The Pancake Queen!

Kate may have just achieved cult status in the house as our new Pancake Queen!

The mix was barely out of the box from the States and she was busy making pancakes for everyone.. all on her own! And sad old me.. a couple of pics to boot!

Just like Peter Kay!

As if we have waited for the precise moment to accentuate the difference between a week of snow (and now miserable grey days of rain) and a fortnight on a desert island, a stone's throw from the Equator, Col and I are on the verge of booking our trip...some nice jobs have landed with us and at long last, after 2 years or more of waiting, the' time is right' to flit off, so we are .... phoning up, booking it, and ****ing off ' (fans of Peter Kay are smiling now and everyone else thinks I have resorted to my base level!) ...with the 3 youngest in tow, for 2 weeks of much required R&R, much needed for the past 15 months to be precise!

The kids are sooo excited, and I am too, after 10 hours of getting used to the idea (somehow I need to allow myself the time to accept that we should go, that everyone we leave behind WILL be okay and that I also deserve it??.. what is THAT all about) So tomorrow we will get it booked, and in 14 days we'll be wending our way east, passing Ross almost en route back home from Bali...(sorry hon, but what a homecoming we can have, catching up in March after two epic trips!... big eats, and lots of chatter)

P.S. Had a wonderful parcel from Michele in the States today, a sweet card, and some beautiful Stateside scrapping essentials..oh, and a pack of the best Pancake Mix I am sooo lucky to have such thoughtful friends, just a pity we are on opposite sides of the pond....

.....but as Mum always said 'We're as close as the phone'..(and in this Century the internet no less!)

Gadget-boy!

I just love my phone! It's always there when I need to take a pic!

Here's one of Zac, my oh so grown up teenager, who enjoyed a proper boy's day today, but as usual he employed some gadget or other to maximise the impact... using a water bomb launcher to throw snowballs!

Luckily Jordan was only on the receiving end of a hand thrown one....

Let it snow!!

Well it's morning and yesterday's snowfall is still here! The kids are having such fun.... it's almost 20 years since it was like this here, so many kids in Cornwall have never seen the like! (Zac says this'll take care of his cold holiday... so look out Maldives, you're on our list!) Jordan is on scrapbooking photo duty for me and Kate is counting the layers she's wearing!




Colin is sooo busy he just couldn't take the day off .. but dear heart, he got up early and spent 2 hours before work making the kids a fantastic sledge.. just like you see on telly!

More pics to follow.. and love and safe days to Ross in Bali.. with his 30 degrees!

Krupka weather alert!

Happy Sunday Morning!

..you know our poor Cornish-bred children are so deprived of a snow experience, nearly every child I have met in the last couple of days tells me 'It's going to snow on...'

Then I found this great pic of Will, Jordan and myself (being stupid as usual) at the Minack over Christmas.. it was sooo chilly, poor Will was pemanently attached to his earmuffs!.. but at least his skating prowess was recognised as someone asked him if he was a New-Yorker!

..so in honour of him and Michele and the wonderful crisp, easterly wind they brought for the whole of their trip, I am now renaming a cold snap as official 'Krupka Weather!'

Quote-itis!

...the quotes on my site are getting better...a couple of days ago it was a quote from David Letterman..that 'humans are the only animals which can have phone sex'....Words fail me, not a common occurence but probably best in this case..! Trouble is the quote changes every day, and I have to keep posting them so I can remember them!

Today's quote made me think about mum again.. you know, how she's the sun peeking out behind the cloud......No matter how dark the night, somehow the sun rises once again and all shadows are chased away.. sure, things always seem a little easier as a new day arrives.

At the moment Ross is seeing the sunrise way before us, he's out in Bali for 3 weeks, getting some serious bodyboarding done he hopes....all his pals at home are thinking about him..I was in town today and saw at least 3 people who wanted to know how it was going!

Love to ya Ross, have a great time.. and what a Lucky Guy not to have to think about getting a job when he gets back! ..xxx

First project for 2009..Christmas 2008!

Just to say I finally completed my Christmas mini-album which I
started at Just Scrapbooking on 10th Jan.. my scrap room is a tip
(nothing new there!) and I couldn't tidy it til the album was done.. now there's no excuse, but the room is still untidy!


It was a lovely project and I used most of the pics from December's shopping trips and the ones I took over Christmas, when Will & Michele came over from the States..he arrived at 5pm dressed as Santa, such a star!.. and a real photo opportunity!

The weather was really chilly, but fantastically cold so we had some great winter walks beside the Mount and the pictures show the chill! Needless to say we all enjoyed the Tropical Biome at the Eden project after skating...but not me, I'm just happy to be the minder and coat holder..

I think the weather was good training for Will, who last week endured the freezing temperatures in Washington to celebrate President Obama's inauguration.. good luck to all our American friends and family (see our family blog to hail the visit from Col's Uncle Bill and his family in the early summer)

Quote of the day...

I have added the Quote gadget and generally have a browse, but somehow today's quote seems to deserve a little preservation.....

....................you don't get to choose how you're going to die, or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now. Joan Baez.........................

..worth a thought after a busy day in office land, followed by a great trip to Penwith College with Zac who is chosing his options for 'A' Levels. I never want the kids to feel that I am living my life thro' them, but it really gives me a buzz seeing them learn and showing (even the smallest amount of) interest in the subjects I loved... and for Zac to study at the same site where I had 2 great A level years (way back when..) it's an added bonus.

..Oh and Lilly got her first tooth peeping through today...small things which mean the most.

Blog-itis!

Well 2009 has got off well on the blogging front.. just when I thought I had dried up creatively I went scrapbooking at the weekend (and Linda says I smiled all day.. at least the default face was in a box this week!) and got half way through a lovely album of our Advent period, with loads of pics of pizza, shopping and a great trip to the Eden Project skating with Will & Michele on a visit from Baltimore!
.. but more of the scrapbooking later..

So about the Blog-itis...? Well, Col's Uncle Bill who has lived and raised his family in the States this past 40 years, is planning a trip with his 3 children, to the UK to discover and celebrate their roots..(oh, and his 70th birthday!)....to this end we have created a blog http://smiths-cornwall.blogspot.com/ so we can swap ideas / dates/ loves & hates and get to know each other before we get together in the summer...I am excited already, any excuse to show them all my favourite places and follow it up with barbecued fish and a cream tea or two!
So Kate and Jordan have come along on the blog-mobile and I think Ross is wavering towrds compliance too.. to please his mommy! Only Zac and Lisa to go now,, and I know she reads this one, so pretty please???

Winter morning sky.

About 9am I had hardly arrived in the office when Rob the dog went awol and I had to go up the road to search him out in his favourite haunt...was I fed-up?... cursing all the way up the lane, stupid dog, never learn, why am I always chasing about to find him... blah blah blah...then as I walked along in the chilly January air I couldn't resist taking this great pic of the sky..

.. made me think of other days in the past few months where the warmth of the Cornish sun has brought thoughts and warm memories of Mum.. and I smiled...x