There’s no fun like snow fun
If you’re a child that is. Personally, wet, cold, hands and feet do nothing for me but the lit up faces of my two happy little munchkins more than made up for it. This was Benjamin’s first time in the snow, as he was too young last time it snowed all those months ago.
Now for a little more snow so that we can actually a build a decent snowman. Our lacklustre attempt was destroyed by the little lady who apparently felt that kicking the snowman was preferable to showing our dismal efforts to her Daddy (photo below of their effort last February to show what I’m up against!).
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Sewing, a necessary life skill?
The last time I picked up a sewing needle was probably at Textile class at secondary school and back then when I most certainly was not having children, EVER, saw it as a bit of a doss lesson where I sat back in my chair and waited for the bell to ring. While other more accomplished classmates were whipping up dresses and skirts, I was attempting a tea cosy which was always destined to gather dust in the loft.
I now realise of course that I should have paid a little more attention in class. One careless exit from the car seat, by one over eager little lady, resulting in one small, but very obvious hole, in her pink ballerina tutu. I suspect that ballet classes may not go beyond this year and so my desire to be thrifty, won out against my lack of desire to sew.
Sewing needles and thread are such objects of rarity in this house, that I actually had to delve into my loft to find the tools require to fix the hole. Tools retrieved and to my astonishment I managed to not only thread the needle but remember to tie a knot in the thread so that it wouldn’t simply pass through the material and made a repair of sorts. Here are the results:
Spurred on by my sewing success, when a last minute shop for a tacky Christmas jumper resulted in an epic fail, I removed an image of Santa from my son’s toddler group Christmas party bag and sewed it onto an old red jumper:
This year I may, and I emphasise the word MAY, open the box containing Andy’s Nana’s old sewing machine which has been sat in my lounge for over 2 years….small steps.
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The question that all mothers dread
‘Where do babies come from?’ Except it was worse than that. My 4 year old, prompted by the fact that we had just driven past the hospital where she knows her little brother was born, asked ‘how do babies get in your tummy?’. No opportunity to talk about storks here. So I took a deep breath and debated whether to say, ask your father later but decided I, as her mother, should just take the plunge. A 4 year old does not require graphic detail and I felt pretty good about my explanation of a ‘special’ cuddle. I’ll save discussion around planting seeds for another day.
Just when I thought I was safe, she followed up with, ‘how do babies get out of your tummy?’. Eek, make that double eek! Since she exited through the sun roof and the little brother through the natural route, ably assisted by a pair of forceps, I felt that I couldn’t just offer one route and chose to go for through the cervix (she didn’t ask where that was) or through your tummy using a knife, to which she said ‘you must need a sharp knife for that.’ Thankfully we arrived at Hobbycraft before any further enquiries could be made. I think I may have some reading up to do before our next car journey and a mental note to self not to go past the hospital enroute to anywhere, unless there is an emergency that requires the services of the hospital.
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Happy New Year!
2012 ended on a high for one lucky lady, me! A pass out for the night to see Gary Barlow with some lovely girlies and a trip down memory lane from ‘A Million Love Songs’ to ‘Pray’ and ‘Back for Good’ that reminded me of my school days, to ‘Never Forget’ that brings me back to dancing in the clubs at Uni and ‘Greatest Day’, which is my baby girl’s song – what a night! I can’t wait to see what lies ahead for 2013.
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‘Tis the season to get cooking
This year I wanted to put my mark on Christmas and make as many homemade things as I could think of with the able assistance of the little lady. I left out fudge and didn’t leave myself sufficient time to make a Christmas cake this year so I have something to post about next year!
My homemade Christmas started with chutney and where best to start the search for a recipe than Netmums
Chutney – this sweet chutney in my opinion was the perfect accompaniment to our first course pâté dish on Christmas Day. The husband did not agree as it contained raisins but more for the rest of us!
Gingerbread biscuits – I had intended to make reindeer Gingerbread biscuits as I had seen in a post on Wokingham Gossip Girls but I could not find a gingerbread man cutter (you turn a gingerbread man upside down for the desired effect) for love or money and so resorted to star and heart cutouts with decorative icing. We made the biscuits a couple of weeks in advance and froze them but had I known that they were quite so easy to make, I suspect they would have tasted better fresh.
Peppermint creams – again we made these in advance (no requirement for freezing, just to be left in a sealed bag) and given their simplicity, I would definitely only make them a day or two early in future.
Christmas cupcakes – these were made using a simple fairy cake recipe and the icing was simply buttercream mixed with red/green food colouring for that extra festive feel.
Pavlova & Trifle – I was determined that we, or more to the point I, was going to make a Christmas dessert or two from scratch so I turned to the most reliable source Delia Smith for my pavlova. The pavlova was absolutely scrumptious and surprisingly easy to make. The trifle looked good, however it completely lacked flavour so I have uploaded a piccie but have omitted the recipe for this one. I was quick to admit the blandness of the flavour so as to avoid any awkward and less than truthful exclamations of how ‘delicious’ it was!
If you have any festive recipes that I could try for next year, please feel free to post your recipe/link below!
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I Did It Mummy 