A Mother's Ramblings

I've been so busy over the last month that I've not looked at my blog, let alone thought of noting down any blog posts that I could be writing (I have several that are buzzing around my head), so I apologise for the lack of activity from me. I was reading back over the last year too and realised that I've strayed quite far from telling stories of what me and the family get up to and so I hope to remedy that this year too. So what have we been up to? For most of the month I've been decluttering the house. I started with my bedroom and now that it's clean and tidy, I can show you why I started there. My bedroom is was the dumping ground for things that didn't have a home elsewhere in the house. Was it something that was to go in the loft? Well, put it in my bedroom and then we'll get round to it eventually. These clothes no longer fit Top Ender and Big Boy? Well, then put them in my bedroom until I get a chance to go to the Charity shop or clothes bi...

Something that I should have reviewed an absolute age ago is from the very funky site Not On The High Street.com. If you haven't come across the site yet, then go and take a look. I can promise you that you will soon have a wish list as long as your arm! NotOnTheHighStreet.com is actually my first port of call when I am looking for gift inspiration for those people in my life that deserve something truly special and as such I have a few wish lists of things that I would like from the site. NotOnTheHighStreet.com asked if I'd like to have something from my wishlist and after thinking for a moment or two I decided that I should buy something for the family and so it was the Doodle Tablecloth that I asked for, and was soon winging its way to me in the post. The parcel arrived within a few days, it was a surprise at how quick it had arrived and I forgot to take a picture of the parcel before I opened it because when I was faced with a lovely lime green tissue paper parcel with a ...

A little while back I was reading one of my favourite blogs ( Frugal Family ) when I saw that Cass had written a Giant To Do list for the first three months of the year. I thought that it was a great idea and so asked Cass if she would mind if I joined in/stole the idea for my own. Luckily for me Cass is adorably giving and gave me permission to steal/join in. I'm not quite sure why it's taken me so long to publish this post, maybe like Cass originally said this post was only ever meant to remain in draft format sitting there reminding me that I have chores to do at home and should be doing them instead of sitting on the PC, but like Cass I have now published my list and I will continue to do so every three months and update as I'm going along with posts about what I've done and achieved. This is my list. I've crossed off the things that I've already achieved, just to satisfy my own list making and crossing off needs. 1) Replace my bathroom flooring. 2) M...

Despite having a million billion TV Channels (okay, so maybe not that many my husband reliable informs me that there are around 300 here in the UK) the other night saw Daddy and I watching the final of Adam Richman's Best Sandwich in America. We cracked up that we were watching it, until we started drooling over the sandwiches. Some of them were stunning creations, with flavours we would never thought of combining and others were dishes that we had heard of several times but never knew what went into making them. It gave me an idea, every Saturday we'd try a new sandwich some from the TV show, others from websites  or magazines that I'd found but it would mean that we'd be planning our weekend lunches to! Saturday - Pippa's Philly Cheese Steak Subs I know this isn't the correct method, but it's how I made it based on what I saw on the TV Show and what I saw on various websites. Take some Steak, cook it on the griddle along with some chopped slices mushr...

I planned this weeks dinners after eating my lunch on Thursday afternoon. I had two Salad wraps (they were delicious!) and discovered that meal planning on an empty stomach (how I normally do it) is so much easier as I know if I am hungry then I'm willing to think about food! Although being full did mean that I didn't want to eat after planning and allowed me to be a bit more creative when it came to lunches this week. Saturday - Taco's We are fans of Taco's because we like that you can customise your own food to how you want, it doesn't matter if you want it mild or spicy or with extra salad because when you make your own you get to decide. I'm still pretty certain though that if I showed a Mexican how we make them that they would die laughing at how silly we are over what we do. I have the Taco's in the cupboard already and will buy Mince fresh on the Saturday. Sunday - Slow Roasted Chicken Wings I did end up cooking the roast last week as I w...

I've never really understood Monster High, it's one of the cartoons that Top Ender loves that has really passed me by, but even Big Boy knows that Top Ender loves the programme as he is always pointing out the dolls or other Monster High branded items that he has seen that he thinks Top Ender just has to have. We were asked if we'd like to review the latest Monster High release, a double episode of Why Do Ghouls Fall In Love and Friday Night Frights. In Why Do Ghouls Fall In Love, it's Draculaura's sweet sixteen hundreth birthday party (which happens to be Valentines Day) and when Valentine (yes *the* Valentine, she dated him back in the day and he created Valentines Day for her) turns up with a plan for getting Draculaura's heart it all adds up to teen drama combined with teen angst but in a approachable cartoon way. In Friday Night Frights (my favourite of the two episodes) there is a Skulltimate Roller Maze final where the stars of the all boys team ar...

Just after Christmas, my Nan decided to treat herself to a new TV in her bedroom. The one that she chose came with a built in DVD player which she is really excited about as it is her first ever DVD player. I said that I would send her a few DVD's to watch (she currently only has one of a wedding she went to a few years ago) and asked friends on the A Mother's Ramblings Facebook page what they would send a Great Grandma who likes Romantic or Weepy films. They gave some great suggestions and my parcel of DVD's to send to her from my personal collection is just missing a letter and some step by step instructions on how to work her DVD player and then can be sent! Last week whilst I was tidying my room (pictures to come trust me it's worth the wait) I watched a few of the suggested films to help pass the time and keep me on task. The only film that I watched that wasn't on the list was the soon to be released (January 21st 2013) Now Is Good starring Dakota Fanning an...

Last night I was a bit busy sleeping to come up with a meal plan for this week, and then I went shopping before working out what we were going to eat which is such a bad idea. It was rather lucky that I did stick to some sort of idea of a plan so it kept the price of the shopping a little lower than I expected and here is the sort of plan I came up with! Saturday - Pizza for the Children Curry for the Adults This wasn't actually what I had planned, but it was what we ended up having. I was planning on getting something from the cupboard for dinner, but I couldn't find anything inspiring so BB and I went for a walk to the local shop for pizza for him and his Sister. Daddy and I ended up having a Beef Curry that I was planning on us having later in the week, but as it was lovely I don't think Daddy or I worried! Sunday - Roast Chicken If the BBC are right then I probably won't be able to make Church tomorrow afternoon as there should be a rather deep coverin...

I have so missed packing lunches over the Christmas break! This past week has been great because we've got back into the routine of having lunches packed before 8am and being eaten at 12Noon and also having them planned by the time I go shopping on a Saturday (or in this case Friday afternoon as it was supposed to snow Saturday). This week we have... Monday - Ham Wraps As I'm using yesterdays Chicken in tonight's dinner the children are having ham wraps at lunch today. I know that Top Ender will be very disappointed, but Big Boy is going to love it. I'm thinking of making a salad of chopped vegetables to add to give it some crunch as the children still aren't keen on lettuce. Tuesday - Leftover Pasta Today we have leftover pasta for lunch, as I always make too much and if I don't put it into the lunch boxes straight away I'll only try and eat it and that isn't good! Wednesday - Cheese Sandwiches with a side of Chutney To spice up the...

With this weekend predicting snow, I actually went shopping yesterday afternoon... just in case we were unable to drive to the Supermarket and to my Mums to help her with her shopping too. Anyway, it did mean that I had to plan my menu earlier, which gave me the headache of having less time to debate over which meal would be best. Saturday - Sausage Curry I don't know why Saturday's are the hardest meal for me to decide on, I guess it's because Sunday is the highlight of the weekend and I want Saturday's meal to be something that we can all eat as a family and that we can all enjoy too. I've gone with Sausage Curry, but not with Rice as Big Boy has decided he's had enough of it and it gives me a chance to make some naan breads to eat with it. Sunday - Roast Chicken Daddy is getting so good at Roasting a Chicken, that I'm getting worried that my position of best Sunday Roast cook is being threatened! Served with lots of veg, roast potatoes and yo...

In the DIY theme of the day , I thought I'd share with you the latest art project I've been working on. When we were in Scotland we collected several dead shells from the beach that were soon to be smashed from the in coming tide. Natures waste is beautiful in this instance and we wanted a natural souvenir to remember what was a great holiday. I had an idea of putting the shells (once washed) into a shadow box frame and making a display for the bathroom. Firstly I washed all the shells, to get rid of bits of sand and general grime. I left the shells to air dry and in the mean time got together everything else I would need. I brought a Large Ribba Frame from Ikea , a pack of Sandpaper, some Super Glue and a large glass of water. As I didn't have enough shells to completely fill the frame, I cut the Sandpaper to the size I wanted (to fit in the frame) and glued it to the cardboard mount the frame came with, so sand could show through between the shells. I then la...

I'm actually quite good at DIY. When I was younger the one thing (other than the appearance of the perfect loving home I had, I mean it was loving just not perfect!) that I am grateful to my Father for is that he taught me several useful DIY skills. Like how to wire a plug, re wire lights in the wall, tile a bathroom, mix cement, how to drill a hole, how to hammer in nails, how to wallpaper, how to paint, how to put up straight pictures and I'm sure a lot more stuff that some people could go their whole lives without knowing. The problem is that Daddy likes to do the DIY in our house. Daddy isn't a natural DIY-er, but over the last twelve years of our married life has learnt a lot and is also quite good. I could make a list of embarrassing DIY mistakes that Daddy has made/said (I can think of five straight off the top of my head) but this is about me. Since we moved into our current home, there have been a few things that have niggled us. Small things that rea...

So earlier this week when Big Boy went to School he left me in charge of Thomas and Pom Bear . Today Pom Bear had other ideas and smuggled himself to work with Daddy. Just in case you are wondering Thomas stayed home with me, TV Studios are not suitable daycare for invisible children. Pom Bear found it quite hard to actually get into the office, but that might have been because he was trying to get out of a door instead of realising he was already in the office! Daddy thought he would put Pom to good use though and gave him some cables to untangle. Pom would still be there if Daddy hadn't stepped in to help. Some of the other guys in the office thought that Pom Bear should help them too and so had him looking for some spare parts. As long as it wasn't sky hooks and tartan paint, Pom wasn't going to complain. As Daddy's office is also a TV Studio, Pom thought he'd help by making sure the Studio 3's Camera's were set up right. And as he ...

I've decided this year that I want to make sure I take a lot of photographs and decided to join in with a 365 project. I want to take pictures of the day to day life that we enjoy, pictures of food that we eat, pictures of events that mean something to us (even if nobody else realises the significance), pictures of each other, pictures of those we love and care for, pictures of our pets, pictures of just about anything really. You can watch my feeds on Tumblr , Instagram , Facebook and Twitter to see the many pictures that I'm uploading but each week I'm going to post the ones I love the most from the last week here on A Mothers Ramblings. 1st January 2013 My new Bed linen that Daddy sneakily brought and put on the Bed as a New Years Eve surprise (it was New Years Day before I saw it! 2nd January 2013 The new Birthday Tradition of a Birthday Pillow Message snuck into Top Ender's room on the eve of her birthday. 3rd January 2013 Top End...

Today when Big Boy went to School he asked me to look after Thomas, his invisible child, and Pom Bear. It's quite hard to take pictures of Thomas (what with him being invisible and all) so Pom bear has been on an adventure so that when Big Boy gets home from School (in the next ten minutes or so) he can see what he has been up to. Pom watched some TV. Then Pom started to climb the stairs for some reason. We soon found out it was so he could slide down the bannister. It was time for lunch and Pom decided to make a pizza. After lunch Pom tried a spot of tight rope walking. And soon discovered he needed a drink to calm down with. A nice read with Turtle kept the mood mellow. And a game of hide and seek lasted for ages as Thomas and Pom both hid instead of one of them seeking!  Pom decided to smell the flowers when he came out of hiding. The flowers reminded Pom that he was missing Big Boy, so he stared at a photograph for...

The children are back at School today. It means I can clean my bathroom, hoover under the sofa, sort out the cupboards that have somehow become a dumping ground for cups and Tupperware all without having to break up a fight over who gets to play what on the Wii, or who gets to use the red crayon first. It means I can eat my lunch and not have to get up twenty times to fetch something else that one of the children has forgotten and desperately needs in order to eat their lunch and I won't have to hoover crumbs up when they are finished either. It means I can answer the phone and have a conversation without Big Boy asking to have a chat to who I'm on the phone to and without me having to ask the children to keep it down so I can hear what the person is saying. It means I can go for a sneaky lunch time swim, or I can do my exercise video without the children trying to join in or asking me if I'm okay when I groan with the effort. And I can get back to ...

With us being back to School on Monday we are back to packed lunches and counting carbs before 8am. This is a good thing really as it does stop BB from being at home and asking to Snack all day and it will stop me from snacking with him and Tops too! I don't think that my body can take that much fruit and ham in a day (the ham we have has no carbs in it because it is 100% protein so it's a good snack for BB as it doesn't change his blood sugars)! Monday - Chicken Wraps The children were talking about lunches with me the other day as we were talking about creative ones that they have had that they liked and want again. Top Ender asked if it was going to be possible to have more wraps because she likes wraps and so we're start off the week with a leftover Roast Chicken wrap. It's going to be my version of a Thai Salad as I'll add cucumber and a vinaigrette type dressing just to jazz it up a bit. Tuesday - Ham Pittas The great thing about pitta breads is ...

Another day, another meal to prepare. At least this week I won't have the children asking me if it is time for dinner all day as they are back to School on Monday! Actually I don't know why I sound so up beat about that, I'm going to miss them and it's going to seem really quiet here at A Mother's Ramblings HQ. Saturday - Pot Luck for me, Pasta for the rest of them I'm off to a friends birthday party today, it's sort of an informal gathering of women and I'm rather proud to have been asked to attend. I'm taking a Fruit Salad, but it's not an ordinary fruit salad oh no. If Pinterest has taught me anything it's that a fruit salad on Kebab sticks looks fantastic! I don't know what else I'll be eating as it's a sort of Pot Luck thing with all the guests taking a dish (it's okay it's sort of being coordinated that we don't all take Fruit Salad!) but the rest of the family will be having Macaroni and Lasagne and Daddy i...