A couple of other pictures

Love this picture which sums up the feel of spring in our house this past week. I finally got my 'Littles' house cleaned up, and got out all the bits of furniture I have collected, last week too. Harry and Tom have really enjoyed playing with everything - Tom especially thinks it's fantastic. I got lots of the people and beautiful little metal furniture pieces when I was young, and then bought the house last year on ebay.

Bring back memories, any of my family?!

The holidays begin!

I looked forward to a quiet week last week before the holidays, and loved the gorgeous weather. Had hoped to go to Cath Kidston & Ikea on Wednesday with Anna, but Tom was ill (for at least an hour!), so I ended up going with Lucy on Saturday instead. Susannah came over unexpectedly on Wednesday too, which was lovely. Scott had Thursday off work and we had a nice pottering around day, with lunch out. I got my hair cut/highlighted on Friday (this is one of the 'before' pictures I took in the bathroom, but it doesn't look a whole lot different now, so there is no 'after' picture!)Scott and the boys playing in the garden at the weekend.

On Sunday, Lucy and I went to Duston ward. More glorious weather - enjoyed the driving. Lucy is always good company.

Today Lucy has gone to her friend's in Lincoln for a couple of days. I've had a good start to the holidays with the boys. We made charts for Harry and Tom, with velcroed stars which they can move across when they have done certain things each day. (We did manage to jam up the laminator with stars, but I took it apart and got it unwedged again!) Harry was very keen on this, and got everything done almost straight away, including unloading the dishwasher. We then did junk modelling with all the bits I have been collecting up for the holidays. Photos of the completed master pieces to follow, once they have been painted... We spent a lot of the day in the garden getting our two vegetable beds weeded and prepared, with the boys doing a lot of suplus-to-requirement digging! Finally harvested some leeks and carrots which we planted about a year ago, and ignored ever since! Enough for our pasta bake tonight, and some soup later on.Scott come home really early. We've just watched Harry Potter 7 which he bought on DVD, and now he's doing press-ups. Aren't we exciting!

Other stuff on Scott: He is doing a course at the college he works at, every Friday afternoon - PTLLS (Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector). He has done very well with his homework marks so far, and has to do a micro-teach at some point soon. (He's planning on teaching something from Derren Brown's Tricks of the Mind book!) Just to make it clear though that he isn't planning on doing any actual proper teaching at any point! His job title has changed though - he is now the Deputy Principal (including being responsible for Health & Safety! Lucy nearly fell off her chair laughing when Scott said that... covered in his scabs and scrapes - looking most definately not healthy or in the least bit safety conscious!)

Plays, Cleaning, Clothes & Conference

Seems like it's been a busy week again - Tom had his school play a couple of evenings last week 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs', in which he was one of the trees/mirrors. I loved it, and loved seeing Tom singing and dancing, and watching his beautiful, intent little face. (The pictures of him aren't great I'm afraid, as I've cropped the photos a lot, to not include other kids.)

Also in our evenings this week, Scott went Home Teaching, our Home Teachers came, and I went to book club at Ryann Murphy's. Susannah was telling us all about a course she has done, which personality profiles you, then helps you know what clothes/hairstyles etc to choose. This seemed to capture our imaginations, with us trying to figure out our 'types' from the book Susannah has ...fun! I also embarked on a 3 day clear-up, in preparation for a clothes-swap party held at my house on Friday night; scrubbing cupboards, window frames and various ignored corners, and generally getting sorted out. I'm certainly glad I did, though it wasn't really necessary for the party, considering the amount of clothes that ended up everywhere! There were about 17 of us at the party, and I really enjoyed it, and I think everyone took home things they liked. We also carried on our discussion about our 'types' according to Susannah's book!

These are the clothes left over AFTER the party, the next morning! Lucy had a great time going through them, and picked herself out a whole new wardrobe!On Saturday, I went with Lucy to Northampton for a showing of the Young Women's General Conference. We had prepared a lunch beforehand, and quite a few girls and their Mums came from around the Stake, and I think we had a really lovely time together. I didn't feel well though, with a temperature/cold coming on, but managed to survive till I could get home to bed. Scott had taken the boys out for the day to Grimes Graves, where they put on hard hats and climbed down into a cavern. His injuries are healing up OK, though he is pretty scabby looking!

Yesterday we travelled (along with several bin bags of clothes for Mum's charity shop!) to Nottingham, to watch more sessions of General Conference there. I didn't feel great still, but didn't need to do anything, so that was fine. Enjoyed seeing all the family (except John & Hannah who didn't come down). Got to congratulate my brother-in-law Dan, who passed the finals of his medicine degree last week! Well done to the now Doctor Dan!!