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 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

Number 12

Just a quickie today folks...

My youngest son Morgan had his long awaited fifth birthday on Saturday, he had been counting down for weeks, and I am thrilled to say he enjoyed every second. 

We had a lovely, all be it brief, morning with their daddy - who had to leave to go to  Ffos Las in Llanelli - and opened his mountainous pile of presents, then off to Grandma's for more unwrapping fun. 

It was then party time and crikey did they enjoy. Eight children from his school tuned up and enjoyed the delights of the soft play area (I must say I was a little jealous that I wasn't small enough to go in myself), pass the parcel and face painting too. 

My close friend Karol Gos was also there in his capacity a photographer to capture all the magic for Rob - I get the photo's back on Wednesday, and I can't wait! We then all went to the dinning area for a lovely hot buffet lunch, jelly and ice-cream and cake, of course. 

The party bags, gifts, and Heatherton mascot Freddy the Fox came out for cuddles. All in all I must say it was perfect - nothing could of been any better.

Morgan on the way home from his party - all tuck-erred out!

We ended the day in McDonald's - Morgan's choice, then home for cuddles, more cake and bedtime. 

I hope you have my photos - oh and in other news I lost 2lbs this week, so 17 in all :) I have also gone down a dress size to an 18 - go me and to top off a wonderful week Wales won the RBS Six Nations rugby tournament!

Back soon!

xxx