Giddy

Look what it's almost time for!!!

five, six, pick up sticks

What is it with boys and sticks? Conor is always on the lookout for a really good stick. One that will withstand much trailing on the ground, poking at stones, banging off walls and railings and general waving around! Such sticks are few and far between, but when one is found it is brought home and loved greatly until it eventually breaks. I have a sneaking suspicion most of these ones are still lying in the boot of my car along with a heap of dead leaves and the mud covered wellies.

No doubt this little one will be looking for similar sticks before long if it's in the Boyd genes. He is Michael's cousin's son and the closest thing our boys have to a cousin so far. Unfortunately they live in Liverpool and photo opportunities are few and far between so I have to make the best of any occasion that arises. Love his amazing eyes - wouldn't they almost put you in the notion........?

Seasonal fun

For one not much given to Hallowe'en, we seem to be entering into the fun rightly. Yesterday was pumpkin carving day with much discussion over the design of the teeth. We have a small hommage to the vampires in our lives on one of them! Not a Cullen, for sure! And tonight we hosted a party for some of Patrick's friends which will certainly go down as one of the noisiest nights we've had for a while. We had fancy dress, ducking for apples, lots of plastic insects, the grossest buns I've ever made (it's my pennance for being sucked in by packaging!) and a lot of toilet paper lying around after our mummy game! My favourite part was the party bags I bought online at Elle's Studio - absolutely amazing and so much fun to make. I doubt the boys noticed much except how many chews they had inside, but I got so much satisfaction out of them that I don't even care! The satisfaction I got out of the water bottle labels I made from these tags was only slightly less! See, a bit of creating can make even the most daunting of prospects (like 10 small boys in ghoulish costumes screaming like banshees around the garden) seem altogether manageable!

Can I just finish by saying how much I love that photo of Conor skipping up the hall after checking on the pumpkins!!

Right now

Outside my window :: the remains of the lavender plants are being beaten into oblivion by the wind under a dark and rainy sky.

I am thinking about :: how glad I am that Michael has taken Patrick to see Ulster play rugby while I stay at home in the warmth with Conor!

I am looking forward to :: my evening of girly fun with the ever fabulous Sheila - it will include Chinese take out, Strictly Come Dancing, wine, scrap chat (possibly not much actual scrapping!), and much ooohing and aaahing at online loveliness!

I am thankful for :: the arrival of the half term holidays and all that we might do.

I am wearing :: a toasty warm knitted hoodie, jeans and boots - Fat Face, of course!

I am creating :: lots of layouts in my head! They will make it to reality one of these days.

I am going :: to finish folding the laundry after I finish this post.

I am reading :: classic Agatha Christie's Poirot - 'Five Little Pigs'. I've loved her books since I was a teenager and have been in a bit of a retro love affair with them since I had the flu. He's so clever, that Poirot!

I am hoping :: that there will be a few dry days this coming week since it rained through most of the summer holidays. Surely we deserve to enjoy the last of autumn before the bleak mid winter sets in?

I am hearing :: lots of cries of "A STRIKE!!!!!" from Conor who can only get a chance on the Wii when his brother isn't here. He's super enthusiastic which is amazing given his total exhaustion after his first half term of playgroup. I sense a melt down when we have to switch it off!

One of my favourite things :: leggings. Think I may be on the cusp of the age barrier for these, but love how toasty my legs feel in them on these chillier autumn days.

Some plans for next week :: chilling out at home, finishing that book, creating stuff for myself and with the boys, a trip to W5, catching up with the Stronges, and finally making a blind for the landing window.

Some favourite photos from the past couple of weeks ::

:: the Giant's Causeway is just amazing every time we go.

 

:: this one is just growing up far too fast *sniff*

:: the obsession with trains continues.

:: how beautiful is the colour of this rose?

:: love that he spotted the texture of this tree!

:: my oldest friend from playschool with his adorable first baby daughter. Love them.
 

Have a great weekend :)
 
 
 
 

Blessed

I'm feeling very lucky and blessed today. The dreaded lurgy has finally left the building in time for my birthday, and today I've been spoilt with breakfast in bed, some fab new books (those amazon wish lists you can email to your husband are wonderful things!), handmade jewellery, coffee with the parentals, some money to spend on lovely things and a lovely bowl from the ever amazing Eden Pottery. And now I'm off for some relaxation and time with my boys in Bushmills. Blessed indeed.

 

Thank you so much for my lovely pressies and cards and texts - I love birthdays!! One other photo I have to post is from yesterday. Conor was cosied up on the settee watching a programme when his little friend Poppy decided to join him. Melted 2 mummies' hearts:)

 

Hope you have a blessed weekend full of loveliness too.

Regular programming will resume as soon as possible

Sorry. I know some of you are bored to tears with the same heading and photos there day after day. If I say *SWINE FLU* will it replace some of your boredom with even a smidgen of sympathy? I can but hope. But look, here I am, typing on the computer which means I'm upright and slightly further from death's door than I was a few days ago! I shall do my best to follow up this promising start with a more interesting post in a day or two. Until then, if you're really bored, click on the link to my website - up there on the right - and check out the changes. It's looking good :) Now, can I possibly take any more medication whilst in charge of a small child...

So about the pig races

We happened to be in York when the Ebor races were taking place, but where's the novelty in watching horses race, I ask you? The fabulous G & R took us to The Farmer's Cart for lunch and the alternative E-boar races for an afternoon of hilarity and cheering on our pigs. Perhaps not so dignified as the racecourse and high heels would definitely have been a no-no, but for entertainment I would defy you to beat it!

As I said, high heels were best left in the car, and those of us with new crocs opted for those instead.

 

Whislt waiting for the races to begin, there were tractors to be sat upon, for those so inclined.

 

And then there was the racing. We chose our pigs carefully - none of your choosing by which jockey has the prettiest shirt (oh yes, there were little velcroed jockeys on the back of the pigs!) Form was checked as was the going.

 

Then we took our places on the bales of hay and sat back, ready to see if we would win a chocolate!

 

An unconventional afternoon to say the least, but all round family fun was had by all!

Now, I don't want to cause anyone to go into cardiac arrest by my posting almost once a week at the moment, but I have also created 2 layouts this week! Is it too much for you to bear if I post them now? If you think it might be you should return to your homepage immediately, but if you think you can cope, scroll on down and check them out.

As I said in my last post, Conor excelled at the driving school in Legoland, and given the amount of vehicular stash I have accumulated, it would have been rude not to have combined the two.

 

And if one phrase could sum up our summer it would be Patrick asking once again (in case we hadn't heard him the previous 19 times) 'Will you play cricket with me?'

 

I am almost afraid to say it in case I put the scud on it, but I feel like I'm getting back in my creative groove. Who knows what the weekend will bring? Especially if the weather actually delivers the rain we've been forecast. Again!!

Just a taster

Of the gazillion photos from our holiday, that is! Oh, we had a swell time. 2 nights in the Lake District, visiting friends in York and friends in London with almost 1100 miles in between. Have to love the in-car dvd player! I have every intention of posting more photos over the next week or so, perhaps a layout or 2, but you know me and my lack of blogging too well and you are thinking there's no chance so you'll settle for the overview! So let me dally with you no further and show you a picture or two.

:: lakes

 

:: steam train rides

 

:: boats

 

:: pig racing (ok, this one will need future explaining!)

 

:: dinosaurs

 

:: a few sights in London

 

:: viking water rides

 

:: driving school

 

:: planes

 

:: more trains

 

:: purple men in York

 

I'm fairly sure there'll be more! Go on, check in a few days. You never know...

Our summer so far...

Once again I'm conscious of not having filled you in on our daily goings on for the last 4 weeks, and I make no apology for it this time! It has been a deliberate decision to simply get on with the living and enjoy the holidays and stress less about uploading it. Not that we've been up to anything dreadfully exciting. No, no, no, it's been a rather slow month, lots of pottering about, catching up with friends and family, hanging out at home. The good stuff. Not always worthy of blogging! But just so you don't feel left out, let me bring you the July highlights.

:: face painting almost daily for the first week. Favouring the pirate and...

 

:: the soldier! Love his creative streak. One of the few positives he got from me!

 

:: making this guitar from the recycling box. It has lasted remarkably well and is the preferred choice of the Green Day, Muse and Kasabian fan thus far!

 

:: dipping tiny toes in the baltic waters of Groomsport beach. I can just remember the sunny days of that first week....*sigh*

 

:: painting of any variety. Including painting one's hands blue! Have to love the pvc tablecloths!

 

:: shouting to hear the echo at Spruce Meadows Activity Farm. It really is the simplest things they enjoy the most.

 

:: hanging out with friends at Castle Espie. Can you tell Conor is just desperate to be one of the bigger boys?

 

:: sharing in our good friend Heather's birthday celebrations. Singalong Mama Mia at a private cinema in full Abba gear followed by the most amazing food spread and Abba Sing Star! Finding it hard to think of a more fun night or a time in the past few years when I have laughed more. Shocking also to think that there are girls out there who have bought these playsuits from H&M for real!!

 

:: catching up with the Bolands. So much fun watching our boys build real friendships. Love you guys!

:: braving the brisk wind for a paddle in the pool at Groomsport. This one would stay in the water until he was as blue as the paint in the pool!

 

:: creating with Jo in my favourite Eden Pottery. Obviously preceded by cinnamon scones and coffee!

 

:: scrap night with Jo and Sheila. More chatting and scoffing rubbish than layouts, but it's all part of the process! The xbox Lips was also super fun, but us holding microphones and singing our hearts out doesn't make for the best photos!

How August will live up to all of this I can only imagine!

Has anyone seen my inspiration?

I would hate to be one to grumble given that I've just embarked on 7 weeks of pure, unplanned, blissful, mostly warm and dry thus far summer holiday, but I'm feeling at a bit of a loss for inspiration. I plan to blame on this on the gigantic list of things I want to do which are being hampered by the longest bathroom makeover in the history of home improvement. The Extreme Makeover: Home Edition team would be shaking their heads in despair - I am confident we could even pop the permanent bubble of enthusiasm of Ty Pennington with our lack of progress!! Anyway, there is stuff everywhere, dust everywhere, gaping plaster everywhere and it is sapping my creative spirit.

That said, there have been plenty of moments where I have been removed from the mess into the real world, and it has been most lovely at times. Sometimes even quite exciting. Like Friday week ago when we had 5 fire engines, a few fire cars, some rescue jeeps and a clatter of police cars on our street after an accident at the water pumping station close to our house. Conor couldn't believe how close the fire engines were, and nothing would do but we had to take a closer look. Pretty close to perfection for a 3 year old with a serious love of vehicles and big wheels! And I was counting myself lucky to live across the road from school as I watched countless parents struggle to drag their toddlers past the excitement after the school drop off while we watched on from our driveway!

  

 

We have also not been unappreciative of the spell of good weather this past few weeks (and are living in hope that it's coming back properly very soon!) We've never had the paddling pool up this long since Conor was born, and living by the sea hasn't really been the summer dream I had in my head this past 2 summers. But this year we have made the most of it, because you just never know when it's going to leave. So we've walked to the beach for frisbee, shells, paddling and the ice cream van. And even ventured to the tropics of Groomsport with some friends after school for some wave jumping with light sabres. Because, you know, light sabres add that extra dimension to any activity which is fun in its own right!

 

I have even made it to the bright lights of Belfast for a night out with friends from work to celebrate our 7 weeks of not living by the bell in 30 minute intervals. I left the big camera behind and settled for the point and shoot, which I have to say caught some pretty cool shots. Almost artistic now that I look at them - perhaps my creativity has been lurking in that camera all this time!

 

 

That's the Belfast Eye by the City Hall for those of you who may not live in the province! Not quite the same spectacular views as its cousin, the London Eye but impressive nonetheless.

I am determined to do some making tomorrow, even if I have to work around a plasterer and a tiler. I shall also be working on a couple of exciting photo sessions from last week, including a wedding - photos to follow later this week. For now I am off for my nightly dose of CSI NY and a slab of Dairy Milk. I am sure my creativity will be all the better for it!