Spring Madness!

So, we get a little bit of sunshine and the temperature actually gets into double figures and we all go a little bit crazy!

On Saturday night we had our good friends Stef and Tony round for a curry and a few beers. So, after a few beers the Wii just had to come out for a tournament didn't it?! First up was Rob and Tony and a bit of boxing; as you can see they were all ready for the bell... ...and Round 1...
Stef and I did join in with the festivities but were more than happy to spend most of the time with our big bums plonked on the sofa, putting the world to rights, inbetween kicking Rob and Tony's bums on the Wii!!!
There will be some video of me kicking Rob's bottom once I work out how to edit the blooming thing! Watch this space!

On Sunday, we got the kids out in the garden to enjoy the Spring sunshine. It was a good opportunity for Xander to test out his fab new Roary The Racing Car trike...
...and Emily to wizz around on her new grown up scooter (it's for over 6's you know!)...
We were supposed to be following this with a Sunday Roast, but we realised at the 11th hour that our oven is in fact broken, and it's very hard to grill a joint of pork! So, it was burger and chips all round, followed by Xander feeding himself a yoghurt! Whether any actually made it into his mouth isn't clear, but it took a good 2 wet wipes to clean him up!Ooh, and especially for Rach, here's my LO from my crop with Emily. Couldn't post it the other day as it was for my mum's album and I hadn't given it to her yet!

My Little Scrapper!

Emily and I have had a bit of a scrapbooking session this morning. Here's her layout, it's of our trip to the safari park last week. I love how she's journalled about our day around the edges!

Safaris, Egg Hunts and Choo Choos!!

Not much chat today as I've stacks of photos to share! We've been away this weekend visiting Rob's dad in Shropshire. On Saturday he took us to a safari park which was great! We got really close to so many animals and the kids loved it, although I do think Xander thought everything was a big cat!

On Sunday, we started the day with an Easter Egg hunt for the kids, here they are with their loot (note the ratio: Emily gets a bagful while poor Xander gets the tiniest egg of them all! After the egg hunt we went for a ride on a steam train. Xander loved the chance to ride on a choo choo and Emily thought she was on Narnia!

Scroll down to the below posts for slideshows of the safari and steam train.

Anyway, it was a lovely weekend and I have tonnes of scrapbooking to do now from it all! Thanks for having us Peter!

Steam Train

Safari Slideshow

Musings On The Diversity Of Life

I've been having musings for the past couple of days. Musings on just how diverse my life is at times, and this week has been a prime example.

I started Saturday sat in the conservatory in my pyjamas (which would seem typical student attire I would have thought!) trying to get my head round finite and infinite clauses in the verb phrase (yup, I have no idea either). After several hours studying I then go to the opticians, buy some nice sensible designer glasses and come away much poorer than when I went in! Then it's off to the pictures with Emily and BFF to see a teen queen in 3D, with lots of popcorn and chocolate. Then home for a nice glass of wine and a jigsaw!

Sunday starts off with a walk in the park, then home for the grand prix and a couple of beers. Nice sensible tea (all food groups represented etc), then 2 hours later I'm screaming like a banshee at a 40 something father of two who I had a crush on at 14!!

12 hours later, rock n roll mum is back in the cupboard and she's trudging up to school, book bag, lunch bag and PE kit in hand, plus Emily's entry to the Easter Egg colouring competition that had to be handed in that day. Then home, washing, making thank you cards for Emily's gymnastic teachers, then back on the school run again!

Yesterday there was a crafting date with my new scrapbooking buddy and neighbour, Lauren (hi Lauren **waving**), then home for more washing, school run (with Guns n Roses on the iPod), nursery run, visit to the parents, starting another new jigsaw.

Today has been more studying and then annual household finance review (have you ever written down all those things that go out of your bank account every month, the length of the list is ridiculous!). Tonight is library, gymnastics (Emily, not me!), packing for the weekend etc. Tomorrow is toddler group, baking, tests at the hospital, and even more packing!

Like I say, I'm just musing; at least my life isn't boring!

Slash!!!!!!!

After over 20 years of gig going, I think that I've come to the conclusion that, at 5' 4", I'm never going to get a good view, unless I fight my way down to the front row; and I'm just too old and decrepid to even attempt it these days!!

Fortunately I have very stong tip toes that can withstand even my weight for 2 whole hours, so I was able to tell last night that Slash was looking splendid! And fortunately, you don't have to be tall to hear good music and Velvet Revolver were on fine form last night! Unfortunately for Rob, you also don't have to be tall to scream, so the poor bloke's gne to work with ringing in his ears this morning after his wife's shameful display!

It was also quite sad as, VR are getting so popular that they can't possibly continue doing tiny venues for long; and once you've seen a band in a small venue, it's never the same in a big arena (unless you get at the front, which we've established ain't gonna happen!). So, I was resigned to the fact that I may never see them again, and certainly not as closely as I did last night.

Anyway, whether you want them or not, here are a couple of pics and a couple of vids of the boys!

Beware Curly Haired Top Hatted Ones....

... you may encounter a screaming 30 something mother of two tonight, jumping on you in the middle of your guitar solo!! Yup, tonight I'm off to relive my teens and see the love of my life Slash playing at the uni. I'm trying to stay calm today and not get too excited but the thought of seeing my childhood hero is almost too much to bear! Prepare for a Slashtastic blog entry tomorrow!!

Yesterday was rock stars of a different genre: I took Emily and her BFF Hattie to see Hannah Montana 3D at the pictures. It was actually really good and it did look like Hannah was in the room so the girls were very excited! The only trouble was there was nothing there for tea, so the girls had to load up on popcorn and chocolate, which I regretted on the drive home when they were both sugared up and high as kites and kept shouting 'bum' and 'boobies' which they found hilarious!

Right, there's only 9 hours to the gig, better go get this switched on so I can start getting ready!!

Scrapbooking Shocker!

The shocker? I've actually done some! This one's been on the back burner since November and I've finally got round to doing it! I wanted to experiment with different lettering styles for my titles so decided to practise lots of different ones all on the same layout!

Today we've been out with Laura and Evie. We took the little tearaways to a playgym, which ended up being a bit of a pointless exercise as Xander spent his time trying out chairs and Evie took a shine to the disabled toilet! We did manage to get them on the slide a couple of times however (along with Evie's new best friend, Baby!)What a difference though, doesn't seem like 2 minutes since we first introduced the terrible twosome!

On A Washing Line!

So, you've heard the term 'Could sleep on a washing line'? Well, that term was invented for the cute but slightly deranged black and white fluffy thing we have living in our house! We've been noticing more and more the stupidest places Cindy Foo seems to take her naps, so here is Cindy's favourite zzzz spots (so far!) .....So bored

What do you mean that armchair's comfier than this sideboard?

Aah, I see what you mean! Looks a bit slippy to me though, better hold on!

Salem, I can't believe these humans make us earn our food by being bookendsI'm dreaming of being the first ever cloned cat

If I sneak in with these party bags, maybe I'll get to go to the party too

What, you weren't watching that were you?

Still bored

Santa will never see me hiding in here

If I lay here long enough, maybe Xander will drop some crumbs

Hmm, this plan to post myself onto the hearth isn't exactly working

Sleep? It's all a puzzle to me!

The Adventures Of Hannah Chicktana!

So, we're on Day 3 of looking after Hannah Chicktana. Not only do we have to keep an eye on her but we have to take her on adventures too! So, last night she came on a car ride with us to pick Xander up from nursery...and then Emily read her a bedtime story...Tonight she is coming to the library and gymnastics with us! (Cue me stood looking like a right pleb holding an egg while Emily does her twirly bits on the bars!)

And for anyone who thinks Hannah looks a tad different: Shhhhhhhhhh!!! I've no idea why and Emily's not asked so let's not mention a certain cracking incident yesterday lunchtime and a quick boiling of a new egg, OK?!

Meet Hannah Chicktana!

This is Hannah Chicktana! She's part of a sponsored school project of Emily's in aid of Barnados. She's had to decorate an egg (of course, she decorated hers as Hannah Montana!) and now has to take care of it for a week. And, apparently, as Emily goes to school they've told her that mummy has to care for it while she's out; so I'm sat here babysitting a hard boiled egg!

So, if anyone would like to sponsor Emily (and me as it turns out) then please let me know!

Guess Who........

...is going to be sat here in 15 months time......

ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My sister and her hubby-to-be have booked their wedding for next June in Antigua and, as Emily's bridesmaid and Xander's pageboy, we're only going to have to blooming well go too aren't we?!

Excited doesn't even cover it!!