Remembering My Sister

I don't think that a single day has gone by when I haven't thought about my sister.  I have held tightly onto her memory, preserving forever in my mind the way she spoke, the sound of her laugh, how she felt, the heaviness of her thick hair, her sense of humour and the way she made me feel that I wanted to be exactly like her.

Today would have been her 54th birthday. Had she lived, I'm pretty sure she'd still be the same Carol that I idolised. She was the joker, the larger than life character, the life and soul of any event who had the incredible talent of making you feel like you were the important and special one.  I miss her so much that even now 18 years on, if I think about all the years spent without her, times together that have been lost, the tears come all too easily.

With every joyous celebration and with every heartbreak we have shared as a family, there has been something missing, someone missing.  That will never go away.  The empty space is ever present.

Her passing opened my eyes to the frailty of life and our own mortality.  A sobering realisation and something I found very difficult to deal with as I was pregnant at the time of her illness. Creating a new life as my sister's time on this earth ebbed away.  It was too cruel an irony.  But I went on to deliver the beautiful baby girl who took my sister's name as her own. In memory of the auntie she never had the honour of meeting or the pleasure in knowing.

I know that Carol's energy is still burning brightly. She's still here, a part of her own children and now a part of her first grandchild. I take such pleasure in that.  Holding my beautiful great nephew in my arms, I felt the connection and knew that she was there.  Part of his genetic make-up. Part of his very soul.  It is a comfort to me.

Life continues and the world keeps on spinning, but I will never, ever forget.

I'll raise a glass of red wine in your memory tonight.

I recently found this photo of myself as a baby with my big sister, in a collection of old family snaps.  I'd never seen it before and discovering it really made my day.  I love how happy I look on my big sister's lap.

Halloween's Coming...Ooooooo! A Spooky Round Up!

Halloween or Samhain is one of my favourite times of the year.  It marks the start of the winter and celebrates the Feast of the Dead where the veil between the this world and the Otherworld is at its thinnest. I love some of the Pagan traditions, reflecting on changes that have occurred and remembering lost loved ones. But it is also a day that celebrates all things scary and horror related, my favourite genre of anything ever!  So I am also happy to indulge in the commercial side of the festivities, dressing up, making spooky food and having some frightful fun!

This year we are off to Alton Towers to partake in their annual Scarefest.  We love the horror mazes and the themed decorations and characters that can be seen throughout the park. We are getting the pre-bookable all-you-can-eat wristbands (at £29.50 each) enabling us to enjoy as much food and drink from the restaurants as we want:  unlimited hot chocolates, veggie burgers, fries, cakes and pizza, without worrying about the cost on the day! Given that a cup of coffee alone is over two quid, I'll definitely be getting my money's worth from this investment, enjoying breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner at the park.  Then we are staying at the hotel overnight. I love it when Halloween falls during half term!

Scarefest 2012

We have lots more planned over half term.  Kizzy is having a belated Halloween themed birthday party.  It is nice to make loads of homemade themed Halloween food, but it really lightens the load to use some shop bought goodies too.  Asda have a really great range of sweet treats that will look great on a Halloween party table. They will definitely save a lot of time and effort for me, the party host, and they will delight all the little monsters!

Halloween Treats from Asda

We bought a selection of Asda's  Halloween food range using a gift card we received.

Grusome Gooballs - fuzzy marshmallows with an orange gooey centre.

Perilous Pumpkins - orange marshmallow shapes.

Shocking Shortbread Bats - delicious choc chip shortbread bats.

Weird Witch's Hair - colourful candyfloss.

Exploding Eyeballs - individually wrapped chocolates filled with strawberry ooze!

Scary Skeletons - chunky chocolate shapes.

Graveyard Ginger Ghouls - box of 18 gingerbread biscuits.

Funsize Bags of Maltesers, Twix , Mars and Milky Way perfect for Trick or Treaters

Fiendish Fancies - Mr Kipling's fondant fancies get a Halloween makeover with orange and black icing. 

Witch's Cauldon - A brilliant black, handled witch's cauldron which makes a great container for keeping all the sweets in!

I love the Halloween bakery range which if I'm lucky might be mistaken for homemade gingerbread and shortbread (just don't tell my party guests!!)  It's nice to find such a good range of Halloween goodies available in my local Asda store all priced at £1 - it will definitely help with my Halloween celebrations this year!  (Check out asda.com for more spooky Halloween treats in The Big Shop of Horrors!)

When it comes to dressing up, I have collected a whole box filled with costumes ranging from witches to vampires to the Grim Reaper!  The girls love glamming up the outfits to create a fashion forward scary character!  This year my son's girlfriend Jade has got coloured cosmetic contact lenses in terrifying plain black.  They look really demonic!  She is working an outfit around them - a demon mermaid was one of her ideas!!  They will really make a huge impression this Halloween and take dressing up to a whole new level! Just look at this photo with one black and one blue eye...it's a bit freaky!  But jade is definitely rocking the look. (Thanks to my lovely future D.I.L for the photo!)

Jade wearing her Colour Contacts 

As for Freddy I could not resist this mummified Halloween Bandage Onesie from George.  At £9 it is a real bargain and is thick and warm with a zip up front.  He'll be wearing this to his first school disco tomorrow night!  It's cosier and more practical than flimsy fancy dress costumes so I won't worry about him getting chilly - and he looks so cute in it!

George Mummy Onesie

Ian and I have got World War Z on 3D Blu-Ray to watch on Friday night.  That will start our Halloween half term off with super scary bang.  We'll wear our Evil Dead and Hellraiser t-shirts, crack open a bottle of red wine and let the horror fest begin!

World War Z

So we have got a lot to look forward to this half-term.  Lots of top quality family time and all the spooky fun of Halloween with parties, discos and at Alton Towers' Scarefest.  We'll be eating spooky themed food and baking scary cakes and listening to our Halloween playlist and watching some good old horror films. Perfect.

Happy Halloween to everyone...however you plan to celebrate it!

Sweet Potato, Chickpea and Nut Roast Pie #vegan

I'm starting to think about Christmas food! This year is going to be quite challenging...not only am I catering for 11 people, I'm also planning a vegan Christmas dinner. So I'm trying out a few ideas with a plan to make something yummy enough to appeal to the carnivores, vegetarians and vegans alike, without compromising on taste.  I was very inspired by our visit to the Toby Carvery which offered two vegan dishes that could be eaten with all the carvery veg, yorkies and gravy. 

This is my recipe for an open pie that will work really well with all the roast dinner trimmings.  It is easy to make and really quick to put together if using ready rolled puff pastry.

Sweet Potato, Chickpea and Nut Roast Pie

Ingredients

1 bag of frozen sweet potato (Morrison's NuMe Sweet Potato Chunks)

4 carrots grated

1 parsnip grated

1 vegetable stock pot (Kent's Kitchen)

boiling water

1 can chickpeas

handful of walnuts and cashew nuts

ground pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon garlic puree

1 teaspoon mixed herbs

mixed seeds

1 packet of ready rolled puff pastry

Method

Put sweet potato, grated carrot and grated parsnip into a pan.

Cover with boiling water and add stock pot and garlic.

Simmer for 20 minutes until soft.

Drain off any excess liquid.

Mash the vegetables and add seasonings.

Stir through chickpeas and nuts.

Place the pastry onto a baking sheet.

Score the edge about an inch from the edge.

Place filling onto the middle of the pastry.

Fold up edges and pinch corners together.

Sprinkle seeds on top.

Pop into hot oven GM 6 for about 25 minutes.

This was really delicious with a nice gravy and roast trimmings.  For Christmas I am going to add chopped chestnuts to the mix for a festive twist.  It's an experimental recipe, a work in process if you will, but this first attempt was really good!  It was good cold too.

I am now feeling very positive about making a yummy vegan Christmas dinner for the family!

Scooby Doo for a New Generation

Zoinks!!  There is a brand new Scooby Doo! DVD to hit the shelves this week, which has updated Scooby and the crew for a whole new generation. With its cute puppet format, Scooby Doo! Adventures - The Mystery Map is perfect for a younger audience.

As a huge Scooby fan, part of me was very nervous to see a deviation from the original cartoons which I grew up with.  However, I was actually rather charmed by this version.  It's very different and oozing with kid appeal, whilst keeping the essence of Scooby and the gang.

Shaggy, Scooby, Fred, Wilma and Daphne are true to the original characters in both how they look and how they sound, but they are just made younger and cuter!  They are really very sweet and Freddy was instantly hooked.  The sets are beautifully designed too, making it quite a visual feast.

The story sees the gang embark on an adventure to find Gnarlybeard's hidden treasure after finding a treasure map in a triple extra large Scooby Snack pizza!  When Phantom Parrot nabs the map, they need to sniff out the clues to recover the map.  It leads them to a super spooky pirate ship.

There are some catchy songs, some top gags, some mild spookiness and lots of puppety fun!  There are lots of references to the original Scooby Doo, featuring Shaggy and Scooby's appetites, Scooby's love of Scooby Snacks, Fred's ego and Wilma's brain.  It may be a new format, but there is plenty of material paying homage to the original, making it feel comfortingly familiar.

The DVD is a nice introduction to Scooby Doo! for younger children, who might find the original cartoons a bit too scary! It brings a fun family film in the style of the Muppets, and will provide a gentle scare for little ones this Halloween.

Available now, currently at £7.99 on Amazon.

We received a disc to view for the purpose of this review.

Getting Creative with the Zoob Modelling Kit.

I always like toys that inspire imaginative and creative play.  So when Freddy received a Zoob Modelling Kit , I was keen to see what he would make of it (and with it!) 

Zoob is a children's construction toy that using ball and socket joints to create moveable and posable models.  There are five different shaped pieces which are colour coded, and which fit together in different ways to make a variety of different connections.  Children can use the pieces to construct designs as varied and as elaborate as their imagination and ability allows.  The pieces feel strong and sturdy.

The Zoob Modelling Kit comes in a sturdy storage bucket with a fitted lid containing 125 Zoob pieces and five instruction leaflets with differing ability levels.  The first leaflet explores the type of connections which can be made and introduces some simple models.  The leaflets get progressively more detailed, inspiring more complicated models.

Freddy was happy to get stuck straight in (still wearing his PE kit from Friday's last lesson of sports at school) and intuitively fitted pieces together, twisting the ball ends in the sockets and attaching them to each other.  True to form, Freddy constructed lots of laser guns, zapping guns and shooting guns!  But I was impressed to see how quickly he worked out how to angle the pieces to create his visions of space age weaponry.  He then went on to make robots, which he proceeded to shoot with his guns.  It may not have been the most PC activity, but he had great fun and was being very creative with his imaginary game.

I really like the articulation of the various joints which allows you to manipulate the pieces at varying angles. The modelling set is really versatile with the pieces able to snap together in 20 different ways.  You can make geometric shapes such as pyramids and cubes which is quite a therapeutic activity! There are so many combinations you can make as you explore the potential of the pieces, and they swivel in the joints with a satisfying clicking noise!

But the real fun comes in being creative.  There are ideas for fourteen creations from the simple twirling top to the Zoob Dude to the very intricate Zoob Rex dinosaur, all featured in the instruction leaflets.  You can go on to do unlimited creative building!

Some of the connections are trickier than others and need a steady hand.  However the basic connections are very simple, which means this set has great play longevity and will grow with your child.  At 4, Freddy was able to pop the joints together with ease, but over time he will be dexterous enough to make rotating hinges or multiple joint connections to create more complex models.

I had a go myself (as you do!) and made an articulated scorpion.  I was rather proud of myself even though it is only a level 2 creation.  Its legs and tail are all fully poseable. I will leave it up to Daddy to make the Zoob Rex which is the biggest and most complicated model in the instruction leaflet!

Overall, I really like Zoob.  It's not too fiddly or complicated at its basest level meaning Freddy played happily and independently and could successfully make models on his own.  It has the potential to grow with him as his dexterity and imagination further develops.  There are different Zoob sets available so you can add to your collection as they are all fully compatible.  It is very different to the other building block sets on the market, making it a unique addition to the toy box.  The pieces are quite chunky so even small hands are able to manipulate them and make good sized models with ease.  It's colourful and versatile and is very well made.  Little fingers can get pinched between the pieces as they click together if you are not careful (yes, it was me that got my skin pinched!!)

The 125 piece Zoob Modelling Kit costs £35 and is available at Aspace, where you can also find a whole host of fabulous quality products for kids, from toys to bedroom furniture.  Zoob is recommended for children aged 6 and up, but Freddy at 4 is loving it and plays with it every day.  It is a great idea for a Christmas present for creative boys and girls.

Do You Do Date Nights?

Ian and I have been married for over sixteen years and together as a couple for over twenty years.  Before getting together officially at 23, we were very close friends and had been boyfriend and girlfriend for a year when we were about fifteen.  So we have had a long relationship, spanning three decades!  We are clearly absolutely and undoubtedly meant to be together.

When we got together at 23, I had two children which meant that we weren't able to 'date' with any wild abandon, spontaneity or freedom, so we quickly fell into enjoying time together at home and as a family. We skipped the bit where you go out wining, dining, clubbing or socialising.  It just didn't happen.  And as we went on to have three more children, we simply have never had the freedom or motivation to revisit the whole date night thing.  If we ever had the opportunity to go out, I always feel guilty about leaving the older kids babysitting and rush back home feeling stressed.  I think I've become a date-ophobe!!

Now Freddy is at school I don't think I can use him as an excuse to not go out once in a while.  He isn't a baby anymore.  I need to look at myself and at my relationship and give me and Ian the chance to rediscover each other.  I want to dress up to impress him and present myself as a woman who wants to spend some quality time together with her man away from the routine and comfort of home and family.  We need to start dating and get into the habit of doing things for ourselves as a couple.  Enjoying each others' company as grown ups and not just spending the evening discussing the kids and wondering if they are coping without us (which of course they will be, because they are great kids who are very competent...so why do I worry so much?)

Our third child is due to fly the coop next year, embarking on a life as a university student.  In a blink of an eye, the two youngest will be making lives of their own, going out, socialising and not needing to be 'mummied' 24/7 anymore.  There will come a point when it is just me and Ian...for the first time ever in our relationship.  We need to start building the foundations for this time in our lives, or there is a distinct danger of me being one of those mums who suffers from empty nest syndrome so badly that she ends up stalking her children and camping out on their doorsteps just to feel fulfilled again.  I need to redefine myself as a woman and not just as a mother, although being a mother to my five wonderful children is the role that I am most proud of and will always be a role that I cherish.

I was recently approached by Head and Shoulders offering me an opportunity to talk to a life coach, receive some pampering products and go on a date.  I jumped at the chance!  It sounds like exactly the sort of thing I need to break my non-dating cycle.  I commit myself 100% to blog challenges and this would provide the impetus needed to get pampered, glammed up, cast off my mummy guilt and enjoy a date with the man I love.  It could be the start of something good!

So, watch this space, because a new confident woman ready to hit the town with her husband, is about to emerge.  I'm sure that taking part in this challenge will give my confidence as well as my relationship a great boost and set us off on a new and exciting phase of our life!

Celebrating Halloween on a Budget with Poundland

Yet again the shelves in Poundland are being turned over to the seasonal products celebrating Halloween.  A fantastic array of spooky goodies from tableware, fancy dress, decorations, confectionery and bakeware are available and all for the bargain price of just £1!  This makes it so easy to budget and keep tabs on how much you are spending, while ensuring you get everything you need to make your Halloween party frightfully good fun! 

We were challenged to see what we could buy with £20 and I was very impressed with our haul.  I love the BOOO! themed tableware that they have this year.  The spooky ghost can be found on cups, plates, napkins, tableclothes and bowls to set the scene for a fantastic Halloween party.  The bowls and plates come in packs of 20 which is excellent value for just a £1, and the cups come in a pack of 40.  Plenty to go round.  The black plastic cutlery set is a very useful addition to the party table and the novelty pumpkin straws are a lot of fun and come in packs of 8 in either orange or purple.

The BOOO! theme continues with the cupcake stand and cupcake decorating set.  These are some of my favourite items this year.  The stand is made of sturdy card and the decoration set includes cake cases and toppers to make some easy Halloween themed cupcakes.  The stand filled with cakes makes a real show stopper table decoration!

The jelly moulds that I picked up are absolutely genius.  There is a brain and a severed hand mould which will be used to make some scary jelly.  Kids love jelly...they will love a green Frankenstein's hand jelly and a pink brain jelly even more so!

The cookie cutter set is a great addition to the kitchen at Halloween, perfect for making biscuits or cutting out little sandwiches.  The set includes a church, a cat, a ghost, a bat, a pumpkin and a gravestone.  You could also use them to make fondant icing shapes to decorate a Halloween cake.

Spooky balloons are always a hit with kids and the pack of orange and black ones are great value at just £1 for 18. I resent paying more than that for something that is probably going to end up being popped by the end of the night.  Why pay more?!  They can really help make a room look the part when strung up in bunches.  Poundland have heaps of other ornaments, window stickers, lights, toys and decorations to transform your home into a haunted house.

The Inflatable Kids' Seat was a great find.  It's like a black rubber ring with a bottom decorated with skulls. It will give Freddy somewhere fun to sit while he watches some spooky cartoons on TV!

I love the Halloween costume accessories.  I bought a two pack of Masquerade masks.  They are handy to have for impromptu dressing up and are good to have at a Halloween party for the guests to wear if they aren't in fancy dress.  Masks add an element of mystery and intrigue and are perfect for Halloween.  Other fancy dress accessories include hats, tights, special effects make-up, plastic weapons, glow stick jewellery, wings, deeny boppers, false nails and eyelashes.

The confectionery range at Poundland represents superb choice and value.  With brands such as Swizzels Matlow, Maom, Fruitella, Chupa Chups and HARIBO you know you are getting good quality.  Other confectionery items include Voodoo Candy Charms, Gummy Eye Balls, Spooky Popping Candy and Skull Sucker Lollies. I loved the Flying Sorcerors in orange and black.  Perfect for Trick or Treaters.  Other top brands of snacks such as Oreo, Cadbury, Fruit Factory, Mr Kipling, Pom Bear and Walkers offer alternatives to sweets and are great fayre for a party.

Take a look online to see the full Halloween range available at Poundland:  www.poundland.co.uk.