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

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

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

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

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! 

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

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