Merry Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas to you all and I hope you all have a wonderful time!

Leisurely day

So had a really leisurely morning doing not much except having breakfast and a very long shower. We ended up going to B&Q to buy some new door handles for the kids rooms as the old ones they had were impossible to use quietly and they were waking us up every morning. We then went to McDonalds for one of our very few visits - it's usually during school holidays and we had promised a visit this holiday. How people can afford to eat there a few times a week is beyond me as one visit for the 4 of us is equivalent to 2 days of my food bill at home!!

In the afternoon the kids spent a while perusing all the paint colour charts they picked up in the morning as they need to choose what colour to redecorate Jamie's room as they will be sharing that room at some point in the not too distant future. B&Q do some gorgeous funky metallic colours that we're trying to steer then towards.

Managed another LO in the evening using a very treasured photo of myself with my Granda:

I know you're not really supposed to have "favourites" but Granda was always my favourite grandparent and I still miss him terribly - he died 13 years ago. He used to call me his "beauty" so he was always my "beast". Quite pleased with this photo as it was scanned. enlarged and colours changed from a tiny photo that I found in Mum's collection.

Hallelujah!!!!!

All presents wrapped tonight while kids in bed and OH out with workmates for drinks!!! Just need to go to Asda tomorrow night after the kids are in bed to finish the shopping and then that's me done!

Scrapping again!!!!

Well, I can't believe I actually managed to do 2 layouts this weekend - what was I thinking of?!?!?!? This is definitely not my usual style ie: 8.5 x 11 landscape, different patterned papers, 2 photos put on at an angle! but I wanted to try out my new Technique Tuesday stamps for the first time (to make the flower). The scan is absolutely dire though - have a feeling the scanner may be on the way out/not working properly and as for the stitching of the two halves - well!!! This one is more my usual stuff - Jamie with Neil back in March 2000 - can't believe it was nearly 7 years ago now!! Still love these Scenic Route papers and must buy some more before they disappear for ever! Must also hurry up with scrapping both boys baby photos as only a few months now until the next one is here LOL! Have to admit that it would be lovely to be able to use pink occasionally but we'll have to wait and see. My Mum and step-dad have just been around to see us before they go up to stay with my brother in Cheshire for Christmas. We're going to have our "Christmas day" with them on New Year's Eve - a large roast dinner and another lot of pressies for the kids to open. I love doing it this way as it spreads Christmas over a few days and the kids don't get as bored so quickly. We're having Christmas Day on our own as a family (for the first time ever) but then my wonderful in-laws are coming on the 27th for a few days which I'm looking forward to - can I admit to loving my mother in law to bits LOL!

Back again!!!!

Well, guess who caught the kid's tummy bug?!? Totally knocked me for six and still not 100% now. My appetite is gradually returning (hopefully will be back for Christmas) and I'm still drinking loads of Lucozade. I had to rely on friends to take the kids to school and pick them up as there was no way I could have left the house. I was going to make my Christmas cards this year but with having the chest infection and then this tummy bug I've done absolutely nothing so had to use last year's bought ones which I managed to write last night and then posted this morning. On the subject of cards I'm still wondering if I've done something to upset my sister - I had a card from her a couple of days ago that was to "Jo and family" - has she forgotten our names?!? Just seemed really impersonal and "off" to me or is that just me being overly sensitive? Baby is still doing fine and has now settled into a routine (sleeping at the moment but will probably wake up in about an hour) but the sciatica means I can't stand up for long or walk too far! My wrists haven't been as bad as they were last week but I have the splints ready for when they are! May have a play with the Hero Arts stamps I got last week later - I haven't even opened them yet but now I feel like I may want to spend some time crafting and playing around with my stash. If I do manage it I'll be back with the results at some point.

& now... the kids!!!

Well after a few days of me feeling yucky it's the kid's turn! Jamie went to his district Beaver's party on Saturday afternoon and just before going to bed that night complained that he had tummy ache so I left a bowl by the bed just in case. 2 bed linen changes later he slept through but is still not eating properly again yet. Then, today, Matthew had his school nativity production (photos will be posted some other time) then came home and a couple of hours later fell asleep on the chair in the lounge. Knowing this was so unlike him I knew something was up so when he said he had a poorly tummy I was prepared with a bowl and towels. Seems he has the same bug Jamie had but is now tucked up in bed and looking forward to a day off school spent with Mummy tomorrow. I had a scheduled midwife appointment this morning at 10.15 but actually had to wait until 11.05 to see her by which time I'd had enough of sitting in the waiting room, as had Neil. Everything was fine but when I asked if they'd had the results of my triple blood test back (which was taken 6 weeks ago) she couldn't actually make them visible on the PC and told me I'd have to see a Dr to get the results. Luckily the receptionist was lovely and fitted me in with a Dr fairly quickly - had to wait for about 15 minutes and then we got to see the Dr. Apparently at my age the risk of having a baby with Downs is about 1 in 249 but my tests came back as 1 in 450 which the Dr seemed pretty pleased about and which takes a great deal of weight off our minds. I actually managed to do some scrapping over the weekend for the first time in ages and although it won't set the scrapping world alight I'm still pleased with it: The pic is of Jamie when he was nearly 2 and used to just lie still and let Neil put on Vicks chest rub whenever he had a cold. I could never do it as the smell just made me feel sick!!!! I've been busy on Ebay again and bought another 3 sets of those Hero Arts stamps from the US. The letters Q, W and V will soon be making their way over to me - that'll leave 19 sets to buy!!! Off to bed now -haven't typed this much in ages !!!

So much for.......

.......normal service!!! Ended up at the Dr's again today! On Saturday night I had a really painful left arm and spent most of the night downstairs watching tv and just put it down to sleeping on it in an awkward position and giving myself a dead arm. Then last night my right arm started getting the same kind of pain but this was before I even went to bed. I managed the grand total of about 1.5 hours sleep with the rest of the night spent in front of the tv again (thenk God for cable tv!). Back to the Dr's this morning in agony to be told that I have carpal tunnel syndrome in both my arms and the only thing I can have is ibuprofen and paracetamol. The Dr doesn't like splints/supports so won't give me any of those! Put this together with the sciatica I already have along with a chest infection and I'm feeling a wee bit like a wreck at the moment! Was just getting back into scrapping too and now it looks like that's out as it's too much to do with my hands and wrists feeling like this! Off to cry now.

Normal service will....

....resume shortly I hope! Had a stinking cold for a while and now have a chest infection and on antibiotics so not much else happening in my life! See you all soon!