A spotty Christmas

This is how i'll remember December 2013. The little one now has horrendous chickenpox. 2weeks 3days after his brother got them. Grrrreeat. 

Have a Happy Christmas! Ours will be a spotty one.

December Blogging Advent Month

DeBloAdMo - Something my friend Lori came up with a few years ago. Basically i have a wooden advent calendar and in every day i have a little slip of paper with the Christmas activity im going to do with the kids that day, which im then supposed to blog about. Ive been very good at the activity, ive been no good at the blogging. 

Here's a run through of our DeBloAdMo activities to date:

Day 1
We ran the 1K Jingle Bell fun run my work organises every year. The competitive half of the family (mummy and Caleb) made it round the whole 1K and Caleb was so pleased to get his medal! The non-competitive half (daddy and Aaron) failed to make it past the swing park (not even half way)....im not sure if this was daddy or Aarons decision though...mmm

Day 2
We went to the Christmas carnival at the garden centre. The boys loved the rides, mummy loved the warm freshly made cinnamon and sugar donuts

Day 3
I did their messages from Santa on the portable north pole tv website. They loved them! 

Day 4
We made paperchains! Caleb made his all by himself this year, he's growing up!

Day 5
We made salt dough ornaments, which Aaron enjoyed but Caleb had no energy for having come down with chickenpox on day 3!!!! (I proceeded to burn them in the oven but hey ho, he enjoyed cutting out the dough)

Day 6
The boys got Usborne Christmas sticker books

Day 7
We got the decorations up!

Day 8
We made paper snowflakes for the windows

Day 9
We had a Christmas treasure hunt for chocolate coins, in the garden.

Day 10

I made the Elf Yourself family video see it here

Plans were scuppered a bit by Caleb coming down with chickenpox on day 3! It meant we couldn't go to the Christmas light switch on at the school on day 6 and we couldn't go to Laineys 30th Birthday lunch on day 8 (well i did, the rest stayed at home), so i had to sub in some activities on those days.

2 today!

My beautiful boy is 2 today! He is such a character; very loving, affectionate, a mummy's boy, content and happy with a fiery independent streak at times. He adores his big brother who is the first person he wants to see when he wakes up in the morning. He loves his food, loves milk, adores animals (our bunnies and his childminder's dogs in particular) and is obsessed with JCB tractors. Tractors galore for birthday presents! He brings us great joy and happiness and whilst we are exhausted by our 2 boys, we cannot imagine life without them! Happy 2nd Birthday Aaron! To quote your big brother, "love you so much!"

 My what a change in 2 short years!

Pumpkins for Cathey

Pumpkins carved in 2008 by DH and I. In a time before kids....

Showing support for a fellow stitching blogger, Cathey, today (see here ). Happy Blogiversary (or however you choose to spell it) to Cathey today!

Im back

Im here, blogging, at long last. I think this is the longest break ive ever had from blogging, its not really been intentional, there are just always other things that need done and blogging is the first thing to go. My return to work probably coincided with my blogging hiatus. I work 25 hours a week as a project coordinator for a charity and that, along with 2 kids, a husband, 2 rabbits and all the household 'stuff' pretty much fills all my time. I just logged into my Bloglovin' account though and i see many of the blogs i follow have also been on a bit of a break too. Funny how that happens!

Lets see if i can remember some things that have happened since i last blogged back in June.

-We had the hottest July i can remember and i spent a fabulous week at our church camp in the glorious sunshine. Arriving at camp in shorts and vest tops at 8am and still in the same leaving at 10pm at night is unheard of for me. This is Scotland! It was really great.

-On the 11th August our family increased by 2. We got bunnies! Here are Hippy and Hoppy :)

- Matthew and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.

- We went away to Centre Parcs in the lake district and had a lovely time. I even had time to read some of a book *gasp*

- I got glasses for reading and using the computer, which has made me feel like im getting old.

- The jogging group I started in the village where i live celebrated its first anniversary!

- I finished some stitching! Caleb's nursery class has 3 teachers and i thought id stitch for them all. These actually took me a lot longer than i anticipated but they were finished in time.

Lizzie Kate design

The back

In parliament

I have no good reason as to why ive been away from blog land for over 2 months! Im trying to think back and recall anything particularly blog-worthy but there's nothing, life has just been really busy!

In May we spent a week on the beautiful isle of Arran. We can see across to Arran from where we live and its only a 30min car ride then an hours boat crossing but we've never been, despite having wanted to for years. It didnt disappoint! Beautiful scenery, idyllic beaches, tranquil little villages. We loved it and will definitely go back. We will climb Goatfell one day when the boys are old enough to walk that far!

This month i went back to work having been off now on 'maternity leave' for 2 years. This week (my 2nd week in the job) i got to down to London and amongst other meetings, attend a reception in the House of Commons!!! I've stood outside the Houses of Parliament loads of times and had the usual tourist photos under Big Ben etc but i have never been inside on 'official business.' I was pretty awestruck!

Easter 2013

We had a really lovely Easter weekend. On Good Friday hubby was off work (yay) so we went down to the marina and had a nice stroll around the forest followed by a play on the beach. I did a scavenger hunt type game for Caleb, basically he had a list of 'things' he had to find whilst we were out. He managed to get everything! Saturday we spent pottering around at home. Sunday we were at church, celebrating the reason for Easter and then had the family round for a yummy steak pie dinner. On Monday i was out in the frosty garden in my dressing gown at 7.30am hiding Easter eggs for the boys. In the afternoon my parents and i took the boys to Lamont farm to see the Owl display. Caleb got to hold the tiniest owl, it was so cute!

It was a good week for running. I managed a 5k on wednesday, 5k on thursday, 9k on Friday and 12K on Saturday. Wish hubby was off more often!

March Wipocalypse

Anniversary sampler for our 10th anniversary in September. I'm stitching it in purple to match the living room, the picture doesn't do the colour justice.

I've got to stitch 3 of these as Caleb has 3 nursery teachers. 

Time to update my progress for the March Wipocalypse. The rotation is out the window for now and im focussed mainly on these 2 projects at the moment because they have deadlines; our anniversary in September and the end of term in June. 

My friend has started an online book group (on facebook) if anyone is interested? This months book will be Silence by Shusako Endo. If you're interested let me know and i can send you an invite!

Snow much fun!

It's the end of March, it's supposed to be spring time and we have more snow than we've had all winter and we are loving it! When there's nowhere you need to be, snow is great! We have had a lot of fun the last few days!

Bloglovin

I was gutted to hear google reader was going but have imported everything easy peasey onto Bloglovin and highly recommend it!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Finishes

Turns out this rotation is working out pretty well for getting things finished! It forces me to work on things i don't want to work on! Now this finish is for you Irene. When i finished the stitching on this ornament but was moaning about the actual finishing Irene wrote to me: "Come on Cheryl, just bite the bullet and finish them! Think how 'hip hip hooray' ing you can be then. They are lovely, but not really 'finished' yet are they?? Do I sound like your mother? I sound like my mother! Irene xxx"  Irene, i hope you don't mind me posting your comment here, it did make me laugh a lot and look, it inspired me too lol

Caleb's Christmas (2012) ornament....

Now to finish Aaron's!

Ive finished the stitching on this Lizzie Kate piece too. Caleb has 3 nursery teachers so seeing as how long the Christmas ornaments took, im making an early start to ensure i can get 3 of these done for June.

All is well here at casa Thomas. I had a lovely weekend away there with a whole bunch of women from the church. It was fun and relaxing and a great way to spend Mother's Day...kid free lol ;-)

Drowning in domestic drudgery

Lost. Stitching blogger. Last seen trying to make a dent in this insurmountable pile of ironing. 

Best.Birthday.Ever

There goes February without a single blog post. My days/weeks have been flying by recently.

February was a good month and most notably i got to go away for a whole weekend with my best friends to a wee village in the Cotswolds. We try to do this every year and i love that things never change between the 9 of us. 

Yesterday was my 32nd birthday. I can truely say that this was one of my most favourite birthdays ever. Here's how my day went:

- Cup of tea in bed

- Husband made pancakes for breakfast (without being asked!!)

- A 5K run in beautiful sunshine along the coast

- A long shower to get ready for my afternoon at a gorgeous country club (by myself, myself-yes!)

- 2 course lunch at said country club

- Chill out with my book and magazine on some plush sofas to let my lunch go down

- Nice relaxing swim in the pool

- Jacuzzi

- Steam Room

- Express Facial

- Back, shoulder and neck massage

- Pot of tea next to log fire

- Home just in time to put boys to bed

- Cocktails and DVD with hubby

I loved it. I loved the ME time. Im never on my own. I never get to just be. It was bliss just to be on my own, not have to talk to anyone and totally relax. I love my hubby for this gift! It was the best birthday and exactly what i needed.

Today has been a lovely day too. I went out for an 11 mile bike ride this morning then the 4 of us spent the rest of the day pottering around in the garden, my parents popped in for a wee visit too. Then tonight we had a Chinese takeway for dinner and once im off this computer, i plan on ignoring the massive pile of ironing that's waiting for me and opening a bottle of red. A great way to kick start being 32!

January WIPocalypse

The theme for this WIPocalypse post is to introduce yourself, your projects, and any goals you have for the year.

I shared my stitching goals and the pieces ive selected for this challenge in this post here, so i wont repeat them again. Ive been doing pretty well stitching to the rotation of projects ive set myself for January. I stitch one piece for 4 days and then move on to the next. Now, by 'days' i really mean the odd hour later in the evening that i might get the chance to sit down and do some stitching. Any time spent on a piece counts as a 'day.'

My progress for January: 

the boys ornament stitching is complete, ive started my anniversary piece (LHN's always and forever)

and ive worked on Cirques des Cercles

Now to introduce myself! Im a 31 year old mum of 2 boys (a 4 year old and a 15 month old). I took voluntary redundancy during my maternity leave from my job as a development officer for charities. Im currently self-employed and lead jogging groups in my local area and work one day a week for a charity. My hobbies: i love to run and am training for my first half-marathon this year, i do kettlebells, i stitch. My 2 boys keep me very, very busy and generally exhaust me lol 

Finished the Christmas stitching

Hip hip hooray! The Christmas stitching is done. Now for the part i hate, finishing them into ornaments booo.

This has been a crazy busy week. Hoping for a more peaceful (?!) weekend!

4 today

My 'baby' turned 4 today! I know i'm stating the obvious but isn't it amazing just how much change happens in the first 4 years of life? Look at these pictures!

Happy 4th Birthday Caleb! My wild, crazy, stubborn, brave, independent, gorgeous boy.

We've had a lovely day celebrating Caleb's birthday. DH took the day off work and we went up to Glasgow   to Toys R Us as Caleb had a voucher to spend, then lunch at Macdonalds and then onto the Riverside Transport Museum. Caleb had his favourite cheesey pasta for dinner and then his aunt and uncle popped in with presents followed by his Gran and Grandpa. Now for the big birthday party with his friends on Sunday! We've hired a sports centre...thankfully!

                          

WIPocalypse 2013

So, this WIPocalypse thing. A list of the pieces i want to make progress on (or finish) this year. Here are my plans. 

New starts. From left to right....the beach hut one (for my bathroom, totally not a priority), the "teaching is a work of heart" one (must be finished by June), LHN Always and Forever (to be stitched in purple for my living room in honour of our 10th wedding anniversary in September)

 Older pieces ive chosen to work on.

1. Aarons birth sampler. I'd really like to finish this one this year.

 2. Good ole Cirque des Cercles. I don't even want to look back on my blog to see when i started this piece. I still love it, even though it was stitched in those colours to match my yellow living room in the house we now dont live in anymore lol

3. LHN's coffee menu. I started this as a SAL with Jamie back when i first started blogging in 2007 (??) Then Jamie went MIA and i never heard from her again and this got abandoned. There's not too much left to do so i thought i'd dig this one out again and see if i can finish it in 2013. I don't even drink coffee! My husband is the coffee drinker.

So, we'll see how i go! Still want these Christmas ornaments finished before i start any of these though!

Christmas stitching (yes, still)

I thought starting at the beginning of November would be more than enough time to make the boys their Christmas ornaments. WRONG. I have only just finished the stitching on Caleb's. Yes, yes i know the writing isn't centred but i always just wing it with these, i figure it adds to the handmade charm ;-) So here's the front and the back. Maybe i can get it made into an ornament in time for his birthday next week. 

DH thought i was mean calling him 'wild' but he is can be and exhibited some especially 'wild' behaviour through December so it's a memory lol

The front of Aaron's is complete, I just need to do the back now.

Ive signed up for this WIPocalypse thing which is just for fun really. I have sooooo many pieces lying unfinished so im going to pick some that i want to finish or at least make some progress on this year and make a list.

My new years resolutions

Gosh, i did really badly at my advent blogging. Days just ran away with me towards the middle of December and we ended up being really busy on top of all the usual colds/sore throats that come with this time of year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope 2013 is a good one for you. I have made new years resolutions. Someone told me that you're not supposed to share your resolutions with people??? What the heck, it doesn't bother me and i want them recorded to keep myself motivated. They're mostly super boring and housewifey anyway but its things that would make life that little bit easier if i can stick to them!

1. Keep on top of the ironing! I am going to attempt to do some everyday

2. Run. As much as i can. I have a treadmill now so i have no excuses regarding the bad weather or the dark nights. (I originally wanted to aim to run 5K every day, but that's going to be unrealistic)

3. We are going to throw away/give to charity/give to someone 1 item every day from our garage. Our garage is stuffed full of junk, by the end of the year we should be 365 items down! 

4. Meal plan and shop accordingly. We've had some frightful credit card bills over the past few months and the depressing thing about them....its all to supermarkets. I am now self-employed and working only one day a week, money will be tight this year and we have to cut back. I have to be more organised with meals.

5. Keep the house tidier. Should i consider my chore rota again? The thought does not appeal to me. However, we need to be tidier. My boys are wildly messy. They scatter their stuff in every room of the house, its so annoying. I am trying to keep the living room relatively toy-free. Matthew and i arent exactly tidy either so we need to get sorted!

Have you made any resolutions? Id be interested to hear/read your posts! It feels good to have goals, right? Even if they are about ironing, tidying and de-cluttering.......