Coffees and Milkies

Posts that I planned to post but never got round to - Part 3

2012-02-10T10:00:00.009Z

Choco-Nanas

My kids go through fruit phases, one week I can't buy enough apples, the next it'll be oranges, but bananas get overlooked quite often and start to look a little sad in the fruit bowl.

I know you can freeze bananas to use up later, but on a recent freezer cleaning blitz I found about 10.
How many frozen bananas does one girl need?

So here's an alternative use.

Make a slit through the bananas skin and abou halfway into the fruit.

Place chocolate squares into the gap.

Wrap in foil and place in the oven at 180 degrees C. for 25 minutes.

Unwrap and serve with ice-cream, and scoop out the gooey chocolatey-banana-ry yumminess.

Posts that I planned to post but never got round to - Part 2

2012-02-08T10:00:00.016Z

Good Hair-tentions

Beofre the girls went back to school in September I was ful of good intentions:

That they would have a healthy homemade lunchbox.

That I would get up early in the morning to make them a proper breakfast instead of letting them fend for themselves in the cereal drawer while I grabbed an extra 10 minues of sleep.

That I would do their hair all pretty every morning.

Ria sporting twisty buns

All of the above have fallen by the wayside, I cannot... and will not... give up my extra 10 minutes. I love my bed too much at that time of the morning to leave it to deal with children. Don't judge... I'm making them independant! Thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Snow creations 2012

2012-02-07T10:57:00.002Z

This weekend brought a bit of snow.

The kids built a snow wall...

... a giant snow ball...

and a snowman doing an impression of the wicked witch of the west: "Melting! Melting!"

Posts that I planned to post but never got round to - Part 1

2012-02-06T10:00:00.016Z

Logan's Dr Martens boots.

When I first saw these I promised any future child that I would have, that he or she would have a pair.

They come from a talented knitter named Julie who owns Baby Goth Knits , who kindly made me a pair even though she doesn't sell this kind of boot anymore.

Here are some cute shots of Logan from the day I tried to get a good photo of her wearing her Docs.

I've been sitting on these since August 24th apparently.

She's about to fall in this one, hence the sparkle of fear in her eye. I was trying to get her to sit up by herself.

8 and a half months

2012-02-03T10:00:00.005Z

and she trying to stand!

She is growing up much too quickly.

Time to start thinking about having another one!*

*I'm only joking... don't have a heart attack or anything, Mum.

P.S: Sophie, I made a mistake in publishing this too early and in correcting that I deleted your comment. Sorry. x

Homegrown sprouts

2012-02-02T10:00:00.000Z

I have been putting off using them.

During the summer my brassicas were nothing more than an insect's knocking shop / nursery. I have not so fond memories of finding caterpillars in homegrown brocolli. The pesky little blighters would be so well camflouaged it was hard to spot them, and much food picking would ensue. Shortly followed by angry "Stop picking at your food, Its's extra meat!". Sorry but no its not and even at "29" I still fear finding bugs in my food.

"Jimmy's grow your own Christmas dinner" put me off even more, as he complained about all the extra prep work his homegrown sprouts required.

But I bit the bullet and it wasn't loaded with creepy crawlies!

The frost had seen to them, only a few dozy hibernating ladybirds were dislogded from the leaves.

They were declared to be better than shop bought ones and Ian even threatened the girls with turning their lawn over to sprouts next year!

I don't think I am willingly to go that far, but I will give sprouts another go next year, but the failed cauliflower, cabbages and brocolli will be left out of the planting schedule.

Persistance is the key.

2012-01-31T12:47:00.000Z

Back in 2008, my grandad purchased gift vouchers for the girls as Christmas presents from long standing children's wear company, Adams.

It promptly went into administration and closed up all its shops on Boxing Day 2008, as was the trend with many high street stores that year.

Countless angry phone calls to Adams got me nowhere. They didn't seem to understand or care that they had taken £30 of my grandad's pension money, with the promise of goods up to that value, and due to their lack of financial foresight could not honour their side of the deal.

They refused to let me use the gift vouchers via their online store or in their department store concessions, which were still operational.

The girls were basically left with worthless pieces of paper.

I contacted the company dealing with Adam's demise and put in claim for the value of my children's gift vouchers.

I told them that the company should be ashamed of themselves for allowing people to purchase gift vouchers if they knew they were on the verge of collapse. Accusing them at one point of being no better that common thieves!

I posted off my supporting evidence for my claim and sat back... for 4 years!

I received long winded, legal jargon letters from the administrators on a regular basis, none of which made any sense and were just the pointless death of a tree.

Until last week, when I received a letter telling me that all unsecured creditors (that meant me) would be receiving their payout. A cheque was to follow shortly!

Woohoo! Score!

Finally I was going to get the £30 back that I (sorry, I mean the children) was owed.

In my excitement I did not read the small bit about the "final distribution being to the value of 16.06 pence in the pound."
Imagine my disgust when Ian explained to me that I would not be receiving the £30 expected but a much more modest figure.

So my cheques grand total?

£4.82

That's right a measly £4.82 to be split between 3!

I not good at maths and I can't be bothered to find a calculator but I know it a pretty pathetic amount!

It has cost them more than that to post all those updates and the minutes from their share holders meeting to me over the last 4 years!
And that is it, I can do no more, I can argue it no more, I am suppose to gratefully accept my payout and put the whole thing to bed, which I will do after I have the final word;
TOSSERS!

Chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting

2012-01-23T13:51:00.001Z

Some more cupcakes by Ria.

They are slightly decadent with Nutella in the cake batter, cream cheese in the frosting and honeycomb pieces to decorate.

Her decorating skills are improving a lot.

But I forgot to get the butter out to soften... again!

Winter warmer recipe swap - part 2

2012-01-19T10:00:00.000Z

Here is the recipe I received as part of the swap.

Taco Soup from Shiloh Stone.

The recipe itself was very easy and straight forward.

Shiloh had tried to send me a recipe that wouldn't include any hard to find ingredients, but sadly Taco sauce isn't stocked on my local supermarket shelves.

Never fear however, as the Internet is here.

One quick click on google and I found the recipe for Taco Bell's Taco sauce and although I didn't follow it to the letter I added the required spices to some tomato passata and it tasted like taco's to me!

For the tortilla chips, I thought I'd try to be fancy and fry my own, with a dusting of Mexican seasoning.

I was trying to emulate the tortillas that came with the chili beef con queso dip that you used to be able to get from "Chiquitos". Those chips and that dips used to be divine, but they don't do them anymore. Boo!

It was quick to cook, and it was eaten quickly too.

I think it will definitely be made again.

Thank you Shiloh for sharing your recipe with me.

Winter Warmer recipe swap

2012-01-18T10:00:00.003Z

Last Month I signed up to Annika & Fiona's Winter warmer recipe swap.

Here's what I sent off to my swapee Aimee from Husbandry & Wifery.

It's a childhood favorite of mine.

Sticky Toffee Pudding.

I had it printed on a postcard so that Aimee could store it easily in her recipe box.

The recipe is very simple and I hope Aimee likes it as much as I do.

I obviously had to make some to be able to take the photos for the postcard.

Then of course I was forced to eat it.

I had to make double of the sauce though, because my other half presumed, and men should never presume, that the brown liquidy stuff in the jug was leftover gravy and tipped it away!!! but the brown liquidy stuff in the gravy boat that smelt like gravy and was actual gravy, that stayed untouched! Men!

Tomorrow I will showcase the recipe I recieved.

More photo fun with Logan

2012-01-17T10:00:00.000Z

If you have a baby and a leftover sticky bandit moustache, its wrong not too...

Shame I can't use these as her passport shot!

Baby passport photos

2012-01-16T10:00:00.000Z

Taking photos of an 8 month old baby for their passport, that will have to last them until they are 5 years old is tricky.

You don't want them to look gormless,

...bored,

... like they are filling their nappy,

...distracted,

(well the cats were fighting in the hall and that is way more interesting than posing for mummy!)

...bathed in a wierd blue aura,

...gurning,

...having cheeks so chubby, they glow,

...sucking their thumb,

...or refusing to take their hands out of their mouths,

...the top of their head (a passport control favorite!)

...waving to all their fans.

But out of what seemed like hundreds of wasted shots, I got this one and I'm happy with it.

Now I just have to find the money to pay for 3 child passports at £49 a pop!!!!

I suppose those are the breaks when you don't go abroad for years and they all expire at once.

Ria's first cupcakes

2012-01-13T10:00:00.000Z

Ria and I made her first batch of cupcakes last week using her Christmas present

Choco-Mocha cupcakes.

She even decorated them herself.

I'd like to think that this fact was obvious and that you expect a slightly higher standard of decoration from me.

They tasted very nice..."even though Ria made them" (Ian's words not mine!)

I gave her use of my kitchenaid.

Cheating I know, she has to learn to cream butter and sugar together by hand if she really wants to make cakes for a living. That means I also have to remember to take the butter out of the fridge to soften before thinking a 7 year old can cream rock hard butter! Lending her the kitchenaid was the least I could do!

Just so you know, this is what they were meant to look like!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-11T13:52:00.000Z

Presents were opened... too many presents!

Logan did a lot of posing.

and chewing of new toys.

And the traditional silly hats were worn.

I'm late with this, what with Christmas being a now distant memory, but I've been reluctant to pick up my "blogging baton" again.

To be honest I've reached a point where I've thought about giving it up all together.

Being post-natal does not inspire you to write (or lie) about how fantastic your life is, and whilst I am feel determined not to let this beat me today, tomorrow I'll probably be back to feeling shitty again.

PND combined with January-itis is no fun. My insecurities and frustrations just make me horrible towards Ian & the kids. Whilst they've grown used to it by now, that only makes me feel worse.

I have all these plans, ideas and projects for the year ahead but zero motivation or clue about how to go about doing them. So I end up spending yet another day drinking coffee and avoiding life in front of the computer screen, some days I might get round to mopping the floor and then only because I have to because Logan is crawling on it!
Now that the kids are back to school properly, I can maybe put my head and home back in order during those sacred quiet hours of 9 til 3.

I am setting myself small goals each day, yesterday was to tidy up and fold the washing. Done ✓
Today was to clean the bathroom and put the guest bed away. Done ✓
Each one of those little projects is building up to bigger ones but I'm no position to bite off more than I can chew right now.

To finish on a slightly lighter note, did anyone else see these over the xmas period?

Was anyone brave enough to try them?

And did anybody else attract wierd looks for taking photos of crisps in Tescos?

What is in Santa's sack?

2011-12-23T10:00:00.001Z

This year I've tried to put together gifts for the girls that will inspire them and encourage the things that they claim they want to do when they are older.

It does mean that I will have to spend time doing these things with them, but maybe my New Years resolution should be to try and be a better mother, and spending fun time with them not just shouty time!

Ria wants to be a cake maker. I'm sure there is a better term for it, Baker, pastry chef... but Ria only wants to deal in cakes.

Please ingnore the mess surrounding this... I was wrapping!

So in her present box she has a mini cupcake maker £14.99 form QD stores.

A child friendly book full of fairy cake recipes, £5 from Next, and a box with loads of decoration-y bits like marshallows and sprinkles in, £6 also from Next

Tabatha wants to be a fashion designer.
So I've put together a little "learn to sew" kit.

Sewing set by Wu & Wu £13.60 from House of Fraser, Sewing School book £7.92 on Amazon, and a Topsy turvy doll kit purchased for £5 from Ebay.

Baylie has decided she wants to be a hairdresser.
Something I said she'd be since she was a baby.
She was in the womb twiddling with her hair, blocking her exit with her hand, the 9 day overdue little sod, and has been fascinated by hair since. Not in a pully, grabby, rip your hair out of your skull way that babies normally are. She would snuggle up to your neck, thumb in mouth and stroke your hair. She still does that to herself now.
Even with all that genetic predispostion towards hairdressing, I'm not about to let a 4 year old loose with scissors and flat irons! Especially not Baylie! I'm reluctant to even trust her with a styling head, but that is because in my experience styling heads are shit and end up as tangled, matted messes by the time Christmas dinner is served.
However I found this beautiful set in the Disney shop, and with £15 off, I couldn't resist.
( the website says it was £37.50 to start with, it wasn't in the shop, it was £50!)

But she has long, tangleable hair I hear you cry. Hell, the clue is in the film name I know.
But I am putting all of my faith in this lady and her magic potion to save Rapunzel from having to have her hair sheared off on Boxing Day.

And what about little Logan?
Well this might sound mean, but Logan is 7 months old and she doesn't know what day it is nevermind what she want to be when she is older.
So she is getting normal baby toys, clothes, some mushed up Christmas dinner and Christmas flavored Boob to wash it down with! I think she'll be quite happy with that!

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and New year.
See you in 2012.

Christmas tree, oh christmas tree...

2011-12-19T10:00:00.009Z

How buttercream thy branches

These were my contributions to the schools Christmas fayre, that and maning the tea & coffee stall.

Check me out and my active PTA-ness (its a word, I just made it up!)

I saw them first on Pinterest.

and used this recipe for the cupcakes which was very nice.

I don't know if I'd go as far as to say "perfect" as the recipe calls it, but that might be just my opinion. I find cupcake a bit overated. Gorgeous and creamy enough to make me drool at the sight of them, but overrated all the same. Not enough cake!

The frosting I used first was this one, which was a bit wierd as required a roux and then it started to melt.

Not good, no one wants a melted tree, even if they did still taste nice.
The trees frosted in that sadly had to eaten by us, so sad...sniff

The ones for the school got a swirly dollop of the tried and tested buttercream recipe from Bakerella.

My baubles and stars came from what will be my new favorite baking shop, Looses in Norwich.

Favorite meaning I will probably spend an obscene amount of money on cake stands, cookie cutters and other assorted regalia, in the future.

And she's off

2011-12-16T14:16:00.000Z

Well technically she's been off for a while, but she is discovering that using her knees will get her places faster that just flapping herself forwards like a seal will. When her knees cooperate that is, they have a tendancy to operate independantly from her body. Also when she gets excited she kicks a lot and crawling is very exciting!

She now "chases" after me if I leave the room.

I find her in the hallway covered in snot and dog hair.

She has a runny nose, we have 2 dogs, she rolls around on the floor and does not like having her face wiped clean!.. what am I do too?

Look at the chuffed little face she has just because she managed to get my lens cap.

Organised for Christmas

2011-12-15T15:17:00.000Z

Not one little bit.

Or at least I still don't feel organised.

The tree is up.

Well I say up, I did lights and tinsel, then let the kids hang the baubles.

I'm still finding double branchers at Baylie's height.

The kids have done their school play, had their school christmas dinner, and as I type this are wrapping up their Christmas party.

I have traipsed through Norwich city centre overloaded like the proverbial donkey and have amazon on stand by to finish off my present buying.

Amazingly I have even wrapped most of the presents. Usually the presents get stashed in the loft, then bought down to be wrapped, returned to the loft and bought down again on Christmas eve.

Santa is sometimes a bit noisy!

This year I wrapped them before putting them back... why I hadn't thought to do that before I don't know!

Tomorrow the kids finish school.

I have films in the sky + planner for the kids, hair appointements (also for the kids... mines beyond help lately), Christmas Ladies only Pyjama parties (that one's for me!), Dental appointements, Wood deliveries, Cinema trips, Christmassy and non christmas kids crafts planned.

I have no idea when I will go shopping for food.

Although the turkey is booked and ready for collection on Christmas Eve.

But I'd like to introduce you to my trusty sidekick throughout this chaos.

I could not resist it.

I needed one.

I saw this one... I fell in love with it.

It even say "Mwahahahahaha!" on the back.

Hoping you are all preparing for christmas with as little stress as you can.

P.s: My xmas presents nightmares have been solved, as late as yesterday, thankyou Tesco's in Kings Lynn for not selling out of Monster High dolls like every other shop.

Robbers, bluebirds and goblins, Oh my!

2011-12-14T15:34:00.000Z

I mentioned before that I had Christmas play costumes to make.

Well the schools production of Hansel & Gretel took place Monday & Tuesday, so here they are.

Tabatha was a robber.

Even before receiving the brief from the school, I had decided to go down the "Burglar Bill" route.

Her stripey top came off ebay (with an accompaning cardigan... bargain!), the eye mask I did try to make myself but gave up so got Ian to go to the costume shop and buy one.

The contentious moustache that Tabatha did nothing but moan about ("It's itchy, It's sticky, People are laughing at me, I want to be a girl robber") also came from ebay.

Ria was a bird.

I scoured pinterst for inspiration here and found this great tutorial for a bluebird costume.

Obviously it didn't have to be a bluebird, but I happened to have a blue sheet going spare, so blue she was.

Very blue.

Scarily blue.

Evil smurf bird blue!

I made a pair of fleece shorts to match the vest part of the costume and added some yellow footless tights from Claires Accesories, via ebay at 90% off the RRP. (Whooppedy Toot Toot!)

Baylie was a goblin.

And I did nothing apart form put her in a pair of purple leggings and add some green face paint warts.

The school provided the tunic and the hat (which is techically an elf hat not a goblin hat, and they didn't tell me they had hats until after I'd made some long pointy and bendable ears, that personally I was really proud off but that are now redundant! I'm not bitter... honest!)

The purple leggings were for the "Green goblin" look and it also allowed me to spot her very easily when she was up on stage singing and dancing.

Amazingly she did both. I expected Baylie to freeze, pull the face and refuse to sing. But bless her little cotton socks, she got up there and danced around the cooking pot (she was one of the witch's little goblin helpers) and sung her little heart out.

On a different note, I do not recommend sitting through a children school play if you are running a 38.2 temperature like I was... It will mess with your fevered, befuddled mind and give the wierdest dreams!

I am feeling a bit better today though.

Xmas nightmares

2011-12-01T13:40:00.000Z

Is it really December first today?

Does it have to be?

The weather isn't cold or dreary enough to be December. This time last year there was snow.

This year Ian and I are debating at 5pm whether or not its not enough to bother lighting the fire.

December means Christmas.

The kids break up in two weeks time, so the next few weeks will be full of xmas fayres, plays and drinks.

I have costumes to finish off over the weekend, Girly outings to go on, a house to decorate... new paint for the front room... really should have picked a better time of the year to plan a bit of redecoration.

Thats before the tree, the mince pies, the turkey...

Oh shit and the presents!

You'd think having 4 kids to buy for, I would be organised but I'm not.

And due to my lack of organisation and not buying my presents in July or something, yet again the one thing the girls want, is the "must have" toy this year.

I don't know how they do it, they pick something at random and lo and behold its this years biggest seller and you can't get it anywhere, except ebay if you are desperate and willing to pay 4 times it worth.

This year, the thorn in my festive side are Monster High dolls.

Spectra Vondergeist & Clawdeen Wolf to be precise.

Stupid, out of stock, freaky Barbie wannabes.

I'm not worried yet.. Ok I am a little.

There is still time for a great big boat from China to get here and solve all my christmas woes!

Pumpkin pie

2011-11-24T17:26:00.000Z

I've saved this back on purpose to post it today, what with it being Thanksgiving and all.
Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate it.

It was about time that I put my Invisible pumpkin to good use and pumpkin pie seemed like the most appropriate use.

I used this recipe.

Personally I found it delicious. The girls did not, much to Tabatha's disappointment as she had helped to make it.
I'm still to convince them that pumpkin tastes nice in anything.

Oh well, all the more for me.
Eating a whole pumpkin pie by myself is probably not recommended for shifting the post baby belly, but its wrong to let things go to waste!

The saga of the tooth.

2011-11-22T10:00:00.000Z

A few weeks ago Sarah from the Arkansas Traveller posted about her little boy taking a fall and damaging his teeth.

It reminded me about Baylie's similar incident.

But here another dentistry disaster that I haven't yet mentionned.

Baylie only damaged a baby tooth and whilst it might be ugly and green, it will fall out and a new shiny white gnasher will grow back.

During the summer however, Ria did this...

That there is a broken permanent tooth.

She broke it lifting her bike up onto the patio. She wasn't riding the bike, she didn't fall off, no concrete or gravity was involved.

She somehow smashed her handlebars into her face whilst wheeling it up one small

step!!!

My little girl's beautiful smile... broken... forever!

That tooth is not going to grow back, she is permanently disfigured.

But after countless trips to the dentist to have it assessed, cleaned, xray and checked to make sure it was still alive, last Wednesday, she finally had it filled.

Its not perfect, it quite rough, it will break again several more times before she's old enough to have a crown or veneers fiited, but for now she has a complete smile again... and an apple ban!

Another day, another messy hand

2011-11-21T10:00:00.005Z

All last week, I have had multi coloured fingers.
Printer malfunctions and dye disasters.

The black fingers were for the benefit of "Children in need" last Friday.
No, I didn't get sponsored to see how filthy I could get my hands.
I was trying to dye 3 hairbands black for the girls costumes.
Yes, I could have just bought black hairbands to start with, but they didn't have any in the shop and I had a bus to catch.

They had to dress up as teachers and the teachers were going to dress up as pupils.
This was Ria's idea, as she is on the school council, and she was cursed for it when I had tea boiling over, Logan screaming, mess everywhere and 2 more costumes to make.

It was ridiculously difficult to find a picture of a teacher in this style on the web.
I searched, teachers cloak & cape, then discovered it was called a gown or a robe. Then just copied the look of american graduation robes.
Its only some black polycotton, a bit of ribbon and a few hems. Nothing to fancy.

The mitre board hats are cardboard squares, cut out by Ian, (who probably now thinks he's some kind of crafter, that man reheats a tin of beans and claims to be a chef!), painted black by Tabatha with a tasel and held onto a hairband with a black elastic.
I am willing to stake my reputation on them being in pieces by the end of the day.

Their hairbands aren't even black, those ones didn't take the dye and then promptly broke!
So I had black fingers for nothing!

And I'm not done for coustumes yet, the girls have informed me that they will be playing the part of a robber, a bird and a goblin in their school christmas production of Hansel & Gretel.

Grandpa's Sunday lunch

2011-11-18T10:00:00.005Z

Weaning Logan has had its ups and down.

After a greedy start, she stopped.

Point blankly refused to open her mouth for food.

She then started waking up several times a night to feed.

Not much fun. Especially when there is nothing you can do about it because she's being stubborn.

I got to the point where I was considering moving her over to a bottle, just so that she would be more full and sleep.

The girl must have a sixth sense, because her love of booby made her relent and start eating again.

Because of her reluctance to feed, I haven't made her any baby food for a while.

Now that she is feeding again, I'm not organised enough to make any, so I had to buy a pot or two to tie us over until I get round to cooking for her.

Grandpa's Sunday lunch is the "delicious" sounding title of this orange mush.

I don't know exactly what Grandpa has been having for Sunday lunch but it smells like sh!t!

Logan liked it though!

The cake makers cake

2011-11-17T11:56:00.000Z

Last Saturday I turned 29 (for the 3rd time!).

As the cake maker in our house, I usually end up with a supermarket bought concoction.

Nothing against supermarket cakes but they do tend to be dry, stingy on the filling and covered in too sweet fondant.

This year however it was not a supermarket cake bought at the final hour that awaited me.

It was this beautiful Portuguese cake that Ian had arranged to get from a work colleague.

I was expecting it to be very sweet, as Mediterranean desserts often are but this wasn't.

It was soft and with a custard type filling and frosting.

A lovely, yummy, unexpected surprise.

I wish I was a punk rocker

2011-11-09T13:33:00.000Z

Tabatha's class are studying modern Britain and today had to dress up as a modern british hero.

Difficult ask, made even more difficult by Tabatha insistence that she must be a girl.

My thinking cap went on.
Shockingly it is very difficult to find a post WWII british heroine that a bunch of 8 year olds will know!
Saying that most of the girls were planning to dress up as princess Diana, and she's been dead since before these kids were even twinkles in their parents eye!

I always want to push the boundary a little with my kids costumes. Princesses and footballers are not my cup of tea. But I did find one lady who was right up Tabatha's fasionista street, with activist credentials to back her up and that suited my rebellious streak.

Vivienne Westwood

You can tell she's a bit apprehensive of her outfit here.
The shoulders are huched, the uncomfortable smile is frozen on her face.
But I reassured her that she would a least be unique... no one else would have even thought of it.
"But what if they all laugh at me?" was her meek reply.
Well Tabatha sometimes in life you have to be brave, be different and stand out.

She started working it!

She was excited about the whole idea from the start as she knew it involved hair dye & lipstick.
The hair dye did cause some trouble.
I bought a can of yellow hair spray from a costume shop, as Dame Vivienne has quite a unique hair colour. Its neither blonde nor ginger. So I plumped for yellow.
In hindsight, I wish I'd gone for orange as Tabatha's hair decided it wanted to be green!
(prompting Ria to call her Vivienne Witchwood!)

And its bloody messy stuff!

We washed out the neon green and opted for just a few squirts in her messy, heavly back combed hair.

This costume cost very little.
The tartan skirt was Ria's. The boots were already Tabatha's with some new tartan ribbon laces. The socks were mine and have been used in several costumes already.
The Tshirt got treated to a home printed iron on transfer.
The failed coloured hairspray and lipstick were my biggest outlay.

And I must say I was appalled by the cost of lipstick nowadays. I don't wear lipstick, I'm a gloss girl when I can be bothered, but £7 plus for a lippy! Daylight robbery. Good job we found the perfect shade on a market stall for £3.

I consider adding a few safety pins, but decided that probably wouldn't be wise. I don't want a phone call from school to tell me Tabatha has been stabbing the other pupils!

Her costume overall looked excellent and got some praise as soon as she got to school, but I have had this song stuck in my head all day now. I only know the first few lines and it bugs me from the start...Punk rockers do not wear flowers in their hair!

ABC

2011-11-08T12:50:00.000Z

Its taken a while but I (I mean we), have completed our Innocent smoothie magnetic alphabet.

Those times rummaging through all the packets on the shelf to find ones with the letters we didn't have yet, Ian accusing me of being a tramp for doing that, and the kids slowly developping frostbite in the chiller aisle, were all worth it.

It might be pathetic but I'm pleased with myself because I completed it before the supermarkets stop having the smoothies on special offer.

I have no room in my fridge for much else because of all the said smoothies but nevermind I have an alphabet to clutter up my fridge door.

God help the child that looses one.

Behind the scenes.

2011-11-03T14:36:00.003Z

Another birthday means another birthday party.

All the same but with a different set of kids.

An easier set of kids, thank god, I was dreading dealing with another party after last time.

But Ria has restored my faith in children. Well maybe not quite, but I would happily throw her another party.

Can I get away with that? Only letting one child have a party? I didn't think so!

As everything was the same, another rainbow cake had to be made...

The yellow & green are already baking.

I had to buy some new red food colouring as my old one has gone for a walk.

Usually when things in my cupboards go for a walk, ther empty wrappings appear behind sofas, beds, toy boxes, but I don't think food colourant is at the top of the list of sweet things to steal & eat while Mum & Dad are still in bed at the weekend! And if it was, well my kids are obviously stupider than I give them credit for!

Ria enjoyed her party.

Her friends oohed and aahed at the cake sufficiently. One mum commenting that it was a feat of baking. "Why thankyou" was my modest and humble response.

Of course Ian saw right through me and later asked me if in my head I was going... "Why thankyou, yes I am brillant aren't I!" whilst doing a little victory dance.

( I was, but I'm not going to admit to that!)

Two parties in two months and what have I learnt?

Some children are sent to test you, other are almost angelic.

All are noisy! Very noisy.

Girls can reach a special pitch that you wish only dogs could hear, but unfortunatley you can hear it too!

Some can come out with some very funny comments for young girls.

And all love fruit kebabs, strawberry & chocolate milk (who says parties have to be nothing but sweets.)

Red Velvet

2011-10-28T14:36:00.006+01:00

Presents, a day out to see the Lion King in 3D, and a meal at Ask Italian and Red Velvet birthday cake for supper what more could you ask for on your birthday when you're 7.

The cake came again from Tea with Bea but I followed the recipe to the letter, so I think it would be too naughty of me to post it. Sorry folks.

Ask Italian was lovely. My Pasta was delicious. I will be hunting down a recipe for Rigatoni di Manzo piccante soon.
And the children menu option is so generous. The girls had 4 courses for £5.95, starter, pizza, pudding and a babyccino. No bad by todays standards.

The Lion King was enjoyable. The older two don't remember having ever watched it on a crappy old grainy VHS copy. But 3D is such a con.
Film makers make all this progress in terms of special effects, picture quality, HD, vivid colours and all that jazz, then they ruin it by sticking 3D on to it.
The glasses make the colours dull and it goes blurry during fast moving action sequences.
Definetly not worth the extra pounds per ticket, especially when ther was no plain ol' 2D option.

Don't get me wrong, when they fix these issues, 3D will be mind blowing, and Star Wars in 3D will be amazing.
You all know George Lucas is probably already working on it, (why else would he be charging just shy of a £100 for the complete saga on blu-ray otherwise, if not to fund another round of tweaking with it!).
Well Mr Lucas should you ever happen to read my blog (who am I kidding), please hold fire until the kinks are worked out. You know I will be first in the queue, in costume if necessary, when Star Wars is released in 3D but only if you heed my advice.

Rant over, and anyway James McAvoy agrees with me and he's paid to be in 3D films!

7

2011-10-27T10:00:00.005+01:00

A mere 13 months after my first baby, I was back at the hospital again ready for Baby number 2.

Within the hour of arriving at hospital, my second beautiful girl was handed to me.

From the start she was different. I commented in the delivery suite that she was going to be blessed with long legs and skinny fingers, and that Tabatha and I would hate her for it.

And she is still skinny, despite being the child that will eat anything, she is regularly called a "dustbin" in our house.

(uncannily like Logan!)

She has an easy smile, is prone to fits of uncontrollable giggles...

and will pull the daftest faces.

This one scares the bejesus out of me. Evil gollum faced child!

She is at once a dardevil and a scaredy cat.

She used to be terrified of giant baboons...and giant mice.

She is a mother hen, and will provide me with a silly amount of grandchildren.

Making this girl a big sister was to her the best present ever.

I think she is getting a little fed up of photos next to Rhea birds at every opportunity.

She is easy going and caring but stubborn and easily upset.
She is the most switched on of my children. The one I would trust to fetch or do something for me without any trouble.
She has middle child syndrome, thinking that Tabatha gets more, or that Baylie & Logan are loved more.
She refuses to believe otherwise, and if on a rare occasion she does, she will make sure her sisters know that she is the favorite at something!
She has a natural beauty. I don't know where she has got it from, yet she will have the dirtiest fingernails, messiest hair and most marked up clothes.
I feel guilty for crying when I learnt she wasn't going to be a boy.

Happy 7th Birthday

This was suppose to publish last Thursday. Stupid blogger.

Double Trouble

2011-10-24T10:00:00.000+01:00

Last Friday was Baylie's teacher's last day, before taking maternity leave to have her first baby.

Well babies, as she is expecting twins, not that you would guess that looking at her, she has a smaller bump with two than I have ever had with just one!

She has been the first teacher for all of my girls and they have all settled in to school without so much as a whimper, and hopefully she will be back in time for Logan.

Babies do have a habit of not making you want to go back to work though, so we'll see.

I left work to have Tabatha claiming that I was coming back... I never did, then again I never planned too either, I just said that to keep the boss happy.

Here is the gift I made her.

Two blue tshirts (because she's having boys) with my first attempt at applique.

The font is "Candy Store BV" from urbanfonts

The fabric is from 2 charm packs that I had lying around waiting for me to make quilts with.

They are combination of Moda Oz (shown in this lovely quilt) and Wee Woodland. (shown in this equally lovely one)

I really hope she likes them and that my applique doesn't fall off first wash, as didn't stitch round them because I'm just not good enough to be that meticulous. I would have made a terrible mess.

Meet Canello

2011-10-21T12:25:00.000+01:00

This is Canello, our new 8 week old kitten.

He is supposed to be a playmate for Honey, who has seemed a bit lost & lonely since Neg passed away. But cats being cats, she is not very taken with him yet, especially after he bounced up to her really fast and spooked her!

Despite the evil look she is giving him for breathing the same air as her, she is a lot more tolerant than Smelly ever was with her.

His name means cinnamon in Spanish, a suitable name for a little ginger kitten and a flavourful twosome, Honey & Cinnamon (We'll ignore Smelly, she'd prefer it that way anyway!)

Logan thinks he is a walking teddy. She gets so excited by him, but grasping little hands and sharp kitten claws aren't a good mix, so she'll have to wait until she's a bit older to "play" with him.

In other animal news, Willow is confined to a cage for 3 weeks on veterinary orders.

Stupid mutt, thinks she's Houdini, and tries to escape from her outdoor run all the time. She contorts herself through an 8cm wide gap in order to escape.

On Monday however she dislocated her hip in the process and now my bank account is lighter to the tune of £419!!!!! For an x-ray, some pain meds and the re-popping of her hip! Daylight robbery!

I'm so annoyed with her, if she does it again, my bank will only be lighter by a humane £95 and Freddie will be an only dog!

Apple & Rhubarb Crumble

2011-10-19T10:00:00.000+01:00

Still trying to use up the last of the rhubarb and apples.
This time I went old skool, with a crumble.
I love crumble, always have.
I think I love crumble topping almost as much uncooked as I do cooked.
Many a time, my crumble topping has been a little on the thin side because I've been spooning more into my mouth than onto the fruit!

Anyway enough about my greediness.

To my apples and rhubarb, I added some light brown sugar and a generous teaspoon of ground ginger for a bit of warmth, before cooking them gently until they were a teensy bit mushy.
Drain off any excess juice.

The crumble topping was made the cheats way (or the clever way for time saving) in a food processor.
115g Butter, 225g Flour, whizz together until crumbly and then 85g of demerara sugar.

Spread on top of the fruit and cook for about 30 - 35 mins at 180 degrees C.

You should end up with something like this.

Bubbled up fruit juices and crispy bits of crumble.
Smother in custard.

Bananas

2011-10-17T13:38:00.000+01:00

Logan is loving her food and developping a bit of "chub" as a result.
However she doesn't like to have to wait for it while we eat our dinner.
We all know the best way to quiet a hungry baby is to feed them.

This is a Baby Safe Feeder.
I bought it when Baylie was weaning. It lets you feed pieces of fruit to your baby without the risk of them choking.
Logan loves bananas in it.

She shovels it into her mouth and slurps loudly on mushy, spitty nana.

It keeps her quiet, until she drops it!

Stocking up

2011-10-07T10:00:00.001+01:00

Although the weather is still warm in this part, admittedly it has cooled a little and the wind has picked up,

the garden is starting to show bare patches.

Most, if not all of the potatoes have now been eaten, as have the peas & carrots. I do have some late salads and carrots growing, and the pumpkins & sprouts are ripening nicely, despite the local butterfly population thinking my veg patch was their local brothel/ daycare!

And one of the courgettes has turned into a monstrous marrow without me realising, now I don't know what to do with it!

But those empty patches make me turn my attention already to next years growing. Next year when I will be better organised and unhindered by pregnancy or mewling newborns, and will be able to plant things on time and weed before it reaches the jungle stage!

Our local garden centre recently sent me some vouchers and a newsletter advertising their sale, including seeds for 50p a packet, so on Sunday I convinced Ian (who hates garden centres) and the kids (who also hate garden centres) that we needed to go to the garden centre.

I have stocked up on most of the things I want to grow next year, including some more colourful options.

Purple cauliflower! I really hope that grows because I can't wait to see the look on everyone's face when that turns up on their plate.

I have bought a packet of Watermelon seeds. I thought for 50p it was worth a punt, and I will have a greenhouse next year. This years melon attempt hasn't been very successfully, but that could be down to my negligence or the weather. I'm blaming the weather to make myself feel better. After months of growing they are still small green balls and I don't think they'll get much better.

Stupidly though, I couldn't find my vouchers on Sunday, I found them last night (whoops!), but I don't think I can convince Ian that we need to go back just so that I can spend them!

Apples & Avocado.

2011-10-05T10:00:00.004+01:00

To me this is a digusting combination, then again I'm not a huge avocado fan except for guacamole, but to a hungry Logan it was delicious.

Empty pot and messy face to prove it.

Weaning is in full flow now. I have had to bite the bullet and feed her.
She was waking 3 times a night for a feed instead of just once like before.
For now, She has a little pot of applesauce after our teatime as she is usually "ravenous" by then.

She is voracious and wants to do it all herself, guiding the spoon to her mouth with her grabbing, grubby little hands.

Jam Session

2011-10-04T10:00:00.000+01:00

I mentioned before my excess rhubarb.
Annika had a recipe for Rhubarb & custard jam that I had already given a go, and whilst it was gorgeous, I wanted to try something a little different.
( Actually Annika, you are to blame for me wanted to experiment with jam, your blackcurrant & star anise jam made me curious about what jam I could make.)

I decided to go for the classic American combination, Strawberry & Rhubarb

Strawberry & Rhubarb jam

I followed some basic guidelines from Preserves: River Cottage Handbook No.2
by Pam Corbin (aka Pam the jam!)

I had equal quantities of fruit, about 800 or 900g in all.

In the book, Pam seems to use equal amount of sugar to the amount of fruit (give or take a bit).
I used about 700g of jam sugar, as both fruit are low in pectin and added the juice from a lemon

The fruit was ~~dumped~~ arranged in the saucepan in alternating layers, along with the sugar.
The whole thing was put on the heat and brought to a rolling boil until it reached its setting point.
Tested as always using the Nigella method of placing a plate in the freezer before starting and drop teaspoons of mixture on to it, and seeing if it wrinkles when given a prod.
This did take a little while, probably due to the low pectin.
Once poured into sterilised jars, they were sealed and stored in the fridge where they are being used up quite quickly.

I think the last of my rhubarb will also end up here in a later jam session, before the British strawberries disappear until next year.

The little things

2011-10-03T10:00:00.007+01:00

In the mad morning rush, little things can be ignored and overlooked.

Children must be verbally sped up in order to get them to school on time.

Walking must be done quickly because we are late due to whatever this mornings delay is; alarms ignored, breakfast eaten at snails pace, shoes put on the wrong feet, school bags & knickers forgotten (most of this is Baylie!)

But on the slower, calmer walk back from school, just me and Logan snuggled up and dozy in her wrap, last nights hard work can be observed, glistening, in rows upon rows along the hedges.

And in the middle sits patient Charlotte, waiting for her reward for her labours.

Is it really October tomorrow?

2011-09-30T13:42:00.000+01:00

I'm not saying that in a "where has the year gone?" kind of way.

I'm saying it in a "how the hell is it 28 degrees out there if it Autumn!!!!"

The weather, right now is better than it has been all summer.

And this heat spell is supposed to last for the weekend and it doesn't look that bad next week either.

I think it might be time to rethink our concept of "summer".

Summer is no longer restricted to July & August. It happens in May for a week! The rest of the year is Winter, and very long spring and exceedingly short autumn.

Claims of an "Indian summer" just don't work anymore. An Indian summer, by definition is supposed to be unseasonal good weather, not something that happens every year!

I believe that the time will come, (if it hasn't already but is being ignored for the sake of tradition) that school summer holidays need to change. Letting the kids have 6 weeks in July and August, under the impression that it is summertime is wrong. Summertime has been disappointing for quite a few years. Spring is where the best and warmest weather lies. I vote to move the six week holiday to May & June. I am probably a lone voice but as with most things I am probably right ( I usually am... even when I am wrong!)

It so hot, we cracked open a box of Cucumber & Elderflower Granita, that I made months ago, but the weather never seemed warm enough to deserve it.

Recipe from Valentine Warner's What to Eat Now: Spring and Summer

Apparently it deserves to be eaten whilst dressed like a bootless Daisy Duke.

And on the 30th September, I am filling up the pool so the kids can cool down when they get back from school.

Its been empty apart from a dirty puddle with a dead crane fly in it all summer!

Madness I tell you. Sheer global warming madness!

Goofing Around

2011-09-29T10:00:00.007+01:00

Sometimes my kids will let me take beautiful photos of them, ones that I can frame and proudly display and coo "Yes, those are my darling daughters, aren't they beautiful?"

Sometimes they just do this!

I think the look on Logans face says it all.

"Please tell me I don't really share a gene pool with these idiots!"

What we did this summer.

2011-09-27T10:00:00.003+01:00

I saw this months back and thought I must make some for the girls.

Source: bkids.typepad.com via Vicky on Pinterest

I'm not very good at drawing so I turned to a T-shirt belonging to Ria for inspiration.
OK, I'll put my hands up, I traced it, scan then onto the computer, blew them up, and printed them off.

I then had to transfer the dolls onto card and cut them out.

Armed with an exacto knife (a dangerous tool to give me with small annoying children around, who keep asking "what are you doing Mummy?" over & over again!), I cut out their dresses and coloured them in using chalk for that soft pastelly look.

I have loads of old wallpaper samples lying around from back when I was planning the house decorating... Most of them were dismissed to the "never on my walls" pile as soon as they arrived in the post.

It kept them busy for all of 5 minutes.

Tabatha's painting party

2011-09-26T13:07:00.000+01:00

Saturday was Tabatha's birthday party.

Last year the girls had a joint party, invited their whole class and had a disco.

This year they are are in different classes and I'm not dealing with that many kids.

So I arranged for just the girls from Tabatha's class to go plate painting at our local pottery workshop.

I followed the painting theme to have colourful food and art based party bags.

The party bags consisted of; some paints, a rainbow crayon (those bought back some childhood memories as I hadn't seen one of these since I was 8), a plain paged notebook for them to draw in.

A Plate hanger to display their painted plate, and some cake batter and sprinkle bark (which was very easy and very tasty)

The food was sandwiches, pizzas, crisps, chocolate dipped pretzels & marshmallows, rainbow fruit kebabs (strawberry, orange, pineapple, kiwi, blueberry, grape)
Strawberry & chocolate milk, and of course... more cake
Plain boring looking white cake!

Ha Ha fooled you

Rainbow cake.

Visually impressive, tasty and actually not that hard to make, it just took a long time because I only had 2 pans, so could only cook 2 layers at a time.
The recipe came from here and the Italian buttercream was the same as for last week's Scrumptious cake, but doubled and without the raspberry puree.

The kids seemed to have enjoyed themselves. I needed wine upon returning home.
I did not expect 7 girls to run me so ragged!
I thought 8 year old girls would be mature enough to want to sit and do their painting, not be itching to finish so they could run around outside like demented banshees, even before the sugar rush!
Who knew that 8 year old girls could behave that way?
If you did know this, shame on you for not warning me!
Shame on me for having to do this all over again next month when Ria's birthday comes round.
And apologies to my mum, if I was ever like that! (which of course I wasn't!!!)

It was difficult to rein in the ideas I had for the party, after all I'm not made of money and I'm only entertaining 7 children. But there are so many inspirational party websites out there. Some parents go to a lot of trouble to make everything perfect and for a while I was a bit stressed about living up to some un-set standard.
If I have learnt anything from this experience it is that children don't care. They do not appreciate the effort you will have gone to, the time or the thought that you have put into planning and organising all this.
Children by nature are ungrateful little sh*ts!
Next year I will be giving the birthday party a miss, maybe even the year after, and the one after that!

Playing catch up.

2011-09-23T10:00:00.000+01:00

I have been a very neglectful blogger lately.

Time is never on my side.

My children are never on my side.

Cooking, cleaning and a million and one other chores that never get finished aren't on my side either.

The looming black cloud of post natal depression doesn't motivate you to do anything about it anyway.

I thought once the girls went back to school I would rediscover order and some precious time. But no, birthdays, birthday parties, half school days, visiting mothers (you were a welcome distraction though before you take offence), dentists appointments, coffee mornings, and breastfeeding babies all steal my time like evil succubuses!

Right now I am typing up some catch up posts to publish automatically.

If I usually visit your blog and you think I'm being a cow and ignoring you, I'm not.

I will find time soon to catch up with you all.

In between school and new after school activities.

Tabatha's horse riding, which she has taken too really well.

Ria rode as well for a bit then declared it to be boring, so she is off to gymnastics instead (no photos of that.)

and Baylie is a fairy elephant, whoops, I mean ballerina!

The apple motherload.

2011-09-22T10:00:00.020+01:00

You can tell autumn is coming, the apples are out.

The girls teacher (well she's only Ria's teacher now, but never mind), put out big bags of apples and pears for 50p a bag.

I'm not going to pass up that kind of offer.

My apple trees are still puny little twigs and as much as I would love to go scrumping in next doors garden where their trees are dripping with apples, just going to waste every year, I'm not quite brave enough. (and it's called trespassing!)

There's 3 trees all like this. I don't think anyone is living there right now, but you could guarantee that someone would turn up as I was ~~stealing~~ harvesting all their apples!

These pretty jars inspired me to make loads of applesauce.

Source: familyfeedbag.blogspot.com via Vicky on Pinterest

At first it was going to be for us but Logan, at only 4 months old is showing all the signs of wanting food.

She watches you like a hawk whenever you put anything in your mouth, and she has started waking up again in the night at 3am, when she was sleeping through til 6'ish.

I don't want to wean her just yet. One because she is too young and Two, because I made that mistake once before and this happened!

Fatty Fat Fat Fat!
Poor Tabatha. But at least I can tell which baby photos are hers!

In my defense she was a greedy baby. you offered her food she take it.. all of it... and want more.

But Logan was sitting there (in her bumbo, she not sitting by herself yet!), staring at the applesauce making process, so I gave her a spoon.

She immediately put it in her mouth.

That night she slept straight through.

Mary Poppins might think a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down but a spoonful of applesauce helps the baby go down!

(sorry, if you now spend all day singing that song in your head!)

So the applesauce has been bagged up, plain, flavoured with pear or peach, and will be saved for Logan to wean with.
A few spoonfuls every so often for now until I'm ready to make the leap into full blown baby food.

But the apples did dedicate themselves all too Logan's growing appetite, some of them made their way to our plates.

Apple fritters with Vanilla icecream.

Recipe adapted from The Amish Cook at Home

Ingredients

1 cup of plain flour

2 tsp of baking powder

2 tbsp of sugar

1/4 tsp of salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup of milk

3 Cooking apples, peeled and cored and sliced into rings.

Vegetable oil for deep frying.

Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, slat in a large bowl. Stir (or whisk) in the egg and the milk.

Add more milk if necessary, You want the consistency of thick (i.e double) cream, like a sweet yorkshire pudding batter.

Dip the apple slices in the batter and coat them.

Fill a large saucepan till about half full with oil and heat it until hot and ready to fry.

Carefully place the apple slices in the hot oil.
You will need to do this in batches, I could fit 4 a time in my pan without crowding them too much.

Turn over once they are puffed and brown on one side and continue frying until equally golden brown on the other side.

Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels to absorb any excess oil.

Serve warm with a big scoop of vanilla icecream, maybe even a shake of cinnamon.

Tabatha's truely scrumptious birthday cake.

2011-09-20T11:51:00.000+01:00

Standard birthday procedure... Cake.

Look away now if you are on a diet.

I made a Vanilla sponge with raspberry curd and cheesecake filling, with Italian butter cream frosting.

That's quite a mouthful, lets just call it scrumptious for short.

The recipe was a mix up from Tea with Bea

Scrumptious cake recipe

adapted from Tea with Bea.

Vanilla Cake

Ingredients

200g of unsalted butter

1/2 tsp salt

375g of caster sugar

3 eggs

3 egg yolks (save your whites you'll need them)

1 Tbsp Vanilla extract

275g of plain flour

160ml of lukewarm milk

Preheat oven to 170C (340 F) gas mark 5.

Using a stand alone mixer with paddle attachment (or an electric whisk) beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, combining well before adding the next.

Add the egg yolks and vanilla extract.

In a seperate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder well, then sift twice.

(Worth noting, I did follow this instruction and my cake rised beautifully for a change.)

Add a 1/3 of the flour along with 1/2 of the milk to the egg mixture, repeat with another 1/3 of flour and 1/2 of milk, add the last of the flour and mix until thoroughly combined.

Pour your mixture into a 20cm / 8inch cake pan, greased and baselined with parchment.

I would recommend a deep pan as you will have a lot of mixture.

(or if you are lazy like me, use a loose bottom cake pan and smear it with Wilton's cake release... a baking essential)

Here the recipe in the book says to cook for 28-35 minutes. I knew before putting the cake in the oven that it was never going to be ready that fast. Still check it after half an hour, I left it for about a further 15 - 20 minutes.
Bake until you can insert a skewer and it comes out clean and the top feels springy.

When done, remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely.
Cakes need to be cold before icing, otherwise you will have a landslide, or should that be a cakeslide!

Vanilla cheese cake filling

Ingredients

200g of cream cheese
60g of caster sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp of cornflour
60ml of whipping cream ( my village shop only had Emlea double cream which would whip, so I used that without any disaster)
a couple of drops of vanilla extract.

Preheat oven to 130C (275F), gas mark1.
Beat together the cream cheese and the sugar until the sugar has all dissolved.
add the egg, sift in the cornflour and stir to thoroughly combine.
Add the cream and vanilla, mix until combined
Pour the mixture into a prepared 20cm cake pan
(the recipe calls for a loose bottom pan, greased and baselined with parchment, I used a silicone pan, again because I'm lazy!)
Bake in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes
Remove from the oven and let it go cold.

Raspberry filling

Ingredients

about half a jar of raspberry jam ( or any jam of choice. the book uses a lemon curd filling)
juice and zest of 1/2 lemon.

Combine all in a small saucepan and bring gently to the boil.
Mix well to remove any large lumps.
Strain through a sieve to remove any seeds.
Allow to cool.

Italian butter cream frosting.

Ingredients

I halved the book recipe and had just enough to cover the cake.
(and I was running out of eggs!)

180g of caster sugar
1/2 Tbsp of golden syrup
50ml of water
3 egg whites (saved from earlier)
300g of unsalted butter, softened and cut into chunks
1 tsp of vanilla extract.

Put the sugar, syrup and water in a saucepan and mix well until combined. Set over a high heat and bring to a rapid boil. When the sugar mixture has come to the boil. the recipe tell you to use a sugar thermometer until it reaches 120c/ 248F, I don't own one, so I keep boiling it until it seemed to thicken slightly. It's called the soft ball stage.
Remove from heat.
Put the egg whites in a large heatproof bowl and with an electric whisk (you'll probably need an extra pair of hands for the next bit) or stand alone mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk them until you have soft peaks.
Pour a steady stream of sugar syrup into the egg white, being careful not to hit the whisk as you do so.
Continue whisking until the meringue cools slightly.
Add the butter one third at a time and whip until fully incorporated.
Stir in the vanilla and I added a couple of spoonfuls of raspberry filling for flavour and colour.
You could add some food colouring as well if you wanted a stronger colour.

Assembly.

With a serrated knife, cut your cold vanilla cake in half, using long strokes.
Spread a thin layer of butter cream on the bottom cake half.
Put a few spoonfuls of butter cream in a piping bag and pipe a circular border around the bottom half of the cake, at about 1cm from the edge. This is to stop the raspberry filling from seeping out.
Fill with raspberry filling, only up to about 2/3 of the way up the butter cream wall.
Gently place the cheesecake on top.
( the recipe asks for you to now chill this in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow the butter cream for set. I had children to pick up from school and time is my enemy, so I disobeyed the recipe and the world didn't end!)

The pipe another butter cream wall around the top of the cheesecake. Fill with raspberry filling, again only 2/3 up the wall.
Spread another thin layer of butter cream on the remaining half of the cake and gently place it on top of the cheesecake.
Use the rest of the butter cream to spread over the cake.
Here, I spread a thin layer and put the cake in the fridge, probably for about 20-30minutes while I fetched the girls from school.
I then spread the final layer over the top afterwards, trying to smooth it as best as I could with a palette knife.

If you want any fancy ruffles or decoration you will need to make more butter cream, so adjust the recipe accordingly. Like I said I halved the amount and I just covered the cake.

Add sprinkles!

and candles, all 8 of them.

For her birthday treat, the next day we went bowling.

Check out the new "all grown up" bling

Ria attempted to bowl without the ramp. She got the lowest score* but fair play to her for trying.

(* I typed that as "losest score" at first. Not a real word but it could work, she was the loser, or is that a bit cruel?)

We went to Prezzo's for dinner, as it wouldn't be a birthday without pizza.

That is also standard procedure!

8

2011-09-16T10:00:00.055+01:00

8 years ago, I was handed this.

I had never held a baby before (apart from my cousin and I dropped her!).

The feeling was overwhelming, here was this pathetic helpless little creature that I had made, who was completely dependant on me.

It was horrifying!

I was actually shocked when I was handed a baby. In some strange twisted part of my head, the thing moving around in my stomach wasn't a baby. It wasn't real until that moment.

I was completely clueless. I pressed my alarm button in the hospital room because she had hiccups because I thought there was something wrong. To say that the nurse gave me "evils" would be an understatement!

First children represent a steep learning curve.

Tabatha, whether she likes it or not, has been my practice child.

Sometimes it works, sometimes its doomed to failure.

I am harsher with her than the others. In my eyes, she is the eldest she should know better, often. forgetting she is still young herself.

She is bright and intelligent, too much for her own good most of the time.
She excels at school, being the youngest child in the school to have progressed through all the reading levels.

She desires to be helpful.

She is curious and resourceful.
She has a cheeky sense of humour.
She has a vicious streak.

She has a great sense of injustice, the whole world is out to get her.
She is loses her patience and gets disheartened when things don't go right.

She is fiery and quick to over-react.

She opens her mouth before putting her brain into gear.

She is stubborn.

She is too much like me.
She fills me with pride and she fills me with dread.
She is the only one, whose behaviour can reduce me to tears.

I accuse her of being 8 going on 18, but behaving like an 8 month old.

She throws tantrums and acts like a spoilt brat.

I tell her to grow up!

She want to go to the shops by herself, wear heels and makeup.

I tell her not to grow up too fast!

She terrifies me.

The world around her terrifies me.

It will take that precious little baby and twist her into a teenager before I even realise it.

She has evolved from a sweet, easy baby, into a demanding and stroppy child.
I hope that 8 brings her some maturity.
That she can learn to control and curb her temper. That she is not so quick to fire mine up.

I don't want my relationship with her to be a battleground. I don't want her childhood memories to be of living through those battles.

Still today is her birthday so maturity will go out of the window, to be replaced with a lot of this...

Happy 8th Birthday.

Roli Poli Logi

2011-09-09T14:37:00.002+01:00

How to do a Roly Poly
by Logan Wallbank, aged 4months.

First lie on your back kicking your legs about until you build up enough momentum to propel yourself sideways.

Continue the movement, letting gravity help you out once you get half way.
Feel free to fart mid roll, it'll help push you that final bit!

Land on tummy, lift head up and smile the smuggest smile, like you're the only baby in the world who can do this!

Logan taught herself to roll over last Thursday, by Friday she had learnt to continue rolling. She's not aiming for anywhere in particular, but it does mean that when I put her done now, she won't necessarily be there when I come back for her.

I think she's early to do this, I'm sure the others were older when they learnt to move.
Logan is drawing her knees up under herself already to try and move forwards!
Why does my last baby need to stop being a baby so fast. Not fair!

In other Logan news, she has found her voice. By that I mean that she doesn't just cry anymore, but gurgles loudly & randomly. She sounds a bit like Chewbacca when shes having a full blown conversation with herself.

She has also discovered her thumb!
Well she didn't discover it... Ria showed her where it was and she remembered! Blast it!
Whilst the fact that she can self soothe is great, future orthodontic bills are not.
I'm still not winning the battle with Baylie to get her thumb from out of her mouth.

Lightweight

2011-09-07T14:29:00.000+01:00

One morning at school ...

and she's passed out in front of Peppa pig!

Such a lightweight.

Hitting the ground running

2011-09-07T11:02:00.000+01:00

The kids went back to school this morning.

Am I glad to see the back of them?..Yes.

Am I disappointed in our Summer?.. Very much so.

Although it has dragged in the sense that the kids have got on my last nerve, then shredded it (its been that bad at times!), I'm annoyed that we didn't do most of the things I wanted to get done.

I'm trying to make sure that I am organised for this school year.

Everything has a label. A sewn in label this year, that can't peel off in the washing machine unlike the iron-on ones have done in the past. Even ther shoes are labelled (I'm taking no chances this year, last year Ria lost her fleece in week one!), but I don't think the labels will help Baylie put her shoes on the right feet, she has backward foot-itis that girl!

Everything is clean and hanging up.

Except for the bag of socks that have been waiting to be paired up since the beginning of the holidays, 6 long weeks ago. Anyone who have ever tried to sort out a load of white socks that have slightly different patterns or ribbing will understand why it's been sitting there, ignored, for all this time!

I'm also trying to keep on top of the kids lunches.

I don't want to rely of shop bought, processed crap anymore.

My conscious and my purse don't like it.

(The lazy, tired person in me does, but I'm trying to ignore her!)

My plan is too get things made up and pop them in the freezer, ready to throw in lunchboxes.

I'm toying with the idea of making up all their sandwiches for the whole week like this.

But I'm not sure if that will work? Do you?

I have to make 3 lunches now, (4 if you include Ian's, but he's big enough to make his own!) so any time saving tricks will be helpful.

Pinterest has already given me quite a lot of inspiration.

So far stashed in my freezer are some chocolate filled buns

and ham & cheese pretzel bites.

I really hope I can stick at this and not fall into the crisps and Dairylea dunkers trap again.

And yes, you did read that right, 3 lunches.

Because Baylie officially started school this morning.

She has mixed emotions about starting school. She's excited one minute then will snuggle up to me and say she doesn't want to go because she like mummy more than school! Well I should bloody well hope so, but the heart strings have been tugged.

She is such a tiny dot, but she was a big girl and walked into school without needing to hold my hand.

Her face was a little apprehensive but I know she'll be fine.

It's a little windy this morning, so their skirts went a little Marilyn Munroe. Lol.

Now to enjoy the quiet with just me and Logan, who has learnt some new tricks which I'll share next.

Flying Solo

2011-09-03T14:24:00.000+01:00

I am single parenting for the weekend while Ian is off gallivanting around Margate on a stag do.

Maybe once he gets back and the kids return to school next Wednesday, I will find time to blog... maybe.

Friday Finds

2011-08-19T10:00:00.012+01:00

A weekly slot where I can showcase things that have caught my eye.

Please share any finds you might have made this week, be they in the real or virtual world.

It can be anything from a some pretty bauble, a tasty recipe, a craft project, literally anything that you would like to share.

This Week

The Kitchen Revolution

This isn't the type of cookbook I usually go for, but I saw it in the library and thought I'd give it a whirl.

I'm a sucker for photos. I like to know what the food I'm cooking is suppose to look like.
Although I do draw the line at all the photos of Nigella licking spoons that crop up in her books.
This book has no photos whatsoever but it is the most simplest and straight forward idea.

The book breaks the year down into months, then weeks, providing you with a set menu for each week with a complete shopping list.

The menus each consist of a "big meal cooked from scratch", two "something for nothing meals" made out of the leftovers from the big meal, a "seasonal supper", a "larder feast" using store cupboard ingredients for at the end of the week when the fresh stuff has all been used up, and a "2 for 1 meal", where you make enough to freeze an extra meals worth to use another week.

And unlike some other books that claim to give you money saving menus and shopping lists, the recipes in this are quite exciting and not just old recipes rehashed that you already know how to cook and are bored of cooking. (I'm mentioning no names, they know who they are!)

Its the kind of cooking that I really want to do. Where everything I buy gets used up. And doesn't languish in the fridge or cupboard until well past its "best before date" because I've forgotten its there or what I planned to do with it.

I tend to make a shopping list anyway as I find it saves me money to know what I need and what I'm going to cook for the week, otherwise I stand dumbly in front of fridges and shelves in the supermarket trying to think up a meal plan, part with way to much money at the till, to still come home and have nothing to cook!

I usually don't have much in the way of leftovers in this house. I cook the right amount of food. I do cook big roast on a Sunday to get extra meals out of the meat.

Last weeks gammon, made many sandwiches, Turkey and ham pie, Ham & cheese empanadas (or empananas as Baylie called them!)

The beef from the week before became Monday's cottage pie and Tuesday's quesadillas.

The "old school " style of cooking where everything is used up appeals to me, especially when I have a hungry house of 6 (I'm including Logan, because her greediness make me greedy!).
The time saving "something for nothing" and pulling a "2 for 1 meal" from the freezer, also appeals to me because of Logans greediness consuming all my time.
So I will be putting this book to the test.

"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found."
Calvin Trillin

All gone

2011-08-18T10:00:00.000+01:00

Last years blackberry jam is finally all gone. Boo!

I'm impressed it latest that long.

But it must mean that autumn is fast approaching and a new blackberry foraging mission must be conducted.

Although the blackberries are not out "en masse" yet, the early ripeness of some of the hedgerow fruits has me slightly worried about the early onset of winter this year, or is it just because it was so dry so early, they are confused into thinking it is later in the season. Or is it just me and are they always ripe about now?

I gave the last of the blackberry jam a good send off with Jam donught sandwiches.

The recipe is taken originally from Jo Pratt's In the Mood for Food but I make now without need to consult the book. (Does that mean I'm making it too often?)

You need 1 jam sandwich which you dip in a mixture of 2 beaten eggs, a few spoonfuls of sugar (depending on taste), a dash of vanilla extract and a splash of milk.

You then fry the sandwich in some melted butter until golden brown.

Coat with sugar and enjoy.

Pink cupcakes

2011-08-17T10:00:00.000+01:00

Look at these yummy little pink cupcakes.

Don't they make you drool?

Can you guess their secret ingredient?

Beetroot.

Made from last week "harvest"

They taste suprisingly good.

If I'm honest I probably only grew beetroot to make cakes out of them. Ice cream is my next plan.

Beetroot cupcake recipe
(adapted from "Essentials" August issue)

Ingredients:

175g of Caster Sugar
175g of Unsalted butter
175g of cooked and pureed Beetroot
175g of flour
3 Eggs separated
1tbsp of Vanilla extract
300g of Icing sugar
150g of Unsalted butter
Rose flower water
Beetroot juice

Pre-heat oven to gas mark 4 / 180C.

Cream together the caster sugar with the butter, until pale and creamy.

Add the flour (they say to use self raising, I only buy plain and I forgot to add baking powder and they came out just fine), 3 egg yolks, the beetroot ( I steamed mine for about 20mins or so then peeled the other skin, you can always use vac packed ones that have been drained.) and the vanilla extract.

Beat until smooth.

In a separate bowl whisk the 3 egg whites until stiff.

Add a large spoonful to the mixture to loosen , then gently fold in the rest of the whites.

Spoon into cupcake liners and bake for about 20minutes, or until firm and springy. Allow to cool.

To make the icing, beat the icing sugar with the unsalted butter, add a few drops of rose flower water and a little beetroot juice (either reserved from when you drained your vac pack, or a bit of leftover puree mixed with a little water).

Pipe over the cupcakes once they are completely cool.

Tentatively

2011-08-16T10:00:00.014+01:00

I have allowed the cats back outside.

They were cooped up for a few days. I was too scared to let them out.

I didn't want Honey to go off looking for Neg and Smelly to move out again.

But small children don't always understand the concept of closing doors behind them, the cats took advantage and made a break for freedom.

Honey has enjoyed rolling around in the sun and hasn't strayed far.

Smelly has been miserably sulking by the hedge as usual, and then upped and left again.
Miserable little skank.
The old lady behind us must still be feeding her or she would have come home by now. I'm going to have to go and fetch her again!

They have new name tags so at least if the do wander off, they are easier to return.

And Honey now tinkles very loudly,much to her annoyance.

Her stealthy bird killing days might well be numbered.

Logan on a lundi

2011-08-15T10:00:00.000+01:00

It is amazing I ever get anything done when this is how I have to work most of the time.

It's either this or feeding, and both mean only having the use of one hand.

Everything takes so much longer to do.

And the days are running away with me.

Friday Finds

2011-08-12T10:00:00.000+01:00

A weekly slot where I can showcase things that have caught my eye.

Please share any finds you might have made this week, be they in the real or virtual world.

It can be anything from a some pretty bauble, a tasty recipe, a craft project, literally anything that you would like to share.

This Week

Dear Photograph.

I love these kind of photos.

I wish I could think of one to do.

Or lived anywhere near the places all my old photos were taken.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary

2011-08-11T10:36:00.000+01:00

How does you garden grow?

With lots of rhubarb,a handful of peas and more potatoes than you could ever eat!

This photo is a couple of weeks old, everything is bigger now

The first year of the new vegetable patch has been handing over its bounty the last month or so.

We've had salad leaves, radishes, potatoes (and many more still in the ground), carrots, beetroot, and a few peas.

The sprouts, cabbages, cauliflowers are growing beautifully for harvesting later in the year.

The melons, pumpkins, courgettes and gherkins are all make progress, albeit slow progress. I was very late to get them planted out.

The rhubarb, that I expected to not be able to harvest until next year is massive.

I need some rhubarb recipes, there only so many times I can make crumble before it become boring. And that is saying something because I love crumble!

Sadly despite my best efforts these evil little bugs attacked my gooseberry bush.

That one is angry because I just sprayed him with soap... it didn't work. They still did this!

Poor naked gooseberry.

I hate gooseberry sawfly, they always wait until I'm on holiday to strip my plant! Little sh*ts!

I've had this plant for 6 years! and I've only ever had 3 measly berries from it because of these blighters.

If it happens again next year. I'm ripping it up and binning it! That will pain me because I love gooseberries, they remind me so much of my childhood and I desperately want some in my garden!

The beans are ridiculously tall, but there are no signs of actual beans yet!

In other parts of the garden there are flowers... yay!

My sweet peas, also late to the party, have just begun flowering.

And the Verbena bonariensis that I won at the school fair a few weeks back is looking beautiful.

There are still wild, overgrown and untended patch that need addressing.

There are plans a foot for them which hopefully will be put into action before the back of my garden turns into a jungle.

New bikes

2011-08-10T12:16:00.000+01:00

Summer has bought the girls early birthday presents.

It made sense for them to have them now when the weather is good enough for them to ride them.

Ria would otherwise have to wait until the end of October and by then her bike would be packed away for the winter.

They have made a huge leap, from 14 inch bikes to 20 inches!

I was shocked when the salesman suggested 20 inch ones as they seems so huge compared to the bikes they had. I thought they were moving up to a 16 or 18. Good job we went to a store instead of purchasing them online.

There was the usual ~~argument~~ debate in the shop as they both liked them same bike. The girly looking purple one. But Ria couldn't ride that one so had to ~~be lied to~~ coaxed into having the pink racer bike. She was told (out of earshot of Tabatha) that the pink bike was faster!
It is, but that's only because Ria is so fearless.

They are getting used to the extra height and hopefully will learn how to use their breaks on these ones!

Logan on a Mardi (for a change)

2011-08-09T10:00:00.012+01:00

Three months old already.

How tiny she is in her cot, yet she is almost overflowing her moses basket.

The simple joy of a mobile.

And a smile for mummy.

Emotional rollercoaster.

2011-08-08T13:25:00.001+01:00

That's what the last few days have been.

Over a week ago, Smelly went missing. She had been acting strange for a few weeks, not coming in for food and brooding at the top of the garden, then she disappeared altogether.

We presumed the worse.

Maybe Smelly had been ill and had gone off to die like animals do sometimes, after all she is 10 and very small for her age.

Whilst we were obviously upset, we could understand her disappearance.

Posters and leaflets were handed out but we had no response.

Then on Friday night, Neg didn't come home. He never misses a meal.

He didn't return on Saturday.

At this point my brain started working overtime as to where he could have got too.

We had 2 cats go missing within a week of each other, that is suspicious to say the least.

Your mind thinks up all sorts of horrible thoughts, that some disgruntled gardener has taken them, some bored teenagers... it really doesn't bear thinking about but you can't help it.

Sadness, anger and frustration were all I could feel this weekend, Not knowing where they were, what had happened to them and not being able to do anything about it.

Cats roam around, you don't think twice when you see a cat wandering around by itself. Dogs on the other hand are well known morons and are quickly picked up if they are spotted roaming by themselves..

On Sunday afternoon, we received a phone call, after a new bout of leaflets had been posted through neighbours doors, to tell us that Neg had been found.

Sadly he had been hit by a car on Friday night.

The lady who found him had buried him so that he wouldn't be scavenged.

We were all distraught but also strangely relieved. The evil thoughts could be put to rest. No one was purposefully harming our cats.

Rest in peace my little Negger.
You had a good life albeit a short one, killing birds and commandeering other peoples beds.

You enjoyed your time with us and thanked us with your friendly, loving nature.

We will miss you.

Halfway through writing this post. I received another phone call.

The lady living directly behind us had Smelly.

She had been living it up a an only cat in her garden for the past couple of weeks.

Seems she was coming home just to show her face, and then decided that the other house was more suited to her needs so moved herself in.

Whilst I am glad that there is a happy ending. I can't help feeling guilty for wishing it was the other way round.

Smelly is old and cantankerous at the best of time. Yes she will show affection but its on her terms and not very often. She doesn't seem to be happy living here, hence why she moved in to the house behind us.

Whilst I'm not saying that she deserved to die or anything like that, Neg was young and a nicer cat in general.

I feel bad for feeling like this.

Postcards from the eastern edge - 5

2011-08-05T10:00:00.001+01:00

On our last day, we went to Pettits animal adventure park on the way home.
It's a theme park designed for small ones who don't like anything scarier than flying elephants.

Tony & Billy?
Where did they think that those were great flying elephant names?

Although Baylie is still not able to eat ice cream without making a terrible mess, it turns out that she is a bit of a thrill seeker.

Her face cracks me up in this photo!

We were also able to work out that Ria will probably pass her driving test at her first attempt. She just knew that she had to push the pedal and steer to get the car moving. Tabatha on the other hand will probably need a couple ( I mean lots, but I don't want to be cruel!) of extra lessons.

But Baylie's slow and steady approach won her the race.

Postcards from the eastern edge - 4

2011-08-04T10:00:00.000+01:00

The sun did finally come out enough for us to get to the beach.

We headed over to Gorleston on Sea, which turned out to be quite a lovely beach.

Sand and Sea, what more could you want from a beach.

Well an Ice cream man would have been nice but I forgive you Gorleston!

Filling the moat kept them bust for all of 2 minutes. They very quickly realised that the water was just draining away. Turns out my kids aren't as stupid as they look.

animations from this site

Postcards from the eastern edge - 3

2011-08-03T10:00:00.002+01:00

The weather wasn't great so we retreated indoors to bowl.

Shamefully the girls beat me!

Ria has a natural skill at bowling. We tried to line her ramp up each time and every time she just pushed it off centre, not looking or paying any attention to her ball and got countless strikes! Jammy little git!

Baylie scored 125. I'm told that quite good!

I'm not jealous (honest) ,they had bumper guards and a bowling ramp.

So thats kind of cheating and really their victory doesn't count!

Postcards from the eastern edge - 2

2011-08-02T10:00:00.000+01:00

Africa Alive

We haven't been here since it was still "Suffolk Wildlife Park" about 6 years ago when Ria was not even walking.

The girls got to see small cute animals

Big man - eating ones

This lioness did not take her eyes of Logan in Ian's arms during the feeding time talk. She followed her as Ian passed her from arm to arm. Quite unnerving!

There are also small man - eating beasties.

I know its only an otter, but I don't trust them.

With good reason... ask Terry Nutkins!

Over excitable jumpy ones

The apprehensive look on Ria's face is because I've just told her not to touch the lemurs as if they bite she will get Rabies and need huge injections in her stomach!

Cruel but extremely effective at stopping a girl who touches everything!

And of course no trip to a zoo is complete without a big fat smelly animal sitting like a dog!

Postcards from the eastern edge.

2011-08-01T14:19:00.000+01:00

Last week We went away for a few days.

I have sworn for years that each caravan holiday we go on is our last. But small babies, children with expired passports and other more pressing expenditures have all meant that this years holiday took place again in a caravan.

I'm not knocking caravans but at the end of the day they are tin cans... blooming expensive tin cans ( based on the sales posters all over the site we stayed on! We bought our first house for less!!!)

Small babies also dictate that travelling to far afield would not be a good idea, so we headed a mere hour drive over to the coast near Great Yarmouth.

Whilst I may complain about going on holiday. The kids obviously enjoy it.

They get to dance around way past their bedtimes.

Drink Slush puppies

and get brain freeze!

Pretend to play bingo after Mummy & Daddy have failed to win.

And getting excited even though she is only playing against herself with numbers that she is drawing in her head... Idiot!

Friday finds

2011-07-29T10:00:00.004+01:00

A weekly slot where I can showcase things that have caught my eye.

Please share any finds you might have made this week, be they in the real or virtual world.

It can be anything from a some pretty bauble, a tasty recipe, a craft project, literally anything that you would like to share.

This Week

Making Magazine

The perfect magazine for all us "jack of all trades" crafters.

Oliver & S Doll Carrier

2011-07-28T10:00:00.000+01:00

A little girl in Tabatha and Ria's class was having her 6th birthday party last week.

Her mum had already said to me that since Logan had been born and she had seen me walking around with her in the wrap that she had taken to tying her dolls to her chest.

I thought at the time of the Doll carrier in the Oliver + S book and decided to make her one if she had a birthday party this year.

source

After the debacle with the hats, I was extremely pleased that this sewed up so easily and worked like it should do.

Getting Baylie to model the finished carrier started well

but soon descended into chaos

and eventually to stroppiness!

That's a wrap

2011-07-27T10:00:00.005+01:00

When Baylie was little I used to carry her in a carrier I had bought.

It is a cwtchi mei tai but unfortunately the lady who made them doesn't do them anymore.

Thankyou Ria for taking a photo of my bum, I knew it would come in handy someday!

It was very comfortable carring Baylie around in it but when she was really little I felt the sling was too roomy and she kind of slumped to the bottom.

So when Logan was on her way I made a moby style wrap sling.

aww, look how tiny she is there, all milk spotty!

Ignore the burp cloth stuffed down my top as a precautionary measure.

I can adjust how tight it is tied so Logan can't slump.

When she gets bigger I will be able to use the Cwtshi (which means hug in Welsh, its not just gibberish... actually it's welsh so its kind of gibberish!)

The fabric on the front panel is "Spring Street" by Carolyn Gavin

I'm really pleased with myself for this wrap.

Logan settles down wonderfully in it and it so much easier doing the school run without a pushchair (aka "the beast" because it is far too big!)

Bebe Burrito

2011-07-26T10:00:00.001+01:00

As adorable as Logan is. She doesn't sleep very much in the day. At night she is brilliant but during the day she power naps and wakes up as soon as you put her down.

Meaning I have very little time to myself to do anything or it has to be done to the soundtrack of a screaming baby.

I think the reason she sleeps so well at night is because she is all swaddled up in the dark, so when I came across this free pattern I had to make it.

I made it 3 inches longer so that it would fit her for a bit longer, but she fills it already even with the extra length. And I had measured her first. She obviously must have grown in an afternoon.

The fabric is "Senor Burito" by Alexander Henry purchased from here on sale. Yay!

Its very fitting for two reasons.
One, you wrap the baby up like a burrito (see what I did there with the play on words?)

Two, over the last few weeks I have come the conclusion that Logan is the reincarnation of a Mexican lady called Conchita from Chihuahua.
She like boxing, taquitos, the hat dance, Speedy Gonzalez ( just watching those 2 clips on my knee has had her entranced).
But shes not a fan of Tequila, Christmas or Tecate: Cerveza con caracter!

How have I reached these crazy arsed conclusions?

Well let me explain. A question came up on a TV quiz where the answer was Mexico, which I answered with proper pronunciation: Mey-hico. This made Logan smile. So I kept doing it and then moved on to other Mexican words.

As you will notice from the list above, those words may have been a little on the stereotyping side and for that I apologise, but making my small baby smile from ear to ear is worth it.

Anyway does it helps her sleep better? Only time will tell.

Logan on a Lundi

2011-07-25T10:00:00.004+01:00

Baylie commandeered last weeks post, so here is a cuteness catch up.

Mummy can get smiles but Daddy can get giggles... not fair!

Until she spots the camera that is.

Apologies for Ian's feet and Jimmy Carr's big head in the background!

End of the school year.

2011-07-22T12:52:00.000+01:00

6 weeks of borderline hell start now!

The last few weeks have been crazy busy: sports days, outings, performances, birthdays all with a new baby in tow. (Yes I'm using her as an excuse again!) But today Baylie has gone off for her last day of nursery before starting big school in September.

Tabatha & Ria are also on their last day.

Tabatha changes class and teacher next year, much to her annoyance as she will have to do more work, and thats "boring!"

Last night they made Thankyou cards for their teachers.

I don't buy teachers gifts.

Sorry if you are a teacher but the way I see it is that, whilst you are doing a stellar job of educating the next generation and must ~~be clinically insane~~ enjoy spending all your working day with children, you are being paid to do so ( I'm not, I have to do this shit for free!).

Me giving you a box of chocolates isn't going to make dealing with my kids any easier, if anything it will make you fat and sluggish and kids can smell weakness!

Really I'm doing you a favour by not being sucked into to playground politics of who can buy the nicest ~~most expensive~~ teacher gift.

Just because I had a last minute pang of conscience and got my children to make you a card doesn't mean I am faltering in my principles.

Enjoy their smudgy & messy finger prints.

Oh and your 6 week holiday!

Apologies for any excess sarcasm.

The Party.

2011-07-21T11:23:00.000+01:00

Baylie's birthday party was planned as a garden party.
The idea of entertained pre-schoolers indoors brings me out in hives.
So I decided to throw them all outside in the garden with the sandpit and paddling pool.
I made the invites inspired by these ones

As you can tell from the photo it was a lovely sunny day when we handed them out!
Then in true British summer fashion, the heavens opened and refused to close, no matter how much I cursed at them.
But for once everything that was conspiring against me failed in its mission to ruin the day.

The sun came out! It didn't rain like the weather forecast had said it would for the past week!

The party favours turned up just in time. Although I had sent Ian to buy backup presents just in case.

The only thing I forgot was to take any photos! Bad blogger!

In my defense, I have a 9 week old, 10 preschoolers running around my garden and their mothers silently inspecting the cleanliness of my house. I'm sure you can forgive me!

The cakes that the kids took home were inspired by these ones.

Source: ohcupcakes.net via Vicky on Pinterest

They looked very similar to these ones apart from not being chocolate cake underneath.

source

I didn't get to have one myself but the girls told me the were yummy.

The cake recipe was Nigella's cupcakeone and the buttercream recipe came from Bakerella, and was the best buttercream I have tried. I didn't put the full quantity of icing sugar in, just enough for it to reach the consistency I wanted.

All in all I think it was a success despite the half eaten ham & cheese rolls strewn across the lawn, the orange cheesy puffs fingerprints on my new garden chair cushions, and the mud one of them trod into the playroom carpet.

How did it go?

2011-07-19T11:14:00.000+01:00

Baylie had a lovely birthday.

But when you are four as long as you have presents you're happy!

Oh and cake. Never forget the cake!

She requested a "Charlie & Lola" cake only a few days before her birthday, putting me into a bit of a panic.

My original cake idea was this.

Source: sugarcraftedcakes.co.uk via Vicky on Pinterest

But it was all a bit to perfect and nursing babies, who will not sleep during the day, don't make life easy when it comes to crafting a birthday cake.
OK I couldn't craft charlie and lola out of sugar paste if my life depended on it, but using Logan as an excuse doesn't highlight my non-professional cake decorating skills Lol.
Luckily this website came to my rescue, although I had to pay special delivery in order to get it on time. Damn Baylie and her last minute requests.

I saw a cake with dolly mixtures stuck all over it and choose to do that instead. That and Tesco's don't sell jammy dodgers online! What? How can they not sell jammy dodgers?
The icing recipe came via sweetapolita. Something different to butter cream or fondant.
It tasty lovely but by the end of the slice I couldn't take any more sugar. I think its time I learnt not to cut myself such a big slice of cake.

Now I have a birthday party to organise for tomorrow.
It was a good idea to start with.
Throw all the pre-schoolers outside with a sand pit, paddling pool and bubbles. No need to entertain them.
But alas the british weather is conspiring against me. It has rained non stop since I gave out the invites. Its not raining right now, but I doubt it will last.
And to top it off the party bag favours and bubbles have been delayed and won't be delivered until tomorrow, and I know the delivery driver doesn't get here until late afternoon... by which time everyone will have gone home!
To say I'm a little stressed and annoyed would be a understatement.

Even after 4 years

2011-07-15T12:00:00.000+01:00

She still has messy hair.

Still pulls silly faces

Can still sulk for England.

Is still a messy eater.

Still will not stop sucking her thumb.

(no matter what is smeared on her face!)

I think that's pumpkin. I also have photos with beetroot and pen!

And even though she is growing up so fast and is 4 today, she still is and always will be my gorgeous little girl.

Happy 4th Birthday Bayliepoos.

Toffee Apples

2011-07-14T18:30:00.001+01:00

Tomorrow is the girls summer fair and as usual donations of cakes are being asked for.

Never one to conform with the masses, my offering for tommorrow is Toffee Apples.

It's quite inkeeping with the current topic they have been doing at school these past few weeks.

The have been having Circus skill classes, their end of year show was circus themed (where my Tabatha custard pied the headteacher!!! We were brimming with pride!) and there is now a circus tent on the school field.

I made some labels inspired by these ones.

OK I more or less created an exact copy! Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
My circus-y font came from urbanfonts, a great resource to have.

The toffee apples themselves came from a Nigella Lawson recipe in How To Be A Domestic Goddess.

But I think there is a major mistake in her recipe.
She tells you to boil the caramel for 45 minutes.
If I had left mine boil for 45 minutes it would have set off all my smoke alarm... I'm amazed it didn't.

Burnt toffee absolutely stinks and this happened twice before I realised I should ditch Madame Lawson and trust my own judgement, only boiling it for as long as I thought was necessary.

Hopefully they will be appreciated.

Update 15/7/11
They had sold out before I got to school and I was only a little bit late picking the girls up!
So I think that suggests that they were appreciated.
Toot!

Seven things

2011-07-13T10:51:00.000+01:00

The lovely Annika from All the live long day tagged me for a list of seven things.

I'm not sure what 7 things I should share. Annika made several lists, but she does admit to being very fond of lists.

1. Maybe that's a good place to start, I too write a lot of lists. I have notebooks full of them but sadly I rarely complete them. (or remember which notebook I wrote a particular list in!)

2. I usually have so many plans churning around in my head it hurts. I feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland sometimes, thinking as many as six impossible thoughts before breakfast.

3. This one not about me but it follows on nicely. Baylie wants to be Alice in Wonderland when she grows up! That will save me one set of university fees at least! Lol.

4. I fear I am becoming obsessed with Smores. It started during pregnancy when I craved nutella and marshmallow fluff toasted sandwiches but it hasn't gone away yet.

5. I usually stand in front of my cupboards at 9pm looking for something to eat. I rarely find what I'm craving.

6. I actually don't know what I'm craving but last night I made these with some ice cream.

7. I blame Logan for making me hungry all the time!

On that note, she's crying for more food so I will quickly pass the award along to seven other lovely ladies whose blogs I read practically everyday.

Feel free to write a list of seven things or not.. the choice is yours.

Little Pong

What I Did Today

Country Girl Does Norfolk

Me and my boys

The Arkansas Traveller

We are Here

I'm So Fancy

Tips & Tricks

2011-07-12T13:39:00.000+01:00

So far my success rate with breastfeeding has improved with each baby.
Tabatha, as already mentioned was weaned of the breast at around 6-8 weeks because she was to greedy for me to cope.
Ria didn't last much longer unfortunately. She wasn't as greedy and breastfeeding was going well, but we were have work done on our house, so nowhere was private and I was more self-conscious about feeding back then, so sadly I stopped.
With Baylie I was determined to stick with it and we lasted 10 - 11 months. I only stopped feeding Baylie because she was only taking a feed at night time and I didn't want to rely on that feed to go to sleep.

So far Logan is feeding well. There have been a few hiccups early on when it felt like putting my breasts into a tank full of Piranhas when she latched on. Thankfully that wore off.

Breastfeeding four children has taught me some tricks that have helped me .

Firstly avoid caffeine if you have colicky babies.

This probably sounds obvious but I drank coffee with both Tabatha & Ria and they would scream the house down with upset stomachs. I dosed them up with Infacol and hoped for the best.
However whilst I was pregnant with Baylie I read somewhere that coffee can cause colic. I didn't touch a drop for the 10- 11 months that I breastfed her for and she never developed colic like the other two. Of course there was still screaming incidents because of sore tummies, but they past a lot faster.

Which brings me nicely to tip number 2.

Screaming, red faced angry little babies are not nice.

They don't feed and settle. They fuss, scream and are at risk of vomiting milk all over you!

I have two go-to methods to ease bad tummies,

The first and most effective, is to sit upright with baby sat on your knees with its back against your tummy.

Put one hand over the baby's belly and gently squeeze & release it, like a stress ball.

gently rock back and forth as well.

You may need to use your other hand to let baby suck your finger to help calm them down.

To start with their tummy will feel like a hard ball but as you squeeze and release their tummy you will feel it soften.

Method 2 is to lie baby across your knees and rub or pat their back. This method involves more screaming as you can't really reach to let them suck your finger, but if it works there will be a lot of spit up and/or farting! from the baby obviously!

Talking of spit up, babies produce a ridiculous amount of it, even exorcist style projectile vomiting on occasions. Burp cloths are essential. Bibs, I have found, are just not big enough!

Although this time around I have been blessed with a relatively dry burper in Logan... I hope I haven't just jinxed that.

Other things I have learnt over the years is how to cope with too much milk.

Do a search on Google and you will find loads of advice on how to increase your milk supply but very little on decreasing it.

I'm pretty sure I suffer from hyperlactation, I must have been a wet nurse in a past life, which might sounds great but trust me, its not when you are always wet, sore and your baby is choking on the amount of milk that is being pumped into her mouth.

My essential must haves to cope with my excessive milk are Lilypadz, these really do work.

source

They cost a bit for what they are and they don't last all that long before they lose their stickiness but they work and that make them totally worth it.
I'm due to buy my second set soon as the sticky is going, although Baylie did help them along by rubbing them on the carpet! Little git!

Another essential are my breast cups.

I bought mine from Boots when I had Tabatha. I was completely fed up of getting wet from my other breast leaking whilst feeding. None of the books had warned me about that happening.

Sadly I don't think they make these any more. They have these ones which are completely rubbish and self defeating as they have holes in them!

There are things called herbal anti galactagogues out there, that help decrease your milk supply.
When I had Baylie I drank sage tea... I do not recommend this, it is gross, like drinking stuffing!
With Logan I discovered sage capsules instead, no stuffing taste, much better.

My first ever midwife, a wonderful lady named Sue, gave me the best ever tip for coping with engorgement when your milk first comes in, and your breasts suddenly jump from normal to Lola Ferrari in about an hour.

source

She recommended that once you had warmed your breasts up in a hot bath, that you comb them... yes, with a comb! Weird but extremely effective!

You comb out all the hard lumps and emerge from the bath feeling almost human again.
I have used this method with every baby, even running a bath at 4am when my milk came in with Logan because I needed that relief.

Finally stick with it.
All the books say the first 6 weeks are the toughest and that things settle down after that. This is not just "breast is best" propaganda, it is true. At about 6 or 7 weeks, its like your brain flips a switch and all of a sudden your breasts start to behave reasonably again.

Logan on a Lundi

2011-07-11T16:58:00.001+01:00

Her beautiful smile is so distracting.

We almost missed our post natal check-up because of the time spent admiring her.

She has gained almost 2 and a half pounds since birth and is perfectly healthy.

Even the doctor was quite taken with her.

She smiled for him, didn't cry or pee on him (unlike boy babies... his words not mine!)

Friday Finds

2011-07-08T14:26:00.000+01:00

A weekly slot where I can showcase things that have caught my eye.

Please share any finds you might have made this week, be they in the real or virtual world.

It can be anything from a some pretty bauble, a tasty recipe, a craft project, literally anything that you would like to share.

This week

Chili Dogs.

Inspired by Man Vs Food.
That program make me want to head over to America on a gluttonous road trip, just visiting all the same places. I probably gain weight just watching it!

I wouldn't normal put 2 types of meat of the same plate. That just seems overindulgent to me, but these were delicious.
Served in homemade buns, with real sausages (not yucky hot dogs) and homemade wedges.

Monkey see, Monkey do

2011-07-06T11:21:00.001+01:00

This doll caused controversy when it was released in the States.
The only controversy I can see is the price.
£50 for a doll!
Here is Baylie demonstrating that any doll will do!

Booby time!

Burpy-time

She's even using my "V" shaped nursing pillow.

Understandably Baylie is a little obsessed with baby dolls at the moment.

She's always been a pushchair & dolly kinda girl but since Logan's arrival it has gone to a whole new level.

The reports I get back from nursery are always that she played with her baby "Logan" all day.

I wonder if she breastfeeds baby "Logan" at nursery as well?

Keeping a-breast of the issue.

2011-07-05T10:36:00.000+01:00

Over the years I have become more militant about breastfeeding.

Not in the sense that I believe everyone should breastfeed.

I understand that sometimes it doesn't work out. I gave up breast feeding Tabatha when she was 6- 8 weeks old, because she was so greedy that I felt like a dairy cow.

I do however believe that every mum should give it a go.

I don't agree with a newborn being put straight onto the bottle for the mother's convenience.

There is nothing more convenient than breast milk. It doesn't need mixing up, heating, sterilising and it's free.

source

It annoys me that shops such as Mothercare have aisles and aisles full of sterilisers, formulas and bottles but a tiny little section on the end of an aisle for breastfeeding aids.
I get equally annoyed with the aisles of disposable nappies and the one token bag of overpriced and insufficient reusable nappies languishing on the bottom shelf, but that's a different argument.

I am militant in the sense that I believe I can feed my baby wherever I so choose.

There are shops out there advertising their breast feeding facilities so proudly, when in reality they are a room next to the toilets that you and your baby are excluded to whilst their bottle fed counterparts are in the restaurant enjoying a cup of tea and a slice of cake.

I don't believe babies should be fed in toilets or in little rooms next to the toilets. Why should they? You wouldn't eat your dinner in the toilet.

Why should I be a social pariah because I choose to feed my baby the way nature intended her to be fed.

Don't get me wrong, I am an advocate for discretion. No-one should be flopping their boobs out in public even to feed their baby. Other peoples sensitivities need to be taken into account.

Shame these rules don't apply the media and I think that is where the problem lies.

source

Breasts have been overly sexualised and people don't like to be reminded that they are not designed to sell bras, cars or music videos but to feed our young.

This was in the news recently and I think it illustrates my point very well.

That said, I don't just plonk myself down on a bench in a town centre and breastfeed for two reasons,
1: I wouldn't be very comfortable,
2: I've never needed too.
But I can proudly say that Baylie has been breastfed during shows at Disneyland Paris ( We timed going to shows to coincide with feeds; indoors in the warm and no-one can really complain, they are supposed to be watching the Lion King dancers not me!)
And so far Logan has been fed on buses, the school picnic and at the Norwich Castle Museum where Baylie loudly informed everyone that Logan was having booby for her dinner!
To date I have had no funny looks or comments. Although I did get a knowing look from an elderly lady when I had an "it's nearly feeding time" reminder on the bus and had to cross my arms very tightly across my chest to avoid a leak.

Logan on a Lundi

2011-07-04T10:00:00.012+01:00

Lets play a little game of who's who.

Can you correctly guess which photo is Logan?

Give up?

The top one is Logan

The bottom one is Baylie.

Don't feel bad if you got it wrong... so did Ian! Bad Dad!

I'm sure if I pulled out out photos of Tabatha & Baylie at 7 weeks old they'd look just the same too.

Friday finds

2011-07-01T13:46:00.000+01:00

A weekly slot where I can showcase things that have caught my eye.

Please share any finds you might have made this week, be they in the real or virtual world.

It can be anything from a some pretty bauble, a tasty recipe, a craft project, literally anything that you would like to share.

This week

Source: thecurvycarrot.com via Vicky on Pinterest

Source: danslabulledeclo.canalblog.com via Vicky on Pinterest

Source: chezbeeperbebe.blogspot.com via Vicky on Pinterest

I'm probably really late catching on with this trend. But this is the ultimate friday find.

Somewhere to store all those amazing things that you see on the net and then subsequently forget where you saw them!

I think it might be summer.

2011-06-30T10:51:00.000+01:00

Could this be the beginning of our usually short and ultimately disappointing British summer?

It's gone from quite chilly and rainy to a scorching 33 degrees overnight.
(that's centigrade btw, otherwise it would be bloomin' cold!)
And apart from the odd thunderstorm on Tuesday, the good weather seems to be hanging around.

Fingers crossed that it carries on this way.

Thankyou Kari for inspiring me.

Busted!

2011-06-29T11:32:00.000+01:00

Ian has been complaining lately about there being hairs on the bed.

He's convinced that one of the animals has been jumping up and rolling around on his side.

I told him he was a moaner and it was probably his hair as the bedroom door is always shut and the animals are all outside.

For some reason he didn't appreciate that I was implying that he was going bald!

Well Ian you can breath a big sigh of relief, you and your hair are not parting ways just yet.

The culprit has been found.

Sneaky, lazy, but extremely cute, little git!

Update on yesterday:

The day went surprisingly smoothly. Buses were all caught on time. Shopping was done. Appointments were met. Small people behaved themselves. Extra small people slept all day and were deemed to not have any hearing problems. Older children were collected from school on time ( in a thunderstorm which had held off until I opened the door to leave the house!!! Only bad bit really.)

I didn't buy Baylie's birthday present as they didn't have what I wanted but I did do some reconnaissance work and now know what to get her and where to get it from online.

All in all a successfully day. TOOT!

Wish me luck

2011-06-28T10:00:00.001+01:00

As you read this I am attempting to cope with 2 children on a one hour bus trip into Norwich city centre.

Get some shopping done, including Baylie's birthday present, whilst Baylie is with me.

Try to successfully hide said present from Baylie.

Catch a second bus to the Hosiptal for Logan's Newborn hearning test.

Hope that they see us on time, as we are on a very tight schedule if we are ever going to make it back in time to pick the girls up from school after another hour long bus journey.

It may or may not still be the sweltering heat of Monday. I'm hoping not.

Running around frantically is one thing, sweating profusely at the same time is another!

I need some posistive vibes sent my way please people.

Logan on a Lundi

2011-06-27T13:11:00.000+01:00

Sometimes the "Milklady" is busy and someone else must step into the breech.

Friday Finds

2011-06-24T09:29:00.000+01:00

A weekly slot where I can showcase things that have caught my eye.

Please share any finds you might have made this week, be they in the real or virtual world.

It can be anything from a some pretty bauble, a tasty recipe, a craft project, literally anything that you would like to share.

This week

DIY Spring flowers by Freckled Nest

How beautiful and simple is this.

Hat nightmares

2011-06-23T10:29:00.000+01:00

I recently purchased the new Oliver and S book, Little Things to Sew

It is full of delightful things to sew for little ones, hence the title.

The girls were all desperate for new sun hats and the school were sending out the customary "the suns out, let panic" letters about hats and suncream, so I thought I'd give the bucket hat pattern a go.

They looked great and were being shown off on some talented blogs like here, here and here.

source

My first attempt was for Baylie, a pretty red and strawberry number

Fabric purchased from this shop.

But after all my hard work it didn't fit.

I'd made the biggest size designed to fit a 21' head circumference but something had gone a little wrong.

And I know my kids have 21' head circumferences.. I checked!

A bit weird how they all have the same size head! Surely that's not right!

But at least it is too big for one of my children.

So on to attempt number 2.
This time for Ria, as her need for a sun hat was more pressing.
The others still had last years hats that they could wear, but as with all things, Ria had lost hers.
She lost her new school fleece within a week of starting school even with a name label in it!

I enlarged the pattern by an inch all around to give my self some room to maneuver.

But although it fitted this time, I really couldn't get my head around the construction, without it looking amateurish, and even to say that it looked like an amateur had sewn it was generous!

Attempt number 3.

Admit defeat and buy new sun hats!

Father's Day

2011-06-21T10:43:00.000+01:00

We all know its not a real holiday, it's a hallmark holidays invented by card companies so that they have something to sell between Mothers day (which is a totally real and justified holiday!) and Christmas.

But an effort should be made, after all there are two of us trying, and failing, to control this rabble that call themselves our children.

Apparently the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, so Ian was treated to a full English for breakfast and his fathers day gift was a big box of Ostrich meat.

If you have never tried ostrich, please do so. It is fabulous and can't be anything but free-range.
Try keeping one of those big brutes in a cage!

But all holidays, fake or not, need a centrepiece

"Campfire Delight" cake recipe found here.

Disclaimer: do not visit this blog if scrumptious looking cakes make you hungry and induce fits of drooling. You have been warned!

The marshmallow fluff required for the filling was made from this recipe. I love that I now know how to make my own fluff. No more buying overpriced tubs imported from the States.

I've never made a cake of this magnitude before, but it was worth it and Rosie provides tips on how to get the cakes perfect. I didn't go the whole 6 layers, I think that might have been a little to much, not that I wouldn't have managed it. It was very yummy and I am a hungry nursing mummy, hence the amount of food posts.

Logan on a Lundi (& Baylie too!)

2011-06-20T14:18:00.001+01:00

The trouble with small people who are used to being the centre of attention is that they still expect to be and stick their faces into shot.

These were taken on before Baylie smashed her face into concrete.

BTW, She is feeling fine. The grazes on her face are almost gone and her lips didn't swell up as much as I was expecting them too.

She was also very chuffed that the tooth fairy came and left her 20p and that fairy didn't wake her up... ~~Aren't I~~ Isn't she a clever fairy!

I am trying hard to capture Logan's beautiful baby smiles, but they are elusive and are testing my camera's "Sports" mode.

Friday finds

2011-06-17T10:05:00.009+01:00

A weekly slot where I can showcase things that have caught my eye.

Please share any finds you might have made this week, be they in the real or virtual world.

It can be anything from a some pretty bauble, a tasty recipe, a craft project, literally anything that you would like to share.

This week

Bakerella's Cheesecake bars
Divine.
Nuff said.

Apologies for the repeated use of the gruffalo plate.
Sadly however this is its final apperance as this happened.

I'll give you 3 guesses as to which clumsy little girl did this.

You should only need one.