Disneyland Paris - Day 2

Paris has some new rides and one of them is 'Cars'. Here are all the boys having a blast. This was the longest queue I think of all the rides - 40 minutes. Eventually they made it to the front while Ruth, Daisy and I waited on the side lines with a lovely hot chocolate in hand.

If you are wondering where I am in this photo, well I am behind the camera.

Here I am with Rob and Oliver.

Disneyland Paris - Day 1

Our first day at Disnelyland Paris and it rains !! We spent the first few hours by ourselves as Ruth, Henry, Fred & Daisy were still on their way. They arrived around lunch time so we all went off to eat together and then hit the parks again.

Everyone had a good time despite the drizzle. Fred and Oliver get along so well and Daisy is just so adorable.

I've been tagged

I've been tagged by Jayne. I've read a few of these on other blogs so here goes!


1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet, current car) Bill Omega

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream, favorite cookie) Vanilla Chocolate Monty

3. YOUR FLY “GUY/GIRL” NAME: (first initial first name, first 3 letters last name) K Swa

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Pink Dog

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Anne Bankstown

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters last name, first 2 letters first name) SwaKy

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink and add” the”) The Brown Rose

8. NASCAR NAME: (first names of your grandfathers) Phillip George

9. STRIPPER NAME: (favorite perfume, favorite candy) Pleasure Rasberries

10. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s and father’s middle names) Joan Frederick.



That was fun. Now to tag some new people. OK I tag Karen, Anna, Cheryl.

Disneyland Paris here we come

Ok, we are off to Disneyland Paris this afternoon for 3 days, so we are back on Sunday.

I will post some photos when we get back as I don't know if the Disney hotel has internet access.
I think I am more excited than Oliver!!

DCM Challenge - Vrooooooooooom

Today's challenge is:

Cars, Boats, Trains & Planes is the theme for our Little Extra challenge this week. A good chance to stock up on kids cards and make a few of those poor, unloved "cards for men", maybe? How about "congratulations on Passing your Driving test" or "Got your Wings" for newly qualified pilots? - ok so we may be reaching a bit far with that one, but you never know! Basically, what we'd like you to do is put some transport on your cards this week, how you do it is up to you!

I made this card back in August and due to Oliver being unwell, I haven't had time to make a card today.

Been Busy Doing Nothing

This is Oliver the Pirate!! Ahhh, how cute!!

I've not posted this week as I haven't made any cards or been anywhere interesting to talk about. Mostly, I have had Oliver sitting on my lap wanting cuddles as he has been ill. First, he is contstipated (poor thing) and then Thursday morning (2:30am) he woke up with a very high temperature. I took him to the doctor and after looking him over, he said the temperature was due to a slight ear infection and tonsilitis which are not helping his contstipation situation. Oh dear!!! We've now got some laxatives and they are working a treat but it still seems to be painful for him to go. We are all very tired due to Oliver waking up and Rob is working all hours under the sun so he has been busy too.

We are off to Disneyland Paris next Thursday so while Oliver is down for his nap, I am washing the clothes in preparation and also clothes we need to take to Australia as we leave the day after we get back from Paris. Busy, busy, busy!!!!

Wedding in Manchester

We went to our friend's (Roger & Wendy) wedding in Manchester today. Wow, what a lovely day it was too. The sun was shining and the temperature was nice. This picture is not the best but we were sitting at a bad angle as you can hardly see Roger. Wendy looked absolutely lovely as did her bridemaid's. They were very grateful we drove all the way from London to attend their wedding and it was no trouble at all!!



Here are the boys together, Oliver drawing with the pencil set that was a gift for the kiddies to keep them occupied. Oliver be-friended Sophie who is Wendy's little neice and while Wendy's father was speaking, both kids went up to him and as Oliver likes to copy everyone, he repeated what Sophie was saying which was 'Grandad'. Everybody was laughing. The following morning while having breakfast in the hotel, Wendy's parents came up to us and I apologised about the interuption and they were saying how funny it was.

DCM Challenge

Friday's DCM Challenge is:

This week I dare you to use a Word as the main focal point to your card. It can be a name, a greeting or just a word that inspires you. You can use other text but only one word as a main embellishment. So dig out your dictionaries, die cutters, alphabet stamps, rubons or download a funky font and show us what you can do! The design team have come up with some fabulous creations to inpsire you.

I put this together for a friend who asked for 'Thank You' cards. The 'thank you' doesn't come out very clear on the picture (sorry about that!).



Supplies: Stamps: HOTP (QVC UK kit). Ink: Brilliance (Pearlescent Coral). Paper: Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey (Blush), MME (Bohemia). Accessories: Bazzill Wings (Bitty Blossoms Flowers (Pink & Brown).

Criss Cross Card

I didn't think I would be able to make this card until our holiday in Australia in 2 weeks time, but I made some time tonight while I wait on my friend Ruth to give me information for Christening Invitations she wants me to make.

The instructions for the Criss Cross Card can be found on SCS. I can honestly say it is easy to make - give it a go! Lots of samples I've seen have been in Christmas colours and they do look fantastic.

I hope the lighting is okay and you can see the colours of the base card properly. It is a lovely pale apple green colour.



Supplies: Stamps: HOTP (QVC UK kit), Anita's scribble flower. Ink: Vaersafine (Vintage Sepia), Brilliance Dew Drop (Coffee Bean). Paper: Bazzill cardstock, Wild Asparagus (Adorable Stripe/Light Blue). Accessories: Light Yellow Organza Ribbon.

DCM Challenge

I have finally remembered to look at DCM for their mid week challenge as I try to do their Friday one. This time the challenge is:

Straight on to our Little Extra challenge for this week then:
Big & Little We'd like you to use items in pairs of Big and Little - so you need to have both sizes on your card ie big & little buttons, big & little die cuts, big & little hearts, big & little circles etc The theme of your card can be whatever you like this time, so that's nice of us, isn't it?

Supplies: Stamps: Papertrey Ink: (Borders & Corners - OVAL). Ink: Versafine (Vintage Sepia). Paper: Bazzill, Basic Grey (Urban Coture). Accessories: Bazzill Wings Bitty Blossoms (flowers) in Teal OP & Apple Green, Papermania Pearl Brads (Green), Papermania button (yellow).

Victory is near!!

Yes, victory is on the horizon!! It took us 1 hour to get Oliver to eat his dinner tonight - Pasta with a tomato and basil sauce. He absolutely refused to eat one spoonful tonight so he was told he wouldn't be getting his cookie (we have had this cookie for 3 days as a treat for eating his dinner). We put his toys away and he could play with them if he ate, but no luck there either. He then went to be without his bottle or a story!! I was starting to cook our dinner and Oliver was crying in his cot. After about 5 minutes I went up to him and we spoke and he was willing to try some dinner. By this time his dinner had gone cold so a quick zap in the microwave and it was just warm. I put ONE spiral piece of pasta on his fork and he ate it !!!!!!!! OMG !!!! I sat him down and he wanted to eat some more.



We praised him and this is Oliver eating his cookie.

I think he is starting to realise that we won't be backing down so he might as well eat his food - 'cause you never know, he might actually like it.

Another Meal Time

Tonight we tried vegetables!! This is the one and only spoon that went into his mouth. Then he tried again but didn't like it. At least he is giving it a go. I shall try some pasta tomorrow.

Lunch in London

I met my former boss (Dan) and colleague (Kuldip) for lunch today in London. Oliver came along for the ride too as it is not grand parents day or nursery. Dan and Kuldip haven't seen Oliver since Dan's wedding last year so he has grown some ! To get to London we went by train and Oliver loves his train rides. He looks out the window and when another train passes in the opposite direction he gets all excited and says 'mummy, another train'.



This is Kuldip with Oliver.

I know I am obsessing...

This really is for the benefit of my parents who live in Australia as they don't see Oliver very often and know that I struggle to get Oliver to eat properly...

I got Oliver his dinner before I went out to my exercise class tonight. He had fried rice and while he was happy to eat it, after half a dozen mouthful's he came across a larger piece of bacon and that was it - he didn't want to eat any more! Oh well, no desert !!

I am off into London tomorrow to meet up with some friends so he will HAVE to eat what is on the menu !! I know I am being cruel *wink* but we have been toooo soft on him with his food - no more!

Burger Time!

This is the one and only mouthful that Oliver ate of his burger I made him for his lunch today. He was all excited to be having a 'burger' but he suddenly realised that it wasn't from McDonals !! He refused to eat any more. He also didn't get any treats. I wonder how long he will keep this up?

Big Boy!

I know, you are probably wondering what is so fascinating about a boy eating his roast dinner - well for those of you who know Oliver will know that he is the worst eater in the world. The only big boy food I can get him to eat are: McDonald's cheese burger meal, Chinese fried rice and tomato soup. Of course he will gladly eat chocolate and chocolate biscuits, ice cream and so on but not what Rob and I eat. I was watching the 'Super Nanny' on TV the other night and one of the problems she was facing was 3 year old twins eating pureed food !!! Now Oliver's eating is not that bad but it could be a lot better. Anyway, we decided to take the Super Nanny's advice.


We sat at Oliver's little table with him so he could watch us eat and we could encourage him. He didn't refuse to eat which was a good sign. The first thing he did eat was his Yorkshire Puddings - he likes them. We snuck some beans in one of his mouthful's and he ate it then we tried some chicken but he cottoned on to it and spat it back out. There probably doesn't seem too much difference in the 2 photos but he had a go at it. He did actually eat a couple more mouthful's after I took the photo. We gave him big cuddles and kisses for his effort. Let's see what happens tomorrow night.

O.B.M.S.

I made this back in July at a class at Creative Pastimes but it was just the shell as I didn't have the photo or the embellishments. I really liked the paper (Basic Grey) and the colour but had no idea what photo to use. I knew it was going to be of Oliver and what better photo but a swimming one with the blue water and a beaming big smile from the little man!! I bought the stickers (Pebbles Inc) and the rub-on letters (Doodlebug) from the shop and if you are wondering what OBMS stands for on the front of the booklet card - Oliver Brett Matthew Swain !!!

DCM Challenge

This is the latest challenge over at DCM.

Well, the time has come for our first Christmas card dare of 2007.But as loads of you have already shown some fab Christmas cards on your blogs, we thought we'd make things a little more Daring, interesting, tricky or downright mean - depending on your point of view!
So, we'd like you to make and show a Christmas card which incorporates the following:
Some Paper Tearing
The colour Purple
AND
It has to have at least one hole somewhere in the design!

This is what I came up with. I don't have many Christmas stamps as last years cards were die cuts so not stamping required. I shall have to invest in some Stampin' Up! stamps.

Supplies: Stamp: Hobby Arts Surrey (Chtistmas Sentiments), Ink: Brilliance Dew Drop (Pearlescent Lavendar), Accessories: Silver Mirri Card, Silver Snow Flake Peel Off, Purple Peel Off Marker, Purple Pearlescent paper, 1.5cm (3/4") circle punch.

Australia here we come!

We are going to Australia for a family reunion. As we still don't have a date for moving to Australia (I am hoping to be there by Christmas), a nice long stay is in order. The last time we were there was April 2005 when Oliver was christened so it has been that long since my parents have seen Oliver but they speak to him on the telephone every week.

I am looking forward to seeing my parents as my dad had a heart attack the day before his birthday in July and my mum passed out Monday week ago and hit her face so she had a black eye! What a pair they make!! LOL. B.T.W. - my dad is ok and I don't think he will be doing any more 12 hour days at work!

Just Relaxing

This is Oliver relaxing watching some television with his Dad !!! Nice pillow Oliver!

Ring, Ring

This is Oliver's plastic mobile phone. He open's it up and has a conversation with himself. He says: 'Hello', 'Oh really', That's fantastic' and a few other things depending on what he remembers to say.

80th Birthday

Alison's mum turns 80! in just over a week and she wanted me to use a photo of her sister Tracey and herself (yes, they are twins). I came up with this and I am pleased with the result.

Supplies: Stamps: Papertrey Ink 'Beautiful Blooms', 'Borders & Corners (Rectangle). Ink: VersaMagic Dew Drop (Agean Blue), Versafine (Vitnage Sepia). Accessories: Photo, Light Blue Organza Ribbon.

Congratulations Katie & Marcus

I made this card as my friend Katie and her boyfriend Marcus got engaged over the weekend. CONGRATULATIONS KATIE & MARCUS!!!

Supplies: Stamps: Papertrey Ink 'Beautiful Blooms', 'Borders & Corners (Oval)'. Ink: Brilliance Dew Drops (Coffee Bean), Versamark, Versafine (Vintage Sepia). Accessories: Chocolate Brown Organza Ribbon, Clear Embossing Powder.

Hen Weekend - Day 3

Up and about early this morning as it is our Spa Day. Sarah had booked us in at the spa for our treatments and after our treatments we went to the swimming pool and sauna. We had another relaxing morning with our treatments and then a lovely lunch. Unfortunately, Sarah then had to drive me back to Glasgow Airport for my flight back to Gatwick. My flight was delayed (again) but Rob was waiting for me at the gate. We drove to Rob's parents house as they looked after Oliver while Rob was at work today. First Oliver said to me 'Hello Mummy' and then when Rob put him his car seat he said (get your tissues ready!) 'I did miss you mummy'. Bless him!! Although when I asked Rob if Oliver asked where I was, the answer was 'no'.

Hen Weekend - Day 2

We surfaced from bed around 8:30am which is pretty good considering our previous late night. We took our time getting ready and eating breakfast. We went for a lovely walk along the Highland Way and watched a group of sailing boats. It took us a couple of hours and by the time we got back to the lodge we were ready to have a nap. Instead we got comfortable on the couch and watched some DVD's and you guessed it - drank more wine !! It was fantastic, we just chilled out, chatted and drank. I haven't done that in a long time. Even better - no nappies to change. LOL!

Hen Weekend - Day 1

Sarah picked me up from Glasgow Airport along with her friend Lorraine and we drove to our accommodation Luxury Lomond Lodges and we stayed in the Superlodge. I can highly recommend if you are in Scotland you stay there - it was home away from home but without having to do all the house chores !! It was fantastic. We got to the lodge late in the afternoon so we stayed indoors and ate dinner and drank wine (lots of it!) ;¬) Sarah bought along some DVD games so we played a few of them - hilarious !! It was a late night for us all. I had spoken to Rob and Oliver earlier that evening before Oliver went to bed. My first night without him.

Scotland

I am off to Scotland for a hen weekend for my friend Sarah (who was my birdesmaid). We are going to Cameon House Spa in Loch Lomand. I haven't seen Sarah for a while but we have a friendship that if we don't speak for months we can pick up the phone and we can carry on with the conversation. I will post some photos when I get back on Monday evening. This will be the first time I have gone away without Oliver!!

One more!

While my friend's Sarah and Brian are getting married we have another wedding to attend (Roger & Wendy) - actually there is a theme happening here. Both Sarah and Roger were in our wedding party when Rob and I were married 4/5 years ago. No, I am not confused on how many years we have been married and there is a story to this.........

....but first Roger & Wendy's card!

Supplies: Stamp: Anita's Bride & Groom. Ink: Brilliance Dew Drop (Pearlescent Lavender). Accessories: Papermania White flower, Lilac Organza Ribbon, Holographic Embossing Powder, Lilac Watercolour Pencil.

........I came to the UK in 2000 on a 2 year working visa. I met Rob 16 months into my stay. My employer at the time wanted to sponsor me and while that was happening my visa ran out. In the end the Home Office said no to the sponsorship so by this time Rob and I had been together for a year and were planning on a surprise visit to Australia for my mum's 60th Birthday in the June so they could meet Rob and to announce our engagement ! That was the plan !! When the Home Office said no to the sponsorship they also gave me 10 days to leave the country - NICE ONE!! I came home in tears and when Rob got home apart from comforting me he said "How about it?". Yes, that was his proposal as we were both stunned by what had happened that day and a little emotional. After a quick trip back to Australia to obtain my fiance visa we were married 2 months later in the June. As it was done so quickly, my parents couldn't attend so we went to the Registry Office and got married again and 12 months later where we had a lovely church wedding with my family there and all of our friend's in the UK. My other bridesmaid, Karen and her husband Steve came as they were planning a holiday to the UK at the same time so she was able to be my bridesmaid. So we laugh now and thank you to the Home Office !!! LOL

More Cards

Oliver went to my in-laws today which was good as I needed to make a card for my friend's wedding (Sarah & Brian). Sarah was my bridemaide at my wedding. I just hope she doesn't look at this post and see the card!

Supples: Stamps: HOTP(swirl), See-D's "On Your Wedding Day" (Springtime Swirls). Ink: Versamark. Accessories: Silver Twinkle Embossing Powder, Doodlebug cardstock (lilac - both shades and white), Wedding Cake brass stencil I bought from a local craft shop, Lilac Organza Robbon, Silver Brads.

It must be the time for babies in New Zealand as another one of our friend's has had a baby (Joshua) so I made this card tonight. Congratulations Jodine & Paul and welcome Joshua!!
This is a close up of the dark blue strip which has the hands and feet embossing on it (hopefully you can see it but it is not the best photo - sorry).

Supplies: Stamp: Hero Arts Giraffe. Ink: Adirondack (Denim). Accessories: ChatterBox (stripped paper), Bazzil (dark blue cardstock), Fiskars Texture Plate (Prints), Oliver Green Ribbon, 2" Rounch Punch, 2" Square Punch, light and dark blue eyelets and I printed "It's a BOY" on the PC.

Disneyland Paris

We booked our first holiday tonight to Disneyland Paris at the end of September. It is only 3 days but after going to DisneyWorld (Florida) in January and seeing how much Oliver loved it, we wanted to go to Paris again. Our friends Henry, Ruth and their two children, Fred (2) and Daisy (8 months) have also booked so our two boys will have company for each other and they get along really well.

Next is to book our trip to Australia in October.

Woburn Safari Park

We headed off this morning to Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire but ended up at Woburn Safari Park due to the roadworks on the M1. We thought we had missed the exit for Whipsnade but further on was another sign for a park so we headed for that one. This particular park you drive around like on a safari. It is a bank holiday in England and a lot of other people had the same idea so the park was very busy. The worst part was getting to see the Lions - who were just lying about off the side of the road. If you opened your car window and put your arm out, you could almost touch them (health warning: you may loose your arm if you do this!!). It also took us at least 40+ minutes to get past the lions because of the traffic jam!!!

Then we came up against the monkeys. Oliver loved these as they jump on your car and if you are not careful they will run off with your car ariel or other bits. We had 2 jump on our car and as we have a sun roof, we could see one sitting on the roof.

After driving around safari style you then head to the 'foot safari' - walk about to see the animals in their enclosures. There was a section called 'Australian Walkabout' in which they had wallabies and emu's and you could feed and touch the wallabies so here is a photo of Oliver and his new friend 'Wally'.

Ice Cream

After Oliver's swimming lessons this morning we went grocery shopping and told Oliver if he was good today he could have some ice cream as a treat. We don't have ice cream very often which is good for me while I am on my diet but every now and then we treat ourselves. I rang my parents (in Australia) and gave Oliver the telephone and he was talking to Poppy while we were putting the shopping away. He then had some lunch and he was allowed to have his ice cream. By this time I was talking to mum and Oliver was trying to tell her what he was eating.

As you can see from the photo, I had to put the phone on speaker and hold it near his mouth so he could tell Nanny what was in his ice cream (smarties) as he wasn't stopping for anything or anyone.

DCM Challenge

I made this card for Kyran's birthday last week and it is another challenge at DCM.

I know you've all got buttons stashed away somewhere, whether they've been purchased at a cardmaking store or you thriftily snipped them off DH's old shirt. I'd like you to find those buttons and use them somewhere on a card. They can be real buttons, craft shop buttons, die cut buttons, faux buttons or another type of button, surprise us all.

Baby Girl Card

I made this card tonight as friends who live in New Zealand had a baby girl (Sienna) yesterday.

Is it on?

It was a little chilly here in the UK today and as Oliver has a bad cold, I kept him in his pj's and his dressing gown. Isn't he cute? He wanted to sit at the computer and he was tapping away on the keyboard, then grabbed the headphones and put them on (the pc is not on!). I'm not sure if he was hoping that if he put the headphones on, he would hear something or it would turn the computer on.

Look at me!

The red bucket that Oliver is sitting in is part of his storage unit for his toys and came from IKEA. He has his 'Thomas The Tank Engine' track and 3 trains in there. He emptied the bucket and put it on the couch so it was out of his way and was happily playing on the floor. He decided he wanted to play with the bucket instead and sat inside it. With my camera right beside me at the table, I thought what a funny photo. As soon as I had the camera in my hand, Oliver saw it and said 'take a photo mummy!' What a poser!!!

Kyran's 2nd Birthday Party

We went to Kyran's birthday party today. Kyran is one of Oliver's friends from his swimming group. There was entertainment with songs and dancing.

Anything that makes a noise is great as far as Oliver is concerned.

As you can see the chocolate fondue came out and the kids loved it. Oliver had a strawberry on the end of his stick but lost it in the chocolate. He didn't realise at first what he had to do with the stick so I told him to lick it - he went to lick the dripping chocolate fountain instead.

Tote Bag

I put this together tonight, not for any particular reason other than I wanted to see how it went together. I got the template from SCS website. You can embellish it any way you please but I kept it simple with some flowers and a tag with 'celebration' stamped onto it. You can fit 11.5cm x 14.5cm (4 1/2" x 5 3/4") envelope size inside or you could put sweets wrapped in tissue paper or even treats for Halloween (for those of you that celebrate Halloween). Just use the appropiate colour card stock for your occasion.

Father & Son

Rob has a new computer game 'Lord of the Rings Oline'. Oliver wanted to see what was going on tonight and also listen to all the different sounds. He sat on Rob's lap for ages asking 'what was that?' constantly and then telling Rob what to go after. I only wish I had it on video.