A Chocolate Brownie and Fruit Smoothie kind of day !

Today has been a lovely day with my little family, treasuring the small stuff and just spending time together. There are days (and there are many) when little is done other than the basics we need to do to get through the day. We only get time once so it is our duty to spend it wisely and without regret.

We made Chocolate Chip Brownies today, perhaps not totally healthy but the joy in the childrens faces as they measured and mixed was worth it, such fun was had and I keep telling myself that as they were homemade they are not full of preservatives and other nasties and so in my mind qualify to be somewhat healthy.

To boost our vitamin intake we made fruit smoothies, they tasted a little tart to be honest due to the addition of the lemon so I had to add a little vanilla sugar to the mix to encourage my son to drink it. He drank most of it so I was a happy momma . He will avoid fruit if he can, although he is getting better at trying new fruits and is choosing another smoothie recipe for another day so this is a step in the right direction.

How I am enjoying this time with the children at home, yes there is bickering but there has been time spent together doing nice things. It gives me chance to reflect, I think about where we have been and where we are going, challenges that lie ahead and how once I close the front door and we are in the warmth of our home it does not matter how fast paced the world is outside, we choose to live our simple slow paced life together.

What are your plans for the day ? I would love to know.

Sparkley and new

Not only do we have a new day but also a bright, shiney, sparkley new year. I dont normally care much for the New Year celebrations but for some reason I have looked forward to this one. There are no resolutions in this house but I feel it is certainly time for a change, really a chance in pace.

I have never wanted nor needed the "Rat Race" but have somehow found myself peddaling at 100 miles per hour down "Burn Out" lane. My days are far too busy and I literally have been hitting the ground running from the moment I get up. Breakfast is a thing of the past or it eaten, bowl in hand whilst walking around the house getting things ready to head out of the door. Lunch ???? Not sure what that is.. Sometimes I get to eat during the day when I am working bt then I can hardly claim it to be nutritious. Dinner on an evening is something lovely and scrummy cooked for the children but if DH is not home to actually cook I just end up snackng on rubbish. The lack of food and far too much crammed into the day has left me exhausted and run down (there I admitted it... ha ha ha) not to mention the two weeks I spent in my bed ill with the flu.

I really must make an effort to eat properly and take control of my days so that life is a little slower and I am sure that the health benefits of this will be great.

I have PIF's and another gift to send out that should have already been done some time ago, to you lovely people I apologise and will get onto it as soon as possible.

I hope that your New Year is shiney and sparkley and filled with magic.

S x

Its all about to change !

You may remember a little while ago I posted about changes... Well this family is changing...
I rush around, run here there and everywhere, skip meals, spend a fortune on petrol, often get to my evening meal and realise I have not had a drink all day and many other things (Hubby is just as bad ) . Well today is the day it STOPS...........

I once heard a saying "If Mamma aint happy, aint nobody happy".
Well this Mamma aint happy, OH NO SHE AINT.

Dont you sometimes feel that the days fly past and suddenly you realise you didnt have the time to sit with your little ones and listen to them read, you get them to rush their homework on a sunday evening because you have been too "busy" to do it with them earlier. What impression does it give to our children when we just dont have time, I dont want to say "Mummy doesnt have the time" anymore.. It is an easy trap to fall into, dont you think.

I want to take a side step and jump off the rollercoaster and spend as much time as possible nurturing my children and giving them the time that they deserve. I want to take more time for me and do the things that I like, I am sure there are some and I have just forgotten.

There are changes happening around here and it feels good.

Changes

At last the sun has started to shine, it is so warm here today. I wont complain and will drink in every last drop of sunshine we get until the weather changes back and we are yet again in Autumn and then winter.

The week has dragged as Andrew has been away, we went to the airport to collect hime on Friday only to see Ant and Dec come off his airoplane. The excitement of collecting Daddy was soon replaced with excitement of the Ant and Dec kind (fickle children !!!).

Having a week on my own (with children of course) has given me time to do afew jobs around the house that have beenneeding to be done and also given me much time to reflect. With the change of the seasons come changes, so what better time to make afew changes to your lives or homes for the better.

I have afew up my sleeves and nothing too big but just a gentle reminder to spend more quality tie with the children and now that the dark nights are here what better excuse to get back into the habit of family movie nights or games nights.

I have also had the chance to sort through some craft things and get out the things we need to make this years christmas cards. I have some in mind for friends and then others that will be sent to close friends and family.

Thank you all for your sweet comments, I really do treasure them all. I will try and reply to you all soon.

13 YEARS !!!!!!

Oh my goodness, it is now 2.30pm and this time thirteen years ago I was in the church all dressed up getting married. I can not believe that we have been married for that long, it seems like such a long time ago. I was a VERY young bride and I guess that some people thought that we were too young, but here we are 13 years later with two children and are having the times of our lives.
Life is not always perfect and I am sure that we could strangle eachother many a time but then couldnt we all....

ANYWAY... Happy Aniversary Babe !!!!!!

Hello There

I couldnt think of a title for this post, I just thought that I would introduce you to my new friends. Ben, Jerry and Mr Bunny



After work today when I dashed into the supermarket they jumped off the the shelf and out of the freezer demanding to be bought. I tried to resist but I was WEAK.. I felt a tiny twinge of guilt when Hubby proudly announces he has lost a STONE in weight and has done very little to actually do it, he is what we call "A Gym Sponsor" he donates a fee every month for them to have MTV playing in the background but never actually uses any of the facilities. Anyway the guilt was short lived when I am sat here in peace with children in bed and a Hubby who has gone out eating a bowl of delcious (Ok sickly) ice cream. HEAVEN... Enjoy your weekend, I will be back later with piccies of my ebay bargain. Iam off to watch Most Haunted Live...

Love
S xxx

Easter Weekend

We have had a wonderful time over the easter Weekend, spending time togethere just the four of us has been a rare treat recently. We started on Friday with another trip to watch the basketball, we won again much to the delight of our son. He is becoming quite the expert at basketball now !!
We have been making chocolate egg cakes, which is becoming quite the tradition now. Isnt it funny how you start to do something without quite thinking about it and before you know it has become quite the loved family tradition.

On Easter Sunday we made the most of some Sunshine and headed for the beach and no matter how cold it is the children just had to have an ice cream, hem hem ok yes I just HAD to have one also.

The sea was quite rough but it is so beautiful to see and listen to. I think that I may always have to live within a short drive of the ocean. It is quite hard to understand how in some parts of the world the land is so vast that people have never seen the ocean. I guess that the advantage of living on a small island is that you are never that far from a beach.

HOWEVER I draw the line at getting into the water on such a day, can you spot the surfer? CRAZY !!!!

To finish off here is the little corner of our living room that seems to have evolved to this.

I have been busy knitting, reading and cutting up fabric to make my rag rug and seem to have built this little corner with all of my things. All it needs is a drink and I may never have to leave. Hope that you all had a wonderful Easter. We have two more weeks and then school closes for two weeks.

Look at our new toy !!!!!

How much FUN !!!!!!!!!!!!! We have been lost since certain people thought it was a good idea to steal our other bike on Christmas Day, however after what seemed like forever we finally got another. Hopefully during the summer we will be going to Europe or at least having afew days away touring together.

The Birthday Weekend

It started today with a very excited girlie who is now NINE !!!!! Goodness how time flies. She is now a proud owner of a pair of "Heelys" , truly awful things if you ask me but then again I am not nine and so therefore am unlikely to understand that "Everyone has them".... To celebrate the day we headed out to a local Italian for dinner with friends. We have a Ten Pin Bowling party planned for Friday and Saturday is a family party, my task this evening was to make sure that the party bags were filled and ready to be taken out with us bowling.
Anyhow I thought it would be fun to tell you nine things about my daughter,

* She is a complete girlie girl..Pink, teddy bears, fluffy girlie stuff you get the idea.

* I love the way she has so many Teddy Bears and dolls on her bed that there is literally no room for her. She has been like this since very young and the bears are known as "The Bedtime Gang".

* When she goes horse riding and falls off she gets back on without complaining and continues to ride even if she has tears in her eyes. This is her choice certainly not mine. I want to rush over and take her away from the nasty horse !!!!

* She is a complete thrill seeker. If she is tall enough to get on the ride you can bet she is waiting to go on it. Rollercoasters, Pirate Ships or any other kind of ride that sends Mummy for cover..

* She loves school and always tries super hard. She reminds me of the character Matilda in the Roald Dahl book.

*I had to laugh the time I went to check on her in bed and she had been to the nursery christmas party that day. Here she was lying in bed perfectly with her party hat on. She reminded me of the Queen or a princess. She was three. Wish I could have taken a picture without waking her up.

* She is not afraid to get dirty and go into the garden and help dig the vegetable patch, although she needs her brother to remove any worms or slugs. Isnt that what little brothers are for?

* She is on the School Recycling Commitee, and boy do we take this seriously. I can see her been quite the green activitst when she is older.

* When she is a grown up her plans are to be a Teacher Monday to Friday and a Vet at the weekend. So she cant be afraid of hard work.



Here she is somehwere on this ride, there was no way I would ave gone on there. This was taken in November and a friend of my sisters was brave enough to take her on. He needed a little time afterwards as he felt so ill, she thought it was great.

Catching Up

I had a take a little break from blogging as life has been s busy recently. Working part time in a school and then dealing with my own children has taken the energy right out from me. I only work part time but the job can be incredibly demanding and then to come home and start dealing with homework, Brownies, school discos and everything else leaves little time for Mamma.. However the joy of working in a school is that I get to be at home with the children on a regular basis. JOY !! I love been with them and getting the chance to do all of the things with them that we miss out on when we are busy. Things such as Painting, drawing, tons and tons of craft kits that have been building up in the toy cupboard. Dont get me wrong we try and make time fo these things other than in the holidays but the children seem to have a very busy social calendar which leaves little time.

Monday was a day at home, I promised the children that if they left me to tidy around then I would be theirs... So after a quick tidy around we ventured into the kitchen to make cakes for daddy to come home to... Afterwards one of my little helpers decided that he would love to help me tidy his bedroom. This was done whilst Big Sister tackled her room by herself. I think she got much more enjoyment in dusting and polishing than actually doing anything else but hey the thought was there.

Tuesday was a lovely trip into the yorkshire Dales to visit my Sister and her family. Their half term was last week so her eldest was at school but it was so nice and we got to stay later than normal. The drive home was a little scary due to the fog. I was driving down a single car width track in very thick freezing fog. I think that I may have gone back but the roads are so narrow there is no where to turn your car. Anyway nearly two hours later we made it back home ( normally takes just over an hour!!!!)

I decided to finish off the 30 days during the holidays as there seems to be more happening at the moment, so I think I have another eight days or so and I have a couple of pictures on my daughters camera to upload when I find the cable.

No Spend Month

Back in January I posted about the challenge of No Impulse Buying, well the month was a great success and I was very concious of the money that we had to spend. I dont nomally make large purchases, however if you think about the few pounds here for a magazine and a few pounds there they will soon add up. Did anyone join in with this?
The challenge for this month is No Spend Month, so like it says you cant spend any money. Mwaaaaaa How can I do this with a childs 9th Birthday looming? Well she has decided that for her birthday she would like to have her bedroom decorated so all we have to buy is the wallpaper (we use lining paper) and some lilac coloured paint so the actual amount spent should be very little I HOPE... Seriously though, I do agree that spending should be cut down but I am still going to make sure that my daughter has a wonderful birthday. Afterall you are only nine once.
If you want to have a look at the challenge follow the link .

Homemade Soup

We try as much as possible to buy some organic food. This does present its challenges as we live on the outside of a city and there is very little Farming community in the area, we have to travel to get to the farm shops. This is not too bad when you are perhaps going once a month and stocking up the freezer but it is not possible to go weekly to get fresh foods. We overcome this by growing our own over the summer months and then having to buy from the ghastly supermarkets. The organic food in the supermarkets it not only over priced it still comes in huge amounts of packaging and is not always the best quality. gggrrrr anyhow yesterday I bought a mixed bag of veggies, picked some leeks from the garden and this is what I came up with.

Roasting the vegetables

Organic Homemade Roasted Vegetable Soup.

YUMMY !!!!!!!

I have been busy crafting these last few days but cant show any pictures as they are a gift and I am sure that the soon to be owner may have a peek at the blog. I am picking up new crafting skills but this is a very S-L-O-W process I am afraid. I would love to be very competent at sewing, knitting and crochet (I cant pick up crochet at all) but I find it extremely frustrating when my plans dont quite go as I had wanted. I have a drawer upstairs that is full of patterns for me to sew and a book full of knitting patterns but have no idea how to get started.
I am hoping that in a couple of weeks my Mother will have lots of time to come and give me afew sewing lessons (OK did you get the hint) and in payment for her time I promise her lots of kisses and cuddles from two of her grandchildren. What better payment could you ask for???? There are some things that money just cant buy!!!

I have also been trying to take pictures of the everyday happening at our house but my goodness I think that my life may be boring ! When I am thinking about what I can take a picture of I am really struggling as I sometimes think about why would anyone want to see such everyday things. Things like ironing, washing ,cleaning and the list goes on and on. It may be the time of year as we seem to spend much more time outdoors during the warmer months, but when it is so cold and miserable outside I feel very reluctant to actually be out.

COULD MAKE MORE EFFORT... Sounds like an old school report.!!!!

Friday 4th

The end of the week, normally I would be full of joy in the knowledge that we have the weekend. However this means that I must return to work on monday. I shouldnt really complain as I only work 13 hours a week spread over 4 days so it is not exactly much but working in a school with children age 5 and 6 is enough to "DRIVE YOU MAD"... mmmmmwwwaaaahhhhh !!!

I am still doing well on the no impulse buying, yesterday I had to get a couple of things for the children to go back to school and we did have lunch out but I dont really think that this counts as I had planned to take them out for lunch when the schools broke up but as we have all been unwell over the holidays we were unable to get there until yesterday. It is ineresting however as I would have normally bought a magazine without thinking about it (and probably paid £3.50 for it) but I didnt even miss not buying it and know that it is money saved and less paper products been used by us.

News on the Motorbike is that it has been recovered by the police but it is completely trashed and will probably be wrtitten off by the insurance company. They have smashed the ignition open and pulled out loads of wires to try and start it, the police think that they were disturbed and so pushed the bike down a steep hill itnto a woodland area below where it smashed into bits when it hit the trees. I really dont want to write on here what I think of these people as it is not nice, but I am sure you can guess. We not only enjoy using the bike but it is also an essential mode of transport for my poor hubby as he uses it for work which allows me the car to get to work and do the school runs. There is no way i can get to work and drop the children off at two different schools on time without it, so I am not sure what we will do when the schools go back nest week. These idiots dont care about such trivial things though do they? We are going to have a look at it over the weekend, should be ineresting.PAH !!!!!!!!!!

Ponderings

Well another year has ended and a new one comes to greet us. What plans have you for 2008?. I dont really like the idea of New Years resolutions but I do think that there may be changes happening in this household. Nothing too exciting but small changes that will effect the way we choose to live and the impact that we will be having on the world around us. As many people will know we have tried to reduce our impact on this world recently and we intend to take this further and educate our children (perhaps we will learn things from them) that we have to look after our planet as it is the only one we have and the choices that we make during our lives will not only effect us but our families for generations to come.

What did we do in 2007?

* planted our own (small) vegetable patch in the garden
* Received the kind pressie of a composter (yet to be set up and working)
* Used soapnuts (not sure on this one but will have to try again I think)
* Gas fire gone, nasty thing never to be used again
* Energy efficient bulbs installed when old one has blown
* Heavy curtains as the dor to stop you from being blown off the chair by the draught

Err I am sure that there are more things but that is all that I can think of for now. I do have more ideas but will introduce them to the family as and when to lessen the blow ( If it were up to me the TV would be OUT, but alas that idea didnt go down very well..LOL)
I think that rather than going out and making HUGE changes all in one go it is better to take little steps, afew at a time and make new routines for the family as you are more likely to stick with them. Things that are certainly on the plan fr 2008 are,

* Installation of a water but
* Hopefully we will get an allotment so we can expand the home grown veggies
* We have found a wonderful supplier of local meats from a farm shop, although we will have to
go and collect, it has to be better than the supermarkets.
* Veg bag delivered weekly ( we have done this before but need to set it back up again)

Oh I am sure that there will be more. I think that I will have to keep a record of what I am doing otherwise I am sure to forget. Do you want to join me in this? Go on, I could use all the encouragement I can get.

Christmas Piccies

Our Christmas Tree

Home made fudge and biscuits

Our Advent Wreath on Christmas day

Candy Canes

The Dresser in my kitchen

Christmas

Christmas was wonderful, there were some slight hicups along the way but the Holidays were still wonderful.
The children enjoyed opening gifts and spending time with both of our families. It was nice for all of the children to get together and play, this is quite rare for them all to be at the same place at the same time so fun was had by all.

I guess that the dampner for the holidays was that we all have a cold bug which resulted in my poor hubby spending christmas day fternoon asleep in the chair and the next two days in bed. He sadly missed going to my sisters house and been with all of the family (including all the kids, or was this planned??????) and has been quite unwell. I have been keeping him supplied with hot drinks and the children have tried to cheer him up..LOL.....
We were also disturbed at about 12.15 on Christmas night / Boxing Day morning by hammering on the door. We were still sat watching TV and opened the door to the porch to see a man standing in his PJ,s shouting for us to open the door. After our initial reluctancy to do so we discovered that he had called to tell us that he had just seen someone stealing our motorbike which we had parked in the drive and they were pushing it away down the street. Well Hubby drove after them whilst I called the police, they came with dogs, two cars and even the helicopter, they caught one person but were unable to get the other and the bike has never been seen again. They went into a park/field at the end of the road which is not lit, the police searched as they thought they would have dumped the bike and we went down at first light but it was not there. All of this equals one unhappy Hubby. I would not put down on here what i would like to call these people, what makes them think that it is ok to enter another persons property and take something that they have not had to pay for and which doesnt belong to them. GGggggrrrrrrrrr... Well it is a great big heavy thing and I would say that I hope it falls on them but then that would not really be a Christian thing to say especially at this time of the year, BUT REALLY !!!!!!!!!!!

Moving on.. We still enjoyed our Chrsitmas and wont let scumy people spoil it for us. I will have piccies when I can get Hubby to sort this cable out for me. I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and here we look forward to the New Year.

There is something about this picture, I dont know what it is but all I can say is that I would LOVE to be there. It could be the simplicity of it, people who know me will know that my dream home would be in the middle of nowhere and neighbours miles and miles away. BLISS!!!!

Remember

Sunday was Remembrance Sunday, in years gone by I would always go with my Gran for her to leave her poppy for her brother who was killed in the war.

Now whilst I certainly dont forget the day and would have normally attended church his year we did not. We decided to take the morning off and we went to the climbing wall for a little family time. I still cant get used to watching my children free climb up a wall (with no ropes) which is about 5 metres high. There is of course a HUGE instructor waiting for them at the bottom and should they decide to exit the wall he is more than capable of catching them. It was so nice to be together as a family and be out doing an activity,sooooooooo I have decided that we need to make more of the time we have together doing something nice rather than the trip to the supermarket for the weekly shopping or trying to get some kind of order around the house.

For the next few weeks I hope to put some posts together about the things we have been doing, it could be anything from chilling out to watch a movie with popcorn or a walk along our beach on a really cold day or even me trying to come to terms with the fact that my children can climb this wall and will do it even if Mother is sat with her nerves on edge. Oh and yes they think it is great to trun around at the top and give me a wave as if to remind me that they are 5 metres up. eeeekk!!!!!!!

5th November

Remember remember the fifth of November,

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason why gunpowder,

treason Should ever be forgot...

Bonfire night came and went, I used to hate it as a child as the fireworks were so loud. It is my Sisters Birthday so there was always another reason to celebrate it. "Happy Birthday" by the way. Bonfire night always holds memories of the huge bonfire in the field at the back of our house, Jacket Potatoes coking at the bottom of the bonfire and of course people calling "Penny for the Guy" but you dont seem to get people calling with a Guy. I think that we have gone down the Halloween route here and have forgotten some of the older traditions. I bet that there will be lots of kids who have no idea what "Penny for the Guy " means, mine included.

Anyway we decided that we would go and visit friends and perhaps my little one would not "FREAK OUT " when he was in other company. Well he did us proud, we have gone from the little boy who had a major melt down at the mear mention of fireworks to the little boy who would stand at the patio doors, with fingers in ears (just in case!!) and watch. He even held a sparkler which is again a big deal for him, I took a photograph of him doing this so that next year when we hear the all too familiar whine "I dont like fireworks" it can be whipped out as lasting proof that he DID actually enjoy himself. Hehe........

So it is now the weekend and I have just left work and can put my feet up and not hear he sounds of "Miss, he said this" or "Miss, she hit me" and the tug at the arm of my clothes to get my attention. Although having two children and a husband I guess there is still plenty of whining in this house. It is just so nice to get o the weekend to spend some quality time with our own children and leave work at the school gates for Monday (although I must confess that I LOVE my job).

I hope that like the christmas tree on the top of the blog, it is far too early to decorate the house yet but as there are no pine needles to pick up in blogland I thought I would decorate the blog. This is just the start and I have other decorating plans for the next couple of weeks. Have a fab weekend whatever you are doing, if I can get the camera to work on this computer I will get some photographs put on here for you to look at.

GOD Bless