This is a review post. We were supplied with an Epic Straw set for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.
A few weeks ago I signed us up with Britmums to become Cravendale #EpicStraw inventors. Well, they arrived a few days ago, we stocked up on Cravendale milk and we’ve been having fun with them ever since.
The blurb said”Prepare to become a milk magician right in front of your family’s eyes. Cravendale’s #EpicStraws turn the simple act of drinking milk into fun, creative experiments. It’s time to invent your own Epic Straws creations and let the slurping begin!”
It really was fun. We started with the design on the packet and then created our own. Below is our best attempt. It took a LOT of sucking to get the milk through that invention, particularly because at one point it split and had to go two ways.
We had a huge amount of fun and giggles though and when Littlebit finally managed to suck hard enough to get any milk she found it so funny she spat the lot all over me.
We did spring a leak too, one of the pieces came loose but she was merrily sucking away giggling that we didn’t notice, until I felt a puddle at my feet.
You could get the whole family involved and create as many weird and wonderful shapes as you possibly can. Have wacky milk races and see who makes it disappear first!
Find out more about how to get an Epic Straw of your own by clicking here.
A mummy friend of mine said to me the other day that she wished she could get out more with her little one, who is about the same age as Littlebit, but as she has no car and no money she felt stuck for things to do.
I asked her two things:
1. do you have a park / large green space within walking distance
2. do you have a picnic blanket
Her answer to both was “yes”.
So I suggested “a picnic”.
“But I have no money for a picnic” she answered.
I said “If you’re at home you make lunch, no?”
“Yes” she answered.
“Then take whatever you’d eat at home, even if it’s a simple jam sandwich and a packet of cheesy puffs”.
“Oh, I could do that couldn’t I?”
I love a picnic. We often pop down to the park on a sunny day and eat our sandwich lunch down there. We’ve even been know to take soup and cheese sandwiches on not so warm days. Littlebit hops into her Bumble Bee Smart Trike and off we potter down the road.
I especially love doing this if we have a totally free day with no toddler groups or play dates. It means we get out and get some fresh air and Littlebit can have a play on the swings and slide before we eat.
My friend asked if I felt foolish sat there on my own with a nearly 2 year old. I don’t. Not at all. Littlebit is a person so, one of the funniest and most entertaining I know, so I’m not on my own (and even if I was I wouldn’t care less). I enjoy doing anything and everything with her.
Picnics are one of my favourite things in the world. From posh picnics (with champagne and music) to frugal picnics (jam sandwich and cheesy puffs), winter or summer, picnics in the car because the weather is “broken”, even an indoor picnic can be a lot of fun.
I’m linking up to Britmums blogging prompts with this post. What’s your best ever picnic? Or like me do you just love them all?
And as Saturday is Caption Day I’m also linking up to that beautifully crazy lady that is Mammasaurus’ #satcap with this too.
What I am about to write doesn’t sit well with me at all. But still, everyone else is doing it, and in fact Britmums emailed us all to suggest we could do this so here goes… grin and bear it!
As Donkey says in the clip above “PICK ME! PICK ME!”
Astounded
Shocked
Humbled
Terrified. I mean have you seen who I am up against.
So blooming chuffed!
It feels so indescribably amazing to have been nominated, let alone short listed. The email I received states “Out of over 12,000 nominations, your blog made the shortlist because of the many nominations it received from other bloggers and readers. The Brilliance in Blogging awards celebrate brilliant blogging in the UK (including British bloggers living overseas). Well done on being brilliant!”
That means that there’s a few of you out there that think what I do here is good. Maybe even better than good. That makes me feel fantastic. When I started this blog it was for me. It was also meant to raise a little bit of awareness for Bliss and premature babies, but mainly it was for me. To vent, to diarise and to get some free therapy to help me work through what had happened to us. I am just so very pleased that other people, by that I mean people other than me and my little community of friends and family, read me!
I’ve also just found out that I have been nominated in the MAD Blog awards “Most Inspiring!” category too. Humbled doesn’t begin to cover it.
I am so grateful to my readers. The comments you leave make my day. Every time I see one ping in my tummy turns over. It’s you guys that keep me blogging. Not stats or nominations or awards. Though I cant deny that it has given me a little boost. OK, OK, a MASSIVE boost!
Now this is the bit that makes me uncomfortable. I’m not going to beg you to vote for me. But if you read my blog and get something from it please do consider popping over to the BiBs voting form which can be found from this page. But do consider the other blogs there too and most definitely vote in more than my category.
You could also nominate me for a MAD if you’re really keen.
I am up against some tremendous bloggers. Not least Kylie at Not even a bag of sugar who you will know is one of my Blog Goddesses. Thank you Kylie for helping me to get where I am now. You will never know how much you have impacted on little old me and my blog. You KNOW you have my vote!
I don’t for one moment expect to win, not when you consider the other blogs on that list. I am just so totally chuffed that I was nominated and then short listed.
I love my blog. I love what it brings me. I love sharing my life with others. I love that I might just help someone. I love you lot. Thank you readers.
The meme rules: on the third Thursday of every month I blog about ten things I am thankful for. I used to then tag three (note the t’s) people in the meme to pass it on. However, I’m changing the rules. I can, because it’s my meme. Because the meme has a tight timeline (i.e. it should be posted on or around the third Thursday) I think that’s putting people off joining in. Either that or you’re just a rude lot, hahaha! So, I’m not tagging anyone, but if you come across this and want to join in, please do. Just let me know on twitter @pinkwellies79 if you join in. That would be ace!
So here we go…ten things I am thankful for this Thankful Third Thursday:
1. The number of people who love Littlebit and would bend over backwards for her, and us. We are very, VERY lucky to have a large family and friend network who are there at the drop of a hat when we need them. I couldn’t work without my Mum having Littlebit a couple of afternoons a week. We wouldn’t get any quality time just me and hubs without our fab friends Amy and Mark offering to babysit once a month just so we can go out on a date. And the in laws are always there if we need them too. We are very lucky and I am very thankful.
2. Our renewed attitude to family time. Hubs works, all the time. If he’s not away at his full time job he’s always got other work to do at home. His office is the place where he spends the majority of his time. However, we have made a change this year and we pencil “family time” into the diary. This was a really good move as it ensures we get quality time. Littlebit is thriving on it and turning into a proper Daddy’s girl.
Littlebit and I do baby sign language. The sign she is doing here is “where”. Honestly, this was cute the first hundred times but that day she must have said it well over 500 times!
3. Living in the Midlands. With the above we’re trying to “do” something on these family days. Because of where we live we are about an hour away from some fantastic tourist attractions. A lot of which are free too.
4. Our beautiful friends Tim and Erin. They got wed last weekend. Erin is American so it’s not been the easiest to arrange, what with visas and having to fly the American contingency over here etc. But the day went off without a hitch, well that’s how it seemed anyway, I hope they don’t correct me on that. It was beautiful, personal and just lovely. We’re so happy for them and thankful that Tim, Littlebit’s Godfather, has found his true love.
5. This blog. It truly is therapy.
6. Flowers. Even when I’m feeling down I just need to look at a beautiful bunch of flowers, or something relatively simple like a posy of daffodils and it lifts my mood.
7. Our house. We were talking recently about how awesome it would be to win the lottery and be able to buy the house of our dreams. Don’t get me wrong, there are things that the house where we live now doesn’t have, mainly a huge kitchen that can be the heart of my home. But we quickly realised that actually if we never move from here we are really happy with that. It’s really liberating to be “happy with our lot”. Still putting those tickets on the lottery though
8. Baby sign language. I have alluded to this above but I am so grateful we started this all those months back. It’s only very recently that Littlebit has started signing back to me. I did think she’d never do it. But it just shows that something is going in and I’m sure it’s really helping her to communicate her needs to us where she can’t yet with language.
9. While I’m on the subject of language, Littlebit seems to have had another burst of words and sounds. She’s added Papa, more and bath to her repertoire in the last week.
BritMums Live 2012 is coming and tickets are still on sale now (click here if you haven’t got yours yet).
For those, like me, unsure of who is who and who will be there on the big day Stepford Wifey is hosting a ‘meet and greet’. It is really helpful to put blog names to faces. So if you want to join in simply write a short bio about yourself and/or put a picture of yourself on your blog and then add your name to the linky.
Hiya *big waves* I’m K and here is my meet and greet:
Likes: Blogging, Cake, Chocolate, Littlebit (my daughter), Scotland, Campaigning for a better future for preemies, My family, Cheese and chutney, Grow your own gardening, Not on the high street.com, My lovely home, Pink, Shopping, Penny Pinching, Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, The Cotswolds, Travelling, People who are just themselves – nothing more, nothing less.
Dislikes: Bigots, Racists, Mustard, Pickle, People who try to be something they’re not.
This is me and my little family, hopefully by the time I meet you all I’ll be a little bit slimmer, maybe not unrecognisable but still…
This blog is based on an old Britmums blog prompt. What changes would you make in your personal life that would make life easier / better / more joyful?
The only thing that I would honestly change is that my hubby wouldn’t have to work so damned hard. You see he has a full time, 40 hour a week, job, but as well as that we run our own business (which i work for part time, at times that I can choose) which means that every morning he gets up at 5:30am to get 2 hours in before he goes to his full time job at 8am, he gets home at 6:30pm on a good night, it’s more often than not gone 7pm, and then 3 out of 4 weekends he works all weekend too.
It’s no fun. No fun at all. For any of us.
I absolutely understand why he does it, it’s for us, for me and Lexie and the future of our family.
The ultimate aim is that the company takes off so well that he won’t need to work full time to supplement our income. And it’s getting there, slowly but surely. It means that I didn’t have to return to work and can be a stay at home Mama and dedicate my time to our daughter. During my time on maternity leave our sales increased so much it covered my full time salary by the time I was due to return to work, which was the larger of the two at the time. So it’s definitely working him working so darned hard. But I still hate it.
I miss my husband. Lexie misses her Daddy.
We LOVE and value the time we get with him so very much, we just want more of it. That’s the only change I’d make in my life.
Life is funny. It throws curve balls at you; keeps you on your toes; refuses to allow you to be complacent. Last week, Britmums blog prompt gave us an opportunity to take a look at our lives, our work, our family and give thanks. Every year in the US, they celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s one day during the year where the whole of the country stops to take time to show their thanks. It’s not a day about presents but a day about giving, receiving and showing your love.
I SO wish we celebrated Thanksgiving as a country. Our country may not but we do, we started 3 years ago when we invited to a friend’s house, who happens to be American, for Thanksgiving. It was wonderful. We then held our own Thanksgiving last year as it falls around hubby’s birthday and we plan to continue this tradition this year.
I’ve chosen to leave this blog prompt until today as it’s officially Thanksgiving. It should strictly be a list of things I am thankful for, but as I have done this recently with my Thankful Third Thursday blog and I don’t ever want to be accused of being a repetitive bore, instead I am writing a thankful open letter.
Dear George Eliot medical team who dealt with the case of Katherine & Alexandra Wilson on 23rd September 2010
I am writing to express my deep gratitude for your care and attention on the day and in the weeks leading up to the birth of my daughter, 10 weeks prematurely. Without your swift and timely intervention one, or worse, both of us may not be here now.
You tried your best to get us transferred to a hospital better able to deal with women and babies at 30 weeks gestation, but when the system failed you delivered my baby girl at just the right moment and worked on us to save both our lives. I cannot thank you enough. Words simply cannot describe how grateful I am to you all.
You then looked after both myself and my baby with care. You found a space at a higher level hospital for my baby and ensured her safe and timely transfer.
The only fault I can find with the care I received was when, on the 3rd night in your care I was transferred from the privacy of my own room on labour suite in HDU up to the ward where I was put with other c-section Mummies and their newborn babies, when my baby was 40 miles from me. That was beyond hard. But I expect that it was because another mum needed my room on labour suite. I’m sure that the situation dictated the move and if that is so then I cannot truly complain. I do ask you though to consider how hard this is for mums who have been separated from their babies. A private room on the ward would have gone a long way to alleviate this trauma.
But, that small element aside, I cannot fault your care and compassion for me and my daughter. The maternity team and special care team alike were amazing and I will be forever thankful.
The Mummy Quiz. I first saw this on Cafe Bebe‘s lovely blog and then yesterday saw that one of my favourite bloggers Not Even a Bag of Sugar had also joined in, so I’m partaking too It also links in to this weeks Britmums blog prompt, so I’m linking to there too.
So, to the quiz:
1. Before my child can fall asleep I have to…..
Give her some boobie. Littlebit usually falls asleep whilst feeding. We snuggle tight, she takes what she wants and then falls into a peaceful sleep. She doesn’t even murmur when I put her into her cot and usually sleeps a good 12 hours and wakes up happily in her own room.
I must admit that I am slightly nervous about what we will replace this bedtime routine with when she eventually gives up the boobie.
2. One thing I do that makes my child laugh is…..
Littlebit isn’t much of a giggler. This makes me a little sad, but to make up for it she pretty much always has a smile on her face. What does always make her giggle though is a good old game of peeka boo, or just boo even. The video below is dear hubby playing with her in her Bright Starts Around We Go.
3. One thing my child does that makes me laugh is…..
Laugh. When she laughs she just has me in bits. It’s such a hilarious little laugh she has, as you will have seen in the video above.
There are so many other things too. The defiant face she gives me when I tell her no, I find it so hard not to laugh at that. How she throws a toy over her shoulder when she’s done with it… So many things.
4. I’m more lenient than I thought I would be about…..
Not a lot actually. She is a particularly well behaved little girl at the moment, so I don’t often need to be lenient. But I do now have a much better understanding when children are shouting or being noisy in places where you’d rather them be quiet. There was a time, pre Littlebit, that if we were out for dinner and a child was being consistently noisy and it seemed like the parent wasn’t doing enough to stop them it would really irritate me. I now understand that sometimes they are just going to be noisy, no matter what you do, and actually sometimes the more you try to quiet them the louder they get.
I think I’m quite laid back when it comes to a fair amount of stuff. I let her wander and explore, as long as I know where she is. She is allowed the run of the living and dining room so I guess I’m lenient with that. I don’t believe in containing her unless there are dangers about. I didn’t think I’d be as laid back with that kind of stuff.
5. One of the most ridiculous things I’ve said as a parent is…..
I’ve found this one really hard. I’m sure I have said lots of ridiculous things but I really don’t know what. Maybe some of you who know me can point out something stupidly ridiculous I said in the comments section. Cop out I know.
6. The best rule in our house is…
To be yourself. Even if being yourself isn’t always easy on others, being yourself all the time is the best way to be. The greatest success is being yourself.
7. Sometimes I wish I could snap my fingers and make my child…
Not have been premature.
Mostly her prematurity has not caused her any lasting problems (apart from her eyes, which I’ve blogged about recently), and actually we met some amazing people through her being a preemie who otherwise we wouldn’t have met. So we have a lot to be thankful for because of it. But, she may always be that little bit smaller than other children her age and we may always have those questions and comments that we get, like “she’s so small”, “oh, isn’t she dainty” and sometimes I just wish she’d been born at term.
So, there we have it. Cafe Bebe’s “Mummy Quiz”! If you’d like to take part and share your Mummy responses, please feel free and don’t forget to tag me and Cafe Bebe to make sure we see it
