Breakfast in Bed for Mum this Mother's Day

If you are planning on treating your mum to a well deserved breakfast in bed this Mother's Day, then Roberts Bakery has some advice on making the perfect boiled egg, served with soft and fluffy toasted soldiers. A soft boiled egg with a dippy yolk and perfectly cut toasted soldiers with butter is such a classic breakfast choice.  

Roberts Bakery sent us a loaf of their Soft and Fluffy white bread along with some breakfast goodies so we could have a trial run for making our own breakfast in bed.  Freshly made toast in a rack, a deliciously soft boiled free range egg and a cup of tea (black no sugar for me!) would make a great start to the day.  It definitely makes a change to my usual breakfast choice, which is a green kale and spinach smoothie!

You can make a breakfast tray more inviting by popping on a vase containing a single bloom and don't forget to bring mum her Mother's Day cards and gifts so she can open them in bed.  Sunday promises to bring a relaxing lie-in for many lucky mums this weekend - I just hope I'm going to be one of them!

What better way of showing your mum how much you care this Sunday!

The Gorgeous Girly Card Set Review

With Mother's Day coming up, it was the perfect time for Kezia and her friend Georgia to put The Gorgeous Girly Card Set from Interplay to the test. All mums love to receive a handmade card made for them by their kids on Mother's Day, and this kit provides everything needed to make nine gorgeous cards using feathers, sequins, glitter and ribbons, that would fit the bill perfectly.

The contents of the kit includes coloured folded cards, envelopes, decorative sheets, 300 sequins, feathers, ribbons, motif sheets, glitter, sticky pads, glue and the instruction manual with step by step instructions for nine projects.

Kezia and Georgia decided that they both wanted to make the Sequined Heart Card.  Although there was only one pre-cut heart motif, they were able to use it as a template to make a second heart using the coloured card.  Once the motifs are all used up, the pre-cut shape sheets double up as stencils so you can carry on creating hand made greetings cards for every occasion.

The step by step instruction booklet is fully illustrated and very detailed so they knew exactly what to do to create their cards.  The first two projects in the booklet give the techniques and practice needed to make the rest of the more advanced designs

The glue that came with the set was quite runny and not as strong as they liked and so they substituted it for Pritt Stick and PVA glue.  The PVA worked best at holding on the sequins, while the glue stick was good for sticking card together.

Using sequins is very fiddly at the best of times, but with gluey fingers it is even fiddlier.  Using a pair of tweezers turned out to be a shrewd move when it came to positioning the coloured layers of sequins onto the heart. The girls quickly perfected their technique.

Once the sequined heart was completed, it was mounted onto the card with a feather behind it and a bow underneath it to complete the design.  The double sided sticky pads worked really well for this job, giving a 3D effect to the finished card.

The girls put their own individual spin on the cards that they made, using their own preferred colour schemes. There are plenty of sequins included, but you could always add to the contents and use other bits and bobs to achieve your desired effect.

The girls did a great job and had fun being creative with the card kit.  Georgia's mum and Kezia's nan are in for a treat on Mother's Day with their bespoke Sequined Heart cards.

The Gorgeous Girly Card Kit is a myStyle craft kit from Interplay and is suitable for children aged 8 - 12 years old.  It makes 9 designs of greeting card complete with envelopes and costs £12.99.

It's a great kit for older girls who have the patience and the steady hand to work independently, giving good end results that loved ones will be happy to receive for any occasion.

Find this and other myStyle craft sets at www.interplayuk.com/mystyle.

Win £50 to spend on toxicfox.com's Mother's Day collection

This Mother's Day, toxicfox.co.uk have a great competition running.  It runs from February 18th to March 1st and there are 4 chances to win  a £50 voucher to spend on their Mother’s Day collection – one per social network (Google+, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest).

To enter all you need to do is go to the http://www.toxicfox.co.uk/gifts-occasion/mothers-day-gifts browse around the fabulous Mother’s Day Gifts and Ideas, pick your favourite present and share it on your social channel of choice. To ensure toxicfox.co.uk can see your entry please use the hashtag: #toxicfox

My favourite Mother's Day Gift from toxicfox.co.uk is the Queen of the Kitchen chopping board, perfect for cooking up a storm in the kitchen.  It's made of quality bamboo and is engraved for a personal touch.  It's £29.99 and measures 45 x 23 cm.

For full terms and conditions please visit http://www.toxicfox.co.uk/terms-and-conditions

Even if you are not a lucky, you can get a discount by using this 10% voucher code to use on the Mother's Day collection: TFMother

Voucher code t & cs: Can’t be used in conjunction with any other offer. Valid until the 15th of March so plenty of time to pick up that perfect mother's day gift.

My Mother's Day

A hand print butterfly card from my precious little schoolboy :)  he had hidden in in the kitchen cupboard since Friday so he could surprise me.

 A card from my three youngest comparing me to Disney characters, which made me cry.  I feel humbled to know that they think of me in these ways.

In the same theme, Freddy drew me this picture saying "Mum is Rapunzel.  She is pretty."  More tears!

Freddy also presented me with the most beautiful bunch of flowers...and a Dairylea Dunker as breakfast in bed!  The latter brought back memories of my eldest son bringing me a chocolate Pop Tart spread with Marmite as a breakfast in bed treat when he was about the same age!

Megan made me a video that was just so lovely that I cried some more!  She is doing so tremendously well pursuing her dream career and grasping every opportunity that comes her way.  She is an inspiration. She does us so proud!

A Facebook message from my eldest Joe let me know that he was thinking of me, as he spent a day with his own little family :)

I had a lovely chat on the phone to my own fabulous Mum.  I love her to bits!  She loved all her presents and the Moonpig card I sent her, which featured old family photos of us together alongside photos of her with my kids.

Ella playing her guitar and singing for me whilst I baked some cakes was a wonderful way to spend my afternoon.  We followed it up by catching up on the new series of How I Met Your Mother snuggled under a duvet.  Simple things make me happy.

I adore my brood and feel so blessed.

I love being their mum more than anything else in the world.

They make me so proud everyday.

****

I was also sent a little pamper hamper from Virtual Bathrooms so I could enjoy a lovely scented candelit bubble bath.  Thanks to them too :)

Poundland Mother's Day Treats

Whether you are looking for some great value gifts for Mother's Day or if the kids are looking at buying something for mum with their pocket money, make sure you check out Poundland.  This year they have a great range of gifts all priced at their super value £1 price tag.  We were sent some to take a look at, ahead of the big day, which this year falls on March 30th.

Everything you need from gift wrap, gift bags and presents are available to buy in store for £1 each.  I particularly liked the 'World's Best Mum' wine glass, which would go brilliantly well with a bottle of mum's favourite wine. If your mum prefers a nice cup of tea to wine, then there is a boxed floral gift mug that could be given along with some homemade cards stating 'I promise to make the bearer of this token a cup of tea!'. There is a really cute glass photo frame which would look lovely if you popped in a photo of yourself with your mum. The porcelain tea light holder has holes in it to shine out the word 'mum' in candlelight.  Perfect for a scented tealight.

I love how the Poundland gift ranges make it so easy to buy gifts for Mother's Day. Paying just £1 for a gift means no one has to overspend or blow their budget in order to treat their mum. I like to add a couple of Poundland gifts to go alongside the other things I buy, so my mum gets lets of goodies to open on the day. The quality of the gifts is all very good and the large gift bag is very sturdy and just right for popping in your pressies for mum.  Other gifts available include oven gloves, tea towels, notebooks, teddies and charm keyrings.  There is also a special Mother's Day cupcake set which includes cases and picks, so you could treat your mum to some home made cupcakes especially for her!

Mother's Day Gifts from Aldi

From March 16th, Aldi will have some great Specialbuys in store for anyone looking to treat their mum this Mother's Day, without spending too much money!

If your mum enjoys shopping, Aldi have a crafted leather purse for £4.99 and a patchwork handbag for £6.99.  Perfect gifts for mums looking for some retail therapy!  You could even treat mum to a shopping trip with a nice spot of lunch in a coffee shop to go with this gift.

For mums that love make-up, there is a smart 3 piece cosmetic bag set for just £4.99.  The three zip up bags will help keep the contents organised and the two smaller bags fit comfortably into the larger bag with handles.  Great for travelling or for using at home. You could pop in some of mum's favourite cosmetics to make the gift extra special.

Why not treat mum to a lazy day, snuggling up on the sofa watching a good rom-com?  Aldi have some super cute ballerina slippers for just £2.99 and some pretty cotton pyjamas at £7.99, which make the perfect outfit for doing just that!  The pj's are lovely with a t-shirt style top and drawstring trousers, and are super comfy  for lounging.

Whatever you do this year for your mum, and whatever the kids do for you this year, be sure to have fun and make some special memories together.  That's what Mother's Day is really all about!

Mother's Day Crafting with Baker Ross

Whatever the occasion, Baker Ross has a great range of craft products, which will inspire the kids into making some brilliant creations.  With Mother's Day fast approaching, we received some lovely items from Baker Ross, perfect for making homemade gifts for mums, aunties or grandmas on their special day.  

There were wooden trinket boxes, wooden jewellery trees and flower pots ready to be decorated using the range of stick on gems, rose stickers, bows and pearls. We also received pre-printed cards that were ready to decorate with felt tips and other embellishments plus the items needed to try our hand at Decopatch.  Such lovely ideas for treating mum on Mother's Day!

The children enjoyed the craft activities, working together to create some really lovely, quality craft items that would make really acceptable gifts.  The complexity of the activities can be suited to the age and ability of the child.  At 4, Freddy was able to stick stickers and colour in with felt tips independently and he was very proud to show off his finished pieces!

11 year old Kizzy was able to do more intricate designs, adding embellishments and personalising items to her own taste.  17 year old Ella tackled the slightly more fiddly and much more messy Decopatch and did a great job making a floral jewellery tree.

I love the wooden keepsake trinket boxes.  They have a hinged magnetic lid and are made really well out of quality wood.  They can be painted, varnished or decorated with stickers to create a personalised design.  At just £4.98 for six boxes, this is great value.  Kizzy chose to decorate hers using acrylic flower jewels (£3.99 for 180), satin bows (£2.99 for 72) and pearls (£2.99 for 120).  Freddy used the felt rose stickers (£2.99 for 90).  Decorating keepsake boxes is a great idea for an activity at a children's birthday party and would give guests a lovely gift to take home with them.

The wooden jewellery trees are just £2.75 for a pack of two.  They are free standing and have branches so you can hang your jewellery on them to keep it safe and tangle free. They are ideal for decorating using Decopatch, choosing from the varied designs of paper available from Baker Ross and sticking pieces on the tree using special glue with a stiff brush.   The Decopatch paper is £3.49 for 3 sheets and the varnish glue is £5.99 for a 150ml pot.  The finished effect gives a colourful, shiny and water resistant finish.

                               

Kizzy liked the au naturel wooden look of her jewellery tree and simply added self-adhesive pearls to decorate it.  Maybe she was being a bit lazy, but the end result looks lovely covered in her necklaces and rings!

The Design Your Own Flowerpot Kit consists of 4 pots, each with a paper insert which can be decorated to make a pretty end result.  Planting the pot up with a houseplant would make a very nice gift for Gran. The Flowerpots are £4.96 for 4. 

The pre-printed Mother's Day cards are such an excellent idea.  They can be decorated with paints, felt tips or crayons and lend themselves brilliantly to the addition of googly eyes and hair accessories.  At £1.99 for 8 they are an excellent price.  there are also some pop-out heart cards at £2.56 for 8.  Both sets include envelopes so the handmade cards will be ready to send to a loved one.

As ever, I have been really impressed by the quality, range and value of the Baker Ross products.  The children all loved creating some lovely craft pieces and did a great job learning new skills and using their creativity.  

You can find all the products mentioned above and hundreds more at the Baker Ross website, where you can order online and see some inspiring ideas for art projects. Check out the Baker Ross blog for arty inspiration!

Follow Baker Ross on Twitter @bakerrossltd for special offers, craft tips and giveaways!

The secret of the perfect Mother’s Day - a guest post

January is in its final days which means that edging ever closer to the promise of springtime.  This starts me thinking about special days that are coming up such as Mother's Day.  So now is the time to start concocting plans, especially if you are planning something big this year.  In the following guest post, one mum describes her perfect Mother's Day! It might give you some ideas about how to create the perfect Mother's Day for your own mum!

"Mother’s Day – that one glorious day of the year where mums don’t need to lift a finger. That blissful 24 hours of being waited on hand and foot by your devoted family, lying on the sofa watching rom coms, eating chocolates and then tucking into a delicious meal that has been lovingly prepared by your even lovelier children.

But hang on a second.

This is Mother’s Day we’re talking about and you can’t press the pause button on being a mum, not even for one day.

To be fair to my husband Jed, he does his best to let me relax on my special day but there’s always something that gets in the way. Like two years ago when he and the kids started off the cooking but I ended up taking over when they got stuck. So I ended up in the kitchen all afternoon, slaving away, making the roast that they were supposed to be making for me, which was neither relaxing nor quality time spent with my family.

When we went to bed that night I could tell Jed knew it hadn't been the lovely day I’d envisioned – which I suspect is why he made an extra special effort for Mother’s Day 2013. Here’s what happened!

My Mother’s Day surprise

A week before Mother’s Day, Jed told me to pack a bag. To my relief he wasn’t kicking me out but he wouldn’t tell me where we were going. All he told me was to pack enough for three days.

As soon as I’d packed the bag, Jed took it and put it in the car but he wouldn’t tell me when we were leaving. I only found out that Friday night when we were supposedly going to the supermarket and ended up on the motorway (which is not the way to the supermarket).

And where did we end up, you’re wondering? Two hours later we pulled into Combe Haven Holiday Park in East Sussex – the location of our first ever family holiday in 2001!

I’d actually caught Jed looking at UK holiday deals at Haven a while ago but thought nothing of it. Now it all made sense!

A perfect weekend

To describe it in one word, the whole weekend was perfect from start to finish. Away from the stresses of domestic life, we had a wonderful time being together as a family. It’s cheesy but that’s the best Mother’s Day present I could have asked for (you’re right, that is cheesy).

On Mother’s Day itself, Jed sent me off for a day of pampering and relaxation at the owner’s-only spa (we were staying at his best friend’s caravan so we could enjoy all the privileges of an owner). After a little work out at the gym to re-energise, I watched all my worries and stresses disappear as I relaxed in the sauna. And as for the spa treatments – they were just heavenly.

But you know what the best bit was? When I got back to the caravan, Jed and the kids had made me a lovely meal. It looked quite elaborate for something cooked in a caravan (roast potatoes and everything!) but then I forget that these holiday homes have all the mod cons these days! 

To top it all off, they had one more surprise up their sleeves. After lunch they told me to put on my trainers because we were going for a walk. And where they took me was spectacular. There’s a spot on the park that has incredible views of the English Channel so once we reached it, we all got together for a family photo with the beautiful scenery in the background to help remember the day.

It really was the perfect Mother’s Day. And the secret? Don’t stay at home!"

A guest post in collaboration with Haven Holidays.

Sending Presents to my Mum

I have blogged about the chaos of the first three weeks of March and how complicated my life was.
In the melee Ian and I totally forgot Mother's Day and failed to send cards to either of our mums.  Feeling utterly guilty about my daughter-fail, and unable to make the journey to visit in person due to the poorly kids, I had to put my faith in the hands of Parcelforce to restore my position as 'good daughter' in the eyes of my dear mum.  Bless her.  Not only did she not receive her usual Mother's Day present and card, the poor thing was also struck down by a horrible cough and cold bug and needed cheering up!

I packaged up a lovely bundle of gifts including a recipe book of cakes that my mum wanted, along with a box of her favourite Milk Tray chocolates, some pictures from the kids and some lavender scented shower gel and redeemed myself by sending this box of goodies safely all the way to her door in Wales!  Job done.  Day saved!

I felt even more virtuous as I reused a box from my pile of cardboard recycling to package up the parcel contents safe and sound.  And so although it wasn't exactly 'a brown paper package tied up with string' ( it was more a second hand grocery carton stuck up with parcel tape) my mum assured me that receiving a unexpected gift through the post was definitely one of 'her favourite things'!   She loved that it contained personal touches such as the kids' pictures which I'd sent, something you just don't get when ordering gifts to send online. It cheered her up no end, which was my objective and she totally understood about the failure to send a Mother's Day card due to my unfortunate extenuating circumstances.

Drawing Pictures for Nana

Since bestowing these goodies upon my mother, things have started to look up even more. Easter will be here soon (note to self: do NOT forget to send out Easter gifts to the family asap.  No repeating of my Mother's Day faux pas!!)  Although we have had snow, it is beginning to melt and there is the faintest promise of Spring in the air.  When the sun comes through from behind a cloud and I feel the warmth on my face, it feels so good.

Soon, I will be able to visit my mum in person and give her a long overdue hug.  I am hoping she will have been busy in the kitchen using the recipe book I sent her, and I'll be able to sample some home made muffins and cakes!  That will be a good day indeed.

My Baking Mum

Disclosure

Things Are On The Up

We have had a testing few weeks.  Firstly, Ian's operation, which was pretty brutal and left him in quite a state for the first week of his recovery, was much worse than I imagined it would be.  But possibly worse than his state of being exhausted, battered and bruised was the fact that he had to wear surgical support stockings and see-through net pants.  This post-op fashion statement made him look like an extra in a weirdly cast extra-fetish version of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.  I tried to be a sympathetic nurse but as I tended to his stitches all I could do was sing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite from Transexual Transylvania" over and over in my mind.  Dealing with a doddery husband with a bag strapped to his leg has been quite interesting and given me insight into what our future together might look like.  It isn't the prettiest of futures but if it involves both me and Ian still together and still in love, then I can deal with anything!

Just as Ian began to regain a bit of his mobility and become a bit more human, it was Freddy's turn to take on the role as poorliest person in the house.  He had a bad day at nursery on Monday so we decided to cheer him up and give Ian his first jaunt out of the house by taking him for lunch.  Not our best idea.  Within minutes he had gone pale and fell prey to a very virulent tummy bug. This bug lasted until Thursday.  Ian has always been the resident expert of clearing up spilled bodily fluids as I have a very weak stomach.  Bless my poor husband as he attempted to clear up poor Fred's stomach contents, accompanied by a chorus of me gagging and wretching.  I am officially useless!  Up until this turn of events I was totally in control of the housework.  But suddenly having five loads of washing a day and no tumble dryer put pay to my organisation and the house descended into chaos.  Poor Freddy took until the weekend before he started eating again.  Poor little mite was so weak and thin by the end of it all.  But suddenly he asked for porridge.  Porridge topped with golden syrup.  Three bowlfuls later, my little boy started back on the road to full recovery.  everything else was forgotten as I watched him tuck in with gusto.

Feeling better and hugging Kizzy x

This week, things have been so much better.  Freddy is back at nursery and seems much happier.  Ian is no longer hobbled over, bent double like an old man, shuffling around the house.  He is almost back to normal except for the catheter and 4" long scar.  He has an appointment next week to check his grafts and remove the catheter and we hope everything will then be over and Ian's health will be fully restored.

 My son Joe and his girlfriend Jade have visited with Ted who delighted us all with his sunny smiles and happy demeanour.  Being a grandparent is quite simply an honour!  They have had some good news involving a tax rebate which is going to improve their financial situation significantly.  I'm so pleased for them. Life is so hard as a young couple with a new baby who are trying to work and support themselves.  They get no help from the government and really struggle to pay full rent and council tax.  This windfall couldn't have come at a better time.

Smiling at Grandad x

My eldest daughter Megan has had a fabulous holiday in Budapest with her boyfriend (whom we thoroughly approve of and think is very lovely) and returned to some very good news that she had been offered a job at a Digital Marketing Agency.  She had applied for it the week before without being qualified, was offered an interview where she was very honest about not having the experience but showed her commitment to learn and the CEO took a risk on her based on that. They are going to train her and put her through exams. So her career will shortly be taking a brand new direction leading her to places that she really wants to go.  Exciting times indeed for my go-getting girl.

Ella had a great trip to Berlin with college to practice her German (and in a stroke of good fortune avoid the sickness bug completely). Although it was very cold and snowy, she returned home fit and healthy and buzzing from her incredible adventure.

Ella at The Berlin Wall

Last night she performed in an Awards Ceremony for her Sixth Form College which I attended with Kizzy at the Severn Theatre.  When she was at her last school, I attended all the events she performed in, tolerating the lack lustre dance performers and the cringey comedy duos and the embarrassing music teacher who fronted his own jazz band to get his own 15 minutes in the limelight.  Her new college is so very different.  The students are unbelievably talented.  They had three concert grade pianists performing classical pieces by Beethoven and Chopin.  There was a lad who is playing a lead in a production of We Will Rock You who had an incredibly powerful voice.  There was an amazing arrangement of a Michael Jackson song performed acoustically which was far superior to anything I have ever heard done on X Factor or BGT.  A three piece girl, harmony group performed two songs, accompanied by one of them on guitar and they were so professional. It turned out that they had written the songs themselves too, but I did not realise this as they were so credible.  Add to this the academic awards and presentations and this college is just in a different league to her old school.  Moving Ella was definitely the right decision.  I was so proud of Ella who performed Lego House by Ed Sheeran.  She stood in the spotlight of the stage, just a little girl with her guitar and sang beautifully, with her engaging trademark smile on her face.  She was brilliant and received huge applause.  Her college principal is full of praise for Ella who isn't in with the music crowd, yet has had her talents recognized.  She is amazing!

We have exciting times to look forward to in the next few weeks too.   Megan is coming home for Easter before starting her new job, which will be wonderful.  We have our Butlins holiday coming up staying in their fancy new hotel.  Having a few days full board and with housekeeping in one of the three bedroomed appartments at the Wave Hotel is just what the doctor ordered.  Sea air and an all you can eat breakfast buffet is just what the doctor ordered!

How Family Makes a Tough Week so Much Better!

It's been a difficult week.  Ian's operation was a week ago today and recovery has been slow and difficult.  He spent three days in hospital before coming home to recuperate for a further three weeks.  They said he had to rest completely which is something that my husband finds difficult, but he has been utterly laid to waste and unable to do anything anyway.  Thankfully he seems to be slowly on the mend now and I'm hoping that he will be up and at it (albeit very gently) shortly.  I have become an expert nurse and starting to think I missed my vocation.  I am a dab hand at catheter care and can clean and dress stitches without being too grossed out.  I am definitely ticking the 'in sickness and in health' box from our wedding vows.  Seeing Ian shuffling around, bent double in his slippers and dressing gown has given me a glimpse into our old age.  It's not pretty but when you love someone, it's all part of the job!

The operation that Ian had, has rebuilt his urethral tubes using a graft from the inside of his cheek which will hopefully mean that the risk of future kidney failure will be finally laid to rest.  His surgeon was Paul Anderson, the best man for the job in the UK and a regular on C4's Embarrassing Bodies.  In fact he has been on the show doing the exact same operation that he did on Ian.  Here is a link for anyone curious! www.livefromtheclinic.channel4.com/case-videos/lftcw4bus

I really appreciate how much my husband does around the house, because doing everything is exhausting me!  I'm not used to soldiering all the responsibility and nursing a poorly hubby at the same time.  Ian takes on a lot of the childcare when it comes to Freddy, who continues to be quite a high maintenance child with his funny quirks and foibles.  He is really missing daddy being able to cuddle him and carry him like he did before the operation, and as Ian isn't allowed to lift anything for at least three weeks it'll be a while before things get back to normal.  He is however quite intrigued by his daddy's wee bag!  I am struggling settling him into nursery again and feel so guilty leaving him crying every morning.  But with September beckoning, he really needs to keep a daily routine.  It's hard though.

This week, Ella is away on a school trip to Germany, so my household is down to having just the two little ones at home.  This is a glimpse into what it will be like next year when Ella goes off to university.  My nest is emptying.  Ella has done so well in her AS exams getting two As and a B (which was one mark off of an A grade).  She actually finished in the top 10 of all entrants in her Chemistry exam.  She is such a clever little thing!! I'm so proud of her and everything she has achieved.  I'm so glad we made the decision to send her to the college she is at.  She is doing so well and getting so many opportunities.

Megan came home to see me and visit her dad on Mother's Day along with her boyfriend.  She's had a rough few days herself since some scumbag slashed her petrol tank to steal £30 of petrol, causing £700 worth of damage.  This meant she couldn't get herself to work or attend any appointments, but I guess the unemployed petrol thief wouldn't even consider the consequences of his selfish actions.  Thankfully, her boyfriend is an absolute star and has bent over backwards to help her out. It was lovely to see her and it cheered up her dad no end to have her company.  We had lots of laughs which is always good therapy!

I loved my home made Mother's day cards.  I love the wonderful things that my kids write inside them.  I also was sent a beautiful picture of my grandson Ted with 'I Love Nana' on his babygro.  He is so adorable, I can't wait to see him again.

We attempted to watch John Carter on 3D but it didn't turn out too well as you can see by these two sleeping beauties in the photo below who were not adequately entertained enough by the movie to stay awake!  They did however, wake up to make me a Mother's Day Banoffee Pie (or Caveen Pie as Freddy insisted it was called!)  Whatever it was called, it was delicious!  

This week has reinforced to me that however tough times are, family makes everything so much more bearable and I love each and every one of my guys so unbelievably much!

The East India Company For Mother's Day

This Mothering Sunday why not treat your mum to something indulgent from The East India Company?  They produce some delectable and charming gifts that are really quite special and will delight anyone lucky enough to receive them.

I was sent a box of Salted Almonds Enrobed in Chocolate to sample.  Specially selected almonds are carefully roasted and gently salted then enrobed in milk chocolate with a touch of cinnamon.  The packaging is gorgeous and speaks of the quality of this fine food.  It is a real touch of luxury.

The thick, smooth, cinnamon flavoured chocolate gives way to a crunchy nut in each moreish mouthful.  The sweetness combined with the subtle saltiness of the nut is nothing short of delicious!

They are priced at £7.95 for the 200g box and can be found on Amazon and at The East India Company flagship store in London's Mayfair.

*****

The East India Company Fine Foods has developed a range of fine luxury foods of over 350 products such as Tea, Chocolate, Coffee, Jams, Mustard and Biscuits, as well as a range of occasion based gift boxes, hampers and trunks. To receive a luxury food gift from The East India Company is to feel truly indulged, valued and wanted.

The products use only the highest quality ingredients and all have a “remarkable connection” to the history of The East India Company, created in the 1600's by the Royal Charter granted by Elizabeth I. These products breathe life into the history of The Company. 

To see its range of products online visit www.theeastindiacompanyfinefood.com/

Mother's Day Gift Ideas from Asda

Mother's Day is on Sunday March 18th.  If you have a mum like mine, who isn't really a lover of cut flowers, but who does love pot plants and flowers in the garden, then Asda have a great range at great prices that will be just perfect!  

I remember when I was a little girl and I bought my mum a Purple Flowering African Violet for Mothering Sunday.  She was so delighted because it would last all year round and not have to be thrown away after a week or so like cut flowers.  My mum has always been very practical like that!

'The Garden' range includes a selection of  grow your own plants, all beautifully presented in presentation boxes especially for Mother's Day.  Mums can plant Lilies in a basket, Freesia in a Ceramic Pot or Irises in a Planter.  If your Mum enjoys cookery too, you can also buy a Herb Trio consisting of three pretty pots to grow basil, chives and parsley on the windowsill.

These gifts are all just £5 each which is great value.

Grow Your Own Flowers

The Garden Range also offers some fun gifts for gardening mums to keep outdoors looking 'blooming lovely'  including a pretty 'Welcome to My Garden' sign, gorgeous metal bucket tea-light holders and a handy tin for storing bits and bobs.

Garden Tin £5

The tin would make a lovely gift filled with packets of seeds, a ball of twine, plant labels and maybe some of mum's favourite sweets so she can have a treat while she works in the garden.  It is very pretty and sturdy.  The bucket tealight holders have a heart shaped cut out on the front.  They will look lovely alight on a spring evening.

Tealight holders £3

Asda have a whole host of other great Mother's Day Gifts including a fun 'Breakfast in Bed' range, a lovely kitchen range for mums that love to bake and they even have pocket money priced pressies for little ones who want to raid their piggy banks to buy something special for Mummy! 

This cute mug is just £1 and is bound to make mum's cuppa taste perfect on Mother's Day!

With an amazing selection of gifts to choose from, at affordable prices, you can get your mum something she'll really love.  Head to your local Asda or go online at asda.co.uk to find out more.

**Asda kindly gifted me some Mother's Day goodies to make my mum's day!  But no compensation was received for this post**

Albelli Photo Books

Albelli produce the most incredible photo books for every occasion.  I like to regularly get my digital photos made into photo books, which are a wonderful way of preserving our memories.  So far, this February has given us some unexpected snow days, half term and Valentine's Day.  With so many fabulous photo opportunities I've got lots of lovely photographs of my family that deserve to be on display for everyone to look at.  So I was very pleased when Albelli offered me the chance to make my own photo book.

I love the Albelli site.  You can make photo books instantly by choosing which pictures you want including and letting the programme do the rest.  But I love the freedom of making my own.

Page layouts, backgrounds, number of photos per page, text and photo sizes can be played around with to create your own unique design.  I loved the creative freedom, dragging, dropping and cropping my pictures in my own way, picking colour schemes and adding text boxes.

It is quite intuitive and user friendly and regular save prompts ensure you don't lose your work!

Creating my Albelli Photo Book

When you have created your book you can choose optional extras such as a full photo front cover and extra thick glossy pages.  These make your creation even more special.

My Photo Book arrived a week after I made it which is a great turnaround time.  Email messages kept me informed of its progress along the way.  The books are sent in sturdy cardboard packaging and are wrapped in plastic so they don't get damaged.

I have to confess that I let out a little gasp of joy when I saw my book.  It was so glossy and colourful.  No wonder Albelli were voted as the No1 Photo Book by The Gadget Show!

My Valentine's Cupcakes on the Cover

Different Layouts 

Thick, glossy pages

Valentine's Day Photos

Funky Backgrounds

Prices start at just £6.95.  

They would make a fabulous, unique and thoughtful gift for Mother's Day filled with family photos.

Find out more at Albelli.co.uk