House progress

I'm really enjoying stitching the Larmour house! I've put hours and hours in already but i'm loving the progress, i'm stitching it on Zweight laguna evenweave and it's really nice to stitch on. I've decided to do my backstitch as I go along as i've made the mistake before of completing all the stitches and then having tons of backstitch to do, it gets very boring, LOL! I've bought this new frame over the weekend and it's perfect! It's a no sew one, it was a little fiddly at first but once i'd worked out the technique putting on the bottom was easier! Now that I have a bigger frame though my light magnifier is too small, the arms don't stretch enough! As it's my birthday in a couple of weeks Mark has said I can have one of these :D

It's a floor standing one that can also be altered into a table lamp and clip on, how clever! and with 21 LED's I think will be just right for my needs, i've bought a couple of smaller ones which clip onto the frame but the batteries barely last an evening, this one can be powered by electric or batteries! :yay:

Cyber cropping!!!

Over at UKScrappers it's cybercrop weekend! I've struggled to take part in the last 2 but as I had tonight free I decided on 2 classes and went for it!! They've both scanned in terribly but hey ho, i'm not going to worry about it. (the 'Best our Guest' title is silver) Both layouts are for the Disney album, I only have 5 more to do and then that album will be complete! :D

Another Place.........

This afternoon I visited Antony Gormley's 'Another Place'
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Some info:
These spectacular sculptures by Angel of the North artist Antony Gormley are on Crosby beach. Another Place consists of 100 cast-iron, life-size figures spread out along three kilometres of the foreshore, stretching almost one kilometre out to sea.

The Another Place figures - each one weighing 650 kilos - are made from casts of the artist's own body standing on the beach, all of them looking out to sea, staring at the horizon in silent expectation.
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It was quite fascinating there! The figures are set in at different levels and can be seen far into the distance. It was lovely weather too! I have a rather embarrasing photo of my friend Elizabeth attempting to pull out one of the figures but i'd best not share it, she's pulling a very funny face!! LOL!!

Midweek scrapping

I'm off work this week as I was owed time from last summer. Charlie goes to nursery on a Wednesday morning so I had some free time! I decided to use it to scrap! I'm really pleased with this layout, the scan doesn't do it justice, it's very layered and I used my glimmer mists for the first time, they're scrummy, I can see me using those again VERY soon, LOL! I also dug out my date stamp, it's ages and ages since I used it but it worked so perfectly on this layout! It's made up from the March Scrapagogo kit and is scraplifted from a layout I saw on their gallery. I also pinched the quote from a LO of Jen's!
The tree surgeon turned up today to get rid of the tree stump we had in the new piece of garden (as seen a few posts back!!) He was meant to come tomorrow but had finished the job he was on so started early, he's made a good start and hopes to have it out tomorrow. :D

Happy Birthday Mum!

Today is my lovely Mum's birthday (ssssh! she's 58!!) My sister and I took her out for a little drive and a meal tonight. We went to the Albion at Arnside, it was very nice and great to spend quality time with them both.
Love you Mum! xxx

Chorley Roses

Yay! Today was Chorley crop! I really enjoy going to my crop, they're a great bunch of girls. We've kind of diversified recently, LOL! We all used to scrapbook at the crop but today all I did was my cross stitch! Other crafts that go on are embroidery, jewellery making, knitting and altered art! To be honest I normally do scrapbook but as I was preparing last night inspiration wouldn't hit and I couldn't decide how to scrap the photos I have! I think in the back of my mind i'd decided I was going to cross stitch anyway, LOL! Since I came home i've whizzed up a layout with the friends photo from yesterday! (the colours aren't true to life, my scanner did a pants job!!)

A fun afternoon.

I meet up with some of my friends from college every other Wednesday evening, more commonly known as the 'coffee & cake girls!' LOL! There's 4 of us, Jude, Terrina, Deborah and myself. We've known each other since 1990 when we started studying for our NNEB (diploma in Nursery Nursing) We qualified in 1992 and that's when we started meeting up. We're all mummy's now and try to meet up with our children in the daytime as often as we can but due to work and school it can only really happen in school holidays. This afternoon we met at the Battery in Morecambe, the play area there is great and suitable for the whole age range of our children. They had a lovely long play together in all three sections then we walked along to the splash fountains, they're so fun, they randomly spray upwards! I think every single one of them got soaked! We all decided we'd like a group photo of them and further up the prom there's a picture frame, they were all co-operative (even Charlie ;) ) but then I think the bribe of the ice cream worked on them all, LOL! I'm really pleased with the photo I got :D We also headed down to the beach for a play, Charlie followed Lucas around everywhere! and then finally that all got their promise of an ice cream! Charlie's was orange tiger flavoured!!!

You find me!

Charlie's favourite game at the moment is hide and seek! He's too cute at it, he always hides in the same place and just giggles!! He likes us to 'sniff him out!' The other thing he does is just hides behind his hands, I think the philosophy is if he can't see you, then you can't see him!!!

Baby Olivia Grace

As promised the other day, photos of baby Olivia, she's so beautiful! She's a very placid baby and slept our whole visit, bless her!

with her proud mummy and daddy, Owen and Sonya.

and with us ♥

DigiDare!

When i'm scrapping I like to also go digi! I try to do a mixture of both! I've just discovered this website http://www.digidares.com/ This dare is perfect for me as a mummy, housewife and part time worker! i'm going to give it a go!!

11.5 miles

We haven't been able to get out on our bikes the last couple of weeks and i'm not 100% today so we took it easy. We rode up the promenade from VVV to Heysham and back. It's been a gorgeous day weather wise here, Charlie had a lovely play out in the garden earlier and we visited the swings after visiting our friend's new baby, Olivia (photos to follow)

Easter scrapping.

I've been doing so much cross stitching at the moment my scrapbooking has taken a bit of a backseat but traditionally Saturday nights are my scrapping nights! Last night I produced 2 layouts both Easter related. I love the photo of Charlie with his Easter goodies so I decided to make the photo as big as I could! I actually scraplifted myself for this LO, LOL! I think the original idea came from a magazine! The egg shapes were inspired by Jude, I only used her LO as a sketch basis for mine.



Charlie's album is up to date again, i've only got about 10 layouts left to do in the Disney album then I can make a start on the Preston North End hospitality day album! :D

Gorgeous Green Shoes!!!

My friend Jen loves shoes!! Hopefully i'm going to be her shoe envy, LOL! My friend, Mary, came for a visit yesterday and was wearing these green shoes, I totally loved them! I got some Next vouchers for Christmas that I hadn't spent as I was waiting for the summer lines to come in. So i've made use of the vouchers and i'm now the proud owner of green shoes! I don't think i've ever owned a pair of green shoes before! They were available in red or white too, I was seriously contemplating the white ones as they're a more practical colour to match up with outfits but the rebelious side of me made me go for the green ones!! I adore my new shoes!!! ♥♥♥

Happy Birthday x3!!!

Today was our niece(from Mark's side) Maddie's ♥ 19th Birthday, our nephew (from my side) Chris's ♥ 15th Birthday!! Then our friends Owen and Sonya have welcomed baby Olivia Grace into their family meaning we now have 3 birthdays on April 9th!!

Today also marked 2 years since we heard about Charlie. ♥ I'll never forget that phone call at 9:00am, our social worker telling us we'd been matched to a 10 month old baby boy called Charlie. I never realised at the time quite how much that phone call would impact on our lives, how much instant love I would feel for him and the wonder of these past 2 years of parenthood. It has all been fantastic and I can't wait to see what the future holds, especially when we also hear about our little girl! ♥

PNE!

My blog header was created by SJ of 'Little Musings' I love it so I asked her do another one of Charlie in his Preston North End kit for me to use in my scrapbook of our hospitality day, look what arrived in my inbox today.........super cute! Thanks SJ!

Cross stitch crazy!!!

After seeing the house pattern (posted a few days ago) I have been desperate to start it but have been very strict on myself that I wouldn't until i'd completed 'He's a Flake' aka Mr Flake, LOL! and April's My Little Heart. Tonight i've stitched the beads on Mr Flake after stitching him up the last couple of evenings and have just completed April's MLH. I'm thrilled to bits with them both especially MLH as although I liked the rabbit on the egg when I saw him I wasn't keen on his blue egg! I was going to stitch it white with blue spots like one of the example pieces but after laying the colours down first I decided to go with the blue after all, i'm really pleased I did as it looks fab now it's stitched up. :D So tomorrow I can start the Larmour House with a clear consience, LOL!

Arachnophobia

This morning Charlie let out an almighty scream before crying, I was imagining allsorts, a trip to casualty etc! Mark ran to him, he was in the bathroom and he assessed the situation! Incy wincy spider moved in with us over the weekend, we've seen him a few times and talked to him (you know like you do with a 2 year old, LOL!) Anyway his BIG brother came to visit him this morning, it seems my son is suffering from arachnophobia!!! (Mark did say he was big!!!) Bless him :wub:

Easter Sunday

We've had a lovely Easter Sunday, Charlie got so many eggs!! We'd bought him a little toaster for his kitchen as we knew he'd get a few eggs but we never expected 10 eggs, 2 bunnies and 8 lollies! He's been so excited with them, he's been very good too and has only eaten 2 choccie lollies so far! He also got a few nice treats and some pennies too, he's a very lucky little boy. :wub:


My parents in law came up this morning and Hughie has been working hard in the back garden again with Mark, they've cleared loads today and the garden is looking so much bigger! Karin came with Maddie and Dan this afternoon so Dan was out there helping too. Charlie went on the trampoline for the first time this year! Maddie went on with him, he 'bounces' on it alot more now, last year he just ran around in circles on it, LOL! I made a roast pork dinner for Sylvia, Hughie and us, it was rather nice! Sylvia had made a delicious trifle for dessert. After his bath I read Charlie's new book to him that Aunty Kathryn brought him for Easter, it's such a cute story. Sylvia and Hughie tucked him into bed and then left.
Inbetween our original land and the new strip there was a wall and some fence panels that we'd put up about 6 years ago, on the pic above i'm standing on the old division, it gives a good idea of how much our garden has grown. We need to decide definitely now what we're doing with the garden, we have a few ideas so watch this space, LOL! (Any ideas of how to utilise/get rid of the tree stump welcome!!)

I'm going to get my cross stitch out now and relax infront on the TV, it's been a fun Easter Sunday! :D

My next project!

Last night I was reading my 'The world of cross stitching' magazine when I saw it.........my next big cross stitch project! I've been wanting to get into a bigger project since my interest in cross stitching started up again at the end of last year. This pattern is so me! There are lots of designs for the windows so I can customise my piece just as I like and how perfect that there are 2 windows for the children. I will wait until we hear news of our little girl before I stitch her window, who knows by the time I get that far maybe we will have heard something ♥(*fingers crossed*)♥

I'm not scary!

One of Charlie's current favourite books. He 'reads' it almost word perfect!

Good Friday

This morning Sylvia (Nanna), Charlie and I went to the 'Hot cross bun' service at St James' church (I thought it was at St. Peters when I blogged yesterday, they are sister churches) We hadn't realised it was a hot cross bun service until we got there! It was so lovely to be in a church where we felt welcomed and the service was really nice. (as were the hot cross buns that followed, LOL!) Rvnd Tickner is wonderful and so good with children. Charlie was christened into this church and can start the Sunday School at the end of May when he turns 3 :D

After lunch Charlie and I made our Easter nests with Nanna. Mark and Hughie (Grandad) were busy in the garden, it's really coming along now, the wall is completely down and they've filled a skip already! Anyway back to the nests! What great fun we had!! I took step by step photos!

First we broke the chocolate into pieces (look at the effort in his face, LOL!!)

then you stir the chocolate before it is melted (yes you do, Charlie said so!!)

*imagine chocolate melting pic (forgot to take that one!)*

now it's time to add the rice krispies and stir (giggling as you work is most important!)

spoon the mixture into the cake cases........
.....and add the mini eggs (making sure you sneak a couple without mummy noticing ;) )
now the best bit......licking out the bowl, LOL!!
TaDa!!
and what do you do when you've had fun making easter cakes, you go outside and help Daddy and Grandad!!



I think our little man should sleep well tonight, he's had a busy day!! :D

Whoops!

Oh golly! I hadn't realised it's been over a week since I posted!! It's been quite a hectic week though and a very lovely weekend! Mark and I spent last week preparing our house for my Aunty and Uncle's visit. I love my house when it's pristine clean! (I always keep it tidy and mostly clean but I do love it when I look around knowing it's been cleaned within an inch of its life, LOL!!)
Aunty Win (Mum's sister) celebrated her 60th Birthday on the 19th March, she had a meal out with her friends where she lives near Northampton on her birthday. She also wanted to celebrate with her family up here! We invited them to stay with us, we have a spare room which is rarely used for guests so it was so speacial for them to stay here. They arrived on Saturday afternoon and Aunty Win, Mum and I went to visit my great Aunty in the nursing home whilst Uncle Pat stayed at home with Mark and Charlie (I guess they'll have enjoyed talking football, both their teams are in the same league, LOL! Uncle Pat's a Leicester fan and Mark Preston North End!) My great Aunty looked terribly frail, bless her. We dropped mum off at her flat then came back. Aunty Win and uncle Pat went off to church so whilst they were there I prepared a shepherd's pie for tea, it was delicious, even if I do say so myself, LOL! In the evening we watched a DVD! We decided on the Hangover, I love that film, it's so funny!!
On the Sunday morning we had a walk into the village and onto the prom, it was freezing down on the prom!! So windy!! Then we all went out for Aunty Win's birthday meal to the Globe in Overton for a carvery, my mum, sister, nephew and niece were there too. It was so nice to get together and the food was lovely. Everyone then came back to ours for a cuppa and birthday cake! Sunday evening the 4 of us settled to watch the final of Dancing on Ice, it was so obvious for a long time that Hayley was going to win it but it still made for a good show! Aunty Win and Uncle Pat left shortly after breakfast on Monday morning and Charlie missed them so much. It was funny actually, on Monday morning Mark was getting his clothes out and I was brushing my teeth when Charlie sneaked upstairs to see them, I called through the door to see if he was OK in there and Aunty Win called back he was having snuggles, too cute!!

This week has been a little quieter! Although Monday evening we went out for another meal for Daniel's 18th! We really must plan these things a bit better, my diet kind of went to pot, LOL!
It's Good Friday tomorrow and Sylvia, Charlie and I are going to the family service at St Peter's, I think it'll be a nice service to go to, whilst we're there im going to find out about the Sunday School, I was brought up in a Sunday school and i'd like Charlie to be too. We have a few plans for the Easter weekened, firstly we're going to knock down the wall between our existing garden and the new piece of land we've bought at the back, Mark has already made a start but there's still alot to do. His dad is coming to help with it and we're also going to give the garage a bit of a sort out! Saturday we've been invited to Jack's 1st birthday party, he is the son of Mark's employee, Paul, although he's a good friend too. On Sunday evening i'm making a roast meal for Mark's mum and dad, I thought it would be nice for Easter. At some point too I plan to make Easter nests with Charlie, i'm really excited about that, LOL! (Hopefully pics to follow of that little event!!)

I've started a new cross stitch this evening, it's another Little House Needleworks ornament, this one is He's a flake! I've got about 3/4 of the tree done and the garland! It won't take as long as FaLaLa as it's not as big but i'm keen to get it finished as the new My Little Heart pattern has been released for April!!

So that'll teach me for leaving it a week!! My fingers are aching from all that typing, LOL!!!