smilernpb

Job hopes - dashed! :o(

2012-01-27T14:30:00.000Z

I've been reviewing my outlook on my job over the past week or so. For those of you that don't know, I work in a call centre - I'd rather not say where on here, on this post, but if you'd really like to know then you can always contact me direct and I will tell you (just don't want the search engines to pick it up - haha!).

I don't work in outbound, cold calling or anything like that. I work in inbound, where people call in because they need help or assistance or have a query. Usually it's because there is something wrong, or something they have sent in has not been processed. Oh the clues. Am trying to be as vague as possible....but it's not really working. Haha.

Anyway, I've been here now since November 2010, and since the turnover of staff is quite high, I am now considered one of the more experienced members of staff, and I now take internal calls from other advisors who need assistance with their calls, with the more complax of queries. I act as a 'buddy' where new members of staff, during their training, will sit with me and listen to my calls, which we then discuss afterwards, to assist them with their learning and understanding of the company and the service we provide.

In certain cases I get personally involved in seeing through the person's query, long after I pass it on to the processing department. I check back on the account to make sure what should have been done, HAS been done. Then I email/call the customer back to advise them I have seen it through to the end. This has resulted in a number of emails that I have received in return. Which is nice, I like that.

Earlier on this week, I noticed a job advertisement on our online recruiting site, for an internal vacancy for a Team Leader. I have just started my training for Team Leader cover, for covering holiday weeks and things like that, however I thought this would be an ideal opportunity to express my interest in furthering my career. Yes, I do have good days and bad days at work, and well, who doesn't? I don't have any real desire to leave (it's not THAT bad!) but I would have preferred something with either more money, or better hours (I currently work Sundays 9.30-5.50 and Monday to Thursday 10-6). So, I sort of got all exicted, and planned on updating my CV to show the experience necesary, and do you know what? I felt quite confident about putting in my application.

However, the job application did not state the hours - the shift that would be required to work. It just stated that the call centre was open from 8am-8pm Monday to Friday and 9.30am-5.30pm Saturday and Sunday. So I thought it best, before putting in my application, to see if anyone knew what the shift pattern would be. I was informed it was 'more than likely' a weekend compressed shift - a compressed shift being a short 8 hour day (working 7.5 hours) - this would be the weekend day due to the opening hours and three long 11 hour days (working 10 hours), per week with three days off (these could be any day, and at least two would be together). I was gutted. There is NO WAY this would even be able to fit in with my family, plus the fact that I was told that it was 'more than likely' going to be a Saturday shift. The ONLY day I couldn't work in any job, due to P's personal commitments.

I spent some time reflecting this, and I felt quite angry. Yes, a lot (I wouldn't say the majority, though) of the shifts in the call centre are compressed shifts, which probably suits them, but for a working mum-of-three would be completely unsuitable. I decided that although it would be beneficial for the experience of applying for an interview, that I would be wasting everyone's time applying for a job that, in the event I got it, I wouldn't even be able to take up!

So, I shall stay where I am for the time being, and continue to do what I do, and see what other jobs come up. However, this could mean that I might have to start looking elsewhere for jobs if all the jobs higher than my current one offer a similiar shift pattern.

So...what are your thoughts? Did I do the right thing? have you, or anyone you know, had a similiar situation? Thanks for letting me vent! xx

Car Trouble (Part 2): Is it a car.....? No! It's a....

2012-01-25T21:37:00.000Z

And so you've probably guessed by now, that the old car was gotten rid of, however I shall tell you the rest of the story.

P called me last week at work, and said he was taking the car to his friend, who is a retired mechanic, and that he needed the log book. I did think that was a bit odd, but he said that his friend needed to see the engine number, and stuff like that, and it'd be easier for him to get it off the log book as opposed to the car. That sounded plausible as I know when ordering parts for cars in the past, P has taken the details from the log book as opposed to the vehicle itself.

Anyway, on the same day P took the Picasso over to his friends garage to have a repair to the exhaust (which was thankfully, still under warranty). He picked me up from work in a little van, which he said his friend had let him borrow as the Picasso wouldn't be ready until the next day. Half way home, I asked how his friend had got on with the car. 'Oh,' he said, 'I didn't take it to Peter's, I scrapped it!'. Cue lots of squeals from me, about how I was going to get to work, and stuff like that, before he continued, 'oh yeah, and I brought this van off Rob!'. Damn him being so matter of fact! A van?!

It's a little van, which used to be a parts van for one of the garages, so basically has only been used to carry spare parts. Conveniently, P informed me the van was also suitable for carrying all of his drum equipment to and from band practice.

Admittedly I was in a little bit of shock. I haven't ever driven a van before - large or small and I because it's a diesel I have to remember to put the right fuel in it (I am so hoping that I do, or it could be a VERY expensive mistake!).

So yes, I now have a van!

Although I think part of me will always wonder WHAT exactly the issue with the car was! P says I am not to think about it, seeing as it nearly drove him insane for so many months. Ooops.

Car Troubles

2012-01-24T20:09:00.000Z

When I started working, I mentioned that I had brought a battered Vauxhall Astra in order to get me to and from work, and the car, although a very disgusting light gold colour did it's job until, towards the end of last year it developed a fault.

The engine would cut out. Just every now and then as I was driving, usually as I was sat at a junction or in traffic and although it would restart immediately, it was extremely annoying. Anyway, it got worse, and sometimes wouldn't restart straight away. Then it cut out as I was driving. I knew when it would happen because it would just lose power, and more often than not I would have the time, as the car slowed down to pull over somewhere safe and try and re-start it.

Now P is a mechanic by trade, although he's not worked in the industry for some time, he was a mechanic from leaving school for a number of year, progressing to MOT tester at two well known garages here in the local town, before he had an accident whilst at work that ruined his career (which is another story). Anyway, as a trained mechanic he always keeps our vehicles in tip top condition, saving us £100's per year by servicing the cars and things like that.

But this fault was a rather annoying one, as he explained to me. It was what is referred to as an 'intermittent fault' - in other words - it sometimes worked fine, with no problems and other times would not. Basically it would run fine for days, although while I was driving it I would constantly be on edge *waiting* for something to happen, and then other times, it would cut out five or six times on a normal one and a half mile journey.

It was a nightmare to say the least and it got to the point where my confidence was knocked, but I couldn't do anything about it. We didn't have the money laying around to just buy a newer (second hand) car and it would be too hard for P to give me a lift to and from work each day.

Towards the end of last year we replaced various parts of the car, to make sure that all the parts where the fault COULD have been had been replaced, however although it then ran OK for a few weeks over Christmas, the fault was still there. The ONLY way to find the fault, P said was for us both to drive it, until it broke down, and then as we were re-starting it, he could look under the bonnet and see what wasn't happening (that was supposed to be happening) however that NEVER happened - it would not 'break down' when we wanted it to, and it became more and more frustrating.

After a particularly bad incident just before P's elbow surgery, I knew that at whatever cost the damn car HAD to be fixed, it was too inconsistent for me to drive it the way it was.

And so....I leave my story there. I shall update you with the rest of the story tomorrow. My fingers are aching from all the typing. Plus, it's hardly a very exciting story so I am SURE you will manage until tomorrow! Haha! :o) xx

Laptop issues :o(

2012-01-22T23:08:00.004Z

My laptop has been playing up for some time. It developed a fault sometime last year with it's CD/disc drive, which to be honest didn't bother me as I don't play games on it, and don't load CD's on my laptop, but then the other day it went and broke on me! :o(

It did this silly thing as I tried to start it up....and indicated that it wanted me to do a 'disc repair' so I did....and after a LONG time it said it was all sorted and would re-start itself...

....and then....

BLACKNESS.

Nothing. Not a thing.

Hmmm. And seeing as both P and I know *NOTHING* about laptops, I have manged to ring around a few local places and after explaining what happened, have been quoted proces ranging from £55 to £90 for a full repair IF it can be done. I'm not a hapy bunny, and so for the time being am resorting to using P's ancient laptop (which to be fair, he rarely uses now he has his iPad) but the damn thing has a mind of it's own and the cursor will randomly move here and there, and it's taking a BIT of getting used to.

I will try and not let it affect my blogging. But if it does, you know where I am! :o) Hope everyone is OK? xx

Trampoline!

2012-01-19T09:43:00.000Z

After campaigning all summer to P to buy a trampoline for the kids, he sent me a text while I was at work this week to say his friend was getting rid of one, and was it OK if we had it?

It's a massive 8ft one....which doesn't actually sound that big....

...until it's IN the garden and you realise it takes over the whole garden.

Kids are excited. Very excited. The little girl on the end house has a trampoline, which they played on a lot over the summer, but of course, they could only play on it when she asked them to, and that wasn't very often. And then she would only say B could go on it, or M....so it caused all sorts of arguments.

P is busy trying to figure out where we can store it, as he doesn't want it up all the time. Also we need some sort of tarpaulin to cover it, and a safety net would be handy too, seeing as our garden is concrete. :o( For the time being it's a strictly 'one child at a time' policy for this very reason, which is not going down well.

But hey, for FREE it was pretty good, don't you think?

Video: M joins taekwondo!

2012-01-17T19:55:00.006Z

After watching B's first taekwondo grading in December, M was in awe of all the girls competing for their next grading, and she expressed an interest in joining B in his taekwondo classes.

P and I discussed this, and we decided that it would be good for her to join.

She's been attending classes all month, and today she got her outfit. We got the opportunity to purchase a second hand one, and so that was good as it came complete with taekwondo badge and everything. We need to sort out her insurance next, which is £40 for the year.

Here is what her highness looks like:

And this is her doing her first pattern (white belt pattern):

!

She's already showing a great determination. Bless her

B's new haircut

2012-01-16T08:43:00.000Z

P's Mam took B to have his hair cut on Saturday.

Apparently he asked the hairdresser to make him look like ELVIS!

Here is the finished result:

It's one of a few times he has mentioned Elvis recently, who he refers to as a 'pop star' - I wonder what the King of Rock and Roll would have to say about that?!

Review: I've been Sugar Poke'd!

2012-01-15T10:11:00.001Z

Yesterday we received a goodie box from Sugar Poke. It was Honeycomb and Heaven.

I found Sugar Poke on Twitter, and they have an amzing website where you can send a yummy goodie box to a loved one, for a special occasion...or indeed, 'just because'. I think it's a FAB idea.

Anyway, yes, 'Honeycomb and Heaven' retails at £7 (including postage) and is letterbox sized (as most of the things on the website are). I love the fact that it easily slips through the letterbox. Although to be fair, I was loitering in the kitchen as Postie walked into the garden, but for the purposes of a fair test, I admit I did then 'post' through our letterbox to check! Haha!

So....what was inside?

A 65g bar of Anyone for Tiffin?, a 55g Brilliant Brownie and a 65g (Choc) Chip off the Old Block chocolate chip shortbread.

Included also was a good quality greetings card, of which you could choose from a number of designs, and include your own personalised message. Personally, I think this little sheep is so cute! :o)

The goodies were nestled into the letterbox friendly sized box, in which Sugar Poke had placed some vibrant red tissue paper. I was very impressed with the initial look of the goodies, you could tell that time and effort had gone into making up the order, due to the layout of the items within the box.

When it arrived in the post M said to me, 'you always get post!' which is not *quite true* so she was very happy when she realised that this was something SHE could get stuck into too! B, my very own chocolate, biscuit and cake monster was extremely excited, so much so that he was making 'mmmmmm' noises at the bars BEFORE we had even opened them. He was desperate to try them, in fact that he asked me at least ten times during the day when we were going to eat them!

So...the taste test. The big question was...seeing as they all looked yummy....which one to try first?!

The first one we opened was (Choc) Chip off the Old Block, which I must say was delicious. The shortbread was a buttery kind of shortbread that melted in your mouth and the chocolate chips scattered throughout it just made it even more delicious. M liked this one, and B said it was yummy, so a big thumbs up from us all.

The second one we opened was Brilliant Brownie (which B had been eyeing from the start!) which was equally as delicious. It was moist and chewy - everything that had been promised in the description - it does not surprise me that it is an award winning brownie. M was not so keen on this, which is NO reflection on the product itself, she doesn't really like chocolate cake (yes...I know...what the? lol) so B's reaction more than made up for it. The way we taste tested each of the items was to have a small bit each, leaving some of the bar left....and somehow the rest of the Brilliant Brownie disappeared into the deepest depths of B's bedroom, never to be seen again. So...I think I am safe to say it was a HUGE winner with him.

The last one we opened was the Anyone for Tiffin? bar. Now I'll admit I was not sure what Tiffin was, so I wasn't sure what to expect. A little bit like chocolate refridgerator cake, I think is what it can be described as. B and M were not so keen, so this meant I could have this treat to myself - and it was very rich and chocolatey. There were honeycomb pieces scattered throughtout it gave it a very sophisticated edge. It was very moreish. A big thumbs up from me.

So if our first impression of Honeycomb and Heaven was good, by the time we'd finished eating the contents, we were hooked! The concept behind the Sugar Poke website is ingenious, one which we will definately be using in the future. i explained how the website worked to the children, and B and M have both said that they want to send Nanna something like the package we received! :o)

All in all, our overall opinion of the Sugar Poke gift is that it's a wonderful idea. There are so many different things that can be sent via post. The price shown on the website includes first class postage. Plus, if you order before 2pm, your goodies are sent the SAME DAY! The one that we received was sent first class on the Friday, and we received it on the Saturday morning, but you'd have to bear in mind at peak times, it may take a little longer for your items to be sent. Prices for the packages start at just £4.99 so there will be something suitable for every budget available. I think that Honeycomb and Heaven is also reasonably priced, and I would definately buy this again to send as a gift.

If you haven't visted Sugar Poke's website yet, I strongly recommend that you do. You can also follow them on Twitter (@SugarPokeUK).

Disclaimer: for the purposes of the review we were sent a Honeycomb and Heaven package. The thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely our own, honest review of both the product and the company.

Busy week!

2012-01-14T20:13:00.000Z

So...over the last week, we have been pretty busy.

As well as looking after P, and also work...I caught up with all my jobs around the house, including (finally!) fitting a new toilet seat to the downstairs toilet. Which, rather shockingly has been sat in it's packaging for the past three months (possibily more). But hey, it's done now. Phew.

I've done so much washing, drying and ironing - jobs I really HATE! :o(

M has been busy looking through this:

The Sylvanian Families catalogue, which shows the FULL range of everything they sell. Hmm, maybe with hindsight, this may have been a bad idea as she wants *aherm* EVERYTHING!

We made some chocolate chip cookies, and at Bronte's request we made P a 'get well soon' chocolate cake, which M decorated with white chocolate buttons:

We used the recipe I shared here.

Also I had a bit of a tidy up in B's room by getting rid of his rather unloved goldfish (by safely taking it back to the pet shop, ready for a new owner) and then emptying and cleaning out his fish tank and putting it in the garage? The reason for all of this? So he could move his small chest of drawers, TV and Playstation 3 to where the fish tank used to be....so he can now sit on his bed and play his games/watch TV as opposed to standing up like he used to! He does have a bean bag but he refused to sit on it. So it's gone from this (please ignore the mess - he IS a 9 year old boy after all!):

to this:

So all in all, it's been a pretty busy week! What about you? What have you been up to? xx

Peppa Pig Land?!

2012-01-13T13:07:00.001Z

Bronte got a new Peppa Pig DVD for Christmas *that she didn't already have!* and it included a preview of Peppa Pig World...which I actually didn't know existed.

It's in Hampshire, so a long way from us here in the North East. But Bronte and M are DESPERATE to go. I'm thinking P will need a lot of convincing.

However....is it just me or do the the 'dressed up' Peppa and George look REALLY quite freaky?! See what you think!

But apparently not - Bronte has watched the preview at least a dozen times now. And she still wants to go! Yikes! :o)

Anyone for sausage?

2012-01-12T20:03:00.000Z

Or sosij?

I just LOVE the way M has spelt this! She was writing a menu...

She's such a sweetie. I didn't have the heart to correct her. Although not spelt correctly....you can totally see how she's come to that spelling.

Bless her.

All is well...

2012-01-11T19:43:00.000Z

Please don't be alarmed by the lack of posts - I am still here and we are all doing well.

My blog absence over the past couple of days has been caused by the short notice we had for P's operation last Friday, and the fact that I wasn't able to get any posts written up in advance.

He is doing OK by the way. Although we were at the hospital pretty much the WHOLE day on Friday. He had to be there for 7am as he was third on the list, however when we got there, they then said it was likely he'd go down to theatre late morning, or it could well be first on the afternoon list! We were mortified. Thankfully P had his iPad (his Christmas present!) and I had my kindle and a couple of magazines, so that kept us busy and entertained. As it turned out he went down for surgery at 12pm, and we eventually left at 4.30pm.

His recovery is going OK, it's very difficult for him because he's only got the full use of one arm, and needless to say you need two arms to do most things. Poor thing. We are getting there, and P's Mam and Dad have been helping us with the little ones' and so that's been very useful.

He saw the nurse yesterday and she changed the dressing on his arm (which was from the top of his arm to his wrist) to a smaller dressing, so he has a little more movement now, although it's still very sore.

I will be back to normal over the next few days, so keep popping back.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers for P's speedy recovery xx

Amazing views at the Sylvanian Hotel!

2012-01-06T08:07:00.000Z

In the past week, M has been busy playing with her Sylvanian Hotel.

There are amazing views to be had, and very comfortable it is too...

Want to see?

A roof-top terrace with a sofa.

If you'd like to come and stay, please do let us know....it's booking very quickly LOL

P's Ops - another update

2012-01-05T08:47:00.001Z

OK, so it’s been a while since I updated you with the progress of P’s hospital appointments and so on. The cortisone injection he had in November did not work, and provided no pain relief to his constant hip pain – therefore, we have now exhausted all options that the hip surgeon has asked him to.

He met with him again earlier in December, and the hip surgeon is STILL reluctant to conduct hip surgery as he still feels that the condition of the hip (that he can see from various scans etc does not justify the pain P is in). Hmmm – so as discussed with me, P asked him what would happen next, because surely he can not be expected to live in constant pain all of the time, because of the hip surgeon’s reluctance to conduct as operation on P just because of his age.

From what we can gather, P’s surgeon’s argument has always been that P’s age could mean that whatever operation he conducts on P’s hip would not last for the rest of P’s life – with a typical new hip having a lifespan of say 10-15 years.

Anyway, P had a scan which showed the surgeon the exact shape of his hip – if you recall, due to the growth defect – the slipped oepifis - he had a teenager, he does not have a ‘normal hip’ (his hip is oddly shaped due to the condition he had, and the wear and tear on the joint in the years following) – and the surgeon has now requested that he has ANOTHER scan – and following this one – he will make a decision on what surgery to perform. Due to the shape of his hip – the surgeon is at present unsure as to whether he would be able to perform a hip resurface (the preferred – less evasive -surgery) as opposed to a full hip replacement. Apparently once he has all the scans, he will be speaking with a colleague to discuss the case (in other words, P!) to see what they think which surgery is going to be viable. In theory though, they could agree on a hip resurface, and when they actually DO they surgery they may be unable to do it, and HAVE to perform the full hip replacement, which I don’t think the surgeon likes the idea of, obviously having been prepped and ready to perform one surgery and then be forced to do another at the last minute.

I don’t know – to be honest I am getting a bit tired of the whole saga. I dread to think what it must be like for P. He walks with a limp, he walks with one leg an inch shorter than the other and he is in constant pain every day. He is unable to work, and is unable to sit and/or stand for long periods of time without being in discomfort. Painkillers/medication, sadly are unable to take the pain away. I just wish that this could get sorted for him, as this is no way for an active (nearly) 35 year old to lead his life. P’s argument has always been that he would rather be active now, while the children are young – to be able to ride his motorcycle, to run around with the children playing football and so on, and to have a good quality of life NOW as opposed to when he is much older. It just doesn’t seem fair.

I have already told P that his surgeon will be talking about him as a ‘test case’ for years to come!

In other news – you won’t believe this! – he’s also being referred for surgery….on his ELBOW! For the past eighteen months he’s been having terrible pain with ‘tennis elbow’ during which time, he’s had a couple of cortisone injections – one of which worked, and the other two did not – hence why he’s now seen yet another surgeon! And now, because the injections haven’t worked, the next step is surgery. Oh joy.

So yes, he got put on the 'waiting list' and was told to expect surgery in around three months. Until yesterday. When he got a call from the hospital, who asked if he would like to have his surgery on Friday. Yes, that's right. TOMORROW! Talk about less than 48 hours notice! So, thankfully he was able to take up the offer, and said he could have surgery tomorrow. On the downside, the recovery from this kind of surgery - to fully recover is 6-12 weeks. :o(

I tell you, if I read all of this about somebody else, I would be like ‘I don’t believe it!’ and if I didn’t attend some of his appointments with him, I'd probably think he was making it up! How can one person have so many things wrong with them?!

Here's hoping 2012 is the year he can get fixed! Please, if you can, spare a thought for him tomorrow. I will keep you updated. xx

Sales!

2012-01-04T17:05:00.000Z

So...did you buy anything nice in the sales? I actually went on the Boots website on Christmas Day evening, and managed to pick up a couple of half price goodies, including a Sylvanian Motorcycle and side car that M wanted to spend her Christmas money on (reduced from £27 to £13.50)

I don't usually buy from Boots because although they always have the '3 for 2' offer on in the run up to Christmas, you can usually find the things they sell on offer elsewhere, for cheaper. But a half price sale is hard to resist! I was actually gutted that I didn't go on the site earlier in the day because there were a few things I would have liked to have got, but they had sold oue - these included more Sylvanian things (including families reduced from £16 to just £8) and the Soap and Glory gifts sets!

Thankfully, I popped into Boots on 30th December and picked up a Soap and Glory giftset for £8, which I thought was pretty good value considering the hand cream is just under £5 and the breakfast body scrub is arounf £10 on it's own (hence why I think, all their stuff is on 3 for 2 all the time!).

Other than that, I didn't really get any other bargains. There wasn't really anything else I needed....however I'll definately try and remember to save some money to spend AFTER Christmas next year. How about you, did you get any decent bargains in the sales?

New Year's Resolutions

2012-01-02T09:42:00.000Z

Every year I make a New Year’s Resolution, or two….and every year I end up breaking them. One thing I have learnt is that there is NO use in saying I won’t eat chocolate, or eat healthily or go the gym more, because if I SAY I am going to do something, then for some reason, it NEVER happens.

So perhaps my New Year’s Resolution should be to not make one?

Things I would like to achieve in 2012, on the other hand:

I’d like to lose a little weight – I don’t really want to say a certain amount, I’d like to just see how I go.

I’d like to become fitter. My gym sessions (with P’s on-going depression for the past few months) have become few and far between so I need to get back into that, and on the days when I don’t go, to try and do some sort of exercise at home.

I’d like to be more experimental with meals, as I think we are all a bit fed up of having the same old thing all the time. The children need to have a bit more variety – and I’d like to try and

I’d like to spend more ‘quality’ time with the family, sharing with them the things they enjoy as opposed to what I would like to do - going to the cinema with P, for example, playing Lego with B, Sylvanian Families with M and baking with Bronte – she loves baking!

I’d like to find a little ‘me’ time – doing whatever I chose to do!

I’d like to continue to clear out the house, getting rid of the things we no longer need/want.

I’d love to think, at some point in the year, of redecorating the house – room by room because it certainly needs to.

I’d like to continue to save money where I can.

I’d like to try and get some sort of savings plan in place, to build up a ‘rainy day’ fund for when we need anything. Or perhaps put some money aside for a weekend/week away somewhere with the children – I’d LOVE to go on a family holiday with everyone!

So there we go, my hopes for 2012. How about you? Do you make New Year’s Resolutions…or not?

2012 Lego calendar: January

2012-01-01T20:17:00.000Z

This year we have the COOLEST calendar for the kitchen. It's like an adult Lego calendar....and each and every month makes me chuckle.

I'm going to share them with you over the course of the year.

Here is the picture for January:

What do you think? So funny! :o)

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T00:01:00.000Z

OK, so before you think I am totally crazy – this is a scheduled post – written before Midnight and scheduled for just after Midnight….I am not up online at this time of night blogging instead of celebrating!

Anyway, thank you for sharing another year with me, if you are a new reader, or a long established reader…..I thank you for your time spent on my blog and for the lovely comments you’ve (hopefully) left me.

Remember, if you stop by and don’t comment – I would love to say hello to you! :o)

So…whoever you are, and wherever you are from, my family and I would like to wish you a very happy New Year, and I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that 2012 is a happy and healthy one for you and your family xxx

OK, we had a slight dinosaur disaster...

2011-12-31T10:54:00.005Z

B and M got lovely new lunchboxes for school in September, however recently our washing machine has been playing up, and 'eating' certain things. The list includes a pair of Bronte's pyjamas, one of M's 'warm' school cardigans....and now B's dinosaur lunchbox.

So we had to get him a new one. The ONLY dinosaur lunchbox we've seen is at Sainsbury's, so we went over to the nearest store to buy a replacement.

But it had changed! A new design, I am guessing but THANKFULLY B liked it! Phew!

Here's the new one:

Will I be putting it in the washing machine to clean it? Erm, no I will not!

Oh happy days! :o) xx

So, what did Santa bring me?!

2011-12-30T09:50:00.008Z

This year, for once, there wasn't actually really ANYTHING I actually wanted/needed for Christmas and so when people asked what I wanted, I was at a loss what to say.

I had already ordered, on behalf of others (to me) a HUGE selection of Busy Bee Candles (see my review of them here):

From P, I got a beautiful necklace:

I gave him a list of other things I liked, including a couple of cookery books, which sounded lovely.

And so what else did I get? Well, I got some other cookery books that people thought I would like (which I do!). I'm pretty easy to buy for, I love any kind of cookery book involving cakes and/or biscuits.

P brought me a cupcake mug, and a cupcake clock for the kitchen!

I also got lots of Soap and Glory smellies (which I hadn't tried until recently), Bridesmaids DVD, a bracelet, some socks (which, although a rubbish present, to be fair, I needed), a pair of 'Mad Cow' print pyjamas (I can't decide if I should be offended...or not?) and some chocolates.

Oh, and a Cath Kidston handbag, from my Mum!

I got the coolest bootie style slippers from P's Mam and Dad:

I may look daft in them, but they keep my feet nice and warm. :o) Alonside this, from them I also got clothes - a skirt and two long sleeve tops, a warm winter scarf, more smellies, and a new (purple) dressing gown.

I got this lovely watch from P's Dad....after just a couple of hints to P's brother (who was in charge of his gift buying!):

It's a bracelet style watch, with beads. So pretty. But a bit of a nightmare to put on myself. :o(

So, what was my most special gift? Well, it would HAVE to have been this:

It was something that B made me at school. He put it under the Christmas tree when he broke up from school, and made a huge deal about who it would be for....so much so that I just *had* to have a peep to see who he was going to give it to, and it was for 'Mammy' - yay! I had no idea, though what would be inside, although I guessed it would be something that he had made. And what was it, I hear you cry? It was rocky road! Yum. Sometimes it's the smallest things that can be the sweetest gift. Don't get me wrong, I love all my presents but this one, he could have given to anyone, and chose to give to me...which I thought was very sweet. :o)

So, what did Santa bring for you? xx

Christmas Day 2011! (Part 2)

2011-12-29T17:31:00.001Z

So our Christmas Day started well, and we were kept busy opening all of our presents.

Then what?

Well, we spend a couple of hours having some yummy bacon buns, and the children had a cobination of Chocolate Pop Tarts, pain au chocolat and chocolate pancakes that I mentioned I was planning here in our 'special breakfast'.

At lunchtime, after Bronte had a little sleep and I had a lovely relaxing bath while the little ones' played with Lego and Sylvanians, we went to P's Mam and Dad's as usual for Christmas Day.

And the present opening started all over, although this time it was P's Dad giving the presents out with a very patient Bronte helping him, every step of the way.

Here is a very beautiful M in her new Christmas outfit

P and a very fluffy haired Bronte!

Presents got handed out, and then instead of it all being nice and organised, sadly it ended up as a bit of a manic present opening session, and everything happened for too quickly. Presents got opened all at once, and we didn't really get the chance to see who got what, from whom. It all turned a bit mad. P got a bit overwhelmed by it all, and ended up opening his gifts once everyone else had finished opening theirs.

Each of the children got a new bicycle helmet, as Bronte models here

The older two also got knee and elbow pads and a new bell for the bikes, which we brought for them over the summer.

Thankfully I managed to catch up with the children after all the madness to see what they got.

B got yet more Lego, Horrid Henry books, a selection box, another PS3 game (Cars 2), a couple of DVD's, and also £10.

M got a small Sylvanian house with a person and furniture, the Dalmation family, Fairy books, a selection box, a make up doll, a necklace, clothes, some hair/lip gloss things and also £10.

Bronte got a doll, a pushchair for her doll, some clothes, pyjamas, a Peppa Pig DVD, a Peppa Pig book and also some other things as well.

They were thoroughly spoilt! :o)

Soon, it was time for lunch. P's Mam makes the Christmas dinner, with turkey and also a ham joint. It was delicious. We all sat at the table, which was nice.

M, looking beautiful as usual

P's brother and his Uncle Gerard

M and P's Dad

Bronte

B pulling a cracker with P

We had a lovely meal. We stayed for an hour or so after the meal, and then we came home, so the children could play with their toys.

We took the time to take all the kids things upstairs - putting the clothes away, and toys upstairs in bedrooms ready to be played with, and DVD's next to the TV ready to be watched. So, thankfully, pretty soon, the house was back to it's relatively tidy self again.

I hope whatever you did, and however you celebrated, you had a great Christmas. xx

Christmas Day 2011! (Part 1)

2011-12-28T19:34:00.001Z

So if you recall, in my last post I shared with you the first few minutes of Christmas Day with you. And so, the present opening frenzy began!

As is usual P sat under the tree, and handed out the gifts, so we each had our own pile. All three children helped handing out the gifts this year.

Here is Bronte with her first present, one from Nanna.

Once all of the presents were given out, we slid Bront'es dolls house (loosely covered in wrapping paper) over to her, and she ripped the wrapping paper off. And she said 'Doll's house!'

She had been saying for a while that she wanted a 'dolly/dolls house!' and she ended up with them both! :o) The dolls house we brought her came with furniture and a little family too, so it was very good value.

Here is B smiling with his presents. We did not go crazy with the children this year. We set a budget of £100 for B and M each, and around £60 for Bronte, and we shoped around, buying a main present and also around five to six smaller things. Considering what we spent, I think we did pretty well to get so much!

M with her stack of presents!

B starts opening....

We each took it in turn to open a gift, so we could all share who got what, and who it was from. M's turn....

And then Bronte's turn...

B gets a helping hand from Bronte!

What is it B?

Oh an Playstation 3 game, from Nanna.

What's that M?

Oh, the much-wanted password journal! Look at her face! :o)

Bronte opening more presents, she has a dolly, tights, a Peppa Pig dress....lovely, lovely presents.

M's turn again...

P and Bronte's turn....

Then it was down to the main presents, which *thankfully* they kept til last! B's turn....I think he knew what it was as it sounded like Lego pieces when he shook it!

Lego Airport!

So, what was M's MASSIVE present? Well as if you couldn't guess....

It was the Sylvanian Hotel!

After much building, this is what B's looked like out of the box:

M happily playing with her Sylvanian Hotel.

B's presents included, amongst other things the Lego Airport, the Lego fishing boat, Match Attax binder and collector cards, a Horrid Henry DVD, a PS3 game and four Beastquest books.

M's presents included, amongst other things the Sylvanian Hotel, other Sylvanian items (the Elephant Family, Living Room set, high-chair and triple bunk), the password journal, a Cinderella story book, a Strawberry Shortcake DVD, a box of belgian seashell chocolates and lots more.

In addition to the dolls house, Bronte got a Humf DVD, malteasers (her favourite), a dolly and some clothes.

I'll share with you P and my presents after I tell you about our afternoon at P's Mam and Dad - in my next post!

I hope you are enjoying sharing our Christmas!

Video: 'Has Santa been?'

2011-12-27T19:18:00.005Z

It's customary that we do a little video of us walking downstairs to see if Santa has been. We make a big deal out of it, pretending perhaps, that Santa still may be in the house.

As you can see:

But it's OK, he had been!

(After taking this picm, we put some wrapping paper over Bronte's dolls house so she couldn't see what it was...!)

Not only that, but he'd replied to M and eaten her biscuit!

I took a quick snap of my three every excited children before we started giving out the presents...

..but you'll have to pop back again to read about the rest of our Christmas day! :o) I hope, however you celebrated, that you had a wonderful day xx

Getting ready for Santa!

2011-12-26T18:05:00.000Z

This year, I wanted to document the big day as much as I could because it's Bronte's first REAL Christmas, you know, where she's aware of everything.

So last night, following Santa's visit to the streets, we got everything ready:

We hung the 'magic key' outside....

We don't have a chimney, so how else would Santa be able to get in?!

And we left some goodies....a glass of vodka (erm, OK so it MIGHT have been water!), a carrot and a very special biscuit that M made at school.

M also wrote him a little note. Bless!

The kids were SUPER excited, but we let them stay up a bit later - in the (vain) hope they'd have a lay in.

As it turned out, B came into our room nice and early, and told me it was '9 minutes to 6' - 5.51am! Yikes! We sent him back to bed, but neither P nor I could get back to sleep, so just before 7am, P went and woke the girls....

and it was time to see if Santa had been!

Video: Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T08:25:00.000Z

After many takes, including ones where P was in the background doing very rude things like pulling his pants down and showing his behind, I give you our very own Christmas message to you all!

They didn't quite get the part about saying 'kin' and not 'KING!' so seeing as they are not professionals, it's about as good as it gets I'm afraid. And Bronte was happy to simng away....UNTIL I started recording! Tsk, kids! :o)

Wishing you and your family and very Merry Christmas. We hope you have a truly wonderful day xxx

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T18:05:00.007Z

Earlier this evening Santa visited the streets of our town, and as per our Christmas traditions - we went to say hello!

It was freezing outside!

B and M are VERY EXCITED:

This is M's crazy face!

Here is the float that drives around the streets:

Santa asks what the children would like, and gives them all some sweets. Here is Bronte and P telling Santa that Bronte would like 'a dolly/dolls house!'. She's been saying that for weeks now. A dolly and and a dolls house, please Santa.

Here is the float as it drives away.

I think that Santa coming round on the streets is a really nice idea. It's a lovely way to celebrate Christmas.

Well, the big day is nearly upon us....are you all set and ready to go?

However you celebrate, wishing you a very happy Christmas! xx

Lego Advent Calender: Days 13-24

2011-12-24T09:59:00.000Z

Following this post B has been excitedly opening his Lego advent calendar each morning, and here is a run down of days 13-24:

Day 13 - police officer mini figure with walkie talkie radio

Day 14 - foresnic desk with magnifying glass

Day 15 - first part of the police car

Day 16 - second part of police car

Day 17 - third and final part of the police car

Day 18 - robber mini figure with crowbar

Day 19 - safe with gold bars

Day 20 - orangie smowmobile

Day 21 - trailer to snowmobile

Day 22 - police snowmobile

Day 23 - dog figure with bone

Day 24 - santa minifigure with a chimney

Here is B, with some of the things he got in the Advent calendar:

B said 'the Lego Advent calender was really good. It was really fun getting a toy each day.' Personally I was very impressed with the calendar itself, although there were some days where you inevitably ended up with 'part' of something, the items were well thought out and I would definately recommend this to others. I also suspect we will be getting one of these again next year!

Christmas Traditions

2011-12-23T21:12:00.002Z

P and I have been together since February 2001 now, and we’ve spent all but one Christmas together. Well I tell a lie, on the 2001 Christmas he started the day at home, here in the North East, but then drove down to see me on the South Coast, where I was living at the time with my Mum, and her then partner. So we spent pretty much most of the day together.

We tend to do pretty much the same thing every Christmas Eve/Day so we have built up a few traditions over the years. I would like to share some of them with you now, and I would also love to hear about any traditions you have as a family, that you would like to share with me.

Firstly this is our version of Santa, just so you know.

The children, of course have advent calendars. The ones we get are usually chocolate ones (although B this year has his Lego one too!). These are usually purchased in the middle of November, when the countdown to December ‘when we start opening the advent calendars’ begins!

As I have already mentioned, P takes care of the decorations. And to be honest, he usually doesn’t tell me when he is going to put them up, so it ends up as a surprise for me! :o) Ideally, if the kids had their way, they would go up at the end of November, but I think the earliest we’ve ever had them up was the first week in December, like this year.

The children, now they are able to write their own cards, write theirs and have theirs delivered and handed out at school LONG before mine have even thought about getting written! It was my ingenious idea a couple of years ago, for the little ones’ to include a chocolate coin with each of their cards, as a small ‘gift’ to their friends. Although my children are the only ones’ to do this at school, they love doing it, and I guess it gives them an incentive to write their cards. Only this year, we ran into problems when Bronte ate a lot of the chocolate coins, so I had to go out and buy some more! In case you are wondering, my cards DO get written, and usually posted on the last posting date before Christmas – ooops!

In the run up to Christmas, B, M and I start thinking about what to get their teachers. I get the children fully involved at this point. P always says why do I buy the teachers a gift, as it is their job, however I am of the opinion that my children’s teacher DO go above and beyond as I always have questions and queries for them throughout the year. Plus I do fully appreciate how hard they do work. As a result, I like to get them a small gift at Christmas, and also at the end of term. If you missed my post about what we got them this year, have a look and see!

We watch a lot of Christmas films, all five of us, and of course we make sure that at some point we go and visit Santa, usually at the Metro centre.

December pretty much passes with us talking about Santa, and the gifts that have been asked for. This year P went on to this amazing website, and created an email for each of the children, which was their own personalised message from Santa. He also did one for me – and he put me on the naughty list! :o( He did, however, put the children on the ‘good list’ but they were devastated, for me, that I was on the ‘naughty list’. If you have (or know any) children, regardless of where you live, you need to create them a personalised video message!

On Christmas Eve, here in the town where we live, ‘Santa’ comes to see all of the children in the streets. Essentially it is a group of vans that get driven around, with ‘Santa’ on, who hands out sweets to the children. It’s a really sweet idea, and no matter what the weather, we have always managed to catch him. The children love it!

Christmas Eve evening, for me is usually a mad dash last minute panic to get all the presents wrapped (usually resulting in me running out of either sellotape or wrapping paper!), while P takes care of anything that needs building (e.g. dolls houses’!).

The children wake up and we creep downstairs on Christmas Day and the handing out of gifts is done by P, until everyone has their own pile of gifts, and then we all take turns in opening them, one at a time – this can take a while! Once it’s all done we start making all the things that need making and opening all the things that need opening and then it’s time for breakfast!

This year I’ve decided to introduce a special breakfast on Christmas Day – P and I usually have bacon buns, but this year I’ve brought chocolate Pop Tarts – one of the only two flavours we can get here in the UK – seeing as the kids loved the ones we had from America earlier in the year, rolled up chocolate pancakes and also pain au chocolat - do you sense the ongoing chocolate theme – please blame B! Both he and Bronte are chocolate monsters, M well, she’ll pretty much have it when she likes (weirdo! lol)

On Christmas Day, before going to P’s Mam’s for lunch we always go to the cemetery to place flowers on the graves of P’s Grandma and Granddad (his mum’s parents) and his cousin Teresa, who passed away from meningitis when she was just 12 years old. It’s always a sad part of the day. Last year the children decided that it was also OK if we placed some additional flowers on P’s Grandma’s grave so that she could share them with my Auntie Dot, who passed away last May from cancer. Although I never met P’s Grandma, neither did the children, M decided that from the stories we had heard about her, she would be very kind to share any flowers with Auntie Dot.

We spend most of Christmas Dady round P’s Mam and Dad’s house, and we have our lunch there too. This year I think the intention is to not stay round there any more than a couple of hours, so the children get more time to play with their own gifts at home, and so P and I can relax at home on Christmas Day evening.

We don’t do anything special for Boxing Day – P is usually at the football watching the Sunderland match as for some reason, they nearly always play at home every year on Boxing Day!

And there you go, our traditions. How about you? I’d love to hear your family’s ways of celebrating the big day.

Things to do at work when you are VERY bored

2011-12-22T16:43:00.001Z

Make a jail for your co-workers plastic duck.

But in case you are wondering, it's made from a cup-a-soup box.

It's probably best if you don't ask anything else.....!!

Jolly Holidays

2011-12-21T09:53:00.002Z

When I was growing up, I did not really go on holiday. In fact until I reached my teens I had only been on holiday twice - once to Portugal (1986) and Yugoslavia (1990 - when it was still a country!). For my 16th birthday (1996) I was lucky enough to get invited on holiday with my then-boyfriend's family to Italy, which was lovely.

So when I met P, aside from a coach trip weekend to Paris (with my another ex!) in 2000 I hadn't really been overseas much! P was brought up on holidays every year, due to the good job his Dad had with the police force.

Since I have been with P, we have been to Rhodes (2001), Cyrpus on our honeymoon (2002) and then to Spain when I was pregnant with M (2004) and we took a two year old B! And then there was Norway (2010). Hmmm, that was enough to put me off travelling for life. Although P assures me that the odds of getting stuck in the Ash Cloud again are quite slim....

I'd really like to go on holiday with the children, but it's expensive outside of the school holidays. I would definately ask for special leave so we could go in the term. I guess it's something we will have to look into - but with two adults and three children I don't think it will come cheap!

I've been having a look online at flights to Bodrum as I've always faniced visiting Turkey. It might not actually be as expensive as I thought.

I'd definately going to try and make some cutbacks in the New Year and try and organise a holiday for the family within the next eighteen months.

How about you? Do you get lots of holidays abroard....or not?

Have I, and are the kids missing out? Or not?

Disclaimer - this is a sponsored post although all opinions expressed and experiences shared are my own.

The PERFECT Christmas present for teachers?!

2011-12-20T20:56:00.006Z

Every year I like to get the children's teachers a gift at both Christmas (and also at the end of term) to thank them for all their help and support during the year. I fully appreciate the job they do - I am sure it cannot be easy!

Anyway, I always steer clear of flowers, wine and chocolates, because although 'nice' - I am aware that the majority of gifts they are of this nature.

So...what to choose? Of course something nice, something I would like to receive myself...something not chocolates/wine/flowers. Hmm, what to pick?

I turned my mind to Busy Bee candles. I have developed a *tiny bit of an obsession* with them since I first ordered from them in October. If you missed it, you can read my review! But seriously, they are just SO nice - the scents (wax tarts and candles) and also the people running the business. I chat with them nearly every day on Twitter. And I've made a few orders since the one in the review.

But then I thought - what could I get the teachers exactly? A candle? Well, I don't know what scents they like, and as I am quite picky with scents, I didn't want to choose one they didn't like. So my mind turned to the possibility of making them up a gift - a wax burner, tea lights and some scented wax tarts.

I ran the idea past the little ones' and gave them full involvement in the process, as they like to be invloved. And well, it's for their teacher after all. Busy Bee showed me some burners they had for sale, and B chose an orange coloured one for his teacher and M (eventually) chose a blue one for her teacher.

M was very worried about what colour burner to get her teacher as she too wanted it to be the PERFECT gift, so said she'd have to ask her teacher her favourite colour from the options available. I sent her to school to ask her teacher what her favourite colour was, but she could only choose either orange or blue! And blue it was.

Scentwise, I let Busy Bee choose for me as I had no idea what to pick. I decided to get the same for each teacher, to avoid confusion. I agreed to order three Christmas scents: Misteltoe, Christmas Fruitcake and Christmas Fireside and one non- Christmas scent: Mango and Papaya Smoothie so they had a variety. Then M looked in my scent drawer (where I keep my own wax tarts/candles) and she very politely asked if she could also give (grrrr!): Champagne and Strawberries.

I made up the gifts, buying a 50 pack of tealights, and splitting them into two Christmassy gift bags so that the teachers would have the WHOLE kit, ready to go. I didn't see the point in just giving the tarts and the burner with no tealights. See? I think of everything! How good am I?

I included 25 tealights (based on the fact that each wax tart will last at least five tealights), 5 wax tarts and the burner.

This is what we gave B's teacher:

And for M's teacher:

All in a medium sized gift bag. Sorted. I didn't wrap them up in Christmas paper, just popped them in the bag. Lovely.

B was a little concerned, because although he'd questioned his teacher about whether or not she liked candles (she does, apparently, because they come in all sorts of fragrances) but he wasn't sure she knew what to do with the burner. And well, I suppose if you have never used wax tarts, you might not. He must get his cleverness from me! So I wrote some quick instructions and popped them in the box:

Wax Tart Burner instructions
Unwrap the wax tart and place in the top of the burner. Light a tea light and place underneath. As the wax tart melts, the scent is released. The fragrance will last for at least five tea lights before starting to fade. For more information please see: wwww.busybeecandles.co.uk

I don't collect the children from school as I am at work, but word from the children is that they really liked their presents. I never send them in on the last day of term either, because I like the gifts to be remembered, and not just 'one of a million' they get on the same day. Although I hope they will not forget their Christmas gift this year in a hurry! :o)

So a huge big thank you to Busy Bee for assisting me with the creating of this amazing present. I will try and speak to the teachers myself tomorrow to see what they thought of it!

Do you think the teachers would like this gift? Would you?

PS My review of Busy Bee candles also made it to the Very Best Service website here!

I won, I won!

2011-12-19T19:30:00.000Z

Lady luck is shining her light on me, competitions wise. I've won something else!

LOOK at what I won today in the work's '5 Days of Christmas' raffle:

A Blu-Ray DVD player!

Winning ticket - white number 51...brought for a £1 by ME!

So happy.

B's FIRST taekwondo grading!

2011-12-18T19:47:00.000Z

B's first taekwondo grading was today. When you start taekwondo, you are the 10th Kup - which is a white belt, and the first 'pattern' that you learn and perform at the grading ceremony is for the white belt, yellow tag.

B knew that he would be grading around about a month ago. He started taekwondo at the beginning of August and had gone religiously twice a week ever since - Tuesdays from 6pm to 7pm and Sunday mornings 10.30am to 12pm. I think he's missed only one or two classes, due to illness. He is every dedicated, and looks forward to his classes each week.

His Master has previously mentioned to me that he is doing well, and has a 'real talent' so we are very positive that he will do well with his progression through the belts.

Due to me not being able to get time off work today, it was down to P to take B to his grading today, at a local Leisure centre. He had to be there for 9am this morning.

He performed well.

They sold pictures of the event, and P got this one, which was taken during his grading:

There was then a couple of hours' wait whilst the rest of the grading went on - before the presentation ceremony.

B got his grading!

He is now a white belt, yellow tag.

Here is the picture taken afterwards, being presented with his new belt:

He was very nervous beforehand, but he is so pleased with himself. And at least we know what to expect now for future gradings.

So here is our 'little ninja' (as P has been referring to him!) with his new belt!

Oh, and M has decided she is going to join too!

So apparently she is starting in the New Year. Yikes! :o)

Today I....

2011-12-16T16:48:00.004Z

...gave blood!

See?

I took this one myself:

and then I gave my phone to the nurse and asked her to take this one:

All in all, once again, the appointment I made ran on time, I was in and out within half an hour and feeling pretty good with myself. Next time I go (in 16 weeks) P is going to come with me also and donate for the first time! :o)

And in other news, I also got my hair cut (after weeeeeks of putting it off!) but I HATE it, so I will certainly NOT be sharing a better pic with you (if you look close you can see the awfulness of it in the above pic, that's all I'm saying! :o(

Now just to wait for my Tesco Christmas shopping delivery of food, and my exciting day off will be complete!

Have a great weekend!

B's First Holy Communion Preparation #4

2011-12-16T10:52:00.000Z

B's 3rd Holy Communion class was on Saturday 10th December.

In the class in the morning, the children discussed the importance of confessing their sins, and being forgiven for them by Father. When the parents joined them for the latter part of the class, there was a service in the church where each child had to do their second confession.

Due to a recent change in the teaching programme, B actually did his first confession earlier this year, however as it is also part of the Holy Communion preparation, they had to amend it to be their 'second' confession.

B asked me afterwards if I wanted to know what he had confessed to, so I said I would, if he wanted to tell me. He replied by telling me he had said he wanted to say sorry for hitting his sister's. He then said that Father told him he had two rather annoying sisters too! Hmmmm.

In the evening Mass, the children participated in a reading, and B was asked to read a short piece. It was very nice to see.

After the Mass, Father (again) asked after P, saying that he hoped things were going OK. Although things are not going too well for us, I said, and he said that he would keep us in his thoughts.

Although I am still not sure what I believe, I am taking great confort in attending Church, and I would hope that I will be able to find the time to go more frequently once the new year is here.

Once again, thank you for sharing in B's Holy Communion journey with us xx

Christmas films!

2011-12-14T19:28:00.000Z

Last week we took the children to see Arthur Christmas, taking advantage of the Orange Wednesday promotion. I'd seen the trailers, and well, quite frankly I am a sucker for any decent Christmas-sy film so I didn't need much convincing.

The film was wonderful. An animated film about Santa's work on Christmas Eve. The children thoroughly enjoyed it. We watched it in 3D, wearing the silly glasses. See?

To be honest, we don't get to the cinema much, because by the time we've got two adult and two children tickets, petrol there and back, sweets and drinks (NEVER brought from the cinema - have you seen the prices?! - always brought from a shop and taken in with us, in my rather large handbag) - it's very expensive. Especially with the extra per ticket you have to pay for the 3D films, even though we re-use the glasses. One thing we always buy there though, is popcorn. It just doesn't quite taste the same otherwise.

Anyway, the film got me thinking about my all time favourite Christmas films. We have lot of DVD's because I love watching films with the family, and because most of them are a pretty good investment as they are only a few pounds, but can be watched over and over.

So, after speaking with B and M, here is our list of our favourite Christmas films:

Jingle All the Way

Home Alone and Home Alone 2 (we have the 1-4 box set, but the first two are the best!)

Santa Clause, Santa Clause 2 and Santa Clause 3

The Grinch

The Polar Express

Deck the Halls

How many have you seen? If you haven't seen them, then take our word for it, they are all worth watching! :o) Have you got any recommendations for us? xx

Lego Advent Calender: Days 1-12

2011-12-13T10:57:00.001Z

B is very much enjoying his Lego Advent calendar.

We were unsure as to how it would work, however we can now tell you that behind each door is a small bag, containing a number of lego bricks, which make up an item - either part of the main Lego building indicated on the outside the box or an item to go inside, or perhaps a mini-figure or another small item.

The breakdown so far is as follows:

Day 1 - robber minifigure with snowball

Day 2 - snow cannon with snowballs

Day 3 - policeman minifigure with handcuffs

Day 4 - police station section

Day 5 - another police station section

Day 6 - small christmas tree

Day 7 - skateboard, helmet and two small presents

Day 8 - bench with cup

Day 9 - eskimo minifigure with an axe

Day 10 - camp fire, whip and fish

Day 11 - a further piece of the police station

Day 12 - the final piece of the police station

Overall, he is very happy with the Lego items he's got so far. From the pictures on the outside of the Advent Calender he knows *some* of the things that he will get in there, however the one thing he can't wait to get (which I suspect will be on December 24th) is the Santa minifigure. :o)

Bearing in mind these calendars retail for £20, although I did get mine for £17.99 (although they were on offer at one point for around £13, but they never had any stock!), these, so far are proving to be good value. When you think that a minifigure retails around £1.99 in the Series collections.

Yes, it is expensive for an ADVENT calender, however before buying I made it clear that this would be part of his Christmas gifts.

Dislaimer: I brought this for B, and he decided that he wished to share this with my blog readers. We were not asked to, or paid for this review. We recieved nothing in return for writing it. The opinions expressed here and B's, and my own, and we have not been influenced by any outside source.

B's clay pot

2011-12-12T18:21:00.000Z

B made a clay pot at school. For me. :o)

It did have teeny tiny handles, but they - aherm - fell off. But it didn't matter.

I love my pot. Would you like to see?

Pretty pretty. Another of my 'treasured items'. xx

O' Christmas tree, o' Christmas tree...!

2011-12-10T15:33:00.000Z

Those eagled eyed amongst you will have noticed the Christmas tree in the background of the picture, where I showed you M's new haircut.

Oh yes indeed, in keeping with tradition, P took it upon himself to put the tree, and the decorations up on Monday.

Would you like to see?

Pretty, pretty.

We don't have a great deal of exciting things on the tree. When we first got together we brought a tree, complete with decorations and we have not really added many to it over the years. Perhaps one or two decorations, with M and B's names and also a 'Baby's 1st Christmas' one for Brone's *aherm* first Christmas. But that's about it.

So there you have it, our Christmas tree.

It is topped by a Fairy. I know it's either 'star or fairy' but for me, it's got to be the fairy. So pretty!

In addition to this we have tinsel and a light up 'Merry Christmas', also a hanging 'Merry Christmas' sign. And much to B's delight a light up 'Ho Ho Ho' Santa train!

We don't have any hanging decoarations. Goodness, my teenage years dreaded this time of year as we had VERY HIGH ceilings where I lived with my Mum and even I (at 5ft 11) had to stand on a chair and stretch as high as I possibly could, to stick drawing pins in the ceiling with all the hanging decorations my Mum wanted to put up! Thnakfully, both P and I are tall, and we have low-ish ceilings so no hanging decorations! :o)

I love seeing other people's decorations. Do you? Please let me know if you've shared your decorations on your blog and I will have to stop by to have a peek! :o) xx

Competition prize: checked scarf!

2011-12-08T08:48:00.000Z

Last week I received an email to say I had won a checkered scarf in the TK Maxx Christmas giveaway on Facebook.

To be honest, I have been entering all sorts of competitions online - via various websites, Facebook and Twitter over the past few months so I wasn't really sure WHICH competition I had won.

Anyway, I had to reply to the email with my address, and then a couple of days later this dropped through my door:

It's a very nice green-y check colour, and it feels lovely and soft. Apparently the RRP is £120 (?) but TK Maxx sell them for £34.99. Blimey! I don't think I would pay that much for a scarf, so it was certainly nice to win it!

This is around my 5th competition win (including a blog giveaway) since re-starting and entering competitions at the beginning of October. Another win has been shown here, and also include an Angelina Ballerina DVD and a Bob the Builder playset in a tired mummy of two's Christmas giveaway.

I wonder what will be my next win?! Have you won anything recently? xx

M's new haircut!

2011-12-07T18:59:00.002Z

Yesterday, P's Mam took M for a haircut.

This is the 'after' picture:

She looks beautiful, I am sure you will agree! xx

Is it wrong to cheat on your child's homework?!

2011-12-06T07:05:00.000Z

OK, that sounds really bad. It's not QUITE as bad as it sounds, honest!

B was given homework a month ago whereby he had to chart the 'phases of the moon' each night. However, due to where we live, for whatever reason, half the time he couldn't actually SEE anything!

So I decided to be honest, and tell him that if he couldn't see anything, to put 'too cloudy' or whatever. But then it turned out that practically every day there was something written.

He mentioned that his friend had looked on the internet....so well needs must....and so I came accross a website which listed all the 'phases of the moon' for the northern hemisphere.

Cue a frantic re-writing of his homework page, and job done.

So....honestly....would YOU have done the same?!

Frosty Mornings

2011-12-05T19:58:00.002Z

Oooh the frosty morning earlier today caught me by surprise. I wasn't expecting the car to be quite so caked in frost. I'd left a few minutes earlier, but I clearly hadn't thought it through properly.

Now usually I take the Picasso on the school run, and then my car (Vauxhall Astra) to work, however it was a choice of defrosting two cars, or one - so I chose ONE! I used my car for both.

And it was awful. I didn't have an ice-scraper and I used the ENTIRE small call of de-icer, and it was going very slow.

I got there in the end, however it resulted in the children being late for school, so I wasn't very happy.

Surely, aside from being a *little bit more organised* there has to be another way? I mean, is there a way to de-ice your car with no de-icer? There surely HAS to be?

Let me know your hints and tips, please. I am guessing this is the start of things to come?

A to Z of Me!

2011-12-04T19:16:00.000Z

This was part of a post I was tagged in a couple of weeks ago by Tired Mummy of Two.

It's taken forever to get around to posting my answers, so apologies for that! Anyway, here we go!

ANORAK…Do you have a sad side?
I don't think I'm a geek, but I think P would disagree! We were recently talking about school and how we did in certain subjects and he turned round and said 'oh my god, my wife was a geek!'. Erm, thanks for that! lol

BODY…What physical attribute would you most like to change?
I've never liked my height, I am 5ft 11 and I think that's too tall (put it this way, I am taller than practically everyone I know!)....I'd like to knock a couple of inches off that, and while I'm there - I have size 9 feet, so I'd like to be a size or two smaller too. Buying shoes is a nightmare!

CELEBRITY…Which one would you most like to date and why?
I'm not really into celebrities, I never have been, however if James Hetfield (Metallica) knocked at my door, I already have P's permission to run off with him! Sorted.

DEBUT …Tell us about your first ever blog post. What made you start blogging?
I started blogging in January 2009 after reading blogs for some time. I was a 'lurker' for ages, always reading - never commenting. I have no idea how I came across blogs however, I've never looked back. As well as meeting new people, it's a chance for my family (many of whom live many miles away) to keep up with the day to day goings on of our family. So it's great. I love it. Plus in years to come the kids can re-read about what we did.

ERROR …What’s been your biggest regret?
I don't have regrets. I approach everything with a 'no regret' policy, you do things because you want to do them, and there is no point looking back and thinking 'what if...?'

FUNNY – who’s making you laugh?
The kids usually, with the wierd and wonderful things they come up with.

GRAND…If we gave you one right now what would you spend it on?
No hesitation, I'd buy P an iPad 2 cos he's wanted one for ages! They are so expensive, but after the year he's been through I think he deserves one. Especially if I had the money to buy him one - I'd get the best one for him, with a case and whatever else he needed to go with it. I'd probably spend the rest of the money on a few bits we needed for the kids/house. Whenever we get any money or vouchers or anything like that, I rarely spend it on myself.

HOLIDAY… What’s your favourite destination?
P and I went to Cyprus on our honeymoon, and I'd love to go back with the kids someday. I've not really been on holiday to many places - Portugal, (what was) Yugoslavia, Italy and Rhodes. I'd love to take the kids to Disneyland and one day I'd LOVE to visit Australia.

IRRITATE… What’s your most annoying habit?
I;m sure the family could think of loads of annoying habits I have, however the only one I can think of is I use my work voice at home. Kids: 'Mum can I have a biscuit?', Me: 'CERTAINLY! You may have a biscuit!'. Oops.

JOKER…Whats your favourite joke {the one that makes you laugh everytime you hear it}?
P has this joke about a rabbit in a butcher shop that always makes me smile, even though I've heard it a million times I still can't remember it, though.

KENNEL… Do you have any pets?
We have three cats - Poppy, Arnie and Beano. B had a fish in his bedroom, and P has his marine fish tank in the living room.

LOVE…Are you single, married, engaged, living with a long term partner?
P and I have been married nearly 10 years now.

MEAL… Whats your ultimate starter, main and dessert?
I'd have chicken goujons with BBQ sauce. Then creamy Carbonara pasta with cheesey garlic bread followed by Caramel Apple Crumble with custard. Yum.

NOW…If you could be anywhere right now where would you be and who with?
I'd go and visit my Mum, with the kids. She lives 400 miles away and due to work commitments, I don't get to see her often enough. I miss her, and wish that she lived closer.

OFF DUTY…What do you do in your spare time?
Spare time, what's that? lol I like to read, so since getting my Kindle I read whenever I can.

PROUD MOMENTS …What are you most proud of?
What the kids get up to. Aside from that I am proud of getting my degree in 2008.

QUEASY …What turns your stomach?
The smell of coffee and cigarettes.

RELAX…How do you relax?
By watching TV with P. We have some TV box-sets we are currently working our way through and we watch episodes whenever we can.

SONG…Whats your favourite song of all time?
The Wind Beneath my Wings - makes me cry every time as I recall the bit in Beaches.

TIME …If you could go back in time and relive it again, when would you choose?
Goodness, I wouldn't want to re-live any of MY life. If I could go back to any time, I'd go back to the second world war, I'd love to know what it was like to live through that - kind of Goodnight Sweetheart like, though - I'd like to be able to flit between the times!

UNKNOWN…Tell us something about yourself that no one else knows?
I don't have anything that I haven't told P. He knows everything about me.

VOCAL…. Who is your favourite artist?
Metallica.

WORK….. What is your dream job, and are you doing it now?
My dream job would be to earn lots of money for as little work as possible. And erm, no I am not doing that now! I think that's why it's my 'dream' job - it doesn't exist.

XRAY…Any broken bones?
Nope, I've never broken anything, thankfully.

YIKES…What’s been your most embarrassing moment?
I remember when I was in my late teens I was on a train with some friends, ready to go shopping, and just as the train was pulling into the station (and going like super-slow...) I opened the door, and jumped out...something I'd never normally do...and I fell in a crumpled heap on the floor. And I guess that's why I never usually did it, nor done it since!

ZOO… If you were an animal, which one would you be?
I'd probably stick to something basic like a cat, seeing as they do pretty much nothing all day except sleep. But if I had to pick a non-domesticated pet I'd pick a dolphin because I think they are so pretty. Plus they are intelligent and helpful....just like me! lol

Right, OK, so I don't like tagging people because if you're anything like me you'll forget, so if you'd like to take part, please share this on your blog. Thanks! xx

A wife's view of depression

2011-12-02T10:30:00.000Z

Following this post, I've written my 'wife's view of depression'. I hope that someone, somewhere manages to find this useful.

As I have mentioned previously, P has suffered depression for a number of years. The hardest thing in the world is having to see someone you love go through something like this, something that you, as a person have NO control over. Yes, I can tell him that the tiny things that worry/upset/annoy him should not, but I cannot stop them. P has many good days, and then also some very bad days. The smallest thing on the TV, a news story perhaps can upset him, yet at the same time a more severe story may have little or no effect on him. A small action by myself or the children can cause him distress, without us meaning it to.

It's a hard life. And I'm not even the one who is 'technically' suffering.

As a result, over the years, we have lost a number of close friends, who under certain circumstances haven't known what to do or say. People who used to be close friends we can now pass in the street with a small smile and polite hello. I want to scream and shout - 'this isn't how it's mean to be!'.

Do they think I have had 'special training' to enable me to live with P for the past 11 years? Of course I haven't. Do I know exactly the right thing to say to him in times when he is upset? Of course I don't. More importantly.....can I make it go away? Of course I can't.

As I have previously said, P is back on anti-depressants, and these days, on Twitter he is more open about his illness. He will refer to it, and will speak with others about it. I probably know more about his illness than anyone else aside from him, however in the grand scheme of things I KNOW I do not know everything. I KNOW there are things he keeps from me. Things that he will never, ever tell me.

That being said, I've told him he can tell me anything. So he told me things that I wish no other person would ever have to hear from a loved one. I remained calm, and questioned him about what he was saying. Although he knew what he was saying (and thinking) was wrong, he couldn't stop it. I tried to get him to think about the impact of what he was suggesting. He couldn't see beyond his own viewpoint.

I don't blame him for being ill, or for having these thoughts. We've been through this twice before, so if you like, we are 'old hands' at this. I do however believe that this time, either it's more severe than the previous times or perhaps I have a better understanding this time around.

I'm not a depression expert, I've never claimed to be. P calls me 'his rock' and we jokingly refer to the fact that anyone else more than likely would not have been able to 'put up with' (his words not mine) everything that I have over the years. He is at times, stunned with how well I cope with his illness, how I am always prepared to forgive, no matter what nasty things in says in the heat of the moment, when he is ill.

What I am supposed to do? I am meant to be there for him. I am meant to look after him. He needs me, and I need him. I love him with all my heart and soul. I hate the way depression eats him up from the inside and makes him feel the way it does. Together we will get through it, together we WILL BEAT IT.

Advent calendars

2011-12-01T07:33:00.001Z

And so, it's that time of year again - the 1st December - YIKES!

We have chocolate advent calendars.....

B has Cars 2:

M has Hello Kitty:

Bronte has....

PEPPA PIG. Bet you didn't see that one coming! :o)

And, in case you were wondering, I gave in and got B the Lego Advent Calender he so desperately wanted:

But on the understanding he realises that this is part of his Christmas present!

My all star dancing singing girls!

2011-11-30T08:02:00.000Z

M and Bronte are a bit of a duo at the moment. They frequently enjoy singing, and M is kept busy teaching M all the songs she learns in the playground at school.

This is one of the more recent ones that they enjoy singing ALL THE TIME!

Enjoy xx

Do you think I should sign them up for Britain's Got Talent?

Meeting Santa and Bronte gets her ears pierced!

2011-11-28T18:28:00.000Z

Today the children were off school due to a teacher training day. I took the day off as a holiday day, and we decided to go to the Metro Centre - a huge shopping centre here in the North East.

I needed to get a few Christmas presents. In our family, we have told the children that adults buy for eachother, and we have told them that as parents, we have to give Santa money for presents for them - he cannot make them for FREE - and so that is why they appreciate that Christmas costs money.

I've had huge success this weekend buying the last few bits for the bigger two, and finally seeing what I wanted to get for Bronte be in stock (in case you are interested, it is a dolls house, complete with furniture) so I am so pleased, that before December starts I am pretty much sorted. Now if I can just find the time to get it all wrapped between now and Christmas that would be even better....it's usually a last minute dash! :o)

The main reason for going to the Metro Centre was to see Santa! And seeing all of the lovely Christmas-sy decorations.

B dressed as a bauble!

He then said, 'I hope I didn't look too silly?!'

M and B sat in a bauble decoration, Bronte was a bit shy about seeing Santa and didn't want to sit with them....

...but she happily posed next to the Christmas tree!

Bronte then sat with M in the bauble:

While B and M met a toy soldier!

They waited very patiently to see Santa, although the queue was not too long, and before long it was their turn.

M tells Santa she'd like the Sylvanian Hotel, a Password Journal and (new to me) a male Barbie:

Bradley tells Santa he wants the Lego Airport and a digital camera:

And then Bronte decided to tell Santa that she wanted a dolls house and a dolly! :o)

We then had a wander round, and as we'd previously discussed, we decided to see if Bronte wanted her ears pierced....and she did! So we went to Claire's Accessories, and she sat very nicely in the chair.

The lady washed her ears, and then drew the dot on each side, and then two of them pierced her ears at the same while P held her hand.

She was super brave, both of the ladies commented that she was brave, she didn't flinch or anything! Nor did she cry. And she loves them!

Don't they look great?!

And so it's been a really busy day today. Bronte is so pleased with her ear-rings, and I think they look really good too.

I'm so pleased that I am more or less sorted with Christmas, at least I will not be rushing around in December. How is your Christmas shopping going? xx

RIP Gary Speed

2011-11-27T21:05:00.001Z

Today the news broke that Gary Speed, former footballer, and now manager of the Welsh national team had passed away. It emerged that he'd been found hanging. That he'd taken his own life.

My heart, thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends at this time.

It's not known the reasons at the time I am writing this, so it's all speculation. Why would someone choose to take their own life? If I had to think hard enough about it, I would say it would either have to be very severe money issues/debts, the fact that a story/scandal was about to be revealed, or depression.

Depression seems to be what people are picking up on already at this stage.

My thoughts are with with his poor wife, who is reported to have found his body. What a terrible, awful experience for her to have to go through.

I don't know Gary Speed, or what he was going through, however I do have my experiences with P to reflect on. I'm planning on doing a blog post over the next couple of days along the lines of 'a wife's view of depression'.

I've read various reports this evening about how he carried on as normal throughout Saturday, where he was on a Football programme, making plans for the future and talking about Christmas. As a result, it's been said that he 'can't have been depressed'. The sad fact is that whatever his mental state, he probably would have been looking towards the future.

Rest in peace, Gary Speed.

Total Lego MADNESS!

2011-11-25T21:49:00.001Z

When B asked me if I could help 'fix' his Lego aeroplane, I said yes.

Then he handed me the instruction book. OK...I thought to myself.

'Do you want help?' he asked. 'Erm.....yes' I replied.

He directed me to the box of bricks.

And THEN decided to tell me that the aeroplane was in a million bits. And the pieces could be ANYWHERE within the box.

Hmmmm.

Maybe I shouldn't have said 'yes' so quickly (or with as much enthusiasm). What do you think?

And so, after two days (on and off searching) - we eventually finally found all the parts. Don't judge me!

Do you know how hard it is to find a TINY brick of a certain shape and colour (it HAD to be the exact colour specified in the book - no other colour would do - if you're going to do a job, it's worth doing right....) in a box, the approximate size of a suitcase you'd take on holiday for two weeks!

The mess....well, it kind of looked like this:

Talk about a needle in a haystack!

By day two, I had perfected my technique....I laid a bath towel on the floor, under the upstairs landing light and emptied the box on that, then divided the area in sections and searched that way. It worked, and was soo much easier to get back in the box....pick up all four corners of the towel and chuck in the box. Job done.

Anyway, I am now 'the best Mam in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD!' (apparently) for doing this. It sure is a tough job being me! :o)

Random for no reason FLOWERS!

2011-11-24T09:16:00.000Z

P never buys me flowers. Like ever.

So I was super surprised to come home from work to find some on the table. I assumed they were not for me.

But I was wrong. I love my random - for no reason - flowers.

And, do you know what? Two weeks on they are still going strong. I think someone, somewhere must know that P never buys me flowers too! And so they are lasting as long as they can.

I love P very much, even if he doesn't buy me flowers very often! :o) xx

Match Attax football cards

2011-11-22T08:12:00.000Z

B has rather annoyingly, started collecting Match Attax cards.

They are collectable football trading cards. They come in a pack of 5, for 50p. Needless to say, he'd been spending all his pocket money (and Halloween money) on these cards.

B's getting a little bit obsessed with them. He loves opening the packs to find out what cards he has got - of course, he is a little bit biased towards Sunderland, seeing as he sometimes goes to the games with P.

Apparently, according to the back of the packet:

There are 465 card to collect!
1 in 2 packets contain a 'star signing' car/star player/golden moments card
1 in 4.1 packets contain a man of the match rainbow foil card
and 1 in 60.8 packets contain a hundred club rainbow foil

So...I think we've got a L-O-N-G way to go! :o)

Thankfully, so far, he has only got two doubles, which we hope to swap with a friend when his friend gets any he already has.

I was shocked to see there is a website for buying cards, goodness - the prices for some of the more rare cards! Blimey, as if B would appreciate the fact that some of them are considered RARE!

If anything, its encouraging his reading, with all the odd names some of these foreign players have! And it helps that he is getting a little bit more knowledgeable about football.

M decided she would collect them too, so I brought her a pack - which she opened - and after she'd looked at her cards, she promptly decided she didn't want to collect them anymore! Nightmare! :o)

Getting ready for bathtime...

2011-11-21T17:46:00.000Z

Bronte!

She's a character, I tell you!

This is her getting ready for her bath:

She found B's goggles on the bathroom floor - he'd been practicing putting his head under the water.

Bath, Mam? Yes, I'm ready.

Baking with Bronte

2011-11-20T17:43:00.000Z

Yesterday, P went to the football match at Sunderland, which left me at home with the kids. B and M were kept busy by playing Lego and watching a DVD - the new Cars 2 film that arrived two days before it's release, because I pre-ordered it from Amazon.

Bronte was getting a bit bored with the DVD so we decided to bake chocolate chip cookies!

And then, because we had so much fun, we baked some fudge cookies too, using some fudge chunks from my baking cupboard.

Bronte loves to bake.

Whether it's cookies, biscuits or cakes - she's there, ready to stir and also *aherm* eat the mixture! She's a minx. :o)

All that being said, the cookies turned out very yummy, and when she took them in to B and M saying 'I make them' they were pretty impressed!

Then this today, I wasn't at work - we found out earlier on in the week that there would be no electricity at work, and so we all got a paid holiday! - I decided it'd be fun to make some Christmas cards while B was at taekwondo.

However, I soon realised I didn't have as much Christmas-sy themed things as I had hoped, so we only made a couple.

These were M's:

and

These were Bronte's:

And yes, before you ask, the awful drawings were done by yours truly. :o) Hey, I never claimed to be an artist! lol

Then....in a fit of *complete madness*

I

Let

Them

Paint!

Bronte had fun:

M had fun too.

I don't usually 'do' anything like painting because I can't cope with all the mess, but it wasn't so bad...

And it all turned out OK. Everything was clean and tidy and ready for B to be picked up on time. Brrr. It has been FREEZING today, and oh so foggy here in the North East. I do not like driving in fog, particularly because it drives me mad when other drivers *forget* to out their lights on, and then appear out of nowhere.

All in all, I had a nice day off. :o) What have you done this weekend? xx

Review: Busy Bee Candles

2011-11-19T08:08:00.003Z

I'm not sure exactly how I came across Busy Bee Candles, although I know it must have been via Twitter. I just started following them, and I soon realised what they were all about! :o)

Busy Bee Candles are Haith and Dee, and it's a family run business located in Wales, and they sell hand produced amazing scented candles, obviously, hence the name lol They also sell other scented home fragrance products.

I'll be totally honest, I WAS a Yankee candle addict (shock horror - it's OK, I can say that....please read on!). I discovered them a few years ago now, and well, I loved the scents and the fact that the scent lasted right to the end of the candle....and I didn't mind paying slightly more for the candles as a result.

But then, after hearing the reviews from my new twitter friends, I thought I'd give Busy Bee Candles a try. They frequently run offers on Twitter (you can follow them here) so that, depending on the offer, you can get discounts, a free gift with your order, and/or exclusive offers. Plus, you know you are speaking to real people, because a) they promptly reply to your tweets AND b) they remember who you are! How is that for great customer service?!

I placed my first order in the middle of September, although it was only a small order. I thought, well (like the Dr Pepper slogan) 'what's the worst that could happen?!'

Previously, I really liked the small 'sampler size' candles, so I was admittedly initially a little disappointed that Busy Bee Candles do not offer these. However I was advised that a great way to try the scents are by ordering 'wax tarts'. I've tried them in the past, but I wasn't overly keen on them, but I was assured that these ones were different, and so I placed an order, initially for a mini candle (Chocolate Brownie) and a few wax tarts (Mango and Papaya, Vanilla Dream, Bakewell Slice, Cranberry Crush and Pink Lemonade).

As you can tell by the fragrances, they have a vast array of scents. In fact the hardest thing will be chosing what scents to buy!

My order arrived within a week. You need to remember that all Busy Bee Candle orders are made specifically for you, so you do have to bear this in mind when ordering....but believe me, they are so worth the wait!

The mini candle, I thought was really cute, and the scent was amazing. It lasted right to the very end of the candle, and every single bit of wax was used, with nothing left over - this was a first for any candle I've ever used! With the wax tarts you need to place in the top section of a burner, and light a tea-light underneath.

It initially looks like this, before the wax has melted:

I loved the wax tarts immediately after lighting my first one - the scent again is amazing, and no word of a lie, you use four tea lights before the scent starts to fade!

My favourite scent of all of the things in my inital order was the Vanilla Dream. Even P commmented that out of all the candles I'd ever lit, he thought it was the nicest one...and believe me that's a HUGE compliment! :o)

I also think that wax tarts are a great way to sample the fragrances, as at £1.10 each they won't break the bank, and as previously stated, they last a LONG time!

The only downside of my initial order (although absolutely nothing to do with Busy Bee Candles!) was that I had only just lit the Cranberry Crush wax tart, and it had all melted, when M knocked into the table and it went everywhere. :o( However, I can assure you that it cleaned up really well and so easily! Much better than I expected it to. So there you go, even if a bad thing happened, I learnt something GOOD from it. So, a reminder, if you DO have young children remember to tell them where you've got the burner lit, or better still put it where they can't knock it over!

My next order was a larger one placed in October, where I decided to order a Large candle (Vanilla Dream), a Large Premium candle (Chocolate Strawberries):

and some more wax tarts (Champagne and Stawberries, Fairy Wishes, Cheer for Beer, Cranberry Crush - to replace the one M knocked over! - Creme Brulee, Peach Cobbler, Love Spell and a couple of Vanilla Dreams to keep P happy). Here is what the wax tarts look like when they arrive:

And all spread out:

Again, the customer service was excellent. I've not had the opportunity to try all of the scents yet, but I can strongly recommend both the Chocolate Strawberry and Champagne and Stawberries. And finally, the Cranberry Crush was amazing too! :o)

So, yes, I mentioned previously that I was a Yankee candle addict. But if you gave me the choice now, I would choose Busy Bee Candles every time. I love the fact that by buying from them, you are supporting a British business. The ONLY downside is that, with no local retailer here in the North East, I have to choose my scents by reading the descriptions. I am pretty picky about the scents that I like, for example I can't stand coffee or cinnamon fragrances - but thankfully, the descriptions on the wesbite are REALLY good. I haven't ordered one that I've disliked. And yes, I do 'sniff' them when I am bored. lol

I asked Busy Bee candles if they would answer a couple of questions for this post, and they said they were happy to.

Hi Busy Bee, as you know I love your candles. I wanted to ask you a few questions if that is OK. I see you are a family run business, does this mean everyone gets involved?
We sure do. As well as Haith & Dee, we have other family members that help us at busy times of the year such as Christmas, Valentines Day & Easter. Our handmade boxes for gift sets are made by a family member who suffers from Arthritis in their hands. It helps by exercising the fingers. Other family members help us wick and label jars. It's great to involve everyone in the Busy Bee brand.

What are your top 5 best selling scents?
Baby Powder, Lime Cooler, Fruit Cocktail, Blackcurrant & Nectarine and the majority of the Premium Range.

What product sells the best?
Large Candles.

You've recently introduced a range of Christmas scents, can I ask how you come up with ideas for a new scent?
Some scents are suggested to us by our wonderful twitter followers. A fabulous bunch of people that are keen on our product and want to see an even bigger range. Others are suggested by customers and some we just daydream about.

You must receive loads of orders....where is the furthest you've shipped to?
We have shipped around the world with orders from Australia, USA, Greece, France, Spain, Germany, Holland, Hong Kong, Italy and even Iceland. No borders on the Internet.

You might not be able to answer this, but have you had any celebrity orders? If you can't name names then perhaps you can give me a clue? lol
Our Celebrity friends quite often post photographs of their Busy Bee Candles on Twitter. It's fabulous publicity for us. Mel C (Spice Girl), Theo Paphitis (Dragons Den), Denise Van Outen, Yvie Burnett, Michelle Mone, Suzi Perry, Deborah Meaden (also a Dragon in the Den) & Charlotte Hawkins (Sky News Presenter) are among the Busy Bee celebrity friends.

You can read all about them on the About Us section of their website.

Please have a look at their website to view their full range of products and a detailed description with average burning times for each product.

You WILL NOT be disappointed! In fact, last night I placed my third order, and in case you are intrested I ordered a Large Vanilla Dream, a Large Chistmas Cookie and a Large Premium Winter Berries! I can't wait! :o) xx

Disclaimer: as a follower of Busy Bee Candles on Twitter, we ordered at a time where they were offering 25% off everything on their website. The first time we ordered they offered an additional 10% free of delicious smelling goodies. The thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely our own opinion of the products we purchased.

More Christmas bargains

2011-11-18T09:53:00.001Z

After my success with M’s main Christmas present, I’ve been doing more Christmas shopping! :o)

B finally decided, after a lot of careful consideration, that he would like the Lego City Airport for his main present. Would you like to know why? Well, because he told me that he wanted ‘to play Air Crash Investigation, so the plane can be flying along and then the wing falls off and it crashes into the Airport!’ But then he clarified, not really destroying it cos then he’d have to rebuild it again!

On the Lego website these retail at £81.99 but I was confident that on Amazon and/or eBay, I’d be able to save some money. Amazon listed for £69.99 but eBay was coming in cheaper at just over £60.99 and then….over the weekend….Amazon went down to £54.99. SNAP. The bargain had to be brought. A wopping £27 saving, thank you very much. I *love* my Amazon wishlist. If you’ve not used Amazon, I would thoroughly recommend them to anyone, get a wishlist set up (you can even share your wishlist with others – you can see mine here!) and that way you can easily keep an eye on things. Prices tend to change quite often so if there is something in particular that you want, you can make sure that you snap it up when it gets to it’s best price. I’ve brought from both Amazon and also from seller’s on Amazon and I have had no problems. Just remember to choose the ‘free delivery’ option if you buy from Amazon itself, and remember to watch for the added postal charges from sellers.

B is also trying to convince me to buy him the Lego Advent calendar. Although what’s wrong with a chocolate advent calendar I don’t know. When I was little, there were just advent calendar’s with PICTURES!

I’ve told him IF he gets it, it will be part of his Christmas present, and therefore he’d have one less present to open on Christmas Day. He is very excited about it, I’d hate to disappoint him. But they are £20! Yes, I know it comes with Lego vehicles, people and all sorts – but yikes! That’s expensive.

Tesco are doing an offer at the moment where you can double-up your Clubcard vouchers to spend within various departments – and ‘toys’ is one of them, sadly ‘clothing’ is also one of the sections, and after a sort out last weekend, M is in dire need of a few things, so I am not sure how exactly I am going to ‘double-up’.

So anyway, with B and M’s main presents ordered…..just got Bronte to think of now! And what do you buy a happy and contented two year old?! Eeeek.

P: Update

2011-11-17T09:13:00.002Z

Sorry for the two days of blog silence. I haven't really been able to find anything to say. Nothing to worry about though, we are all still here.

P's op - his painkilling hip injection - was on Monday, and so far, we still don't know if it's worked. The main reason for this is that when the surgeon had to move his hip to get the injection in the right place, the movement of the hip has caused some pain, and until the goes away....we won't know if the pre-exisiting hip pain has actually gone or not. Very confusing.

And so, all we can do for the time being is to keep our fingers crossed....and hope.

xxxx

B's First Holy Communion Preparation #3

2011-11-15T09:29:00.004Z

Bradley's second class in preparing him for his First Holy Communion was on Saturday 12th November.

In this class, the children learnt all about baptism and they thought back to their baptisms and talked about them. They also had a 'mock' one, where some of them played the parts of the parents, and God Parents, where apparently the 'Father' nearly drowned the baby doll (oops!).

They learnt about the oils that can be used in Church - the oil of catechumens which is used during the baptismal service, and also the oil of chrism.

B got baptised on 11th June 2006 with M. He would have been around 3 and a half, and she was 20 months. I'd like to share with you some photographs of their baptism however I don't have any on my laptop and my disk drive is broken at the moment. :o(

So I'll tell you about it instead...P arranged for his friend to take me and the children to church in his American baby blue car. While P and around fifteen of his friend followed....on their MOTORCYCLES! It was a very good sight. We actually didn't tell Father about this bit, so he was quite shocked too! :o) It caused a little bit of chaos as the baptism was straight after the Sunday morning mass!

B's God Parents were my Uncle John (who gave me away at our wedding) and also P's cousin Marie (who was bridesmaid at our wedding!). M's God Mother was Auntie Dot, who has since sadly passed away from her battle with cancer, and P's brother.

And so that was all about his baptism. I don't think B remembers too much about it, although he did enjoy looking at the photographs we had of the day.

We then returned back to Church for the Mass on the Saturday afternoon, where the children took part in a small ceremony to 'renew' their baptism. They had to take a small amount of water from the baptism font and make a cross on their forehead.

B is really enjoying the classes, and it's nice because I feel that I am learning along with him, so it's really nice. The members of the Church are so nice, and I feel that they genuinely remember what I have said in the past about P, as they are always asking how he is. They even said get well wishes to him in the Mass for his operation.

Thanks for sharing another part of the Holy Communion journey with B - to read about the other posts please just look under the 'holy communion' label at the bottom of this post. xx

Yet more op's!

2011-11-14T10:56:00.000Z

P is going into hospital at 12pm today for a cortizone injection into his hip. He had a similar procedure in January, but due to the deformed shape of his hip it did not enter the correct place.

For those of you who are not aware, cortisone injections can be made into a painful area of the body, however in order for them to work effectively, or even at all, it needs to be injected into the correct place. And any variation as to where it injected can and will affect whether or not it works.

If successful, the painkilling injection can work for anything between a couple of weeks to around 6 months.

On this occasion, after consultation with his hip surgeon, the surgeon will once again attempt to inject the hip, only this time using a ‘traction table’ to pull the hip apart, to ensure that it is injected in the correct place.

So, please, we need your thoughts and/or prayers. For two things – if we can - the successful carrying out of the injection so that it *works* and also for a speedy recovery. Many thanks, it is greatly appreciated xx

M's 'warm' cardigan

2011-11-13T08:51:00.000Z

A few weeks ago, M requested a 'warm' school cardigan. I was a bit confused to begin with, and then I realised what she meant.

She wanted a proper school cardigan, one with the school logo on, instead of the ones she usually wears - plain red ones from Adsa/Tesco!

And so, of course, although they are more expensive I had to oblige, seeing as they were 'warm'! Haha.

Doesn't she look lovely?

It's a bit big for her as the sizes are a bit strange, so at least it will last her a while. I do hope that she will be nice and cosy in her 'warm' cardigan now winter is coming.

I am certainly very lucky to be blessed with such beautiful girls. xx

Remembering...

2011-11-11T09:40:00.000Z

Today is the 11th November - Remembrance Day.

I do not know who in my family would have been involved in the First World War. I expect there were many who lost their lives.

However, my maternal grandfather was involved in the Second World War. I never met him, as although he survived the war, he passed away three years before I was born.

When I was doing a project on the Second World War at High school, I aked my Nan to tell me all about my Grandad and what he his involvement in the war was.

Here is my Grandad, it's not a good photo as it's a photo (of a photo):

It's my understanding that he worked on submarines.

My Nan recalled one time when shea heard on the radio that the submarine he was supposed to be serving on at the time was (the equivilent of 'shot down') and she feared the worst, and then a few minutes later my Grandad walked down the path as he'd gotten leave without her knowing! Whether or not it actually happened like that, or that's how she remembered it, I don't know.

My Nan and Grandad were in their mid-20's during the war and my Nan had her four girls in 1938, 1939, 1942 and 1944 (my Mum).

The above picture of is of my Nan and her four girls - the one who is laughing is my Auntie Anne, the one the other side of my Nan is my late Auntie Dot, the one right in front of my Nan (the smallest one!) is my Mum and the other one is Auntie Linda.

I am facinated by the war, what these women would have had to go through whilst all their loved ones were fighting, and indeed my thoughts are with all the soldiers, many miles from home, fighting for their country. It would be all so different if it happened now, wouldn't it?

If anyone asked me if I were to be able to go back in time, where would I go, it would certainly be to war time, so I can fully understand what it was like for everyone. My facination for this era is evident in the books that I read - the majority are set in the war-time.

My Grandad survived the war....his cousin was not so lucky. Walking with a friend, when his friend stepped on a landmine, killing them both. So sad. Such a loss.

And so, today (and on Sunday), I like many others, will be remembering all of those involved in each of the wars. I hope you can spare them a thought too. They gave their lives for their country.

Bronte is Daddy's 'flossy mop'!

2011-11-10T17:48:00.000Z

Bronte's hair is continuing to grow at a rapid pace, so I am hoping that it soon won't be in her eyes. I know we probably should get it cut, but I can't possibly bear the thought of it at moment - her hair is soooo gorgeous and everyone comments on it.

But she definately is Daddy's 'flossy mop':

Don't you think?

M and Bronte's first dentist appointment!

2011-11-08T07:14:00.000Z

In half term, following B's emergency dentist appointment, I booked us all in for check-ups.

It was to be their first ever trip to the dentist.

We'd prepared them by telling them what to expect and they were all set.

M's check up went very well, and the dentist said she had good teeth, which was a relief after all the problems B has had. She was very good, not scared at all. And then it was Bronte's turn. She sat in the chair OK....and that was it!

She refused to open her mouth and every time the very nice dentist spoke to her, she turned her head away from him! Which is her usual trick when she wants to ignore someone!

Thankfully he was OK with it, and said to bring her back in a couple of months just to get her used to it.

They each got given a 'goodie bag' with a new toothbrush and toothpaste.

Here is a smiley M:

And a grumpy Bronte! :o)

But she liked her new toothbrush.

I had a check up too, and I had to go back and have a filling last Friday, which wasn't nice. But at least I am all sorted now. I don't like dentists, but then again, I don't think many people do, do they? xx

Thinking about Christmas!

2011-11-06T11:48:00.000Z

Yes indeed. From the mum who usually leaves it to the last minute, I am indeed thinking about Christmas.

In November.

Well actually it was October, so that has to be some sort of record.

It started over the summer when B and M were taking about Christmas. When P is around, all Christmas talk is banned until the middle of November. Don't get me wrong, he LOVES Christmas but what he doesn't like are the Christmas cards and decorations overload in shops we get here in the UK from the end of August. He thinks it's way too early, which to be fair it probably is.

Now I have all of my Christmas cards already sorted. Not written - don't be silly - now THAT will be a middle of December, just as the last posting date is announced jobby! :o) Brought in the sales after last Christmas....and....more importantly I KNOW WHERE I HAVE PUT THEM. So all is good.

Present wise we don't go mad and buy for a million people - it's just P, B, M and Bronte mainly. Then some gfts for my Mum - Nanna which we send to her. Then a gift each for P's Mam and Dad, P's brother and nephew J and Uncle Gerard - P's Mam's brother who is 50 and has Down's Syndrome. He spends every Christmas with P's Mam and Dad. And usually a present for B and M's teachers. So not too many and usually manageable except nobody really ever knows what they want.

This year, I found a few things that I already have stashed away - think I must have gotten these over the summer and forgotten about them. Four Beastquest books for B (that I've ticked off my list so I know which ones he knows he has, and ones stashed in case he wants to buy one between now and Christmas - clever thinking, eh?), a Doodle Dolls book for M and a DVD for each of them - Horrid Henry and Strawberry Shortcake.

M then announced that she wanted that she NEEDED the Sylvanian Families Hotel. And I was like, erm, you have your dolls house. And then she said 'they NEED to go on holiday!'. Oh of course, silly me. However, the retail price of it is £109.99. So I spoke to P. And we agreed to try and talk her out of it. But she was having none of it. I offered they could go for a holiday in the windmill, or on a boat. But no, they 'NEED' the hotel. Hmmm. Damn fussy Sylvanians. Aren't they content with the caravan holiday? Or the hospital she already has? But she reeeeeaaaaalllly wanted it. Grrrr. Kids.

We spoke with her and agreed that Santa said she could have it, but she had to realise it was an expensive present and so she might not get much else. 'That's OK' she said, 'I only want this and the password journal. Nothing else. PROMISE.'

And then. It was 25% off in Argos. Good stuff. Except it was the middle of the month and I didn't have £75 spare. So I was gutted, and didn't get it and *hoped* it would come back on offer.

And then.....last week....for 5 days only.

HALF PRICE!

In Argos. They had no stock though, so I reserved one and it told me I could collect it from Wednesday (two days after payday!). However, on Wednesday morning when I went to collect it, it was back up to £99. I was not impressed when they tried to charge me full price. BUT.....because of WHEN I pre-ordered it, I got it for £54.99. Plus, they were doing an offer at the time where you got two £5 off cards when you buy anything else in November, and one is for December, so technically, assuming I use these (even for something that's just over £5 as there is no minimum spend required) it actually works out at £10 less.

I figured there was never going to be a better offer than it being half-price.

I am so pleased. And I am sure M will be too. Unless the Sylvanian's decide a boat holiday might be nice after all.

How about you? Have you started to think about Christmas? How many people do you buy for?

Bonfire Night

2011-11-05T20:08:00.004Z

We didn't get any fireworks this year. It was an expense we just couldn't justify at the moment, with all the other things we need to pay for, and especially with Christmas fast approaching.

Instead we went to the local firework display put on by the council.

And I did make a wonderful two minute film to share with you.....

....expect it's somehow disappeared off my iPhone and I've no idea how or why! Boo.

Bronte was looking forward to it, a lot....until it started and then we had a few tears. However she soon settled down, and covered her EYES in a bid to excape from them. I'm not sure of her reasoning behind it....but she was OK listening to it, just not seeing it. Maybe it's a good theory if you are two years old! :o)

And so instead I share with you a very short video of the finale.

Enjoy!

It's actually the first time we have been to the local display and I would definately want to go back next year. The children enjoyed it, even Bronte said she liked it (not that she saw much of it!).

Happy Bonfire night, and whatever you do, stay safe!

My cookie cutter collection

2011-11-03T11:13:00.000Z

The ever lovely A Thrifty Mrs shared her cookie cutter collection earlier this week, and I thought would also share mine.

I'm actually a little bit picky about cookie cutters, I don't like ones that are too small and I don't like ones that are too fiddly.

I had loads more, but then I had a massive sort out and ended up giving any I didn't want to the school, for their play-doh!

Whether they are metal or plastic I do not mind, it's more about the design for me.

I have some trusty old boring ones, but here are some of the more exciting ones in my collection.

Some very popular (with B) DINOSAUR ones:

Some BIG ones:

M loves the BUTTERFLY one the best.

And....MOOMIN ones from Finland:

Do you remember the Moomins?

These ones were from a Swap-Bot swap, I think the person was from somewhere in Europe, and they were characters in a cartoon there:

Stupidly, I know...I didn't keep the packaging.

And, for P (haha)....

A FISH.

I'd love for you to share your cookie collection with me.

Book Review: The Single Girls To Do List by Lindsey Kelk

2011-11-02T07:13:00.000Z

I recieved this book as part of a swap I recently completed on Swap-Bot. I usually always pick my own books, and it's always interesting to receive a book that someone else has chosen for you. Actually, I am pretty sure that had I have seen this book in the shop myself, I probably would have picked it anyway.

'The Single Girls To Do List' by Lindsey Kelk.

The synopsis is as follows (copied from the back of the book):

Rachel Summers loves a to-do list:
(tick) Boyfriend
(tick) Flat
(tick) Great job
NOT on the list:
(big cross!) Being dumped

Best friends Emelie and Matthew ridde to her rescue with an entirely new kind of list - The Single Girl's To-Do List. Rachel doesn't know it, but this will take her on all kinds of wild adventures - and get her in some romantic pickles too. And then it won't be a case of what but who she decides to tick off...

(tick) Mr. bendy yoga instructor (tick) Mr. teenage sweetheart in Toronto
(tick) Mr. persistent ex (tick) Mr. deeply unsuitable

The Single Girl's Tp-Do List gives Rachel the perfect heartbreak cure - and proves love is out there if you are willing to take the chance.

And my review:

Overall I thought this was a good book. It was certainly one that I was able to read over the course of the week, bit by bit. It wasn't one of those books that I felt compelled to finish all in one go....but then again, it's always handy to have a book that you can dip into every now and then.

I feel this would be best suited as a summer read - one were you can just read a chapter at a time, and so on. It was funny and I liked that about it. I think I would probably be interested to read other books by the same author.

I enjoy reading - a lot - and it's always interesting to read about people of a similiar age to me, who are NOT married with children. It's almost like a 'your life COULD have been like this....' moment!! And for the record, I wouldn't change my life at all. :o)

So there you go. My book review.

Happy Halloween!!

2011-10-31T20:01:00.000Z

It's that time of year again!

B has been getting into the spirit of things by being dressed as a witch near enough all day. I took a half day holiday so I could spend the afternoon with the children and then take them 'trick or treating'.

Here is the littlest witch:

She's wearing one of M's old Halloween outfits.

P, as usual was in charge of the pumpkins. I think he did a pretty good job, don't you?

Here they are in the dark:

Bronte, posing with the pupmkins:

She was being a GRUMPY witch! :o)

B's outfit from last year still fitted him, thank goodness, so he was a zombie pirate. Bronte didn't like his mask so he didn't wear it most of the time!

M was a beautiful witch:

We ventured out to our neighbours, and then to a couple of other houses in our street, and then over to P's Mam's house, and P's Uncle's house....and a couple of other houses along the way. It was very nice, and they were very polite to everyone.

Here was the loot they got:

My (not so) scary little people wish you a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Do you know how long it took to get a decent photo of all three of them? You seriously don't!

Happy Halloween!

Whatever you are doing and however you celebrate, please stay safe! xx

Crazy Cat #2

2011-10-30T17:57:00.000Z

Here is Arnie...

...posing on P's bike! :o)

Comping - I actually WON something!

2011-10-29T09:25:00.000+01:00

I see all these competitions floating about at the moment, on Facebook and Twitter, on wesbites and via blogs. And I think to myself....do people actually win these?

I used to do the Take a Break and That's Life competitions many moons ago. I won £50 on the 'Spot the Difference' in That's Life, and my Mum won a fridge-freezer filled with icecream. Other than that, although I don't enter giveaways all that often I won a cot mobile when B was little, a CD (can't remember what it was) and some Eco cleaning prodicts.

The very first competition I won was for a Cliff Richard RECORD no less, back when I was about 8 or 9. I gave it to my Mum!

It's been ages since I actually entered a competition. I was thinking to myself 'is it actually worth it?'.

Anyway...as you'll know, I won a blog competition a week or two ago.

And then....I received a message to say.....I'd won.....

A SIGNED Cath Kidston book of her new Patch book!

It was really easy to win too, I did so by re-tweeting (for those not in the Twitter loop, this means re-posting) the message about the competition. I replied to the email message and the very next day my book arrived.

How good is that?

Needless to say, I'm entering more competitions now! :o)

Do you enter competitions? Have you ever won anything nice?

Dentist Drama

2011-10-28T21:25:00.000+01:00

Last Saturday lunchtime I gave the children their lunch – sandwiches, yogurt and biscuit – and after a minute or two, B tearfully handed me his lunch back saying, ‘Mam I don’t think I can eat this now’.

I asked why, and he opened his mouth, and on the bottom right hand side one of his teeth looked to be bleeding, and cracked. I quickly called P in from fixing my car (bless him!) and asked his opinion, and he said it looked like he’d cracked his tooth on something. B then said the tooth had felt wobbly for a week or so. However, as far as we were concerned, he had all of his big teeth, so we were not sure what was going on.

Anyway, he seemed in a bit of pain, although he was pretending otherwise (he HATES dentists – he must get this from me!). P said to try and call the dentists, however the one that the children and I use (in our town) were closed, and the answerphone message directed me to the emergency 111 number. I called them and, well to be honest it was like most things where they have to try and diagnose over the telephone, they asked all sorts of questions that CLEARLY had nothing to do with a cracked tooth. To be honest, this was the first time I used this service and I wasn’t overly impressed as the guy flippantly said to me 'oh yes, we will get him an appointment at SOME POINT within the next 24 hours....or so!, but they'll have to call you back' I was like, 'erm...?'.

I then called P's dentist - in a nearby town - and thankfully they were a) OPEN and b) able to offer an appointment to B within the next two hours, so all was good.

For those interested, I did get a call back from the 111 service who could have seen B on the same day, but 3 hours AFTER the appointment I had just made.

To clarify - B is totally TERRIFIED of the dentist. He's had a bad experience in the past and whenever we go it's bad news. Due to various reasons, he's had to have both baby teeth and some adult teeth taken out. So he has this huge fear of dentists - which may have also been down to the fact that P told him that he'd have to have an injection!

Anyway, when we went in there, the VERY FIRST THING B said to him was, 'you're not going to hurt me, are you?'. I was mortified :o(

The dentist had a look, and thankfully it wasn't cracked - it was a baby tooth that was being pushed out by a wisdom tooth but hadn't fully fallen out. The dentist explained that he'd have to pull the tooth out - but it would only take a quick pull. Oh my goodness, you should have seen the PANIC in B's face. He started to hyperventilate and not breathe properly, I honestly had visions of having to hold him down. I calmed him down and the dentist explained that it needed a quick pull, and that B might even be able to do it himself.

Which he did, literally after one tiny pull. PHEW.

And so, that was it. The dentist drama over.

It's been recommended that we take B, now we've switched over to this dentist (our old one was pretty rubbish at getting appointments anyway) that he had more frequent check-ups to get him used to it at the dentist. Although, I'm thinking perhaps P can take him next time! :o)

M's desk!

2011-10-27T11:38:00.000+01:00

M has gone on and on about my work, she wants to know what it looks like, where I sit, who I sit with, what my desk looks like and so on.

Over the summer holidays P and the kids took me to work one day, and I took M right up to the window and showed her the set of desks I sit at, and all was good.

But because she couldn't SEE my desk, as I face the window, the questions continued.

And then I showed her this:

My desk at work, with my phone, photographs, pens, folders and so on.

She wanted to make her own desk in her bedroom, so we set about making one for her, on top of her chest of drawers. She was quite happy with it. And she was pretty happy that hers looked quite similiar to mine.

Don't you think?

Bless her! xx

B's First Holy Communion Preparation #2

2011-10-26T18:11:00.001+01:00

I started my tale here, just in case you missed my first post.

Anyway, B's first class was Saturday 15th October.

He received an introduction to the Church, an in-depth look around at all of the special things in there, and they had the opportunity to ask questions about anything they needed to know. They talked a little about all the jobs of the various people who worked with the Church - the florist,

They learnt the Programme Prayer:

'We gather together as friends of Jesus, in the community in which we belong;
in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
We pray that this will be a happy, holy time for us all.
As we walk this journey with Jesus may the Lord be in our hearts,
in our minds and on our lips. Amen'

The children were giving the meaning to their name. B - Bradley - was told that his name came from a surname which originally cam from a place name that meant 'broad clearing' in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was the World War 2 American General Omar Bradley (1893-1981).

For an hour in the class, the children were there by themselves learning, and then for the remaining half an hour the parents joined. We had to perform a short ceremony in the church where we lit a candle (a small tealight) and said the child's name to show our commitment to the programme:

And then, in the afternoon Mass as part of the service the children were introduced as starting in the journey of their First Holy Communion, the children each handed Father a piece of paper with their full name on, and this was repeated by Father in order for the child to be welcomed onto the programme. The children, then as a group were asked if they wanted to start their journey, to which they replied 'I am'. As parents, we all then stood up and were asked to help and guide, to which we replied 'we are'.

The service itself was not the first Catholic service I have attended, but, although this sounds silly, after taking part in the service, and with all the dramas and stress of the past few weeks, I actually felt comforted to be there.

After the service, I was very pleased that Father then took the time to come over and to ask me how things were going, which of course, he didn't have to do, as I am sure there were plently of people there who wanted to speak with him. I thanked him for his patience and understanding in the first Parent's meeting, and for listening to my life story!

B was a little apprehensive at first about doing the classes ('after all Saturdays are my ONLY DAY OFF!' he said - the little monster - referring to the fact that on Sunday he has taekwondo classes!). But he seemed to enjoy this one, and came back telling me all sorts of things that they had learnt. I am hoping the enthusiasm keeps up.

So there, we go, the update of his first meeting. The next one is on November 12th.

Thanks for sharing with us this journey xx

Video: B's 'White Belt Pattern'

2011-10-25T08:33:00.000+01:00

B wanted to share this with Blogland. It's his pattern - his routine that he has to for his next belt at his Taekwondo class.

He has been attending for two and a half months now, and is THOROUGHLY enjoying himself. He attends twice a week and has missed only three classes - two at the very start when he was on his holidays and one due to illness a couple of weeks ago.

Spot his super serious face!

I hope you enjoy!

And if you're interested, it actually didn't take that many takes.

Well, about five....maybe six! Haha.

He was just supposed to do the routine however he kept adding bits to it with each 'take' we did! xx

RIP Marco Simoncelli - a very sad day

2011-10-23T18:42:00.005+01:00

Following my somewhat happy Moto GP post last week, it is swiftly followed by a very sad one.

Earlier today, in the last but one race of the 2011 Moto GP season, there was a fatal accident during the second lap, involving a 24 year old very talented and popular rider, Italian Marco Simoncelli. The offical website report can be read here.

I was at work today, as usual, P and I have a pact usually not to watch the race (which are always on a Sunday, but due to the time zones all over the world, can start at any time - so some, like last week, I can watch either before/after work)until later this evening, however on this occasion he heard something on Twitter that something had happened during the race and he checked the news, and then watched the programme he recorded on Sky+.

He text me at work pretty much straightaway to tell me there had been an accident, and by the time I managed to get online, a few minutes later the sad news had been announced. At this point the Moto GP website hadn't been updated so I and viewed the BBC news report.

It was pretty brief, at the time, it just said that he'd has an accident and that the other two riders involved - Colin Edwards and the very famous Valentino Rossi were OK, although Colin Edwards was injured, but not serious.

I spent the morning in a blur until I could speak to P. I honestly can't describe how I was feeling. Not star-struck in a celeb-kind of way, because these people, although famous in the world of Moto GP, I wouldn't class of as a 'celebrity' status. I think the reason why this, and any other motocycle accident affects me so much is due to P, and his friends, who all ride. I see each and every person on a motorcycle as P riding along....if that makes sense? P is a talented rider, don't get me wrong, but these Moto GP riders are too - so much so that an accident like this is rare. Accidents occur nearly every race, but not to this extent.

I've since seen the footage of the accident, and it's horrific. Truly horrific. I hope that people do not blame the other riders involved, as there is nothing they could have done to prevent the inevitable. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Whether the other two will ride again, I do not know. They will carry this with them for the rest of their lives, I cannot begin to imagine what they are going through.

P says that it was a freak accident, that 99 times out of 100 the accident would have resulted in the bike and the rider being thrown in one direction, yet on this occasion the tyres re-gripped and pushed the bike, and the trapped rider into the path of the other racers.

There are so many 'if's and buts' to this, so many variables that could have prevented this. Watching the whole race until it was called off all seemed centred on Simoncelli and how great a race it was going to be for him. Indeed seconds before, the cameras were focused on him and his battle for 4th position with another rider. And then out of nowhere, off camera, the accident occurs and on the main screen he slides back into view. You can tell from the commentators at the time that they know it's bad, the camera then flicks to another rider, away from the accident, and then there is a haunting ariel shot of him laying on the track. The race is called off seconds later, with all the other riders going back to the pit lane, most of them not knowing what has happened. As the BBC programme continued they were obviously unsure of his condition, however it was reported that he had regain conciousness. At the time of the programme ending, there was no update on his condition, although, with hindsight, watching the presenters and indeed the riders, you knew that it wasn't going to be good news.

The post accident report/video can be seen here and Honda's trubite can be viewed here.

My thoughts and love go out to all of those involved in the accident today, in particular to Marco's friends and family, and to Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi. There will be a gap in Moto GP that will never be filled, you were destined to be a big thing - Rest in Peace, Marco. Your up and coming talent, and your hair (!) will never be forgotten. xxxx

Trust Friday's to be my day off!

2011-10-22T10:46:00.001+01:00

Yesterday afternoon I received a very odd text message from work which said: 'Memphis building confirmed safe but all Processing overtime cancelled. All other w/end working in Contact remains as planned, please attend for work' and I was like, 'erm?!'. I had no idea what this meant.

Had to do some research online. It looks like there was lots of drama, which you can read about my clicking here.

From speaking to people at work, everyone got sent home!

However, saying that I am pleased that I wasn't caught up in it all.

Oooh, the DRAMA.

Yes, OK I work in a call centre!

2011-10-21T09:59:00.001+01:00

As many of you know, I work in a call centre. Thankfully, I don’t work in a call centre that involves cold-calling people, or even trying to sell people something. Goodness, I don’t think that I would be able to cope if I did! Anyway, as a result of working in a call centre, albeit one where people call because they NEED me to help them, I have developed this sort of ‘respect’ for call centre workers.

A couple of weeks ago, I received a call from an unknown number, around about 7.45pm on a weekday night, and for some reason, I answered. Now, seeing as I was in the middle of the children’s reading at the time, and the fact that usually I don’t answer with-held or unknown numbers because the majority of these calls are now telesales, or automated messages, which annoy me! And so the fact that I chose to answer, surprised me.

I was greeted by a lovely man calling to ask me if I could give some feedback on my home insurance that I took out at the beginning of July. ‘Oh yes!’ I replied, rather enthusiastically - much to his surprise. The truth was I felt pretty sorry for him, because it’s only his job at the end of the day, and I bet most people, particularly at this time of night, would have told him where to go!

But actually I WAS happy with my new home insurance. For once, this year I had looked around to compare home insurance and obtained various quotes, and with my list, I then looked into what each of the companies offered. Admittedly, it wasn’t the cheapest on my list (although with my extra years no-claims it was still cheaper than last years’ policy) but it was the one who offered everything I wanted from it whereas the other companies didn’t. And huge bonus points went to them for allowing customers to pay in 12 equal instalments, as ALL of the other insurance companies wanted a large upfront payment (equal to around 20% of the total policy price) on the day of taking out the policy. I was actually able to schedule my first payment for the 1st day of the following month.

I was unable to buy online at the time, as for some reason the webpage wasn’t loading properly (I am not sure if this was down to my internet connection or an issue with the website at that particular time). Due to the urgency of renewing my policy (roughly translates to: I’d left it to the last minute!), this meant that I had to ring up and speak to an advisor who checked over all my details and actually sold me the policy within a matter of minutes.

Job done. And I was happy. So why shouldn’t I share my feedback with the company? All in all the survey took around 5 minutes of my time and hopefully the feedback will be of some use to the company.

My attitude has certainly changed since working in call centre, I now can tell on the phone when someone doesn’t ‘quite’ know what they are talking about or when they are trying to get me off the phone – I know all of these tricks too!

But I do like to give feedback if I feel I have had good customer service. Nothing pleases me more at work than for someone to offer kind words about the level of customer service, or product knowledge that I have offered them on their call. And as you will be aware – I also love receiving emails of recognition!

Disclaimer - although the story is 100% genuine and I express my own personal opinion throughout, I do need to say that this is a sponsored post.

B's First Holy Communion Preparation #1

2011-10-19T21:22:00.002+01:00

This year, following his First Confession, B is going to be taking part in the programme to prepare him for this first Holy Communion. This will be conducted through lessons at school, and also with monthly classes at the church.

Now, as I have said before, I am not a Catholic, although P was brought up one. I was brought up Church of England only attending church for weddings, christenings and funerals. At school, we rarely attended chuch, unlike B and M at their Catholic school. However, we have chosen for our children to be baptised and I am happy for them to be involved as much or as little as they choose.

B chose to make his First Confession, and this is the next step.

I had to attend a meeting at the Church on Thursday 6th October, which told parents all about what to expect, however I did get a little more than I bargained for!

The meeting explained that one Saturday a month the children will attend a class at the church, for an hour, and after an hour the parent/s will join for the remaining half an hour. Then the children take part in the Mass the NEXT DAY as part of the service. Now, this immediately faced me with a huge dilemma - I work Sundays, and I knew there was no way that P would take B to church to take part in the service. P does not believe in God and the church, I think at one point he used to, however with over ten years now of ill-health and the death of his young cousin to Meningitus when she was just 12, he's lost any faith that he did have.

Other people spoke up - Sundays would be difficult for them too - could it be done at the evening Saturday Mass instead? - but listening to them, you could tell it wasn't down to work commitments, it was more clubs and things like that which was affecting their Sundays. Yikes. What should I do? So....I spoke up. Explained that I could not possibly commit to Sundays due to work. Cue the Headteacher of the paired Catholic school in the same town to stand up and say that we all need to make sacrifices for our children - whether that be work or otherwise (?!), which made me feel even worse. It wasn't as though I could CHOOSE not work, especially after taking nearly a week off unpaid in September when P went on his medication for depression.

So Father came over to speak to me after the meeting...and you know what?! He placed his hand on my arm and asked me what was wrong and if everything was OK - and I burst into tears!

I get (sort of) like that when I have to talk about P and his illnesses, regardless of who I talk to - my eyes will go all full of water, but I haven't ACTUALLY cried before - to anyone! Thankfully he wasn't fazed - perhaps he makes people cry all of the time (?!) - and he just allowed me to tell him the whole story, in as much detail as I wished to divulge. I think what upset me the most was that if B was unable to do this, it would have been my fault - because I worked on a Sunday.

Anyway, they assured me that everything would be OK and that we could sort something out.

B attended his first class on Saturday 15th October, and took part in the evening Mass on that day too. I will tell you about that in the next post I write about his Holy Communion preparation.

I want to share the journey with my blog family....I hope this is OK with you all? Even if you aren't a Catholic (which technically I'm not either....!) I hope you will be able to share B's journey with us. xx

Well Helllllo Kitty! :o)

2011-10-18T18:52:00.000+01:00

Another of Nanna's creations! This time for M.

A Hello Kitty cardigan.

Bronte was NOT impressed when it arrived, she said 'No M's cardigan - Bronte's!'. Ooops.

M, however was over the moon.

Here she is posing.

I think that Nanna is very good at knitting, don't you agree?

Although, to be fair rumour has it that she started to knit me a pair of socks well over two years ago now and I've never received them....so well, you know, maybe that's her old age....!! Haha. Just kidding Mum, love you really xx

Recipe: Chocolate Fudge Brownies

2011-10-17T18:42:00.001+01:00

I've thoroughly enjoyed the Baking Challenge and producing a blog post each week. However, although I am certainly still going to include recipes on my blog, I am unable to continue to do this on a weekly basis like I have been - I just have too many things going on at the moment!

But anyway....another recipe for you.

This was a recipe card I picked up in Sainsburys some point over the summer. It was produced in conjunction with Countrylife butter and the Happy Egg company. Of course, you don't HAVE to use those particular brands....!

Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Ingredients:

175g Countrylife butter, plus extra for greasing
6 heaped tablespoons cocoa powder
4 happy egg medium free range eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
350g caster sugar or light brown sugar
100g plain flour
1 x 100g pack of walnut halves, chopped - we didn't use these - I used white chocolate chips instead!

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180oC, fan 160oc, Gas 4. Grease a 24 x 24cm baking tin and line with baking parchment.

2. Slowly melt the butter in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. When almost melted, stir in the cocoa powder. Leave to cool until lukewarm.

3. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk the eggs until foamy. Add the vanilla, then gradually beat in the sugar until you have a creamy batter. Gently stir in the chocolate sauce to create a marbled effect, then fold in the flour (and walnuts/white chocolate chips if using), taking care not to over-stir.

4. Pour into the tin and bake in the oven for 25-28 minutes (be careful not to overcook - the centre should still be soft to the touch). Allow to cool before cutting into slices. If you are not going to serve the brownies at once, store in a cake tin, separating each later with a sheet of greaseproof paper.

I am, as usual quite nervous about baking brownies because the whole point of them, from what I can work out is that you have to leave them slightly undercooked to make them all gooey....which is a kind of scary thought. I made these, and to be honest I don't think I cooked them long enough as when I put them on the cooling rack, the ones that were in the middle sort of totally fell apart and collapsed. OOPS. But anyway, after disposing of those ones, and salvaging the others, all was good. Note to self: cook slightly longer, and reduce the heat ever so slightly next time.

However, that being said I am not really one for 'timing'. It drives P mad. I just wait until things 'look' like they are done. It's always worked for me so far....well until today.

Anyway, aside from this, they were actually really tasty. B said, and I quote 'oh my goodness you have made the BEST brownies I have ever tasted, like in MY WHOLE LIFE!'. And he is 9, don't ya know?! lol

P and I had ours served with some icecream and chocolate sauce. Yummy.

Casey Stoner - MotoGP Champion 2011

2011-10-16T19:29:00.005+01:00

This morning I was up at 5.30am.

Through choice!

Oh yes. And what was I doing?

Watching the MotoGP (motorcycle racing, for those of you who do not know what on earth I am talking about!) race in Phillip Island, Australia.

I don't think I have mentioned before, but P and I are HUGE MotoGP fans and one day, we would love to go to an actual race. They are at various locations all over the world over the course of the MotoGP season, and I know that one day we WILL go to one. There is one here in the UK, however it'd be nice to go to one in another country! :o) P has been to the one in Holland - in Assen but that was a few years ago. He enjoyed it a lot.

Anyway, this morning Casey Stoner won the his home race (he's Australian) and also the MotoGP Championship....on his 26th birthday no less! What a day for him!

Here is a picture of him in action:

And this is him celebrating with the rest of the Honda team - it's down to the mechanics and engineers as well as the rider....although full credit goes to Casey - he is a fabulously, talented rider.

(both photos taken from www.motogp.com)

We knew at the start of the season that he would be hard to beat this year.

There are just two races left of the 2011 Championship and then it restarts in April (I think) 2012. Here is to another amazing season!

If you don't watch the MotoGP, then I really suggest that you have a look at one of the races, they are so enjoyable to watch. It's so interesting and wow, you really have to appreciate how well these guys can ride!

All the riders are phenomenal. There are around 20 MotoGP riders riding various bikes (Yamaha, Honda, Ducati and Suzuki) under various 'teams'. It's easy once you know who is who....until the end of the season when they sometimes swap riders and teams! Haha. :o)

So....congratulations Casey Stoner....and have a great birthday! xxx

Healthy Packed Lunches

2011-10-15T07:49:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I attended a demonstration at school from ExpoChef, a company designed to promote healthy eating for children.

Seeing as I have two pretty good eaters (Bronte and M) and the world's fussiest child B - I decided to attend to see if I could pick up any hints and tips.

It was designed to be about Healthy Lunchboxes.

The lady was geat with the children, and she demonstrated how to make fruit smoothies - with banana, strawberry, raspberry, natural yogurt, apple juice and honey.

She made two types of tortilla wraps - firstly one which she called a 'cheesey coleslaw wrap' which was made with grated cheese, cabbage, grated carrot and mayonnaise and then one she called 'chicken salsa' made with chicken, mango pieces and chopped herry tomatoes.

She encouraged the children to make a variety of pitta pockets - half a pitta bread and then to choose from a variety of fillings to stuff it with. Finally she made a roasted vegetable cous-cous, which smelled really nice!

All in all, I did think it was useful however I didn't really think it was aimed at promoting healthy lunchboxes, as I would have assumed that this would have included hints and tips for healthier sandwich fillings and even examples or recipes for healthy treats. However, I did think it was nice how the children got to interact and take part - some children were chosen to help make the above things, and many more were involved in the taste testing! :o) Overall, the majority of the children liked what they tasted, which I thought was a good sign.

M tried the fruit smoothie, but she said she didn't like it as it tasted 'too banana-ery' however I tried it also, and considering I don't really like the taste of banana I thought it was actually OK and the banana taste wasn't all that overpowering, like I would have expected it to be. However if I made one at home I don't think I'd put as much banana in....apparently in smoothies you need banana as it helps the smoothie get a bit thicker - seeing as I have never made them before I am not sure if this is actually true or not?!

B's fussiness continues, and over the years we have tried everything to get him to eat new things or even to try things, all without success. It's almost as though he can sense a hidden fruit or vegetable anywhere - with say super sensitive taste buds - if that's even possible?! The whole concept behind Annabel Karmel is to 'hide' vegetables and fruit in sauces, but noooo....he won't have any of that. He's clearly not stupid. He continues to eat only certain types of chicken nugget, pizza and plain pasta, although he has recently developed a liking for tomoato sauce....so that's something at least that's recently changed. He will eat sliced chicken in sandwiches (like the wafer thin type?) but not actual chicken! And the battle continues should we buy a different brand of pizza/chicken nugget! Meat-wise, he does't eat much at all - if we try and give him minced beef he will gag on it.

Over the years we have tried everything, and it's got to the point where if we say to him 'you HAVE to eat this' for tea, and he doesn't want to (for whatever reason) he will actually go without tea and have nothing until breakfast the next morning! His idea of heaven, I think would be to live on sandwiches for lunch and dinner each day, but with the same filling each time!

As I mentioned we have taken him to the doctor, who actually wasn't that helpful...and said as long as he is eating and getting him to try new things, then it would all sort itself out at some point. I was pretty disappointed with that visit. :o(

Annabel Karmel seems to think the solution is to get him involved in the making stage, oh yes, he will do that....and then he STILL won't eat it!

I had a word with the lady re: B and his fussiness, and she said that it's obviously NOT a fad he's going through as he's always been like it. She said to leave it at the moment, as he IS eating, albeit fussily. However, to try and introduce other foods every now and then, as even a try of something is better than nothing. So, no miracle cure as I was hoping, but after all this time....I wasn't expecting much!

Ah well, wish me luck! :o) xx

Giveaway goodies!

2011-10-14T18:05:00.006+01:00

I was very lucky to win a giveaway on a blog! I always enter blog giveaways and competitions yet I am rarely successful. But this time I was, and I was very happy considering loads of people entered! :o)

The giveaway was from Dawniepants over at Inanity and the Girl, a new blog which I have been following recently. I also follow her on Twitter.

The full details of the giveaway can ben seen here, along with some wonderful pictures of what I actually won!

My goodies arrived the day after my birthday! :o)

These goodies were from Dawniepants:

A fabulous make up bag, and some Soap and Glory mini products which smell fab! A silicone cupcake mould set and some hot pink nail polish (which M eyed up), some dry hair wash (never tried this, but apparently it's highly recommended) and also some fake eyelashes!

And for my chosen piece from the fabulous Rockabilly Pinup website, I chose this, from the Kittycat Black range.

I would just like to thank Dawniepants very much for her goodies, and would recommend that you all pop over to her blog and say hello! :o)

B's Headteacher Award!

2011-10-12T16:58:00.001+01:00

Due to a change in the morning assembly - in that it *aherm* is no longer in the morning, more in the afternoon (?!),I have not been attending as I would usually have in previous school years. It's now at 2.45pm on a Friday instead of straight after the school run, so kind of a little awkward, especially as it ends, and then there is usually anything from a 15-25 minute wait to collect the children at the end of school at 3.30pm.

Anyway, so it was a little late that I found out that B got the Headteacher Award for his class last Friday. If you can recall, the Headteacher award is where one child per class is picked because they have done something 'outstanding' during the past school week. The sticker (usually the tell-tale giveaway) was nowhere to be found - I suspect this may have been lost in the change of clothing for the afterschool football club. :o( We usually keep the stickers. :o( The sticker can be seen here in a previous post when M received the Headteacher award. Pretty.

Anyway, M told me that B received the Headteacher Award, but she couldn't remember why....and so B had to tell me....although I had to prompt him as he'd have never told me otherwise! Tsch. Boys! Apparently it was for an excellent description of his mythical beast! So there. Much better than the last time....where he got it for a wonderful French accent! Haha. :o)

My two adorable school children, minus the sticker.

Many congratulations B. We are all so proud of you, as always. xx

Baking Challenge: Week Ten - Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-10-11T17:41:00.001+01:00

OK, so I am a day late with this, because I wanted to share my birthday post with you yesterday. Anyway, this is a recipe card taken from Tesco....way back in 1996!

I only know the year because the slogan on the card, 'Bake 15 Chocolate Chip Cookies for 98p', according to the small print, was based on prices up to the 11.08.96! I can remember making these Chocolate Chip Cookies loads when I was younger.

What they would be like now, I did not know. But hey, I was willing to give it a go. Can a recipe actually ever go out-of-date?!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

125g Soft Margarine
50g Caster Sugar
75g Light Soft Brown Sugar
1 medium egg, beaten
5ml (1 tsp) Vanilla Essence
225g Plain Flour
5ml (1tsp) Baking Powder
50g Milk Chocolate Chips
50g White Chocolate Chips

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 190oC, Gas Mark 5, 375oF. Grease 3 baking trays.

2. In a large bowl beat together the margarine, caster sugar and light soft brown sugar with a wooden spoon until the mixture is light anf fluffy.

3. Beat in the egg a little at a time, then stir in the vanilla essesnce. Sift the flour and the baking powder onto the mixture and mix well with a metal spoon. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. Using 2 dessertspoons arrange 15 small mounds of mixture on the greased baking trays, leaving 5cm space between them to allow for spreading.

5. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until lightly browned. Check the cookies after 10 minutes and move the trays around as necessary so that they bake evenly.

6. Cool on the baking tray for about 5 minutes before carefully lifting onto a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

In answer to my own question - a recipe DOES NOT go out of date and they tasted YUMMY. M loved them, which is quite unusual for her as she usually sticks to plain biscuits like the Shortbread. Bronte loved them. B loved them, which was no surprise really seeing as he loves anything cake/cookie like. P said they were a bit 'cake-like' (?) but that's only because he prefers the Butterscotch cookies that I have made, ooh like a million times now since finding the recipe.

So, if you like chocolate chip cookies, you will love these. Trust me! Now, go....make them! :o) xx

My birthday!

2011-10-10T10:17:00.003+01:00

Thank you all for your birthday wishes on here, Facebook and Twitter.

I would love to say I had a lovely day....but I didn't - I was poorly for most of the day. Feeling totally exhausted, tired and sick. Nice! :o( In fact I slept for most of the day.

But aside from that, it was OK.

P and the children brought me a much-wanted KINDLE. Seeing as I read so much, I know I will use it loads. I actually got it early as P gave it to me on Friday. So far I have downloaded a couple of free books and a few cheap ones. I've read a whole book on there, too. It's great and I love it.

They also brought me a Kindle case.

Aside from that I received clothes (cardigan, top, wrap around cardigan) and chocolates. Yummy. I also got some money and so far I brought a new coat....but that's all. I am not sure what to spend the rest of the money on.

We went round P's Mams for dinner, and I ate as much as I could....and we then came home and I went to bed early. Great stuff, I certainly know how to part-ay don't I?

All in all, I had a nice day. Just wish I felt a bit better. The bug has continued today so much so that I am off work. :o( I hate feeling rubbish.

I hope you had a good sickness free weekend? xx

Happy Birthday Me!

2011-10-09T08:00:00.002+01:00

Today is my birthday.

I will be 31. Yikes, that sounds old. Perhaps I shouldn't reveal my age anymore? What do you think?

Here is me when I was little:

This was at my sister Karen's wedding, I think I was about 3 years old.

How about this one?

I'm not sure how old I was in this one, a little bit older I think....but I was pretty cute.....and ginger....was't I?!

And anyway, wishing me a happy birthday! :o)

If you would like to see what happened on October 9th over the years have a look here or here. October 9th even has it's own Wikipedia page! So yes, indeed to DO share my birthday with the British Prime Minister. I don't think I will be using that to gain any celeb status seeing as he's quite unpopular at the moment for a variety of reasons! Haha.

I will update you with how I celebrated later!

I hope you enjoy my birthday whatever you are up to, and in case you are wondering - I HAVE taken the day off work! :o) xx

365 days ago....

2011-10-08T10:33:00.001+01:00

A year ago today I found myself in court!

That's right. Probably in the most terrifying experience of my life - so far.

But don't worry, it was all OK.

If you'd like to read about it, please visit my post here.

Thankfully I have steered clear of Mr Policeman since then. Well, unless you ignore this incident. LOL

I don't think I will ever be able to have a birthday - yes, it's my birthday tomorrow - don'tcha know? - without remembering my experiences in court.

It's certainly made me think twice about having a career as a criminal mastermind. I think I'll just give that a miss - courts are scary places - even if you're innocent! :o) xx

Bronte's Nemo Jumper

2011-10-07T11:12:00.001+01:00

Following my post here, my clever Mum has been up to more knitting.

And so, as made by Bronte's very talented and clever Nanna, I give you.....

The Finding Nemo jumper!

And seeing as P really does have three 'Nemo fish' she loves it all the more.

Thank you Nanna xxx

Baby Bel's Adventures

2011-10-05T19:52:00.000+01:00

M has a baby doll which is a Baby Annabel. She got it when she was three, I think. Miss Bronte has taken rather a shine to 'Baby Bel' and likes to play with her. And M being the kind and lovely sister that she can sometimes be, has allowed Bronte to take ownership of 'Baby Bel'.

And Bronte does love 'Baby Bel', she carries her everywhere, down to the school and back, in car trips and to the park.

But 'Baby Bel' has been very naughty.

Do you know what she did?

I'll give you a clue.

Ready?

Yes, you've guessed it. 'Baby Bel' took a bath with Bronte, and it's taken a good few days to get her dry again - the doll has a soft body. :o(

Naughty 'Baby Bel'!

Oh, and in case you are wondering, George is still on the scene! We are now on our third one as we keep losing him! :o)

Surprise!

2011-10-04T20:24:00.000+01:00

Today, at work I received an email from someone I've been helping over the past few weeks, and she said she hoped 'I received something yesterday'.

I wasn't sure what she was talking about, and as far as I am aware, I'm not SUPPOSED to be allowed anything that might be sent in. Emails, yes. Cards can be sent by mail, but anything else, as stated in this post here, I thought wasn't.

But then.....I get these put on my desk! All wrapped up in packaging.

So I guess I was allowed them! :o)

Hotel Chocolat no less! Blimey. This really made me smile.

The message?

Nicola, just a little something to say thank you. I really thought my uni days were over. You do an amazing job!! Many thanks.

What a lovely surprise. Many thanks to the lovely lady I have had the pleasure to help over the past few weeks - it wasn't easy - but we got there in the end! :o)

Have you been sent anything nice recently?

Baking Challenge: Week Nine - Iced Fairy Cakes

2011-10-03T08:41:00.000+01:00

Week Nine of my challenge already. I thought this week I would go for a nice and simple recipe for those who perhaps don't make cakes or for those who are not confident with baking.

I've used this recipe for years, I think I might have somehow gotten it from school or perhaps from my Mum. However, I was happy to actually see the recipe in print too! And so....I give you Iced Fairy Cakes! The recipe, from my memory and also from the Good to Know Recipes magazine, June 2010 issue. Page 74 to be exact.

Here we go:

Iced Fairy Cakes

Ingredients:

100g softened butter
100g caster sugar
2 large eggs
100g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder

For the icing:
225g sifted icing sugar
2-3 tbsp warm water
sweets, to decorate

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200oC/Gas 6. Line a 12-hole baking tin with fairy cake cases.

2. Place all the cake ingredients in a large bowl and beat for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is well blended and smooth. Fill each paper case with the mixture.

3. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes until the cakes are risen and golden brown. Lieft the paper cases out of the tin and place the cakes on a wire rack to cool.

4. To make the icing, put the icing sugar in a bowl and gradually blend in the warm water to make a fairly stiff icing. Spoon over the top of the cakes and decorate with sweets.

These really are the simplest cakes ever. So, if you are not very good at baking, I am so sure that even YOU can make them. Go on, they will taste SO MUCH BETTER than shop brought ones. I promise you!

And, as always, please let me know how you get on!

Happy Days!

2011-10-02T22:15:00.007+01:00

This weekend we were actually quite busy.

P took B to the Sunderland football match yesterday:

So I took the girls to a soft play area, where Bronte found someone with equally as crazy hair as hers!

And then onto a treat of McDonalds.

I then played with M and her dolls house.

She likes me, for some reason 'to make all the rooms nice', so essentially when I am not busy tidying up my own house, I have to do the dolls house as well! She has a mixture of Sylvanian furniture and wooden furniture that she got with her dolls house last Christmas. And if you are interested, Harry Potter lives with a Dr Who figure we got from a boot sale and also with a couple of Power Rangers! :o) So there, now you know.

And then I did this!

Another Rainbow cake as seen on B's birthday, this time for P's Dad who was 62 today. You can find the recipe here.

Stacking them up...

And icing:

This time I used the vanilla buttercream icing from here.

YUMMY. And mu new icing colours looked pretty good too!

What did you get up this weekend? xx

Review: E45's Junior Foaming Bath Milk

2011-09-30T09:02:00.001+01:00

Toward the end of August, I responded to a Twitter post by Asda, who were looking for Mums with children with either eczema or itchy skin to test a product - E45's Junior Foaming Bath Milk. Anyway, M was lucky enough to be chosen and we were sent a bottle of the bath milk to test and review.

We had to try the product out and let them know our thoughts. So here we go:

We tested the product on M, who has itchy skin on her bottom, legs and back. She has not been prescribed with ezcema as such, however earlier this year the GP issued her with anti-biotics, as the spots and itchiness got out of contol and he was concerned there might have been infected. She regularly uses cream. She is 6 years old, and naturally is becoming very self concious of the spots. However, with regular use of the cream, the spots are becoming under control and they are slowly clearing up. We also tested the product on Bronte, who is 2, and who has a couple of dry and itchy skin patches, especially on her back and legs.

My initial impression of the Foaming Bath Milk was that it looked very impressive. The E45 name is one you would associate with a good quality cream for dry skin. The packaging was nice and how to use it was clearly displayed on the back of the bottle. The Foaming Bath Milk is layered, and it is necessasry to shake the bottle before use, to mix the two layers. M thought this was good and had good fun giving the bottle a big shake! :o)

M and Bronte don't bath together on the occasions we tested the product, although they sometimes do bath together. They each had fun in their bath. Bronte's bath bubbled quite a bit, and because her bath was shorter, the bubbles were still there when she got out. M likes to have longer baths - the older two (her and B) take more toys in the bath and tend to play longer, where as Bronte just has a few toys she plays with, and obviously the bigger two have more imaginitive play. M's bubbles disappeared around half way into her bath, but compared with the other products we have used in the past, this is not unusual, and did not offer me any concerns. The Foaming Bath Milk did not bubble too much, but when it did, in my opinion(possibly not M's) it was a reasonable amount of bubbles.

It was definately kind on the skin, when I dried the girls after their baths, you could feel that their skin was softer, and so it gave me peace of mind that the Foaming Bath Milk was kind, and gentle on their skin.

I would use the product again, and indeed I would be interested to learn more about other products in the E45 Junior range such as the Moisturising Lotion and Hand & Body Wash, and to try them on M and Bronte. I also feel that it would be beneficial if the E$% Junior range would introduce a shampoo, as it's all very well having bath milk and body wash, but a shampoo, would, in my opinion complete the whole range, meaning that a child with itchy skin would not need to use a product that may causde them to itch, for their hair.

It is currently priced at £4.85 for 500ml in Asda, which I think is actually a little expensive for a child' Bath Milk. I appreciate that it is a good quality product, however speaking from my own personal experience, as the only working parent of a family of five - that's actually quite expensive for have to buy for one child, and obviously if you use this for more than one child, you would need to buy them more often. However, I would be interested to see exactly how long a bottle lasted, and how many baths this would cover. I know that E45 creams can sometimes be prescribed by the doctors, although this has not happened in M's case (despite me asking!) - I wonder if items like this would be available on prescription?

I then asked M her opinions. She said she was happy to try the bubble bath, and that it was nice and soft on her skin. Overall I don't think she thought it was any different to any other bubble bath she had used, although she did say it had 'no smell' which I think was the point of it! :o) She said her skin felt nice after the bath, and less itchy, so that was great news.

A big thank you to E45 and for Asda for allowing us to try this product.

Disclaimer: for the purposes of reviewing the product we were sent, after responding to a request on Twitter, a 500ml bottle of the bath milk. The opinions expressed are our own.

Video: Trying to teach Bronte her full name!

2011-09-29T08:24:00.000+01:00

Over the past week I have been trying to teach Bronte her full name - Bronte Elizabeth.

And as you can see, the best I can get is 'Bronte Lillabuff'! :o)

The dreaded D-word

2011-09-27T19:38:00.002+01:00

In case you are not sure what on earth I am talking about...I am referring to DEPRESSION.

Have you, or anyone you know, been affected by it?

If so, you have my deepest sympathies.

I honestly and truly mean that.

I can't say I've ever suffered depression myself. Admittedly, there have been times during the past 10 years that I have felt a little overwhelmed at times - over the winter months when P's business was not doing so well, when it's been a struggle to pay bills or perhaps when the children have needed a huge long list of things and I haven't been able to find the money to buy everything they need.

However, it has plagued P the entire time I have known him - well over 10 years now. During this time he has been on anti-depressants and off them, TWICE. And he has suffered two mental breakdowns, and more recently, in the past few months, has sunk into the evil depths of depression once again. Why it won't leave him alone is beyond me. He certainly does not deserve all that life is throwing at him at the moment.

I guess it's hardly surprising as to why. I was expecting this to happen after the birth of Bronte, seeing as the other two breakdowns coincided with the births of B and M, however it came a little later, but came nonetheless. As I knew it would.

His ongoing issues with his hip (you get the jist of it in this post) have been escalated in the past year, which I believe is the main cause.

Then there was last year when P's application for Employment Support Allowance was first accepted, and then months later rejected, saying he was never entitled to a penny...that was tough. And throughout all the months during which we struggled to keep P's motorcycle training school open, that we'd run through thick and thin for the past eight years, which was forced to close for good last November. Around this time last year we realised that it was time for a dramatic change, as P was still recovering from his operation in the July, which was supposed to change his life for the better. Needless to say, it didn't - hence my return to work.

Thankfully, I found work pretty much straightaway and I started within six weeks of actually starting looking, and have remained there ever since (whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, I do not know haha).

Earlier this year P started to feel bad again, although he has been on anti-depressants in the past, he had been off them for around about three years now. He's tried to control his feelings as best as he could, however it became impossible, and throughout August and early September he was very depressed, so much so that he went back to the doctor, who immediately prescribed anti-depressants again for him.

The pills that the doctor originally prescribed were referred to as 'being similiar to Prozac' in strength. He took them for four days and during that time - no word of a lie - he was a zombie. Totally and utterly zombie-fied. He couldn't do anything without a 'vacant look' on his face, and quite frankly I was terrified at the thought of leaving him alone. As a result, I took some unpaid leave off work (which will haunt me financially come pay day, but I had no other option) and after a return trip to the doctor, his medication was changed, and so far, he's been a lot better.

The thing that upset me the most, although I know everything now about how he is feeling and how he has felt over the past few months, at the time, I didn't have a clue. P says this is very much how depression works, in that you keep it to yourself and don't want to disclose things to others.

Overall, September has been a complete nightmare and I will be so pleased to see the end of the month from hell for my little family.

I am hoping that he will soon get used to the medication and that things will finally start to improve. Although nothing is going to happen immediately, I am aware of that. I am also hoping that things will start to improve for him with regards to his hip problem. He saw his surgeon at the end of August and he is being sent for a CT scan to see exactly the condition of his hip, so that they can look into surgery (finally - although this could still be some time away) and in the meantime, he is going to have another injection into his hip, cortisone type, I think - for pain relief. Only this time, they are going to ensure (by using the same machine to 'open his hip' so to speak, that they used last year for his surgery in July) it goes exactly where it needs to be.

So...all in all, many thanks for reading. Please keep him in your thoughts and/or prayers.

Baking Challenge: Week Eight - Millionaire's Shortbread

2011-09-26T16:02:00.001+01:00

P's Mam sometimes makes MILLIONAIRE'S SHORTBREAD. It's either called that, or more commonly, Caramel Shortbread.

I've tried to make it once before and it went a bit soggy, and the caramel never really set properly, so I thought I'd give it another go. Seeing as all of the recipes from the Baking book, to date, I've had no issue with, I thought I'd try the recipe from there.

Millionaire's Shortbread.

Ingredients:

160g plain flour
60g caster sugar
215g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 x 397g condensed milk
100g light brown sugar
2 tablespoons golden syrup
150g Sainsbury's Belgian milk chocolate
50g Sainsbury's Belgian white chocolate

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180oC, fan 160oC, gas 4.

2. In a food processor, whizz the flour, caster sugar and 115g butter until it's like breadcrumbs. Press into an 18cm square tin and prick with a fork. Chill for 20 minutes, then bake for 30 minutes, until just turning golden. Cool in the tin.

3. In a pan, heat the condensed milk, brown sugar, surup and remaining 100g butter. Bring to the boil, stirring all the time. Boil, still stirring, for 5-8 minutes until thickened. Pour the caramel onto the shortbread, then cool for 30 minutes.

4. Melt the milk and white chocolate separately. Pour the milk chocolate on the caramel, then pour on the white chocolate. Swirl with a skewer to create a marbled effect. Chill for 2 hours until set, then remove from the tin and cut into squares.

This is what mine looked at shortly after I'd put on the chocolate layer:

And this was it cut into squares.

Yum.

The recipe itself is not too difficult however it's the attention to detail that can be a little tedious. But it is oh so worth it. B loved it, said it was yummy. And even P commented on how delicious it was. And he said it was even better than his Mam's because she doesn't put two colours of chocolate on hers! Result.

I remember my Mum used to make this lots when I was little, and we used to call it Mars bars. My friends used to love it. Although, when talking with her after I made this, we realised it really does resemble the Twix bars more than anything....so why we called it Mars bars - I do not know!

Enjoy! xx

Friday and Saturday

2011-09-25T08:26:00.001+01:00

Friday saw B off school with a bad throat.

The children stay over P's Mam's on Thursday nights, and she reported back that he'd gone to bed early, had little tea, had a sore throat and couldn't talk all that well and combined with the fact that he looked like a poor little lost soul, and also had barely slept during the night - I called the school and said that he would stay off. I made a doctors appointment for him and the doctor only went and said there was nothing wrong with him! As in like, a throat infection or whatever. But he still looked really ill, and was either boiling hot or shivery so it made an interesting day, to say the least.

B was so sweet when we went to the doctors. Before we left, he took the time to shake the doctors hand! Even the doctor was surprised, but commented 'what a polite young man!'. I think he has seen P do this when he visits the doctors. Bless him!

M wasn't impressed at having to go to school by herself, and even less so when I asked her to give to her teacher the 48 fairy cakes I had made for the fundraising coffee afternoon for the Macmillan Cancer charity. A cause very close to my heart after all the support Uncle John received throughout Auntie Dot's battle with cancer. We attended the coffee afternoon and Bronte ate some yummy cakes:

And all in all, the school managed to raise (from the coffee afternoon, cake sale and raffle) over £150! :o)

Friday night saw (probably) the worst night's sleep of my life with B constantly up and down, although he'd dozed off in the early evening, he woke in the night boiling hot again (despite the liquid paracetamol/ibuprofen he'd been taking religiously throughout the day). He woke up at one point with his throat so clogged with erm, whatever that he kept retching. :o( I felt so sorry for him. He woke up at 5am and asked if he could get up at 6.30am, so I said yes, thinking he would go back to sleep - but he didn't and when Bronte got up I found him snuggled under his blanket downstairs.

Throughout Saturday he generally looked very sorry for himself, while M was having a bit of an odd day - she kept wanting everybody's attention - which was NOT good when I'd had little sleep - so I spent pretty much most of the afternoon on the sofa with B, snuggled under the blankets.

M then decided she wanted to go out, but there was really nowhere to go, so we headed to the park for an hour. I think B was pleased to get out of the house!

Thankfully we met M's school friend there and her, B and her friend played football while Bronte spent her time swinging on the swings:

And playing 'can't catch me!' while running away from me.

M and Bronte also went on the roundabout:

Bronte like the slide too!

Other than that, we haven't really done much this weekend.

B is still not feeling himself, but hopefully he will improve over the next few days.

What have you been up to this weekend?

PS If you'd like to see the lovely letter that M wrote Melanie (who made the blankets mentioned above) please have a look here.

Book Review: The Donor by Helen Fitzgerald

2011-09-24T09:23:00.000+01:00

I came across this book by pure chance when it popped up at the bottom of the screen while I was browsing on Amazon, it was one of those 'people who brought this book also brought this' kind of link. So I had a look. And this is what I saw. It sounded good! So here we go - my third book review.

The Donor by Helen Fitzgerald

The synopsis (copied from the back of the book):

Just after her sixteenth birthday, Will's daughter Georgie suffers kidney failure. She needs a transplant but her type is rare.

Will, a single sad who's given up everything to raise his twin daughters, offers to be a donor.

Then his other daughter, Kay, gets sick. She's just as precious, her kidney type just as rare. Time is critical, and Will has to make a decision.

Should he try to buy a kidney?
Should he save just one child? If so, which one?
Should he sacrifice himself?

Or there is a fourth solution - one so terrible it has never even crossed his mind?

My review:

I think the synopsis definately, without a doubt hyped up the book. I had some sort of amazing expectation just from reading the back of the book. I expected it to be a book I could not put down, however I was wrong.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book. Although how Will managed to live, with two teenage children and no job is beyond me -the joys of fiction I suppose.

The story revolves around Will - a single Dad to twin daughters - Kay and Georgie, since his wife walked out on them when the girls' where three years old. Will's daughters get sick with kidney failure, so he sets about finding his ex-wife. He hires a private investigator, a rather odd character who for his very young age, seems remarkably mature, yet stupid at the same time!

The story develops about Will's love for his daughters, who have remarkably different personalities. One seems perfect and the other does not. Will struggles to accept that they are each very sick, and in order to live, need a kidney - a feat which seems virtually impossible. Will comes up with impossible plans as he struggles to accept the inevitable fate that beholds the girls.

Is there a way of saving them? And if so....at what price?

The book was quite slow in places, and it wasn't nearly as gripping as I expected, however I continued to the end, and all in all it WAS a good book. However, it didn't necessarily inspire me to go out and buy all of Helen Fitzgerald's other books. However, saying that I probably would read another of her books, even if the reviews on Amazon suggest this is her best book to date.

So, all in all, did enjoy the book. And I am pretty sure you will too.

Charity Shop Finds

2011-09-22T08:04:00.000+01:00

I often see on the blogs that I read how people get some amazing and wonderful things from charity shops or even boot sales or from eBay.

Well although I can't compete, I thought I would share with you three finds.

Firstly, let me point out that I don't usually buy from charity shops as I can never really find anything in my size, and I don't like to 'root' around or 'rummage', although with hindsight from reading blogs, this might be the best approach. Anyway, I was in a charity shop in the town, getting something for M's doll house, when I spied a cardigan on a display mannequin. And I checked the size, and once I did, I knew I HAD to have it.

It's nothing like I would usually have brought, but it went prefect with a dress I wore for a wedding, when it turned out to rain on the day :o( And it only cost £2.

The second thing is a skirt I got from eBay, for the grand total of 50p, plus postage.

I am not sure it's the kind of thing I will actually wear, but for 50p, I could hardly not, considering it's from Next.

And finally, when we were at Knebworth, I got a denim jacket. I can't remember now much I paid for it, but it can't have been more than a couple of pounds.

See? I can charity shop! Well, OK I'm not a pro, but it's a start. :o)

I'd love to know your best charity shop, eBay or bootsale/yard sale find.