Smelly Pigs....



We went visiting today to our friends in Meath. They live in the most beautiful house (well that's a bit of an underexaggeration - more like a 4,000 sq ft palatial mansion really on a few acres overlooking rolling hills and horse filled fields). They have 3 young children under 4 and our two got on famously with them - best friends instantly. The neighbouring farm belongs to their family so we took a stroll down to see the newborn foal which was born yesterday. It was so beautiful but I couldnt get a photo as the mother was very protective over her newborn. Lucy didnt like the smell of the farm and made up a song on the way home as she sat on Ed's shoulders which went along the lines of 'smelly pig - smells disgusting' - pooh! I roared laughing when I heard her clever little ditty....

This is their beautiful baby Grace - what a little pixie she is...

'I am the leader of chocolate!.....'



...and I have the evidence to prove it! Last week Lucy (aged 3 1/2) turned to me out of the blue and announced this rather strange proclamation. I grilled her further 'What does that mean, pet?' and she declare 'cos I like chocolate the most in our family!'. Technically and factually she is incorrect as her father wins that title hands down but I thought she was rather funny to announce this. Then yesterday morning I was pottering about, picking up things and when I moved the sofa I stumbled across this display... Foolishly I had gotten up at 8am, set up their breakfast and went back to bed for a snooze - (well it was the bank holiday) trusting them to sit quietly and behave and here I find a big lump of chocolate log except it was half nibbled by a little mouse (called Lucy) and it's not even 9.30am! Seriously think she has a chemical addiction....

Today Ed spent the day setting up the new bunk beds. As predicted the estimated 1 hour assembly transpired into 6 but the man got there in the end and the little ones got to sleep in their new beds - eventually - the excitement was palpable! I think it was 11pm when Lucy eventually dropped off!


In the middle of all this assembly our good friends BJ and Elaine called by with their little guy Jack and I got some nice shots of him -hasn't he got the most amazing bluish/green eyes.

We spent the evening watching re-runs of Dallas on Sky with a nice bottle of vino - bliss! Just like the good old days...

Ding Dong it's Argos Man!



Was awoken out of my sleepy haze at 7am with a knock on the door from Argos man. When I agreed to accept our new bunkbeds last week between 7am-12pm I honestly didn't believe that any company in Ireland would be so efficient and diligent to mean it. How wrong was I??? Having to make small talk to Argos man at 7am in my pj's while he filled my hall with boxes and mattresses was quite a challenge. Anyway the long anticipated bunkbeds have arrived to the delight of my little ones....It makes me laugh 2 years ago we ripped our house inside out knocking every corner out to add extra bedroom space and now the two of them who have their own bedrooms decide they want to share to be together. Who am I to stand in the way of their grand plan! Said boxes and mattresses will probably remain in our hall for a very long time judging by the amount of latts, screws and allen keys which came with the delivery. DH is out on a work night so he will probably break a leg when he stumbles home later...

My mum came over today which was lovely - usually we go to see her and when she comes here it's because of babysitting, car trouble etc ..but this time she just came over for lunch and sat all afternoon with me in the sweltering heat watching the kids play. Eva and I popped into Tesco this morning and she persuaded me to buy her a 'Sport's day kit' - normally I don't cave in so quickly but it was actually a great little kit and I am frantically arming myself with things to do this Summer when the kids are off so I figured a few egg and spoon / 3 legged/ sack races won't go amiss- especially if there are gangs of kids hanging around looking for things to do in my back garden.


Not one to like having her photo taken I caught her off guard running rings around the kids. Lucy was a terrible cheat - clutching her egg and spoon with both hands and only running halfway down the intended track and turning on her heels to get back to base and claim her prize - will have to sort that one out before primary school starts!


We had big bowls of ice cream to cool down - the look of sheer delight on Lucy's face was totally priceless!



I was tidying up the garden tonight and when I looked up I thought I was seeing things - Eva had washed her Barbies clothes in Barbie's official swimming pool and cleverly hung all the clothes out to dry.....Well as my mum would say there's great 'drying' out these days!

Have a great bank hol weekend - off to watch the lovely Diarmuid Gavin on the Late Late (Yum!)

XX

Secret Diary of a Demented Housewife...


Today is the long awaited day that my good pal Niamh launches her first novel...so of course I had to mark the occasion. I used the invitation to her book launch which takes place next Wednesday (Yay... free champers!!!) to make this little card for her. We had such a giggle up at Borders today, checking out the position in store and then having lunch in Starbucks upstairs. I even made my own demented secret confession to her which of course I won't be sharing here (tee hee!!!). And no I'm not... before any assumptions are drawn...just a little in joke between us - right Niamh???!

I made Niamh this little necklace from some beads I received in a lovely swap with Elven on craft supplies - they were really Niamh's colours and she loved it (phew!).

I have devoured the book all day - beating my own personal record for reading a book and I have to say - and this is not a word of bias - it's the FUNNIEST read!!! Really it is...i'm not just saying it! If you are-
(a) a woman,
(b) have kids
(c) dont have kids but know someone who has kids
(d) have the remotist morsel of a sense of humour...
..I defy you not to giggle your way through this book....so witty and sharp and I can't believe my little pal has been hiding her talent for so long. Go and read it - and then go buy it for your girlfriends...This lady is HOT! She has a great big book deal from Penguin so she's going to be around for a long time.,,,The bikini wax chapter had me rolling with laughter around the garden!


So... in the afternoon Linda and her gorgeous girls called down for a playdate and we spent a most pleasant afternoon in the garden enjoying this amazing unseasonal sunshine, crafting our little hearts out while the girls went on a 'hunt though the jungle looking for wild animals' (yep they really did!). Honestly their little imaginations are phenomenol (sp?) - who needs SKY+ when you are 3 and 6 and forced out to the garden to play.


They went to the toy room, brought down all the cuddly toys and then placed them in our big tree at the back of the garden and pretended to go on a bear hunt etc etc. I took lots of photos as it was hilarious watching them discussing the dead animal pile (that bit was a bit freaky I have to admit!). Poor 2ft tweety pie was found dangling from a branch by the neck...

Oh I love days like this....Afterwards I was eating my dinner out on the patio and I spotted Lucy having a quiet moment eating a bowl of chicken pieces and talking to her Barney who was singing away. She was all in a little world of her own completely surrounded by her teddies and cuddlies and I had to get a photo as it was priceless!





Isn't my baby such a cutie... {{{{wubs}}}}

XXX

Happy Monday...

Mondays are so much easier to deal with when it's sunny and today is a beautiful day... Hope this sunny spell lasts right through til October as everyone is happier when the sun shines!
Anyway loads of news to report....Saturday we had the girl's brigade display which was great. I took so many photos I nearly crashed my laptop when I tried to upload. The girls gave me lots to be proud of - doing their thing perfectly with such panache...

This is Lucy doing the 'hokey kokey' - what a little doll she was! Then they did the cutest routine of 'Thank Heaven for little girls' in their little pink dresses... (a scrapbooker's dream night out don't you think!' LOL!)...




And here's miss Eva looking so grown up doing the routine 'Sweet Sixteen' which they did recently at the district finals. Definitely a proud mammy moment! She takes it VERY seriously and there wasn't a foot out of place. How cool is she!


Yesterday I had a lovely afternoon - went to Christine's (Arc angels) Charity crop. There was a raffle and I won 2nd prize which was a camcorder (or sorts!). Not sure how it works but DH is having fun with it...We did this lovely LO using gorgeous papers - haven't seen them before so I was well impressed with them.


There were some amazing bargains for sale -lookey lookey what I got...Donna from www.Scrap4Keeps.com is closing down her shop and I got these babies for €3 each - I nearly tripped over myself in the rush to the table when I saw them for sale. She still has loads of stock left so check out her website for a bargain - everything is half price! I had fun trying to sneak them into the house without being noticed... Thankfully my husband is not as observant about craft matters... unlike the scrapbook widower (see sidebar for link). While he was sorting out the tea I quickly made some changes in my new craft room (did i mention I got a NEW CRAFTROOM!!!) and installed them as if they have been there for 100 years. At one stage he walked into my room to tell me something and my heart skipped a beat but I stood directly in front of the tower of paper and made sure I was in his eyeline and then gently backed him out of the room... phew...he hadn't noticed (yay!). Don't they look like they have been there for 100 years... haha!!!! RESULT! Hope he doesn't read every inch of my blog!!!

So here's my new room - it's 3 walls of floor to ceiling stash and 2 wallpaper tables to allow me be creative. I love it as it's a real 'lock myself away from the kids' room...bless their little cotton socks! It used to be their toy room but they were too fond of bringing their toys to every part of the house so they have been sent to the attic which is a much better plan for everyone involved...especially moi! I hasten to add...it's not normally this tidy!

Peace and quiet...



They have all left for ballet and I am here on my own with a cuppa and the pc for company - bliss! The kids are so excited today as they have their girls brigade display (ie parent's night) tonight so they will be performing their little hearts out for us. This month my project is up for the www.craftsupplies.ie design team. I did a wavy LO showing the girls at last year's display. I called it 'Proud mammy moments' and I've journaled how it's little moments like these ...when they are performing like they are on the Albert hall and it's only a local school hall, nevertheless my heart is bursting with pride for them...

This is the other project I did for the DT - using my granny's photos from age 6mths to old age. I'm so lucky to have these photos and I will make sure they last for another 100 years.


I've just sent this off to Kirsty Wiseman for the mother's hands challenge. I took this photo last week -which wasn't easy as I was using one hand as my other one was under the girls. I just love the chubby wrinkles on Lucy's - she still has baby hands and I know it wont last much longer :-(....




I had fun this week doing a LO for Scrapwest called 'My craft' -it's nice to put all your stash photos in one place! LOL!


Later
x

YOU RAISE ME UP...



..And the boys from WESTLIFE certainly did last night at The Point! For the past ten years I have been waiting patiently to have a daughter old enough to bring to a boy band concert and last night my wish came true. My friend Niamh and her little girl Caoimhe came with us and we had such a great night. We had second row seats and enjoyed a bird's eye view of the boys and I swear Cian was singing 'You raise me up' right at me as he was winking at me all night Haha! Sorry Niamh hun ...but it was me and not you!!!! The kids had a ball but really it was all for the mums last night!

Here's some shots of the guys in action...My goodness young Cian looks divine in a white suit!

My claim to fame on Westlife is around 8 years ago I was working in a pharmaceutical company and I ran a PR event for some of the children's hospitals. 50 kids were nominated to go on a flight the week before Christmas to fly to the 'Northpole'. Actually it was a night time round trip to Mayo and back but the kids were none the wiser. Half way through the flight the captain announced that there was some extra-terrestial activity and he made the plane shake a little. Next thing Santa arrives out of the cockpit with pressies for everyone etc. It was a fab night - all the kids were mesmorised by the whole thing. Anyway one of the little girls picked from Tallaght hospital (Tammy) wrote to me to say how happy she was to be picked but was advised not to go as she has cystic fibrosis and had developed MRSA.

I felt so gutted for her so I asked our PR company if they could do anything to help. I phoned her and she told me she was a huge WESTLIFE fan so I got a hold of Louis Walsh's mobile number and chanced getting in touch. They sent me the biggest parcel of signed CD's, sweaters, books and posters and a personalised letter for the little girl. I was so impressed with them - such a great bunch of lads. We went out to Tallaght hospital on the day that she missed the flight and presented her with the parcel of Westlife goodies and a stereo. I still have the thank you card she sent me - I often wonder whatever happened to her as she would be 16 or 17 now...

Anyways..here are the yummilicious boys...
.




And here's the gorgeous girlies reunited after 4 months of being apart. Best pals forever...

Really enjoyed the girlie night out with my little girl :-) (***wubs***)