Wish me luck...

Hello! Hope you've all had a lovely Friday. We've been out the whole day - Toddlers first thing, coffee at Michelle's, cuddles from baby Freya, lunch out with Mum and Molly, a spot of shopping and then pick ups from school and playgroup! Waiting for Paul to come home then I'm going for a nap...wouldn't usually but tonight a group of us are doing the 10k Twilight Walk in aid of Cancer Research. It starts at 10pm and will take a couple of hours so I think a little bit of sleep will go a long way!! Really looking forward to it and the girls I'm walking with are a great bunch so it should be a fun night.

On with the latest from us lot...the weather hasn't really been the best for cracking on with the back garden lately but last Sunday Mum came over and although it wasn't exactly warm, it was dry!! While Paul cut the grass, we tackled the front garden. I dread to think how many hours of my life I wasted last Summer, weeding the flower beds we had dug out so I had a plan for this year...

Dug the beds over and removed as much weeds as possible...

...covered over with impermeable membrane (at least I hope it is!!)

..cut it to fit neatly...

...eased the plants through...

...and spread the stones on top - easy!!

It was hard work but really satisfying. Here's some more photos of our day...

Mum and Harry with the Cherry Blossom tree before...

...and after!

Even the 2 ugly drain covers we are stuck with look a bit better now!

Thought the lilac in the corner was dying...then realised it was covered with fence paint that Paul had sprayed on the other side...!!

Ran out of stones so Paul was sent off to get more!!

Just realised I haven't taken a picture of it all finished cos it started raining but you get the idea. Another job ticked off the list...!!

Had a lovely dinner that night of beef stew followed by strawberry trifle...yum! We were laughing at the faces the kids were pulling as they enjoyed their dessert...

Ellie looking gorgeous - even with a mouthful of pudding!

Harry in trifle heaven...

Little Miss "I'm NOT wearing a bib anymore" was worth the bathing that night...!

Funniest of all though was James...crazy, cute boy.

Our friends Laura and Gordon had a baby girl a few months back and I finally got her present finished!! I knew what I wanted to make whenever she was born but it just took a wee bit of time to actually materialise...! Laura shares my love of shoes and I'm sure that baby Freya will follow in our high-heeled footsteps so here's what I made for her...

Filled it with gorgeous teeny shoes for her to wear. So happy that Laura loved it!

And finally, before I go for a much needed power-nap, a wee bit of bragging from this very proud Mummy... Ellie and her 4 of her classmates (plus Headmaster and Mums!) travelled down to Edinburgh on Monday to represent Aberdeenshire in this years Euro Quiz held in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament. The Euro Quiz is a Scotland wide event open to all Primary 6 pupils and the competition was fierce this year with 145 schools entering the contest. Ellie, Archie, Dan, Alice and reserve Kara were chosen from their class after sitting a test in school, won the local heat in our Town Hall then the Aberdeenshire Heat at Lochter at the end of March. They have been meeting up regularly for study sessions at the weekends and getting together at lunchtimes too and their dedication has made us even more proud of them. We were all so excited about the Edinburgh trip and, of course, I had the camera with me to document the day!!

Just arrived at Waverley Station - they were constantly chatting on the train but all went a bit quiet once we reached Edinburgh!

Outside the Parliament building - they thought the seats they're sitting on looked like teeth!

Ellie starting to look a bit unsure...?!?

First time I had visited Holyrood - such a beautiful and unusual building...

Could have taken SO many photos of the building alone but the schedule was tight and we had to say goodbye and good luck to the kids as they headed off inside. Us Mums (and Kara) took ourselves off across the road to Holyrood Palace for lunch...

Catriona and I enjoying a spot of tea

The waiter came and put this dinky tea timer on the table, ensuring us the perfect cuppa!! I need to get me one of these!!

After a quick visit to the palace shop it was time to get to our seats in the gallery! We were so nervous for them but when we sat down and saw them all waving up at us smiling, we relaxed...a bit!

We had quiz sheets to fill in as the questions were being asked...if it hadn't been for Kara sitting next to us we wouldn't have got half the answers - it was really difficult! It's a huge subject - they were asked such a wide range of questions and we were amazed to see them get straight in there with most of the answers. There were 4 rounds - individual, team, pairs then the 2 teams who scored the highest went to a head to head buzzer round - eek! At one point they were 4th on the leader board but eventually finished joint 8th with a score of 99 (the winners scored 107). Out of 32 teams there, that was a fantastic result. The whole school was watching back in Inverurie as it was broadcast live on the internet. You can view the event here. (You can even spot me and my fellow mums a few times!!)

The roof inside the Debating Chamber was the subject of much controversy when the Parliament building was being built...it's amazing though!

Do you think the cut outs in the wall are supposed to look like whisky bottles?!?

Here they all are afterwards

Loved the whole day and plan to go back to visit the Parliament building again. It's so perfectly situated...right in the heart of Edinburgh...

...opposite Holyrood Palace...

...at the bottom of the Royal Mile...

...overlooked by Arthur's Seat. Beautiful.

We had time for a trolley dash around M&S at the station for supplies for the journey and before we knew it we were back on the train headed for home...

(Almost) the whole gang

Ellie and Alice relaxing after a long day!

Me and my girl

The team mascot - Angus IMP

So there you go...my week and a bit(ish). Off to get ready for tonight, have a great weekend whatever you're doing. We've got a busy one with lots on for everyone...see you next week!! xx