Busy busy busy (again)

Had a bit of a revelation today - sometimes I'm so busy looking for photo opportunities when we're out that I forget to actually look at what's around me, and appreciate the time with my family. So today I deliberately left my camera at home when we went for a walk and to re-visit a geocache to drop off a travelbug. And it was great. Well, Ruth did her usual moaning, but other than that, it was a great time in lovely weather (whats with that?!).

Yesterday we went to the open day at a local archaeological dig, which was quite interesting (and messy). Got a speck of dirt on my lens, which I didn't realise til I uploaded the photos :(

I am quite pleased with myself - managed 3 LOs in 2 days! That's rather good for me. They're done using the Principles from Kirsty's course that I'm doing. Haven't had time to photograph them yet, but here's a few photos that use the principles:

Rule of Thirds:

Continuance:

Bah humbug

Ok, so in the grand scheme of things (especially considering Aleida's tragic death on Friday), this is such a trivial thing, but has made me feel miserable. On top of the insecurity dream I had last night especially (your typical husband leaving you for someone else kinda thing, where you wake up, and can't quite believe they're still there next to you), making me feel well and truely shit.

OK, so here's what happened - I had been looking foward to getting some new clothes for a looonnnggg time - some notion that a new wardrobe would make me magically look like I'd lost the stone I've been struggling with all summer. Well of course, all the lovely clothes I'd had my eye on made me look WORSE! And the boots I waned wouldn't even do up (cue me all red in the face struggling while some young -male- shop assistant looks on, in amusement). I'm sure I'll look back on it and laugh all too soon, but at the moment I just feel humiliated and fat :(

College is, um, interesting. Very tiring. My timetable was changed, so I had to change the childcare arrangements, which went down REALLY well with Alex in particular. IT skills is really hard. I guess I'm a bit spoiled in that I found everything last year quite easy, but I struggle with this module. I hate that. Being a perfectionist isn't easy!

Not AWOL

Just v. busy - got the Twilight books on Thursday - on book 3 now - loving them sooo much, got college starting tomorrow, kids went back to school Thursday, and discovered the joys of Twitter - I'll be updating my blog that way for a while probably until I get into the swing of my new routine.

Also, Kirsty's new class starts today, so I'll be busy keeping up with that too :)

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.....

This was the view as we started down the LOOOONNNNGGGGG path down to Rhossili Beach.

Ruth and Alex looking relieved and happy after we finally found the geocache we'd been searching for for hours (well thats what it felt like!)

Gnorman the Gnome at Rhossili - a tribute to the film Amelie.

Alex with the beach to himself - well it was pretty quiet when we got there. Got busier later on though. Love the reflection in this photo.

Worm's Head. It really does look like a dragon sticking its snout in the air from the beach.

After getting up at 6am and leaving at 7.30, we arrived at the beach around 11am. We had a walk first (its a really big beach), then settled down for digging, and playing in the sea. Even though it was overcast it was quite warm, and John and I managed to burn. WE had a lovely day, even fitting in a bit of geocaching. We got home about 11.30pm, absolutely shattered, but having had a lovely day. Really liked the Swansea/Gower area - trying to persuade everone we should live there!

Mini Album No.1

When I first opened the packaging of the acrylic Papermania album, I was a bit confused by its green colour - but this was just a protective film, which came off fairly easily. They will be retailing for RRP £9.99 for the 6 page acrylic version - maybe this might seem a bit steep, but the pages are really thick, and I love the shape - defiantly worth it in my opinion.

As you can see, I made the book to document Ruth being the flower girl at our wedding. The shape of the pages immediately made me think of flowers, and I'd been planning on making her a mini book with the photos for a while.

I really enjoyed working with the album, and used BasicGrey Euphoria papers, Bazzil Cardstock, Anita's Acrylic Paint, various ribbons, Heidi Swapp Ghost Shapes, Prima Flowers, Stickles and Kaiser Craft Rhinestones. I loved how it came out.

Off to craft group tonight, but will get to work on the chipboard album soon - planning on making a Best Boy album with the photos of Alex from the wedding.

My baby is 7!!!!!

And so handsome! Can't believe he's 7 already. He has been perfectly behaved today - so proud of him. His current favourite toys are Lego, and almost half of his presents were Lego. The one he'd wanted most was the Lego Fire Station, and had great fun putting it together with Daddy.

The smoking gun - well candle anyway.
For his birthday treat we went to Goodrich Castle (one of my favourite places as a child) to watch a sword fighting demonstration. Alex bought himself a wooden sword with his birthday money, and made a great friend in the more convincing of the 2 knights.

Very proud of this girl - she is scared of heights, and not at all adventurous, but climbed the tallest tower, with a really scary spiral stone staircase with only a rope to hold onto (and at times in almost total darkness) - I was scared, so she did so well. Hope she's proud of herself for overcoming her fear too.

This is a view of that tower from the moat....

...and this is the view from the top.


This was Alex trying on his favourite knights helmet (check out his badge - he loved that total strangers were wishing him Happy Birthday, as he'd never say anything himself).

My favourite view of the castle from the path leading to it.


And got this fabulous parcel today with goodies to blog test for Do Crafts. Yum! Got some great ideas - its so great having amazing wedding photos to scrap :)

Ahhhhhhhhhhh

My best friend Harriet and I have gone through some tough times together. We were both teenage parents (17/18 - not 14 or something!) and have overcome some serious stuff. She's one of those people who although I don't see her as often as I'd like, we always pick up exactly where we left off. In fact she's more like a sister really. I can tell her anything and she'll never judge me. I know she'll always be there for me, and I hope she feels the same about me.

She gave birth to her 2nd son last weekend, and Ruth, Alex and I popped in on Monday to meet him, and drop off a couple of little presents. They are such a beautiful family. So proud to call them my friends. Josh, her eldest son is just a couple of weeks older than Ruth, and a credit to his Mum.

Love the yawn photo! Why is it so endearing?? Maybe because such a tiny baby can have such a huge yawn. Love baby yawning photos :)

Made a few things today - a clear mini book called 'its all in the details' with all the detail photos from the wedding, and another LO. On a bit of a roll now.

It was Grandad and Grandma's 60th wedding anniversary yesterday, so we're all going up there for lunch. It'll be the first time they've seen the wedding photos of John and I, so I'm looking forward to that.