spring in pictures :: day 9 (and a giveaway!)

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Without wanting to put the scud on it, it must be noted that we, in usually cold, wet, grey Northern Ireland, have been enjoying some unseasonable lovely weather. It's the first time in ages that I can remember being off school and being able to get the boys outside every day! And with the newly beautified back garden it's been absolutely bliss. So the images for today are pretty much what you could expect to find at our house on such a day - on this occasion with the added bonus of Nanny and Grandpa as extra playmates! Aside from the super shot off Nanny's right foot I love that so many of the pictures I got of Patrick were blurred. I'm sure there are technical reasons like ISOs and shutter speeds that explain it, but not being one for technicalities I'm going to put the blur down to the fact that he moves at lightning speed most of the time. His life is literally all about football right now and that means running, passing and shooting and it's hard to do that without a bit of blur. And for me it's important that my photographs reflect our lives rather than technical perfection (which obviously does have it's place).  No doubt they'll end up on a scrapbook page sometime in the future so that I can properly document this little stage of his life.Which leads me neatly to an exciting giveaway, whoop whoop! You can hardly have failed to notice that I'm contributing to Maegan's Creativity Bootcamp: Spring Training programme which runs for 2 weeks in May. I am so excited about this programme I can't even begin to tell you, so it is my absolute delight to be able to give away one spot on the course to one of my lovely readers. All you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment here on the blog before 9pm on Saturday 30th April and I will draw a winner randomly to announce on Sunday 31st. I'm leaving it open through Saturday because I'm sure that most of my UK readers will be far too busy with Royal wedding fun and shindigs tomorrow to be bothered checking in on the blog. As, indeed, shall I! So on that note I will leave you to your preparations and wish you all a great day tomorrow, whether you're celebrating the nuptials or simply revelling in an extra day off work this year!Eta: Giveaway extended until 9pm Sunday 1st May.

spring in pictures :: day 8

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Just for Sheila.Oh, he's just too cute! I've had to limit what I post today for fear I may actually give in to all the demands that we get one ourselves!! Cute puppies aside, this picture pretty much typifies our kitchen at work during the day - laptop, Lego mini figures, a small person and a cup of tea - perfect!Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for some giveaway excitement!

spring in pictures :: days 6 and 7

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I'm lapsing, I know! I'm trying my best to keep up with my promise to myself. I have been taking photos every day, but it turns out that on some days I've just had too much fun and am way too tired at the end of the day to upload and blog them. It's a poor excuse, but true nonetheless. So today I bring you a snapshot of the last couple of days. On Easter Sunday we went to my mum's where she had made an amazing egg hunt for the boys. With rhyming clues no less! There were so many bags of treats that there was hardly any room left in the bucket for the last one. Although we wondered if the last treat was a year's complimentary dental care to make up for the sugar overload!Yesterday I had the most fun photo shoot with the best of friends and their extended family. Photos from that session will be on the blog soon, but after the shoot I was almost past taking any more photos, so the best I can muster up is one from before the session and a couple from my phone. We went to the park at lunch for a while and then retreated home to the garden where we did the same as most of the other days on this Easter break - played Lego, football and Wii. And I may even have fallen asleep on the bench in the sun for a nanosecond! It couldn't be helped, I promise!Do pop back tomorrow and see if I'm staying on course! And there's going to be a giveaway later in the week. Exciting indeed!

spring in pictures :: day 5

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I'll admit that these pictures don't really epitomise spring. But they do epitomise what's going on in our house this spring. We're all about Ninjago, the latest creation from the very clever Lego people (it still amazes me that grown ups get paid to devise new things to do with those little bricks!). You may notice in the previous post that the t-shirts we made feature the Lego ninjas. And yesterday the boys got to go to the toy shop with the remainder of their Christmas money and the money they'd been given for Easter to buy a new Ninjago set each. They left the store with 2 of the biggest boxes of Lego you've ever seen and a giant smile each! The next 2 hours looked like this.Frequent readers of my blog will know just how much Lego is a part of our lives - Conor goes everywhere with a mini figure in his hand or pocket, Patrick is all about creating scenes which can be looked at but not touched, and I spend most of my time at home on the hunt for missing hats, swords and other tiny pieces of the stuff. The love is strong, but I'm beginning to think someone needs to talk to the chief Lego men about the box to model ratio. Their carbon footprint is definitely going to be bigger than that of the average Lego man!

spring in pictures :: day 4

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Today I am:: beginning to feel like the Easter holidays are finally kicking in.:: pretending that the rest of the house (ie not the bathrooms and kitchen) don't really need cleaned.:: creating some new t-shirts using printable transfers and googled images.:: enjoying spending time with friends before they fly home tomorrow :(:: reading a Chapter and Verse by Colin Bateman - it's holiday reading at its best.:: wondering who this very big boy is because I'm pretty sure it's not my wee man! (that's another home made t-shirt - original idea spotted here):: looking at layouts here and here and here amongst other places!:: loving the sunshine and the generally happy disposition of the residents of this house :):: remembering exactly why this Friday is, indeed, so very Good!

spring in pictures :: day 3

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Today we went on a little adventure to Carrickfergus Castle with some of our very best friends. I can't begin to tell you how much I'm loving these sunny days and how much more enjoyable it is visiting places like this in warm weather than it is in fine drizzle, which is usually the case. And from the noise that was coming from the 5 boys amongst the 6 kids today I'm pretty sure they were having a ball as well! After all, it is hard to beat a medieval castle when you're aged 5-7 and have a plethora of plastic swords and axes from the gift shop to wave around as you shout your battle cries! There are loads of canons around the castle. Peeking out of escarpments. Pointing towards Holywood and Bangor (how rude!). Lined up in the courtyard. And at just the perfect height for climbing on! Rumour has it that even the mums may have clambered onto one to have a photo taken, but I couldn't verify that! I love these giant games they have upstairs. It's a shame that there are always a lot of people there and it's impossible to play giant chess or snakes and ladders. But they do provide ample photo opportunities!Our adventure and general busyness these past few days have left all of us feeling grateful, happy and altogether tuckered out. And with more of the same pencilled in for tomorrow it is high time I took myself to bed in preparation. See you back here tomorrow x

Spring in pictures :: Day 1

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Today, after what was actually the longest term I've ever taught, the Easter holidays finally began. Yay!!! The sun was shining, spring was in the air, I was slightly giddy on freedom and I made a rather rash promise to myself  - that I would take and blog a photo every day that I'm off. Now those of you who read this blog regularly may know that I've tried this kind of thing before and generally tend to fail miserably. But this time I feel buoyed up at the prospect of almost 2 weeks of relaxing, enjoying the new garden and the possibility of a few warm and sunny days and so I shall begin my adventure, confident that I can keep that promise.Today's photos were taken at one of our favourite haunts, Eden pottery. Just my mum, sister and me with some pottery and paints. And a hefty traybake or two, of course! It's hard to beat good company and a bit of creative flow. Sheer bliss, I tell you! Talking of creative flow, you may have noticed in my last post that I was pretty excited about Maegan's Creativity Bootcamp Spring Training. The course is going to be absolutely amazing, but on top of all that excitement, this year I am also one of the guest contributors! I can't even begin to tell you how thrilled I am to be asked to be part of such a fantastic event, or indeed, how humble I feel being in the company of the other contributors, all of whom are incredible. If you haven't already, please click on the link below to go to the Bootcamp website and check out the details. And if you like the look of the course (which I guarantee you will!) Maegan is giving a $10 discount on the cost of the course for this week only. A veritable bargain!

CBC: Spring Training

Now, I have just one question to ask you before I finish today - have you ever seen a cuter town cryer than this one?

I thought not!!

The north coast by iPhone

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I had such a good time playing with my favourite gadget when we were on the north coast a few weeks ago. Lots of Hipstamatic action going on. I love the dramatic effect of the film filters on these shots. The weekend consisted of a lot of chilling out, eating out, bowling, watching Rango, and going to the Giant's Causeway. Again! Sometimes living here seems just plain dull. Other times the beauty of the place takes your breath away.

today's random thoughts

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Life has been busier than usual this past couple of weeks. It's been a mixture of good and bad, want to's and have to's and I have photos galore that I hope to share on another occasion. For now, however, I just wanted to share a few things that have been on my mind over the past few days.:: Firstly I really want to thank everyone who bought a print from my Etsy shop in support of Comic Relief. I know the donation of £45 that I was able to make was a humble one, but after watching the show 2 weeks ago I am fully convinced that people I will never meet will benefit from it in a way I will never understand. And all because you liked my pictures enough to buy one. So thank you! You have no idea what those little emails telling me of a purchase did to cheer my heart.:: I have also finally accepted that I am a sucker for cheeky boys. See below!:: It's been hard not to notice the vast number of origami cranes that have been created and photographed in support of those suffering in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami. The internet, and photography websites in particular, have been awash with them. And they are so pretty, especially in the midst of all the bad news. So I felt it would be plain rude of me not to have a go at creating one myself. One of my favourite blogs not only showed some particularly pretty ones but also linked to a video on YouTube showing how to make them. So good was the video that I managed to create this. Just one. For now! Patrick is keen to give it a go tomorrow!Looking at the flickr pool of all these cranes there is such a feeling of  hope and a real belief that there is more good in the world than bad.:: However, living as I do in Northern Ireland it can be hard to truly believe that at times. Just this afternoon a young PSNI officer died when a car bomb exploded as he got into his car. He was 25. He had only just completed his training. It seems so pointless. So stupid. Such a waste of a life intended for the good of the people in this country. It has made me very sad. But I will dig deep and stick to my beliefs that good will overcome.It seems a rather sombre note on which to end a post but that is, indeed, what I am going to do. I solemnly promise to return more swiftly than I did this time and to bring you happier news and thoughts.