There is so much going on in the house at the moment that keeping up with it all is fun to say the least but we are trying. Becca is home from her trip - she is totally exhausted by it all apparently she was up at six to do kayaking ( she is never up at six to do anything lol )
I have been making as much as I can while I have some Rachel free days and I am totally loving the new Kirstie Allsopp's program on Channel 4 about a handmade Christmas, I love doing all these things it makes Christmas for me and hopefully the kids like it too.
More cards have been produced I am finally ready to sign them all and send them on their way.


Rachel popped over this afternoon and we made some lamb's ears for Nativity play practise tomorrow - this is Caitlin modelling them while completing her homework this evening.



Caitlin was thrilled earlier in the week as Granny and Grandpop returned and brought with them some very pink poodle slippers and she adores them, she had been eyeing a pair up in the local chemists for awhile and has to be persuaded to remove them to get to school.


I have to admit it they are very cute and look very cosy.

The one thing about making stuff yourself is after awhile traditions start and I have been making a little tin complete with pictures of our Christmas for the past five years and this year was no exception. I took a little blue mint tin and got to decorating it.


The inside I filled with the Christmas card shots I took the other week and the date and small embellishments.


it was going to go on the tree but there has been a delay on the big tree - firstly we had to get a new one because CJ threw the old one out and secondly the lights were used in the gazebo in summer and left out in the rain so it was bye bye Christmas lights which was only remembered after we put up the tree !!
Anyway I digress the tin is now displayed on my crystals and snowflakes in the blue vase.



And I did get a bit of decorating done the mantelpiece is coming together - there is another one of the tins on there at the mo - my little pink one from last year.

Caitlin and I also put up the kids tree in the hall - I love this tree it is special to me because it was the first ever tree CJ and I got before we had kids and lived in the tiniest flat in Dublin and is only 3ft tall and now it holds all the kids decoration some are handmade and some are hand chosen by the kids and I love it more than the big tree if I am honest.

The kids is also more traditional, there are more Santas and snowmen on it than you can shake a stick at.

And it is all topped off with this fairy angel - Caitlin thinks it is hilarious that she has a light up her bum.

Caitlin and Jazz and I also made some lovely rocky road to make into "reindeer poop" bags to give to Caitlin's class .


It is a gorgeous recipe and so easy
3 bars of chocolate ( we used milk chocolate )
4 oz of unsalted butter
1 big bag of Maltesers
8 digestives crushed by an over enthusiastic kid
mini marshmallows
hazelnuts ( optional )
Jam - we used strawberry

Melt the butter and the chocolate.
Crush the digestives and chop up the nuts if using them
Put all the malteasers, marshmallows,nuts and crushed bickies into a cling-filmed lined tin or lasagna dish if you are us.
pour 1/2 the melted chocolate in and mix.
Add blobs of jam dotted around and then pour on the other 1/2 of chocolate and mix again.
Place it in the fridge to cool. Chop up when hard .


We will be bagging up the two trays we made with the Reindeer poop poem which you can find over at Organized Christmas.
I will leave you with a layout - yes I made one and it is even in the Christmas album already !

I have been in a very "Bah Humbug" kind of mood there is no reason at all for this rotten mood and it is totally unlike me really but I was finding it so hard to get into the festive spirit. So I decided to pull my socks up and get into it and asked Caitlin did she want to make a little Christmas house. I have had one of these Doodlebug houses hanging around for the past year and this was the perfect time to make it up.

I dragged out the most colourful of my Christmas papers and the glitter and we went to town. Caitlin picked out all the papers and flocked all the windows and edges.


It is so sweet and has taken up residence on the dresser for now which is the home for all Christmas makes.
Caitlin has been my main reason for trying to get out of the funk I have been in - she is BIG into Christmas and I have to pull it together for her sake and who could resist this face ?

She was also very excited as she got to do Ruby walking duties again this weekend, we took a trip down to the lake and get some much needed fresh air on Sunday.


The weather held of just about long enough, the rain only hit as we walked home but Ruby was an angel and Becca even came with us.


When we got home it was still quite early so Caitlin and I decided to have a go at making a gingerbread Christmas train we had picked up.

We have never attempted one of these before but it was very tasty fun and was quite cute when Cait had finished it - okay it won't win any beauty awards but for a first attempt I think it is a winner.


I got back to making pages for the countdown ( while watching x factor) and these are the pages before they are printed - numbers and embellishments will be added to make them pretty.
So this is page 3

And this one is page 4 about my planner, page 5 will have the little house , page six will be about the gingerbread train and today will be about our rocky road recipe - which we have spent the afternoon making - I still have chocolate all over me as I type !!

I also got back to making cards - I like this one it is different to all the others I have made and it has glitter, who doesn't like glitter ?!?


I threw together a couple more - I have 2 more to make and then I am done I think, it takes a awhile and every year I think no more but truth is I love making them and it is nice to send something you put some effort into.


All the cards are placed onto the dresser until they are signed and placed in envelopes and you can see the dresser is getting full at this stage - it is actually worse this this morning as I made 3 more cards.

I was making cards this morning as Mam and Dad, Jen and Rachel all arrived back from the UK and their visit to Nana - they were all looking the worse for wear as it was a rough trip but it was lovely to see them and I was a lucky girl as Nana sent me a gorgeous jumper - thanks Nan xx


Also it took my mind of the fact that Becca was off again up the North she has gone to represent the school again - the house is strangely quite without her and I know she will be grand and have a brilliant time, doesn't stop me worrying though.
Goodness I miss that girl !!

December is here and the countdown is on, the Advent calenders are filled - well the girl's one in the kitchen is anyway. I totally forgot/let time get away from me and only managed to pick the goodies up at the last minute - bad Mammy !!


Little Santa is living on the dresser as Rachel thought it was great skit to dismantle him every couple of minutes - so for his own safety he is place up high so he can survive the month in one piece.



I also decided at the last minute ( I seem to be doing that quite a bit at the moment ) to make my own version of the Christmas countdown. I loved the ones that Ali Edwards and Shimelle are doing but to be honest I lacked the time and the equipment to attempt either but I still wanted to give it a go.
I brought some 6 pocket pages at the beginning of the year - I thought I might use them on a 365 project but like all other scrapbooking this year it got shelved. Anyway I pulled them out and using a gorgeous free kit from the Shabby Princess I had a play on the computer.


I quickly made the first two "pages" - they are hybrid layouts - digital printed onto paper with elements to decorate added on. Quick, easy and I will have 2 of the 6 pocket pages with 24 6 x 4 inch layouts and one big 12 x 12 for the Big day itself (anyone following that ?) and I will use pictures I take daily.


They all match too which makes the pages more cohesive, so I am cheating and it won't be as pretty as others but it will get done and considering how slow I have been at scrapping and how little time I have that is a BIG bonus.

Rachel and Jen along with my parents are all away in the UK visiting my Nana , I wish I was there to be honest I really would love to see her and my Auntie Win they are such fun but it was not to be this time.
Before Rachel left we had to come up with a costume for the nativity play and Rachel is a sheep of all things !! She wanted a mask so we attempted one but truthfully it looks a bit too Donny Darco for my liking and I think she would be better off with just droppy ears and a bit of face paint. I will have to make one when she gets home.

With Rachel gone I was able to get on with the card making and made a couple more today - they are not going to blow away the cardmakers with their originality but I like them and they have to be quickly made - again time is a factor.

Before the end of next week I have Becca away in the wilds of Derry again and I have to make "reindeer poop" for Caitlin's class - they loved them so much last year and of course I have a few more cards to get done.

As I told you last week I would share my new custard jug and pudding bowl aren't they cute - I am a sucker for cute things.
Isn't it crazy how the days are flying by ? They always seem to fly around this time of year and my little Christmas planner has been pulled out to try and organise me ( wishful thinking but I will try )

I find the easiest way to get though the Christmas craziness is to write lists - lots of lists - turns out I quite sensibly filled in the address and Christmas card list last year, that will save a heap of time this year although I am still making the cards though so that will negate all the time I will save I suppose !! Maybe I should have written a reminded to start this card making business earlier or alternatively instructions to buy cards from a shop.

I did make some decorations with the girls for their teacher's presents . We are making hot chocolate mugs and these will be attached - Santa is just too cute ( told you I like cute )

We got carried away and made loads - the girls don't have that many teachers but it was so much fun to play with chocolate and sprinkles and icing.


We brought an Amaryllis to try and grow for Christmas, I decorated the pot with Christmas papers and only time will tell if I can grow it - green fingered I am not !


I did buy some incredibly funky wellies, you know to do all that gardening I love to do with my non-green fingers !!
Truth is they were just too cute refer to my love of cute above to pass by in the shop and they only had one pair left in my size so I had to get them there and then and with all the rain I will use them.


I did get around to at least starting the cards, more would have been made but we are battling the dreaded lurgy in the house- Rachel is recovering and Becca now has it !
This was my first attempt and it was right back to the Basic Grey and merry Christmas paper I went :)


Then I threw some Santa hats at the girls and persuaded them to pose for five seconds for the Christmas card shots - Caitlin was easy enough, the girl is a pro in front of a camera at this stage she even got her own props !


Rachel was easy enough to win around with the offer of a story - although they did get a bit carried away with the storytelling and not looking at the actual camera. Needless to say these are the out-takes and the final offerings will be winging there way out in Christmas cards to ye all.


Finally I leave you with one last card, who knows I might actually get another one finished this millennium !!

I will be pulling out the advent calendars tomorrow and the countdown will be on !!

Well the week started off quiet enough Rachel and I decided to get some card making in and she decided she wanted to make Santa cards - I am not sure why we had to wear daft hats but apparently one must while making Santa cards !!
These are her finished Santa's all done by her, I just pre-cut the shapes, she glued like a thing possessed. "She is very good with glue" as she told her Grandpop the other day.


Carry on with the Christmas preparation - Caitlin and I made these little beauties we will be making more closer to the day as these were a practise - they are tiny little mini muffins ( these are chocolate flavour ones ) but I would love to try a mini Christmas cake type one.


Caitlin brought them into school to the class for taste testing and they got the thumbs up :)

Caitlin also wrote her Santa letter, which will go in the post tomorrow - her list has an mp3 player, a blow up chair and books and trust me when I say she thought long and hard about it this letter. She has also asked her dad and I for a bunny rabbit as Santa doesn't bring pets in our house.


I had lots of plans to get back to scrapbooking but plans changed because little one became sick - poor wee Rachel got a nasty virus and needed lots of hugs and love.Luckily today she is feeling much better thank goodness.

And finally all is peaceful on the cat front an understanding seems to have been reached and they are sharing a bed it is quite sweet. Meg still throws me a look when he is being hyper like a harassed older sister which is funny because it so reminds me of when she turned up.

They definitely stuck together this weekend as Ruby came up with Mum and Dad and they hid out together upstairs.
Mum and Dad came up as I said bearing gifts - the girls are sorted for jackets and Jennie and I got Christmas goodies from Mam.
Jennie loves her new Christmas Gravy boat and I have the cutest pudding bowl and custard jug which I will take a picture of this week.

But as I told Mam she doesn't need to spoil us when she comes up we are always happy to have them.
Caitlin was so happy to have them here, she played cards with her Granny and took Ruby for a walk with her Grandpop.

We are lucky to have them around :)

It has been a busy couple of weeks in which I have learnt the following -

• Wedding Photographers are SO worth the money



• That wedding photography is very hard



• Shooting a wedding is like running a marathon when all you've ever done is walk to your garden gate and back.
  



• I am a BIG rugby fan ( more on that later )

On the 5th November we all went down to Trim Castle to attend the wedding of my lovely Cousin Claire and her groom Paul and yes I had agreed to take the pictures ( silly girl should have learnt my lesson the first time )



The venue was lovely but the weather was not on our side and the lighting, well the less said about that the better.
Caitlin was all dressed up and ready to go and had shoe with heels no less - unfortunately she would end up standing on her own toe with one of them later in the day and hurt her toe but hindsight is twenty twenty !!



I managed to snap my Mum at lunch time she looked amazing and also had some pretty fab shoes herself. And helped by sorting out Caitlin after the "shoe" incident which happened just as I was heading to the roof for bridal party shots.

Also caught my Dad at lunch - I say lunch I managed to wolf down a sarnie before I realised the bride and groom had no shots together and gathered them up for a few. Dad was brilliant he helped cart around my bags and kept me grounded in the chaos - thanks Dad :)



I grabbed a shot of Jen and Rachel - actually I really didn't stop all day to be honest.


And this is a slide show of some of the 500 + shots I took - hope you like it guys :)

Anyway onto the Rugby, I finally got to go to my first international Rugby match on Saturday and to say I was excited was an understatement !!
I am a BIG Irish rugby fan and to see the guys playing in the flesh was just amazing - and to make it even better we had great seats too and it was against Australia the land of my birth.


CJ was excited too - maybe just a tad more than me - he is the one in pain today as he pulled something jumping up for the Brian O'Driscoll try in the dying minutes ( what a try that was !! )
He was also hoarse from all the shouting.


As for me I may have to give up my Australian Citizenship as I was only shouting for one team and they were the ones in the green - I did appreciate the Aussie's play but I am glad we drew - seemed fair to me.

Not the greatest picture of me but that is Croke Park in the background so I will forgive the camera skills of my hubby - truth is we took our old little Canon as I didn't want to risk the expensive camera so I only have myself to blame.
Now don't faint but in this crazy week I also finally did some scrapping, my printer finally is working and I decided to finish the layout I started so long ago.


So here it is and it is already in an album and I have even started another, there maybe no stopping me. I still have to do all the Christmas cards yet and this time last year I had already well started - now all I have to do is find the time.



Oh and I spruced up the blog a bit - thanks to lots of advice at various sites ( some of which are in the links at the side )

When we lived in Dublin ( many moons ago ) I used to hate Halloween - I had a new baby that hated the interruptions and the little brats that lived near us thought nothing of putting fireworks through the letter box if they didn't get goodies they were after. But now we have family traditions built up I have warmed to it . Rachel had a Halloween party at playschool on Friday so I took the chance to take a couple of snaps before we headed down .

I am having a hard time getting her to look at the camera these days but she is the cutest pumpkin :)


The girls decided to carve their own pumpkins this year - Becca's is called Gloomy bear.



Caitlin went for the more traditional Jack O' Lantern


They looked so cool that Cj decided he wanted to have a go and in the end I made one too.


On Friday the decoration of the house started in earnest this was the front door sign and the spider chandelier and the witches hat I wore to scare the little kids on the night.


This was the scene beside the door with all the pumpkins lit and everything outside - I am not into gruesome to be honest so I go for more homemade stuff.


I particularly like the mummy jars - or the mummy and daddy jars as Rachel calls them :)



This was my pumpkin - I went for difficult as usual and just about pulled it off :)


All the goodies were packed into the bags we stamped last week and placed into the biggest bowl we have - this year I did loads as I have had the nightmare of running out and I didn't want it to happen again. I also dress up in witchy attire to give out the sweets, and we had spooky blue lights in the hall to finish the effect.


Caitlin went to a Halloween party at one of the neighbours house and went trick and treating with her friends so I had to grab a picture on the way around. We had buckets of kids call to the door and about 6 ish Jennie and I took the wee one around.


Now we only call to houses that have decorated as we know they are taking part - I am not overly keen on knocking on people's door that obviously want to be left in peace. The kids have a trick each to do if asked usually a corny halloween joke or in Rachel's case a stirring rendtion of Baa Baa black sheep. We also don't stay out too long and just do our neighbourhood so we know the people we are calling too - it make for a much more pleasant evening for all.
Rachel loved calling to the doors and she even got her own pumpkin from one lovely lady.


The weather held out and it was even quite mild, the evening went great and the kids came home with bags full of goodies and as I said we didn't run out, the last callers came at around 8.30 and there were only a few organised fireworks being let off so no bangers late into the night.