A few thoughts

I've been thinking a lot lately about how difficult being a parent can be a lot of the time. Nothing new in this thought, but sometimes I look at Patrick and Conor and wonder how two such gorgeous, perfect children can make me so angry or reduce me to tears just as easily as they can make me smile. I often feel riddled with guilt because I've shouted at Patrick again, or because I have a million different reasons why I can't come down on the floor and play airports right at that moment, or because I've had to leave Conor to cry again while I deal with whatever crisis Patrick is having. So I thought I'd put it on a scrapbook page. I mean, why should they grow up thinking that this was all a barrel of laughs?! And if nothing else, any future wife they may acquire will not need to ask the same question because it's all laid out in front of her!

This is my layout for challenges 4 and 5. I'm clearly cheating by combining two challenges, but I doubt Annie will kick me out! I'm really pleased with how this turned out - I love this picture of the two of them and it totally contrasts with much of the journalling. (I'm not typing it out for you - if you're that interested you'll have to just crane your neck!) Not all negative though. I did finish off with all the great things about being their mum - promise!!

It really is the small things..

that put a smile on your face. I know Jo will appreciate this better than anyone, but check out my funky new napkin holder. It does have very cute pics of the boys in it (I assure you Conor is on the other side!), but more importantly, are you checking out my Cath Kidston napkins?

Ha ha!! I got this on our windswept day on the coast and it makes me smile everytime I look at it. Obviously the napkins are not for actual use, except by those who truly appreciate their simple beauty!

And just a few more photos for the grandparents :)

Beautiful

How gorgeous is this family? I took photos of their 10 day old daughter on Sunday, but this is the shot that my eye keeps going back to. I wish I had photos like this of us!

Proof...

that we actually did brave the North Coast in the blustery, cloudy weather that seems to be summer! That's right, folks, we went to Barry's, where Patrick showed sypmtoms of early addiction to the 10p falls, and where the most exciting ride we could entice him onto was this fire engine!

I think this photo is also the only evidence that we took Conor with us and didn't just leave him to fend for himself at home! Poor wee man. He pretty much slept most of the day - not impressed with his first outing to Portrush.

And proof that we are in fact insane! Drivning onto Portstewart Strand, building sandcastles and paddling in the Atlantic! How could we not take Patrick to the beach?! It was the highlight of his day, and I must say, once your feet went numb, the sea wasn't too bad at all!!

I hope this is enough of a fix for a day or two, Nanny & Grandpa :)

Finally

I thought I was never going to get this 3rd challenge done! I had ideas lurking around in my head for a couple of days before I could summon the motivation to try them out. So this is it - my attempt at using my own background design. The paisley paper started life out as a shirt my mum brought back from holiday for me last year. I just scanned it and then had a lot of fun playing with the hue/saturation layers in Photoshop. I think I may have solved all my future problems of not having the right paper in the right colour! But I also think that Michael is only disappointed that I now have another reason to fiddle on the computer for hours on end!

I may have got a little carried away with the travel stickers and rub ons, but hey, we don't get to travel much and a girl has a stash to use up if she wants to buy anything new!

On a totally different subject, we had a 3rd family outing today, to the North coast. Sun, sea and sand was what we were promised. Cloud, drizzle and sand was what we got. With a lot of stuffing our faces at Morelli's and various other establishments. And the odd tantrum/crying for no apparent reason thrown in for good measure. There are photos of the whole escapade which I shall post tomorrow for the benefit of my parentals who have gone on holiday for a week and are afraid of getting withdrawal symptoms from not seeing the boys!

Busy, busy, busy...

doing lots of fun things with our friends Jeff and Jo and their two gorgeous sons, Matthew and Callum, who have been over visiting this week. It's always great to catch up with them, despite the constant bickering and pushing between Patrick and Matthew!

Typically, another of Janine's great plans was thwarted by the stupid weather - no picnic at Mountstewart for us :( We had to resort to coffee inside (I think much to the dismay of the 2 ladies at the table next to ours who had their peace unceremoniously shattered by the 8 of us!) Jo and I could almost feel Michael and Jeff begin to panic as the noise levels rose, so they were ushered out with the boys and some frisbees!

The one plan, however, which did finally fall into place was Jo and I getting out for a whole afternoon by ourselves!! I know you can identify :D It was weird having coffee and chatting without the sound of the boys in the background! Such a novelty, although we think we'll instigate this as a new tradition each time they visit since the boys always get out for a game of golf!

Today we had another shocker of a family outing - the the North Down Traction Engine and Vintage Car Rally no less! We really have to stop doing this. £10 entrance fee to look at lots of tractors and country bumpkin stalls. We'd be better off just flushing it down the toilet. Thankfully I didn't even take my camera since that would just have been a waste of battery!

And I know challenge #3 is up but I'm wearing part of what I'm going to use so I can't do that today. Check back tomorrow!

Hmmm...

Not so sure about this one. This is my page for Ann(i)e's challenge #2. The challenge was to cut a photo on an angle and use triangles of paper as a background.

I have learnt several things about myself (and my style) whilst doing this, and I'm not sure any of them are good!

1. I don't do angles very well! I couldn't just put the paper in the trimmer and cut -oh no - I had to measure each piece exactly. Clearly the control freak within won this time!

2. I hate it when lines don't meet up. Thank goodness for ribbon to hide the gaps!

3. A change is not always as good as a rest! I spent way too long on this for it to be just ok in my mind and will no doubt regress to my simple style very soon.

Well it was a learning experience if nothing else. I've looked at some of the other pages for this challenge and they are pretty amazing.

Anyway, that aside, today we decided to have a great family day out. Our plans to go to the North coast, however, were thwarted by Angie the weather girl using the word 'autumnal' twice in the forecast yesterday. So we went to the Ulster Museum before it closes for refurbishment. Apparently this is a bad thing to do so soon after visiting the Louvre! It brought back some shocking memories of primary school outings as it hasn't changed a bit since the 70's! But Patrick liked the dinosaurs so that's really all that matters.

This is his scary dinosaur face!

Next time we will do more research before setting out on an adventure!

A note for Sheila

Ha ha! You make me laugh! Anyway, my e-mail is not working so I've put a temporary album on here for you but I'm going to delete it later. Let me know what you think

Thank you, Karen...

..for all your kind words earlier! It really means a lot to me to hear those things. Look forward to taking more photos of your gorgeous boys in the future. Hope you don't mind that I've posted a few here to share with anyone else who stumbles in here!

 

Challenge #1

A fellow designer for TSBM set us a challenge based on Ali Edward's new book about using patterned paper more effectively in scrapbook designs. Check out the challenge on Annie's blog - you can get there by clicking on the link on the left. There will also be links to other people's designs on there too. This is my first page for the challenge using 6 scraps of patterned paper and 3 photos. It sums up my whole experience of pregnancy both times in that it just wasn't what I was expecting (also a good pun don't ya think?)Journalling says: 'swollen ankles...heartburn...sore back...sleepless nights...support belts...physiotherapy appointments...pelvic pain...special exercises... Obviously I forgot to mention the palpitations, the hives, the lack of clothing choices!!

Annie - I hope this doesn't bode ill for you!

Can't wait for the next challenge. My stash is ready and waiting!!