We have a bear back in the house!!!

Just got back from Meadowhall, or should that be MeadowHELL!!! OMG just how rude to people get in the run up to Christmas. One woman bashed her shopping bags into Harry's face whilst he was sat in the pushchair, and didn't see it as a problem when I pulled her up on it. Karma is a bitch though, because she turned round to hot tail it away from the wrath of Looby Lou and broke her heel...LOL!!!

Anyway, we have a bear back at home where he belongs... all is calm at present as the boys are pleased to be back in each others company... we'll see just how long this lasts though!

Huge Congratulations to the Ga family on the safe arrival of baby Sam... he is so flippin cute it make me want mine here and now... although I shall allow him to cook for a little longer as we haven't decorated his room yet, and more to the point we only have 2 of the letters we need for his door!!!

Sketch 7 is up on the Rough Draft blog, and I have to say that it was the most fun sketch to work with... I loved it, and was really pleased with the outcome. I took this photo ages ago and it has been pinned to the inside of my workstation just waiting to be scrapped... so glad I did get round to it and I love the papers I used... and there are those puffy thickers again... yummo!

Have just got the December Sarahscard kit to play with and even though it is Christmas themed, which I don't usually love... the papers are double sided and can be used for non Christmas LOs too. That said, I still have so many past Christmas photos to scrap, I am hoping that this will make me get through some of them!!! So tonight it will be Casualty, a glass of diet coke and Christmas scrapping. Gosh I know how to live!!!

Right off to watch Ice Age 2 with the boys...

Thought it was about time...

I scrapped some of the pics from last Christmas, seeing that this Christmas is only 5 1/2 weeks away. I don;t know what it is with me but I hate scrapping Christmas and birthday photos... I find it quite daunting, as there are usually loads of random colours in the photos, and then I tend not to love the themed papers that you are 'supposed' to use. So with this LO I decided to use the current Rough Draft sketch, and go for a random mix of papers, only one being from a Christmas collection. Not the best LO in the world, but at least there is a record of the event in Oliver's scrapbook. Now I just need to do the photos from Christmas 2006... how bad am I!!!Well last night was the first night without Bear... and we slept like a dream. As much as I miss him when he isn't here, it is lovely going to bed knowing that you're not going to be disturbed... unless you count Rob shaking me saying 'You're on mate, push the button!' what the?!?!?! Maybe I shouldn't have made the melted cheese on tiger bread toast as a late night snack for him after all!!!

Right, busy day ahead... we are going into the loft to sort through baby clothes/toys/equipment to see what we are keeping and what can go. Rob is desperate to get his room back to tidy and at the moment it is such a tip... will take before and after pics and share later!

Have a great Sunday. And enjoy your last day as a family of 4 Jen, Tich, James and Josh.

How stoopid am I???

OK so you don't need to answer that... I already know!!!

Tell me, why, when it is raining here (just for a change) do I decide to get out all of the 2-3 clothes from the loft and wash them (12 full loads later), then have wet washing draped over all the radiators, the tumble drier spinning itself into an early grave and the, which then results in the ironing pile from hell!!! Not good planning on my part! On the upside though, Bear has lots of (new to him) clothes to wear... some of which I had totally forgotten about.

In between the washing, drying, ironing and the odd child to look after, I managed to get this quickie LO done. Well it would have been quick if it hadn't been for the dymo journalling... just how long does that take!!! Quite impressed that I actually used some Blonde Moments paper and made it look good. OK so I stamped on it, put an overlay and lace papers over it, used a biggish photo, and added chipboard and dymo so you can't actually see that much of the paper... but still, I used it, and it's only been hanging around at the bottom of the stash pile for a few years!!!

Bear is going to my mum's tomorrow for the week, so I better go and make the most of his nap time and pack his bags.... wonder if I could persuade her to keep him until he is 18?!?!?!

Cabin Fever!!!

So I survived my weekend of being a single parent, more importantly he kids survived the weekend too. The dog is walking a fine line between here and the sausage factory... he is being so naughty lately. You let his out in the garden and he spends all his time barking at nothing, you call him in and a few many later he wees all over the kitchen floor!!! We have started to take him out on his lead to make sure that he does his business, to see if that will do any good... if not watch the post box Ham Spam, you could have a playmate being delivered soon!!!

It was really nice having time just me and the boys, but having no car was not fun. Even though I didn't have to go anywhere, t was the knowing I couldn't that made it tough. By Sunday afternoon I think we all had cabin fever and were itching to get out... we couldn't even go to the park as it was tipping it down for most of the day!!!

I had so many good intentions about scrapping this, and scrapping that whilst I had the weekend evenings to myself, but at the end of the day, the lure of a double bed with fresh sheets was far more appealing and I was in bed ridiculously early Friday and Saturday night.... such a light weight these days, although not literally!!!

Last night I did make myself sit down and scrap, and I am so glad I did... I love this LO, one of my faves I have done for ages. You know when you just do something that you really, really like, even though you can't explain why... well this is just one of those LOs. I am loving the puffy thickers from Sarahscards (Sarah if you read this make sure you have some at the next crop, I NEED more), although OMG they are so super sticky!I had to move a couple and they ripped the backing paper, although you can tell, i think I got away with it... just. The pictures were taken on Halloween when I took the kids to the park. Whilst all the others played on the roundabout, Bear discovered the tyres. He tried for ages to balance on them, unsuccessfully, then gave it up as a bad job before trying to leap on to a fast spinning roundabout!!!

The tags were part of a Scarlet Lime kit, which we will be getting only one more of. It's the little bits inside the kit like this that I really like... but so so simple to do. I'm sure we could get an in crop swap thing going where we all use a couple of the stamps we have to create x amount of tags/cards etc, so every member of the swap ends up with gorgeous embellies to use... might see if anyone is up for this... let me know if you read this and are interested :)

I had a little stash spend last night, and hopefully the order will come tomorrow... stuff I absolutely definitely needed to be able to scrap this gorgeous pic.I intended to scrap this one last night but had nothing whatsoever in the stash pile that would do! So tonight I have to catch up with my childminding paperwork so that tomorrow night I can play... so with that I better go and get started.... boooooooo to paperwork!!!

Back in the land of the living!!!

Well, to cut a long story short, back in the land of t'internet!!! Our not so old laptop decided to start burning through power cables like they were going out of fashion. It got to a stage where we could only get the blimmin thing to work if we pressed and held the cable, which meant that you had burnt fingers after a few minutes... not good! So our t'internet time was VERY limited, then one night, about to reply to a message the lappy what bang... literally!!! OMG!!! Just how traumatic is life with no internet connection??? It makes me wonder how we ever managed without it. All's well that ends well though, we now have a desk top all set up and are back in the land of modern technology so it's a happy house again.

So what's been going on since I last blogged?!?! Well good news on Thing 3 front... had a rescan last week and all is good with his heart. All 4 chambers could be clearly seen, and they checked blood flow in and out and that looked good too... such a relief. The sonographer also had a quick peak between the legs and there were still extra bits, so it is certain he is in deed a he.

Last week was half term so a busy week with looked after children here all day. We did various Halloween activities which went down well, but I tell you I was glad when 6 o'clock Friday came and they had all gone home... such an exhausting week! On Sunday i missed the Warrington crop (sob) as we had a Halloween party for Oliver and a few of his friends. We fully expected the adults to leave the children, but most stayed so we had a very full house... but a good time was had by all, and the best part was that 8:00pm we had two sound asleep boys, and a whole evening to ourselves... which of course we made the most of by vegging in front of the TV!

On Sunday night bear started with a few spots on his legs which we thought was the start of chicken pox. A trip to the docs on Monday and we were told it was the pox. However, on Tuesday the red blotches/spots had turned into bruises and he had a fresh new lot of red blotches... not to mention the fact that he looked as though he had done a couple of rounds with Ricky Hatton, his face was so swollen. After an online consultation with a doctor of little brain (but we love her just as she is), a retired GP, and the expert 'Ga' parents, it was established that it wasn't the pox but more likely a viral infection of some kind. Wednesday morning, prepared to have to go into battle with the GP's receptionist (do you need a qualification in arsiness to get this job???), woke Bear up and there was not a mark in sight!!! Well there were a few very pale bruise type marks but everything else had vanished. The swelling in his face went down and now he is completely back to normal.

This weekend I am a single parent family. Rob has packed up and gone off to the back of beyond... somewhere near the Isle of Skye for his friends wedding. He is djing at the reception tomorrow night, so the car was rammed full with speakers/light/decks/records and all the other thingamabobs that probably have technical names. He got there this afternoon after an almost 9 hour journey... which is the reason why I declined my invitation, not that I would have squeezed in the car anyhow! A 9 hour journey is NOT my idea of fun, no no no no no!!!

So tomorrow I plan to run the boys ragged at the park so that they go to bed nice and early so I can get some scrapping done. I have been playing this week with the November Sarahs card kit which is divine. 3 LOs down and 1 almost done, and lots left over to possibly make a couple of cards. I can share with you the LOs I did with the last kit using the Itsy Bitsy Spider papers from Piggy Tales.

I know I keep saying it, and it's not just because I am lucky enough to be on the DT, but these kits are seriously good. I have not had one yet that I haven't really loved... and I am fussy. Really worth looking into if you want to sub to a kit.

The last LO was done for the Rough Draft blog. It was my own design and Jemma made a fab sketch from it which has now gone live. The DT interpretations are fantastic, and all so different. Why not play along, if you leave a link to your work you could win a RAK, now that can't be a bad thing can it. I'm trying to scrap some of the older photos I have still stored away... I can't see me ever being 'up to date' with all the pics I want to scrap, but I figure there will be a time when the boys won't want their pics taken, so i will have plenty to fall back on... just need to record the memories and dates that go with them!!!

Right off to do something useful before it is time to go to bed. Better not have too late a night as I can't prod Rob to get up with the boys in the morning!!!

It's a boy thing!!!

Yesterday we had our 20 week scan (even though I am actually 21 weeks). All seems to be ok with the baby, but I have to go back next week to be rescanned as they couldn't get a clear picture of the 4 chambers of the heart. Even though they said they were sure everything was fine, and that it was because baby was in an awkward position and would not move no matter how many times they poked, prodded or got me to change position, there is still a part of me that is scared that there is something wrong and they just aren't telling me! I tell you, the paranoia that sets in during pregnancy is something people never warn you about!!!

Good news is that baby is a boy *big smile*

So many people have offered sympathy when they have been told we are having another boy, and my mum couldn't disguise her disappointment at another grandson, but Rob and I both secretly wanted another blue.... and so did Oliver because girls smell! We have already been asked if we'll 'try again' for a girl... when the neighbour asked this,I said if we did 'try again' it would be for a baby, and we would be happy with what ever it was. That said, there definitely will not be anymore after this one. I can't go through the stress and worry of it all again, and to be honest I don't think my poor body could cope with another pregnancy.

So at the weekend when I go to mum's, I will be able to buy a few bits and bobs for the little guy, and hopefully find some yummy wool to knit a few cardigans for the early days... I say this like he needs them, he doesn't, I just like knitting little things.

So here is the latest pic of Thing 3...

I have been really busy on the scrap front lately too... some things I can't share as of yet because they are DT work. However I can share the sarahscards work that has already 'gone live'. This kit was yummy to work with, but to be honest, all of the kits have been yummy to work with, and I have to say the November kit I received this week is to die for... seriously my favourite yet. If you don't already sub, look out for the single purchase if/when it comes available... you will need it trust me!
Don't forget that sketch #2 is up over on the rough draft blog... it's a fab sketch and the DT interpretations are stunning. I am planning to have a go tonight when the boys are asleep... don't forget to share your LOs by leaving a link to your work so we can add you to the slide show.

Late night scrapping...

a child that woke 5 times in the night, and an early start can only mean one thing... I feel like poop today!

Rob had his Saturday night bottle of wine last night and watched Rocky 5 (very sad) and I got on with some scrapping. I actually did 2 whole LOs last night... shock horror!!! One was using the delicious November kit from Sarahscards, all yummy greens, yellows, black and white. If you aren't a subber and you get the chance to buy the kit as a one off, you will not be disappointed.

The second LO was done just for me, no DT kit, no sketch, just me and a random choice of papers that appealed last night. The topic of the LO was inspired by a LO by Anam, and means another page in the new baby's album. I used a sound button on the LO which has a recording of the baby's heartbeat on... something I think he will like to listen to when he is older. We didn't hire a doppler with Oliver or Harry, but this time round I seem to be even more worried about something going wrong so we hired one at 14 weeks... it has been a god send, on those days when you really don't feel pregnant, have no movement and panic starts to set in.

The Lo is quite a touchy feely one as I used some velvet paper and velvet thickers. The red pp behind the photo is actually a plastic bag from a past Scarlet Lime kit so feels really shiny and cool to the touch in contrast to the velvet. The decorative edge paper is by Pink Paislee and can be bought from Sarah, it is yummy and I think I am going to need some more. The red hearts wrapped around the sound button are Bazzill decorative edges, and I love using these... they're not something I thought I would use a lot, but they are really versatile.... go on, pop some in your basket, you know you need them too.