The journey continues...

Once again life is rushing along. It seems like a never ending treadmill again lately, I quite fancy jumping off sometimes, but alas that isn't an option! The photograph above is from the Women's conference at my church, Cherish, and it is a reminder to all women that they are beautiful, no matter what they are going through in their lives. I took my lovely friend Liz along on Monday evening, she is a friend through scouting, and it was great to bring her to my church for the first time. The conference has been fantastic, already it is as if the preaching is aimed directly at what is going on for me lately. I know it isn't, not personally, but it fits so well with the various things that have been happening.

In other news, I have a new job, in year 4 at a school not far from here. It is in a different education authority to Leeds, so it has been interesting adjusting to the differences. I would never have realised just how different things could be, but they are! I am enjoying being there very much. Last week we had a Diamond Jubilee themed week, and we did lots of different activities around the Queen's 60 years on the throne. My class, along with one of the year 5 classes, decorated almost 700 buns to sell to the rest of the school. It is the biggest school I have worked in yet, over 400 pupils, so the buns were all eagerly snapped up in no time at all.

I have also been spending more time with some fabulous friends I met through WAY (Widowed and Young). This is me with Christine, I went over to our mutual friend Thelma's for the weekend just gone, and as it was Christine's birthday on Friday I baked her this cake. It was delicious, and looks good, even though it was surprisingly simple to make. Next weekend we are off to Manchester to hear Coldplay. I love their music, so it will be great to hear them live. Their song, 'Fix You', always brings on an emotional reaction, here's hoping all the WAY members I am going with manage to get through it without falling apart completely.

This was what met me when I arrived at Thelma's, two bonkers ladies with flags in their hair!!

And finally, it is almost scarecrow festival time again here in the village. At beavers last week we made these two ready for our entry. Last year we won but I don't think we will again. Our scarecrows are always excellent, but it there are always so many great ones. The festival is on Sunday 24th June here in Gildersome, worth checking out if you are local.

Other than that, life is mostly good. Riding the rough with the smooth is part of it all, I think most people experience that! It is half term this week, Alex has gone to my brother's with my parents and Sophie has gone to Cornwall with her best friend. Alex is due back today, Sophie is away until the weekend. It is strange being alone in the house. Lovely getting some time to myself, and also quite eery at times. Today is about cleaning the house, doing boring things like laundry and all that!

The What Ifs

There's been so much in the press about Bolton footballer Fabrice Muamba, who collapsed during the game at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. He was lucky enough to have immediate medical attention, including having treatment with a defibrillator. Since then, he seems to be coming through this, although it will be a long road to recovery. He was incredibly fortunate to receive the right treatment at the right time.

When Nigel had his heart attack, he only had me there with him. I started CPR, and an ambulance was called. It took 15 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. In that time, I was doing my level best to get Nigel's heart going again. What if he'd been able to have the treatment Muamba had? What if he'd collapsed in the UK, would he have made it to hospital sooner and so come through this? What if the Portuguese ambulance had arrived more quickly?

This could go on and on, and on. Speculating about what might have happened is no use now. It is impossible to change the past, and there is no point regretting how things panned out. I did everything I could to keep Nigel alive, but I couldn't save him. The new Vinnie Jones advert for the BHF is helpful for anyone faced with doing CPR, but it upsets me every time I see it. Reminds me of how the life we had planned vanished in an instant.

Our Egyptian Odyssey

We finally made it to Egypt this year, after having to cancel last year because I'd been so ill. The girls were very excited to be visiting a new country, and also a new continent as we'd not been to Africa before.

Sophie about to snorkel in the Red Sea

The holiday was arranged with a group of friends I made through the Way Foundation. All of us had been widowed under the age of 50. I love going away with this group of friends, we all get along so well, and it does all the kids good to see that they are not alone in growing up without one of their parents. But equally, I find it quite emotional to be with this group of friends, as we would never have met if our husbands and wives were still with us. It reminds me how much of a gap has been left, whilst also showing how the three of us function so well as a family unit. I doubt myself as a parent far too often, as I have to make the decisions for two of us, carry out the role of two people. I have plenty of family and friends around me ready to discuss things with me, but it is not quite the same as discussing it with Nigel, is it? Still, we make the best of it.

Alex on the beach at Makadi Bay

The week was spent mostly in swimsuits, with warmth from the wind provided by the royal blue WAY foundation hoodies seen in two of the photographs. It was not as warm as in previous years, or so I am told, yet we still managed to thoroughly enjoy ourselves. I drank lots of cocktails, the favourite amongst our group being a sunrise. We ate food from all around the world in the restaurants at the hotel, the Bedouin being the tastiest meal of the week.

Me wrapped up ready to head out into the desert on a quad bike

I went out on an excursion which was riding a quad bike into the desert, riding a camel and then riding the quad back again. It was fantastic. We laughed so much, and shook every bone in our bodies going over the hard packed, ridged sand. As soon as we got back from the excursion, we headed straight for the pool to cool off, and started on the cocktails. My oh my, what a mistake. Well, not a mistake really, as it was enjoyable, but I've not been as drunk as that in a VERY long time! I ended up asleep on my bed at 5pm, not good! The girls just took themselves off to another room to watch a DVD in the end. Bad, bad mother. Hey ho!

Coming back from holidays always leaves me feeling a bit blue. This time, however, there was no time to, as both girls were having ENT surgery the Friday after we came home. Alex had T tubes fitted. These are like longer lasting grommets (ear tubes for my US readers) because her ear drum had healed after her last set of grommets in 2009, allowing the glue ear to return. Her ENT consultant had hoped she would grow out of it, but she has not reached that point yet, so he suggested she have the T tubes. She did need them, as her hearing was depleted again. It was even affected to the point that her learning was suffering in school. Any slight background noise left her unable to hear what her teacher was saying, and the T tubes have rectified this.

Sophie had her tonsils removed, as she has been really quite ill with chronic tonsillitis for too long. She coped very well with the surgery, although she did need to be given codeine as well as paracetamol and ibuprofen. Two weeks on and she is almost fully recovered. Her throat is a bit sore when she eats from time to time, but she knows this will pass. We are a tonsil free house now, so I'm hoping it means better health for all of us.

And finally, in other news... I have a new job. A term long contract teaching a year 4 class not far from here. I've met them and they seem like a good set of kids. Paid until the end of August which is a total bonus! They are having whole class sessions on a Tuesday learning to play the French horn, that should be fun......

Decisions decisions decisions

One of the worst things about being a lone parent is having to make decisions about my lovely girls on my own. Nobody to talk things through with, yes I have family to talk to about things, but it is still all down to me. Nobody is quite enough, I would love to be able to talk it all through with Nigel but of course I can't. Sophie is in year 5 at school now, and so moves up to secondary school, or high school as it is known in West Yorkshire, in September 2013. I am already starting to think through the application which will have to be completed in September this year. Pros and cons for all the options, so I will have to do my research, go and visit, and talk things through with various people.

It is hard, this lone parenting lark. I'm not much enjoying the ride lately, but I know it is just the same old roller coaster ride. Some highs, some lows. The lows are proving tricky at the moment, it will pass, hopefully soon. Need to keep busy, lots to arrange, so wish me luck!

I am still here, honest!

Hello residents of blog land! Such a long time since I blogged, I've not been in the right place to blog lately but I am at home today with yet another kidney infection so I thought I would pop in and update.

The biggest change this year has been that I've been working full time since February. I love having my own class, being part of school and all that, but working full time is no fun when coping as a lone parent too. My girls have suffered while I've been putting the hours in. Teaching full time does take up my whole life. I've been grumpy and shouty with the girls, and that's not good. I finish my contract in just under 7 weeks' time, and then I am going back to supply teaching. It is the better option for the girls and for me, as I have much more time for them.

This year has been an interesting one. At the end of January, I spent 3 days in hospital, having been rushed in with suspected appendicitis. Fortunately it was just a severe kidney and bladder infection, but it has left me with recurrent infections every few weeks. Because of this, we had to cancel our planned trip to Egypt at February half term, which was disappointing, but had to be done. We are booked to go next February so we will experience all that is Egypt next time instead.

Work plodded on until the Easter holidays, and we spent some time in Scotland with my parents. It was gorgeous in early April, and we came home all sunburnt! The next half term was stressful as my class was year 6 and so they were taking their KS2 SATs tests. Once that was out of the way, we moved on to preparing for the end of year production, which was Beauty and the Beast. In the middle of all that, the girls and I had a week in Portugal with our friend Avril, and then I spent a week at Ingleborough Hall with my class for their residential visit. The end of term was a total whirlwind, so I was glad when the holidays arrived!

We rushed around doing this and that over the summer, spending a week in Majorca with my family in a beautiful villa. Then before we knew it, we were back to school. Usual stuff going on, workload getting heavier and heavier. I love teaching but I don't love the paperwork that goes with it!

So now I am on countdown to the end of term. Lots to do, both with work and at home. I've joined a choir, the Rodillian Singers, and I am loving being a part of a musical group again. I have various plans for 2012 so I am very excited for how things will move along. I have had the usual roller coaster of ups and downs with how I have been feeling, lately has been a bit of a downer but I think that seems to be my pattern. My mood usually dips around now, so I need to find a way to help lift it in these darker months.

Keep checking back, I will be sharing various crafty loveliness soon I promise!

Aviva Life Insurance TV Advert

Have you seen it? First time I did, I wailed. Well, not quite wailed, but I did have a good cry about the sentiment expressed in the advert. It is about a family where the dad, played by Paul Whitehouse, has died leaving behind his wife and two children. They are packing to go on holiday, and initially you think all four of them are going, but then it becomes clear that the dad has died. The daughter says, "It won't be the same without dad.'

The point of the advert is to encourage people to take out life insurance so as to offer their families financial security should the worst happen. Since Nigel died, I have discovered that there are an awful lot of people out there who have either no cover or very little cover. I can't stress enough how important it is to have cover, even though so many people think that it will never happen to them. I used to think that, but look, it happened to us so it could happen to you. Fortunately we had taken good financial advice from Andy Tams at Total Solutions. If you're in the Leeds, West Yorkshire area and have never seen a financial adviser, then I can recommend this firm completely.

I can still remember the phone conversation I had with Andy, a few hours after Nigel died. I rang him from Portugal at around 9am, Nigel had passed away just before 3am so it wasn't long after. I could hear his jaw hit the floor from all those miles away. It was probably the absolute last thing he would have expected to hear in a phone call from me that morning, but as soon as I had finished talking, he put everything into action so that some things were well on the way to being sorted by the time I arrived back in the UK the following Sunday evening.

It is so important to be insured. Even a low level of cover is better than nothing!

So I had a weep, it doesn't happen as often any more. I still miss Nigel every day, just not in a way that makes me quite so sad now. I'd love him to see how the girls are growing up more and more every day, but hey ho, such is life.

A Christmas Kiss!

Once again I seem to have neglected my blogging. If truth be told, I have not felt so great for the last month or so, and blogging has not been top of my priorities I'm afraid.

Today was just such a great day, I felt compelled to come and post about it. In July 2008 I decided to take the girls along to a new church. For various reasons, the church we had been attending was not where I saw us in the long term, so I took the plunge and we went along to the Abundant Life Church in Bradford. ALC is unlike any church I had been to before, it is very modern, welcomes all, and has an enormous Sunday school, known as Kids' Church at ALC. The girls were welcomed into Kids' Church with open arms, and before I knew it, I had been roped in to help with various things, as well as be involved in the Christmas performance of Scrooge.

Since then, the girls and I have attended church on a pretty regular basis, and we have made some wonderful friends there. Every Christmas, I would watch in amazement as members of the church were honoured in a campaign called 'Christmas Kisses'. Never in a month of Sundays did I think I would be chosen. Well, this year, a lovely lady called Clare Hooper decided she would nominate me to receive a Christmas Kiss. The other members of the committee agreed, and so today would be my special day. I had no idea it was going to happen, in fact I had a busy day planned at church, which on reflection I can see was full of ruses to ensure I was in church to hear it all!

Charlotte Gambill, one of the pastors, started talking about the first person to receive a Christmas Kiss, and talked about how this person was a widow, bringing up two children after her husband had literally dropped dead whilst on holiday. Then she said my first name, and I realised it was me! She talked about how I had coped when Nigel died, and how I had decided to make the move to ALC. Then she talked about how I instantly dived in and got involved, which I definitely did!

Meanwhile, I sat and listened, amazed that this could be me, and steeled myself for going up on stage, something I was not looking forward to! Imagine how I felt when Charlotte then handed me a bag from Tiffany & Co! Church had decided to buy me some gifts which they felt Nigel would have given me had he been here (cue tears at this point, plus I'm welling up as I type this). Apparently inside the bag is a bracelet, engraved with 'loved' because church wanted me to know that I am truly loved, even when life is proving to be a real struggle for me. And it didn't end there! In January I am being treated to a spa weekend with my lovely friend Dawn. Gobsmacked doesn't even come close to how I was feeling at that point.

I decided I needed to thank everyone, so took the microphone from Charlotte and spoke to church. I'm not sure how many people were there, but I think it was at least 900 as it looked like a full house to me! I talked about how life had not been easy for me, but that ultimately the ups and downs make life what it is. Anyone who believes that everything in life will run smoothly is in for a shock. I remember listening to Paul Scanlon, our senior pastor, speak in October 2008, about how the journey of life is a rocky road, with some easy times and other much more difficult times where the road would seem almost impassable. I sat at the back of church and sobbed my way through that service, because the realisation had hit me that my life was progressing just how it was intended to progress. It wasn't a case of woe is me, the journey is tough so I'll give up, the tricky times just made me want to fight harder to carry on.

I've been on a rockier part of the journey of late, and am proud that I've come through it. Receiving my Christmas Kiss today has made me realise just how much lies ahead that I have to look forward to, even though Nigel isn't here to see it. I miss him every day still, that will never go away. I bite my tongue now when people say, almost crossly, that I should be over him by now. It is never going to be something I get over, more that I make the most of the life that I have without Nigel. I still find myself thinking about ringing him up to tell him something during the day, not so often now but it does still happen. The girls' nativity plays last week made me realise how proud he would be of our beautiful girls.

Being a widow is part of me, its not something that will go away. Now I just have to make sure I continue to grow into the person I want to be, not dwell on the past and the difficult times. There will still be times where I feel as if sadness is overwhelming, but that's ok. With the support of people at ALC, my family and so many wonderful friends, things are going to be A-OK.

Triggers that pop up every now and again

It's a funny old world, that much I do know. Life is ticking along nicely in so many ways, and then all of a sudden, totally out of the blue, something pops up and reminds me of just how I felt when Nigel died.

I heard on a forum I use of a little girl in a friend's child's class. Her daddy died at the weekend, totally out of the blue. The little girl was in reception, so my heart learched, and I remembered how it was for Sophie, starting 'Big' school just a matter of weeks after her daddy died. This girl had already started, but still, hearing of what had happened made me think back to that time. It makes the memories seem raw all over again, albeit for a short time, but still raw and upsetting.

Then I have a big decision to make about the future. So many things to think about, a decision I'd rather be making with Nigel, and I can't. I know that the decision I make will come good, I just can't decide which option to go for!

Anyway, here's a photograph of the girls on the first day of this school year. So grown up, I can't quite work out how time seems to be going so quickly! Sophie is in year 4 this year, and Alex has moved into year 2. I'm in new year groups too, working one day a week in nursery, and one day in year 1. All great so far! Long may it continue!

I haven't forgotten about crafting, honest! I just haven't taken any photographs of my projects lately, I will soon I promise!

Enjoying the view from a beautiful meadow

I was shown this a while ago, and I think it is a pretty good description of how I have felt over recent years. I must say I am now totally in the place to be admiring the beautiful meadow without worrying about what could happen, about possible pitfalls and so on. Life is short, enjoy today, worrying about what COULD happen is a huge waste of energy. I miss Nigel, I don't deny that, and I am sad that his life was cut short. He has missed our beautiful daughters growing up, and I have taken on the role of both parents which is a taxing role believe me! Despite all this, mostly our lives are full of happy times. No deep, dark, depressed days any more.

So read this, and think about how it could have an impact about how you feel about your life!

Imagine walking through a lovely meadow. The sun shining. Looking up at a beautiful sky. Bright blue, lots of fluffy white clouds drifting by. Butterflies fluttering amongst the buttercups and daisies. Your fingers brushing the tips of the long grass as you walk.....and then suddenly, you stumble.

You manage to catch yourself after faltering for a bit. You dust yourself down, and keep on walking, admiring the beautiful surroundings. You stumble again, this time falling into a deep, unmarked pit. You keep falling and falling, grabbing out and flailing wildly to try and get a grip on something, anything. After what seems like forever, you stop your slide downwards and hit rock bottom. You are exhausted from your sudden and unexpected decent into darkness.

Before you know where you are, and what has happened, you are at the bottom of a deep hole with no idea how you got there or how to get out. You can see a chink of light in the top, but its quite far away, and you cant trust that the chink of light is the only way out, but you claw towards it anyway, even though you are exhausted and bruised and battered from your fall.

Its a lonely time in this hole. Only you and the darkness. You couldnt see anyone else even if they were there, because of the darkness and coldness of your environment. But once you realise where you are, you know you have to clamber out and,` if you are lucky, someone will pass by and offer a hand of help to pull you out.

Despite being exhausted, and bruised and battered, you clamber you way to the top, and you finally make your way out of the hole. Yet you are still shocked and stunned by what happened. How could you miss such a big hole in front of you? Why couldnt you see it coming? How come no-one before you has fallen into this hole (you think) and not thought to block it up? Many people before you has managed to walk through the meadow without falling into this pit, why couldnt you have seen it coming, or prevented it, or just had a better journey?

You are stood, standing in this beautiful meadow, but all you can think about is the dark hole that you have just fallen into and clambered out of, how sore and aching your body is, and how tired you are. The beauty around you means nothing for a while. But you are grateful to be out, and you realise you should appreciate the beautiful surroundings.

You keep walking, but you find yourself no longer admiring the sky, the clouds, the butterflies, the flowers. You are busy looking at your feet. Concentrating hard, because, you dont want to fall into another pit, and waylaid by your aching bones and tired body.

You lose sight of all the beautiful things around you because you are continuing your journey looking only down at the ground, on alert for danger. You dont appreciate the sky, the clouds, the flowers, the butterflies, because you are too scared of falling down another hole, you still have the bruises from the last fall.

You are terrified that, if you take your eyes off terra firma for a moment, you could slip down that hole again and you wont find your way out so easily this time.

It is a long, lonely journey, spent staring at the ground, before you trust your surroundings, and your instincts enough again to appreciate your journey, and realise its beauty. To wander through the meadow staring at the beautiful blue sky and fluffy white clouds.

A big long gap again...

Apologies everyone for not posting! Life has been hectic, mad, fun, a bit sad sometimes, and full of new challenges. We are currently in the USA, the girls are at summer camp and I am on a bit of a road trip with some friends. Tomorrow I am heading to Amish Country, and I am staying in a beautiful traditional lodge, so that should be fantastically relaxing.

On Thursday, 29th July, it would have been my tenth wedding anniversary. It will be a day tinged with sadness, wondering how life would have been if things hadn't changed that day, and also one to remember all the fantastic things we celebrated together that day in 2000.

So please, raise a glass to Nigel and to me, still here, still battling on (lol) and remember that day with a smile, not tears.

I will post all about our trip next week once we are home!

Kayaking time!

On Saturday the girls tried something new- kayaking! Sophie's cub pack had been offered a session at Leeds Canoe Club, and I asked if Alex could join in too. Fortunately she could, so we headed down to the River Aire at Kirkstall on Saturday afternoon.

I wasn't sure how the girls would feel about being out on the water for the first time in a kayak on their own, but they did fantastically well! One of the ladies from the canoe club was very impressed with how Alex did as she was 2 years younger than the cubs. Sophie looks like a seasoned pro in the photo above!!

It was a fantastic afternoon, the girls loved it. Sophie was even brave enough at the end of the session to get out of her kayak when it was in a row of all the kayaks, and crawl across the kayaks and back round to her own boat! Her friend Bonnie did it too, in fact the girls were braver than most of the boys! They got a bit cold towards the end, so were very glad of a hot cup of tea when they came off the water.

The girls will be canoeing in the US this summer so this was a great starting point. Sophie has done so many wonderful activities since she joined cubs, and did some great stuff with Beavers. It was a shame she had such a bad experience with Brownies, as I know there are loads of great Brownie packs out there, just not the one Sophie joined! I remember my brother doing much more exciting activities with his cub pack when I was a Brownie, so I was quite envious of what he got up to. I can definitely recommend cubs for girls if you can join a pack which is as good as 4th Morley (Gildersome)!

More crafting tomorrow when I am planning on launching various Stampin Up promos, so watch this space! If you do want to order anything Stampin Up then drop me an email annajahead@yahoo.co.uk

Until then, have a great day wherever you are!

More cards

On Saturday we went to my friend Avril's 60th Birthday lunch at Zachary's, a fabulous restaurant in Fulneck, Pudsey. We had a wonderful lunch, the girls got to choose exactly what they wanted to eat too which was great. Sophie is a big fan of roast dinners, so she went for roast sirloin of beef, yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings. She definitely enjoyed it as it barely seemed to touch the sides, then her plate was empty! Alex chose her favourite, spaghetti bolognese. If spag bol is on the menu, then the chances are Alex will choose it! When we are on holiday, quite often it appears on children's menus in restaurants, so she will usually choose it, and eat the lot.

My gift to Avril for her birthday was all the invitations and place cards for her birthday lunch and then party afterwards at home, so when I made her card, I tied it in with that. It is a nice simple card, using pink passion and glorious green cardstock from SU, Avril's name is stamped in pink passion ink using the Big Deal Alpha once again. Then I added some stickles glitter to the centre of the flowers as bling is always good!! The ribbon is not SU but is a pretty close match I think. I punched the flowers using my beloved retro daisy punch, I have this in 3 different sizes and use it a lot. It isn't a shape made by SU as yet, but it shows how you can incorporate what craft stuff you've already got with the SU products. One of the reasons I held off signing up for so long was because I love to use other brands of products too, especially in my scrapbooking. But now I am getting much, much better at using SU stuff alongside what I've already got, to great effect.

My second card is a horse card made for a 21st birthday. I don't own anything horse related craft wise, so I had to resort to google images for this card. The cardstock I used is SU textured in creamy caramel, chocolate chip and close to cocoa. Well, I think I have got that right! I need to learn all the different names lol. The rosette is made using two circles punched out, then mounted on three scalloped circles layered together. The 'ribbon' is just cut from more card. The 21 is doodlebug stickers, which I had in my lettering box. I'm a bit of a fan of letter stickers and chipboard letters, so I have ordered the SU chipboard letters to try. Hopefully they will be here soon so I can have a play.

Long weekend this weekend, the girls have a training day on Friday, and then it is May Day on Monday. Lots of lovely things planned, including seeing Peppa Pig Live on Saturday!

Have a great weekend, whatever you're doing!

Made a card this afternoon for a very lovely young man who is becoming a teenager tomorrow. Elliot is simply gorgeous, he makes me smile whenever I see him, and says so many wonderful things which keep both me and his mum in stitches regularly!

The card is made using a combination of Stampin' Up! supplies and other stash. The name is stamped using the Big Deal Alpha set, I love this alphabet, and have been using it on so many projects lately. It is stamped in Ballet Blue onto Whisper white cardstock. The name is then matted onto brilliant blue card, then onto a card blank which is from Craftwork Cards. The three strips of dotty papers are SU designer papers, I love them, so versatile and as they are double sided, even better value for money. The star is punched using a SU punch, one which I use on a lot of projects. The number stickers are Doodlebug I think, have had them a while! All in all, this card took me just over 10 minutes!

I raised the star up using dimensionals to create a bit more interest on the front. I like to do this on both cards and scrapbook pages, as everything stuck down flat can get a bit boring!

This mini book is a new baby book which I was asked to make by my friend Jackie. Her brother and his fiancee were expecting their first baby, and had decided to call him Thomas Luke. They decorated Thomas's room using a Winnie the Pooh theme, and so Jackie asked me to make this book because she wanted something personal to them. It measures 8"x6" and each page is decorated slightly differently, ready for a 6x4 photograph to be stuck in. I just hope the new parents like it! Obviously this isn't made using SU products, other than the striped ribbon which is tied to the bind it all wires.

So, as you can see I've been fairly busy craft wise! As a result, tomorrow is housework day. I have a mountain of laundry to sort, so that should keep me amused. Then on Saturday we are off to a special meal to celebrate my friend Avril's 60th birthday. Sophie is also singing at the Morley Music Festival with her school choir in the morning, so a busy day! Hopefully I'll be back with more crafting soon.

Busy busy busy!

So it has been a few weeks since I last updated this blog, where to start really!

April started with Alex's 6th birthday on Good Friday. She says it was her best birthday ever, and I must admit, she did have a wonderful day! She had 12 friends round for a craft party, and each child went home with an A4 sized canvas with their name on, plus Hello Kitty for the girls and Batman for the boys. All the children managed really well, and were very well behaved, which was a complete bonus!

After Alex's birthday, my pal Heather and her girls came to stay. We had a lot of fun, and took the three eldest girls to an art day in Harrogate which went down very well indeed.

Sophie went to her friend Lydia's birthday Pyjama Party too, and as Lydia is loving playing schools just lately, I decided to make her a sign for her room, saying that it was her classroom!

Here's a card I made, lots of old stash used up on this one which I had found during some tidying up. The girl is coloured to look like Lydia too, I like to do that when colouring in a card.
This week we have been up in Scotland with my parents. We stayed in a log cabin, I have stayed there several times since I was 13, but not since having the girls. We had a fabulous time, the weather was great, no rain, and we spent a lot of time on the beach. The girls are at their happiest when they are digging in the sand, collecting shells and constructing sand castles. We got back yesterday, and now it is back to reality. Homework to do, reading to do, washing from last week, etc etc..

Oh, that and I became a Stampin Up! demonstrator last week!!

Recuperation and crafting to while away the time

While I have been recovering from my operation, I decided to get scrapping again, something I've not done in quite a long time at home, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! It was great to get back to scrapping, and now I have rediscovered my mojo, I will be doing more of it for sure.

The first layout I made using the Scrapagogo February kit, absolutely gorgeous to use as always. The photographs on the LO are moo cards, using that size and format is a nice change after always going for standard photographs. The subject matter is Sophie and her best friend Jennifer, who moved down to Buckinghamshire last summer. Whenever the girls meet up, they continue where they left off, great friends and always happy to see each other. These photos were taken at Legoland, and I love the expressions on their faces!

A little close up of the detail on the clock face I used on one corner of the journalling. The kit came with these adorable cupcake brads, so I had to use one to anchor the clock hands.

The second LO is made using a kit I picked up from Sarah's Cards. I had seen this kit at a crop, and so decided to order one for myself. Once again the photos are moo cards, and it was fun to see just how many photos I could get on one LO!

The pictures tell the story of our day at Bekonscot Model Village, which is very close to where Jen and her family live now. We had been before back in February 2007, and loved it, so were very happy to have a return visit. Hopefully we will be going again when we visit Jen and co. Close up shot of one of the little badges from American Crafts which came in the kit, just gorgeous!

My final LO is just a very simple one using more moo cards of Bekonscot. I didn't want them to go to waste, so decided on the less is more approach! Very quick and easy to do, and a nice addition to my album without taking a long time to complete.

All in all a good day's scrapping! It certainly stopped me from thinking too much about my discomfort, so Thursday last week was a good day! I am still sore now, but much less so, and the trapped wind from the keyhole procedure has just about gone now. I get tired very easily, which is really frustrating, but that will pass soon I am sure. Onto the next drama in the household- Sophie has a sore lump on her gum which looks like it could be a dental abscess, so off to the dentist we go tomorrow!

A strange week this week

Monday and Tuesday were spent in hospital after surgery on Monday afternoon. I'm on the mend now but it has been a rough week. Just got to be careful not to overdo it, today was a bit much as I am now feeling very tired.

So I will sign off for now, see you soon!

New stamps

I decided to treat myself to some new stamps last week, and chose this lovely Magnolia Ladybug stamp. Sophie was due to go to a party after school today, so last night I inked this little beauty up to make a card for her friend Bonnie. I coloured the image using my Copic Ciao markers, and am pleased with the end result. I've recently done an online course in colouring with the copics, and learned a lot about blending. I'm intruiged to know if the copic sketch markers are better to use, but for now I am more than happy with my ciaos.

The image is matted on red cardstock, then onto a black mat which has been embossed using my Big Shot and a cuttlebug embossing folder of hearts. Bonnie's name is stamped with the Stampin Up schoolbook serif set, and then the card is finished off with a red ribbon tied in a knot. I bought another Magnolia stamp at the same time as I bought this one, so I may well ink that up tonight.

That's about it for now. Usual stuff is ticking along nicely. Next big job to tackle is the garden. I need to pressure wash the paving slabs as they are looking very grimy after the winter, and get rid of some broken garden furniture. We are keen to grow some veg this summer, so I need the space which this furniture is taking up to put some pots and troughs in place ready to plant some seeds. I know nothing about growing veg, but the girls are keen to help, so we will give it a go! All hints and tips will be gratefully received!

A letter from Alex

Alex is 5 years and 11 months old now, she wrote this last week. When Nigel died, she was only 2 years 4 months, so she has spent more of her life without him than she has with him now. A few weeks ago she went through a very unsettled patch, crying at bedtime on several occasions because she was sad that she had had 2 years less with Daddy than Sophie had. To comfort a child who feels like this is so hard, as it is a painful experience for me too, but Alex only has one parent, and I have to deal with it.

I talked to several friends about what to do about this, and I have decided I will write a letter back to Alex, saying:

Dear Alex

I love you too.

Every single day I wish daddy was alive still. I know he was so very proud of you, and he would be even more proud of you now.

Love from Mummy.

What else can I possibly say?

Game Over, or was it?

I spent all of yesterday in Coventry at the Scrapagogo event, GoGo Game Over. It was a fabulous day, and I made some brilliant projects. I will photograph them tomorrow hopefully, when there just might be enough light to do it!

I've not blogged in a while, so time to play catch up!

Over the half term holiday, we had a fun filled week in Llangollen with my friend Heather and her two girls. Alex and Erin are the same age, so entertained each other (I use the term loosely at various points, you know how kids fall out with each other at times!) while Sophie loved spending time with Swyn. At two years old, she is even more strong willed than Alex was at that age, and that takes some doing!

I did have a hairy evening, when Alex had an allergic reaction to something, and so we had to dash all the way to the nearest out of hours service, which was a 50 minute drive away. A bottle of piriton later and we were headed home again. It took a good ten days for the rash to subside, no idea what caused it though.

The rest of the week was spent going for a ride on Thomas the Tank Engine, painting pottery, finding more geocaches and going swimming. All good fun, and enjoyed by all!

Back to reality this last week tho, busy in lots of ways. I will definitely share some of my crafty projects soon. I have also booked flights for us to go to the USA in July for a special summer camp for the girls, they are so excited already, and I am enjoying planning which geocaches I am going to do during my week without them! I want to stay fairly local to the camp so that I am reachable if they need me, but as there are over a thousand caches in the area I think I will be able to find plenty to do!

Enough for tonight, another busy day tomorrow, in fact a busy week again! Have a great week wherever you are and thanks for reading.