Breakfast #FMSphotoaday

Coffee……………….is there any other way to start the day?

Read Full Post »

A Photo A Day For July – 9 O’Clock

9am is mid morning at the MumtoJ house. By 9am I’d already fed my child, washed and dressed him, prepared lunch, done 2 loads of washing and hung it out on the line (yes it’s finally stopped raining!), built a fort in the living room, played a computer game, drawn pictures of said computer game with J, sorted through some paperwork  and drunk several cups of coffee. By 9am we were making cupcakes………………………….

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

My Addiction – A Photo A Day For July

……………….Coffee anyone?

Read Full Post »

A Photo A Day For July Day 15 – Finger #photoadayjuly

You can’t beat a shortbread finger …………or 2

Read Full Post »

A Photo A Day For July – Lunch

Something fruity………….

Read Full Post »

Kellogg’s Mini Max Review

I’ve been trying to catch up on a few things this week, obviously with recent events things have been a little difficult. So anyway, I thought I’d try to finish writing a few posts that have been slowing building up in my drafts including a couple of reviews……………….

A little while ago I received 10 boxes, yep 10 boxes, of Kellogg’s new cereal Mini Max to review. I was expecting one box not 10 so it was a really nice surprise to receive so many boxes. Ofcourse with so many boxes I was able to distribute some to family and friends and able to get their opinions on this new cereal too

To be honest with a kid like J cereal shopping is usually pretty easy. Cereal is a food that he eats and eats well but he only really eats certain cereals…………….So imagine my surprise when he asked for a bowl of Kelloggs Mini Max! He stated that he needed to review it for me Even more surprising was when he then went on to eat a bowl full (dry with no milk on) and then asked for more!!! J’s verdict was it’s ok to eat if he needs to watch a movie but he didn’t like it with milk on.

I gave a box to my sister who has 2 girls so that they could also try it out. She gave me mixed reviews, one had liked it and the other hated it.

As for me I thought it was ok and a great healthy alternative as a snack throughout the day. I’m always looking for ways to improve J’s diet so I love that I can give J cereal as an alternative to crisps etc.

To summarise I’d say Kelloggs Mini Max was one of those foods that you either love or you hate. Would I recommend it to friends and family? Yes I would, go on give it a go.

You can find out more about Kelloggs Mini Max here (just click)

Disclaimer : I was sent 10 boxes of Kelloggs Mini Max to review. My views are my own based on my experience of the product.

Read Full Post »

An Eventful Year!

I know it’s a little early but I’m going offline for a few weeks, so I thought I’d do a final post of the year, looking back at my past year.

Wow what a year it’s been!

So we started the year with the floods. It was pretty scary start to the year, the rain was like nothing I have ever seen before. We had a warning to evacuate to higher ground but by then the roads around us were already flooded and there was nowhere to go, lucky for us we live close to the top of a hilly street. Watching the events unfold sent an overwhelming sense of luck and relief through us, we were lucky, just 2 streets away homes were flooded, the main road was completely under water but “our flood” was nothing compared to other towns and suburbs around Queensland. Hubby went to help with the clean up and has said the things he saw during that time will stay with him forever.

Moving on from the flood drama our year just got worse……………………. just before J was due to start school, (which alone has been one drama after another!), he pushed me and I tore my thigh muscle. I can’t tell you how painful this was but I will say that I struggled so much with the pain and using the crutches that Hubby had to take some time off work to look after J and the house. I managed to get around slowly and with a limp but minus the crutches before J started school. *phew* He had a meltdown when we arrived at the school on his first morning before the bell had even gone and there’s no way I would have been able to deal with the situation if I had still been on crutches.

During the second week of school Hubby arrived home from work only 30 minutes after leaving the house to go to work. I was completely shocked, he’s one of those people who is never ill etc so for him to have hurt himself bad enough to come home meant he had REALLY hurt himself. The drama with his back has continued all year with an end result that we couldn’t have predicted! (I’ll come back to this later in the post)

Then we suffered a huge blow in March when I miscarried for a fifth time. Less said about that the better

At the start of the year I thought that I had started to develop some nice friendships with a couple of people here, unfortunately by mid year these had turned sour and one person in particular showed a side to them that I really didn’t like and so yet another blow was dealt. *sigh*

Just to end the year as it started 6 weeks ago J broke his wrist falling off his slide. Although this was yet another low moment it also came with a high, J hated having the cast put, he hated wearing the cast and he HATED having it took off but he coped, in fact he coped with the whole ordeal brilliantly, much better than we had predicted.

It really has been one blow after another this year but along with the lows we’ve also had a few highs. Little things this year have actually been huge highs for us that have put the biggest smiles on our faces

Little things like……….. meeting a couple of old men that my Hubby worked with, with various stories to tell that have made us giggle.

Like J actually eating a proper, hot, home cooked meal! This for me was and is one o the biggest highs of the year, J has now eaten Sheppard’s Pie more than 10 times, (once he’s eaten something at least 10 times it kinda becomes one of his foods”), it doesn’t matter that he makes himself Sheppard’s pie sandwiches that have to be triangles or that he thinks they give him “the strength of 1000 Sheppard’s” (which of course makes him stronger than Dad hehehe), HE EATS IT!

This year J has also learnt so many new skills including how to move his arms in order to swim, how to hold a pencil with less than 4 fingers, how to read, how to pedal properly, (this year he finally started going around in a full circle with the pedals), how to get himself dressed (top and bottoms, next year we’re going to work on buttons and socks), how to use cutlery correctly. The list goes on, he’s done amazingly well this year and all of the little things added together has meant he has made huge progress with his development of skills he was/is lacking in.

Our proudest moment this year was during the last week of school. J has only ever attended 3 parades/assemblies at school, they’re just too sensory overwhelming for him, so just imagine if you can how proud we were of him when during the last week of term not only did he attend the parade but he also got up on stage with the rest of his class to perform Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer AND sang the whole, entire song!………………WOW Definitely the biggest high of the year

As this year is coming to an end, I’m sad to say it’s ending as it began. The powers that be have decided that they can’t do anymore to fix Hubby’s back, nor can he go back to work until it is fixed. Unfortunately our circumstances mean that we’re pretty much being abandoned by Australia and so have to return home to the UK. It’s certainly not something we wanted to be doing but we’ve been left with no other option and so I will be offline for a little while whilst we get everything sorted, (there’s so much to do!). All we can do now is to try to enjoy one last Christmas in Australia, make the most of our time left here and plan for the future.

Well that’s it, the end of our year, here’s hoping next year will be filled with a few more highs and not so many lows.

All that’s left for me to say is MERRY CHRISTMAS and (I hope) HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy Christmas Everyone!

Read Full Post »

The Ability To Escape

Since arriving in Australia 19 months ago, (WOW has it really been that long!?!), there have been various things that we’ve all missed and at times pined for.

There’s been simple things, like various food items………. J in particular has missed his variety of kid’s crisps (Quavers, Pom-Bear etc) and certain other bits and bobs like malted milk and tuc biscuits, Dairylee Dunkers etc etc. Food is very different in Australia, some different good and some (like everything in life) different bad.

We obviously miss a few certain friends and family members, it’s very hard not too.

I’ve missed British TV although Australia does have some fab shows such as Packed To The Rafters, Rush and ofcourse good old Neighbours and Home and Away.

I’ve also missed shopping in England, it’s very sad but true………….. I have missed shopping at my local Tesco supermarket and clothes shopping at Dorothy Perkins and Marks and Spencers…… and oh how I miss shopping at Primark, J’s clothes cost so much less there.

Then there’s the other things we’ve missed like driving in England, the English countryside really is beautiful and driving in Australia is a very different experience. Please before anyone starts ranting and raving this is just my view and it’s one of the experience I’ve had since moving to Australia……………… There are more than several drivers around our local area who just shouldn’t have a driver’s license! Firstly red light means stop…… it does not mean put your foot on the accelerator a little more because if you go a little faster the light may still be amber! Green light means go…….. it does not mean sit, think about whether you should move or not whilst you finish your conversation! Then there’s the lane discipline……… or lack of it! And of course there’s also those that think the hard shoulder/breakdown lane/parking lane (or whatever else you may want to call it) is an overtaking lane! Don’t get me wrong there are some pretty disastrous drivers on the road in England too but when it comes to driving I haven’t experienced anything like I have over the past 18 months!

However the thing we’ve (Hubby and I) have missed the most is the ability to escape. Ok we didn’t get many nights off, in fact I think I’ve only had about 7 nights out (for a show or the movies) since J was born but still they were nights off. I also miss being able to spend time with a few certain friends (you know who you are) whilst the kids played together, the age gap didn’t matter J was playing with other kids and I know it’s not technically escaping but it felt like it. Adult conversation whilst watching your child play happily is a form of escape for me.  Hubby has missed being able to escape to his friend’s house, much more so over the past few months. He’s been getting very bored at home and I don’t really do “engine talk”. Plus J behaviour seems to have gotten much more meltdowny lately, it’s just been one after another, after another………………. and so the ability to escape, (particularly from this), from time to time has been greatly missed.

Read Full Post »

Creative Coffee – Silent Sunday

A Latte Macchiato I made

 

my coffee art

 

More coffee art

Yep..... more coffee!

 

Read Full Post »

Wordless Wednesday – Enjoying 5 Minutes

 

Coffee and Shortbread, what more do I need

Joining Trish at My Little Drummer Boys

Read Full Post »