They're here :)

The books arrived at lunchtime today :) I have started Twilight but have put it down for now, thought I'd better pace myself! Plus,I think it might be a bit unsociable for me to sit with my nose stuck in a book all Saturday afternoon whilst everyone else is home! So having just played a bit of mario cart with holly I'm off to pick it up again as Em is battling with some maths homework!

And here's a peek of my layout for tomorrow night,something I haven't done for ages!

(Im)patiently waiting...

I have recently gone back to spending far too much time on my butt in front of the PC in the evenings so have decided to get some new books to read.Now I must admit that too much hype tends to put me off things,but I have gone ahead and ordered the first three of the Twilight books (at the bargain price of £7.99 they seemed too good to miss!)Em is also keen to read them so even if I'm not impressed they'll be welcome amongst all her other books!I've deliberately tried to avoid reading anything about the film too ,other than various people saying it's pants compared to the books!So now I am just waiting for the postie to leave them on my doorstep :) ...sooner rather than later!
This week has been a bit of a weird one.As Geoff was off on Monday it kind of felt like a Sunday so it feels like tomorrow and the end of the week has come round pretty quickly.Despite scrapping loads last weekend I really haven't felt the urge to do so since :( I obviously find it easier when I can just work away without having to keep everything away in between!I scrap in the kitchen and sometimes I just don't feel like sitting out there on my own all evening.
Em came home today with two more school certificates,one for 100% attendance and one for the highest effort grades,we're so proud of her!Holly has now started cheerleading classes at school and seems to be really enjoying them :)
A few more photos of our weekend away,Anna with her treasured bag of cheese and a fab group shot (nicked from Anna :) )

And two more layouts :)

48 hrs of bliss....

Bliss is the word that really sums up my weekend :).On Friday afternoon Anna and I loaded up her car (just a little bit ;) )and drove to the Cotswolds to spend the weekend with Kerry,Kerry and Louise.Kerry found us a fab cottage to 'home' us for the weeknd with comfy sofas and huge tables big enough for us all to scrap on.I spent the weekend dining on wonderful homecooked food (cooked by the others I hasten to add, I was in charge of breakfast which meant croissants,toast and cereals!),with a few brownies and lots of Diet Coke chucked in for good measure :)Despite 'threatening' to sit and drink hot choclate all weekend,I actually managed six Lo's without using a single sketch...which believe me is a major miracle for me at the moment!It was lovely just to sit and scrap without having to tidy away before I went to bed.On Saturday we went out to a local village where we bought presents for the kiddies left behind and Anna manged to lose her purse!Luckily some kind person handed it in at the very last shop we asked in and Anna is now under strict instructions to keep her purse in her bag at all times !Friday and Sunday night were spent scrapping into the early hours of the morning :)Sunday morning we went out for the obligatory photo shoot (oh come on,it has to be done!)before returning indoors for spag bol and more scrapping. Come 4 o'clock we were just about packed up and ready to head back home :(

I had a wonderful time and can't wait for the next one!It was such a luxury to be able to switch off from every day life for two days and totally unwind.My scrapping stuff is still sitting untouched so I guess I'd better unpack it all tomorrow!
Don't forget to check out Pencil Lines this week :) I didn't make it this week ,though the LO is all planned out in my head!
Photos are of a couple of my fave layouts that I did this weekend :)

Eeeeeek!!

So as per usual I have left getting ready til the last minute!! Nearly all done now though,but I've probably forgotten something!
I have been pretty grumpy the last couple of days so I am really looking forward to a weekend of chilling,drinking hot chocolate,scrapping and watching Mamma Mia :)
Be back in a couple of days :)

A girl and her picture

Forgot to add a photo of Holly with the painting she did on Sunday so here it is:) Not sure why she was wearing the headscarf,but she did look cute!

Today is one of those days where things have gone a bit wrong.I discoverd that two cheques have cleared from my account...which I wrote back in September!I'd assumed they gone through long ago ,I wasn't sitting here thinking that I'd got away without paying!So I have to go back to the bank tomorrow (couldn't do it today as it was 15 mins before I had to collect Holly) and hope that I'm in time to pay in some more money before they bounce a cheque that I wrote on Saturday (thinking that was still money in there).I could really do without the extra running around!

Then this evening I have made a batch of cookies for a cake sale at school tomorrow...and they are looking a bit odd! Don't know what I've done wrong and I've made them loads of times before without any probs ...but they are definitely not right :( And I am all out of flour so I'll have to make another load tomorrow afternoon and take them straight into school...

I have started to get ready for the weekend though,mystery kit is packed, papers & alphabets chosen....I am getting there slowly!

The weekends are too short

The worst thing about doing my blog on a Sunday night is that I know it's Monday tomorrow and another weekend has been and gone :( I think the weekend should be three days long ..not two!
Geoff was working today ,so I was treated to breakfast in bed by the girls with the milk in a gravy boat -bless! We went a very windy (but sunny)walk round the lakes after lunch followed by a lovely roast for tea -yum:)
Em's been ploughing on with homework ,whilst Holly decided to paint a canvas that she got from Santa in Milton Keynes.It's one of those ones where the picture is printed on and you paint over it.
This is my Pencil lines layoiut for this week.As per usual,it looks much nicer in real life, the colours of the paper are just gorgeous.
I used
Basic Grey Bittersweet papers
Doodlebug sugar coated alphabet
Basic Grey chipboard letters
Basic Grey buttons
Heidi Swapp heart bling
MM tiny alphas
Fancy Pants bobble trim
heart pin from market stall!
The white paper is stitched on as are the buttons (yes, I'm well aware that it's pretty wonky in places!As you can probably tell, I was a bit stuck for a title for this one too!Couldn't really put winter in the title,as the photo was taken during the mad snow in October...just before Halloween!
This week Holly has yet another party as well as starting cheerleading classes at school :)
I have lots of planning to do for next weekend and need to start packing my stash up so that I can squeeze it all into Anna's car :) No doubt I wil be running round like a headless chicken on Thursday night !

The tale of the mouse

..with no tail!
A few days ago a long black felt like 'thing' appeared in the bathroom.Geoff put it on the windowsill where I found it.I asked both Em and Holly if they knew what it was,nope, no ideas there either.So I asked Geoff and he said it was the cotton/thread stuff which made up the smile on Holly's Mickey Mouse toy.(It's been hanging loose from side of his mouth for a while!)So I put it 'safe' on the drawers next to my bed.Sometime this morning before I was properly awake I vaguely heard a loud crying.Then it stopped,so I went back to sleep (as you do)About an hour later when Geoff brought me up a drink he asked where that 'black stuff' was from the bathroom.Turns out that this morning Holly discoverd that Mickey is now tail-less - hence the loud crying upon discovery of this fact.Now,Mickey is her favourite toy,has been since she was about 18 months old.We bought him for her when she took a shine to Em's one, so she could have her own.Since then she has remained totally loyal to him,and not switched favourite toy on a yearly basis (as Em used to do!)Whilst she doesn't take him literally everywhere,he is always by her side at night and downstairs with her first thing in the morning,she used to gently flap his ears on her cheeks when she was tired and she always reaches out for him when she is upset.And now he is tail-less.On closer inspection(don't ask),it appears it has simply worn away (probably from the frequent practice of being swung or carried around by said tail) that has caused the 'erosion'.So tomorrow I have the job of re-joing the felty tail to the felty stump which is hidden under his thinning red shorts.No doubt he will be lovingly cared for afterwards for several minutes before being swung round by the tail again.....

I beg to differ...

This afternoon I was sorting out lots of bits of paper and drawings of Holly's when I came across this one.She'd copied some of it(the big book of knowledge) from the cover of a book,but it was the bottom that caught me eye.The last couple of days I seem to have spent loads of time thinking...to the point that I've spent too much time wrapped up in my own thoughts and I'm even more fed up/confused than before I started all the thinking ,do you know what I mean?! Maybe I just need to get out more !But there are times when I think too much thinking is not good! But don't you love the way she spelt brainy?!
Anyway,as a result of my tidying ,I have claimed the big pull out drawer in the TV unit as mine,all mine :) It was half of Holly's toys/drawings etc and half full of my scrapbook albums.But as I needed to start filling another album I needed to find a home for the most recently filled one ,which has been propped up in various places around the living room for the past couple of months.The only other cupboards we have downstairs are built in and back on to outside walls so are fairly cold and damp.I've already found a few dead woodlice in a couple of LO's from when the album was propped up in the bay window -yuck,not the best embellishment to compliment the Pink Paislee and Basic Grey! One job I know I must do sometime though is go through my old layouts and stick back on all the flippin' Heidi Swapp letters that have fallen off...sound familiar anyone?!

No scrapping to share as my mojo has taken a walk out the door (yet again!) I need to get my butt into gear though as I am away next weekend and should really spend some of the time scrapping..I'm just looking forward to going away :)

This afternoon Holly started doing Country Dancing after school,I think I was more excited about it than she was! it really takes me back to when I did it at school.I have a photo somewhere of myself at the same age wearing a really delightful white nylon dress (made by muy mum)and straw hat ...not one of my finest moments!!

Huge thanks to Anna for my new banner,I thought it was time for a new one after nearly three years! And as I don't have a clue about how to do things like that I was more than happy to let her get on with it for me :)(And she needs the practice ;) !!)

Ummmm....

absolutely no idea what to call this blog post today!
Not much news to share, I'm just trying to remember what we've been doing!
Holly had a party to go to at the local roller rink on Friday evening.I have to admit that watching her totally frightens the life out of me and the quicker I get out of there the better! She came home all in one piece though ,albeit a bit sore in places.She has another one to go to there this week too, so at least she's getting some practice in !
Our weekend has been quiet,the girls have had haircuts ,some shelves have been put up in Holly's room and we've sorted some more junk out from Em's room :)
This afternoon we went for a regular walk down to the lakes.They are pretty much still frozen over , with the ice being really thick.I can't believe though, how many parents encourage their kids to lean in and pick up chunks of ice from the edge to throw at the still frozen bits...idiots!


Here's my Pencil Lines Lo for this week :)
I used
Pink Paisle Vintage Moon papers
Crate paper
Jenni Bowlin bingo card & alphabet stickers
Maya Road velvet flowers
Prima swirls
Maya Road sheer
Bazzill Just the Edge
Kaiser pearls

I love these photos of Izzy,taken last year when she was taking photos of Anna & Lilly :)

Getting there

So,we are slowly getting back into the normal routine of school and everything else.I must admit that I don't like getting up in the mornings though, just another hour under the warm duvet would do nicely!
We were lucky enough to get a sprinkling of snow earlier in the week,though it wasn't really enough to do anything with (like go sledging or make a snowman!) it did hang around and make everything look pretty for a while.
Hmm, I really can't think of anything interesting to write..!!
The NYE mini book is still waiting to be done..but done it will be ,as I've printed all the photos and I'm not wasting them!
Life seems pretty quiet after the mad month before Christmas, though Holly seems to be hitting a social whirl again with several parties in the next couple of weeks.It's not like I don't have anything to keep me busy though...there's loads of stuff to do around the house!
Right, Greys has finished (I've been writing this in the (many) advert breaks !) so I am off to bed :)

Turn the heating up...

..it's flippin' freezing! Musn't complain though,I love it when it's cold and frosty,so much nicer than rain and wind!Despite the cold, me and the girls still went down to the lakes for another walk and to feed the swans as we had a loaf of bread ready to be chucked.Just as well we went, the swans seemed starving! Both parts of the lake were completely frozen over today.Not surprisingly it was pretty deserted down there so the girls grabbed a chance to go on the 'boingy thing' (I have no idea what it's real name is!!(modern day see saw?!)) in the playground too as it was free(we gave up waiting for a turn yesterday!)
We've also spent some time in Em's room making a dent in the 'big clearout'.Sadly they both seem to have inherited my tendancy to hoard,so I'm trying to snap them out of it while they're young!Trouble is,I would rather spend the weekends out in the fresh air than stuck in a bedroom sorting through stuff!
Tomorrow Em is back in schoool so it'll be just me & Holly.We are off out for a hot chocolate in the morning and I have a couple of other bits to do whilst we are in the town.

Pencil Lines is back tonight after our Christmas break :)
For my layout I used
Scenic Route Surprise and Sonoma papers
KI Lace paper
AC glitter thickers
Doodlebug letter stickers
Fancy pants trim
Prima swirls
Our sponsor was Elle's Studio.I cut round the tags and layered them for my journalling spot and used a January tag :)
This evening I have sat and started to make a mini book with pics of the party in -shock horror, I never make mini books! But I am trying to make myself use up stash and do something with it! Though after tonight I think using Stickles must be easier than glue with Doodlebug glitter sprinkled over, right?!
I am off to bed as getting up 'normal' (ie early!) time tomorrow is going to be a bit of a shock....

So I lied

and didn't come back and do a blog post yesterday,sorry!
Instead I actually did a layout.Now I know that may not sound like an amazing achievement,but the last couple of weeks I really haven't been bothered whether I ever scrap again or not.I'm not really sure why,to be honest.It didn't stop me treating myself to some of the new Basic Grey Bittersweet range though ,which arrived this morning -yum :)My scrapping stuff is in such a mess again right now so that sort of puts me off going anywhere near it!I did use up lots of scraps and half sheets though when doing all the calendars before Christmas,which has reduced my paper pile a bit!
So, New Year and all that it brings...I haven't chosen a 'word', made any resolutions...if anything,it just makes feel me a bit down,all the life/personal analysis stuff that New Year seems to bring on.Oh,I'm a happy little bunny aren't I?!
So what does 2009 have in store for me....I turn 40 and Em turns 13,now that is a scary thought!(Her being 13 that is!)
The New Years Eve party at Anna's was fab.I admit to drinking far too much,but strangely staying fairly sober!Anna was apparently wondering why we were late,when it was due to Geoff's make-up (note, not mine!)taking longer to do than anticipated.He was going to go as Heath Legders version of the Joker,but once the green hairspray was on he decided to go with the Jack Nicholson version instead.His hair was fab colour ,though it wasn't that obvious unless he was in the light! And Lyzzy, no I didn't go as a welcome sign! I went as Anna, arriving with a home made cake,my camera round my neck and wearing her apron (cunningly pinched and hidden by Karen & Kevin for me -just a shame we couldn't find it!!)Everyone else's costume's were fab,so next time I'm getting a proper one! Not surprisngly, there was lots of singing and lots of Rock Band :) (not by me I hasten to add,one song was enough for them to tell me I was awful!!)I had a horrible feeling I was going to wish I was at home with the girls come midnight as they'd planned to wake up and watch the fireworks.As it was,when my Dad woke Holly ,she went to the toilet and then went straight back to bed,whilst Em didn't even wake up!Which made me feel much better knowing that!Anyway, a huge big thank you to Anna & Peter for inviting us,when can we do it again?!So, here are some more photos :)Thanks to Karen for letting me pinch the one of me & Geoff :)



So the Christmas decs are now all down and back in the loft.Whilst it's nice to have the room back to normal,it's feels a little 'bare' in here too...
Don't forget to check out Pencil Lines tomorrow night as we are back from our little break :)

Happy 2009 :)

Hmm, so today doesn't feel any different than yesterday but I always think I should feel different as it's a new year....
I will blog properly tomorrow as I really need to catch up on some sleep!Here are a couple of photos from last night though :)