One down...

Okay,so I know I said I was going to pace myself,but I wrong ..as I finished Twilight about half an hour ago!I was going to start on New Moon straight away but as it's Monday (boo hiss) tomorrow I suppose I should have an early night.
We have had snow!! Not loads and loads (yet) but it does look lovely out there and I'm hoping we get a load more tomorrow :)I doubt the girls schools will be closed,but I'm not going to complain if they are!
Despite the freezing cold wind this afternoon, we went for a walk down to the lakes.It wasn't the best trip..Holly was reduced to tears twice,once by a stupid man with his dog off its lead (which proceeded to frighten the life out of her and bark at the swans she was trying to feed) and again when she thought the geese were following her to steal the bread -bless.It must have Idiot Sunday down there though as there was a also a boy & his dad down there with a remote control boat...deliberately chasing the swans with it.I do wonder about some people....
This is my Pencil Lines layout for this week :)

I used
October Afternoon Weathervane papers
tree cut from Bella Boulevard paper
Prima bling
Jenni Bowlin stickers
AC puffy thickers
Hambly overlay
Fancy Pants bobble trim
Love Elsie journalling stamp

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 :)

Busy doing....

nothing!! Well, except the usual Christmas stuff anyway :) It's been ages since I blogged ,I purposely stayed well away from the PC for a few days over Christmas and haven't really got back into being on it much!

So, our Christmas consisted of lots of this,

and lots of this!!

The girls were very happy with all their presents ,though as they get older the presents seem to get smaller (size wise anyway!) and the piles look much smaller!Holly finally went back to sleep sometime after 2am on Christmas Eve so we were in no hurry to get up on Christmas Day!

I was very lucky and got a gorgeous cake stand from Anna as well as lots more Momiji's.My fave present though is a tiny Guardian Angel that Geoff got for me, will take a photo and share soon!

Since Christmas we have been chilling out,done a little bit of shopping and generally been lazy! I've become a Mario Cart addict,but let's face it,once we are back in our normal routine I probably won't go on it for ages!

Geoff was back in work today so this afternoon I took the girls for a walk at the lakes to get some fresh air.We took with us a lump of bread which should have been a loaf but I forgot to add the yeast -doh!!It was absolutely freezing but the girls loved feeding the swans (not so much the seagulls though!) A lot of the lake was still frozen over and when we walked further round,there was a swan actually trapped with one of its legs frozen in the ice :( I rang the RSPCA as soon as we got home so hopefully they will have been down there to rescue it.The girls want to go back there tomorrow to make sure it's been rescued so that's our afternoon sorted !

Tomorrow night we are off to Anna & Peter's New Years Eve party...the first time we've been out at New Year since having the kids! It's fancy dress and Geoff is still trying to choose between his three ideas,whilst me...well that would be telling wouldn't it?!

I hope you have a wonderful New Year!

All Is Calm...

..well,apart from a certain 8yr old who's just woken up, as Santa was about to arrive! Looks like he may be delayed a while longer....
I know my photo from last year is almost the same ,but this is what it looks like here! Letters have been written and snacks left out :)
Everything is done now except for a couple of presents to be wrapped,which can wait til tomorow .Today has been spent cleaning, tidying and present making.All had to be done by 3pm before we headed off to the Christingle service :) It was so lovely again, with a real pony (I'm guessing there are no donkeys local,or maybe the pony is tamer?!) Mary,Joseph and an incredibly cute baby Jesus!The service would give any health & safety inspector nightmares...loads of small children holding naked flames...shocking! And every year you can smell the faint aroma of burning hair!!but we came home full of Christmas cheer :)
This evening we have enjoyed a very civilised candle lit meal,just the two of us,once the kids were in bed.We decided to start doing this a few years back after a couple of years of still wrapping presents up at way past midnight!
Right,I am off to enjoy a glass of Baileys :0
Oh, and I have another classic to share from Holly...I have a new Christmas dec which spells out the word Noel.Holly asked me what it said,'noel' was my reply,to which she said 'but it has got an L...' Bless!!
Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Still here...

Yikes, seems like ages since I was here last! I'm still feeling slightly bah humbug,but then again everyone else seems to be feeling that way too this year :( I have vowed to change the way I do things for next Christmas (erm, didn't I say that last year too?!)as I don't enjoy feeling this 'headless chicken-like' all December.In a week or so I am going to write down everything that the girls have done this year ie school plays, parties etc so that I have some idea what they'll be up to next year too!
So...a weeks re-cap.....On Wednesday Anna and I had a belated birthday get together.We went into town and mooched around John Lewis for a good couple of hours (something I very rarely do ,I generally whizz in and out as quick as possible!)and picked up a few bargains and goodies.having spent our pennies (and a couple of pounds) we went to Frankie & Benny's for our now traditional Christmas/birthday pig out! It was so busy in there that the food took a while longer to arrive than usual and we ended up literally shoving the food down to make sure I was in time for my train home! It was delicious as usual though,you can't beat their caramel waffle crunch! Anna went home armed with her pressies (which I was very tempted to keep for myself!) and birthday cake,which I have on good authority went down a treat (Yes,I had a phone call from Izzy telling me how delicious it was!) Which is good as I now have something to trade in for brownies ;)!
On Friday morning I went to the Christmas Carol assembly at Holly's school which was lovely,before both girls finished school early for Christmas:)
Yesterday morning we went for a leisurely stroll round Asda (Yes, it was eerily quiet in there!) and got the last bits of food shopping.In the afternoon Holly had a party and I went to the town for a last minute present...what a waste of nearly two hours!!Today Geoff has been working and Em has been out shopping with a friend whilst I've finally hung the outside lights and Holly has been painting and glittering.I finally got my cards in the post yesterday,cutting it fine I know!I haven't made any at all this year, just haven't felt inclined to at all!
I still have some presents to finish off and haven't even started the wrapping yet :( Still, come Christmas Eve it will all be done ,I know I will get there eventually!

Change of plans...

So after getting all excited about today,all plans had to be changed as poor Izzy wasn't well :( I managed to change all my Wednesday stuff back to Monday stuff and so fingers croossed....I can hand over the birthday presents on Wednesday!

And is this what happens when the kids see too many adverts?! Holly loves the Boots christmas adverts and came into the kitchen this evening waving this bowl shouting 'secret santa' ! Bless, she has put all our names in it,along with her favourite toys. Check out her cute way of spelling 'Secret'!! We have to pick two names each,not surprisingly I got Mickey and Minnie mouse!

I have just finished sewing up Em's costume and am off to bed to try and catch up on my sleep...two nights of falling asleep at approx 3.00am is not good news!

Still non-stop!

Why is it that we really don't seem to do much the rest of the year but come November & December there doesn't seem to be a spare minute?!
Yesterday I finally got round to taking the girls to see High Musical 3...yes, i know,it came out ages ago! The cinema was practically empty which would have been good had it not been for a group of annoying teenage girls who kept getting up walking around,being loud and chucking popcorn everywhere.Despite that the girls enjoyed themselves (ok, so did I too!),but it doesn't seem quite right not being able to watch it again non-stop like the first two!
Later in the afternoon Em went off to a friends house for a birthday sleepover whilst we spent the evening watching the X Factor.I'm so pleased Alexandra won, I had goosebumps during her songs!I wasn't that keen on Eoghan or JLS anyway, but singing with Boyzone and Westlife ...hmm,think that totally killed it for me!
This afternoon I started to make Em's costume for the House Drama play she is taking part in at school.I paid a quick trip to town to buy some fabric (and eyed up lots of 'purchases' for Anna tomorrow!)before spending the rest of the day glittering,ripping and sewing!Guess what - calenders are going to a last minute job again!

Pencil Lines is live with our last sketch for 2008 :)This sketch is perfect for lots of small not-so-perfect photos! And whilst I'll admit to having absolutely no desire to scrap at the moment I'm so glad I got my butt into gear and did this layout :)
I used
Scenic Route Roxbury papers & stickers
Doodlebug letter stickers
Pink Paislee numbers
The photos are much better IRL,the light was awful for taking a photo of the LO though!I had to go outside as my normal photo-taking place is occupied by the Christmas tree...
Tomorrow I have a welcome day off and Anna is coming over to celebrate her birthday and finish off her shopping! Presents are almost all wrapped and I just have a couple of little jobs to do before she arrives :)

I'm sitting down

..and taking a break for a couple of hours! It feels like I have hardly been home all week,I still have loads to do but right now...I don't feel like doing any of it!
Holly has had her school show the last two nights and is shattered, poor thing! She was such a little star the first night when we went to see the show,but was definately past her best last night.The late nights are a bit too much for her and she was in tears during the finale last night,I'm so glad I didn't see that :( They were allowed to go in late this morning so I took full advantage and left her in bed until she woke up herself (I had to shake her awake yesterday morning!)Tomorrow the whole school are off to see a pantomime and then she has a party at Brownies in the evening.Oh to have the social life of an 8 year old!
The last few days and evenings seem to have been spent running to and fro between work, home, school and the shops! And I am really missing not having a Post office rond the corner from me this Christmas :(
Tomorrow afternoon I am off to meet a friend before the onslaught of another busy weekend! Em is off for a sleepover on Saturday night so no doubt Holly will be sad and lonely without her here! I also need to wrap up presents for a certain birthday girl I'm seeing on Monday :)
Right, I am off to write some more lists before I forget anything else I need to do!

How long...

...have I got left to finish all my to do lists?! I'm thinking not long enough? How daft is it that I have all year to get prepared and yet every year I seem to get less organised?!

This week has Holly's school Christmas play (which is not Christmassy in the slightest!) Despite lots of nerves and a few tears the last few days,todays performance went well and and she came out of school declaring that she hadn't been nervous at all -phew! We are all going to see her tomorrow night,which will be strange for Em as she is so used to being in the show too!
Yesterday I hopped on the train and went to Anna's crop:) Despite being a little chilly, I had a lovely day out (helped by the huge spread of food!) Feels like ages since I've seen everyone so it was good to catch up :)
This is my Pencil Lines layout for this week :) I used Basic Grey Urban Prairie,Urban couture & Mellow papers
Sassafrass paper
Prima swirls
Scenic Route sticker
AC puffy thickers
Doodlebug alphas
I pondered over this LO for ages and I'm still not really happy with it...but then a lot of my layouts seem to be like that at the moment :( Must be that time of year!
Today I've caught up on one the dreaded housework,including a huge heap of ironing...zzzzzzz.Tomorrow I am off to try and finish off my Christmas shopping,what joy!

Free to a good home...

..germs that is ! Please feel free to take to take them in as I will be glad to see the back of them!Geoff has been home all week with flu and a chest infection and I've had another cold too.Did not have a good morning yesterday having tripped whilst carrying a very heavy hoover,pulled a lamp off a shelf and trodden on a cats paw (sorry Jessie!).Maybe I should have just stayed in bed?!

Today seems to have been non-stop.Holly had a cinema /Frankie & Benny's party for four hours (!!) then we went to the annual Christmas tree festival to see her Brownie pack's tree,whilst inbetween that doing a food shop and putting up the christmas decs.That job maybe should have been left till next week as I really was not in the mood and got tangled up in the lights several times.Still,it's nearly all done except for the outdoor lights and it does look nice and cosy in here now.Even if I'm feeling slightly Bah Humbug!

Tomorrow I am heading off to Southoe to Anna's crop -woohoo! I am so in need of a day out ! I haven't packed anything except sweets and pink lights for Anna ,so no change there then really! I am off to sort some stuff out after the X Factor results.I need to get going on the calendars as I feel like I've lost a week somewhere and am all behind with everything.

And breathe..!!

Still here,still totally unorganised!
What with one thing and another (mainly Holly's birthday!) I didn't get time to do my Pencil Lines layout this week :( Am hoping to use the sketch at some point though as it's such a good one :)
Sunday's trip to Milton Keynes went well though it was absolutely heaving there by the time we left ,with huge queues for the car parks.This year there is a helter skelter as well as the carousel which Holly loved! We also went on the train ride after seeing Santa :) Most of my photos are pants,not helped by Holly also doing her looking sideways just as I press the shutter trick!She has pressies after lunch and then more presents from her Nan & Grandad a bit later.
I think I will be giving hand made cards a miss this year ,other than just a couple.I have ended up buying cards from both schools designed by the girls ,so I think I have enough to keep me going!

Geoff has been sent home from work sick,fingers crossed I don't come down with it...I've got no time to be ill!
I managed to get the girls advent trees finished in time for yesterday,after re-discovering my old MM Heidi rub-ons which included loads of 1's!
Before Geoff came home,I was busy sorting out the bags of old/too small kids clothes that seem to be multiplying at the end of the bed. I now have several smaller bags to be given away to various people..and a bit more space!

Whizzing through...

This is one of those manic weekends (aren't they all in the run up to Christmas?!) when I seem to be doing a great impression of a headless chicken!
This morning we had Holly's birthday party here for five of her friends.She opted for a craft party and they all went away with decorated, bags, photo frames,christmas baubles,notebooks and foam hristmas trees :) And although the house has a sprinkling of glitter throughout, I can honestly say it was the easiest party we've ever done! No snatching of the pass the parcel, no sulking because they didn't win musucal statues and no getting bored!
After lunch we went and did the dreaded Tesco/Asda food shop and once home I whizzed off to the town to get the last few bits for tomorrow and pop a little something in the post to Anna .Whilst it was freezing cold, it felt so Christmassy!
This evening has been spent watching the X Factor (sorry, but Ruth was robbed :( ),making a birthday cake and wrapping presents :)
Tomorrow we are off bright and early to Milton keynes to see the Christmas displays, visit Father Christmas and go on the train ride :) Might even have time to squeeze in a little shopping too ;)!And then it's back home for birthday and cake and presents for Holly :)

Brrrr....

It's been so cold here today! Shouldn't complain though as at least it's been dry and bright :)

Not much done today as I had to hang around for the bloke to come out and service the boiler this afternoon.I asked for him to visit between 12 and 3...yep, he got here at 10 to 3 ! But at least it's done and everything is working fine :) Whilst waiting around i sorted out the photos for the calendars as my photos arrived from photobox this morning....or some of them did,25 of them have been sent seperately...what was the point of that?! I am planning to start them next week once we have holly's birhday at the weekend out of the way.

Here's my tree that I finally got finished,inspired by Jen Hall's gorgeous one.(Scroll to the bottom of the post)It still needs some ribbon sticking back on (as it's fallen off since I shoved it in my wardrobe in January!) This one has been covered with love Elsie Noel papers,whilst the other two will be a mix of love Elsie and the new KI memories papers.This evening I have cut and arranged all the squares for the other two,just need to stick them down and number them :) If anyone has one of these left from last year that they don't want,I would love to do another one !

Tomorrow I need to rummage through my stash to find supplies for Holly's party on Saturday.She is having 5 friends round for a crafting party,I've ordered a few bits from Baker Ross for them as well as having a few other ideas using stuff I already have here.

Right,off to glue squares!!

Why...

aren't weekends longer?! I am sleeping really badly at the moment and it shows,I look as rough as anything today! I am off to bed once I'm done on here!

Today has been a weird day weather wise,woke to a sprinkling of snow and rain....and by the afternoon the sun was out and then back to heavy rain this evening -yuck!Yesterday afternoon I went out for a walk with the girls to get some fresh air (while Geoff stayed home and did the ironing!) We went down to the lakes which were practically deserted.I don't think the swans were impressed with us though as we forgot to take bread :( Rare photo alert -me in a photo,taken by Em :)

I have finally finished one thing on my to do list,my Tesco advent tree from last year! I still have two more to do ..maybe they'll be done in time for next year?!I have now finished ordering photos for the calendars so guess what I'll be doing from next weekend,I am stocked up on DST!

This is my Pencil Lines layout for this week, though I'm now looking at it and thinking it's rather plain...I may go and chuck some more stuff on it this week!

I used

bazzill kraft

Scenic Route papers

Sassafrass letter stickers

Prima bling

Angel Kiss flowers

The photos are of Holly dressed up for a Minibeast day at school two years ago.I've been meaning to scrap them for ages!

This week sees me carrying with the cleaning/sorting blitz I started last week ...what joy!

And now she's back again!!

Whoops, I really did mean to blog at sometime whilst she was away, but hey, that's life!
Anyway,needless to say I have a pile of washing to do (though I have decided against trying to save the socks,they've gone straight in the bin!!).It seems like she's had a good time even if she is completely shattered and went of like a light when she went to bed!
Today Anna came over and we have been doing what we do best - shopping!!I managed to get the odds and ends that needed to be got for Holly's birthday as well as a snuggly deep pink fleece/throw for the kids to argue over in the living room! Holly always wraps herself up in the Ikea one we have so now they'll have on each..if I don't get to it first! We hit Asda where we found some fab bargains and gorgeous clothes (for the girls, not us!) before rounding the day off with a trip to Hobbycraft :) We had to wait for our hot chocolate though as the machine in Costa's was broken when we first went there,it was worth the wait though :) Plans have already been made for our next trip out in December !
This weekend we will be taking it easy as Em catches up on her sleep :) Although we were forcast heavy now for Sunday it's now saying just rain - shame :(
No photos to share as I haven't taken any!

Away she goes...

So this week it's Em's turn to be away.And to say Holly is missing her would be putting it mildly!They said a very teary farewell to each other before I took Holly to school this morning as I decided it was better to do it here than have them in floods of tears in the school playground.And this evening Holly cried herself to sleep ,bless her :( She is now fast asleep cuddling Em's favourite Big Monkey toy as he was a bit too big to go in her suitcase with her!I so hope they remain as fond of each other as they are now,when they grow older.
Looks like plans to see Anna tomorrow may be cancelled as Lilly is still off school but hopefully we'll be re-arranging it for later this week :)

Catch up

I didn't realise til after I'd posted last night how long I hadn't posted for - whoops!
Holly stayed off school till on Wednesday too in the end so the Christmas shopping trip got moved to Friday instead.Whilst in Watford I bumped into the oh so lovely Lyzzydee who seems to think that qualifies as stalking..strange woman...;)Anyway, we got quite a few bits & pieces plus I found a gorgeous shop full of lovely Momiji stuff :)
Yesterday morning Holly had a party to go to,after which we quickly popped into the school Christmas craft fair.We then went to my mum & dad's for a late birthday tea for my mum.Amongst the other treaures I found last night in'the bag', Mum also gave me my Brownie certifcate and I found a couple of photos of me going on Pack Holiday many many years ago!And amazingly eanough I can still name all the girls in the photo with me! Shame I can't normally even remember what I did last week!

This Is my Pencil Lines LO for this week :).I admit to having really struggled this week :( No idea why as I loved the sketch and our GDT's work but I still sat pushing paper and photos around for ages before getting it done.
I used
KI Memories Lace cardstock
Prima swirl (what a surprise!)
Angel Kiss flowers
Basic Grey buttons
Papermania letter stickers
Sassafrass journalling label
The flower centres and dots by the swirls are cute little puffy stickers I got from Paperchase.
And yes, I have missed a word out of the journalling...doh!!It should say 'a bargain bought last year'
Tomorrow Em sets off for the Isle of Wight until Friday.Her case is all packed and ready.I've checked the weather and it looks like it should be good for them after Tuesday.That said, the BBC weather site very rarely seems to be right these days!
The bathroom is almost all done now,just some new lino to go down and the walls that aren't tiled to be painted.It looks so much better already though.
This weeks plans include seeing Anna on Tuesday so that she can start her Christmas shopping,trying to distract Holly from missing Em too much (!!) and trying to catch up on general house 'stuff'

Bag of mixed emotions...

This evening when we went to my mum's for tea, I came home with a bag of 'stuff'.I say stuff because it has so many different things in it ,ranging from old b&w photos, baby congratulation cards,scary 70's photos of me & my sister in huge flares,postcards and newspaper clippings.I sat and went through this bag,giggling, wondering,and then I came across a newspaper cutting.Which was the my Grandpa's death announcement in the local paper...and I started to cry,even though it 23 years ago.I also found photos of my Nan & Grandpa's house and started to remember things about it ,it made me realise I need to start scrapping the old things like this too,or at least write about them somewhere before I forget about them.I have no idea where to start or how to use a lot of the photos as they are so small,but hopefully I can do something with them.I'll have to add it on to my list of to do's :)

Cupcake Cuteness :)

Yesterday my 'mystery package' from Anna finally arrived after sitting at the post depot for the weekend (it would have gone through the letter box, but the daft postie took it back with the larger parcel which wouldn't fit ) How cute is my cupcake ?! Okay ,so Anna is the first to admit that her stitching isn't straight,but I love it, because she sat and made it just for me :)Thank you so much hun :)

The bathroom is coming along really well ,just the grouting to be done and then a lick of paint.It will also need new bath mat,shower curtain etc.Geoff has worked his butt off in there! Not sure that the kitchen will get done too as that will take some major 'moving around' of stuff on my part! The living room needs a coat of paint too, but I can do that and we already have some paint 'left over from when we last decorated it.

Holly has been home the last two days but she seems well enough to go back tomorrow :) I think she was going a bit stir crazy this afternoon so we went out in the garden for some fresh air (as it actually stopped raining for today!) and did a lot of tidying up,leaf sweeping up etc.

Tomorrow we are heading off to Milton Keynes to do some Christmas shopping :) Whilst part of me dreams of getting carried away with all the present buying hype, in reality we don't have loads of people to buy for , nor to we have a huge budget! Tomorrow is more for Holly's birthday bits as her main pressie is sorted ;) The Christmas displays are already up which are usually fab.I've just looked online...and Santas Grotto is fully booked for Christmas Eve already! Not that we were planning on going that day anyway! I think we'll go on Holly's birthday as the following week I'm going cropping :)

House of chaos...

<

Yep, that's our house at the moment ! Well it's not so bad I guess....just the bathroom is in chaos.Geoff is re-tiling it so the bath and shower are out of bounds until tomorrow.And I was so looking forward to a soak in the bath tonight!

Yesterday we went and got the bits that Em needs for her trip :) I do love Primark ! Just need to borrow a case from my mum & dad and make sure we can cram everything into it!

I have just realised that there is a load of stuff I should be making/getting on with at the moment ,as December is approaching....I need to decorate the cardboard advent trees I bought last year,start on the four calendars (two of which need to be posted) and I'm also tempted to do the Ali Edwards christmas journal.I have lots of Christmas bits & bobs that never seem to get used and part of me wants to prove to myself that I can start something like this and actually finish it!

This is my Pencil Lines layout for this week :) Yes, I used the same paper as Tracie:) I did cut out one of those flowers from the other paper and then decided against using them! It is much more 'brown' in real life!

Anyway,I used Crate Paper

Kraft Bazill

AC Puffy thickers (my fave!)

Doodlebug Loopy Love alpha stickers

Prima crystal swirls

Angel Kiss flowers

Love Elsie epoxy sticker

Heidi Swapp felt butterfly

I did have a few more journalling strips to go on it,but they covered Holly's curls in the photo so I just used the date the photo was taken.

Geoff is off this week to work on the bathroom and kitchen (time allowing).It looks as though he will have a little companion tomorrow though as Holly has just been really ill and is now snuggled on the settee next to me :(

Thank you

for the lovely comments on the post below :) I'm now on the third day of the yucky cold which means I can now taste again.As for feeling 'blue',blame it on hormones!!I still feel a bit 'off'..lots of stuff going round in my head that's making me feel like the most horrible person in the world,but I'm not sharing that on here! I did have a thought today though...I think I might start writing a 'normal diary' again sometime soon...I often 'write' my blog posts in my head several times a day ,but none of it ever makes it on to here! The only thing that bothers me is what if someone else were to read it all...I used to keep diaries when I was younger and reading some of them back is a scary experience! So anyway, I think I might start one ,if I can find one that spontaneously combusts when anyone other than me touches it!
I haven't done much the last couple of days other than feel sorry for myself (!!) so this afternoon I made the most of the light and sunshine and did my Pencil Lines layout.It was one of those 'spread your stash all over the living room floor' scrap sessions :)
This evening we went to a fab little firework display at a local school.I love fireworks (though not when they're let off in people's back gardens!) and they had a huge bonfire too .It always takes me back to being at junior school and having tomato soup in a cup and hot dogs at the fireworks display.So now Halloween and Guy Fawkes are out of the way I guess we're on a countdown to Christmas...groan!!
I can't believe it's a week already since Holly went away!It's Em's turn the week after next when she goes off to the Isle of Wight for five days-yikes.We are off to buy her some stuff for the trip tomorrow.I know they say not to take new stuff but as she only has jeans and they recommend tracksuit bottoms we are off to Primark !

What do you do...

...when you are feeling blue? I don't know what is wrong with me at the moment but I just feel yugh.I kind of feel like I'm getting a cold but then I suddenly feel ok again.It could just be this miserable damp weather...I don't know :( This afternoon I put on girly feel good film whilst I did some tidying and ironing in the kitchen and felt a bit better after that.I also dusted my Momiji's as their hair was starting to turn slightly grey!
I don't have much planned for this week,we may go to a fireworks display on Friday depending on the weather(Which doesn't look good at the moment)Which reminds me, we have sparklers for tomorrow night :)
Just remembered this layout that I did a few weeks back and don't think I've put on here yet.I used a KI Memories crop kit from Anna :)There's journalling on the pink MM paper under the photo :)
I am off to bed as my eyes are almost closing ...and it's only 10.30,what's happening to me?!

She's home

...and I think she's glad to be back :) When we went to collect her she burst and tears and said 'I'm so happy to see you'!She has been fine during the day time but got a bit weepy again yesterday evening.They were all worn out last night though and asleep much earlier than the first night!She came home with a decorated shoe box full of halloween inspired goodies she has made ,including a felt ghost,a wand and a bottle of glittery 'potion':)I will take a photo of all her treasures tomorrow.

Pencil Lines is live with a new sketch ,here's my layout :) I decided to merge the four small photos into two larger ones.And yes, I know the date is on the star and also on the stamped journalling! I did the star first as it covers a very prominent stranger in the background of the photo.Have to admit that I wasn't pleased with this layout at first,but by the time I'd added lots of bits to it,I was happier!
I used
Sassafrass paper
AC Puffy thickers
Prima crysatls
Heidi Swap ghost stars
MM letter stickers
Basic Grey buttons
Today has been spent catching up on the badly neglected housework so lots of hoovering and floor mopping!We left the halloween decs up for Holly but tomorrow I will pack them up and give the place a good dust over.
Em is back in school tomorrow ,whilst Holly has an Inset day (just as well!)

Something's missing round here...

and it's strange without her :( As expected,there tears when we left Holly at the place where they are staying for Pack Holiday :( Her brownie leader was amazing though and rang us within 5 minutes of us leaving to let us know she had perked up and was fine.She then rang me twice during the evening with two updates as to how she was.She got very panicky at bedtime but they calmed her down and she was fine.I cannot thank her leader enough for being so amazingly patient with her.By this morning I just wanted her back home! But we have had no phone calls today so I'm guessing she has been having a whale of a time!I know she would have been more upset to have come home and miss out on the party tonight!We are expecting to collect one very tired Brownie tomorrow afternoon!

Last night we had a massive two Trrick or Treaters which suited us just fine!Em wasn't bothered about going out but we did pop round to see a friends new black labrador puppy...who was fast asleep and absolutely gorgeous :)I managed to do my pumpkin quickly ,in between baking biscuits and packing Holly's bag!
Today we took Em to Milton Keynes as she had some birthday money burning a hole in her pocket and as Holly doesn't particularly enjoy shopping,it was a good day to go!The shops were full of tempting Christmas stuff!I managed to get myself and Anna a mega bargain (sorry hun, you'll have to wait for your birthday!)and got a few bits & pieces for Holly's birthday.
Tonight we are ordering a pizza and watching X Factor and a girly film (Sorry Geoff!)
And tomorrow...we are counting down the minutes till pick up time!

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!