Tuesday 20 November 2012

Number Twelve - We Are Fa-mi-ly!

Evening :) :) 

So it's update time again - and this time it's all about my family... wait, it's always about them? Oh! Well, that's because they are fabulous!! heeheehee.

This weekend I finally got to meet my sister, her mum, two nephews and sister in law. It was awesome - I loved every single second of it, and it was all well worth the travelling up to Manchester to make it happen.

I started off Saturday morning on the 280 mile journey, loving every second of getting closer and closer to where my sister Carol lives. I eventually got off the motorway and traveled to her little village - it was absolutely beautiful, all the houses were red brick and white wash, lots of trees, fields and I even had to stop for sheep to cross! Not what I expected at all.  Her house was absolutely beautiful, and we sat in a little half sitting room off her dining room with a gorgeous log burner keeping us warm, and her lovely mum was with us too.

I took a big pack of photos up with me and we spent a good hour going through them and talking all about our childhoods, and then generally about all sorts of stuff. We got on like a house on fire and made each other laugh lots. I met my nephew Andrew - gorgeous looking lad, who like Mathew is less into sorts and more into music, and then got to see lots of photos of when all three of them were small - Daniel the youngest and my Mathew are so similar! Alas I didn't get to meet Dan or Matt as they were at the Manchester City match with their dad - not that I minded, and their team won, so a bonus! Her mum took piccies of us, and I've had no end of comments from people saying about the resemblance - same chin, eye position, nose - I just wish I had her figure!! :D I had planned to stay for an hour but we were enjoying so much I ended up staying for two and a half!


We have said we will keep in contact and intend to meet again soon - I am already so looking forward it is unbelievable  I loved every second with her, and however surreal the whole situation is, I 'm so grateful to have her, and my extended family in my life now.

Off to Denton after the fun of meeting Carol and time to meet my nephew Lee and his lovely mum Donna. Lee and Donna made me feel so welcome, they fed me, showed me lots of pictures of my brother, and of Lee when he was little (sooooo cute). We chatted for around five hours the first evening, and it felt as if we had always been family. They are such lovely people. I took Lee up his Christmas presents early (he is an avid scooterer) so he could get some use from them now, and the lovely happy look and hug I got for it was well worth taking it up early.

Almost midnight and I decided to off to the hotel (long day) and get some beauty sleep, but before that picture time again, and crikey Lee and I are so alike! If I was a boy I think I would look just like Lee! lol - did I mention I traveled by myself? Meaning I had a double bed, that was ridiculously comfy, all to myself, the TV all to myself and a McDonalds and Tesco right next door - perfection!



Breakfast came at 10:30 (heehee LIE IN!) at Lee and Donna's - Donna made me an absolutely awesome fry-up, so lush in fact that I was full until 5:30pm! An absolutely unexpected treat. Monopoly time next - Lee and I had arranged that we were going to play together as we both love it, and that I would beat him as I am the best... two hours later and lee completely demolished me, took all my property, my money and ended up owning almost all of the board! Needless to say next time I need to be more careful on my investments, and not let him get Park Lane and Mayfair at the beginning!!





Poor Donna felt poorly that afternoon so instead of dragging her into Stockport with us, I asked if I could take my nephew by myself, so she could have a break and put her feet up for a little bit. She agreed and off we went! Shopping was fab, Lee got bought another part for his scooter , a cute beanie hat and a dinosaur onesie - his choice :) - and I managed to get three onsies for my boys, all matching - so cute, and crikey so cheap!! Who knew??




By four I was starting to feel shattered so decided to take lee back (not before buying flowers for Donna for looking after me so well), for hugs and kisses all round and make my way home to see my awesome little family.

I'm so unbelievably grateful to Donna for being such a lovely host, and feeding me up! She is a wonderful mum to Lee and I look forward to when we get to meet again, hopefully very soon! Lee is such a sweet thirteen year old, full of smiles and chats, lots of love and hugs too. As I was leaving he shouted 'Love You' which really made my weekend complete.

I have a family everyone - a wonderful, large,kind, generous and happy family. Amaze-balls!
I couldn't be happier, and look forward to the future with so much more gusto now - thanks to all of you for supporting me too, it has been a tough old road finding out all this info, and making contact for the first time with new family, but finally it is all falling into place.

I'll update again soon - promise - but for now, be kind to one another, hug your loved ones, and keep in touch no matter how busy you are!
Lots of love
xxx

Sunday 14 October 2012

Number Eleven - 21 Again!

Hi everyone :) 

Thanks for checking back again! So I have had a busy old week and I have family updates too - YEY!!

So first off 'The Hubster' and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on Monday - yey for us, and as our tradition dictates every year instead of getting each other gifts we buy something together for the house, so we have picked out a nice new black circular sink and a new black worktop for the kitchen - I'm excited for them to get here - our kitchen will really look like it's ours then! Did you know that traditionally the 7th anniversary gifts are copper or wool? Random right!

Wednesday cam around and meant we had to take Michael to his first physio appointment - he did really well and they gave us some great exercises for him to do to hopefully strengthen the muscles in his legs and arms, and relieve some of the tension in the ones that are struggling, hopefully alleviating some of the pain he's in. She was a lovely lady and very impressed with Michael - she also mentioned that she thought he could be a great paralympian when he's older - he was ecstatic!! We have to go back every 6/8 weeks to check on his progress and change up the exercises a bit - he is already looking forward to it.

Friday brought around my birthday - 21 again - and to start it off I went to see my mum who treated my to a nice brekkie, followed by pressies - I now have a 'Keep Calm and Log onto Facebook' pink travel mug, and a 'You Are My Sunshine' sign (I blogged about wanting it previously here) so I was super chuffed. We then went to see my Nanna who was a little poorly, but still on form - she even sang me the You Are My Sunshine song - which just made the pressie all the more special. I went to see Robs for lunch (Big Tasty - Yum) and then back to the boys school to take Michael to see Mr Price his orthopedic surgeon, who doesn't think there is anything he can do to help until Michael is around 10, and then the only thing he can do is to cut the bones and reset them - Michael looked a little scared but hopefully with physio we may be able to avoid that. After Rugby in the evening My mum came over to babysit and Robs took me out to dinner - AMAZING, and I even indulged and had a couple of cocktails, heehee - the added bonus to being on the minimum dose of antidepressants is now I can drink again! YEY!!




Saturday was the best, Robs continued my birthday celebrations by letting me have a lie in (till eleven!!) and woke me up with breakfast in bed, which the boys shared, then before we headed out we called Uncle Eric and I introduced everyone to him - the boys loved talking to him and he and Robs got on really well - they share a love of rugby!


 The boys then took me shopping for my birthday presents. Halfords was our first stop and I was instructed to pick out a new D.A.B digital radio CD player with iPod/iPhone compatibility - I'm a bit of a geek and love my gadgets - and so I told Robs the ones I liked, we checked stock and spec and found two that were perfect for the job - after grilling the sales clerk it eventually came down to which one was prettiest - LOL - and when he showed me the fold down function for the CD entry I was sold, yes I may be a geek but I am also a girl! I am sooooo chuffed with it - I can listen to all my mp3's, my iTunes albums and podcast's  loads of different radio stations on D.A.B, FM, LW and MW and I can plug in USB devices too - oh and they charge!! Anyhoo I love it, then we went to the Apple shop to get a new cable which means I can finally use my iPhone to it's full potential again - yes! I was also treated to lunch at KFC - my first ever, and it was lush, I couldn't believe the queues though, we queued outside of the restaurant  and the drive through ha at least 30 if not 40 cars waiting! Very popular!

So a good week I'd say! Now onto the family update :D

My 'Auntie' Cherryl (actually a cousin) is so completely amazing when it comes to finding family members - how exactly I have no idea, but she is amazing at it. Anyway - my mum sat me down on my birthday to tell me that Cherryl had managed to find my brother - and he had another little boy (so I have another Nephew) and I was able to speak to his mum yesterday, she is lovely, and is setting it up for me to speak to my nephew this evening! I can't wait. Mum has sent a letter to my brother so I am reeeeeeeally hoping to get a response  although I would completely understand if I don't get one. So I was on cloud nine knowing we had found him, but then today... Cherryl came up trumps again and found my sister - I even have a phone number for her!! She has at least four if not five sons (more nephews YES!!!!) and I have been trying together her all day, but alas she has been out (I have spoken to my nephews though, not that they know it!!) and so I will try again this evening, she was at 'the stables' when I called the last time, I wonder if she has a horse? :D 

So I actually have my brother and sister, and know where they are! Amazing right - I just hope they want to speak to me, again it is understandable if not, I mean dad left them, but fingers crossed they can see past that and will let me love them the way I want to so badly - even if not though I still have my new nephew (bro's son) and can;t wait to meet him soon - Him and Mathew re going to get on like a house on fire, they both love mine-craft  and he is happy for me to send him pressies at Christmas and birthdays - oh and he's 13 :) His mum sent me an up to date picture of him last night - he's a strapping lad, and funnily enough looks like me :) hehehehe :) I am ridiculously excited to get all this finally sorted an in place. I promise to update once I have spoken to my sister, and hopefully had a response from my brother!

Lots of smiles to you all :) 
xxx

Monday 1 October 2012

Number Ten - Birthday Dreams

Hi everyone, 

First off a big thanks for reading - I have crossed 4600 mark now and am super chuffed that you've found me interesting enough to read and follow! Your either starved for entertainment or I'm getting the hang of this writing lark!

I want to talk to you today about my birthday... 

Now being that it's not a big milestone or anything, a party isn't necessary (call of the party planners) and a big gesture isn't needed (that Tiffany necklace can be sent back) but I still want to do something, but not be pretentious about it.

Is it weird to want to throw my own little tea party? Make lots of gorgeous foods, drinks and decorate everywhere really prettily? Yes I think maybe it is - so instead I'll pretend and tell you exactly what I would do if I could...
So I'm pretty sure this has all come about due to my favourite website having such amazing ideas - Pinterest - it is like a haven of awesomeness that once I log into I can sit for hours and hours (days even) looking at all the pretty pictures or foods, beautiful people, clothing, designs, photographs, thoughts and feelings. 

I've recently been pinning a lot (insane amount) of food piccies and recipes and thought I would share with you some of my favourites - these are all perfect for a party and definitely something I would love to eat at one... mine :) 

Savouries:

Sandwich Kebabs - 
Kebab sticks with thin folds of ham/turkey/chicken/prosciutto/chorizo interspersed with cherry tomatoes,  goats cheese/cheddar cheese cubes, wafer thin slices of cucumber, little olives, triangles of pepper and wholemeal/white bread. 

Sliders - 
Miniature burgers, either beef or chicken - ketchup, mayo, cheese, pepper, cooked onions and salad. All held together with a skewer.

Dippers - 
Shot glasses with a teaspoon of ketchup in the bottom and a handful of chips stood up in them. Also done with mayo and peppers, sour cream and skinny chicken goujons.

Stuffed - 
Hallowed out sweet potato and Desiree potatoes stuffed with fresh salsa and goats cheese or cheddar, bacon and spring onions. Mushroom cups stuffed with cheese onion garlic and crispy bacon. Mini pepper tops/bottoms stuffed with beef chili con carne and topped with cheese then grilled. Sausage balls stuffed with peppers and mozzarella  Giant pasta shells stuffed with pepperoni, cheese, and tomato sauce.

Pull Apart - 
Garlic and herb flat bread smothered in melted butter, roughly cut so a pull is needed - extremely satisfying  A bloomer loaf sliced down but not through the bottom to leave cm towers of bread, cover with sour cream, cheddar, crispy bacon, cooked onions and then grilled for ten minutes and served hot.

You can view my Scrumptious Savoury Pin Board by clicking on the words, but be warned once you start pinning and looking you'll be hooked!

Sweet Treats:

Cookie Love - 
Strawberry Meringue cookies dipped in thick dark chocolate. Royal Icing decorated cookies in varying degrees of cuteness. Chocolate chip cookies stuffed with Mars bar and Milky-way pieces in the centre.

Cake Madness - 
Chocolate blackout cake; three layers of super moist chocolate mud cake, sandwiched with chocolate butter-cream, and covered with the same, then chocolate vermicelli all over the outer butter-cream. Banana bread and cinnamon heart shaped waffles; basic banana bread recipe but add a teaspoon of cinnamon too then spoon into your waffle maker and voila! bite sized strawberry cheesecake squares. Strawberry and lemon petit fours covered in poured fondant and decorated with little fondant hearts and colourful fondant gerbera.

Miniatures - 
Mini donuts half dipped in chocolate and sprinkles. Mini cupcakes in various fresh flavors with miniature butter-cream swirls and fondant decorations. Miniature chocolate whoopee pies filled with chocolate cream and Miniature macaroons in pastel colours. And if at all possible Miniature candyfloss on sticks - in pale pink, blue, green and yellow.

The more I write this the more I want to go and live in my kitchen for the next three days making all these fabulous sounding things - You can check out some of the ideas on my Cakes and Cake-Pops and Treats... Oh My! board and my All Things Cookie board by clicking on the words - they are all on my Pinterest page, but again I warn you - especially getting into sweet things - it's impossible to draw yourself away!

Now decoration wise I have seen some amazing ideas; 

  • Getting a hula hoop and 8 different single coloured plastic table cloths (preferably pastel shades), cutting then into foot two foot wide strips, attaching them to the hula hoop on one end, hanging it up in the centre of the room and then affixing the other ends of the cloths to the ceiling/wall to make a funk coloured tent feeling to the room - and to hide the hoop; hang balloons from the centre of the room in matching colours. 
  • Grab as many little tumblers/shot glasses as you have, and an equal amount of balloons in the same colour as your party decor. Take your balloon and cut the top off about an inch down the neck of the balloon. Slide the balloon over the tumbler so that the cut off bit is where the glass opening is. Press the cut off into the glass and voila - a cute matching vase, half fill the glass and add one flower to the makeshift vase - mine would be gerbera.
  • Fairy lights on a long string would be my next, fastened onto the wall in a joined up writing style word - Birthday, or Samantha, of Happiness - whatever takes your fancy really.
I have about a million more of these ideas - but rather than bore you, you can check out all my inspirations and ideas I've found here on my Have A Go - Tutorials, Make and Do Creations and Design Delights For My Home boards on my Pinterest page. 

I would have loads of lovely drinks o including special peach fizz, champers, bucks fizz, and homemade warm cider. There would be music - soft stuff like Michael Buble, Katie Melua, George Benson, Coldplay, Adele  Lionel Ritchie and some other of my favourite easy listening artists. We would eat, drink, chat, and maybe even watch some of my favourite movies on lots of soft plush cushions.

Ok so I have dreamt long enough about this - but would love to know what you all think and what our party ideas would be - leave me a comment if you like :) 

Take care lovelies and I'll be back soon - promise!
xxx


Sunday 16 September 2012

Number Seven - A First For Mathew

Hi Y'all!

I may have mentioned once or twice about Uncle Jeff and Auntie Mary in the last few blogs (not annoying at all though right?!) so have decided to focus on some other things for this post.

(No I am not just trying to keep my mind off the fact that UNCLE JEFF is coming to see me next week!)

Friday marked the return of the weary traveler - otherwise knows as my oldest son Mathew - who came home after a week away with the school at the Pembrokeshire Adventure Center in Pembroke Dock, where he told me they did - kayaking, canoeing, coasteering, speed boating, green gym exercise, zip lines, sailing, blind trekking, party and a disco! I want to go too next time!

He was in such a good mood when he got off the bus, he ran up towards me for a big hug (unexpected as he's now ten and only hugs when his friends can;t see him) which I loved, and then was crowded around by his friends; all asking him at once if he was going to tell me...

Tell me what?

He blushed a little and then said 'yeah I will,later, or you can if you want' gesturing to his friends. In unison they chirped 'MATHEW HAS A GIRLFRIEND!' - well I wasn't expecting that! He hasn't had one before and has never really shown any interest in them other than to chase them around th school yard. So he is super grown up no with a girlfriend called Annie; she is a lovely girl who he's known since he was three, and her mum is fab too. 

Math said there was only one downside to the trip and that was one of the other girls - she said horrid words to him the whole time, upset his girlfriend by telling her he had dumped her, swore loads, pushed people about and then to top it off on the last day she threw Mathew's camera into the sea on purpose - yeah, horrid right? Mathew managed to get his camera back but only a couple of the twenty photos came out, so a complete waste. 

Anyhoo - he had a wonderful time and even came home clean believe it or not, with freshly brushed teeth! A small triumph but non the less an important one - I know he can look after himself, and my constant nagging is working! :D

Saturday I spent all day cleaning - I managed to completely clean and sort the front room and hallway - an Autumn 'Spring' Clean if you will. It's so nice walking into the house seeing it tidy and more importantly sorted - no piles of paperwork or toys that need taking back upstairs, and no dust bunnies making an appearance. Michael my middle son went and had a sleepover at his friend Yori's so it was just the four of us last night - we treated ourselves to takeaway and Doctor Who on telly. Robs worked all day at his best friend renovation so it was nice to just chill out and veg in front of the telly with him.

Sunday's here and we've put up three batman Lego canvases, a notice board (that we've pinned some memories on for the boys), a shelf for Michael's trophies and a London 2012 paralympic/olympic poster (homemade) on the wall. A busy one I think you'll agree - and the boys room looks super now - only one window reveal, one wall to paint, and a beanbag to purchase and we are completely done! Finished! Re-decoration of the boys room complete! Can you tell I'm excited? I promise to show you piccies once it's done.

My uncle Jeff text as I was writing the last paragraph and unfortunately is too busy to come down for two days, but fear not peoples - we are meeting half way on Sunday (7 days and counting), Uncle Jeff is going to e-mail me tonight to confirm everything so I will be able to update you a bit more in the week.

So much for me not talking about Uncle Jeff eh! HA!

Oh and in-case I forget in the next post I need to wish my awesome sister in law and best friend Elin, and her family Tricky, Sion and Owain, a safe flight this coming weekend; they are off on their jollies - I'll miss you and I know you'll have lots of fun! :D

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend  and thanks for reading!
xxx

Thursday 13 September 2012

Number Six - Birthday Bonanza

Hi all, 

Yesterday was Mr J's birthday, and unfortunately he had to spend it in work but the brief time we had in the morning and evening together I tried to make as special as possible.

I woke him up to bacon sandwiches and a homemade latte before he went to work (this may not seem like a big deal but I hate getting up early and had to get up at 6:00am to do it), I made him a lunch, but only a small one as I knew he was working close to McDonald's so I gave him £10 to go and treat himself to whatever he fancied.

After he had gone I then took to twitter to try and get some celebs to tweet birthday messages to him, I managed to get quite a few, well five.

Paul Daniels (the magician) tweeted: HB2U Rob :)
Nigel Owens (best rugby referee ever) tweeted: Hey Rob I hear it's your birthday, have a great day and best wishes
Bill Goldberg (robs favorite US wrestler) tweeted: Happy Birthday Rob
Rhian 'Madam Rygbi' Davies (welsh rugby reporter on the Jonathon Show) Tweeted: 'Penblwydd Hapus Robs!!! Gobeithio ges ti diwrnod awesome!!! :D xxx'
which translates as: Happy Birthday Robs!!! Hope you had an awesome Day!!! :D xxx
Gareth Thomas (ex international rugby player for Wales, the Lions and Cardiff Blues) tweeted: Happy Birthday!!

I think this cements my status as the best wife ever! Heehee.

Pressie wise this year the hubster needed new trowels, so I got those and then decided to get him something he didn't need but would want - that's what birthday's are for after all! I managed to get my hands on two front row center tickets for the Scarlet's (his team) Vs Ospreys Rugby match on the 21st of September :) Needless to say he was super chuffed! I had arranged also for Mathew to phone him on his birthday - he's still at camp - but unfortunately the call never came :( I'm just hoping it's because he forgot rather than them not letting him, he'd be sad then!

When he came home I had his fav supper ready - Chicken Enchiladas - and I had baked his favourite cake - Pineapple Upside Down Cake (normal sponge recipe but in the tray grease it and cover with a layer of soft brown sugar, then pineapple rings and top with the mix), we watched a movie and then as a treat in bed i made him a bowl of cereal - the ultimate luxury according to him! heehee. Little things eh!

Huggles.
xxx

P.S Congratulations to Robert's Uncle Dorian and his fiancee Sarah - they have set a date and are getting married next year! 

Sunday 2 September 2012

Number Two - New Moon Rising


Happy Sunday everyone!

I have had a lovely weekend filled with frivolity and laughter - on Saturday my awesome sister in law had my three boys for a sleepover so robs and i were left to our own devices for twenty four hours ;) 
To make sure I made the most of it my first port of call was a nap - hehehe yes clearly I am getting old, but then after watching the rugby (Scarlet's won their first game of the season - YES!!!) and having supper we decided to go to the beach for a late night walk. 

It was so beautiful and peaceful down at South Beach, Tenby. The weather was good and not too cold, the moon was playing peek-a-boo with the clouds, and when it appeared was so bright it cast our shadows over the sand, it was amazing. There were a couple of fishermen at the closest end of the beach but we decided to walk the entire length of it (it's about a mile-ish I think).

We had a lovely time walking and talking, and were discussing our buckets lists. Here are some of mine:

Swim in a cage with a great white shark
Visit Stone Henge
Spend a week in every state in America
Go on an African Safari
Complete a skydive
Be debt free
Throw a three darts at a map of the world and travel to wherever they take me 
Become a published writer
Skinny Dip
Visit Beijing water park with my boys
Go on a husky sled ride through the snow
See the Aurora Borealis
Ride an elephant in India
Overcome my depression
Hold up the leaning tower of Pisa
Camp out on a beach and watch the sunrise
Set foot on all seven continents
Spend a new years eve in Times Square watching the ball drop
Kiss my husband under the Eiffel Tower
Watch baby sea turtles hatch in Tortuguero 
Watch a a drive in movie in convertible car.
Scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef
Have my own cake business 
Pull/break a fire alarm
Have a wedding anniversary party in Las Vegas hosted by Elvis
Visit Abby Road Studios and recreate the Beatles cover
Run a marathon
Ride in a hot air balloon
Walk over the Sydney Harbor Bridge
Get a tattoo
Volunteer for three months with the red cross in Africa
Own every Disney movie on DVD
Go to a movie premier and watch the stars walk down the red carpet
Live in London for at least six months
Learn to do a cartwheel
Celebrate our fiftieth wedding anniversary
Send a present to a serving soldier
Spend the night in the ice hotel
Attach a padlock to the lovers bridge in Paris
Add a piece of chewing gum to the wall in Seattle
Create graffiti art in the London Graffiti Tunnel
Learn to swing dance 
Go to a music festival
Do the lift scene from dirty dancing in a lake
Go to comic-con
Own a first edition of a book I love
Swim in a roof top swimming pool

Now that is just a snippet of some of the things I will be doing before I 'Kick the Bucket', and I can honestly say I can't wait to take some more off it, I've already completed a couple (the highlighted ones), one of which was last night... can you guess which one? Let's just say that there were three full moons on the beach last night.

Right I'm off again now, watching the paralympics and loving every single minute - Michael is desperate to be a paralympian, bless him, after watching the other super humans competing in their races. 2016/2020 watch out!! 

Take care lovelies
xxx

Sunday 26 August 2012

Number One - I'm Lazy And I Know It!

Number 32 :

Let's begin again shall we?


I need to apologize for completely abandoning you all since the end of May, yes it has been that long and yes I know I'm awful. I have no real reasons other than I have been reading on my kindle lots, had a broken laptop and have been wallowing a little. A lot. But I'm here now so you can stop complaining, heehee.

My oldest son Mathew was ten this week and all he wanted for his birthday was a laptop, so being the fabulously cool mummy I am (in my head at least) I saved up and got him a brilliant blue,amazing spec Asus Laptop. He loves it, as do I, and when he is in bed at night I get to use it. I didn't buy it secretly for me... honest, it's what he wanted... just an added bonus that it's what I wanted too!

I've commandeered it this evening and decided to get back on the proverbial 'horse' as it were, and start again. Not much has changed since I started but I feel a little like I have. My mental-ness has been up and down over the last few months, and I think I even had a mini breakthrough - I decided I could take it upon myself, as I had already missed two day worth of tablets, that I could go without. I lasted five days and had a meltdown. Robs ended up having to convince me that I wasn't crazy (I was a blubbering, winging mess) and I started them again, and am pleased to say I haven't missed any for the last month - go me! It's nice to celebrate the little things - like mental illness! LOL!

In my continued quest to be the coolest mum on the planet, or at least in my house, I planned a super birthday for my oldest. His birthday is in the middle of the summer break so I always make sure I plan his party for as soon as they break up from school as possible. This year to celebrate the milestone of double figures, we took him and six of his best friends out for the day - laser tag, play zone and indoor water park - and then we let them all sleepover and camp out downstairs with the unlimited use of the sky-TV and the Xbox360. Cool hey? But then this week I planned his actual birthday, now normally I would get him plenty of little presents (fun to open) and one larger more expensive gift, but this year the laptop was so costly that it is all he had from us, apart from a Lego sticker book from his brothers, so I needed to make sure the excitement built up for him before he opened it. A treasure hunt ensued with slightly cryptic clues (for a ten year old) and running all over the house to find his prize. I got the desired effect when he unwrapped it saw what it was and just kept saying 'Oh. My. God' over and over, with big smiles and then lots of thank you's. That moment made saving hard all worth it.

The summer break has been going OK - I have struggled a little with no having a break from the monkeys (yes we mums do need a break to remain sane!) but thankfully this weekend I was able to have 24 hours with just my hubby for company. We chilled, we laughed, we ate Chinese - it was perfect. Nothing like greasy food to relax you a little. So I will leave it there but will be back, promise, no really... and I am busily putting ideas together for a future project so will have more to talk to you about soon.

Chow for now!
xxx

Tuesday 29 May 2012

Number 31

Hi y'all,
How are you all doing? The weather has been beautiful hasn't it - so warm and summery! Makes me happy, however having hair like the orange sun and skin so sensitive I may burst into flames one of these days are a bit of a hindrance when it cones to outside fun.

Michael had his appointment this week with his new consultant, and I must say from an information point of view it went better than expected. The doctor was very thorough, did all sorts if excersizes and activities with Michael to check his function and mobility. He confirmed the cerebral palsy, and while it isn't degenerative it is affecting Michaels muscles - meaning as he grows he will deteriorate. He said that Michael is disabled (a word that made me very sad), but he did assure us that they were now on top of it and were going to get him all the help he needs. He now needs to see a pediatric neurologist, an occupational therapist, a physio and his consultant every 4-6 months. We explained to mike about his problems, in the basic sense and he now understands that he is poorly and it won't get better.
Having been told that he is challenged (I can't bear the other word) it really hit home that he won't be able to do some things. I think I had kidded myself that he could. I know most boys have dreams of being sportsmen but with Michael his passion for the games he does is incredible. I really thought he could go all the way and play for a professional sport, ie rugby, but unfortunately he now can't. We haven't told him this, and well continue to help him in whatever he does but my heart broke a little when I realized his dream won't cone true. I hope he is able to refocus it when he is older without too much resentment.
The challenges he faces are many, and many different health problems that come along with it. Do you know what causes cerebral palsy? As with a lot of illnesses and diseases there are different factors and scenarios that create different outcomes. In michaels case his problems were caused whilst he was in my tummy. I had three horribly nasty urine infections whilst I was pregnant and unfortunately they caused Michael to have a stroke. He was able to recover and heal whilst still inside but it left him with a permanent weakness on his left side, bladder problems, pain threshold problems and other things too. Now I know it was one of those things, and not my fault but the guilt that is associated with knowing that my infection caused this is crippling some days.

Well I have spoken about his problems in so many of my blogs lately, and I assure you it's not all C.P centric but with the stuff we have been through lately it was nice to be able to vent a little. Thank you xxx

Now back to your regularly scheduled blog posts...

We went to our first cricket training with Michael on friday, it was brilliant! So relaxed and a lovely atmosphere, needless to say he loved it! We had some lovely feedback from his coach too which made us very proud.

We have a very small select family (which is how we like it) and this Saturday we had a 50th birthday party, children invited too, for my uncle in law. This occasion called for a good cake of course so I asked if I could make it and bring it as our pressie. He is an avid Scarlets rugby fan like my husband and so I made a rugby too cake for him. U replaced the sponsors with his name and age but kept the same colored so it still looked right. Thankfully it went down a treat and everyone loved it. The party was brilliant, wonderful company, no drama, great food and a very happy atmosphere. The boys were on their best behavior and enjoyed the festivities as much if not more than us. They met their little baby cousin for the first time and fell head over heels for him-what a cutie he is. We love a good party!

This weekend also saw the Olympic torch coming through our local big town of Haverfordwest. Along with 20,000 others my family and I went and stood to welcome it, patriotically in red white and blue, waving various items and eating far too many ice creams - very British. It was so lovely to see it, loud music, everyone cheering and clapping, the man carrying it looked so happy and proud it brought a tear to my eye (yes I am soppy). The funniest thing for me was once the torch had past, we made to leave and my little Mo asked shy hadn't the torch gone past... Bless him I think he was expecting a flashlight torch!! We explained but he did seem very confused! :D

Over the coming weeks we have quite a few events coming up, both family and just robs and I, which we are really looking forward to. Birthday parties, bbq's, wedding reception, drinks out, picnics, talent competition and beach days. I can't wait for all of it!

I am blogging to you in the car today, sat outside my husbands work with the music a little louder than perhaps it should be, waiting for my huh and kiss.
He's just arrived so I'll sign off now but rest assured I'll be back soon.

Oh and make sure you wear suncream!
Xxx

Sunday 20 May 2012

Number 30

I feel like I need a drumroll...

30 POSTS! I stuck with it and an proud to see the number 30. I hope you've enjoyed thus far and will continue to follow along with the next 30.

So back to the post content I know your eagerly expecting.
I mentioned in number 29 that I have a to do list going on, and well it's still there! Heehee. A few things have gone on the back burner for the time being but I have started my diet again and have started training. I am loving it! I've even treated myself to a new pair of trainers.

So I completed my first run today, 0.5 mike run, then the same walk, then repeat. I mentioned in front of Michael that I was training and he asked if he could come too, I agreed but was a little nervous about it. I worried that he might fall, or it would hurt him, or he'd be in pain afterwards.
Well we embarked this afternoon and I have to say that he is absolutely amazing. He ran practically the whole way, including running ahead and then back to me, skipping, jumping and didn't even break a sweat! He had done p.e in school earlier in the day too and wasn't too tired to help his mum. When I was running the final half a mile uphill, I was flagging a bit, and he stayed behind me, encouraging me, telling me to keep going and that we
were nearly there and that I was doing really well. Bless him he was absolutely amazing the entire time, then when robs came home he went and did it again with him!

He fills me with so much happiness I feel I may burst, he is an amazing little boy. Oh also in other news I have finally managed to get him an appointment with a doctor in the hope we can get some help with the C.P. Yey!!

I have been knocked back with the college, as they are unsure I'll be able to do it as I have been out of education for so long (I understand but I WANT to do it). They suggested going a different way and volunteering in a school whilst doing an NVQ (which incidentally have been abolished and it's now called something else - GVC or something). So I tried that way and was knocked back by my first choice school :( oh deary. I am not entirely sure what to do now, still mulling it over.

Yesterday to cheer myself up a little, I planned a romantic picnic on the beach with my lovely husband for our date night. It was wonderful! We had lots of lovely food, a peaceful relax on the beach and then a lovely walk along another beach. The weather was perfect and we both came away from it feeling relaxed but re-energized at the same time.

I hope you have all had a bit of me time this week and some cuddly partner time too.
Signing off for now, going to see Elin, her boyfriend and our nephews :) another happy filled evening!
Much love
xxx

Friday 18 May 2012

Number 29

Feeling a little like Tom thumb at the moment. Do you remember the verse?
Well he had his hand in plumb pies and I feel very much like I have my hands in many different pies at the moment, so I'm going to get organized! I have completed the crafty bits I wanted to do so they are no longer in the back of my mind bugging me, but I have so many other projects on the go, that need to be completed!

I've been looking back through previous posts to check what I'm supposed to be doing... I think maybe I write to much! Hehe.

1. Finish children's book illustrations
2. Blog about millionaires shortbread recipe
3. Study GCSE Maths, English and Chemistry
4. Create photo book online
5. Compose a letter to the council with the pictures from our litter picking
6. Bake and decorate a cake for my neices birthday (pressie)
7. Bake and decorate a came for my uncle in laws birthday (pressie)
8. Start writing the recipe/tutorial book

Now with the exception of the studying which is ongoing over the next three and a half months the rest of this needs to be done asap.

I also need to add to these which I haven't mentioned to you yet, so here goes...

9. Start the diet, again!
10. Start my 20 week training
11. Run the Cardiff half marathon
12. Raise sponsorship to go to Scope

Yes my wonderful readers, I have slipped back into old habits and regained 6lbs :( my own fault! So exercise and motivation was needed and so I have signed myself up for the half marathon that takes place in Cardiff on October 14th this year a two days after my 28th birthday. Those of you that know me, and from what you've read for those that don't, I'm sure you'll agree that I'm the last person you would expect to be running, at all, let alone a half marathon! But I have bitten the bullet and signed up.
I must say too - I am so excited!
Here is the site for the run: http://www.cardiffhalfmarathon.co.uk/index.htm

The run itself isn't for charity, but I have e-mailed Scope and asked them if I can do it for them to raise some money to help them continue doing the wonderful work they do! In case you missed the post where I talked about them, they are a charity that offer help and support to sufferers of cerebral palsy - like Michael, and their families.
Visit them here: http://www.scope.org.uk/

So my list is ever growing but I am feeling more positive now. I had such a fabulous response from everyone who read post 28. Not only did it uplift but it pushed me on again after I felt a little at a standstill.

I have been pushing with the doctors to get Michael followed ip with and have had an apology and admittance that they were in the wrong and they let Michael slip through the net! So he will have an appointment soon (yey) so we are hopeful for some physio soon. Thank goodness.

Finally for today ibthought I would share with you my training schedule, it's pretty hard going (for me-a couch potato of sorts) but I can't wait to get started!
Here is the PDF site: http://www.runningthroughlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Half-Marathon-20-Week-Training-Plan-Level-1-Beginner.pdf
Also robs is going to try and do the training and if he enjoys it he's going to sign up too - amazing and makes me so happy!

So I leave you now, and hope that next week I will be able to cross some stuff off my list!

Have a nice weekend lovely readers!
xxx Mrs J xxx

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Number 28

Today I come to you from a sad and unhappy place.

I have talked lots about being a mum, about positivity, and I always try to keep a smile on my face but some days it's just too hard.

Michael my beautiful middle son is poorly, he has cerebral palsy, which I have told you all before. He appears to be deteriorating at the moment though, quicker than I have ever seen. His left side is weak, and his left leg is in constant pain.

He tries so hard everyday to keep moving despite the pain, he plays rugby, runs and swims every week. We know that we have to keep him active so that he doesn't loose the use of his limbs. That thought kills me.

Yesterday he had his swimming lesson as usual but was less keen to join in, he struggled to get out of the pool - he would normally pull himself up on the side but he couldn't do it, he had to use the ladders and that's not like him.

After rugby the last few weeks he is so tired once he's finished, it's as if he gives everything he has to join in, then as soon as the whistle goes he slumps and hobbles off the field.

He wants to start cricket this week, which is wonderful, and I will take him, but I just know that he will be in pain again afterwards which makes my heart hurt.

He is so strong and smiley, he seldom complains and is so helpful to everyone. All his friends in school love him, he's the joker in his class and keeps everyone including his teacher smiling.

You know when parents say that they don't mins what their unborn little ones are like, as long as they are healthy? Well strike that, as long as they are happy it will see you through the tough times, their smiles are worth all the money in the world!

Even though everyday sends a new load of challenges you have to keep going, easier said than done some days, but check out your little ones smile and you'll be able to find the strength I'm sure!

Frustratingly, we have had to change consultants which feels like having fought for three years to get a diagnosis we have gone back to the beginning, and this is not helped by the fact that I can't get in touch with this new doctor and his secretary won't call me back! I am also super nervous as the last appointment we has with the orthopedic pediatric consultant who was very unhelpful - he asked Michael to walk in a straight line, which he did as he can force his leg to walk straight, so instead of seeing his natural walk he saw that, and then said that there is nothing wrong with him! Argh!!

Anyway I will leave you now and go and give my boy a big hug and play zombies with him for a bit :) sure to cheer me up and will definitely keep that gorgeous smile on his face!!

xxx

Friday 11 May 2012

Number 27

Hi again,

Did you enjoy the previous two crafty blogs? I have had a really good response from them so I promise I shall do some more soon. For today I am focussing on baking and i have 'The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie' recipe to share today.

I made these last week and they went down a treat with the boys and my mum. Mathew has asked me if I'll pack a homebaked snack in their packed lunches on a Wednesday! High praise I think you'll agree.

Before I share the recipe, I wanted to tell you of another book idea I have had (don't worry the children's one is still happening)... If you recall I mentioned previously that I ran a cake company - We Love Cake, well seeing as I love helping and inspiring others I thought why not make a book called "We Love Cake - Recipes and Tutorials. Filled with my favorite recipes, my own of course, and tutorials on icing techniques, figurine animals, decorating inspiration for cupcakes and cake pop how to's. What do y'all think? Would you be interested in owning a book like that? Plenty of illustrations and simple to follow step by step instructions. It's just that no matter what I'm doing everything brings me back to cake! Eating it, baking them, teaching techniques. Something I'm thinking about anyway :D

Now... To the kitchens!!

The Best Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:

250g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
200g light brown soft sugar
170g melted and cooked butter
100g golden caster sugar
1 tbls vanilla extract, or 1/2 tbls of vanilla essence
1 egg yolk
200g milk chocolate chips
125g white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 170degrees or 150 degrees for fan assisted ovens. Line a flat baking tray with parchment/grease proof paper.
1. Start off by diving the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl combine the melted butter with the sugars and vanilla essence until the sugar dissolves
3. Mix the egg into the butter/sugar mixture.
4. Add the sugars to the flour mix and whilst combining add the chocolate chips.
5. Separate the mixture in half then half again.
6. Take one of the four sections and roll into a ball, then rip it in half and keeping the ripped section turned upwards place the rounded bit onto the baking tray.
7. Repeat this, leaving enough room for them to spread to the size of cups -remembering to NOT push them down!
8. Bake in two batches for 11 minutes, the edges should start to be golden and the middles still soft to the touch.
9. Eat and enjoy with a glass of cold milk.

What do you think? Not the simplest but the results will speak for themselves!

I had a wonderful weekend at the wedding I mentioned a few weeks back, and thoroughly enjoyed having a night away in a cute cottage! More on that in the next edition.

Signing off for now, cuddle time!
Peace out buddies!
Xxx

Thursday 10 May 2012

Number 26

A day later than promised, and rather short but sweet I'm afraid!

This blog comes to you from my IPhone as alas there has been a death in the family... My laptop. Losing him, sadly, at the young age of 18 months came as a shock to me, I refused to believe it - begging the doctors (tech support lol) to save him, but alas it wasn't possible, so here I sit, finger tapping on my trusty iPhone.

Hehehe in all honesty I am gutted, but hopefully will have another in a few weeks time, once I've saved up a bit.

I promised you a second craft blog so here it is - button letter frames.

A few months back I purchased a bagful of buttons in various shades if cream, green and blue (the same colored as my boys room will be once decorated) with the purpose of making a collage of sorts fir their bedroom door.

Last night I got to gluing and cutting and finally finished this price, and here is how to do it (apologies for lack of photos, but glue, I phone, buttons and me would of ended in something more than likely being stuck to my head!).

You will need:
A block photo frame (so that the buttons have room to stack)
150/250 buttons in assorted sizes and styles
PVA glue

1. Start by printing a very pale grey letter centrally on a piece of paper the same size as the frame.
2. Cover the letter with a thin layer of PVA - don't worry if it goes over the lines, it will dry clear.
3. Start sticking the larger buttons all over the letter.
4. Stick smaller buttons to fill in the gaps.
5. To cover the remaining gaps apply a layer of PVA onto the back of the final buttons and stick on top of the already stuck buttons, doing it evenly to ensure it looks good.
6. Allow to dry and then frame.

It's simple but extremely effective I think. The boys thought it was cool too!!

Right signing off now, but will be back with two recipes next time - double chocolate chip cookies and millionaires shortbread.

Hugs and hopes that your technology ( unlike mine) doesn't fail you!!
xxx

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Number 25

Craft Blog time!

I have had a few different crafty things I've wanted to do for a while now, and so this bank holiday weekend I thought 'hey - no time like the present'.

So this is the first in a series of blogs about crafting - Today's topic - Trouser Monsters

I am fed up of having to buy new trousers every time my children make a hole in the knee, so I have devised this quick fix, which not only fixes the hole but according to Mo is "so cool".

A few tips to start with - 
These don't need to be perfectly sewn, monsters are scary, scruffy things so don't panic over the details too much.
To make a knot at the end of your thread, wrap it around the tip of your finger 3 times, then roll it off, push it down and it will be in a knot.

Use a different colour thread to the colour of the eyes, black, blue, green or brown work really well.

You will need:
Trousers with a hole
Red fabric
White fabric
Thread for hand sewing
Needle
Pins
Sewing machine (you can hand sew on all steps however if a machine isn't available)
Contrasting bobbin thread to the trouser colour for the machine
1 large button
1 small button

1. Take your old pair of trousers and trim the hole so it is an oval shape with no frayed bits of fabric.
2. Cut out a piece of red/black/green fabric that will cover the hole - you want to have about 1.5cm overlap so you have enough room to sew it.
3. Cut a white piece of fabric to look like spiky teeth, and pin it to the top of the red/black/green fabric.


4. Hand sew (if you know how - I don't) or use a sewing machine and sew across the top of the  red/black/green and white fabric so that it will stay in place when you sew it into the trousers.
5. Turn the trousers inside out and place your red/black/green and white fabric mouth and teeth to cover the hole, then pin all the way around, make sure the teeth are shorter than the gap as you want them to stick out a bit and not be sewn.
6. Hand sew (yes even though I can't) around the edges with just a simple in and out motion, so that it will be easier to keep in place while sewing on the machine, I found the pins got in the way at this point - hence the hand sew!


7. Thread the trouser leg onto your machine and sew around so the fabric is fixed together and the hole will be mended. Don't worry that you can see the stitching on the other side, this will give your trouser monster more of a shape, you could even use the zigzag stitch to create a spiky monster.
8. Turn the trousers back the right way and attach one large and one small button just above the mouth.
9. Pick out all the thread you hand sewed with to keep the fabric in place before the final sew - you should be able to just pull it and it will come out.
10. Ta Dah! Show your little monsters the trouser monster that has invaded their trousers to rapturous applause! heehee.



So there you have it, a quick fix and a cool way to renew the life of your little monsters trousers - this could also be done on coats, t-shirts or anything else that gets a hole in.

I will be back tomorrow with another craft filled blog, but for now I am at home looking after my oldest and youngest, and myself as we all have tummy bugs - yuck!

Hope you all enjoyed this - let me know what you think!!
xxx

Saturday 5 May 2012

Number 24

It's all change here at Me Plus Six headquarters!

We have been planning our future a bit over the last couple of weeks and came to the conclusion that I need a career when the boys are all in secondary school so we can continue to have a wonderful life once they are all grown up.

As I have mentioned before we are on a strict budget - the like of which means all our bills are paid, our debt reduces each month and we get to spend money on the boys and doing up the house. It also gives us a deficit that we are saving for our holidays every year.

So career wise I have never really had one. I decided to take a year out after my G.C.S.E's (I had had a very difficult final year, being bullied and mistreated) before I did my A-levels, and then when I was almost 18 I gave birth to my gorgeous first son Mathew - so that kind of stopped everything. I had always wanted to be a mum. It was the only real job I wanted to do with my life - but alas that doesn't pay the bills so I have tied my hand at a few things over the years.

When I found out I was pregnant (it was a bit of a shock), I took it upon myself to go to a training organisation to gain some qualifications (I had a bit of a panic when I thought I was going to have a son and no A-levels) in Information Technology - or computers to you and me. I did it and gained four, which I was very pleased with, but then I was poorly towards the end of my pregnancy so had to stop at that. I got my wish however, as I then became a mum to the most beautiful, content little boy, a little earlier than planned but still very much wanted and loved. I stayed at home with him, and then with his little brother Michael until he was about eight months old. We needed a little extra income at this point and so I started working in our local Spar stores part time for about five months.

After Morgan was born and about seven months old, again we needed a bit more income so I happened to stumble across a job with Pembrokeshire County Council where the only qualification I needed was to be able to speak Welsh. Done. I stayed with them for two years - most of which I enjoyed - I was a Road Safety Officer teaching children how to cross correctly and how to ride their bikes carefully on the roads. My father died just before I left and when they heard I had cancelled a school i had for that week they were furious, so I told them to stuff it.

I wanted to pursue a career so decided I needed to get into college and get qualified, and I had always been interested in cooking and food so why not give that a go. I was accepted and thrived. I even found myself a trainee chef job in the Giltar Hotel Tenby with a wonderful head chef named Chris, who was coming to the end of his career and eager to pass on all he had learned. I absolutely loved this job, but unfortunately the hours were killing me - being away from my boys for 14 hours every day, and missing their concerts, plays, sports days was making me terribly depressed. I stayed with them for a year and then both myself and the head chef left at the same time, I couldn't bare the thought of being there without him, so it gave me the out I needed - the college course was a bust too as our practical tutor was rubbish - I ended up teaching her how to do things! Ridiculous, so I left that too.



So after being home for a few months I had had the opportunity to make cakes for friends and families birthdays, and the compliments and the way it made me feel was superb, so I bit the bullet and decided to start my own business - We Love Cake. I set up a Facebook page and blog, I eventually had a website too and the business grew and grew. I started with making 1 - 2 cakes every week and when I closed at was at the top making 8-9 big cakes, 100 cupcakes and 20-30 cake pops every week. I loved every second of the year I had doing this job, I even enjoyed being up until 3am making sure a cake was perfect, and then getting up at 6am just to check again. Unfortunately a lot of horrible things befell our family during this time, and so I took the very hard decision to close after my health deteriorated.




So this leads me to where I am now. I have been doing nothing but getting better and enjoying being a wife and mum for the last ten months, with the odd cake thrown in for family for good measure. We have panned the next two years finances completely - every single day is accounted for with the lowest possible income and highest possible expenditure to ensure we can afford everything. Every year we will have roughly the same deficit - although it will increase after this year once all the debts have been paid off. Rob and I then got to talking about the future and worked out some of the things that will change when the boys get older - for example they will all start to drive - costly, they may decide to go to university - extremely costly, they may have children - super costly, ad as we want to be able to provide everything for our boys so they don't have to struggle as much as we have we needed a plan.

When the boys leave secondary school we will stop receiving child benefit and child tax credit. These aren't huge amounts but money in is money in. We should have less outgoings - as the weekly shop will decrease (hopefully heehee), the electricity/water should decrease and our fuel bills for running them all over the place should decrease by quite a bit. We still want to be able to travel though, and enjoy our later years (at the ripe old ages of 41/42), and be able to support the boys and their families if needed.

So this brought us along to talking about pensions, retirement and my career, or current lack of.

As I mentioned earlier I have only really wanted to be a mum, so what is next when I'm not needed any more (or not as much)? What can I do to help make sure we have enough money to cover everything and still be able to save and go on holidays, or treat the kids/grand-kids?

Long story long, I have decided after many discussions with Rob as to what would be a good career and path forward to become a teacher - primary school, junior age group. What brought me to this? Well I love children, I thoroughly enjoyed teaching them when I worked with the council and I think I have done an OK job with mine. Also the hours are good, the holidays are great and the salaries aren't bad either, even at the lowest end. There will always be children so there will always be a need for teachers, a definite plus point. I love passing on my knowledge to people, and enjoy making people happy, both good points for a teacher. If we decide to move away or to a different county, well everywhere needs teachers.

For this to become reality - is to get qualified, but I still want to be a stay at home mum while the boys are still young. My first stop was the Careers Advice Service from the government, to see what qualifications I need, what training courses there are and what the different paths are to get into teaching. This service not only told me everything I needed to know and how to achieve it, but it also tested academically to see in what areas I would need to improve.

The next step is to get A-levels, which will then help me to get onto the university course I need. I searched and found that the best ones for me to do were core subjects so I applied to do English Language and Literature, Mathematics and Chemistry, I was a little disappointed to see that there are no local colleges that offer a Welsh A-level, but never mind. I am currently waiting for my interview and then to fin out if I have been accepted - I am super nervous but also looking forward.

So that's where I am at the moment - in limbo but with a plan! I have been out and purchased the G.C.S.E course books for the subjects I have applied to take so I can brush up over the summer and be, hopefully, as if I have gone from year five to sixth form. Well that's the plan anyway.

I hope you have all had a good couple of days, mine have been ok - bit down in the dumps but feeling better today after my lovely friend Melanie said something really poignant - I said I felt as if I was at the bottom of a mountain staring up, and she said "but just imagine the view when you reach the top!" How brilliant is that eh?! So happy again today - I managed to do all the cleaning and bake some yummy treats, play with the kids and mow the lawn while Robs worked this Saturday helping out our best friend. Brilliant isn't it. Funny how words can really change your mood!

Right I better sign off - It's getting late and it's movie time!



OO one more quick thing - I forgot to tell you the other day about a shop I came across in Cardiff shopping centre - Americandy, ever heard of it? It is basically an American sweet shop. They stock all the brands you see on your favourite US sitcoms, they had every possible flavour of pop tart, all the soda's and water brands and they even had Lucky charms, Fruit Loops and Flintstone's Boulders cereals. I loved everything and more importantly wanted to buy everything!

Hugs and smiles.
xxx