>>> Happy Halloween! <<<

I don't celebrate Halloween but did get the boys a Halloween outfit each (they are actually PJs). Thankfully we didn't get bombared with lots of trick or treaters! I think I only had two lots who came to the house.

Today is also hubby's dad's birthday. So we went over to his place to have dinner. I'm surprised that MIL didn't bother getting him a cake. Then again he hardly makes himself available at any family functions so hard to get any feelings for him! Even though he lives around the corner, he doesn't even bother to see the boys. My poor Dad calls up every week to hear their voices as he misses them terribly. Such a pity he lives so far away otherwise I'm sure we will be at his place literally everyday! TTFN!

>>> Saturday! <<<

Can't say we did anything exciting except stay at home and chill out. Hubby was out in his office trying to clear the junk in his room as he's moving to another room on Monday. As for myself, made the boys do some homework and gave them some DS time too. I restrict them from playing their game set as they can be on them all day long if I don't stop them! In between all that, did some DT assignments that is due end of the month. Still waiting for Homegrown Oct kit to arrive ... darn the RM delivery!

Had a curry takeaway tonite as I didn't fancy cooking and hubby came back too late to cook. It's his turn to do the cooking most weekends as by then, I have had enough of it! Sure as hell miss being able to go to the hawker centres to get food readily cooked and in such variety!!! Sigh!

Trick or treat already started! I had my first call tonight while waiting for my curry delivery. The worst part is trying to find sweets to give away as I don't stock any in the house. I'm not too keen on the boys eating them so I don't buy any at all. Luckily hubby managed to find a tube of Fruitella so I gave that out!

Clocks move back an hour tonight so great that we get extra hour but pits that it now gets darker earlier!!! Yuks, really hate that!

Back to creating.... got loads to do... TTFN!

>>> Manchester! <<<

Hubby had taken 3 days off so today we headed to Manchester for the boys' to get their osteopathic treatment at the OCC. We used to go there before and we stopped when the boys didn't need any. However, I was a little concerned about their health so decided to bring them for a checkup. Moreover, Zac had his MMR jab not long ago and I know that it screwed Ollie's internal system up bad so didn't want to take a chance with Zac!

Treatment went well. They picked up on Ollie's stomach tension which I failed/forgot to mention. Poor chap has been complaining of tummy pains of late and had to even see a doctor once when it hurt him real bad. As for Zac, they found tension in his tissues as well as compression in his chest. Poor guy has been getting up in the middle of the nite sniffing badly and generally needing help in clearing his nose. I've to bring them back in two weeks time for another dose of treatment. What I like about it is that there is no internal digestion of medicine. They work with their hands and somehow they are able to soothe/solve any internal upset in the body. We all know that in order to feel good, we have to feel good inside. If we ache inside, it manifest outside. Hence, that is why I wanted to make sure the boys were good inside as I felt they were getting a wee bit hyper for my liking! Apart from internal wellbeing, nutrition plays a part too so I make they avoid any food with too much 'E' composition! It's amazing when you really take the time to look at food labels, how much 'E' stuff is included! Sweets are the worst culprit hence the total abstinence of them in my house! Can't help it when they get them in school but I do limit how many they can eat and my boys have been trained to ask permission before they take in any sweet stuff. MIL doesn't believe in such hocus pocus but then during her time, how often did her kids have sweets??? Only on special occasion! Children these days are bombarded with sweets literally everyday!

After the treatment, we headed towards Manchester city to have lunch. Kids wanted to have duck horfun so we went to a Chinese restaurant. Then we went to Arndale shopping centre to have a look around. The boys had some new clothes and hubby bought himself a new haversack to carry about. Can't say I bought anything as it's hard to shop with family. Keeping an eye on the boys is hard work let alone doing any shopping.

I leave with some photos of today's outing:

While waiting for hubby to choose his haversack, the boys and moi waited outside and had a bit of photo session.

Zac spied a chocolate fountain in Thorntons and demanded to try. So we got him a strawberry coated chocco to try and boy did he enjoyed it. Finished off the entire stick without problem!

The boys couldn't help playing on these stones and came up with a game . Played on them for ages and couldn't get them off .

The Manchester Eye!
Moi and the boys! Excuse the crap camera that I've got at the moment! Can't wait to get my Nikon back as it has been sent to Singapore for repair!

TTFN!

>>> Car Problem! <<<

Had today's schedule's mapped out....
11am doctor's appointment for Ollie
10.45am send Zac to Nan's

Guess what! My car blew my schedule by refusing to start. Battery went completely dead! Checked the light switch and it was on i.e. someone had been playing with it and left it on and thereby drained the battery completely! Instantly Zac started protesting but who else could it be as the last time I used it was on Friday evening, bringing him home from Nan's. After that no one else used the car. Gosh, he had a good scolding from me. Had to cancel the doc's appointment and rang up RAC. The chap came and sorted it but told me to keep the battery running for a good 20 mins. So bundled the boys up into the car and went for a drive! After making sure I had driven for a good 20 mins, we ended up at WHSmith and M&S at the Fort Shopping Centre. Had to get M&S chocco cookies of course and a packet of snowy balls (i.e. icy sugar coated chocco balls, absolutely delicious!) Then we headed to Nan's to see their cousins.

The RAC man mentioned about trying to charge my battery completely... if I drove an hour each day, it would take 8 days to charge it up fully. The thing is I don't even use it for that long and since it's half term, I hardly use the car. Hence, I think it's gonna take me a good month to charge it up and it's a new battery too!

Rite, off to create for a bit....TTFN!

>>> Lazy Day! <<<

Yup, that was what we did all day! Laze around. In truth, Oliver was down with fever and was quite sluggish so he laid in bed watching Cartoon Network on TV. As for Zac, he wasn't 100% himself and joined his brother too. I couldn't resist the bed either so joined them and we had an enjoyable afternoon lazing about. As for hubby, he went off to Solihull town centre to do a spot of shopping, more for me as I was craving for M&S butter sultana cookies, chocco cookies and their snowy balls! Now that it's getting colder, I'm less inclined to go out and much prefer to stay indoors and cranked up the heater to the max!!! Sometimes wish I could go into hibernation until Spring!

I'm so glad we didn't book a holiday as we wanted to go to Disneyland Paris. Unfortunately, due to the lateness of our decision, we couldn't find accomodation and decided to give it a miss. Just as well as the boys are ill and we would have had to cancel our trip! Anyway, we do have trips line up for next year so all is not lost!

I leave with a couple of LOs created in between periods of inertia.

Here's one created for Banana Frog blog. Papers from Treehouse Designs. Stamps used: Pharmacy, Postage, I Heart You and Journaling.

Played with some old papers from Foofala, My Mind's Eye and 7 Gypsies. Just had to make a dent in my obscene amount of stash!

Created a whimsical DLO to commemorate my eldest turning 7 in July this year. It isn't often that I do a double layout but with so many photos, couldn't help it!

TTFN!

>>> Germs Aboard! <<<

I was just about to go to Ollie's school to support him in his fancy dress walk in aid of charities when I had a call from his school to say he was sick! Arghh! Typical, whenever there is something exciting happening, he would just happen to fall sick! Anyway, together with MIL, we went his school and he did look pale. I did somehow manage to persuade him to take part in one lap of walk and we both walk together with him. Such a pity he couldn't join in with his classmates who were all dressed up in their fancy outfits. We took him home shortly after and he spent the afternoon at Nan's sleeping on the sofa.

Picked Zac up as usual but skipped his swimming lesson as he's not 100% fit and I didn't want him picking up further virus. Can't have both sickies in the house especially during half term. Yup, it's the boys' half term. It didn't seem that long ago that term started and it's now half term.

Weather's getting colder even on sunny days. I've to start digging up their hats and gloves soon as well as warm, thick coats. I so badly need a new coat this year. Just so fedup with mine and need a change.

Managed to crank out a LO...

Played with October Afternoon papers and stamps from Fontwerks, Heidi Swapp & Zingboom!

TTFN!

>>> Sickies In The House! <<<

Tuesday
What a day! Had to keep poor Zac at home as he was still feverish! Rang for an appointment with the doctor. Poor soul didn't eat much though. He did have a short nap. Was advised by the Doc to monitor for rashes! Keeping fingers crossed that he will be ok tomorrow.

Hubby's away in Harrogate today and won't be back till tomorrow... of all the days to be away especially when his son is sick! Sick kids are so 'moany' and in Zac's case, he wants to be pampered and cuddled! I wouldn't mind except that laundry and household chores need to be done. Had to lie with him so that he could have a nap. Only problem is that it makes me wanna sleep as well! I once accidentally fell asleep at 2.30pm and woke up at 3.30pm much to my horror as I had to be at the boys' school at that time!!!

Did a bit of re-organisation of my craft supplies! Nothing like sorting them into colours and putting them away neatly to get the crafting mojo flowing back again! Been sorting out all the used kits and putting individual bits away separately. Will have to do a major overhaul of my craft room... reaching a stage where I'm getting overwhelmed with so much rubbish in there! God knows why I'm keeping so much used envelopes!!!

Rite, off to see if I can squeeze in a wee bit of scrapping at this ungodly hour!!!! TTFN!

>>> Monday Again! <<<

The boys were off school today due to Teachers Training day. It was good not to have to get up early but it was heck of a time trying to entertained them. They had their daily homework to do and then they had a short play on their DS. Later I brought them to the library to change their bedtime story books. Each is allowed 8 books so they picked out their own books. Then it was back home. Zac didn't appear to feel well and he had a short nap. In fact, he went to bed with a slight fever. Will have to monitor it tomorrow to see if he's fit to go to school.

Got my hands on the scrummy Rusty Pickle French Market papers (Thank Kimmy)! I was surprised there was mail delivery today as I thought there would be some strike going on! Anyway, gosh the papers are gorgeous!!! The colours are just so warm and inviting... hehehe Must definitely do something worthwhile with them!

Managed a LO in between minding the boys and household chores! Took me about an hour to complete and I played with Love Elsie papers. Feel good to be able to scrap just for myself!

Been wanting to use the Love Elsie papers for these photos. Absolutely 'heart' AC thickers!

TTFN!

>>> Chill Out! <<<

Spent some time with the boys today. We went out to watch a movie, Ratatouille at Star City. Boy was the place crowded and then we realised it was the festival of Eid. Hubby asked a policeman what the fuss was and was told that it was it was Eid and they were keeping an eye out for idiots who were trying to spoil the fun! I had to laugh at his comment! That place is popular with the Asian (i.e. Pakistanis, Indians etc) community! There is a particular Asian food stall that I'm dying to try but since each time we're out together, I can't since the boys don't take spicy food and hubby hasn't had much experience with Indian food either. It's a dosai dish and one of these days, I'm gonna go by myself and experience it. Back home we had that kind of dish and I wanna find out if it's somewhat similar. I can't begin to tell you how much craving I have, that intense desire to fly home just for the sake of food!!! I know it sounds pathetic but I'm missing Singaporean food so badly! God, I'm so sick of eating bread every morning and I wish I could tuck into nasi lemak or wan tan noodle or even chwee kuay! As for lunch, it would be either carrot cake (black of course with loads of chilli) or yong tau foo (dry with chilli and lotsa seaweed in the soup) or chicken rice! Dinner would be pepper or chilli crab with steam prawns and hokkien mee! Followed by a 3 kg worth of duki or mangosteen or even a dozen durian pieces! Man, that would be such a paradise! Ok, I shall stop otherwise I'll be drooling over the PC keyboard! Boy if I ever thought I would be so depraved of my food here, I would have thought twice about settling down here! Seriously!!! TTFN!

>>> Charity Crop <<<

We had our Charity Crop (in aid of Cancer Research UK) today! Finally, after months of planning, and the last 2 weeks of intense preparation, we finally held our crop! And boy was it a blast! The venue was great, bright and airy! Big with lotsa space to move about. Kitchen facility was clean and new (yup it was a brand new building). And finally the scrappers that came made the event an instant success! They were very generous with the raffle tickets and particpated in our games and challenges! Morag, Nikki and I are ever so grateful to them and we raised a massive amount of .....

£911.16

How absolutely fabulous is that! We initially aimed at £400 and we literally double the amount! It is just amazing! Thank you to everyone who came to our Crop and who donated generously to the cause!

(Photos to come later when I've upload to PC)

>>> Busy and Excited! <<<

Oh gosh, the last two days has been a whirlwind! In fact, the last 2 weeks were nitemare! Last minute harassing sponsors for papers for class kit, raffle prizes etc! Been busy sorting out stuff for the Charity Crop and constantly wondering if I've missed out anything... that niggling worry that pops out quite often! On top of that, need to do my name tag too and pack my stuff for the crop. Doubt very much if I will get anything done but will pack something nonetheless! Nothing worst than twiddling your thumb when you have time to kill!

Suddently realised how slow my printer is when one has to print 100 sheets!!! You don't noticed much when you print a couple each time but in bulk, boy did it take long... about 3 hrs! Wanted to print on both sides but hubby got me the wrong kind of paper (paper for laser printer instead!!!) and as a result, a couple tend to get printed together which further worsen and lengthen the printing process! In the end, I gave up and printed on individual sheets instead.

Postal system in a mess! Not getting the stuff that I'm waiting for and doubt very much I'll get the overseas parcel I'm expecting before the Crop (unless by some miracle it doesn't come tomorrow!) There's talk of further strike action next week! Frankly I'm fedup and the management should just sack the darn lot for causing undue misery. Royal Mail is a business company and they need to modernise if they are ever to see the next century otherwise you might end up having a foreign company delivery mails instead! They are gonna lose more business and might just end up having to cut down on human resources instead in the near future if more strikes are carried out!

There is seriously something wrong with this country essential services. Take a look at the NHS! Another mess whereby a hospital has caused the death of 100 odd people due to C Diff virus! Shock horror! Look like you go to the hospital to DIE instead of getting cured, well, in this country! What is wrong with the hygiene in this country??? Don't people wash their hands anymore or even keep clean? Gosh, for a so-called industrialed, developed country, it has one of the worst health care service in the world!

Rite, off to sort out my craft stuff and stuff for the boys as they have a busy day tomorrow too. Seems like everything that could have fallen tomorrow is happening! Arghhhh! Would have prefer to be with the boys as Zac has got a birthday party to attend and Oliver has a Beavers hike! Thank goodness for MIL who's staying with Zac while he has his party.

Will update with regards to the crop! Getting excited now! TTFN!

>>> Postal Strike! <<<

No sign of any postal service today despite the strike being over! In fact, there was even wild cat strikes by postal workers in other parts of England! Don't these workers realise they need to adapt to the rapidly changing world especially in the world of technology!!! Eventually one day they will be replaced by robots/machines! There's even talk of further strike actions next Monday! Sigh... They should replace the entire lot with those willing to work and earn the pay they work for!!! I seriously do not have sympathy for them. On the other hands, the nurses who work hard and literally do a more deserving job should be paid far higher!!!

Now praying for a miracle that I do get some parcels in the next two days for the Charity Crop (expecting a fair few!) TTFN!

>>> LOs To Share! <<<

Here's some LOs done using BackPorch Memories Oct Medley kit featuring Fancy Pants, Basic Grey and Dream Street papers:

Thought I do a couple of LOs on myself! My age more precisely! Sheesh, hard to believe I'm in my 40s!!! Papers a mixture of Fancy Pants and Dream Street.

Moi and the boys! Papers by Fancy Pants True collection! Couldn't think of a title so ended up with a date instead!

Moi again, this time documenting my hair cut. Think I'll stick with short hair from now on! So much easier to maintain and less hair droppings too. Might cut it shorter later...

Zac at the dentist. Didn't have the guts to take when they were at work on his teeth... sometimes it's hard to want to take photos of the most mundane stuff without appearing weird to people!

An altered frame. Looks a little washed out in the photo but seriously blame it on my crap photo skills. Far better IRL! I had trouble finding a use for the metal thingy at the side... didn't know what to use it for and finally decided on a stem for a flower!

The last of the school photos so decided to scrap them. Papers from October Afternoon!

Finally a card! Had to do something with regards to the BPM Oct stamp set so came up with this! Need to make use of the negative part of the chipboard and try to make a dent in the mountain load of chipboards that I have!

Just completed the class instructions for the Charity crop. Have to say it was arduous! It's very difficult to actually write down the instruction on how to create a LO. Anyway, I made it easier by using diagrams! Hope it helps!

Gotta go, need to put bits into the 50 class kits again! LOL! TTFN!

>>> Arabian Nite! <<<

Had a blast at the Arabian Night charity function which was held in Metrophole Hotel near the NEC. It was great to see that at least 95% of the party goers actually dressed up to the theme. The rest just simply looked out of place and I hope they felt so! They knew it was a themed function and chose to come in ordinary party clothes! What a dork! It certainly didn't cost a lot to buy an outfit, in fact far cheaper than a normal party clothes! Hubby spent less than £30 on his outfit. Hence, there was really no excuse not to dress up!

There were belly dancers, exotic dancers, an extremely agile guy, magician (he was uselesss!) that entertained us throughout the nite. The meal was fantastic (partly b'cos it wasn't British cuisine, more to the Middle East style) and for once, I really enjoyed it. Musice was great too and the dance floor was crowded! It was a live band and they did a great job. That event raised about £32k for the Dodford Children Farm (which specialised in providing holidays for the underpriviledged kids, kids that are socially & mentally scarred and/or physically disabled). Have to say, that amount is pretty impressive but at £10 a raffle ticket/game, I'm not surprised!

Anyway, here's my outfit for the nite:

Hubby and moi in our outfits! I had a veil but chose not to wear it as it was far too cumbersome!

Excuse my tummy but at the end of the nite, I was simply bursting after the meal and drinks! Moreover the skirt was exactly a right fit thereby leaving no room for expansion.

It was kinda strange to see a fair number of Bin Laden lookalike (not facewise, rather in clothes!) Some of the other men's costumes were quite impressive as well! The good thing about this theme was that footwear was casual, i.e. slippers!

Have to thanx MIL for looking after the boys who stayed over at hers! Nice to have the nite to ourselves, not to mention a lie-in the next day! TTFN!

>>> The Weekend Again! <<<

Man where have the days gone??? It's Friday again. Have been really busy with preparation for the Charity Crop as well as DT work not to mention spending valuable time with the boys too.

The postal strike has put a massive damper on things! Am expecting a few stuff for the Charity Crop and now wondering if they will reach on time. Most worrying is a parcel of goodies from Homegrown. It would be a great miracle if it does reach here by next Friday! As much as I do sympathise with the postal workers, I don't agree with the Union decision to strike... if they can't sit down to discuss a better pay prospect for their union members, then they don't deserve to be there! Why ask the Union members to strike due to their inefficiency at negotiation! So bloody inept the entire lot! This isn't the first strike... they must have striked about 4-5 times this year!

Had to do some clothes shopping today, something I absolutely dislike! Got a fancy ball to attend tomorrow based on the theme Arabian Nights. Managed to borrow an Arabian dress but the skirt was such a see-thru that there was no way I could just wear ordinary knickers! Hence went to look for a pair of leggings. Can't believe how hard it was to find one... checked into New Look, Debenham, Marks & Spencers and couldn't see any! Finally managed to obtain a decent one at River Island! Can I also say how awful this season's clothes were! Bold, multicoloured prints seem to be in fashion and they look hideous, well, to me! I did however drool over some M&S cardi and coats though... think I need a new coat for this Winter. Anyway, at M&S, couldn't resist their butter sultanas cookies as well as their chocco chips. Man, they make the best chocco chip cookies. Couldn't resist getting some M&S knickers too and bought a couple of new styles to try. Too bad majority of the size 8 were gone! The setback of being petite... always can't buy the sizes that I want.

Enough of rant.... off to do more creative stuff to release stress! TTFN!

>>> Projects To Share! <<<

Here's what I did with Little Silver Hat October kit. This month's kit features hues of brown and it's absolutely gorgeous!

Papers from Making Memories.

Papers from American Craft. Part of Scarlet Lime kit.

Did a few card sketches in my book and this one above and the few below are the outcome!

Using American Craft paper

Using Heidi Swapp enormous photo corner.

Luv the wing stamp from Scarlet Lime debut kit! Probably the reason why I bought the kit in the first place!

Got the button idea from various sources (can't remember where now... that's what happens when you surf from one site to another!) that I've seen. Original idea was using the buttons as flowers in a pot. I modified to using it on a card and kept it light so as not to topple the card! Will give this to my SIL who recently got engaged last week.

Popped into B'ham town centre to get some bits and bobs for the Charity Crop class. Managed to find some lovely vintage trimmings! TTFN!