I forgot to blog!!

Oops! We were back later than expected from a birthday party today, and the kids went straight to sleep, so I wasn't sat at the computer upstairs, and when I came downstairs I got into a programme on TV and totally forgot to blog!
I had a good day today, I only had to get up once last night (3.30am) and then I got to sleep til 7.30am! Not bad really!
Luckily Robert did wake me up, because at 8.30am someone was banging on the door! Richards bed was delivered. I still had my nightie on, but thankfully it wasn't a short short one! (some of my T-shirts have shrunk) so my bum was hidden under that, but I really was not a pretty sight. But I'll never see the guy again, so who cares!
We went in the garden in the morning and the boys and I had great fun picking all the red currants!
Unfortunately Richard got stung by a wasp - annoying little creatures they are. So I rubbed it down with Onion (in case you didn't know, Onion or Lemon for a wasp sting, and Bi-carbonated Soda for bee stings!), and then put some cream for stings on it. And he was fine again, as long as every so often I kissed it better!
once we had emptied the bush we came back in and then the boys were kept busy for nearly an hour pulling the berries off the stalks and putting them in a separate dish! So cute.
Tomorrow we will be making jam together! I hope that is a good move and not only a sticky mess!
This afternoon it was a 5th birthday party, the boys had a great time playing and I had a great time chatting! We stayed for tea too, then home and straight to bed for the boys, which brings us in a full circle!

I have a couple of layouts to share, these are using Michelle Herron and Lioness3 Legacies other Collab Kit - Amber Waves.
this was a challenge for me, as it is a 4th July Kit, and we don't celebrate it here. But I made it work for me too!
This is Richard thinking about sliding!

Credits

Amber waves by Michelle Herron and Lioness3 Legacies

And this is me and Richard on one of the rides at Thomas Land. I used this for the "Say it with Music" Challenge at BTST

Credits

Amber waves by Michelle Herron and Lioness3 Legacies

Bye 4 now
and check back here tomorrow for a BIG surprise!

I had a great evening last night, although I can feel it every step of the way. You probably think I ended up dancing the night away - NOPE!
I followed the instructions on the restaurants website to get there. BAD mistake! They had a link to google maps and I got the route off of that, and ended up on the WRONG SIDE of the river!!!
I was exactly opposite the restaurant with just the river between me and my friends. Only I didn't know it at the time. I had gone totally relying on my printout, and had no map with me. I managed to get my friends on the mobile and they had a map, and there was a foot bridge nearby so I walked that way. Unfortunately I had new shoes on, which would have been fine from the car to the restaurant, but not the way I took. So I now have two huge blisters on the souls of my feet - ouch! On one I put a second skin plaster (Compeed) and on the other I didn't the one with the plaster feels much better, still hurts but not as much. Oh well, Sabine one of my friends luckily drove me back to the car, she doesn't know quite how big of a favour she did me, as I did not complain about my feet there!
It was a lovely evening together, lots of laughs and such. And we have already set the date and place for the next get-together! Oh and I didn't drink the cocktail I had planned that was double the price of a normal one, so I had a "Baby Heinz", which was Cherry, Banane, Pineapple Juice with Coconut cream -very delicious!

Today we carried on sorting out Roberts room ready for Richards new bed, and this afternoon we visited friends who have just recently moved. Very nice place, the boys had fun playing with their daughters toys, she chose to torment her baby sister rather than play with the boys (she's 3,5) maybe next time. Then we took Florian to the station.

Mum and Dad got home from England today, record time I think 8,5 hours, then they don't have "baby bladders" travelling with them and don't need quite as many "wee-wee" stops!
Bye 4 now

I'm leaving them...

on their own with Florian for the evening! Yep in 10 minutes time I am off to meet up with my friends. For a Mexican meal! I can't wait.
Again the boys refused to eat there dinner, anyone would think I couldn't cook - I know, Mum, we could debate that, but I am not THAT bad, I can use a packet mix and get it to taste OK. But no the boys are just not eating! Grrrr!
This afternoon we started making room in Robert's room for Richard's new bed, we have had the confirmation and it is on its way, should be here sometime next week. Maybe when they are sharing a room they won't get me up so often - here's hoping!
Anyhow, want to see, what I am going to have tonight?
This will be my first drink - its orange, mango, pineapple and lemon juice with Grenadine and vanilla ice cream - yummy!

and I think I will be having this as it has it all! Good job I am feeling hungry. Don't know what my men will be having, that's up to Florian!

OK, have to go now if I want to get there on time!
Bye 4 now

Florian's home!!

And we are all rather excited about it! He walked in, and once Pocoyo had finished (yep he lost out to the TV this afternoon!), the kids were all over him, so I made the most of it, and let them be! So nice to have a break this week! After they had built "swimming ships" (Richard), "a wall" (Robert), "a lion" (Florian) ,they went into the garden and I had a chat with Leigh (more about that further down my post) and made tea for us all in peace! Wow, what a change that makes. Unfortunately Daddy being home didn't mean they ate any better!
It was the last day of Kindergarden today, which means 3 weeks of the boys - I will have to come up with some fun things to do, otherwise we might all go insane, within days! No, I love them to bits really, just need some sleep!!!! (again, I was up to them both!)

Now about my chat with Leigh - she has made me my very own Logo Watermark for my photos! She did three versions and I had a very hard time choosing, and I may mix and match until I finally decide, but for today, these photos have the version on that I liked best!
These are photos of our outing to a nearby farm (on our holiday still), they had pedal go-karts for the kids to go on and they even had one, where Richard could reach the pedals. He was great there. We got there and he couldn't really do it, we had to keep rescuing him out of the hay, as he couldn't pedal and steer at the same time, and pedalling was all new to him too! Well after 15 minutes he had it all worked out, and off he went, no stopping him! So cute! And Robert, well, Robert he just had a BALL! And so did Florian and I!





I also got a couple of new layouts to show you, Michelle Herron has joined forces for this one with Lioness3 Legacies and they have come up with a fun doodley Kit called Lexi Doodles (available at ScrappinFreeStyle)

I used it for the "Scrapper Say What" Challenge at Been there Scrapped That, where there are lots of ice-cream related quotes. I chose the one that had "scream" in it, as I have heard my two doing a lot of that this week!

Credits:
lexi doodles by Michelle Herron and Lioness3 Legacies

And then I spotted these photos of my nieces and made this layout for them!

Credits:
lexi doodles by Michelle Herron and Lioness3 Legacies

Bye for now

I'm wondering...

now, whether I got a good night's sleep, cause I just slept right through the calling?! Cause last night, they were at it again, OK, but it didn't start til 5am so I suppose its and improvement. And Robert is forgiven, as he was coughing so bad, that he got a nose bleed. So I am pleased he called me for that one, otherwise he would have scared the living daylights out of me, had he been covered in blood when I got him up!
Today again they were little monsters. I made something new for dinner today, I thought a change would be nice. So I made Tortellini with cheese sauce then baked in the oven. It was delicious - but Robert and Richard don't know that, because they never touched it even. Richard did push his once across his plate determining that there was no pasta in there and that he "don't like it"! Robert never even bothered to get his spoon and fork dirty, he just folded his arms and screamed! Anyone would think I was trying to poison them!
Well, tough for them, I really enjoyed it and will be making it again - am I a glutton for punishment?!
Robert was really testing how far he could go today, after refusing to eat it was rest time -so up to his room it was. I went up later to put the clean washing away and found a big mess on his floor. I told him he could come down, once he had cleaned it up (it was a jigsaw mat that he had built up yesterday and was now in the process of sorting it into colours). Well he came down about 10minutes later. I asked "did you tidy up your mat?" Robert "Yes", Me " did you put it back in the box?" Robert "Yes" Me "OK, then you can watch TV whilst I get Richard up!"
Mmh, can you guess what is coming.... I got up there and the mess was still there. After getting Richard dressed I called Robert upstairs (over the baby phone) he ignored me. Now I really am about to boil over, I went and got him. And explained about telling "porkie pies" (rhyming slang for lies), and that I was cross. then I left him to it. When he came down the next time and said he was done, I trusted that he was (he was). then we went in the garden.
His next naughty thing was to slide down the slide whilst Richard was still at the bottom, bumping both his feet into the small of poor Richards back. Something he knows he mustn't do, I told him off the first time, and explained again that he has to wait for Richard to move.
Richard however had no intention of moving, so Robert did it again, only this time faster and harder. Well, he ended up sat in the cold utility room on the bottom step - thinking over what he had done.
And as if that wasn't enough, after tea, I decided that although I had sworn I wouldn't until Daddy came home, I gave them a bath. (Last time they flooded the bathroom almost!) So whilst I was sorting out pyjamas and nappies and such for when they were finished, they were on their own in there. Now they know exactly where they can tip water and where not, but I came back into the bathroom, and there was Robert tipping a bottle of bathwater onto the "wrong" side of the bath and watching it trickle down onto the floor.
I had him out of there in a flash, screaming non stop, he thought he would be going back in, but no, dirty or not, I towelled him down and dressed him in his pyjamas. Hopefully he will have got the message now. he screamed all the while "I want to go back in the bath" until I got Richard out and dressed.
So all in all it was quite a day! How many more years before they stop testing their limits?!
Oh, well they are in bed now, and I can relax!
Bye 4 now

A much better day!!

And the best thing about it, the SUN woke me up this morning at 7.30am!!!! Yippee! BOTH kids slept all through the night! I couldn't believe it when I checked my watch! I felt so much better for it, now if only they would do it again and again and again, until it became a habit!
Everything is so much easier when you are not yawning all the time!
They were still a bit naughty this afternoon, but that too is so much easier to take, when you have slept better!
So yesterday I promised a bit more about our holiday. The main event was my cousin's wedding! And it was a great one. The weather was a bit iffy leading up to the big day, but on the day, the sun came out right when we needed it. I was the official photographer, and slightly nervous, but I got some great shots if I do say so myself. When I left to go to the brides house in the morning, I was checking I had got everything. And said something like "leave the laptop on, so that I can empty the card if need be" Florian said "you'll never take 1019 pictures (that's what the 4GB card holds)" Well, I tried my hardest and took 1234 pictures of the day! Now in hindsight, that might have been a mistake, as I am also making the happy couple a wedding album. and now I have the daunting task of sorting through them and picking the best! I also have most of the other guests pictures, so in all I have about 2.500 pictures of the wedding! HELP!!! Even choosing a few to show here is going to be difficult.
But here goes
Here is the church, where the wedding service was, I sneaked there before I went to the brides home, and got it with out any people in the shot.


Here is the Bride putting on the finishing touches. She looked so radiant and beautiful.


and here she is! Stunning!

and of course the happy couple

And here the most difficult shot to get, the complete wedding party, as quite a few tried to hide under the tree, but I spotted them all, that's when it is good to be bossy! It's not quite everyone, my Dad is going to "photoshop" me into the picture! I got all dressed up again on Sunday, and stood in the empty courtyard, whilst Florian hang out of the window and got a shot of me!

And on the subject of wedding's I got Melothria's new Wedding Kit "Just Married" and scrapped a few of the wedding photo's with it.
Here is the kit:
and here are my layouts, 2 of my cousin's wedding and one of my grandparents wedding.
Heather and Joe - Sealed with a Kiss!

Credits:
Just Married by Melothria at DAC

2 pics from before the wedding and one where they all were together!

Credits:
Just Married by Melothria at DAC

Here are my grandparents on their Wedding Day, and when Mum and Dad get back home from their holiday, I will be adding the date to the layout!

Credits:
Just Married by Melothria at DAC

That's all for today, wish me luck for tonight
Bye 4 now

Having a bad day today!

Not my usual happy self today, again not much sleep, but I should be used to that by now, but then the kids started playing up from the word go. They were really good boys on holiday, but now they have me on my own again, they try all sorts of things!
First disaster was after breakfast when I went to give them both some cough mixture for their coughs. Robert showed Richard how to take it nicely, but Richard instantly put his hands up to his mouth saying "don't like it" and "NOOOOO", well as his cough is quite bad, I refused to listen, and when I did get it in he spat it all back out again, I tried twice more and the same result, then I went and found a different cough mixture (different smell, different colour) again he spat it out again. I gave up in tears, he was too, and Robert was cuddling us both. Sounds cute now, at the time, I was just so frustrated. He went to Kindergarden without medicine. I have phoned the chemist and they do a cough mixture suppository, so that is what it will be tomorrow for Richard - he won't like that either, but tough!!!
Lunchtime it was Robert's turn to be stubborn, he decided that he didn't like what I had cooked for lunch and was not going to eat it. I can be stubborn too, especially when I know he actually likes this meal!!! So he sat there for over an hour, whimpering. He never did eat it, but he didn't have any sweeties or TV this afternoon. Teatime the same thing again, first he's complaining his tummy hurts cause he is sooooo hungry, and then he only eats the meat, cheese, tomatoes and crisps, not touching the bread -GRRRRR!
And inbetween mealtimes they refused to play "nicely", and threw their toys across the lounge and stuff like that. Is it a full moon again already? Whatever it is, i would like my good boys back! (And some sleep!)
OK, I feel a little better now, having got that off my chest - thanks for lending me your ear to bend! (Already bent my sister-in-laws, my husbands and my Mums!)

On a different note, why not pop on over to Leigh's blog, she has some new Wordart up for grabs. I won't be using it today, but when I am friends again with my boys it will certainly come in handy!

that's all for tonight, I am a bit late blogging (too many trips to the boys since they have been in bed!), so I will show more holiday pics tomorrow.
Bye 4 now

Everyday life has us again

Yep, the kids went off to Kindergarden this morning - under protest - but when I picked them up, they were full of what they had done and so on, so it can't have been as bad as they made out!
I pottered around this morning tidying up here and there I am slightly sleep deprived today, again the kids had me running in circles all night! I hope I get that problem sorted out soon or I am going to need a huge supply of matchsticks to keep my eyes open!
I am trying the bribery approach, Robert even knows which book he will be getting, let's hope he gets it! Richard however I am not sure he knows what I mean! But enough complaining.
How about some more about our holiday! I've done the beach, and Thomas Land, I am saving the wedding for last, so how about a few pics of where we stayed and what we could do there!

This is the cottages where we stayed, built 1600 something they are beautiful old cottages!



right opposite is the Golf course that belongs to the owners and which guests can use free of charge,

And out the back there is a trampoline for the kids, look at Richard I never knew he could jump THAT high!
And if you have stuck with me this long, here are two layouts I did during my "lunch break"! Both pictures taken during our holidays.
I used Flutter Expressions new kit Bold and Dirty, she is a new designer at Been There Scrapped That, and her kit was perfect for both of these photos!



this first one is my Dad and Robert and Richard on their way back from their long walk to see the sea (the tide was out!). This is not only for CTing but also for the sketch challenge at SFS and for the Picture Perfect Challenge at DSO.

Credits:
Bold and Dirty by Flutter Expressions

and this one is our latest family photo. I took a break from being a photographer at the wedding and handed the camera over, so that Mum could take this great shot of us! Don't mind Robert, he hasn't got a gammy leg, he is just pretending to be a ballet dancer, and showing off!

Credits:
Bold and Dirty by Flutter Expressions

Bye for now

Thomas Land and other things!

Last day of our holiday today, as normal life begins in the morning - Florian back at work and the boys back at Kindergarden, but today we just enjoyed one another's company. We took Florian into town this evening to catch his train, as he has to be at a course very early tomorrow, so he had to leave us today unfortunately.
I got my head stuck in a book last night, after handing the computer over to Florian and today I had a hard time putting it down. It is really captivating, but a REAL and I mean a REAL tear jerker. Just on the first few pages, I had tears streaming down my face. Intrigued, I am reading "P.S. I love you..." by Cecelia Ahern. So with reading that and playing with the kids, time just flew by today.

I will be adding some pictures to the post below of our outing to the beach, so scroll down a bit if you are interested.

Now a bit more about our holiday. This is in the wrong order, but another highlight of our holiday was our trip to Thomas land (Thomas the Tank Engine, that is), we didn't tell the boys where we were going so the look on their faces was priceless when we got there. It was just like walking straight into their story books! We even met the Fat Controller, who shook their hands and asked them their names, they were overwhelmed. And loved every second of it! here are a couple of pictures of our day in Thomas Land:

Robert and the Fat Controller, whose "real" name is "Sir Topham Hatt", as he reminded the boys!

Richard's first ride was on Percy, he really wanted to be on the ride that Robert was on in the next picture, but he wasn't tall enough. And we couldn't argue with them, as the height restriction was because anyone under 1 metre would not be able to reach the pedals!

Robert on Terence, this was his favourite ride, he went on it soooo many times! Oh for being there on a weekday during school term, that made it possible for him to do it all more than once!


And here you can see me and Richard on Jeremy the Jetplane! Another of Robert's favourite rides!
It was a GREAT day out, and we will be doing it all again, when we go back to England next year!

Don't forget, I am adding pics of the beach to the post below.
Bye 4 now

Home sweet home

I felt good to be in our own beds, shame the boys didn't sleep through again - I am not sure how to solve that problem, I think I am going to try bribery again, as I really need some sleep!
Anyhow today after yesterday it was just good to be home and not in a car. We went and restocked the cupboards and fridge this morning and we spent the afternoon in the sunshine in the garden - yep, Mum, the weather here is beautiful, and our grass says it has been that way for the last fortnight.
You see, in England we had sunshine when we really, really needed it, but then it hid itself away behind clouds, which sometimes had rain for us - not very summery at all.
Then again it was there for the important days - the day at the beach, the Wedding Day, the day canoeing and the day at Thomas Land.
I asked Robert today, which part of our holiday he liked best, and he said "ALL OF IT" and he really, really meant that. I don't think there was a single moment that he didn't like. Except maybe when the wasp went and stung him!
I am glad that next week is Kindergarden, cause going from 6 kids, loads of adults to just Robert, Richard and Mummy, might be a bit too much for them.

Now, to tell you about my holiday. I will start with the day at the beach, and slowly over the next week or so, bring you up-to-date on everything.
We went to Porthcawl, Wales for our day out at the seaside. It was beautiful there.
The sun was out all day, and before we left, I had commented on Mum's 3/4 trousers, I really thought she would be cold, but once there I so wished I had braved it too!
Mum and Dad had made a sketch for all the men to build bulldozers out of sand for the kids. It was so funny. My uncle made a great one for them, everyone else gave up cause of the scale, or so my other uncle said!
Robert and Richard found themselves a little rock pool to splash in, which over the day they kept going back to.
We really did spend ALL day on the beach, as we got ourselves the traditional british "Fish and Chips" and sat in our beach shell (Mum's really, thanks Mum) and had lunch, the boys thought it was great fun!
OK, that was a little about our day at the beach, now for me to sit and scrap some pics to go with it.

Oh, by the way I got permission to show you some of the wedding photos, so watch out during the week!