Excited much???!!!

I can't quite believe it is here ... that in a weeks time we will actually be flying to Florida.... yay!!! I have been so busy recently, and doing all the pre-holiday planning; what clothes to take etc.. that I had stopped the actual 'on trip' planning... There is a fab website that I am using (Allears.net) with loads of helpful tips and advice... from what to take, tips for toddlers, surviving the park and ALL the menus and prices of park dining (which is V helpful, and also not as horrifically expensive as i had previously thought!). I also have my guide book and the fab app for my iPhone. So it is time to get down and make some touring plans!!With 11 of us going, and not everyone taking a 14 day pass to all the Disney parks, there will be times when it is just E and I going to one of the parks (which is fine by me, as I do love time just me and my #1 boy!!). Chances are we will all spend lots of time together, and Debbie is keen to do some character dining with Joshua... But as a born organiser, who likes to be well prepared (in advance) I have booked some character dining for E and I; just in case!! Breakfast at WDW (Walt Disney World) where we will meet Pooh, piglet, tigger etc and lunch at Epcot where we will meet Mary P, Ariel (squeal), Belle (double squeal), Snow White, Cinderella etc ..... this has just made it very real and i am a tad excited!

I have so much still to do this week, but after last week and the craft fair yesterday I am doing nothing but chill today. Here are a few photos from last week;

J just after he got his stitches out and didn't flinch or cry.. brave boy!Some photos from (a very hot) Sports day!The boys snuggling post bath, pre bed watching UP!Joshua and I chilling, watching UP (again) whilst we waited from Mumma to get back from Japan and me teaching J to say 'cheesy balls' ... probably the funniest thing I have ever heard, lol!My stall at the craft fair yesterdayLast nights (much deserved) pizza and wine!!

I love the days I get to chill, today I slept until 11 and am still sitting in bed with my PJs, making plans! I plan to do a little scrapping later, catch up on Sky+ and more relaxing! There is no school Monday and Tuesday of this week, so E is having a long weekend with Daddy. I have classes on Tues and Wed and then it is final holiday prep for Thurs and Fri ... getting $, spray tans (so sad, and so Essex... and I know I go brown in 2 days... but I have a friend who runs a beauty business so she is coming to the house to spray tan me, deb, Geoff and Debbie's mum, hahahah so sad, lol!), relaxing massage, nails, waxing... ahh i am so good to me :-)

Right; I am going to make a coffee, munch on some fresh pineapple and make some more lists!

enjoy

Em xx

Spring cleaning ....

Well i know it isn't Spring and it isn't Summer yet either ... or is it still Spring..?

O I am confused; anyway I have been having a mega clear out. Clothes, toys, jewellery, paperwork, cupboards ... general crap. I phoned my local charity collection and they are coming to pick up the lot tomorrow. Some went in the bin, ie broken jewellery/paperwork etc. It felt extremely therapeutic and my mind is clearer ... still have more to do, but all the dust began to go for my nose/throat and I had to down a gallon of liquid Piriton!

This week has been v busy; Joshua ended up having emergency surgery on his beautiful wee face on Monday, requiring a general anesthetic. Lots of drama, including Mumma making a mad dash off an immanently departing plane for Miami and hot-footing it back to Edinburgh just before the ferocious winds and ash cloud stopped all trains/cars/planes coming over the bridge ... phew! It was torture waiting to hear the news that he had come round ... felt sick with worry but it went amazingly and he is recovering well!

Ethan and I also had a 24/48 hour bug ... nothing specific just feeling groggy/sick and generally unwell. Then right as rain after ... v strange. I managed to get a lot of sewing done as E had the bug first and was off school and sleeping lots, which gave me time to get some stock made. Then when I was feeling better I was craving a Subway; so went into town and indulged. Also got my hair cut and did some more shopping. Some lovely new jewellery to co-ordinate with holiday clothes, new wash bag, gorg new black wedge sandals from M&S that I spent all yesterday breaking in whilst wearing them with tights or socks around the house, lol! I want to get another pair of shorts, as I am not 100% keen on the ones I was going to take with me. Am off to Edinburgh tomorrow with Debbie and Joshua to get his stitches out, so will have a look in the shops then.On Friday I pottered/tidied/crafted whilst waiting for the magic 5PM to place my Studio Calico order ..... success! The kit, will hopefully, arrive just before we leave for Florida, so I won't get to play with it until i am home... :-( I also booked our tickets to go up to visit my Nanny in July, with a family rail card and booking in advance it is sooo much cheaper. I love a great bargain!

I am also sort of packed; just wanted to see if it would all fit in my bag, which it does... hooray! Even with my mini kitchen scales, measuring cups and balloon whisk, lol. I want to be able to do some baking (well, pancakes and cinnamon rolls) for breakfast while we are away. Cooking for me is entirely therapeutic and I will probably me doing the majority of cooking, if we are eating in, which I am entirely happy with. I will just NEED appropriate equipment, lol!

Debbie forwarded me the email with our Virgin ticket info on it, which has the 'dress code', as our party is likely to be upgraded so we need to dress appropriately; no shorts, no t-shirts/vest tops/crop tops (LOL, unlikely!), no mini skirts (again, unlikely!), no flip flops, trainers, no beachwear, no sweatshirts, football tops, tracksuits, no ripped jeans etc .... have to be business casual. My outfit is appropriate, they are more relaxed with kids, but they are still not allowed to wear shorts! Just as well I have a lovely new pair of navy trousers for Ethan, pretty much a longer version of the shorts I had planned, so his outfit will still 'work' hehehe!!

As it is getting closer, it is becoming more exciting, more real...so much still to do non-holiday wise. I have a craft fair next Saturday (4th) so lots of stock still to do fot that, as I was ill I never finished the questionnaire for the parent council, we have Joshy from Tuesday - Friday next week and Lucy Tues-Thurs after school .. so lots of fun and games. But it will help the time to fly in!

Right my loves, I am going to get a bit of sewing done and then move some paper around! Enjoy a great Sunday!

em xx

PPP ... preparation, plans and packing

Three weeks today we will be in the air, 35 mins into our 9 hour flight (we leave at 11am GMT) ... I am so, so looking forward to this holiday for many reasons. I love flying, love plane food, love the weeny wine bottles, or cans of coke...love tray tables, love the excitement, buying make up, snuggling into Ethan! Not too sure about 9 hours though, the longest I have flown is 10 hours when we went to Greneda, think the Dom Rep was 9 too. But I did both of those without children... I am sure we will all be fine. Ethan did a 12 hour flight with Daddy last year, so at least he is prepared... we are all a little concerned with how Joshua will fare. But with us all there to occupy him, plenty of snacks and new toys, I am sure he will be fine!

Did some more holiday shopping this week... dam Debenhams for having a 25% off sale and dam M&S for having some gorgeous boys clothes .... but got new make up, a lovely outfit for Ethan to fly in and at the last minute decided I needed new luggage. My current suitcases were a bit battered after 11 years traveling the world and the stop-gap suitcase I bought has done 2 trips to Greece so was also looking a bit battered and not at all befitting! Debbie and Geoff have also bought new luggage and D mentioned that Debenhams had some amazing deals... luggage reduced from £140 to £40. So after some deliberations, estimating sizes with my tape measure and looking at LOTS of different combinations I decided on this;

with 11 of us travelling space for luggage is going to be an issue, despite us hiring a mini van and a run-around Jeep. So I thought a hold-all type bag would be less structured. It is nice and girly and also has wheels, for dashing through the airport. Ethan already has a kids suitcase, which I think I will bring too and pack with our overnight/London stuff so I don't need to rummage around in the big bag and disturb my packing!

I am really enjoying working out all these little details, like co-ordinating our flight outfits... lol sad.. I would say 'compliment' rather that co-ordinate... think nautical; navy, white and red. My last mission is to find some new PJs, having decided that I NEED new ones for evening-poolside-lounging at the villa! Am going to do some Internet shopping this afternoon as I am running out of time for 'real life', lol. They need to be comfy, but modest (my brother and Debbie's dad do not need me flashing!), but also lightweight...this should tide me over until I can start packing!!

Getting Ethan and Joshua later on, a busy week of school activities and a parent council event event. A couple of playdates with friends and am also getting my eyebrows 'threaded' for the first time....! Also have to finish off some admin work for the parent council and work on stock for the craft fair in 2 weeks. Yikes, what the heck am I still doing on here?!

See ya soon
em xx

Official countdown ....

I have realised that I mostly seem to post on a Saturday or Sunday ... must be because I usually have a bit more-non little boy demanding - free time, to sit and chill with the laptop in bed while I drink my coffee!!

Anyway ... the official countdown is here ... 4 weeks today we will be flying down to London, staying overnight/dinner then flying out to Florida on the Sunday ... I think 4 weeks is an acceptable amount of time to start the 'official' countdown. Hehe!

I am pretty much organised. All toiletries bought (except Palmer's cocoa butter as i couldn't get the one i wanted in Tesco or Boots), Visas sorted, all clothes bought. I have been very careful with selecting my holiday wardrobe this year. Not for baggage reasons as flying with Virgin, and because we will be upgraded I know weight wont be an issue. But I just wanted to streamline it, and make it more of a 'capsule' wardrobe. So that everything could kind of go with everything. So it has ended up with a real nautical theme. Lots of red, white and blue and stripes, lots of belts. Also got some gorg new sandals (in fact I love them so much got them in 2 colours), and a couple of pairs of wedges. Bought a new pair of my Cath K pumps as last years were worn to death and so comfy, and obvs need my CK flip-flops for chilling by the villa pool. Lots of maxi dresses, these are my new favourite thing to wear. I am still taking some of my favourite flowery dresses, as well as some new additions! But the main thing is i know what to pack!!

My holiday reading is sorted, 3 new books were delivered this week (The Postmistress, Whatever You Love and Every Last One) and I am also taking the Kindle, which will be great for reading by the pool! (I keep a huge reading list on my iphone and every now and then i buy 3 or 4 off the list as well as adding 3 or 4 to the list, so as you can imagine it is v long! I have always been a 'reader', i love books. Thankfully Ethan has inherited that passion and is currently in the top reading set in his class. It really does bring a tear to my eye seeing him read!). The Park tickets have bought and delivered, also bought our lanyards and everything is in my gorg CK travel wallet/passport cover/luggage tags, haha CK overload ... NEVER!

Beauty treatments underway...when have I been known not to love a BIT of pampering, haha! So it has been body scrubs, massages, facials and paraffin wax galore. Thankfully I know an amazing beauty therapist who has tailored a beauty holiday plan.. lots of chilling out. Apart from the foradic on my tum muscles ... ouch! Then saving the worst bit until the day before we leave ... waxing ... OUCH! As for the bikini diet, haha well ... sort of. I also bought a gorgeous 1950s inspired swimsuit from Frost French. This is predominantly so I don't accidentally flash people at the water parks...but it is stunning on. As a 'curvy' girl (I have 32G boobies), i was a bit apprehensive about strapless, but this suit is amazing on and it also comes with halterneck straps if you so wish.... so i have a feeling that I may be lounging around the pool in this too!

I have been doing a lot of scrapping and sewing too - mojo is certainly back in the house. My Studio Calico kit came this week, think this is my favourite so far. Although I was looking at the sneaks of the next kit this morning and I LOVE them and want at least 2 of the add-on kits, hahah!!

So all in all everything is good here. Lots of fun and games with the boys, catching up with friends and lots of chilling! Also had quite a bit of work to do for the Parent Council, we are organising a family quiz night, running a maths workshop and also I am writing a questionnaire for the entire parent/faculty... so quite a bit to do. But it is all for a good cause, and hopefully will continue to make Ethan have a positive school experience!

Right, I had better get up. My bro and sis (in law) are having a party tonight ... so I have an outfit to plan and nails to paint as well as my SC kit to play with!

Oh and I am totally addicted to this!

Enjoy your weekend.

xx

iSD Challenge 2

Hello again!

Am really enjoying the day and it's a great way to use up my April kit as well as some older stash!

So here it is, Shimelle's 2nd challenge of the day, my interpretation 'Eat more cake'!


Enjoy!
X


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Happy National Scrapbook day!

I hope you are all enjoying a fun scrappy day and playing along with some fun challenges! I have done this first challenge over at Shimelle.com, to use patterned paper as background, rather than cardstock! I used a whole sheet (the reverse is the strawberries) from my April SC kit (just as well I have doubles as got the PP add-on!). Loved this challenge, as it inspired me to scrap the photos of the wonderful mothers day card (and poem!), that I got from my beautiful boy this year!


Right...I'm off for some more fun and games. Will be back for an update on past few weeks later...

Have fun!
Em xx


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Happy Easter

I hope you are all enjoying this sunny Sunday and not stuffing your faces with too much chocolate...? I have none, through choice as I am trying to be good and eat well in anticipation for our holiday ... 7 weeks today we will be on plane to Florida!! So I bought our suncream, some more holiday clothes this week, most importantly I bought our PARK TICKETS!!! Mega excited, is beyond words. Spent a good part of yesterday researching the parks, the rides... just sort of working out some kind of plan ... as I am all about plans! I have a new guide book, and subscribed to the website, which also gives you an iphone app with crowd size etc ... how fab is that!!? Deb, Joshy, Ethan and I are off to Edinburgh tomorrow to have a mooch around and do some more holiday shopping .... yay!


So it has been a lovely week, the pressure of work was lifted as I completed 4 big orders, just have a cushion, and a couple of Tee's to do, so was able to get stuck into my SC kit. I am so back in love with scrapping, I think that because I have so much (good stuff) going on, scrapping is my way to relax and do something just for me... and I am loving it, I am especially loving Studio Calico. The kits are awesome, such a great mix of papers and embellies... really inspiring!

We are back off up to Nanny's on Thursday after school, as E has Friday and Monday off school. My Nanny is also a lover of the Royal Family, so decided to spend it up there, we will watch, admire, clap and hopefully have a tea party in the garden! Also plan to do the last of my holiday shopping when I am there as the shops in Inverness are fab (Nanny doesn't live in Inverness, a small village near there!).

So that is my week ahead; I will leave you with a selection of pics from my week. I am loving Instagram for this, as without really meaning to, it compiles a great wee snapshot! Perfect for Document 2011!!

Okay my lovelies
speak soon
em xx