Too Much?

Maybe I'm trying to do too much today?

I came home from the school run, and started cleaning the house. I cleared the breakfast dishes, and washed everything up. Next I wiped down all of the surfaces in my living/dining room, and kitchen.

I then got distracted, playing with Marvin, our new puppy. He sat at my feet with his tiny tennis ball in his mouth, looking up at me with his big puppy dog eyes... After a few rounds of fetch in the garden, It started to rain. Marv does not do rain.

We came in and got warmed up, which involved lots of pup cuddles. It was then that I noticed how horrendously gross my oven had become. I absolutely hate cleaning ovens. And this oven hadn't been cleaned in around 4 months. I know, I know, that really is disgusting, and looking at it now, I can't believe I'd left it this long.

So out came the racks and the insulating glass and I left them to soak in a cleaning solution while I got on with scrubbing the glass doors. This was when I once again became distracted.

The two Labradors next door were going a little batshit crazy, barking and dashing around the house and garden. This in turn sent my little Marvin into a I'm-so-freaking-scared-I'm-gonna-shake-and-pee-all-over-your-kitchen kinda mood. His whining and unfortunately his bladder went into overdrive and my kitchen floor transformed into a small river.

By the time I had mopped up all of the dog pee, it was time to go get my little dude from nursery, and make his lunch, have a few cuddles, talk about his day...

In conclusion, my oven is still filthy. The glass and the doors look amazeballs but the inside, well, hasn't even been touched yet. It can wait just one more day..Right?

Large Family of the Week – The Head Family!

Did you see us?! We were Larger Family Life's Large Family of the Week!

How exciting!



Thank you to Tania Sullivan for featuring us!

If you've not heard of Larger Family Life, it is an amazing blog and website run by Tania Sullivan, whom you may have seen on the TV show, 16 Kids and Counting. Tania is married to Mike and together they have 12 children with a 13th due very soon!



Large Family of the Week – The Head Family!

Communication Malfunction

Have you ever sent a text message or an email that has been misconstrued?
If you answer that question with a resounding "Yes!" then you will know exactly what I mean.

Everything makes sense to you, when you are typing. In your head, you know what you are saying, but on paper it doesn't always come across that way to the recipient.

This exact thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I typed one thing, in a quite genuine way and what I got back was a very unsavory reply. Firstly, I was a little angry, as I was thinking:
 'What the heck is this all about?! I have no clue what's going on now!'

So I start scanning though my sent messages, and although I was talking about myself, my friend was under the impression I was talking about her. So I try to explain this, but then something even more unexpected happened. I received a text message from another friend, whom happened to be at the home of the friend I was already chatting with, and she is angry with me too!

I desperately try to rectify the situation, trying to make it clear that they got the wrong end of the stick. To be honest, I was pretty horrified by the whole situation. I regard this lady as one of my best friends, and I was, and still am, deeply hurt that she would think I was that kind of person. I assumed that she knew me better.

A couple of days went by and things calmed down, and we started talking again, but things aren't what they used to be, despite my apologies and assurances that what was said was misinterpreted. There have been a lot of tears shed, as I'm not sure things will ever go back to normal between us, and I feel as if I have lost one of my dearest friends. I can't put into words how desperately gutted I am by that.

January Favourites

January saw a lot of change for us. Not only did we welcome in 2014, but we also welcomed 2 brand new members to the family!

Babies!
If you know anything about me, it's that I absolutely blooming love babies!
On January 9th 2014, I became an Auntie for the 10th(!!) time!
Gorgeous girl Alice Sarah was born, sharing her birthday with our Nephew Harry - How cool is that?!

More Babies!
This time, it's not of the human variety..
On January 14th 2014 we welcomed a 10 week old French Bulldog x Jack Russell puppy into our family!
His name is Marvin and he is the cutest little thing! It's our very first dog, as a family. He already has 2 feline brothers in Jackson and Dave, our cats, who are, shall we say, less than enamored with their new doggy friend!

Time Off:
The hubby and I managed to get a couple of days from work to spend together, which let me tell you, does not happen very often!
One day, we decided that we would not cook, so we ate breakfast, Lunch and Dinner out. We are now bankrupt. The End. :)
On a serious note, it was honestly fantastic to have a little bit of time away from the constant cleaning, cooking and puppy-pee-clean-up just to spend together. We still did all of the school runs and we still had our little dude in the afternoons (he only does half days at nursery) but we did manage a night at the cinema, thanks to my sister - Love you Vikki!

Bathroom Essentials:
My Mother, and Father-in-Law bought me a gorgeous box set of Bayliss and Harding Sweet Mandarin and Grapefruit Indulgent Bath Treats Set. They smell pretty freaking amazing! It came with the following items

BODY WASH- 100ML

BODY SCRUB- 50ML

BODY LOTION- 50ML

BATH SOAK CRYSTALS- 25G

SHOWER CREME & BODY POLISHER- 100ML

I especially love the Bath Soak Crystals and the Body Scrub, which exfoliate beautifully and leave your skin smelling divine.

Grey's Anatomy:
Season 10 Finally arrived here in the UK and I was so darn ready for it!
Oh how I have missed my weekly dose of this medicine. Tissues at the ready..

Starbucks:
I just love me a trip to Starbucks. In fact, I currently seem to be more than a little obsessed with their Caramel Frappuccino's. My big girls love Starbucks too, Ashley enjoys their hot chocolate and Lauryn is like her Mumma and enjoys the Caramel Frappuccino (Lauryn's is minus the coffee, of course!)

Baby Lips:
I do like a slick of lip balm and if it's slightly tinted a red/pink colour, all the better. It's like your natural lip colour, enhanced. This month I am all out for Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balms. I now have 3, and am truly hooked. Moisturised lips for up to 8 hours? Yes please..


What have your January 2014 favourites been?
Do you have any products that you think I should try?
Leave them in the comments below :)

Mr Hendrix - Book Review

Mr. Hendrix is a real life Pomeranian Puppy who shares his adventures in illustrated form with the reader.
Lovingly written by A.J. Foxx, and beautifully illustrated by Eva Sassin, these books are sure to be a hit with the whole family.

Hendrix and his two stuffed chums, Kitty the french cat, and Sid the draft excluder snake have fun together while owner Zoe is out.

Everything comes to life in these books, including the soft furnishing and the television, making them a real imagination igniting read for your children.

Both my younger two children  (aged 6 and 4) and I also loved the activity pages in the back of both books, allowing the fun with Mr. Hendrix to continue a little bit longer.

My household are definitely fans, and can't wait to find out what Mr. Hendrix and friends get up to in their upcoming adventures.

Find out more about the adorable Mr. Hendrix on his website by clicking here.

December Favourites

How quickly did December fly by?!

Here is a quick round up of my festive favourites!

Christmas:
It just had to be top of this list, didn't it?
The children's faces as they realise Father Christmas has been. The smell of the Christmas dinner cooking away in the oven. The sound of everyone completely relaxed and enjoying the day and their new gifts.
The naff Christmas telly. It's all there :)

Yankee Candles
I love a beautiful smelling candle, as will become apparent in a little while, but my most favourite at Christmas time is the gorgeous 'Christmas Treats' scented Yankee Candle.
Freshly baked Christmas Cookies in a jar? Yes please!

Glade Candles
The wonderful folks at Glade sent me some of their new scented candle range and I fell in love with
'Spiced Apple and Cinnamon' before I'd even managed to remove the packaging!
It's a gorgeous smell and very festive, although I can definitely see myself using this one all through the autumn/winter months, as it really is that good!
This candle gives off a beautiful scent even when it's not lit. However when you burn this particular one, it fills your home amazingly well. Love it!

Fairy lights
Who doesn't love fairy lights at this time of year?
The beautiful twinkling, the soft glow, the ambiance.. In fact, I'm so in love with the coziness that fairy lights create, I am looking into purchasing some decorative ones so that they can be up all year round.

Home made Decs
Not exclusively a December/Christmas thing, as the children and I enjoying making decorations for all holidays and special occasions, but December is the month that we spend most time on them.

Family
I love the time that December and Christmas/New Year affords us to be with our family and close friends.
I would be lost without them. It's a very special time of year to reflect and spend some quality time in each others company.

Coca Cola 
I think that I may have done a little wee in my pants when I realised that the Coca Cola truck was coming to our city! Since I was tiny, every December, that notorious advert would be broadcast on our telly box at every possible opportunity.
Sing it with me now.."Holidays are coming, Holidays are coming..."
It had to be done, right?!
It's iconic. I loved it. The kids, well.. Maybe not so much, but they did get a free mini can of coke out of it, so, ya know..

What have you been up

to this December? 
Do you have some favourites you would like to share?

Homemade Christmas

It has become a bit of a family tradition of ours to make some of our own Christmas decorations each year to decorate our home with.

Each week we make 1 or 2 more items to hang around the living room. This activity gives both me and my children such pleasure. It is a team effort, yet each child gets an individual part to play, which allows them to really show off their personalities and creativity.

Here I show you what we have made so far.

Paper Chains: These are the pre-made, lick to stick kinds, as, well who has the time or patience to sit there and cut out 300 odd strips of paper to glue together? Certainly not me! Ours were purchased from Baker Ross this year.

Nativity Bunting: We all know the story, and although we are not a religious family, I do think it's important for my children to grow up knowing the story of Christmas. Here is a small video clip showing our Nativity in all of it's Sunglasses-clad-Joseph glory! (in my defense, I did say that these activities were insights into the kids personalities!!) This was also purchased from Baker Ross.

Family Hand Print Christmas Tree: This one gets bigger and better with each year! It's amazing to see how much their little hands have grown! (it also includes Mum and Dad's hand prints)

Patterned Stars: These cute stars were taken from the amazing Kate, at Picklebums.
You can find the instructions here.

Snowflake Stars: I love how simple yet effective these are! We have made them for a few years now, in varying sizes, patterns, colours and papers.  They are quite difficult to explain how to make, yet, Jessica at How about Orange seems to manage it with ease, and also provides a very handy print out (here), so you don't even have to make the template  yourself! 

I will endeavor to add another post next week with the rest of our handiwork that we have yet to add to our Christmassy collection, including the children sewing and decorating their own stockings!

What do you think? Do you make your own decorations?