Soaking up the sun :)

Well, yesterday I did anyway :)I feel like I should be out in the sun as you never know how long it's going to last!So I sat there and painted my toe nails,read a book,nosed through my big shoulder tote ...and chilled :)And tomorrow it will be back to the usual routine of housework and catching up on stuff I haven't done while the kids have been home,whether the sun shines or not!
Today I went cropping :) I know,sitting indoors on a day like this -mad! But it ages since I've been and I actually got quite a bit done :) Three practically finished layouts,they just need embellishments and bits adding that I didn't take with me (Because despite the weight of the bag I took,I did try not to take everything bar the kitchen sink with me!)Entertainment was supplied by Anna,who,having dropped a black ink pad on her white trousers,proceeded to smudge black ink over her face by accident too!Just as well we crop around the corner from her house!

This is my Pencil Lines layout for this week,with a sketch by Anna.Our guest this week was Dena Coe.
I used
My Minds Eye shaped paper
October Afternoon paper
Kaiser pearls
Jenni Bowlin ticket
AC flair badge
KI Memories softie
Prima bling & flower
I couldn't think of a title for it,hence the lack of one!

The recipe

for four happy girls is as follows

1.Go and see a Disney film at the cinema

2.Pay a visit to a Claire's outlet store

3.Finish off with a trip to McDonalds,complete with a McFlurry

That pretty much sums up our day! We met up with Anna,Izzy and Lilly at the cinema and went to see Hannah Montana the movie.Despite what she says,Anna secretly enjoyed it ,though I think she may regret buying Izzy the soundtrack - anyone for the hoe down?! The girls also got themselves a few treats from Claire's .Izzy and Holly now have a best friends necklace between them ,a very cool Nightmare before Christmas one at that!

On Tuesday we went Moonlight Bowling ...at 9am in the morning! My kids seem to have the most unorthodox bowling style I've ever seen...that said Em whopped my butt and I came a joint sorry second with Holly! We also popped into Primark where Em stocked up hairbands ,as well as our first trip to Claire's of the week :)

Wednesdays plans were changed due to Holly's friends being ill so she had one friend here instead.On Thursday the girls got to spend most of the day with their cousins before Em went to a friends and Holly and I headed back home.

With the weather being generally dry (except for Wednesday), there's also been lots of time spent in the garden,bikes being ridden etc.Although I suffer when it's gets really hot (very fat ankles!!),I love the more relaxed pace of the holidays in the warmer weather :)

We have more beautiful weather forcast for the next few days ,though Sunday I will be indoors best part of the day as I am finally going cropping! I haven't been since last December,but as per usual have no idea what to take with me .I did tidy my table top tote out the other day though so at least that's a little bit lighter :)

I am off to decide what to scrap...!

Happy half term...

So for once we have had beautiful weather for nearly the whole of the bank holiday weekend,just a couple of showers today :)Geoff has been working away in the garden and the corner of the garden is now all fenced,wooden based and ready for the pool :) It also makes a pretty good stage area...karaoke anyone?! I can see the kids making use of it soon!Holly also gave her Dad a helping hand,she loves doing stuff like that :) I spent yesterday afternoon re-doing all the planters ,we may not have veggies but we will have flowers! Actually we do have one veg,I forgot about Holly's runner beans :) She had planted them in a tub at my mum & dad's and has now brought them round here :) This afternoon Em has had a friend over,one that Holly adores too so they've both been happy :) I made the most of them amusing themselves and took the oppurtunity to properly look through my Scrapbook Trends mag whilst sat in the sunshine.And to end a lovely weekend ,we've had a game of badminton in the garden,something I don't think we managed at all last year!

This is my Pencil Lines layout this week.

I used

My Minds Eye Lola papers

Doodlebug sugar coated alphabets

Angel Kiss flowers

Prima bling

Papermania letter stickers

I borrowed the title from a Jen Hall layout,love the titles on her pages (love her layouts full stop!)

Tomorrow morning we off to go bowling,very bright and early!Might even let the girls loose in Claire's whilst we are over there!That said I actually got some fab little bits in the sale there on Friday.Usually when other people have said they've found things there I've found nothing.Last week though I got some fab charms for £1 each as well as some Rock Star badges and a funky skull keyring topper. Love a bargain!

Surprise post

is always the nicest post :) Yesterday a pizza box landed on my doorstep from Anna with a very cute Momiji apron in it :) The label on the box gave me a giggle as it says it's a 'dainty apron for Sunday baking' Well, if you've ever seen me baking, I most certainly am not dainty,and make a huge mess everywhere! Hopefully one day I will have a Domestic Goddess moment and be able to wear it without ruining it!
We are forecast sunny weather for the next few days -yipee! I think I will be spending the weekend out in the garden cutting hedges and the grass! No veggie patches here this year,no doubt I'll be regretting that later in the year when everyone else starts showing off their homegrown veg! Maybe next year?! Trouble is where we had them a couple of years back is right next to one of the hedges ,so they get covered whenever the neighbours cut the hedge :(

Today Holly went to her first school disco,bless! At her school they don't have disco's until they are in juniors.She looked so gorgeous :) She had swimming last thing so we had less than an hour to shower her,wash her hair ,dry it and curl it!I can remember so clearly though when Em went to her first one and exactly what she wore! Anyway,she was seemed to enjoy herself and happy that they played her request...which was Mamma Mia!
I am looking forward to half term next week :) Though trying to jiggle everything round seems impossible in one week...roll on the summer holidays and six weeks! So far we have planned -bowling (for 1p a game!),meeting up with friends for a picnic (weather permitting!),seeing Anna and probably seeing my sister, as well as still trying to sort out Em having a friend over and another for a sleep over...
Right, Greys has finished and I've almost stopped crying(yet again!) so I'm heading off to bed soon :)

A bit of pink

Today I decided to hop on the train and go shopping in Stevenage.I got a couple things for the girls including those lovely pink pumps in the photo for the bargain price of £2.50! Also got Holly the pink HSM bodywarmer which will come in handy in autumn (or now really considering the weather!) For me I got a lovely long beady necklace from Primark .You can always depend on their jewellery shelves, especially when there only seem to be size 10's left in all the nice tops!

And in the £ store I got some Hannah Montana party ware all ready for Holly's birthday ...in November!

I'm still here!

I just got out of the habit of blogging after I left it for a few days!
The grumps passed over ,though I still have a few 'things' still going on in my head,but I'm not dwelling on them!
So what happened last week....
We had Parents evening at Em's school...parents evening at junior school is definitely a less complicated affair! Anyway, she is doing really well, getting her predicted grades and most importantly enjoying it there :)
Holly has been a busy bee and had a couple of friends round this week,I'm trying to catch up on my list of her freinds we need to have round!Getting there slowly....
Friday evening we all went to a fund raising evening at Brownies with Holly.They had a cake stall, hair braiding,nail painting,tattoos,hook a duck etc etc! Everyone seemed to have a good time and hopefully they raised a fair bit!
The weather her has been pretty unpredictable the last couple of days,no rain when it was forecast and chucking it down when it was only supposed to be light rain!
This is my Pencil Lines layout for this week.I used photos taken of Holly yesterday,basically as she is 'Right now'
She had her braided for the first time and her new Hello Kitty t-shirt on :)I still need to do some journalling on it,but my decent fine brown journallng pen was last seen in the hands of a certain 8yr old...
Anyway, I used
MME Tiny Dancer paper
Pink Paislee Sweet cakes paper
AC puffy thickers
Queen & Co felt
Prima swirls
Prima pop up bird
Heidi Grace hearts
Heidi Swapp butterflies


Nothing major planned for this week.I'm getting the urge to have a huge clearout and de-clutter so I might try make a tiny dent in that big job! Or I'll probably just put it off to another time as I usually do....

Got the grumps

I don't know if it's the fact that it's Monday,or the fact that I'm tired,but I definitely have the grumps at the moment.Maybe it's the fact that the weekends go by too fast? Or may be I'm just getting old and becoming a grumpy old woman?!

Anyway, the weeknd was lovely and I did mean to blog last night but just didn't feel like it.Saturday we did the food shopping aand then had a visit from my sister & her two girls,so there was lots of bouncing on the trampoline!

Yesterday Geoff was working so in the morning the girls and I went down to the lakes.The girls had a paddle in the river ,until Holly decided to jump from one stepping stone to another (which wasn't exactly near to her!) and promptly slipped and fell on her bum! We also went to the playground for a quick go on the wok and the boingy thing ,before walking round the lake.Holly wanted to go to her favourite tree but soon realised that sitting in a tree isn't comfy when wearing a skirt .We also found this lovely bunch of fluffies too :)

The day was finished off with a barbecue,our first one this year (I know, we're so behind everyone else!)

This is my Pencil Lines layout this week.I used October Afternoon and Scenic Route papers

Sassafrass letter stickers

Basic Grey buttons

Jenni Bowlin & My little Shoebox letters.

The photos were taken a couple of years back when it was Holly's turn to bring home 'Learner Bear' for the night.She had to fill in a diary of what he had been up to while he stayed here and add photos, hence we had loads of them!

Not sure what I'm up to the rest of the week,the weather certainly isn't looking great after today.I guess I could just get on with the ironing mountain ,the result of lots of sunny weather the past few days!

I spoke too soon..

...and it rained on and off all day Monday :( So nothing done in the garden and no barbie :(
By the afternoon I was a bit fed up so Holly and I made some muffins,or 'mega massive muffins' as Em as called them! Bad move really as I've eaten loads of them!
Yesterday was a different matter though,loads of sunshine so I got a bit caught up,mowing both the front and back gardens and whizzing round with the strimmer.
I'm still all out of synch and totally confused as to what day it is after the weekend,doesn't take much does it?!
I'm afraid there's not much interesting stuff going on here.Holly was at a friends after school which gave me a chance to tidy her room a little bit.I don't know how an eight year old can end up with so many 'bits' Actually,looking at all my stuff maybe I can see where she gets it from?!

Took the plunge and ordered the Cherry Hill range by October Afternoon today -yum! I usually decide I like their papers too late and half the papers I want are out of stock so this time I thought I'd get in quick! Just need some sunshine and some summery photos now :)

Surprise surprise, a bank holiday weekend without any rain -so far!
We didn't do much yesterday ,I even had a chance to sit and soak and soak up the sunshine for a bit :)We moved a few bits around in the garden ,getting it ready to put the pool up for the summer.Em sat out and did some homework whilst Holly scrubbed the trampoline clean :)Holly and I also sat and made daisy chains and I played with my camera!
Today we spent most of the day at my Mum & Dad's to celebrate my Dad's 75th birthday.Although the weather was dry,it was a bit chilly to sit out so we crammed all 10 of into one smallish room for lunch!The girls had a treasure hunt outside and a pass the parcel:)I even got someone to take a decent photo of Geoff and I together.But how scary is it when you pose for a family photo only to find you can no longer see over your kids head when they stand in front of you!They're growing up way too fast...
This is my Pencil Lines for this week :) We were given some Crate Paper papers to work with for this weeks sketch:)I used
papers from the Lemon Grass range
Heidi Swapp chipboard letters
Kaiser pearls
Pink Paislee letter stickers
Maya Road birds
Prima chipboard flower
My Little Shoebox tiny alphas