{Find Three Good Things in Each Day, #2}

Here are my three positives for Day 2...

1. I put together my new pressure washer all by myself and I've started to clean my garden paving. The results are amazing! It's the Karcher K4 Home that I bought if you are interested.

2. My son had a play date with two boys that are going to be in his Primary 1 class (he starts school in a fortnight - eek!!). Everyone got on really well, including the mums. It's strange to think that these could be his friends for the next 13 years.

3. We tried a Tae Kwon Do class and my son loved it. It pleases me to see him enjoying sport :-)

Do you have any positive things to share from today?

{Find Three Good Things in Each Day, #1}

My cousin tagged me on Facebook for 'Five Days with Three Positives". I thought this tied in quite nicely with one of my recent posts on Happiness. People who are grateful tend to be happier and more fulfilled in life. Gratitude is known to be good for us, but we often take good things in our lives for granted. The key with this exercise is to consciously think about what you are grateful for each day, and the important part is to write them down (even in a notebook if you aren't keen on sharing on social media). This will allow you to look back on what you've written and you can remember how you felt and spot any recurring themes. The idea is that you will then start to appreciate the good things more as they happen :-)

So here are my three positives for Day 1...

1. I got the kids back today from their dad and they're with me now until Monday morning.

2. The pressure washer I ordered arrived today and my neighbour accepted the delivery for me so I don't need to traipse to a depot. Thanks also to Laura and Hannah for the gift vouchers.

3. There were leftover meringues from dessert the other night so I had a yummy treat with my cup of tea this evening!

What were your positive things today?

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{We're all going on a summer holiday...}

Last weekend the kids and I were in Aberdeen for our summer holiday...



Here are some of our photos:

Giggles with Great Gran

Meeting Me & My Munchie for coffee at the beach

Having fun at Hazlehead Park

Breakfast at Cup

With Auntie Ali

Apple tree in my dad & Jo's garden

BBQ in the rain

How Does Your Garden Grow?

You can find out what we got up to in Aberdeen during our Easter break here.

{Love The Little Things}

I've been meaning to join in with Morgana over at But Why Mummy Why? Love the Little Things linky for a while, so here goes...

Read

I've just finished reading Apple Tree Yard. It was really good and I read it in just a few days. Next on my list is Gone Girl.

Watch the vlog above to see the mysterious flying cat!! (His name is Pickle!)

Watched

I've just started watching Homeland on Netflix and I've been totally sucked in. It's brilliant! I totally recommend you watch this if you haven't seen it already. (I realise I'm slow on the uptake and I bet most of you will have already seen Homeland, but heh ho!)

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Wore

I've been loving my new polka dot jumper that I picked up at TK Maxx recently, and my necklace was a gift from R for our anniversary. Aww! :-) 

Heard

As part of Culture 2014 the kids and I went to see Yellow Valley at the Glasgow Tramway. It was a musical tale based on a book, and we all enjoyed the experience.

My favourite song at the moment is Jubel by Klingande, and it's playing in the background of my vlog above.

Made

We've not really made all that much this week other than a mess!

Anyway, we have still been enjoying salads using the home grown lettuce in the garden. Although we've had a security breach...

And Lastly...

A few photos from our summer holiday in Aberdeen.

{Review - Transformers Prime Orion Pax}

I'm being told these days by the eldest that CBeebies is "too baby-ish" and so when I was asked if we'd like to review the latest Transformers Prime DVD, I jumped at the chance.

"When Optimus Prime's memory is erased, the sinister Megatron manipulates him into joining the Decepticons. Jack and Arcee travel to Cybertron to find the legendary super-computer Vector Sigma, and the Autobots devise a risky plan to get their leader back."

Release date: 7th July

Certificate: PG

Running time: 154 minutes

My son has recently become interested in Transformers, so the timing of this review was perfect. I'm not convinced that he followed the story, but he was engrossed in the cartoon. The DVD was "awesome". Certain cartoons that we've watched he's been scared of (including the likes of Monsters University and Cinderella!), but he was fine with this series. Plus, this limited edition DVD came with a Transformers figure and trading cards, so he was delighted! It would make an ideal gift for a Transformers fan. 

Thank you Hasbro :-)

We received a complimentary copy of the DVD for the purpose of this review. Opinions as always are my own.

{Vlog Challenge - Week 4}

This week we went to see Yellow Valley by Starcatchers at the Glasgow Tramway (@GlasgowTramway) as part of the Culture 2014 programme.

After the show we grabbed a snack at the cafe and relaxed in The Hidden Gardens. It was a fantastic afternoon & we all thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Check out the vlog for more!

Yellow Valley at Glasgow Tramway

Yellow Valley

Wild flowers at The Hidden Gardens

My son and his girlfriend ;-)

The Hidden Gardens

Watch the vlog below to find out what this is all about!!

{Bring It On! Glasgow Games Opening Ceremony!!}

Tonight is the official start of Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. How very exciting!!!

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I know two of the cast members that will be on stage tonight for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony.

One of these girls is my gorgeous friend Lorna, and she was lovely enough to take some time out from her busy schedule to share a little on her experiences here with us. Lorna is already mummy to one beautiful little girl, and she has another baby on the way!! So it makes her involvement with the Opening Ceremony even more special!! Thank you Lorna and good luck for tonight!!

Girl's Night Out :-)

Here's her story:

"It's been an amazing experience being part of the cast of the Opening Ceremony. After months of auditions, rehearsals and military organisation the night is finally here! People from all walks of life are taking part - grannies, children and my 5 month old foetus! I'm nervous but not sure if it's butterflies or the baby kicking! There is a real sense of camaraderie and team support. I just hope I don't trip on stage during my routine. Although maybe Rod Stewart will come and help me!

Once the Ceremony is over, I'm looking forward to attending a few events including the 100m final! We were really lucky with tickets; my husband is also going to the wrestling, boxing and judo. Then on my 35th birthday we have tickets to the Closing Ceremony but this time I will be watching all the other performers take to the stage.

There's so much to do in Glasgow over the next couple of weeks, I'm delighted to still be on maternity leave. I plan to take my daughter to Glasgow Green and the Merchant City Festival. I suggest tourists check out the Festival 2014 programme and find themselves a good pub to get the craic with the Glasgow punters!"

With her daughter.

{One Day to Go!!! Glasgow Commonwealth Games}

It's just one day to go until the official start of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

How exciting!!!!

As I stepped out of my office this afternoon there was a buzz in the air as tourists milled about the city centre. Isn't it also great that the sun is shining!!! Long may it continue.

Last night I was delighted to attend the Dress Rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony. We've been asked to keep all the details secret to #SaveTheSurprise for the rest of the world, but I can tell you that the Opening Ceremony is certainly "uniquely Glaswegian and Scottish".

It's already been in the press that Rod Stewart is performing (he wasn't there last night though, there was a stand in miming in his place!). The other artists include Susan Boyle, violin virtuoso Nicola Benedetti, Glasgow singer/songwriter Amy MacDonald and Julie Fowlis who sang for the film Brave.

Celtic Park - the stage being set. 

At almost 100 metres long, 11 metres high and weighing 38 tonnes the LED screen is Europe's largest!

There are 2000 cast members that will be representing the host city and nation (I know two of them!) as they perform in front of an audience of 40,000 at Celtic Park and a potential television audience of over 1 billion viewers!!!

The partnership with Unicef will also be part of the Opening Ceremony in a global fundraising first which aims to positively impact the lives of children across the Commonwealth. During the ceremony, spectators, athletes and viewers will be invited to Put Children First by making a donation via text creating a powerful Games legacy for children.

The Unicef footage that was shown at the rehearsal last night nearly had me in tears. I felt extremely moved by it. Which made up for some of the more embarrassing parts of the ceremony that had me cringing. Lots of laughs too, don't get me wrong. I'm just not sure that the rest of the world are going to get the Glaswegian banter (and possibly even understand the accent). I had Steven, another blogger from #Team14 sat next to me, who travelled up from England to watch the rehearsal, and I don't think he fully appreciated all the jokes.

Anyway, the Opening Ceremony event will be broadcast live from 8pm on BBC One and you can tweet along using the hashtag #2014Ceremony.

I definitely suggest you tune in - I'd love to know what you think!

The cast at rehearsals

{Eating Out - Guy's Restaurant}

Tuesday marked the anniversary of my first date with R, and to celebrate we decided to head into town for dinner. I had booked a table for two at Guy's Restaurant in the Merchant City. I've only been to Guy's once before, over 5 years ago though, and R hadn't been before so we were both excited to check out the food on offer! 

From my previous visit I remembered that Guy's is renowned for its ravioli and this was evident in the specials menu that we were given upon arrival. There were four ravioli to choose from as either starter or main. However we decided to stick with the Pre-Theatre Menu, and at £13.95 for 2 courses or £16.95 for 3 it's fantastic value for money with a variety of options to choose from too.

I loved the decor in the restaurant. The comfy sofas at the entrance make it feel very relaxed and homely. As does the sideboard and mirror that features in the restaurant. The staff were also very friendly which all in all made for a lovely atmosphere. 

Starter - Smoked salmon terrine

Starter - macaroni cheese

Main - Glasgow Tapas - steak pie, haggis & neeps, mince & tatties and chips!

Dessert - fruit crumble & custard

Dessert - chocolate fudge cake

All the food was lovely. The Glasgow Tapas is such a novel idea & will be great for the tourists that are here for the Commonwealth Games to sample some local delights. My favourite was the haggis. The custard served with the dessert was also immense. Yum!! Definitely worth a visit.

{#Team14 Lawn Bowling}

Last week the #Team14 bloggers were invited along to Woodend Bowling Club for some coaching and a match. Eek... I hadn't bowled before and wasn't sure how I'd get on. 

I shouldn't have been worried... we were coached by local experts and very quickly I picked up the basics. I wasn't brilliant at it, but I definitely saw improvement over the hour or so we were there. The kids, R & I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Unfortunately we couldn't stay until the end because I had to get the kids home to their bed. My son was devastated to leave as he'd had such great fun. Proper tears as we made our way back to my car!

My dad used to be an avid lawn bowler and I remember going down South during the summer holidays once to watch him compete in a competition.  I should have paid more attention as I might have been better if I had!

Woodend Bowling Club have a juniors team and apparently their youngest member is just 4 years old. It's not something I'd have previously considered as a sport for my kids, and so this taster session has certainly opened my eyes to the types of activities that are available for pre-schoolers. 

The Commonwealth Bowls

So many pretty colours! Pink for me of course :-)

Perfect technique!! ;-)

Eldest taking his turn!!

Have a peek at this Team14 highlights post from Glasgow 2014 that details some of the other events that the Team14 bloggers have been attending :-)

{New House - Blackboard Wall}

So I have previously talked about my wish to create a blackboard wall in my kitchen, and I've finally gotten around to finishing it!

I'm really pleased with the end result. I was initially disappointed with it's lack of magnetism, but I've managed to get some round magnets from Sainsburys that seem to work. Thank you to Heather (H34TH3RM4C) over on Instagram for the tip!

This is the paint I used which I purchased at HomeBase

First coat done!

I ended up doing 4 coats in total, and I needed two tins of paint at £14.99 each

Mini artist at work!

This is me apparently!!

I invested in a liquid chalk pen and it's amazing!!! Has made a massive difference in comparison to basic chalk that the kids use.

Instructions for the grandparents for the kids dinner!

The magnets from Sainsburys

My liquid chalk pen that I got from eBay