A Mother's Ramblings

For the last few years on New Year's Eve, Daddy has put a new set of bed linen on our bed. It's a tradition that I have grown to LOVE because it's something that happened spontaneously the first time and Daddy takes so much care into ensuring that the duvet set he purchases for us each New Year is something different, something that we will both enjoy sleeping under and of course something that will help us start the New Year off right! That's right, with clean bed sheets. As I said the first year it started off as a surprise, Daddy had picked some bed linen up in a shop and had secretly washed it and put it on the bed whilst I'd been busy downstairs or something. Eventually, I had gone upstairs to get in my PJ's to see in the New Year and found new bed linen adorning our bed. I did what any normal person would do. I took a picture and shared it on Instagram. Look what my lovely husband did as a New Year gift! New bed linen! S

A few weeks back, one of the young lads that I know at Church had a birthday. For his birthday he got a Nerf gun, and being the Nerf gun fanatic that I am (thanks to the education my children have given me) we started chatting about the various Nerf Guns we owned and he mentioned his plan to have a birthday party at the Chapel, where all invited could use their Nerf guns in an epic battle. Somehow I managed to wangle an invite. The Children and I turned up to find that the young lad and his Dad had set up bases and hide holes and it was going to be amazing. As the only grown up at the time that was playing, I decided to step back and not be on either team because I didn't want one team or the other to have an advantage. I'm a crack shot.

A few days ago, I asked my friends on Facebook if they were to read a blog post written by me, what would they like it to be about? This is one of the posts, based on those suggestions. Budget *Stuff* Hmm. I wasn't going to share this publicly because to start with I didn't think that it was something that would be of interest, but after Nicki suggested that I write about Budget Stuff, I figured that this was fate. This was my prompt to write about my plans for my budget plans for the year. Last year (well this current year as in 2015) I was really good. I managed to set aside some money for savings for issues with the car, I managed to save up enough Swagbucks vouchers to pay for Christmas gifts (if you want hints and tips let me know!) and Daddy and I started trying to reduce a few bills here and there. This year, I want to be better.

I tried writing a post about Christmas Day towards the end of the day, but for some reason I couldn't find the right words and each blog post I started, I quickly deleted. I wanted to record, that the unspoken rule between the five houses or so on our Street that put up outdoor Christmas Lights about leaving them on all night so they were on when we woke on Christmas Morning was still followed. I wanted to record that the Children had gone to sleep late on Christmas Eve, but it didn't matter because everything was wrapped, under the tree or in Stockings ready for the next morning and Daddy was looking forward to a Christmas morning lay in.

You know how last Saturday my meal plan post had been written back in October? Well, this one wasn't, it was written on November 2nd. It was for the same reason however, I knew that we needed to be extra organised because we have special meals from Christmas Eve right up to Top Ender's Birthday on the 3rd of January and for these ten days all diets are off... well sort of. We don't really stop dieting, we just might eat foods that we don't normally eat! Saturday AKA Boxing Day - What Ever My MIL Cooks! Normally, we go to visit with my MIL on Christmas Eve. This year however with Daddy working until a bit late on Christmas Eve, we didn't have time and so we all agreed that we could go on Boxing Day. And so we're going to visit with her today and have lunch and hopefully be so stuffed that we decide to just eat leftovers for supper.

A few days ago, I asked my friends on Facebook if they were to read a blog post written by me, what would they like it to be about? This is one of the posts, based on those suggestions. Favourite Uplifting Quotes at Christmas Time I love a good quote me. My notebooks that I take to Church with me are full of them. That and little sketches of things which I hope will remind me of what the person giving the talk was saying or the feelings that I got when they were talking.

A few days ago, I asked my friends on Facebook if they were to read a blog post written by me, what would they like it to be about? This is one of the posts, based on those suggestions. My Top Ten Christmas Carols I am of the firm belief that Christmas Carols should be sung all year round. Unfortunately my family and friends are of the firm belief that I am wrong. Bah humbug to them. With my love of Christmas Carols (and Christmas Music in general) it was with great pleasure that I read that Claire wanted me to write a blog post about my top ten favourite Christmas Carols. I did think about making a joke here about Carol Vorderman and Carol Smillie, but that would just be stupid.

I'm actually writing this post in October. Yes, I know it seems an awfully long time ago to have written up a meal plan, and in truth it is quite long if you didn't know how we celebrate Christmas in our house. Being Christians, Christmas DAy is such a joyous event for us. It is one of our favourite events of the year (Easter is also really important and therefore special to us) and so we don't just celebrate it for one day, but everyday from Christmas Eve, right up until Top Ender's Birthday on the 3rd of January!

Over the last few weeks, my Facebook timeline has been filled with photographs of people off out with their Office for a Christmas Meal or having a Christmas Party. Daddy has been to a meal out with his work colleagues and with some friends, even Top Ender went to a Christmas Guides Camp and then out for a meal with her Guide friends a week later. The only two who are missing out this year are BB and me. Due to a conflict in our very busy Schedules, BB was unable to attend the Beavers Christmas Camp, because he was already committed (along with Top Ender and me) to performing in a Nativity at an Old Folks Home.

Normally when Daddy and I do the middle of the night Blood tests on Big Boy he is fast asleep. We've got it down to such a fine art now, that BB doesn't wake up. He didn't wake up the time blood went EVERYWHERE and his bedroom looked like it was a scene from a Horror Film. Serioulsy I was screaming at him to keep his hand still (we've worked out that he was bleeding well that night and the blood mixed with sweat which is how he hit and covered the ceiling, his bed and me) and still he slept. He didn't wake up when Daddy accidentally left the blood test monitor on BB's bed and when he turned over the monitor went down the back of his bed and I had to rummage around under his mid sleeper (where I found a mobile phone, two pairs of smelly socks and a mouldy plate) trying to find the blasted device. I guess however I was lucky.

I love Christmas and being a erm, let's see how can I put this nicely so that everyone else will not get offended if they too have the same "qualities" as me? Oh yes, I know; A Control Freak. I find it really hard to let things just happen. I prefer to have a plan and of course for everyone to follow the aforementioned plan. Now, if you are a control freak like me, then you'll know that this rarely happens. We have Children. Adorable little Children. Yeah. So. Do you want to know how I let things go and how to prepare yourself for a smooth Christmas Morning this year and every year to come? Just follow my two Step Christmas Eve Plan.

Daddy and I try to go to the gym together at least once a week. It started off with me trying to show Daddy how to use various weight machines, but it soon became just time for us to just exercise together. The family that exercises together loses weight together. During one of our recent trips to the gym together, Daddy and I were talking about the programme I had set for myself on the bike. I like to use the preset Fatburn programmes, I don't get to pick the intensity and as long as I keep up my RPM then I'm happy. It had been a hard workout, one which nearly had me falling down dead after I climbed down off the bike. As Daddy and I talked and walked back downstairs to the changing rooms he commented that despite being over weight I was actually quite fit. That's the problem really.

There are seven staff members at Big Boy's School, that BB and I feel special gratitude to. These seven staff members are the ones who on a rotating basis help Big Boy with his Blood tests. They do it, not for glory or reward. They do it because they want BB to have a normal a School life as possible. And BB and I wanted to say Thank You. So we made them a little box of goodies.

A few days  months ago, I asked my friends on Facebook if they were to read a blog post written by me, what would they like it to be about? This is one of the posts, based on those suggestions. Sherbert Flying Saucers I remember Flying Saucers from the two pence sweets section of the sweet shop. They weren't my favourite, the chocolate fish and chip shapes and the razzle discs were but this post isn't about their deliciousness. It's all about the Flying Saucers.

There is nothing that quite compares to the excitement of going to a Panto at Christmas. Amongst all the Childhood favourite things like having an Ice Cream (although £16 for four is a bit steep!) and getting dressed up and getting a light up "thing" and eating sweets when you should be in bed are all there. There are even things that you come to appreciate more as you get older.

I am getting really excited for Christmas! Later today we have our Nativity at a local Old Folks home. It is one of my Christmas highlights as the Old Folk love seeing the Children and they love watching the Nativity and then afterwards we sing different Christmas songs and visit with the residents for a while. It's going to be great! Saturday - Munch and Mingle Lasagne

A few days months ago, I asked my friends on Facebook if they were to read a blog post written by me, what would they like it to be about? This is one of the posts, based on those suggestions. Life Hacks When this was suggested I was flabbergasted. I mean, life hacks? Okay, sure I know a few I've stolen them from Pinterest or Buzzfeed and sure yes, I do have a few of my own that I've developed over the years because I'm a lazy so and so and like to manage my time and activities in a more efficient way, but I'm in no way an authority on life hacks. And then I thought about it. What if my friend who suggested this post, didn't mean the sort of thing like;

Last year Toshiba lent me a TV over the Christmas period and it confirmed what I already knew. I like TV's. No, seriously, it just confirmed that we needed a large TV in our den to go with the games consoles so that I could free up the "real" TV in the Living Room AND so that when I was sitting in the den I didn't have to increase the zoom on the Screen to 250% just so I could see what I was doing! Slowly things have been moving along. 

A few days  months ago, I asked my friends on Facebook if they were to read a blog post written by me, what would they like it to be about? This is one of the posts, based on those suggestions. Structural Realism And Its Role In Parenting Yeah. Thanks Alex . Do you know that one of the reasons that this blog post has taken so long is because I've been reading up on Structural Realism? That's right, Alex made me go to the library and get out a book just so I could write this post. And I know he was being funny when he suggested the post, but I promised not only myself, but also the readers of this here blog that if they asked me to write on something I would. Only it turns out that the joke's on him.

Can you keep a secret? Last week Daddy, the Children and I may have accidentally eaten takeaways on two or three nights. Whoops. Despite having meal plans, with things going the way they did we really weren't up to cooking and I may have forgotten a couple of times to defrost some key ingredients. We are eating cheap this week, and using the food we may still have in the Freezer!

The phone rang. It was 2:37am. In the dark I recognised the ringtone as the one that we had set up for my Mum. During the day it's a rather jolly tune, in the dead of night it's creepy and takes on a sinister tone. I answered the phone. Hello Mum? There was no answer. Dark thoughts filled my head. Had she fallen? Was she having a low blood sugar problem and wasn't able to talk?

Earlier this year, I talked about how there was an end to the Childhoods of my Children as I had imagined it happening for them growing up myself. You see, Top Ender clicked about the reality of Santa, The Elves, The Tooth Fairy and a few other "magical" things that happen in our home. It was okay. Tops was after all, just a month shy of her 11th birthday and I think that's a pretty good run.  However Big Boy worked out the truth himself too. He's Seven. SEVEN. I really wasn't ready for him to work out that there isn't as much magic in the world as I would like, but I don't want to lie to my children I did tell him the truth. At first it was just about the Elves, but as I said in my original post BB is Velociraptor in Jurassic Park smart. He worked out about Santa.

It's Friday night. Big Boy is laying on the sofa softly groaning at his book (he doesn't want to put it in the fridge), Daddy is working out something on the main PC, I'm writing this and Top Ender is enjoying a Turkey and Tinsel weekend with her Guides troop. I'm sad because I think I want to be on a Turkey and Tinsel weekend and exchange gifts! This however is what we are eating this week.

I was having a play on Facebook the other day and came across an app that can tell you what you are going to get from Santa. I paid particular attention because I've been having a hard time coming up with gift ideas this year. Daddy and I have often said that we are of an age now, where if we need something or want something we tend to go out and get it. This is why when my Mother In Law asked for some suggestions of gifts to get me, all I could think of was Socks! Admittedly I do really like socks. So. I clicked the link and was told;

Can you believe it is almost the end of the month already? I honestly can't. I think that this year has gone so fast. I was just thinking earlier this week about something that in my head happened just a couple of months ago... then I remembered it happened January 1st! I swear as I get older everything just merges into one big blob of memory. So this is what we are eating this week! Saturday - Sloppy Joes The other day the children kinda demanded we have Sloppy Joes again soon. There was some vague threat of declining to eat any other meal until they had Sloppy Joes, but the promise of me adding them to the menu soon has encouraged the Children to keep eating!

Long time readers of this blog, or actually come to think of it long time readers of most blogs will understand that there are seasons to things. I'm not talking, Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer type of seasons but more the seasons mentioned in Ecclesiastes (do you know how many times I checked the spelling on that?!) Chapter 3 verses 1 through 8 . In case you aren't aware of what that section of the Old Testament says do you remember the song Turn Turn Turn? Well, that's basically the verses put to music. Seeing as how we're all singing it now, I've put in a link to a version online, with the words as I'm nice like that. Right, I hear you all cry. We remember the song (thanks for the ear worm too) but what has that got to do with blogging?  For the last few months for me and my little family it hasn't been the time or season of blogging. Well DUH! I hear you all say, We've been reading, or rather not reading the blog. We already kn

I decided a couple of weeks ago it was better for me to sort out the meal plans in one go, because with me being on a diet (I know, I keep talking about it) I didn't want to be thinking too much about food! This is what we are eating this week! Saturday - Cowboy Casserole I love Cowboy Casserole, because all it is, is Sausages and Beans! I'll serve them with wedges. Or rather Daddy will because I'll be hiding upstairs wishing I could have the meal too. Sunday - Lasagne The Children love Lasagne and are pretty fab at making it too. I'll help the Children put it together before we go out to Church and then all Daddy will have to do is put it in the oven when I give him a quick text to let him know we are on our way. I am almost always late home from Church!

So, my diet of the last week has been pretty successful and I've lost a chunk of weight that I am very happy about! This does mean yet again that I'm not eating the meals that the Children are going to be eating, and thanks to a lovely friend who has been sharing her evening meal ideas for a family of four without going over a budget of £5 per day I've decided to do something similar for the next few weeks by trying to make meals to a smaller budget than I normally work to. Here is what we are eating this week. Saturday - Fish Fingers and Chips This is a really simple meal for a Saturday night and one that the Children and Daddy love. Knowing Daddy he'll serve this with Baked Beans (I would have served it with peas) and hopefully a couple of slices of bread each so the Children and him can make either Fish Finger or Chip Butties! Sunday - Sausages and Mash Yeah, I know. The thing is I'm hoping that if the family have Sausage and Mash I can live vicarious

There are many things that I love. Eating is really the main thing if I'm honest and this is probably why I can't lose weight as easily as I would like! It's all well and good telling someone to exercise more and eat less, but I do that and lose maybe a 1lb a week, which of course is great, but I really need to lose more than that... which is why I'm doing something a little drastic this week and going on a different meal plan to the rest of the family after Saturday. I may blog about this more later in the week, but until then here's what the rest of the family are eating this week. Saturday - Chilli We're having a Chilli off at Church along with our Trunk N Treat. I actually don't think we're going to eat Chilli, I think we're probably just going to eat sweets and feel full from our lunch that we're having at Jamie's Italian. Sunday - Beans on Toast (with an Egg on top) Daddy is going to a recording of RHLSTP (at least that's

I've been really naughty this week and haven't spent time working out what we are going to eat next week, well this week... in fact I even went to the Supermarket to do the Shopping before having written my shopping list! That for me is the most terrible thing I could do, it's a way to waste money and end up with nothing in the house worthy of eating... which is sort of what has happened! Saturday - Steak and Chips I picked up some cheap Steak in Tesco for Daddy to have whilst I was out on Wednesday night (I was at Relief Society) and the Children ended up stealing half of it from his plate. We decided to have it again as a family, although Big Boy decided that Sausages were better for him than Steak. We prefer to get the so called cheap steak in Tesco (the value range) as with our griddle and my secret seasoning trick (it's just Salt and Pepper, nothing secret really!) it makes it really lush and tasty and like you'd hope all Steak would be!

One of the first ideas I came up with for the Bernard Matthews challenge for creating some fun lunchbox ideas was Turkey Stuffed Pittas. This is something that is good for getting extra vegetables into the Children and also brilliant for little hands. Turkey and Veg Stuffed Pittas I used the Turkey Breast Slices again for this, mainly because again there was a distinct lack of Bernard Matthews Cooked Meats in the supermarkets and also because this is actually BB's favourite of all the products. Top Ender is really good at trying new things and eating a wide range of products, BB less so at the moment and so yes, we are pandering to him. Ingredients Turkey Slices Cherry Tomatoes Cucumber Mayonnaise Salad Leaves Pitta Pockets Seasoning Method This can be made really quickly if you need too, but you can also make them the night before and leave them in fridge ready for packing in lunchboxes the next morning. Put the Pitta Pockets into the Toaster, to wa

Ever since I was young, my favourite food has been a Chinese Take Away and any time I can recreate a dish similar to something I may order, I jump at the chance. This was part of the inspiration for the second lunch I made the Children using the Bernard Matthews Cooked Meats Range and I used the Bernard Matthews Turkey Sweet Chilli Breast Chunks (RRP £) as the protein of this lunch. I had been looking for the plain chunks, but they didn't have any in the three supermarkets I tried, they are obviously very popular, probably because they taste great! Sweet Chilli Chinese Wraps Ingredients Sweet Chilli Breast Chunks Wraps Cucumber Hoisin Sauce Mayonnaise Salad Leaves A word of warning, as I was making this lunch, it looked and smelled so yummy that I started making a third for my breakfast, so be warned you might want to make extra for yourself. Method To make the sauce, you have to mix a teaspoon of Hoisin Sauce, and a dollop of mayonnaise. I find it easie

Bernard Matthews had a great idea, they thought that the Children might like to suggest some fun ideas for their School Lunchboxes using the Bernard Matthews Cooked Meats range as the protein and creating lunches that they would be excited to eat. Now my Children have been, up to a point, rather spoiled when it comes to lunches. As you may remember I like to make the Children's lunches look fun and interesting. Other than telling me that they love the Bernard Matthew range of Turkey and Chicken products, and that loads of their friends have them in their lunchboxes my Children were useless. Seriously, I asked them what they'd like me to make for them and I got blank stares back! In the end they said, Mum can you make whatever it is that you are going to make us for lunch fun, exciting and most importantly tasty? I panicked. Eventually, I had some ideas that I hoped would be tasty and most importantly quick to make. Yes, when you read further on you might think that they ar

Last week Whitby Seafoods sent me a voucher to buy some of their lovely seafood products so that I could make a Spooky Supper for the Children and I. We decided to make ours ahead of Halloween so that you'd have a chance to make something similar for a meal for your family next week! I present to you our take on the Spooky Supper!

In my weekly posts about what we are going to eat, I often talk about how I forget about meals that we love as a family. Tacos are one of those meals, and so when Old El Paso sent us their new Smoky BBQ Stand 'N' Stuff Soft Tacos to have one night when Daddy wasn't in (because they have wheat Tacos which he can't eat), I knew the Children and I were going to be happy. Actually scratch that, we were going to be very happy and hopefully also very full! When I'd been shopping at the weekend, I'd seen the new Stand 'N' Stuff Tacos Kit (RRP £3.79) and was able to check that all I needed to add to the meal was Mince, some Lettuce, some chopped Tomato and of course the all important cheese. Everything on the list is something we normally have in our trolley, so it was a very easy shop and was the sort of meal that I could keep in the cupboard (well the Stand 'N' Stuff Taco part, the rest would be in the fridge or freezer) for a quick midweek meal.

This weekend we are putting the heating on, Daddy has said that it is just too cold for him getting out of bed in the morning and so we need to go and bleed the radiators, ensure that nothing is leaning up against them and generally just be good homeowners. I'm going to try the tin foil behind the radiators tip this year too. Have you done that to your home? Anyway, on to what we are eating! Saturday - Sticky Sausages with Bacon and Apples After going shopping with my Mum (and Top Ender too!) when we get home Daddy has normally cooked for us. We tend to have a family meal and one that is warming and filling... which we might not need now that the heating is back on! We'll go for Sticky Sausages because Daddy is the one who makes this the best and because everyone loves it. Sunday - Turkey Roast I think that the next couple of weeks will be our last roast for a while, I like to make sure that the Christmas Roast is special and I don't think it is if you have b

So, this week is Chocolate Week . I'll just leave that there, I don't need to bother writing the rest of my post do I? Yeah, I know I do really. So. I am a Chocoholic. No, surprise right? Yeah, didn't think so. When I received a lovely Chocolate hamper from Whittard of Chelsea I was REALLY excited. IT WAS FULL OF CHOCOLATE! I passed the Tea and Coffee to my Sister, I'm kind like that and also because I'm LDS I don't drink Tea or Coffee and neither does Daddy... My sister said the tea was lovely. She sent me pictures of it on Whatsapp in her little teapot that I got for her a couple of weeks ago. The Teapot has a sweater! I can't get over this, it just amuses me so much. Anyway. That's not what I wanted to talk about. We can talk about Rocky Road Hot Chocolate or the fact that the White Hot Chocolate is my new favourite drink of all time all we want however it won't change the fact that this week is Chocolate week and I'm tr

So, after we decided to paint the Hallway and decided on a paint that we liked we purchased the correct amount we'd need, the masking tape and even some new brushes. If we were doing this we were going to do it properly it seemed. Daddy had a day off planned and so we decided that we'd use that day to paint the hallway. Well, rather I decided that he should use this particular day to paint the hallway and Daddy just agreed. Daddy actually started painting the hallway yesterday, whilst Top Ender and I were at Church. He knew that the amount of wallspace we had wasn't enough for the time he felt we had put to one side (the time the Children are at School!) to do two coats. Anyway, I helped paint a bit. Whilst Daddy was painting the walls previously unpainted, I started going over the walls that he had painted yesterday. Well, I was painting until I got annoyed with my husband because of the way he talked about my painting skills and the brush I was using and well pro

This past week has flown by, now I just need to get the rest of the month and next month to do the same and it'll be Christmas and I'll be as happy as a clam at high water. Are Clams happy? I don't suppose they'd be that happy if they were on the Menu this week! Saturday - Chicken Curry for the Adults I don't know about you, but for us we'll go off certain foods if we have them too often. The problem is when Curry tastes as good as the ones we make in the Steamer, we fancy it for a few weeks... then of course we get sick of them and we end up not having it for ages, which means we crave it for a few weeks and then we get sick of them and... I don't need to go on do I? Pizza Challenge for the Children Top Ender and Big Boy are constantly watching videos where the aim is to out gross each other. Okay, maybe it isn't really but the amount of time that the children spend making retching noises when they watch these videos is enough to make me t

Today I pretended to be a Teenage Girl. Despite what my Mother might tell you, this doesn't mean I took to wearing all black (I have a white T-shirt on!), putting on heavier eyeliner than the stars of Black Swan and generally being the worst person to be around in the history of the world. Instead I pretended to be a Teenage Girl in the world of today.  Why? Well, last week Dove shared with me some research they have done as part of their Self-Esteem project, which was started back in 2004. The idea was that the project would help young girls raise their self-esteem and realise their full potential, help them to increase their body confidence and they have partnered with other groups to help reach more girls across the world. 

The week started with us as normal going food shopping with my Mum. The only difference was we should have been at Legoloand, but with BB being poorly we had to skip it. The good news was that this would also mean we could watch Doctor Who at the same time as the rest of the nation! Sunday Top Ender and I were at Church, we had a great day with Top Ender giving a talk in Primary during the Senior Primary Time. I love the fact that being in Primary means I get to hear different talks each week from the Children and I get to hear my daughter of course too! In the evening we had the Missionaries round to share a meal and to teach a lesson. They taught a lesson about Talents, and using our talents. It was a really great lesson as the Children had to think about the Talents they have and how they use them. It was lovely because after the Elders had left the Children spent some time talking about talents they see in each other and other people they know. Most of this week I was doing sma

This week things got away from me. Normally I like to sit at home during the week and think about the food we are going to eat so I can base it around what we have in the Freezer, Fridge and Cupboards and what is on offer or I can get a good price on! This week however, as I said things got away from me and I was out shopping before I'd even written a list let alone looked properly in the Freezers, Fridge or Cupboards! This is therefore me working backwards and I apologise to my wallet and bank manager. Saturday - Turkey Curry Daddy refers to this as a Steamed Curry because we do it in the Morphy Richards Intellisteam Food Steamer and so it gets Steamed. It makes the meat very moist and honestly is one of the best ways to make a curry in our very humble opinion. As Top Ender is now able to have Curry with us I made sure that Big Boy had something he liked to eat and so he had Toad in the Hole. Sunday - Roast It is General Conference this week, and due to the magic of

I get several emails and DM's a week asking me how I manage to do so much in a week. I honestly don't think I get that much done in a week and I'm sure if you asked my husband and children they would fall about laughing, but some of the emails are from people who honestly seem to think that I have it all. They seem to think that I can impart some words of wisdom so that they can have it all too.  Like I've said though, I'm not Supermum and I doubt I could even impart an ounce of wisdom to anyone but... here's how my life works. For example right now as I write this, let me tell you what is happening. Top Ender is doing her homework, upstairs in her bedroom. She's just been downstairs and asked me for some advice about her artwork and so I paused my TV show (I'm marathon watching The Good Wife on Netflix) and BB kindly paused his Video game that he is playing so that we weren't distracted. I was actually looking up some ways to teach t

It's no secret in our family that despite having lived in our house for err... nearly nine years that I don't think that the house is my home. There are a few reasons as to why, but Daddy thinks that it is mostly to do with the state of decoration. For example, everyone knows that I HATE my bathroom, the tiles are beyond terrible as is the layout, the actual suite itself and it is really, really high on my list of things to replace. I mean seriously, it's first on the list and it's going to be replaced... it's just it's a big job and it's our only bathroom and it's so much money. Anyway. The other problem is, the decoration that we have undertaken so far hasn't made me feel more at home. Why? Well, because I don't feel like this is my home I don't put much thought into it and so I haven't fallen in love with it. Our living room is jokingly referred to by me as Raspberry Ripple, we have some Raspberry Red streaks running through the li