Wish us luck!

We are putting an offer in on a house today so wish us luck!

If you just wait it'll turn up....

We have been very very very blessed in our married life. I think the only thing we bought brand new was our bed which I love but even that was half price with an extra 20% off! Most other things we have been given or bought very cheaply. Our bedroom furniture was all given but all matches somehow, Esther's bunkbeds are my old bunk beds (!), our kitchen table was my parents, the washing machine, dishwasher, tv, dvd player, playhouse, kids car, slide, bikes...the list could go on and on! As you can see we really have been blessed beyond anything I could have thought. My dad now thinks that if we ever need anything we just have to wait and it will turn up!!

Esther has wanted a pair of trainers for ages. Everytime we go to the shoe shop she is always picking them up, telling us which pair she likes best etc etc. Yesterday my neighbour came by, they had been clearing out their cupboard under the stair and found all of Tamsin's (age 5) old shoes and we were free to have whichever we liked. Lo and behold there were 2 pairs of trainers in Esther's size, not only pink but with lights too! She was so happy! She wore them all the rest of the day, kept them next to her at night and put them straight back on this morning! SO if anyone is reading this that has ever given us stuff then THANK YOU!! We really do appreciate it! Oh and by the way, our tumble dryer has bitten the dust so if anyone has a spare...he he!

Crafty, crafty, crafty!

My friend posted this on her blog and I couldn't resist going for it so have a read and you may be lucky!

Here are the rules:
The first three people to comment on this post will get something homemade by me! I guarantee you will love it, or at least that you will tell me you love it regardless.
It'll be done this year at some point.

The homemade gift could be anything (the air of mystery is what makes this thing exciting!) It may be a story. It may be poetry or a pasta. I may draw or paint something (though you would not wish me to). I may bake you something and post it to you. I might even cut a CD of my own lovely voice singing a selection of my favourite numbers. Who knows? Not you, and at this point, not me either.

Last but not least, you must continue this little game by reposting the offer of a secret homemade gift to the first 3 people who comment on your blog. The first 3 people to do so win a homemade gift by me that money can’t buy! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it (so those who weren’t fast enough to win can be horribly jealous).

Yup...thats it...and bearing in mind that I am not by nature a creative person...however I will do my best for you! Have lots of fun and choose carefully whether you want to do this or not!

So Karen, if you are reading this I'm really looking forward to my surprise! xxx

Spring has sprung

It is lovely weather in England right now!! I am absolutely loving that spring feeling! I have a actually been out of the house without a coat on, hung some washing on the line and given our grass its first cut of the year. Still a chill in the air but gorgeous all the same. I'm really looking forward to being out and about in the great outdoors.

I took some pictures of our wild back garden about a month ago thinking that since this was the year we would actually improve the garden they would be the 'before' pictures but since then we have decided to move or extend our house. If we move I'm just going to tidy it up before the house goes on the market. If we extend the house then the garden will get trashed in the process anyway so again no point giving it a major overhaul! Here are the pictures anyway, as you can tell it needs some work!

These are the raised beds the previous owners put in with a little fountain in the middle:

You see our 2 crazy rosemary bushes? I think they are planning on taking over the garden...


The view from the doors in the living room:



Esther enjoying being in the garden for the first time in months!

Eliza guzzling her banana milkshake in the sun:

Independence is in sight

Eliza started playing a really fun game. You put in a spoonful of food and she spits it back out, squishes it all up and puts it back up or throws it over the side of the high chair onto the floor. So, I thought it was high time to let her feed herself more often. We started with Cheerios for breakfast - great start. I am amazed she didn't even try to throw the bowl over the side - her cup never seems to stay on the high chair for more than 10 seconds. Its nice to be able to eat my dinner whilst it is still relatively warm!Ooooh Look what I've got! Yum Yum!

New Shoes for our Walker!

We went to buy Eliza her 'first shoes' today from Clarks, of course. She has small, narrow feet so there were only 2 options available, the above pink pair or a white pair. Why would anyone choose to buy their still slightly unsteady toddler white shoes???? Eliza's pink ones are scuffed already and she's only worn them for an afternoon. Granted we were playing outside (thanks to the glorious weather) which Eliza can now do as she has some shoes to wear!! We have a little push along Dora bike so I gave Eliza a little ride - I did not think she would stay on for long, we have a ride on horse that she just climbs off after literally 2 seconds, but she did a great job of holding and balancing! She LOVED it!

For some reason Esther wouldn't ride on her big new bike she got for Christmas though this one is too small now - I think she is a bit scared of falling off....she still has a bruise on her forehead from falling off when we rode to school....

Bow-tastic!

For a while now I've been wanting to learn how to make my own hair bows for my girlies. Esther is now enjoying having her hair in a billion different styles so it's nice to be able to make her look super fancy. She loves it too. Last year Ryann, hello Ryann, moved into our ward at church and I noticed her girls always had great hair bows which she made! So I talked her into doing a 'hair bow making evening' where she could teach us to make them. SO it was all arranged, then it snowed and the little country roads were too bad from my house to hers so I couldn't go. Well, we arranged another evening. Guess what, Ben had a church meeting so I couldn't go again!! 3rd time lucky, I finally made it over there on Friday night and here are my goodies:

2 hours, 4 bows, 2 clips. Not too bad for a beginner! Esther loves them, if only Eliza had enough hair!! Thanks Ryann for having us and Susannah for sharing your ribbon and clips with me too! I think I may well become addicted.....

Up in the air...

To move or not to move, that is the question. We are thinking of putting our house on the market as we are busting at the seams (too many toys!!), so we had our house valued, looked at a few houses in the area but can't decide whether to build an extension at our own lovely house or move. The houses in our price range are actually no bigger than our house the space is just differently organised. Then you think, do we actually want to live in this area long enough to make back the money it would cost to build an extension or not? Too many things to think about!

Fabulous Quilting Fabric!

Last year I started a quilting class at church. We were making a sampler quilt to show us all the different techniques we could use. So I started it and did 4 squares but I just don't like the fabric I used. So I decided to look online for quilting fabrics and stumbles across fabrics more gloriously delicious than England has ever seen! I think I have begun an obsession with fabric. At the moment I'm to decide between 2 ranges of fabrics - Farmer's Market by Sandi Henderson : and Darla by Tanya Whelan:

and there some super cute Japanese fabrics out there too. How does one curb their spending when confronted with all this gorgeousness??? So I have planned on ditching my sampler quilt and using the squares I've already made to make cushions so a least they won't be wasted. I'm planning on making a Whirly Giggle quilt from www.lovelylittlehandmades.blogspot.com - fab quilts so take a peek!

Picture Perfect

I don't get many good pictures of my kids and I certainly never get any nice ones of myself. Well today was school photo day at Esther's pre-school and you could take along other siblings so off I took the girls to school having visions of Eliza just getting up and walking off mid photo. We had to wait quite a while when we arrived for our turn - each family group seemed to take ages! When it was finally our turn things went so much better than expected. They only had to take 3 shots in order to get a good one - Eliza actually took her thumb out of her mouth and smiled and Esther was pretty angelic. I can't wait to get the pictures back!!

We are being attacked!

Yesterday I turned on our computer and without even opening anything the virus checker found a Trojan virus and the computer promptly then switched itself off and wouldn't power up properly because something or other was missing from the computer so it said. I've never had one on our computer before and was thinking it was going to be terrible. Luckily I have a super clever husband. Ben searched on the internet at work how to fix problem and found a number of different things to try. It took him about 4 hours but here I am on the lovely laptop! He tried everyway to fix it and none worked until he was on the very last option! Hoorah! It's a good job Ben thought to look on the internet so it could be fixed for free! Isn't it amazing what we can get from the internet!

It's so hard to be 3

Yesterday Esther was playing with Eliza's toys but wouldn't share and said she wanted to play by herself (bring a bit grouchy) so I said she could play by herself in her room and come and join in when she was happy and wanted to play together. Shortly after Eliza needed a nappy change so we had to go up to the girls bedroom to get the necessary items. Esther starts crying and says to me 'It's not bearable!' I started cracking up - it is hilarious to hear your 3 year old tell you how unbearable her sad situation is!

Last Thursday we set off on a mini-holiday up to the Preston Temple. We were really looking forward to it as we hadn't been in quite a while plus it was the place we were married so has an extra special place in our hearts! My parents were also going and my brother Joel. The kids were all excited for their 'holiday beds' as well as seeing family. We borrowed a portable DVD player to entertain the kids somewhat and they loved it!

Grandma spent some time looking after the girls with me and we had a second birthday 'cake' that she had made and brought with her.

Look at the glee on Eliza's face!

Whilst we were there we made some great French friends, Esther in particular enjoyed running around and playing with them! Only the oldest, Sabrina, could speak fluent English but that didn't stop them being super friendly. They were fantastic and we won't forget them even though they are going back to France today.
This is Camille and Esther with Eve in the top corner with her head chopped off!

Here are the 4 fab sisters - Sabrina, Camille, Eve and Leveanna (hope I spelt the last name correctly - Eve kindly spelt it out for me but I was still a bit slow at understanding what it was!) Good luck for your wedding Sabrina and hello to you girls too! We'd love you to keep in touch xx

Time for some family photos in the cold! We have a picture taken in this exact place from our wedding! 2 extra family members now!

After the Temple, on Saturday we travelled home via Rochdale where Ben's Grandma lives. It was her 78th birthday and so my mother-on-law had arranged a family meal. It was the first time in 20 years that all of Grandma Shaw's children had been together - crazy or what???? But it was good to be there and meet family members I'd never met along with getting to know the others better.

All in all it was one of the best weekends I've had in a long long time. I just felt so thankful for family and for everything Heavenly Father has blessed me with.

Eliza turns one!

Eliza turned one last week and I can't believe how quickly the time is flying by. She is absolutely wonderful! Still loves her thumb, lucky thats its attached to her body eh? She has really got into soft toys, loves to sleep with 3 or 4 in particular and is partial to toys that have tails....don't know what it is that my girls love about toys with tails but they do. Eliza started walking pretty well just this last week, before then she wasn't bothered one bit. Plus she has THE cutest smile and laugh going, I know everyone thinks that about their children but in my case its true. He he he! I think I really could eat her up.

Anyway, so I made her a disaster cake for her birthday. The cake broke as it came out of the tin, then the frosting wasn't being co-operative and so it was only somewhat rescued by the application of copious amounts of sweeties. As it happens only Esther, Eliza and I had a piece and then it was put in the bin....not that it tasted bad but the thought of it made me feel sick....

Open wide!

Waiting for cards, can't get the thumb out...

Esther making her prettiest face for the photo.


Cards at last!

Poor little girl got one present for her birthday but we decided to by a wooden playhouse for the garden for them both to play in, I'm probably more excited about that than they are! All in all, I think Eliza had a great birthday. Actually she got 2 presents - I asked Esther what she would like to buy Eliza for her birthday - the answer: a pink dog with yellow eyes called Hayley. Yep, random. SO we found her a brown dog with brown eyes but Esther was still happy with that and so was Eliza. Unfortunately we lost it less than a week later at the Temple.....

Happy birthday Eliza!