Simple pleasures

When the sun shines in these parts you have to make the most of it before it disappears again. So that's exactly what we've been doing this past week or so. It's been so lovely waking up to a bright room and having that feeling of hope that maybe, just maybe the boys might get outside to play and you might get to sit on the garden bench with a cup of tea and a magazine. After weeks of constant rain there is something so refreshing about being outside. The extra space to run around, the freedom to shout at the top of your lungs (the boys, not me!), the fun of the cute little kitten who thinks she lives here and the smell of the sea when the wind blows our way. Outside rocks! I've even cracked the camera out just for fun - it hardly knows what to make of being out of its bag so much.

:: cherry blossom at the bottom of our road. So pretty.

:: amazing sunset, made all the redder by the volcanic ash, so I'm led to believe!

:: cutest 4 year old on the planet who is in his glory squirting his hose :)

:: lots and LOTS of football, thanks to a new net. Cricket has been temporarily blown out!

:: last few weeks of mini rugby - they've been learning to tackle! It's the cutest thing (I know, rugby isn't cute, but he is!)

I've also been thinking a lot about how the boys are changing at the minute, especially as Patrick will be 7 in a couple of weeks. In my head he's still my little boy, but in reality he's not! All this football and collecting football cards, fixing his school tie so it looks just how he wants it to look, choosing green Converse as his summer shoes. He's his own man, no doubts about it! So I decided to do a layout about what I love most about each of them right now - time really is so fleeting and I don't want to forget this bit. I really love how they both turned out.

Check me and my not white cardstock! Next thing you know I'll be posting 2 page spreads! Ok, probably not, but given the lovely box of goodies that arrived just a few days ago, I'm pretty sure I'll be making a few more layouts very soon. 

So tell me, how have you been spending the lovely sunshiney days?