91-366 happy chance

I've been searching on line for over a month for a pair of sandals. I knew I wanted something with a wee heel and not slip on, and definitely not gladiator. Not easy, I did however come across the hasbeens hmmm now that I read it it was actually January I started my sandal quest - obviously trying to will myself out of the winter gnarly feet season and into painted toes and braw feet.

anyways, today I popped into tk maxx sans bairns and found to my delight

I would have preferred yellow, but hey who am I kidding at upwards of £150 and I'd still have to have the quintessential black sandals anyways - and at £19.99 I was v happy!
No every ones cuppa, but ideal pour moi, also at 50 less than RRP I'm laughing.
Now to get my feet fit for public viewing, I may be some time .....

90-366 Peggy's happy birthday frock

The 'Annie' frock

Peggy was 3 today, she is such a wee smasher. We had a lovely day, train ride, swimming, picnic and train ride home. During our goodbye cuddle and kiss she said she need an Annie coat and scarf......not sure what she means, so I've said I'll watch it with her and I'll take costume notes (echoes of my previous incarnation as a stage manager). Hopefully I can post a pic of her in it.

The dress wasn't too bad to put together I used a bought pattern as the base and altered the waist sash, made a collar (the difficult bit, which I'm not that happy with - good learning experience tho).

My fave thing about it is that when Sadie saw this morning she said 'santa', too cute that girl.

89-366 diesel ten arrived - happy happy

Our latest edition arrived today - I have shamelessly been bribing my child all week to behave if he wants diesel ten, for those of you who are not in the Thomas loop, diesel 10 is a cross between a train and a digger because he has a grabber on his roof - so clearly he is the ultimate hybrid for our boy - who I may add has behaved well. Note Haha is as into trains as doodle, our next edition is gonna be Beautiful Belle....and Alfie the excavator - watch this space LOL  Those kids are so happy playing with trains that mummy gets peace - yai, we are all happy!

88-366 happy holiday hooking

1st granny square for the blanket

wool for all the granny squares

Not sure if I'll even use the square above, I made a number of mistakes - I'm sure after 50 I'll have mastered it, hell I better be able to do it in my sleep!

Thanks again to Hazel, she's a star xxx

87-366 "this is what happy looks like"

These lovely shoes arrived today!!! been wanting (obsessing over )them for ages, but too spenny. Thank happiness for Ebay, and how appropriate that the companies strap line is  "this is what happy looks like". Have a wee look here for more beauties, I want a pair in every colour, now what to wear tomorrow so I can wear my new shoes......

86-366 happy to be in bed

How beautiful this looks, however I fear I would feel a tad exposed and probably not get a wink of sleep. Hmmm probably not really designed for sleeping, which makes me think I am getting old when my 1st thought about bed is getting excited about a decent nights sleep.

I feel validated however in my sleep desires tonight, its been a tough day - my throat is killing me, work anxieties, Archie acting out at nursery and a sands meeting tonight. After all of this, I am happy to sink into my 'not so dreamy' bed,  it is perfect in its warm familiarities, a tata under the duvet, a kids book on the floor, Pug snoring next to me, the bairns sniffles from their rooms - away to cuddle in and chill out..........

85-366 happiness in the sunshine

Eating her picnic at the meadows, see that evil eye - well honed skills come from having a brother who nicks all her stuff

secret garden tactics came in useful today - you should see the state of those troosers!

still happily eating her picnic.

Auntie Momo suggested we got to the meadows today, great call. The kids loved it, so much for them to do, especially as the weather was glorious. Archie even made it into the water, troosers rolled up and in true Scottish male at the glimpse of sun behaviour, his shirt was off (for some reason its ok on wee boys, but come on grown men, is it really necessary to get them out at the first beam of sun?)

Sadie got a wee fright, we don't even know what from and spent the last hour clinging to me, poor love, not that I complained loving her cuddles.

I even managed to fit a wee run in, so lovely to run in sunshine and with no hood up.

Big thanks and hugs to Momo - she is our star x

Finished off the day at Grandmama's and Grandad's for tea and birthday cake - Grandma May was 90 last week, it was lovely to see her looking so beautiful and enjoying the mentalness of 3 wee ones and a tiny babe in arms.....mine Finally!!! Mabel is too beautiful, she fell asleep in my arms - swoon! Antony send us that photo, x

84-366 me and my girl, made for each other.....

There should be a lovely photo here, Pug took it yesterday on his phone and sent it to fb, where I was gonna copy it and put it up......late last night when I came to write it I couldn't find it on his fb, so it will have to be added later.

Safe to say, we looked cute - sitting on our kitchen floor, cuddling and having a stolen moment of happiness, the ones you remember for years after for no particular reason other than a moment of perfect bliss.

My darling girl, xxx

83-366 happy nosh

I had a lovely eve last night with my lovely ladies from knitting. We had our Xmas night out - late, but ever so worth it. We went to the waterfront it is the 3rd time I've eaten there and I can't recommend it enough. The menu is diverse but not too much choice, I quite like that I don't have to spend half an hour trailing through options - 6 quality main courses is enough.

I had a smoked haddock fishcake to start, with their homemade piccalilli. Pink duck breast for main - with a selection of veg. I would normally always go for a pudding, but decided on the cheese board - well worth it, its been ages since I had decent cheese so it was a real treat.

 To finish off the decadence, I had a violet sambuca, new to me - been so long since I have been out I am totally out of touch......not any longer, this stuff is lush! crushed parma violets mm mm

What a lovely way to spend an eve, so happy to have such lovely ladies in my life.

82-366 happy to have such generous friends

A few weeks ago I got a bag of wool from a friends mum. It was lovely colours but not the right weight for us, it was also really hard.

I took it to knitting club the next week and offered it to anyone who could use it. Hazel the wool junkie snapped it up, although she did say she'd have to try and sneak it past her husband as he might go mad about her ever increasing stash. 

The next week, wed night I walked into knitting and she asked if I wanted the wool back - I said no, why would I? Then she pulled a beautiful rippled blanket out of her bag and a lovely scarf. The blanket it my fave, Hazel knows about my love of ripple stitch and my plans for this year - my yearly plan is Hazel's monthly one, she is one fast hooker! 

The kids love the blankie, it is the perfect shade for our living room and goes beautifully with the orange curtains. I will post a photo soon.

Xx

Big thanks to both Hazel and Viv, 2 beautiful generous ladies, I'm blessed.

81-366 happy to see my wee beauty

That wee cheeky smile lights up my day - so lovely to see at the end of a working day. Nothing like the excitement of seeing mummy after a day apart. 

p.s. we were walking while waiting for Archie at Secret Garden, I asked my mum the time Sadie pipes up 'boobie time' - that's a girl who knows what she likes......

80-366 Sadie's morning happy chat

These 2 sweeties  hang on our wardrobe door - the one on the left I got for my 40th from my lovely pal Chris, I think of her as a female, think its the eyelashes. The birdie I bought for Sadie while I was pg with her.

As I get ready for work in the morning the kids destroy/play in our room. Last week I heard Haha chatting away and making kissey noises, I looked over and she is making the 2 chat and kiss one another, how adorable. It has become her wee morning play, this morning she was annoyed because the birdie wasn't in its place, after being shouted at I put birdie back - happy  Haha once more, morning kisses and chat recommenced.

79-366 Happy my husband is so awesome

Pug's is such a sweetie - I'm not one for PDA's however he is being so supportive right now. He is working so hard on his uni work and coming to the end of his theory section of the degree, I know he is tense and stressed - however he is being so great with myself and the kids. I love that every night he watches the wee ones while I go for a run, then he does the dishes and tidies up while I shower and get cosy ready for the eve. 

My mother's day card

I think I've mentioned already that we decided a while ago to stop buying cards for one another - they are expensive and I prefer that we have to actually put some thought into our cards rather than grabbing something from the shop. The message is Archie's quote for my day - he is still asking when his day is, i felt a fraud saying his bday as I knew he would say that I get a bday too - He might just get his own special day anyways. A son's day and a daughters day sounds like fun, we can let the kids choose what they want for the day.......maybe a summer holiday treat. X

78- 366 happy mothers day

 My mini palaeontologist, digging for dinosaur bones with daddy. We had an awesome time at Sensations museum in Dundee. Archie loved it, he had free reign to run and touch and see and explore and ask 'Why' what, Oh only 100 times.

 Grandmama's flower made with the kids foot prints - Momo got one too, I think they look pretty cute. I also made them lovely cards from button, but I forgot to take a photo and Grandmama got a wee handsewn babushka keyring.

 A poor attempt at a photo of us on mum's day - Dad or Momo will hopefully have better in their cameras.

Haha's latest frock, I'm well chuffed it is my 1st attempt at sewing with knit fabric - yikes, not easy hence the frilly sleeve and hem. I bought this fabric in San Francisco almost 3 years ago to make a dress for myself and clearly never bothered. Bonus Haha gets a frock that matches her new cardi from Grandmama. I adapted the Audrey dress, making short sleeves instead of the fancy gathered ones, i think it suits the knit fabric better.

What an awesome day, I woke up to treats and a beautiful card from the kids - new running trousers, which I tried out in my 1st ever early morning run - 3 1/2K followed by a costa cuppa. Then trip to Dundee and an eve sewing. Off to bed with my caramel peanut biscuit, knitting, tea and 'those who kill' on itv player - Bliss.

I am such a lucky mum, I know after losing Alfie just how special and precious my babies are - another gift from Alfie, thanks son.....always in my heart wee man, every day. I am so grateful that Alfie's death has been a positive impact  on my life, it could so easily have been a life filled with hate, pain and bitterness - I am thankful to all my family and  the babyloss mums who support me and help me to honor his memory in a happy way 
 XXXXX

77-366 happy baking madness

 These may look like homemade kids cookies - BUT I can assure they taste like homemade Adult cookies. They are a firm favourite, however they are so labour intensive and calorific they have to be a special treat. What better treat than for my lovely mum. They are peanut butter shortbread with salted caramel and peanut filling and chocolate and homemade peanut brittle to top it all off.  One at a time is the max anyone can manage........saving my own one for mum's day the morn. I also made a batch for Momo.
Must be in a baking mood after yesterday's chocolate cake and Ant's Peanut butter Blondie - better get my ass out running the morns night.

 The red pinny I made last sat, I had to make some adjustments, it was way too bog int eh back so I took a wee cheats pleat in it. Learning curve, just have to keep trying. I think Madam Haha looks pretty cute in it.

How teeny she is, walking down the path home.......not such a little girl anymore, just a teeny one.

76-366 happy birthday brother

It was my wee brothers birthday yesterday, he came with the wonderful Peggy and mini beauty Mabel and of course their lovely mum, for cake and coffee today. I made the cake above (mines didn't look as glamorous) it worked out pretty well, easy enough recipe and very tasty, if your a choc cake fan - it was heavy on the choc. I mentioned previously about my epic blanket year - so I have shown him his options, its going to have to be a joint pressie between him and Kirsty as they have a king size bed - lot of yarn and time.....hence the year long making.

the options are.......

granny squares

                                                                                OR

ripple.

75-366 the nursery run

I only have two more Nursery runs after today as I return to work full time after Easter. I thought I better capture the happiness while I could. Haha stayed with Grandmama and Peggy this afternoon so Archie and I got to walk home just the two of us, it is my favourite time of day, we can chat about what he did and plan what we are going to do when we get home. My wee man looks so grown up with his wee gruffalo bag - happy days son xxx

74-366 who could fail to be happy

when faced with this wee cheeky face. Every evening meal ends with a yogurt for Haha - she is doing so well now and trying to use a spoon, so this is a clean night. She has been known to squash the pot together and stick her face in the over spill at the top! At least she smells fruity my wee beauty xx

73-366 thank goodness for running

So so happy I have learnt to run - after a rubbish day I ran for 3 miles tonight, it was bliss!
Managed to empty my head, get fit, lose weight and feel on top of the world all in the space of 30 mins.

72-366 happy that on a bad day, they can make it good xxx

yes, we eat at our own table because our kitchen table is a train track

no time for breakfast when I can sit on the table and play, with my feet?

the beloved Rosie

71-366 not the best of days

Pugs grandma Marion died today........................Only happy thing I can think of is that he managed to get to see her before she became too ill. He was able to say 'goodbye and I love you' to her over the phone on friday night.
XXX to all the Williams who need them over the next few weeks and months
Bye bye Grandma Marion - Legend!

70-366 happy freestyle stitching

Tonight I made my very 1st self drafted pattern - how cool.

I have made haha a number of wee pinnies over the last year using various different patterns, this time I wanted to give it a bash myself. It is so basic and laughable really, but I like it.

It is a wee red cord lain pinny, buttons at back and a cute little heart pocket on the front. The hearts a bit wonky, but I love that the cord is running horizontal on the pocket, just a wee contrast.

I am planning her outfit for tomorrow - red white stripey tights and her wee red cons, will post a pic the morns night

69-366 happy pee pee

My wee sweetie did her 1st potty peepee today. I missed it, so Pugs recorded it for me. I was dozing upstairs and I could hear them all woo hoo.....then I heard her pottering around the house saying 'a peepees, me peepees'. So proud of her, I guess watching her brother is helping - lovely to see her so chuffed with herself.

68-366 Happy to have so many fantastic woman in my life

Thanks to all of them, the ones I see every day who I can't imagine life without, the ones I see weekly who are always there when I need them through laughter and tears. To the ones I don't see enough of - you are always in my thoughts.

I wouldn't say I was particularly feminist in my views, however since I started teaching and have had a small woman of my own I am becoming more aware of the inequalities in my immediate community.....maybe not so much in the work place (although my work is male dominated at the top) but in attitudes in general. I am considering doing Gender studies next year with my Higher kids, I genuinely thought it was a little dated and unnecessary - however sadly I think it is the opposite. I don't want Sadie or Archie to grow up in a world where little girls have scooters with makeup in them - what just in case she runs out of lippy whilst at the play park!!! Or where Archie is expected to be tough and not cry, I love that he is such a caring and kind wee man, certainly not traits I want to drum out of him.

Phew rant over, I just want to be happily thankful to all my amazing woman friends and family

Love youse xxxx

67-366 happiness is knitting for my boy

I know loads of non-knitters will think this is sad, but it is so lovely to me. I love making things for the kids, I enjoy knowing the love and care that has gone into a garment. This red blankie is extra special because it is the first thing Archie has asked me to make him. He saw me knitting this blanket for mabel and asked for a cosy blankie for himself.....red as you all know is his favourite colour so that too was his request. Tonight he told me he wnated his blankie to cosy down infront of the tv with a tata.....I love a cosy with my boy. He also told me tonight I was a beautiful queen! Luckily he has no concept of the 'gay queen' or I might have been insulted - although I do know some beautiful queens myself X

66-366 happy relief

I got to work on Monday am to discover I had my S2 reports due in on wed! I have been so focused on the verification process I forgot about the reports. I teach 3 classes so that is approx 90 reports!
I managed to get them finished by the end of work today, what a relief! They are so time consuming and as we have to do them all on line I had RSI in my clicky mouse finger from filling in the 9 drop down boxes per child, plus 2 different sections for free text - Yikes and bugger off to all the moaners who say teachers finish early every day and have long holidays!

I celebrated with a wee extra run tonight, I am becoming addicted, not something I ever thought I would say - in a million years LOL
Happy days, finished by starting my wee mans red blankie..... what braw as my lovely pal Susan says. x

65-366 all the wee ones together

I must sort out a new camera, my phone is guff.

Archie giving Mabel her 1st cuddle - he promptly 'chucked' her at Peggy once he'd had a shot! you can tell she feels relaxed and calm, not.

well caught by Peggy, I love how gentley she is holding her wee sisters head.

asleep in Uncle Pugs hand

The 3 older ones out back, note Archie in the corner digging with a full size shovel, happy days

That Haha loves dirt, last summer I spent every minute out the garden stopping her eating it, this she is diggin it....Hmm nice nails love.

It was lovely to see the wee ones with Mabel today, Sadie was a bit shy as loads of family were also in, but Archie was right in there - she is currently known as 'Peggy's new baby'.

Braw to see my cousins the day, been too long - we need a wee family do soon xx

64-366 friends and family happiness

We had a lovely day - starting with a quick visit to grandmama's, the bog cousins were staying over, so Archie decided to stay and play.....I was quite happy as this meant a trip to craigie farm to meet our wonderful pals Sam and Viv with their adorable baby Harris (see above) sans mental toddler......bliss to drink coffee and chat with only one small girl child to look after. Both wee ones were so well behaved, although both were sleepy. Sadie was adorable when she saw the wee man for the 1st time - wide eyes, so gentle stroking him....I could see the wee brain working 'a real live dolly'. I didn't get a wee cuddle, my cold is still yucky - Pug did lots of snuggling tho!

Meanwhile back at Grandmama and Granda's house the 3 boys had a blast, playing in the attic, the play house and generally being boys. As I left I listened to them upstairs....Archie to Jack (who is 14) 'do you like trains and diggers? I like red it is my favourite colour, do you like red?' Jack - 'Yes' - to everything!!! he's learnt quick, easier just to say yes.