A Mother's Ramblings

One of my most favourite things about being a blogger is that when you start needing a bit of inspiration there is normally someone on Facebook or Twitter asking if you want to be tagged in a meme. The great thing about memes is that they are a bit like a Blogging enema, yeah sorry about that picture I just planted. Basically though, a meme shakes you up and bit and normally after you've published you have at least twenty more things you want to say... so when Sally from Who's The Mummy asked who wanted to be tagged, I volunteered. I feel a little like a Hunger Games tribute, but without the threat of death. So here it is. Reading - Well, apart from my Scriptures I'm actually not reading any book at the moment. I know shock horror right? I think it's because I've finished all the books I got for my birthday and I'm just waiting for the next book to come along. I did spend a very long time in a lovely bookstore last week, looking for something new to read, l

Since the Olympic Games were held in the UK in 2012, there has been what seems to me to be a resurgence in cycling in the United Kingdom. Luckily for me I can claim that we were ahead of the trend, as Daddy started cycling on the 14th July 2012 a whole 13 days before the Olympics started and I was out on my bike not that long after him! Daddy and I have in the past been armchair sport fans, but with cycling it really did encourage us to get out more as a family. Yes, Top Ender is still very wobbly on her bike and Big Boy is adapting to riding the Burley Trailercycle but the point is that we go out on our bikes as a family and we enjoy the time together. Of course we still watch some of the sports we love on the TV and with the two big sporting events that our family loves coming up (Wimbledon and Tour de France) we're getting ready to spend some time together watching and tweeting our opinions. Where does Bonne Maman and a competition come into this though I hear you ask.

I'm not happy. Don't get me wrong, I'm still that big grinning loon that asks random questions on Twitter and Facebook. I'm still posting pictures of the kittens being undeniably cute and I'm still doing all the wholesome things you've come to expect of me, but I've changed and I'm pretty certain I'm not happy about it. How have I changed? Well, take right now for example. Right now I'm baking Kale Crisps. Why? Because they are tasty... well actually they aren't that tasty. The Kale Crisps taste like Kale that's been baked in the oven until crispy but that's another story. The point is I think that they are tasty (despite knowing that they actually taste like baked Kale that's gone crispy) and I'm making them as snacks for me. Last night when my husband gave me a slice of Gluten Free Dime Bar Cake (and the Missionaries who were round for dinner had some too, nice guys and always a pleasure to invite them to our home

I have a love of food. I mean, seriously I LOVE food. I could plan what to cook and spend all my day eating (which is probably why I'm not as slender as I should be!), which why when I was asked to create a lush lunch featuring Philadelphia I was salivating at the thought of what I could make. In the end I couldn't decide which of the three lunches I made below was the best, so I'm asking you to tell me. The first was inspired by Emma from Outmumbered , who had a Millionaire's bacon and french toast sandwich. I decided if she could do it so could I, so I made a Millionaire's Spinach, Tomato and Philadelphia sandwich. To make this, I soaked two slices of bread in a whisked egg and then quickly fried them, to solid up the egg. I then spread the eggy bread with philadelphia, before layering on some wilted spinach and chopped mini plum tomatoes. IT WAS DIVINE.

This week saw the children and I needing a little R&R and a little time reconnecting with each other. We have been so busy doing things that have to be done (chores and homework to name but two) and things that keep us apart from each other (Brownies and Beavers mainly) that we haven't had time just to relax as a family. With the weather being as fine as it has been I decided what we really needed was a picnic, so we headed off to one of our favourite lakes and set up camp. We had an absolute blast. The Children and I had popped to the Supermarket to buy some picnic type food and so we knew that everyone would love everything chosen and once we set it up on the blanket (facing the lake) and blessed the food we all tucked in. I love these little animations that Google does to my photos! Top Ender and I had told Big Boy that there was something on his head, and whilst he held still for a photo to be taken, Top Ender raised her fingers above BB's head. Of

In our house there are three days that you can guarantee what we're eating. On a Sunday, we tend to have a Roast, on a Monday we tend to eat Veggie and lately on a Saturday we have a Curry. This has become a ritual because of the new Morphy Richards Compact Intellisteam Food Steamer that I was sent to review. In case you're thinking oh yeah, steamers I remember when they were popular, know that I thought the same. I too had one of the multi tier steamers in my early years of marriage and countless times the timer would fail or I'd accidentally put it together wrong! This steamer is nothing like the ones you (and I) were thinking of. This one has a timer (which can be different times for different sides of the steamer), this one is a lot sturdier and it has some handy alarms for when it's running low on water. Although apparently only I make it run low on water and Daddy the master Curry cooker, (well supervisor as the Steamer does all the hardwork) is the only on

It's funny how blogs go through phases isn't it? I mean, at the moment this blog seems to be a little Big Boy heavy, just because he is at the front of everything going on. Top Ender is more in the background, more like me, just watching and waiting ready for whatever comes her way. And stuff is coming her way. Top Ender has been given a Homework task at School (along with the rest of her Key Stage) that was practically written for her. Top Ender and the rest of her key stage have each been tasked with caring for another person for eight weeks, and to accomplish this each child was handed a newborn baby. They have to make sure the baby is fed and comfy. That they get enough sleep, that they learn skills vital to growing up, that they get to have fun and explore. They have to make sure that the babies don't get lost or get hurt. It's all about taking responsibility and taking care of others, with a few other major life skills thrown in. And on top of all this c

Big Boy came to see me the other day, he asked if I would create a few bottles of juice for him and he handed me a stack of paper. After a moment of two I worked out what he had in mind, and set about drawing, cutting and colouring. He had a plan, a plan that would require the skill of an excellent artist (me and did I mention how modest I am?) and the skills of an excellent entrepreneur (him). After I had created these bottles for him, he disappeared with the instructions I was to follow him to his bedroom in ten minutes. Daddy and I arrived exactly ten minutes later to find out that Big Boy had set up a bar in his bedroom. Big Boy was hilarious, he set up the bar showing the various drinks that he sold, he made sure he had a bar rag to mop up any spills, he wrote out a price list and he even decided that he needed to serve food if he was going to make a profit! The best part was that he came up with this on his own. There are times when I worry that Big Boy doesn't

There are a few things in life more precious to Big Boy than his soft toy collection. In particular his large Mario soft pal (who faithfully follows Big Boy everywhere and as such gets covered in everything too) who has recently been looking a little worse for wear and is starting to have a certain odour normally associated with the inside of my dustbin just before it gets washed out. I knew that Mario needed a bath, but with what? How about the new bottle of Dettol Antibacterial Laundry Cleanser that I was sent to review? So Mario had a bath and I used the Dettol Antibacterial Laundry Cleanser. Why? Well, I figured that this soft toy was covered in bacteria and as he sleeps in bed with Big Boy, sits with him when he eats his food and has his cannula changes it was possibly a good thing that I did a bit to get rid of the bacteria that could cause some problems for him! Mario came out nice and clean and hopefully bacteria free! If you look carefully you can see that I

There is a great competition running over on the Philips Facebook page at the moment, one which Top Ender was lucky enough to be involved in from the start and with me being completely and absolutely useless I forgot to tell you all about until now. You're not mad are you?! No? Phew. So the competition is a really easy one, all the children have to do is decide what Super Hero Powers they have and get you to tell the Philips team what their superhero powers are! Top Ender did just that and wrote a story and they created this fantastic piece of art for Tops! Right. So what can you win? If you win First Prize, then you win a brilliant superhero bedroom party and an animation from Marvel based on their entry such as the picture that Top Ender won. Second Prize is for twenty winners and they will receive a Philips Marvel Spider-Man light (which look totally cool!) which will look fantastic in the winners bedrooms. Third prize winners will win a Spider-Man bedroom poster

Daddy and I have talked a lot about Big Boy and how we want him to have independence. Being a Type 1 Diabetic shouldn't change this, but it does a little because neither Daddy or I can be too far away from him at any time because of his medical needs. For example, say Big Boy goes to a birthday party, one of us goes and stays too. We need to be there to give him insulin for any food that he might consume (and we need to work out how much insulin), we need to check his blood sugar levels and make sure that he doesn't run low or high and in some cases we need to help him remove his pump to ensure that it doesn't get in the way when he's bouncing on a bouncy castle for example. So. How can we allow Big Boy the independence that he craves and all of his friends are getting? His friends can come round to our house for playdates, but he can't go to theirs (I can't ask a parent to take responsibility for blood tests and insulin giving and if BB and I go then T

As we all know the internet is actually a directory of Cats and I think it would be remiss of me if I didn't contribute some cute pictures of cute little Kittens. So here are a few of my favourite pictures of Mario and Peach. This was taken after the kittens had had a bath. They were feeling a bit cold, and Mario accidentally slipped into my top (he likes to sleep on my chest) and I didn't have the heart to wake him up by moving him. It was made even cuter when Peach decided to snuggle up next to him. This next picture is a picture of Mario and Peach snuggled together. They love each other so much that I love to see them all snuggled up! Peach also loves to snuggle up on her own, the furry cushions make a great bed. Mario likes to make himself camouflaged against the cushions when he has a snooze. If you want to see more cute kitten pictures, then follow my instagram feed, I'll try and remember to post at least one a day!

I'd been asked if I'd like to host a party for Big Boy's sixth birthday at the Build a Bear Workshop, so that I could blog about it, and as they were paying and I spend half my life in the shop with the children I figured it was a win win! We've had a party at the  Build a Bear Workshop  before, for Top Enders birthday a few years ago, and so I was fairly confident that I knew what I was doing when I used the website to book the party. Even if I hadn't have had previous experience of the website, the whole process is really easy as it takes you through step by step and I managed to book the party without any hassle.

Big Boy absolutely loves the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so much so that he refuses to believe that they could have ever been popular before he knew about them and that there was no way that they were popular before he was born and when I was a child. Luckily, I don't mind pretending that I don't know all about the Turtles, what their weapon of choice is, what they love the most or any other of the hundred titbits of information that he relates to me on an almost daily basis. On his birthday, a special parcel arrived for Big Boy. It was a parcel of toys for review and those toys were TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE TOYS ! Honestly, when Big Boy opened these gifts he thought that the team that sent it to him were the best ever and I was elevated to being the most fantastic mother in the world. He said so, many, many times that evening. Big Boy loved the shell, and I have to admit that it was better than the one that goes with his costume, for a start the shell is hard, whi

My Mum has absolutely loved coming to our home the last few weeks. Every time she sets foot in the living room Mario , came bounding over to her, ready for a fuss to be made of her. My Mum commented more times that I can count, how cute the kitten was and how she'd love to have a kitten again (we had cats as I grew up). Eventually it got to the point that my sister and I decided that my Mum needed one more Birthday gift. Introducing Dotty So as you may have guessed, this little kitten is my Mum's new baby and she decided to call her Dotty. Dotty is Peach 's sister and they look quite similar, with markings in similar places and of course she is Mario's cousin/half sister (same as Peach). The reason for the blog title should be obvious, even though my Mum already had a tonne of birthday gifts this year you can never have too many and the shoes? Well, lets just say that Dotty left a wet surprise in one of my Mums shoes! Expect even more kitten pictures to be