A-Z Challenge- L

L is for Little Miss

Also known on this blog as 'Midge. My adorable, stubborn, strong willed drama queen of a 5 year old daughter.

Little Miss and I didn't have a great start to this whole Mother and Daughter business. After she was born I just couldn't bond with my baby girl and it didn't take long to be at the grips of postnatal depression. The depression twisted my thoughts, my heart. It made me think and say things that I just did not truly believe. It made me hand over my week old daughter and beg my now Husband to leave me, take her and never come back.

How glad am I that I grabbed my depression by the throat and threw it out into the night? Incredibly glad. My daughter is exactly like me. She is stubborn, sensitive, prone to shyness and always wanting to be liked. She is a caring member of her class, always helping other children out when they need it, always helping the teacher if they ask. She's a bit of a suck up in some ways (just like me then!)

We both love nature and art. We will be in our element when sat writing or colouring in. We both loved our old house and miss the countryside, so when we visit my Mum and Dad's place I always get moaned at until we venture out to the harbour, see the boats, the sea and maybe grab a sneaky ice cream!

Midge  saved me in many ways. Ways only I will ever know. My baby girl means the world to me.

CupcakeMumma

Here Come the Weather Blues!

I don't know if you're like me but when the weather really turns nasty I find it a real struggle to get out of bed. I'm pretty glad school is starting soon because it'll be a 7am wake up which this house hasn't seen in a long time. We all like our sleep but on a rainy, cold day we are all even more reluctant to get out of our pits. Alright, the children still wake up and are quite happy to play while Husband and I have a few extra minutes.

The last two days however I have really not wanted to get up! We're in the last 2 weeks of the summer holidays and I have no motivation to do anything. I'm also on a bit of a come down which most brides suffer from. I've gone through all of that planning and now I'm left with a void. I've got a few things to be focusing on so when I stop being such a lazy beast I shall be doing the following:

• Planning more country learning days. We had our America day a couple of weeks ago and that went down really well. We have plans for a Chinese Day, Polish Day and of course a British Day (I can't resist!) just one more which is proving tricky..probably France though as it is a language actually taught to our children! 
• My little sister is heading to university at the end of September so I want to plan a good send off. We're thinking of getting back massages and lunch and I'm making her a little gift to go away with. I'm going to ball my eyes out when she leaves!
• It's my birthday in October so that's something to look forward to and of course before that Midge is heading off into reception- very exciting. We still need some uniform but we're waiting until last minute for some bargains (lets hope this risk pays off and we're not left with no jumpers in her size!)

Lets not forget Christmas isn't all that far away either! The pennies are tighter than they have ever been right now and we're putting money back to visit some family in December which will be lovely but it's also making me think that now I'm not storing tonnes of wedding stuff I can replace it with Christmas stock! (Shhh don't tell husband!) What will be really great is when I get my Park vouchers in October!

For now though I'm going to sit in my PJ's, watch Celebrity Masterchef and play with Twitter my 2 babies!

CupcakeMumma

21 Questions with Little Miss

The other day I sat down and flicked through my photos to find a list of 21 questions that I copied off of Facebook. I asked Midge these questions and thought I'd share them with the blogging world. Enjoy!


1. What is something Mummy always says to you?
I love you and Daddy and A
2. What makes Mummy happy?
When you can make a cake!
3. What makes Mummy sad?
I don't know Mum!
4. How does Mummy make you laugh?
When you say 'Ello alligator' (I never say this!)
5.What was Mummy like as a child?
You were magic and turned into a mouse! (What does this child watch?)
6. How old is Mummy?
Sixty. (Thanks kiddo)
7. How tall is Mummy?
Small.
8. What is Mummy's favourite thing to do?
Go on the train and go to the America House. (I get the gist but this never happened)
9. What does Mummy do when you're not around?
You leave me at school. (Little heart breaker!)
10. If Mummy becomes famous, what will it be for?
For watching mermaid DVDs! (*sigh*)
11. What is Mummy really good at?
Mummy is good at drawing and painting (this is not strictly true!)
12. What is Mummy not very good at?
Making chocolate and strawberry cakes. (Fair does, pretty gross)
13. What does Mummy do for her job?
Hmm...well you're not a cat....(anyone else? No?...)
14. What is Mummy's favourite food
Fishy food (said pulling a 'yuck' face)
15. What makes you proud of Mummy?
When you go to the park and play on the slide all by yourself.
16. If Mummy was a cartoon character, who would she be?
The elephant (does she mean Dumbo? If so she's in trouble)
17. What do you and Mummy do together?
We draw flags! (correct at time of questioning!)
18. How are you and Mummy the same?
We go on trains, like animals and Paradise Park and the park!
19. How are you and Mummy different?
I hide under covers but you like them on you to keep you warm.
20. How do you know Mummy loves you?
I love you too (Awww)
21. Where is Mummy's favourite place to go?
The green house. (I don't have a green house, I have no idea what this is about!)

There you go, 21 questions from my beautiful Little girl!

CupcakeMumma

America Day!

I've been a bit off the radar with this impending wedding of mine and I'm definitely missing my blog so I'm back to write up a couple of posts which will probably be it until after the wedding, we'll see.

Last weekend Little Miss, Little Man and I had an 'America Day!' During the summer holidays I have made a point to still make sure there is some learning to our fun (well, sometimes- lazy days are pretty good too!)

We started off our America Day with making flags. I printed some flags off and asked Little Miss what the colours of the flag were (expecting to have to tell her) and was surprised when she said 'red, white and blue Mum!' Now, I think she may have chose those colours because of the fact our flag has been paraded around everywhere (including the bunting in my kitchen!) but who am I to argue? After all, she was right!

We made the flags and talked about America. We put on some fake accents which was very funny, Little Miss was in fits of giggles (evidently I don't put on a convincing American accent!) we discussed various states and I explained to her about all the stars on the flag. That was enough for a 4 year old I thought!

We then took ourselves to the kitchen to bake a fantastic recipe mailed to me by Reecea who blogs at Fresh juniper. She very kindly shared with me a delicious Peach Cobbler recipe. We put our Cobbler together and once done it was the first treat on our table!
To the table we added some chips, hot dog sausages and buns, an American potato salad and pasta dish plus some marshmallows and Hursheys chocolate syrup. very yummy!

Peach Cobber, soya ice cream and home made banana ice cream!

Fruit Flag!

The children tucked in more than ever before so I reckon our America Day was small, but fun and more importantly- a big success!!

We're currently deciding on what country is next, we think we might go with China Day which would be good. However, lets get this wedding over with first!

Would you have a 'Country Learning Day'? I'd love to know if you do!
CupcakeMumma

A Day in Penzance

We all went out, rather spontaneously I must admit, to Penzance the other day. It was lovely and sunny with occasional showers. Lucky by occasional I mean 2 showers lasting all of 10 minutes. It would seem it was pouring down back home so I'm glad we made the decision to pop out for the day.

We got off our train at Penzance train station, Little Miss already excited at seeing the sea. We weren't there to see the sea or have fun in the sand though as we did have a slight agenda. We're having our wedding reception in the beautiful Penzance, over looking the promenade no less (insert big grin here) so we needed to visit the venue to pay some final funds off and double check everything was still going to plan. Unfortunately the lady we needed wasn't there, the manager was really rude (I don't care how stressed you are you never deal with customers in an off hand manner) luckily we spoke to a lovely gentleman who sorted what could be sorted and everything else is running smoothly.

We stopped off at a restaurant called Renaissance which is situated right at the very top of the shopping centre. There is a lovely view to look at while you sit down to eat. Little Miss and Man opted for a couple of teacakes and I went for some chips with Mediterranean roasted vegetables which was really, really delicious. The children coloured in a bit whilst waiting for their food and I had a good natter with The Man (who very kindly paid!)

Next stop was Peacocks to look for some nice underwear for said wedding day, I found some nice items in the sale and bought myself a new jumper (first jumper I have ever owned! I love it) and then we proceeded to take full advantage of the half price sale for Little Miss who desperately needed new clothes! We ended up with a good haul leaving very pleased with our finds.

We're all allowed to show off now and then!

After having a good town browse, not spending too much unless it was something in the sale, we ventured down to the front where the arcade is centered. Little Miss is so lucky when it comes to playing in the 2p slot machines. I personally can't stand the place but The Man has a bit of fun, they won some tickets getting a barbie and a small teddy ornament while I sat outside with Little Man patiently waiting for the arcade phase to pass!

I loved these flags on the promenade.

The little shop I always came to when on holiday. Here I would always buy a
postcard and some rock for my primary school class mates.

We had a lovely walk along the promenade, it was very windy so we all held on tight to each other and the pushchair. The view was beautifully clear so I got some pictures of the sea (surprisingly calm despite the wind) and the wonderful St.Micheal's Mount in the distance. The photos make it look further away than it is. If the tide wasn't in so far I think we would've gone and walked there but it's just something lovely to do for another day.

The bonus to walking this way was that we saw our very gold sprayed Royal Mail post box! This was done to celebrate Helen Glover who won gold with her team mate Heather Stanning in the rowing. Little Miss just had to get her photo taken and I had to have the memory!

We had a long walk back through the main roads to go and meet our train. Unfortunately we missed the train and had to wait for an hour to catch the 7 o'clock one. This meant sitting in a large waiting area which slowly filled up until we decided to buy a large portion of chips and sit outside. Luckily we didn't miss the next one (imagine that) and didn't loose money on a return ticket (always annoying isn't it?) by having to take the bus instead.
Little Man was pretty tired and screamed most of the way home. He ripped off all of poor Barbies limbs which meant Little Miss was extremely upset. Needless to say, despite a lovely day I was glad to get home and pop them to bed!

I'm linking up this post with the lovely Natalie at Ready,Steady..Mummy! who is hosting a 'Best of Britain' link up to share our parts of the world. I really do love Cornwall so I hope you enjoyed my post!

CupcakeMumma

One of Those Days...

Read 'those' in underlined, capital letters and italic font- the lot.
 The Man is working everyday leaving at half twelve so I've had to shelve a few one on one activities I had planned with Little Miss because they just wouldn't entertain Little Man in the same way.

I attempted an outing today to the library. Well that was a disaster! We were there all of 20 minuets before Little Man started kicking off because he couldn't go through the doors and exit the building. I decided enough screaming was enough and I couldn't bare any oncoming judgement (I don't think there was any but it was my own embarrassment engulfing me) so we left to go and pick my happy pills (as i so thoughtfully call them) up from the chemist.

Well this was going from bad to worse. The first Boots store had no clue what I was talking about. 'Great,' I thought, 2 pills left and no one knows where my prescription is. So off we toddled to the sweetie shop after both of the children were left bored ridged from the que of elderly people (I really don't blame them.) I bought them each a little something and headed off to a second Boots store just in case The Man had popped my prescription over there instead. Alas no, this lady also looked at me as if I was from another planet so I went to the doctors who kindly informed me that I was not registered to have Boots collect for me (why couldn't someone just tell me this stuff) so very kindly the receptionist has said I can pick up a new prescription tomorrow...after 5 gah!! Yes I just face palmed myself. I hate going out with the kids in the evening because it all clashes with tea, bath and chill out time but hey, beggars cannot be choosers and I don't fancy going loopy anytime (or anymore) than I already am.

Once home I immediately bundled Little Man in bed and made this with Little Miss.

A miniature garden. Sure did relax me therefore I recommend you kick your toddler out into the garden to source the required nature essentials while you hunt for a paper plate (or flat tin), tin foil, paper, pencils and some string for a washing line.

ps. My mood went downhill slightly when I had to re run a bath after Little Man decided that loo brush wanted to join the fun too...
Happy Days!

Photo a Day July 19-24

19- Small Creature- My hamster Crunchie is adorable!

20- Eye- More awake than I look!

21-9 O'Clock- Relaxing in my slippers on a hot evening!

22-Upside Down- Little Miss's footprints after paddling 

23- Mirror- This be me and my mirror!

24 - Stranger- Friendly hat lady having a nice paddle at Heartlands

25- Heart- My heart cushion bought for last Mothers Day

26- Sunshine- A fading sun out back

27- On the road- Nice and peaceful 

28- Cup- My new mug

29-Last Thing you Bought- Rather nice new handbag bought at the beach!

30- Calm- My 2 after a long day

31- Toothbrush

CupcakeMumma

It's Not all Baking and Fun...

Nope, sometimes days cannot be filled with ideas to make sure your child's the happiest one on their summer holidays. Sometimes you have to crawl into the corner of your comfy sofa after the children have been breakfasted and just relax.

I have made a 'summer bucket list.' I have been constantly on a go thinking of things to do with Little Miss (and these things usually have to be appropriate for Little Man where possible too!) but today I woke up and realised that I didn't feel like doing anything much. I didn't actually want to be out in the sun after spending days in it, I think we all need a break. Instead I opened all our windows curtains and doors to let the sunshine and fresh air pour in. (I say fresh air but really there is an occasional waft of someones cigarette to ruin the moment!)

I've been feeling a little stressed you see. With 23 days until the wedding everything is going well and I feel organised with a real sense of direction. I'm in control, this is good. What's not so cool is the sudden influx of those nasty brown envelopes and money changing without warning so near one of (or THE most) expensive day of your life. To say today it all got a bit on top of me would be about right therefore I really didn't feel like parading around the park or baking pretty cupcakes.

We did though. I pushed myself to spend time with Little Miss today baking little heart shaped cupcakes with raisins and roasted hazelnuts inside them. They are delicious and I shall be blogging them! However, for the most part of my more lazy, cannot be arsed days I have taken some photos to share with you.

Judge me if you will but I post a lot on here when we 'do' something fun like baking, family outings and crafting, but sometimes it's nice to just show people that I, like pretty much everybody else, can't be bothered everyday of the week either.

Little Man goes for his nap while we all chill to the music channel (which does not impress Little Miss-all she wants on is Max and bloody Ruby) I on the other hand failed to put my iPhone down (again)

Yeah she's snacking on ham. Hey, what Midge wants Midge gets (within reason) And yes, she is still in her PJ's...

My lazy day lunch. Also consumed with a hot chocolate filled with mini marshmallows and banana chips. 

Both babies after the bath just totally chilling out. Little Man on Daddy's iPhone playing with the music settings and Little Miss watching Max and Ruby (whilst picking her nose apparently) After this they escaped into the garden for a bit so I decided to perhaps sort my recycling and actually do something constructive.

I like lazy days and I don't think they're anything to be ashamed of but some of us (myself included)  seem to don our super Mum/Dad hats over the summer holidays and forget to just chill out!

Happy Holidays!

CupcakeMumma

Making A Start

We made a start on our bucket list yesterday by having a baking day! We picked up a girls baking book from our local library and had a good look through. Little Miss chose some cupcakes and I chose whoopie pies (they were a disaster so i'm not even going to blog about them any more than this!) The cupcakes however were the best I have ever made, icing included.

We baked vanilla cupcakes in my new heart shaped silicon cake cases The Man bought in a closing down sale and added some strawberries to match this summery weather. Little Miss was really hands on and to my surprise our baking day was completely stress free!

We managed to go on a family walk this week as well which was really nice! We went to Wetherspoons for a late breakfast, very tasty and at just under ten pounds it was a nice treat which didn't totally break the bank!
Here's a lovely photo of The Man with his babies. Makes me smile every time!

Today Little Miss had her cousin over to have their wedding dress fittings. They look so adorable and will totally steal the show in that church (fine by me- they look adorable!) My Mum is taking in their dresses to save money and they are very happy with their outfits which is the most important thing to me. My Mum stayed a bit to help me finish the service booklets my mother in law to be has kindly made for us. They're looking great. Maybe I'll tweet a sneak preview?

I got a surprise in the post today. Recently I subscribed to a crafting magazine and wasn't expecting my welcome gift until the end of August so I was really pleased to have the gift arrive out of the blue! Just waiting on my swap gift and my new stroller now!

I can't wait to get my hands on this soap making kit! I might save it for
Christmas though?

Finally, I took part in a Twitter party tonight. I don't join in very often with these things as they do clog up time lines but StoryOfMum does such good work, especially this month getting Mums to love their post baby bodies. We had to make a little model of an area of our body we'd perhaps like to improve, submit it online and wait for others to see our real bodies or our crafty mummy makes!

Yep, here's my play dough version of me! The arrows show where I'd like to improve things mainly my under arms and my tummy/under bust area. In general though I'm a happy post baby body Mummy. I'm pleased with my skills here though, I tried to detail my wobbly tummy and stretch marks with mild success!

Hope you're all having a great week, enjoying the sunshine and if you took part tonight on Twitter hope you had as much fun as me!

CupcakeMumma

Heartlands Fun and Church Fates!

In Cornwall there is a new heritage site which is already attracting so many people it's brilliant. Little Miss and I decided to head off on Sunday to join in some of the fun! As it was Sunday I knew the buses were far and few between and besides, the main theme for this summer holiday is to be as cheap as possible as with most families, we just don't have the pennies to spare right now!

So, we headed off, the walk was probably a couple of miles but we arrived in good time. After a 5km walk for Race For Life it seems a little walk to Heartlands from home was nothing for Little Miss! It was bloody hot though!

We had a brilliant day paddling by the Red River Cafe, dipping our feet in pool, getting some face painting done and playing in the park (the highest priority) we even took part in a scavenger hunt and Little Miss did colouring for the RSPB and I learnt some interesting things from the lady running the stall.

The River by the cafe is great fun for children (and adults!)
to cool their toes!

In keeping with the 'Muddy Toes' event we jumped in the puddles

I love the cartoon butterfly- never had one like this!

What a snazzy bike!

Showing off some fab moves!

We stopped off at the fish shop on the way home to give
ourselves a break from the walk ahead!

 We also went to our local church fate at the weekend which was a lovely way to kick start the holidays. Little Miss won a couple of prizes, a small blue teddy (helped by the kind man on the 'stall') and a little pink pony (they let her swap! How kind!). Both of the children had fun on the bouncy castle which was all enclosed just in case the weather took a turn for the worst!

Thankfully it didn't rain at all. We toured the inside of the church which Little Miss loves doing. I explained for the hundredth time about how the wedding would take place and we allowed Little Man to walk about exploring everywhere! He loved hiding in the pews and quite enjoyed the large thrones!

It was a really lovely day, the sun shone the whole time and we had a brilliant family day out. Oh, and i even started the day with a rather scrummy cooked breakfast made just for me by The Man *big grin* 

Having fun in the bouncy castle! I didn't think he'd like it but
he loved it!

Very happy with her prize

This had me in stitches!

A very yummy breakfast indeed!