Megan’s 8th Birthday

Yesterday my little girl turned 8, and she’s brought eight years of joy and delight to our lives.  She celebrated her birthday by having five of her friends round for a birthday party after school.

First, they decorated cupcakes:

Cupcake funCupcake decorating

Next they went on a treasure hunt around the house and garden:

Treasure Hunt Treasure huntTreasure Hunt

Then they each decorated their own T-shirt by creating their own transfers (fear not, I did the actual ironing!)…

Megan's t-shirtMegan’s t-shirt

And, after party tea, there was cake… Megan's 8th Birthday Cake Megan's princess cake Cake from behind Happy 8th Birthday Megan!!

Lots of love, Mummy xxx

Watching, calmer, and spending.

1) I arrived ten minutes early for my appointment this morning. I was seen immediately, looked after extremely well, everything was explained clearly, and the specialists could not have been kinder and more helpful 🙂 . The treatment itself wasn’t pleasant, but it was fascinating to watch the steroid injection actually going into my shoulder thanks to the ultrasound screen!

2) The kids spend most of the forenoon playing Monopoly. More than two and a half hours later, the game still isn’t finished and is abandoned in favour of lunch.  In the afternoon I send them outside to play on their bikes/scooters. They are much calmer when they return!

3) Spending some of my birthday money… 🙂

Birthday weekend

1) My son made waffles for brunch; my husband made a wonderful meal for dinner; my daughter made coffee and walnut cake for dessert. We climbed Cockleroy at sunset and watched as the sun set, the sky darken, and the lights come on across the length of the Forth Valley.

2) So many posts, texts, emails and cards. I feel very loved!

3) A walk – just for K and I, a visit to a local craft fayre, an explore of a less well-used path at Beecraigs Country Park, dinner with my parents and brother.

Shiny, company, and Monday night out.

1) Today has been a day of extremes… one moment the sky is shiny and bright, the next almost as black as night.  Then back to shiny and bright. But the sudden torrential downpours leave everything drenched, which then glisten in the sunlight and the contrast makes everything seem even brighter than before.

2) K works from home today, and the kids are at school.  It’s nice to have a lunchtime companion.

3) An unexpected evening out to look forward to – my friend is celebrating her 33.33333rd birthday 🙂 .

Birthday, patch, and WIP Wednesday

It’s good to be back online again, although I’ve really appreciated a couple of computer-free weeks.  We had a fab holiday camping on the Isle of Skye – it was one of the few dry places in the UK while we were there, so we felt very blessed!  We’ve all come home feeling much more relaxed and refreshed now 🙂 .

So on to today’s Three Beautiful Things, with a bit of today’s Works-in-Progress on the side!

1) It was my not-so-small boy’s 9th birthday last week, and today we celebrated by taking him and eight friends to the local ten-pin bowling alley. There were lots of laughs, and smiling faces, and much fun was had 🙂 .  

 
Aidan’s Draughts Board Birthday Cake, and Birthday Party Tea

2) To sew a butterfly patch on a favourite pair of trousers and make a small girl very happy!

3) Here’s my third beautiful thing of the day – I don’t think the fact she is wearing a half-knitted Big Sister Dress detracts from how cute she looks with her face painted!!

I made significant progress on this garment while we were on holiday last week, and it’s nearly long enough (it’s curled up at the bottom, so it is actually longer than it looks). It will be good to get this done – the yarn is lovely to work with, but the endless rows of knit stitches is getting a little boring!

For more of today’s Works-in-Progress, please check out Tami’s blog here

Party Time!

Megan had her birthday party on Saturday…

1) We had a wonderful company in to run Megan’s birthday party this year – wow, fourteen five or six year old girls in one room have never been so quiet, yet having a wonderful time… and we were able to relax, and watch them all have fun.

2) After many birthday parties, and throwing out silly amounts of uneaten food, this year I decided to try a new strategy. It worked really well 🙂

3) “It’s the best cake EVER, Mummy!!!” – it made it all worth while.

Update, surprise and compliment.

1) The kids aren’t feeling too well this morning, so I stay home with them while K goes to church. He sends me live texts throughout the service so I don’t feel quite so left out.

2) Everyone managed to keep the secret, and my Mum was completely surprised when lots of her friends showed up this evening to help us celebrate her birthday with prosecco and cake.

3) Mum’s friend called me over to tell me that M had just finished her explanation with “because my Mummy is so clever!”.

Why I started…

I was reminded last week, as I stood behind a person on the escalator, of why I started writing this 3BT blog in the first place. I was in a hurry, needed to get my shopping done and then get back in time for the school run, and was feeling really frustrated. Then I glanced up. And saw hundreds of tiny twinkling lights showering down several storeys. I don’t normally like seeing Christmas decorations up before December, but on Friday, they reminded me: there I was getting irritated by a small trivial thing. What 3BT allows me to do is to focus on the small (often trivial) things which cheer me and make me happy rather than stressed.

So Friday then: the reminder to look for the tiny beautiful things and allow myself to be made happy by them.

Saturday: the stunning 15 minute Firework display at Hopetoun House, timed to perfectly to match the music. I particularly loved the pink sweethearts in the sky.

Sunday: the afternoon was spent planting bulbs. I look forward to seeing the results in Spring 🙂 .

Monday: I was a little worried in advance of Parent’s Night at school. Turns out that we had no reason to be – the kids are both doing well 🙂 .

Tuesday: a long committee meeting in the evening was followed up by a yummy dinner with K a matter of minutes after I walked through the door 🙂 .

Wednesday: a day punctuated by many many lovely things – breakfast in bed, lunch with a friend, my phone beeping frequently throughout the day as someone leaves a Facebook post, or sends a text, K went in late and came home early, thoughtful cards, two lovely homemade cards from my children, some beautiful birthday presents, champagne with my parents, scrummy dinner and a delicious cake. All that on top of a beautiful blue skies and sunshine sort of a day!