Stressy Mummy

366 Project - Week 9

2012-03-03T20:56:00.002Z

The week got to an amazing start as the weather on Sunday was so beautiful and we had a fantastic time out at a local park as it was like a summer's day.

You may well be thinking that this is a strange photo to take and perhaps even a stranger thing to be doing at a park. The boy's school do a 'Get caught reading' project around World Book Day, where you have to take photos of the children reading in 'unusual' places. This was one of our entries for this year!

My lovely R is very rarely poorly and on Monday evening, he came home from school and got straight into his pyjamas and didn't go to football. He is fine now and bouncing around, so I think it was just a virus.

Tuesday saw R at home as he was off-colour and when he had a bath, A couldn't resist getting in with him as she loves him so much.

Wednesday, on the way to taking the boys to Beavers, I saw my first blossom and I couldn't resist taking a photo as I love blossom and the fact that it heralds the onset of Spring.

Thursday and I love this photo of A having her breakfast. I love that look she is giving me as if to say 'really, mummy another photo?'

Friday is my efforts (or lack of them) for World Book Day. Oliver Moon, Darth Vader and Winnie the Witch!

Saturday saw us in Wales and I love this photo of A. She has just fallen off a little slide, which luckily she found very amusing! This is definitely my favourite of the week.

Come back next week and have a look at what we've been up to and if you want to see some more 366 projects, pop over to see The Boy and Me's linky for lots more inspiring photos.

Saturday is Caption Day

2012-03-03T07:14:00.000Z

What do you make of this little picture? Go on, give me a caption .... and when your done pop on over to Mammasaurus to see some more!

Silent Sunday

2012-03-01T21:42:00.000Z

Fiction Fridays

2012-03-01T21:36:00.001Z

"There was once a duck

who had the bad luck to live with a lazy old farmer.

The duck did the work.

The farmer stayed

all day in bed."

This is another classic book in our house. My eldest son loved this simple story of the poor over-worked duck and the lazy old farmer. The ending is fab and it really appeals to younger children. It is a book that has been passed down and I am now starting to read it to A who is two. A great book.

Want to know more about Fiction Fridays or link up, click on the badge and have a look:

#I spy: I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ... V

2012-02-29T20:30:00.000Z

Thank you to the fabulous Mum of One for this interesting meme. Pop over and have a look at what she has spied...

Hooray for the sun!

2012-02-28T21:54:00.000Z

This weekend was such a lovely treat. After the cold and wet weather of recent weeks, my children were starting to go a bit stir crazy. I have the sort of children who don't like sitting down or being stuck in. They want to be out; running, wrestling, playing, kicking a football or rugby ball, jumping on a trampoline, rolling down hills, in fact pretty much anything as long as they are moving and outside.

Sunday morning was beautiful and warm, so we packed drinks and snacks and headed off to a local park. If any of you have ever visited Broadway, a pretty little village on the edge of the Cotswold's in Worcestershire, the village itself is gorgeous, but there is an amazing park tucked away off the main street. The park itself was refurbished a couple of years ago and it is fabulous. Not only are there lots of fab areas for the children to play, there are fields and areas to play football or have a picnic, a basketball court and even fitness equipment suitable for the big kids or the adults. It is about a ten minute drive for us and we go over there whenever we can.

The amazing view from the park

The children had the most amazing time running and climbing. There is a brilliant climbing frame which they always make a beeline for when we arrive.

The climbing frame

Although it is rather high and I do have to keep nagging them to be careful, when they are right at the top.

It's very high up there!

We had to take some unusual photos while we were there as the boy's school do a 'Get caught reading' campaign around World Book Day, where we have to take photos of the children reading in unusual places. We thought that this morning would give us such an opportunity and this is what we came up with.

He had a bit of a bump at the end!

After some serious reading shots, it was back to fun with the strangest and bounciest seesaw we have ever been on and some very high monkey bars.

So what about little miss stroppy pants. My two year old daughter is going through the terrible two's at the moment and the last week has been interesting to say the least. She enjoyed herself at the park, but there were a few tantrums along the way ...

We are going through a rather argumentative phase currently and so every five minutes or so, A would have a huge tantrum about the thing she had stopped playing on, even though she had chosen to stop, but I think she enjoyed herself.

The boys escaped with daddy and their dad to the field for a good old game of footy and a general roll around in the mud.

All rounded off with some juice and home made cookies. A good morning and we all felt better for having had some fresh air and sunshine. Bring on the Spring!

I am linking this post to Coombe Mill's Country Kids Link up. Let's get our children outside.

The Gallery - Friends

2012-02-28T21:39:00.000Z

"Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together"
- Woodrow Wilson

The theme for this week's The Gallery is 'Friends'. I have some fabulous friends who I love very much, but my very best friend?

My lovely husband! He is absolutely my best friend. Ever since we first met, we are so similar in some ways it is ridiculous. We think the same things and often say the same things at the same time. I can talk to him about anything and I would be lost without him. (Shhh! Don't tell him!)

This post was written in response to a prompt for The Gallery on Tara Cain's brilliant blog Sticky Fingers if you want to see more pop on over and have a look.

Telly Addicts - 50's Style

2012-02-28T21:07:00.000Z

This post has been provided by the legend that is Mammasaurus as part of the Multi-Coloured Blog Swap carnival.

Telly Addicts – 50’s styleReady made meals, whack 'em in the microwave and hey presto, pop your feet up, whack on the tv and nom away whilst the kids are engrossed in The Octonauts.Wrong?Not if the 1950's were anything to go by....

This post is part of the Multi-Coloured Blog Swap Carnival, which is the very clever idea of the very lovely Troubled Doubled. Why not go and have a look to see who else took part.

Beware the false economies

2012-02-27T21:36:00.000Z

Sometimes, ever so occasionally, I think that a university education was wasted on me. I can't blame things on 'baby brain' any more. Maybe it is having children? Sleep deprivation? Whatever it is, I wish it would stop as I seem to be making some poor judgements lately, particularly when it comes to shopping and spending money.

Currently, we are trying not to spend money. That is the big plan, to try and spend less, save more, pay off debts and boring things like that. I do try, honestly I do, but sometimes things conspire against me.

Take this week at the supermarket as a good case in point. My father in law gave me a five pound money off coupon to spend in a well-known supermarket this week. 'Great', I thought, it's coming up to the end of the month, that will come in really handy. In order to redeem the coupon, you had to spend forty pounds. So, even though I didn't want to spend that much, I put a few extra things in the trolley and ended up spending well over fifty pounds. I got to the checkout to discover that the coupon wasn't valid yet. Great.

Two days later, hubby was down with man flu, so I went to the same supermarket to pick up some medicine for him and a few other bits. Suddenly, I remember that I have this five pound coupon burning a hole in my purse, so I start putting a few more extras in the trolley. Again. This time the coupon is valid, but I still managed to spend thirty six pounds. So there you have it, over the course of three days I spent ninety pounds as opposed to the probable twenty that I would have spent, just so as I could save pounds! That's a whopping great saving of minus seventy pounds.

I can see that you are impressed. And so you should be, but not with me as I am a prize numpty, but with the marketing genius that lies behind such offers as these. These days food shopping is so expensive, that when we get money off coupons, we rush off to spend them and in the end spend even more.

The same sort of thing happened a few days before with the money off petrol coupon. Again, there is a limit you have to reach before you qualify for the coupon. I did some shopping and I was about three pounds off the limit. The cashier jumped up and down excitedly on her chair and exclaimed that I should buy something else to get my coupon. For that moment, I lost all sense of reason and heady with excitement grabbed the first thing I could find and felt triumphant when the till printed out my little ticket. Only to have my bubble well and truly burst when I realised that I only saved four pounds at the petrol pump anyway, so it hadn't really been worth buying something I didn't need after all.

Supermarkets are very clever. A lot cleverer than me, that's for sure.

366 Project - Week 8

2012-02-25T21:53:00.000Z

Back to work and school this week after our lovely half term break. It's amazing that after a few days, it feels as though you've never been away! So onto week eight...

Sunday was a day of getting ready for Monday. Homework, shoe polishing, ironing and general jobs around the house. After lunch, the children were fed up and so I made a cake. I have never seen cake disappear so quickly and it certainly cheered them up.

Monday morning saw three very unenthusiastic children who really didn't want to get up and certainly didn't want to go to school. I had to take a photo of this though; early morning snuggles. A adore her big brothers and R is really patient and good with her, they looked so sweet sat here like this.

Tuesday was a crazy day and I don't felt like I stopped. For the very first time since I started this project, I sat down after the children were asleep and realised with horror that I hadn't taken a photo. So this is L in bed. I went up to check on him as he really struggles with the concept of sleeping and there he is, hanging out of his duvet and looking cute, so I got my photo after all.

This week has been a bit crazy and busy, not for any particular reason. I think it is just getting back into a routine after the week off, but we've all been a bit tired and a bit grouchy (especially mummy!). As a result, Wednesday is another 'OMG I've forgotten to take a photo', photo. I was sat in the dark in A's bedroom, waiting for her to settle down and go to sleep. She kept popping back up and saying; "I'm not tired!" So I took a photo of her which made us both laugh.

I was really annoyed with myself today as it was ridiculously warm and sunny outside and I forgot to take my phone out with me, so here I am again at bedtime. Maybe I should rewrite this post and pretend that I knowingly planned a themed week of bedtime shots, rather than the Mrs forgetful that i really am. This is R, my little book worm. Like me, he loves reading. I am really proud of him as he will sit for ages reading and is now a brilliant reader and can read books like Harry Potter to himself. Here he is reading his school reading book.

Yay, I was determined not to have another end of the day shot and on the way back from the morning school run, I was struck by how amazing the sky was. So I stopped the car and this was the result. I actually think that this is my favourite photo from this week as it's so atmospheric.

Saturday brought with it an unusually warm and sunny day and the children were thrilled to be able to visit the park, whihc we haven't done for a few weeks. They had a great time and then spent most of the rest of the day in the garden. Freedom!

Come back next week and have a look at what we've been up to and if you want to see some more 366 projects, pop over to see The Boy and Me's linky for lots more inspiring photos.

Saturday is Caption Day!

2012-02-24T21:32:00.001Z

SO, leave me a comment to make me chuckle and head over to the legendary Mammasaurus for more fun and #satcap frolics

Fiction Fridays

2012-02-23T22:25:00.002Z

" Samantha liked to sit and dream

Of doughnuts filled with chocolate cream

Giant burgers, piles of chips

Thick milk-shakes and strawberry whips"

This week's book is an oldie but a goodie. This belonged to my now sixteen year old son, who loved it has been loved by his younger siblings too. Through rhyme it tells the story of Sam's wicked plan to get revenge on his greedy older sister, by putting some rather unpleasant things into her sandwich.

As you open each page, there is a rhyme to go with that particular element of the sandwich and then the pages fold over slightly so you have to open them out to find the 'unpleasant addition'. It is a pleasure to read and little ones love it, so I would definitely recommend it.

Want to know more about Fiction Fridays or link up, click on the badge and have a look:

Kopi Subscription Coffee - Review

2012-02-23T22:10:00.000Z

I love coffee! I have to admit that I try not to drink too much, but I certainly can't go through a day without at least one cup. My favourite coffee has to be reasonably strong with a lovely, rich smell. So when I had the chance to do a review of Kopi coffee, I jumped at the chance.

The concept of Kopi coffee is new to me;

"Gourmet coffee every month. Delivered."

You pay a monthly subscription and in return Kopi send you a different hand-picked gourmet coffee chosen by their experts from around the world. The freshly roasted coffee arrives in a 250g resealable pouch and you can choose from whole beans or pre-ground. With your coffee you also receive an information booklet with highlights of the month’s coffee, background and provenance about where it is from, aroma and tasting notes and also a brewing guide and tips.

If you decide to subscribe, there are three options. Monthly at £9 which can be cancelled at any time, six monthly where you pay £48 upfront which works out as £8 per month or you can opt for an annual fee of £84, again to be paid upfront which reduces the monthly subscription to £7.

The coffee that I received was Malawi Geisha AB Msese District.

"A rare and exemplary East African coffee with a sweet lemony liveliness."

As I opened the pouch, the smell of the coffee was amazing and as it was brewing, the kitchen was filled with a heady and rich aroma. The coffee itself was gorgeous, with a definite fruity, citric flavour. I am still a bit of a novice when it comes to coffee, but it certainly gave me a taste for more than my normal cup of instant coffee.

If you are a coffee lover, the web-site http://www.kopi.co.uk/ is well worth a look as it gives you all the information you need about the subscriptions and additional information about the coffee varieties they provide. Maybe if you know a discerning coffee lover, this subscription would make a lovely and unusual gift?

I was sent the 250g January blend coffee for the purposes of the review. All opinions expressed in the review are entirely my own.

Survival

2012-02-23T13:49:00.001Z

In my life, there have been no major catastrophes, no major illnesses and no natural disasters, so am I a survivor? I think I am. I went through a period of hell, a time during which I wasn't sure if I would come back from. So yes, I survived and that makes me a survivor.

I have talked a little about my first relationship with my eldest son's father. I was home from my second year at university. I joined the local rowing club and amidst all the men in lycra, I was rather taken with one man in particular. It turned out that he was rather taken with me too. The heady summer and the prospect of my leaving for a year's placement in France, made it a very intense affair and by September, we were madly in love and I was really reluctant to leave.

I did leave and we had a very passionate reunion at Christmas time. Three months later, I found out that I was pregnant. That was a bit of a shock, not only to us, but to our families. Despite being practising Catholics, his family wanted us to have an abortion, but that wasn't an option as far as we were concerned. The timing wasn't great, I had another year and a half to go at university and he was due to finish in the summer, but with no job and nowhere to live, it was going to be a challenge. He got a job, we found a little house and everyone rallied round to help is with furniture and baby things. The following October O was born. An amazing little bundle with a shock of dark fluffy hair.

He was amazing and we settled into a routine but when he was born something changed. O's dad fell completely in love with him and completely out of love with me. It was like the boys and me on the outside. I always used to comment on the terrible way O's dad used to talk to his mother, with general irritation and at times utter contempt and I remember saying to him that I wouldn't be happy if that was the way he spoke to me. Guess what? That is exactly what happened. It was as though I annoyed him constantly. When I talked to him, he didn't listen. It was like living with a different man. I couldn't drive at the time and as I was at home with the baby, I felt completely dependent on him.

It was a difficult time and I felt utterly helpless and in despair. He would put me down a lot and my self esteem and confidence were at rock bottom. Somewhere in amongst this, I realised that if I was going to survive, I had to go back and finish my degree. I did and it was a really tough year, going up to Manchester for three days a week and leaving my baby behind. I was also working at weekends and this seemed to be putting even more distance between me and them. I did a teacher training course, got a job and learnt to drive and then things started to slowly improve. A lovely group of friends helped me on the road to finding some self confidence and not long after that I left O's dad to make a life on my own. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done. O's dad wanted to stay together for the sake of O, but I knew that if I stayed I would never be happy, in fact none of us would be happy.

We shared custody of O and I really enjoyed having my little boy to myself, to be able to do things the way I wanted without his father talking down to me and telling me I should be doing things differently. I actually felt for the first time that I had a relationship with O and although it was a difficult time for O having to deal with his parents splitting up, I felt liberated.

Then I met my husband and he is the most amazing man. He loves me for the person that I am, faults and all and he has worked really hard to rebuild my self-esteem. Twelve years and three children later, I am very lucky and happy and I look back at those years with sadness and relief that I made the difficult decision to leave.

Some people are survivors from much worse situations than this, but many of us are survivors in our own way, surviving from the curve balls that life throw at us from time to time. It definitely makes us stronger and more determined.

I have written this post in support of Clic Sargent's Yummy Mummy Week to raise awareness and support children and young people with cancer. It is an amazing cause and if you wnat to find out more have a look at the website http://www.yummymummy.org.uk/ or if you want to help raise awareness by joining in with the writing prompts go over to Typecast and have a look at the many inspirational stories.

#I spy: I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ... P

2012-02-21T22:24:00.001Z

Thank you to the fabulous Mum of One for this interesting meme. Pop over and have a look at what she has spied...

The Gallery - Landscapes

2012-02-21T22:03:00.001Z

It was with great trepidation that I opened this weeks The Gallery prompt from the lovely Tara Cain and phew what a relief it was. I am still relatively new to The Gallery but already I am completely addicted. Last week was hilarious and although I posted quite possibly one of THE most embarrassing photos of me in existence, looking around at the other photos was both a relief and entertaining.

So this week's theme is Landscapes. A photo of a landscape that inspires me. Living on the edge of the Cotswold's, over time, I have really come to appreciate the loveliness around me. We live on the edge of a small town and my children go to a village school at the bottom of a hill. Just driving to school, these are the views we have.

Growing up around here as a child and especially as a teenager, I grew frustrated and resentful and always planned to move away, preferably to somewhere more lively. Then I went to university in Manchester, which I adored, but it made me appreciate coming home. Events conspired that this would be home and here I've stayed, but it is a lovely place to bring up children.

The one disadvantage of living in the Midlands is the distance to the sea. I love the sea and so I have to include a second landscape that inspires me.

Aberavon beach

South Wales has become my 'adoptive' second home. My husband is Welsh and so we frequently pop down to catch up with family and the lovely thing about that is the coast. We do go to the Gower, which is breath taking, but more often than not we go to Aberavon beach, a small beach that is about fifteen minutes from my in-law's house.

This post was written in response to a prompt for The Gallery on Tara Cain's brilliant blog Sticky Fingers if you want to see more pop on over and have a look.

The annoying thing about men ...

2012-02-20T22:03:00.001Z

It is a truth universally acknowledged that men really can be a complete pain in the arse. I am not trying to be deliberately offensive or sexist, it is simply an observation of mine that is based on my husband and the opinions are also shared by other people I have discussed this matter with.

Firstly, there is Man Flu. My goodness I hope that I never get Man Flu. It's really bad. Take a bad dose of regular flu and treble it. When I'm ill, I do moan a bit, I accept that. More often than not, I take a dose of something that might help and I sit quietly with a cup of tea and try and get on with things. I have every now and then taken to my bed but that is rare and I have to be feeling really ill for that to be the case.

Man Flu is different though in my experience. Man Flu, it's symptoms and effects have to be shared with everyone. A sufferer of Man Flu likes to remain with the rest of the family and hold himself in a strange position, moaning and coughing dramatically. This way, the sufferer really maximises the irritation caused and spreads his germs at the same time.

Take this evening for example. My husband came home from work. Admittedly, he has had a cold and he looked rough. He doesn't take his coat off he comes and kneels down on all fours in the middle of the living room. Great idea, the already over-excited children think this is a great game and start jumping all over him. Then we have much dramatic groaning and moaning and he drags himself to the sofa where he lies, still with his coat on. I tell him to go to bed, but, being the martyr that he is , no he has to remain there being dramatically ill for all to see and hear. Lovely.

He also hates taking medication. Me, the first sign of anything that remotely hurts or feels not quite right, and I am in the medicine cupboard before you can say paracetamol. I'm not a hypochondriac but I don't like pain or illness. The husband on the other hand has to be on death's door before he will even consider taking anything and even then moans about it.

Then there is housework. Now, I have to admit, that I am very lucky as my husband is great when it comes to domestic chores of any kind. He does his share and sometimes more and does not object to housework or ironing if needed. I have friends who are rather jealous of this trait, so I am not moaning about that. What does bug me is the need to make a big song and dance about having done it. I do domestic chores on a daily basis, but I do not bombard him when he comes through the door after work with a list of everything that I've done. Why would I? Maybe he thinks there is some sort of housework fairy that does it. Maybe he just doesn't notice. Whenever he does a few jobs, I'm left feeling like I should award him with a medal for services to the house.

I have to say that I do love my husband very much, he is an amazing man most of the time, a brilliant father and I am very lucky to have him, but every now and then, he does drive me a little bit crazy and anyway we are entitled to a bit of a moan aren't we?

Guide to young people’s car insurance

2012-02-20T21:29:00.001Z

Having a son who will turn seventeen this year, the thought of having a child driving an actual car, frightens the life out of me, so this guest post courtesy of Sainsbury Finance was certainly well-timed for me.

Passing a driving test is an important milestone in a young person’s life. But there’s another hurdle that young drivers have to overcome – car insurance. Car insurance quotes for young people are significantly higher than that of older age groups because young drivers are seen as a much higher risk by insurers. It may seem unfair – until you look at the statistics.

According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), those in the 17-20 age group of motorists are twice as likely to make an insurance claim than older drivers. What’s more, the average cost of their claims is three times higher.

However, despite the high price of their premiums, there are several steps young drivers can take to bring down the cost. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

Don’t drive a fancy car

A modified sports car may seem like the dream choice for many young drivers. But in most cases it should remain a dream because cars with powerful engines and modifications will also carry high car insurance premiums. Choosing a car in a low insurance group can get you far more affordable deals.

Drive safely

Young drivers can prove that they are a lower risk to insurers by maintaining an accident-free driving record. Insurers will recognise careful motoring by awarding a no claim discount, which you can build up over time. And keeping your licence clean will help guard against premium hikes.Taking an advanced driving course like Pass Plus could also help reduce premiums. It gives more experience to new drivers on a wide range of driving conditions.

Add an experienced driver

Older friends or family members can be added as a ‘named driver’ to the young driver’s policy. Doing this will show the insurer that the car is also driven by a more experienced driver, thus enhancing its safety record and possibly lowering the premium.

Beware of ‘fronting’

‘Fronting’ is a kind of insurance fraud where a parent or older person claims they are the main driver of a vehicle, even though a young person is actually the main user. The young person is only added as a ‘named driver’. Commit this fraud and the policy can be declared invalid and the customer will have to bear the costs arising from any claim. It can also lead to a criminal conviction and make it harder to get future car insurance.

Don’t be tempted to ignore car insurance

Many young people don’t realise the importance of car insurance. In fact, 20% of 17-20-year-olds drive uninsured cars, according to the ABI.

Driving or keeping an uninsured car is a criminal offence. A resulting conviction can result in up to eight penalty points on your licence, a maximum fine of £5,000 and a possible driving ban.

If you cause a collision while driving uninsured, you will be legally liable for the damage and injuries you cause. A conviction will also make it much more difficult to get car insurance in the future, and you’ll pay more for it if you do manage to get any.

Make sure that you and your family have the right car insurance for your needs.

This week baby I promise...

2012-02-19T22:05:00.001Z

We had a lovely week as a family this week, we went to Wales and spent most of the week with Granny and Grandpa. A had a great week as she loves it there and is very much at home. The weather was chilly but it didn't stop us going to the beach a couple of times and as you can see from the photo, it was 'bracing'.

This week baby I promise ... that cooking is on the agenda! A has become fascinated with food and cooking and is constantly at my feet when I'm cooking and asking to help and stir. So this week, we will do some 'I can cook' inspired cooking and make some yummmy things! It could get messy...

If you want to find out more about this lovely meme pop on over to the lovely Mum of One and have a look!

Half term on a budget

2012-02-19T21:56:00.001Z

School holidays can be quite expensive time of that there is no doubt. Children seem to need to be entertained and they like to go out and do things with little thought for the coats involved.

I am very lucky, although I am a SAHM, my husband is a teacher so there is an extra pair of hands around to help out with (and make lots of mess with) the children which definitely helps. I have several friends for whom the school holidays are strain as they are faces with long days to entertain multiple children.

In the past when we had more money, we probably were more extravagant in the holidays; paying to go here and paying for other things along the way. The sad fact of the matter is that we don't have that excess of money anymore and let's face it a family amount of ice creams can set you back the best part of ten pounds now and that adds up if you are out and about.

This year, I am determined to spend less during the holidays and making the most of the free things. What is wrong with going to the park, going for a nice walk, going to the library, playing some nice family games?

All of my children love being outside

We do live in a beautiful part of the country which I am thankful for. We live on the edge of the Cotswold's so there are unending opportunities for country walks and rambles. There are nice parks within walking distance and even better ones that at a short car journey away.

A friend recommended buying a year pass for The Natural Trust, which I think is a fabulous idea, but do we really need it, with such lovely places on our doorstep.

My in-laws live in South Wales and we spend a fair few weekends and holidays down there and it is lovely. For the children, it is like a holiday and there is a nice beach about fifteen minutes down the road which we make the most of, whatever time of year we are there.

Swimming pools are still relatively reasonable and it is an activity that is suitable for everyone. We love swimming and have found that even the pools with slides and wave pools are great fun at a reasonable cost.

I have become a lot more organised when it comes to food and drinks too. Gone are the days when we would buy snacks and drinks wherever we were, I always try to take my own and to keep the odd thing in my bag for emergencies. It certainly saves money doing it that way and when it comes to meals, my kids absolutely love picnics and so in the summer, we always take a picnic wherever we go.

So, this week we decided that we were not going to spend a huge amount of money. The plan was to have a few days in Wales. We arrived on Monday. Tuesday, we went to the beach and although it was cold, we had a lovely walk along the sea front and a play in the park. We stopped at a little cafe on the seafront and had a coffee and the crazy children had an ice cream, but apart form that, no money spent and a good time had by all.

Fun at the park

Wednesday, we visited some friends in Cardiff. It is always lovely to see them but they have three children under five, add our three to the mix and it all gets a bit chaotic. They suggested a play barn. Immediately I thought 'no'. Expensive and busy, it really wasn't really my idea of fun! I asked if there was a park nearby and they took us to Roath Park. I had never been there before and it was gorgeous. A fantastic park, a massive field for the children to play tag and football, a lake where the children could feed the ducks. We had a brilliant time. It cost very little as we took snacks and drinks and the children all had a good dose of fresh air and exercise.

Roath Park

Thursday we went to the LC2 in Swansea. If you are ever in the area, you have to visit this place, we absolutely love it. The old swimming pool that was there a few years ago has been replaced with a fantastic swimming complex. Wave pool, rapids, hot tub, two play pools for little ones and three amazing slides. It is fabulous and quite reasonable too. For five of us, it cost just under £17 and they have a card scheme where you get a sticker for each visit and once you have collected five, the sixth visit is free. We spent the whole morning there as we got there early to beat the crowds and had a brilliant morning. After a snack and a drink that we had brought with us, we went to Toys R Us up the road so that the children could spend their hard-earned Christmas and pocket money.

Friday was a lazy packing up day, but we did manage one more run to the local beach and a walk along the very windy beach. All in all, we had a brilliant week and didn't spent a lot of money. The children were talking excitedly about their 'holiday' on the way home and they didn't notice the lack of money spent at all.

Aberavon beach

So my challenge for this year is fun-packed school holidays on a budget. The biggest challenge will be the summer, but I am determined that we can all have a fantastic time without spending too much money! There will be lots of time out and about at parks and at the beach when we can.

Silent Sunday

2012-02-18T20:59:00.001Z

366 Project - Week 7

2012-02-18T20:53:00.002Z

Another week has passed and although it has been a bit on the grey side, it was half term and so we headed off to South Wales to stay with the in-laws and so we had a change of scenery and a bit of a break which was just what we needed.

Sunday was spent sorting out wardrobes as I am trying to have an almighty clear out. Daddy was left holding the fort with the children and for some reason unbeknown to me, he decided that it was a really good idea to have go out into the garden for a game of rugby. I should really have taken a photo of my mud covered children but I think I was too cross to take photos. You have never seen anything like it! I had to put their clothes through the washing machine three times. So instead I give you the aftermath of our poor lawn which took a battering.

Daddy went to work for a few hours on Monday and so we packed ready to go to Wales and then we were hanging around waiting to get going. The three monsters were playing tickles on the sofa so I couldn't resist a quick photo.

Tuesday we caught up with cousins and went to the local beach for a play and a walk. It was lovely and a bit fresh so I suggested the cafe to have a warm drink. The children insisted on ice-cream instead. Mummy had a lovely hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows.

Wednesday we visited some friends in Cardiff and visited Roath Park for the first time. It is a fantastic park next to a fabulous lake. The children had a lovely time.

Thursday was a quieter day and we went to the cinema. This picture was A in the bath playing with the watering can. She loves watering her toes.

Friday was a chilly day and after we had packed up to go home, we went for one final stroll along the very blustery beach. Luckily we just missed the rain, but it certainly blew the cobwebs away.

Saturday morning and mummy was teaching, so daddy had to take all of the children to watch R play football. L was so cold that he ended up wearing three jackets, two hats and two sets of gloves and was still shivering!

Come back next week and have a look at what we've been up to and if you want to see some more 366 projects, pop over to see The Boy and Me's linky for lots more inspiring photos.

Saturday is caption day

2012-02-18T09:14:00.000Z

#I spy : I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ...B

2012-02-15T18:53:00.007Z

Thank goodness this week is an easier letter, I couldn't participate last week and to be honest I was quite relieved as my sleep deprived brain was struggling a bit with x!

So here goes, we are at Granny's this week as it's half term and this was my last minute attempt! I reckon there are three b's but you eagle eyed lovelies might find mor

Thank you to the fabulous Mum of One for this interesting meme. Pop over and have a look at what she has spied...

The Gallery - Embarrassing Outfits

2012-02-15T07:27:00.000Z

Thank you so much to Tara Cain this week for forcing me to put this photograph on the Internet! The theme this week is embarrassing outfits and as soon as I read that, this photo sprang to mind. Luckily for me, when I was growing up, my mum didn't take that many photos of me. That is a good thing. I wore some very dodgy things I can tell you. Born in the seventies and a teen in the eighties, I went through some interesting phases.

This photo was taken when I was about fourteen. At the time, I loved that sweat shirt. Why? Who knows! The thing that always makes me laugh though is my hair. If you ever met me, you would realise that my hair is as straight as straight can be and also very fine. I spent many nights with my hair in plaits, rags, curlers trying to inject some life into it and failed, so when I was thirteen and I had a part time job and so I started having my hair permed. It used to last for about two weeks and then I would be back to straight again.

So here goes...

... I think that is pretty embarrassing!

This post was written in response to a prompt for The Gallery on Tara Cain's brilliant blog Sticky Fingers if you want to see more pop on over and have a look.

This week baby I promise ...

2012-02-12T21:45:00.003Z

So last week I promised salt dough and we made salt dough. A absolutely loved it and spent ages rolling it out and cutting the shapes out. She did have a huge shock when she tried to eat it though. Why is it that when you tell children not to do something repeatedly, they do it anyway?

So, this week baby I promise... to get you out and about. This week is half term and we have been spending far too much time in the house with the heating on. Hopefully it will be a bit warmer and we can make the most of having daddy and the boys around all week.

If you want to find out more about this lovely meme pop on over to the lovely Mum of One and have a look!

When should we let our children out to play?

2012-02-12T20:35:00.000Z

I am sure I am not the first person and I will not be the last, but when is a good time to let children go out to play? When I say out to play, I mean out of the confines of the house and garden. I haven't kept my little ones completely locked away all these years.

Although I do have a teenager, he is and always has been the sitting down sort of kid. Happy to read, watch TV, play games and as he has got older that hasn't really changed at all. It got to the stage where I was kicking him out of the house to try and get him to do something other than sit down. He's sixteen now and to be fair, he plays rugby and goes out with his mates, with large periods of sitting down in between.

My other two sons are eight and six and there in lies my problem. R has just turned eight and he is sensible, trustworthy and honest and I could probably trust him to go out to play and know that he wouldn't wander to far away. L, on the other hand is nothing short of a liability. His immaturity and lack of common sense worry me and yes, he is only six, so I really do hope that it is his age. If I let R out to play, L will want to go, but whilst R would stay close, L would be wandering aimlessly off to God knows where and not give it a second thought.

Last summer was really difficult. There were two sets of children living near us and they were always out playing. In the holidays, they would be out from eight in the morning until nine at night, rain or shine. It used to worry me to be honest and the one family, had a little girl who was wandering around from the age of two, often without shoes and there is no way that her parents were watching her all the time.

The other set of children were 'interesting' to say the least. We used to call them 'the savages'. The parents used to row loudly and constantly and every other word began with an 'f'. The one son was the same age as R and the boys thought he was great. He used to come round to play here sometimes, but he was a bit of a nasty piece of work and I found it really hard as he was constantly ringing the bell and if I said the boys couldn't play, he would be hanging over the fence instead. They lived next door but one and they bought a trampoline, so then, he used to bounce on the trampoline shouting at the boys if they were in the garden. It was a nightmare, I felt like we couldn't get away from him and of course, because he was allowed to roam around, R was constantly asking why he wasn't allowed to go out. I used to say to him that he was too young and that if other parents let their children out at that age, that was up to them. Then I would see the disappointment in his little face and feel really guilty.

Fortunately, they moved out a few months ago and a nice family have moved in and they have two boys of similar ages to mine. As the nights are starting to open out again, I know it won't be long before R starts pleading again and I suppose that begrudgingly I may have to give in this year. But it is so hard. I know he is sensible and it seems quite safe around here, but I still feel that he is a bit young.

I was thinking back to when I was his age. I had a bike for my seventh birthday and it only took me a couple of months to master riding it and I used to head off with my rabbit; Snowy in the basket. Mum used to tell me to stay in the road where we lived, but I used to cycle all over the place and she never knew where I was. This reminder did not particularly help me with the decision I had to make. Children need routines and boundaries, but all children push those boundaries and curiosity of the world is a natural thing at that age.

We live in a dangerous world there is no doubt about that. Is it more dangerous than all those years ago when I was roaming the land with my trusty rabbit? In reality probably not. There are more cars on the road, that is true. The media has made us all more aware of the 'bad people' that there are around, but they were there when I was young, we just didn't here about it in the news all of the time.

I want to be able to reward my amazing son with some trust and independence but I am just not sure if I am ready just yet. Am I an over protective mummy? Maybe!

366 Project - Week 6

2012-02-11T21:50:00.000Z

It has been a funny week this week. It's amazing how the weather changes your motivation and inspiration to take photos. This winter has been pretty amazing really and since Christmas there have been so many days filled with sunshine that photos are easy, whether they are family photos, scenic ones or just a nice shot of the sky. This week started with snow, which for us was fairly disappointing and then the week that followed was quite grey and dismal with hardly any sun. This has definitely had an impact on my photo taking and there have been a couple of late in the day, remembering that I needed to take a photo shots.

Sunday was a real chill out day in the house. Everyone was tired and so R got out his amazing Pirates of the Caribean Lego ship out to build. He had it for his birthday and you can see it in the picture, it is amazing and the detail is fabulous. My eldest son is and always has been a Lego enthusiast and he couldn't resist ~~taking over~~ helping. The nice thing was that the two brothers spent most of the day together working on the ship and it was nice to see them and listen to them chatting away to each other. R is very proud of his ship and we had to move several other things out of the way to make room for it in his bedroom.

Monday was freezing cold and we had another fairly lazy day apart from doing school runs, A and I spent lots of time watching TV and playing. A is completely obsessed with Peppa Pig at the moment and she was so engrossed in Peppa at the time, that she didn't know I'd taken this photo.

Tuesday and this is L fresh out of the shower and shouting at me for taking photos. As someone pointed out on the 365 project site, lets hope he doesn't return the favour. That wouldn't be a 366 photo I can assure you.

Wednesday again and A was off to playgroup. She has been going for about of month now and although she is enjoying it, she clutches both my hand and her muslin and won't let go of either.

Thursday's photo is my favourite of the week. It was parent's evening on Wednesday and as both boys had extremely glowing reports, I took them to Frankie and Benny's for tea as a 'well done' treat. L was doing a wordsearch and was in his own little world. I played around with the photo a bit on Instagram and I rather like it.

Friday saw L and I comparing our hands. L was commenting about how old my hands looked (lovely child!) and I was telling him how when he was born the first thing I noticed were his giant hands! He is only six and he still has big hands!

Saturday was a chill out day in our house and we didn't do a lot, but A and I made some salt dough and she had a great time, squidging it and cutting out shapes. She did have a big shock when she tried to eat it though!

Come back next week and have a look at what we've been up to and if you want to see some more 366 projects, pop over to see The Boy and Me's linky for lots more inspiring photos.

Family

2012-02-10T21:54:00.000Z

"Family; a group of people who are related to each other."

Why is family important to me? What sort of family did I grow up in?

This was the question asked by Nickie from Typecast as part of the weekly Writing Prompt Link she is giving to raise awareness of the CLIC Sargent Do Something Yummy campaign.

"Thank goodness you can choose your friends" is a phrase that I have heard a lot over the years. It is true that family can make you feel like that sometimes. I often felt like that growing up. Mine was a bit of a dysfunctional family. Maybe in today's society, it would be considered more normal, but when I was younger, I felt a bit like a square peg in a round hole.

My early childhood memories are of my parents arguing, my mum being upset and occasionally being dragged out and walking to my grandparents at strange times of the night. When I was seven, there was a lot of screaming and shouting and my mum went crazy and started throwing all of my dad's things out of the bedroom window. Then he was gone and everything changed. Mum cried. A lot. We had to sell our much-loved house with it's lovely garden and move into a flat above a pub, where the bathroom was so cold, the toothpaste used to freeze in the winter. Being seven, no-one explained why or what, I just had to draw my own conclusions and to be honest, I'm not sure I would have understood anyway, but I saw my mum throw my dad out of our house and our lives and I pretty much resented her for years to come and put him on a pedestal.

Many years later, I realised that my mum had done the absolute best thing she could have ever done. My 'amazing' father was a serial philanderer, liar and petty criminal and I had spent years punishing her for trying to protect us from that and all the while she'd had to pick herself up, brush herself down and work extremely hard to ensure that we had food on the table and a roof over our heads.

So, growing up, my family really consisted of my mum (I was an only child) and my grandparents who I was also close to. I longed for the normality of a stable family and would have given my right arm for siblings.

When I fell pregnant with O seventeen years ago, I had only been going out with his father for a few months and although we were madly in love at that time, it was that rose-tinted spectacle time in the relationship and having a baby certainly made everything a whole lot clearer. Sadly, we didn't really like each other at all and had opposing views on everything. There were arguments and when O turned three, I saw the effect the arguments were having on him and it brought back sad memories of me when I wasn't much older, so we made the difficult decision to separate.

Not long after, I met my future husband. I knew very early on that things would be different this time and that he was the 'one'. We had similar tastes, ideas, beliefs and often said the same things. We now have three wonderful children together and my eldest son is a part of that family, even though he spends a lot of time with his dad as well.

To me, family is more that just a group of people who are related to each other. My family give me love and support and hope. They make me laugh and cry but when I look at them, I have the most overwhelming pride and love. I am extremely lucky and I know from my own experiences and from the experiences of others, that not everyone is so lucky.

Yummy Mummy is a fund raising campaign run by CLIC Sargent, the children's cancer charity. For the last six years mums all across the UK have been raising money by taking part in Yummy Mummy Week. Yummy Mummy week takes place this year between the 10th and 18th March. Click on the logo to find out more and get involved. Do something yummy.

Saturday is snowy caption day!

2012-02-10T21:40:00.000Z

And when you have finished making me smile and you want to see some more, pop on over to the legendary Mammasaurus blog and have a look or join in with a photo of your own.

Fiction Fridays

2012-02-10T08:44:00.001Z

Continuing on a theme of books that are good for that 'in between' stage of reading children's story books and more 'grown up' books, I give you ...

'Oliver Moon was soaring on his broomstick, high above Magic School.'

Similarly to Dinosaur Cove in last weeks Fiction Friday, these books have been great for my boys, when they were ready to try something a bit more difficult. There are a series of these and they tell the story of Oliver Moon who is a young wizard and his adventures. The stories are really entertaining and each book is easy to read with short chapters and both of my boys have enjoyed them a lot.

Want to know more about Fiction Fridays or link up, click on the badge and have a look:

The Gallery - A Family Story

2012-02-07T21:53:00.001Z

So another interesting challenge this week. Tara Cain wants a photo that tells a story. I have to admit that I was scratching my head a bit and wondering whether I had such a photo and then I came across this photo;

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who spent most of his childhood as an only child. He really wanted brothers or sisters but as his mum and dad had split up, it was looking unlikely. Then, his mum remarried and along came a little brother. Big brother was pleased, but a little bit unsettled by the new arrival. Nineteen months later along came brother number two. Big brother was a teensy bit disappointed that it was another boy, but he was a lovely big brother and was very tolerant of his crazy siblings. It was looking quite likely that mum wouldn't have any more babies and then lo and behold, four years later, another baby was on the way. Mum knew that she was having a little girl but she decided to keep it to herself so it would be a nice surprise for everyone. It was.

This photo was my then fourteen year old son meeting his baby sister for the first time. I think it speaks for itself.

This post was written in response to a prompt for The Gallery on Tara Cain's brilliant blog Sticky Fingers if you want to see more pop on over and have a look.

Sainsbury's Be Good To Yourself Meals - Review

2012-02-07T13:34:00.000Z

I love cooking. I am never happier than when I am in the kitchen creating something for us all to eat. However, there are times, when you need something quick. When you are in a rush, when you are tired. I do buy ready meals sometimes and when I was asked by Sainsbury to do a review of their newly improved Be Good To Yourself range of meals, I was quite interested to see what they would be like.

On the rare occasion that I do buy an ready meal, I must admit that I avoid the lower calorie versions as I always imagine that they will not be great on flavour or texture. There is a good range of meals in the Be Good To Yourself range, including lots of 'favourite' dishes and traditional meals.

So A and I went off to Sainsbury, which is always a treat for us and I chose five meals. They are on offer at the moment some are two for £5 and some are three for £5, so I bought five reasonable sized meals for £10.

They all have the slide off cardboard covers, so I was able to have a quick look at each of the meals and they all looked quite nice, so I was quite hopeful.

I chose:
Chicken Chow Mein 400g 358 calories
Tomato and Basil Chicken with Roast Potatoes 400g 372 calories
Minced Beef Hotpot 400g 399 calories
Penne Bolognaise Bake 400g 393 calories
Shepherd's Pie 400g 359 calories

All of the meals are less than 3% fat.

Day One - Chicken Chow Mein
This looked quite appetising. Noodles with very fresh crunchy vegetables and nice sized pieces of chicken. I have to admit that this wasn't to my taste. The vegetables were nice, but I didn't overly like the taste of the sauce. I ate most of it and it was quite filling and I certainly didn't feel as though I had eaten a meal with less calories than usual.

Day Two - Tomato and Basil Chicken with Roast Potatoes

Again, this looked really nice and fresh when I opened it and it smelt lovely. The combination of the herby roast potatoes and chicken was lovely and the sauce was really nice. I put some extra vegetable with the meal and again, I felt that the portion size was right and it was quite filling.

Day Three - Minced Beef Hotpot

This was one of my favourite meals. Minced beef and vegetable with a crispy sliced potato topping. This didn't taste like a lower calorie meal at all, it was tasty and filling and I would definitely buy this again. Again, I served it with a load of fresh vegetables and it made for a very appetising meal.

Day Four - Penne Bolognaise Pasta Bake

Penne pasta with a bolognaise sauce and topped with cheese sauce. A good sized portion which I found filling. Initially, I wasn't sure about the taste, but it was a pleasant meal with a nice flavour.

Day Five - Shepherd's Pie

Similarly to the hotpot, I really enjoyed this meal. Tasty, filling and I served it with peas and it was delicious. This is another meal that I would happily eat again.

So that was the week of Sainsbury's Be Good to Yourself meals. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. The meals were nice and satisfying and quite good value if you make the most of the offers in store. They can all be cooked in the microwave which is great if you are in a rush. All of the meals were individual portions.

Sainsbury's sent me a £10 gift card for the sole purpose of reviewing products from their Be Good To Yourself Range. All opinions given in the review are my own.

This week baby I promise...

2012-02-05T22:06:00.001Z

After the trauma of the ducks the week before, I played it safe with my promise last week, saying that we were going to play some proper games. This was A playing with the Tipple Topple Tree game, which was hilarious as she loved making it topple over and then screeching with laughter.

Trying to play with Daddy, but the rugby was on!

The Tipple Topple tree was the favourite

So, this week baby I promise that we are going to make some salt dough and get messy and creative all at the same time.

If you want to find out more about this lovely meme pop on over to the lovely Mum of One and have a look!

Silent Sunday

2012-02-04T21:14:00.001Z

366 Project - Week Five

2012-02-04T21:13:00.000Z

Yay, I am so thrilled that I have completed the first month. Yes, yes I know that there are still eleven months to go, but as I am a bit of a novice, I am feeling rather pleased with myself.

First picture of the week was of my lovely L who didn't figure in last weeks photos much. He has the loveliest smile. He also has the worst temper too, maybe we will see this another time. He has made me laugh a lot this week. He has this on, off girlfriend at school, who he adores. He told me this week that he loves me, but he loves her more and I was slightly concerned when he came up with this: "L and S sitting in the car. Are they naked? Yes they are!" He is six!!!

Monday was R's 8th birthday and everyone was very excited. We were all up early to watch him open his presents, although he did get a lot of help from his little sister.

Tuesday and in the bath A decided that she was going to wash her own hair. She is going through a little miss independent stage at the moment. We were both laughing as she kept tipping jugfuls of water all over herself, which I managed to capture in this photo.

Carrying on with the hair theme on Wednesday, I took A for a proper big girl hair cut. It was the second time that she has had her hair cut, but the first time was an 'interesting' experience to say the least, so we did a big build up for this event and she was such a brilliant girl, she sat on the big chair all by herself and let the hairdresser do her thing. I was a very proud mummy although I nearly fell over with shock at the cost - £14!! We were only there for ten minutes.

By Thursday of this week, it was safe to say that we were all flagging a bit. It is that time of the half term, where the children definitely need a holiday. This was a moment of calm between my two boys who spent the rest of the week fighting - over everything. I just remember sitting down for breakfast and thinking; "Wow, it's quiet. No bickering!". And so I photographed it for posterity.

I love this photo and I think it is my favourite of this week. It looks very dramatic, but actually isn't at all. It was so freezing cold on Friday morning that the neighbour's central heating vent was pouring out thick clouds of steam. We were walking past to go to the car, but A refused to walk through it. So, big brother to the rescue. She is quite heavy and I love that you can see the effort on his face.

Saturday saw a sprinkling of snow which A was fascinated with and was desperate to build a snowman, although I had to point out that it would be a very small snowman. She loved it and spent ages walking up and down and studying her footsteps.

So, that was another week down and the end of the first month.

Come back next week and have a look at what we've been up to and if you want to see some more 366 projects, pop over to see The Boy and Me's linky for lots more inspiring photos.

Saturday Caption

2012-02-03T22:26:00.001Z

And when you have finished making me smile and you want to see some more, pop on over to the legendary Mammasaurus blog and have a look or join in with a photo of your own.

Fiction Fridays

2012-02-03T11:43:00.000Z

'Dinosaur Cove!' Jamie ran to the cliff edge and looked down over the fence. 'This has got to be the best place on earth to find dinosaurs!'

Once your children are confidentish readers, it is often a challenge to find suitable books for them to test out their newfound confidence on. Especially with boys. However, compared to when my eldest son was at this stage, there are now some brilliant book series available, which are like 'grown-up' books, with chapters, but that are easy to read and not too long. My two younger sons have both loved this series of books and I can really recommend them.

Want to know more about Fiction Fridays or link up, click on the badge and have a look:

What does being a mum mean to me?

2012-02-01T22:12:00.003Z

Earlier this evening, I was lying on the bean bags watching a little bit of television with my two year old daughter and the answer to that question came to me. She got up and threw herself at me, put her arms around my neck and said; "that's my mummy! I love my mummy!"

It's those special moments that make being a mummy so incredibly amazing.

I love the way she often says "that's my mummy" and the way she puts her hands either side of my face so that I have her full attention. I love the feeling of her little hand in mine when we go anywhere. The way she runs and throws herself at me when I go to pick her up from playgroup and hugs me as hard as she can.

As your children grow older, the urgency of their love of you can lessen but that doesn't mean that they love you any less. They just show it in different ways. You have to look for the small things. The gestures that show how important you are in their little worlds. The cuddles, the kisses, the "I love you's"are great, but often there are other signs.

My six year old can be a challenge but whenever he does or says anything, always looks at me for approval. He has the lovliest smile which you can easily find if you talk to him about something he loves. When we bought into Sky Sports recently, he cried with absolute joy and told me I was the best mummy in the world and that he loved me so much.

My eight year old is a very loving and cuddly boy. The joy I have with him is seeing how confident and happy he has become after a difficult start to his school life three years ago. He will talk and talk and talk some more about the things he has enjoyed at school, a good book that he has read, a football match he has played or seen. Just engaging with him is a pleasure and the early morning snuggles when he is sleepy and warm are amazing.

My sixteen year old is very mature and independent, taller than me and thinks that he is much wiser than me too. I am so proud of him. He has worked really hard at school and is doing exceptionally well. Moments of affection are rare as that is often not the way teenagers like to express themselves. But he worries about me in his own little way, he is the first to notice if I'm down or upset and in turn he comes to me for cuddles when he is upset.

Being a mum is not always easy and there will always be challenges along the way with each stage of their development. Children will take you for granted, that goes without saying. You are always there for them, so they will take their bad day out on you, they will push the boundaries with you and you will have times when you wonder what you're doing wrong.

My four children are fantastic and it is rare that a day goes by when I don't consider how lucky I am. For those people whose lives aren't blessed with children, I feel really sorry as my days are filled with laughter, love and life. We have off days. All children are challenging at times and we have been through some tough times, but we come through them generally unscathed.

Cancer is a terrible thing that can rip families apart. A friend of my mum's recently discovered that not only had her two year old daughter got a tumour at the back of her eye, she was also blind in that eye. The family are just starting to peice their lives back together and the mother has found out she has breast cancer. The outcome of that story is yet to play out, but I certainly hope that they pull through. Another friend's sister in law has breast cancer and is now undergoing new treatment, which is her last chance. She has three young children. Stories like that make me want to pull my children close and never let them go. If we haven't been affected by cancer ourselves, we all know people who have.

For me being a mummy is the most amazing thing that could have ever happened to me. I feel blessed. It's better than winning the lottery.

I have written this post in support of Clic Sargent's Yummy Mummy Week to raise awareness and support children and young people with cancer. It is an amazing cause and if you wnat to find out more have a look at the website http://www.yummymummy.org.uk/ or if you want to help raise awareness by joining in with the writing prompts go over to Typecast and each Monday in February there will be a set of writing prompts to inspire you.

#I spy; I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ...m

2012-02-01T13:25:00.001Z

An 'M' we could all do with a bit more of....

Thank you to the fabulous Mum of One for this interesting meme. Pop over and have a look at what she has spied...

I'm feeling really broody, but ...

2012-01-31T22:24:00.000Z

I seem to have come into contact with a lot of babies recently. I love babies. I love the way they feel, their smell, the way they nestle into your shoulder. The way they jerk their arms up and down in excitement when they recognise your face. The chunky wrists and ankles.

As I was gently rocking a lady at swimming's baby while she got dressed to day I had this desperate urge to have another baby and it's not the first time recently either, which is rather worrying.
The thing is, I can't have another baby. Or should I say I shouldn't have another one. It's not a technical impossibility but really not advisable.

Firstly, I already have four children ranging from two to sixteen, so my days are rather full and having another baby would make life as we know it difficult to maintain. I am very lucky to have four children, they are wonderful and exhausting in equal measures. People often gasp in shock when I reply to the "How many children have you got?" question, which annoys me slightly. I chose to have four children and there are people who have many more, so it's not really that shocking, is it?

I am also now what is classed as a geriatric mum being in my early forties. It became quite tedious during my last pregnancy when hospital people kept referring to me as 'geriatric'. If such a flattering term alone isn't enough to put you off, what isn't?

Then there is the rather more important factor of having had four Cesarean sections. Not because I am too posh to push you understand. No I didn't have the luxury of choice and for the record I wouldn't have chosen that method. When we saw the senior consultant a little way into my fourth pregnancy she made no bones about the risks involved of a fourth and after the operation, the same consultant took my husband to one side and told him that I should not go through another pregnancy as the risks of having another birth would be too high.

Then there is money. Or lack of it. I have been a SAHM now for six years and that and the incredible rise in the cost of living has meant that we have been feeling a bit more than a gentle squeeze lately and I am now looking at some part time jobs just to try and bring in a bit of money to keep our heads above water. Not a great time to have another baby then really, is it?

So, no more babies for me then it would seem. To be honest, as my children aren't the greatest sleepers, it is rare for my husband I to share a bed let alone, sleep in it by ourselves, so we aren't really in any danger. Good job really. So I am going to have to console myself with the fact that are always babies to cuddle around and the bonus with other people's is that you can enjoy the cuddle without having the sleepless nights and the nasty nappies.

The Gallery - Me Right Now

2012-01-31T22:04:00.002Z

This week's theme for The Gallery is 'Take a photograph of yourself at that moment and post it.' I am sure that I am not the only person who read that and thought "Aaargh!".

So this was the first photo that I took. Me on the computer blogging.

Then I remembered about last week's post for The Gallery. You know the one where I resolved to include my ugly mug in a few more photos for the sake of my children, who might well think that I was the amazing invisible woman whilst they were growing up. So here is photo number two, me on the computer blogging and drinking a mug of hot Ribena.

And yes, it will be a while before I am comfortable being in front of the camera instead of hiding behind it.

If you want to see the other 'Me Right Now' photos for The Gallery pop over to Tara Cain's brilliant blog Sticky Fingers and take a look.

What's on your MP3 player?

2012-01-30T11:13:00.002Z

This is a very simple thing to do:

Put your MP3 player on shuffle
Make a note of the first five songs, without cheating
Blog about it and pass it on!

Thanks to Seasider in the City, who originally blogged this. What a brilliant idea this is although I have to say that this could have seriously backfired on me as I do have a very varied taste in music and that coupled with the odd song downloaded for the children, our iPod makes for interesting listening. So here goes:

Wonderwall by Oasis
Phew, that's a classic song from the album 'What's the story morning glory'. That particular album is and will always be one of my favourites, but this is my favourite song of theirs and a great one to sing along to at the top of your voice.

It's on - The Cast of Camp Rock 2
Ok, you are probably thinking that this has something to do with the children. Well, yes and no! My kids do love The Disney and Disney XD channel and we often all sit down and watch the movies on there. I love both of the Camp Rock films. There I said it! I do, they remind me of the sorts of films that I lived when I was young like the original Fame and Footloose films and Flashdance. Anyway, I enjoyed Camp Rock 2 and so I downloaded the soundtrack.

Up all night - Take That
I am a bit of a fan of Take That. I was at university in Manchester when they first became popular and my housemate and I went to see them. They were brilliant live, or at least the little we could hear above the screaming girls. It was lovely when they got back together and although I still prefer the earlier stuff, there have been some great songs recently.

Use somebody - Kings of Leon
Another amazing song and another one I just love singing along to.

Dirrty - Christina Aguilera
I love this song! I wouldn't say I am a massive fan of hers, but this is a great song to dance around the kitchen to.

So that was me doing a shuffle! It didn't turn out as bad as I was expecting. Thanks you to A Mummy Too and From Fun to Mum for tagging me. If you fancy having a go at this, consider yourself tagged!

This week baby I promise...

2012-01-30T10:56:00.003Z

Well we made it! We went to feed the ducks. You know when you have an idyllic picture in you head of how something is going to happen and it so doesn't, well this was one of those moments. In my head, we would walk doen to the river, throw a few bits of bread to some passing ducks and laugh happily. No, that definitely was not how it happened. It was a bit like a scene of an Alfred Hitchcock film. Within seconds of the bread bag emerging, we were surrounded by ducks, seagulls and pigeons all stampeding around us. A completely lost the plot and started screaming hysterically, so I was carrying her in one hand and trying to offload the rest of the bread to the marauding birds. When we got back to the car, we both sat there traumatised. Needless to say, there wasn't a good opportunity to take a photo.

My second promise was to read lots of books. Fortunately on safer ground with this one. We did. We have had lots of lovely play and stories this week and apart from the "duck incident", we have had a lovely week.

"This week baby I promise....to play some real games with you. You love trying to join in with games when we play with your brothers, so this week I will get out some of the easier games and we will have some fun learning how to play them."

If you want to find out more about this lovely meme pop on over to the lovely Mum of One and have a look!

Silent Sunday

2012-01-28T21:48:00.000Z

The 366 Project - Week Four

2012-01-28T21:47:00.002Z

It has definitely been on of those weeks that I would rather forget. Having said that, I am pleased that in spite of a stressful week, I have still managed to do my week of photos, even if a couple have been an "Oh God, I've forgotten to take a photo!" photo towards the end of the day.

Sunday saw us driving to Hereford to catch up and have lunch with a good friend. As we were passing quite close to the Malvern Hills, I couldn't resist taking a quick picture. I often catch sight of the Malverns when I am driving around and I think that they are breathtaking. I was quite pleased with this photo as I was in the car at the time.

Monday, A and I got the puppets out and A though it was great to be a puppet herself!

Tuesday was not a particularly sunny day, in fact I think it was quite cold and grey but A is rather partial to her lovely strawberry sunglasses and this photo was in fact taken in the bath! But you know how these wilful toddlers are and sometimes I haven't got the energy to argue!

Wednesday, A and I were ladies that did lunch and we treated ourselves to a bit of lunch before we went supermarket shopping. A was in fact drinking apple juice in an enormous cup and it made me laugh as it looked as though she was drinking a pint! Cheers!

Thursday was the most beautifully sunny day, so after we had dropped off the boys at school, we went for a little walk around the village. Opposite the school, there were lots of clumps of snowdrops just waiting to burst open and A wanted me to take a photo of them, so here they are.

Friday night and it was a definite sigh of relief all round that the weekend had finally arrived. A rare appearance of the television watching teenager, looking very chilled out on the sofa.

Today was a hectic day for me, so this is a rare photo taken by my husband. R and A snuggled up in their pyjamas drinking water.

So that was another week and very nearly the end of the first month. Yay! See you next week!

Come back next week and have a look at what we've been up to and if you want to see some more 366 projects, pop over to see The Boy and Me's linky for lots more inspiring photos.

Saturday is a good day for a caption!

2012-01-28T06:38:00.001Z

And when you have finished making me smile and you want to see some more, pop on over to the legendary Mammasaurus blog and have a look or join in with a photo of your own.

Fiction Fridays

2012-01-27T07:17:00.002Z

I absolutely love this book and also 'My Mum'. They show how much children love their parents and why and if you have never read them, you really should.

'He's alright my dad. My dad isn't afraid of anything.'

Want to know more about Fiction Fridays or link up, click on the badge and have a look:

The Land of Sometimes - Review

2012-01-26T12:42:00.000Z

Get ready to be taken on a magical journey with twins Alfie and Elise as they travel to The Land Of Sometimes ,where four seasons pass within one day. Travelling through Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter the story unfolds and we are introduced to some interesting and slightly eccentric characters and each character has an original song. There is River Slouch Sling who just wants to make friends, Mrs Blip who likes to make you slip to the Chameleon Catcher, Little Twink, a naughty little fairy, the Willow Tree Choir Boy and others too. The songs are beautiful and all completely different in style and tempo. With jazz, reggae, disco and even folk, there is something for everyone and each song is catchy and melodic and really help to make the story compelling listening

As soon as we received the CD, it was obvious that this was going to be different to anything we had listened to before. The CD case itself doubles as a little book with pictures of Alfie and Elise and the characters that they meet on their magical journey. There are no words in the book, just pictures and track listings along with a map of The Land of Sometimes. The pictures are beautiful with bright colours and lots of details.

As a parent, there are times when story CD's can start to get on your nerves, however, we have listened to this quite a few times in the car and it certainly isn't the case. My daughter, although only two, loves it. I'm not sure how much of the story she is picking up, but she loves the songs. They are all so different and as each one varies in style and tempo, it really does help to keep the listener enthralled.

Along with the CD, there is a website which allows you to find out more information about the characters in the story, look at an interactive map to find out more about the places Elise and Alfie visit in their magical adventure, print off and colour pictures of the characters and also sign up to be sent more information by email.

The CD will be available to buy from February 6th and you can pre-order it now from Amazon for £8.99. It is suitable for ages 2 - 99.

I can thoroughly recommend this CD if you have younger children in particular, it is really enjoyable to listen to and shows the power of music and stories when put together.

The Land of Sometimes CD was sent to me free of charge for the purpose of this review. The opinions shown are all my own.

Wot so Funnee

2012-01-25T21:43:00.001Z

It has been a while since I have joined in with this meme. However as this week marks the end of the "funnee" as we know it, I thought it only right and proper to join in. My six year old who was the usual perpetrator of amusing stories has gone and gotten all serious and totally sport obsessed on me. However, he does seem to have passed the baton to his younger sister who now two, is now grappling quite well with the English language and making a few "funnee's" along the way.

First, last week came the mystery of the 'flapjacket'. I have to admit that the mystery was more due to my stupidity than her apparently new word. She kept going on about 'flapjackets' and waving her Minnie Mouse rucksack at me. I was clueless (not for the first time!)

After a couple of days she started to get a bit frustrated. She speaks well for a two year old, but can't explain things very well. We were getting ready to go and pick her brothers up from school and she was there with her trusty bag. 'I want a flapjacket!'. You know how it is when you're running late and you might get just a tad frustrated. She ended up in tears bemoaning her lack of 'flapjacket', so I start desperately pulling all of her coats out of the cupboard trying to work out which one was the 'flapjacket', which only served to upset her even more.

It was only when I dragged her kicking and screaming to school that one of the other mums asked; "Does she means a flapjack?" It didn't take a genius really, did it? A was thrilled when I got home and gave her a flapjack and peace was once again restored.

Then, I decided to get in the bath with A the other day. It's not something I do very often, but I just fancied it. A was quite fascinated by all of my 'bits'. She kept pointing at my boobs and asking; "What's that?". I explained that they were boobies. "Beans" she shouted at the top of her voice "Mummy's Beans!". No amount of persuading would change her mind. Standing up in the bath later, A looked down at her belly button and asked what it was. I told her it was a belly button. "No!" She proclaimed. She looked at it very thoughtfully and said; "It's my footprint boobie!". She then fell about in hysterical laughter.

Why not pop on over to the fabulous Actually Mummy for the final lot of 'Wot so funnee's". You know you want to!

#I spy: I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ...L

2012-01-25T17:54:00.000Z

A fairly obvious one, I know, but very pretty!

Thank you to the fabulous Mum of One for this interesting meme. Pop over and have a look at what she has spied...

The Gallery - My Photography Resolutions

2012-01-25T08:06:00.000Z

A slightly different theme for The Gallery this week, we are making some photo resolutions for the year to come. As I am attempting the 366 project for the first time,even after three weeks, my attitude to photo taking has changed and so this is an interesting post for me. So her are my photography resolutions;

1. So my first resolution is to take more photos. Easy! I am now taking photos every day as a result of the 366 project and I have already taken some lovely photos, which I wouldn't have otherwise. It's easy to get the camera out on special occasions and days out, but now, I am taking photos all the time. I am driving the children crazy but the result is photos of them in the mornings when they are tired and snuggly, photos at mealtimes when it is the best time to get a photo of all of my children together and generally some lovely shots which are natural and will be lovely to look back on in years to come.

2. Secondly is to take a few photos that aren't of my children. We are lucky enough to live in a beautiful part of the world and I have become aware of some amazing photography opportunities all around me and I intend to make the most of them.

Look no children!

3. I hate photos of myself. Loathe them. I really need to be in a few more photos this year. I have to remember the photos of me are not for my benefit, they are for my children to look back on in years to come. So at least once a week, I will aim to be in a photo and if I hate it (which I will!) I will not delete it, I will simply leave it and smile.

A rare picture of me!

4. Lastly, I want to be a bit more creative with my photos. I take most of my photos on my phone and it is so simple to edit them through apps like Instagram and some photos might be a bit dark or out of focus and it is so simple to touch them up and make them lovely.

This wasn't great before editing

If you want to see the other photography resolutions in The Gallery pop over to Tara Cain's brilliant blog Sticky Fingers and take a look.

I want a bath!

2012-01-24T16:50:00.000Z

Can I first of all make it clear that I am in fact quite clean, well very clean actually. But it struck me today that I haven't had a bath for ages, maybe even years.

I uses to love baths back in the day. You know, the baths where you could lie for hours, relax by yourself, maybe read a book or even have a cheeky glass of wine. Those were the days! The last time I actually remember having a bath, it was definitely not alone, I had at least one of my tribe splashing me and climbing all over me and I seem to remember having at least one small plastic toy firmly embedded in my bottom.

Now I'm lucky if I get five minutes in the shower without all hell breaking loose between my six and seven year old or my two year old daughter crashing into the bathroom and hammering on the shower cubicle.

Yet those few brief moments under a jet of hot water ( that is if the teenager hasn't been in first, he actually sits down in the shower and then wonders why it runs cold!) are pure bliss. A few minutes of me-time, a chance to think.

Earlier this evening I was running a hot bubbly bath for the children and I just thought how lovely it would be to just dive in and have a soak, then the troops arrive and start arguing about who is going in first. So the moment passed, but each time I run another bath I gaze longingly into it's depths, imagining myself immersed, eyes closed and not a child in sight.

Well some time soon, it will be mine. I am going to book an hour, get my hubby to occupy or even better, take the children out and I am going to treat myself to a damn good soak.

If you can't say anything nice; don't say anything at all

2012-01-24T14:16:00.000Z

Do you sometimes want to get those 'glass half empty' people and shake them until they rattle, or is that just me? I'm not Mrs Positive by any means. At times, I can be found wallowing in my own vat of self-pity with the best of them. On the whole, I try to regularly remind myself how lucky I am and I only have to hug one of my beautiful children to remember how wonderful my life really is. I am also prone to haing a bit of a moan. Not all of the time, but there are occasions when a little moan in a sympathetic ear, just makes you feel a bit better about the world.

But there are some people who cannot see the good in anything. It may not be deliberate, life does throw some terrible things at us and it affects us all in different ways, I realise that. And we all have off days. We all have doubts. We all have concerns about things. But do we always have to voice them? Do we always have to bring everyone else down?

Why can some people only see the negative in any given situation? If you have a genuine concern over something that someone has told you, yes, you should tell them. I'm not saying that you shouldn't. But there are ways of saying things. Try and give some positives about the situation and then voice any concerns you have. Or simple leave it. We are all adults at the end of the day, I make decisions and sometimes, they are the wrong ones. When that happens, you carry on and you learn from those mistakes.

This weekend has been a brilliant example of this. I decided to respond to a journalist request. My husband and I were interviewed and photographed and we will be paid a nice amount of money. It has never happened before, the article was about our relationship and the children were ecstatic about being in a national newspaper. The money from the article meant that we might be able to afford a break away during the Easter holidays. All good. Or maybe not! I thought nothing of it and most people I spoke to thought it was unusual but a great thing to do. Some people however, deceided to point out the many possible negative outcomes fo the situation, most of which were highly unlikely, but it was enough to plant a few seeds of doubt over what we had done. This has caused a great deal of stress for me, having taken the whole thing on in the first place and it resulted in the situation escalating to the point where my husband and I had one of the biggest rows we have ever had in ten years of marriage.

I often say to my children; don't say anything if you can't say anything nice and I'm thinking that this is a good message for some adults, too.

This week baby I promise ...

2012-01-23T11:13:00.001Z

Well last week I promised a long-awaited trip to feed the ducks and for the first time, we didn't manage to fulfill the promise. It has been a crazy week with lots of running around and we simple ran out of time. But we did manage lots of play, some cake making, lots of colouring and possible a bit too much Peppa Pig!

So this week baby, I promise... that we will try and get that trip to the ducks in if the weather is ok and also I am not going to put the television on too much this week, I am going to spend more time reading stories and looking at your lovely books a bit more.

If you want to find out more about this lovely meme pop on over to the lovely Mum of One and have a look!

Mix-Tape Monday #11 - A Song You Hate

2012-01-22T20:25:00.000Z

I have to admit that I couldn't face linking up with Mix-Tape Monday last week as the song that was number one when I was born seemed so horrifically old, that I couldn't bear to admit to it. However, this week's category couldn't be missed, the only problem was which of the many songs that I hate would I choose.

Over the years, I have had to listen to some rubbish. When you have children, you tolerate some of the most dreadful things; music, TV programs, films. I must admit that I now buy the Now That's What I Call Music cds for the car as I cannot bear any more badly sung children's songs.

Finally, I am going to apologise to anyone who is a fan of this band and I know that there are many. However, I can't stand them. That is my opinion and we are entitled to them. I could have picked any of their songs, but this one grates more than most.

So, that's it. I think they are a bit like Marmite!! If you want to find out what songs other people hate or you fancy joining in, pop on over to I Want My Mummy!

Silent Sunday

2012-01-21T21:31:00.000Z

366 Project - Week Three

2012-01-21T21:27:00.000Z

Well, I did it! I managed another week! As we descend back into term-time mayhem and I feel like I am running around from one place to another, I was worried that I would keep forgetting. But, so far, I am taking a few shots each day which is lovely as it means that I am generally taking more photos. What is also lovely is that I feel as though I am thinking more about the photos I am taking and, thanks to downloading Instagram and BeFunkyPro, onto my phone, I am now trying to be a bit more creative with my photos too.

Sunday was a real chill out day. Or a 'duvet day'. The children (and mummy) were all a bit tired after the first full week back at school. This is not the most exciting photo in the world, however it represents my six year old son L. He is totally obsessed with football and rugby, but will pretty much watch and keep tabs on any sport. (yawn) Just before Christmas, we decided to get Sky Sports for a few months as he was constantly watching football matches from the seventies on ESPN. When we turned on Sky Sports 1 for the first time, he cried with joy, bless him. The downside now is his constantly wanting to watch sport.

Back to school on Monday and it was a cold and frosty morning. I was struck by how beautiful everything looked as it was really frosty, but really sunny too.

Tuesday was a busy day and we had tea late. The children were starving and made me laugh with the speed and enthusiasm they wolfed down the food. You also get a glimpse of the horror that is my ironing pile in the background.

Wednesday was a big day as my little A went to playgroup for the first time. She is only just two, so to begin with, she is just going to go for one morning a week. She was really excited and I was quite relaxed about it as my sons went to the same playgroup and it is lovely. When I went to pick her up at twelve o'clock, she ran to give me the biggest hugs ever which was lovely. Apparently she had been fine, but the playgroup leader did say; "She is quite wilful, isn't she?" That's an understatement! As we left, she was clutching her painting in her hand which she was very proud of, so I thought that would make a good photo for today.

SO today, I decided to get a bit creative. I took a lovely photo of my seven year old at breakfast of his lovely cheeky face and them I had a play with it. I rather liked this effect and he loved it and wants me to print it out for him to put in his bedroom.

A rare sighting indeed of the slightly spotted stressy mummy. I hate being in photos, I am much happier behind the lens, but as I was having an early morning snuggle with my three youngest, my hubby took a sneaky picture. I know that I should make more of a effort to be in photos, for the children to look back on more than me.

Last but not least, a lovely picture taken on Saturday of L and his sister deep in cuddly concentration. A decided that today was a really good day for sunglasses!

Come back next week and have a look at what we've been up to and if you want to see some more 366 projects, pop over to see The Boy and Me's linky for lots more inspiring photos.

Saturday is most definitely Caption Day!

2012-01-20T23:18:00.002Z

You know what to do...

And when you have finished making me smile and you want to see some more, pop on over to the legendary Mammasaurus blog and have a look or join in with a photo of your own.

Fiction Fridays

2012-01-19T22:20:00.000Z

Sometimes, when I pick up a children's book that I haven't read for a long time, it brings back lovely happy memories, like seeing an old friend again. This was how I felt when I saw this book in the library yesterday. I used to read this book to my now seven year old a lot. And I mean a lot! You know how young children are when they go through that repetitive stage. Well I had forgotten about this book and I really enjoyed reading it today to my little girl.

'This is the bear who fell in the bin. This is the dog who pushed him in.'

Want to know more about Fiction Fridays or link up, click on the badge and have a look:

Book Review – The Somnambulist by Essie Fox

2012-01-19T12:39:00.002Z

The beautiful painting of the same name by Millais weavescleverly in and out of the story in this debut novel by Essie Fox. We are in Victorian England with the heroineof the novel Phoebe Turner who is only 17 at the beginning of the novel. She is portrayed as a charming young womanwho is mature, yet has had very little life experience beyond her life with hermother and her aunt. Her mother; Maud isstrict and puritanical, a member of the Hallelujah Army yet her aunt Cissy is aglamorous and beautiful singer and actress, representing everything her sisterdespises. When Cissy returns to thestage after many years, a man in the audience whom Phoebe recognises and cannotplace, has such an impact on Cissy, that Phoebe becomes curious about theirrelationship and in fact about her aunt’s life in general, which she realisesshe knows little about. The events thatfollow that night change Phoebe’s life forever and she soon realises that bothher own life and that of her aunt hold many secrets that she has yet touncover.

The book follows four years in the life of the young heroineand contains twists and turns; some expected and others a complete surprise andall of the elements needed to create a compelling story; love, deception,betrayal, lost love, murder. It isbeautifully written. Essie Fox has areal understanding of life in Victorian England and the descriptions bring thesettings and the characters to life. Theauthor even goes on to give a brief outline of her inspiration for the placesdescribed in the novel and it makes the story, although completely fictional,more realistic. The characters are onthe whole likeable and believable and in particular with the character ofPhoebe, you feel the different emotions that she goes through as she discoversmore and more about who she really is.

I loved the book. Icouldn’t put it down once I had started reading. The story is compelling, but I loved the waythat Fox’s descriptions literally transports you back to Victorian England,cleverly appealing to all the readers’ senses as she writes. As a debut novel,Essie Fox has made a really impressive start and I can’t wait for her nextnovel.

Should you be glad when they go?

2012-01-18T13:04:00.000Z

Today is my little girl's first morning at playgroup. She is two. She is absolutely and definitely the last child to be produced by this worn out old body. She is a happy, confident, chatty sociable little girl and I have no doubt that she will love it. As she was only two in December, I am not in a rush, so she is just going to go for one morning a week for the time being. Three hours. That's not too long is it? It has provoked some interesting comments however. When I was talking about it last week, one of the other mum's at school said; "Oh, I bet you'll be in tears, when you have to leave her behind. Your baby." Another said: "No, one morning a week isn't enough, you should put her in for a few mornings, have a bit of a break!"

This did get me thinking about how I actually did feel about my 'baby', starting playgroup for the first time. Which side of the fence was I on: the glad to get rid of her, or the oh my god, she's not going, she's staying with me side?

In reality, I am somewhere in the middle. This new step is an important part of A's development. She is strong willed and confident and having three older brothers, she has already learnt that she needs to be louder, stroppier and pushier in order to get her own way in a house full of children. I don't feel guilty. Why should I? Yes, I realise that she doesn't have to go to nursery until she's three or at all really, but it will do her good. It will give her the chance to meet new people, have friends, interact with different adults and do things that she would not necessarily get the chance to do if she was stuck at home with me.

I get emotional about things ending rather than beginning. With three older ones, I have already had my fair share of finishing: playgroup, first school, middle school. Now that does bring out the tears. It marks the end of an era, it means that they are moving on to the next stage, growing up.

So I'm not going to feel guilty about not getting emotional this morning. A small selfish part of me will enjoy having a couple of hours to myself as it's not something I have very often, and then I will go and pick A up, she will have had a fantastic time and all will be well in the world.

Off she goes with her trusty Minnie Mouse bag!

#I spy: I spy with my little eye, something beginning with .... S

2012-01-18T12:56:00.000Z

So what do you think?

Thank you to the fabulous Mum of One for this interesting meme. Pop over and have a look at what she has spied...

The Gallery - Eyes

2012-01-17T22:28:00.001Z

The Gallery theme for this week is 'eyes'. An interesting one and I wasn't going to do it as I take all of my photos on my phone and thought that it might be a bit of a challenge. However, I had a go and using a variety of apps, I put together this collage of my four children's eyes.

It is quite amusing that all of my children are completely different. You know how people like to tell you as soon as a baby is born, who they look like and then continue to do so until you want to scream at them. Well, each of my children is totally individual in colouring, looks and personality. But they are all blessed with the most beautiful eyes (in my opinion).

I have driven them all crazy over the last few days trying to get close-up photos of them, although they are beginning to get used to my new found obsession with photography!

If you want to see the other fantastic photos in The Gallery pop over to Tara Cain's brilliant blog Sticky Fingers and take a look.

This week baby I promise...

2012-01-16T10:30:00.004Z

So last week I promised puzzles and we did puzzles. A discovered that she can now open the wardrobe with all of the 'slightly too big for her' puzzles and then made a humongous mess of several puzzles all strewn around the room and mixed up! It was not pretty. We did have a go at a Peppa Pig one, but A just ended up getting really frustrated. But the wooden slot in puzzles were a big success and A was really pleased when she was able to do them by herself (we have hit that independent phase) and we will be getting them out again this week.

So this week baby I promise.. to take you to feed the ducks. We keep talking about doing it and then other things get in the way, so we will grab some bread and go down to the river some time this week.

If you want to find out more about this lovely meme pop on over to the lovely Mum of One and have a look!

What has Hello Kitty got that I haven't?

2012-01-15T21:57:00.000Z

Yes I know she is cuter than me, probably has nicer clothes than me, definitely looks a lot better on t-shirts than me, but do you know what, along with her sisters of consumerism: Peppa Pig and Minnie Mouse, I'm a bit fed up of them.

I wrote a post last week about whether or not I found it different having a girl after three boys, and the conclusion was that it wasn't really any different at all. Apart from her general devotion to all things pink and a determination to wear, and I mean only wear, what she wants to wear and will not be swayed once her final decision has been made. The other difference, and this has only really materialised in the last few months, is her obsession with Hello Kitty and her cohorts.

Aaah, that's lovely! Say some of my family members. No! It's not lovely! It's a pain in the backside. You quite literally cannot go out without coming across these characters. Even in Tesco the other day, having sneakily skidded past the toy aisle at high speed so as to avoid the screaming tantrums that accompany most visits these days due to mean mummy not buying her anything, I screeched to a halt in the nappy aisle and lo and behold, I hear the words; "Mummy look, Hello Kitty!" and "Peppa Pig!" I could cry and I mean lie down on the floor and bang my fists on the ground. Is there no escape?

And there they are dangling deviously between the packs of nappies: Peppa Pigs that you can wash with. Really? Is that necessary? I really do not, nor ever will want to wash myself with Peppa bleeding Pig. Also have you noticed how ugly the Peppa Pig toys are. I mean I have watched a fair few episodes of Peppa Pig with my daughter and Peppa is quite sweet if you like that sort of thing, but the cuddly toys in particular are really ugly. I swing around to get away from the ugly pig anf there glittering menacingly are a bloodey Hello Kitty lollipops. You know the ones: sparkly wrappers with the character du jour on the front and then when you take off the wrapper there is a small amount of crappy chocolate underneath.

It's genius marketing on the part of the supermarkets really. They realise that there are a percentage of us parents who strategically avoid certain aisles to avoid 'tension', so the clever sods dangle child-friendly treats along the aisles that they know we will have to go down. It seriously does my head in. I'm looking for a box of Shreddies and suddenly A is screeching at the top of her voice and trying to dive head first out of the trolley to get to something far more interesting that she's spotted.

Clothes shopping. There they are again; the terrible trio, adorning tops, t-shirts, trousers in fact just about anything. We went to Asda today to change an outfit that she had been given for Christmas that wasn't to her liking, I was looking at the plainer, less expensive clothes but A had already spotted what she wanted. It was quite funny really, she ran up and down the aisle grabbing any item of clothing emblazoned with Peppa, Minnie and Kitty. It was like watching an episode of Supermarket Sweep. I then had to prise them off her and explain that we already had lots of clothes and were only buying a couple of things. Then came the tears. She was distraught. Eventually, I managed to get away with one of each character. Oh and a Minnie Mouse swimming costume that we didn't need!

Next stop was W H Smith. Even worse. She was out of the pushchair like a sprinter off the starting blocks, squealing with delight as she got her little hands on about five magazines all sporting her television favourites. For the person who bought subsequently bought the Peppa Pig magazine with the tear and tear stains on the front, I apologise profusely.

There was a sale on in the shoe shop with a rather nice pair of brown suede boots that mummy would have liked to have had a look at, but no it wasn't to be. There was a Hello Kitty and a Peppa Pig bag that A had spied with her beady eye and wanted more than anything, in spite of the fact that she has more bags than the average two year old really needs. If there is any upside to this, our bank balance is definitely not going to get such a hammering if today's shopping experience is anything to go by.

I suppose I've only got myself to blame. Up until last summer, we lived in the lovely gentle world of Cbeebies where we lolled around In the Night Garden and did yoga with the piplings and the cheebies. It was a calm and pleasant viewing experience, without adverts for awful toys and we only watched repeats on really bad days. Then we went to Disneyland Paris. A completely fell in love with Minnie Mouse. That is, the concept of Minnie Mouse; the toys, the clothes, the bags and accessories, she was so scared of the actual characters themselves, we had to run away from them at high speed. When we returned, my little girl was changed. She was no longer content with Cbeebies and before I knew it we had moved to Nick Jnr and a Peppa Pig obsession with a sprinkling of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Disney Junior.

Then I asked her a stupid question. She was cuddling her little Hello Kitty and she told me that she loved Hello Kitty. I asked her who she loved more; mummy or Hello Kitty? Yes, I know, I asked for it really, and I am sure you know exactly what she said... (sniff)

Silent Sunday

2012-01-14T22:46:00.001Z

Project 366 - Week Two

2012-01-14T22:42:00.000Z

So week two of the project and it was back on the treadmill, well and truly as everyone was back at work and school and Christmas seemed like a distant memory. Things were fairly busy and so it was a bit more of a challenge to take interesting pictures. I had a real think about what I wanted from this project. If you go to the 365project.org website, you can browse through other people's photos and it is a sight to behold. There are some amazing photos. Brilliant. I am so inspired by all of the different types of photos on there and so I wondered if my photos were a bit boring. However, I am doing this project for me and so if the photos are a bit boring and if they are pretty much all of my gorgeous children, it doesn't matter as I want the project to be a year in the life of my family.

Sunday a day an afternoon at the park. L loves the zipwire.

Monday saw A and I in hospital all day as she was having breathing difficulties

No family in this one! Just as we were leaving the house in the morning, I thought the sky looked fab behind those trees.

R is eight at the end of the month, which means he will be moving up to Cubs. He has loved Beavers and it has been brilliant for him

A had this hat for Christmas and she loves it. She, like her brothers has a massive head and the hat kept popping off which drove her crazy!

Friday was a shock as it was freezing! L said that he should be able to have a day off school as it was so cold.
No chance of that!

Ok, now I have Instagram on my phone and I love it already. This is a rare photo of my teenage son. He doesnt like photos of himself, so I had to catch him unawares. I think he looks gorgeous here.

So only fifty to go! Come back next week and have a look at what we've been up to and if you want to see some more 366 projects, pop over to see The Boy and Me's linky for lots more inspiring photos.

Saturday is Caption Day

2012-01-14T06:51:00.000Z

If you want to see some more, pop on over to the legendary Mammasaurus blog and have a look or join in with a photo of your own.

How to be a good neighbour

2012-01-13T22:46:00.000Z

Neighbours, in my personal experience, they are a bit like Marmite; you either love them or hate them. There are the neighbours that think that they live in a detached house miles away from anyone (when in fact they live in a terraced house!) so that they can do whatever they want whenever they want, the generally nice but extremely noisy ones, the quite unpleasant and very noisy ones and the ones that treat you like long lost relatives and insist that you constantly live in each others houses. Based on my experiences, here are my ten rules for being a good neighbour:

1. Don't give a flying feck where you park your car. This particularly applies if your drive is joined to one or two other drives as this makes the whole process much more fun. In fact, just block all of the drives and then stand and laugh at the window hysterically watching everyone trying to get out of their drives to do the school run and then once they've gone, move the car out of the way.

2. When you go away for the weekend leave the radio on for the cat, so that it doesn't feel lonely. This said, make sure that you don't fix the problem with your stereo system so that it randomly switches to such a high volume that the two adjoining houses are shaking from the noise and none of the occupants can get to sleep.

3. When you do step two, make sure that no-one has a number to contact you so that you don't have to finish your break away early and come back to resolve the problem.

4. Have at least two cats. Especially if you live next to someone who has a fear of cats. Great to watch! Cats never poo in their own gardens, so it is really entertaining watching your neighbours constantly battling to get rid of the cat shit every day and laughing at their futile attempts to ward off the cats.

5. Make sure you live next to a family with small children and that you buy a really good surround sound system for your new television. However, only use the surround sound late at night when you know all of the children are asleep so that everyone either side of you knows exactly what film you're watching and just how effective your surround sound is!

6. During the summer months, when the weather is really warm and everyone has to open the windows to avoid sweltering to death, that is a great time for parties. In the garden. Until at least three o'clock in the morning. Or maybe even all night. This is a great way of keeping the neighbours entertained, listening to your raucous conversations and late night drinking games.

7. While your about it, when you have these wild parties through the night, its a really good time to start smoking your secret stash of grass, the warm weather and the open windows mean that you can share the lovely smell with everyone and their children as it wafts in through the open windows above you.

8. If one of your neighbours parks behind you or a bit close to the car, don't worry if you drive into it or scratch it or take one of the wing mirrors. And certainly, don't worry about telling them about it. Having all those children, they must have endless amounts of cash to fix the car with, so it doesn't matter. What's a bit of car damage between neighbours?

9. When you move in and you realise that your little fourteen by sixteen foot garden isnt going to cut it with all of the socialising you're planning to do, why not build a large wooden thing that towers over the fence and blocks out the light going into the house next door. But don't worry about asking the people next door if they would mind, of course they won't. Then proceed to grow and endless amount of plants that will overhang next doors fence to ensure that they have to spend lots of time cutting it back during the summer months.

10. So you enjoy a bit of DIY? You like to move things around and put things on the wall regularly. Make sure that you always do the hammering late at night. This really is the best time to do this sort of job as at that time, it won't bother anyone else as they will all be sleeping.

Fiction Fridays #9

2012-01-13T12:59:00.000Z

"Elephant. Wellyphant. Fruit Jellyphant. Rude Smelliphant."

Want to know more about Fiction Fridays or link up, click on the badge and have a look:

A letter to the man who was smoking outside school today

2012-01-12T21:53:00.000Z

To the man who was smoking outside school today:

I don't really know who you are, but I know that you are the dad of one of the reception children and I was wondering if you really had to smoke your cigarette outside the school gates.

Apart from lots of other mums who were standing in close proximity to you, breathing in your fumes, there were a large number of little children and two small babies. I understand that the three mile or so journey in the car to school must have been a real challenge without a cigarette, but could you not have waited until later. Or, if the need was that great, could you have not had the cigarette before you walked down to the school gate.

Personally, I am not a smoker. I have never been and I never will be. My mum is a smoker and I grew up around it and although I hate it, I would never criticise people for smoking. That is as long as they don't do it around my children. I am asthmatic and I don't know if that is due to my mum's smoking or not, but it certainly won't have helped matters. Growing up, I was so used to it, I never really gave it any thought. Once I'd left home, however, I became aware of the smell. Later on as a teacher, I always knew which children had parents who'd smoked or who smoked themselves as their bags, clothes and books all smelt of smoke. It's not pleasant.

These days we are all acutely aware of the effects of smoking; not just on smokers themselves but on those passively smoking around you. Again, I am not in any position to lecture other people about what they should and shouldn't do. If you decide to smoke around your own children, knowing the effects of passive smoking, that is your choice and you have to live with the consequences.

However, I do have a choice about the health and welfare of my children and if I see you standing near my daughter smoking a cigarette, I will not be responsible for my actions...

#I spy : I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ... T

2012-01-11T13:04:00.000Z

Thank you to the fabulous Mum of One for this interesting meme. Pop over and have a look at what she has spied...

The Gallery - Phone Photos

2012-01-10T11:26:00.000Z

I am really pleased to have discovered The Gallery. I love looking at photos, both mine and other people's and this and the 366 project have given me a real inspiration to take more photos and be a bit more creative with my photos.

This week's theme is photos you've taken on your phone. The photo I've chosen is simply one of the best phone photos that I've taken. I pretty much use my phone all the time now for snapping as it is always with me and simple to use. I haven't done anything to the photo as I love it as it is. It is my little girl just before Christmas. Ever since we visited Disneyland Paris last summer, she has had a bit of an obsession with Minnie Mouse. We had been to the Disney Store and I had let her choose a new Minnie for our Christmas collection. Her face in this photo sums up her reaction.

If you want to see the other fantastic photos in The Gallery pop over to Tara Cain's brilliant blog Sticky Fingers and take a look.

This week baby I promise ...

2012-01-08T20:38:00.001Z

Last week's promise was to let you do lots of colouring and drawing with your new pens and pencils. We certainly did lots and lots of drawing. Mummy didn't get round to printing off any sheets to colour, but the new pens got used a lot and A is even quite good at putting the tops back on! A had the most amazing coloured hands all week as most of the pen was on them and today Daddy thought her hands were bleeding but it was in fact red pen!

So this week baby I promise to get out some of the wooden jigsaws. We have a box full of wooden jigsaws that were A's big brothers' when they were younger and as there are so many of them, mummy is often reluctant to get them out. But this week will be puzzle week!
If you want to find out more about this lovely meme pop on over to the lovely Mum of One and have a look!

The Real Cupcake Company Strawberry Cupcake Kit Review

2012-01-08T19:57:00.001Z

I love cakes. Love them. In fact we all do in this house. So I make cakes quite a lot. My cakes always taste good but they always lack that professional look about them. So when I was offered the chance to review The Real Cupcake Company's Strawberry Cupcake Kit, I was very excited and we were not disappointed.

The Real Cupcake Company are based in Derbyshire and they provide you with a dairy free, gourmet cupcake kit. The kit is simple to use and provides you with everything you need to make some professional looking, delicious cupcakes. Each kit will make twelve cupcakes and includes: ready-to-use plain cake mixture, ready-to-pipe real fruit icing, decorations, twelve pretty paper cupcake cases, two extra-large piping bags, a selection of icing nozzles and a number of piping tips for creating your own delicious masterpieces.

The bag of cake batter

Bag of strawberry icing

Everything else you need

You can order the cupcake kits throughThe Real Cupcake Company web-site and the kit is sent to you through the post and you pop the kit into the fridge until you're ready to bake. The cake batter comes in a sealed bag which you snip open, tip into a bowl, add two eggs and mix. Couldn't be easier. Then spoon the mixture into the cake cases and bake for around twelve minutes.

Just add two eggs to the cake batter

Once the cakes are cooled, you are ready for the icing. This too comes in a sealed bag and needs transferring into the icing bag provided, once you have decided which nozzle to use. The icing smells lovely and I had to stop my little helper from eating it before it got on the cakes. My son is six and he soon got the hang of the swirly icing and then he topped the cakes off with the decorations provided.

Now for the icing

A few finishing touches

The finished product

As you can see from the final picture, the end result was pretty impressive and they tasted delicious.

The Real Cupcake Company Kits contain natural and ingredients and real fruit. They are also dairy free which was a bonus for us as my husband is lactose intolerant, so he was able to enjoy the cupcakes without having to worry.

There are currently two types of cupcake kits available from The Real Cupcake Company: Nice Cupcake Kits, which are strawberry, lemon or orange and Naughty Cupcake Kits, which are Strawberry and Champagne or Blueberry and Bourbon.

We were very impressed with the kits. It is great that they provide everything you need to make the cakes so easily. But for us, the important thing was the taste and the children said they were the nicest cakes they had ever eaten and they loved it that the icing tasted like real strawberries.

The Real Cupcake Company provided us with the cupcake kit free of charge for the purposes of the review. The opinions are all my own.

Silent Sunday

2012-01-07T22:06:00.003Z

A nostalgic one today!

366 Project My first week!

2012-01-07T21:57:00.000Z

The 365 project is not a new phenomenon, but it is new to me. I read about it recently and thought that it is a brilliant idea. I take endless photos, mainly of my children and I love the idea of being able to look back at a yearly record of them, the things they do and see how much they all change in that year.

Thanks firstly to Amanda who writes the amazing theanamumdiary blog without whom, I would have remained completely ignorant of the project and also to TheBoyAndMe who is doing a weekly blog link up for people to link up a weekly post of their 365 project photos, rather that posting everyday, which gave me the final incentive to give this amazing project a go. I love taking photos and now I have a fairly decent camera on my phone, there really is no excuse not to take at least one photo a day.

1st January 2012. My husband and I took the three youngest children to a local park as it was such a mild and dry day. We had a brilliant time. The park was unusually quiet and we had a great play on everything, played football and ran up a good appetite for lunch.

I love this photo as it is quite unusual to get a photo with the three all looking the right way and looking happy.

Day two saw me nearly forgetting to take a photo!! I now have a reminder in the kitchen, just in case. Luckily, the boys were just settling down for bed and this was an unusual bit of brotherly bonding over a rugby book.

Day three and R and I did some cooking. We were having some visitors and made some lovely Malteser cakes (courtesy of Cheetahs In My Shoes, where you will find this and other lovely recipes) and some white chocolate chip cakes. They were yummy and didn't last long!

Day four and daddy went back to work. We were all up quite early which was a bit of a shock, so some duvet and snuggles in front of early morning television were in order to break us gently in to the day.

Day five was back to school day for the boys, so we were up early, bags packed and almost raring to go. We had such a lovely Christmas holiday that none of us were very enthusiastic today.

Day six and it was swimming which was clearly very tiring!

Day seven and as part of our determination to get out more as a family and make more of our weekends, we made the most of the afternoon sunshine and dragged the new bikes and scooter out for a trip to the park. It was a lovely afternoon.

So that was week one. One down and fifty one to go!

Mix-Tape Monday - A song by your first pop-star crush

2012-01-06T20:57:00.000Z

Well the first Mix-tape Monday of 2012 and its a good one! This was a very easy choice for me. My teenage years took place in the eighties and I was OBSESSED with this particular group. We are talking, not a space on the wall that wasn't covered in their faces. I was totally in love with Simon Lebon and was quite definitely going to marry him. I had and in fact still have all the vinyl albums and 12 inch singles. I also went to see them in concert at Villa Park in Birmingham, along with hundreds of other screaming, obsessed teenage girls, which was seriously not good for my vocal chords or my ears. This was my favourite song:

Want to hear some more classic tunes or to join in, pop on over to the fantastic I Want My Mummy!

Saturday is caption day!

2012-01-06T19:10:00.001Z

You know what to do ...

If you want to see some more, pop on over to the legendary Mammasaurus blog and have a look or join in with a photo of your own.

Is it different having a little girl?

2012-01-05T21:28:00.000Z

It has been a whole new ball game for me having a little girl. With my first three pregnancies, I instinctively knew that they were boys. It made things easier in some ways. Although they are all completely unique and individual in so many ways, they wore the same sorts of clothes, did the same sorts of things and were cuddly and stroppy in equal measures. My two middle boys were born within eighteen months of each other, which was and still is quite useful in the whole recycling of clothes, toys, books and any other things that can be handed down.

My third pregnancy was tough, I was utterly exhausted most of the time and then my gorgeous little boy was a very difficult baby, so I swore that I didn't want to have anymore. Having three boys, I got really fed up with people asking me if I was going to try for a girl. I wanted children, I hadn't specifically wanted boys, I just wanted healthy, happy children. My husband and I started to think about another and I quickly fell pregnant. Again, a barrage of "I bet you want a girl this time?" type questions which I got rather sick of in the end!

Due to the fact that I was a 'geriatric mum' (I was 39 at the time!) when I fell pregnant the last time, I had to had an amniocentesis. The only very small fragment of positivity that could be gleaned from that horrible experience, was the fact that they were able to tell me the sex. I nearly dropped the phone in shock, when the nurse told me I was having a little girl. I was so expecting her to say boy that I was totally unprepared.

It wasn't that I didn't want a girl. I just assumed that I was one of those people who didn't have girls. So I did ask her twice if she was sure and did she have the correct results. She must have thought that I was a mad woman. I was in a state of shock. But after a few weeks and lots of looking at lots of pink things in the shops, I soon came round to the idea.

Lots of my friends have girls and were on hand to give me advice from the length of time it takes to potty train them from their mood swings, eating habits and independence. I tried not to buy into this as to me she was a child; unique, individual just like her brothers were. Yes, I would dress her differently and some of her toys would be different, but surely it wouldn't be that different having a girl?

Two years later and we have just celebrated her second birthday. The two years have flown by, which has lead me to reflect on how or if indeed whether life has been different having a girl. She is certainly a little madam at the moment. We are entering that period in a toddlers life where she thinks she has a choice and I am trying to convince her that she doesn't. It is a battle of wills, that is sure. If she had her way at the moment, she would be existing on chocolate, ice-cream and biscuits and would be wearing the same set of clothes, with her Minnie Mouse Wellies on and would not take them off, ever!

Is this new though? No, not really. My now seven year old went through the 'terrible twos' and my goodness did I have some stand-offs with him. At the time, he was coming to terms with the arrival of his baby brother and I struggled to take him out anywhere as I found the whole experience of crying baby and stroppy toddler too exhausting. So the tantrums are not exclusive to little girls and although my daughter is very good at them, she isn't a patch on her older brother.

She does have a definite addiction to the colour pink. Clothes, toys everything is a variation of pink. Is that because she's a girl? Probably. Is it due to the fact that she has been surrounded by pink since she was a baby? More likely. Our first daughter after the boys, the first granddaughter on both sides. We all love buying pink girlie outfits and pink girlie toys. You can't help it after all the boyish stuff. It's just so pretty! So it is more likely that she loves pink as that is what she's used to.

In some ways, she is like her brothers. She loves being out and about. There is no feminine finesse about this little girl. She charges around like a rampaging rhino most of the time. She loves climbing, jumping and playing football. My husband has talked about her doing 'ballet'. I just laughed at him. Firstly, why do little girls have to do ballet? Is it a necessity if you are a girl under four feet tall? Sadly, my daughter is a little bit like her mother and grace is not something that becomes us. It is more likely that she will do football and swimming as her brothers have done before her, unless she has a burning desire to do ballet when she is old enough to decide for herself, the only tutus in this house will be in the dressing up box.

The only difference that I have seen with A that could possibly be described as a definite feminine attribute is her total obsession with clothes. Already. Aged two. I can take that little girl into a clothes shop and she has an arm full of hangers straight away. All sparkly tops and frilly skirts. It's hilarious. Compared to the boys, who only now aged six and seven like to choose what they wear, she is a bit of a 'diva'. She chooses what she wears. If you get something out that she doesn't like, she refuses to get dressed and runs around the house half naked until you find something that is acceptable. Even vests have to have Minnie Mouse or Peppa Pig emblazoned on the front. We are given quite a few items of clothing from friends who have girls and unfortunately we have a number of coats. I say unfortunately, as although it is great, we now have a daily debate over which coat she is going to wear. I'm sure you know only too well that point in the morning just before you are due to leave on the school run, you will be late if you don't get everyone out in the next two minutes, everyone is ready, apart from little madam who is having a paddy as she doesn't want to wear the chosen coat.

I have to say that it has been lovely having a little girl in the family. But not specifically because she is a little girl. She is a beautiful, intelligent, independent, stubborn, funny, imaginative little person. She has brought with her a new dimension to our family and has made it complete. She is our daughter and like her brothers, she is an individual and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Fiction Fridays

2012-01-05T21:25:00.001Z

"This is the Gumboyle family. And this is their dog. He is a doctor."

Want to know more about Fiction Fridays or link up, click on the badge and have a look:

#3 Books - My Three Books

2012-01-05T13:09:00.001Z

So the lovely Emily from A mummy too has inspired me to have a think about my favourite books. I have said in previous posts that books have played a massive part in my life. As a child, I always had my head in a book. Being an only child, it seemed that there was no better way than whiling away the hours in whatever imaginary world I was reading about at the time. I was a massive Enid Blyton fan and by the time I had finished primary school, I had read all of her books. In my early teenage years, I was reading a wide range of classic books. Anything from Lord of the Rings to Pride and Prejudice. During my university years, I was reading French novels: classics and modern and then adulthood saw a move towards "chick lit" with an occasional autobiography thrown in for good measure.

These days, I don't read as often as I would like. I have resisted the temptation of the Kindle. For me I like to read a proper book and you can pick books up quite cheaply these days. Family life has become more demanding and so reading my books is not a priority at the moment. However, I have always read to my children from a very early age and we have hundreds of books of different types in the house. I am very proud that my three older children all love reading and are all excelling in school, which I definitely think is partly due to a positive attitude to reading at home. In my opinion reading to your children is one of the great gifts you can give a child.

The challenge is to share the three books you love most from your time as a child, adult and parent. Choosing each of these books has been really difficult for me as I could have chosen several for each.

Childhood
It had to be Enid Blyton. Whatever has been said about Enid Blyton and her books in recent years, her ability to capture the imagination of her readers was undeniable. I wanted to be her and probably still have my Enid Blyton inspired hand written books on very similar themes to hers, lurking at the bottom of a cupboard somewhere. The best book? The Magic Faraway Tree. I recently read this book with my son and he loved it too. Joe, Beth and Frannie move to a new house on the edge of an enchanted forest, they soon discover The Magic Faraway Tree and with their brilliantly named new friends: Moonface, Saucepan Man and Silky the Fairy, they go on magical adventures in the different lands that appear at the top of the tree. It is a beautiful story and in my opinion, it is completely timeless. My son enjoyed it as much as I did and has since read a number of other Enid Blyton books.

Adulthood
This, I'm afraid is rather predictable, but I'm not going to apologise for it as it is a brilliant book. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It is a book that I have read several times and I will probably read it again several more times. It is like an old friend. I read it as a teenager the first time, but it probably wasn't until I was an adult that I fully appreciated the story and what it said about the lives of women at that time. 'It is a fact universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a wife.' Possibly one of the most famous of opening lines and the premise for this tale of a family with five daughters and their mother's desperate pursuit of a suitable match for each of them. The heroine; Elizabeth Bennett, is one of my favourite heroines, she is strong-willed, determined and stubborn. Her love for Mr Darcy slowly grows from an initial hatred as she realises that she wrongly misjudged his character, and whilst this relationship gently develops, in the background we see the trials and tribulations of her sisters and their romances.

Parenthood
A slightly less predictable choice this time. I have been a fan of Babette Cole books for many years. She has taken some interesting subjects and made them into hilarious and interesting books for children. Dr. Dog is a book that I used to read to my eldest son many years ago and it used to make him hoot with laughter. Dr. Dog is the personal physician to the Gumboyle family, a family who seem to suffer from a number of medical problems from dizziness and tummy problems to nits and tickly tonsils. Luckily Dr. Dog is on hand to give excellent advice such as: "Never scratch your bum and suck your thumb!" Which is definitely great advice in my opinion. If you have never read this or any of the other Babette Cole books, then you most definitely should.

So those are three books that I love and would recommend, what three books would you choose?

If you fancy finding out what other people would choose, pop on over to A mummy too and have a look and if you want to join in, you can link up too.

#I spy : I spy with my little eye something beginning with ... N

2012-01-03T14:01:00.001Z

Do you know what it is yet??

Thank you to the fabulous Mum of One for this interesting meme. Pop over and have a look at what she has spied...

Put down your mobile and play with the children!

2012-01-01T22:08:00.001Z

I was going to call this post; 'Mobile phones are bad for your children', but I thought that that might be misleading as I have little knowledge of the effects of mobile phones on children. Well apart from one that is; they can cause children to feel neglected at times.

I am not perfect and I am fully aware that I do on occasion spend a few too many minutes quietly tweeting or checking my emails when I think that my children are busy doing other things. However, when we are out and about, my attention is on the children. Enjoying my time with them, making sure that they are not fighting or doing anything that will endanger them in anyway.

We all went to the park today. Trying to make the most of the last couple of days before my husband and the children go back to school. Although it was relatively quiet, I couldn't believe how many people there were on their mobile phones. I'm not talking a quick text message and putting it away either. As I scoured around, there were loads of them all chatting away and not taking a blind bit of notice what their children were doing.

Is it just me, or is that not a bit sad. If your children are young enough to be at the park, then they are young enough for you to be watching over them, playing with them, giving them some attention. There was one man in particular, who had a little lad of about three. He was obviously having some in depth work conversation and kept batting his son away. This little boy was quite persistent and kept coming back shouting for his dad's attention. the dad kept apologising to the person on the phone and whispering loudly to his son to go and play.

The son then came back with his hands on his hips and shouted "Daddy, you are supposed to be playing with me!". In some ways it was funny but it was also quite sad really. There are so many advantages to having mobile phones. Life is so much easier. We can do everything, even work on the go of need be. On the other hand, the disadvantages are that we are all too easily distracted by them.

If I go out with my family, I always take my phone with me just in case anyone needs to contact me; the teenage one often texts me during the day as this is preferable to conversing with me. However, it is usually on silent in my pocket. There in case of emergency.

I'm not in a position to tell people what to do, but having a teenager I can say with certainty that life with little children passes all to quickly and it should be enjoyed and made the most of. You don't want to look back and regret that you didn't spend enough time with them when you had the chance.

This week baby I promise

2012-01-01T21:12:00.001Z

We have had the lovliest week this week. We spent most of the week down in Wales with Granny and Grandpa and it has been lovely to spend some quality time as a family without the distractions of the normal daily life. We had lots of play and we did even manage a run out along by the sea on the one day that it didn't rain.

Scuttling on the scuttlebug

X-Factor here we come

This week baby I promise.... that as everything gets back to normal, to do lots of drawing and colouring with you as this is your favourite thing to do at the moment. I am going to let you use all of your lovely new colouring pens that Father Christmas bought you and I will print off some colouring sheets from Cbeebies for you to make some extra special pictures for daddy when he comes back from work.

If you want to find out more about this lovely meme pop on over to the lovely Mum of One and have a look!

Listography - Top 5 Photos of 2011

2012-01-01T20:22:00.002Z

This is my first post for the Kate Takes 5 Listography. As it was all about photos, I couldn't resist.

A Spring visit to the park

Big brother and little sister

The day they hid in the recycling bins to make mummy jump

Our family photo shoot with granny

Our brilliant holiday

These are my five of my favourite photos from the year. I could probably choose a hundred as I take so many, but these are five lovely photos which include all of my children and even a rare appearance from the teenage one!

Silent Sunday

2011-12-31T20:17:00.001Z

What do I want in 2012?

2011-12-31T12:27:00.001Z

I am not a big believer in resolutions. I always avidly make the usual sort of resolutions, you know the ones I'm sure; lose weight, eat better, get fitter, take up some new activity, read more, generally be a better person. Then January arrives with a large cold moneyless thump and generally by around the second or third week of the year, I am feeling generally uninspired.

So this year I am taking a different approach, a more flexible list of 'things I would like to achieve', thus reducing the pressure of 'failing' and hopefully providing myself with inspiration and the main thing that I want to achieve involves my family. My children are all growing up at a tremendous rate. If, like me, you have a big age gap with your children, having an older one, does help you to appreciate the time with the younger ones. O turned 16 this year and he is slowly starting to emerge from his 'teenage kevin' stage (thank god). He is now a young man, independent, sociable and busy. We still spend time with him, but understandably, he wants to spend more time with his friends and girlfriend.

This has made me realise how quickly they grow up. Blink and you miss it. So this year, I want to really make the most of our family time. Sunday is going to be 'family day' and nothing else will be done except cooking a meal that we can eat together or going out together.

If the house isn't as clean as I would like, well it will have to wait. I want to enjoy the children while they're young and not look back in ten years and regret doing other things rather than spend quality time with them.

Another part of that is spending a bit of time with my husband. We celebrated our ten year anniversary yesterday, which is quite an achievement. We don't go out on our own these days due to lack of babysitters who could cope with our mob at bedtime and also continuous exhaustion from about eight o'clock every evening! But nevertheless we do need to try and snatch a bit of time together, even of it is a nice meal and a bottle of wine every couple of weeks after the children have gone to bed!

Yes, I could do with losing a few pounds and doing some exercise, but I know that once I mention the 'diet' word, my brain immediately becomes obsessed with food and it is all I can think about, so that won't work for me. I just love eating! So again, as part of my plan to spend more time with the family, we are going to do lots of outdoors things like walking and cycling (albeit very slowly to begin with) and running around parks. Hopefully, this will help me in my quest to be a bit fitter and who knows, I might lose a couple of pounds along the way!

So that is what I would like to achieve in 2012. Nothing earth shattering I realise, but they are important to me. Yes, I would love to write a book. Yes, I would love to find the perfect job. Yes I would live to learn to speak Italian. If I began to achieve any of those things, it would be great, but right now, my family are the most important thing.

Happy New Year and good luck with any resolutions you make!

Getting out on our favourite Christmas presents

2011-12-29T09:39:00.001Z

We had a fantastic Christmas. We spent a lovely Christmas day with my mum and the children went out in their new bikes and scooters. R had his first proper BMX bike which he's thrilled with and can't wait to learn how to do some tricks. L had a normal bike, but one that is the right size for him and we are determined to get him on two wheels confidently. A had a Peppa pig scooter and although she is struggling with how to ride it, she pushes it around with fierce determination and will accept no help!

Then we arrived in South Wales to receive the usual deluge of presents from granny and grandpa. The two boys had a Flicker scooter each and they absolutely love them. I have to admit that they are pretty cool and I have had a few goes on them too. A had a purple Scramblebug which is very cool and although slow, she is pushing herself around the place on it and she loves it.

So, yesterday we went to Mumbles in Swansea. It is a fab stretch of wide pathway where you can walk or cycle along by the sea. There is a lovely park and a fab café at the end and we often drive over to have a walk and then stop at the café for lunch or an ice-cream.

Yesterday must have been 'try your Christmas presents out in Mumbles' day as there were a vast array of shiny new bikes, scooters, skateboards and little motorised cars to behold. We spent a lovely couple of hours with the children, the weather was quite mild and it did us all some good to get out in the fresh air after the excesses of Christmas day.

L whizzing along on his scooter

There was a heart-stopping moment when R decided it was a good idea to try outdone of the slip ways and his dad and I turned round to see him flying down the slip-way, completely out of control and landing in a heap at the bottom! (luckily the tide was out!). We rushed down to pick him up and all he could say for himself was "awesome"!

A soggy R after his run down the slip-way

A trundling along on her Scuttlebug

I love the fact that this year, we had less toys and more things that will get us out and about. Hopefully, it will encourage me out of the armchair a bit more!

Happy New Year!!

#I spy: I spy with my little eye something beginning with ... C

2011-12-28T16:22:00.001Z

I can see four 'c's' in this picture! How many can you spot?

Thank you to the fabulous Mum of One for this interesting meme. Pop over and have a look at what she has spied...

This week baby I promise...

2011-12-26T19:15:00.001Z

So this week has been a crazy week of festive fun! As promised, we did some baking and we made some amazing cakes and some fab truffles for the two grannies! We also made a some hand-print Christmas tree cards which A loved doing.

Making truffles with a bit of help from daddy

hand print Christmas cards

Christmas day

Christmas has been lovely and A has had some amazing presents and seems to love them all. This week we are spending the week at Granny and Grandpa's in South Wales, so this week baby I promise to spend lots of time playing with your new toys with you, to take you out lots on your new Scramble Bug and to go and see the sea at least once even though it's a little chilly!

If you want to find out more about this lovely meme pop on over to the lovely Mum of One and have a look!

The terrorising two year old

2011-12-26T18:50:00.001Z

It's like flicking a light switch isn't it? One day your lovely reasonable, calm, affectionate two year old goes to sleep and then wakes up with a personality transplant. Gone is the calm and lovely child. Gone is the ability to reason with them. Gone are most words other than "no", "I don't want to", "that's mine" and "I don't like it!" Gone is the sweet soft voice. Gone is any chance of leaving the house without having at least one major tantrum!

I have been through it before as I have three other children, but it's funny how you forget. It's like giving birth, painful and exhausting but what follows is such a joyful relief that you forget what came before.

Over the summer, A did start to get a bit more "temperamental" at times over things and a few people gave me that knowing look and one or two said that I should brace myself for the "terrible twos". But I just smiled and laughed it off. It would be a doddle, wouldn't it? I've been through it before and survived, haven't I? I'm a seasoned veteran at dealing with the challenges of parenting.

So, I'm not laughing anymore! I really had forgotten how frustrating and exhausting it is. And it's the smallest, stupidest, most insignificant things that cause the biggest tantrums. Take Christmas day for a good example. It is the first Christmas where A has really got into it. She was thrilled to get presents and opened them all with enthusiasm and loved everything. She is particularly fond of Peppa Pig at the moment and the mere hint of an oink has her scurrying to the television faster than anything. She seemed to get a number of pairs of pyjamas this year and one if them was embellished with the loveable pig and it was love at first sight! She managed to expertly rip open the remaining presents whilst holding on to these pyjamas. Time to get dressed came and A had a lovely new top and leggings to wear, but no! She wanted to change into her new pyjamas and nothing and no-one was going to deter her.

We managed to get as far as undressing her and that is as far as we got. No, she was not putting on anything but these pyjamas. We tried all the usual approaches; coaxing, threatening, shouting, ignoring, bribing, but no, she screamed and she shouted, she ran away, she screamed some more and the the tears. It went on for hours and I was envisaging the lovely Christmas day family photos with everyone looking lovely and A in her Peppa Pig PJ's!

An hour and a half later, she was distracted by one of her toys and I gently suggested that she was a bit chilly and maybe she should get dressed and she did, as meek as a little lamb. Face red and tear-stained, but quite happy, normal service had been resumed.

The phrase "terrible twos" is slightly misleading I always think. All four of my children have gone through the "frustration and tantrums" period at totally different times. My eldest went through it at three and it was triggered by his father and I splitting up and I remember having some interesting stand-offs with him. Shops were the thing with him. He was rather spoilt and whenever we went into a shop, he was only ever happy if he got some new piece of plastic to add to his collection. No was not an option as far as he was concerned and I can still vividly remember a terrible tantrum he had in a little shop in Cornwall about a little teddy bear in disguise.

My now seven year old reacted very badly to the birth of his brother when he was nineteen months and he still has the crown for the king of all tantrums. He was and still is the most fiercely determined character and when he had a tantrum it went on and on and on. By the time he was two, he had calmed down a bit and became the loveliest and calmest of children.

Baby brother, child number three was different again. The loveliest two year old you could ever wish for. Gentle, calm, loving, reasonable, I should have known that it wouldn't be that easy. Around three and a half, he changed and that is when the fun began with him. L is a lovely boy, but the tantrums we have had with him have been a whole new ball game. We have had bed times with L where he has been so aggressive, we have wondered what we are going to so with him. Three years later and although things have improved, he still has some impressive tantrums at times.

Having lived through that, the "terrible twos" are definitely more appealing as at least they can be short-lived. One or two people have said that the tantrums will be worse with A as she is a girl. I don't think that that is the case. She is her own person, she has reached that point in her life where she thinks that she can make the decisions. The tantrums are just her way of manifesting that. She is simply a little girl who is fiercely independent and who is making that change from baby to toddler. We just need to batten down the hatches until she comes out the other end!

Saturday is Christmas caption day!!!

2011-12-24T08:06:00.000Z

You know the drill by now!

Have a happy Christmas everybody and thank you for looking! Pop on over to the legendary Mammasaurus and see some more or join in!