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!

More from the poppy field...

These are two of my favourites from Saturdays visit :) The one of Holly isn't posed..it was windy and her hat was about to blow away! And I had to do a bit of crawling about to get the one of the poppy against the sky! I'm tempted to go back and get some of the poppy heads so that I can scatter the seeds in the front garden for next year!

>

And this is one of the layouts I did yesterday.And yes, it does looks very Anna-ish, I used a photo she gave me! I didn't bother with a title as it's to go in Holly's room.I also did one for Em ,of her & her best friend so I won't be putting that one online.

Tomorrow Em is off to do an IT Masterclass at her future senoir school,she is really excited to have been picked :)

Haven't started on the stash sorting yet...I am the queen of procrastination!!

Excuse the photos being all over the place, they don't look like that when I preview the post!

Scrapping away...

Today was crop day...and guess what - I actually got loads done!I don't know who was more shocked,me Anna or Kerry!Poor Kerry sits next to me and usually has to put up with me shuffling my papers around non-stop and muttering that I don't know what to do;)I came home today with 5 layouts,and a 'thing' done :) Okay, so four of the layouts were 6x12's but that's still an achievment !I've been feeling a bit unsure of my scrapping this week, but then yesterday afternoon when Em had a friend over, she and Holly got my albums out and went went through them all,telling the stories about the pages.And it brought it home how worthwhile it is.Okay, so a lot of my pages aren't about a specific 'memory',and more often or not I just scrap a photo because I like it...as long as the girls enjoy them and I enjoy doing them, that's what is important.
Yesterday I went back to the poppy field with Holly as she wanted to pick some and of course the camera came too.I got a few really nice pictures but they are on the main PC which keeps throwing a hissy fit.The afternoon was spent sitting in the garden while the girls were in the pool:)It's a good excuse for just sitting & relaxing for a while!

And lastly,this is my Pencil Lines layout this week.
I used
October Afternoon & Scenic Route papers
Prima crystals
Scenic Route journalling spots
Heidi Swapp chipboard
Prima flowers
Love Elsie chipboard frame
Hambly overlay

This week I am hopefully going to make a start on sorting my stash out, I am sick of everything falling out of the cupboard everytime I go looking for something!And the fact that I can never find what I'm looking for..wish me luck...

Inspired by Lyzzy...

I am such a copy cat that having seen Lyzzy's gorgeous poppy field photos on her blog earlier in the week,I made Anna drive us there today (it's only 5 mins away so she didn't take much persuading!)so we could take arty photos !The poppies really are breathtaking,it's like standing in a sea of red.

After hitting the poppy field we went into town for a browse around the shops.If you have girls that are into HSM, pop into Claires as they have lots of bargains at the moment!Though Anna was a little puzzled at how she came out of there spending about 5 times as much as I did!
My sweet peas have finally really taken off so I sent Anna home with a bunch:)I don't like cutting them, but I guess you have to,to make them flower more!
Holly came home from Brownies today with her first badge ,her hostess badge :)They have lots going on this term and she seems to be really enjoying it.
Tomorrow Em has a friend coming over for a sleepover ,if the weather is nice Holly wants to go to poppy field and on Sunday it's crop day.As usual I'm not at all organised and will be faffing around with my stuff very late tomorrow night!

First splash of the season!

Today it was finally warm enough for the girls to go in the pool! Well, I don't think the water was actually that warm, but they were determined to go in!They enjoyed themselves anyway, though Holly's lips were a bit blue when she came out!
Today the man of the house has his birthday, so large (for us anyway!) amounts of alcohol were consumed last night, as we have work tomorrow!This morning we tried to fly the kite he got for Fathers Day ,but it continually nose dived into the ground despite it being mega windy so we gave up and came home!We also squidged in a quick photo shoot,a major achievement as Geoff hates them as I 'take too long' to take the photos -cheek!As he isn't really a cake eater we made a batch of fairy cakes ,iced with candles in :)
This is my Pencil Lines layout this week:) I used Scrap Diary paper,

Prima swirls
MM Delaney journalling paper
MM brads
Doodlebug Loopy Lou aplha stickers
Photots are of Izzy and Holly , who are always happy to pose for us when the cameras come out!

The early bird..

doesn't always get the worm!I thought I'd start early and try and get some of Em's school uniform this afternoon.There is an open evening in a couple of weeks when you can order it all but I thought I'd try and get in first before the other 150 mum's start buying it up.And we came home with...one polo shirt,the only one in the shop -great!So much for beating the rush!But does this mean that unless you buy your uniform at the beginning of term you have no hope of buying it the rest of the year?!
At last there are flowers on my sweet peas! They are no where near as high as last years, but there seem to be lots of buds on them.
We have no major plans for the weekend,just a lazy day on Sunday as it's Geoff's birthday :) His pressie pile is looking a bit small but then he has no idea what he wants other than stuff way out of my price range!

Hmmm

So I've sat down to blog...and I'm not sure I have much to share :( Today I have had the interesting task of shredding paperwork,old bills etc and lessening the piles of junk in the kitchen - fun!At least I'm no longer being hit by things falling off the shelf though, which can only be a good thing!
The printer and PC still aren't talking to each other but hopefully it wll get sorted out tomorrow evening :)
Today I got a new recipe book with some nice things in.At the weekend I need to buy a new flan dish.I did buy one last Sunday but it fell off the drying rack and smashed before I'd had chance to use it - I was not happy!
I've no new layouts to share so here's a pic of the little book I made for Geoff for Fathers Day :)I put his favourite photos of the girls in it and they each wrote on a page for it too.I was going to use different papers, but I have so many scraps and small pieces of Loveland left over that I used some of them up instead.!

These chalk drawings make me smile :)These are Holly's drawings of me & Geoff that she did at the weekend.Oh to have a waist like that in real life!She is in need of lots of cuddles at the moment,it's no fun being seven sometimes :(

Technology hates me...

I was late starting on my PL sketch this week and when I finally chose the photo I wanted to use...the PC decided to fall out with my printer big time :( Geoff must have spent about two hours trying to sort it out,to no avail.Hence why I have no Pencil Lines layout to share this week! The stupid thing is still not working, but hopefully I'll get the layout done once it is.
On Saturday we had the girls school fete.Anna ,Peter & the girls joined us and arrived just in the nick of time to wactch Em in the line dancing display :) Holly & Peter won coconuts,Lilly & Holly had pony rides and they all went down the huge inflatable slide!(The girls that is, not Peter!)After that we headed back to ours (well we did, Anna ended up at John Lewis ;) !)as Anna had some bits and pieces to pick up.The girls bounced a bit more energy off on the trampoline while we sat and chilled!It was a lovely day :)
Yesterday the girls gave Geoff a dragon kite for Fathers Day and the little book I made up for him.They both wrote a message for him in the back of it:)The rest of the day was spent around the house and the pool is now up and ready for some sunshine :) The day finished with a roast and I ate far too many potatoes!

This is the other layout I did with the Scrapping Angels kit, I went a little bit mad with my circle punches!

Fifteen years late..

When we got married nearly 15 years ago, we had the usual things on our wedding present list,one thing being a pair of kitchen scales from Argos. We got given some vouchers to buy them with but they got spent on something else,and we never got round to buying any others.So for the last 15 years I have used a tiny set of Weight Watchers scales to do any measuring (which shows how much cooking I do really!)Today when we were out I saw some rather sweet pink retro weighing scales for a bargain £4.99...so 15 years on, I finally gave decent weighing scales! Yes, I know, very long winded and boring but that's the story behind them!

This is one of the layouts I did with the June Scrapping Angels kit. I'm guessing I will run out of steam soon as I've done more scrapping this week than I have in ages! Yesterday I made up one of Anna's mini books made from one sheet of bazzill,as a pressie for Geoff on Sunday from the girls.I've also done my fathers Day card and the two kit layouts.
Today we made the most of a rare day on our own and went out for lunch at Frankie & Benny's -yum! Following that we had a wander round the shops and had a nose in Aldis.We came home with an inflatable mattress so that Em can have freinds round to stay without Holly being turfed out to her Nan & Grandads so that we can use her mattress!
Tomorrow we have the school fete.We have made cakes, filled jars and donated bottles! Em is manning a stall and doing Line Dancing so hopefully the rain will hold off:)

On a roll...

..thanks to there being nothing on the TV and Geoff watching dvd's that I don't want to watch,I've spent the last two evenings scrapping in the kitchen :) First off I got a CJ entry done that has been scaring me for ages! In the end I really enjoyed doing it and love the final result.

Last night I sat down and did a layout using the June Scrapping Angels kit.Whilst I like the papers I had not a clue what to do with them! But again, once I got going I ended up with a layout I am really plesased with :) Plus, the benefit of using just a kit is that I make a lot less mess as I'm not rummaging through all my other stash, I have to work with what I'm given! As I can't really show the CJ entry, here's a peep at the layout.The gallery goes live on Friday :) I still have a couple of other bits to make with it too .

I have finally achieved a tiny personal goal today too..not going to say what it is as it'll probably curse it !! But I am happy about it!

Today we received the information pack for Em's new school...it's all becoming very real and a little scary now :( And can you believe they charge to hire a locker for a year?! What's that all about?! I think we are resigning ourselves to the fact that our bank balance will never be the same again..!

Summer time

and the living is easy! Well, lazy anyway! Decided that as yesterday I didn't sit down all day,I'd make up for it today!
Geoff was working today so I packed us girls a picnic and we went down to the lakes to watch the Race for Life.It is really moving seeing the names on people's backs and though we are lucky enough not to have lost any friends or family to cancer ,the girls have asked if they can take part next year.We won't be running (I don't think I'd make it past the starting line!)but walking.As we live so close, we should be able to get lots of practice!
Once back home we sat and chilled in the garden, Em read, Holly painted and I ..did nothing :)I had planned to do cottage pie for tea but we decided to have a bbq and make the most of the sunshine,so the mince got made into burgers instead!
Here's my Pencil Lines layout for this week :)

I used Making Memories Garden Party paper
Ki Lace cardstock
Prima swirls
Loads of Angel Kiss flowers
Heidi Swapp bling
Queen & Co felt
Pink Paislee letter stickers
Maya Road sheer
Pink Paislee stamps
John Lewis butterfly

I'm sure you're bored now of me putting those butterflies and swirls on everything ,but they are my faves right now!
Both girls are off on school days out this week, Holly to the zoo and Em to see the Tutankhamun exhibition.Blast from the past as my mum & dad took my sister and I years ago when the exhibition was over here...all I remember is that we had to queue for hours to get in!

Gorgeous Girlyness

I got round to putting the transfer up on Holly's room today :) I decided to wait as the instructions said it was best to put it up with two people,and much as I wanted to do it sooner I didn't want to risk ruining it!

So...ta da! It's a really nice plum colour and though it's not as big as I expected (no, I didn't bother looking at the measurements!) it still looks really nice.The lettering isn't really wonky, I had to take the photo at a strange angle as the room is so small !

We've just been pottering about the house today, clearing more stuff out in the garden,doing a bit of weeding and a whole heap of ironing -what joy!

Tomorrow the weather looks good so we might head down to lakes for a wander (and a photo session !)

I'm a little bit worried about my Pencil Lines layout for tomorrow as Anna's checked if I'd used the same sketch as everyone else !! I didn't think it was that unrecognisable...;) !

In Love with Pink Paislee

This company definitely makes my my favourite papers, stamps and letters at the moment!I did this layout at the crop on Sunday ,I love this paper and it went really well with the photos we took last week when Anna was here.I'm not sure about the title on it, but it's done now.
I've been feeling pretty yuck since yesterday but think I'm over the worst now,which is good.
We had our first letter from Em's new school yesterday..hello, welcome and there's a trip away in November ! And so it begins.. They've started planning their year 6 leavers assembly, guaranteed to have us all in floods of tears no doubt!
Tomorrow I am meeting Caz for coffe/ Diet Coke ;),other than that I will attempting to put up a gorgeous transfer on Holly's bedroom wall :)

All clear

Today we had Em's appointment at the orthodontist,and she has been given the all clear and needs no further treatment,so she is very happy :)We then went for a lunch before doing a quick whizz round the shops.I picked up another fab High School Musical scrapbook kit from the Works so that I can use it for all the HSM related photos I have of Holly, as well as a couple of funky orange buckets for Anna, to go in her scraproom.
Yesterdays crop was good, I got a layout done, though I still have to do the title.I also packed kits and washed up,I didn't spend the whole time on one layout! I've got two kits to get started on, as well as Izzy doing a fab sketch for me to use :)

This is my Pencil Lines layout for last night,I know I say it every week but it really does look better in real life!
All the papers are Pink Paislee Office Fling
Various ribbons
Butterflies from John Lewis
Prima crystal swirls
Pink Paislee letter stickers
Angel Kiss flowers
I love this photo as it wasn't posed, I was just following Holly round the garden as she picked flowers :)

Half term happenings

I did mean to blog the other night but as I was watching Greys, I decided I couldn't do two things at once and abandoned the blog post!
So what's been happening...not much ! On Thursday Anna,Izzy & Lilly came over for the day and whilst the sun shone in the morning, we got caught in the rain walking back from the lakes! I finally got my mitts on some of Anna's brownies and they were so worth the wait!!The poor kids haven't really had a look in where they are concerned :)Whilst at the lakes we had the obligatory photo shoot for which the girls were rewarded with ice creams ;)Love the photos we got,and have printed a couple off for the crop on Sunday.
I am off to sort out my tote and reduce the amount of unused stuff in it,before heading off to Anna's for the evening/night ,before cropping on Sunday :)

Rainy Sunday

Well, the weathermen got the forecast right for today sadly!Still, the hanging baskets seem happy with all the rain and look quite good!
As I only posted late last night I don't have much new news to share other than my Pencil Lines layout for this evening :)

I feel a little bit guilty as I promised myself I'd use these papers on a layout of Em...but I have loads left so I should still squeeze one of out of them!
I used
Bo Bunny Teen chic papers
Basic Grey Sultry buttons
Maya Road sheer
Heidi Swapp bling
Doodlebug rub-ons
Pink Paislee alpha stickers
Ki Memories Softies swirl
Angel Kiss flowers
It took me ages to find the right title with the number three in it - I didn't think Anna or Annie would be impressed with three wise monkeys!!
This week we'll be seeing Anna ,Izzy & Lilly on Thursday (cupboards are stocked in preparation :) )and on Saturday I get to stay at Anna's before cropping on Sunday.Seems like ages since the retreat so I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again :)

Shiny happy Brownie

Yesterday evening Holly had her Brownie Promise ceremony :) A big thank you to a certain Mrs Bowkis for ringing her up beforehand :) I was the only mum who made her wait til her Promise meeting to wear her uniform (the Rainbow one is now in the hands of Lily after a quick dash to St Neots via 1st class post!),so she looked all bright and 'new'!Prior to the parents arriving,they had spent the evening making cakes which they then served to us as part of their Hostess badge -so sweet!Tomorrow I need to sew her county badge, pack badge plus her hedgehog badge on to her sash :)This sort of thing takes me right back to my own childhood.I loved Brownies but really wasn't a fan of Guides :(
Yesterday I started the painful task of trying to buy new summer clothes for the girls (yes, I'm probably far too late and we've had our summer for this year!) A note to those who design clothes for children(not that they'll ever read this!)....I do not want slogans written across the bum of their trousers...neither do I want their butt cheeks and bellies permanently on show..I just want nice,easy to wear, non sexy clothes for them...got that?! I did eventually manage to find a few nice things for them but it wasn't easy.
The weather forecast for half term looks pretty rubbish so far, but the girls have a long list of cooking they want to do on the rainy days!

Bleach fumes

After a measly four hours sleep last night (I finally removed the temptation to put a pillow over Geoff's face by sleeping on the sofa!) I've spent most of the day on the dreaded HW..what joy! I have a hit list of stuff to tidy away over the rest of the week!

Today Em started a Cheerleading course at school which went well,even better is that there's a group run at the senior school she's going to in September,so it's something she can carry on with if she wants to. This Friday Holly has her Brownie promise,when she becomes a Hedgehog!(Whatever happened to Gnomes and Pixies...oh, am I showing my age again?!)



This is the card I made using the March Scrapping Angels kit.Holly thought she'd missed someones birthday when she saw it on the shelf, until she realised it was just for 'demonstration'!
I have been playing around with my profile page following the changes on UKS, this evening and looks quite tasteful at the moment after a brief brush with lime green and pink earlier on!

Whoops...

I made a *bit* of a mistake with my Pencil Lines layout this week...in that I did a layout for the wrong sketch and didn't realise til it was too late :( Which is a bit of a pooh, beacuase I really like the one I've done and now I can't share it for another two weeks!
So instead I'll share a layout I've done with the Scrapping Angels May kit,which is now available. To be honest, I am very bad at using the coloured Bazzill in the kits ,so this time I made a conscious effort to make sure I did!I outlined the patterned paper with a black pen to make it stand out more and used the reverse side of the KI Lace paper so that the stars were white.I've also made a card so I'll share that tomorrow.Please excuse my rubbishy photo, the colours are much brighter in real life :)
I have nothing else interesting to report,I've spent most of the day traipsing up and the down the stairs putting stuff back in Holly's room and chucking out rubbish!As well as three loads of washing and cutting the hedges in the front garden!Just a shame I now actually need to iron said three loads of washing...
After SATS week last week, the girls are back to normal again, and I think things lighten up a bit for Em.Tuesday is class photos day..Em's last one at Junior school - sob!

Chaos reigns

in our house at the moment! Yesterday I painted Holly's room and Geoff put up her new bed.To do this, we had to empty the room out completely...not an easy task.There is very little room to put anything in this house, and believe me, I cannot beleive how much stuff a seven year old can cram into a small room! Hence, every other room is filled with stuff from hers during the the redecoration/organistation.There are dressing up clothes in the bathroom, I can't get to the airing cupboard,and Em can just about find her bed in her room!We are getting there slowly and hopefully tomorrow (Em is having a sleepover in Holly's room tonight!) I'll be able to get everything back in there...
So, no photos ro share and the only scrapping has been for Anna so I'm not sure if I can show it yet :)

Little Miss

..Hippy Chick! I got some gorgeous photos of Holly this weekend (Em wasn't interested, she was concentrating on her revision!).I love how her hair goes so wavy when it's left to dry naturally,and it happens a lot once we get into paddling pool season! So here are a couple of pics of my daisy chained hippy chick :) I feel some Flower Power layouts coming on!

Sats seem to be okay so far, though I have just realised that I have completely forgotten to do the sausage rolls for tomorrow.Looks like I'll be getting the oven on early in the morning!

This evening I have actually managed a layout ...without a sketch! Which is a major miracle at the moment believe me! Can't share it yet as it's for the May Scrapping Angels kit and I need to send it to Anna first!

Tis the season

..for barbecue's, daisy chains and filthy feet {from walking barefoot in the garden!}
More lazy days this weekend,I try not to go anywhere in this heat!
Yesterday morning we were up bright and early to go and see 'Horton Hears a Who' at the family theatre showing.Both girls loved it and Holly giggled her way through most of it! After that we went and finally managed to get Holly a pair of trousers for Brownies that fit (3rd attempt!) We then went on to Tesco's for the food shop before heading home to set up the paddling pool and the barbecue.We've also done a lot more tidying in the garden too.I sometimes wonder why I longed for a garden so much when they are such hard work!
Today Geoff's been in work ,Em has been revising for her SAT's which start tomorrow,and Holly has come down with a cold :( We have made ice lollies and lots of daisy chains and have enjoyed the sunshine ,even though we spent most the day sat in the shade!
I was very late with my Pencil Lines layout this week,and I'm not sure that I'm happy with it :( It didn't help that although I'd cleaned the mask, it still merged black ink in with the green I used to make it a murky colour!

I used
white bazzill
handrawn borders
Prima Crystal swirls
Heidi Swapp mask
Heidi Swapp bling
AC Vinyl thickers
KI softie button

This week sees both girls doing their SAT's, though Holly's are a lot more low key than Em's.I'm also clearing out and decorating Holly's room this week so that we can put her new bed up at the weekend.I have a heap of scrapping & CJ's still to do too which I really need to get my butt in gear and do!

Lazy blogger...

...yep, that's me! I love this gorgeous weather we're having ,but the heat does make me relax,slow down....and be lazy!I've been making a 'little' use of the neat & tidy garden now that I have somewhere to put my sun lounger ;)
I'm afraid I don't have much interesting news to share or any scrapping.If anyone's seen my mojo ,please return it...I think it's packed up its suitcase and headed out of town :(
Weekend plans include going to see 'Horton Hears a Who' on Saturday morning whilst leaving Geoff to work on the garden (again!) And hopefully if this weather holds ,I'll blow up the pool for the kids to splash about in :)

Busy busy busy

We seem to have spent today going from Asda,to Tesco's,to B & Q - fun,not! But things are starting to come together in the garden at last.Out of bad things, good has happened :) After all the shed problems and re-siting it at the end of the garden, we now have a very nice seating area where the old shed used to be :) (Note ,we don't actually have anything to sit on yet...but we're working on it!)Geoff spent last weekend putting down some decking (with a bit of help from Holly ;) ) So this afternoon Holly has happily sitting out there on the picnic blanket, drawing :)I finally got round to planting the sweet peas I bought ages ago,though I think my wicker wigwam things I bought last year for them to grow round are a a bit worse for wear!I also planted all the others flowers, though the slugs have had a bit of a munch at most of them :( (the slugs have now been flicked over the fence into my neighbours garden !)
On Thursday I hopped on the train to Anna's and spent the afternoon packing kits and nosing through her scrapbook albums :)
I seem to write my blog about 50 times in my head during the day,but come the evening I cannot remember a word of what I was going to say!

Here's my Pencil Lines sketch for this week, which I very nearly didn't make at all :( I just cannot seem to scrap at the moment...I have no trouble buying new stash though! Our GDT this week is the lovely Debbie Jewell :)
I used
BG paper
BG Sultry buttons
Pink Paislee stamps and alphabet stickers
KI lace paper
K&Co brad
ribbon fron Ribbon Oasis

Lucky Me

I won this fab 'hanging' at the auction on Saturday :) It was created by the amazing Gigi ,one of the SIS Tv Fashionistas.I have loved her work since seeing her art journal cards for Emily Falconbridge's prompts last year.Thank you for your Gigi for your generosity , I hope you don't mind it coming home with me!I now need to find the right place to hang it out of the way of sticky fingers!

Just for Ania,here is the bag too :)

I have a whole heap of ideas for stuff that I want to do right now, but I don't seem to actually doing any of it :( I much prefer scrapping during the day ,but then I feel guilty that I should be doing other stuff ...Next on the agenda is re-doing Holly's room, as her new Ikea bed is still packed up behind the sofa!

Tomorrow I am popping over to Anna's to help unpack stuff from the weekend.

And I have to share this photo pinched from Anna's blog as I love it! I normally spoil the photos I'm in, but I actually like this one for a change!

Nice...

So I finally got to have a go on the Wii Fit last night having not had a chance on Friday and been away since.And I am obese with a Wii Fit age of 48...nice!!I am aiming to become a muscle legend a la Annie (at 1am Sunday morning!!)In my dreams....
So, the retreat....well, most of the feed back has been good as far as I'm aware so hopefully that means I haven't been sacked and I get to help at the next one!
We carried on the tradition of having more than one one pudding,the food there is wonderful and I've probably eaten enough to keep me going for two weeks (not that it will!)It was great to spend time with Kerry and Louise as well as being able to put lots of new names to faces too :)We were also lucky to have the wonderful Debbie Jewell with us on Sunday too! Oh, and a special thank you to Carol & Julie who didn't mind me occupying their table evrytime they left the room!
The auction was a success gain too, but I'll leave it to Anna to share that news :) I won something that I really wanted and will share that next time I blog.
I am now the very happy owner of this gorgeous Momiji along with a funky Momiji bag ,which were a present from Anna (and hand picked by Peter-you have great taste ;)!)
I have a bag full of lovely new stash which I bought from the shop,sadly I have to go through the task of unpacking all my stuff bfeore I get to play with any of it :( And before that I have a heap of the dreaded housework to catch up on too...

And finally, here's my Pencil Lines layout for this week
I used
Cosmo Cricket Story Time papers
AC felt shapes
felt flowers from John Lewis
Heidi swapp letters covered in Doodlebug glitter
K&Co brads
Studio G alpha stamps

Home again...

...with aching feet and a very fat tummy after a weekend at the Scrapping Angels retreat :) As per usual I have hardly any photos but came home with a whole load of happy memories!
Thank you for having me Anna...when's the next one?!;)
I will be back tomorrow after a full nights sleep (the first for a while!)a proper post and my Pencil Lines layout which went live earlier this evening.

So, so envious...

of whoever gets to take home this sweetie at the weekend!I have a feeling there won't be enough pennies in my pocket to secure her a place in my home,so whoever wins her will be one lucky person!Verity has been very very kindly donated to the auction by Little Cotton Rabbits.Go and check out Anna's blog to see the other fab items up for auction at the retreat .We are hoping to beat last years amazing total of £700 for the very worthy cause of MS, in memory of Anna's dear Dad.So, retreat girls, empty out your penny pots and bank accounts and come with your purses full!I am waiting on a very special 'item' for the auction from an amazing person, fingers crossed it arrives by Friday.If not, I will take along a photo so the girls can bid on it and I will post it straight on to its new home when it arrives :)
I'm starting to get excited now, though as per usual I'm not at all organised!
Today I have made cookies for Holly's school year cake sale, and this evening made a batch of fairy cakes which I will turn into butterfly cakes tomorrow morning!I have also caught up o some hoovering as well as shifting lots of boxes out of the kitchen & living room - hurray, it's starting to look better by the day!
After the retreat I will be having a clear out/sort out of my stash and re-storing it all !Then maybe I will start using it more!
And to cap it all..it's been sunny and warm today!!
Still on my to-do list for this week are...make name badge, sort paperwork for the weekend,tidy house before I leave..oh, and dye my hair.Yep, I am going play it unsafe and do it the day before I go,will probably leave it on too long and turn up looking like a Goth! Nah, hardly likely...but if it goes wrong I won't have time to re-do it!

Phooey

I don't know why, but that is how I am feeling at the mo...phooey! This miserable weather isn't helping and neither is the fact that the house is still stacked high with shed junk & stuff.Tomorrow they are coming to take it down again (!!) and then put it back up on the right base,Talk about a waste of time & money! I will just be glad when the house is free of tools ,ladders & 'stuff'.
I have to make myself lots of lists of to do's this week before I head off to Anna's on Friday.This includes my PL layout for next Sunday and two CJ entries!
I am seriously unimpressed with the photo of my layout for this week -it looks so much 'zingier' in real life!
I used the Scrapping angels April kit,using Pink Paislee papers.

I also used Doodlebug sugar coated lettters
I love these old photos of Holly from three years ago,she looks so small!
Yesrterday we decided to brave the 21% sale at Ikea....never again will I trust RAC directions!! We normally go to Thurrock as although it's further away, it's the most straightforward to get to.But yesterday we thought we'd try the Edmonton store (22 miles away) as we thought we'd be in there a while so it was best not to have to drive too far.Let's just say we could have driven to Thurrock and back in the time it took us to find the place after a couple of tours of Enfield....!Almost two hours it took us!Once in there , it wasn't as busy crowd wise as I'd expected...but I've never seen so many people arguing whilst shopping! Oh and then we had to wait about 20 mins for a trolley....and typically we joined the queue at the till where there was a problem with someones payment...In future,we will stick to Thurrock...and will only visit at quiet times (That's if I'm ever allowed to go back again!)

A day out..

..or at least a trip 40mins down the railway line anyway! Today I went over to Anna's to work work work! Really we could have done with a few more hours but those things like real life and children get in the way!Anyway, we got a lot of kit packing done ,paperwork sorted and Galaxy eaten :) The weather was gorgeous so we ate lunch outside , a first this year! And on the one ocassion I actually managed to remember to charge up and take with me an Ipod shuffle -what do I do? (No, not just pick up the headphones like last time!) I pick up a 'spare one' (NOT mine) which only had three double albums of Christmas songs on...and the soundtrack to Dirty Dancing! I was not impressed!By the time I'd found the Dirty Dancing songs I'd almost reached Anna's...

Yesterday I finally got round to ordering a proper 8.5 x 11 album so hopefully it might be here tomorrow and tidy up the drawer where my Lo's and albums are (the small LO's are in ab ag at the moment!) I think I should be getting 2 cj's in the post too, making that 3 to do by next Friday...mission impossible maybe?!

This is the only photo taken today,a rush job as we dashed off back to the station!

Scratch that last blog post title...

...it seems summer isn't coming yet after all :( Today we have returned to it being cold and very wet again :( I'm now glad I spent most of yesterday afternoon out in the garden doing loads of digging,ready for the next sunny day.Whenever that may be.We dragged the kids over to B&Q (Holly was most put out at such torture...)where I bought lots of pansies, sweet peas.lobelias and some petunias.I admit to being stingey and generally buy B&Q value plants! Okay, so they may not look much at first, but they generally seem to grow perfectly well once they've been planted /potted up.The girls wore themselves out (again!) having space hopper races and setting up an obstacle course to manouvre!
We ended the day by settling down to watch Enchanted :)
A new sketch is now live over at Pencil Lines :)

I used KI Lace cardstock
Bo Bunny Teen Chic paper
Doodlebug sugar coated alpha & paper frill
Ac Velvet Thickers
Cosmo Cricket chipboard
Maya Road journalling sheer
Heidi Swapp brads & bling & ghost heart
Prima birdie

I really need to do more layouts of Em, so I made a start with this one! At the moment she is really revising hard for her Stats and spends so much time with her nose in a revision book! We're not putting any pressure on her but I'm surprised at much she's knuckled down as we've always had to nag her to do her homework in the past!I think she's just realised that by putting in a bit more time, she can actually make a difference to what marks she gets.
This week I am off to Anna's to help sort out retreat stuff...eek, it's come round quick!I also need to get the next couple of PL sketches done so I'm not running around at the last miunte right before the retreat!

Summer is a coming...

or it feels a bit that way anyway as I have done my first lawn mowing of the year!Actaually, I use the term lawn in the loosest possible meaning..it's like trying to mow the Himalayas it's so lumpy & bumpy.I finally resorted to using the strimmer after hitting a pile of stones half buried in the grass by Holly,thus snapping the belt on the mower...I'm hoping (weather permitting) to start digging out the beds in the front garden soon and begin planting up the hanging baskets ,plus putting in some sweet peas again.Funny to think that this last time last year we had planted all the seeds in the veggie patches! Might attempt them again this year but one of them needs to made a bit smaller first. With the weather being nice the last few days the girls have been spending lots of time out in the garden after school wearing themselves out.As a result Holly has been sleeping in til about 7.15 in the mornings - a miracle!
No scrapping being done here I'm afaraid..house is still like a tip with stuff all over the place :(
But..look out for these on a layout very soon! I was going to share these Maya Road sheers with Anna, but sorry hun, they're so gorgeous I think I'm going to keep them all to myself! I'll give you some Galaxy instead!
Tomorrow Holly starts at Brownies, she's looking forward to it as she'll be with several of her friends from school :)
Lots of boring house stuff to do this weekend ie food shopping, run to the tip etc etc.Geoff is working on Sunday so weather depending ,us girls will be going out for a walk or making cookies! I'm also hoping we'll be getting Enchanted so I'm sure that will be watched too ( anything to break the non-stop High school Musical marathon we seem to be stuck in at the moment!

But on a brighter note

Go Liverpooooooool!!!

It's official

Whilst I am eternally grateful for the roof over my head...there are days when I hate being a council tenant.I am off to eat chocolate and drink wine before I start crying out of pure frustration again.It's been one of them days....

More barmy weather

Today I should have be cropping over at Anna's,but after waking up to a couple of inches of snow I decided not to go as it's quite a long journey in dodgy weather and hopped back into bed for a bit longer!I missed seeing everyone though and having a bit of 'me' time...roll on the end of the month!

So after a quick trip to Tesco's, we all went out into the garden and built a snow lady called Emily! We used almost all the snow from the ground and the garden is now nice and muddy! It actually wasn't that cold out, though by the afternoon it was flippin' freezing!

The house is a tip due to boxes and bits & pieces of shed stuff all over the place. I feel like I haven't stopped all day..having cleaned the bathroom, hoovered everywhere,ironed and then slaved over a hot oven.Yep, I am desperately trying to find the domestic goddess within me so today I made Cottage pie for the kids tea (they were very suspicious as to why the recipe had celery on it!).And yippee, it went down well! Even Geoff sat and ate a plate full!

On Thursday Holly spent most of the day at a friends house so Em I had some fun in the kitchen making 'healthy' ice cream (well it's gone rock hard so I don't know when we'll ever eat it!!) and then making burgers :)

On Friday we finally had a lovely day for the Easter egg hunt - better late than never! Em went in a bit of a grump but I still managed to get the photo that I used on my PL layout this week:)


Talking of which,here it is.

I used papers from the Scrapmuse kit again as I have so much left!

I also added Rhonna Farrer swirl stamps

Maya Road felt bird

Angel Kiss blooms

Scenic Route chipboard letters

Tomorrow is finally d-day for the dreaded shed...I'll believe it when I see it!

*will add other pics when I can get to grips with new technology - say no more*

I saw a mouse...

...and I don't mean Holly's favourite Mickey Mouse either... We've noticed mouse pooh in the shed recently but never managed to find them - until today.As the weather was dry I decided to try and move out and re-pack into new boxes some of the stuff piled up in there.I moved a bag from on top of the kids old carrycot (it was being used to store stuff as it has a plastic base and keeps things dry)and oh yuck, I was hit by the smell of mouse wee!! They'd chewed a bin liner up and nested in there :( I dragged the carry cot into the garden and with being disturbed, a little furry face peeped out at me resulting in a very loud scream from me!With Geoff typically being at work when I needed him, I rang my Dad! Whilst waiting for him to arrive I thought I'd pull said cot into the middle of the garden...prompting one mouse to jump ship and run into next doors garden!When my Dad arrived he bravely moved the bag that was on top...and the second occupant hopped out and legged it back into the shed!!Yes, we'd forgotten to shut it! We eventually managed to chase it back out again and have now boarded up all the gaps until the whole thing is replaced next week - not a day too soon!I'm just glad we got them out, I really didn't want to have to kill them, as despite stinking the place out they were actually quite sweet looking and I am a bit of a softy!


This morning we went down for a walk by the lakes for a bit of fresh air and to give my camera a bit of use! As both girls were wearing their wellies they decided to go for a paddle in the river :) They had wanted to do it during the summer but it was always packed - today they had the place almost to themselves!It was ctually quite warm and summer like today at times - at long last!

Not much else planned for this week.Holly is sleeping over at my Mum & Dad's tonight and on Friday we're having a second attempt at an Easter Egg hunt with their cousins! At some point I guess I need to do some scrapping too...haven't touched anything for a week now.

The Scrapping Angels retreat is fast approaching too...I can't believe it's been almost a year since the last one!Am looking forward to seeing some old faces again plus the new ones too!