BritMums Xmas Meetup.

The lady sat patiently waiting in the window of the coffee shop on Borough High Street. The smell of coffee washed over her as she observed all the busy people going about their business. She found herself wondering how she had got to this point in her life, usually even leaving the safety of her home town caused palpitations and hot sweats but her she was in the centre of London drinking coffee and waiting.

She hadn't always been this nervous and as a youngster had even flown to Marbella on her own and travelled up and down to Devon almost every weekend without giving it a second thought. Having kids had changed her and she visibly noticed how suddenly the world didn't feel as safe when you were responsible for 2 little human beings.

She looked at her watch 9.27am, just a bit longer and it would be time to go.........................

30 minutes had past and she took a deep breath whilst standing about to venture outside into the cold air. This was it, it was time, butterflies flitted about in her tummy. Then......................................................A face.........................A smiling happy to see her kind of face appeared....................A pair of arms flung themselves round her and all the nerves drained away. She smiled a knowing smile, she had done it and she was so glad she had.

Once inside the building more hugging and smiles filled the room as friends remembered each others faces. Today was the 25th November and it was time for the BritMums Xmas meet up, a whole morning of laughing, eating, drinking with the nicest people in the world...........................................



Thank you to Morrisons for providing the yummiest food for all of us and thank you to the BritMums for arranging it all.

I am linking this post up with the lovely Jaime over at......

Silent Sunday

Silent Sunday 24.11.13

 

Lakeland Chocoholic Hamper - Review

My regular readers will know that if there is one thing in life (apart from my family of course) that I love beyond all reasonable doubt it is............................CHOCOLATE.

There is just something so comforting about it and quite frankly I cant get enough. So, when the lovely people at Lakeland asked me if I would like to review their Chocoholics Hamper I jumped at the chance.

The hamper arrived the very next day and when I opened the parcel their was another surprise....................The most beautifully gift wrapped box I had ever seen, I carefully peeled away the purple paper to reveal the outer wrapping which not only looked great but gave you a list of all the contents.

Then..................................The Hamper itself, and what a hamper it was. A stunning wicker basket with gorgeous little buckles keeping everything safe inside.

I  opened the basket and peeked inside, I actually think I did a little sigh as I took in all that was there.

Obviously for research purposes I had to try everything and what fun I had doing so. The fudge was out of this world creamy and covered in dark chocolate, the cookies were perfectly tiny little bits of heaven, the vanilla and chocolate tea bags tasted so unusual and were totally scrummy and as for the chocolate sauce...................Well, what can I say except yum!

Not wanting to be unreasonable I decided to let the kids and Hubby have a little taste of everything else. The square block of chocolate didn't last 2 minutes and neither did the chocolate fudge stir in chunk. There were sounds of "mmmmm" as mostly everything was devoured or at least tried. I haven't tried the chocolate coffee yet and am saving it for the weekend to have with the luxury steamed puddings after dinner.

Overall a fantastic gift for anyone young or old, and if you want to add that finishing touch then I would thoroughly recommend their fabulous gift wrapping service which comes as a separate service at a small cost of £3.99. I loved the hamper so much that I immediately went over to their brilliant website and ordered 4 different hampers for friends and relatives for Christmas.

Thank you so much Lakeland for giving me the opportunity to review such a wonderful product.

Christmas Bucket List

As we well and truly wave goodbye to summer and welcome with heavy hearts the darker months known as Winter I look back with fondness at my Summer Bucket List Challenge and how well we did trying to complete it. I would say I managed about 90% of it which I think is fab.

This got me thinking.....................Why not write a Christmas Holiday one too. I know its only 2 weeks but why not set myself a few more challenges with the family. I am not ashamed to say that.........................I am a Christmas Nut Job................................I actually think I was Mrs Claus in a previous life and love every single minute of it. As soon as Bonfire night is done..............................I am in full Christmas mode.

Having kids aged 16 and 12 (almost 13) I find myself living in those strange times where they look at me slightly worried that I have lost the plot. There is much eye rolling as I blast out the tunes of Michael Bubles Greatest Xmas Hits and sing along at the top of my voice, many sideways glances as I make the dog wear Reindeer Antlers and lots of "Oh God Not This Again" when I put on White Christmas for the hundredth time.

I will not let them deter me and am determined to reignite their Christmas spirit even if it kills me doing it. So, without further ado...................Here is my Christmas Bucket List.

1. Go up to London to see the Christmas lights - Even though we are only an hour away by train this is something we have never done.

2. Have a movie day where we watch as many Christmas movies as we can fit in a day. Toast marshmallows (on our new fire), eat pop corn and drink copious amounts of hot chocolate ...................................Not to self :- Buy sick bags.

3. Get them to buy or make each other a gift.............The Female Teen will possibly attempt to make something but The Male will undoubtedly buy something to avoid looking like a "girl".

4. Attempt to make a Gingerbread house......With or without the kids and without swearing.

5. Buy a small real tree and let the kids decorate it exactly as they want......................You will notice I said "small".........................There is no way I would let them loose on my big tree.

6. Make a whole batch of cookies then leave little bundles of them on the doorsteps of friends and neighbours with a tag that says "Love from Santa". I will obviously tell the grownups to avoid anyone calling the police.

7. Ditch the kids, and take Mr DG out for a Fish and Chips then movie date night. (When I say "Ditch" I mean leave them at Grandmas................Not actually abandon them.)

8. Attempt to diffuse any Teen vs Tween arguments by singing "We wish you a merry Christmas" as loud as I can..............................................................This may go wrong when they gang up and turn on me.

9. On the small chance that it snows during the holidays and not on the first day back to school............................................Make a replica family of snowmen to look like us...........Just thought..................Its going to have to snow a lot if they want to recreate myself and Mr DG.

10. Attempt to get cards, gifts and decorating done before they break up so that I can give myself a chance of completing the above list.

Happy Holidays everyone.

xxxxx

I'm linking this post up with the lovely .......

My Top 10 Books

Summer time seemed to go so quickly this year, one minute I was in shorts and flip flops and next I'm in thick jumpers and welly boots. This summer was quite different to others as my kids who are now much older were never in and I found myself either running them around or waiting to run them around. With all this spare time on my hands I decided to make the most of it and set myself the challenge of reading as many books as I could.

I am proud to say that I read a total of 10 books and thought it would be only fair to share them with you. I haven't given anything away with the story just in case you are reading any of them or plan to. I have also put them in reverse order from good to amazing.

10. Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella.

I am a huge fan of Sophie but was a bit disappointed with this book. It kind of never got going and I found myself wishing I could just get to the end.


9. Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas .
My Mum gave me this one to read and said it was brilliant. It started out quite well but I guessed the spoiler quite quickly resulting in me ruining it for myself. It was a lovely story and I could imagine it being made into a film. Worth a read on a cold and rainy day.


8. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia.
The Teenager had raved about the film so I was excited to read the book. I do love Young Adult fiction sometimes and found I was not disappointed with this at all. A little bit Twilighty in some places but then again I loved those books. There are more in the series so might give them a go this winter.

7. The Buddha In The Attic by Julie Otsuka.
I joined the Brit Mums book club and this was the book we were kindly sent. It was a small book but packed the most powerful punch. I cried in several places and was totally moved by the beautiful was the story was told.


6. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown.
After reading the Da Vinci Code last year I was really looking forward to this book and I wasn't disappointed. What a great and exciting story, at times I felt I was actually in the book with Robert Langdon in Rome. An amazing read.


5. A Place Called Here by Cecelia Ahern.
Cecelia Ahern is one of my all time favourite authors, I love the way her stories have a slight magical twist to them A place called here was such a fantastic book about a place where all  lost things end up (even socks). I smiled throughout reading this and felt a total sense of satisfaction at the end. Brilliant.


4. The Host by Stephenie Meyer.
I loved the Twilight Saga and was super excited to read something so different from Stephenie. A brilliant read with lots of twists along the way, the film came out this year too and I have to say that although it was really good it wasn't as good as the book. The Tween is reading it now and cant put it down so it must be good if he's reading.

3. I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella.
Fantastic book that had me laughing out loud, in a way that only Sophie can write I loved every minute of this story and was quite sad when I had finished it. Get your Tena Ladies on before you start this book.


2. The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson
I have never read any of Dorothy's books before but had been recommended them by a good friend. I could not put this book down and found I was actually holding my breath several times. If you love a suspense thriller kind of story then this is for you. Fantastic.


1. Rose Petal Beach by Dorothy Koomson
After just finishing The Ice Cream Girls I couldn't believe my luck when I found a new one by the same author. This is my favourite book of the year and that is why it deserves this place at the top of my chart. I cannot even begin to explain how brilliant the story was and without giving anything away I did not see the ending coming (and I usually do). I screamed out loud when the final crescendo emerged causing my dog to leap from the sofa. All I can say is......Hurry up Dorothy and write another blockbuster of a book. Fantastic, captivating, sad, happy and everything in between.

So, there we go. My Top 10 books list............................................What a joy it was to read so many good books this Summer. I have joined the Good Reads community which is really great as it gives you lots of recommendations as well as reviews by other avid readers.

Happy Reading Folks
Love
Me
xxx

Whats The Story - The Lock Bridge

Just One Wish

This photo was taken on our magical trip to Paris last month. The Teenager had watched a film recently that had shown a bridge where you could attach a padlock and throw the key over the side into the River Seine making an everlasting wish of love as you do it.

We had no plans to do this and had almost forgotten all about it until by pure accident we stumbled across the bridge on our way back from the Louvre Gallery. The Teenager squealed with delight and luckily you could buy little locks just along the path that ran along the river.

With the padlock secured onto the bridge we all held the key and shut our eyes as our wish was made. Then.........................."Splash" the little key went into the river. It was quite a poignant moment and the four of us all watched the ripples disappear along with our key and wish.

I looked along the bridge only to notice many lone people all looking longingly into the water, what were they wishing for I wondered....................I guess we will never know.



I'm linking up with the gorgeous Charly over at PODcastdove.com. Her What's The Story linky is one of the best ones out there and gives me a chance to show off a photo new or old that has a story attached to it.

Silent Sunday

Silent Sunday 17.11.13

 

 

 

Paris in 1 day.

Yesterday seems like a blur and I still hadn't for filled my dream of sitting by the Seine sipping coffee whilst watching the world go by...................................................

Today was unfortunately going to be no different...

Rather than bore you all with the whole days events, I am going to show you by the power of photos. Please remember these points............................

1.Mr DG is 6ft 5ins and I am only 5ft 4ins.....................This results in him having a huge stride and I kind of have to trot along side him to keep up. The kids are very tall too so walking anywhere usually involves me lagging behind.

2. Mr DG does NOT do slow mooching around and prefers to march everywhere.

3. It is quite possible I may shove the map up his arse in about 20 minutes.

So, without further ado here is our 3rd day in Paris.......................................All of the below sights were seen in a space of 9 hours.

Off we go...............................Lots of walking.....................Ahhhhh look we are holding hands...............Pass the bucket.

 

There it is.................Why isn't it getting any bigger................................Wow.



 

 

A walk along the Seine...............................Nobody waved at me......................Still no coffee and a sit down. 

The Arc de Triomphe was gorgeous but very busy.......................A quick march down the Champs Elysees (think he was avoiding the shops).
 

 

 

A quick sit down while we put plasters on blisters.........................And we're off again......................Through the arches and.....................................Yippee..................The Louvre....................No chance of getting in though...................31/2 hour wait...............Sorry Mona Lisa, maybe next time. 

 

 



The very famous Lock Bridge at Pont des Arts.........................Thousands of locks attached to the bridge to symbolise love.........................We even did our own....................Although The Whirlwind almost dropped the key before we had time to make a wish. 

 

 

 

Finally after braving The Metro once more we ended up here.........................Jardin de Luxembourg...............................The most peaceful place ever. 

 

The problem now was................................We had to walk another 20 minutes back to our hotel where we all had a soak in the bath (not together) and collapsed into bed.

 

So there we are folks, what seemed like a nightmare of a trip on Monday morning after the big storm actually turned out to be a wonderful family holiday that we all loved. Yes we lost a whole day but it certainly didn't stop us from doing as much as we could. We cant wait to go back again and would thoroughly recommend going for a short break there................................My only advice...........................Wear really comfy shoes and plenty of plasters.

Hope you have all enjoyed my holiday blog

Lots of Love
Me
xxxx



P.S............................Look what I found

Silent Sunday

Silent Sunday 10.11.13

Day 2.........Hello Paris.

After yesterdays little adventure I was hoping for a more relaxing kind of day..................WRONG!!!!

Mr DG had arranged a tiny trip to Disney Land...............................................The kids were beside themselves with excitement and cries of "I'm going on Thunder Mountain" and "I want my picture taken with Cinderella" rang out in our room. Honestly, you wouldn't think they are 16 and 12 would you.

With a spring in their step and a "la la la la la laaaaaa" (Disney Princess style) we were off. I was under the impression that we might just get magicked there but .............................Oh No...............................We were going on the Metro................................................................Mr DG was refusing to use a taxi (after our New York experience) and had instead purchased a week long Metro pass that would take us anywhere in Zones 1-5. I wont bore you with the ins and outs of the French underground but I will say that it was the most confusing, crowded, smelliest and dangerous thing I have ever encountered in my life. I held on to the kids as people jumped on and off at various moments narrowingly missing being garroted in the train doors and clasped the nearest handrail to stop myself falling over.

Once at Disney Land all thoughts of the Metro were forgotten and we were transported into the land where dreams are made..................................Or...............................Queues are formed.................And My God there were some queues let me tell you. Luckily the weather was beautiful so Mr DG and I spent most of the day holding coats and bags while the kids went on the rides which to be fair was great as I got to undertake in my favourite past time....People Watching.





One particular family grabbed my attention when I heard the Mum exclaim that her crown kept coming off on the rides, as I turned round I was greeted by the sight of a whole family dressed as Disney characters..................................I'm not even joking............................Dad was Aladdin, Mum was Cinderella, kids were Belle, Jasmine and a Wizard. Even the grandparents were dressed with Mickey and Minne ears and fleeces on. I stared for what seemed like an eternity before realising that they were staring at me staring at them. I smiled a kind of "Holy Crap" kind of smile and the Mother winked at me before telling me how they were all Disney Fans and they come every year hoping to get pictures and autographs with every character they can. The kids unfortunately looked like they wanted the ground to open up and swallow them as Mum and Dad suddenly squealed with delight as Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore and Piglet appeared, they ran off barging people out the way whilst screaming at the poor kids to get a move on.

After what seemed like an eternity waiting for our kids to complete Thunder Mountain we ventured on to the Small Small World ride, for those that don't know about it let me break it down for you..........................Boat Ride............Lots of mechanical dolls dressed up in various national costumes from all countries singing 
and
dancing
....................................................and very psychedelic scenery..................................Annoying song that stays in your head all day. The Whirlwind not only shocked me but to be fair summed it up by saying "Oh my god...............................This is what being stoned must feel like" I nearly fell out of the boat and worried for the rest of the day how he knew what "Stoned" meant.

The day sped past and before we knew it we were all Disneyed out and back on the train. Not sure if a day is worse or better than going for 4 days as we did last time but definitely worth a visit if you are in Paris.

As we collapsed onto our beds exhausted The Teenager said she couldn't wait for a relaxing day tomorrow looking at all the sights...........................Little did she know what was going to happen.............................................................................

More Soon

Love
Me. x

The A-Z Of Me

I have been tagged by the rather lovely and very clever Suzanne from 3 Children & It to complete this little task. The idea is to share a little more information with you all that you may not be aware of. I love doing these so was fully up for it when tagged.

A - Abba - I am a huge fan of this group, always have been and always will. I even have the Sing star game for the Wii............Unfortunately the Tween and Teen do not share my enthusiasm and regularly leave the room when I'm in full Agnetha mode.

B - Boredom -  I'm not sure if its an only child thing but I get bored so easily, Its not an attractive thing to possess and can be seen as a little spoilt.

C - Cabbage - I hate this stuff, the smell, the colour and the taste of it sends me into a spin. Mr DG loves the stuff and only gets it when he goes to his Mums......Altogether now....Ahhhhhh!!

D - Donkey - I once adopted a donkey called Ned. This was some time ago and poor old Ned died at the ripe old age of 42.

E - East Enders - Hate it, depressing, dull and boring.

F - Flumps - You know, the marshmallow kind........Oooooo..............I just love em.

G - Ghosts - Totally believe in them and have seen one too.....Spooookkkkyyyyy.

H - Home - I love my home so much its like an extension of my family. I look at it as a place that keeps us all safe.

I - Ice Age - Is my favourite film ever and I do a mean Sid the Sloth impression.........If you ask me at the next BritMums Live I will show you.

J - Jaffa Cakes - I can fit 4 in my mouth at once and eat them without any mess.

K - Kiss - I kiss my Hubby and kids at least 4 times a day.............Unless they have colds then I will blow kisses instead.

L - Laughing - My favourite hobby, even if you feel down in the dumps a good old laugh can lift your spirits and cheer you up....(The Northern Mother and I are experts at this).

M - Moustache - Mr DG grows one each November for charity and looks like he's on a really bad 70's cop show.

N - Noodles - When I was pregnant I was addicted to Pot Noodles with Salt & Vinegar Hula Hoops poured in........................YUCK !!!

O - Only Child - I grew up as an only child but had an imaginary friend called Elizabeth.........Mum flushed her down the loo when she said "Bugger".

P - Pudding - My favourite part of any meal, if I could have it first I would.

Q - Queuing - I loathe queuing and us British certainly know how to do it. If there's a queue.....We are there.

R - Rumpelstiltskin - I was terrified of him when I was little and still feel a bit creeped out by the whole little man negotiating favours.

S - Samantha Jayne - Is my full name and The Northern Mother will use it if I'm in trouble, there are only 4 people that call me Sammy and the rest call me Sam. (I do have one friend that calls me Mantha)....I quite like this.

T - Taco Shell - I once wrote to the makers of Taco asking for flat bottomed ones only to be told they had already been invented.

U - UFO - I once woke Mr DG up as I thought we were under an alien invasion only to discover they were lanterns floating up in the sky....We laughed about it afterwards.

V - Vegetarian - I tried to be a vegetarian for 6 hours...........Gave me terrible gas and couldn't wait for a burger.

W - Work - I have had a total of 23 jobs (before I became a SAHM) .....Please refer back to point B. Ironically enough the one job I stayed in for 10 years was the voluntary one at school that paid £0 and I loved it.

X - X Ray - I am happy to say I have never had one...Fingers crossed, knocking on wood and saluting a magpie.

Y - Yawning - I love yawning and sneezing...................Weird..........................I know.

Z - Zodiac - I am under the sign of Taurus and totally live up to all expectations of this sign.

Phew.......So, there we go. It wasn't easy but I've done it and it was great fun. Sometimes a little meme like this is just what's needed to get you back in your blogging groove. Now I have to tag 3 more lovely bloggers so.............................I tag.........................................................The gorgeous Rachel Lucas , A Plucky Heroine and Mum of 2. No pressure ladies just a bit of fun. xxx

Day 1..........Paris Here We Come.

As I write this blog I am currently perched on a temporary seat in the baggage hold of the 2.30 pm  Eurostar London to Paris. This was not how our adventure was supposed to begin but unfortunately due to Mother Nature having a strop last night and battering the country with her vengeance this is exactly how it has begun.

Last night we had resigned ourselves to the fact we were going nowhere and a week at home was inevitable.............................This morning however Mr DG had marched us out of the door into the car and plonked us all on the station with determination in his eyes and a no nonsense to the British weather kind of attitude. We waited for hours for the train to take us to London and watched as the time slipped away before us knowing that we had well and truly missed our ride to Paris, I will admit to exclaiming several times that I wanted to go home and give up but he was having none of it. I vented my anger at the first train of the day for a station full (and I mean full) of people only having 8 carriages and threw a epic tantrum when the announcement about unclaimed baggage rang out over the tannoy for the 100th time......................."I DON'T CARE ABOUT UNCLAIMED BAGGAGE.....................................................................WHY ARE YOU NOT RUNNING MORE TRAINS WITH MORE CARRIAGES AND GIVING US UPDATES ON THE TRAINS THAT ARE RUNNING"........................................

I know I should of cared but quite frankly we were all tired, hungry and fed up of standing on a miserable station. Trains on the other side whizzed past and we were just kind of left in limbo. I knew things had dropped to an all time low when an actual employee of British Rail exclaimed that he had no idea why they weren't running any trains as the lines were all fine...............ARGHHHHHHHH!!

Finally we managed to get onto a train with all of us standing the whole way to London...............Not fun when you have 2 kids and a bad back. Mr DG remained unnervingly positive and kept winking at me...................................................I vaguely remember thinking I might poke his eye out if he did it again.......................

Once at St Pancreas station we marched our way to the Eurostar ticket office where they very kindly managed to get us on this train....................................................................

Unfortunately they also managed to get everybody else that was late on the same train thus resulting in some of us sitting in the cheap seats................................The Teenager has had a total look of disgust on her face for the past 30 minutes as people from the posh seats are giving us that type of tilted head "Oh Dear, poor you........And you have kids" look which has sent her into a full blown Teenage "OMG WE LOOK LIKE WE ARE POOR" kind of mood...................Such Fun. The Whirlwind has taken a different approach and is relishing in the fact that we are right next to the bar and is spending most of the  journey fetching crisps, drinks and peanuts to us. He has expressed a concern about the choice of flavours in the sandwiches but has assured us that the staff are really friendly and have offered him a job..................................................Quick, type him up a CV.............

To be fair we are on the train when I honestly thought we would be at home by now and we are through the tunnel and in France.......................................................Its not quite what I imagined but we are here.

The Train manager keeps coming through and checking we are all fine (I think my notebook and pen are making him nervous) and has assured us that should any seats become available within the next hour he will let us know. I cant quite imagine under what circumstances seats will free up unless whole families may suddenly throw themselves from the train but I'm going with it anyway.

The Whirlwind is back now with some type of pastry, The Teenager has relaxed slightly and I think I even saw a smile and Mr DG is looking totally happy with himself and has just winked at me again.................................Right....That's it..................where's my pen..???

Will write again tomorrow
Lots Of Love and Au revoir.......

Me
xxxx