Wordless Wednesday - I must go down to the Sea again, to the lonely Sea and the Sky

What did we do over Easter Half Term?

At the start of April I posted about What we want to do over Easter Half Term.

I posted a list of things and it is repeated here with what we managed to do in the bolder font!

•Create a time capsule (to be opened in the Summer)
•Go on a treasure hunt
•Go for a walk in the woods
•Go to a farm
•Go to an indoor play centre
•Go for a picnic
•Go to the local Manor House to walk round the gardens
•Go to see our local Shopping centres indoor display (its a Village Green this Easter)
•Stay over at Granny's (well Top Ender will)
•Have Granny over for Easter Sunday Lunch
•Lay the flooring in the clubhouse and make it bug proof (Top Enders request!)
•Make some net curtains for the windows of the clubhouse
•Make an Easter collage
•Sort out our toys and books to give to charity or the local women's shelter

I don't think we did too bad!

The Little Dish Review

I was contacted by Little Dish on Twitter and they asked if Top Ender and Baby Boy might be interested in trying some Little Dish meals. I managed to convince them that they wanted to send me lots of dishes so that I could get the playgroup Mums and children round for a taste test session after playgroup.

I don't think they thought me greedy as they sent me a cooler pack filled with meals (and crayons and balloons and little activity books) and so when the Mums came round after playgroup I threw the meals into the oven (and a cake) and carried on the chat where we found out a lot about each other.

All I am going to say about the chit chat is that its always the quiet ones, that I am proud to know these women and my list is now longer. I might talk about my list in a blog post one day... then again this is a family blog!

Back to the food.

We had several meals to try and there was enough that each of the children had a little bit of each meal and us Mum's could try some too. We had;

Salmon and Broccoli Pasta Bake
Chicken with Vegetables and Giant Couscous

Pasta Bolognese
Cottage Pie and
Chicken and Butternut Squash Pie

Luckily I have two ovens and so everything fitted in nicely. The smells coming from the oven whilst the food was cooking (for 15 minutes) were very tempting and even when the dishes were taken out of the oven I had to say I was impressed, the food didn't look like it was shop brought but looked like something that I would make in a fit of domesticity.

The Mums spooned some of each dish on to a plate for their child and then the fun began.

It was a mixed bag of reactions to the dishes with the Salmon and Broccoli Pasta Bake being identified by most of the children as the one they didn't want to eat (by spitting it out) and to be honest it did smell well fishy... yeah I know its a fish dish and it should be fishy but it was just too fishy! (although after everyone had gone home I ate the rest and found it to be really nice once the flavours had settled)

The Chicken with Vegetable and Giant Couscous was a success with one little one using it to decorate a drawing he had done whilst waiting for the food to be cooked! I have to say that Baby Boy did like this (which pleased me a lot as I was the only one in the house who liked couscous before this taste test!) and this is the one that we will be buying again for a treat for him!

The Pasta Bolognese was very nice and with Angus Beef Mince and five pureed vegetable it almost resembled one I would make (I hide more vegetables in mine!)  as was the Cottage Pie although the topping of sweet potato and parsnip was a little strange for a few of the little ones (I liked it!).

The last dish was the Chicken and Butternut Squash Pie which everyone liked Mums and children alike! I almost didn't get to taste this one as after the initial taste tests from the Children and Mums there was a queue to get seconds. Luckily I managed to nibble a little from Baby Boys plate and could agree that it was very scrummy!

All the Mums had a good look at the packaging and loved that it was so clear to read, there was no added Salt or Sugar, they are nutritionally balanced and have clear allergy information. When Top Ender came home she also loved that inside the sleeves were pictures to colour in and she loves the illustrations on the front especially the unicycling cow!

The range can be brought at Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury's and on Ocado.com and if you are looking for a healthy ready meal for your kids I would recommend these!

Wordless Wednesday - A Day out with Daddy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baby Boy Giggles - Copy Cat

Top Ender had the hiccups and after a few attempts of me trying to help her to lose them I gave up. I was a little tired and so lay back on the sofa and closed my eyes for a second, whilst Top Ender cuddled in.

A moment later and Daddy jumped beside me and screamed "BOO!" at Top Ender to try to get her to lose her hiccups. Of course she wasn't frightened but it did make me yell a rude word;

"Shit!" I screamed in fright suddenly waking up from a rather pleasant dream about certain TV Characters
"Did I frighten you?!" laughed Daddy
"Yes! I was asleep!" I answered, looking round to check if the children might of magically missed my swearing.

A few minutes passed.

"Daddy?" asked Baby Boy
"Yes Baby Boy?" answered Daddy
"Boo Baby Boy Daddy?" he asked
"Okay Baby Boy" answered Daddy going on to call out "Boo!"
"Shit Daddy!" giggled Baby Boy looking at me

Baby Boy Giggles - His Bedtime Routine

"Night night Baby Boy" I say as I kiss his Forehead and switch on the lullaby sheep
"Mummy?" asks Baby Boy
"Yes Baby Boy?" I answer brightly knowing whats to come
"Where's Top Ender?" he says
"In bed Sweetheart waiting for me to tuck her in!" I smile at him
"Where's Daddy?" he says
"At work Sweetie!" I say with my nose twitching as I smile again
"Top Ender with Daddy?" he questions
"No, Top Ender is in bed and Daddy is at work" I answer softly
"Daddy bed with Top Ender?" he puzzles
"No Daddy is at work" I answer again
"Love Top Ender and Daddy" he answers happily as settles into his pillow "Love Mummy" he says sleepily
"We love you too Baby Boy" I answer quietly as I leave "We love you too."

Baby Boy's New Bedroom

Its nearly Baby Boys Birthday. He will be two and as such I am going to have to stop treating him as a little Baby and start treating him like a little boy.

Look its my ickle baby!

The first step in this is by making his bedroom more suitable for a Boy than a Baby.

I started by putting Baby Boys name on his door.

I went to bed that night and lay on Daddy's side of the bed so that I could see Baby Boy's name on his door. I was so proud of this small action of mine and the reaction of Baby Boy when he first saw it and was told it was his name.

He looked at me and then at his name and then back at me and said;

"Mummy, ME!"

We also put up a photo frame from Ikea (its the one that looks like a strip of film) with some pictures of Ducks in (again they are from Ikea!) as he loves them. He shouts "DUCK!" at them and then giggles.

We put up a picture of a Leopard that his Nanny painted and gave him at Easter and a square blue pin board, which we are going to add postcards and other bits to as we go along. Lastly there is an old movie print from Finding Nemo on the back of his door which we have to say Goodnight to every night;

"Night Feesh!" Baby Boy says touching each fish in turn with a kissed finger
"The Fish say Night night and mwah to you too" I answer

I know that it is only a few small changes but its changes that mean that I am already able to see hidden underneath the Baby curls a little Boy... My Little Boy.

Wordless Wednesday - Ugly

If only it had been a Starbucks I could of used my favourite Simpson's Quote.

Baby Boy Giggles - Sometimes you have to learn for yourself

Yes it's a chilli that Baby Boy is eating, he wouldn't give it to us, so we let him try it.

He's a braver man than I!

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday is almost over. Frost is on the TV and the leftovers from the Roast Lamb that we enjoyed today are calling to me.

We have Easter Eggs coming out of ears and I have more bunches of flowers than I have vases for. In fact I have had to rescue a glass jar from the recycling box to put a beautiful bunch of Roses from my Mum in.

All the Grandparents have seen the Grandchildren today and have watched delighted as they have eaten some of the chocolate they have pressed upon them (because the children were oh so reluctant to eat yet another piece of chocolate) and the children are now in bed, dreaming happily of Bunnies and Grandparents who bring more chocolate than they have ever seen.

So please excuse me, but I am off to snuggle on the sofa (Yes in my slanket) with my beloved Husband and to be thankful that we got to share this together.

Happy Easter Everyone!

In honour of Nanna's Chocolate Bunny who is missing its bottom.

The 4am Project.

Last year 4am was a time that I was often awake. I would either be listening out for Baby Boy to wake up wanting milk, or actually giving him the required milk.

I am not sure how I first found out about the 4am project, but I do know that I left a comment on the blog saying that I was up for joining in. I mean I was going to be up anyway! Karen let me know that she was pleased to welcome me aboad.

You see her fascination with 4am came when she was driving at 4am and was just taken with the different view that she was getting. Without cars and people in the way you look at things differently.

So last year on the 3rd of April, I went to bed with my camera next to me. On the 4th April at 4am I was planning on wandering around the house taking various photos of either the children or what was outside.

But I kind of forgot to set an alarm.

And Baby Boy slept through the night.

This year however my alarm is already set!

What we want to do over Easter Half Term

Top Ender and I have been planning our Easter holiday schedule. We have decided that we want to do something different everyday, which is hard because with the British weather there is only so much that we can do!

We have decided however that we will;

• Create a time capsule (to be opened in the Summer)
• Go on a treasure hunt
• Go for a walk in the woods
• Go to a farm
• Go to an indoor play centre
• Go for a picnic
• Go to the local Manor House to walk round the gardens
• Go to see our local Shopping centres indoor display (its a Village Green this Easter)
• Stay over at Granny's (well Top Ender will)
• Have Granny over for Easter Sunday Lunch
• Lay the flooring in the clubhouse and make it bug proof (Top Enders request!)
• Make some net curtains for the windows of the clubhouse
• Make an Easter collage
• Sort out our toys and books to give to charity or the local women's shelter

We think that's enough to be going on with, but who knows what we will get up to!