A Mother's Ramblings

I can't believe January is over already. It has felt like a long month and with all the gloomy weather I'm finished with feeling like a drowned rat! I saw some Snowdrops in the garden this week, so I'm hoping that this means Spring is on the way and with it some blue skies. Heck I don't mind the showers if we get blue skies. The Last Week of January Has Had Me We went for a walk again, we had a good giggle when we found a gate we could limbo under, the children cheated a little obviously being half the height of us! Top Ender and I were a little cold so we made Ninja scarves from our hats and it was just a fun day together. Good news. I did do a new Welcome To Primary drawing on the board again this week. I love my chalk pens so much. After School on Monday, the children and I went to see the Chicks at School. We spent Tuesday evening crafting together, and I spent most of the day in Top Ender's bedroom. Top Ender also, most importantly to her m

Big Boy was at Beavers and I went for a walk. If I told you that it was pitch black and the only reason you could see this bench is because of the camera flash would you believe me? It was so dark and cold I swear I burnt more calories jumping because thinking the bogey man was going to get me than the actual walk burnt! Don't forget to comment if you link up!

The Reception Class at School have had some Baby Chicks (they were eggs first!) in the classroom for the past couple of weeks and all the children in the School have been invited down to see the chicks and as always the Parents have been invited in too.  In fact everytime I have walked pass the Reception playground Miss Charles* has invited me into come meet the newest School residents... well we're only borrowing them, they'll be returned to their original owners soon and Miss Charles has reminded everyone that she counts the Chicks each night and after each visit to ensure that the Chicks aren't being kidnapped by eager School Children or staff or parents.  I have no idea why she looked at me when she said that. This evening, after School Top Ender, Big Boy and I went to visit with the Chicks as we had heard a rumour that visitors were being allowed to hold the chicks. Sure enough when we got there Miss Charles showed us how to hold the chicks. Top Ender was

I have one of the best cookers in the world, I have a rangemaster and it's one of the few things in my kitchen that I take pride in. Although, I do hate cleaning it and so I guess I don't take that much pride in it... Anyhoo. When Aga Rangemaster asked if I'd like to make some cake pops to celebrate both National Chocolate Week and Aga Rangemaster and they'd supply everything I needed I was like YES! As one thing I know I can make with my eyes closed is cake, especially if I use my right hand oven instead of the left hand oven (it runs a little hotter).

I have to admit that when we started this Family Saving plan I didn't think we were going to do it. I didn't think that Top Ender and Big Boy were really selfless enough to give up their pocket money for a family treat, despite it being their idea, and I didn't think that we would get more than the £40 that we had planned to save.  And yet already we are ahead of our goal! This week, Big Boy wanted to buy a new Skylander character to add to his ever increasing collection. He had £20 in his wallet and the character he needed was £15 and so he decided to add his £5 to the piggy bank. He voluntarily added £5! I had £15 in my wallet that I wasn't quite sure where it came from, so I added that to the piggy and suddenly our meal out at the end of the month is fast becoming a banquet! So yesterday was the day we were supposed to see Big Boy add his fourth £2 to the pot and as he had already added £5 to the piggy bank, I figured that he wasn't going to add any more b

I'm quite liking this sum up of things I'm doing each week, for a start it's helping me to actually recognise that I do do something when the children are at School and also it's making me do some more "stuff" so that I have something decent to report back to you all! THE THIRD WEEK OF JANUARY HAS HAD ME Well, we didn't go for our walk on Sunday as we were busy watching the film Big Hero 6, it's an amazing film and I would suggest you book tickets to go and see it now because it is BRILLIANT! At Church, I did remember to do a quick Welcome to Primary drawing on the board, but it got wiped off before I could take a picture. The point is however that I did do it! We got new socks and some tiny Easter Eggs in our Monday bags, which the children and I LOVED and because Daddy was here on Monday (he had the day off for his Birthday) he got to see us open the bags! It was fun having Daddy around for an extra day too, even though I didn't see much o

A few weeks ago whilst I was perusing Pinterest I found a brilliant idea for our Den. Well, rather I found a brilliant idea for how I would like our Den to be. Basically, I thought if we could move the game consoles from the Living Room to the Den, it would free up the TV and also allow the children a more relaxed area to game in AND I'd be in a better position to monitor what was going on. I showed the picture to Daddy, who thought it was a great idea, so much so that he told Top Ender and Big Boy that we were going ahead with it, before I had even decided that this was what I wanted! At roughly the same time Toshiba  got in contact with me and asked if I'd like to borrow one of their TV's over Christmas. Daddy and I didn't really need a new TV in the Living room, as after our TV caught fire in the Summer (the same weekend, our car ran out of petrol on the way home from my Birthday Meal out and our bed collapsed in the middle of the night!) we got a fairly snazzy one

Daddy often jokes with me that he can't ever tell me anything because I always know it before him. For the most part this is true, although Daddy does often get the children and I to watch movie trailers for films that are coming out two or three years in the future so I don't know what he's complaining about. When he first showed us the teaser trailer for Big Hero 6 I was interested, but a little confused. I wasn't sure what the film would be about, but I did know that it was going to be fun. I knew a fair bit about the plot of Big Hero 6 because of the trailers that Daddy had shown us and because of my own internet investigating and I knew that in the film the main character (Hero) has already suffered a lost, where his parents have died leaving him and his older brother in the care of their Aunt. There goes on to be a further loss when Hero's brother dies. The thing is, the film isn't actually all doom and gloom. There are a couple of rather brilliant mom

I still can't remember if historically overall  I like January. The last two weeks however have been overall rather fab, even if I did have the Migraine from hell and nearly kill myself by eating half cooked chicken! The Second Week of January has had me Well, not doing a lot really. We went to a Baptism on the Saturday and after a family walk Sunday morning (two weeks in a row! Yay us!) and our usual Church meetings we had a ward Munch and Mingle, I took Slow Cooker Rice Pudding in the end and got a lot of compliments. I didn't really take a lot of photographs, but I did sneak a quick snap of the drawing I made on one of the Primary blackboards to welcome the children to Primary. I'm hoping that I might be able to do a different drawing each Sunday, but I know me and I'm not sure that I'll keep it up! Maybe I'll just endeavour to make sure I write Welcome to Primary each week! On the Monday I was doing some secret things (I let you know as soon as I

The other day I posted a picture on Instagram and said that the "Monday bags are filled ready for when the children wake up. I have no idea what is in them this week." and it generated a lot of questions.. mainly What on earth are Monday bags, Where can I get a Monday bag and what was in your Monday bag?! So to explain, I need to go back to Christmas Day. This year Daddy had made the normal gift for me (Mr Tea Towel Cat) and had also made a second gift, which was for Top Ender, Big Boy and I to share. When we got to the gift for us to share we opened it up to find three bags inside. We looked to Daddy who explained that he'd made these three bags (again from tea towels) for us to be used as Monday bags. It was a gift for us, but also for him. You see, Daddy decided that what he wanted to do every Monday when he left the children and I at home was to leave us something that would remind us of him and during the week, whilst he was away he wanted to think of us by

When my Mum came round this week, she was asking about the Piggy Bank that was sitting on the Fireplace and how much was in it. My Mum knew all about the challenge Family Investments had set us and what the children had decided to save up for and how Daddy and I had decided to double the initial goal by putting in £10 each too. Whilst my Mum was sitting there and talking about the savings, Top Ender decided to put an extra £5 in the Piggy Bank and then she started giving Daddy the evil eye, because he still hadn't put in the rest of his £10 and still owed the pot £7 and as Top Ender had already put £15 in the piggy bank she wanted to make sure that Daddy coughed up too. So Daddy went to the cashpoint and got £10 out. He had intended to remove £3 and put the £10 in the pot, but after a quick explanation by Top Ender about how adding extra money to the pot just helps everyone he said he felt a bit guilty and so ended up putting in the £10 and leaving the £3 in too. This of cou

Once a week, I give the children a special breakfast. Sometimes it's presented to them on trays whilst they are in bed, other times it's laid out on the table in the living room, or sometimes they get to eat on the sofa and watch some cartoons on TV. I figured, that with all the stresses that they are under on a daily basis (nothing major, just normal 11 year old girl and 6 year old boy stress) they deserve a bit of pampering and as they do take after me in a few ways, giving them a pastry treat for breakfast works out well for all of us. Jus Rol , sent me some vouchers to buy some of their us Bake it Fresh products, the range includes Apple Danishes, Croissants, Focaccia & Garlic Pizza Bread... admittedly the last two aren't something I've yet served the children for breakfast but may have had myself a few times in the past. I took BB with me to the Supermarket, I'm not sure where Top Ender was or why she didn't come, but it meant that Big Boy got to

When Family Investments asked us to save up for something and the children decided on a meal out, I quickly deposited £10 into the Piggy Bank. The sight of it, soon prompted Top Ender to go get her wallet and she also decided to put her £10 share of the total we were hoping to save into the Piggy bank in one solid lump because she had the cash and she thought that if she put in a lump sum to start with she could possibly add more cash over the next few weeks, as I had said I would add change as and when I could too. After a few pointed stares and awkward silences between Daddy and I, Daddy went and got his wallet and threw in a few loose pound coins (£3) that he had in his wallet. Finally we were well on the way to our £40 target. Big Boy however wasn't sure about the planned savings all of a sudden. In fact Big Boy refused to put any cash in. "I need my money!" he exclaimed Big Boy needed his money for buying Skylanders Traps and apparently he doesn't reall

I can't remember if I like January. I mean I know there are a few dates this month that I hate due to deaths in the family and various other things that one would normally associate with either incredible bad luck or cosmic timing having a really funny sense of humour but I can't remember, if overall I like or dislike the month. So, whilst I try to remember this is what the first week of January had in store for me. The first week of January has had me Celebrating Top Ender's Birthday on the 3rd January. It was lovely being able to make Top Ender so happy with so little, I mean one of her gifts was a pint of milk! And yet she and I would recommend the gift every hour thing to everyone, it makes the day seem more special and fun and even though BB, Daddy and I weren't getting gifts every hour we were so excited too! Exercising, by going on a morning walk after I got back from being on Three Counties Radio. It is something that we're going to hopefully d

I like lists, which is why my sister got me not one, not two, but three things to make lists on this past Christmas (and the most superest bag ever). I make lists for everything. Things in the Freezer. Things in the Fridge. Things I need to sort out before the children go back to School. Things I want to do when the children are back at School. People I need to call. People I want to avoid. You know normal lists. There is one list however that I need your help with. I was thinking about Top Ender going out into the world as a young adult the other day. Yes, I know she is only 11, but before I know it she is going to be doing her GCSE's, A Levels and at University before starting her own career and leaving this little cocoon I've created around her and her brother. Big Boy is just four years behind and so I know that as soon as I've got over Top Ender having her own life, I'll start all over again with Big Boy... although as he pointed out earlier to me as long as I

It's Top Ender's 11th Birthday today. I almost can't believe that it has been 11 years since I first held her in my arms. Time really does fly, although I'm sure if I were to ask Top Ender she'd let me know that the last 11 years have dragged by and she should be 18 already. We started the day as normal. The Birthday pillowcase was slipped onto her pillow last night. Her bedroom door was taped up with pink crepe paper trails (with gap at the bottom, as the children have decided in recent years that they like to leave it up until they go to bed). Then things got different. This year, we decided to spread the birthday gifts across the day. Instead of Top Ender and Big Boy pilling on to mine and Daddy's bed first thing and opening all the gifts in a flurry of activity, we decided that this year Top Ender would get her gifts at 11 minutes past each hour. Somehow everyone managed to sleep in past 8:30am, and so it was almost 9am before Top Ender an

Back last year, I was talking about stock cupboard basics with some friends and different family members. We'd each been stocking up on different things that were essential to our families for various meals over the Christmas period and along with looking at some of the essential ranges from some of the different supermarkets it got me to thinking, what exactly is essential? So, seeing as I had some time over the Christmas break I decided to have a good sort out of my cupboards, freezer and fridge and check what I had and see what I needed to stock up on from things I thought were essential and normally keep in to use for the base of meals and to turn basic meals into something special! For me Pasta, Rice, a good variety of Herbs, Salt and Pepper, Gravy Powder, Baked Beans, other Canned Beans, Tinned Tomatoes, Stock Cubes, Yeast, Flour (both self raising and plain and both Gluten free and Regular), Oats, Sugar (White and Brown), Dried Fruits, Cocoa Powder, Tuna, Potato Flakes (Ye