Best Laid Plans......

It's been a busy, happy, sad, productive and manic couple of weeks. The best thing has been being able to hear from Pete as he's had some time alongside in Fujairah. The joy on the girls faces as they spoke to their dad was brilliant to see (although the constant arguing as to who was going to speak next wasn't as brilliant). It's just so nice to hear his voice although I must admit to being slightly jealous over the huge suite he has in his five star hotel! Mind you, I guess after spending the last couple months crammed into a tin of sardines he does kind of deserve it. Just wish I was there to share it with him....oh well, maybe next time.

Sunday of course was Mothers Day and with a little help from Nanny the girls pulled off a lovely card and chocolate cake for me. I was thrilled with the card especially as they'd got so creative.....haven't checked out how much of my yummy making memories lime acrylic Natasha managed to use for her handprint but as it was for such a worthy cause I've decided to overlook said stash robbing!

I was so good and managed to get my three mothers day cards done in time. Unfortunately one went off before I got a chance to take a photo, one wasn't sent in time (sorry Rose, will save it for next year!) and the other I'm going to give my mum when i see her later tonight.....It's weird how I used to be so organised when it came to birthdays, anniversaries and the like and now I have difficulty in knowing what day it is (infact i've even been known to forget what year we're in lately).

I've quite enjoyed making cards lately although I'm not the greatest at it. I've found it's a good way of using up some of the vellum quotes pads that i've had lurking around from my early days of buying unnecessary stash! It's also a way of using up scraps and trying to refind my mojo. I have some great photos to scrap but just can't find the right frame of mind at the moment. May have a look at Pencilines and see if that inspires me!

Tuesday was one of those days that left me a little deflated. It was parent teacher consultations at Emilys school and a few issues came up about her behaviour. Nothing too serious but enough to need to take action. Academically she is very gifted and working a year ahead of her age but she tends to be bossy and want to be the centre of attention. To try and get the attention she will act as if she's about to do something naughty (eating plastacine was the latest). She won't actually do the naughty thing but will look straight at the teacher with a smirk on her face just willing to be told off. As Pete said, there's no point in being clever if you're going to be disruptive. So we had a long chat and it seems to have paid off as she got a certificate in assembly on Friday for her improved behaviour during the week.

It's been a strange journey watching how Emily has grown the last few years. I did wonder when she was between the age of 2 and 3 whether or not I'd be able to handle her as she was constantly on the go and could get really tantrummy. It wasn't something I ever experienced with Freya who was laid back, calm and quite introvert (no idea what happened to that little girl cos it's certainly not a description which holds true with her now).

Since turning 3 though, she has completely mellowed and has become so utterly loving. At times she can be manic and whingy but the tantrums are certainly gone. I do wonder if it is middle child syndrome. I don't know a great deal about this having come from a family of only one other sibling but it does make sense. Emily is certainly the one that generally has to shout the loudest at home so I guess that aswell as her learning from this experience we need to aswell.

So that kind of brings me to this weekend. I'd managed to farm all the kiddiwinks out tonight for a much needed night of R&R (typical that i chose the night when i'll lose sleep with the clocks changing!). However, that seems to be in the air at the moment. Sheree (my lil sis) has gone into hospital. Hopefully nothing too serious but as she's not suffered a relapse with her Lupus for years the last few weeks have shown that her blood is so thin at the moment that she could start bleeding out. It's a scary thought and I'm praying that everything will be ok. Sheree is one of these people who is straight as a die, has never let her Lupus become an obstacle and doesn't drip every five minutes about how ill she is. But I could hear in her voice this morning how worried she was. Hopefully it's nothing more than blood leaking into her joints (which has been something that's happened before) and she'll be home soon.

So my Sainsbury meal for a fiver and bottle of Rose may have to wait for another night as instead of getting rid of my lot, i'm stuck with most of mine plus the niece and nephew. Fingers crossed eh?

Burst my bubble

I have no idea why I spent last night with my head shoved in a bucket but it wasn't pleasant! Everyone else in the house seems fine and I'm much better, just have that washing machine feeling in my stomach. I was fine til I went to bed....even decided on an early one for a change and about half hour after laying down I just felt awful. It just so happened to be a night when Emily decided that she'd had a bad dream and crept in with me at 1am, only to leave again about 6am and wake everyone up whilst the only thing I wanted to do was die. Wonder if it's anything to do with the huge amount of chocolates i've consummed in the last few days....surely not...cocoa is one of my five a day.

These are the cards I made yesterday although the photo isn't great but was trying to get it done before the kids started school. I was determined to use up some of my old stash and this BG kit still had several pages left. I also had some DCWV vellum and rub on sentiments which I bought when I first started scrapping that I would probably never buy now so I thought I'd use some of them up too. These are all for little notes to send to Pete when he's away although may keep one back for valentines next year....just on the off chance that he'll be home although at the moment I've got the feeling that for the next three years at least i'll be single far more than married.

A lot of the WAGS are flying out to see the guys this weekend but unfortunately I won't be going. With the kids going it would have been far too expensive and I didn't have anyone that could look after them for a few days either so I think this port visit will be especially hard to hear from him. Fingers crossed though that I should get an email today or tomorrow and I've sent off the one i've been compiling for the last five or six weeks. It will probably take him all day to read it.

Still in happy land!

The weather is continuing to bring out the best in me and I am in the most glorious mood. I think the kids are starting to worry about why their mother appears to be so happy! Should hear from Pete for the first time in several weeks in the next few days and I just can't wait to hear his voice. I know that after the call i'll be down in the dumps but for that briefest of moments the world will be put to rights and I'll feel on top of the world. The girls are really looking forward to speaking to Daddy so i'm hoping the time difference will work itself out alright, to be honest I haven't checked what it is.

Freya's birthday present arrived yesterday and she looked like an impatient spoilt brat waiting for it to charge up but she's been having a little play today....customising the wallpaper and setting up all her contacts and email. It's a nifty piece of kit, lovely and sturdy so fingers crossed she'll look after it.

Been digging out old photos recently and getting them scanned into Photoshop Organiser. Still wish i was slim.....guess that's what childbirth and chocolate addiction does for ya. I so wish I enjoyed working out but truth is I don't. Now if I could twirl again that would be a different story. I still miss it, even after all these years and I still have a baton in the house.

I'm going to try and get hold of some of the videos of some of the performances, would especially love a copy of the Euro championships in 89. Oh the memories!

Another reason for the happy mood? I got some stash out yesterday and made some cards so will share some photos of them tomorrow. Better make some mothers day ones tomorrow!

Life is sweet

Isn't it funny how when the sun shines, life never seems so bad! Despite all the pitfalls of the last couple of months, everything in the Farrell household seems relaxed and calm. I don't think I even screamed at the girls once this morning whilst getting them ready for school and usually it's every 30 seconds. I'm sleeping better, the house is tidy (although my bedroom is resembling Aladdins Cave) and I even made some cards last night. Even Freya asked me yesterday morning 'Mum why are you in such a good mood?' which translated into honest mood would probably sound like 'Mum why are you usually such a mardy cow!?'. I didn't even retort with sarcasm but just smiled as a bluebird landed on my shoulder....ok, the last bit MAY be a slight exaggeration, but it's how I feel. In a few days I'll be speaking to the love of my life, the girls are all in their happy places and life is wonderful.......what more could i ask for? Well, if anyone has a couple grand going spare.........

The current subject on the smackblog is about the credit crunch and to how this has affected your scrapping. Well I must admit to being virtually saintly in the stash spending department having bought nothing at all for six months and even then, that was my first spend of last year. My Bad Girls kit subscription ended in October and I didn't renew and my magazine subscriptions ended last summer so stash spending is nil. And yet I have a cupboard full of stuff. Plenty to use and plenty to do with it. I'm not on DT's and I don't submit work, therefore it doesn't matter that I don't have the latest stash or embellishments. As someone who scraps for me and my family, I can't see that future generations who look at my work will think anymore of the pages than they do at the photos and they certainly won't be thinking....oooh nice use of felt, that was bang on trend when this page was made! If it's not going to bother them then why should it bother lil ol me. By the time it reaches them...ALL the papers will be dated so who cares......to prove a point, i'm now using up scraps from the Basic Grey range Blush range which i just 'had to have' as soon as it came out.....two years or so ago!

Now don't get me wrong, I ooooh and ahhhh at the latest CHA releases but I just can't see the justification when i've already got enough paper to decorate the house with........I even have a fall back stash of herma......now if we were talking shoes.........

Sweet Like Chocolate

OK, so I love chocolate, in fact I'll admit to being a little obsessed with the stuff and although I don't eat as much of it as I would like anymore (the old metabolism isn't quite what it used to be) I could still happily walk around Hotel Chocolat for an hour just dreaming. However, I had mixed feelings before I went to the chocolate making night because I couldn't see it being a 'fun' thing to do. HOW WRONG WAS I? Well, i'll tell you I was VERY wrong!

Chocochinos is just down from the Distillery on the Barbican and a small chocolatier come coffee shop although they do chocolate cream teas rather than your standard ones! The evening started with a chocolate fondue, bowls of warm white, dark and milk chocolate with strawberries, cake, oranges, marshmallows and the like and a great chance to catch up on everything with the girls as we waited for everyone to arrive......I was very happy waiting. Then we went off in two groups. I didn't take any pictures of the chocolate making as I was far too busy trying to impress with my amazing chocolate skills and auditioning for a job because who needs teaching when they can work in a chocolate shop eh?

The shop was full of giggles and chatter and it was such a nice evening. Before I went, I had no idea how much we would actually be doing but three hours later we'd made about 30 chocolates each and I also made 10 lollies. And there was me saying to Freya that I would only save her a chocolate if I made more than four....so do i lie and hide them or share? LOL. Actually, I made several lollies for the kids and a big one in the shape of a treble clef for Freya...not the neatest looking treble clef mind you but I bet it's the tastiest!

The only downside to the night was listening to some of the girls talking excitedly about flying out to meet the guys next weekend. Not easy to be happy for them when you want to be going to. Hearing from Pete is going to be hard enough when they get into port, but knowing he's there for 10 days and I could be there is going to be a horrible so just hoping I can hold it together for the next couple of weeks. Of course, unless anyone wants to come and look after my kids for a week for me so I can go.........anyone?

But anyway......I would recommend this chocolate night to anyone, great idea for hen nights and other girly nights out...not sure what the minimum number was but at £30 a head it sounds expensive until you realise what you come home with! The staff were wonderful and provided drinks of the soft or hot variety throughout but you could take your own alcohol. With the boat away for another five months before the end of the year I'm hoping we can arrange another little visit......don't tell the kids, but it beat Butlins hands down!

Busy weekend

So much to cram into a few days, firstly a mass of paperwork, accounting (probably of the creative kind to try and work out what the hell is going on ...... i'm sure that Pete doesn't realise that you can't take more away than is there to start with) a mass clean of the house as i don't want the sitter to realise what squalor I subject my kids to living in tomorrow night, dropping Freya off to go shop for bridesmaid dresses, food shop as my cupboards resemble mother hubbard very literally apart from a lone pizza for the sitter tomorrow, decide what the hell i'm wearing to chocolate heaven tomorrow!

Its a 'do' for the ladies of HMS Torbay tomorrow, we're off to Chocochino's on the Barbican. Never been before so should be an experience, apparently we're having chocolate fondue and then making our own box of chocolates which i'm not shy of saying I will not be sharing with anyone!

Had a lovely night last night for Freya's birthday. Despite her present not being here, she's patient if nothing else so wasn't worried about it and spent the night trying to guess what it may be. I said that i'd tell her if she wanted to know but she said she just wanted to ask questions and for me to answer yes or no to see if she could work it out. Think she may now know as she's stopped asking now and when I got my PDA out to find out some dates she said 'I think i know what it is' so either she HAS worked it out or she thinks she has a PDA which isn't true. What she actually has is this.

We had nanny over for a little birthday tea consisting of sushi and crab and salmon, all Freya's faves and this oh so cute cake from Waitrose.

And she never managed to puff them out in one go either!

Still can't believe how time is flying by. I hate seeing her grow up as I seem to become more and more protective. Funny how when you first have children you think you're going to be some 'right on' parent, relaxed about everything and then when puberty hits you want to find out who still stocks chastity belts! Biased i know but ain't she gorgeous? Although she'll have to blame her dad for her eyebrows!

She's had money, new football boots and kit, some gorgeous clothes from three sets of grandparents, earrings and is having her hair done at a lush salon at the end of the month. Bloody hell, i get far too emotional on birthdays!

I've been really missing Pete this week, guess it's because I know that we're roughly half way through the trip and with him being alongside next week it's the anitcipation of some contact. So will have to busy myself with some other projects that are on the go which hopefully I can share next week. For now it's off to do the bedtime battle.

Happy Birthday Freya!

Can you believe this little little hairy monster is 11 today cos I can't! Off to have a little tea party and contemplate how fast time is passing by.......secondary school this year......WAY TOO SCARY!

RANT!

OK, so ...... broken hose...fixed, blown head gasket...fixed, radiator replaced, new set of glow plugs done......back to fix the cigarette lighter and windows that were working and then weren't...done. So tell me.....after 5 visits to the garage and another by the AA....WHY MY BASTARD CAR NOW WILL NOT WORK AT ALL! AA coming again...if it turns out after all this to be a flat battery...someones f***ing head WILL ROLL!

The Long Good Sunday

Anyone that knows me, knows fully well that I don't 'do' mornings. In fact I hate mornings. I wish I was one of these people that can get out of bed with a spring in their step, however it takes me at least an hour to get out of grumpy, snappy and downright miserable mood in the morning. I can't remember the last time I was awake at 5.45am and it wasn't easy.....especially as the heating doesn't come on til 6.30 and opening the bathroom door it felt like I was stepping into an ice box.

However, we managed to get the car full of everything we needed to take (far too much in retrospect) and met the coach and after three hours headed into the gates at Butlins, Minehead. The most beautiful sight I had ever seen greeted us. I love the sight of a rainbow but had never seen anything like this one. Over the sea front and disappearing into the sea at both ends, you could really see both ends of the rainbow.....of course, stupid me had packed the camera away in the hold of the coach and therefore didn't get to take a snap of it, but trust me when i say it was stunning.
The kids didn't take as long as me to feel with it and after an hour of humpting around bags (why doesn't Butlins have a locker for day guests....maybe should've filled out a suggestion card...or maybe should not have attempted to be some freaky human buckaroo just waiting for one of the kids to pull me in a direction which resulted in me falling in a heap on the floor) we settled down in the Skyline and watched some of the entertainment going on.

Bob the Builder, Pingu, Billy Bear and Friends and the Skyline Gang certainly kept the little ones entertained whilst Rob and Freya buggared off to the pool and go crazy on the go karts. Seven hours passed incredibly quickly. Inbetween shows on the stage there were the visits to the Puppet Castle, which was definately Emily's favourite as she was going on about it from the moment we arrived.

We then went into the little ones amusement park to attack the rides there. One thing I've learnt is that I really have to practice a bit more with the settings on the camera as I didn't manage to get many action shots, most were really blurred or the focus was in completely the wrong place. That'll teach me for ignoring the poor camera for such a long time. Will have to brush up again on the manual settings......and put a new lens down on the wish list for Xmas!

It was lovely to meet some more family members from HMS Torbay and have more cuddles with babies to satisfy my ever broody womb! The kids were non stop and loved it and I reverted back to headless chicken mode trying to figure out where they all were and rounding them up like some demented shepherd......really I have to learn to chill out a bit more I think.

The hardest part was being there without Pete. It's been a place for family holidays over the past five years and part of me kept expecting him to come over to the table where I was sat carrying a coffee and diet coke and ask where the kids had disappeared to now! A part of me kept looking over my shoulder hoping to see him, which of course wasn't going to happen but I made the most of it and by the time we got onto the coach at 6pm (wet and very cold) I was wishing I was in bed snuggled up to him watching Sky Sports News before disappearing off to the land of Nod.

The girls were asleep before their heads hit the pillows and now it's back to having a deep clean in the house ready for another week. Another week closer to hearing from Pete, another week closer to him coming home and another week closer to him going away again.......ever the pessimist me!

One last thing

ignore the screaming bits or whatever as this is a clip i've just got from YOUTUBE. I'm a big fan of P!nk and have been lucky enough to see her in concert a couple of times but unfortunately the new tour won't be heading down this way (mind you when you see the size of the set you can understand that there's no way they were going to get that in the piddly Pavillions!).

But this.....is simply beautiful.



Have you ever fed a lover with just your hands?
Closed your eyes and trusted, just trusted
Have you ever thrown a fist full of glitter in the air?
Have you ever looked fear in the face
And said I just don’t care

It’s only half past the point of no return
The tip of the iceberg
The sun before the burn
The thunder before lightning
The breathe before the phrase
Have you ever felt thIs way?

Have you ever hated yourself for staring at the phone?
You’re whole life waiting on the ring to prove you’re not alone
Have you ever been touched so gently you had to cry?
Have you ever invited a stranger to come inside?

It’s only half past the point of oblivion
The hourglass on the table
The walk before the run
The breathe before the kiss
And the fear before the flames
Have you ever felt this way?

There you are, sitting in the garden
Clutching my coffee,
Calling me sugar
You called me sugar

Have you ever wished for an endless night?
Lassoed the moon and the stars and pulled that rope tight
Have you ever held your breathe and asked yourself will it ever get better than tonight?

If you don't have anything good to say........

The last month has been somewhat of a stress inducing blur. I was beginning to think that the 'big man' has it in for me for some reason as everything that could go wrong has (oops tempting fate there i think!) and the world seems to be falling down around my ears. I seem to spend most of the day in tears or in a foul mood, hence no update as even I was beginning to get pissed off with hearing me moaning.

Don't want to bore everyone with the details but suffice to say that when Pete comes home he will have to seriously take some weight off my rather broad shoulders. Theres been damage, illness, breakdown (both mechanically and emotionally) and those feelings of despair that nothing will ever go right. But i'm determined to draw a line under it all and battle on.....at least til Pete is home. Even the good old RN has managed to completely balls everything up as per usual. Pete was originally away at sea until mid June, now he's coming home early......so that he can go back to sea a few weeks later for another five months. I'm beginning to think my marriage is a figment of my imagination. That's over nine months seperation this year alone ontop of the nine months last year and that doesn't even include the two sometimes three duties he does when they're alongside!

It's also ballsed up holiday plans and for the second year on the trot we've lost a holiday because of date changes.

At least there has been so much going on that i've not had too much time to sit down and let it get to me THAT much. There has been a few fabulous trips organised for the families of the boat this time, even one just for the ladies which will be next Saturday and i can't wait to let off some steam at that one.

The girls have been the usual mix of gorgeous, tiring, loud, loving and downright pain in the arses and i adore them for it. Even at the stage where i'm losing patience with them, they manage to make me feel like there's a reason for all the hassle.

On Valentines Day, to keep our minds off being alone, the ladies of Torbay with a mountain of kids descended on Jump to knacker out said kids and it was great to meet so many new faces and just have a chill and moan about the good old 'silent service'. The kids were bushed when they got back and a good time was had by all. I also received a lovely delivery from interflora which made me smile as i pushed the credit card statement out of my mind!

I'm saving the champers til he gets back though!

The following week we went to the Plymstock Naval Families Centre. It's the first time i've ever been anywhere like that. Ive always shyed away from getting involved in the naval family community as it's always struck me as a bit clicky and although it can be, i made some more new friends and the girls enjoyed a critter demonstration from one of the workers at Sparkwell Zoo, a disco and buffet. Giant snails, hissing cockroaches, millipeeds and giant stick insects....Emily was in her element! Dancing and Music...well that was Natasha sorted and the buffet......well, i think Freya was trying to work through the tables rather than her plate...how that girl is not 100 stone is beyond me! Unfortunately i didn't get any great photos as it was difficult trying to herd the little ones and take loads of photos.

Freya has joined a new drama group as i just could no longer afford Stagecoach, so she's joined a local group who put on performances each xmas and new year. It was her first time this week and she really enjoyed it. She's also in the district schools production of Alice in Wonderland and will aptly play the Mad Hatter although that isn't until sometime in the early summer and she hasn't even got her lines for that yet. She's also had confirmation about her secondary school and is nervously looking forward to it....she probably thinks it's going to be like High School Musical. Dreading how much the uniform is going to cost especially as it's all got the school logo on.

Emilys school had a 'come to school dressed as a book character' on Thursday as part of World Book Day and we managed to get this bargain of a costume in ASDA for £8. I knew that virtually every girl would go as a Disney Princess of some sort so decided she should do something different and go as Little Miss Sunshine. She was so chuffed that she was the only person with that costume on!

I have been busy doing some scrapping this week believe it or not. I'm working on a few projects at the moment for something but thought i could share one of them seeing as i haven't put any work on here for ages. Its a digi for a change, I don't often do digi work but i'm trying to get to grips with some new techniques on there and having fun playing around in PSE. I've found some lovely freebie kits. This one was made using Foxy Lady by Peppermint Creative, I would link it but unfortunately their website is down at the moment.

Been doing a lot of browsing through blogs lately as i lost all my favourites when the hard drive died on this thing before christmas and i've found some great ones that i've not had the pleasure to come across before.

Although i'm not a big card person, I adore these on this blog called LilyBeans Paperie. No idea what the lady is called but some of them are stunning. Another site is a kit site with some gorgeous step by step projects on which is Scrap Magie. Again some lovely stuff on there.

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things again on the scrapping front although I very rarely go on UKS anymore, not since they changed the software......i find the new forum too confusing...doesn't take much does it! I had a little catch up on the Smack Blog though over the past few weeks. I can completely understand why people would be upset if they were smacked on there, especially as some of the comments can get quite personal but I do fully understand the need for the blog. UKS has become more and more like Big Brother where you are always worried about what you can and can't say. It can be a great source of inspiration and a great place to make 'friends' however it can also be very false.

The smackblog on the other hand is NOT a place to make friends LOL! I do find some of the discussions interesting on there and some good info on non UKS sponsors, sponsors to avoid, retreats to avoid etc. It's hard though when you know someone getting smacked especially when you don't feel what's being said is right. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion though and i've seen some very well deserved 'smacks'.

Anyway, i'm off to the land of nod as I have a ridiculously early morning ahead of me as me and the whole tribe are off to Butlins for the day some of the other families from the boat....packed lunches done, camera batteries charged and dvd recorder charged....let's see how long it is before i lose at least one of the four kids!