sometimes

:: the toy that belongs to someone else (Daddy) is way more fun than the hundreds you have of your own.

:: being able to get outside after months cooped up in the house has almost miraculous effects on sibling relationships!

:: we have no idea of how lucky we are. We lived on 10 litres of water per person for 36 hours this weekend as part of a challenge set by our church for Tear Fund Sunday. Not as easy as you think when a single toilet flush=6 litres.

:: I am amazed at how his imagination works. This is ski jumping - rear view (obviously) because he didn't want me to take a picture. The skis are sword scabbards and the poles are swords. Just in case you want to try it for yourself. You have to make your own shusshhing noises for it to be completely effective!

:: you have to just embrace the latest craze and go with it.

:: I am so proud of them that I am fit to burst. Patrick won a little shield in his BB display last night along with a couple of other participation prizes and honestly, I don't think I'd be any more proud if it was an Olympic medal.

:: it's just great to have Daddy at home!

 

:: creativity strikes and I make stuff.

 

:: you just get one chance to get the perfect shot. Today I got it :)

Happy Mother's Day x

10 things

It seems I'm in the middle of a rather busy patch right now. School is busy frantic. Patrick has a crazy social life, way more so than mine. Although that really wouldn't be hard! Michael is working a lot of overtime. Conor is pushing the boundaries, and then some! And there is much wedding dress hunting to be done with my sister. So in the midst of the busyness, and spurred on by several blogs I'm reading at the minute, I thought I would take the time to pause and think about the lovely bits of life that I so often overlook and share a list with you. A list of goodness if you like. Let's begin, shall we?

1. The sun has been shining for the past few days, and it is nothing short of glorious. Even Patrick says so!

2. One benefit of sunshine is being able to open the back door and tip the boys out there! Cricket is apparently an all year round sport!

3. A favourite blog of mine has a fab giveaway today! Lisa Leonard, who makes the most beautiful hand-stamped jewellery, is giving away this gorgeous necklace. Oh how I hope I win one! And if I don't, one of you could perhaps email Michael a link to the store with a gentle comment about Mother's Day.

4. Daffodils bought for me by my in-laws - a little bit of spring for my hall table.

5. School may be frantic, but it's all the nicer for the return of Sheila after her shocking ski fall and pelvis fracture! Love her :)

6. Being part of organising a wedding without any of the stress and hassle, because it's not my wedding! I've been having lots of fun watching Lesley try on dresses galore, but am starting to worry that it won't be long before I have to step into a posh frock myself - not so sure my winter blubber is ready for this just yet!

7. Girls' night on Thursday. I do so love the monthly get-togethers with 6 fab friends, the chat, the food, the laughter and the not-so-occasional tear. Because if you can't share all this with your girlfriends, it's not really worth sharing at all. And I always feel so amazingly uplifted after a night with them. Girls totally rock!

8. Rows of Easter eggs on the supermarket shelves. Mmmm! They look so good, and so far I have resisted the temptation. Must....resist....for....operation.....bridesmaid.....dress.....! (see point 6 above!)

9. Lots and lots of amazing blogs to read out there. I've added some new ones to my sidebar over there recently. You should check some of them out if you haven't already. So much to inspire and encourage. And who couldn't use even a smidgen more of that?

10. A finished scrapbook project! I know, you thought I preferred the half-finished kind. I am so pleased with this one that documents our week in Bushmills in 2008.

 

 

Now tell me, what are you loving right now?
 
  
  
 

life

Sometimes it just flies past and you really have no recollection of where the time went. It's not like there hasn't been a lot going on, in fact, quite the opposite. Which is possibly the cause of this slight absence from life. What with birthdays and parties, lots of nights in school and a pretend life in my head where I make stuff and own a fabulous shop, I've hardly had time to stop and draw breath. Not to mention the amazing tv choices to be had this season - Thursday nights are almost crashing my Sky+ planner in my attempt not to miss anything! So let me share a little of what's been going on.

Firstly, someone burst right out of toddlerdom and into little boy-hood. Conor turned 4 a couple of weeks ago. We celebrated with 3 cakes, 5 friends and lots of family. It would be fair to say that it was a rather train oriented event! In fact, as far as presents went, if it didn't run on steam or at least have a picture of a train on it, it was rather a waste of time and money! His playgroup shared a cake and made him a birthday crown and then we had a small party with just a few of his friends. He's not much of a one for crowds or fuss so it was a simple affair of musical statues, pass the parcel and crispie buns. What more could you need? Well, you would need another cake the next day for your actual birthday so that you can blow out more candles with your family watching!

 
  
Michael has been busy this week putting up some of the things we want to decorate our walls with. This is my particular favourite - it's hanging above our cloakroom door so that no matter how bad the day may look, you can leave the house with a giggle! It's a question many of you may not have considered before, but I think it's worth a thought, don't you?

I'm also loving this (our friends choose the most amazing presents - lucky, lucky us!) We're having great fun measuring every visitor to the house, and the boys are longing for the day they make it to the next height. I'm as big as an average jockey. A career I hadn't thought of, but may do now that I know I fit at least one of the criteria. (If being able to ride a horse is vital then I may have to reconsider!)

Amidst all the busyness of life in January, I have also managed to create a few layouts. Believe me, it's more of a shock to me than anyone! I feel like my creative groove is, well, grooving. I've reorganised my study and purged lots of my supplies (the guilt of living with so much unused stuff was dragging me down, not to mention how rude it would be to buy more stuff while all that was lying around. This clearly now means that I can go right ahead and load that 2peas wish list into my bucket!!) As a result, I am able to create in a calm and inspiring environment!

Now, if I ramble on about anything else I will have no choice but to abandon blogging for another 3 weeks! Instead, you should pop over to Sheila's blog where she will be delighted to receive visits and comments to while away the weeks as she recovers from a broken pelvis courtesy of the school ski trip! Be nice to her - 6 weeks is a long time, especially with a zimmer frame!  

Thoughts

Just a couple of thoughts about my boys. They are so different and both so amazing. I could simultaneously eat them up and hide from them in the ensuite bathroom (which is a pointless exercise anyway because they have mummy radar installed and can track me down in mere seconds!)

Conor (terrible scan due to use of fancy chipboard buttons!)

Patrick (terrible scan because scanner didn't pick up the white cardstock - it's actually 8.5x11 for those of you who care about that sort of stuff!)

Like I said - I could eat them up!

Time

I read a really interesting article in Junior magazine recently about the time we spend with our kids and a line from it has stuck with me ever since. It said "the days are long but the years are short". And I've thought about this a lot this past week, especially as we begin to plan for Patrick's 6th birthday. How is it that the minutes spent playing monster trucks or Power Miners are the longest in my day while the years of tiny people are almost visibly whizzing past me? I know that before long my Thursday and Friday mornings will be free of all things little boy, and not long after that I'll be free until 2pm. And while the thought of that sometimes seems like a dream come true, I suspect I will miss those monster truck games and watching closely as the new Lego set is expertly demonstrated more than I think I will. So I have documented the thought - perhaps it will be an encouragement to them in the distant future as they have to endure playing Barbie with their daughters (sweet justice, don't you think!!)

3 years ago

We were blisfully unaware of the way our lives were about to change with Conor's arrival. I was telling him about it tonight at bedtime and he kept asking me to read him that story again - he definitely added to the cute factor of the Boyd family! Anyway, I'm feeling slightly wistful on the eve of his 3rd birthday and thought it a good enough reason to share the layout I did at the weekend. It's inspired by a layout in this post and I must confess that the photo that says 09 was actually taken a few days before Christmas - he looks exactly the same this year I promise! (Do you think I could be excommunicated from the scrapbooking world for lack of authenticity and stretching the truth? Oh well, it's done now!)

 

Oh I love that little face!

Create :: a layout or 2

I've been thinking about CREATE a lot this past week, and it has been working its way into daily life quietly and gradually. I have so many ideas for creating I want to do this year and it's fun to begin putting them together. So take a look at my creations so far. There is another layout I promised Sheila I'd do today but it turns out I don't have a good photo of Conor this year so far. I know, shocking! Especially with it being 10 days into January and all! There are photos, but probably not ones he'll appreciate me having documented for him!

 

I made this mug at Eden Pottery which isn't far from where I live and is the nicest place for coffee and treating yourself to some pottery you were unaware you needed! I went with my friend Debbie on the last Friday of the holidays for some creative and child-free time. The mug does look even better after glazing but I've been too lazy to photograph it since I got it home. I am loving how it looks, and am slightly disappointed that neither Debbie nor I have been asked to work in their studio on a full time basis! Oh well, it'll have to be the photography then.

 

The first of the two layouts I did at Sheila's on our Christmas scrap night. We had such a lovely time at our Mountstewart Santa visit that I had to get it scrapped quickly. Love how it looks! And that I have a healthy stash of Basic Grey Christmas papers that look as good each year I bring them out.

 

And the second of the layouts from our scrap night. Just a quick page about my trip to London with Lesley and my mum in June. I'm aware that there's a theme creeping in with the 'Baby' titles - can only assume it's my inner lovey coming out!

I do hope to do more creating tomorrow, or at least take some pictures of the new system for organising the crazy amount of Star Wars Lego and toy collection we have going on around here. Patrick did take a moment out from his Lego Batman game on the Wii to look at said system but was, quite frankly, nowhere near impressed enough with my ingenuity!

Layout a Day :: Day 4

Thoroughly enjoying the whole 'get it done' side of this scrapping every day. Again, I'm not sure I'm dying about this layout, but it certainly records the highlights of my birthday in October!

I realise that it's a bit hard to see the edge of the layout and the scan is a bit rubbish, but I'm glad to get this one done. It almost ended in tears over rub ons that wouldn't rub on and a printer that apparently won't print on cardstock. Handy! Anyway, before I go, a quick photo from a recent session. I must post a few more because I've been a busy little photographer and there are some incredibly cute shots!

Layout a Day :: Day 3ish

Ok, I know it's day 5 but the important thing is not the days but the creating. Besides, it's been very busy round here, what with my mum's birthday and setting up her new blog! (Go on, have a peek and leave here a comment!) Today's layout was totally inspired by the 'Handsome' title I had and a photo of Patrick which is slightly blurry but which just takes my breath away.

 

And with that I'm off. It's the second part of a very exciting Grey's Anatomy and my sister has come round to help me through it! Lots of bleeding out, apparently. And she has formal dresses for trying on later for the posh do we're going to at the weekend. How very exciting for us! I have no doubt that they'll all be too big and make me look waifish as I'm on day 4 of Weight Watchers and feel like I might start chewing my own flesh I'm so hungry! I'll post photos as proof next week - bet you can hardly wait!

Layout a day :: Day 2

Much better, I think!