sort, tidy crash!

Ok maybe it is the sunshine, or maybe it is because I have less on this week but I have got a "sorting bug" (Colin is very happy). I have cleared out the freezer (which is now so bare it looks pitiful! haha) the linen cupboard, plastic box cupboard (ok that was my mum) and all the clothes are folded and put away (except mine) and I sorted the boys room out. I got a new bed for them from freecycle....a vintage bed as we call anything which is old, it sounds so much nicer! It is a wooden "stacking" bed which means there is a pull out bed underneath. So Jamie has the top one and we pull out the other one for Ewan. This way the floor space has just got bigger.

Loved thesephotos of our growing apples and plums. Hopefully there will be no bug attacks like the last two years. I had to strip the plum tree last year as it was infested but I am hoping I caught it in time to prevent it happening this year. There are loads of apple this year but the main problem is the children picking them too soon!

Love this photo of Ewan being Batman!!

I am now off to have a cuppa , make something and watch the tennis which I have been trying to watch for the last hour!!

fun weekend

Someone said to me you need to make sure your life has punctuation. Sometime we need to have full stops (say no!), commas (pauses or breaks from things) and exclamation marks (fun things)

This weekend has been an exclamation mark for me. It has been a lovely time of chilling with family and friends.

Friday Phoebe had an inset day at scholl so we dropped Ewan and Lucia of at pre-school and went into Fleet to do some shopping. I had no things to get so it was totally Phoebe's choice of shops. We spent most of our time pouring over make up and jewelry in Clarie's Accessories and the at Maccachinos for a Hot Chocolate and Iced Coffee. We also visited tThe Walnut Tree which is the most gorgeous shop ever. It is full of beautifully crafted things and so inspirational.

My brother made a fleeting visit, which was really lovely as we have not seen him for ages. The children got out all the lego so they could build a tower. It usually ends up Mike building the tower and the children directing!!

We had our annual Eurovision Party (I know three weeks late!! We were busy when it was on) I was such a lovely evening. I quickly decorated the lounge and put out a box of props to dress up in. We had not had much time to get it ready but somehow it just worked and it was really good fun seeing all the "interesting acts". Noticed a trend of black leather and silver shimmy skirts!

Today we went to the park to fly Jamie's new enormous kite. We try to think of things we can do which are exclusive to each child

get creative

Now I have finished writing my school reports woohoo!!! I have started reading this book call the Creative Family by Amanda Soule. Such a lovely book with loads of easy cheap and fun ideas...just in time for summer holidays!

I amd also inspired by her blog Soule Mama. Why not go and have a little look.

Brain Overload!!!!

You know when you get the flashing letter symbol on your mobile phone when your inbox is full? Well that has happened to my brain!! There are so many dates and bits of information coming my way when I cannot write them down (or when I can) that I feel as if my brain is flashing a little envelope sign....too FULL!
Today I forgot to take Ewan to his first induction day at school because I had not registered in my brain that it was today. Fortunately he is a confident little boy and doesn't seem at all worried about school so I think we will be ok with just one visit next week. I wonder what I will forget next!!!

hello again!!!

I can't believe I didnt blog for the whole of May....that is insane! life has been quite crazy and I have had a few big things on which has meant any little things which I enjoy have been squeezed out, like scrapping and blogging.

This weekend I was involved in organising and cooking a thai charity dinner for 50 pepole (we did end up with a few extras!!!) It was a lot of fun but also a lot of work! Here are a few photos taken by my talented friend Andy. The full album is here

My favourite photo!

I also spent some time taking photos of my children!

Will be back soon!!

stuck in a rut?

I don't know about you but spring is in the air. I want to clear out things, tidy, sort and organise. I want to try new things and look at what I normally do from a fresh perspective.
So if you are stuck in a rut with your scrapping why not try these ideas...

* change the size you work on
* use sketches to kick start you
* look back in your albums and chose your favourite layout. Use the same format but change the colour, paper and embelishments...and you will be very surprised how different it looks!!
* make a mini book - I love small projects which get me back into my creative flow
* try out a new technique


Guess what i have been feature on a fantastic website Sisterhood of Scrap for ideas and inspiration!!!
Go check it out...I am an honorary sister for the week!:)

Today you....

Phoebe
Wrote a list of all the things she does in a week and stuck it very neatly on her wall. Designed two star charts one for music practise and one for healthy eating! She is such a list girl and is constantly making lists and charts to help her do things. She is also amazingly organised which is lucky for me as sometimes I'm not and it is great to have a walking reminder!!

Jamie
Got two stickers at school. One was the new rainbow sticker for exceptional behaviour and the other one was best friend badge for being kind to someone.(well strictly it was yesterday but I had to include it!!) You were so excited and full of it when you came home from school. The long awaited first day of Beavers arrived and you had such a fun time. I could not get you to stop talking when you alked in the door.

Ewan
Ewan is a boy of few paintings at school but today I had a whole collection of them. There was a beautiful one of a rocket. You went to the gym for the first time and absoluteley LOVED it. The whole time was spent running around and leaping off things and diving, jumping and running. At the end when you came out you said "I really liked that it was so fun...and so awesome"
You tried very hard and wrote your name for the first time all the way through by yourself.

Lucia
You amaze me. Two weeks ago you were wearing nappies and now you are potty trained...and decide to go by yourself, can sort yourself out (on most occasions...there are a few mionr accidents) You went to pre-school for your first visit. You absolutely loved it and had to be dragged away....roll on two weeks when you go properly!! :)

Colin
Was really excited bc he had ordered a new "toy" an MP3 player. I was miffed bc mine is not as nice but he rarely ever buys himself anything so I could not really complain!! :)

Me well I was back at school....coming home tired and wishing I had the energy to do something creative with my evening (colin is out at a work function) but knowing I will probably crash out on the sofa!! if I do do anything creative I will let you know.