Like buses..........

I know, I know, I don't blog for ages and then I manage twice in one week - just like buses, nothing for ages and then two come at once!
Well, I had a great birthday, the children came into bed with me and passed me all my cards one by one whilst I also had a go with the new camera lens Jonathan had given me

we then headed downstairs for chocolate pastries and orange and mango juice for breakfast...

after school run and a supermarket trip (life has to go on!) Evie and I headed to my brothers new pub, 'The Cadogan Arms' to meet up with Anna and Katie and Ashlea and Nella for lunch, it was fantastic to be able to sit outside and eat in the sunshine whilst Evie and Katie played.

Back to collect Henry from school and then to my mum and dads - they had got me a new bicycle! so I went straight out round the block to test it out, then back for some cake, with these little munchkins....

I got loads of lovely presents, cards and messages and Jonathan managed to get home to time for us to go out and have a bite to eat and then off to the cinema to see 'The Boat that Rocked' which I would highly recommend!

A great day with lot's of lovely memories

Just a reminder - Dawn Inskip is doing a demo for Amanda at Your Touch of Craft tomorrow - if you can get there pop in and see the lovely stuff she is making!

xx

Where oh where?

has the time gone? sorry this post has taken two weeks - life is stressful and hectic, but we at least got back to normal today with the first day of summer term - I love routine - I'm sure I have told you that before! Evie had her first swimming lesson without me going in with her and she was fantastic! Fingers crossed it carries on that way.

So what's been happening? well in no particular order, I took Henry to A&E last Friday morning when he managed to cut his thumb whilst chopping himself up an apple - lot's of blood and screaming and fuss, but they put steristrips on it and bandaged it well. He has to keep it dry and is very protective of it, we have an appointment with the nurse on Friday to remove the dressing and hope it has healed okay.

We spent Easter weekend back in Margate and had a few hours out, playing in parks, looking at viking ships and playing with Easter toys

When we got back home they started the eggs, these two crack me up how they just take a huge bite rather than breaking pieces off

The weather has been so good, and yesterday we went to WestStow park and met up with friends, this is Evie making sand angels! - yes the sand was everywhere!

Last week we went to Nowton Park for a fire building activity. It was good fun and we got to cook both sausages and marshmallows.

I have also been crafting! This is the dt layout I did with the Marrakesh range for Your Touch of Craft

and I managed to pack up a few projects to take to Margate to keep myself amused in the evenings! These are a selection...

Today I have labelled and organised my scrapbook shelves, they look gorgeous. It is in my spare room and we have friends coming to stay this weekend, so I am trying to get the room looking good again!

Poor Jonathan is now on his fourth trip to Margate in the same number of weeks, it was a bit last minute and as it is my birthday tomorrow he wasn't happy about it, but he got me to open my lovely presents from him before he went and he is hoping to be back in time for going out tomorrow night.

Think I have remembered everything to tell you!

Catch up sooner next time I promise

xx

Easter Blessings

Easter is my favorite holiday, I love the cooking, having my family over for a big Easter Sunday lunch and the promise of spring. Unfortunately this hasn't been the case for a while. Last year I woke up with terrible stomach pains on Easter Sunday and Jonathan ended up taking me to the out of hours doctor at the hospital, this year we have family illness and are backwards and forwards to Margate to visit Jonathan's parents. It hasn't been the best start to 2009, Jonathan said last week 'Stop the world, I want to get off' - that sums up how we are feeling, but life has to go on and we are keeping our heads down and getting on with it!
On a lighter note, Your Touch of Crafts Spring Workshop was fantastic! Suezie, Annie and Anna all taught classes and all the ladies seemed to enjoy themselves and hopefully made some new friends, although it was all on a tight schedule to get it all in!

We have been asked when the next one is and we are working on it - perhaps a summer one? Please let us know what you would like! But at the moment, Amanda is pretty busy opening a new bead shop in Norfolk - good luck Amanda xx

Well, as mentioned we have spent a few days in Margate, and had a couple of lovely afternoons on the beach collecting shells and stones, unfortunately I forgot to take my camera with me both times! Evie also managed to fall into a rock pool within the first five minutes, which meant walking back to get changed before setting off again! The children found the whole weekend quite an adventure as they got to sleep in bunk beds in their sleeping bags - in the same room as us! - Again, will get a photo this weekend when we go back. I cannot explain Jonathan's parents house to you but let's just say it totally made me appreciate my own home when I got home!

I did get these two photos, do you like the one of Evie on the DS?! She hadn't a clue what she was doing, just kept pressing buttons!

My birthday is in a couple of weeks, so I have been working on my wish list, and I thought I'd give you a few sneaks of some of the things on it....

Firstly the Nikon 50mm fs1.8mm af

Secondly my favorite perfume, unfortunately it is one that YSL only bring out every few years and I have now run out, you can occasionally find it online, fingers crossed!

and a book called 'Outstanding Mini Albums' speaks for itself really doesn't it!

I'll bring you more from my wish list next post and perhaps some beach photos if the weather stays good!

For all you easter lovers out there please check out the fantastic easter downloads available from House of 3, they are gorgeous!

Have a fantastic weekend

How strange is that??!!

....is just one of the sayings that Evie has picked up from me, you can so tell she spends alot of time with me!

Saturday I took Henry, Evie and Henry's best friend James for a 'Nature Walk', we have some fantastic areas up here in the Moreton Hall Area, not all of which we have explored. So we decided to have a look around Natterers Wood, we found a sunny sheltered spot and had our first picnic of the year - bliss!, If I hadn't had the children with me I could have had a lovely doze in the sun!, but as it was we got up and found the 'giant bat' that has been created, the boys had a fantastic time running around it and we saw lots of birds and insects - was a great afternoon.

These have been making me smile all week, I think Henry planted them at Beavers last year and I just popped them out side the back door and forgot about them, so it was a pleasant surprise to find them this week and I brought them into the kitchen so I could see them every day.

Well, the other news is that Jonathan had his second knee operation on Monday, and it went very well, much better than the left knee. He is feeling okay, but mainly is bored from having to sit around the house!

Amanda and I have got everything organised and ready for Sundays workshop, cannot believe how quickly this has come around and the classes all look amazing, really looking forward to seeing you there!

xx

Photo Heavy Post!

Well, let's start with Comic Relief, school were quite conservative this year, Henry was allowed a red nose and had to take a joke to read out during golden time, and Evie was allowed to wear something red. After school she decided she really wanted to dress up, not sure what she is, she keeps saying a scarecrow- in a devils outfit??? Anyway, this is how she spent the afternoon!

Saturday morning we spent in Nowton Park, we met up with my friend Elaine and her children Molly, Alex and Harry, it was a gorgeous morning and the children had a fantastic time and really didn't want to go home at lunch time

Molly (with a catkin)

Evie

Harry and Mummy (Elaine!)

Henry showing me the mess he'd got into

Alex

Sunday we went out into town for brunch and to show Jonathan around the new shopping centre and then home to cook a late lunch for David, Rox and Daisy. I tried to get a good Easter photo of the children, but this is as good as it got as neither were in the mood to play ball (they never are together!)

I had a go a paper piecing this week for friends moving in card, really pleased with the results

and lastly a sneak peak of Annie's class she is teaching at Your Touch of Crafts Spring Workshop - isn't it pretty!

Have a good week

xx

More of the same

Evie is still being a bit of a nightmare, I had to drive home for the childminders on Monday with her screaming and only the lap belt on, since then her old car seat with the 5 point harness has been put into the boot of the car in case it happens again!

We have had a new - and controversial - shopping centre open here in Bury St Edmunds named Arc, which is mad as it has been built on the old cattle market and everyone still calls it that! I have to admit it's nice, especially to have somewhere to buy children's clothes, but it is such a shame that half the shops have moved from the town centre, making the town look very sad - not sure of the point really. Anyway, on Saturday I took Evie down to see our local RAF base march from the Abbeygates to the new centre:

Sunday, Jonathan had to work so the children and I headed off across town to my parents for lunch and we took the children out for a bike ride, Henry is slowing getting more confident without his stabilisers.

Last night we were invited to Pizza Hut for Chloe's 3rd birthday, the children had a blast although felt pretty ill after too much ice-cream and sweets!

I have been pretty busy making bits and pieces for the YTC Spring Workshop, it's all coming together and suddenly is pretty close!, how about this for a sneak peak of Anna's class -book now if you haven't already!

xx

Reward charts and more

Yup, the time has come for the reward chart, not sure if it's going to work, but anything is worth a try at the moment as Evie is testing my patience beyond belief! She is unbelievably determined and independent. This week has seen her waking before 6am, so I go in and tell her it's not morning yet and that she needs to snuggle back down to sleep until I get her at 7am - always worked before! but now as soon as I close her door she starts the very loud (and false) crying, I will not go into her as I don't want to give her what she wants, so I lay in bed getting angrier and angrier with her. She then stops and a few minutes later starts shouting me again - anyway you get the idea, so we now have a reward chart, didn't work yesterday morning, but this morning the little girl skipped one place up the garden! If you are looking for reward charts to print off try HERE.
So we had slipped a little on our mornings, I had allowed Henry to play with his Lego in the mornings when he woke early, but he now is not allowed to turn his light on until 6.30am and then it's reading only. I had also allowed the TV to be turned on before school, but now that isn't happening, Henry does a page of one of his workbooks - whilst Evie does her 'work'.




Evie and I are having a making morning, we have started with Play dough and made four different colours, which she is playing with right now and then she wants to make a carrot cake!


A few photos from Spikes surprise birthday dinner which was a couple of weeks ago (although none of the birthday boy!)

Jonathan, Annie and me!

Jonathan and Andrew, I love this picture, it captures the fun we all had, this was the first time Jonathan and Andrew had met and they got on so well - don't you love it when that happens!

Anna, Annie and me!

Weekend was good, we had friends over for dinner on Saturday evening, so I spent the morning at the market and the afternoon cooking, I started with Nigella's Union Square Cafe nuts as nibbles then I slow roasted belly pork and made Delia's red cabbage to go with it along with new potatoes and purple sprouting broccoli. Dessert was Nigellas's Syrup steamed pudding and then a selection a cheeses - fantastic! I ended up clearing up before I went to bed and so didn't get to bed until 2.30am and then got up with the children at 6.30am! Luckily Sunday was a lazy family day, we went out in the afternoon to take the children out on their bikes, Henry is starting to ride without his stabilisers (although it's slow work) and Evie got pulled along on hers - otherwise it's slow going.

I have had a chance for a tiny bit of crafting, I am so loving the House of 3 print ables and my first project is this gorgeous banner, it's hanging from my office door so you can see it as soon as you walk in the front door. I have so much on my wish list with them - it's all gorgeous!

Also going to be busy making things I can't show you ready for the YTC spring workshop!

Happy March! xx