Clydeside Stitching

Be Still and know that I am God

2012-02-02T08:30:00.000Z

I am not the most Christian of Christians. I know i could be a much better person but my belief in the existence of God is strong and i cannot imagine life without a faith. There have been a couple of times in my life where i/my family just would not have coped without having God to turn to.

Ive been quite anxious recently, in relation to my health.

Yesterday in the madness and stress of this house (the kids/the inlaws etc), i had a bath before my hospital appointment and this verse came to mind

Be Still and Know that I am God. (psalm 46 vs 10)

Be Still and Know that I am God.

It really spoke to me and gave me a sense of peace. How important it is to BE STILL in the madness of life and know that God is God. The God of all things.

People are praying for me and that is a wonderful reassuring feeling. Someone at Church took my husband and I aside on Sunday and shared some amazing words and prayed. It did wonders for me and i was very emotional. Someone else shared with me his struggles with trusting God and trying not to be anxious and he got very emotional, which really touched me as well.

So, yesterday i had a CT scan on my inner ear and an MRI scan on my head. I had been feeling very unsettled about it. When up in those dark lonely hours during the night the mind runs away and i start to think the worst about what it could be. Thankfully, the MRI wasn't as bad as i had been dreading. I got a bit panicky as i was moving into the machine but managed to put mind over matter and keep my eyes shut and focus on the music! 7 songs later it was finished!

I feel very relieved these tests are over but now I need to pray for good results.

I thank Ian, John and Rodger for their prayers/encouraging words/texts. At times like these having Christian friends, having a Church family and having a faith mean more to me than my words can express. Maybe that realisation will help me to become a more Christian Christian.

I finished something!

2012-01-28T09:29:00.000Z

*Gasp* Can it be? A stitching blog that actually has some finished stitching? Yes! Hurrah for me. Started a year and a half ago i finally finished this piece right in time for my nephew Harry's 1st Birthday. Obviously it didn't make the framers in time but finishing the stitching was my goal.

The inlaws arrived from Canada on Thursday. My house was so clean and tidy for their arrival. At the moment, I am enjoying having the extra hands to entertain the toddler and hold the baby.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

2012-01-18T08:42:00.000Z

From this 1 year old

To this big 3 year old!

Happy 3rd Birthday to my beautiful big grown up boy!

Soccer mum

2012-01-13T10:53:00.001Z

Im trying to find some time to stitch on my nephews birth sampler. I started this over a year ago. He turns 1 on the 26th January and i really want it to be his 1st birthday present. It was supposed to be his birth present! I am so nearly finished, look!

Tomorrow Caleb starts Football lessons. Signing him up for this was my first experience of the dog eat dog world of motherhood lol You had to go to the sports centre when it re-opened on the 28th December and queue to sign your kid up. There were 20 places. I arrived at 10am only to find the damn sports centre didn't open 'til 1pm and i had plans that afternoon. So, my mum went for me! She arrived at 1.05pm to find 6 mothers in the queue already. Caleb got a place and has 12 weeks of classes ahead and then we shall queue again to try and get a place on the next block (if he enjoys it). Crazy eh? He's excited, he has boundless energy and is obsessed with "fast running" at the moment. "Fast running" with a ball is his dream come true so this will suit him perfectly!

As we enter the world of Statutory Maternity Pay i am trying to be more organised with food buying. I am actually planning meals. I might publish to my blog each week, not for interesting reading but simply for my own motivation and to keep track of what we've had. This week i planned for us and for Caleb:

Monday- Chicken Casserole and rice / chicken nuggets and rice
Tuesday - Fish cakes, potatoes and vegetables / fish fingers, potatoes and vegetables
Wednesday - my mum shall provide
Thursday - Tomato and Cheese Pasta Bake
Friday - Beef Casserole and rice

I am not planning the weekends!

Tomorrow is also Caleb's 3rd Birthday party; a joint party with his friend Eve. We have a sports centre booked for a bouncy castle and soft play party. 20 kids. That should be great for the tinnitus!

Ear issues

2012-01-12T21:53:00.000Z

So, for my 5 year blogiversary winner, I didnt do any fancy number generating thing. I asked my husband to pick a number and that number happened to be Michele's comment! Congratulations lady! Michele is one of my first blogging friends and she's just had a birthday so i was happy about that.

Ive been at the hospital this week regarding my ear. I got Labyrinthitis at 36 weeks pregnant (*) which left me with tinnitus and partial hearing loss in my right ear. I was hoping it would gradually get better and the tinnitus fade away. Wrong. 3.5 months later and its as bad as it was on day 1. Yesterday I seen the consultant at the hospital about it and they confirmed my fears; my hearing probably wont fully return and I have to learn to live with the tinnitus. Constant ringing in your head is torture. In conclusion, i have to get fitted for a hearing aid and i'm booked to have an mri scan to see what's happening inside. I am dreading the mri scan. I feel claustrophobic just pulling a jumper over my head (especially when it gets stuck aaah) so the thought of an mri makes me nervous. Oh and there's the results too..... All in all, i was/am quite gutted about it. The doctor wasn't particularly pleasant and i came away (in tears) with more questions than answers. As he was shoving a tube up my nose to take a picture (i think) he informs me that normally they do the tube shoving under local anaesthetic. What?? Cheers for that!

(*) and by 'got' i literally just woke up one morning with a ringing in my ear and loss of hearing, How strange to go to bed fine and wake up to that.

Feeding baby

2012-01-07T09:53:00.000Z

Things i ~~love~~ like about breastfeeding

1. Im doing the best for my baby, especially with the history of UTIs and Psoriasis in the family
2. Its so darn convenient, i dont have to plan ahead with bottles or worry about sterilising
3. I don't get up in the night at all, i pretty much roll baby from one boob to the other when he wakes for a feed. He doesn't really wake up either.
4. Its so easy to comfort him
5. The majority of the time, its nice to be the one he wants
6. Its good for my health
7. The success you feel when you hit the point when its going well and they're not feeding every half an hour anymore
8. Mummy/baby bonding. Sometimes when he's feeding he looks up at me with those big eyes and my heart could just melt.
9. The weight falls off quicker
10. Its rewarding

Things i ~~hate~~ dislike about breastfeeding

1. The baby is always my responsibility, i cant pass him over to my hubby for a night.
2. You never know how much they're getting (not so bad now, but the first 8 weeks is hard)
3. There are never long gaps between feeds
4. Always having to think about what clothes im going to wear..."how can i get my boob out of this dress"
5. Getting my boobs out in public
6. Watching other peoples embarrassment at getting my boobs out in public
7. Always assuming they're crying because they're hungry.
8. Others always assuming they're crying because they're hungry "are you sure you're satisfying him" aaaah
9. For something that's so natural, its not always easy. The constant feeding of the first 2 months is so hard!
10. Leaking.
11. You're pretty much tied to the baby all the time.

These are my opinions. I don't want any Breastfeeding militants contacting me about my selfish thoughts!

p.s. My giveaway is still open. See yesterdays post.

5 years of blogging

2012-01-06T09:14:00.000Z

Well, as it turns out, today is my 5 year blogiversary! In previous years i've offered a prize for one lucky comment-er. I was not going to do that this year. My 2 blog winners from last year, Barbara and Cole, are still waiting on a prize. If you read my previous post, please remember i am useless when pregnant! That is my excuse ladies. However, 5 years seems a significant anniversary to recognise doesn't it? 4 or 6 not so much but 5? Ive got to have a wee giveaway! I dont know what it will be, pretty sure it wont be anything stitched by me because i do not have the time but something stitchy/craft related anyway! So, leave a comment if you want to be entered and perhaps you will receive something before i hit 10 years of blogging.

2011 round up

2011-12-31T10:08:00.001Z

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before? Became landlords.

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year? My new years resolutions last year can be seen here and i kept them until i got pregnant (february) and then everything went to pot. I will make more for this year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Oh my goodness where do i start? My sister had Harry (jan), Bev had Lola (april), Becky had Ella (may), Becky F had Fyn (july), I had Aaron (october), Amanda had Hannah (nov)and Sheryl had Judah (dec).

4. Did anyone close to you die? No

5. What countries did you visit? Just England. We went to the Lake District in May and i went to Hayes in August.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? A flat stomach and my fitness back

7. What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory? 12th October - the day Aaron was born. Also, My 30th birthday on the 1st March and my fab party on the 12th March. It meant so much to me to have a roomful of people who had made an effort to come and party with me! I had school friends there from London that i hadn't seen in over 10years.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Growing and giving birth to another beautiful boy!

9. What was your biggest failure? Being useless during pregnancy. I felt like i failed my boy when i was forced to work full-time and had to put him in nursery 4days a week.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? A few minor illnesses. I got Labyrinthitis in September which has left me with permanent tinnitus and partial hearing loss.

11. What was the best thing you bought? Our beautiful new home!

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration? As usual, my husband's. He's great; kind, patient, rarely angered, calm and so tolerant. He did EVERYTHING involved in renting out our flat and in buying our house. Im useless when pregnant.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? Whoever's decision it was not to let me work part-time and giving me the option of full-time or redundancy.

14. Where did most of your money go? On our new house

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Getting pregnant, my nephew being born, my son being born, the royal wedding, my 30th and seeing old friends

16. What song/album will always remind you of 2011? Adele's 21.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

happier or sadder? Happier

Thinner of fatter? Fatter :-(

Richer or poorer? Poorer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Exercising

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Working. Those 6 months were hard going.

20. How did you spend Christmas? Christmas morning opening pressies just the 4 of us. Down to my mum and dads at 1pm to open more pressies with my sister and her husband and my nephew and then a yummy dinner.

21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with? My husband

22. Did you fall in love in 2011? Oh yes, with my new baby Aaron

23. How many one night stands in this last year? None

24. What was your favourite TV programme(s)? Im a celebrity get me out of here (!), The Good Wife, Desperate Housewives,

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Hate might be too strong but i strongly dislike some people i had to work with.

26. What was the best book(s) you read? I read a lot of mindless chick lit this year, it was good but no best stands out!

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Adele

28. What did you want and get? A new house!

29. What did you want and not get? To sell our flat, but at least we have a tenant

30. What were your favourite films of this year? ......im having to think about this for too long so obviously nothing stands out.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 30 and i went to Edinburgh zoo with my husband and son. Then had a party on the 12th.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Not having to work fulltime for 6 months.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? Maternity. Baggy. Ugly.

34. What kept you sane? Days off work

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Mark Wright? lol

36. What political issue stirred you the most? The daft tory/lib dem coalition government. The SNP landslide. I dont want an independent Scotland.

37. Who did you miss? The 2 Sarahs; my best friends. We live too far apart.

38. Who was the best new person (people) you met? Aaron and Harry

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011. A cliche but life is indeed short and precious. In 2011 my ex-boss got mouth cancer, a friend of mine in her early 20's discovered she had leukaemia, 2 friends had miscarriages, and my best friend lost her brother right before Christmas. It makes you think and value life.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year?

"Seven days of saturday is all that I need" Bon Jovi

Over for another year

2011-12-30T14:27:00.004Z

To quote my dad immediately after all the presents are open (said every year since i can remember) "well, that's it for another year!" We had a lovely Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve having our traditional Chinese takeaway at my sisters house and Christmas Day at my parents. Last year Caleb was the only kid on the scene. This year, my nephew Harry (11months) and Aaron (2 months) were added to the mix. Good times!

I finished my ornaments for the boys (on boxing day). I'm feeling slightly guilty that son number 2's looks a bit small compared to son number 1's. Im quite sure neither will mind/care!

I fully intend to keep my blog more up to date next year (and even maybe more interesting) and keep up to date with all the blogs in my Google reader; it contains about 500 unread posts at present!

Today i'm enjoying a toddler free day which is, quite frankly, bliss!! One baby=easy peasey, despite his ridiculously short naps.

Cheesey Christmas Jumpers

2011-12-24T11:12:00.001Z

Happy Christmas to all! Thanks to everyone/anyone that reads my blog!

Nearly......Simon Cowell's birthday?

2011-12-23T10:21:00.000Z

2 days to go! I have a lot of wrapping to do in the next few days. I have finished the stitching on both the boys ornaments now. Here's how Caleb's looks

Now i wonder if i'll get these made into ornaments in time for Christmas day?? Hmmm.

Advent Blogging

Day 21 - We watched Curious George - a very Monkey Christmas.

Day 22 - Caleb went to play at his friend Canaan's house. He was supposed to decorate a gingerbread house but preferred the toys so will shall attempt to decorate it tomorrow hopefully!

Day 23 (today) - Caleb is in nursery all day. I have a few last minute bits of shopping to get. When Caleb's home we're going to read his new nativity book that he got at our church service last sunday. Jesus is the reason for the season, lets not forget! I was watching something on TV the other day and in a survey of 1000 kids, a high percentage (cant remember the figure) thought that Christmas day was to celebrate the birth of Simon Cowell!!!!! Can you believe that? And that Obama, Beckham and a few others were reindeers! And that Gary Barlow, Mark Wright and Prince Charles are the 3 wise men??! Oh my goodness! Says something about today's culture/education system! Read the article here. My children will grow up knowing the real reason we celebrate Christmas, whether they believe it or not is up to them!

Advent pictures

2011-12-21T21:56:00.000Z

Jeez this new blogger is not easy to work.

Anyhow, the last few advent days in pictures....making salt dough ornaments, meeting Santa at playgroup and painting salt dough ornaments

Stitching for the kids

2011-12-19T10:13:00.009Z

Lo and behold i've been stitching again! I try to make a Christmas ornament every year with a nice personalised message on the back. I stitched this for Caleb last year and this the year before. This year, with time being scarce and two kids to stitch for now, im keeping the ornaments simple. Ive just picked out some motifs from a JBW Christmas stocking. Here's Aaron's (stitched in my favourite DMC 115):

Advent catch up:

Day 17 - Aaron went to his first ever birthday party, his wee friend Athan. Caleb stayed at home with Daddy. Daddy and Caleb had to come and rescue Mummy and Aaron when they got stuck on icy roads. Daddy also had to rescue Mummys friend Becky who also got stuck. The Salt dough never got made. Whoops.

Day 18 - Christmas service at church. Boy did Caleb have a blast and he even stood on the stage to sing! The kids were so cute holding hands, i think my favourite moment was when Isla started singing Jingle Bells in the middle of Away in a Manger. Too too cute! Nice memories.

Day 19 (today) - Caleb is at his playgroup Christmas party and ive to go back at 11.15am to watch him get his present from Santa. We are supposed to be painting our salt dough ornaments today but seeing as we never made them in the first place thats not happening! We will perhaps try and get them made this afternoon!

Days 10 - 16

2011-12-16T12:18:00.007Z

Wow, ive been a rubbish advent blogger. I just dont have enough time!! (and i like to sleep more than i like to blog).

So, whats been happening. I'll go backwards this time, because i like to spice things up....or more because the latest is the freshest in my increasingly forgetful mind.

Today, day 16 - Caleb is at nursery all day and Aaron and i will be going up later this afternoon for his Christmas party!

Yesterday, day 15 - We had a Christmas picnic. Whilst Caleb was at playgroup i set out a quilt on the floor, put out some goodies for lunch and gave Caleb a nice surprise when he got home. He loved it! Cookies, crisps and tzatziki, cheese, pancakes, cucumber with hummus.

Needless to say, he had the white chocolate chip cookies before anything else.

Day 14 - We made paper snowflakes. Or mostly i did, and Caleb wondered around the house finding other things he could cut with his cool new scissors. Did i mention my boy isnt really into crafts? LOL, i think i need to change up these advent activities next year. He did like sticking them on his bedroom window (i love the view out of the back of my house, a footpath and the forest, lovely)

Day 13 - FAIL. We didnt watch the Santa DVD because i couldnt find it. It'll be in a box waiting to be unpacked no doubt. Caleb was at nursery all day anyway. I went to toddlers and then Christmas shopping, which is now complete, hurray!

Day 12 - Make Christmas decorations. FAIL. I bought a kit out of Tesco but didn't realise everything required sewing or glueing. I didn't have any glue, i couldn't be bothered and Caleb wasn't interested at all. Again, less of the crafts next year!

Day 11 - We to his friend Isla's birthday party and then by chance, Elf was on the tv when we got home! Good job because like the aforementioned Santa DVD, i wouldn't have found that one either.

Day 10 - Our church went to a restaurant for a Christmas meal and it was fab!! We had our own room, the food was amazing and the kids all had a blast playing together. Our church has had some tough times over the last year so it was really great for everyone of all ages to be together socially, having a lovely time. More of that to come in 2012!

Hurricane B***** and more catching up

2011-12-10T11:15:00.004Z

Day 7 - we made 3 Christmas cards for Gran and Papa, Grandma and Grandpa and Lainey and Andy (pretty good for Caleb, he is not the arts and crafty type at all).

Day 8 - was crazy mad storm day otherwise known in Scotland as "Hurricane Bawbag" A name which i still cannot stop laughing at and if you want to read more about, follow the link. Anyway, the storm kept us inside all day, nervously watching the trees and the back fence. Fortunately there was no damage here. Oh yeah, and we made paperchains

Day 9 - Caleb is in nursery all day and so i took the opportunity to do some Christmas stitching (photos to follow in another post) and done some Christmas shopping. I didn't make the Elf yourself video as intended, but i will at somepoint.

Day 10 (today) - our church is having a Christmas lunch in a local restaurant, so we're looking forward to that. I have the boys Christmas jumpers all ready, oh how they'll love me for this when they're older lol

Advent activities catch up

2011-12-07T12:10:00.006Z

I loved reading all your comments on my last post about Christmas stresses! Its good to know im not alone LOL

I knew i'd never get round to blogging everyday of advent but hey, i never promised to! Lets see what ive missed

Day 4 - a much more successful day of Christmas decorating. The tree is done, the lights are up inside and outside the house and look super pretty. Yay! This was mainly achieved because my parents took Caleb for a few hours, which i know defeats the point of the activity but he had a nice surprise when he got home :-)

Day 5 - We wrote and posted a letter to Santa. Royal Mail have this great scheme where you post a letter to:

Santa/Father Christmas,

Santa’s Grotto,

Reindeerland,

SAN TA1

and you might even get something back! I took a picture of Caleb's letter but i dont want to post it here as it has our address on it. He asked for a new bike, some new dvds, a gun (!) and "a drill like they have at playgroup." We went to the postbox (in the snow!) to post it away to Reindeerland.

Day 6 - When Caleb got home from nursery he got his message from Santa video. Check this out here, Calebs video message from Santa. If you have kids you've got to do this, its so cute! Portable North Pole TV. Love it!

Today we will be making Christmas cards.

Christmas cheer?? Not here!

2011-12-03T21:09:00.004Z

"Tis the season to be Jolly"..........tis it heck.

Today our Christmas Advent Activity was to get the trees up and start decorating. I had visions of laughter and Christmas music and all things merry....HA. The toddler was in a foul mood all day, the husband wasn't much better and we generally spent the day dealing with the toddler and bickering with each other. We couldn't agree on the tree. We couldn't agree what room to put the tree in. We couldn't agree where in the room the tree should go. The toddler threw the decorations around, had more tantrums and so the day went on.

In conclusion, it was a crappy day. We got the main tree up but its not decorated yet and neither is the house. We now have boxes everywhere having brought all the Christmas stuff in from the garage...which also has boxes everywhere as we haven't finished unpacking from the move.

Now, with the toddler in bed and the baby fairly settled, we are having some mulled wine; the one good thing to come out of the day.

Gotta laugh! "Its the most wonderful time of the year" hahahahahahaha

Wooden Advent Calendar

2011-12-02T09:41:00.006Z

This year i bought a lovely wooden advent calendar from Next, with little drawers for each day of advent. Today (yes, im a day late) i filled each drawer with a slip of paper which has our activity for that day written on it. Ive planned our activities around things we have on already and busy days (like the days Caleb's in nursery) have less time consuming activities.
1. Hang up 'Cars' Advent Calendar

2. See the lights switch on in the village and Wooden Advent Calendar

3. Get the Christmas trees up and start decorating

4. Continue decorating the trees and the house

5. Write and post a letter to Santa

6. Message from Santa video

7. Make Christmas cards

8. Make paper chains to decorate bedrooms

9. Elf ourselves

10. Christmas meal at a restaurant

11. Go to a party and watch Elf with mummy and daddy

12. Make Christmas decorations

13. Watch Santa dvd

14. Make paper snowflakes for windows

15. Have a Christmas picnic

16. Christmas party and Santa visit at nursery

17.Make salt dough ornaments

18. Go to Christmas service at Church

19. Paint the salt dough ornaments

20. Ribbon and hang the salt dough ornaments

21. Make star shortbread

22. Go on wintery walk for pine cones and holly

23. Read a Christmas book

24. Make Gingerbread men and read the Christmas story from the bible

DeBloAdMo

2011-12-01T20:38:00.003Z

You may have heard of NoBloPoMo? Well, last year, my friend Lori invented DeBloAdMo which stands for December Blog Advent Month. It's basically a Blog Advent Calendar. Copied from last years post..... "Post every day in the month of December until Christmas one special idea you can do as a family, a couple or a group of friends. Or if you're really clever, post a wee thought each day about Christmas or something."

I can pretty much guarantee i wont blog everyday in December. Ive only just managed to blog this now. However, we will do a special Christmassy activity each day. I have my list of activities ready and will post them tomorrow (maybe).

Today's activity was an easy one....hang up the chocolate advent calendar, explain the advent calendar i.e. *we only open one door a day* and start the Christmas countdown yay!

I actually want to stitch something

2011-11-04T08:17:00.004Z

Well lo and behold im actually having an urge to stitch again! Its been a looong time, maybe 7 months or so. I need to find something to stitch for Aaron. Any suggestions? This is what i stitched for Caleb here. I stitched it again for my nephew but i haven't finished it yet, hopefully by his first birthday in January! So im looking for a birth sampler for Aaron...just cross stitch, no fancy stitching. Suggestions welcome! I want it to incorporate his name, birth weight and date of birth.

My boy is doing great. Breastfeeding well and sleeping well. Im a happy mummy! Im laughing reading back on some of my old posts when Caleb was born in 2009. We found it so hard and were so exhausted. How did 2 adults not cope with one baby? LOL. We were so unsure of everything with Caleb, kept trying to put him in his crib when he looked asleep (then he always woke up), sat up all night trying to feed him, made sure his nappy was changed before every feed, spent hours researching the pros and cons of dummy use, agonised over giving him one bottle at night. Of course Caleb got some viruses early on which made things more stressful but generally im so much more chilled with Aaron. Lets hope it continues! (My hubby goes back to work on Wednesday, im anticipating my meltdown at some point after that LOL)

Proud Mum

2011-10-24T08:39:00.005Z

I couldn't be prouder of my oldest boy. He has been amazing since Aaron's birth. You hear all these stories about jealous siblings, hating the baby or hating mum/dad but so far (!) Caleb has been the best big brother. He loves to show him toys, read him books and keeps asking if he can look after Aaron and mummy and daddy go away! Ha! Im very proud of him. Caleb wasnt the easiest baby, Aaron is a dream in comparison, but boy, he's been a great toddler. I just wanted to write a wee post to say how proud i am of him!! Love my boys very much x x x

Baby boy!

2011-10-19T14:50:00.003Z

It's a boy! My beautiful baby Aaron Matthew was born at 12.46pm on Wednesday 12th October weighing 7lb10oz. He's just gorgeous and we are smitten by him.

So he's officially one week old today. So far he has been a great baby. He's feeding great and sleeping great. What a difference compared to last time!

p.s. im on twitter now if anyone wants to follow @cmcathomas

Long overdue blog post

2011-10-07T06:59:00.007Z

Gosh, i didnt realise i last updated in July. How my blog has been neglected! Life has just been too too busy.

Firstly, for all my blog friends that i have neglected over the past few months, i apologise! Let me know if you're on facebook though (and how to find you)! Thats the best way to keep in touch with me these days. I have it on my phone so its a lot more accessible.

So here's a bullet point list of all thats been going

- I was working fulltime, which i hated

- I stopped for maternity leave last week. Hurray, a whole year off and i will not be going back fulltime.

- We have a beautiful new home which we moved into at the beginning of September. A sparkly 4 bedroom new-build. I love it. We had a lot of work to pack up the flat, clean and tidy it and get it rented out.

- I am having a baby on Wednesday. Yes, Wednesday! My due date was the 25th but the baby has been breech and hasnt turned so im having a csection on the 12th. Scary Mary. Caleb was an emergency section so i know what to expect but this will be quite a different experience. I had a labour etc last time and the section was the last resort. It'll be weird going in cold to have a baby.I am looking forward to it though, im done in. I know a baby and a toddler will be hard work but pregnancy has been hard going and im looking forward to getting my body back to "normal."

- I got Labyrinthitis (an inner ear thing) on the first day of my maternity leave. Talk about bad luck! After 7 whole days i still have a high pitched ringing in my right ear which is torture. Mental torture.

So today is my last day on my own for a long time! Caleb is in nursery on a Friday. He's doing great, such good fun and making us laugh constantly with the things he says.

Im off to get organised for this baby.... I will leave with a picture of my beautiful new home

p.s. its probably been about 6months since i stitched!!!

Free to a good home....

2011-07-30T19:40:00.004Z

Im still here! Its been a crazy few months. Nothing wrong, just working full-time, having an exhausting pregnancy, just generally trying to keep on top of life. Oh and on top of all that, buying a house, trying to rent out our flat and an upcoming move within the next month. Did i mention im also due a baby in 12 weeks?? You can see why blogging has sadly been pushed aside!

It was funny when i logged into my google reader there. I assumed i'd have 1000s of unread posts but there's not been so many in my absence. Looks like quite a few of my blogging friends have been taking a break from blogging recently.

With the upcoming move ive been having a clearout; ebaying like crazy and lots of bags of "stuff" to charity. Im just wondering if anyone (in the UK) would like this kit? Everything included...threads, aida, chart etc It has been started and i don't know what the stitching looks like because it was back in my early stitching days (and i cant be bothered to open up the kit to have a look), but i know i will never stitch it. Its a shame for it to go to waste. Its going free to a good home anyway! Just leave me a message if you're interested.

Halfway through pregnancy!

2011-06-04T07:21:00.003Z

So here's baby number 2 at 19 weeks. Love that little face! Im half way. Hurray!

I haven't been on my blog in so long. I haven't stitched in months. I gotta apologise to Kathy and Suzanne who im supposed to be SAL'ing with but life has just got in the way. Im really sorry ladies. Im hoping my stitching mojo will return one day soon!

Pregnancy + fulltime work + toddler = exhausting. I get up at 6.30am, i get home about 6pm. Im in bed by 8.30pm. Thankfully there is light at the end of the tunnel though! I get to cut down my work hours from the end of July and i leave on 30th September. More hurrays!!

So there's my update! Im hoping to be back around more when life gets a little less busier.

Away for a week

2011-05-08T09:04:00.004Z

Tomorrow we are off to Center Parcs in the Lake Distrcit for a week and i can't wait! This is our accommodation.The last few months have been hard going with the pregnancy and work stress and getting our place up for sale so a break from the everyday norm is just what we need! We're hoping to do lots of biking and swimming amongst many other activities. Caleb's going to love it. Im looking forward to quiet evenings watching films, reading and stitching (no wine unfortunately). I wanna finish that birth sampler for my nephew.

Beautiful days....

2011-04-30T06:46:00.011Z

So, who watched the Royal Wedding? I have to say, i loved it. What a beautiful couple. What a fab day to be British. I know a lot of anti-monarchists but as a History graduate - i love the monarchy. The century-old traditions, the pomp and circumstance. My highlights were seeing the dress, the balcony scene, the view of all the people down The Mall (i love London) and then when they drove to Clarence House together in the Aston Martin, what a lovely modern twist!

I celebrated by having some friends round for a Royal Wedding tea party. There were also 4 toddlers and a newborn baby so we didn't get much peace to watch, but it was good fun. I even got the Denby teaseat out which i havent used since i got it as a wedding gift over 7 years ago lol I watched the ceremony again at night in peace and quiet when it was just me and a cup of tea!

So, what else has been happening?? We had a lovely Easter weekend last week. We finally bought a bike trailer for Caleb and got to use it last weekend. He loved it. We're hoping to go out again today seeing as another sunny weekend is forecast (yeah!)

On Easter Sunday we had a bbq after church, then we made our hard boiled eggs, decorated them in 30seconds and had good fun rolling them down the hill to see who's would smash up first. Im not sure who/if anyone else does this?? We always did it as kids. I (think) it's to symbolise the rolling away of the tomb? Anyway, the dog got mine lol

Thank-you for all the congrats on my pregnancy. I have good days and bad days. I havent stitched at all, it makes me feel really nauseous but i remember that from last time and it did pass. I havent been sick yet today so maybe things are turning round....it is only 8.20am though lol

Happy Bank Holiday Weekend (boy do i appreciate these now im working fulltime)!!!

Baby number 2

2011-04-22T07:09:00.003Z

My excuse for being such a bad stitcher/blogger/emailer/sal partner!! Baby number 2 due 25th October!

So this, on top of working full-time has just about annihilated any life i had for the time being! Im 13 weeks now so hopefully energy levels will pick and nausea and morning sickness will go soon....ppllleeaassee!

Look at that wee arm up in the air! I love how he/she gave us a little wave whilst we were having the scan. Amazing.

So, its Easter weekend which means time off work!!! Yeah! Then next weekend is the Royal wedding so more time off work. It is the best feeling. Some quality time with Caleb is definitely in order. Happy Easter all! We sure are celebrating the joy of new life here in the Thomas household :-)

Work sucks

2011-03-30T09:29:00.002Z

Well.......i got the job. So i really should be thankful for that, yes? Im not. They refused my part-time request and i get the job only if i work full-time. Which i don't want to do, but i have to. If i don't i would effectively be resigning and would get no redundancy and wouldn't be able to get benefits in the immediate future. It makes me sick because i feel like they've tied my hands and i've been left with no choice. In this economic climate and the sector i work in, who is going to say no to a job?? I could be out of work for months/years. I love my job and im good at it, i just dont want to do it full-time.

BUT.....i really need to be grateful. A lot of people have been made redundant through this merger and will now really struggle to make ends meet. I did really well to be offered a position, it was a very competitive process. My boy loves his childcare. My part-time request will be looked at again in 3-6months. SO....this is a short-term situation and i need to accept that, deal with it and be thankful for what i have in life.

For my SAL partners

2011-03-28T09:05:00.004Z

I've started 2 new pieces recently which i'm stitching alongside some stitching buddies. CCN's snowflake serenade with Kathy and CHS Alphabet Sampler with Suzanne. This is a picture for them to show that i am stitching along!

Kathy - i told you my progress has been slow. I will be stitching on it more today!

Suzanne - i made quite a good start this weekend. More than i thought i would manage anyway! Its fun to SAL with you ladies, i really need that kind of motivation!

CHS Alphabet Blocks is huge!! We are aiming for a block a month so that will make for a finish in May 2013 LOL I hope i keep up! I am stitching mine on one BIG piece of linen, because i have no imagination. Suzanne is making a book! So impressive!

No news on the job front. I felt my interview went well which is all i could hope for. Normally i am a disaster in interviews but this one was good (in my opinion). As i've previously written though, it may be the hours that'll be my downfall. Its a full-time job and i only want it part-time so that could lose me it. Then i will be made redundant. I will probably hear today......eeeeek!

Hello Spring

2011-03-21T10:06:00.004Z

It was a beautiful sunny spring morning when we got up 4 hours ago but now it's looking a bit grey....aaah scotland ;-) I stitched this little pincushion for my Spring exchange partner over at the Friendly stitchers yahoo group. Its a Lizzie Kate freebie, there's just pink flowery fabric on the back, i didnt take a picture of that.

Havent blogged in a while, i nearly forgot my password to sign in here. Im fine, just shattered and got a lot on.....a looming redundancy etc etc Our charity is merging with 2 others and i think there's about 40 people for 18 jobs. Its crap. Plus they havent offered any part-time posts so im kinda screwed. I had to apply for a full-time one (because if you didnt apply it would be assumed you were resigning and then there would be no redundancy money) and i will request part-time hours at the interview. Its been a long screwed up process with some shocking things happening along the way. So my interview is on Wednesday but from the way things have been so far i get the feeling its all pre-decided anyway. Its all so unjust.

On a more positive note, i had such a great 30th birthday party! There were about 100 folk there and i loved it.....so many people made an effort to be there flying in from all over the UK and it meant a lot to me! I was very touched. Some friends from school came (i hadn't seen one of them since we were 18) so we had a lot of fun catching up and dancing the night away! So much fun! Here's me getting my cake alongside my wee family :-)

So thats about all. Ive started a SAL with Kathy but i've made such miserable process it's not even worth documenting it with a picture yet. Also about to start a SAL with Suzanne. Be back soon....

In my next decade

2011-03-02T11:41:00.005Z

Well, as of yesterday, i am officially in my 30's! I had a lovely birthday. DH took the day off and we went to Edinburgh zoo. Caleb loved it, especially when the penguins came out their enclosure and took their walk right past him. Here is 30 year old me with my 2 year old. Happy times :-)

and here are Caleb's friends the penguins. He laughed so hard everytime they made their noise!

When we got home we got a yummy Indian takeaway and chilled out for the evening. Big party next on the 12th! Ive got over 100 people coming and i can't wait!! Hope everything goes to plan!

Monday morning bliss

2011-02-21T09:41:00.004Z

Considering i managed to blog every day in December i've done pretty poorly ever since!

Monday morning, my precious time! Caleb is over in the community centre at playgroup, its snowing/raining and super windy so im not going running; what a great excuse to chill out in peace and quiet :-)

The inlaws have gone back to Canada. They were a great help with the wee one but boy, i did breath a sigh of relief when they left. It was all just a bit too intense....too many people not enough room. We will hopefully get over to Canada in September.

Ive been working away on the birth sampler for my nephew. Here's an update

Im putting it aside for a few days to work on a Spring themed exchange for Jo over at Friendly Stitchers

I am in the last week of my 20's!!! A week tomorrow i will be 30! Ergh, i have a thing about 30, it just sounds a lot older than 29. Im having a big party to celebrate though. Since i was a teenager ive always wanted a big bash for my 30th. I've invited lots of people, im having a disco, ive got a gorgeous party dress and i can't wait! It's not til the 12th so i'll need to plan something to do on my actual birthday.

Off to get another cuppa....i love Monday mornings :-)

Stash

2011-02-11T14:46:00.010Z

I got some stash this week! I havent bought anything for absolutely ages but i seen this on sale at Thread Bear (a fab store) and couldnt resist it! CHS Alphabet Sampler and i also got this one....just because it's pretty and im going to SAL with Kathy!

Ive had a busy week this week. Im working 3 days a week for the next month as im doing a Charity Law training course. Also, my inlaws are over from Canada. This weekend we have a wedding tomorrow and a 21st birthday party on Sunday. Good job these Grandparents are here, babysitters on tap ;-)

Got my redundancy letter yesterday which sucks! Its more a formality as we have a merger looming at work and we can apply for jobs in the new regime but i dont know if i want to. Anyway, im starting to look for jobs and aiming higher. Im a Development officer for a charity but im going to start looking for Project Manager positions. I do have management responsibilities as part of my current remit. My boss is encouraging me to aim high and i know she'll help me with it. I could do it, im just wary of the huge responsibility that comes with Project Management of/in a Charity and the kinds of stress/pressure that could bring.

As an update to my previous post....bad ass stitchy woman removed herself/was removed from the group. Thank goodness!

Bad ass stitchy woman

2011-02-06T19:52:00.005Z

Thanks for all the good wishes on my previous post regarding the birth of my little nephew Harry. He's doing great and is a very good baby! Lucky Mummy and Daddy!

I havent got much to say, just thought i'd check in and say hi. One thing i have to mention....i've read on blogs over the years how nasty people can get on email groups/exchange groups etc etc but i had never experienced that at all! Stitching women turn nasty?? Surely not?! WELL.....a yahoo group i belonged to just got a new moderator and the woman sent out some pretty awful emails. Its a charity stitch thing....send in a square as and when you can. However, the new moderator went all bad ass and is berating people as selfish and slackers and we shouldn't just be stitching when "we feel like it." I cant do justice to the nastiness of her emails, really, it was awful. I was actually livid when i read it and left the group immediately.

So, there you go, my first experience of nastiness in the stitching world. Ergh, it was horrendous. I hope she doesn't read my blog, she scares me.....

p.s. i will carry on doing some charity stitching as and when i can, but i'll find a nice new friendlier group to stitch for that's for sure!

My new nephew

2011-01-28T10:39:00.002Z

Meet Harry. My new nephew. What a little cutie! Born on Wednesday 26th weighing 7lb5. My sister had a rough time delivering him, too rough i wont even write about it. It would be a good contraceptive to hear it though, so mail me privately and i'll tell LOL

Progress

2011-01-24T11:25:00.005Z

Thought i'd better post again quickly so that my "Moany" post doesn't end up being at the top of my blog all week, that would be depressing!

I got more selfish me time this morning so i dont know why im being moany anyway! Caleb started playgroup this morning over at the community centre. £6 for 3 hours = bargain!!!! He has a busy wee schedule now i tell you. Monday's playgroup, Tuesday is mums and tots at church, Wednesday he's at Gran and Papas all day (im at work), Thursday he's in nursery in the morning, Friday he's in nursery all day. Its good, he has a lot of energy and is learning fast and loves to go to things.

Made some progress on the piece i'm stitching for my nephew, who still hasnt arrived. You're a week late baby, come out soon, we want to meet you!

Moany

2011-01-23T14:14:00.006Z

There are some days i just want to do nothing. Nothing being no interaction with anyone, like, lie in bed and read my book, for as long as i want, then maybe go back to sleep again for a while. Or sit on the couch in my pjs, stitch and watch boxsets all day. I reeeallly miss those days sometimes. Dont get me wrong, i love my boy and am privileged to be a mum but there are things from my "past life" i miss LOL. We have our vegging out days but its not the same you know.... it still requires interaction ;-)

Today i got some me time. Matthew took Caleb to church and i stayed home. I went for a 25minute run, i had a long shower, i bought a Sunday newspaper and sat with a cup of tea and read it. It was BLISS. I needed that. Then i got a text from Matthew to say Caleb was going to his Grans for a couple of hours after church yeeehaaaaa.....however, we're gonna make the most of that time and try and blast through the rest of the painting of Caleb's bedroom. We are in the midst of decorating to get our flat on the market. Painting everything plain old Magnolia. Its a drag. My place is a mess. But it needs done.

Did i mention the inlaws from Canada will be descending on us soon?! Yes, they are. Joy of joys.

Im very moany today but it's good to vent. Now to drag my butt into that room to paint.

p.s. so sign of my nephew yet. That's my sis a week overdue!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

2011-01-18T09:00:00.007Z

My boy is 2 today. I cant really believe how fast the time has gone. Wow, they sure change quick in the space of 2 years! I remember his birth day like it was yesterday!

He's the best. He gives us a lot of laughs, a lot of joy and im very thankful for him. Im constantly amazed (and amused) by him. Happy Birthday kiddo, i love you very much!

New stitchy start for 2011

2011-01-10T11:12:00.005Z

My new start for 2011 is a baby sampler for my sister. Her baby (boy) is due one week today! Very exciting. It will be great for Caleb to have a boy cousin so near and so close in age.

Ive decided to stitch the same piece i stitched for Caleb. Remember it? I am still very proud of it, click here. Anyone else ever stitched the same big piece twice? Im finding it ok as it was 2 years ago since i stitched it for Caleb. Here's my progress so far. My sis knows it wont be ready for babies arrival haha but she's moving house on Friday (crazy right?!) and i've told her to save a space on the nursery wall :-)

Mum and Dad have Caleb for a wee while on a Monday morning. Its amazing how productive i can now be with a spare few childfree hours!! Ive checked email, read some blogs, been for a run, showered, made a chicken casserole and blogged.

Please remember our friend Cam today in your prayers. He is undergoing major brain surgery to remove a tumour he has had for years which is now just too big. Cam is the dad of one of Matthews close friends in Canada and Matthew has known him all his life. Surgery is at 12.45pm GMT, 7.45am in Canada. We will be on our knees.

Another winner

2011-01-09T17:57:00.006Z

I dont do the following thing with blogs. Only because i don't know what it means and how you then "follow" a blog etc etc Basically if i find a blog i like, i copy and paste the link into my google reader and follow from there. It highlights when there's a new post. So don't be offended if i'm not your "follower," it's just because i don't know what it's all about! I don't even know if its people that actually read your blog regularly or if its just something people do, or if its to draw attention to their own blog. I dunno. Whatever. Its nice to have "followers" none the less.

Anyway, i've been watching the number of "followers" of my blog creep up and i decided secretly in my head that i'd maybe do some kind of giveaway when i got to 100. It just so happened that it coincided with my 4th blog birthday giveaway! So Cole was my 100th follower and im going to make her a gift. Dont expect it anytime soon Cole, i'm a slow stitcher lacking in free time!!

My nephew is due to be born one week tomorrow.....exciting!!!!

And the winner is

2011-01-08T14:34:00.004Z

.......Barbara!! Congratulations! My husband chose a random number for me and Barbara was that 11th person. Yeah! Barbara's blog was one of the first i started reading 4 years ago and i still do to date. I love it. I do not know how she has the time to do everything that she does though!! Barbara, you sound like an amazing woman! I promise to send you something before my next blog birthday :-)

Im having a good day. It was a really nice morning and we've had a dusting of snow again so the three of us went for a walk. After our walk i made potato scone rolls yum yum then, whilst Caleb napped, i went on my exercise bike for half an hour. The pavements were too slippy to go running. Now Matthew and Caleb are out running some errands and i've made banana loaf and prepared tonights casserole. Im feeling very productive!

TV has been so crap recently that we're back into watching films again. I hardly watched any movies last year. We're on a Godfather fix at the moment. We have the trilogy lined up to watch. 1 down, 2 to go. Ive heard The Godfather II is brilliant. I really enjoyed the first one so that bodes well. Last night we watched most of Slumdog Millionaire (still half an hour left to watch)....so far, sooo good.

4 years...

2011-01-06T09:00:00.007Z

I started my blog 4 years ago today. I was reading back on some of my early posts and remembering what life was like back then!

So, 4 years, go me! Im going to try and post on my blog more this year. I was pretty bad at it last year, sometimes just once a month. Everyday blogging through advent has renewed my interest though.

I have "met" some lovely people through blogging......Rowyn, Suzanne, Hazel, Lynn, Kathy, Donna, Michele, Erna, Vonna, Maggie.....to name but a few, maybe one day we'll meet in real life! That'd be great. There are other blogs i've followed for years and then suddenly all posts stopped and theres been nothing since. I do wonder about those folk....Mercy, Kim, Sue, Jamie, Lesley, Stephanie are just some names that pop to mind.

Anyway, as is tradition, i will be having a "blogiversary" competition. Not really a competition, I'll have a draw and send a wee something to one lucky person who comments on this post. No other conditions attached to entering you'll be pleased to know :-) It'll be open until i post again....who knows when that will be ;-)

New Years Resolutions and reflections on last year

2011-01-03T17:36:00.019Z

Happy New Year folks! Wow, 2011. We spent New years eve with lovely friends and had a good time whilst my parents stayed home and babysat :-)

Some big things ahead in 2011.....im turning 30 in 2 months (aaahhh) and planning a big party, my mum will be 60 in September, we're hoping to put our flat up for sale, we're hoping to go to Canada, my sister is due a baby in 14 days time!!!!! Exciting!!!

My new years resolutions:

-To be more motivated (especially around the home)

- To make and put up a meal planner inside one of the kitchen cupboards

- Cook more recipes

-Maybe go back to my chore planner thingy

-Keep organised to-do lists

- Spend money in shops other than Tesco (i was nearly sick one month when i seen how much we earn goes to Tesco..ergh, i hate that they have the monopoly over everything) In particular buy from our local butchers which has amazing stuff.

Wow, that all sounds so 1950s woman. Other non-housey things will be

- Go running more (regardless of the weather)

- Finish my essay for my Leadership and Management qualification

It was funny reading back on my answers to these questions last year (they mostly revolved around sleep deprivation), here's this years

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before? Entered and ran in two 10K races!

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year? My new years resolutions last year can be seen here and i think the only one i kept was to take vitamins daily. I have made more for this year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My friend Amanda had Eilidh and Sheryl had Kayla and right at the end of the year, one of my best friends had her still-nameless little girl on new years eve!

4. Did anyone close to you die? No

5. What countries did you visit? Florida in June, England trips: Stratford in May, Appleby Magna in July, Hayes in August and Clitheroe in November.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010? A house

7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory? Calebs 1st birthday on 18 January, Sarahs wedding on 10 July, the birth of Sallys daughter on 31 December.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Running two 10ks in September! Yeah!

9. What was your biggest failure? Crying down the aisle at Sarahs wedding....i so didnt want to cry

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? A few minor illnesses nothing major

11. What was the best thing you bought? My blackberry

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration? My kind, patient, slow to anger and rich in love husband. My boss at work who has had to deal with some amount of crap in the last year and has ended up being screwed over for it. She has stayed strong and true to her morals and values even though it has cost her.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? the scoundrels at the local authority where i work where the "boys club" ruled over big decisions and made sure their friends were appointed to posts and made terrible decisions to the detriment of the voluntary sector

14. Where did most of your money go? To Tesco

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Being a bridesmaid for one of my best friends in July!

16. What song/album will always remind you of 2010? "Feels like home to me..." Dont know who its by but it will always remind me of 2010 and Sarahs wedding...the song we all walked and cried our way down the aisle to.

Somethin' in your eyes, makes me wanna lose myself
Makes me wanna lose myself, in your arms
There's somethin' in your voice, makes my heart beat fast
Hope this feeling lasts, the rest of my life

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

happier or sadder? The same really

Thinner of fatter? Thinner

Richer or poorer? Poorer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Hanging out with friends

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Moaning

20. How did you spend Christmas? Christmas morning opening pressies just the 3 of us. Down to my mum and dads at 11am to open more pressies with my sister and her husband and then a yummy dinner. Was loaded with the cold though unfortunately.

21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with? DH, during the days when he's at work

22. Did you fall in love in 2010? Not with anyone new but love grew

23. How many one night stands in this last year? None

24. What was your favourite TV programme(s)? The Good wife, One tree hill, Glee

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Hate might be too strong but those scoundrels at the local authority where i work

26. What was the best book(s) you read? I read a lot but there isnt one that immediately stands out

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Erm....dunno

28. What did you want and get? A new phone (blackberry), which i now cannot be separated from lol

29. What did you want and not get? A new house

30. What were your favourite films of this year? Dont have a favourite that comes to mind but i'll remember Eat, Pray, Love as being the worst

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 29 and i went out for dinner with friends (and Sarah was up from London)

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? A new house

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010? Samey....Skinny jeans, Ugg boots and long tshirts.

34. What kept you sane? Going to work!

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? David Beckham, as always

36. What political issue stirred you the most? How can the general election last year and its shocking result ending in the crazy conservative/lib-dem coalition (shame on your Lib-Dems!!) not stir anyone

37. Who did you miss? My bezzas (best friends) who are scattered over the UK now

38. Who was the best new person (people) you met? My boss probably. She gave me a great job, has given me fab opportunities throughout the year and has inspired.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010. Treasure your true friends, be wary of the others

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year?

"Friends may come and go and storms may sweep our skies but i'll be there for you"

Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T07:05:00.008Z

All the big build up to Christmas and......i get sick!! Can you believe that?! Nothing too bad, just a cold but it really wiped me out. It started coming on on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day i was in bed by 9pm (and had had 2 naps during the day as well) and last night i was early to bed too (then wide awake at 5.30am). So, that was really annoying.

However, we still had fun. We had a lovely meal Christmas Eve. Here are the highlights in photos of Christmas Day.

Yes, Caleb got a kids Mini Cooper S from my parents and it does actually drive like a real car!! He even spent about half an hour cleaning it, is this a sign of things to come?!

Boxing Day we were in Ayr and Caleb got to meet his little friend Charlie who is my sister's nephew on the other side of her family. Good times.

What a great few days. Caleb has been on top form and enjoyed all the festivities very much! We're looking forward to a quiet-ish couple of days now before Matthew goes back to work on Wednesday.

Christmas Star and DeBloAdMo complete!

2010-12-24T09:24:00.006Z

My final Christmas stitching finish. I was hoping to get it made into an ornament before Christmas but that is definitely not going to happen now! Its JBW's Star from this years JCS Christmas edition.

Im off work today so i got up when Caleb got up 6.30am and got him ready for nursery and Matthew took him on his way to work. Then i went back to bed **BLISS** Now its 9.30am and im just up. Lovely! I am feeling slightly guilty thinking of all the things i could have done in that time but nevermind, it's Christmas. The 2 of them wont be back til 1.30pm so ive got time to make it look like i've been busy LOL

This morning i need to wrap presents and bake cookies. Im going to bake gingerbread men for the family (i always do that for them) and shortbread for my neighbours. Then i need to tidy up a bit more because we have our annual Christmas eve tradition of having a Chinese meal tonight with my family. We're not going to a restaurant this year, mum and dad, my sis and her hubby are coming here and we'll get takeaway.

Tomorrow we'll be at my parents all day. Sunday we'll go to church and then we are off down to Ayr to my brother-in-laws parent's house for the day. Looking forward to the busy-ness and excitement of the next few days! I love this time of year.

So in conclusion to DeBloAdMo here is how we filled each day of advent with advent activities

Day 1 - Hang up advent calendar

Day 2 - Message from Santa Video

Day 3 - Make paper snowflakes for bedroom window

Day 4 - Decorate Christmas tree

Day 5 - Decorate the house

Day 6 - Make Christmas cards

Day 7 - Make paperchains

Day 8 - Christmas display at the Garden Centre with Gran and Pappa

Day 9 - Wintery walk to get holly and pine cones

Day 10 - Make an Elf e-card

Day 11 - Make Star Shortbread

Day 12 - Wrap presents

Day 13 - Have a special friend round to play

Day 14 - Finish Salt dough tree ornaments

Day 15 - Christmas display at the Garden Centre with Gran and Pappa

Day 16 - Make Robins

Day 17 - Visit the library to get Christmas books

Day 18 - Go to Isla's 2nd birthday party

Day 19 - Go to Christmas Service at Church

Day 20 - Go buy and eat cakes

Day 21 - Wrap the door

Day 22 - Christmas display at the Garden Centre with Gran and Pappa

Day 23 - Watch Baby Einstein Santa DVD and deliver presents to friends

Day 24 - Have family round for Chinese food and Christmas Eve fun!

Yeeaaahh!!! We did it!! There were a few days i didn't manage to blog but on the whole, i did pretty well. I enjoyed thinking of activities we could do everyday (with help from Lori and Rebekkahs's blog) and enjoyed writing my blog again too. Great idea Lori!!

Now all that's left to say is Happy Christmas to everyone who reads my blog!! I hope you have a lovely day!

Christmas Quilting

2010-12-21T19:21:00.007Z

Like it? My Christmas table runner. I checked back on my blog to see when i started this. 3 years ago I took a quilting class with my mum over at the community centre. We were both beginners. My mum fell in love with quilting and has made some amazing quilts/tablerunners/pram covers etc etc since. She really got into it. I enjoyed the class but never really got into it....im not so keen on all the measuring and cutting of fabric, the concentration thats required and the endless sitting at the sewing machine. Anyway, i found this in a bag of fabric and all that it needed was the binding put on around the edge. I'd done everything else. So i gave it to my mum to do and within a few hours....voila! I really like it and am pleased with the fabric i picked for it even if it was 3 years ago! I couldn't get a good picture as the light is bad from like, 3pm.

On to our advent activities. Yesterday (day 20) we went to Sainsburys, bought nice cakes and came back and ate them sitting on the rug in the living

room. I made the mistake of leaving my half eaten cake whilst i went to put the kettle on and when i came back Caleb had scoffed it. It made me laugh anyway.

Today (day 21) we wrapped the door (an idea i stole from Rebekkah's blog)! We basically covered one of the doors in the hallway with Christmas paper. Caleb loved it! Here he is taking a bow

Christmas stitching

2010-12-20T10:24:00.006Z

Day 19 (yesterday) was the Christmas service at church and that was our family advent activity for the day. I dont really have any good pictures but boy, that service sure made me laugh. All the usual kiddie things....kids crying on stage, kids picking their nose, kids getting shy and refusing to speak, kids refusing to go on stage at all, kids speaking so quietly even the mic couldn't pick them up, kids that are born performers....it was hilarious. Caleb just stood near the stage and watched, he wouldn't wear the shepherds costume, he's a bit too young for it all yet. It was so funny though, i enjoyed it a lot!

We are back to winter-wonderland again. The snow arrived thick and fast on Saturday morning. I do like the snow but i hate the way the council never seems prepared for it and the roads are left in such a bad state. It makes me very hesitant to travel. My Canadian husband describes this as a "proper winter at last." He's been over here for 8 years now and is disappointed with Scottish winters (and summers and autumn and spring hahahahaha)

I finished Caleb's Christmas ornament last night and i'm really pleased with it.

Front:

Back:

We're hanging out at my parents house today. I had my chicken casserole prepared and in my new slow cooker by 8am this morning! Go me!

I need to decide what our Christmas advent activity today will be. I think me might wrap a door - an idea i stole from Rebekkah's blog. We will of course spend a lot of the day out playing in the snow, Caleb loves the sledge!

Christmas Gift for Rowyn

2010-12-18T08:14:00.003Z

Rowyn and i did a Christmas gift exchange this year. What i stitched ended up too big to be a tree ornament so i made it into a pillow instead.

I have to admit, i really didn't want to give this away LOL In fact, on those snowy days when i couldn't get to the post office i had it displayed on my couch and was very tempted to keep it and stitch something else for Rowyn (sorry Rowyn).I really like the design and found the prefect fabric to go with it. I cant remember the designer but it was in JCS 2009 Christmas edition.

Half way through stitching it it dawned on me that it isn't chilly in New Zealand, being their summer and all, whoops! Rowyn assures me she doesnt mind though!

Advent day 18. Todays activity....go to Isla's 2nd birthday party. I cant believe these kids are now 2. Caleb's 2nd birthday is a month today.

Advent day 17

2010-12-17T22:14:00.003Z

Christmas reminds us we are not alone. We are not unrelated atoms, bouncing and ricocheting amid aliens, but are a part of something, which holds and sustains us. As we struggle with shopping lists and invitations, compounded by December's bad weather, it is good to be reminded that there are people in our lives who are worth this aggravation, and people to whom we are worth the same. Christmas shows us the ties that bind us together, threads of love and caring, woven in the simplest and strongest way within the family.
Donald E. Westlake

Advent day 17. Our Christmas activity today was to go the library and pick out some Christmas books. So we are home with "Maisys Christmas Eve" and "Happy Christmas Boris." We read one before bed tonight.

We have a busy weekend ahead which is good because it means I don't have to think up any Christmas activities ;-) Tomorrow is Isla's 2nd birthday party and Sunday is the Christmas service at Church.

I may have blogged more this month than i have all year LOL. I'm enjoying DeBloAdMo!

Robins and prizes

2010-12-16T19:45:00.005Z

So glad tomorrow's Friday. We have a merger looming at work and lets just say all is not great. The interviews took place for the CEO yesterday and we are so disappointed with who they appointed. Its a bad time to be working in the voluntary sector. Its all about politics and who knows who and who is friends with whom. Unfair and unjust. Anyway, rant over....

Advent day 16 (nearly there)....todays advent activity was to make some robins! LOL. I seen this in the Tesco baby and toddler Christmas magazine. We (or I) only made one, it was tedious and Caleb wasn't too interested. He did like flying it round the room and crashing it into the walls once it was complete though.

I won a giveaway recently on Maggie O's blog. Everything arrived today and it's fab! Thank-you so much Maggie. There's so many lovely designs in this years JCS Christmas Edition. I never buy this magazine over here because its too pricey so it was great to win it!! I really want to stitch that JBW Star.

Off to sit on my butt for the rest of the evening.....after ive wrapped my work secret santa gifts and written my cards for everyone at the office.

Christmas Stitching

2010-12-15T22:22:00.003Z

Here is what will be my 2010 Christmas ornament for Caleb. A Prairie Schooler design. I took the picture with my phone so it's not the best. Now i need to stitch what will be the back of the ornament with a personalised message. Hopefully i can get that done before Christmas!

At last, some stitching for all you who thought this was supposed to primarily be a stitching blog eh ;-)

I had a really tough day at work which has left be drained. Off to bed......

Salt Dough decorations

2010-12-14T08:03:00.007Z

I failed in my quest to blog every day of advent. Bummer. I was doing so well but I was just too busy yesterday! I'm going to say that yesterdays advent activity was "to have a special friend round to play." It so wasn't but we had no time for anything else and he did have his friend Eve here so that was advent day 13. I was working yesterday morning whilst Caleb was with his Gran and Pappa, then Becky and Eve were here in the afternoon and at night we had our annual ladies Christmas meal at Church; which was a really nice night.

Advent day 14, we made Salt Dough tree ornaments. Actually, thats not entirely accurate. We made the Dough ornaments and painted them back at the end of November when we were snowed in here. Today we just added the ribbon and hung them on the tree (the good ones) and round the house (the not so good ones).

Its a nice three day activity!! Make the dough and cut out the shapes as one activity. To make the dough i used 2 cups of plain flour,1/2 cup of table salt and 1/2 cup of water. We used cookie cutters to make angel shapes and then baked them for 45mins.

Day 2 was painting them which Caleb really enjoyed.

Day 3 was threading the ribbon and hanging them. Voila!

Wrapping gifts tonight

2010-12-12T18:46:00.004Z

"Christmas wont be Christmas without any presents." Louisa May Alcott

Havent been home all day and have about an hour before i'm out again. I'm tired. Tonight my friend Lori is having a "Christmas Gift Wrapping Party" though and this quote sprung to mind. So im off to wrap some gifts and write my cards.....tiredness is for wimps LOL

Homebaking

2010-12-11T17:15:00.005Z

Advent day 11. We made Star Shortbread. Its an easy peasy kids recipe i got from the Cbeebies website that simply requires plain flour, butter, half a teaspoon of vanilla extract and caster sugar. Caleb rolled out the dough and helped to cut the shapes.

I didnt make too many, i wanted to make sure they tasted good before i made a big batch (they did and are all gone). I think i'll make more tomorrow and decorate them with the icing pen.

Check out this tray of goodies i got from my friend Sherri today. Rocky Road, Kris Kringle, Brownies, Butter Toffee, Kiflings, Peppermint Creams, Sugar Cookie, Chocolate and Pistachio Biscotti. Aaaamazing!! And they're all for us. Yum yum yum yum yum. The Butter Toffee and Peppermint creams have gone already and were absolutely divine.

Busy day today. Have been out for my sisters birthday this afternoon and im out again tonight. Still cant shift this cold :-(

We got Elfed

2010-12-10T19:13:00.003Z

On Advent day 10, we became Elves. I had a productive morning at work and made an Elf video of the 3 of us. It makes me laugh everytime i watch it. You can see our family Elf Christmas card by clicking here

After work i met my sister for lunch and we took Caleb to see the Christmas decorations at the shopping centre.

Slow cookers and winter walks

2010-12-09T20:02:00.005Z

Today i did something i've been meaning to do for a long time.....i bought a slow cooker. Boy, does that make me feel old. I've wanted one for ages but sometimes i'm in denial about my age and think i'm just too young to be wanting one of those therefore i will not buy it. But it was £12 in Tesco so i couldn't resist. I gave myself a massive papercut holding the box (and trying to manoeuvre the pram at the same time) in the queue at the till though and felt like crying for the second time that day. The first time being when i actually fell over on the ice outside my house and hurt my hands and my hip. I held it together until i got in the car and then i cried. Falling over is so embarrassing, more so when you're on your own because you have noone to laugh with. I pulled Caleb over with me so he was crying too. Oh im sore tonight! I AM getting old! Anyway...i bought a slow cooker and i'm excited about finding some recipes and trying it out!

Advent day 9. Our activity today was to go on a wintery walk to collect pine cones and holly. We walked all through the woods and didn't find a single a pine cone! Wrong type of trees obviously. We did get some holly branches though. We'll go a different route tomorrow and see if we can find pine cones there. I'm all ready to spray them silver!

My boy likes nothing better than to be outside

The reason for the season

2010-12-08T15:39:00.001Z

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Luke 2:9-12

Christmas gift from NZ

2010-12-07T19:33:00.003Z

Gosh it been a long day. We're having crazy cold weather at the moment. I heard its to be -12 tonight. I cant remember temperatures ever being that low here. So, we had another day at home to avoid travelling in the snow and ice. I haven't seen some of my friends for weeks. Thankfully my friend Bev has a little boy the same age as Caleb and lives nearby so we spent the morning at her house. The afternoon has dragged by though and Caleb had a really late nap (as did i) which means he'll be up late tonight booooo. Plus we both have colds. Moan moan moan.

On a less moan-full note, i got a gift all the way from Rowyn in New Zealand today. A lovely reindeer ornament, a chart, linen, fabric and floss. My sister is expecting a baby (boy) in January and i think i'll stitch the chart for her. Rowyn, i love everything! Thank-you so much! The reindeer is hanging up already.

Caleb and I made paperchains as our advent activity today. I didnt take a picture, you know what paperchains look like! All i can say is YAH for Tescos pre-cut self-adhesive paperchains. No cutting/sellotaping/gluing etc etc. We also made 2 more Christmas cards for family and Caleb drew pictures (aka scribbles) in them all.

I very much doubt i'll get into work tomorrow, the weather there is even worse apparently. I can work from home though which is good although never as productive!

Stay safe and warm all! x

Christmas card making

2010-12-06T19:37:00.003Z

Advent day 6. Im quite enjoying coming up with one special Christmassy thing to do everyday. Especially seeing as the weather (more snow) is confining us to our village which has one tiny grocery store and nothing else.

Today Caleb made cards to send to his cousins in Canada. These foams stickers were perfect for him to use and he enjoyed doing it. He proudly showed Daddy tonight saying they were for "Luke in Canada." Bless him.

Elf

2010-12-05T20:10:00.003Z

"The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear"

"First we'll make snow angels for two hours, then we'll go ice skating, then we'll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookiedough as fast as we can, and then we'll snuggle."

"Us elves like to stick to the four main food groups. Candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup"

Elf. My favourite Christmas movie. I cant wait to watch it this year, it makes me laugh...a lot!

We finished decorating the house today. Thats about all. Too tired to blog.

Decorated tree

2010-12-04T19:37:00.004Z

Advent day 4. The Christmas tree was decorated by the 3 of us today. Its Matthews job to do the lights then Caleb and I decorated. We bought a small tree this year as our other one is just too big now Caleb has so many toys around the place. We need a new house!! This place is getting cramped.

I love getting all the decorations out! I forget what we have. We've a few lovely things with nice memories attached...a silver heart we got the first year we were married, an ornament i stitched for Caleb's first Christmas and so on. I love it. Im stitching Caleb an ornament every year with a personal message on the back. You can see last years here. This years is still a work in progress.

One of my favourite things to open is my snowman tin which has all my handmade stitchy gifts inside. I have made some lovely friends through blogging. I have a lovely santa Donna stitched for me which i made into a pillow sitting on the couch, the tin itself is under the tree and was actually a gift from Michele as well as a snowman figurine i display every year, the little pillow under my tree was made by Karen, a beautiful little santa ornament Clare stitched with the most immaculate stitching is hanging on the wall alongside a little set of mitts Kathy stitched for me last year. And Hazel, the gift you made when Caleb was born has been hung across one of the windows in our living room since the day it arrived (nearly 2 years ago!) I love handmade gifts, they mean so much as i appreciate the time and effort that goes into even the smallest item. So thank-you all, for your kindness, friendship and comments on my blog :-)

Snowflakes

2010-12-03T20:15:00.003Z

Advent day 3. Aaaah, the weekend is here. Mulled wine on the cooker as i type. Christmas decorations will go up tomorrow i think.

It was a yucky day today and i work a half day on a Friday whilst Caleb's at nursery. This afternoon we stayed home and watched The Muppet Christmas Carol and made snowflakes for Caleb's bedroom window. Caleb preferred playing with his scissors than doing any actual cutting but he did enjoy sticking them to the window!

We have listened to yesterdays message from Santa about a million more times today. I remember wondering a few years back if we would do the whole Santa thing with our children. I guess we definitely are haha

Visiting the North Pole

2010-12-02T18:13:00.005Z

Day 2 of advent. Today we visited the Portable North Pole and Caleb got his very own message from Santa. This website is amazing, you must check it out. Santa will do a message for anyone of any age! We have watched his message over and over again. He keeps asking for it and loves it everytime Santa says Caleb.

We had another fun afternoon sledging!

DeBloAdMo

2010-12-01T16:18:00.007Z

December Blog Advent Month. "Post every day in the month of December until Christmas one special idea you can do as a family, a couple or a group of friends. Of if you're really clever, post a wee thought each day about Christmas or something." I gonna do this! Feel free to join in :-) Let me know so i can follow your posts though! My friend Lori's idea. Im so rubbish at posting here im hoping this will inspire me to enjoy blogging again. Blogging for me. A record of our life.

1st December. Wow. Its a shame it's a Wednesday because i work all day on a Wednesday so no amazing special Christmas related thing we did as a family today. Is that a bad start? LOL. Let me just say however, Caleb and i have had the best few days together. We haven't been out of the village where we live because of the snow but have had so much fun and he's been so content. Maybe thats a lesson, maybe i need to do less running around going here, there and everywhere with him but chill more at home! The snow has been so much fun and my little outdoorsy boy loves it! Seriously loves it. We've built snowmen, made snow angels, been for walks and our ultimate favourite, sledging! Even when he fell off with his face right under the snow he still came up laughing so hard. We've had a blast!

As i've been at work, he's been with my parents today. Our Christmas advent activity for December 1st ....hanging his advent calendar...and eating his chocolate. This kiddo loves chocolate, i'm hanging the calendar high otherwise he will scoff the lot! Lets just say, the opening of the advent calendar wasnt a magical Christmas moment. Look at this photo...he was totally unimpressed at the size of the chocolate and then got mad that he could only open one door. Boy i cant wait to do this everyday LOL

Happy 1st December everyone. Let the countdown to Christmas commence :-)

St Andrews Day

2010-11-30T08:11:00.005Z

St Andrews Day. Scotland's official national day. Also, my Gran's birthday! Here is my absolute favourite place in Scotland, the white sands of Morar.

The Flower of Scotland

O flower of Scotland

When will we see

Your like again

That fought and died for

Your wee bit hill and glen

And stood against him

Proud Edward's army

And sent him homeward

Tae think again

The hills are bare now

And autumn leaves lie thick and still

O'er land that is lost now

Which those so dearly held

And stood against him

Proud Edward's army

And sent him homeward

Tae think again

Those days are passed now

And in the past they must remain

But we can still rise now

And be the nation again

And stood against him

Proud Edward's army

And sent him homeward

Tae think again

Snow much fun!

2010-11-28T18:31:00.004Z

Oh we have had a lot of fun in the snow this weekend! I like snow when i don't have to travel in it. This is the most snow we've had here in recent years. It doesn't look like much in the picture but that's because we used all the surrounding snow for our snowman. Good fun! Caleb had a blast. He was laughing so hard at Matthew and i throwing snowballs at each other he kept falling over. So cute!

Remember DeBloAdMo (December Blog Advent Month)."Post every day in the month of December until Christmas one special idea you can do as a family, a couple or a group of friends. Of if you're really clever, post a wee thought each day about Christmas or something." I think i'll try and do this! Feel free to join in :-) Let me know so i can follow your posts though! My friend Lori's idea

Advent Blog

2010-11-25T19:26:00.005Z

I had a lovely weekend away with the greatest friends ever. We did venture out for a wee wander into the nearest town (Clitheroe) on the Saturday but we mostly stayed in the beautiful cottage, in front of the log burner and ate and drank and caught up on life. Followed by some compulsory tv viewing (Strictly and Xfactor) whilst eating a curry. Good times. My friend Sal (in the black coat) and my sis (in the white coat) are both pregnant so we had a little baby shower for them too which was fun.

You may have heard of NoBloPoMo? Well,my friend Lori has invented DeBloAdMo which stands for December Blog Advent Month. It's basically a Blog Advent Calendar. "Post every day in the month of December until Christmas one special idea you can do as a family, a couple or a group of friends. Of if you're really clever, post a wee thought each day about Christmas or something." I think i'll try and do this! Feel free to join in :-) Let me know so i can follow your posts though!

Friends

2010-11-08T10:49:00.003Z

"If we would build on a sure foundation in friendship,

we must love friends for their sake rather than for our own."

~ Charlotte Bronte

In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies,

but the silence of our friends."

~ Martin Luther King Jr.

I was reading something recently which contained these quotes. Been a bit disgruntled by something recently and was thinking about friends and friendships and the different types of friends i have and how "real" some of these "friends" actually are/are not. In 2 weeks time I have a girlie weekend away in a cottage with 8 of my bestest friends of all time and I cant wait!! Real friends are to be greatly valued and put other things/people into perspective!!

p.s. I have a stitching finish and its lovely and i wish i could show a picture but i cant, its my Christmas exchange for Rowyn.

I stitch

2010-10-26T19:26:00.004Z

See, i do still stitch! Thats a Passione Ricamo freebie ive been working on. Shes put on hold at the moment whilst i work on a Christmas exchange for Rowyn.

Life continues to fly by. Unfortunately in the last week my Gran was in hospital (slight stroke) and my uncle in still in hospital after a tumour was found in his stomach. We are still waiting to hear the results of that but we're not anticipating good news. Funny how bad things seem to come all at once. As well as this, we have a merger looming at work so who knows what the fall out from that will be. Job cuts i'm sure. The governments spending cuts are going to have a drastic affect on voluntary sector organisations. March 2011 is going to be a bad time.

On a more positive note i did win the JCS 2010 Christmas ornie magazine from Maggie O. Yeah! I never buy it here because it costs so much more. I cant bring myself to pay £8 for a magazine, especially now i only work part-time LOL Last year Clare in Canada really kindly sent me a copy as a gift. This year i won one!! Woohoo!

Caleb has a Halloween party at nursery on Friday so i need to sort him out a costume. I'm really not a fan of Halloween at all. I don't mind fun dressing up though so i'll find him a nice costume...find it some time in between working the rest of the week and a couple of nights out as well....ah life!

Scottish/Canadian Thanksgiving

2010-10-15T18:57:00.008Z

My medals. Im so proud of medals. I ran two 10ks in September in case i haven't mentioned it enough haha

Last weekend was thanksgiving in Canada and to make DH feel part of life back home, we had our own wee thanksgiving meal.....turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes and veg. I was very proud of my efforts. I even made little Canadian flag name tags for the 3 of us :-) We thought it would be a nice tradition to start for Caleb, even though he had about 2 mouthfuls of the whole meal aaahhhh toddlers!!!

Another week has flown by and we have a busy weekend ahead. Caleb has been going to nursery 2 mornings a week for just over a month now. We had a difficult few weeks when he was hysterical when we left him but that has passed and he now seems to love it! It is such a relief and so cute to see him run in to join his wee friends and shout "bye mumma!"

Checkout a giveaway at one of my favourite blogs "balancing everything."

Still here

2010-10-07T20:13:00.004Z

Gosh I havent blogged in a month. Just dropping by to say im still here!

My last post was about that 10K i ran......well i did the second one and beat my time by 2 minutes so was happy with that!

My weeks are busy and time passes so quickly. Caleb will be 2 in 3 months time - i cant believe that! Look at my big boy now (yes, in the rain, as is usual in this blooming country)

Done a little bit of stitching recently, i'll post a picture soon. After Caleb goes to bed at night i get the house kind-of-tidy, get organised for the next day, watch some mindless tv and then im exhausted and ready for bed - not time for much else at the moment!

Anyone on facebook? Let me know! Im better with that because its on my phone.

The First 10K

2010-09-07T18:37:00.005Z

Im in that crowd somewhere! On Sunday i ran the Great Scottish 10K Run and I am so proud of myself! I absolutely loved it. At every K there were bag pipers and drummers and all along the route there were lots of supporters cheering us on. I was quite emotional at some points! This was the hill we had to run up right at the start. St Vincents Street for anyone that knows Glasgow.
I completed it in 1 hr 7 mins and 45 secs - not bad for 5 weeks training. I came 5179th LOL. There were about 8000 running the 10K. I am running another 10K race in 2 weeks time (its not as big a scale event) and hoping to beat my time, even a second would do!

Im running for a great charity run by good friends of mine working with street children in Kenya www.justgiving.com/cherylthomas1

Not one but two 10Ks!

2010-08-21T18:56:00.004Z

In September i'll be running not one but TWO 10Ks! The Great Scottish Run on the 5th September and the Kilmacolm 10K on the 19th. Ive only had 5weeks to train for this so please sponsor me to encourage me on! www.justgiving.com/cherylthomas1

I have chosen to run for a great charity, which was started by good friends of mine, called Footsteps International. They have a blog too here

If you chose to sponsor me via my website, your money will go to Footsteps International. There are 1 million AIDS orphans in Kenya and 50,000 children live on the street. Thousands of children are orphaned each year as a result of accidents and during childbirth, and many more were orphaned during the violence following Kenya’s elections. Footsteps is providing long-term support to some of these desperately needy children.

I actually stitched

2010-08-14T06:39:00.006Z

I havent stitched in ages. Have had absolutely no desire. Got so many unfinished pieces but i dont want to work on any of them. Its been months. Anyway, last night, alongside my glass of red wine, i found something and started work on it. Nice and easy, no thread changes. Its a freebie design from Passione Ricamo called "Fairy Celebration." Im hoping it will hold my interest

We are so enjoying these lovely sunny days. The weekend is to bring more of the same, shame my husband is at work and missing it. Im enjoying my blog again, using it as a way to record life.

On the way to visit some horses yesterday we got sidetracked by the boats and spent the morning at the marina instead. Caleb enjoyed the kid play area too

Hope the sun is shining where you are! This is DH's last ever weekend of work - yeah!! Starts his new job in 2 weeks.

To the beach

2010-08-12T11:52:00.004Z

It's a beautiful day. Beautiful days can be rare on the West Coast of Scotland. We're off to the beach. Here's my car-obssessed driver

Our favourite local beach, just 2 minutes from home. Caleb would sit here for hours throwing stones into the water (the only thing he will sit for hours doing)....i think i'll take my book :-)

Day out

2010-08-07T17:22:00.007Z

We went to Pollok Country Park in Glasgow today for its annual family day. Pollok House sits within the estate, a beautiful house built in 1752.

There were lots of things to see and do. I bought a beautiful handcrafted necklace and bracelet and got lots of business cards/contacts for a Fairtrade event i am organising for November as part of my job. Caleb's favourite area was with the animals. He sure loved the highland cows! We couldnt get him away from this fence! I dont like cows, but i do like Highland cows, they're kinda cute

I am so glad DH has a new job, it means no more shift work or weekend work which means lots more fun family days out like this!

Catching up

2010-08-03T07:01:00.005Z

Well, i havent posted here in a while! Ive been busy, have done no stitching or anything even remotely crafty. Lets see, what's happened in the last month....

-We travelled down south to Appleby Magna where I was a bridesmaid for one of my best friends.

-I was at camp for a week (i help run our church's kids camp), which was hard work in terrible weather

-My friend from London came to stay

- My husband got a new job, which is so great but has created a childcare gap one day a week...looking for a childminder or good nursery and its hard!!

- Have i mentioned it rained pretty much all of July? Some summer!

- I have entered the Great Scottish run and in 5 weeks will be running a 10k race. Or attempting to. Training is under way.

I got quite into catching up with friends on facebook and blogging has been pushed aside. Looking forward to catching up with your lives soon!

Home from hols

2010-06-27T07:44:00.006Z

We're home! Had a fab time in Florida. We were in Orlando, doing the disney thing and Dad had hired a villa for the 7 of us. It was super hot and we had a storm nearly everyday but they never lasted long. It was great to have hot sunny weather and access to our own pool and just be away on holiday and have a break from "normal" life.

We were dreading Caleb on a plane. He's 17months and rarely sits still. However, he was an angel! We were pretty gobsmacked actually. On the way over he stayed in the seats the whole time (didnt even try get into the aisle), played with his toys, entertained the people behind and played with the window blind. I dont know how we passed 9hours but we did. On the way home (a nighttime flight) he slept most of the way!

Matthews family came down from Canada to visit which was great. His mum and dad babysat a few days so we could go and visit Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Caleb got to meet his cousin Luke for the first time and it was great. They got on so well, it was so cute. Caleb changed a lot on holiday, grew up even more. He speaks really well and comes out with all sorts of hilarious things, i think he was copying Luke (who is 3).

Im sure there is loads more to say about our holiday. Jetlag is a killer though....our sleeptimes are totally messed up. When mummy and daddy are shattered Caleb is wide awake and vice versa. Cant get him into bed before 1am. Its hard going. Hoping things return to normal soon!

Off to Florida

2010-05-31T15:53:00.002Z

Life has been really, really busy recently...in a good way though! Just thought id check in and say hi...and bye. We're off to Florida tomorrow for 3 and a half weeks! Cant wait to be there, dreading the long flight with a little boy who never sits still! Wish us luck

See you in July :)

1960's

2010-05-09T19:17:00.003Z

Like my costume? Went for the Jackie Kennedy look. Was a fun night! Here i am with mum

Next weekend should also be fun. 15 girlies away on a hen weekend. Ive organised this so im hoping its good. We're camping (in caravans) in Stratford upon Avon. So excited, these are my best friends from way back and we always have a great time together!

Election Day

2010-05-06T20:38:00.003Z

I love elections, but especially general elections. I like deciding who to vote for, i like watching the candidates desperately appeal for votes. I love the 2 second feeling of empowerment when you cast your vote on polling day!

Will turn the tv on as soon as i get up tomorrow morning to see what the results are. I know some people will sit up overnight for hours hearing the results as they come in...im interested but not enough to miss my sleep!!

Fob for Margaret

2010-05-04T18:26:00.005Z

Im trying to recall what has kept me away the last few weeks, unsuccessfully. Life is just busy...all is good though.

Here is a fob i made Margaret recently. Tilt your head to the right (Can anyone tell me why blogger rotates pics? Its horizontal in "my pictures" folder but i upload it to here and it turns them vertical and i cant rotate them aaahh) This one of Nic's designs. Her charts are free but a donation to the MS society is appreciated. I think that's a great idea.

An "M" for Margaret in the middle
Working the next 2 days. 60's party on Friday night - will be fun seeing everyones outfits, i'll have to post a picture of mine.

Followers-explanation needed!

2010-04-22T07:10:00.003Z

Can someone explain the followers bit on a blog? I dont get it.Personally, I add blogs to my google reader and follow them there. I do that with anyone that leaves a comment on my blog. What happens when you click to "follow" someones blog? I know i have followers and i see people appeal for followers. Im curious....please someone explain it to me :)

Havent stitched in a while. Probably a combination of having had a stinking cold and just wanting to lie on the sofa at night and stare at the tv, beautiful sunny days that have kept us outside a lot and Caleb refusing to go to bed at his normal time every night this week.

5 and a 1/2 weeks until we go to Florida!

Turn away for a minute....

2010-04-16T11:11:00.002Z

Yes thats all my threads on the floor. He even "posted" some through into his crib. Bless.

Happy Easter

2010-04-02T10:31:00.008Z

What a weird week of weather. Heavy snow and gales one day, bright sun and mild temperatures the next. Thats my basket of easter eggs on the window sill and you can see all the snow sitting on the ledge. Today however looks like this

This is my nearest town, Largs. This is for you Rowyn seeing as you mentioned you've visited the Largs "pencil."

We dont have much planned for Easter weekend but im looking forward to the 3 of us hanging out as a family. DH has some time off thanks goodness. If one of us is off the other is usually working so its gonna be nice to have some family time!

Ive been working away on "The Tea room." Something nice and spring-like in the face of all the random snow this week

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter!

Chicks

2010-03-29T15:15:00.003Z

Arent these cute? I bought them in a craft shop in my local town, Largs. A lady knits them. Inside there is a creme egg! I bought these 2 to send over to my niece and nephew in Canada for Easter.

The clocks changed this weekend. British summertime apparently...theres snow forecast this week!! What's that all about?

Did anyone watch the BBC show lastnight called Enid? A drama about Enid Blyton's life. I loved her books when i was a kid. After watching that show i really dont like her though! She seemed to be all about her fans and her glory and the public perception of her, to the detriment of her husband and kids. Ive still got 20mins left to watch so maybe she redeems herself but it doesnt look likely.

An almost finish

2010-03-26T11:50:00.003Z

Why does blogger switch photos round? I give up trying to get this the right way round. Ive nearly got this one finished anyway. Just the beads to add and im just trying to decide whether to do the faces or not...what do you think? Its french knots for the eyes and then a red bead for the nose/mouth????

Its been one of those weeks here. Caleb was sick for 3/4 days, with some kind of stomach bug. I was worried about him. He wouldnt even drink so we kept having to syringe water into his mouth to keep him hydrated. Then i had a couple of days of feeling rough. Then we had some bad news about a friend. Just one of those horrible weeks you know?

Work this afternoon...enjoying my job at the moment. Its busy and challenging with lots of responsibility. Sometimes i think im a little out my depth but my boss seems to think i can do it....hey, im a quick learner :)

Happy Mothers Day!

2010-03-14T08:43:00.002Z

March

2010-03-08T11:55:00.003Z

After my moan-about-the-snow post last time i thought i had better show just how beautiful it has been the last few days! Blue sky, sunny and cold - perfect days! Looking over to the isle of Arran in this picture
So March doesnt "blow" like my recent finish suggests. I dont like this March design but hey ho, its finished anyway

So whats been happening recently? I got my hair cut short into a bob (cant decide if i like it but its easier to get ready in the mornings, so thats good), i started my new job and im really enjoying it, it was my 29th birthday on the 1st, my friend came up from London for 4 days and Caleb has started saying lots of words (his favourite seems to be bubble). Life is busy but all is good :)

Snow, snow go away!

2010-02-25T11:07:00.002Z

Im really sick of snow. When will spring come? This much snow causes chaos here. Which is quite funny i suppose but annoying when you get stuck in your house all day and have to cancel your first hairdressers appointment in about 6 months aaaahhhhhhhh

New job - hurray!

2010-02-14T08:44:00.006Z

Happy Valentines Day! I got a bunch of lovely Roses and a box of chocolates which we ate last night whilst watching the olympics. There's something not right about stuuffing your face with chocolate whilst watching all these elite sportsmen/women in tip top condition LOL DH is most unhappy with the BBCs coverage of the Olypmics...mostly because they never show any ice-hockey games. As a Canadian he's not impressed at the British lack of interest in his beloved national sport!

Still loving this rotation. Here's my update on CDC (turn your head to the side, i just cant get blogger to post this horizontally). I really want to finish this this year! I have a big space on the wall in my lounge where it would look perfect all framed.

I got a new job! Wooo Hooo! It is such great news. In terms of funding it is no more secure than where i was but i am just so glad to be away. Its terrible to work for a charity where people (i.e. the boss) dont turn up for work, lie, manipulate, bully, make terrible financial decisions etc etc She was not happy when i gave my notice and to cut a long story short i just have to go in for a few hours on Wednesday to wrap up and then im done! Its a great feeling! I start my new job a week tomorrow. My new job is sounding great. The boss has been emailing me lots of stuff already, including a few training courses she wants me to go on. That looks promising!

February glows??

2010-02-03T11:21:00.005Z

My rotation is working a treat. I highly recommend it! I finished February. I put the snappers on the wrong way but now i'm thinking i prefer them like that and might leave them. Here's how my Bent Creek months are coming along so far.I dont think i would describe February as Glowing or March as Blowing but hey ho, it looks pretty anyway. Today, in the words of Barbara, i plan on getting Stitchers Butt LOL Bent Creek is back in the drawer and im moving on to work on Cirque.

An update

2010-01-30T11:16:00.004Z

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes for Caleb. He had a great birthday and a great party. 11 of his little friends turned up with their mummies and daddies. It was chaos! We have some great friends....both new ones and oldies :) On his actual birthday Matthew was off work and we took him to Funworld (a big soft play place that he loves) and had lunch. What a 1st year! A rollercoaster ride.

January has been a busy month what with birthdays and parties and groups starting again and going back to work part-time. Those that are regular readers will know all about my work woes and my horrible, corrupt, manipulative boss. Anyway, changes are ahead (thank goodness) and there may be light at the end of the tunnel in terms of a new job for me! Should know in the next few weeks. It looks like the place i currently work will be shut down and my boss will finally get whats coming to her. Shes got away with a lot in 4 years.

On the stitchy side of life im getting organised. I start so many projects and finish very few. I get bored quickly. After an email from Kathy ive decided to follow her lead and start a rotation. Ive picked 4 projects i'll work on. I'll stitch for 4 days on one and then rotate.

So im gonna work on LHN Fa La La (just cant get this picture to rotate)CCN's The Tea room

Bent Creeks monthly snappers (no wip picture as yet), good old Cirque des Circles which was at this stage last time i updated and finally a 4 day slot for ornaments/gifts. So watch this space to see how it goes!

It's a beautiful day here today. Im hoping to get out for a walk before we go to a birthday party this afternoon (my exercise new years resolution is still being upheld). Enjoy your weekend!

Happy 1st Birthday to my lovely boy!

2010-01-18T20:17:00.003Z

From this 7lb13oz little boy born at 12.01pm on 18th January 2009

To this one year on!

Happy 1st Birthday to our beautiful smiley gorgeous boy! Love you lots xxxx

Winner and Final Christmas stuff

2010-01-10T11:07:00.013Z

I asked my husband to pick a number between 1 and 27 and number 17 was his choice! Margaret that's you! You have won my blogiversary competition and i will send you a gift before my next blog birthday! If you could leave me a comment with your email address that'd be great. Thanks everyone else, was fun to find some new blogs too!

Now my third Christmas exchange was with Jill and this beautiful ornament arrived the day before Christmas. It really is stunning. Thanks Jill and for all the other goodies too.

I stitched this one for Jill. A Lizzie Kate freebie

Got a busy week ahead. Monday im working, Tuesday is mum and tots at my church and body combat in the evening, Wednesday im working, Thursday another mums and tots and then Caleb starts his swimming lessons in the afternoon and then Saturday is Caleb's first birthday party so ive got food and decorations to buy, cakes to bake etc etc Busy busy!

3 years of blogging

2010-01-07T14:41:00.004Z

I started blogging 3 years yesterday! Ive decided Im going to have a giveaway. Except this time i'll choose only one winner and i promise it wont take 2 years to stitch and send something like my 2008 blogiversary LOL

I was reading my Health and Fitness magazine last night and apparently, according to a 2009 CyberPsychology and Behavior study, blogging increases an individuals wellbeing. So there you go, as a thank-you to everyone who visits for "increasing my wellbeing" i will stitch a wee gift for one lucky person! Just leave a comment :)

New Year

2010-01-03T08:43:00.009Z

My new start for 2010. CCN's The Tea Room. I may have a billion other things on the go but you gotta have a new start for the new year, right?!

New Years Resolutions:

-Body Combat class once a week

-At least 20minutes walking or running or exercise bike every day

-Download and stick to Motivated Moms chore planner

-Eat more fruit and veg

-Floss daily

-Take vitamins daily

Christmas photo 2009

We had a great Christmas with Caleb. He was good fun. His main present was a smart trike and he loves getting pushed around in it. My brother-in-law dressed up as Santa which was funny. Caleb didnt really know what to make of him.

Even more excitment that his first Christmas was a white one. Cant remember our last white Christmas. It was lovely!

So the holidays are nearly over and i return to work 2 days a week starting on Tuesday :( Its going to be a turbulent few months at work with the upcoming merger, and my boss is getting vicious, so im not looking forward to it.

2009

2010-01-01T09:58:00.007Z

I am going to stitch an ornament for Caleb every Christmas. Here's what i stitched this year. A Prairie Schooler freebie that i first seen on Hazel's blog. I messed up the finishing a bit by not leaving myself enough fabric so it's a bit messy but i like it nevertheless.

I answered these questions last year and it was fun to read them back today so im doing it again....

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? Had a baby!

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year? I didnt make any last year. This year i am going to make some. Watch this space.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? I had Caleb, my niece Elaine was born in August, my friend Emily had Violet in June, Laura had Rebekah in June, Lesley had Benjamin in October

4. Did anyone close to you die? No

5. What countries did you visit? Does England count? Thats as far as we ventured!

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? Sleep, more me time, my fitness back!

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory? Without doubt the 18th January...Caleb's arrival day!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Enduring an awful labour to have my baby and surviving the first year of motherhood!

9. What was your biggest failure? Not coping well with the lack of sleep that comes with a new baby

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? A few minor illnesses nothing major

11. What was the best thing you bought? My new netbook maybe

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration? My DH's...patient, kind, a great father and amazing in those first few months when Caleb was born

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? My boss at work

14. Where did most of your money go? Baby stuff

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Seeing Take That in concert at Hampden

16. What song/album will always remind you of 2009? Take That's "The Circus."

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:happier or sadder? Happier

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Sleeping, definitely sleeping

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Worrying

20. How did you spend Christmas? Christmas morning opening pressies just the 3 of us. Down to my mums at 11am to open more pressies and have a great lunch with my sister and her husband there too.

21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with? DH, during the days when he's at work

22. Did you fall in love in 2009? Oh yes!

23. How many one night stands in this last year? None

24. What was your favourite TV programme(s)? Felicity, Ugly Betty, 90210, Eastenders

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Hate might be too strong but my boss' behaviour has shocked and appalled me.

26. What was the best book(s) you read? I read a lot but there isnt one that immediately stands out

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Take That, ny rediscovery LOL

28. What did you want and get? My very own laptop

29. What did you want and not get? An ipod

30. What were your favourite films of this year? I dont watch a lot of films actually so cant immediately think of any particular favourites

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 28 on my birthday and Caleb was only 6 weeks old so that time is all a blur to me!

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? More sleep

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? Lazy, comfy, PJs LOL

34. What kept you sane? DH, wonderful new friends, old friends, mums and tots groups

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? David Beckham, as always

36. What political issue stirred you the most? I havent been particularly stirred by much, general election in 2010 though that should be interesting!

37. Who did you miss? My bezzas (best friends) who are scattered over the UK now

38. Who was the best new person (people) you met? Caleb, my gorgeous son, Becky one of my new mummy friends

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009 Just how precious life is and how important it is to have faith in God.

I learnt a lot about myself this year...the things i can/cant handle, my strengths, my weaknesses.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year?

"Show me the way to go home, im tired and i wanna go to bed...."

Happy Christmas!

2009-12-24T09:12:00.002Z

Just want to wish everyone that reads my blogs a very Happy Christmas from our home to yours! Looks like we're going to have a white one, which is rare, it's cold and snowy!