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Learning About Caring.. With Care Bears

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Our eldest daughter Izzy is growing up to be a considerate, loving and caring girl – albeit with a side of stubborn thrown in. One of the things we have been trying to teach her lately is about caring for other people – mainly her younger sister. They are at an age where the rough and tumble games that they play can easily end up with one of them getting squished or falling over and we are trying to encourages the important role she has as an older sibling in caring for her little sis.

It’s with great timing that I was sent a lovely little Care Bear this week from Vivid Toys- we were sent the Cheer Bear .. Cheer is much needed in our home at the moment and it’s a cute, bright pink plush beanie bear. She has a rainbow across her belly and apparently can always find a way to cheer her friends. Let’s hope that last bit is true!

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I grew up with Care Bears.. Like me they were born in 1983 and were extremely popular amongst myself and my siblings. I pored over my older siblings well thumbed books and eagerly watched the cartoon and film as I grew older. The message behind most of the stories is simple. Care for others. Not a bad message to install into your child.

I had a childish thrill when it arrived and I kept it as a surprise bedtime treat for Izzy on a day when she had behaved especially well – it’s now firmly tucked up in bed with her. We have chatted about it the last two nights prior to bed about how we should care more and be nice even when we don’t really feel like it.

Each Care Bear has a tummy symbol that represents his or her personality. Care Bears have been going strong now for almost 30 years and are back to appeal to a new generation of Care Bear fans!

There is a new toy range and an animated series currently airing on Tiny Pop. The range consists of a new cuddly collection of beanies and full size toys featuring a host of instantly recognisable Care Bears characters old and new.

We watched the original movie on Netflix last week and I think I enjoyed it even more than she did.

Is it weird that I almost want to buy the Yellow funshine bear for myself? It’s too cute and I’m a bit in love with yellow right now. It’s daffodil season after all.

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* We were gifted this bear from a rather wonderful company.

Being A Mother And A Daughter

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With Mothering Sunday approaching I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about being both a mother.

There are lots of things that you don’t understand about your mum until you become one yourself. I remember so many occasions during my teenage years hearing my mum saying “One day you will be a mum, then you’ll understand” At the time the idea of being a parent was so alien to me that I kind of laughed it off and went on doing whatever I was doing that worried her so. I didn’t do anything extreme but just the typical teenage rebellion I guess – staying out too late, not tidying my room or shouting back at her when she made a not really unreasonable request for me to help with dishes or do my homework etc. I remember not really understanding my mother or why she seemed to worry all the time.

15 or so years later, I’m a mum of two. Yet I still feel like that 15 year old girl at times even more so now these past few months. I need my mum. I want my mum. I depend on her more now than I did back then or so it seems.

Yet is that fair? I think before I had children I imagined that to be a parent was to teach your child all the right things, be there for them, support them and when they became an adult and certainly when they became parents themselves they would stand on their own two feet and then it would be time for you to relax. To enjoy being grandparents. To stop the worrying.

But it doesn’t stop, does it?

The worry. The love. The joy. The sadness. The stress. It’s permanent. Which is a wonderful and slightly torturous thing.

I know that these past few years I have caused my parents more stress, more worry than in the previous 25. At a time in my life when I should be riding freely on my bike I still very much have the stabilisers on with a parent holding my back and promising not to let go.

I feel guilty because of this. When will my mum get a break? When will she have a time with no more to worry about than booking a seaside break at her favourite hotel?

But that’s not the deal.

The deal you make when you decide to become a parent. You enter into that deal with the knowledge that it’s forever. I know now that perhaps even when my girls are aged 38 and 40 years old they may be causing me more upset, more worry and need more from me than they do right in this very minute. I have accepted that. I certainly hope they are allowing us more sleep.

It’s a strange step, moving from being just a daughter to also having daughters and perhaps it will seem odd when I tell you that nearly 4 years later it’s still only just about sinking in.

The enormity of it all.

I am their mum forever.

They are my daughters forever.

I am a daughter forever.

She is my mum forever.

Mammy, mummy, mam, mum, mamaaaaa, mammmyyyyyyyyy. Mother.

I can’t imagine a day in my life when I won’t feel the need to pick up the phone and tell my mum something. I am so completely and utterly lucky to have her in my life. For our daughters to have her as a Nana. For those that are without their mums this Mothering Sunday, I am thinking of you. The greatest gift I will have this weekend is a hug from our girls and another from the strongest and most amazing woman that I know.

Thank you Mam. On these day when I doubt everything in my life, when I feel as though my children are suffering because of my illness or as though I don’t do enough for them. You remind me that I do. My children are my world. I’m not a rubbish mum. Even if just for this moment in time I know that – I know that it’s because of you.

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Doing Something Funny For Money – Comic Relief Danceathon

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At the Britmums Live Conference in 2014 I listened to a wonderful speaker – Emma Freud talk about something that she was incredibly passionate about – Comic Relief. It was funny and emotional and above all inspirational. She had a big idea of something they were hoping to plan for bloggers to be involved with for 2015 and although there wasn’t a lot of detail at the time I decided there and then to do it. At this moment I was starting to realise I had post natal depression – an illness which unfortunately has become a lot worse over the past year but I was determined. Even when the official date was announced and it was the day after Andrews birthday and when the medication I was on made me feel woozy when I stood up too fast.

So we fast forward 9 months from that inspiring speech to last Sunday when I did something funny for money. Something extremely funny if you happened to be watching me because I danced for 6 hours..pretty much non stop ( minus wee breaks ) and I can’t dance at all so I imagine I amused a fair few people in the audience and crowd.

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But it’s all for a good cause right?

And it really is because I was dancing as part of Team Honk for Comic Relief. I raised an individual £345 ( still increasing) and the team collectively raised approximately ( it’s still rising ) £30,000. Which is amazing.

On arrival at Wembley Arena:

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Warming up…

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The day itself was highly charged and emotional as I kind of expected it would be. There were tears ( mostly from me) and lots of laughter and joy throughout the stadium. We were dancing as a team, all of us. The celebrities, the instructors and all of the crowd. It was an experience I don’t imagine I will have again. At times when I felt like I needed a 5 minute break I just looked at Rufus Hound who just kept going ALL DAY LONG.. Or ahem.. Adam Garcia for inspiration.

Highlights for me were the Michael Jackson section, 70’s and Bashment – I did enjoy dancing to Mysterious Girl a LOT more than I should admit. I was perhaps the only person who didn’t know the single ladies dance or Gangnam style – out of touch a bit??

I remembered that yes perhaps this was a daft thing to do considering how unwell I’ve been and that I hadn’t done ANY kind of fitness or training for about two years but that I wasn’t doing it for myself I was doing it …

To help provide a young carer in the UK with a fun activity day, giving them a much-needed break from their huge responsibilities at home – this cost just £10.

So Comic Relief could pay for a young woman in the UK who is experiencing domestic violence to get professional help from a specially trained advisor. – just £30.

So that £100 could enable a young person in Uganda to set up a farming business and work their own way out
of poverty.

Or so £500 could pay for 8 Zambian orphans to go to school for an entire year. A year? That works out at about £1.30 a day for 8 children – less than most of us pay for a coffee.

A small amount of money from us can make such a HUGE difference to people’s lives.

And yes you know what’s coming next don’t you?

You can still sponsor me by clicking here. Or you can sponsor someone else within Team Honk or simply give today as much as you can within your workplace bake sale or your school non uniform day. Do something funny for money – ask your family to pay you a £1 each for you to wear a tutu to the supermarket. Think about how much money you, we, I waste every month and spare a little of that for a great cause.

Believe me if I can dance for 6 hours after 48 hours prior spending an entire 24 hours vomiting .. It should make you dig in your pocket. I’d love you just a little bit more for it.

To those that have already sponsored – THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it and how you all spurred me on during the Danceathon.

PS – I only went and learnt the Thriller routine.

A Gift Guide For Mothering Sunday

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Always stuck for gifts for Mothering Sunday? I know I am, normally I take my mum shopping for clothes or give her vouchers or money to choose something nice.

Here are a few of gift ideas for all kinds of mums this year, from the traditional to unusual!

Something gold and sparkly?

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Maybe your budget can’t stretch to a Gold necklace but how about this Blue Nun sparkling Gold Edition white wine, complete with distinctive fine flecks of delicate 22 carat gold leaf?

Designed with all the glitz and glamour of special occasions in mind, the iconic brand, owned by Langguth Wines in Germany, has used their passion, heritage and expertise to create a delicate, subtle quality sparkling white wine with a lovely light fruitiness (alc 11.00%). Retails for approx.£9.00

Aldi have a great selection this year from slippers, to pretty cosmetic bags and beauty products such as hair dryers.

I love the Remington hairdryer ( £15.99) which was badly needed here after my old one burned out at the grand old age of 15year old.

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As well as the set of 3 cosmetic bags:

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Maybe you have a mum who loves to cook like me? In that case how about a Brilliant Reading Rest?

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This product which is available from around £19.95 can be found in a variety of BRILLIANT colours such as hot pink and duck egg blue. Perfect for use in a kitchen and workshop.

Another product ideal for kitchen gadget fans is this Cookie press from OXO Good Grips

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This press is perfect for making batches of cookies and comes with 12 stainless steel cutter attachments for hearts, flowers, snowflakes and more. It can be purchased online for £26.00.

Looking for gifts for children to make or give:

Sugru Have some great ideas on their site, like this mug:
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Out of the pack, Sugru feels like play-dough, and it’s that easy to use too. It bonds to almost any other material and cures just by exposing it to air. Its durable cured properties mean it’ll stay strong and securely bonded anywhere from the freezer to a steamy hot shower, from the home to the great outdoors.

Or perhaps they would like to give a teddy with some ever lasting flowers?:

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This 12″Tatty Teddy Tatty Teddy holding a flower pot with ribbon and ‘beautiful Mum’ wording makes a lovely Mother’s Day gift or birthday gift!

Here are a few products which I think are ideal for the mum who needs to relax, and who doesn’t?

Nelsons Arnicare® Arnica Bath & Massage balm
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This product is available from a variety of supermarkets and retails for approximately £8.15 – I love it and used it far too quickly! It smells divine too.

This Elle Macpherson Aromatherapy Foot Spa from Homedics is the perfect relaxation at home device for your tired, aching feet.

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Mood boosting LED lighting and aromatherapy mist and oil make this the ultimate luxury when it comes to foot therapy. The innovative design allows for both integrated hydro and vibration massagers and acu-pressure nodes that stimulate reflexology points. Functional inter-changeable pedicure attachments are included to meet indispensable beauty needs for picture perfect feet. It retails for £74.99 and is available from Amazon.

With the feet taken care of let’s move onto the hands with some gorgeous nail polishes from Nella Milano:

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Nella Milano offers stunning colour rich nail lacquers that are effortlessly stylish, elegant and long lasting. Nella is steeped in sophistication and takes inspiration from the Italian fashion capital of Milan. I tried out of one of the pink shades recently and loved it.

Or you could even go a bit further with a Rokit Gel Polish Kit which retails from £99.99:

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Rokit launches a brand new gel manicure kit that promises a rok-hard, high shine and salon quality finish from the comfort of your own home, with a simple one step application.
The brand new and unique Rokit Gel Polish Professional Kit makes gel nails even easier by reducing a typically five stage process to an easy one step application. Just polish and cure for shiny, salon quality nails that last up to 14 days.

A more unusual gift would be the Easy Lock:

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Mums will be in good company with celebrity Mums such as Fearne Cotton, Mel B, Abbey Clancey & Davina McCall owning one too!

The lock, priced at just £24.95, is as light as plastic, as strong as stainless steel, and can be fitted in seconds. It is small enough to fit in a pocket, and also the only lock of its kind in the world to allow individuals to open the door slightly, to check a caller’s identity, or to take a letter, whilst maintaining total security. I’ve purchased one for my sister who travels often for work and often feels a little wary of opening her hotel door.

And a special treat for a Downton Abbey fan?

How about this board game from Destination Board Games:

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Become your favourite character from the extremely popular show and become immersed in the world of Downton Abbey. This game retails at £24.95.

And finally a gift for the fit mum or the want to be fit mum like me. A TomTom Runner GPS Watch:
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The TomTom Runner GPS Sport Watch is the ultimate motivational tool to get into running – as opposed to running after the kids! All you need to do is set a distance, time or calorie goal, then check progress on the extra large screen. You can then receive alerts when you are halfway there, almost there and on hitting the target. With different watch strap colours including black and turquoise, you can pick a watch to match mum’s taste. Priced £99.99 from Sweatshop, Runners Need and John Lewis.

For me, right now as a mum. A busy mum, a loved mum. All I really need is a hug and a card. Anything else is a bonus!

What do you like to receive for Mothering Sunday?

*Some of these products were gifted for the purpose of this feature.

Crack Bread..Or Something Like That.

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I’ve read/gazed upon a lot of food hack posts. I’m a bit addicted. Everytime they pop up in one of my social media timelines I have to click on it. I store them somewhere in my cluttered head and I tell myself ooh I must try that and I have tried a few. Shredded chicken in my stand mixer and slicing a Ben & Jerrys pot in half to evenly share are two of my faves.

This food hack for something called crack bread has been floating about online for agessss now and I see it and drool a little but there was never any description of how they did it exactly or what’s in it etc. So I took what I could from the images and tried to recreate it at home. I didn’t expect to love it so much so the photos are poorly lit and a bit blurry – sorry for that but you MUST try this.

I bought a reduced batch of bread from M&S yesterday along with some reduced feta and I raided my fridge and cupboard for some extra bits.

I’ll let the images do most of the talking:

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I sliced into this and created square chunks which were still mostly attached to the base of the loaf.

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I put bits of feta, cheddar, double Gloucester and also some diced candied jalapeños into all the gaps, wrapped loosely in foil and baked for about 15 mins in a hot oven. I then removed the foil and baked for a further 5 minutes until all golden brown and gooey.

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I served mine on a wooden board with rocket leaves, sour cream, various chutneys and sundried tomatoes in oil. It was so good. It was moreish and satisfying. Easy but incredibly tasty.

Do it.

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Sykes Cottages – Llanbister Photo Diary

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A few weeks ago we had a really lovely stay on a farm in Mid Wales as a review break with holiday home/cottage hire company Sykes Cottages. We stayed at White Walls which a barn conversion cottage on a 600 acre farm in Llanbister. Full review to follow but here is a brief photo diary to give you a glimpse of our time there:

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In The Night Garden Live 2015 Discount Code

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We are big fans of In The Night Garden here at our house. Well the girls are. I’m kind of a little fed up of the show myself after 3 years of it on a loop ( sorry creator guys – I love how you entrance my children though and you are still our favourite children’s show) but the live show is actually fantastic. We have seen it twice over the last two years and are hoping to attend again this summer and can highly recommend it.

I’ll be telling you a bit more about it in the next month or so but for now I thought I would share a discount code for you just in case you are looking to buy tickets soon:

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For tour dates please see below:

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The Food We Ate

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Sometimes I can’t find the words to say what I want these days, even to write up a simple recipe. Today is one of those days so I’m giving my brain a break and sharing some photos of what we have eaten over the last few days:

Starting with a seriously good Sous Vide bbq brisket, rocket and mature cheddar toastie. Simple.

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Next up was maple, apple and mustard sous vide ham..’twas tremendous.

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A baked chicken and coconut curry:

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A roasted carrot, turnip and celeriac soup:

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And well this was the favourite meal that my 3 year ok ate all week.. Beetroot (princess) pasta from Dell Ugo, homemade meatballs in sauce with salad bits. It was devoured.

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Recipes for most dishes will follow in the next week. Just hitting the snooze button for a day or so. Nanight.

Child Products We Use And Love

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I think the best recommendation for products to use for your children are from other parents. To know which products are durable, value for money and that your children will also like to use.

So with that in mind here are a few of the products we use for Chloe and Izzy and that we are happy to recommend:

Munchkin UK cutlery, beakers and plates/bowls:

As ambassadors for Lindam Munchkin we have been lucky enough to try out a LOT of their products and it’s hard to pick a fault with any of them. The cups and beakers are durable, eyecatching and reasonably priced. The cutlery sets are easy to hold, dishwasher safe and have bright designs. We especially love the Disney sets.

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Hooded Owl Towels:

We were sent a Hooded Owl towel for Izzy just before Christmas and it’s been used for every bath time since which means it’s been washed and dried SO many times. It’s still fluffy and full of colour and she loves to wrap herself up in it after her bath.

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Johnsons Baby Oil and Bubble Bath:

Johnsons baby is a name we all know and love but we particularly like the bedtime range. The bath wash smells delicious and both my girls like a massage with the bedtime oil afterwards.

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Ewan The Dream Sheep:

I’ve raved about this on the blog before now. We were given this as a gift from my brother and sister in law for Chloe on her first Christmas and it has been used every single day,multiple times ever since. It’s been on holiday with us, for hospital stays and more. That means 14 months of daily use and it still works! Yes we replace the batteries quite regularly but other than the buttons now getting a little glitchy these days we still very much love our darling Ewan!

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Aldi Nappies & Wipes

We do a lot of our shopping at Aldi, particularity for baby products. I can’t recommend their nappies and wipes enough, as well as their pull ups for older children who aren’t quite dry through the night. We also use their toilet wipes with our toddler. It’s no wonder their products have won a whole host of awards as it really shows you that don’t need to spend a lot of money for an excellent product. The nappies we buy in packs of 48 are just £4.49 which is such a bargain. They have packs of wipes for just 59p too!

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There are lots of baby and toddler products we use and recommend but these are our daily essentials.

*This is not a review post simply a guide to some products we love.

I Don’t Want To Be…

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I’m tired of looking ’round rooms
Wondering what I’ve got to do
Or who I’m supposed to be

I know, I know ..I totally just quoted lyrics from a Gavin DeGraw song.

I’ve listened to this song a lot lately, mainly because I’ve become a little obsessed with One Tree Hill – as usual I’m ten years behind everyone else. I’m a little sad tonight because I finished the every final episode of the ninth and final series. I’ve enjoyed watching this show. I’ve found it easy to watch and almost become entwined in the intense friendships on the show. It’s been a distraction. In a place where awful things can and do happen, they carry on. They support each other and they always end up being good, decent people. Yes, even the evil guy of the show somehow ends up redeeming himself and stealing a bit of your heart in his last episode.

I’m sure this is reading much like a long line of waffle about a slightly cheesy American TV show. But. What I’m thinking about is the bit behind the show and in a way especially these lyrics. The song is called ‘I don’t wanna be’ and the lyrics aren’t anything amazingly poetic or outstanding but the bit that gets me EVERY single time I hear it is this – I don’t want to be anything other than me.

Because I don’t. I don’t want to be anything other than me. I don’t want to be famous, super rich ( although slightly would be nice) or supermodel thin. I just want to be me. But not this version of me. I want the old me. The one I loved. This me..well I’m not such a fan of her.

I’m not really sure where I’m going with this post or if I’ll even post it but at a time in my life where everything seems uncertain and dark I am hunting for light. I am hunting for the kindness of strangers, the warmth (and stickiness all too often) of my daughters hands, a 30 second interlude where I laugh and forget that I’m sad. Thankful for a family who are like no other..weird almost certainly but wonderful definitely.

You see with medications or exercise or faddy diets we all expect to want to change but I don’t want that. I don’t want to be anyone other than me.

This post wouldn’t have been written today if I hadn’t joined a wonderful group of people in a movement called Embrace Happy – started by Karin Joyce of Cafe Bébé , I was invited by a special lady who writes this wonderful blog – An Organised Mess. – if I’m honest I am not embracing happy quite yet but it’s making me search for three good things in every day. Sometimes this is very hard, I’m hoping it gets easier. Thanks ladies.

 

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