Taking a break.....................

Off to Devon for  a week - see you when I get back!

Coming to the end!

Yesterday was the last day of term and marked a very significant end in this family.  The oldest reached her final day at Junior School and the youngest finished Infant school. September will mark  a whole new chapter in our lives as we all adjust to different routines. No longer will I walk both my girls to school.  Both of them will start a new era of independence - the oldest getting to and from school herself and although I will still walk the youngest to school she will no longer be collected from the classroom door.  I have been dreading this day since the half term holiday - but in the end it was not as sad as I thought it would be.  Indeed the sun shone which seemed to lift our spirits and allow us to enjoy our happy memories.  


I'll leave you with photos of the thank you gifts we gave to the teachers.  The oldest decorated cakes and the youngest draw a picture which I then printed onto fabric and used to decorate a bag.

On a (blogging) roll!

Sorry - couldn't resist the pun.  But yes I'm back for a third day in a row!


Next week the youngest and I are off to Devon on our annual church holiday - the oldest is off on her first guide camp.  So another holiday, means another travel journal is required.  You can see my previous efforts here and here.  I love making these - the one took me an afternoon.  I just grab some cardstock, scraps of paper and stamps and see where it takes me.

This one has manilla envelopes interspersed throughout to put in the leaflets I collect etc.  This time I have printed out some titles onto brown kraft paper and will stick in as I go along.

I really enjoy keeping a record of where we have been and what we have been doing.  Its also a great place to record those little holiday stories - all ready for scrapbooking upon my return.   Even if I don't get to doing this for months afterwards, I know that I can turn to my journal for the details.

Lets just hope we get some sunny weather to enjoy!

Explore....

Yes how could I resist another Shimelle class.  So like many of you I am learning to Explore - details here.  Still not sure where this is going, but one of the first tasks was to take a self portrait! Not as easy as it looks but after a few attempts I got one I was happy with.  Now after reading many of your blogs and on the class forum, it seems that scrapbookers seem to prefer to be behind the camera and not in front.  Perhaps that's why we all became scrapbookers!  When I started blogging back in April, I realised I very rarely appeared in any of my scrapbook stories so I am trying not to be so camera shy.

Shimelle also encouraged us to make a "play book" which we will use to throughout the class to respond to the prompts.  Here's mine;

Can't believe that I actually made this on the first day of the class - perhaps there is hope I will stick to this.  I have also journalled in response to the prompt but as it is quite private, I'd prefer not to share.  However I will share the mess I managed to create whilst making the book - quite impressive considering the book is only 8x6! You will have to excuse the poor light - my desk is right in our front window and due to the mess I kept the blind firmly shut!

Awol again

Yes another week has passed and I have not managed to squeeze in any blogging time!  It is now that last week of term and I am counting down the days - I need to rest from all this end of term madness.  From what I have read on the few blogs I have managed to visit recently, I think many people are feeling a little squeezed.  Anyway whilst away from my blogging corner, I have managed some crafty things and hope to share later in the week.  That is if the rain stops for long enough to get some decent pictures.

However as I have popped in I thought I would show you my oldest daughters Birthday cake.  Her birthday is at the end of July, falling in the school holidays.  Therefore we always have her party at the beginning of July before all her friends have disappeared off on holiday.  This year she had 9 friends round for a pizza and film evening.  Anyway I am not the worlds greatest cake decorator, so I normally buy but this year she had different ideas.  She had seen this cake tin in the Lakeland catalogue and wanted to make and decorate her own.  So thats what we did - I made  and she decorated.  On the first attempt I filled the tin up too much, so it overcooked on the outside as I tried to get it too fully cook in the middle.  Anyway after a few adjustments, the second attempt was much more successful. I think she did a pretty good job - in the words of her friends "awesome".

Introducing......

Finally in a moment of rare peace, I have made it back to my blog!  With now only two weeks left until the school term finishes, it has been a roller coaster of end of term concerts, meetings for up and coming guide camps, visits to new schools for both the oldest and youngest, school trips plus fitting in my normal working hours.  Frankly I am exhausted!  So please excuse my absence and lack of commenting on your lovely blogs - normal service should be resumed shortly I hope.


Anyway the reason I popped back was to introduce you to a new member of the family. Please say hello to Fred!

Last weekend we went to a local church fete as my oldest was performing with her dance school.  Daddy and the youngest thought it would be a great idea to guess the name of the teddy and guess what we won!  As you can imagine I am overjoyed to welcome Fred into the family to join the seven build a bears we currently have plus two shelves of soft toys  in the youngest bedroom.


This bear is seriously large and heavy but the youngest loves him.  And so on Friday he had to visit school.  So if on your Friday morning journey, you saw a very wet women carrying a huge bear who was dressed in a floral raincoat - that was me.  Oh the joys of parenthood.

I was a recording star!

At the last Christmas party at work, we were asked to think of a random, little know fact about ourselves.  These were all collated and then over the meal we all had to match the fact to the person.  As I work with my brother in law, thinking of something was quite difficult, as I knew I would have to go back over twenty years, prior to knowing him.  Then it came to me - I once was a recording star! 

Yes when I was about seven or eight my primary school made a record and I sang in the lower junior choir.  I don't remember much about the day, apart from that it was during summer as it was a hot day.  We recorded it at a school - but not my school - it was one of the villages near by.  I can even remember the first few bars of the song we sang!  I think we actually sang two, but only one made the cut. As to why we made it, I have no idea but can only imagine that a parent must have had connections with the industry, as I think it was quite unique for a school to do such a thing back in the mid 1970's.  Sadly as we do not own a record player (does anyone!), I cannot play it for my family's enjoyment.


Anyway, no-one at work worked out that I was the recording star and I think many of my work mates didn't believe me.  However whilst searching through some boxes in the loft for something else this week, I found the record!  It will now be taken to work as proof, as my name is on the back of the sleeve along with all my fellow songsters!


I hope you enjoyed my story and if you want to read some more, pop over to Sians blog and find out who else has a story to tell.

Dressing up for Science week.

Last week was science week at the oldest's school and on Friday they could dress up as something/somebody science related!  Now this one proved a tough one - how to stand out from the crowd.  Simply putting on a white coat and being a scientist just wasn't going to cut it.  Anyway as a passing joke my Dad said "why not be a Bunsen burner?"  After we all stopped laughing, I realised it was actually a good idea.  So that is what she went as - all in black, a flame headdress and the on/off knob around her middle. Simple but effective.  And guess what - she won the prize for the best costume in her year - she was dead chuffed and so was my Dad!

We have a hectic weekend ahead of us, involving two summer fayres, dance performances by both girls, the eldest's birthday party and sleepover and I am going to a friends ordination!

Don't forget that tomorrow is "Storytelling Sunday" over at Sian's Blog, where you'll find all manner of interesting tales, including how your's truly was once a recording star!

Goals for July.

Another new month - can you believe it.  Well as its the first, its time to make public my goals for the month.   As  I am away for the last week on holiday I have decided to keep it simple;

• My 2011 album.  So far I have only done the March pages!  However I do have the Jan/Feb and April photos printed.  I am going to focus and get these done plus order the photos for May and June.
• Start a new quilt project - I have the fabric and know what I want to do.  I need to get cutting.
• Travel journal for my holiday at the end of the month!

I cannot review the progress of my June goals, as I did not post anything!  We were away on holiday beginning of the month and then I never got round to it.  Interestingly I think it did make a difference, as I did not seem to focus on anything in particular.


So what are your plans for July?