May the 4th be with you #R2BC

Whoops good job Michelle posted and made me realise I'd lost track of the days! Can I blame getting injured running for effecting my brain? Anyhow better late than never and thanks to everyone who joined in last week. For anyone new to the linky we have a few relaxed instructions:
What do you have to do? Simple:

1. Link up a post about something that is making you happy or grateful. It can be a list, photos or any way you fancy

2. Add the #R2BC badge (at the end of this post) onto your post or blog so that people can easily find the linky and join in too if they want to

3. Share the love. This is the really important bit. Please don't just link and run, comment on at least a couple of posts and why not share with #R2BC too?

I'll stop by all linked up posts to comment and I'll share on social media too. Meanwhile here are my reasons to be cheerful for this week:

1) Lovely things
I've been supporting some small businesses and getting some lovely things in the post. First up Suzy's Crafty Creations who sent me an item I am gifting plus a personalised scallop shell for my bathroom. Secondly Eden Temptation Crafts who made me some masks including one to match my geekiness:

2) New board game

Whilst trying to ensure my son doesn't fall behind on school work and having fun I decided to try out Geogo! from Oaka Books. It tests out your map reading skills whilst being competitive too. My son beat me but only because I changed the rules so that you had to get one from each category:

3) Camping Out

We pitched our small tent so that we could have an at home camp out. The first night we gave in and went back to bed. The second night we had put in our camp beds and survived the whole night:

Reasons to be Cheerful: Week 7 - 2014

The lovely Jo at Ojo's world is hosting for February so please go and say hi! In this wild weather its hard to find things to be cheerful about but here goes:

1) Better health

My leg finally got better and I went running! OK not as fast or far as before but still a run:

2) Proud Mummy

My 7 year wrote his big sister several awards for commentating on the Olympics:

He nearly got the spelling right after the 3rd one!

3) Baby Smiles

Finding these 10 year photos of my now big girl really made me smile:

Why are you smiling?

Teeny tiny fingers

Glad so many of you loved the 3 generation hand shot from yesterday! Amazing what you can do on an iPhone with Camera+. To follow on I give you my daughter holding hands with my friend's gorgeous baby who isn't even a month old:

Again taken on the iPhone then tweaked in Camera+.

Flashback Friday: 5 years on

On this day 5 years ago I was trying to make myself comfortable in the Maternity Unit at the Conquest Hospital in Hastings. I was nearly 10 days overdue and was booked in to be induced in the morning. My previous pregnancy 3 years previously had resulted in an emergency C-section so the doctors didn't want a repeat.


The next morning I went to see the doctor to have everything kicked off but was told after an examination that it wasn't possible to induce me as the baby wasn't in a good position. So they were sending me home and booking me in for a C-section on the Monday morning. So I had another 2 days of feeling like a beached whale before I came back early on the Monday morning. 


I was 4th or 5th on the list of planned C-sections so had to wait until late in the morning for my turn in the operating theatre. It was all so much more relaxed than the emergency one I'd previously had. Things seemed to go pretty quickly and it wasn't long before the doctors were holding my baby and handing him to me. My little bundle of joy weighed in at dead on 10lb and was the largest baby for ages in the maternity unit (plenty of staff wanted a cuddle!).


He seemed totally unfazed by all the attention:

And about 2 hours after he was born he met one of his great grannies:

This Monday he is turning 5 and settling in to life as a school boy and tonight moved into a bedroom of his own instead of sharing with his big sister. Hard to imagine what he was like back in 2006 when I look at him now!

The Gallery: Mother Love

Tara has dedicated this week's Gallery to World Vision's Mother's Day campaign and challenged us to Mother Love for the theme. I looked at the photos I had with my kids and didn't like the way I looked so I've gone off on a tangent:

This mother sheep was lovingly protecting her lambs from the humans looking at them over the wall! An archetypical Cumbrian scene at the minute... 

Click on the camera logo to visit Tara's page and see the other entries...

Flashback Friday: Baby photos

My grandmother is celebrating her 94th birthday with the family this weekend so its a great excuse to dig out her earliest photograph from 1918:

A typical photograph of the era being very formal. I love her little boots and the way she is clutching her cuddly toy. She has changed a bit since then and has produced 3 sons and has 7 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren. Would be fabulous to create a family tree showing us all with baby photographs to compare our looks and clothes!

Happy birthday Granny M! I'd better get off and bake your birthday cakes now...