Apologies

For being such a boring blogger lately.

For non-scrapping readers: Life is just pretty much jogging along, the children are off school so I'm busy trying to keep the house tidy, entertaining them and so I don't have much time for blogging, apart from the fact that my life is pretty boring at the moment. No momentous occasions on the horizon, no holidays looming, just plain old, nice, everyday life. So sorry.

For scrapping readers: Due to the above I haven't had much time for scrapping obviously. I intended to get down to some yesterday but we had a baptism to attend in the morning, followed by a BBQ at their house afterwards. The Pimms was flowing and I was just too I've-had-a-drink-or-two-in-the-afternoon-so-I'm-not-much-use-to-anybody-tired to do anything much more than sit and watch Spongebob Squarepants with the children!

So, yes, another boring post from me. The only other two things I have to say is that finally the weather seems to have settled down to a much more pleasant 22/23º (so much more civilised) and that UKScrappers is having a relaxed cyber crop which is running this week from Wednesday to Sunday, with a class and/or project per day. The idea is that you sign up for a particular 'bus' (album theme) and the classes and projects will hopefully get you well on the well to starting and completing an album based around the theme you choose, either a Book of Me, Time, A to Z or Holiday. Fiona, PaperArts, asked if I would put something together for the shop for one of the classes, which I did, and my class is, scarily, the first one and will be posted on the forums this Wednesday, 2nd August.

My baby is 4

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARLING NOAH
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

My baby boy is 4. I can't believe it. The last 4 years in some ways have just flown by and so much has happened.

We had his birthday party on Saturday, at the Little Party House, and it was great. So relaxed and stress free. The children all had a great time, the food was fab, the dressing up clothes were a great hit and the party games were really good fun. It was a very good traditional style birthday party and the children were all so well behaved. If you live in this area I would highly recommend them.

My stash wishes from CHA

Not much actually. Am I the only one who is beginning to thing that a lot of the new stuff out there is becoming same old, same old? I'm finding it very hard to see something that grabs me and makes me think "now that I have to have!".

Of course a couple of things have caught my eye (I am a scrapbooker after all and can always find something to buy!).

Apart from the new Urban Lily I've already talked about in THIS post I am really liking:

• American Crafts miniMarks rubons, particularly the Accents ranges



• BasicGreys LilyKate range. I have recently really gone off BG but this range looks fab



• Love, love, love the Cropper Hopper ribbon storage boxes which you can see HERE (scroll down around the half way mark)



• Also it looks like Chatterbox have come out with a fab range of colourful rubons which look great even on black but the only image I can find is HERE (and again you need to scroll down to around to just pass the Doodle Genie)



• Really like some of the new KI Memories ranges (didn't like the Color Theory stuff much) but love the Color Lab embellishment kits, mainly because of the packaging!

And there are a couple of other little things I'll add later but that's about it really. Quite restrained I think.

A great weekend

Only marred by the humongous thunderstorm on Saturday afternoon.

Our best friends Nik and Cam and their 3 children, Anya, Isla and Erin, came for the weekend. It was so great to spend time with them. We have seen each other since our move back but this was their first stay at our house. The children love getting together and it is so nice to see their friendships with each other develop over the years, particularly Katarina and Anya who were born only 9 days apart. They have all known each other since the day they were born. It's nice.

The weather is continuing to be absolutely beautiful, too hot, but I keep telling myself I shouldn't complain. Last week it was, yet again, in the early to mid 30s and it was inevitable that we were due to have a thunderstorm. Unfortunately this didn't please the children as they were told that after we had run a couple of errands (to buy sandals, take Kat to dance etc. etc.) that they would be allowed to go in the pool. Just as we were driving home I remarked to the eldest girls that it looked and felt like we were due for a storm and half way home the heavens opened. Sheet lightening, forked lightening, hail stones as big as my finger nails and more than a little rain.

We had some unhappy children on Saturday I can tell you. Fortunately the storm cleared, the sun reappeared and by Sunday the grass had dried and after church they all went in. I think Noah felt a little out 'lassed' by all the girls in the pool so he refused to get in!

And the weather is continuing. I've just looked at the 5 day forecast for Swindon and it will steadily rise from late 20s today reaching the early 30s by Wednesday. And undoubtedly we will then have another thunderstorm and the pattern will repeat itself. I'm thinking of buying shares in a fan company!

Oh, oh, oh

I just have to get me some of the new Urban Lily stuff. I'm loving all their new ranges but if I had to choose then I'd say definitely the Doodle Daisy and Baby Lily collections.

I've been avoiding all links to CHA sneak peaks as I really, really cannot justify buying anything more. I need to use my current stash first. However, I am a sucker for Urban Lily and happened across yet another link today and, I don't know, but I'll blame the heat, I just clicked and well, now I know I have to have these papers.

Someone talk me out of it, please....

Time to update

I'm getting very close now to my one year blogging anniversary. One year. A whole year. 365 days.

Never in my wildest dreams (and I have some pretty wild dreams) did I ever imagine I'd still be blogging a year later. I often start things and eventually lose interest or move on to something else. A bit like all the hobbies I've tried in the past. But blogging, like scrapbooking, seems to be a stayer.

I'll be making a few changes to the blog over the next couple of weeks. I've already started with a new profile photo, taken ooh, 5 minutes ago. I'm getting a dab hand at taking self portraits. I'm going to give the site a bit of a face lift, something a little more summery. And I'm going to sit down and finally get my head around HTML and CSS and see if I can make some bigger changes. I know how I want my blog to look and work it's just getting it to do it.

I feel I should mark the occasion some how. Perhaps a little challenge or something? Maybe a prize or two? Hmmm, I'll give it some further thought but watch this space.

Waiting for a bus syndrome

You know what I mean. You wait nearly an hour for a bus and then 3 turn up all at the same time.

This is what my life is like at the moment. I've been bimbling along for ages now, not much on, which is good considering the weather we've been having (more on this later) and now last weekend and pretty much this week I have got soooo much on. It just isn't funny.

Last Saturday, for example, I had a very, very old friend visiting (Laura, who I've know since we worked together when I was 19). As I haven't seen her in nearly 4 years I was very excited. But before Laura was due to arrive I had to make the salad for the lunchtime BBQ (Taco Salad, yum, yum), go to the local village and buy some material to make Katarina's costume for the school play, then pop in to town and buy Harriet's costume, take Katarina to her Latin American and Ballroom dance classes, whilst Katarina is twirling around the floor go to The Little House Party store and finalise details, pay deposit etc. for Noah's birthday party, go back and pick up Katarina and then finally return home. All in time for Laura to arrive for lunch.

And that was just Saturday. Over the weekend I had to prepare a scrapbooking class double LO, complete with instructions and sketch and this morning I was up at 7am (not a time I usually see) sewing together Katarina's skirt. I have to admit to getting a 'little' stressed over the class I designed but it's done now and hopefully people will like it. In my mind I'm a simple scrapbooker and I worry people will be disappointed.

I have yet to complete my last circle journal (but it is in hand and I'm hoping to post it tomorrow), I have already received the next circle journal and I still need to do something about end of year gifts for the children's teachers. Oh, and I forgot I also need to write out Noah's invitations and I'm sure there are other things that have temporarily slipped my mind.

And the thing is, I don't want to do any of that. It is just too darned hot. When I got in the car at 9am this morning the thermometer was already at 24° and by the time I picked him back up, at 12pm it had risen to 31°. The BBC Weather site is predicting yet another hot week so I probably won't feel much like doing anything later in the week either. I predict lots of time spent in the pool.

So proud

Of my girls.

Both of them came home after school yesterday with their school reports and SAT results.

How clever are they? A result of 2B is the nationally expected standard for most 7 year olds (2C being below the expected standard and 2A being above) and a level 3 is even better. Harriet got a 2A in mathematics and 3s in English Speaking and Listening, Reading, Writing and Science.

Katarina, who's in year 5, took optional SATs (not sure what was optional about it as I don't think she had a choice LOL!). The expected level of attainment for a child at the end of year 6 (so in Kat's case the result she should be expected to attain at the end of NEXT year) is a level 4. She's hit that figure out of the ball park already this year and achieved 4As in English Writing and Reading (just 1 mark off achieving a level 5 in Reading) and got a 5C in Maths!

When we had parent interviews at the end of last year both girls were not performing at the same levels they were before we moved to Canada. Both of them had dropped down below the levels they were achieving. Richard and I were not overly worried and knew that they would pick things up fairly quickly and these results have proved just that.

And their actual reports? That was all good too. Apparently Harriet has been a pleasure to teach and played an excellent role as a spoilt queen in the Christmas play. Katarina is an enthusiastic, positive learner but needs to learn more how to compromise!

OK, proud parent moment over. For now at least.

Worth every penny

I ummed and ahhed over whether to buy a pool for the garden. Will it get used? Will the water be too cold? Will it be a pain to keep clean and healthy? Will the children be safe? What about Noah?

But you know, it was the best £125 (plus postage and packaging) I've ever spent. The children LOVE it. Forget the children, Richard and I LOVE it. It's got a heater so the water is never too cold, sometimes too hot but not so much now we've worked out the best temperature for it to be at. Yes, we have to keep the chemicals topped up but to be honest it really only takes about 10 minutes to do that. The biggest pain is the scooping out of all the leaves and stuff that falls in to it but I'm currently trying to sort out some sort of alternative to the net system.

Kat is a mermaid anyway, loves the water, can't get her out of it if ever we go near some. Harriet has come on leaps and bounds with the pool, even to the point where she swims under the water! And Noah has so much confidence. The only problem is he thinks he can swim. Just the other day he was refusing to put on his armbands and said 'look, see, I can swim, mummy!" followed by a glug, glug, glug as he disappeared under!

And most importantly my safety concerns have been fine. I am vigilant. I am careful. I wouldn't let Noah go out in the garden by himself, well not with the pool now anyway and I've watched him and he doesn't take much notice of it when we aren't all in it.

It is such fun and worth every penny. And at the end of a long, hot day, a dip in the pool is just what you need.

Too hot to scrap

Uggh. I'm hot, I'm sticky and I just don't want to do anything.

Getting in to the car over the weekend was like getting in to an oven. The car showed a temperature constantly over 30º all weekend, going up as high as 35º.

I know, I know, you can never please some people but I have to be honest and say I've never really liked it hot. Probably why I loved the winter in Canada so much. All that lovely cold snow!

I had to scrap yesterday though as I needed to get a LO finished ready for submission to the Scrapbook Inspirations magazine. It seemed really strange doing an autumn LO in the heat and I really didn't enjoy the process as I kept sticking to every surface I touched. Yuk.

I finished it though and have to say even though it's simple I really like it. And guess what? I used peel-offs too!!!

To all my Canadian friends

HAPPY CANADA DAY

Hope you all have a great day today and enjoy all the celebrations.

Here are some pictures of our first Canada Day celebrations in 2004. When we first arrived we were renting a gorgeous cottage just 5 minutes from the beach in a little place (and I mean little) called East River. Our landlords set up a weiner roast on the beach, some ice cold beer, it was fab.