the best of times!

I have had the best couple of days. Bright and early on Saturday morning ( before 8 am), I was on the road to Eastbourne with my yummy mummy friend Michelanne to join the cheam croppers at their annual crop.

The rest of the girls had arrived on Thursday and Friday but MA only had little Jummy 4 months ago and I had work on Friday and my little Matthew to think of so we decided we would just go for one night.

The weekend is organised by the lovely Gaye. One of the most creative people I know. Not only does she organise games and competitions for us, she also decides on the theme of the weekend and usually makes herself a costume. This year the theme was the Fities and she made herself and one of her friends such beautiful dresses.

All the girls ( we vary in ages but they are 'the girls' to me) have such a fabulous time. There is scrapbooking, chatting, shopping, drinking. eating, and lots and lots of laughter. This year it was the bingo that got my sides splitting - not sure I can repeat some of the bingo calls live on the internet - but Emma and MA were quite a double act.

I do take my scrapbooking seriously whilst Im there and get a bit of stick about the number of layouts I do! This year I completed 16 layouts and have nearly finished another double. I shall have to try and get some of them on here.

Gaye - in her stunning hand made dress.

Pink ladies Fiona and Sandra.

Debbie, MA and Gaye.

Emma  and cocktail hour!

So to all you wonderful girls who go to Eastbourne - Gaye, MA, Ali, Fiona, Debbie, Sandra, Wendy M, Wendy V, Emma, June and Lyn - thank you for such a great time, for making me smile and for being my friends. Only 363 days to go until next year!!!!

a little chatterbox

I really felt the need to post today. My little Matthew is making me so proud. He hasnt really been himself the last 10 days or so. On the whole he has been fine, but he hasnt been eating quite as well and has seemed tired so I think he is teething or had little bug or sore throat.

But this weekend he has been so happy and he has been saying so many new words. He sometimes copies what we say or sometimes it is just out of the blue. Some of these words are common words such as milk or  tea , so because we say them on a daily basis I guess it was only a matter of time before he said them, but some of the words are quite difficult or he doesnt hear them everyday so we are just mega impressed with him.

In last couple of days we have heard him say ( all for the first time) - milk, apple, grandad, gran, nanny, Lyndsey (his auntie - this is the one we were most impressed with), frog , elephant, chicken,  tea, ear. Not a bad list - im sure there is lots more to come.

Yesterday he was 18 months old. Not a baby anymore!

Here is a recent picture taken on Monday at Wisley.

A very productive scrapbooking day

Yesterday I went to the Cheam Crop. Something I try to do every month. I really love my day with these talented ladies. There is lots of gossiping and eating and shopping ( the hall is conveniently located by Sainsburys and Starbucks) , but there is also lots of crafting, mostly scrapbooking but some ladies knit, quilt, crochet and all kinds of impressive talents.

Over the years we have all become good friends. Some of our friends were missing yesterday due to family losses and it is a very sad time. I hope that our friendship, our hobby and our camaradie will be a help to them when they are ready to return. They were missed yesterday and very much in our thoughts.

I must say I had a very productive day ( nothing to do with my good buddy Sandra being in the USA!). I completed 6 layouts and then did a double in the evening while watching X- factor ( I love it - but by scrapping at the same time I feel like im not completely wasting my time). Here are my layouts:

A lovely photo of my cousin Liz. She and her mum had a photo shoot. I have enjoyed scrapping the photos. I love purple and bought this Glitz collection especially for this photo.

Matthew on holiday in Somerset. Used Basic Grey Out of Print - which I love. Based on a layout by Ginger Williams in Oct 2011 Scrapbook Trends

Matthew and I at Wisley. More Out of Print. Based on a layout by Maggie Holmes in Oct Creating Keepsakes.

Matthew and Simon at Druscillas. Based on a layout in August Scrapbook etc

The lovely Anna Branson. Based on Scarpbook Generations Sketch. Some of the other girls used the same sketch but they all looked such different layouts.

Another Scrapbook generations sketch and the beautful Great Grey Owls at Druscillas.



My Basic Grey Page of the Month and more fab Out of Print. These photos are from my cousin Pauls' Wedding.

I have lot of other layouts from the last month or so . More of our holidays, Liz and Jan's photo shoot and Paul's wedding. Will try to add them this week.

Have a good week everyone!

10 things Matthew said today

Shimelle's blog encourages us to list 10 things on the 10th day of each month. Ive been meaning to scrap a page about some of Matthew's words ( he is nearly 18 months). Here is a taster from today.

1. teeth
2. ball
3. oh no
4. gar ( garden)
5. dye dye ( bye bye)
6. hello dada
7. all gone
8. mumumumuma
9. stuck
10. up

He currently says lots of other things such as cat, hat, trac (which is truck and tractor), moo (cow), down, hot, bird plus a few others, and some signs and some sounds ( eg roaring engine for an aeroplane). So cute!

a lovely day out

Today was a lovely day. I went to Wisley with my mum, my aunt and Matthew. They have a scultpure trail so you wander round, enjoy the sculptures but also enjoy the lovely surroundings and of course today we were lucky because the sun shone!

Rear - Dustmotes
Front -  Pause for Thought and Thought Waves

Add caption

One of my favourites - The Wind and a girl

Three Wings



My favourite sculpture called the Wedding Guest. Front and back shots.

Add caption

Matthew with Auntie Janet

Matthew spots an aeroplane.

Hide and seek.

Sisters ( even matching clothes!)

Matthew with my mum.

My sunglasses - Upside down - Anyone remember Dennis Taylor?

Here are a few of my favourite photos. I promise my next blog will show some of my layouts and more of my Learn Something New Everyday posts.

Whipsnade zoo photos

Birds of the world display ( parrots and toucans)

If you go down to the woods today....

 We were lucky enough for one cheetah to be up close.



I love this shot!



My boys!

Matthew loved the sealions.

Watching the elephants

Another fav shot



Elephants on parade




In with the lemurs



10 things about my birthday

1. Today I was 40
2. I went to Whipsnade zoo with my husband Simon and little boy Matthew.
3. Matthew's favourite animal was the elephants and spent ages waving to them.
4. Matthew said ' bear' for the first time to add to his ever increasing list of words.
5. My husband bought me my sexy red laptop.
6. I enjoyed spending time with my work friends on Thursday to celebrate ( something I don't do often enough)
7. My birthday started last Saturday with a trip to The Wizard of Oz and finished next Saturday when we are having lunch at my crop.
8. I share my birthday with fellow scrapper Gaye Williams and the sexy Colin Firth.
9. My birthday represented modern times - I had so many texts and Facebook messages - but still had some snail mail cards and pressies - perfect!
10. 40 is going to be fabulous!