Category Archives: All about me
It’s Christmas!
It’s been a little while since I visited my blog but it would seem in my absence, I have still had a steady stream of visitors, so thank you!
The build up to Christmas in the Popple household has been as busy as ever. Here is a pictorial summary of some of the things we have been up to:
Decorating the Christmas tree – for the first time, I let Ava (with a little help from Benjamin) put every single bauble on the Christmas tree. For the past five Christmases, I have rearranged Ava’s effort overnight.
Chutney Making for Ava’s teachers and Benjamin’s childminder
Salt Dough Decorations for the Christmas tree – the first time I have let anything homemade anywhere near the Christmas tree! Thanks to my sister-in-law for the salt dough recipe.
Homemade Santa Decoration – this one is for you Auntie Marcia – there maybe someone who sews in the family after all!
Homemade Snow Globe – this one is for my mother – there maybe a potential artist in the family!
Visiting the Coca Cola Truck in Reading
Watching the Annual Barnado’s Toy Run in Reading – Ava and I dropped a toy off beforehand for one of the bikers to take to Barnado’s.
Ava’s first Christmas Concert at school – much like her mother, she appeared to mime most of the words although has been proving she knew them around the house and out in public ever since!
Making our first Gingerbread House – a little cheat here – we didn’t actually make the Gingerbread House – got to leave something different to do next year!
Making my first Christmas Cake – thanks to my mother-in-law for the recipe. No thanks to my fluctuating oven, it actually tastes ok, after an epic 8 hour bake!
Our first Christmas Eve box with onesies. Not sure the kids will ever put on ‘normal’ clothes again.
Seeing ‘Santa’ aka the International Space Station. Thanks to Facebook, we knew to look out for this. Priceless.
‘I Did It Mummy’ fundraising for BIBS – https://www.justgiving.com/IDidItMummy
Pumpkin antics
This year I declared I would not be carving the Halloween pumpkins but expected that it would be an activity for Andy and the kids to enjoy together. Afterall, Andy has a little time on his hands, just at the moment.
Secretly, I had expected that in no way would he be able to beat my cat/bat effort of last year. I got a little worried when he started researching templates online and was very concerned when he had pin pricked the markings of Rapunzel into one pumpkin and a Minion into another. This turned to glee when he said he couldn’t finish them as he didn’t have the right carving tools. An unsuccessful trip to the supermarket and he had just about given up. So imagine my surprise, after going out for the afternoon, to come home and find two beautifully carved pumpkins. A hacksaw in his toolbox had come to the rescue…
And yes, I have to agree, they are better than mine. I can’t wait to see Andy’s pumpkins next year.
For my part, I promised that I would do something with the contents of the pumpkin…cue pumpkin muffins…
And no Halloween post would be complete without our little munchkins all dressed up…
‘I Did It Mummy’ fundraising for BIBS – https://www.justgiving.com/IDidItMummy
I’ve got nails
It’s been a pretty challenging few weeks so my blog has taken a back seat but you’ll be pleased to hear my nails haven’t! As I’m unable to play netball at the moment, I thought it was the perfect excuse to try out Gelish gel polish for the first time and here are the results:
And I loved the first set so much that when they started to chip, I had them done again!
This could easily turn into an addiction but I’d need to find a full time job to fund it so this will be the last set for a while…
Nails courtesy of ‘Be Perfectly Polished’.
‘I Did It Mummy’ fundraising for BIBS – https://www.justgiving.com/IDidItMummy
Roses are red
Last week Andy and I celebrated 10 years of matrimony. I bought him a chill out session for two at Nirvana Spa. He bought me 10 red roses in a tin can. Now to be fair to my husband, red roses are my favourite. In fact, the first time he bought me red roses was on my 21st birthday and we’d only been going out 6 days. He tells me that the traditional gift for 10 years is tin, hence the tin can.
You may remember last year’s post, in which I discovered that 10 years definitely means diamonds. Well, I have been generous enough to waive my right to diamonds this year, on account that the old boy needs a new hip. I just hope the pins they are putting in to hold it together are diamond encrusted!
In all seriousness, there is more to life than diamonds and as we enter our eleventh year of matrimony, I’m just glad to have Mr P alongside for the ride.
Here’s to the next 50 years, where tradition dictates diamonds, new hip or not!
On our wedding day!
And 10 years on…
‘I Did It Mummy’ fundraising for BIBS – https://www.justgiving.com/IDidItMummy
First School Shoes
Even now I still remember the excitement of the annual pilgrimage to Clarks for new school shoes, only to be left disappointed as my mother would never let me have a pair of patent leather shoes.
I gave Ava a choice for her first pair of school shoes and she opted to go for the non patent version. There are still a few extra bells and whistles that I didn’t have – I don’t remember there being fairies inside my shoes or flashing lights (with an on/off switch nonetheless). Do I still sound bitter?
‘I Did It Mummy’ fundraising for BIBS – https://www.justgiving.com/IDidItMummy
I Did It Mummy 