Friday 7 December 2007

Domestic Goddess. Ha ha

I am sooo annoyed with myself.

Anyone who knows me will know I am no domestic Goddess rofl but today I had a bout of domesticity. I did two loads of washing, put dinner in the slow cooker and updated my shopping list for a recipie I wanted to make for pud tonight. All this before taking the boys to the local playgym at 10am. All good so far.

(OMG Theo just put smiley face stamps in Louis' hair!!!) :D:D:D

After playing at the playgym we went shopping, did the weekly shop plus the extras for this evenings gastronomical delights. We got home and packed away all the shopping, checked on the dinner in the slow cooker and made a start on making pud, bread pudding.

Now, bearing in mind I've never made it but I LOVE eating it (all you fellow WWers - I wasn't planning on eating any of it myself, honest!) I was following a recipie.

I thought I was doing sooo well until I asked Adam to come and check the oven to see if he thought it was cooked yet. He prodded it with a fork a few times then asked me how many eggs I put in it

I forgot to add the bl00dy eggs!! I am soo cross and dissappointed with myself. I KNEW the recipie called for eggs, I even bought extra because of it. I just forgot to put them in!

Sorry guys, just had to get that off my chest.

Thursday 6 December 2007

Third Time Lucky

I passed. At last.

I got the results for my British Sign Language Level 2 exam and I passed, and not just scraped through. I passed with points to spare

Sunday 2 December 2007

On a roll

Wohoo, 2 layouts in 2 days. I'm definitely on a roll (but lets see how long it lasts)

2nd Dec, layout all about the weather.


I thought rather than do a layout about how miserable the weather usually is I'd show what I think the weather should be.


Again Kirsty Wisemans Jack Frost Digi papers and elements, a couple of home made elements and brad and photo turner from J Sprague

Shimelle Christmas Journal 1 December 2007

Well I'm off to a good start this year. Here is December 1st Layout.

I'm doing the layouts in digital this year, involves less lugging of papers and glues etc upstairs and I can do it without fear of the boys getting hold of anything sharp. Watch this space for more pages

Friday 30 November 2007

Tag, you're It

I've been tagged! I've been double tagged in fact, firstly by Kirsty and then by Natalie, to share 7 facts about myself

The rules are:-
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself some random some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their name (linking to them)
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs

So here are my 7 random facts

1. My middle name is Louise
2. I have no sense of smell
3. I have no tonsils or adenoids
4. I have 2 tattoos
5. My luxury item I'd take to survivor island would be a notebook and pen (or just a notebook at a push, can always write with charcoal)
6. I was on telly on a children's education program (about pondlife!) when I was about 10 yrs old
7. I could live on ice-cream (but not chocolate)

So who can I tag?

Erm....

Cat http://catkins-bigdave.blogspot.com/
Kath http://trufflecake.blogspot.com/
Caroline http://daniel-caroline.blogspot.com/

erm.. that's all the people I know who have blogs (who haven't already been tagged) just off to check Facebook.

That's going to have to do for now, I'll come back with some more links when I find some more friends

Weekend Away

We've just spent this last weekend visiting friends 'Down South'. Well the boys and I have, Adam couldn't get time off work so he stayed home for a bit of P&Q instead . We travelled down on Thursday and came home Monday with a fair bit of travelling around in between. The journeys there and back took 6 - 7 hours each but we did stop for an hour for lunch each time and just took a steady drive, no silly speeds or anything.



We didn't do too much on the Thursday evening or on Friday, just spent time with Pete and Lilia, the friends we were staying with. I'm hoping I haven't terrified Lilia with baby and childbirth talk, she's expecting her first in December so I was only answering her questions .
Here are a few pictures from our trip to Godstone Farm Park on Saturday.



This one was taken just as we went in. The sign says there are sheep in the field but the occupants look more like ponies to me??

Theo took this photo after I'd taken a picture of him standing by the same tractor. A very good photo I think, certainly when you think it was taken by a 3 year old

Pete seemed a little bit too keen to follow Theo into the climbing frame in the play barn

And here's Lilia hiding her bump and having a cuddle with Louis at the same time.

On Sunday we went to visit my friends Cat and Kath. Theo had a great time, he walked in the door, into the playroom and started playing with David before he had even taken his coat off. The girls and I had a nice long chat. Well actually I think I had a nice long chat and they had a nice long listen .

We did have an entertaining distraction when Theo let the motorised Percy the train chug off down the side of the dishwasher. Mr Cat ended up having to pull the dishwasher out to get it back. Oops, sorry.

Looking forward to a return visit, hopefully it won't be 2 years before we get to see the girls again (especially considering Theo was asking to go and play with David the day we got home ) Now I've done the journey on my own hopefully we'll be able to do it again with less luggage.

Next it's a visit to Ireland to visit Jane me thinks then that's all the girls from Deloittes. Don't think I'm brave enough to do that one on my own though, think that might just be our spring holiday. Watch this space


Right that's me for now, Theo and Louis are fighting over a lighthouse with a foghorn! Got to go.

Monday 19 November 2007

Still here

Just a quick post to say hi, we're still here and we're all well (ish), not much been going on, just daily life stuff.

We did go to a fireworks display at Theo's nursery. The boys didn't like the fireworks and Theo got a little worried when one of the 'teachers' told him I would be staying at nursery, he didn't want me to stay he wanted me to go home with him. He was fine after I explained that she just meant I wasn't dropping him off and going home I was staying there with him. Despite the loud fireworks that sent him running for a cuddle from me or Adam, Theo had a great time, running around and playing with his friends.

What else? I did a Virgin Vie party on Saturday night, the first one with real strangers if you know what I mean. All my previous parties have been friends and neighbours. Did OK, more than average sales so that was good, but no more bookings

I bought myself a new sewing machine... and it's lovely. It sews straight lines with consistent stitch sizes and everything. It does a lot more but that really basic facility is a BIG plus. I have had a quick play with it, plan on having a proper play tomorrow when Theo is at nursery. Theo 'helped' when I had my play, he had a great time standing on the foot pedal and making the needle go. Fortunately the machine has a speed regulator so I set it to sewing really slowly so that if he stood on it without me realising there was much less chance of sewing my finger.

I've just added two more website links down the right hand side of the screen. 1000 Journals and 1001 Journals. I'm a confessed notebook freak. I love them, I've got loads (and I've just bought some more (she whispers)) and having stumbled across these websites I think they are a fabulous idea. Go on, pay em a visit so watch out, you may just get invited to join in.

Anyway, that's it from me for now, will be back soon no doubt.

Wednesday 7 November 2007

It's Laughable

I just received an e-mail reminding me that this years Christmas Class starts on 1st December so I went to check Shimelle's blog for details, which meant I checked my blog (I keep links to blogs I visit on my blog homepage) and there I happened to see the 'Shimelle's Christmas Class 2006' category which I'd forgotten about.

Evidently.

Because apart from a statement saying I will keep a daily journal (or something along those lines) and another entry saying I'm getting ready, there's nothing there. Not a single layout or entry or apology. Nothing, nada, zip. And naturally it is all my fault because I'm the one who didn't write anything...

I will say now that I did do some layouts. Not everyday but I did some, and I still have a little wallet full of photos I printed ready to put into layouts that I didn't quite get around to completing so what I will do is post last years layouts here for the world to see then get on with getting ready for this year.

Oops and sorry {shrug}

Karen

Sunday 4 November 2007

Quiet (noisy) week

We've not done much since my last entry, hence 'quiet' week. Louis has not been very well, new teeth combined with a cough and a virus doing the rounds so he's been crying lots (hence 'noisy' week) and not sleeping much, well not at night anyway, so neither have we.

Adam went to work with a sore head this week. He fell out of bed and landed on a tin of paint. Don't ask me why we've got a tin of paint on the bedroom floor, it's been there for ages. He said I pushed him but I am denying everything.

Let me see, what else have we been up to? Theo is doing well with his swimming lessons. He's actually started using his arms and legs at the same time rather than just admiring the surroundings as Collette, the instructor, pushes him up and down the pool.

Louis now has three top teeth and 2 bottom teeth, his spots have gone as has his temperature. He's getting a lot better at getting around now and he cruises along with the furniture and is brave enough to reach from on to the other if they're not quite next to each other.

I've been working on my secret project for the boys for Christmas. Well I say secret, I've actually told (and shown) quite a few people but it has to stay a secret from Adam and the boys until Christmas so I'm not saying what it is until then. But it is going well . My diet seems to have gone out of the window, never really got back into it after our holiday, so I've put on a few pounds. Need to get my a@#e into gear and dig out my will power again, just in time for Christmas. Aaargh.

Next job on the list is to have a clear out, keep meaning to do a car boot sale and get rid of all the stuff filling up the house and try and make a bit more room for the people. It's waaay past time Louis was in his own room and it would be nice if we could actually get into the spare room. You know it's only going to get worse after Christmas.

Anyway that's it for now, will be back soon.

Karen

Sunday 21 October 2007

Busy Sunday (well as Sundays go)

Normally on a Sunday we don't do anything, just stay in the house and veg and the kids get bored. Well this week we decided against that.

We started by going to the local carvery for an absolutely gorgeous Sunday dinner followed by a drive to Yeadon Tarn to walk off the food mountain we'd just eaten.

As is the done thing at the Tarn, we threw food at the ducks. My effort to be environmentally (or is that ecologically?) friendly, we threw waterbird food rather than stale bread, the ducks and swans etc, seemed to prefer. We got a lot more takers than those throwing bread anyway, ner, ner, ner, ner, ner.

I promised my cousin Caroline that I'd post recent photos of everyone and that was a couple of months ago so apologies to you Caroline, here are some pictures from this afternoon. Can't get more recent than that

Adam and I can never decide whether we should walk first then play or play then walk. The result of that decision usually determines what mood Theo is in (and consequently us too) on the journey home. If he's got too much energy left when it's time to go home we usually have a paddy!

We decided on the walk first, give his lunch chance to settle before he sloshes it around on the roundabout . It seemed to work cause everyone was in a good mood on the drive home.

Here's Adam and the boys playing on the swings

Theo and me playing on the roundabout


and Theo 'pushing' Daddy on the swings

Decisions decisions

I have decided. The reason this blog is so out of date is that the idea of catching up is so daunting. So I'm not going to.

I will try and get around to posting more camping pictures for those of you that are interested but apart from that I'll just try and keep this thing updated going forwards.

Monday 15 October 2007

Farm Park

I know it's a bit later than promised but here are some pictures from our camping trip to Cayton Bay in July / August this year.

We started with a trip out to the local far park where we could feed the animals..
play on a tractor...
and in the sand

Adam and Louis kept each other entertained whilst Theo was playing :D

There were lots of animals to see and Theo really anjoyed running around and feeding the animals and identifying them

Wednesday 12 September 2007

In brief

Well I haven't actually gotten around to posting any holiday photos yet. I haven't even updated for just day to day goings on, which is unusual for me 'cause I usually rabbit on about allsorts of inane rubbish.

Here's an in brief, and I will be back with photos soon, I promise.

Louis has another tooth, the other top front one and he's doing a very good impression of some sort of army sniper the way he scoots around the floor on his tummy.

Theo started nursery 2 and a half days per week (thanks to Nursery Education Fund vouchers) and moved up to the big room, he's a Happy Apple now

Adam is working hard to earn us lots of pennies as usual.

I've been having fun playing at being a Virgin. I've had a few parties which I've really enjoyed doing and I've made my minimum sales so now it's entirely up to me whether I keep going or not and I get to keep my kit whatever. I'm definitely carrying on though Right, off to drum up some more business and get some more party bookings. I'll be back soon with more updates and photos, promise.

TTFN

Wednesday 29 August 2007

Tooth Tooth

Yeah, Louis first tooth finally came through today, it's the top right (his right).

It's been threatening for a couple of weeks and he's been having some discomfort with it but it's through, only a tiny little bit so far but that's a start. Only 19 more to go (I think).

Sunday 26 August 2007

Ooops

I have actually had a life between 17 July and now, I just haven't gotten around to writing about it here.

We've had our first ever family camping holiday, Theo had his first fishing trip, Louis got mobile (commando style), I've had my Virgin Vie training AND my first 2 parties plus a marathon scrapbooking session with a group of lovely ladies :)

There is plenty more, I just can't remember what

Photos and more details to follow

Tuesday 17 July 2007

Sports Day

We did have a busy weekend this weekend, nursery sports day, Cleckheaton Folk Festival, Bradford Mela, clearing the garden of the 5 foot weeds and some client work too.

As it turned out the nursery sports day was cancelled. We didn't know that until after we turned up at the rec and found no-one there except a couple of other parents & children looking a bit lost. I texted a neighbour whose children also go to the same nursery to ask if she'd heard anything on Friday (Theo only goes Monday & Tuesday) and it turns out it had been cancelled due to the weather, but she only knew because she'd asked, they hadn't volunteered the information. Grr

Anyway, the weather was actually quite nice and we hadn't told Theo where we were going so he just thought we'd gone to the rec to play, they have swings and a slide and stuff there, so we stayed and had a play.

Louis watched on as Adam and Theo played on the swing

When we got home Theo called for the little boy next door and they played out front for a bit. Charlie came out of his house with what looked like his mums exercise equipment, an exercise ball and a trampoline. Not sure mum would have been too impressed if she'd seen but the boys were happy playing with them.

I think Theo knows me too well. He was playing out and I was stood in the doorway messing around with my camera. I called his name, planning on telling him to stay off the road and he just turned around, grinned at me and said 'cheeese'

Well so much for the busy weekend anyway. Adam cleared the garden but the sports day and the Mela have both been cancelled due to the weather and after looking at the timetable for the Cleckheaton Folk Festival, we should have gone today as there's nothing on that we want to see or do tomorrow. Well at least the client work will get done. And if the weather holds off Adam seems to think we can have a play at putting the tent up inthe now clear garden, although I still don't think it'll fit. I'm going to get him to measure the garden before we even take the tent out of the bag me thinks.

I'm A Virgin!

I joined Virgin Vie at Home this evening.

I went to a Branch meeting to have a listen and see what it's all about then had a chat with Nicola afterwards and took the plunge.

So... you know where to come if you want any lush Virgin Vie At Home goodies. Gorgeous products at very reasonable prices (blatant plug, yes, I know)

More later when I've received my kit and had my training.

Thursday 5 July 2007

Shrek the Third

We took Theo (and Louis) to the cinema this evening to watch Shrek the Third.

We very nearly didn't get there though. Theo has been having a bad day with his toilet training and I was fast running out of clothes to put him in (as we were at Sheila's all day so only had the spare clothes I took with me). Add to that the fact the he threw a paddy when it was time to come home and I very nearly phoned Adam, who was meeting us at the cinema, and told him not to bother.

We went for the 6pm showing, arrived at the cinema for 5.30 and got hotdogs all round for dinner before Theo's first trip on the 'moving stairs' (escalator to you and me) up to the screens. We all happily tucked into our hotdogs whilst waiting for the adverts to finish and Theo discovered the popcorn and a liking for diet Pepsi (not good). Louis watched the adverts while he had his milk then slept through the film.

The film was well worth the £££ of a trip to the cinema. Not as good as the first two in my humble opinion but still a very entertaining evening . Now I NEED a donkeydragon.

Tuesday 3 July 2007

Left hand, right hand

Mum came home today.

Talk about the left hand not knowing what the right is doing. Yesterday the doctors told her she was in for a long stay, this morning they sent her home! Still no idea what the problem actually was but she's home and has antibiotics so that's alright then, isn't it?

Monday 2 July 2007

More Exams

I have my final BSL Level 2 exam today. I think it went OK. I managed to converse with my tutor for the required length of time and he seemed to understand me so that's a good start. I know I did some fingerspelling, not sure if I did enough for 2 points though, well I'll know soon enough. Another 6 - 8 weeks for results. Yay.

Sunday 1 July 2007

I thought camping was supposed to be 'budget' holidays

We went tent shopping this afternoon. Well we went this morning, had a look around the shop then retired to the local hostelry for food and a bevvy before going back to the camping shop and spending an astronomical amount of money!!

The plan was to drive into Halifax where there are a couple of camping shops with tent showrooms, have a look around at the erected tents, rather than just the pictures you get to see on the websites, then go away and order online.

Adam had been chatting and researching tents at work so he already had an idea of what we wanted, the Vango Colorado 800DLX was at the top of the list. An 8 person tent with living area for around the £230 mark. We had a look at the 600 version and were impressed , well I was anyway. Adam wasn't too keen on the fact that the groundsheet wasn't sewn in so we had a look at the other tents they had on display. Theo had a great time climbing in and out of all of the tents on display. He even wanted me to go home and get his readybed and pyjamas so he could go to sleep.

After spending ages looking at all the tents and having a nice long chat with a member of staff we decided to go for the Vango Diablo 600xp, it's got 2 3 person bedrooms and a living area but as we're all short people we'll all 4 fit into one bedroom, leaving the other for luggage.

So, tent decided upon, we had a look at other bits and bobs we needed (seeing as the nice man in the shop said we could have 10% off accessories we bought) a stove, table, sleeping bag and liner for Theo, kettle, pans and a couple of lamps. I think that was everything, still came to faaar too much money though, now I just hope we have a good holiday.

Next job. Find somewhere big enough to pitch the tent so we can have a practice before we go away. It's too big for our garden LOL

Help please

I've been meaning to do a note for Theo on his birthday each year with brief details of things that happened during the previous 12 months, but... sensible person that I am, never actually paid much attention to the news let alone wrote anything down, so I'm a bit stumped.

If anyone can think of anything 'newsworthy', good or bad, that has happened since 14 June 2004 (see I didn't get around to doing it for his 1st or 2nd birthdays either) can you tell me. Please. Thank you very much

Saturday 30 June 2007

Change of Plans

Today we had planned to go to various camping shops to look at tents, we've decided to give camping a go for our summer holiday this year.

Unfortunately I got a phonecall from Chris saying Mum had been taken into the hospital so plans were put on hold and I spent most of the day in hospital with Mum. A typical case of right hand not knowing what the left is doing. Some Drs said pneumonia and others said chest infection or possibly a blood clot! Not much to choose from there then. So now it's a case of staying in until they can do some test on Monday and take it from there. Needless to say Mum is not a happy bunny as she had plans this weekend but can't be helped.

Anyway, on a lighter note, I've been asked for more pictures of Louis so here's one of him taken on Theo's birthday. I'll try and get some more decent pics and upload them soon. I promise
Oh, and we've had 3 'dry' days in a row from Theo. Yay. Think he's getting the hang of it.

Monday 25 June 2007

2nd Attempt

I had my BSL Level 2 part 2 resit today. I 'think' it went better than last time. Well at least I can remember it this time anyhow . It's the part 3 exam next Monday and then that's it for the year. If the last lot are anything to go by it's a 6 - 8 week wait for results now. Keep your fingers crossed.

Saturday 23 June 2007

Bump

I've had a great day today. Adam looked after the boys whilst I went to Kirsty's for the day to do some chatting and scrapping. As it turned out, I did far more chatting than scrapping but at least I did complete 1 layout from start to finish, which is practically unheard of for me.

We called at Natalie's mums for a cuppa and a natter. Natalie, Trina, Hayley, Lesley and Rachel were there scrapping, we didn't just pick a random friend and visit their mum LOL

I even had a brief lesson in Marine fishkeeping as Kirstys husband Wayne had been out and come back with various bits and pieces for the tank so I was quizzing him about them.
Oooh, and according to Adam, Theo had another dry day. Yay

Friday 22 June 2007

Louis news

All this talk about Theo and his toilet habits is actually quite interesting to me, hope it's not boring you too much LOL. But let's not forget Louis.

He's still doing well, he rolls over almost as soon as you put him down now and I've actually seen him roll back onto his back. It's a bit of a sudden lurch more than anything and is usually accompanied by a bit of a thud! Fortunately he doesn't do it very often at the moment and as he learns there will be fewer thuds.

Clothes now

Well Theo is definitely getting bored of being cooped up in the house (and he's not the only one!) but if things carry on as they are we'll be back to normal next week.

Today we decided to try clothes on. Up to today Theo has had no 'bottoms' on, to make it easier to go to the toilet. Now he seems to have that nailed we'll try a few days with clothes on before we have to go out on Monday. I 'think' he's had an accident but I can't be sure because he had been playing in the sink and half flooded my kitchen whilst having fun.

Apart from that he's done really well again, just need to convince him to wait until he gets into the toilet before he takes his clothes of, rather than in the middle of the living room. Which is fine when we're at home but not really a good idea if we're visiting, or shopping

I'm going to change his reward chart tonight to 1 star per 'dry' day so we're still rewarding him just not every time he goes.

Thursday 21 June 2007

Success!

Wohoo. Today was Theo's first completely dry day, not a single accident all day. I'm soo proud of him.

He's been putting a star on his chart each time he goes to the toilet and by lunchtime today he had filled up two rows which was his target for a toy. He didn't seem to notice and he went to the toilet so often he seems to have given up on the stars altogether. Anyway, because it was his first dry day and he got all his stars he got a 'Bulgy Bus', to go with his trains, after he'd had his bath, and he was very excited about it too

Tuesday 19 June 2007

We're getting there

Theo had nursery again this morning so Adam took him on his way to work, which is normal. Unfortunately Theo decided to pee himself just as they were heading out of the door so Adam was not best pleased.

Louis and I had a quiet morning in then we went to pick Theo up from nursery. When we got there Janet said Theo had been on the potty a few times but he hadn't done anything. We were having a bit of a chat and I was handing over his trip money when I noticed him 'jigging' about and crossing and uncrossing his legs, you know the stuff, typical 'I need a wee' behaviour. I asked Theo to show me where the nursery toilets were and just happened to sit him on in time for him to have a wee . He was really pleased with himself and when we got home the first thing he did was stick a star on his chart.

He had a couple of accidents in the afternoon at home but then he just took himself off to the toilet. The first time he didn't do anything but he tried again about 5 minutes later and had a wee. We're getting there

Monday 18 June 2007

Lazy day

I decided not to go to college today so we could stay in in the morning and give Theo more time to get used to this toilet training lark rather than risking car journeys rushing around to drop Louis at Sheila's and then get back to drop Theo at nursery. About 10 minutes after I texted Sheila to tell her I got a phonecall from college to say that Barrie was ill and class was cancelled anyway!

Theo still went to nursery I just made sure I took a couple of changes of clothes for him just incase. He spent the afternoon upstairs in the big room and he did OK, only 1 accident all afternoon.

Sunday 17 June 2007

Father's Day

We surprised Adam with his Father's Day presents and a cup of coffee in bed this morning.


I got up with the boys to let him have a lay in and did tidying up and stuff but apart from that it was much the same as any other Sunday.

Adam went back to B&Q for a support for the new kitchen shelves. He also bought a couple of baskets to go on the inside of the food cupboard door. He fixed all of these then went around and fixed the curtain poles in the living room and in theo's bedroom which were coming away from the walls.

Saturday 16 June 2007

Busy day

I stayed at Sheila's last night'cause she had a girly night in for her birthday. I managed to get away with drinking only 1/2 a glass of wine and no-one noticed I was filling up my glass with water so I didn't get told off for being boring either.

I dropped Lisa at home for 9 this morning because Liam had to go to rugby. I was going to go home via Costa and have an hours peace to read my mag but I decided against it because Adam wanted to go to B&Q to get some shelves for the kitchen.

He bought them and put them up today! But they do need an extra support in the middle 'cause the books are making the top shelf bow.

Theo waited 'til he had his overnight nappy on last night before he had a poo. We've had a few more puddles to mop up today but we did manage a wee and a poo in the toilet, more by good luck than anything else, but it did show him that nothing bad is going to happen when he goes to the toilet. And he was so pleased with himself that we gave him a 'Salty' train to go with his Thomas set as a reward. But then he got quite upset that he couldn't go on demand to get another new toy .

Friday 15 June 2007

Over

Louis is now rolling over in both directions! I think. I haven't actually seen him roll from his tummy to his back but I've left him on his tummy and come back to find him on his back. And I don't think Theo is helping

Whoops!

We started toilet training with Theo today. For a while now, each time I've mentioned using the potty or the toilet he has said after he was three, so now, it's after he is three so here we go.

We've been through about 5 pairs of underpants and I gave up on the trousers after two pairs. At least he's noticing when he's wet now which he wouldn't do with a nappy on, and he seems quite upset when he's done it so I think we're heading in the right direction.

Thursday 14 June 2007

Birthday Pressies

Theo's birthday today
Happy birthday sweetheart

I think the day went quite well. Adam took the day off work so we could all do something together for Theo's birthday. We started with a bit of a pressie hunt as I hid a few of his small presents around the living room and kitchen then he dug in to the mountain of pressies in the middle of the living room.

Most of his presents from us were Thomas trains, track and a couple of other sets which all seemed to go down very well.

Here he is playing with his new Cranky the Crane and Docks.

I couldn't resist buying him this though. It called a Bilibo and if they did one big enough I'd have one. He opened it and asked me what it was then decided it was a hat. This picture of him with it on his head reminds me of a cartoon alien but I can't remember where from LOL.

I couldn't say what it is, it's just designed for kids to use their imagination, it can be sat on or in, worn on the head (evidently). Theo quite like sitting in it and spinning around and I think the holes in the front are perfect for putting some rope through and turning it into a sled in the snow.

After all the pressies we all got ready and went to the local baths for a swim, which is one of Theo's favourite things to do. He had a great time except for the part where he 'sank'. He had a floatie vest thingy on and he missed his footing and the vest tipped him forward . He was a bit shaken for a few minutes but as soon as he figured out that he could still walk about and play without sinking he was off and playing again.

We went to McDonalds for lunch (bit expensive on the Weight Watchers points but it was Theo's birthday so I just had to join in LOL), the one opposite B&Q on Leeds Road (I think) has a children's play area in for him to play in.

The plan was then to go to the cinema but by the time we finally got in there, there was nothing on that we wanted to see, at least there was nothing on that we wanted Theo to see. Getting into the cinema was a bit of a to do though. The roofbox was still on the car which made it too tall to go under the barrier at the car park entrance, we drove all around the leisure park looking for somewhere to park and ended up in the 'service vehicles only' lane at the back of the cinema. As it turned out, the barrier to the car park exit was open so we went in the exit but, as I said, there was nothing on so we just turned around and drove out again.

Wednesday 13 June 2007

On the move

Well Louis has managed to get all the way over now, and get his arms out from underneath him too . He kind of props himself up on his elbows to have a look around.

At the moment he only rolls to his right and once he's on his tummy he is stuck, but he's getting there.

I spent most of this evening wrapping the last of Theo's birthday presents and hiding them about the living room. Hopefully he'll have fun searching for them tomorrow.

I'm so excited

I just got a text message from my friend to say she had a little boy just after 9 this morning. I'm so excited and just wanted to post to say a big welcome to baby Carlos and congratulations to mum, dad and his big sister.

Tuesday 12 June 2007

Getting there

It's my big sis's birthday today. Happy Birthday Sis

Louis is almost rolling overnow. He rolls his bottom half over but hasn't quite managed to get his shoulder out from underneath him yet so he usually ends up half rolled over and yelling 'cause he's stuck.

Sunday 10 June 2007

Par-tay

We had Theo's birthday party this afternoon at the local playgym. He seemed to enjoy himself, running around all over the place and bouncing on the bouncy castle with his friends.

It wasn't really much of a 'party' to speak of. I didn't realise that the pass the parcel games that had been at the last two parties we attended there were not provided by the playgym, you had to bring them yourself, and I didn't . And Theo really just preferred to play on the equipment rather than stop for party games. All the kids seemed to have great fun though, dragging a couple of the dads onto the equipment to play with them (big kids LOL)

I was a bit narked that 5 people who had responded 'yes' to the invites didn't turn up, especially when I had specifically paid for extra people! And the other parties I have been to at the same place have been 'run' by the bloke who owns the place. At Theo's party he was not there, a different woman was there and she did not 'run' anything, just sorted out the food and nodded at me when it was ready so I could arrange the kids. That said, fun appeared to be had by all and that's the important thing. Isn't it?

I left the cake buying to the last minute and ended up going out this morning to get it. Here it is
It's a 'design your own cake' from Morrison's. You put your picture on a memory card and they have a machine thingy where you chose your picture and add borders and pictures and things, then 10 minutes later you pick up your cake and hey presto, cake with your own picture. This one is the Little Green Men from Toy Story, Theo is a BIG fan of Toy Story, 1 and 2.

I didn't get any photos, I wanted to make sure Theo enjoyed the day rather than spending it watching from behind the camera. A friend did take photos though so as soon as I get some copies I'll post a couple here.

Well here they are, photos very kindly supplied by Natalie and Gareth.

Theo's cousin Toby having fun on the bouncy castle.

Thursday 31 May 2007

Paint a Pot

As Father's Day approaches I took Theo and Louis to the Paint a Pot place in Ilkley to get Adam's present sorted. Last year we decorated a pasta bowl with Theo's hand print so this year I thought we'd do the same again but with Louis handprint too.
The thing is, at 4 months, Louis was not exactly a willing participant and we couldn't get his hand flat on the bowl . My very sensible friend, who had come out to play with her daughter too, suggested we try a footprint instead. That was much more succesful. I'll post a photo of the finished bowl after we have given it to Adam.

Theo also painted a moon money box, to go with the star and the elephant we already have at home. I think we're going to have to downscale to ceramic tiles in future, I'm running out of room for money boxes and pasta bowls.

I took my niece Dana and her friend to play too as a birthday present, she'll be 10 on Wednesday. It must have been a success because I've not known anything else keep 2 9 / 10 year old girls quiet for 2 hours LOL

Tuesday 29 May 2007

Aww

I've been e-mailing a local breeder about getting a border terrier Adam says no but I'm working on him. I asked Theo if he wanted a little dog like Romi (my friend's Jack Russell Terrier) to come and live here and he said yes, like Nigel the cat but not Nigel the cat, Nigel the dog. Aww

I was reading Theo one of his bedtime stories, a house inside my mummy, and when I'd finished we had a conversation about how I'd made him in my tummy then I made Louis in my tummy for him. He said he didn't want me to make another because then there would be too many but we could get a little dog like Romi instead.

Monday 28 May 2007

Bank Holiday Weekend

We haven't done much this bank holiday weekend apart from a little bedroom re arranging and some scrapping.

Louis is fast outgrowing the moses basket that he sleeps in at the moment so we needed to put the cot up in our room for him to move into, preferably before he totally outgrows the moses basket so we can put the moses basket into the cot to get used to the cot gradually. Anyway, in order to put the cot up for Louis, first we need to extend Theo's bed and get him a new mattress because the cot mattress is on his bed at the moment. To extend Theo's bed we first have to move the chest of drawers that are at the bottom of his bed and find somewhere new to secure them. To move the drawers first we need to shift bags of clothes that don't fit him anymore into the loft.

To be honest if we'd done it properly it seemed like a never ending list of things that needed doing, each one required before the next one could be started, just to get Louis into his cot. What we ended up doing was putting enough stuff in the loft to make room for Theo's bed to be extended to full size and a sort through the junk in our room to make space for the cot.

The next job was to buy a new mattress for Theo. Easier said than done. His bed cam from Ikea and like much of their stuff, it's not standard size. It's 80cm x 200cm rather than the standard 75 x 190cm. After deciding against using the Ikea mattress (cause it's just foam) we hunted round for a standard 2'6" mattress and that was a hard enough job in itself. We found one online eventually so that's being delivered on Wednesday. In the meantime we've put the cot mattress back on Theo's bed (and put large cushions in the bottom of the bed) and Louis is in the cot but in his moses basket so he can live without the cot mattress for a couple of days. Oh yes and we bought some single bed bedding too 'cause we didn't have any of that either.

We spent most of the rest of the weekend vegging, watching Toy Story and Toy Story 2 (over and over!! I know, baaad mummy) and I've been getting pages ready for my 2007 journal / album, yes I know, it's almost June . I'll post some photos when I've taken them.

Friday 25 May 2007

Soup Kitchen

Had a bit of a boo boo today. Theo wanted soup for lunch so I made him some and put what was left in the fridge, except... I wasn't watching what I was doing and let go of the tub before I got to the shelf, hence 'soup kitchen'.

It looked like I'd murdered something, tomato soup all over the place. Mainly on the inside of the fridge but a nice big puddle on the floor and splashes all up every surface, cupboard doors, oven, boxes (which, I know, I should have unpacked already).

Theo seemed to enjoy telling Daddy that it was Mummy who made the mess this time and not him.

Thursday 24 May 2007

Pwetty beads

My comissioned beads arrived today and I am sooo pleased with them. I already have beads on my bracelet to represent Adam and Louis and I comssioned 2 beads from Manda at Mango beads for Theo and Dad. Theo's bead is called Buzz and is inspired by Buzz Lightyear, seeing as he is such a big fan and the second bead, for Dad and is inspired by Glenfiddich Whisky, his favoured tipple.

It's difficult to see from the photo but Glen is absolutely gorgeous, the green glass is a perfect colour for a whisky bottle and the burgandy circles have gold flecks in them.

This is the bracelet with all my beads so far.

Double Oww

Louis had more jabs today. His last lot for 8 months now. It was three needles this time , poor little man. He cried at first but calmed down almost instantly and so far so good, he hasn't been poorly with it although the health visitor said that could happen anytime up to tomorrow morning.

And if Louis in pain wasn't enough to make me feel bad I went and trapped my finger in the car door on the way into the Drs just to make me feel that little bit worse. I now have a nice big dent in my finger, it's not nice

Tuesday 22 May 2007

MOT

I took my car for it's MOT this morning whilst Theo was at nursery. Well MOT and puncture repair, I've had one tyre that's needed pumping up every 5 days ish, I've a store of 20p in my dash. Anyway all sorted. The nice men at Kwik fit repaired the puncture and MOT'd the car. All sorted til next year, phew.

Monday 21 May 2007

8 Years

It's our 8th Wedding Anniversary today. We went to Maxi's Chinese Restaurant in Leeds and took Theo with us. Lisa looked after Louis for the evening. The restaurant was amazing, lots of red and gold decor and dragons evenerywhere, Theo loved it. The food was amazing too, diet went on hold (again!) as we treated ourselves to the banquet for 2 which was more than enough food for the two of us plus Theo. They were really child friendly too, even providing a cushion for his chair so he could reach the table and rigging a pair of chopsticks with an elastic band and some folded up paper so they were hinged and sprung open for him to use. It was very funny watching him try, and he did really well too, managed to pick up his pieces of spring roll without too much fuss.

Adam bought me a couple of silver Troll beads for my bracelet, a cherub holding a no 8 and a lady bug. My pressies for Adam haven't arrived yet . I'm hoping they'll arrive tomorrow.

Sunday 20 May 2007

Splish splash splosh

We took Louis swimming for the first time today.

Theo has been nagging to go swimming for ages but I can't take him during the week because the pool have rules that say children under 5 should be accompanied by 1 adult per child, not that I'd want to have to keep an eye on Theo and Louis at the same time in the pool.

Anyway, we finally got there this morning and they both seemed to enjoy themselves. Well Theo definitely did and Louis was grinning a lot so I think he did too, sat in his inflatable chair thingy. It's a pity that you're not allowed to take photos at the swimming baths, I'd love to have had piccies to show you too.

After swimming we went to Idle rec for a picnic and a play on the slide and see-saw thingies (animal shaped seats on springs) then off for a trip to Morrisons for food shopping. It made a nice change from sitting in the house and vegging all weekend.

Saturday 19 May 2007

Which one has the most paint on him?

Theo and I did some 'messy play' today.

This involved Theo laying on a piece of paper whilst I drew round him. He wriggled a bit so now we have felt pen marks on his t-shirt but I'm sure they'll wash out LOL.

He was really pleased with the outline though and after I'd cut it out and he got down to painting he had a great time mixing his colours and generally getting in a mess. We started with hand and foot prints in (almost) the appropriate places, not that you can see these because he got a bit enthusiastic and pretty much painted over them. Theo was quite adamant that he was going to be Sportacus so he was painting it blue (mixed with all the other colours ) and he spent lots of time in the belt buckle area painting his crystal.

I'm not sure how long this large painting is going to survive on the fridge so he may be transferred upstairs to Theo's bedroom soon.

Banner

I did it, Wahay.

Of course you already know that 'cause you've seen it already

So what on earth am I talking about? Well my banner of course (the bit at the top of the page with the blog name on it). I changed it from plain blue to this pretty picture, which I also made myself using some photos and Photoshop. How clever am I? Modest too LOL

Friday 18 May 2007

Playgym

I met with some friends at the local playgym today so we could have a natter and the children could play. This photo is Theo at said playgym (but this one's not today though). Theo had great fun in the ball pool and going down the big slide with Harry and his mummy .

Thursday 17 May 2007

Baad day

I have had a pig of a day with Theo today He's been whingy and miserable 80% of the time. He gets so contrary when he's like this and it's so frustrating. In the car he'll cry and cry that he doesn't want to go home then he'll ask where we're going, I'll tell him and he'll start again then 'I don't want to go ...., I want to go home' Aargh. He wouldn't eat his lunch today either so I refused to let him snack during the afternoon which didn't help his mood. This evening when we got home from visiting mum and sister he threw a proper tantrum (1st ever) with the screaming and throwing himself on the floor bashing feet and fists against the floor and everything. This went on for about 30 / 40 mins.

Adam ended up taking him upstairs, in the middle of dinner, and telling him he could come down when he was feeling better. He went up for him about 20 minutes or so later when it had all gone quiet. A much calmer Theo came downstairs and then went into the kitchen and ate his dinner, all of it, which is quite unusual in itself, we even have a reward chart going for 'empty plates' at the moment, and an ice cream for pud.

By then he was my lovely little boy again and you would never imagine the sweetheart I put to bed could turn into the little monster I've had to deal with today (well I couldn't anyway). Lets hope he keeps up the good behaviour for visiting with Vicky and Natalie tomorrow.

Wednesday 16 May 2007

A Rate of knots

Took Louis to baby clinic today to get him weighed, 16lb 4.5oz!! (that's 7.42kg in new money). He's growing at a rate of knots is my little boy. You can see him eyeing up your dinner when you're eating. I keep half expecting him to spit out his milk and demand steak 'n' chips LOL

Tuesday 15 May 2007

Camping? Who me? Nah

I got me a camping table. To do my scrapping on .

I've just set it up in the living room to see how it goes together and what 70 x 70 x 70cm actually looks like. It's a good size and a nice height for working on from the sofa or computer chair. Thing is... it's not just a quick fold out / fold away jobby, it involves attaching 10 little grippy things (and taking them off again to put it away) but it does fold away very small.

Hopefully I'll get more scrapping done now I've got a table to work at. Yes I know I've got a dining table but that's in the kitchen and I can't see the telly from there, Doh. Now all I have to do is drag all my scrapping stuff upstairs to the living room and maybe even my robo and do some scrapping, oh and expain to Adam why I needed to buy a table when we've got a perfectly good one already (although it is in the kitchen as I've already said) and we're trying to empty our home of crap not fill it up even more.. Ooops

Oh, did I mention that it was reduced in price? No? Well that makes all the difference you know.

Saturday 12 May 2007

Holmfirth Festival of Folk

We went to Holmfirth Festival of Folk and it was surprisingly good fun even though it rained on and off all day, then we came home via Pizza Hut and I threw my diet out of the window for a couple of hours lol

This cheerful lot were heading up to the graveyard where the 'procession' started. Theo, Adam and I watched Morris Dancers 'march' as Theo called it because their shoes made the stomping sound of marchers (Louis was asleep in the puschair) followed by a percussion group who were very very entertaining and even stayed out in the rain to do an extra performance 'cause everyone was enjoying it so much.

Theo had his compulsory ice-cream (well you have to at these things don't you) behind the rain hood of the pushchair then when the rain stopped he refused to stand on a nearby wall to watch the procession go by so Adam carried him closer to the road, I stood on the wall though ('cause I had to stay back from the road edge with the pushchair, it takes up a fair bit of space that beastie LOL)

I think the weather was actually a blessing though 'cause the day still went well and there were a lot fewer people than there could have been.

Anyway, that's it from me tonight, I'm off to watch Eurovision, go UK (yeah right) LOL

Friday 11 May 2007

Bye bye puss

My Nigel died . Two weeks ago now, the day after we took him to the cattery for his holiday.

Paula at the cattery phoned me to say he wasn't well and she was taking him to the vets. The vet said he'd got blood clots that were cutting off the blood supply to 3 of his leg and he was in a lot of pain. After a long discussion and many tears (on my part not the vets obviously) I passed the phone to Adam and let him tell the vet to 'do the necessary'.

BSL, here we go again

I got my exam results today and unfortunately I failed the part 2 exam which means I will have to resit it in a week or two. Not looking forward to that .

I got 12 out of 26 and needed 13 for a pass. Damn! So close yet so far.... Hey ho

Toot Toot Mango Beads

I got a bead from Mango Beads (Manda) a couple of weeks ago as a pressie from Mum and I've had a nightmare with Royal Mail.

Manda posted the bead Recorded Delivery on the Monday and by the Friday (when I was going on holiday) it hadn't arrived. I contacted Manda who offered me a full refund but I suggested we wait until I got back from Holiday (the following Friday). I got home to find the envelope in an RM baggy with a note apologising that it had been damaged. There were holes in the baggy and the envelope so I feared the worst . On opening the envelope I found my bead and leather necklets were all in there but there was a tear in the organze bag and tissue paper right through to the bead so I suspect someone had seen the 'handmade jewellery' sticker on the envelope and had opened it but decided it wasn't their kind of jewellery. The clasp on one of the leather necklets was broken so Manda said she'd replace it.

I collected a recorded delivery envelope from Manda this morning and not only did it have my replacement necklet but also a fabulous free bead too, it's the unnamed one in my photo.

Talk about customer service, that is amazing, I am so impressed. Makes me want to buy another one of her beads just to send more business her way.

Left to right the beads are

Mango Beads (Buddy) - Unnamed Freebie
Mango Beads (Buddy) - Ceylon - Pressie from Mum
Trollbead - Blue & White Armadillo - Pressie from DH for losing 1 stone
Trollbead - Silver elephant - Pressie from DH for losing 1/2 stone
Trollbead - Green & Lilac Armadillo - To remind me of DH
A String of Beads (Dolly) - Baby's Blanket - To remind me of DS2

Thursday 10 May 2007

Pie!

I made a pie....AND it tasted nice too.

I know it may seem odd to be proud of a pie but if you know me you'll know I'm no domestic goddess so making a successful pie from scratch is quite an achievement especially as it was steak and kidney. I know it doesn't look very pretty but I didn't have a pie dish so I had to use a Pyrex dish instead LOL. Anyway, watch this space...I may well have another go, minced beef and onion next time I think.

Success!

Ooh, I'm so excited, someone found one of my books .

I posted a week or so ago about having discovered the BookCrossing website and thought it would be a fun way of disposing of my book mountain. Well I left one book in the holiday cottage we stayed in last week and another in the ladies loo in a Little Chef on the Northbound A1 on the way home.

I've just had an e-mail from the BookCrossing website to say that the book I left in the Little Chef has been found and the person who found it has posted an entry on the website here. Wohoo.

Right, I'm off to register some more books and think of some good places to leave them. Ta ta

Monday 7 May 2007

Keighley & Worth Valley Railway

We took a trip out to see the steam trains at Keighley & Worth Valley Railway today. To be honest we didn't actually see much of the steam engine as we took the train from Oxenhope and travelled to Keighley and back so mostly we saw the carriage we were in and the view from the train, which was very pleasent incidentally.

Adam and Theo taking in the view as we chug by.

Louis is in the blue shopping bag on the table (no it's not really a shopping bag, it's a carry cot but it looks like a shopping bag )

This was probably the best view we had of the engine. Once on the platform you couldn't really see the train for people.

We did notice that there is a picnic area just outside the station at Oxenhope, just over the fence from the end of the track, ideally placed to watch the trains so next time I think we'll take a picnic and just go and watch the steam trains. Should be more for Theo to see, and it's free LOL

Saturday 5 May 2007

We're Ba-ack

Just a quick post to say that we're now home from our weeks holiday in a lovely cottage in Babraham, a village just outside Cambridge.

We had a great time either lazing in the cottage and 1/3rd acre enclosed garden, complete with climbing frame and trampoline, or going out to visit local attractions. The weather was amazing for the most part and the tourist attractions were fairly quiet because it's term time and most people were at work or school. Add to that the fact that I spent the weekend at a scrapbooking retreat glueing and sticking and generally getting in a mess (felt like I was a 10 year old again, great fun), we couldn't have asked for a better week I think.

Here's a photo of the cottage, click on the little pic 'cause the main picture is a lot longer and you can see much more.

I'll be back with more news and photos from the holiday later today hopefully.
Edited to add: I've added the holiday photos etc on the dates they were taken so if you're reading this chronologically then you will have already seen them

Thursday 3 May 2007

Mountftitchet Castle

With the success of yesterdays morning out and afternoon in the cottage, we did the same again today, the last day of our holiday.

First thing we went to Mountfitchet Castle. I told Theo that was where we were going so he was looking forward to being a King. Unfortunately it's a Norman sesttlement from 1066 so the term 'castle' actually refers to a stone tower built onto a central hut. Not a castle as Theo understood it. So much so that on the way home he was asking when were going to see that castle so he could be a king.

At the entrance to the grounds you can buy a bag of food and they encourage you to feed the animals in the grounds (goats, sheep, fallow deer and various fowl). Don't. Not if you have young children with you. Don't even take out a bag that looks like it may contain food, because you'll get mobbed by the birds, which can be very scary when some of them (geese mainly) are almost as big as you (if you're a 2 yr old child of course).

I made the mistake of taking out the bag of food fairly soon after we'd arrived. As soon as I got the bag of food out we were mobbed by birds which panicked Theo and that set the tone for the rest of the visit. Every time any birds came anywhere near us Theo panicked and insisted on being picked up because the birds were going to eat him. He didn't want to go into any of the huts because they were too dark and the life size models that were in them we're too scary. He enjoyed it when I posed in the stocks for a photo though .

In the same grounds there is a Toy Museum which we went to see next. Again Theo was unwilling to visit most of it, especially as lots of the exhibits moved and made noise but when he found the lego table he was more than happy to sit and play. Which was just as well because my handcream leaked in my handbag and I had to empty the contents and clean it all up, including my camera which was, fortunately, undamaged.

Well that's it from School Cottage. We have to be out my 10 in the morning so we'll be spending tonight packing up and tomorrow driving.

When are you going to start giving me REAL food Mum?

Louis has taken to chewing his fingers whenever he doesn't have a bottle or a dummy in his mouth, unless he's chatting away which he does quite a lots these days, to me, Adam, Theo and the faeries .

Wednesday 2 May 2007

Well Travelled

First things first

Happy 4th Birthday Toby

Wednesday saw us spending the morning at Duxford Imperial War Museum and an afternoon lazing in the cottage, a very enjoyable way to spend the day I must say.

We basically visited each hanger in turn to look at the various planes, tanks and other exhibits. First stop was hanger 1 where, among others, Concorde was waiting. Adam took Theo up so he could have a look around inside and I could get this picture proving he's been on Concorde

Theo wasn't overly interested unless he could climb aboard and run around but then that's to be expected when you're only 2 years old lol. He got to climb in various commercial type aeroplanes which were outside and there was a midget submarine, in one of the hangers, that was kind of cut in half with big glass panes over the end of each half so you could see inside without going in. He seemed to think it was interesting (even if it was just somewhere to play hide and seek) but just looking at the amount of space there was inside was making Adam claustrophobic.

In the gift shop Theo nagged for a toy aeroplane so Adam bought him an air-fix one. Apparently he's planning on putting it together and painting it with Theo back at the cottage. That should be fun to watch

Tuesday 1 May 2007

A Ride on Percy at Whipsnade Zoo

Today we went to Whipsnade Zoo. A bit much considering we went to Linton Zoo yesterday but why not, we're on holiday lol

Getting there was fun, we told the sat nav to get us there quickest route and it wanted to send us down the M11, around the M25 and then up again (I forget which road) a round trip of just over 70 miles! The shortest route was left out of the cottage, right onto the A505 and then about 30 miles later you're there. Easy. You'd think so anyway but Tom Tom tried so hard to complicate it, he got a little upset at one point when it thought we were driving through fields but we got there in the end.

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed with the Zoo. I thought, as it was a 'drive around' zoo I was expecting close encounters with lions and monkey testicles (my car has windows in the roof!!) but it was more a case of drive from car park to car park, get out and look at the animals in their cages then get back in and drive some more. The only bit of the park that was open to cars only with instructions everywhere NOT to get out of your car (sounding hopeful she says with baited breath) had antelope / deer type animals and camels??? Oh and erm thingies, Yaks, that's 'em, really exciting stuff for Theo to look at through the window, not.

Don't get me wrong, as far as zoos go, it was OK. Especially as the weather was glorious and there were very few people there so there was no queueing for anything. Oh and you can now go into the banded lemur pen and have them inches from you without cages in the way.

Theo enjoyed the kiddies play area most, with it's climbing frames and slides and what not. We played there (well he played, we watched) whilst waiting for the train which was the highlight of the day for him I think. The train was a green steam train therefore it must have been Percy (Thomas the Tank's friend incase you didn't know) and he had a great time sitting right behind the engine and watching the driver shovel coal into the fire. He came back a bit grubbier than when he set off though. I stayed in the play area with Louis and we watched a wandering peacock. Whopee doo

Monday 30 April 2007

What D'ya Want?

Our baby is looking more and more like a little person and less like an 'eating, sleeping, pooing machine'.

This is Louis at the Zoo. He was more than happy to watch the world go by from his vantage point in the puschair.

Fireman Theo

We went to Linton Zoo today and I have to say, it's a gorgeous little place. The weather was glorious and there were very few other visitors so we got to spend as much time as we liked looking at the animals and trying to get some decent photos.

Theo found the lesser spotted Fireman Sam so we had to let him get up close and interactive, isn't that what education is all about? LOL

I did take some photos of the animals at the zoo but to be honest, they're not that good. Either the animals weren't up to much (the big cats were all sleeping somewhere shadey and secluded, not that I blamed them in that heat), they were too far away for my camera to cope with or they were behind glass, which my little camera doesn't like much either. Next time I'll remember and take my good camera and maybe get some nice animal pics too.

This picture shows just how gorgeous it was there in the sunshine. A gorgeous little alleyway absolutely blanketed in cherry blossom that was falling from the trees like pink snow.

Sunday 29 April 2007

It's Me!!!

A photo of me is something you are very unlikely to see... anywhere but this is an exception 'cause I like this picture. You'll normally see me with glasses on and although I am quite short (5'2") I'm not always looking up like this either

The photo was taken by the very talented Anita Mundt at the Scrapping Angels retreat I went to this weekend (whilst Adam was looking after the boys at our nearby holiday cottage, how lucky am I? LOL)

If I'm feeling brave I might post some of the Layouts I made at the weekend, hmmm, we'll see

Wednesday 25 April 2007

Book Crossing

I'm in the process of having a clear out and the biggest cuplrits for taking up space in my home are books. I've had a look at disposing of these via ebay but to be honest, with the postage charges, they work out much the same price as new books so people are not buying. I'm planning on taking them to carboot or table top sales to dispose of some to but I'm not very hopeful.

One method of disposal that appeals to me is BookCrossing, hence the new favourites link. Basically it involves leaving books in public places for others to find and read. You register your book on the BookCrossing website and it is given a unique ID number which you then encourange the new owner of your book to use to make an entry on the BookCrossing website about where the book has gotten to and what they think about it. Sounds much more interesting than just giving them to a charity shop I think, and as we're going away this week I might have to take a few books with me and leave them in the holiday cottage and see what happens.

Watch this space, oh and click on the BookCrossing link on the right cause the website keeps a count of how many referrals I make and I get kudos.

Sleep at last

Louis slept through for the first time last night. Yay. I'm not sure if it's going to be a regular thing or just a one off yet. Yesterday was a bit of an odd one as far as feeding goes. He normally has a bottle every 6 hours with the occasional 4 hour feed but yesterday he had a bottle at about 4pm then by 7 ish he was yelling for another! Adam gave him a bottle about 7.30 and that was it until 6.30 this morning and he wasn't even shouting for that one.

Adam woke me at 5.45 to say that it was late and Louis hadn't woken up for a feed yet. I had a quick panic until I had checked he was still breathing but once he grunted at me for interrupting his sleep I let him wake on his own LOL.

Sunday 22 April 2007

Bedraggled

Nigel is going on holiday this week so he had a bath to make himself look pretty for the lady. Awww. Adam and Theo had great fun bathing him this evening , Nigel wasn't too impressed though LOL. They brushed him first and you should see the mountain of hair that came out!
Poor Nigel looks like he's lost half his body weight in one go