Nearly 2012...

So its nearly 2012, time to look over the last year and set goals for the coming year. I guess the biggest thing over the last year was moving house. I've realised it takes a long time to unpack, settle in and to get organised. You have to find new places for things and you realise you need more storage. So in 2012 i aim to become freakishly organised. I aim to be fantastically frugal this year. I need to lose this weight once and for all. I want to continue my crafts old and new, my scrap booking but also now my sewing. Later on in the year i'll be able to restart work on the garden and finally grow our own vegetables, etc. So thats plenty to be getting on with as well as being a mam to two highly active young un's. So where to start...i purchased cynthia townley ewer's 'cut the clutter' and i'm working through that book, taking notes and starting to actively declutter. I will make more gifts this coming year, the gifts i made this year did go down well but i need to make more time for it all this year.

IDEA: birthdays for kids over the next year...my daughters always being invited to parties of school friends and it can get quite expensive...if i can make some kids aprons, i have discovered fabric glue, i plan to glue the kids name onto the apron, add a wooden spoon tied with a ribbon and a cake bake pack ( can get these from as little as 29p-59p at home bargains), this would be a lovely personalisd present for as little as a pound x

IDEA: start making birthday cards now and store in a file so that when a birthday comes i have a card ready instead of getting into a mad rush to produce something worth sending

IDEA: to start towards the majorly organised freak that i want to be i'm going to create a pretty but practical family control center or in other words an area with the family calender, weeks meal menus and a note board. Need to find say 4 ornate frames that i'm going to paint, then fill two with cork for pins to go in and two with wipeable plastic fronts for wiping. Will photograph this when i am done, very excited to do all this. Hope it works, as at the moment i am lazy, unorganised, unmotivated, messy and scatty!!! Eek, i have a lot to do, hee hee x

Some of my makes...

So I have actually been making just not uploading, I'm hopeless at actually taking the photos, or is it finding the camera!

So here is one of my photos of what i made wednesday and thursday...will post more photos later. These are super easy to make. I love them I'm going to get a second tree this year for all my handmade endeavours x

Addicted to pinterest...

OH MY GOODNESS, OH MY WORD, OH MY OH MY OH MY... I am totally addicted to this site and feel like i've started a crafting revolution by introducing people to this site too. I love it, i spend ages sifting through all the fantastic craft projects, art works, tutorials and ideas for just about anything. Its hard to stay off it, it's so fabulous. Anyway i have to give myself a challenge here to actually make one thing off pinterest a day for the next week, so tonight is my first night and when i'm done i'll post a photo (after i trawl all my pins for a project i can do with stuff i have in the house). Well good luck me x

In memory on 9/11 x

I found this video, i cried at the story but i also cried when the parents cried, u could really see their pride and yet their sadness. I know this is just one story of hundreds out there of amazing bravery.

The link is:
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=GB#/watch?v=wwWzjjbIISw

Turning into your mams

I spent the evening with some friends last thursday night. Some of who I've known since they were born and after not seeing them for some time it was amazing to see how much they've turned out like their mams. I mean they both look kind of like their mams but it was more the way they spoke and their mannerisms and stuff. Sometimes if i shut my eyes it would of been like their mams were in the room. I got to wondering if anyone thought I was like my mam in any way. It would be the ultimate compliment if anybody thought I was. It's funny as well because when you're younger that's the last thing you want is to turn into your mam but when you get to my age it's what you aspire to. It got me thinking of what things I can do to be more like my mam. I've grown up to have a lot of the same likes and hobbies but housework wise and being organised I'm just not up to scratch on. I need to do more for other people too as she loved serving others and spent a lot of time doing that. I'll keep trying though :-)

CHRISTMAS x

It's never too early to get prepared for christmas, and for the last two or three years I've followed the grand plan on www.organizedchristmas.com to get myself organised for the festive season. It's not just about the gift buying, it's about having the house cleaned top to bottom, everything stocked up and ready for dinners, parties, etc; and all the gifts sorted as early as possible including hand made gifts. I love it when i'm all organised like this and then i can hibernate over the winter period, especially the christmas holidays. The year I was expecting my little boy all pressies where bought and wrapped by the end of september as he was coming along in november! crazy some people may say, crazy but organised, therefore I am calm and unstressed which makes for some happy holidays. I hate shopping 1. in bad weather 2. With babies in prams and 3. in the christmas chaos where everyones freaking out and bumping you all over. We as a family like to visit the metrocentre at christmas solely to laugh at the freaking out and walk around chilled and enjoy a nice meal out knowing we are all sorted for christmas.

This year because of moving however my shopping will have to be made a little later this year, octobers pay packet will have to do the majority of the shopping as we have had to pay for a new bathroom and a new garage roof. This is very late for me though so I intend to have my lists and I will do one day where I visit some toy shops and the rest will be done all at once online. I'm thinking probably amazon, so that I don't have to have millions of deliveries too.
I love handmade gifts and am getting together with some friends tomorrow to get some ideas going and hopefully learn a bit of sewing. I am also browsing the charity shops for cheapo gifts too.

I will definitely be making cards this year and some mini scrapbooks. Here are some of my cards I made a couple of years ago. They are quite basic and I am so much better than that now. Also here is a picture of my reindeer flannels. I made these for little lasses nursery teachers one year and they loved them. I've also made shabby chic signs for teachers too, they have cost nothing to make as I have already had the materials for them.







So the first week of the grand plan is list week. I have this week to make a christmas planner (which I half did last night), make all the list suggested like for example food lists, gift lists, etc; and then you have to thoroughly declutter and clean the porch (which I have done). I just need a couple of mats at the front door and a shoe tidy for keeping wet wellies on and stuff and then I'll be ready.

Ooh I made this box one year and am yet to finish it, inside has a book for photos!



I love this picture of little lassie.



Oh and here's a close up of our tree, my hubby is disney obsessed so we have a tree of grolier disney ornaments, this is the only one I could find so I'll try and dig out some more!



Here's another one I love of little lassie and titch last christmas.xxx



Happy planning everyone. Anyone else think the planning is the best bit? :-)

Things just got exciting...

I read loads of blogs and am always looking for new blogs to read. A few new blogs came about this week and i'm going to mention a couple of them as they have got me all excited about blogging again. They've also got me excited about other things too, crafting, being thrifty, setting goals, but mostly just about being myself and enjoying being a stay at home mam/ housewife.
The first blog i have to mention is that of a good friend who i have grown up with. We've know each other for years, since we were born really. I hadn't seen her for years and then we cross paths again for one reason or another. We start chatting on facebook, etc; and i come to realise we have loads in common. I thought i would love to read a blog written by this mam and she has started one, it's going to be great and already is right up my street. Read this blog at: http://thenotsoperfecthousewifeblog.wordpress.com/

The other blog i found is so honest and familiar, it's a great read. I loved the article she wrote where she posted a photo of a room that some would call messy but some would call lived in. I clicked the follow button when i read that she often gets comments about her being a single mam with two children very close in age, people say to her "wow you must have your hands full" to which she replies "if you think my hands are full you should see my heart". Such a beautiful sentiment, fab blog at : http://notsosuzy.blogspot.com/

So lets see if i can stay true to my word and get back into more regular blogging, there seems a point to blogging when you think someone might actually be reading.

GRATITUDE

6 things i am thankful for today

1. My kids and their unconditional love for me. Their love of life and their love for each other x
2. My husband, his hardworking attitude which means i can be a stay at home mam and don't have to go out to work.
3. My parents. My mam and dad worked hard to be financially sound so that they can do more for us, their kids and grandkids. My dad does so much to help and my mam is such a great role model for me.
4. My friends, wish i could see more of them as i have some of the bestest friends a girl could hope to have x
5. My home, i love our new home, the house itself, and the area it's in, i have lovely neighbours who have made us so welcome.
6. Books...i love to read, anything and everything. I love how you can lose yourself in a good book and i love how books enrich my childrens lives. Libby loves reading, you can never get enough books. My amazon wish list is bulging at the seams ;-)

Getting things done

Well we finally moved so I am trying to get back on track with my blog. I am off to peruse jamie olivers cook book as I am still up for that challenge and I only have 6 months left to cook the entire cook book. Doable, I hope. His recipes always turn out nice so it would be an appreciated challenge I think.

Charity never faileth

'Charity never faileth'...it certainly doesn't. I am a big believer in being thrifty and love getting bargains from charity shops. Among the bargains we got this week from a local st.claires hospice were these books. We had visited a book museum in newcastle called 'seven stories' and I almost bought Mr big by Ed vere for the full 5.99. as he's part of the exhibition there. We got this copy for 30p and libby has read it over and over again. I used to love king rollo books when i was younger so was glad she picked that one too.

I did it!

I walked and ran 10k for the race for life in honour of my mam. We've been saying we'll do it for a couple of years but this year we did it. Me and my sis in law caroline. It took me an hour and a half and it hurt. My amazingly fit sis did it in 1 hour 6 mins, which is fab. More importantly though we raised money for cancer research. My mam fought cancer for 4 years, and there was so much help and research into breast cancer, it was when the cancer spread to other parts of the body that there seemed there was no more hope. That's why more money for more research is still needed.

It was a great event and was nice to have the family all there. The kids are getting excited to do their mini great north run event in september. Better get training for that, i can see my little girl sprinting that one xxx

Scrapbooking

Another project alongside the jamie oliver project will be to sort out my scrapbook stash before our move. I need to get rid of some of it too. So tonight I VOW to sit and sort through it. Bin, stash or sell. I have too much stuff. While sorting through this stuff I also vow to do one page or one project as I need to rediscover my fave hobby, it's good for me xx

Theres no going back! lol

Well another thing I have been meaning to do for the past few years is the race for life. I've wanted to do it in memory of mam with my sister in law caroline. I never got round to it the first year after mam died and then I was pregnant the next year but we've done it now. We signed up and I am aiming to raise 100pounds if not more?!?!



I have done it years ago and really enjoyed it. Mind you I was fitter in those days. So I need to get back on the diet and exercise band wagon, i've already done a few runs but need to do more. Especially as how we are doing the 10k and not the 5k!!!

This is me right now

Well I haven't been around for quite a while, the last time I spoke about moving house it fell through. But here we are again, house sold, think we've found a house we can love, so all systems are go and its all very exciting.

I don't know where to start, so much to do but its still early stages so can't start packing yet or anything. I'll have to do some more decluttering and make lots of lists LOL!

I've had lots of ideas about projects too, I thought I would try and cook every recipe from jamie olivers ministry of food book, everything i cook from it has turned out lovely so I though I'd give myself to the end of the year to do it. It's very doable and will be like the julie and julia challenge, it was definitely inspired by that.

So thankful to my family and friends, my husband and my kids. So thankful for the chance to move, the fact that we've sold and for new opportunities.