July - what a month!

Oh Stephanie and Cameron - I am so proud of you both. You are a pair of focused individuals, working hard to achieve your best. The effort you both show is amazing and I know if you continue to do as you are doing you will achieve your potential.

Hey I'm your mother - I am allowed to go on and brag about my two weans!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

A free digital collage by Smilebox

My Mum and Dad

Just writing some thoughts down about my mum and dad.  They are not having the best of times at the moment.  My dad is recovering from a very nasty abscess and my mum has been admitted to hospital.  Over the years they have both been through the mill but have always come through, their sense of humour playing a very significant part.  You both are always in my thoughts.

Great photographs - taken in Spain, February 2007.  Happy, happy days!  Love you both xx.

Spring has sprung!

Spring brings the promise of Summer!  As I was saying to Gaye yesterday - Spring is like the Friday night of the weekend!  I love it - obviously the weather has been so good this holiday so has played a major part in the feelgood factor. 

I love this photograph of my mum and dad taken in Regents Park on Wisteria Bridge, late Spring a couple of years ago.  The roses were in bloom - absolutely beautiful - well worth a visit at this time of year!



Failte gu Alba!

It has been great to back in Scotland.  It's nice to be reminded just how beautiful that country is - ahhhhh!  The Isle of Arran truly is a snapshot of Scotland - and I spent two wonderful Summers there working at the Auchrannie Hotel with Moira, Maureen and Julie - it was fab!

Next stop was Inverary - I wanted to visit the castle - I have been unsuccessful so far but I felt that I was going to get inside those castle walls!  Hmmmmm!

Ah well - we managed to get into the grounds but not inside the castle.  It is beautiful and one day........

We drove to Dunoon to get the ferry back to Gourock and then drive along the coast back to Stevenston - it was stunning!  Steve was very impressed!

On Friday we took mum and dad back to Elder Park, Govan, Glasgow.  I was born in Govan and lived in a tenement for the first 8 years of my life.  Elder Park was at the end of my road (Fairfield Street) and it was our garden.  As a child the park seemed huge and we spent many happy hours there!  Lillian, my older sister came too which was great because she could remember loads and certainly jogged my memory.  Thanks Lillian!

I am so glad I got to Elder Park - I have just completed a scrapbook layout (thanks to Mandy, our wonderful teacher) which has very old photos of Elder Park (circa 1953).  My mum, grandad, auntie and sister Lillian are in these old photographs - I love them!

This is Auntie Roseanne (mum's younger sister), my grandad McDonald, my mum and in front my sister Lillian. I wasn't born at the time!

A great time had by all!

Key of the Door!

Wow Stephanie - 21 eh.  I remember my mum and dad singing to me on my 21st - "she's got the key of the door, never been 21 before" (can't remember the rest of the song).  Anyway I know this is going to be a fantastic year for you.  Graduation in July and entering into the big world of work and the challenges it beholds!!! 

I am going to be really bold and say that probably between the age of 20 and 30 is the time when you establish yourself in the world.  Work, friendships, freedom and having lots of fun - it is a brilliant time - enjoy it - whatever you choose to do.  I am really proud of you Stephanie - you have played and worked hard and deserve a good decade now of fruition. 

 I love this picture of you - 16 years old!  I also love the picture of you and grandad taken when you were 3 years old.  How time flies eh!  Gorgeous girl in every way!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Crumbs - 2011 what a shocker!  Where did 2010 go?

Looking forward to this year - my Stephanie will be 21 next week and Cameron will be 18 in September - OMG - I surely can't be that old!

We brought in the new year in Wroxham this year - right on the broads, it was super duper.  Great to spend time with very special friends!

Wyrd Sisters

Cameron's School Production!

Again another polished performance from the whole cast - it was excellent and it was apparent that lots of hard work and dedication went into this performance.  I was really impressed with the set and the confidence portrayed by the cast - they worked hand in hand and seemed very supportive of one another.

I feel that well led and directed drama provides a stable platform for developing confidence and self-esteem, not to mention language skills, team work and discipline.  Even in Early Years where drama/role play is actively encouraged, it is important to run an adult directed session to ensure that young children have the opportunity to develop some key skills and experience and then take those new found skills and experience and use it in their own role play/drama/real life situation.

Strange thing is - it is only the past ten years that I have really appreciated and perhaps totally understood this.  Oh dear!  Needless to say we provide lots of opportunities in a variety of contexts to develop and support these skills.

What a bit of a boring post this is!  I have just been thinking about quite a bit these days - I always aim to foster self-confidence and self-esteem in children - it is a feeder for all other aspects of one's life!

The Joys of Papercrafting!

Just had a full weekend scrapbooking with my scrap buddies - heaven!  Just having the space and time to fiddle with paper, glue, scissors, glitter, card, stamps, ink, watercolours - fab, fab, fab!!  Tired though - late nights and early mornings - so thank heavens it is half term!

Off to Stoke to the Wedgewood Factory for a bit of Ghost!  Patrick and Demi - eat your heart out!  Some quality time for myself and Steve - oh happy days eh?  I feel quite content with my life at the moment - thank you to all who are helping to make it such!

I am sorely missing my camera - using my phone camera is not the same - need to sort that out - Christmas is coming!

Wake me up when September ends!

Wakey, wakey it has almost gone!  I'm obviously having a great life because time whooshes by!  I need to tell that to myself.  This has been a manic month - new class, lots of work, parties, birthdays, parents evenings, open days, concerts - phew!

Life is certainly not dull!  Guess what? October looks to be pretty much the same - yipee!

My Stephanie has returned to complete her final year and my Cameron has started Davenant to undertake his A levels.  Yep all is good with family and friends.  I worry about my family in Scotland though!

A brief post - I need to get myself a camera - I didn't even take any photos at Steve's party.  Mmmmmmmm - I can feel a birthday/Christmas list coming on (that will be a first).  I'm not making excuses for my sparse postings but I find it challenging sharing my craft/laptop space with anyone - by the time I get into my little creative corner - it is late and I am tired, grumpy and well those who know me - know the rest!

I WANT MY OWN SPACE - NO SHARING!  Dear Santa and Tooth Fairy and Birthday Gnome - Please can you find a way for me to have my own craft space.  Actually I should be thankful for what I have got because I know lots of people who only have a section of their dining room table for their craft space.

Enough of the rambling - feel better now it is off my chest!

Soot ee chee!

Dah yun!  Yep just back from Wales - the Eistedfodd National Festival in Ebbu Vale - really good - we all got to practise our very limited Welsh - it was fun though Cameron was so good, making Steve and I look like a pair of piss takers!  Sometimes I was saying "you're welcome" when it should have been goodbye or thank-you!  Never mind at least we tried - I thoroughly enjoyed it though, launching into the whole accent thing as well.  I am chuckling to myself because I am thing about "Allo Allo" and the policeman with his broken French - good moaning!!  We had a laugh though and the weather was kind to us and the people were great too - so a good time had by us. 

I was so glad to get into my own bed though on Sunday (my mattress had a puncture so had been sleeping on the rough terrain for 3 nights.  Jings camping makes one appreciate the finer things in life - like standing up straight etc etc.

Jings this is week four of my holidays - been good - have done quite a bit and my mum and dad are here tomorrow for a couple of weeks - yipee!

Summer Holidays - yipee!

Yipee doo dah!  Summer holidays are officially here and although it is only seven weeks this year (!) I am still very happy!  I am looking forward to a pleasantly busy Summer with a mix of visitng my family, camping, crafting and sorting out stuff for the next academic year and oh yes getting my house into order!!  On that note I am assured by my other half and children that the house IS sorted!  Mmmmmm - the jury is out on that one.  Methinks they are worried about possible jobs they may have to do!

Anyway, I have some super duper weeks ahead.  I aim to make more entries into my blog - I will try!!!!  I have a few books waiting to be read too and have already started on "Small Island" by Andrea Levy.  This book was recommended to me by my son, Cameron, who gave it such a good "write up" which is good enough for me!

Finished at last!

Well Cameron - GCSEs all done - phew!  You have worked really hard and that is all I could ask of you.  I am proud of you and you never cease to amaze me.  I find it amusing that you yourself do not realise your ability but that is part of your charm.  Your feet are firmly on the ground and your sense of humour are a wonderful asset - except when I am at the butt of your jokes (accents etc etc), ha! ha!  You have a good, long Summer to look forward to.  Well done son!

Coming Home I've Done My Time!!!!

My shnooks is home tomorrow - yipee!  I'll be on that tarmac at Heathrow 10.30 am sharp waving like mad!!  Looking back now the time has just flown by but I will be so glad to have Stephanie back in the UK again.  I am really proud of Stephanie and appreciate the huge hurdle she has climbed over the last year.  She has done herself and all of us really proud -well done shnooks!

Back to the old!!!!

Ah well!  It's been four weeks since I started back at my old job and hey - good times!!  What a lovely class, parents and staff.  So far so good!  The time has whizzed passed and as usual have not been able to do much in the way of papercrafting.  Roll on the half term - though am away in Wales, camping!!! Pray for dry weather!!  Will take some stuff with me though to play with!

Managing to keep up with the class scrapbooking kits and made a couple of cards (quickies) with the leftovers. 

My Stephanie will be home from California on 20 June, arriving Heathrow at 10.30 am - yipee doo dah!!

Making a card from a sketch!

Whiff of Joy! Yes I stumbled onto this blog after purchasing some of their stamps! I love the images and just had to have some! As I am a practising scrapbooker and keen on using up my excess leftover papers from my pages, what better way than to make some cards! Our fantastic scrapbook teacher has been encouraging us for a long time to use up our scrap paper in this way - kind of think of a card as a mini scrapbook page!!

Well guess what - a whole new world has evolved! I have seen friends make beautiful cards using various techniques. I have grown to love stamping and "colouring in" and although I'm not a natural I thoroughly enjoy it - so there we have it - that is a good enough reason to "mess around" with paper, pencils and beautiful stamps and embellishments!!

My first set of stamps that I used were the Sugar Nellies - they are so cute and some of them have a Scottish theme - so how could I resist? I also purchased some Magnolias - wonderfully addictive images all a joy to colour. I then stumbled onto Whiff of Joy stamps and fell in love with the delightful images - I especially love Willow - she has such a cute face!

This morning I was looking at the Whiff of Joy Challenge and from their sketch I decided to make a card using my leftover scraps! I am quite pleased with the result and even though this is a bit of a cheek - the picture does not do it justice - I need to brush up on my photography skills. Anyway I did enjoy messing around making the card and have to say that as much as I adore scrapbooking, I'm kinda liking making cards too!

California, Nevada and Arizona!

Three states in a week! What a brilliant week it was - Santa Cruz, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Los Angeles and fabulous San Francisco. It was super duper and it was brill to spend the weekend with Stephanie (thanks to good old Presidents Day). Las Vegas was just something to behold basically. The hotels were just amazing and had to be seen to be believed. Hoover Dam was something that I had been wanting to see for years and it did not let me down - I was transfixed. It was easy to see where the water level had been and how dramatically it has dropped. We took a stroll into Arizona at this point!

Off to Los Angeles (Hollywood) for a couple of days, spending a whole day at Universal Studios. We saw the famous HOLLYWOOD sign though I thought I would be able to stand right next to it rather than view it from a distance. Even though it was quite exciting!

On to Santa Cruz again to see Stephanie and then on to San Francisco. OMG what a brilliant city. We did the little Duck Tours around the streets and in the water and we joined in on the cheesy actions too! The Golden Gate Bridge was fab and indeed so were all the other bridges!! I had a look for Burt Lancaster and Clint Eastwood over in Alcatraz but didn't see them! The Fisherman's Wharf was so nice - as was the Clam Chowder in the bread bowl! We spent the whole day wandering around and made it up to the Cition Tower which gave fantastic views across the bay and bridges. The sunset was just magic!

Oh and the weather was good too! Great time had by all. Any negatives? Well I'm just getting over the jet lag now!!

Make a Smilebox greeting

HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY STEPHANIE!!!!

Happy Diamond Anniversary (60 years) WOW!!

DATE: 22nd December 1949

PLACE: Govan, Glasgow

EVENT: My mum and dad's wedding

Happy Anniversary to my special mater and pater. I love you both and it was great to have the family altogether again. xxxxxxxxx

Whoooosh - where has November gone?

Yep, yet another month almost bites the dust! Has been hectic but good! Had a brilliant weekend away - way back to the 80s style!!! It was fab! However being 20 nearly 30 years older now - time takes its toll! Everyone started out on Friday really buzzing and up for the dancing, drinking, extended hours challenge. Yeah no, problem! In walked the Zombies on Saturday morning, chilled all day, had a two hour power nap on Saturday evening before dressing up (80s style, wigs an' all)to face the repeat challenge of Friday.

Well, did we make it? Yes, we did but definitely at a much slower pace with lots of rests in between the dances!!! Ah still it was great!!