Ben's face

Today's smile is easy - playing with Ben taking photos asked him to make certain faces - here's what he came up with :)

ANGRY CONFUSED
HAPPY
SAD
EXCITED

Made me smile and him too when he looked at the photos. Will catch up on the rest of the missed days tomorrow when it is light as we have lost light in the study again and typing is tricky

Smile catchup

Been a few days but still smiling :) On Friday we did some baking - to save arguments the children had a tray each so we ended up with 36 cupcakes. We had great fun decorating them until Ben and Tom discovered the shortcut of squeezing the icing directly into their mouths bypassing the cake completely - much quicker but very messy!!


On Saturday Mum and I took them to the cinema to give John some peace to get a presentation ready although judging by the few lines he had written when we got back I am pretty sure he watched sport for 3 hours - the funny thing is he thinks I dont know :):) We saw The Water Horse - which all 3 really enjoyed - it was Ben's first visit to the cinema so he asked lots of loud questions :)

On Sunday we had fun with glue and made spoon monsters from a kit Ben had got for his birthday - great fun adn as there were 4 spoons in the pack I got to make one too.

Think the feathers tickled Sophie's nose :)

Ben is still a milkaholic - makes me smile the pleasure he gets out of a simple cup of milk :)

In an attempt to get Ben to even put a carrot stick in his mouth I encouraged Tom and Sophie to pretend to be Sabre Tooth Tigers - they had great fun and it worked - for a split second there was a raw vegetable in Ben's mouth - he didnt bite it and it wasn't there long enough even for a photo but he did try :):)

Finally completed the longest tag ever!!

Where were you born? Hythe, New Forest
Middle name: Anne
How old will you be this year? 37
Nicknames: Faggot – from my brothers when I was a child – hated it then hate it now
Are you taller than your mother or father? Taller than my mum – isn’t everyone??
Do you cry often during movies? only when pregnant
What is your biggest pet peeve? waste – wasted food, wasted money, wasted time
Favorite colour: navy blue
Favorite foods: chocolate and at the moment lemon curd
Favorite restaurants: don’t get out much L Crab and Lobster in Asenby is pretty good tho
Favorite beverage: kenco white coffee
Favorite cold cereal: oats and more almond
Favorite smells: freshly baked bread
Favorite time of day: NOT mornings or 4.30 – 6.30 – any other time!!
What brand of shampoo/conditioner do you use? whatever is on offer
Favorite make-up products? moisturizer – don’t use much else
How many pillows do you sleep with? 2 usually but 3 at the moment as heartburn is crap
Do you play an instrument? violin, viola, piano
Have you ever been skinny dipping?yes but now I chunky dunk
Did you do any sports in High School? not if I could help it – hockey and netball oh and curling!!
What was the last movie you saw in the theater? cant remember – it’s been so long
What is your favorite article of clothing? my black furry coat
What is your dream vacation? Northumberland – with the children
What was your first impression of your spouse? cute bum!
If you were an animal what would you be? anything that hibernates
What is your favorite "me- time" activity? Scrapping and photography
Favorite TV shows: Eastenders, casualty, Mistresses
What is your dream car? one that runs on free fuel
What is one of your weaknesses?anything sweet
What do you fix for dinner when there's nothing to fix? pancakes
If you could live in a different decade/era which one would it be? 1850 but with money
What is the emotion you feel the most? happiness
Do you consider yourself outgoing? no
What is something you are constantly working on? staying calm
Any hidden talents? probably not
What is a word or phrase you overuse? NO
What was the hardest thing that happened to you this past year? anytime the children are ill
What is the best thing that happened to you this past year? getting pregnant again
What is one thing you hope to accomplish this year? peace in this household at least
The best piece of advice you learned this past year? SLOW DOWN

not planning to tag anyone as everyone has been 'done' Lynsey - Louise tagged you on her blog :)

Trip to Bolton Abbey

Yesterday we had a fantastic day at one of my favourite places - Bolton Abbey. We started with the woodland walk - another on Tom's 'to-do-in-half-term-list' The children took their cameras too so we all had fun taking photos of each other :)
Tom found a big stick and wanted to measure it so we found a stick about 10cm long and he counted in 10s - all my children seem to love numbers :)

Granny Pat took one of her infamous 'no children' pictures - her camera has quite a delay so often by the time it actually takes the shot the children have run on and the photos is of trees and nothing else - this has happened quite a few times now and still makes the children laugh :)

We managed to get a couple of half decent shots of the 3 together before Tom started pulling silly faces

Once the annoying duck frightening boy had left we enjoyed feeding the ducks, seagulls and crows while we had a nice picnic. We didnt manage to get a picnis table as despite being February it was such a nice day the place was packed ! so we sat in the boot of the car instead and the children sat on the boxes of books that I luckily hadn't got around to unpacking yet.

Sophie enjoyed splashing me :(

Tom decided to throw boulders in and was enjoying himself until he fell in :)

But even though the water was freezing he wouldnt get out and carried on playing for ages. Didnt think I would need a change of clothes for him so he had to go back to Granny Pat's in his pants - Ben fell in too but was able to change - Sophie managed to stay surprisingly dry.

Back at granny pat's house the boys warmed up by eating ice lollies - Tom had 5 before he was satisfied - oh well it is the holidays :):)

Treasure hunt and spiders

Another 'must do' on Tom's list was a treasure hunt so I quickly put one together - the prizes were chocolate money some how left from Christmas and 3 rubber band balls - which they were thrilled with - strange children easily pleased :)
Tuesday - finally smiled after we had all been to the dentist and been told our teeth are perfect - even Granny Pat was brave enough - Time Machine soft play place after was noisy but fun then the older two had their swimming lesson - they got stickers for trying so hard and really do seem to be making progress at last. They both managed to swim a few strokes on their backs without any bouyancy aids - very impressed!! The spider's web just cried out to be photographed so I did :)

Weekend smiles

Managing to take the photos everyday and doing well and finding something to smile about even though I feel as big as a whale and am exhausted with the children on half term :) Saturday after Sophie's ballet class was spent in the garden enjoying the sunshine. Ben found a feather which, by the time I got the camera was a rolled up ball of fluff but he still wanted a photo :) We went swimming in the afternoon as well so my halo is well and truely shining :) Tom finally figured out how to throw a frisbee and had great fun - Sophie is still getting frustrated with it :)

On Sunday after church - Ben's first Sunday trip - he did reallly well and din't ask too many loud questions - we went to Mum's for lunch and ona freezing February day my children decided to play in the waterbut - madness :):)

few more pictures for Grandma :)

We had great fun in the garden yesterday after school - didn't let the children in the house - straight from the car to the garden for an hour - really loving the milder lighter afternoons - long may it last :)

Louise havent forgotten the tag - nearly done :)

3 more smiles

Tuesday's smile was simple - collecting the children from school without Ben in the car as he stayed at home with Mum I was able to have the radio on and sing along without being shouted at - bliss :)
Wednesday was Ash Wednewsday so mum and I braved taking Ben to church for the first time in ages - he was great - really well behaved and joined in with the singing etc - he was very unimpressed with having ashes put on his forehead and wanted to know - ina very loud voice - 'what is him doing?' when the priest tried to bless him :)

Thursday was haircut day for George - he always looks ridiculous when first clipped but is so much more comfortable.

Not blogging but still smiling :)

Computer has been playing up so havent been able to blog but still have a daily smile so while it is behaving I will try to get them up :) Sunday's smile was the first signs of Spring - flowers and children playing in the garden - makes such a difference to be able to get them outside for longer periods of time.

Every Monday the Tescos van brings me a smile along with my shopping - the annoying stupid substitutions seem to be getting less frequent and compared to dragging children round a supermarcket having it delivered to the door is definitely something to smile about :)

Ben spent half an hour playing with two empty milk containers - simple pleasures :)

Then a complete nonsmile - Tom made a ?not sure what out of an odd sock I found while sorting baby clothes - he covered it it glitter glue and filled it with glitter then left it where ben would find it - Ben then obediently tipped it upside down and spread glitter all over the lounge carpet - despite several goes with the hoover we are still finding it and it has spread through the rest of the house too :(

recent layouts

Managed a few layouts recently - first not thrilled with - is from a mojoholder's sketch.
And another - enjoyed this one - doing a lot of blocked layouts at the moment to sum up days out with loads of photos but not one special one.

Then a pencillines sketch - might reuse this one - it worked well for 3 photos and liked grouping them.

And this was a sketch too but cant remember where from - hoping to get some more done later :)

Thomas and the inflatable puffy pants

Yesterday's smile was simply Ben enjoying being creative again - he specifically wanted chalks and black paper and happily made picture after picture :) I also got a night out to a good friend's house - she had invited 21 friends and really pushed the boat out with champagne and caterers for a slap up meal because her husband is away skiing - didnt get home til nearly 1am so feeling jaded today but it was soo worth it getting the chance to catch up with people I havent seen for ages plus meeting some new people too.

Today's smile comes from Tom finally overcoming his fear of jumping into the swimming pool - he finally did it and was so thrilled that his shorts had filled with air and blew bubbles when he squeezed them he wanted to do it again and again and really got the hang of it - which will surpirse his swimming teacher :) - he named himself Thomas and the inflatable puffy pants and was in hysterics! - Sophie also managed it - with much less hilarity :)

SMILE catch up!

I may not have been blogging but have still been smiling. Tuesday's main smile was finally having BT vision successfully installed - cant decide if it will make me waste more or less time on TV but at least I can stop stressing about John watching Top Gear when I want to watch something :) - I also went out - after dark!!! only a playgroup committee meeting but still it was a very successful one so definitely worth a smile :)

On Wednesday Ben and I met up with friends at Henshaws - an arts and crafts centre with a sensory garden. It was freezing cold but bright and beautiful and we had great fun - decided to let Ben take the pictures today - this is what he came up with :)

Ben had a lovely time at playgroup yesterday and came home with a rocket he had made with his new best friend - playassistant Natalie - he had great fun zooming it around the room and stood still just long enough for me to snap a picture.

Will be back later with today's smile :)