Christmas Shopping

At this time of year sometimes the demands of meeting all your children’s Christmas wishes can put a bit of a financial strain on you.

I want to encourage you to pop in to your local charity shops and see what’s available.

Feeling festive and cheerful I popped into town. It just so happened my local Salvation Army charity shop, Helensburgh was also having a special ‘Christmas Extravaganza ‘.

Staff were all dressed up in costumes and the shop looked fabulous.

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Santa was on hand to ask visiting children what they would like for Christmas, whilst also ensuring the festive tunes kept playing throughout the day.

Gifts for all occasions were available. Whether you were looking for a kilt or glamourous dress for a Christmas night out or beautiful stockings to hang on your mantelpiece for St Nicholas to fill on Christmas Eve the shop had so much to offer.

I spent under £10 and walked away with some fabulous gifts and trinkets. I purchased festive cooker cutters a snip at 99p and a fabulous table cloth to adorn our dining table on Christmas Day.

I shop in charity shops often as my budget does not allow to buy everything brand new and with six children it helps the purse strings.

My next mission is to declutter my house for Christmas. I’ll trawl through the kids toys and clothes as well as my own and see what we can donate locally.

This will enable the children to understand the lovely feeling of ‘giving’. Thinking of others before ourselves. Whether it be time, money or donations charity shops will welcome anything you have to offer.

I’d like to thank the Helensburgh branch of Salvation Army shop for being so co operative and posing for photos. Lovely bunch of guys x

Colour me Rad Edinburgh 2014

A while back I stumbled across a great wee 5k event. This wasn’t like anything I had heard of before. Everyone starts the race in white t-shirts. Then whilst moving through the race course volunteers throw large amounts of paint sent in your direction. Awesome!

I found a friend willing to take part, the same lovely lady who completed the road block run with me last year. Our sons are in the same class and we thought it was a great opportunity to get the kids involved in something for charity whilst keeping fit.

Sundays are normal a very slow paced day in our house, preparing for school the following day and enjoying each other’s company. But this Sunday my second eldest son and I were up dressed and out of the house for half past seven.

We could have got a train to the venue in Ingilston, Edinburgh but this would have proved more costly and the train link was a bit far away. My awesome compadre volunteered to drive us over.

From the side of the road we were able to catch a glimpse of huge tall colourful banners, and lots of people heading that way in the uniform white t- shirts. The two min members of our team were very excited. A registration fault on line had made us unable to pay.

After a length traffic jam we got parked and made our way to the field. I had never been here before but knew it was used for country fairs, live stock shows etc. As we walked in the field we could feel the squelch of mud underfoot.

Porta loos were a must after a lengthy drive, then to check our registration.A registration fault in line had made us unable to pay online. Settling on the day set us back an extra £14 – not what we had expected. Children aged 7 and under were free to enter with a paying adult.

Upon registration you received a race number, a snazzy fluorescent pair of mirrored glasses and a RAD tattoo. You were also given a t-shirt for participating. (I think it would have been better to get presented this upon finishing.)

As a wee team we joined the queue to start. There was a massive buzz of excitement surrounding us. Some entrants opting for a colourful tutu or full fancy dress. We travelled on the course steadily doing a walk/ run variation with the two boys. They were full of beans and could have sprinted through the whole course.

Approaching the first stop, where we would receive our first pelting of colour, pink clouds of smoke filled the air with shrieks of glee. My son was unsure at first but I showed him it was ok, nothing to worry about. It was like being on the receiving end of a powdered paint snow ball. Terrific!

The next stations were yellow, orange, green and purple. The green was a wet paint so no photos I am afraid. The boys realised if they asked nicely they were allowed their own hand fulls of paint to throw all over their Mums and each other.

It was so lovely seeing the boys running free and enjoying themselves….. until. We had a wee accident, my son tripped grazing his knee. But the wonderful first aiders were in hand to help him.

Overhead we saw aeroplanes taking off for tropical destinations and the sun shone down from start to finish.

We made it, crossed the finish line all in one piece, all multicoloured. We were presented with our own pack of colourful paint, which we of course threw all over each other. Entrants partied on down to upbeat music celebrating the day and their achievements.

It was nice to take part in something different with such an amazing atmosphere. There was a buzz of happiness and positivity surrounding everyone, just what you want whilst raising money for such a worthwhile cause – make a wish foundation.

Race for Life

Yesterday we got up at the crack of dawn to take part in the Glasgow based event, Glagow Green. I’ve taken part in this annual event every year, apart from one when I had terrible hips during pregnancy, since losing my Dad to Cancer in 2008.

My little girls nearly 18m and 8 years were tired little bunnies. All bleary eyed they dressed in their matching pink tu tu dresses ready for the days excitement. My wonderful Mum also joined us. We treat this day as a girls day out whilst generating money for charity.

Living in the West of Scotland we struggle with rainy days but we certainly were not going to let that spoil our day. This years events were brought forward due to the Commonwealth Games being based in the city during the Summer.

It’s just a short train journey to Glasgow from Helensburgh. We used this time to have a quick breakfast on the move and fill in our messages that you wear saying who you race for life for. The train carriages steadily filled up with people dressed in an array of pink, wigs, and fancy dress. Lots of people all doing their bit for charity.

After departing the train and making our way to the park in a sea of excited pinkness we arrived at the Green. Many had gone to a lot of trouble with costumes of all kinds, groups all co-ordinating with each other. I think my favourite this year was a bridal party. Full wedding dress and bridesmaids – just brilliant.

The event is really well organised by the brilliant volunteers and charity workers alike. It is hard to describe just how amazing the atmosphere of the day is. Many people all touched by cancer, survivors, loved ones all together gearing up to help create much needed money for cancer research. You are surrounded by people’s personal messages- many carrying pictures of their loved ones. It reminds you just how important your ‘taking part’ actually is.

As thousands of participants ebbed forward to the starting line bag pipes were playing and you felt extreme pride in what you are doing. I remember from previous years each km is marked by a piper. I loved this, exactly the uplifting encouragement you needed to carry on.

Whilst travelling through the central streets of Glasgow you see the most wonderful architecture and the odd tourist spot.

In no time at all we were heading towards the end of the celebratory 5km. Just before the finish there was a foam machine spurting foam- it would have been rude not to have joined in.

Crossing the finish line with my brilliant Mum and fantastic girls gave me an incredible feeling of pride. We were each given a token medal, a refreshing drink of water and a brioche roll. Nothing tasted so good.

We had a wee look around the stalls and then made our way for our celebratory lunch out. What a great day, can’t wait to do it all again next year.

Silent Sunday

RoadBlockRun2013

Yesterday I faced one of my most taxing hurdles ever. I signed up to take part in my nearest Roadblockrun after finding out that my husband was experiencing heart problems. I am by no means a runner and a particularly bad case of pelvis separation whilst carrying my 6th baby has left me unable to do most of the things others take for granted. I completed the Race for Life in June 2013, but that was just a 5k and this run was twice as long .

But in true Mammagc style I was not going to let that stop me. I was lucky enough to have a good friend of mine sign up with me,and for her support friendship and encouragement I shall be forever thankful. We would achieve this goal together. I had been upping my fitness using my dear bike Vlad and also following a diet plan to shed some unwanted baby weight. But the whole travelling long distances on foot always left me in a lot of pain and very sore for a few days after. 

I don’t drive so my daily routine itself involves a lot of walking taking children to nursery and school and various clubs throughout the week. I ditched our pram and have been wearing our 10 month old on my back whilst doing so. I also managed to sneak  in a few walks in the evening with my friend completing the run and my eldest son. In hindsight a lot more training should have been done. 

We both battled colds the weeks leading up to the race in typical Autumnal fashion. But pushing through the coughs and sneezes gave us a good opportunity to catch up and have a laugh whilst preparing.  Roadblockrun is a fun event, you can dress up if the notion takes you. I adore dressing up so us wearing costumes was a given. Costumes organised, and we were raring to go. 

It was a particularly early start, especially on a Sunday morning, to get us through to Edinburgh for the event. But wearing costumes and huge smiles on our faces we were ready to give this challenge our all. 

Neither of us were familiar with Edinburgh and after a wee bit of a detour, which acted as warm up, we jumped in a black cab to take us to the start. Our taxi driver was such a pleasant fella and he got us there super speedy time, even when having to deal with the many big people carriers scrambling for free parking spaces in the city centre.

After an initial sign up and a very basic warm up the hardcore runners set off first. Watching all these amazing people doing something for others was truly wonderful. The slower of the competitors were all set off in wee groups of ten. We got chatting to other runners and it was such a lovely atmosphere, helped along by the beautiful weather sun shining down on us. 

The race course itself was tricky mostly up hill and I did struggle at points. But my good friend and others around me were cheering me on. Along the course there were various obstacles for you to undertake ranging from hurdles, tunnels, mazes and the inflatable assault course which ended in a huge pool of foam. I was glad of the short wait at the inflatables to catch my breath and hydrate myself. Half way there Go us!!!

Climbing up the inflatables and messing around in the foam was exactly the relief that I needed from my wee world dealing with my poorly Husband. It was great to realize we were half way there and that the rest of the course was mostly downhill. Hooray!!

My little hips and pelvis at this point were beginning to hurt but I just kept thinking about how this time last year I could not walk and was using crutches to get around, reminding myself how far I had come. My partner and I were so proud to complete all the obstacles put in front of us. 

We  knew we were going to be the last to finish the race, as most of the other entrants were all miles ahead but we were glad we had completed the race in our own time and knew our limitations. The old saying ‘its the taking part that counts ‘ could not have rang more true. The sight of the 9k flag in my view was tremendous. Just one short km to go and we had achieved what we had set out to do. We could not be more proud.

As we approached the finish line the compare was cheering us on by our names and everyone was rooting for us. We crossed the line triumphant. There were professional photographers and we were busied into a mini photo shoot, the smiles depicting our whole sense of achievement. Can’t wait to see those snaps. 

As I mentioned I am not so familiar with the city of Edinburgh but i think today I fell a wee bit in love with a city in which I was able to reach my goal and achieve success. The beautiful architecture and cultural surroundings are astounding. After a well deserved pub lunch we made our long trip home. Edinburgh we will be back but next time to catch a musical or perhaps take in the tourist hot spots. Thanks everyone who sponsored us XX