Yawn...

I don't know what is up with my sleep pattern at the moment..but it's not good!Having been way too hot the last two nights (I finally fell asleep on the sofa at about 4am Tuesday morning!) I thought being cooler this evening I'd be fine.But no,it's now 1am and I'm still awake.And it's not as if I haven't been busy today (now yesterday!) This morning we walked into town to stock up on paint brushes,clay etc from ELC .

Holly spent most of the afternoon in the pool (apart from a nasty fall during a mad dash for the toilet!),along with Em.So as I had to be in the garden I thought I'd cut the hedges in the back garden.My dad has just given me his old hedge trimmer (to save me borrowing his new one!) and it was so bloomin' heavy I was exhausted by the time I'd finished (bear in mind the hedges are about 7ft high and the garden is long,I wasn't being a wimp!)

I spent this evening sorting out some photos to order online as Holly is desperate to do some scrapping and my ink is running low!

These are a couple of things I made with the last Scrapping Angels kit.Anna seems to have lost her photo of the note book which I did at the crop back in June so I don't think it's in the gallery yet! I made the bookmark by Cropadile-ing an acrylic heart and threading the ribbon through.Em has her beady eye on it!

Right,it's now heading for 1.30am so I am off to attempt to sleep again!

Better late than never!

Pencil Lines has now gone live and this week we were sponsored by Riff Raff designs.I painted and glittered the butterfly and purple heart (very badly I'm afraid, it's not my strong point!) The photos show the results of the face painting marathon that went on on Saturday!

I also used

Fancy Pants paper & rub on

Angel Kiss flowers

Bazzill spotty brads

MM alpha stickers

AC Glitter thickers

Prima crystal swirls

It's still sweltering hot here ,I guess I shouldn't complain! The girls have spent the afternoon in the pool keeping cool.It does mean that I have an excuse to sit in the garden and chill,even if I did have to move into the shade after a while!

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!