Hoorah for Canada

On Sunday we were invited to Lisa, Paul, Jack and Mia's BBQ to celebrate Canada Day. We had a lovely time, but I think the kids had a blast - check this lot out...

Emily giving us a big "watz up"(either that or she is auditioning for Kiss)

A very serious Lois, maybe this wasn't the car for her
Naomi smacking the beaver

Phoebe with beaver butt on her head (what can I say she's wacky!)

Beaver about to get a beating

I think the beaver has seen better days

We all had a thoroughly good time, and Martha oops sorry Lisa made some seriously good cakes! must get those recipes from you some time?

The Wedding - The full story

I've caught up on some sleep - not all though!
We left very early Saturday morning and got our flight to Pisa. Arriving at Pisa at about 11:30, we had to wait an hour before we could get our luggage from the plane in a hot and stuffy no-air-conditioned baggage area. Finally after getting luggage and meeting fellow friends also attending the wedding we jumped on a train to Firenze (Florence). It's amazing that for a 90 minute journey it only cost us about £3! Though hot and we must have stopped at every small village along the way we got to see some of the countryside.
Jumping into a taxi we stopped off at another hotel and had some beer and snacks before Drew and I jumped into another taxi and headed to the Villa Poggio. (our bedroom is room 4). Had a quick shower in the large bathroom, and then headed for some dinner with the other wedding party guests. Feasting on fresh local food we drank champagne and laughed, drank some more and then the Groom went off to bed. Most people slunk off to bed to leave us (Amber, Olli, Drew, Dani and I) to slope off to the pool for some skinny dipping! I'm glad to say we were well behaved and managed to get to bed for 11pm.

In the morning we had some lovely and much needed cappuccinos, freshly made bread and scrambled eggs. We then had another dip in the pool and then headed down to a local restaurant with the other male guests (ladies were off to get hair and nails done). We then headed back to the villa and we all started to get ready for the big event itself.

After getting ready and meeting up with the other guests, we sat in the heat and humidity and watched as Danni and Matt made their vows, exchanged rings and walked down the aisle as husband and wife.

The wedding meal was lovely too, 4 courses followed by the wedding cake that was made there and then in front of the guests! Amazing to see this cake being slowly made - first a large biscuit wafer was placed on a table and then cream was piped around the edge and then the chef filled in the middle with more cream, topped with strawberries and another layer of biscuit. The chef then placed some white rose flowers on top of the cake, covered it with icing sugar and sprinkled more flower petals around the cake. Looked good and tasted heavenly!

Dancing and more drinking we partied the night away till about 2 am.

This had been one of the most beautiful outdoor weddings in one of the most beautiful locations I've seen.

The Wedding of the Year!

Matt and Dani's Wedding We've just returned, exhausted and lacking sleep, from what I would have called one of the mose beautiful weddings I've ever been to. We all travelled to Firenze north of Pisa, and stayed at a beautiful old villa that had its own pool. Our rooms were large, cool and comfy. The views were fantasic. Wish I had the energy to tell you all about it, but I'm exhausted and need to catch up on my sleep. So instead click on the link above and enjoy what I've uploaded so far.

Saying it with choclates!

Quick Summary

Sorry still too tired to blog so let me give you a quick summary:
left work at 3pm, arrived at Hollington at 6pm (jams on M1). Drinking, eating, chatting, jacuzzi, gossiping and bed!
Saturday morning, breakfast, Pole Dancing lesson, lunch followed by the jacuzzi again! Glamming up, dressing up and heading into Derby in a white stretch Limo, complete with Canadian driver called Woody who looked after us. Some Pizza/Pasta at Pizza Express, playing silly drinking games followed by a night club and a long limo ride back to the cottage for some much needed tea, toast and bed.
Sunday 7.30 am, up, tea and toast. Pack bags and leave at 8 and home by 9.30am.

more piccies and some video clips are here

Jazzing it up

Was playing around with some a locket my grandmother gave to me a few years ago and decided to add some beads and trinkets to see what it would look like...

Next I'll try to get some photos of the girls for the inside.

Thurleigh Farm

Today I took the girls to Thurleigh Farm, weather was damp but thankfully the rain held off.

Emily being reflective

Boing!

It's a Bunny, called biscuits but that doesn't mean he's edible. Todays favourite toy and word - "Tractor"

But yellow crayons taste nice

Easy come, easy go, easy come

We've been really busy over the last few weeks, we've had some really hot weather so got the paddling pool out, had a car boot sale and didn't sell much and finally worked on the garden, we've still got 3 fence panels to put in, top soil and returf the lawn.
Drew and I spent a day in Dublin this week - as part of some market research for a company I was given tickets to fly with Ryanair in return for filling in a 10 minute questionaire once we had arrived. We spent a chilled out day of walking around dublin, eating some nice food and having a couple of beers.

New this week - Phoebe won £50 on the premium bonds and lost the whole lot within 3 hours!
To make up for that she won a Haribo Competition that I had entered on her bahalf - she now has a brightly coloured Haribo beach towel and a whole box of marshmallows! We also received 4 free cinema tickets and a box of yummy scrummy chocolates from Hotel Chocolate.



And finally what really happens when Mummy is at work!

Oi ! That's my cycling helmet and gloves!

Snap!

Ohhh free stuff!

This week I've been very lucky and have received some freebies from various magazine subscriptions. First to arrive was some very nice nail polish (white, pink, dark plum, along with nail varnish remover, nail and cuticle oil, some polish removing wipes and a nice black bag for it all), next today I received some benefit "but officer" pink lipstick, a lip brush and some shimmering body power with puff. And finally a free packet of Betty Crockers choclate fudge brownie mix (from a market research company!). What an ace way to spend my evening - making brownies and painting my nails, that's just so girly!

I just wonder what will be popping through my door next.

This is me

Okay, this one is different - this is funny. YOU fill in the blanks about ME and send it back to ME. But FIRST send a blank one out to all your friends, including me, so we can return the favour to you. Be honest. They're really SCARY to get back. It only takes a few minutes, so just do it!First send (forward) this survey to everyone you know to see how well he or she knows you.Second, hit 'reply' and fill this survey out about the person who sent it to you and send it back to them.

Where did we meet?

Take a stab at my middle name?

Do I smoke?

Color of my eyes?

What's one of my favorite things to do?

What's my favorite type of music?

Am I shy or outgoing?

Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules?

Any special talents?

How many children do I have?

If you and I were stranded on a desert island,what is one thing that I would bring?

I can't wait to see the answers..

So here are some of the answers I got...

Where did we meet?_________ at Citrix

Take a stab at my middle name?_________ Ummm Ann? I think I know this. Doh.

Do I smoke?______________________ No

Color of my eyes?_____________________ blue

Do I have any siblings?__________________ yes

What's one of my favorite things to do?____ grow things...whether that's children, animals, or things in the garden. :)

What's my favorite type of music?_______good question - I know you like the Foo Fighters!

Am I shy or outgoing?_______at first, but get a few Jack Daniels and Diet Cokes in ya...

Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules?_______________ Rebel when you need to be

Any special talents?___ Altruism and finding amazing bargains! Seriously, it's very impressive. (both talents, that is)

How many children do I have?_________________________ 2...and Drew. Har har har.

If you and I were stranded on a desert island,what is one thing that I would bring?_________________________________ Broadband! LOL

7 days later

I had my 7 day post op check yesterday. Things are going well and I no longer need to take my complicated regime of eye drops and I've not suffered from any dry eyes at all.

I've still got a bit of the vampire "bloody eyes" look about me but it's hardly noticeable.

*signs off to hang upside down for a while*

sleep tight everyone

Sow cool

I sow want want of these http://www.aerogrow.com/


the rose garden one is so lovely too http://www.aerogardenonlinestore.com/promotion/index.php?promoName=catalog&pageName=roses2

Too big for her boots!

Scary things

I imagined I would look like this after the eye surgery!

TMA's

Forgot to add this in but I got 86% for my first TMA - whoop whoop!

This week

Yes they are bloodshot, no I haven't been punched in the face. This is 48 hours after laser eye surgery.

Emily enjoying the sun on our decking.

Elvis enjoying the sun and trying to camouflage himself on some black bin bags!

Zzap!

Today I had my laser eye surgery. I have to say I'm feeling really perky considering I was as they say "bricking it", and in some pain about an hour after the op. But once I got home and had a sleep and a few paracetamol the pain has gone and now I'm sitting here watching TV with near perfect vision. I'm really pleased with the result that I would recommend this to anyone!

For Sheena

FreeCycle!! It's good for the Earth

Wow I have just picked up the most amazing toys from a fellow recyclyer! I was thinking of buying more plastic balls for Emily's ball pit for the coming summer when I spotted an advert today. Someone had a whole black bag full of plastic balls AND lots of plastic play vegetables with plates and cutlery, tins of food, tea-pots, cups and shopping basket!

Other Random moments in our time
Cake we made today for Steve's Birthday Party tonight
Just Random Sillyness!

Random Pictures of our Lives

to Java or not

ok I think I've now seen it all! Would you honestly drink coffee that's passed through a cats bum? As reported on the BBC news website "Kopi Luwak beans are eaten, then passed, by the cat-like Asian palm civet, and sell for £324 a kilogram". I wonder in Elvis would eat the beans then I could flog them at £50 a cup? mmmm

Onto other sorta-coffee-related-but-not-really-stories. I submitted the second part of my first TMA (Tutor Marked Assignment) tonight. I've really been worried about the quality of work as I found these questions really hard to understand. I thought I was being really stupid but after looking at the emails flying between my fellow students and tutors I'm not the only one. But I think I've done the best I can and considering I have access to about 60 other software developers and testers I don't think I'll be short of advice ;)

Oh my god there's 3 now

check it out I now have 3 seedlings from my rose seeds

Being green

Last week we officially became a one car family. I managed to sell my old fiesta for a very reasonable price, and I'm happy she's gone to a good home (the cash has also gone to a good home!). So this week we have to get used to sharing the car, whilst both of us are working and looking after the kids. I know it will be a bit tricky and may take some time to get used to. It certainly will impact on me being able to visit our friends who live further away but I'm sure we'll come to some compromise.

But I have to say I'm really looking forward to biking again. Last night I splashed out on some new gear for my bike, padded shorts, a couple of base layers and even a new helmet. I'm currently also looking for a waterproof jacket and I've spotted one on ebay, along with some new bike lights and that should be me ready for any weather cycling.

Onto other things - today I took Emily, Phoebe and Hannah to Wimpole Farm to look at the lambs. I recently bought myself a years membership to the National Trust and this meant that I could visit the farm for a reduced entry fee too! We saw all the cute little lambs, piglets and even some calves. Emily was delighted with the chickens and the playpark.

AWWWW

It's a bunny!
Sitting at the table like a grown up
Awww again
Weee!