That was Christmas...Hello 2015!

After an absolutely wonderful Christmas surrounded by the people I love most in this world, I am now ready to face 2015 with positivity and determination.  I made a conscious decision to keep the laptop packed away over the holidays and concentrate on nothing more than having fun, making memories and enjoying the time spent with my family.

I was so happy to have all three of my grown-up children home over the holidays. Having all five of my children together is definitely one of my greatest pleasures.  It makes me feel complete. I love the dynamic of the relationships, the laughter and the love.

Adding my gorgeously cute little grandson Ted to the mix adds to the fun.  I was overjoyed this Christmas, to feel that little Ted had really bonded with his McDonald family. He was so happy and comfortable in our house, giving us hugs, saying our names and playing with us. He reminded me so much of Joe when he was a toddler, especially when he decimated the chocolate Santa tree decorations, searching for them among the baubles and proudly declaring that he had 'chocwot' every time he found one!  Ted also bonded beautifully with his Great Grandad.  Watching them having fun together was so heartwarming.  The oldest and the youngest member of the family united through the power of play!

We continued with  lots of festive family traditions this year.  From doing lots of arts and crafts activities in the run up to Christmas to baking lots of festive treats including our gingerbread house.

Choosing the tree that would be brought into our home for Christmas is a serious business and this year we found the perfect tree in our local garden centre and enjoyed a warming hot chocolate in the cafe afterwards.  We decorated it together using the baubles I have collected over the years, each one holding memories of Christmases past.  The children also get to choose a new bauble each year.  This year, Disney princesses and felt covered deer were added to the eclectic collection.

The gifts were spread out this year with a present each on Winter Solstice that paid homage to Ian's Scottish ancestry.  We bought McDonald tartan inspired presents for everyone, which included a shirt, a scarf, pyjama bottoms and a nightshirt.

As usual all the Christmas dinner prep was carried out on Christmas Eve whilst the South Park Christmas CD was played!  I also made a hearty, wholesome vegetable soup for our lunch.  Something healthy before the onslaught of Christmas Day excess.

Christmas Eve gifts included matching onesies for the girls and Minion pj's for Freddy along with a new mug for hot chocolate, slippers, Christmas pants and socks along with a new teddy to hug, all wrapped in a festively decorated box.

The kids designed a plate to leave Santa's snacks on and Freddy sprinkled reindeer dust in the garden.

Christmas stockings were left on the children's door handles ready to be discovered and brought into our king size bed in the morning to be opened.  The door to the living room was covered in wrapping paper for Freddy to burst through to discover all the goodies that Santa had delivered.

But before the unwrapping commenced we sat down to a breakfast of freshly backed croissants and Buck's Fizz to set us up for the day ahead.

My mum and dad joined us on Christmas day which was a real honour and made the day so special. They loved their presents and I managed to make my wonderful dad shed a tear or two of emotion when he opened a framed family photo montage that I made for them. I love doing nice things for my parents and sharing Christmas Day with them is right up there in those things I enjoy.

Dinner this year was a vegan feast including a homemade nut roast.  I looked at so many recipes but couldn't find any that really ticked all the boxes. So I made up my own recipe incorporating all the elements I liked, tweaking it to suit our needs.  So the Lentil, Cashew Nut and Chestnut Roast was born (recipe to follow soon.)  It was a huge hit, especially with my dad who ate tonnes of the stuff!  I served it with a vegan 'sausage' and chestnut stuffing, which was like a main course in its own right, and all the usual Christmas dinner trimmings (including vegan pigs in blankets).

This year we had a Big Christmas Challenge after dinner, which I had spent weeks working on.  It included questions on 2014, news, films, music, Christmas traditions, carols, anagrams, picture quizzes etc plus each family member wrote 5 questions based on their own 2014 experiences to test everyone on.  It was a lot of fun and kept us all busy in the post dinner lull!

We got to do Christmas all over again two days later when Joe, Jade and Ted visited for the weekend. My parents came back again too to see them all bringing four generations together under one roof. Ella's boyfriend Frank also came to stay and we enjoyed another roast dinner and even more presents.  We discovered that Frank is one of the most thoughtful gift givers ever and that he makes my daughter so happy...definitely a keeper!

Thankfully, the illness that has plagued me for the past 8 weeks did not spoil my Christmas in any way.  I battled through and refused to let it get  the better of me.  I'm still not 100% better yet, but feel revitalised and ready to take on 2015!

Christmas was definitely pretty chaotic and hectic this year, but it was tonnes of fun and filled with hundreds of happy moments that we will remember for years to come.  Family means everything to me and spending the festive season with my loved ones was a simply perfect end to the year.

January In Pictures

January in Pictures

Dieting Deja-Vu and How I Plan to Get Fit in 2013!

I simply can't bring myself to do it!  There is no way anyone could make me get anywhere near a pair of scales right now.  Christmas has been a time of excess.  Excessive take aways from my favourite Indian restaurant, stacks of indulgent festive treats and Ferrero Rocher for breakfast have taken their toll on my body.  Where there was once a waistline, there is flab.  My thighs have become dimply and are threatening to merge with my cankles to produce a pair of tree trunks that any Oak forest would be proud of.  Getting on the scales will be absolute proof that I have taken the very slippery slope back to Chubbsville.  It is time that I take action.  Denial is seriously not an option.  Just because I became a grandmother over the Christmas holidays, it is not an excuse for me to become a complacently plump old Nana.  In fact since becoming a grandparent to baby Ted I am even more aware of the importance of staying fit and healthy for as long as possible.  I want to be a proper Glamorous Granny, so it's time to once again take action and wage war against the cellulite, flab and wobbly bits!

As with all great ideas, a plan of action is called for!  So here is my 2013 Get Fit, Feel Epic post.

1:  Cut the crap!  The first step is simple.  I just need to stop eating the sweets, crisps, cakes, chocolates and biscuits that have become my staple diet over Christmas.  In January I usually get into a completely bonkers mindset where I decide to binge my way through all the leftover selection boxes, tins of Heroes and packets of biccies.  My reasoning is, once they are gone I can start eating healthy again.  How mad is that!?  As I gorge myself on a 400g of Dairy Milk Whole Nut I feel justification because when it's gone it's gone.  Stuffing it all in one go is for the greater good, I tell myself as I force in the next four squares in one mouthful. I neglect to think about the thousands upon thousands of calories I'm pouring into myself.  I eat enough calories in one sitting to feed a whole family for 24 hours! So, this year to get rid of all the leftovers, I've packed Ian off to work with a hamper of cake, mince pies, chocolate bars and crisps to share with his work colleagues.  They get to share the calories between them and I don't need to become a human dustbin to satisfy my mad desire to rid my house of temptation via my mouth.  Sorted!

2:  Save Pennies, Lose Pounds.  The frequency with which we grab the take out menus from the kitchen drawer has becoming so regular that the Indian restaurant knows us by name and never forgets that I like a boiled egg on my calorie rich mushroom biryani.  I do love the treat of not having to cook, but when ordering food in becomes such a habit, it loses its appeal.  If I add up the money we have spent buying Paneer Tikka Massala and Tarka Dal over the last few months, we could have bought ourselves a new TV!  I want getting a take-away to become something we do for a special occasion, not an easy option because I've lost my cooking mojo somewhere between the Quality Street overdose and the cheese laden Smörgåsbords that have replaced healthy eating.  Cooking healthy meals from scratch will prove to be my salvation in the battle of the bulge, and the money saved will be greatly received into my bank account!

3:  Meal Plans.  As a vegetarian I always feel envious of dieting carnivores who get to eat steamed fish and grilled chicken.  Such easy options for low calorie meals with lots of options for variety.  For me, a microwaved Quorn fillet day in, day out soon loses its appeal, plus they are so low in calories I begin to starve myself into a malnourished ball of misery.  So I'm going to get inventive with lots of veggie stews, chillis, bologneses, curries and bakes incorporating lentils, pulses and Quorn products alongside fresh vegetables.  As long as I go light on the carb side of the meal I should be able to eat my fill, get all the nutrients I need and not get bored of the food I eat.  Plus I won't have to make something different for the rest of the family.  Variety is after all the spice of life!

4:  The 'E' Word.  This is the one that scares me the most...exercise.  I'm rubbish as exercise.  I've tried the gym, pilates, yoga, holistic toning and the Mu-Tu system.  The one over-riding factor of all these exercise programmes is that I have put my back out doing them all.  I have scoliosis in my spine.  It's not noticeable and as long as I don't do any twisting, jolting or stretching, it is OK and I am pain free. Sadly, these are the exact movements required to exercise!  As soon as I try anything it goes 'ping' and I'm in agony for a few days. So, this year we are going to do more walking together as a family.  This is not too strenuous in the short term and will be enjoyable incorporating it into day's out. The kids can go on for hours so keeping up with them will improve my stamina, fitness levels and burn off some calories.  When Freddy starts school I will be able to walk him there and back.  This was the main reasoning behind choosing this school for him so I will definitely be clocking up my miles come September!

5:  Change my Mindset.  For me, once I commit to something I become very resolute in seeing it through.  That is until the first hurdle comes along to crash through my wall of confidence, leaving me floundering in self-doubt and self-loathing.  So I need to be kind to myself.  If I have a bad day and find myself scouring the kitchen cupboards for those sachets of sugar you pick up in cafes everytime you buy a coffee, just in case you might one day have a sugar emergency, I will not hail myself an utter failure.  Instead I will look at the reasons why the sugar craving killed my resolve, see it as a one off and pick up from where I left off.  This isn't planning for failure, but it is being realistic in advance so that one mishap will not sabotage my efforts.  Losing weight and getting fit is a long haul effort and as long as the good days outnumber the bad, the over all efforts are never in vain.  We can be too hard on ourselves and this is never a good way to succeed and come out feeling good and positive about our achievements.

6:  Buy Clothes That Fit Me.  I struggle terribly with the psychology of clothes shopping.  Even when I'm a size 12 I find it really difficult to buy size 12 clothes.  I always see myself as a size 18 and feel more comfortable buying big stuff even though it is unflattering and clearly doesn't fit properly.  I'm sure psychiatrists will have a field day telling me why I like to hide myself in man's size XL jumpers.  This year, I promise myself that I will get some good fitting clothes that flatter rather than hide the figure.  I want to look good and feel good about myself.  I am at least finally wearing the right size bra.  For years I wore a 38B when it turned out I was actually a 36D which sounds far more buxom!  So by totally revamping my wardrobe, I'm sure I'd feel so much better about myself.  I think it would also be an incentive to keep the weight off if I had nice things to wear once I'm back at my target weight.

So that's my plan.  Hopefully I won't be treading over this same old ground again this time next year.  Perhaps one day I'll not put on a stone and a half over Christmas by getting back into my bad gluttonous eating habits.  Hopefully this dieting deja-vu will one day be over forever!

Here is a 'Before' shot taken after a particularly heavy family meal (it was good though!!) with my beautiful daughter Megan.  Hopefully by my 44th birthday in April I will be rocking a slimmer body and better fitting clothes!

This is my entry into the Get Fit, Feel Epic competition from Moneysupermarket.com.

Ja-NEW-ary Thinkings

It's the time when thoughts turn to resolutions, plans and hopes for the new year. Whether we are hoping to get slimmer, richer, fitter or more successful, the internet is awash with people's dreams for the 2013.  To be honest, up until now I haven't really involved myself with the concept of change this year.  I've been doing OK so why fix what ain't broken?!  But on closer inspection, my life could do with a bit of a makeover and the setting of achievable targets never hurts in motivating oneself to get off one's arse!

As an avid list maker, I have taken my virtual pen to virtual paper to jot down my '2013 To Do' list.  It includes people to see, places to visit and a few personal goals thrown in for good measure.

• This year will see a huge change for me as my baby boy Freddy will be starting school.  As a summer baby, he will be just 4 years and 2 months old as he joins Reception class. I've applied for a place at our local school.  He has his pre-school jabs next week, which makes it feel very real!  It breaks my heart just to think about it!  However I intend to spend the months up until September preparing my son to be ready for school.  We will do reading and writing and counting and crafts together. His fabulous nursery has made him so much more confident around other kids and will stand him in good stead for the hugest step in his little life to date.  For me, I will have much more free time.  I pledge not to become a couch potato glued to Jeremy Kyle and This Morning.  I will blog, I will volunteer, I will get fit and I will do more domestic goddess style cooking (I'm loving my slow cooker!) I will be productive!

• My blog is now over two years old.  It started with no expectations.  It grew quickly.  For a moment I thought I could make it something special and find a niche that would fit.  Then I was seduced by opportunities and PR contacts.  It evolved into something else.  It took on a life of its own.  In 2013 I want to reclaim my blog and steer it in a direction where I can be really proud of it.  I am not precious.  I am realistic.  I am happy to work with brands.  I enjoy doing blogger competitions.  I will never be dictated to nor will I lose my integrity.  I just want to find a bit more structure and balance.  As long as I enjoy it, Inside the Wendy House will continue. (I even bought my domain name - but am too scared to use it!)

• This year I really want to see the people who I care about that I haven't seen for a while.  Last year flew by and I neglected some of the relationships which matter most to me.  I have some amazing friends out there that I need to catch up with. This personal housekeeping is long overdue!  I also want to try to nurture relationships with other relatives.  I hardly know Ian's side of the family, and I'd love to rectify this in 2013! 

• As I am now a granny, I will make sure that I do as good a job as possible getting to know the adorable little boy who is my grandson.  It is an amazing feeling seeing the new generation of our family emerge and observing as the changing relationships develop.

• Last year I was lucky enough to give my family lots of amazing experiences through blogging and comping.    I hope that 2013 gives us as many brilliant opportunities.  I love watching Freddy's face as he witnesses something new and the girls love family days out.  We have our Merlin Annual Passes too plus we have our Butlins and Centre Parcs holidays booked up.  I want to fill the calendar with as many events as I can to punctuate our year.  I want Freddy to visit Warwick Castle this year.  He loves historical places and is so interested in castles and towers.  He is an old soul at heart!

• I intend to celebrate milestones and special days as memorably as I can.  We are beginning 'Operation Reclaim The Dining Room' and hope to enjoy many sit down meals together now Freddy is more open to the idea of sitting at a table for more than 5 minutes at a time.  In reclaiming our dining room, we will also be re-doing our living room, donating a load of stuff to charity shops and sorting out the chaos that is just beginning to subside now Fred is getting older and is less of a whirling dervish of destruction.

• Following on from celebrating special days, I intend to experiment more in the kitchen.  So for Burn's Night, homemade vegetarian Haggis will be on the menu.  Celebratory pies will be invented (my New Year's Day pie was pretty good!) and baking will ensue (themed gingerbread houses anyone??)  I plan to add a few more dishes to my repertoire.  I will be posting recipes on my blog to share my love of veggie food and grouping them on a 'Food For Thought' tab on my homepage.

• Lastly, I want to take photographs to document everything and preserve special memories.  I won't be doing any official Project 365/52 entries this year, but I will be taking pics everyday.  If I decide to post any I will.  Simple as that!  Oh the freedom :)

Add to the list: drop a dress size, buy some jeans that fit me, revamp my underwear drawer and go on some quality dates with my husband and I'm pretty much set to make 2013 as good as I can.  I hope that this year our highs will outnumber our lows.  I hope that we grow stronger in light of our inevitable challenges.  I intend to take stock of my blessings regularly and hold my loved ones close.

Goodbye 2012 - Hello to 2013!

Following an eventful 2012, we have thankfully survived the Mayan end-of-world predictions and are now poised at the threshold of a brand new year, 2013.

2012 has seen a lot of changes, some good, some not so good.

There have been some devastating tragedies that have made me take stock of my own life and hold my loved ones a little closer. I have shed so many tears and felt such sadness at times.  But there have also been some wonderful experiences, brilliant opportunities and joyous events that we have celebrated. I have laughed hard and had such fun making memories.

These days, I am not one to dwell on the negatives.  I finally see that the glass is never half empty ... it's always got air in it so the volume of liquid is irrelevant, it is always full!!  Life is so very precious.

I have learned a lot in 2012.

My family has been the cornerstone to my happiness this year.  I am so blessed to have really great parents who we are able to lavish love and attention on during their fortnightly visits.  The kids adore them and I am so happy to have seen the relationship between my mum and dad and my children flourish in 2012.  Making memories that they will cherish forever is something very special.

I have a wonderful nephew and niece, Tom and Kate, who mean the world to me.  I have been lucky enough to see them both this year and meet their respective other halves, Ashley and Mike.  I wish all four of them an amazing 2013 filled with everything they wish for.

I am so thankful to all the other people that have helped make 2012 so special for us all.  I hope to continue to surround myself with their love and friendship in 2013.

My own children make me proud everyday.  They are amazing and I am so honoured to be their mother.  They inspire me to do better.  To be better. They define me.  I adore each and every one of my wonderful children.

Finding the right college for Ella and the right nursery for Freddy has been a huge factor is ensuring my kids' happiness this year.  Being empowered to make changes has been so beneficial to us all.  No longer will I ever sit back and accept situations. Things don't have to stay the same.  If something isn't working, we can change it for the better.  Anything that allows negativity into our lives does not need to be tolerated.  I will fight tooth and nail to ensure that my loved ones are happy.

My marriage is a gift that I am blessed with.  The relationship I have with Ian is the thing that keeps me grounded, gives me confidence and strength.  By nurturing our relationship we become better people and better parents. I love my husband who is my best friend in the whole world.

The arrival of our first grandson on December 17th has changed the dynamic of our family in such a positive way, bringing such joy to myself and Ian, as well as to his doting aunties and Uncle Freddy and to his great grandparents who were all so delighted to meet him.  Baby Ted is a beautiful boy.  Seeing Joe as a daddy fills my heart with love and pride. We have so many wonderful adventures awaiting us in 2013.

I am entering 2013 with a happy heart and a positive outlook.

Happy New Year to everyone. x

2011 Resolutions

Waking up to a whole new year of possibilities is an exciting prospect!  An opportunity to focus your thoughts, your hopes and dreams and come up with a list of pledges to yourself that if fulfilled will serve to better your life!  Ususally, I'd come up with these resolutions and let them slip within days.  This year however, things are different...my resolutions will be recorded here on my blog.  This will force me into staying true to my written word.  There will be evidence that can be sited to force me back on the straight and narrow if I rescind on my promises to myself.  I wonder, will these resolutions therefore work better than last years?!

1:  I don't drink, I don't smoke and I'm vegetarian...so there is no work to be done in those areas.  However, I am pretty greedy!  My yo-yo-ing dieting continues to be the bane of my life.  In November I started using a self-hypnosis programme from Thinking Slimmer which was initially very successful.  However, despite losing 7 lbs in the first 2 weeks and feeling pretty good about myself, the onset of Christmas over-indulgence defeated my changed mindset and I've put the weight back on :(  So, resolution number one is to resume my hypnosis and shift the weight and keep it off.  I want to lose a stone.

2: My housewifery is sometimes a bit lacking...all this social media is distracting!  So I promise to be the ultimate domestic goddess at least once a week!  I'll make sure we have at least one weekly sit down family meal with no laptops, mobile phones or TV on!  Our year will be punctuated with tasty, newly discovered vegetarian meals...I'll rekindle my joy of cooking!

3: Now Freddy is walking, we will start exploring our local area by foot!  I bought a book of family friendly walks in Cheshire.  This year I'll use it!!

4: My final promise is an easy one.  I started this blog in September and have been amazed at how quickly I have immersed myself into this virtual world.  This year, I will continue to explore the potential of this amazing media.  I look forward to seeing where this new hobby will take me in 2011!

Happy New Year and good luck with your resolutions!

My 2010 Reminiscing!

As 2010 prepares to bow out, replaced by the new kid on the block 2011, it's a time to reminisce. 

This year has been generally kind to me and my family.  No monumental events...they all happened in 2009 with Freddy's birth, Megan and Joe leaving home and my redundancy all shaking up the dynamic of the household.  There have been a few dramas with my older children this year...some relationship wobbles, some health worries and some financial concerns...but they all seem to be resolving themselves.  *fingers crossed*  My three youngest children have all flourished in their respective worlds in 2010.  Freddy is running around and starting to chatter away.  He is an absolute joy to us all.  Kizzy is loving her new Junior School and doing well in all aspects of school life.  Ella has started her GCSE year with a whole host of A*'s and her music is coming on in leaps and bounds.

Ian and I renewed our vows on our 13th Wedding Anniversary and I wear my beautiful ring with pride. Our party was featured in Pick Me Up magazine which was hilarious! We are still happy and very much loved up with each other and our life.

The biggest thing to come out of 2010 has been my discovery of the possibilites of social media.  In September I found the courage to start this blog, after months of  procrastinating. I am thrilled to have followers, originally wondering if anyone would ever even notice my ramblings. I love discovering other peoples' words and have become an avid reader of a few favourite blogs.   Alongside the blogging, I rekindled my love of comping and my family have enjoyed some fantastic successes...most notably Ian's car win!  I was chosen as a Graco Symbio Tester and have enjoyed reviewing, blogging and vlogging about the experience, adding YouTube and Flickr to my repetoire of technology I can use.  In the last three months I've had a whole host of experiences that I would not have otherwise had...being filmed hosting the Ultimate Family Party in the VW final and donating £2500 to charity as runners-up; attending both the Clothes Show and the Good Food Show; making our bespoke ice cream flavour with my 8 year old daughter at Cheshire Farm Ice Cream Factory; taking front row seats at the Bullring Fashion Show and supporting Ian in the Hands Off My Hyundai challenge.  I've met some really lovely people and made some wonderful virtual friends through these experiences.  I can't wait to see where my hobby takes me in 2011!

My journey into 2011 is as yet unknown, but it is something I am looking forward too.  As my family's adventures unfold, I'll enjoy sharing the moments right here on my blog.

Hope you all have a Happy New Year!