How this mummy does christmas day

Growing up as a child I loved Christmas time at home. My mum and dad would have the decorations up and we’d look forward to dinner all together and this is what I wanted for my ninja too. So when Christmas eve arrived, this year, we had a visit from Elf on the shelf who left the Christmas eve box complete with new PJ’s ready to ‘settle’ down for the evening (yeah right). The ninja was far too wired this year and proceeded to wake up every 2 hours from around 12.30am. The first time wasn’t too bad as us adults were only just going to bed however this did make it a tad difficult for Santa to make an appearance! By the second time obviously Santa had been making it very difficult for the ninja to even contemplate going back to bed (Grrrrrr..mummy gets grumpy when tired). So now we are onto the third time of waking up and apparently, Elf was watching her out of the window (she was freaking out at this point) which made dad get up to check and sure enough there was a clear silhouette on her blind of an Elf’s hat and head!!!! But this turned out to be not so sinister at all…the little monkey had opened two of her presents and the wrapping paper had lodged itself near the lamp cleverly creating the elf like shape on the blind! DOH!!!!! Ha ha. So, after convincing the ninja that Elf wasn’t out to kill her (this girl has a crazy imagination) she managed to sleep a little more before jumping on us with both of her stockings ready to open them before heading downstairs.

We all get up together as a little family, let out the doggies grab our drink of choice (coffee, coffee, coffee… and no that’s not one for each of us! That just me getting excited about coffee), head to the living room to dive into the pile of pressies.

 

As parents, we tend to watch the ninja open hers first as it’s just so rewarding watching your own child’s face light up when they receive the gifts they’ve asked Santa for but not only that, she is so grateful of EVERYTHING! At this point breakfast is already in the oven in the form of cheese and bacon palmier’s which were prepped the day before as they are sooooooo easy.

Then it’s time for parents presents which is interesting for me as I seem to get so much more excited with the ‘boring’ stuff (I got new pans which I had seen on the TV and got super excited about but was not expecting at all which will be blogged about separately getting the recognition they deserve!) causing me to think I’m losing the plot or just getting old. LOL so after all the excitement I fall asleep and I haven’t even had lunch yet but you should never regret a nana nap. It was then time to start lunch, most of which was prepped so it didn’t take too much effort so in the meantime I cleared a footpath from toys, pressies and boxes and even had time to make chocolate coins with the new coin maker (one of the ninjas pressies).

Lunch was amazing, doing the pots was not then it was time to do Lego yeah!!!!! (sarcastically)

then finally a sit down with a glass of the bubbly stuff and boy did I let it tickle my nose. Then much to my surprise it was actually Lego time so I there I sat constructing what can only be described as the titanic for marine biology of the Lego world and when I was asked ‘mummy do you need some help?’ I quite simply answered, ‘no thanks I’m fine’ (in other words leave me alone I’m doing it!) then once I had completed my master piece it was time to go visit friends which was very chilled and relaxed before heading back home to the hilarious game of Jibber Jabber with neighbours. For those who are not aware, Jibber Jabber is one of those versions of the game where you stick a funny shaped mouth piece in your gob and try to say specific things from the cards provided. If you ever need giggles, then this game is the way forward and the perfect end to a great Christmas day hopefully with everything else making the memories for the ninja so she can take them forward for years to come.

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas too.

Big hugs to all and to all a goodnight. xxxxx

Brow Troubles

Benefit brow kit

Hello to all of you who struggle with ‘creating’ eyebrows in this day and age of eyebrow perfection. Being a 30 something female it has been difficult keeping up with the times of what classes as societies acceptance of a good brow! LOL. I myself, do not have the steadiest of hands and have often left the house with what can only be described as overcooked caterpillars of the largest variety……orrrrrr……… not had the energy to battle the little buggers and decided to just leave them (OMG what a fool) as they are. The latter, if venturing out of the house, is not always an option due to the taming of my brows as they tend to grow uncontrollably as individual strands of thick face hair and just look like the sticking on of spider’s legs and not small spiders but the biggest of big spiders that whizz across your living room floor when they think you are not looking because it’s raining outside!!!!!!! Grrrrrr!!!!!!

So, what to do in this situation? Well I may have found a solution to help and no this does not include shaving your brows off and drawing them back on! (I would never advise the shaving of eyebrows which was seen far too many times at school from the boys thinking they were cool or funny). This is simply NOT an option so put down that razor and sharpie

and instead reach for Benefits Bigger and Bolder Brows. This set comes with all the essentials needed in order to ‘create’ a great brow (remember brows are not perfect, sisters not twins) and it is easy! Yes easy! The stencil and holder are the perfect aid to get a good shape and you have a choice of four shapes to choose from. The transparent plastic means you can keep both eyes open when outlining the brow which is an absolute must so you can see exactly what you are doing. The Ka-Brow is the small circular pot of make-up which is used to draw on the brows which comes with a brush in the lid which can be re-attached upside-down to make the handle longer and easier to use and for me with my big ‘ole man hands, its great! Next comes the High Brow product which is used just under the arch of the brows to open them up slightly and give them a glow. Then the last thing to do it to gloss over the brows with the Ready, Set, Brow product which is almost like an eyebrow glue/setting product (awesome for the spider’s legs) which sets the brows exactly where you want them and it lasts!

My overall verdict on this product is OMG it’s amazing! The price of it is £28.50  (https://www.benefitcosmetics.com/uk/en-gb/product/bigger-bolder-brows-kit) which is a little steep however considering all of the products you get in this gift tin it’s an absolute steal! Well worth the investment and it will last so long as you don’t need to overuse the products. You will soon master the art of a good brow shape with ease which can shave hours off your getting ready time (instead of the brows) and when you have breakfast duties, workouts and the school runs before work it’s an absolute must if your eyebrows are a big part of your facial routine.

Good luck to any of you lovelies giving this a try.

Thanks for reading xxxx

Run up to Christmas

Hello to all lovelies,

Welcome to the run up to Christmas my lovelies. It's been an awesome start so far spent with family and friends and I've loved it! This is by far my favourite holiday as I just love winding up those who hate it (including dancing around the living room with my ninja with Castanets singing our own versions of jingle bells)! Sounds bloody awesome! So I have visited the theatre with my friends to the musical version of 'The Commitments'  and Matthew Bournes ‘The Red Shoes’ and we loved it! The festivities have also included putting up the tree and decorations and on the same day of trying to make some rice krispie green Christmas tree treats

that turned to absolute mush due to the ingredients of the food colouring not mixing well with the melted white chocolate….boooooo.

However, enter super mum who has the ability to ‘wing it’ in most unfortunate situations who took the green playdough like substance moulded it into cone like shapes and left them to set. Ta Daaaaa!!!!!!

               Within an hour, they were ready to decorate

into cute little ‘Christmas trees’ with all the cute things I had purchased in the first place which the ninja was so looking forward to. Didn’t taste bad either, he he.

This is such a fun time of year to decorate the house with family and there are always certain moments that just melt my heart especially when it comes to the memories of Christmas past in which the ninja is so grown up about. She is like a miniature adult with her attitude towards situations and life in general (more about how to deal living with a mini adult in later blog posts). So back to Christmas and to make sure I enjoy it even more, I try to make sure I am organised with my gifts and wrapping as I tend to have many reunions with friends I haven’t seen in the run up to Christmas which is always so lovely. Also dressing up in the most annoying Christmas outfits ever is also the best fun especially when it has bells on!

So now my house is all decorated up looking extremely festive and very ready for the party season so now I can sit and relax more on an evening in the twinkle of my Christmas tree lights snuggled up and drinking hot chocolate.

Hope you are all ready for the party season.

Thanks for reading.

Happy holidays xxxx

Going back to work

Going back to work

Hello all,

So I thought it would be a ‘fun’ idea to talk about how hard it is going back to work after having become a mummy. I remember spending such lovely (but tiring, absolutely tear jerking) time at home for the first six months after giving birth to my scrunchy nosed little ninja (princess at this point.)  I had originally planned to take at least nine months off but was offered a kind of gradual ease in back to work after six months which worked really well for me. After six months I was quite nervous about returning to work as I knew things would have changed slightly and I would have to get used to the new things even though the old things suited me just fine! So the weekend arrives before the first day back (which is the following Monday) and I start to get that butterfly feeling and not because I’m nervous, no, I’m actually excited, yes truly excited at the thought that I might be able to crawl under my desk and have a nap! This is one of those things you should never feel guilty for if you’ve had children as they tend to suck the ability to eat and sleep in a regular pattern right out of you.

By this point I’m a strong woman who can absolutely handle going back to work, I’ve had some lovely quality time with my gorgeous baby who is now six months old (teething, mardy wanting to eat the spoon her food is fed on and the most fidgety ‘I just want to be into everything’ little human being). I get to the point where I’m ready to drop her off at the nursery she will be spending every

day without me in the week (I’m fine I’m really fine!) and I’m talking to her and we are giggling and I take her in where I have already met the lovely staff that work there and…..I freeze….nope…I can’t do it! I can’t leave my little girl with these strangers! I can’t just walk away from this little bundle of joy I have nursed every day for the last six months (not to mention carried the previous nine months). So I have a complete break down there and then and I remember saying to myself how the hell am I going to cope without her. She on the other hand was fine still giggling away at her daft mummy who’s make up was now streaky for her first day back at work. The staff there were absolutely brilliant and reassured me that she is fine and also spoke to me about not having any worries but it is always harder for the parents than the children, yep not bloody kidding. So I get myself together, touch up my streaky face and leave her with these lovely ladies and head to work for the first time in over six months.

I’m doing ok making my way and I’ve managed to stop the tears thinking I will be seeing her in a few hours, they have my number she’s fine and I’m going to have lots to do to keep me busy. Then driving around, a corner I hit half a brick in the middle of the road and I get a flat tyre!!! As if! But by this point I’m so determined to get to work I set about ‘fixing’ this myself which I have seen my hubby do a few times. How hard can it be? Well it was a challenge but I only went and did it! Yep I actually changed my first flat tyre and with no help, in work attire making me a little late, but I did not care ‘cos I changed a tyre! Ha ha! So I turned up to work looking like I had been dipped in an oil bucket but with make-up still intact set about my day knowing if I can get through leaving my little girl, I can get through ANYTHING!

Thanks for reading my absolute lovelies.

Big hugz

xxxx

Trip to London

Its Meeee!

Hello lovlies,

So this week involved me taking a trip to London to do something for myself. I’ve recently been looking into photography and thought it would make a nice change to tag along with the one and only Jodie Porteous aka @justjodess to an event she was attending to take pics of her to build up my photography skills. I was blessed with a DLSR for my latest birthday and I have to say it has been amazing to work with and I am learning so much just by shooting different things.

Before heading off I had to break the news to the Ninja who was most displeased with my leaving her as I think she thinks I may not return! How could I not, that girl is my world as is my precious hubby. So, when she says ‘mummy I really don’t want you to go’ I have to kindly explain that sometimes mummy has to do things for herself and it’s only for one night and you have to help look after dad (seriously LOL), she immediately knows nothing is going to change but she has to now look at the situation differently. She has always been very clingy but I do believe the one thing that helped when she was very young was that I wasn’t scared to leave her with my mum or friends or childcare if I had work or plans. Well actually, if truth be told I was absolutely petrified! (To be discussed in another blog post). I know it can be hard to let go as a mummy and leave our children especially going back to work after a long time off and bonding with them, but for me it made being a mummy so much easier as I could still earn a living, make time for myself and miss her like crazy making my time spent with her so much more precious. (I can go into more detail about this in future if people are interested).

Anyway back to ‘London baby’ (classic Friends reference as this is something I use to keep up the spirits at times as I was around before the endless repeats on Comedy Central), so I experienced many firsts on this particular trip, like taking a stroll down Saville Row onto Old Bond Street   which OMG was absolutely amazing!!!! One, it was just sooooo pretty and two it was full of all the ‘posh shops’ which I glided past with my ‘I just don’t have time today attitude!’ Another first for me, was

dining at The Riding House Café taking in an amazing Chicken and Haloumi Salad and Racer smoothie then hit a little shop called Stradivarious. Not heard of this particular shop but ‘twas divine and the price was also surprisingly cute. I also took a sneaky peak in new look which one of my faves and bought me a little shirt dress which I’m loving right now as you can dress them up or down and are so comfy. Plus they had a 25% discount going on for selected items which make the purchase an even happier one. The next stop was a recommendation from Jodes which was Kikki.K near Covent Garden and OMG what an absolute gem of a shop. It is full of stationary which has such a positive vibe with cute quotes and sayings which can help make the day a little brighter. (It was my absolute favourite!)

However in the evening which held the most exciting element for me as I was to try out my new little hobby of photography snapping away all night for @justjodess  at an Ibis late event (this hotel was lovely and offered a pleasant stay and other than almost losing my beauty blender down the loo and panicking so much I nearly slipped in the bathroom it was great) listening to some wicked new music acts. I never really thought of doing anything other than teaching dance (my present job) as I’ve never actually had the confidence to try anything new but now I have gained a new approach to different aspects of my life and I now realise that in order to be happier I have to do the things I want to do rather than just wish.

Thanks then for taking the time to read

Big hugz

xxxx

Intro to the Whirlwind

Mummy knows best… right?

Mummy, mum, mother, ma, mam, mammy, whatever you decide to use to refer to the delightful lady who brought you into the world, I grew up thinking my mum knew everything and I believe this more now that I, myself am a mummy as I try to teach my child the way of this new unimpressive/impressive technology driven world. My daughter is now of the ‘beautiful non back chatting’ age of 7 (yeah right) and will refer to her as Ninja (since when I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up was exactly that!). This girl is so creative we can fill our days acting out characters from films and books or I will often catch her riding her rocking horse wearing which ever hat is fitting for her character at the time, play sword stuffed in a belt she has found in the wardrobe, pirate vest or ninja suit donned to the max, with a look that screams this is who I am right now and you will not judge me! This little human being turned my world upside down and sideways when she came along (totally planned) and I knew it was going to be hard but all the planning in the world from the most organised female on the planet was not going to prepare me for the storm that was about to rule my life! I couldn’t wait!

I often refer to the ninja as my little whirlwind as she always has me on my toes from when she was young and clung to me for cuddles or feeds to ‘mum what’s for tea’ and five seconds later ‘is it ready yet’ and with a full time job, being a mum can definitely feel like time is limited. However I am very blessed to have the most loving husband and support both at home and work and yet sometimes I can still feel like the world is caving in on me. So how do I cope with this? The truth is I haven’t in the past however my family became so important to me that I had to figure it out, even though life continued to be ‘thrown’ at me.

My latest challenge I am throwing punches at includes a diagnosis of the ever so delightful fibromyalgia (something I will explain more about in upcoming blog posts if people are interested) and being a dance teacher this has just about taken over…nope nope nope! Not taken over as I just won’t let it, but having this diagnosis, finally after suffering for many years with the symptoms I am now able to grab it by the fibros, take it for a walk down to the river, toss it in and have it come bite me only if I allow my feet to get wet which does happen sometimes, after all I am only human. It is my little whirlwind that I can rely on to take me away from the negative side of life and immerse me in a (wish I could say fairy tale but she would not be pleased with any princess reference linked to her) world of ‘pure imagination’ (she loves Charlie and the Chocolate factory) taking on new characters, making up songs playing and creating our own games and not being afraid to look silly,  building our confidence ready for life’s scenarios and making memories to cherish for ever.