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meet The Vader Brothers

what was I thinking?

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went to the park today

with one happy boy








one a bit sulky boy













a crazy dog and its owners (who I won't post a pic of as I don't have their permission)

had a good time, although I did a lot of shouting which wasn't a good idea as I had a big headache. We got stuck in Bedford on the way back and although I didn't have a clue where I was going I went through a few sidestreets and I found myself back on track (but still in a queue).

and one extremely peachy boy



Had a major scrapping opportunity tonight but watched old CSI episodes instead. Not feeling creative - I'll feel all creative again when I haven't got any time.

A busy weekend is planned with scrapping on Sunday afternoon (incl our footie team live on Sky) along with Church reading on Sun morning and a halloween party Sun evening. Saturday is sports day with U8's footie in the morning and tennis in the afternoon.

I'll be glad when Monday comes and it all calms down again and I will look forward to seeing my boys at the end of a school day and won't want to strangle them for fighting and shouting.

I am keenly awaiting a new camera mag - out in Nov - Digital SLR - am hoping it will transform my purely mediocre photography into little gems of perfection each and every time. I'm too tired to even write a denigrating comment about my rubbish pics - and if it comes to that time it means I need sleep :)

goodnight and adieu (oh I must rem to post about a totally 'need that' bag I am going to order...)

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A Nice Hour Spent

I've just spent a while gazing again at a newly found blog/shop. I am a big sucker for that folksy, laura ashley faded charm style of things - although with 3 little boys the clutter and eclectism of it doesn't suit our househild at the moment. It is something that I am warming to. A lot.

So the blog is Pozy gets Cozy and her shop is linked into her blog. Her name is Alicia Paulson. Check out her links - a huge list and very wonderful. I am so digging her felted flowers and am currently begging friends for old jumpers as we don't wear them here in Sunny Beds!!

I may get my material down and just start doing stuff - maybe for the Church Xmas market, maybe just for me....

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heart attack city

seriously sick pc last night and most of today. My impatient self decided to not wait for a frozen Windows to sort itself out, oh no - that would mean far too much sitting and waiting. Instead I decided on the 'unplug from mains' option - usually the domain of the male impatitents.

Rebooted to find a sick pc with an 'mountable_boot_volume' and big blue screens.

Woke up to find that this remained when booting up (I secretly hoped a night cooling down would fix it - as in 'computer heal thyself'). But no. Panic. Ten thousand photos down the tubes.

Texts, phone calls and general calling in of favours and asking big favours ended up with me having a fixed pc with a few niggly things not working (like internet) but enough for me to start BACKING UP my files. Learn to say 'YES' to backing up.

thanks to Rob & George, may you never find my blog and how stupid I am.

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Sharon came with her new camera.......




original

I would put in the B&W conversion (using jinky art's conversion that was free with scrapbook answers but blogspot is being stubborn).

Last day of freedom today - tomorrow the boys are home from school as well as all of next week. Nothing big planned, maybe visiting buddies, maybe buddies visiting us, probably forgetting to take Ruth to lunch on Thursday...you know the usual.

Need to play with my TTT kit too - have plans for the funky halloween postcard things (well I will spill - going to make a Halloween book with them either to put past Halloween japes in or maybe me and the boys will make up a scarey story and put it into the book)

Isn't Sharon a dream, not only does she let me loose on the camera (I'd trust no-one with my new camera) but she also takes sweet shots of the boy.

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my hair








here it is! it is a bit longer now.



I must add that my hairdryer broke that morning and it's not normally as frizzy looking.



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new stuff

the nice thing about reading scrappers blogs (by which I mean celebrity scrappers blogs like Stacy Juliam CZ, Ali E & Donna D) is that you get a heads up on what new products and trends are out there.
I know there are shops and sites that detail the papers and stuff in great depth, but patterned paper isn't my big thing. Every time I read CS's books again I know I have found my spiritual scrapping home.
So without further ado here are some 'wants' from recent celebrity blogs:-

  • photo diary book
  • QK storage - I wonder if Ikea do a version of this?
  • BearyPatch Add A Patch Gadget - This is what I have been waiting for!! should be at the top of the list really.
  • I am liking the new QK Vixen font - perhaps to go on a Xmas list? maybe but not before 2 new camera lenses!

not much I know, but I am beginning to understand my needs in terms of crafting and am not all about the latest trend in paper that I won't use or tons of Prima that just doesn't go with having 3 boys.

Read today in CZ's blog that she is giving blogging up - I only scanned it quickly so I wasn't sure if she was just taking a break or giving it up for good. From the comments section it looks like she is giving up for good. Sad but we can't force her to blog if she doesn't want to. I'll certainly miss her, she's top of my blog list.

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dirt & tiny teeth

i always wonder about kids teeth, especially milk teeth and how on some kids they look like they have loads of dolphin teeth. Other kids when they have a mix of milk teeth & second teeth look funny - kind of symbolic of the whole flux of change (bad grammar as flux is change isn't it?) they go through.

here's an example of gappy dolphin teeth - he's definitely outgrowing these teeth as he is his pants and swim trunks!

although he is freckly - most of the dots on his face is dirt........kind of sums him up really :)

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affinity

you know I had just got Pip up from his nap, you know the nap where I put him down to nap awake and he fusses a bit and then goes to sleep (officially known as a textbook nap) and I decided to feed him lying in bed. It's a hard life being a mum, putting baby to nap for a few hours, lying in bed feeding baby etc etc (don't worry I do stuff, my day ramps up at 3pm when bedlam ensues and carries on until 8pm).
So there I was happily feeding him and he stops and looks up at me. He really examines my face, I see his eyes looking at my eyes then my nose then my mouth. He reaches out and puts his hand in my mouth and feels my teeth, grins a bit and continues fiddling. Then he has a last look at me and smiles.
I have to say that even though he is the most adorable, precious little jewel in all christendom, when he just looks at me like that with that knowing smile my heart just bursts open.
It makes all the hard stuff worthwhile.
Other stuff that makes me a smug mum:-

  • when Munch or Tiddly come and sit next to me on the couch and snuggle into that perfect snug. Where they fit just right but can also see Dr Who too.
  • when they tell me they love my dinners (I am no cook let me tell you)
  • when you can see what you have tried to teach them is working - whether it is a phrase, moral conduct, hanging things up without asking.
  • when you see their real personality shine through and its so different to me or hubby - I always think 'Wow'
  • when someone tells me my kids have behaved when I wasn't there (Tids got a special sticker at Beavers last night for his good behaviour on a walk for snow leopards at the local zoo- only 4 of them in total got them)
  • when they come out of school smiling 'cos they are happy to see me

You see this is my job, my vocation now and I try really hard to do it right. But I do scream and shout, I do get upset with them, I get cross with them, sometimes I don't understand them. At the end of the day they forgive me my faults and love me back. There's nothing like that feeling, nothing in the world.

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shhhh, he''s asleep

baby was put to bed about 15 minutes ago awake, and after some fussing he's now asleep. What a result! No baby of mine has ever done that before. They've cried and cried until they were so distressed they were sick or nearly convulsed. Pippy has broken the mould, bless him.
This should be a time when I do housework and scrap but I had a crap night and feel ill, I have laryngitis (a bonus for many pple now i cannot speak) and every step tires me out. So I think I am going to slob out and go back to bed.

But not before enlightening you and reminding myself about
this. I am purposefully editing my pictures (all 10,000 of them) so I can upload onto flickr and hence onto moo.com so I can order 100 of those totally cute photos. Apparently they are 1/3 the size of business cards. Excellent for tags at Xmas and for scrapping.Although it costs about £11 I am a total sucker for this type of thing and I will use them all esp if I can make xmas tags and cards out of them.



and seeing as beta blogger is making it so easy to add pics I am revisiting my archives and adding the odd old pic.


This is Tiddly on his Christening Day - Aug 1999



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Design, design, design

I visit Print & Pattern every day. And every day there is a wonderful new post with the most thrilling things. It's almost as good as being in the shops themselves looking at all the wonderful things. I especially enjoy the stationery being the sad bad paper freak that I am. I would have a hundred million notebooks if I could, all of them different and I would never write in them, just keep them nice for looking at!
I totally loved the sunny style things - the stamps and the felt birds & xmas trees -I went to the site
here but as I don't read Japanese all I could do was look.
Basic Grey are producing new lines for Xmas here
here. I love BG stuff, the paper quality is outstanding. I still have a lot of last years Xmas line, so am not sure about buying more - maybe I will get the 6x6 pads which will be more useful to me from a scrapping perspective. How interesting you cry!
Scrapbook Answers is ceasing with the Nov issue. It's a shame as I like the mag and it is full of useful tips and tricks. I can't say it beats simple scrapbooks because the style isn't the same, I resubbed in July but have yet to see an issue :(

so here is my tidy room and a desk that even I am no longer ashamed of.... I realise now that I should either have bought a wireless webcam or one with a bigger cable as it doesn't stretch far enough!

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meet the spare room



here's the tidy bit of our spare room (note it being above ground level oh and see the American Crafts Albums - 1 for each boy & 1 for family/me/hubby)
This is where I have the pc and spend time researching rubbish and reading UKS!!!






now meet the untidy bit

oh the shame of it! the rest of the room is like this but the cam cable is stuck (by falling debris and the like)

Am due to start scrubbing in the kitchen soon - it is a place of horror - i may well do before and after pics. I plan to do the whole house this week - to keep myself out of trouble and stop me from snacking. I am going back to the gym and am determined to be slimmer at Xmas. I have an assessment on Friday with a great lady who used to be a WW leader but is now a trainer at the gym - she's really motivational and someone i can relate to (i.e she's a mum of 3 boys and is in her 40's).
Nothing is more scary than a woman with a plan & some determination.......

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first born





I am getting quite the dab hand at photographing mini-footballers. Mind you I am lucky that the subject matter is so unutterably gorgeous (I may be a bit biased here). This child breaks my heart every day with those eyes.




I yearn with a deep deep desire for a longer zoom lens now along with the desire for a portrait lens and a tripod and a proper flash. May as well round it up to £1000 eh?!! I have promised these things to myself if I ever manage to get paid work again. Ha! work! paid! never!




Tiddly is at home today after claiming illness this morning - he's been a bit under the weather all weekend so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Had a rough night with Pips, but he seems ok now, thankfully. Lots of household work to do today - we may have guests on Sunday and I'm going all Kim & Aggie on myself.

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look at the camera

i am going to use my webcam, i mean it i do.
i thought i would be using it a bit more than i do - which is not at all - but until i can persuade Sharon to get one and Jackie to use hers i don't have anyone to talk to (& Judi has 14 pc's but no cam).

so i thought i'd do some pics of me & my boys at various points. and occassionally pics of my upstairs (as it's not wireless means it only stretches to upstairs). Here's one from today.....

not sure what Pip is looking at but it must be interesting.

Here's one from a month or so ago.......

this was before his 'king of rolling' phase and eating real food - hence his slim physique (for a baby).

He's on my lap as i clumsily type this one handed, grunting, whining and trying to reach papers on the desk. I'd better go defuse the situation with baby yoghurt. Ever smelt baby yoghurt burps? not pleasant, nearly enough to put you off dairy.......but not quite enough :)