lovely lunch.A very nice man in the car park noticed us trying to do the arm outstretched photo thing and offered to take one for us,just a shame he stood so far away!

On the way home I popped into the shops to finally replace my hairdryer which went bang about two months ago,it's so nice to be using a decent one again after so long!(See,I told you my life was exciting!)
Yesterday afternoon I fancied a trip to Stevenage but there werre no trains running so I ended up mooching around the town instead.I ended up treating myself to a cute Cath Kidston button tin to keep my needles and sewing kit in,a Hello Kitty keyring and some christmas tree baubles.Yes, yes I know it's only October and believe me ,I am the first to shout at the Christmas ads on the TV,but I know that by the time our tree is up, the baubles won't be there!
And I also got my glasses -woohoo! Must admit that I love them and have been very good wearing them when I've been reading and scrapping.
Right,I am off to bed as I'll be losing an hours sleep ! Or am I gaining one? I'm confused!

Strange but beautiful

No, not me ;)..but the sky this morning when we got up (which was far too early...the weekends should be made three days long...)

I know the photo with the telegraph pole in is a bit out of focus,but it shows the colour of the sky really well.Holly was most put out when the sun rose fully and the sky went back to normal!

This afternoon we went in to see Holly's teacher to see how she's settling into year 3.It makes us so proud when the first thing the teacher says is that she's a joy to teach :) She has a couple of confidence issues caused by something that is being monitored ,but other than that no real problems :)

Tomorrow I have the interesting stuff to do...like a pile of ironing and a whole load of house work -great...!! Though it's supposed to be sunny so I might go out with my camera and take some nice Autumny photos :)

And before anyone asks,I'm still waiting for my glasses ,but I promise to show you them when I get them...maybe ;)

Party weekend

On Friday Em had five of her friends round for a late birthday 'do'.Luckily at this age they seem to amuse themselves and were happy enough dancing ,eating and singing High School Musical karaoke on the Wii :) All the girls got on really well (they go to several different schools now) and there were a few tears when everyone had gone as she misses one of them in particular so much.She was also missing Holly a bit as she stayed over at my Mum & Dad's for the night.I love how even though they wind each other at times they miss each other when they're apart,even now they're older.Long may it last!
Last night both girls had a sleepover at my mum & dad's as Geoff and I had a very rare night out and went to a neighbours birthday party.Poor Geoff had to stay sober as he was driving whilst I was a bit the worse for wear by the time we came home -oops! The weird thing was though was that by 2am I felt perfectly sober again...so no hangover for me this morning! We even got a lie in as the girls didn't come home til lunch time.
Yesterday afternoon Holly and I went for a walk to the lakes.I think I have put her off throwing leaves in the air for life! I really need to learn how to use my camera properly by next Autumn so that I don't keep missing shots!


My Pencil Lines layout for this week is another Autumn themed one, I'm making the most of the gorgeous weather we've had the last few weekends with the camera!
I used Basic Grey Ambrosia & Mellow papers
Hambly overlay
Basic Grey Mellow letter stickers
Bella Boulevard paper (the cut out trees)
And did lots of distressing & inking!
The smaller picture which isn't very clear is of some tiny toadstools we found in the woods :)
This week we have Holly's teacher consultation,I have a trip over to Anna's on Wednesday and maybe I'll get my new glasses too:) I chose some funky ones in the end,a different pair to those I first tried on.If they make me look intelligent,I may share a photo...don't hold your breath!

It's official....

...I have too much stuff...or maybe the house is just too small?!
Yesterday I decide to try and tackle my full to the brim wardrobe.And no, it's not just full of clothes...it's also stuffed with photo albums ,my record collection from my distant youth,books that have I no bookshelf for,a bag of baby clothes that I just can't part with ...the list goes on.Ten minutes into attempting to sort it out I was at the end of my tether.So I chucked out a few bits of clothing that I've never worn and rummaged around to see if I could find any storage room under the bed.From there I retrieved a winter coat and cardigan that were Em's which now fit Holly perfectly,giving me a valuable space to stuff the bag of stocking filler bits & pieces I have already bought for Christmas.I also found a box with some OPI nail polishes I had forgotten about...yum! So I'm now debating what gorgeous colour to go for when I paint my nails this weekend and for a lunch date next week :)I managed to squeeze all the junk back into the wardrobe anyway,though how long before it all jumps back out at me I'm not sure!
This afternoon I went and had my eyes tested and spent ages trying on frames.I have to admit that I think I look daft in any glasses, but I have to have some so I persevered.Sadly I think the ones I really like ,the expensive Guess designer ones are going to be cast aside in favour of the plainer ,cheaper ones .Well lets face it I don't own designer anything so it seems a bit daft to start with glasses that I'll only be wearing for reading and scrapping!

12 and 2

Today this gorgeous girl is 12 years old...where did those twelve years go?!Funny how I can remember the day/night I had her so clearly,yet there are so many days in between that I have probably totally forgotten... Anyway, she seems to have a good day with lots of nice pressies :) The one drawing a very loud 'Woohoo!' from her was the Miley Cyrus album from Anna! We had a little tea party and birthday cake this afternoon and then she has some friends coming round next Friday evening.Not sure what they'll be doing yet,but the doughnuts on a string game has been requested!
Anyway, it seems like ages since I blogged so I'm just trying to remember what we've been up to! On Tuesday I had a day off and hopped on a train to visit Anna.After a little bit of kit packing we settled down to watch 'How To Lose a guy in 10 Days' as Anna hadn't seen it before.It was such a nice way to spend an afternoon when the weather was pants!I seemed to spend the rest of the week running around from one place to another..
On Friday Em had an Inset day off school so we took her to Thurrock to choose some of her birthday presents, the boring bits like clothes!
Yesterday morning we took the girls to the family cinema showing in town to see Space Chimps...let's just say I'm glad we didn't take them somewhere full price to see it... Holly was mesmerised by the trailer for The Girl and the Fox so that's next on her 'to see' list! In the afternoon Holly and I went for another walk through the woods before going shopping for wrapping paper and birthday cards.The woods were absolutely beautiful,the light was just gorgeous.
It has been so warm again today so this afternoon we all went down to the lakes to feed the ducks,before coming home to decorate Em's cake and get tea ready.
And so on to the 2.....yes, Pencil Lines is 2 years old! This week we have teamed up with the amazing girls from One Little Word,make sure you go and see what they've done!This is my layout,about Geoff and I being married for 15 years this year.
I used MM Animal Crackers paper
BG Mellow paper
Prima swirls
Maya Road flowers
Doodlebug alpha stickers
Prima Journalling page
K&Co ticket
AC Puffy thickers
We also have a new design team member joining us this week, Michelle Filo :)
This week we have Harvest Festival at Hollys school and on Wednesday I am finally getting my eyes tested which I know will result in me buying glassses...

Ermm...

I can't think of a title for this blog post!So it'll have to be 'ermmm'!!
Yesterday Holly and I went out to Ayot and for a walk through the woods back to the town centre.There were lots more conkers on the ground this week,probably due to the fact that it's been so windy the last few days! Walking through the woods was lovely,though very quiet!I really thought we would see more people then we did.I must admit I wasn't quite sure where we going a lot of time,but we made it back to the town after about half an hour so we didn't do too badly.After a quick whizz round the shops,we came home for the first hot chocolate of the season.Well,the kids did, I was very good and didn't have one.
Today the weather has been miserable, rain ,wind and yet more rain :( I'm hoping to pop over and see Anna sometime this week and well as getting stuff ready for Em's birthday next weeekend :)
This is my Pencil Lines LO this week,I used Prima Dude,Basic Grey Mellow & Ambrosia papers
AC Puffy Thickers
and not a lot else!

I wanted to chuck a load more stuff on it,but nothing looked right so I settled for the simpler look!The title was going to be 'raving conkers' but I couldn't do the 'raving' the way I wanted so I left it .And then realised that my PL layout this time two years ago was also called Conkers-oh well,it's seasonal!
Next week is our second birthday at Pencil Lines and we have something fab lined up so don't forget to pop on over and join in the party!