To Karen and Diana

An intervention has occurred and rather than doing ANYTHING crafty I am indulging in this tonight :-) A tall drink of raspberry vodka with cranberry and orange juices. {edited to add that the drink was only in this glass for the photo then it went into the everyday beverage glass....silly to use the good crystal without guests}

Here is joke just for you two today as well..........

Two women friends had gone out for a Girls Night Out, and had been decidedly over-enthusiastic on the cocktails. Incredibly drunk and walking home they suddenly realized they both needed to pee. They were very near a graveyard and one of them suggested they do their business behind a headstone or something. The first woman had nothing to wipe with so she took off her panties, used them and threw them away. Her friend however was wearing an expensive underwear set and didn't want to ruin hers, but was lucky enough to salvage a large ribbon from a wreath that was on a grave and proceeded to use it. After finishing, they made their way home.The next day the first woman's husband phones the other husband and said, "These darn girls nights out have got to stop. My wife came home last night without her panties." "That's nothing," said the other. "Mine came back with a sympathy card stuck between the cheeks of her butt that said, 'From all of us at the Fire Station, We'll never forget you!'

Too Crafty??

Ok.....who are you and what have you done with the 'real' Suzanne?? This question has been asked by a few people especially after seeing my cupcakes ~It seems that since coming over here I am now crafty....it must be in the water or maybe it is that I have TOO much time on my hands??? HMMMMM you decide for yourself.
Maggie started to work on her birthday party invitations tonight and they are SO cute {I really like them} she has more to do as well as add finishing touches.


Some of the inviations are a pink and the others are a lighter pink {although they look white in the photo}. Maggie punched out all the small flowers she is gluing to each invite.

Then in the center of each flower she is putting a dot of glitter...she is all about the bling!

Package Update and MORE Cupcakes.....

Well Duh Ex just called and would you believe that they have not found the missing contents of my package. I could have told her that...some loser is sitting at home playing Madden 07 at home as I write this. I will say she, Ruth, was very nice and quite apologetic. They are now taking care of this in the US as a claim will need to be filed for reimbursement of the game. I have now finished with all the cupcakes and I think they look quite YUMMY.

Baking Cupcakes....

Tomorrow, here in the UK is the Macmillan World's Biggest Coffee Morning . The Macmillan program offers support to those with cancer and their families here in the UK. Maggie's school will be holding an event at the school is in the afternoon ~ donations are made for each cup of coffee/tea/juice that is drunk. I have been making cupcakes {fairy cakes, as they are called here} all morning. The vanilla ones are frosted and ready to go and now I am waiting for the chocolate ones to cool to decorate later. I have made extras for the kids as they would surely find it WRONG of me to make them and not have any for them :-)

Random Facts

World Tourist day is observed on September 27.

If you have 3 quarters, 4 dimes, and 4 pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.

The Neanderthal's brain was bigger than yours is.

Diet Coke was only invented in 1982.

Stressed is Desserts spelled backwards.

The three best-known western names in China: Jesus Christ, Richard Nixon, and Elvis Presley.

The average human eats 8 spiders in their lifetime at night.

The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.(WHAT???)

Every year more people are killed by donkeys, than in aircraft crashes.

Wonder Boys.........

I did this today after I was done cleaning ~ I really didn't do all that much :-) Anyway, these are some of my favorite pictures of Andrew and Nicholas. It is the perfect way to show how they have grown - preschool, kindergarten and now!! Where has the time gone????

Fan- BLOOMING- tastic day today ~

The weather today could not be any better! The morning was brisk and cool but that is expected in the fall...at the moment the sun is shining and the temperature is rising! Went to the grocery and while there bought these beautiful flowers, I not only got one bouquet but TWO for the bargain price of $8.00 (I converted from GBP) ~ I am very much into fresh cut flowers these days. I am still VERY ANNOYED at the whole missing package issue from yesterday. The person assigned to the situation, Ruth, called me this morning to let me know they are working on it and are waiting to hear back from the people in the US. That is all for now.....need to get going on some laundry and cleaning around the house.

I AM SO MAD>>>>>>

Well I am posting this as I am not a happy camper.....Dad sent a package to me last week that contained 2 things; tax documents {boring} and Andrew's birthday gift Madden 07 for the Playstation. The package arrived today and not only did it NOT have the tax documents OR Andrew's game but someone stuck in a laser pointer URGHHHHH!!! I did as any responsible person would do..I called the sender, maybe he was just having a DOH moment and sent something completely random but alas...it was not so. As you can tell I am being SO dramatic with my wording but I am completely PISSED! I cannot believe this was done. SO I then called the shipping company F** Ex to report what is going on. Spoke to a very nice guy in the US who said someone would call me back. I then got a call from someone over here in the UK to let me know they will look into it and it sounds like I got the wrong package ~ OK, stupid A** I already knew that one!! Anyway, we will see what happens. I am off to get Maggie from school and maybe I will be in a better mood when I get back.

Party planning already....

Maggie has never had a 'real' birthday party so she is having one this year! When she gets something in her mind the event takes over her life { I have NO idea where she gets that from} ...at the moment EVERYTHING is about her party and it isn't even until early November! Today she and I went to a papercrafts show to look for goodies to make her party invitations. She found 'what she has been looking for all her life' and is quite excited about them. They are the shape of small handbags ~ too cute! This is how everything looks while they are still naked. When they are finished we will be sure to post photos!

After we bought what she wanted we had a nice time just looking at all the vendors and looking at everything. Maggie was able to make her own card and really took her time with her

masterpiece. Here she is creating the card and then proudly displaying it for the camera.

Yes, I do take the camera everywhere with me....you never know when I will find something to photograph for the blog :-)

Happy Saturday!

Well the weekend is here and the weather is OK today. After the 80 degree weather earlier this week it is back to reality and the fact fall is upon us. It was about 60 today and partly sunny so not too bad! We really did not do much today.

I did a couple scrapbook pages with some new papers that I purchased and am quite pleased with how they turned out. The first is Mike's little boy Jack, he is too darn cute ~ I could just squeeze him all day. This photo is from when he was 9 months old.

The second is of Christopher with the famous Gibralter Apes on our trip there this past April. I was calling it a monkey and our tour guide said it was actually an ape as they don't have a tail...hmm you learn something new all the time.

It is about time ~

Let's talk about Survivor - the only time that this was shown on television outside of the US was for Season 1. Then the episodes were available for viewing and downloading online at CBS. Last season, I was able to dowload 3 episodes via the CBS website and they then made it so if you were outside of the US you could not do so. HELLLOOOO didn't they know I was willing to part with my money in order to see it?? Now CBS, via their innertube program, allows you to watch the episodes for free ~ again, if you are outside the US no such luck!

Well I must say my life is complete as I can now watch Survivor thanks to iTunes :-) I purchased the season pass for $19.99 and I can download all the episodes as well as the specials....LIFE IS GOOD. SO, while I cannot see the episodes the night they air I can dowload it later the next day. This morning I watched the season premier from September 14th - I liked it and can't wait to see the rest. I know some of you are saying to yourselves "Oh my...she really does need to get a life!" but many of you know how much I LOVE this show and miss calling a certain person during the show to laugh about a scene or to say "WOW that wasn't expected...or he is SO cute"


This season was filmed in Aitutaki Atoll, Cook Islands and it does look great...love the clear blue water. Click on the link and you can learn a little about the island. It appears that a lot of the filming took place at Aitutaki lagoon. The isolated group of islands is named after the famous English explorer Captain James Cook. It was the Cook Islands that played host to Captain William Bligh, just days before the infamous 'Mutiny on the Bounty'. Well enough of the history lesson for today....have a great day and make it a good one.

Help Wanted......

Since the weather today is absolutely FABULOUS {80 degrees and sunny} I decided I should be outside doing something ~ SO I washed the windows.

They were filthy and really needed to be done. I did the outside of the lower level as well as the inside of both levels. Upon completetion I decided that I really DON'T like to clean windows.

There is now a position open for a part time window washer...no experience is needed, you can get on the job training. All those interested should send their resume and interviews will be conducted shortly.

Kids and cell/mobile phones

It seems that everyone has them now and with teens they are a must have accessory and a newly released report here in the UK seems to back that up.

The report commissioned by The Carphone Warehouse {big retailer of mobile phones similar to Cingular} and advised by the London School of Economics, discovered that 51 percent of all 10-year-olds in Britain own a mobile phone, but that figure rises to 91 percent by the time children hit the age of 12, according to the survey. It further found that most children used their phones to text rather than talk.

I will admit our family falls into this category as the boys have cell phones themselves BUT they never use them. They take them when they go to away sporting events but other than that they sit on the counter. You all know how much the boys like to use the phone so it should not be a surprise their lack of use :-)

A Teenager!!

Happy 13th birthday Andrew!! I cannot believe he is now a teenager..where has the time gone?

This has sound so turn your volume on

End of a beautiful day ~

It was a warm and sunny day here and the sunset is just as beautiful. Nothing exciting or fun today so I will just leave you with the great photo!

Liverpool

Today we drove over to Liverpool to do the city tour, see some Beatles stuff and just hang out. It was a very easy drive and the city is in the mist of a redevelopment and re-growth. We were able to park at the Albert Dock area and caught the open top city bus tour. We have done this tour in a few of the cities we have visited and have found it to be helpful in getting not only an overview of the area but an easy way to get around :-)

We got off and walked around the Liverpool Cathedral. All I can say is WOW...this place was huge ~ this is a photo of one of the stained glass windows

Here are some quick facts about it :

• it is the largest cathedral in Britain


• its length is 619 feet


• the total space is 104,275 square feet


• it was finally completed in 1978


• It is relatively new at just over 100 years old
  
  
  

We then ventured to the Cavern Quarter area of the city. This is most famous for the Cavern, which is where the Beatles played over 300 times. The original building is no longer but it has been replicated in a different location.

After lunch we headed back to Albert Docks and went through the Beatles Experience . It was great for the kids to hear a bit about the history of the Beatles and their music. We had individual headsets, for the audio guilde, so we could walk through the exhibit at our own pace ~ Tim was a bit disappointed as he thought they would have had more memorabilia :-(

We did not make it to Penny Lane or Strawberry Fields but we can always go again if we want.

Let's try this again ~

After yesterdays problem with the power going out and the burned beef we once again tried to have spaghetti for dinner.

Tonight, however, it was Christopher's turn to help browning the ground beef. I will say he did a fine job and we all had a nice meal without burning the house down.

Burning down the house....

Well, what an adventure we have had this evening. Let's start at the beginning....about 5pm Andrew was helping brown ground beef for dinner ~ a thunderstorm came through and lightning hit the field and we lost power.

SO since we had no power we could not cook dinner. We met Tim in town at the pizza place we usually go to...that was about 6:30pm. We finished dinner and came home around 8pm. We saw a light on in the house so we knew the power was back on....in we went and BAM ~ SMOKE EVERYWHERE. The beef was left on the stove, and the stove was on. OOPS!

What is bothering me is that the entire house was filled with thick smoke as you can see in the picture and the smoke alarms were NOT going off. Both the upstairs and downstairs were overcome with smoke. These are the same smoke alarms that go off on the weekends when Tim cooks his bacon a little too crispy...so what is up with that? Chris says it is time to change the batteries :-) That is good in theory but they are hardwired to the house so they should have gone off. Now we have a weekend project.

ps...the house STINKS!!

Now that's something you don't see every day!!

As Maggie and I were driving home from school today she yelled "LOOK MOM A ZEBRA!!" and sure enough there was one. We were by the road that we would take to get into our village and the one field has a circus setting up. It looks like a small traveling road show type one, but a circus none the less. Anyway, we drove home to the house to pick up the camera, because of course it was worthy of being blogged :-), and drove back.

In the area set up for the animals there were miniature horses, normal sized horses, the zebra, 2 camels and this other thing with horns. We were not the only people who were stopping and having a look either...there were quite a few people taking pictures with the camera phones.

We won't be going to this circus but at least Maggie could see the animals closer than she otherwise could have. I was even able to pet the zebra too ~ how cool is that??

What did you do today?

I really did a bunch of nothing...I needed to get caught up on laundry so I was able to do that as well as get some cleaning in other parts of the house done as well.


I had this awesome fruit salad for lunch and it was quite yummy. I did not make it but bought it already made so it was the best kind of fruit salad to have.

Andrew had a rugby match at 6pm so instead of making dinner we had fish n chips from the local 'chippy'. Tim had the fish, Maggie had cheese pizza and the boys chicken parm...I just ate chips.

I keep looking at a few of my favorite blogs to see what is going on in their lives and would you believe they have not updated them!! You would think they have other things to do....I am SHOCKED!!

ps....see my life really is boring :-)

A Day of Remembrance

It does not seem like it has been 5 years since the attacks in New York and Washington. Do you remember what you were doing that day? Who were you with? Did you watch the television non stop?

Out of all the tragedy and despair there were stories of heroes and of miracles. Take the time to think of those who are special in your life and remember those whose lives were changed forever.

To all of our friends and family we miss and love you all!! xxoo

Look What I Made ....am I getting TOO crafty??

After posting the project I started yesterday, I decided I did not like the look of the other one so I did a new one. Here it is in the open form so you can see how it looks on the inside.

This one is completed minus the photographs ~

I will get those together to put them in sometime this week :-)

The colors did not turn out the best in the photos...in real life they are very nice (at least I think they are)

These are really fun to make... and are actually very easy to do. The hardest part is deciding which papers and and other things to add to it.

Just another Sunday ~

First the update on Andrew's arm ~it is ok so no need to see the doctor ~ He says it is still sore but it feels better much better today.

This is the new project I have been working on it is a box that opens up to show a mini photo album in it. Here is the box with the lid on. The entire piece is done custom from directions. I still have to do a lot with it but I am please with its progress so far.





You take the lid off and it opens up into the mini photo album.
You can put as many photos in it as you want. I have added the background papers and photos but still have a lot more to do.




Well that is all for now...I will post again if any thing exciting happens but I really doubt it will.

Rugby Season has begun....

With the start of school it also marks the start of the rugby season for the boys. Andrew had an away match today at a school about and hour from here. I still don't quite understand the game but I am really trying ~ by the time I do figure it out we will be moving back!

The host school is both a day and a boarding school and the grounds and buildings are beautiful. It is run by Benedictine monks and is located on the southern edge of the North York Moors National Park. Here is a photo of the view of one of the upper school buildings from over by the lower school.

This is a brief video of Andrew in the match. He is the runner carrying the ball at the very beginning of the video and then you see him get the ball again at the end. Unfortunately, later on he did get injured ~ his upper right arm is hurt and he is in some pain. We will see how it feels tomorrow to see if he needs to see the doctor or not.

50 Years Ago.....

Well I really should have posted this yesterday but I did not get it done....

September 8, 1956

Dwight Eisenhower was President .....The Price is Right premiered....It was a leap year...Harry Belefonte's "Calyspo" was #1....The Steve Allen Show premiered.........

Sonja married Jack
Happy 50th wedding anniversary to Tim's parents.

Blog issues....

Well, I have switched to the new eblogger format and I thought I would not like it but it is not too bad. Some parts are easier than before...especially the HTML editing. Now I can spend even MORE time finding new and fun things to put on the site.

Tim is out with people from Columbus for dinner tonight so the kids and I had the dinner of families worldwide...Mc Donalds :-) It was Maggies choice, of course and Christopher was just appauled. He thinks eating there is worse than eating dirt. Each time we go, which is not often, he gets the food values chart and tells us about everything we are eating.

This all started back when we watched Super Size Me earlier this year ~ it was a very interesting movie but I doub't we will be eating there every day for 3 times a day for 30 days so I am not too concerned about our dinner tonight.

The first week of school went well for everyone and there really is not much to report about that. Andrew has a rugby game on Saturday afternoon so we will be traveling about an hour away for that. We have been to matches at the hosting school before and it a scenic drive so it makes the time go fast....Christopher will disagree but I think it is a nice drive. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we won't be standing in the cold and rain.

Drinks anyone?

Since I bought my pretty new waterford cocktail glasses I decided I needed to find a few recipes to go with them.

Informally referred to as a Cosmo, the Cosmopolitan is usually served in a cocktail glass. For this reason it is often erroneously categorized as a martini because martinis are also served in cocktail glasses. Some variations call for sour mix instead of limejuice.

Cosmopolitan Cocktail #1 (Most common)

Ingredients:
1 oz vodka
½ oz triple sec
½ oz Rose's lime juice
½ oz cranberry juice

Directions: Shake vodka, triple sec, lime and cranberry juice vigorously in a shaker with ice.
Strain into a martini glass, garnish with a lime wedge on the rim, and serve.

Cosmopolitan Cocktail #2
Ingredients:
1 oz Smirnoff vodka
½ oz Smirnoff watermelon vodka
½ oz triple sec
1 splash Rose's lime juice
1 splash sweet and sour mix
½ oz cranberry juice

Same directions as Cosmo #1

ENJOY!!

Back to School

The kids are all at school and the house is quiet....no arguing, no tv, no noise. The only thing running right now is the washing machine.

The boys weren't too concerned about school as they are returning to the same school and they know the routine. Maggie, on the other hand, was very excited and nervous at the same time. She has switched schools this year so it is all new to her.

Here they are in their uniforms before we left for school. The other photos are of part of their school campus'. The top photo is the entrance building for the boys ~ the school office and lunch room are on the main floor here and there are classrooms on the upper floors. The other two are of the building that Maggie is in....the bottom photo is of her classroom window from across the street :-)

I will post more later when they get back and I see how their days went.

Come On Already ~

Yes I know High School Musical has been out in the US since January of this year but they have YET to show it here. In fact, they have been showing promo commercials for it all summer long. It will finally be on later this month ~ we have the DVD so we are not waiting to see it but rather to have the promos end.

We get many of the US shows but at a later date. We won't get this seasons new shows until January of 2007.
This week starts 'all new' episodes of some the US shows we watch - CSI, Grey's Anatomy and Law & Order. They are not actually new but last seasons shows. These will be on through the end of the year and then we will see the current season immediately following ~ SO no repeats until next summer.

Later this month begins Nip/Tuck and Tim's favorite, Rescue Me. We really do more than watch tv I promise :-)

The kids FINALLY go back to school tomorrow. We are all ready to get back into a routine and somewhat of a schedule. The house is a mess so it will be nice to have them gone so I can pick up without someone making a mess immediately following.

Happy Labor Day!!

Happy Labor Day to our friends and family in the US...enjoy the day off of work and school and do something FUN!!

As you may have noticed that I did put my photo up by the profile section of the blog. The kids said it was not fair that I don't have any pictures of me up on the site. So I went through the photos on the computer and picked one that I liked.

I bought this book over the weekend Frommer's 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up by Holly Hughes. It is really a fun book and lists places I would have never thought of visiting. It really is a good reference for kids of all ages, even those who are called grown ups :-) Each entry contains all the information families need to help plan a trip: age ratings, service details, and nearby kid-friendly hotels. The photos throughout the book help bring destinations to life.


Here are a few of the categories and examples of each : Taking in the Scenery (The Lighthouse Tour of Maine), Weird & Wonderful (Cheddar Gorge & Wookey Hole), Historic Homes (Count Dracula's Castle), On The Water(Antigua: Beaches, Beaches Everywhere) PLUS much more. We have been to Cheddar Gorge, as has Zachary and his family, and it was a really fun place to visit.

It really is a good book and worth checking out either at the library, a used book store or to even buy new.

It's a beautiful day....

After the lousy weather yesterday I would have never thought it would be SO beautiful today. The temperature was about 72 degrees with a light breeze and an abundance of sunshine. We made the most of the weather as we know around here it does not last very long. In fact, they are forcasting a morning low of 36 degrees later this week.

After mowing the lawn, Tim picked more blackberries in preparation for actually making the blackberry crumble. Here he is having a taster of those he was picking :-)

It is all about the quality control!

In addition to the berries we had forgotten all about the plum trees that are in the back of the yard. They did not grow very well last year, actually they didn't bear any fruit so we forgot to check this year. Well, this year we have a ton of plums.

The boys had fun climbing the tree and had even more fun not only picking the fruit but throwing rotten ones at each other.....BOYS! The plums are very sweet and juicy and I think we found them at just the right time. You can't go better than FREE fresh fruits :-)

Tim has a basketful to put out at work...I know, the person who never takes things into work is taking plums SO they must be good !!

X Factor 3 -- David, the missing Beatles frontman

Well here it is another Saturday night and I am home watching the X Factor. I am not complaining at all as I am a reality TV junkie but come on...do these people really think they are any good? It would be like me showing up for a Victoria's Secret model call ~ it just isn't going to happen!!



The weather was terrible today so we went to Ikea and Costco....we didn't buy any thing fun. Both stores were packed and it is hard to shop when you keep running into people. With all the people you would have thought it was Christmas shopping season.

Blackberries YUM YUM

We have an abundance of blackberries not only in the yard but across the lane as well so we have been picking them and will be making blackberry crumble tomorrow. The photo is of the ones in the back yard...there really are a LOT of them!

I found this quick and easy recipe and I thought I would share it.
Blackberry Crumble
4 c. fresh blackberries
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. quick cooking oats
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 c. butter

Place blackberries in large bowl. Sprinkle with sugar; mix well. Let stand for several minutes. Combine oats, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in bowl; mix well. Cut in butter until crumbly. Spoon blackberries into buttered baking dish. Sprinkle oats mixture over top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.

We finished buying all the things that we needed for last minute back to school shopping only 5 days until they go back...not that I am counting or anything.

The weather once again was beautiful today...we made the most of it as they are still saying rain all weekend.