night off

We were out last night...we are out tomorrow night....I'm out Friday night....N.Y.E and out-out-out on Saturday night.
Tonight was sit on your bum with a glass of wine night.
Shame then that the kids didn't go to bed till after 9....1 glass later and I'm ready for bed. Hard work these nights off!

dog walk

Yesterday we went en famille to the park avec le chien. We got very muddy. The kids and the dog ran about like lunatics. We met lots of dog lovers. And we had a nice sit down on the new bench dedicated to Ken...he would have liked it lots x

top of my tree

Hope you all had a super smashing Christmas!
Look what arrived through my letterbox last week.....

I was very giddy and put her straight on my tree!

Sarah Alcock sent her to me. What a fab surprise! And what a kind person full of Christmas spirit :-) 

Me and the little people think she's BRILL!

She says she'll make everyone one...all you have to do is email her at  sarah@whistleandstitch.co.uk and send her lots of cash :-) Go on...you know you want to...only 365 days to Christmas.....(leap year people so a bit of extra time for you)

secret santa

I help run a kids charity and every year the nine of us go out for our Christmas meal. Very lovely. Apart from the fact that one year someone decided we should do a Secret Santa. For a fiver. Every year. For the rest of our lives.
Every year I go along with a fabulous gift (fabulous considering the £5 price tag). Every year I come home with a scented candle. Or cheap chocolate.
This year I forgot. The meal is tonight. No time to buy a fabulous gift. My choice is therefore as follows: photo frame from M&S that my Mum bought and doesn't need....or Joseph Joseph fabulously stylish spaghetti measurer. It was actually £7.50. I bought it for my sis after she admired mine but my Mum bet me to it and bought her one too so now it's kind of spare. Would it be wasted on cheap-chocolate-givers I ask myself?

christingle

Been to another lovely Christingle service today.
Strange that kids aren't allowed to play conkers anymore in case someone suffers a serious mishap. But they are allowed to wave a lit candle about in a 300 year old church. Clearly the health and safety bods don't go to church to witness such a dangerous activity!

something missing

Well the tree has been up a week and I've just remembered it hasn't got anything on top. I used to have a rather tasteful and very cool looking star up there. Then the big one made this fab angel in Nursery out of a McDonalds coke cup and a doily. So that was on the top of the tree for years. But this year she said "Mu-uum. You are NOT putting THAT up there!" So now I have no idea where the cool and very stylish star is and the top of the tree is just a twig. 

lots of Christmas stuff....

Got most of my work out of the way so can finally get round to sorting Christmas. Swapped the real life shopping experience for a bit of online this year. Shopping from home with a glass of wine is far more civilised methinks. And very exciting when the postie comes too. I'm getting deliveries left right and centre...much fun!
Tomorrow is the little man's Christingle service in church then that's it, no more school this year.
Just about written all my cards too. Of course whether they get delivered is another question...still had some in my car in February last year. But it's the thought that counts...

This is the fab card that the big one printed at the children's workshop at the WYPW the other week...she printed a grand total of six. Hasn't sent one to me though...

very flipping busy

Aw man I have been so busy! Busier than a busy thing. Stay-up-till-stupid-o'clock-busy. Too busy to even look at blogs. Or Pinterest. Or anything! 
I have been MRS BUSY!
I won't bore you with the details but you'll be pleased to hear that I'm back to my normal amount of busy-ness now.
Anyway in the middle of my very busy busy-ness I managed to win a giveaway from the lovely Karen at Blueberry Park. 

I won this fab load of felt from Seamstar! Yay! Can't wait for it to arrive :-)


And I also bought these super-fab baubles from Elise at Button Box Cards. (This is Elise's photo, the one I took was rubbish!)

I bought all three and they look brill on my tree. (Yes, Mrs Busy put up the tree in a super-organised manner on Saturday with the help of 3 children and 1 dog. Stressful? Oh just a little....)
Get yourself over there and make a purchase....quickly...they are VERY popular and you don't want your tree to miss out.

Pepperbox Clothing

The fab new range from Pepperbox is online now...go and have a look... make a major purchase... you won't be disappointed, I did some of the graphics :-)

And if you get a shifty on you can get 10% off! Bonus!

Posting Woman From Hell

Today I had a parcel to post. Just one little parcel. Nothing complex. Straight forward Royal Mail Special Delivery. It's a two minute job on the walk home from school. 
Unless, that is, you get behind the Posting Woman From Hell!
And I did. 
I knew as soon as I walked in that she was the Posting Woman From Hell because I have been behind her on two previous occasions in the last 6 months.
I don't know what she does...sells slippers on Ebay is my guess...but she ALWAYS has a gigantic sack of parcels. She slowly takes them out of the sack and puts them on the scales. One by one. Slowly. She always causes a queue of Disneyland proportions. She never looks round to apologise to the people who only want a first class stamp. She just pulls out the parcels one by one.
Why does she always go to post her million parcels at the busiest time of day? Everyone calls in the post office on their way home from school. Does she do it on purpose? 
Today she had 33 parcels. Better than last time when it was 54 I suppose.
She is the most annoying woman ever.
And she wears Crocs!
Even in winter!

snow boots

The little man has been nagging for some boots he saw. He really needed the boots. I gave in and bought them on Monday. They are meant to be worn in snow. We don't have any snow. Every morning he looks out of the window to see no snow. And every morning he asks me when it's gonna snow. He cried on Tuesday 'cos I wouldn't let him wear them to school. I don't think it's gonna snow anytime soon. He's doing my head in! 

christmas cards

Uploaded my chrimbo cards to Moo this weekend....did some gift tags and stickers this year too...woo get me!
If you're on my Christmas card list look away now!

relaxing walk

Now that Minnie the dog can go out we decided to introduce her to her new BFF, Poppy.
Poppy is my sister's Beagle. We take Poppy for walks on Saturdays. Now we take Minnie too.
Yesterday was Minnie's first proper walk...
It went really well....Minnie was terrified of Poppy, Alf had a major meltdown 'cos he couldn't ride his scooter and hold the lead, all the kids argued over whose turn it was to drag the pup along and a big Pitbull ran out of nowhere and chased her. 
Very relaxing this dog business.....

things I have learnt this week

If you go for a walk with a dog it takes twice as long as normal 'cos you have to stop and chat to lots of dog lovers!


One night is never enough at the Titanic Spa.


When planning a Christmas meal with several families you're never gonna please everyone.


My local Tesco have started selling Green & Black's chocolate with ginger again after a 12 month absence, woohoo!


I was correct when I suspected that the company who were so keen for me to get the work done on time would not be so keen to pay on time.


Minnie the dog doesn't just bark at footballs, she also barks at men with ladders who just want to fix next door's roof.

time for a Minnie break

Before we became dog owners I booked for me and the other half to go to Titanic Spa in Huddersfield for the night as a birthday treat. We go tomorrow, woohoo!
But now we are dog owners we have not only to find a babysitter...but a dog sitter too. The kids are off to my mum and dad's and Minnie the dog is having a Minnie break at Neil's mum's.
Oooh the amount of packing I've had to do.....

happy days

Woohoo! Just about finished the biggest pile of work in the world ever and I'm gonna start on Spring! Yay!
And my friend Jayne who I don't see as often as I should is coming to visit on Saturday. Happy days :-)

Minnie the dog ... update

Minnie the dog had her second lot of injections today. The vet said one more week and she can play out!
She's doing very well and I like her. Apart from the poo. Some days she does ok and manages to go in the garden. Other days she doesn't. Cleaning poo from the living room carpet is not a job I like much!
And the kids aren't exactly leaping out of bed to see her any more. Now that it's cold and mostly rainy on a morning they don't seem very keen on taking her outside in their pyjamas....funny that!

too loud

How can a little boy who screams and shouts and makes so much noise think that fireworks are too loud for his little ears....and why does he feel the need to keep his hands firmly clasped to his ears for over half an hour before the fireworks even start? He does it every year... :-)

penguins

The big little one has been obsessed with penguins for like at least five years or something.....she has sought out and been bought no end of penguin tat...she owns just about every penguin related item ever made...
But the obsession seems to be coming to an end....it appears she has been bought one penguin too many and was yesterday overheard uttering the phrase "Don't they realise I'm sooo over penguins?!"
Okaaay.....hold the Christmas penguin slippers Nana, she's over it.....

fishink feature

The lovely Craig at Fishink featured me on his fab blog....get yer arse over there now....

two new stars in the sky

I went to two funerals on Tuesday. Karen, who I used to work with, died two days after Ken. Cancer again. She was only 50 and left behind two lovely children :-(

It was a very sad day but after the funerals we gave Ken the send off he would have wanted....400 people drinking. A lot!

And now I'm trying to appreciate things and not moan so much....see how long that lasts!

Ken

Our friend died on Friday. He was only 41. He had cancer. The NHS fobbed him off for 2 years before he was finally diagnosed, by which time it was too late. He left a lovely wife and 3 children, the youngest is only three.
It's so sad and so unfair.
Rest in peace Ken xxx

Minnie the alarm clock

Every morning before school I have to drag the kids out of bed kicking and screaming....they never get up straight away and are never early. I always end up screeching and going off on some rant about how late we're gonna be and get up now or else, blah blah.
But that was before we got a dog. Now they bounce out of bed before I'm even awake. They hop, skip and jump downstairs, before it's even light, in competition to see who can get to the dog first. They get dressed straight away so they can go for a run round the garden with the little pooch. No nagging, no screeching!
So maybe having a dog does have it's advantages after all.....till the school holidays next week that is.
Although I'm sure they'll be bored of the whole thing by then...

Minnie the dog

Well of course I knew that we couldn't all trail over to Bolton and actually come home without a dog didn't I?
This is Minnie, the newest member of our family. 
She's an 8wk old Border Terrier and was a bit smelly. But she's had a bath now and is settling in well. 
She was a bit whiney today so she sat on my knee while I worked.
I'm still insisting she's not my responsibility....but she's actually really cute....and I actually quite like her...don't tell Neil...

dog

The other half has nagged for a dog for the last 800 years. He always had a dog when he lived at home. He's wanted one since we met.
I don't really like dogs. I don't want one. 
I have managed so well up to now but he's increased the pressure lately. He's been showing the kids photos of cute little puppies. He's been telling them they can have one. He's been looking on the interweb for a suitable one. 
But I don't want a dog.
Yesterday was his birthday. We went out for the day and he spent half of it on his iPhone searching for dogs for sale. He kept showing the kids the cute little results of his searches.
Today he phoned one of the adverts. He arranged to see a man about a dog tonight!
I don't want a bloody dog!!!!!
Help!!!

rain again

Sooooo bored of this crappy weather :-(

lashes

I had my eyelashes done on Thursday...lovely long lashes that were easy to flutter. They were meant to last two weeks. Last night a couple fell out on one eye leaving a gap in the middle showing normal length rubbish lashes. Tried to get the others off 'cos I look ridiculous. But they appear to be stuck on with superglue. Now I've got one eye with normal lashes and one eye with lovely long lashes. Ace!

winners

We went to the races yesterday. I'm not much of a gambler. Usually lose the first two races then pack it in as a bad job. But yesterday we won a tenner on the first race....and a massive £143.50 on the second!! Woohoo! Only bet a fiver as well! Had an ace day after that :-)

new baby

Yay I'm an Auntie again! Congratulations to Neil's sister who had baby Alexandra yesterday :-)
We don't get to meet her till Sunday 'cos she lives 30 miles away and we can't squeeze her in before then :-(

smarty pants

The little man was given a tube of Smarties at Beavers last week. He had to scoff the Smarties then fill the tube with as many little things as he could. He has to take it back to Beavers tomorrow. Full. 
This is how I found the tube this morning in the green wheelie bin!
I wouldn't mind but the culprit was the parent who picked him up from Beavers last week and got all the details.
...And it wasn't me!

iPhone protection plan...

Look at my fab new phone cover!
Only took me 15 months and one smashed phone to get round to it :-)

happy birthday...

....to my little JodiePie, a big 11 today :-)

...notice how I've nicked the blackbird? Don't tell Thomas Owen Knowles...he'll never notice....

blackbird

Loved the Day Rover on Saturday. Don't think the kids get the bus enough though...they kept asking why it was stopping!
Went to Harewood House on Sunday with the other half and the little people. (I know...we always go there. We've got a Harewood card ok, gotta make use of it!)
How brill is this picture of a blackbird I found on the bird drawing display! Well done Thomas Owen Knowles...whoever you are!

day rover

Tomorrow me and my sis and four out of five of our children are going on a Day Rover.
Translation for people who don't live where I live... we pay £9.50 and can go anywhere we like in West Yorkshire -on buses and trains- all day long... or till we get bored.... or till the kids get too annoying and we have to shout a lot and come home....
We're going to Ilkley.
We're getting lunch from M&S and eating in the park.
The sun will be shining.
The kids will be well behaved and appreciative.
Lovely lovely.

spellings

My priority on our walk to school is for the little man to learn his spellings 'cos it's literally the only time in the week we have to do this mundane (and frankly impossible) task.
The little man's priority on our walk to school is to find the biggest piece of tree he can and drag it behind him, paying particular attention to splashing it through puddles and mud.

dodgy boiler

Our boiler is knackered. It's never been brilliant. But now when you put the heating on it cuts out after 20 minutes. It's been like that for a while but I've ignored it 'cos it was summer and if I was cold I just put another jumper on.
Peter the Heater fixed it for us last year. Said it was the thermostat. Put a new one on.
Gonna have to ring him again. 
Hope we can get away with another new bit and don't need to get a new boiler 'cos I really don't want to have to fork out for a new one....I'll just put 10 jumpers on and reset it every 20 minutes thanks all the same...

more new shoes

The lovely people at ASOS emailed me to say I could have 20% off yesterday. 

Not wishing to appear rude I quickly tapped away and ordered a new top for Friday night.

And not wishing to stop there I ordered some rather lovely patent black brogues which will look very nifty with everything I wear and make me look like Alexa Chung.

They arrived today.

The other half hates them.

He said "You're not wearing them when you go out with me!"

Like someone's Dad!

What does he know about fashion anyway? He still wears a top he had when I first met him. Thirteen years ago!

technical difficulties

I was having a super-good time faffing about on Pinterest. I added loads of new pins. Very satisfied....till I had a proper look.
For some reason half of them don't show the picture I pinned but an ugly question mark in a blue box. Then when you look at my boards there are some random pics that I would never pin in a million years. Like beautiful women wearing sunglasses and flowers on their heads. I pin cute bears, not beautiful women!
What's going on there then? The Pinterest ghostie is having a laugh I think. I've shut it down 'cos it's annoying me. Big style.

bag packer

Yesterday me and the little man packed bags in Tesco to raise money for his football team. 
Actually, I packed the bags. And if there was a Tesco Super Fabulous Customer Service Award 10 September 2011 I would have won it.
Alf, on the other hand, wouldn't.
But to be fair he wasn't really tall enough to see into the bags ...so he didn't do bad, considering.

tango-ed

The other day my friend's 13 year old son decided to spruce himself up a bit in time to go back to school. He nicked her fake tan and started to apply. Liberally. And when it didn't seem to show up much he applied some more. And some more. Half a bottle to be precise. On his face and on his arms. 
Four hours later he was very orange and very streaky!
But he still denied nicking the fake tan.
Then he got in the bath for two hours.
Oh how we laughed!

back to normal...

Ok little people, you've been much fun, we've had a laugh and a lie in.....but that's enough now.
Get back to school!
I need some peace and quiet and I need to work for more than 3 hours in a row!

o m g !!!

So yesterday the other half was in charge of the little people for only the second time in six and a half weeks of no school. And what happened? 
The little man fell in the canal!
With his brand new bike!
Don't worry, he was fished out. He is safe and well.
They had to flag down a passing barge to borrow a pole. The other half fished out the bike from the bottom of the canal.
So all is well.
No problem at all.
No fuss required.

clutter

Too much to do and too little time and birthdays and nights out and school holidays and crap weather means a right bloody mess in our house. Still got loads of camping stuff lying around doing my head in with no real place to live except the garage or loft - and I can't face either. 
And birthday presents. And the new bike. And washing. And work. 
Planning a big clearout once the kids bugger off back to school....but it probably won't happen will it?!

Where do those people with neat and tidy houses find the time?

...or are they just dull???

I'm back!

Had a fab time camping, loved the tent, loved the duck down sleeping bag, loved the chinese & indian takeaways and the fish and chips by the sea (thought about cooking for a minute but sod that, I was on holiday!) hated the couple who arrived at 6 am and put their tent up on top of ours very loudly and hated their dog who snored all night every night!
Anyway got back to busy busy busy-ness. Little man's 7th birthday complete with trips to the bike shop and toys r us to spend his cash...wedding on Saturday...big bank holiday night out Sunday....hangovers and work.... holiday completely forgotten now!

converse crazy

Love my new converse so much I bought the littlies a pair each!
We will look proper ridiculous all wearing them on our jollies ha ha!

tree fella

The neighbours at the back moaned that one of our trees was too high so we had to have it cut down a bit today. Two chaps came with their chainsaws. They were only here a couple of hours but managed to drink a million cups of tea each. I had to keep breaking off work to put the bloody kettle on. I don't even drink tea so this was a right chore I can tell you!

Anyways, due to all that tea making I'm gonna be in a right rush tomorrow so won't have time to post before the camping trip. 
See y'all when I get back x

my weekend...

Yesterday we shipped the little people off to my Mum and Dad's and me and the other half went to DJ Mark's wedding. He's not a DJ anymore but he used to be so he's still called DJ Mark. He married Flori from Romania. She is as mad as a frog! It was a brilliant wedding!
Today we went to the camping shop and bought stuff.
We are all ready for our maiden voyage on Wednesday. Well not really 'cos I have a zillion things to do before then but at least we got all the stuff.