Busy, Busy, Busy... But Fun!

Well! I've been trying to complete this post since last Monday. However, Blogger has a new photo-loader, which will not work properly. It either won't let me load any photos, or it takes so long that I run out of time and have to save my post and go away again.  This is what I've managed so far.... There may be some gaps where photos should be - I'll post those another day!

* * *

My Weekend: 25th - 26th September

It has been another busy week.  J. was 13 on Sunday and on Saturday we had a family party, for him and his baby cousin, who was 2 the previous Sunday. 

On Sunday my MIL came to visit, so we were pretty busy all weekend.

Our "Birthday Card" for J.

The Birthday Boy (no birthday celebration is complete without chocolate cake!)

The Two-Year-Old getting ready to "go owside"!

Baby A. - 7 months old and so funny!

This was E's birthday present. She loved it and played with it all day. It isn't new - it was J's when he was small and a lot of the furnishings and little animals that live in it were Keri-Anne's when she was little! However, we gave her a brand new little family of wooden dollies to live in the dolls' house - which she was very pleased with. I drove them home to Northampton, as it wouldn't be fun to take the dolls' house on the bus! I think this is her new favourite toy (or certainly one of them).

That was a lovely weekend and J. was very happy with his birthday presents:

A new Warhammer set!

The third book in the Artemis Fowl set - he's just discovered these.

* * *

A bit of an update on LSNED.

I'll tell you now, that I've been trying to write this post for A WEEK! Lots of problems loading image files, so I'm still working on it today... hopefully I can get the photos to load and publish my post!

Saturday 25th September:

Today was busy and I spent a lot of it in the car. I promised to pick up my younger niece from her home, which is 20 mins drive away, as her BF was working a late shift and wouldn't be able to come to the party. He was just leaving for work as I arrived, so I had the chance to admire their nice "new" car, which they bought to replace their 3-door hatchback - they couldn't get the baby in the back seat! 

We were a bit later than anticipated, so we went straight through my village, out the other side and over the river to the village where my mum lives, to pick up my elder niece and her little one, who were coming down on the bus.  Her husband had been going to come, along with my nephew, but one had a sprained ankle and the other was in bed with a horrible cold, so it was "all girls"!

We all had a lovely afternoon, with my mum and her friend adding to the party.  Birthday cakes for J. and little E (who was two last weekend); party food and a bit of fun.  C's FIL came to pick her up, so I didn't need to drive back to their house; Keri-Anne and E. were going to get the bus home, but they were obviously tired - E. was worn out and ready for her bed - so I took them back to Northampton (30 miles away), along with the dolls' house we gave E. for her birthday.

I was surprised by how well I coped with all the driving. I wasn't as tired or achey as I expected to be.

Today's Lesson: I can cope with more than I've learned to expect!

Sunday 26th September

Today was J's 13th Birthday! So it was filled with presents and fun, also a visit from MIL for lunch (brought all the way from Swindon - 90 or so miles - by a kind friend who drives taxis and drives her here for just his petrol costs!).  J. got lots of money presents this year and has already decided what to buy with it! I persuaded him to let me put a small amount away in his savings account.  I try to encourage him to save longer term (he's good at short-term saving for something he wants!), but it is difficult.  Still, every little bit helps. One day he'll be pleased he put away a little money.

Today's Lesson: I'm the mother of a Teenager!

Monday 27th September

In the afternoon, I made a pile of ready-folded sections for a lot of new notebooks, which are for my shop. I pierced all the sets of stitching holes and trimmed all the sections so their edges were level. 

I then completed a couple of fabric-covered Halloween notebooks and got them listed.  Blogger will not let me load the photos for today. If you'd like to see the Halloween notebooks at least, Find them Here.

Today's Lesson: It's much quicker to work in Batches.

Tuesday 28th September

I had a busy morning, taking my mum for a check-up at the dentist.  We enjoyed a nice cup of coffee in the cafe next door, before I took her home and helped her to make her lunch.

After lunch, I took a break for a little while and re-read (for the zillionth time) one of my favourite Jane Austen novels.  I'm working my way through the set - again! 
(There should be a photo here!)

My niece posted on Facebook, that E. has hardly left the dollshouse since she got it.  It was obviously a great present idea - very successful!

D. finishes his contract in Sweden on 30th.  He's been there for 9 months now (coming home for most weekends); he's ready for a change and would prefer to be in the London area this time.  Today he sent me a message that he's been offered a new contract, which is mostly based in London.  Terms and money still to be agreed, but that's good news.

Today's Lesson: Old Favourites (books) are the Best!

Wednesday 29th September

My mum has a regular visit from a chiropodist, who keeps her feet in trim.  This is obviously important for her, as she can't really cut her own toe-nails or deal with general "foot maintenance". 

I have no real excuse, now that my back is better, but I'd let my poor old tootsies get in a state.  So when I was at my mum's during the chiropodist's last visit, I made an appointment for her to come and fix up my feet!  She came this morning and my feet feel GREAT!

While she was here, I was stitching together some of my new notebooks.  She liked them very much and bought a pair for her daughters' Christmas stockings.  She also said she'd love to come along to our Scrapbooking Club, to see what we all do and perhaps join in - she'd seen it in a magazine and thought Scrapbooking might be a lovely hobby for her.  I think she will come along to the next meeting - I've promised we'll help her to get started on a page of her own.

Today's Lesson: It's great to make a Sale, but it's even nicer to find a new Scrap Club member!

Thursday 30th September

This morning was the first session of this term's Yoga classes.  I have really been looking forward to these, as I'm stiff and achey and really need to get started again.  I went along full of enthusiasm.  It was a bit tough, as my muscles really have seized up over the summer, but I still enjoyed it and wasn't as stiff afterwards as I thought I'd be.

September is always the time when my Year seems to finish and start afresh.  I don't know if it's because that was when I started a new year of school, or whether it has more to do with seasonal changes and perhaps stuff like lunar activity, but I always feel that September is the month when I wind up Last Year's activities and start a new year.  That's just how it is for me, though others have also said the same, so I know I'm not totally odd!

It's appropriate then, that on the last day of September, I should finish this LSNED course and also start a new Yoga course too.

Today's Lesson: I am ready for my New Start!

* * *

Just to fill in the gap up to this evening; On Friday D. was at home.  I took my mum to the Dr. for a follow-up appointment, but then I went to meet D. for lunch in town (he was shopping for his Uncle's birthday/retirement present).  I spent the whole afternoon helping D. to find a present for Uncle John.  Not really what I'd planned, as I had a huge "to-do" list, but it was good to know I'd been useful and we came home with a nice gift for him, also a mini-rose in a pot/paper box, for John's wife.

It was lovely to have D. home on Friday.  He was able to come to J's trampoline class and watch him making progress with his front summersault, which he's been struggling with, but has started to work on again this term. 

On Saturday, after J. finished his first Frontiers Club session - he's doing Animation this term - we went down to Amesbury, near Salisbury, for John's Retirement/60th Birthday Party.  The drive was a bit of a nightmare - I hate motorway driving and I loathe the M25!  However, Amesbury is a nice little town and we had a really enjoyable meal in the restaurant of the little hotel we stayed in.  Then there was the party in the evening.  J. was v. tired by 9:15, so I went upstairs with him; he was supposed to go to sleep so I could go back down and be sociable, but when D. came to check on us at 10pm, J. was still struggling to sleep and didn't want me to leave him.  I was tired too, so D. told me to go to bed.  We were both snoring by 10:30! 

Today we enjoyed a cooked breakfast (!) and decided it was too pouringly wet and rainy to brave a trip to Stonehenge - which was only 3 miles down the road!  I was sooo disappointed, but we've decided to have a whole weekend in the Salisbury area some time soon. We'll go and see Stonehenge and some of the other ancient sites round about.  Then we'll visit Salisbury and see the old city and the cathedral.  

We went over to John's house, in a village nearby.  We hadn't been there before and his wife (who he only married in June) was very charming and welcoming.  We enjoyed a natter with their other visitors and a cup of coffee, then headed for home.  This time we chose a non-motorway route, heading North to Oxford, instead of East to London, then cross-country on familiar A-roads (instead of the dreaded M25/M1). It was much nicer to drive that route and I worked out that the distance was almost exactly the same.  Guess which route I'll choose next time!

So, that's me up to date... It's been busy and Blogger hasn't let me finish a post all week.   Sorry for the distinct lack of photos in this post  - I have raised this issue with Blogger (along with lots of other folk!), so hopefully they'll resolve it quickly.  Some users were threatening to leave and move their blogs to other providers (!). I don't think I'll be doing that - unless they really don't fix this soon.

Hope all Blog Friends are well.  I need to find a bit of time to catch up. I have tried today, but there's a lot of catching up to do - and I'm about to have another very busy week!  I promise to drop by your blogs as soon as I possibly can - and to try and leave an intelligent(ish) comment too!

Another Week of Learning - LSNED 18th - 24th September

Having "caught up" with my pages, up to 17th, I've had a week of non-scrapping.  I have managed to keep notes of my little "Lessons", so I will be able to make my pages soon.  This is my summary of the past week's Learning:

* * *

Saturday 18th September

After all the problems of the previous 3 weeks, our little guinea pig had to be put to sleep. I posted on the Friday, about how sad I was.  Once again I was touched and amazed by the many, many kind comments and supportive messages left on my blog, by some of my many blog friends. It brought home to me how very lucky I am to have this network of friends, that has built up over the past 11 months and who give me so much support and encouragement, especially if things are not going well - or indeed, if they're going extra-well!

Today's Lesson:
I am so lucky to have all my blogging friends.

* * *
Sunday 19th September

J. and I spent the morning busily tidying and cleaning, ready for a small invasion in the afternoon.  He had 3 friends round, from 3-7pm, to play games, eat pizza and generally celebrate his forthcoming birthday. 

The boys headed out into the garden, where they stayed for about an hour and a half, playing various games and jumping on the trampoline.  Then they came inside and played some silly games, ate their pizza and cake and had fun playing Mario Karts races on the Wii. 

In past years, we've spent time and money organising "events" for J's birthday - a trip to the local indoor playground, with food laid on; cinema and a meal out; bowling plus burgers; sledging at the nearby indoor ski-slope etc etc.  It can get very expensive and it was a relief this year, when J. said he'd rather invite friends to celebrate at home.  From the enjoyment they obviously had, it was an excellent idea - and it saved us lots of money, as we only had to pay for the pizza delivery and the cake!

Today's Lesson:
Fun can be (nearly) Free!

* * *

Monday 20th September

Monday was a "normal Monday" - I went to my mother's, with her shopping that was delivered first thing. I collected her pension and prescriptions, also the eggs from the "egg lady" in the village. I sorted out her laundry (a neighbour hung it out, so I brought it in, folded it and put it in the airing cupboard), did a few jobs for her, helped her organise her money for bills etc.  This is what I do every Monday morning, unless I'm away on holiday. 

In the afternoon, I was feeling very tired, so I did almost nothing.  There were jobs to do, but I didn't do them really - I ate my lunch, read a book and rested. 

A friend of J's was due in the afternoon, to visit and have tea with us, but they didn't show up - again. His mother has, over the years, proved herself very unreliable - he was due last Thursday, but when I called to see what had happened, as they were 45 minutes late, she said they couldn't come! Dinner was on the stove - I froze the extra portion for another day; on Monday I didn't even call to see what had happened - and she didn't call to apologise. She doesn't seem to realise it's really rude.

I am so used to it now that I've given up worrying and just shrugged my shoulders; but I feel sorry for her boy.  We will probably not see them again now, as they move to New Brunswick, Canada on 1st October. This weekend we are so busy, so I don't think there will be time to drop by and say hello/good bye, but I will try to make time for it. In spite of everything, they're a really nice family and we'll miss them.

Today's Lesson:
Hmmm.... one was that an unreliable person will probably always be unreliable - even if it may be their last chance.

Also, I learned a new idea from Alexa of Trimming the Sails, for a "Catching Up Page" method.

* * *

Tuesday 21st September

It was a really lovely day on Tuesday; so lovely that I ventured out into the garden, took the cover off the bench and sat there to eat my lunch. 

Sherlock was very pleased about this.

I really enjoyed sitting in the sunshine, reading for a little while and soaking up the warm rays.  The weather forecast for later in the week is wind and rain again, so I'm glad I made the most of this little opportunity. 

Today's Lesson: 
Make the most of the sunshine - it may not last long!

* * *

Wednesday 22nd September

I had an appointment with the osteopath, for a routine "adjustment" treatment.  I've still got some problems relating the the fall I had, including a little stiffness and soreness in my upper back (not all the time though), pins and needles, with weakness in my hands - especially the left one, which is clumsy and has little grip, also a regular feeling in my ears, that they are full of water. 

The osteopath explained the cause of this problem.  I now understand how the bones of the skull are constructed, how they make very small movements and how these movements (or lack of) can interfere with the body's normal processes - including the draining of fluids from in and around the ear canals.  It seems that the tightness of my back and kneck muscles are causing problems with the "occiptal" bone and stopping my ears from draining properly, so that they feel clogged.

She loosened things up a bit for me, but ultimately I think that I need to concentrate on my kneck exercises and my posture, to minimise the muscle tightness that is causing the problems in the first place.

Today's Lesson: 
The bones of the skull are delicately balanced and easily impeded by muscle problems.

* * *

Thursday 23rd September

It wasn't sunny this morning, but it was dry and fairly warm.  I was supposed to go into town, to do a number of jobs that have been collecting over the past month or so.  Instead, I pottered about the house, doing "indoor jobs", like cleaning and laundry, putting off the trip into town...

Of course, it rained - in fact it poured with rain!  So I didn't go into town, as I didn't want to be soaked to the skin - and after all, it will wait til next week... Hmmm...

I did have an odd sort of day really. One of those where I had no motivation to do anything.  I made myself do some jobs, including making a start on a "birthday card" for J. - which is in fact a 12" scrap page, as it'll go in an album and be kept for ever. I've all but given up on cards for J. and D. now - they like having a scrap page and the pages look great on the mantlepiece too!

Of course, it being a non-motivated, fuzzy kind of day, I didn't do very well with the scrap layout and had to put it aside to try again on Friday, as it just wouldn't go any further and I was stuck.

Today's Lesson:

Well, I suppose this sums up the general procrastination - "Go out Early and avoid the Rain!"

(a bit like "The Early Bird catches the Worm", isn't it?)

* * *

Friday 24th September

Amazingly I made it to the end of the week... such a weird and woolly kind of week, where nothing quite got finished as expected and motivation was a bit scarce!

This morning, J's school held their annual Coffee Morning, in aid of Macmillan.  I went to this for an hour and a half. It was amazingly crowded this time - they had moved the cakes table and halved its size, from the last few years' arrangements.  They'd also let people into the hall, to sell things on stalls (presumably they charged for the stall, then the people kept their sales/profits).  This all meant there were less tables and chairs available for people drinking coffee to sit at and chat. It was hot, stuffy and noisy, with everyone milling about and having to shout at each other to be heard.  The children were taking it in turns to play us music, on various instruments, but to be honest, unless you were right next to them, it was too noisy to hear them - they just added to the general bedlam!  It was a shame, because the event is usually very well organised and enjoyable. I did not enjoy this one - it was an hour and a half of torture really.  Luckily, just as I got to the point where I was beginning to feel a bit odd, they opened a couple of the outside doors and got some air flowing - phew... it was nice to be able to breathe again! 

I hope they still raised plenty of money for Macmillan, but it would have been nice to be able to sit and relax, to chat with the other parents and to actually find our children and speak to them!

I did manage to look at the stalls, towards the end, when the crowds cleared.  I bought these, to get me started on Christmas books:

I have to plan ahead by at least one Season!

So, after a bit of lunch to recover (I didn't have cake - the stall was too crowded to get near it!), I had another bash at J's birthday page.  Today the ideas came along with almost no effort and it has ended up looking great (finished version to follow after the Birthday!).

Work in Progress. Inspiration just struck!

Today's Lesson:

Apart from "Don't go to the Coffee Morning next year!"...

I suppose the lesson was that you sometimes need to give a project a break; which can make a big difference to your ideas!

So there we are - a week of Little Lessons.  Once this manic weekend is over, I'll try to get time to make the pages to match.  It's going to be a great little album, once it's finished... that is giving me the incentive to try and make all those pages and "keep up"!

* * *

Up to Date - LSNED Pages and Thank You

First of all, I want to say Thank You. 

I am so grateful to my blog friends for the support and encouragement that you all give me, especially when I post about the difficult things in my life.  I had some lovely messages on yesterday's post about Coffee the guinea pig.  Also there were kind messages on the posts about my mum being ill and stuff related to that  - and when I looked back at any other posts about difficulties and problems, it was just the same - lots of kind, supportive and helpful messages. 

I just want you all to know that it really, honestly does make me feel better.  We may only be friends through this strange cyber-world of blog posts, but I really do feel that I am lucky to have you all there, all over the world, yet only a few button-clicks away.

Thank You.

* * *

I know Shimelle says that "Up to Date" or "Keeping Up" is a self-imposed rule, but it is nice to have all my mini-book pages completed, up to yesterday!

I posted about 1st-7th September pages Here. 

These are the pages, from 8th to 17th September. The stories behind them are Here.

It's wonderful to have a friend to listen and understand.

Check the FUSE!

I can't resist lovely fabrics (or papers!)

Nothing is better than a quiet day at home with my Boys.

It's amazing how much I can do when there are no distractions!

I really can scrap One 4"x6" photo!

A good Nap can fix a lot of problems!

I am grateful for the gardening team.

I really can not work in this MESS!

Sometimes it's hard to accept that even your Best isn't enough

* * *

I took up Shimelle's challenge to use transparencies for the 15th/16th mid-way pages.  The pages for those two days are made with two printed acetate sheets (from Papermania), fixed back-to-back.  I sandwiched two strips of patterned paper between them (also Papermania - Secret Garden).

The patterned paper strips were just a bit wider than the photos and I placed the little journalling envelopes back-to-back, to keep everything lined up on each page.  This means that, although the next page will show through, there are less things to destract you when you are looking at the pages.  I like the effect - it's fun.

I fixed the pages together at the top with hand-stitching, using a brown linen thread that I have for bookbinding.  The bottom is fixed with glue under those ribbons!  As the binding-side will also be fixed together, I didn't think I needed to apply any adhesive to the sides.  The acetate is very stiff and will keep its shape without needing any more sticky stuff.

I also have been making my own embellishments:

As Shimelle said in her prompt on 15th, when you put the pages together, they really do look like a book already!



A Week of Little Lessons - LSNED, 8th-15th September

The second week of September has gone by - so the second week of LSNED has passed also.  It's been a quieter week than the first, with a number of interesting small lessons. 

I haven't finished all my pages yet - a task for this evening, then I will photograph them and blog them. However, here's a quick summary of my LSNED Week 2.

I've decided to blog about this here, as the Blog Page Diary idea isn't really working out.

* * *

Wednesday 8th September

My mum was on the mend by Wednesday. She was eating meals, managing her own breakfast and able to cope with getting her tea, if I set things up for her.  I spent the middle part of the day with her, doing jobs and making her mid-day meal. 

However, I was not in such great shape myself! After seven solid days of caring for my mother, I was reaching the point of exhaustion.  I couldn't sleep properly and felt immensely stressed. 

On Wednesday morning, my friend called for me and we went for our regular walk round the village.  Bless her, she listened to me letting off steam for the whole walk! I got home and said "I have just moaned my way round the whole village!".  She just said it didn't matter, she thought it had done me good and came in for a cup of coffee and a (relaxed!) chat.  Amazingly, that bit of a release made me feel so much better.  I was really grateful to her for listening and just being there when I needed a friend.  It made the rest of the day so much easier to cope with.

The  lesson: It's Wonderful to have a Friend to listen and understand.

* * *

Thursday 9th September

Another day looking after my mum. By Thursday she was a lot better and managing very well, so I didn't have much to do, other than make her some lunch and tidy up a few things. 

That morning I had woken at 6:30am, from a weird dream about electrical goods (bear with me here...).  A week before the toaster had suddenly refused to work.  We had a week with no toast and I was going to return the toaster to the shop, as it was only a few months old.  I had tried plugging it into a different socket and checked inside to see if any of the wires seemed to be damaged, but all looked okay.  Well, I woke up with the realisation that I had not checked the fuse inside the plug. 

Of course, when I changed the fuse, the toaster worked fine! Duh!

The Lesson: Check the Fuse!

* * *

Friday 10th September

My mum was really much better and I took her to the dr. for a check-up and consultation about her DEXA scan (bone density).  The Dr. says she has "moderate osteoporosis" in her spine, which explains the pain she has been having in her back.  She has some tablets now, which will take about 3 months to show any results, but should hopefully help her a bit.

After I had made her some lunch I was sent home, with instructions to have a rest (!).  On the way, I popped into some local shops, to ask if they would display a postcard-sized advert for our Scrapbooking Club.  We're only a little group and are trying to get some new members on board.  The last shop I went to was the local quilting, fabrics, knitting etc shop in my village.  They were happy to put up our card. 

Of course, I couldn't leave empty-handed, especially when they had some new rolls of fabric on the counter:

The Lesson: I Can't Resist Beautiful Fabric (or paper)!

* * *

Saturday 11th September

I was told by my mum that I wasn't to go over at the weekend - she would manage herself.  It was nice to be able to stay at home, although I was still up early, as DH wanted to go into town (to buy DS's birthday present  - shhh!).  There was so much to do at home anyway, as I hadn't managed housework for over a week.  Spent the majority of the morning cleaning, tidying and doing laundry. 

In the afternoon, we all just chilled out at home.  No particular things were done (in fact the "job list" was pretty well ignored!), but we all enjoyed relaxing after our various hectic weeks at work, school and my mum's. Tried to persuade the boys to go out for tea (I didn't feel like cooking - wonder why), but we ended up with a really nice Chinese takeaway instead - yum!

Hence the seriously slouchy photo:

The Lesson: There's Nothing Better than a quiet day at home with my Boys!

* * *

Sunday 12th September

Sunday was the day of our monthly Scrap Club meeting.  On Saturday evening I was sure I didn't want to go, but decided I would get up at a decent time and prepare my things then, as I might change my mind. Besides, it's my job to go and open up the hall, as I'm the keyholder and I always help to set up the tables etc. 

The boys had planned another Epic Battle, so they didn't mind me going out.  I got up at 8am, did my jobs, ate breakfast, packed up some projects to work on, put a load of washing out and went out at 9:50, to walk round to the village hall. Of course, once we were set up and I sat down to work, I soon found I was enjoying myself! I took a break and went home for a quick lunch, but was happy to be back there for the afternoon.  I got a surprising amount done, for someone who was exhausted!

The Lesson: It's amazing how much I can do when there are no distractions!

* * *

Monday 13th September

So back to Monday... normal jobs for my mum. I also took her little cat to the vet, as she had runny eyes.  She came home with eye drops and also ear drops to treat mites - good thing we went!

In the afternoon, I was sooo tired, so I just had a rest and did a bit of work on a scrap page I started on Sunday. I am so pleased with the result. I haven't done many layouts with just one 4"x6" photo - it's nice to realise that I can make it work.



The Lesson: I really Can scrap with only one 4"x6" photo!

* * *

Tuesday 14th September

After a very early start on Monday (DH woke at 2:30 and went out at 3:15 - I woke up when he came out of the bathroom and couldn't get back to sleep), then a rather disturbed nighton Monday also, I was a bit of a zombie on Tuesday morning.  I seem to get to the stage where I'm so tired out that I can't sleep properly - a bit of a contradiction, but there it is!

After J. went out to school, I crawled back into my bed (having just slunk around in my dressing gown until then!) and slept for 3 hours.  I felt sooooo much better when I woke up.  It definitely got me through the day and meant that I could sleep on Tuesday night.  I still felt dull and stupid on Tuesday, but at least I could stay awake!

The Lesson: A good long nap can fix a lot of problems!

* * *

Wednesday 15th September

Well, I finally get to today.  Not a remarkable day either, but at least I had a good sleep last night. I woke before 7am (for the first time in 2 weeks!) and was wide awake. In the shower, hair washed, bright eyed and almost bushy-tailed too! 

Went for my morning walk with my friend, which was lovely as it was a really nice morning.  Then I managed some housework (sorry Mel!) and cleaned the guinea pigs' house.  I now have a shiny kitchen and happy piggies.

The gardening team came today as well.  They did some tidying in the garden and cut the grass.  It makes such a huge difference - the garden looks so much bigger and tidier when the grass is neat!

The Lesson: I am Grateful for the Gardening Team!

* * *

So now I'm up to date with my "Lessons" and photos.  I have a couple of pages to complete so my mini-album is up to date as well.  I think that I have given up the special blog diary - nice idea, but a bit much to keep going, with life as it is!

* * * 

We're busy preparing for a Party on Sunday.  J's birthday is next week, so he has invited a few friends over on Sunday afternoon, to play silly games, do races on the Wii, watch a film and eat pizza and cake.  Should be good - I'm thinking up as many silly games as I can.  So far, we have possibly got "Racing Grannies", then "What Am I?" which involves me writing down lots of objects, people, animals etc on separate bits of paper. Someone is "it" and they have a baseball cap, with a paper stuck to it.  They can ask questions and people say "Yes" or "no" - they have to guess who/what they are! It is very popular, especially when we have clues like "smelly sock" or "toilet"! I think we'll have a little quiz too.  Not sure what else - perhaps "Twister" would be fun - it usually goes down well.  I think it will be muddy in the garden, so I don't think we'll do Space Hopper races... anyway, I'm not sure if the space hoppers are still ok. They're rather old and I haven't seen them for a while...

Sounds as if I'll come up with enough to keep them all happy and hilarious. I can mostly let them get on with it, except for being quiz master, or dishing out the paper clues etc.  I think they will have fun. Once they're bored/tired, they can play Mario Karts on the Wii and we'll order pizza for them to eat.  I must get J. to sort out the film they will watch. 

Busy, busy... but fun! 

I hope all my blog-land friends are well. I haven't been able to keep up very well, although I've dropped in on a few blogs as and when I can (and tried to leave comments).  Please forgive me if I have neglected you - September always seems to be chaos for some reason!

Off to my bed now... Goodnight all Friends!