See You Soon

Reports back from the annual Sunderland airshow - the biggest free airshow in Europe, the one that attracts thousands of people --it was cancelled - for the first time in 20 years there were no aeroplanes. Would you like to know why?
This is why -- FOG


Remember this post from a few weeks ago, well it all looks a bit different today. It was quite sad really, all the time and effort that had been put into the organisation ,especially when if you walked 10 minutes away from the seafront it was glorious sunshine. Oh well , here's to next year.

I,ve also had the honour of having been given another award from Steph at Curlew Country and from Rachel Rabbit. Thank you very much girls. It really means a lot to me to know that people actually like my little ramblings.


There are rules to this award but I'm going to change it slightly. I've noticed that a lot of people already have this award so what I'm going to do is --- if I've left a comment on your Blog in the last week and you haven't got this award then I'm giving this to you all, as you all deserve it. You make me smile, you make me laugh and occasionally you make me cry but you are all in my life now and I'd miss you all if you weren't there.

Next week we are going here and we are all really looking forward to a little family break. So I'm starting my holidays early to spend time with the kids and sort stuff out before we go.

See you all when we get back -

Socky, Timothy And A Cormorant

Milo and Baby G had a lovely surprise through the post this week, belated birthday presents from Kellie and her lovely family.
Because they had had such a long journey they needed a little nap before meeting the family


Then they needed a snack, so Ickle Monkey helped them with some bananas.


Next , Timothy met with Baby G


and Socky met with Milo


And the rest of the monkey family, Rainbow and Baby G's favourite George.


They have now settled in well and this morning they both went to a Teddy bears picnic with our local toddler group.
Also in the parcel was this DVD, I'd never heard the songs before but ' Watermelon' has been stuck in my head for days now. It's got some great songs and the boys love it, Milo sings and Baby G dances. I tried to get pictures of the lovely drawings that were sent too but either my camera or my photography skills are rubbish, probably the latter. There is nothing better than recieving goodies through the post. thank you.

On a different note we went to another local park this week and got within about 2 feet of this Cormorant


This weekend we are going here, hopefully the weather will still be sunny as it has been the past few days. Enjoy your weekend everyone.

The Holidays Start Here...

So, today was Milo's last day at Nursery school - since last September he has come along in leaps and bounds and a lot of it is due to his teacher Mrs A.



You can just see her in this picture cheering on the boys at there impromptu sports day.
Mrs A is so nice and Milo just adores her, all the kids love her and run for hugs when she opens the door to let them into class, she is the teacher that you dream your kids have as their first teacher and someone who will always be remembered as they get older.
Now what do you get someone like this to say goodbye and thank you. I thought of many different things but finally decided on one of these



accompanied by this poem which I found on the internet.

A candle is like a teacher
Who first provides the spark
That kindles love of learning
In children's minds and hearts.

Like a burning candle
Teachers light the mind
Enriching lives and futures
By the sharing of their time.

So when you light this candle
May its glow convey to you
Warm appreciation
For all the things you do.

Milo also made her a card in which he also put a photo of himself and a packet of sunflower seeds ( all his idea).So this afternoon he trotted off into class with his little bag of presents along with his classmates carrying their presents.

When I went to collect him after school I got really upset when I walked into an empty classroom, with the walls all bare and all the toys put away. Mrs A thanked me for the present and said that she doesn't normally cry but this present was so lovely she had shed some tears, well this set me off and I just welled up, I couldn't speak so just hugged her and muttered " thank you" . After she gave Milo a hug and told him that she would miss him I just about ran out of the class trying my hardest not to let any tears fall. So now she probably thinks I'm some kind of mad woman!

Well now I've recomposed myself - again - I thought I would also show you these

continuing my new found appreciation of colour, 3 new tops for the summer. I know the middle one is still black but the embroidery on it is very colourful. Hub was quite surprised when I showed him.

Now let the holidays begin..

My First Award And Freecycle.

Yesterday I recieved an e-mail from Kathy at LizzieJane, she very kindly gave me this award. My first ever award.



I can't tell you how big the smile was on my face when I saw this. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart ( sob) I would also like to thank my Hub for all his support , (sniffle) my 2 boys for smiling even when they really dont want to, ( choke)



and to everyone who reads and comments on my blog ( gets out the hankie) and for all the advice I've been given by everyone even when I'm asking stupid questions - will that do , chuckle.



In return I would like to give this award to

Mary Beth at Salt and Chocolate
Kellie at Don't Look Now
Sarah at Anyone Can Quilt
Tess at Driftwood
Adrienne at Some Of A Kind
Lina at Linaloo
Maree at Farmyard Crafts

Here are the rules for this award:
1. The winner can put the logo on their blog.
2. Link to the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you've nominated.
6. Write an acceptance speech in the style of the Academy Awards, thanking every body's mother, father, sister, brother, aunties and uncles and the kitchen staff at your favorite restaurant!



Now for anyone who has never heard of Freecycle I strongly recommend you pop over and have a look. It is a site where you can give away things you don't want and pick up things you do want and it's all for free..
The other day I was reading a post on The Vintage Magpie about saving the pennies and she was talking about her bread maker. I sent her an e-mail asking a few questions about the bread maker and after thinking it sounded like a good idea I posted an ad on Freecycle asking if anyone had a bread maker they didnt want. A few days later I got a reply and a lady very kindly offered to deliver one to my doorstep.
Introducing my new bread maker - hardly used.

Last Update

After a very hectic party on Sunday afternoon I just couldn't be bothered to cook any tea so after the kiddies had gone to bed Hub and I got a chinese takeaway. I got King Prawn Sweetcorn which is what I always get. Anyway, when I woke up yesterday morning I was ill, didn't leave the house much during the day as I needed to be close to a bathroom!! So this morning feeling fine again I got weighed and found I've lost another 1lb. Now I'm not sure wether this was due to dieting or the dodgy prawns! Either way it means I've lost 6lbs in 6 weeks which overall I'm quite happy about. I kind of wish it had been a bit more but a loss is a loss and thats all that matters. I'm going to continue with this but will just update you maybe once a month if you'd like to keep track of how I'm doing?

Going back to the hectic party - Hub put magic candles on the cake so no matter how much he blew he just couldn't get them to go out, he did find it funny though. 4 candles on one side and 1 on the other.


Baby G liked his birthday vest, it had a 1 on the back too


pondering one of his presents.


This afternoon they are having a princess and pirate party at Milos nursery school. I had intended to make him something yesterday but it all ended up being a bit of a bodge job. He seemed pretty happy though. His shoes and bandana have skulls on them.


Baby G wanted to join in but found it all a bit too much


Now I seriously have to knuckle down and finish a birthday present which should have already been on its way to the intended recipient. I hope they won't mind if it's a little late?

Happy 1st Birthday Baby G

Baby G was born on Friday 13th which is apparantly lucky. His original due date was July 10th , the same as Milo , then they brought him forward to July 4th so he was either 3 or 9 days late. When he finally decided to come he came into the world so quickly that I never had time for any pain relief!!


Overall he is an extremely happy little boy and has a smile for everyone


Unlike his brother who was quite happy to sit and play Baby G is never still and I mean never. He can speed crawl faster than any baby I've seen, he just puts his head down and whoosh he's gone, you don't see him for dust.

In the above photo he is wearing a Descendents vest which is one of Hubs favourite bands.
As I posted before he is now starting to walk and says the odd word. He had his first height measure today and is now 2ft 6 1/4

This afternoon we are having a little tea party for family and a couple of friends -
Happy Happy Birthday to our little man - we love you

Happy 4th Birthday Milo

Four years gone already and it doesn't seem like two minutes. Now what can I tell you about Milo?
He is funny,


stubborn, can be very naughty at times,


is extremely loving and likes his kisses and cuddles.


He loves to learn new things and is forever asking questions.


plays with Baby G ( sometimes)


likes to dress up and is forever putting things on his head


he was very happy with his birthday eve pyjamas


was over the moon with his present


has grown 2 1/2 inches in the past year so is now 3ft 5 1/2


his obsession with buses drives us to distraction a lot of the time. He picks his nose a lot too. But you know what, for all his little faults we love him so much and wouldn't have him any other way. Happy Birthday Chunk !

Update 5

Apologies, apologies I'm a day late with my update, but drum roll please ....... another 1lb lost. Definately slow and steady, at this rate with the amount I would like to lose it will take me until mid January - chuckle. I do feel a lot better though and a lot less bloated, which I think might be down to the fact that I've hardly eaten any bread and more veggies.

I've been so busy this past week and have done more painting but this time on the landing at the top of the stairs. I also managed a trip to the hairdressers, my roots were getting ridiculous so I've gone back to being brown. I don't think the purse strings can stretch to having my roots done every 8 weeks or so anymore. I prefer my hair blonde but can cope with brown for a while I think.

At 8pm last night I was sitting in the kitchen and this was what I saw, a birthday present to be finished which I really don't think I'm going to get done in time which I'm not very happy about.
,

Bunting for Baby G which has to be done by Sunday


This sad looking thing is supposed to be a pineapple upside down cake but it was a bit of a disaster, the cake didnt rise and although the top was cooked the middle didnt cook. If anyone has any different recipes for this cake or any tips just send them my way.


On Sunday the girl in our local fruit shop - who is fast becoming my best friend, gave me all these for free and asked me to bake her a cake! Do you think she gave me enough?


I did manage to get this finished though, a pyjama top for Milo. I did end up doing the last little bit by hand though as my machine gave up again!!! Will have to try and sort it out tonight.


Out of curiosity just when does everyone manage to do their crafting? If I'm lucky I snatch the odd minute during the day but this is mainly knitting and on a night from about 8pm until 10ish I try to do sewing. I can't really do sewing during the day as by the time I get everything out it would have to be put away again and it's impossible to look after Baby G and sew at the same time!

I'm now going to sort out some pics for my next post :-). Have a nice day x

Hungry?

What a busy week it's been this week phew!
It all started with a visit too my local fruit shop, I love this shop and just recently they have started stocking all weird and wonderful things and selling stuff extra cheap. For example I bought a crate of bananas for £1 - yep a crate. Now what do you do with this many bananas - you do some baking, I made 3 of these ( not all for me I might add ) from this recipe. So easy and delicious ,the smell was amazing and in the process of searching for a recipe I found a lovely new Blog.


They were also selling lemons cheap.. so we just had to make lemon drizzle cake also from Attic24. Half of this went to Milo's teacher for her birthday. We also made pie and quiche but you've all seen those before.


I've also done some cooking from this book. Now I love aubergines and courgettes but Hub thinks they are the spawn of the Devil so I use them more when he's working lates. This stripey one was a gorgeous colour.


There was a lovely veg Moussaka which I forgot to take pics of - oops but I did remember the veg curry with chickpeas


Hub thinks all this cooking and baking is hilarious as I'm not the best cook in the world although I do apparantly have the title ' Queen Of The Packet Mix ' --- hmmm

Baby G has been doing a lot more walking too, he's getting more and more confidence evey day. Soon there'll be no stopping him!


I've also been painting the kitchen but as it's just white on white I didn't want to bore you with those pics and not to mention the sewing which isn't even nearly finished and the knitting while watching Location , Location. I know I've mentioned it before but I love that programme.
And I nearly forgot, theres also been a tiny bit of this too

Cheers x