A Mother's Ramblings

Sometimes you meet someone who changes your life for the better. For me that person was Karen from The Rubbish Diet . Karen was the one that made me feel better about myself by encouraging me to slim my bin down and recycle more and was only a tweet away to help me if I had any issues. Anyway, the other week it was announced in The Observer (What? I read it occasionally!) that "Karen of Bury St Edmunds embarrasses her kids by taking photos of municipal trash cans" and I had a sneaky suspicion that I knew what this was about! What better way to promote recycling on the go than by taking photos of recycling bins across the country? So  the 1000 bins challenge was created... and Big Boy and I had to join in when we were out shopping this week.

On Fathers Day, we took our annual pilgrimage to Margate to watch the Air show that is part of the Margate Big Event. We tend to do this every year unless the weather man tells us that it is going to be super wet and the planes that we want to see won't fly. All was going well as we set up camp on the beach with some hired wind breakers and the children set to work creating sand castles and digging a big hole. About an hour after we had set up camp, Daddy looked down the beach and saw a rather ominous looking black cloud progressing towards us. We had two options; We could ride out what we hoped would be a short shower (but knew was going to be much heavier and longer) or we could leave our camp to find shelter in the town. We decided to try to ride the storm out.

Daddy and Big Boy were in the living room early one morning and Moses (one of our cats) was being very generous and was letting Big Boy stroke him. Making the most of the opportunity, Daddy wanted to encourage Big Boy to understand that stroking that cat was good as it was showing Moses that we loved him. It was at this point Moses started to raise his head to get under his chin scratched and Daddy said to Big Boy; "Look, Moses is saying Hello to you! Say Hello, to Big Boy Moses." There was a pause as Big Boy looked at Moses and then at Daddy "Cats don't talk Daddy." he answered slowly. Looks like Big Boy is smarter than we thought.

There is one chore that Big Boy and I tend to do five times a week, 39 weeks a year and so it can get a little repetitive. Just like tidying the garden , this is an outdoor chore and one which we even set up a Twitter account to remind us to go and do every day. I am of course talking about the School Run and if you want a reminder (or four) to do the School Run you can follow the Twitter account at School Run UK . So what do we do to make sure that our walk to and from school each afternoon is exciting and fun? Well, lots of things. We might pretend to be Airplanes and walk up the road with our arms outstretched making Airplane noises or we might see how far we can hop! On bin day we love to use the green bins to read numbers out loud but our favourite way to make the school run fun is to spot shapes on our walk. It's amazing what you can see on a short walk. On our walk (the time that we took our camera) we saw a square, a circle, a triangle and a rectangle. What ...

With the Summer Holidays fast approaching we are going to need to find hundreds of things to do that will keep all the family happy and mean we don't dread the summer holidays coming! For a lot of us that includes things that are free to do or are near free and if we can factor the cost in to our weekly shop all the better. So here is a list of 100 free or near free things to do that we have tried and tested and all have been given the seal of approval as a great way to have fun and to beat the holiday boredom! 1. Go to the Park. If it's raining then put on coats and wellies and enjoy the empty park! 2. Check out your local Councils events. They normally have events planned that are free. 3. Go for a walk. It doesn't matter when you live just go for a walk! 4. Go for a picnic. If you are having sandwiches for lunch put them in a bag and off you go. 5. Go to your library. Libraries are free to join, they normally have events planned in the holidays too. 6. Go...

That Tara Cain is a tricky one she is. This week for the gallery she wanted us to come up with just three words. You know to sum up our picture. So not only do we have to take a fab picture (well if we want to join in) but we have to have three words to describe the situation or the photo. Right now Tara's three words to me are "Shut Up Pippa" or possibly "Stop Complaining Pippa" or maybe even a few rude words that I wouldn't possibly know how to type seeing as how sweet and innocent I am... Anyway. I decided to use a photo from Fathers Day when the whole family drove down to Margate to watch the airshow that is part of the Big Event that they have every Fathers Day weekend. It was a beautiful sunny day and we set up camp on the beach when this happened. Typical British Summer. Go see what everyone else linked up with this week, it's always fun!

The Summer holidays are one of those times that can fill parents with dread. I think that most families are pleased to be able to spend more time together, but at the same time are worried that the School holidays are going to cost an arm and a leg and the carefully planned summer holiday budget is going to be thrown out of the window by the end of the first week! With this in mind I have spoken to parents in the school playground (and on Twitter and Facebook ), Grandparents and a selection of  Teachers. All of them have given some fantastic ideas about how not to dread the Summer Holidays, how to make the break a great time to spend together as a family and to make some great memories. And all this whilst not going over your own personal family fun time budget ! The first tip is to plan early. At the moment the start of the Summer holidays for most of us here in the UK is about five weeks away, but if we can plan now we can make sure that we have some great act...

Colgate sent me some products, turns out I really needed them. I like going to the Dentists. Well, when I can afford it I like going to the Dentists. I worked a couple of summers as a Dental Assistant and learnt so much about teeth, cleaning them, repairing them, how to use that sucky thingy that really hurts if you get it caught on your tongue and just what those numbers and letters mean when they call them out (it's just a shorthand way of referencing your teeth without having to say third one on the left on the top), so I like to think I know a bit about teeth.  Then of course I  was told by my dentist that I had good teeth and so I have always believed that. This is in stark contrast to my Sister (and 12% of the adult population) who has an extreme fear of the dentist  since a dentist accidentally drilled into her nerve when she was about ten. Colgate know though that there are some times when going to the Dentist is a little confusing and so creat...

We received a £50 weekly shop from Sainsbury's  to try out the meal plan. When Sainsbury's asked if I would like to try a weeks worth of shopping from them as part of their Feed your family for £50 idea, I agreed because who doesn't like free shopping? Plus I was really interested to see just what they were going to send and how much of it we would (or could) eat. My normal weekly shopping budget for food, cat food, toiletries, personal hygiene products, cleaning products, and what ever else I have forgotten is between £50 and £80. I'm not someone who has to have all brand labelled food and in order to make my budget work for me I have no qualms about shopping in a budget supermarket, or stocking up when something is on a good offer, but if I was shopping week to week instead of month on month (I might buy six cans of beans one week when I will only use one that week, but will use two the next week for example) then getting my food shop under £50 was something I...

I received a copy of the book On a Stick to review. When Daddy and I were getting married there was only one thing that Daddy insisted on having at our evening reception and that was cheese and pineapple on sticks. You see Daddy, like me, knows that all food tastes better on a stick. When I saw the blurb for the book in my email, I had to ask if I could have a copy because I know a few stick dishes, but this book promised eighty recipes and that is a lot of meals and snacks on sticks. As is normal these days when a cookery book comes into the house, both Top Ender and Big Boy have a read through of the book and start pointing out dishes that they would like to have and make. In fact the pictures in this book made the food look so tasty that it wasn't just Top Ender and Big Boy who went through this book, but Daddy too and so even though we had already been shopping we all made our shopping lists for the ingredients we would need and headed off to the local supe...

Over at   Him, Me & Three   Heidi decided to tag me in a meme that she received in her email as she thought it would be fun. You know what? She's right! So I present to you The Last Word Meme... The last - Thing you ate - That would be my dinner which was   Sausage pie   and some Mac and Cheese from Amy's Kitchen. It was yummy and rather good for my tummy! Text message you received - From Daddy, telling me that he wasn't dead just busy! Film you watched - That would be Paul! Song you listened to - Miss Mouse song from Show Me Show Me as Big Boy sang it to me. Book you read - Friends, Lovers And Other Indiscretions by Fiona Neill Programme you watched on TV - I'm just watching it now it's Lie To Me. Live concert or performance -   Top Ender's concert! You cried -  Today, my knee was really hurting.  Thing you bought - A new head for Big Boy and Top Ender. Don't ask. Thin...

When we were in London for The Leapfrog Short Film Festival Final, we decided to hang about in London for a few hours that evening to enjoy the sunshine and to have a meal out together, something which we hadn't done since February (you know when Big Boy got his face pushed into a chocolate cake ). We knew that Leicester Square was a short walk from Covent Garden and so decided that as we knew there were a few restaurants around the outside of the square we would head down there. We were undecided about going to The Mermaids Tail or one of the chain restaurants and it was only when we were in a queue for Chiquito's we decided that we would rather try The Mermaids Tail. We were seated quickly and the restaurant wasn't busy, but had a healthy number of tables with people sitting at them. We ordered our drinks quite quickly, with a glass of squash for Big Boy and Top Ender and lemonade for Daddy and I (we do drink other drinks when we go out!) and had plenty of time to ...

The Gallery theme this week is in honour of Fathers Day this Sunday and is therefore all about Dad's. I have so many pictures of Top Ender and Big Boy with their Daddy because he is a hands on father and I like keeping my camera in my pocket... There are the pictures of the children sleeping on his chest when they were first born, pictures of him carrying them when they got tired, pictures of him playing with them, bathing them, changing a nappy, making them drinks, making them lunch, eating with them, creating pieces of art with them... all the things that hands on Dad's do. Top Ender and Big Boy take after both of us, but I can see clearly the bits that they get from their Dad. They both have his eyes and they do look like him, especially when they are rolling their eyes at something silly I have done. To me and our children Daddy is everything a Dad should be and even though this isn't the best picture it's shows that Daddy isn't afraid to join in, to be ...

And if you want to know why this is something silly, just watch the video below, only 32 seconds but it's worth it! (Video can be seen at  http://youtu.be/fSrWuLa-E8s ) And yes, I know that this isn't wordless, but I would really appreciate if you could vote for A Mothers Ramblings (that's me here) in the Family Fun Section of the MAD Blog Awards (Mum and Dad Blog Awards). Don't forget to leave a comment after you link up!

What do you do when you have decided to go out for dinner, but nobody can decide on what type of meal to have? Well, if you live in Milton Keynes or the surrounding area it's quite simple you pop along to Red Hot World Buffet in the theatre district which serves Indian, Thai, Mexican, Japanese, Chinese, Italian and Mediterranean cuisine and then everyone is happy! We had called ahead and placed a reservation for four, for later that evening as Daddy and I have been before and we knew that it could get busy at peak times. We arrived a few minutes before our reservation and the restaurant was quite quiet, which was quite good as my booking (and the couple in front of us) had been recorded down on the wrong day! We were seated within a few minutes after waiting at the desk where several employees were standing trying to ignore the queue forming as it wasn't their job to seat us... not a good start. We barely had enough time to open the drinks menu before ...

Vouchercodes.co.uk paid for our meal at Frankie and Benny's to do this review. Which was nice of them. Going out to a restaurant with your family it is best to have a recommendation from someone else who has been there previously, which is why in part VoucherCodes.co.uk came up with the Most Wanted Fuss Free Dining Report. When they told us about the Fuss Free Dining Report, we loved the idea as it isn't just what parents think about the restaurant, but also what the children think and so after a short decision process (I read out the names of some restaurants and Daddy said Yes or No to going) we decided to go to Frankie and Benny's. As long term readers of the blog will know, Daddy is a celiac  and so going out to a restaurant with him takes a little extra planning, luckily though Frankie and Benny's have the full menu available to view on their website so before we went to the Milton Keynes restaurant we were able to check through and see what was on the men...

We got fed, and free car parking and a goody bag and I am sure something else but the best bit that we got from this day was spending time together as a Family. During the half term Fairy invited Top Ender, Big Boy and I down to Hampton Court Palace for a Blogger sports day/ Mini Blogger Olympics, we were excited to go as I went to University just round the corner ( St Mary's ) and so for me it's my old stomping ground. Many a weekend was spent walking round Home Park and looking at the deer! We knew we were on for a good day when we arrived as we heard "Your Mum is cool because she blogs!" being called out to us from a rather excitable Junior Saunders who then also gave Tops and BB magic crayons (and you all call me crazy)! The day involved, face painting (BB was a pumpkin, Tops was a Fairy), egg and spoon races and luckily for us some rather yummy food and if we had had the time, we could of gone round the house at the end of the day too. Unfortunately for us w...

Carol at Dance Without Sleeping  has tagged me in a karaoke song meme (I know it's something about the weather with all the meme's around at the minute) I was really pleased to be tagged in this one because I have the most perfect video to share with you all! Now I love me a bit of Karaoke, and I have been to a few Karaoke nights in my past but this is the song that I would sing if you were to get me up say at Cybermummy... (Video can be seen at  http://youtu.be/fyI_iPFu1u4 ) Now you don't have to sing your song, you can just link a video in if you want... but I am going to tag the following; Jenny from The Gingerbread House Karin from Cafe Bebe Chrissie from Mediocre Mum Sally from Who's The Mummy?  and  Emma from Me The Man and The Baby

I'm a gardener who although likes to sit in a well manicured garden doesn't actually have any gardening skills... I'm not sure why but Big Boy and Top Ender love to try to help me and their gardening skills are even worse than mine. I can at least tell the difference (mostly) between a weed and a plant! Understandably Big Boy and I get bored rather quickly when its just him and I out in the garden and so making this chore fun isn't just a case of keeping him amused with small chores whilst I do the hard work, like when we do the washing it also needs to keep me happy too!  The other week I decided that enough was enough and that I should get out into the front garden as it was having the opposite of kerb appeal to our house with a mass of weeds, dead plants and more than one pile of leaves from last Autumn... So how to make it interesting and fun for everyone? The first thing that I did was ask Baby Boy what jobs he wanted to do. He was quite interested in p...

I got tagged in a blog post (ages ago sorry and so decided to vlog my answers (again ages ago, like a whole month ago)... so erm watch this! (Video can be found at  http://youtu.be/2gLhpGfr5js ) I understand that there are going to be a few questions so here are the answers to the questions going through your head right now... Yes, I am a little crazy.  Yes, I am only wearing a Pyjama top in this video. Yes, I did find it amusing to wave my middle finger at you for a little while. Yes, I ramble. Yes, I have no shame. So tags to Emma , Vic , Sally , Jen , and the Mystery Blogger... Rachael ! What you have to do is dead simple, just tell us ten things about you that we didn't already know and you can vlog it, sing it, write a poem or other stuff!

We were sent a Lego Duplo Police Station set to review as part of the Lego Duplo Experts programme we are part of. When the Lego Duplo Police Station arrived, I am not sure who was more excited as Daddy's eyes lit up as much as Big Boy's did. I knew that the first chance they got that they would be busy building the station and the first morning that they were up early together they started building the station with Top Ender. The station itself has several ways to be built, it can be built as Daddy and Big Boy and Top Ender did or built as a tall tower, or in any way that you can imagine and you have enough bricks for! Big Boy and Top Ender love Duplo, and they played with the set for ages creating different  imaginary worlds for the policemen and the thief to live in and it has led to some other role play games for Big Boy and I pretending to be policemen going about our investigations! The great thing about Lego Duplo is that it is sturdy stuff, it has taken some bea...