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.......