You will probably be amazed to learn that, despite my love of all things chocolate, I am a hardened fan of traditional Advent Calendars. Right from the childhood days, probably even before the chocolate Advent Calendar had been invented (did I mention I am now officially middle-aged?) I loved opening the window not for the gift but for the picture. Each seasonal symbol somehow made me feel a step closer to Christmas. And now that I have children … [Read more...]
Kick-start Christmas: how to make mince pies and an Amazon Giveaway
It's day of the Kick-Start Christmas Giveaway and I'm sitting watching Barbie The Nutcracker with The Girls. I can feel stirrings of something approximating Christmas spirit, despite the early hour. Which makes it the perfect time to tell you about today's Giveaway. It couldn't be simpler: I have a £25 Amazon voucher. No tricks, no plugging. Yours for a comment telling me what you'd buy with it. And if you are feeling generous, you might … [Read more...]
T for Thanksgiving Turkey
Although Thanksgiving is not a British holiday, we have American family. To help LBG and her Dimpled sister keep an association with them, we made some turkeys this week. It was clear autumn day and The Girls and I picked up some leaves from the garden, which put me in a mind of a turkey craft I had seen around the internet somewhere. I drew around each girl's foot onto the inner side of a carton of some kind, then cut them out. This would … [Read more...]
How I love Hotel Chocolat
There is nothing that I wouldn't do for Chocolate. Actually that's no longer true. Because once you've tasted the delights of Hotel Chocolat, over-the-counter chocolate no longer has power over you. And when the utterly divine baubles that caress your tongue and smooth the rough edges of your soul as they melt in your mouth come beautifully presented in a teeny pink mansion bursting with pink tissue paper, I promise you that you may … [Read more...]
Children in Need, Cupcakes and a sponsored scream
The Girls have once again vetoed my cunning plan to get a bit of peace and quiet in our very chatty household. It turns out that sponsoring and silence mean very little to three- and one-year-olds. They delighted me instead with what appears to be an un-sponsored scream-a-thon when I presented each of them with a pair of Blush Ears I bought in aid of Children in Need. Between the ears, and the scrumptious Pudsey Bear Cupcakes, it's going to … [Read more...]
How to deal with emotions in pre-schoolers
I have concerns for LBG. Not in a sinister way, but I see in her so much of myself. My mother and father are both in agreement that she is a carbon copy of the three-year-old that I was, which is wonderful and terrifying at the same time. For whilst I like the child that I was and the person that I am, the transition from one to the other was hideous. It was so hard to know how to be a girl amongst other girls, a teenager, filled with and … [Read more...]
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place: and in the sky The larks still bravely singing fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead: Short days ago, We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved: and now we lie In Flanders fields! Take up our quarrel with the foe To you, from failing hands, we throw The torch: be yours to hold it high If ye break faith with us … [Read more...]
