My very pink flip-it mini-book was so well received that I received a request to make a boyish one for the older brother so that he wouldn't feel left out. Always happy to oblige! I used these gorgeous October Afternoon papers, perfect for a boy who is nearly 9. I can see me making more of these books in the run up to Christmas, since you only need one sheet of 12x12 and some off-cuts. Brilliantly simple!
We ventured along the M4 today to the Littlewick Green Annual Show. I'd been hoping for farm animals and a craft tent but no such luck ... what I found was Pony Club showjumping, vintage cars and a pair of beautiful Shire horses. DS had a ball running around looking at everything and Grandad came along and met up with us. It's certainly not on the same standard as the Moy Field Sports Fair but it wasn't bad for a local show and at least we got to enjoy the Berkshire countryside for a few hours.
Here we are, the last UK Bank Holiday weekend before Christmas (apologies to the blog readers in Scotland, no BH for you on Monday) and I was determined not to let it pass by. I got off to a great start this morning with plenty of lovely comments re my 1st Pink Saturday post (already have an idea for next week!). DS and I got all the usual routine stuff out of the way early on - trip to the shops for milk, Ribena and the newspaper. During DS's nap time I boxed off all the ironing, including the bedding I'd only hung out on the line this morning, scanned the paper, had lunch and ran the Dyson around. Once DS was up from his nap the 4 of us were meant to go out to the Common, but DH decided he "wouldn't be a minute" and disappeared into the bathroom for what seemed like ages. I chose to be pro-active and started hacking back the wild, unruly bush that grows in the brick well next to our recycling shed (probably encouraged by de-cluttering!). Before I knew it, it was a stump and I'd filled all the garden waste recycling bags! (Both DS and the pooch had a lovely time playing with the rugby ball on the drive while I was doing this. I think the pooch wore DS out because he was very happy to stop playing when juice and fruit materialised!) DH reappeared and was invited to dig out all the roots for me, which he promptly did ... only to have part of the wall collapse! We've bodged it back together for now (which will probably turn out to be permanent ...) and I envisage the bed filled with new soil and lovely lavender. We never made it to the Common because by the time we'd cleared up it was tea time for DS (Scottish haddock fishcakes). And to round off my totally satisfying Saturday? DH's homemade pizza and a double episode of ER ... heaven!
Pink Saturday is a photographic project sent my way by Sib. It's obvious what to do - photograph something pink on Saturday. My effort for this week? My collection of pink buttons; somehow I never remember to use them on LOs! I had hoped to be able to set this post to publish in the early hours of Saturday (GMT) but, techno-phobe that I am, I haven't been able to remember how to do it! You'll have to settle for Friday evening instead!
My beautiful GodDaughter brought her mummy and big brother to see us today. Sadly, today was not brilliant weather-wise but we did manage a trip to the Common late afternoon. DS nearly missed out on the outing because of his poor behaviour (hitting) and actually had to endure two 10-minute-timeouts in his room in order to contemplate the error of his ways!
So ... actions speak louder than words, right? DS's old car seat now belongs to Susanna's 4-month-old niece and DS's infant carrier (plus raincover) now belongs to Joanna's as yet unborn baby. And all due to the power of the Internet and the Freecycle website. And I get to have a warm, cosy glow for the rest of the day.
I read an article in the Times recently about the 100 Thing Challenge . The challenge encourages a simpler, clutter-free lifestyle and was dreamt up by David Bruno, a 37-year-old American, as his response to the recession and his own unease about the unwanted junk filling his home. It really struck a chord with me and I've been giving it some serious thought about how to de-clutter my own life, namely the amount of possessions I have. There are 3 clear areas where I have too much - books, CDs and scrapping stash - but I was pleased to see that David Bruno reckons that some items fall under a generic category: books = library. That's a relief! Some items also fall under the category of "community property" - furniture, books (but only if read by others who live in the house) and items such as underwear are counted as a collective noun. Clothes are counted individually, which is probably no bad thing as that's another area where I have too much. Oxfam can look forward to regular donations between now and end of the year! Freecycle can also expect a visit from me.
Next week sees the arrival of September, which means that it's time for Shimelle's Learn Something New Every Day class again. Where's that last year gone to? A perk of Shimelle's class is that once you've signed up for a class you are automatically included for future years, unless you choose to opt out. I haven't opted out this time around, I just haven't decided whether I'll play along in real time or keep the class details for a leter date.
DH (and the pooch) has been in Maidenhead since Friday afternoon, babysitting his parents and this afternoon he persuaded them to come over for a visit. It was strange to think that DH was "visiting" his own house! DS was absolutely thrilled to discover that Daddy was home and clung to him like a limpet. My poor boy cried buckets when Daddy had to leave again. But just look at this photo of the two of them together, isn't it gorgeous?
Over on UKS this month they've been running a series of prompts/classes for mini-books. This one by Kathy Black caught my eye, as it's made from just one sheet of 12x12 cardstock. Cousin J's DD is 6 years old and a very girlie girl and she just happens to be a bridesmaid in 2 weeks time. I thought she'd like this because it's small enough to take to school to show her friends ... as long as her mum has helped her fill in the blanks!
A nice and simple one this week; follow a sketch.
I was brave today and decided that DS and I would have an adventure ... we caught the bus (the new favourite, #65) and went to Kew Gardens, just me and him. But here's the thing ... DS was either very tired or is coming down with the cold that is currently doing the rounds in this house because he didn't really want to get out of the buggy ... and that is practically unheard of these days. (Actually, as I'm typing this I can hear him coughing quite badly.) The weather was fine and we were early enough to avoid the crowds. If you're curious as to what it is DS has in his hands and/or mouth, it's the remains of a peg ... don't ask!
I'm off to the cinema in Richmond to see The Time Traveller's Wife this evening (Ealing's cinema is still just a shell after goodness knows how many months) with a friend (and travelling on my new favourite bus, the #65). I know that the book has been around for a few years, I remember one of my girls recommending it to me back in 2004/5, but I've never got around to reading it. Until now. I'm hopeful that if I enjoy the film I'll enjoy the book much more!
Today saw us have visitors in the afternoon. Initially I hadn't given much thought to how long they might stay but I ended up inviting them to stay for supper and they left for their "holiday home" in Putney at 9.15pm! The visitors were my cousin J, her lovely DH M and their two gorgeous little people. And to my delight, DS took an instant shine to them. A very happy afternoon was had by all.
My DN started High School yesterday! How can that be? Still, I've been given an indication of just how fast the time will go where my DS is concerned, haven't I? Just look at these gorgeous photos of my DN, he'll be breaking hearts before long! Biased? Me??
We're pretty much back to normal here after our trip to the Far North. DS is back in his routine, is sleeping much better (although possibly waking still a little too early for my liking!) and this morning he went off to Nursery, where he and his little friends were joining the Caterpillars group for the 1st time. Making way for a new intake of younger little people, methinks. I discovered this morning that the group DS has been in for the last 7 months is called the Ladybirds. After his nap, when I didn't seem to achieve anything worthwhile, we did drawing. I know, how brave of me! In true DS style, it didn't last that long because he started drawing in the lounge windows! The top of his play table is one thing but not the windows! And then, just as we were about to start the teatime routine, we had an unexpected visitor, albeit a more than welcome one ... nephew D, aka The Brainy Boy. He was on his way to an evening meeting but found he had the time to drop in for a cuppa. He's with us again next week - exam week. 
The challenge this week was to scrap a square within a square. Here's what I came up with.
I learnt a new acronym recently, which is perfect for scrappers: UFOs = UnFinished Objects! How many UFOs do you currently have hanging around your scrapping space? Me? I'm owning up to non existent journaling for my Lanzarote 2008 album, the last 2 pages of the Lofty Ambitions album (remember all those posts about the progress of the loft conversion?) and journaling for a small album about DS's Scottish holiday.
I happened to mention to DH recently that I was on the look out for a toy fire engine for DS and just look what turned up today! (Now you know what DH is up to when he's hidden away in his lofty office ...). As luck would have it, it arrived during DS's naptime so we were able to unpack it and check it over without an over excited toddler shrieking and hanging off our legs. Just look at the happiness and delight on his face!
Last week, Sib and I were talking about SLYMI and we decided that we should scrap the same photo and use orange (a colour that neither of us scraps with on a regular basis and it had to be bigger than a brad!). As you know, if you've looked at yesterday's posts, I scrapped a different photo for this week's SLYMI but today I did a 12x12 LO for DS's album. It's not the best image but, all in all, I'm pretty chuffed with how it turned out, even if it is a scraplift of Homework by Laura Vegas (page 65, September's Scrapbook Trends.) You gotta love those Scenic Route patterned papers!
DS was awake twice in the night but thankfully wasn't sick again. He got up at 7am but was back in his room by 10.30am. He was so tired that he ended up having a paddy; within 10 minutes of being in his room he was fast asleep curled up on his bed! All I had to do was remove his shoes and close the curtains. He slept through until 1pm and after a late lunch, he was back to being more like my boy. We stayed at home for the remainder of the afternoon, in and out of the garden, plenty of reading "Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs" and CBeebies (the more I see of that channel, the more impressed I am!).
We left Scotland yesterday morning and spent last night with mum in Wallasey. DS is absolutely shattered by his week away; add into the equation that he is now too big for the travel cot and you get the general idea of how tired he is. We decided that we would leave mum's this morning, instead of waiting until the evening, which is what we usually do, in the hope that we would be home in time for DS to have his nap in his own bed. The best laid plans and all that ... poor DS was sick, the projectile vomiting kind, in the car twice on the way home and then once all over his daddy later in the afternoon. The new car seat has been well and truly christened!
The bridge at Craigellachie was built by Thomas Telford in 1814 and is another local landmark that I've spent 20 years driving past. Sib and I took DS this morning for a looksee (the bigger boys all went off for a spot of fly-fishing). The light was all wrong for great photos but you get the general idea.
Today was another glorious day and we made the most pf it with a trip out to Duff House in Banff. Both boys had a ball in the play area and DN had the experience of hero worship - his wee cousin was constantly trotting after him!
After driving past the castle entrance for nigh on 20 years, I finally managed a visit to Ballindalloch Castle this morning. I took DH and DS with me and we just bought tickets for the grounds. As it happened, there is a fantastic play area for the little ones so DS was more than happy.
Autism. Such a small word, only six letters long. Autism. Such a big word, powerful enough to fill a parent's heart with dread and fe...
