Things I Love - April Edition

It is the end of yet another month in 2013 and I am reflecting on some of the things that I have discovered, used or done, which have made me smile over the last few weeks in my monthly round up of things I love!

De-Cluttering

Now that spring has almost arrived, I am thinking about projects that I would like to do to my home.  We decided that this is the year that we are going to reclaim space in our house that has previously been given over to the accumulated clutter generated by having had five children.  So last week I  blitzed my wardrobe, clearing out six sackfuls of clothing.  I was pretty ruthless deciding that if I hadn't worn it recently or if it was looking a bit tired, it had to go.  It felt quite therapeutic sorting out my wardrobe space.  I had had so many landslides in recent weeks as my irregularly arranged piles of t-shirts, vests, jumpers and nightwear slid over one another as they vied for freedom from their fabric prison.  Making rows of neatly folded articles of clothing and removing the dozens of empty coat hangers from my hanging rail has given my wardrobe a new lease of life.  I found long forgotten clothes so it felt like I'd been on a shopping spree!  Now I just have to apply this principle to the rest of my house!

Springtime 

I love that we are finally beginning to believe that the UK has another season other than winter and there are a host of seasonally themed products appearing in the shops to remind us of this fact.  For instance, you can make your washing-up chores fit in with the season by using new Spring Blossom Persil Washing Up Liquid.  Featuring hints of freesias, white rose, vanilla and dry fruits, the pretty pink washing-up liquid has the perfect aroma to welcome spring into your home.  With its burst of fragrance it makes the kitchen smell fresh, and the sparkling results make cleaning up less of a chore.  It is especially pleasing if your husband is the one who does the washing up!  It retails at £1.00 for a 500ml bottle making it great value too.

I was sent one to try!

Window Blinds

I have always been a curtain-person.  I have only ever had blackout blinds for the kids' rooms and have never previously thought of them as being anything beyond functional.  However, curtains are quite frankly a bit of a pain.  They are a nightmare to hang, the hems fray, the fabric billows in the breeze knocking things over and they are such an all or nothing method of light control.  Recently I have begun to covet the array of blinds that adorn the windows of my neighbours' houses.  They look so stylish and modern with their clean lines that I am thinking that this is the way I should go when I revamp my bedroom.  I love the way that they allow in as much light as you want and they give you privacy.  (I'm forever flashing the neighbours when the curtains are open and the bedroom light is on.)  I really love these Dark Chocolate Vertical Blinds from Web-Blinds which  can be bought online made to measure.  I always enjoy adorning my home with things that are named after food.  I have Pecan paint in my living room, Toffee Fudge in my kitchen and Mint in my hall. It sounds utterly delicious but is totally calorie free.

Dark Chocolate Vertical Blind  #sp

Birthdays

In our family April is a month of celebrations as both Ella and I have birthdays two days apart.  This year we had a weekend of chaos and fun when everyone descended to help us celebrate.  Then to continue the birthday fun we have had cakes, meals out and made favourite dinners at home.

Ian took me on a date to see The Evil Dead at the cinema!  He is such a true romantic!!  Even Google got in on the act giving me a personalised home page on my special day.  This really made me smile :)

TV Finales

Two of our absolutely favourite TV series are coming to an end and we are both excited to see how things pan out and feeling bereft that we will be losing them over the summer.  Dexter and The Following have both had us totally riveted for the last few weeks. Ian, Ella and I have our weekly dates where we join together on the sofa for our fix of our favourite serial killer and our favourite FBI agent who battle it out in their own respective shows.  How will they end??  I can't wait to find out.  I hope some new shows come along to fill the gap.  I have high hopes for Hannibal which starts on Sky Living soon!

Five People You Meet in Heaven

Ella bought me this book for my birthday.  It is by Mitch Albom.  The story follows Eddie, a fairground maintenance guy who dies while trying to save a little girl from being crushed by a ride that has malfunctioned.  He is sent to heaven where he meets five people who significantly impacted his life.  I read it in one day because I didn't want to put it down.  It is a beautiful and powerful book that made me think about how everything that we do impacts on others and reminds us what is important here on Earth.  I highly recommend it for comforting the soul and bringing a little faith and light into your life.

One Direction, The Oscars and Monday Mornings.

I hate the first day back to school after the holidays.  Freddy is not an early riser and during the holidays he loves to lie in until he naturally awakens to the sounds of his sisters and wakes up happy and full of beans.  This morning he was unceremoniously yanked from his slumber and wore the saddest frown that broke my heart.  He has been poorly too with a lingering cough that has refused to shift.  Dropping him off at nursery gave me a heavy heart as his sad little face watched me leave and implored me to take him with me.  It took every fibre of my being not to scoop him up and bring him home for another day of doing nothing together, just enjoying each others' company.  But with the prospect of school beckoning in just 7 short months, I have to get him back into the swing of things.  Monday mornings are never easy.

To make me feel better about leaving my baby boy, I settled down to watch The Oscars that I had recorded on my Sky planner the night before.  It is my annual thing.  Recording it to watch while the kids are at school, noting down the bits I think the kids will enjoy so they can watch my specially chosen highlights later.  My eldest sister used to love the Oscars, staying up all night to watch them live.  I am not that hardcore but this is my yearly homage to my big sister's passion. However, just to compound my shitty morning, I discovered that I had actually recorded one of the pre-Oscar shows, failing completely to record the main event.  Searching through the listings in hope that the ceremony was repeated in full proved utterly fruitless.  There is a highlight show at 10pm tonight.  It just isn't the same and I feel genuinely sad about it.  By then I will know most of the results and the spark of excitement will be much fainter.  The Oscars always makes me feel close to my sister as I remember her famous Oscar parties and her zest for life.  I feel like I've lost my annual Oscar related opportunity to emulate the one person in the world that I miss everyday.  Sorry Carol.

As ever, when things don't go to plan I resort to carbs.  Half a Bakewell Tart, half a loaf of bread and half a dozen profiteroles later, I am wondering will I ever learn that a cake binge is never the answer?

On a much more positive note, I have had so much fun this week with my girls.  Kizzy's love of One Direction has taken itself to a whole new level after seeing them perform on The Brits.  We made the journey to Sainsbury's to buy the CD and stocked up on other Comic Relief merchandise which was fun.  I have heard the new 1D single at least 300 times in the past few days and mostly jump up to rock out with Kizzy to the One Way or Another/Teenage Kicks mash up.  How thoughtful of them to cover two old school songs so us mums can impress our kids by knowing all the words!

We've also watched some great films making the most out of our TV which was such a great investment.  We loved Looper.  It was a great watch and had a very cute kid and Bruce Willis in it.  What is not to love?  Taken 2 was pretty good for a silly action film, but Liam Neeson is just so cool.  Madagascar 3 in 3D was an unexpected triumph of feel good, eye-popping cartooniness.  While Paranorman was such a brave movie venturing into a brilliantly dark storyline, which left me moved and in tears. The long awaited return of Dexter to Fox last night was brilliant and lived up to my hopes for one of my favourite TV shows ever.  So it's not all bad.

Ian has what we hope is his final consultation with the surgeon that we hope will be doing his operation on Wednesday.  It has been such a long drawn out and complicated process.  The private health insurance route has been so difficult, but the NHS won't do the operation that he needs to be 'cured' of his problem.  They will only do another quick fix that will inevitably fail after another 12 months.  I just want this over with so we can get on with our lives.

I'm off now to go and pick up my son and I hope he will be happy to see me so I can bring him home for an afternoon of snuggles and Cbeebies.  I'm sure tomorrow will be better!

Reasons to be Cheerful

It has been a lovely week...one of those weeks where I can't stop smiling to myself.  Even though Ian's job is on the line and the weather is appalling and the follow/no-follow link situation has seen my head nearly implode, there has been enough good in the world to make me very happy!

Birthdays

It has been both mine and Ella's birthdays this week. Megan came home for the weekend to join in the celebrations and we had a wonderful time with lots of laughs and love.  Ella's wonderful friends really spoiled her with some very thoughtful gifts and enjoyed an afternoon at our house for a lunchtime party.  In a world where people are suspicious of the motives of young people and where teens are regarded in a negative light, it is lovely to see that Ella has picked her friends so wisely.  Both the boys and girls are polite, well mannered, friendly and engaging.  My daughter is well loved, respected and  cared for by her posse of pals and I am very happy about that!

Ian spoiled me on my birthday.  He took the day off to be with me, which was wonderful.  As if that wasn't enough he also surprised me with my brand new toy...a gorgeous laptop!  Thanks to the kids for helping with the surprise!

My eldest son is visiting this weekend which will be wonderful.  He makes me so very proud, I can't wait to see him and his girlfriend.

I know I say it a lot, but I really do feel incredibly blessed in my role as a wife and mother.  I wouldn't swap what I have for anything in the world.

Blogcamp 2012

I attended Blogcamp last Saturday and as well as learning a lot of stuff....albeit a lot that has caused me lots of headaches...I met up with a lot of fellow bloggers and enjoyed catching up and chatting with everyone.  I am really grateful to Sally for all she does for us.  I think the blogging world is on the cusp of great change, and I am doing my best to embrace this and hoping it leads to great things for our vibrant and diverse community.

Fab TV

I know it's shallow, but anyway....with Dexter, Desperate Housewives, Homeland and Touch on the tellybox, I am enjoying some topnotch TV programmes.  Add to that the fluff that is The Voice, The Apprentice, TOWIE and One Tree Hill and I am loving my television right now.  Ella and Meg are also telly addicts so we share the joy of sitting together on the sofa, watching TV and trying to second guess the plotlines! 

Listography...Things I Want to be When I Grow Up

Kate has handed the Listography hosting over to Manana Mama this week who has come up with the theme of "Things I Want To Be When I Grow Up".  Growing up seems to be something I am entirely incapable of.  My own grown up children are possibly now more mature than their own mother!  But in case one day I decide it is time for me to enter the grown-up world (albeit kicking and screaming) here are five ideas for roles to faciliate my integration into society!

1:  Blood Splatter Analyst/Serial Killer of Evil People...yes, I want to be Dexter.  I know this is controverial, and the Human Rights Activists might bombard me with comments that even 'evil, murdering, villainous, bad people who have slipped through the nets of justice' have rights too, I'd still stick to my desire to fix some of what is wrong in the world with Dexter's sense of style and charm.  (Although, I'd have to hire a stand in for the actual dirty work...I'm hugely squeamish...and a bit of a pacifist...but the sentiment is there!)

2:  Angelina Jolie...I so want this gig!  Married to Brad Pitt, super gorgeous, more than a bit weird and uber famous.  She gets the joys of a houseful of kiddies but has a team of nannies, housekeepers, cooks, cleaners, PA's, manicurists, dieticians, personal trainers and therapists to insure that everything runs smoothly without as much as a broken nail to ruin her day.  Bliss. I'd love to walk the red carpet in a slinky frock with Brad on my arm.

3:  Taste Tester for Hotel Chocolat...need I provide an explanation for this one?  All the chocolate I could eat and I could tell them that putting whole alocohol soaked cherries inside chocolate is just grotesque.

4:  A Cup Cake Baker...I love baking.  It is so therapeutic to lovingly create tasty morsels for the family.  But I don't do it often enough.  This is mostly because:
a) I end up eating my own body weight in calorie laden cakes.
b) The ensuing mess is catastrophic.
c) After the vultures descend and turn my hand crafted delights into a mountain of crumbs, I feel a sense of anti-climax that the experience is all over.  All my hard work gone in a sugar-frenzied flash.
So to be a professional cup-cake baker to the stars with a team of washer-uppers, measurers and weighers would be fantastic.  All the creative joy with no responsibility  for cleaning up afterwards.

5: An Orang-Utan Trainer ...I watched a TV programme once about a woman who rescued orphaned Orang-Utans in Borneo and looked after them in her house.  They slept in a cot and were transported around in a wheelbarrow.  The barrow full of ginger monkeys was the most gorgeous thing.  They ended up learning how to swim...I can't recall why??  I just want to have myself a barrow full for myself.   They are the most awesome of all primates and I'd love to call them all Clyde.  I'm not sure what I'd train them to do though... because really they should be allowed to just be monkeys doing what monkeys do.  But failing that I'd get them to learn musical instruments and sing Daydream Believer.

Link up at Manana Mama and share your list!

Winning Photos Gallery!!!

As I am feeling terribly saddened by my inability to upload my pics from my memory card to my laptop, I thought I'd share some of my family's recent successful photography! 

This was actually my husband's photo that he took the day after we bought Fred's first pair of Clark's shoes.  He had waited so long to sit 'Father and Son' shoes together on the door mat.  This won a £50 Clark's voucher!

I dresssed my 77 year old mum up as Ozzy Osbourne for a Chicago Town popstar lookalike photo competition.  She was such a sport and totally up for the challenge! She won an i-pod!







My lovely husband had far too much fun doing this photo for the Sky TV Dexter Mug Shot competition.  His blood spattered bio-hazard suit won him series 1-3 of Dexter.

You wouldn't believe that he was a real softie by looking at this picture...he looks really mean and scary!  Glad I know better!!







I'm not the world's best photographer by any stretch of the imagination.  But I do enjoy taking photos and I hope I soon learn what all the buttons and settings mean! My Lumix G2 is really complicated and I know I'm only using it to a fraction of its potential...but I'll persevere and hopefully will have more mad family pics to share soon!!