Beano Bonanza

Today has been a reading day for Sam. Popped into town this afternoon and Paid a visit to Waterstones where all the annuals were reduced to 99p! Sam chose The Beano and Star Wars whilst Callum chose Spongebob Squarepants and Pokemon.
Didn't hear a peep out of Sam all afternoon and he has just announced that he has read it from cover to cover. So we are back into town tomorrow to go and get the Dandy one too!

Andy and Trippy went out on their bikes this afternoon - think it was cold up on the top of Winding Walks though. It was a beautiful clear day as his photo shows.

What do you do on Boxing Day?

Daddy and Callum made a start on their Airfix model plane on the dining room table - needless to say Callums interest soon vanished and Daddy spent a couple of happy hours gluing and painting. I am taking photos of this work in progress!

Here is a photo of Callum and the journalling includes what was on his list to Father Chhristmas this year - its little details like this that we forget so it will be nice to look back and see what things he wanted in 2007.

Beady Stuff

Have finally got round to taking a photo of my new bracelet after adding the new beads I was lucky enough to recieve yesterday. Its a combination of Troll and Dolly beads in my favourite autumnal colours - have even bought some new clothes to match! Scary to see how quickly it has filled up - most of the beads were 40th birthday pressies from my DH and boys.

Christmas Chaos!

That is a bit of an exaggeration - but at one point this morning my front room looked like a bomb had gone off in a Lego shop - they had Mars Mission, Star Wars and Bionicle Lego - so guess what Daddy spent most of the morning doing??

I think everyone had a good day - lunch was delicious and then we all went for a walk on a very cold and frosty Lossiemouth beach. Certainly blew the cobwebs away. The we all piled round to Trippy and Kirsteens house. Lucky Trippy had a Wii from Santa and the boys soundly whooped the adults backsides at boxing - so funny to watch.

Boys are now in bed watching the Simpsons movie whilst Daddy is playing their new XBox Lego Star Wars game - big kid!!

Christmas Eve - nearly there!

The boys are getting excited - poor Callum said he couldn't sleep last night - doesn't bode well for tonight then!

Final preparations are underway. Callum and I popped to the pet shop to get Sam his christmas pressie - a new goldfish after the untimely demise of the previous one! He has been named Pirate due to the fact he looks as though he has a black eye patch over one eye.

Made the last couple of cards last night - one for Andrew after brushing the dust off my Robo and one each for the boys. Used a Sugar Nellie stamp "Hamish" which the boys love - and added thier names. I am certainly going to treat myself to some more of these stamps in the new year - from my very local crafting emporium Funky Kits.

Have finally iced the cake - very plain and simple as it was done in a hurry. And Callum is outside helping his Dad wash the cars!! Not sure quite how helpful he is being though!!

Christmas tree - at last!

After much nagging from the boys I finally gave in and put the tree up - gave them free rein with the decorations!! Might be a bit of rearranging after they have gone to bed tonight.

I know that the usual tradition is to put a fairy or and angel on the top of the tree - but in the Burton household its a hedgehog. Cannot remember where Andy and I got him from but he comes out every year.

Kicking High

Meant to add these photos of DS1 a while ago - they were sent to me by his sensei. They show just how high he can kick - I think its quite impressive. The bit I love though are the expressions on his face. Both the boys still love their karate - they graded at the beginning of the month - Sam is now a brown belt and Callum a blue.

Winter Winding Walks.

Been a gorgeous cold and frosty day here so decided to go to Winding Walks to get some fresh air. The boys had lots of fun running around and finding sticks to use as guns!!

Have finally made my christmas cake this evening - better late than never. Was going to buy one but when I saw the price I soon changed my mind. Baa Humbug!!

Sam has been busy making his christmas cards for grandparents - so mum if you are looking you have spoilt the surprise!!

Don't think I mentioned it before - but I have finally got a job! It is just temping for the council - the placement I have got is for 18 hours a week and only up to 31st March at the moment. Popped in to the Resource Centre to see where I would be working and everyone seems really nice - very relaxed and its tea and a scone at 10.15 every mornning. They also asked what hours did I want to work so I couldn't ask for better - can fit it in around the boys and school. Perfect!!

Mr Grumpy!

I am sure Callum is going to hate me for this one - but I'm afraid its a situation we see all too often. The photo was taken on Lossie Beach back in September - can't remember what the paddy was about this time.

Have been busy getting things ready for Christmas - 99% of the shopping has been done but none of it wrapped yet. The fruit is soaking in brandy for the cake - nothing like leaving it till the last minute! It will all get done in the end.

Had a bit of good news yesterday - as of 7th January I will be back in employment! It is just temping with the council but I have seen where I will be working and everyone seems really nice. The job sounds OK and very flexible - the hours fit in nicely around the boys so hopefully things will still run smoothly. Watch this space!!

Scraplifting

Seem to have been doing quite a bit of that recently. Here are a couple of recent LOs - have done a few more but need to scan them.




The first one is a scraplift of a LO in Novembers Scrapagogo Create booklet - the colour of the card matched the card perfectly. An old photo of Callum from the classic car show at Brodie Castle in August 2004. Life Thru a Lens is a self portrait I took whilst at Chatsworth House in October - its a reflection in a large metal rotating pyramid sculpture!!



Went to a 10 hour crop on Saturday 1st December in Aberdeen - had a fab time. Got quite a bit done including all my christmas cards. Had a scrummy lunch in a local chinese restaurant - nice to put names to faces with some of the girls I chat to over on UKS.

Out of my comfort zone

Have managed to do my first ever christmas LO - this is for a challenge at the first ever Aberdeen 10 hour crop on 1st December. The photo is from Christmas 2004 and I just love the expression on Callums face - the expectation of what Father Christmas has bought them. I used My Minds Eye Frost papers - not really festive colours but I like them.

Also managed my first LO from Novembers Scrapagogo kit - all very black and white and sparkly - so not me at all! Photo is of Sam from January 2003 - can't believe how grown up he looked for 5. This LO was done for a challenge over on http://scrummystashcafe.blogspot.com/

Taking it Easy

Not sure if Sam will like what I have done here - but I do. I think the colours of the flowers go really well with the photo. Taken at Froggatt Edge in the Peak District. Inspiration was from the fabby sketch on Valerie's Sketches http://gotsketch.blogspot.com/

Speed scrapping.

Its not something I'm known for - I am more of a faffer when it comes to scrapping. I prefer to have all my stash spread over the dining room table so that every time I pass I can move bits around.

I was inspired yesterday by sketch #58 over on http://www.pencillines.com/ - it all came together so easily. I love this photo of Callum taken on Sunday at Spey Bay - he looks so cheeky!

Blowing the cobwebs away.

Took the boys for a walk down Spey Bay this morning - and boy was it cold! It was blowing a gale and there were some really big waves. Cal found a little plastic duck on the beach so he ended up doing some target practice! They love getting out into the fresh air and having a run about.

Proud mummy moment

The boys had a karate competition at Smithton Primary School near Inverness today. Poor Callum was a bag of nerves but he over came them to get a silver medal in his sparring catagory - I think the smile in the photo says it all!

Sam pulled out all the stops in Kata and gave a flawless performance to gain gold. He was then put in the age 10-12 catagory for sparring and worryingly he was the smallest boys in the group. But size isn't everything and speed won the day and him another gold. Both boys will go to sleep tonight with smiles on their faces.

As for me - I think I had as many nerves as them and have shouted myself hoarse!!

Halloween time

The boys had a halloween party at their karate club - and what a fab time they had. Lots of games, quizzes, dunking for apples and eating doughnuts off a string. They are completely shattered now so an early night as they have a karate competition in Inverness tomorrow.

Here is a pic of Callum as a happy and not very scary skeleton.

Holiday Pals

Had great fun with the camera whilst I was away - so many things to snap away at. These are some of the creatures we met along the way - it was a shame the otters wouldn't keep still long enough!

Sam loved the squirrels that visited our log cabin - hand feeding them monkey nuts - until he was bitten!!

Chatsworth House

Have just spent a week in the Peak District - it was a fabulous area - so much so that I think I could quite happily live there.

Think all in all I took about 400 photos and I'm still trying to plough through them all.

Spent some time at Chatsworth House. The inside is stunning but I enjoyed the sculptures in the gardens more. Gave me a chance to put the camera onto manual and try to put into practice what I have learnt over the last few months. Here a few shots of my favourite pieces.

Module 4

I'm still working on Module 3!

The brief for module 4 was to take photographs in manual with strong light and dark tones - and then convert them to black and white.

The first one is of Findhorn beach and the second is some gravestones at Kinloss Abbey. I converted the images to black and white using Paintshop Pro and then tweaked the contrast ever so slightly.

I like the black and white - makes the pictures more dramatic.

Slipping behind

Not had much chance to complete this weeks module - too much "stuff" going on. Found out on Saturday that my redundancy application has been accepted - my last day at work is 26th October. So my mind has been in a tizz and I have been busy writing a CV and phoning up for job application forms.

But I did manage to complete a LO using one of the photos I took for module 1. It was done for challenge #30 on the Mojo Holder Blog http://www.mojoholder.typepad.com/ Really pleased with how it has turned out.

Off to play catch up now and hope the sun shines!!

Birthday boy!

Callum is 7 today and to mark the occassion we had a mini photo shoot before school. Looking especially smart as it was school photographs day so the tie had to be worn. Only shot in manual and am pleased with how they turned out - before this course I would have been on auto!

Module 2 - Aperture

Have taken what seems like hundreds of photos this week trying to get this module right. Most of it seems like trial and error but practice makes perfect.

Here are the best 2 shots of the week.

Another trip out - with camera in hand. This time to Lossiemouth beach - it was beautiful and sunny but boy was it windy! Still need to get the sand out of my hair.

Busy checking histograms and must admit I'm pretty chuffed with the results. Makes Lossiemouth look far more exotic than it really is. Trouble was - I forgot to visit the ice cream shop while I was there!!