Party of Five

bless me father for I have sinned, it's been ages since my last post.

It's not like I have loads to do, we muddle through pretty much the same each day, and you can only read about that so many times before wanting to jump off of a tall building.

Am loving Scrubs at the moment and especially love Zach Braff's blog - he's just what you want him to be - funny, clever and kind to fans & dogs.

I'm not sure how I reached this print & pattern site , probably via elisalous's blog , but I love all the print and pattern and totally want one of those marikemmo mice! elisalou makes THE most gorgeous bags and blankets and jewellery - I am hoping to get one of the blankets for Pip - kind of make it an heirloom piece.

I bought a beautiful necklace from Jacquie at A String of Beads - what can I say? it is fabulous and she is going to make me a matching bracelet too.

Busy, busy this week - Munch has a tennis course (I am hoping he can contain his natural tendency towards tornado behaviour), they are both going go-karting on Wednesday and we have Pip's Christening on Sunday (which is my birthday too) and I need to buy an outfit for me & the boys. Plus finishing off ironing on name labels on uniforms and making sure everything is together to prevent last minute panics and the wearing of too small old uniform. I've had to buy Sam long sleeved shirts this year as he was very sensitive over the kids making fun of the dark hair on his arms when he wore his short sleeve shirts. Poor kid.

Have 2 red hot scrapping projects on the go - a digital to print album for a little girls bday party and a little 40th bday album for Hubby. Hope to get them finished tonight (and pigs will fly and I will give up choclate and biscuits)

I've taken quite a few photos these past few days,

one for me and my best bud for our birthday cake (we share a birthday and a lot of history!)

one of cheap storage from Woolies that i carried home from town whilst wheeling a buggy and keeping the older two close by

some of the Big Picture by Stacy Julian (pages I intend to work on)

and a pic of all the LO's in Cathy Z's book that I love straight off the bat

we should be getting our new (2nd hand)car soon - just finalising finances, I am going to miss the old Polo but it simply isn't big enough for our growing family. I am hoping someone in our family will want it - it's lost such a lot of money over the 4 years we have had it (£5500 in fact) it is almost not worth the hassle of selling. Ours is such a disposable society where no-one wants to keep things for long or want second hand things that getting rid of cars is more of a hassle than is used to be. My father-in-law had an old car he wanted to trade in and the dealer gave him £100 off the price of the new car to NOT trade it in (mind you it was an ancient car - you know what old people are like).

have got me mojo back! about bloody time too.

bought 2 books to help me get into the groove and they've given me loads of ideas. Cathy Z's Clean & Simple : The Sequel & Stacy Julian's The Big Picture - Cathy's book is just sheer joy - full of seemingly simple LO's that I can achieve and Stacy's book whilst on the surface less 'me' has planted so many seeds i am actually writing things down and planning. i have also resubbed to simple scrapbooks - should never have let it slide.

I hope to get some money for my birthday so I can buy some more albums and organise them into categories: Sam, Munch, Pip, Family & Me+Steve. This is such a simple way, then all those 'event' pics where i have lots i will put into either simple 7x5 ablums or themed 8x8's. I think it will give me focus and also help reduce the photo pile.

Must say going back to crops has given me a lift too, nothing like the company of other scrappers to gee you along.

Holidays going ok so far, no riots or tantrums, just slightky messy but generally good times.

so this is the conundrum:- I really really want to scrap but it's the holidays and my kids really really want to do things & need attention. By the time I have some space the scrapping bug will have died. What do I do?

I'll figure it out, but you'd have thought at 40 I'd have this whole thing sorted. Who are these women who have spotless houses, smart kids, are immaculately turned out and are so arty they create in their sleep? maybe it's too much Desperate Housewives and their impossible lives but it doesn't do a girls soul any good.

Maybe I can't mutlitask or maybe I can multitask but cannot expect everything to be perfect. I hate living life in a whirl, I want to be controlled and calm - at the moment we are somewhere in the middle!

Had a fabulous weekend at a friends. The kids played with the little toddler brilliantly and it was nice not to have to rush to tennis/gym/footie etc.

Steve has taken on running an U8's football team so we have to add that into the mix now - Sam is over the moon as he loves football so much. They will both be going to our local team regularly now as Sam has a season ticket - 1 kid down and 2 to go!!!

Baby crying - bang goes cleaning the bathroom!!!

Jaq has more talent in her little finger than i have in my whole body in my whole lifetime, she deserves to sell her stuff in Liberty's.

I have been doing some creating but don't feel locked into a groove yet. I can really only scrap in short spurts, but as i don't plan anything I generally have to finish in these short spans of time that I have otherwise I lose the feel for it. I don't go back to pieces after time and rediscover them, it has to be now or never which is pretty much how I approach life really - the problem is without planning I start something i am not happy with at the end and I don't have the stuff I want to give me the look I need! Man I sound like John Prescott 9as well as looking like him that's bad news)

anyway - here we are - the latest few creations - I amy not be happy with them but the kids love 'em and that's why I do all this

Jaq has more talent in her little finger than i have in my whole body in my whole lifetime, she deserves to sell her stuff in Liberty's.

I have been doing some creating but don't feel locked into a groove yet. I can really only scrap in short spurts, but as i don't plan anything I generally have to finish in these short spans of time that I have otherwise I lose the feel for it. I don't go back to pieces after time and rediscover them, it has to be now or never which is pretty much how I approach life really - the problem is without planning I start something i am not happy with at the end and I don't have the stuff I want to give me the look I need! Man I sound like John Prescott 9as well as looking like him that's bad news)

anyway - here we are - the latest few creations - I amy not be happy with them but the kids love 'em and that's why I do all this.

I didn't realise I had't posted - not that I have a huge audience.

Managed to do some scrapping during the past few days - nothing like a deadline to get my bottom in gear. I've also realised I really want Cathy Zeilske's new book BADLY. I really dig the simple style and the 8.5 x 11 format. I'll put it on my weighty wish list for my birthday.

Summer holidays have officially started here, which means ferrying the kids, mainly Sam, to various courses and activities that mean they don't drive me crazy. Well actually I love having them home, their play makes me smile - they could make a game out of anything those 2 boys. Sam is totally into making stuff and keeping it nice, Munch is more destructive. We are hoping it's just his age, but the mischevious glint in his eye means I never trust him and never leave him alone with anything unless I'm prepared to face the consequences. He's totally into stickers at the moment and knows where the sticker tin is, so if I were to leave him alone with Pip, for say 2 minutes, I'd come back to find a totally stickered up baby....

Tried to do some gardening today, pretty difficult when the boys are having a water fight and the baby is whining. I decided nothing is worth keeping and I am going to hack it all down. Everything is dead from the lack of consistent rain, I am so glad I didn't buy annuals.

The next 2 weeks will consist of running Sam & Munch to swimming, footie (Sam) & tennis -ah the holidays - don't ya just love 'em!!

I have been buying stash and not using it (what happened to my stash diet? who knows??) - but hopefully I will use them soon - they are staples - white rub ons and Queen & Co brads. I got them at A Million Little Things

The weather has been hot, but I still took Sam to footie - we melted but I got a nice shot of Munch by the school wall where they have painted pictures on.


I have been digging about and doing some reading - I love the way Tara Whitney proofs her pics and I know she uses itty bitty actions. BUT I found something similar mentioned on UKS and downloaded it and used it on the pic above. I love it! it is so funky and really gives the pics a wow factor. It is Peta Mazey's action loaded on the I Love Photography Forum - you need to register and then search for 'Petas Action then when the search string comes back look for the post entitled 'A Quick Action' .

I have bought itty bitty actions before and they are superb (my birth announcement and christening cards were done using her 'announcement' actions, but I didn't want to pay for something I might not use/like so I wanted to 'suck it and see' as the saying goes. I would love her to do her workshop workshop maybe I might get it for my birthday.....

took these yesterday!

the chair is a normal size, it's the Bab that is tiny






















this is basically all I see when he is awake - tongue, mouth & hands in close proximity to former














Elvis has not left the building apparently.......

Pips hands found each other yesterday, I hadn't noticed as I was busy watching tv and ignoring him as usual...not really I was probably shouting at Sam and Munch when I noticed Pip had both his hands together in his mouth. No mean feat as he usually can fit only one fist in there but I think the constant practise has widened his mouth ready for the double whammy.

He had his jabs too which made him a little antsy but he still slept through last night. I expressed milk last night in readiness for giving him a bottle (I am supposed to be going to Spain for a 40th) I gave Steve the bottle tonight to give to him and to my horror he took to it like a duck to water, it wasn't supposed to be like this he was supposed to make it hard so I wouldn't be able to leave him, so I finished the feed and he was away with the fairies. So now I have to express like the proverbial cow - enough for 1-2 bottles a day plus storing milk for freezer to little Pip does not starve whilst I am away.

Munch still has his rash - it is spreading. I am not sure what it is - he's ok in himself ( a bit more ready to cry but I was thinking that was tiredness). To me it looks a bit like a rubella rash. What do you think?

Fortunately neither topics in the header relate to myself, more my smallest 2 boys. Pip had his jabs today, being the Rambo tough nut he is he didn't even cry with the first one he sucked up the pain and just cried once on the second jab. What a hero! Now we just have to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't react to the shots. He's now full of tetanus, diptheria, whooping cough, HepC (I think)and Hibs.

We went to see and book the venue for the christening, all was cool and fine until we left when Munch burst into tears for no reason. He couldn't tell me what was wrong but when I looked at him he was all red and his arms were covered in a red blotchy rash. I went straight back to the docs and saw a nurse. She suspects a viral rash but we need to keep an eye on him.. I've given him some antihistamine medicine to help with the skin thing.

this afternoon Sam is in an end of year show - so not much time to scrap, but for once thanks to a lady on UKS and her lovely work I am brimming with ideas.

yes a whole packet, a big packet, a huge packet - not sure why I ate them all but eat them all I did. Now I sit here in my post hula hoop haze wondering why I did it. Not that I am going to beat myself up about it - it's happened so lets move on.

To be honest I would not have mentioned it had I not been stuck for a title for this entry.

Dooce- god she knows how to make me laugh.

I really should be doing my CV now, is there nothing as devastating as not remembering what your job title was, or what you did in the last year of working, of what your unit was called or when you started your last job? but how bad has it gotta be to be rejected? watch this space!!

I am planning Pips christening here - we had Munchers christening there too and it was awesome.
I am also planning our summer itinerary - basically it means booking the kids onto course so they don't drive me round the bend. To be honest they are fantastic kids, even the baby is no trouble - Sam is a total grown up and is responsible and kind, Munch is a bit wild but will do anything as long as his big brother is around and Pip just kind of fits in. Sam is doing football and tennis, Munch is doing mini tennis, hopefully they are both doing swimming crash courses and they are def doing go-karting. Steve has a week off too at some point. I am hoping we are going to stay at home as travelling with the kids will be uncomfortable and stressful - two I could deal with but baby too is a bit too much. We already have 2007 booked here simply the most beautiful place we have ever been - we've been going on and off since about 1992.


Photo of the week

Munch turned 4 yesterday. I still remember his birth and what a lovely little baby he was. Smiling at 3 weeks, no hair for a year, a cheeky glint in his eye.

He is turning into a little character. Maybe middle ones do, out of the shadow of an older brother and away from the glare of a new baby brother. He finishes Kindergarten on Thursday and spends some time at his new school on Friday. By the end of September it will be just me and Pip all day. No doubt I will manage to waste time like the professional slacker that I am.

This heat hasn't made me feel very crafty - plus Pip has been more wakeful and moving a bit more. On his little mat today he is bending and kicking his legs - not much longer til a tummy roll I think. He has definitely found his hands and stuffs them in his mouth most of the time.

We had the most fierce hailstorm yesterday, so much so the school was closed and I have had Sam at home for the day. It's been nice and he's a good boy - I probably won't be saying this by the end of the summer but at least I've said it once.

Here is the main man with his brother and his present from us. It's been raining steadily since he got it yesterday - enough said.

Before I had Munch (and before Sam was here and whilst he was little) I worked for a big company in London. In the City. Well all over really; Angel, Holborn, Aldgate & Moorgate to name a few. I really loved it, didn't mind the mind numbing commute, had a bunch of mates to go out with in the evenings and generally had a blast.

Revisiting today, well not a visit more of an appointment at Kings College for little Pip, made me think how on earth I did it for so long. The packed train (try doing it with an 18 week old baby, not fun), the interminable journey, the filth and dirt everywhere. Parts of London really are unloved.

The people at the hospital were fantastic, efficient and friendly. They gave us the information we wanted in a way we understood. Little Pip charmed everyone he came into contact with and managed 2 inconvenient poops.

We come home and are totally exhausted, London is only 35 miles away and it feels like we've been to Spain and back in a day.

yeah, I learnt how to have just one word link to a URL rather than 10 ton of text. Way to go me! (thanks Paul - do you fix taps as well?)

So now I can do what Munch is getting for his birthday and what I am going to buy when we have some money

so when I said one word I didn't really mean it - why use 1 word when 20 will do the job just as well.

Munch had the big race today, we weren't holding out much hope as he was running towards a finish line rather than food. As luck would have it Max was in the lead and fell over, leaving Munch to steal the glory, by fair means or foul my friend by fair means or foul ;)

I'm sure Marja won't mind me reffing to her blog - but she bought this oh so gorgeous fruit basket from Homebase and I want to pay homage to it here. Sadly for me our newly furbished, shiny Homebase doesn't have it in stock and as I was carrying 14lb dead weight of floppy baby I didn't have time to go ask at the desk. So I will keep looking at Marja's - I have nowhere to put it anyway, nowhere sensible.

Baby slept through last night, so to celebrate I slept all morning in bed with him - not sure how that one worked and hubby is a bit incredulous at how much time I slept. I would say well you wouldn't know about sleep deprivation would you? but then I have to remember he pays for my stash.

I hate Mondays, mainly because it's the whole back to school humdrum with the racing about plus we go to gymnastic club all afternoon followed by Sam's football in the open air (shock horror) which usually means holding a pooey baby (as i forgot his changing bag) whilst extricating Munch from a bush or some trouble with big boys. We added the 'forgotten trainers' and 'ball kicked over into a garden' to the mix today. Then I had to go home and make Shepherds Pie from scratch in an hour - a tall order at the best of time let alone when you have 2 hungry children trying to steal food and a baby who wants to air his lungs.

Glad today is over really, roll on the next one.

oh here is

a fabulous site that I am going to get something from for the boys room when we have any spare money (which is probably when they leave home) - the only problem would be knowing when to stop!

First day this week I have felt human which is lucky as little Pip had one of his 'off' days. An off day is where he does not cooperate sleepwise and stays awake when I want him to sleep. Poor little guy, maybe he just wanted to stay awake and see a bit of the world, but no Mummy didn't want you to do that so she was rocking and feeding, rocking and feeding oh and rocking and feeding (I feed him myself so he can't blow up and pop like an overfilled balloon - don't panic). By the time I'd figured out I would just leave him it was proper bedtime and hubby got him to sleep.

I got the shopping done (first time in weeks) but still didn't manage to get it all put away until just before going to get my hair done. Yes I know it's nothing but me time isn't it, toes painted yesterday, hair done today - if we are going to be destitute I may as well look as good as I can.

My cute photo today is of little one having found his thumb, we don't 'do' dummies here. This little guy sucks his thumb and fingers til he nearly throws up through gagging - not the object of the exercise I feel but he's a little young to be told.

Munch was playing with his little brother - this is so sweet, I really hope they all become real close friends as they grow up. It's something I never had being an only one so I feel quite strongly about siblings etc It must be nice knowing there's always going to be someone who is there for you, who's known you forever.

I have been feeling poorly, hopefully just a virus, it's brought some stress into the house but hopefully its gone now - it kind of creeps up on you when you think you are ok and floors you again.

Have decided that I need to eat more fruit, so have sent Hubby out to get me some (nothing like having a slave do your dirty work for you), maybe it'll brighten me up and give me some pep - if that fails I am moving onto Diet Coke then alcohol.













These are the LO's mentioned the other day - the first one is pants as the circle is not round and is too big, the 2nd one is pants because the circle is not round - what gives? I measured and drew and checked and everything and it still came out wonky! I'm not doing it again so it goes in the album as is!!