The Simple Woman's Daybook ~ June

For Today

Looking out my window

I can see the rain slowly falling, the sun trying to come out a little, I have all my recycling and rubbish ready to go out and it's all very dump and a bit yuck out there! I also have a lot of knocked over things from the wind about my yard!

I am thinking

About lots of things. About the man I miss, about my holiday next week which will be my first one as a single parent. It'll be wonderful though because we are surrounded by family. I think lots of things all of the time, I couldn't possibly list it all!

I am thankful

For my families safety and that of my friends, myself and the people I love. For good health, good friends, for my faith and sillier things like free from toffee ice cream, snail mail and the fact I'll have Friday to myself (including the night!)

One of my favorite things
I bought myself Tulips last month and they are beautiful. This month I've gone for yellow carnations. I love flowers.

I am creating

I've been continuing to work on the scrap book I'm putting together for my pen pal in America. My one came last week and it's great to read about Colorado!

I am wearing

I'm getting ready for the school run so I'm wearing my big hoody, black jeans, walking trainers and some big, fluffy socks. I cannot believe I will also be adding a coat and woolly hat to this when I leave, it's supposed to be June!

I am reading
 (read) /watching (watched) / listening to

I am currently reading Watership Down which I am loving, listening to an audio book of Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone and watching The Great British Menu which I've recorded. I know I don't need to give all of those but why not?

I am hoping

I'm really hoping right now that my IBS stops playing up. I've taken more tablets for it than usual and I can't think of anything food related it could be *sigh*

I am learning

I'm learning how to cope with anxiety by attending weekly counselling and I'm learning to talk more but it's not easy.

In my kitchen

This weeks meal plan looked like this:

Mon- pizza night (always!)
Tues- spaghetti with vegetables in sauce/ cheesy pasta
Weds- jacket potatoes
Thursday- risotto
Friday- fish and chips (homemade)
Saturday- soup
Sunday- Roast

I've bought salted caramel extract and found caramel sauce in my local supermarket so I'm looking forward to baking and experimenting.

In the school room

A has been doing well at school, here are some snaps of his dazzling work book:

In my garden

My strawberry plants have flowered, my cucumber plant is growing and so are my tomato plants. I even have my blackberry plant showing signs of fruit! Oh and snail holes grr...

Post Script

I also want to share this Etsy store by Elle May. I love her work especially the beautiful whale print.

Shared Quote

"Distance means nothing when someone means everything"
unknown

A moment from my day

Closing Notes

I've had such a nice day with my Gran and my Aunt. We had a lovely lunch and some pudding before I headed back on the train in time for the school run. The sun has poked its head out every now and then but mostly its been a wellington boots day! 

Fancy joining in the Simple Woman's Daybook? Click the badge at the top of this post to find out more.

Cupcake Mumma

Reasons to Smile ~ July/August

I completely forgot to write July's Reasons to Smile, so like last time I'm going to be writing July and Augusts in one post. I'm also linking up with several lovely blogs to share some happiness.

July

Little A did so well at nursery and had the most amazing teachers, I am so grateful to them.

Nursery graduation went so well and I was incredibly proud of my little man.

-Both Mini Cupcakes did great at sports day having fun and enjoying the day.

-Meeting lovely ladies at a blogger event and trying on some gorgeous lingerie.

-The paramedic who was very kind to me despite realising I was having a panic attack and nothing worse. I felt awful for wasting his time, he told me off for apologising so much in the end and made me feel a lot better.

-The last pre nursery run hot chocolate date with my little A who will be going to reception next week! No more pre nursery Costa dates!

-Staying at my Mums place for 2 nights alone gave me some great thinking time and I returned home feeling less stressed and pro active at the end of July.

-An email I received about reviewing something cheered me up. I'll be able to share with you soon but I'm just thankful for my blog, you lovely readers and those people who obviously must think I do good work because otherwise they wouldn't work with me again!

August

-Our week away in Cambridge seeing lovely things and spending time with family. Two of the things that mean so much to me.

-The Bake Off coming back on the television. It always inspires me to bake and I do love to bake when I'm in the right frame of mind.

-A summer holiday that has passed a lot quicker than last year and been full of so much more fun.

-Recovering from my tonsillitis and rather nasty UTI which wrote me off for three weeks. Thankful for a lovely GP and medicine that very much helped me recover!

-For my wonderful parents.

-My mother in law taking our dog for a week so we could go away. It was such a relief when our Peppa got on with her dog so we could just enjoy our holiday. So the dog got a holiday too!

-Our 3 night stay with my parents and the Mini Cupcakes. It was fairly relaxing, nice to spend time at home and go into the seaside village to look at the views, boats and the little market stalls.

-The children are looking forward to school which is a relief. Midge is a little nervous but Little A doesn't seem too phased

-Spending time with family at Lands End and Trevaskis farm where we ate delicious strawberries by the bucket load. Yum.

-With the lack of sun it's still been ok to have hot chocolate with tonnes of marshmallows!

Cupcake Mumma

December...

December is: Getting out those gloves and mittens, the knitted scarves and thick coats. Bundling up warm and doubling up on socks. Not to mention wearing leggings under those jeans for the super cold days.

December is: Making cups of hot chocolate with chocolate sprinkles and plenty of marshmallows. If you're lucky; there's whipped cream on top too.

December is: The month of planning and list making. Searching through catalogues and picking out thoughtful gifts. Writing your plans for delicious dinners and planning the extras to treat yourself to over the festive season.

December is: Giving that little extra. With the festive feeling and good cheer it's hard to not look around and notice how you can help make others feel happier too. Loose change to the musician, some

boxes of food in the food bank and perhaps some pennies left at the coffee shop to pay it forward.

December is: Being covered in the fallen bits of tinsel and the glitter from your baubles as you decorate. Standing on fallen pine needles and feeling that happiness when your decs are up and looking wonderful.

December is: Taking a stroll around the neighbourhoods and marvelling at the outside lights and pretty Christmas trees in the windows.

December is: Secretly hoping for a White Christmas.

December is: Christmas fairs, nativity plays and Christmas carol concerts. Festive church crafts and Christmas bazaars and being offered raffle tickets at every shop you visit.

December is: Remembering to be thankful. For all you have.

December is: Soups and stews, big hearty breakfasts. Tea and cakes, mince pies with cream, Yule logs and roast dinners.

December is: Family.

December is: Not forgetting what it's really about.

Have a wonderful end to 2014 all my amazing and loyal readers. I wish you nothing but the happiest Christmas and New Year. Now tell me, what is December to you? I'd love you to link up your posts below!

Cupcake Mumma

Reasons to be Cheerful!

I thought I'd put a little selection of photos together to show why I am feeling particularly cheerful this week.

First of all, sibling love! I absolutely adore it when my two come together to play and chat and give one another a big hug. I took a few pictures and was having a real 'melting heart' moment! Little A has been struggling with the heat so has been a little clingy towards me. It's nice to see him hanging off someone else for a change!

Library groups.
I have been going back to our local baby and toddler group at the library and Little A and I have been really enjoying it again. He's the eldest there at 2 and I'm getting incredibly broody surrounded by Mums of six month old babies! (Or even younger!) The Mums have been friendly which is always something of a worry isn't it? With a new found confidence I realise I am there for A and not for anyone else.

Beautiful flowers.
Monday was a tough day and it was on the afternoon school run I picked this flower from the wall and began twiddling it between my fingers. I probably looked mad but it made me smile. There are some beautiful things in this world and flowers are one of them. They make me happy.

Raising money.
I turned up for my yearly Race for Life with my Mum, Sister and also my Dad this year for some moral support. The walk was really nice but I won't lie, it was blooming hot! As a pale skinned, fair haired person the heat isn't fairing well with me! I'm loving the sunshine nonetheless and wouldn't wish it away. I've decided this is my last Race for Life because so many people do it I just can't raise any money for it anymore. I have other charities that are close to my heart so will focus on them.

Teachers.
Midge finishes school tomorrow and will go into Year 1 when the new school term starts. It's gone incredibly fast but I couldn't be more proud of her progress. The reception team are lovely and helpful. I've enjoyed helping with school trips and activities and seeing my little girl really grow into a caring, loving, creative individual. We made a small gift for all the teachers which included: 3 note pads, 3 teacher pens and some lovely star shaped chocolates.

I hope your week has been cheerful. Do link up with Mummy from the Heart if you feel like sharing some happiness!

CucpakeMumma

CupcakeMumma is Nearly One So....

CupcakeMumma will be 1 on the 19th September so to say thank-you to all my followers and to those who perhaps may not follow but do regularly click through Twitter and Facebook, I fancy having a little giveaway!

Now, I don't have anything wonderful from some top notch brand to give you but what I do have is my thoughtful mind and creative hands. So, as I often like to have a bit of a chill out and relax I shall be making up a little surprise gift (or maybe 2) for the lucky winner to indulge in some 'me time.'

If you fancy winning yourself a little treat, simply leave a comment (please don't follow me just for this purpose, it really isn't a requirement!) telling me what you would spend some 'me time' on. Would you paint your nails in your favourite colour? Eat a bar of chocolate without little ones pestering you for some? Or simply soak in the tub knowing someone else is on bedtime duty?

I'll keep this going until September 18th at 9am where Midge can come home and pick a random name (or two) from a hat after school. I'll announce the winner on Twitter but please leave an e-mail address just in case!

Goodluck! And thanks for reading CupcakeMumma for a whole year and hopefully many more!

CupcakeMumma

XxX

My Week So Far...With Bags!

Well, after waking up at 2.30am on Monday morning with the most hideous stomach cramps I was officially ill when eventually after 7am I was sick in my baking bowl...hmm won't be using that one again! So yes, as you can imagine not the finest way to start your week.
It did get better though. I lived on toast and butter for the whole day which was pretty dull but necessary and was firmly wedged in the arse dent on my corner sofa watching trashy television. My Mother in law to be had both the children which I was extremely grateful for and even more so when I learned that Little Man had been up pretty much all night with the unfamiliar setting and his teeth causing yet more trouble for him.

I got a relaxing bath, did a little tidying just to make me feel clean (obsessed) and then napped on the sofa just as Eastenders was nearing the end. SO Monday was not fab, it could have been much worse which i'm glad it wasn't!

Tuesday is good TV night for me and its always been my favourite day of the week for some odd reason so I always manage to get up pretty well in the morning! I actually had a nice lay in that morning as Other Half was working earlier to get some extra pennies for Little Man's birthday next week.
I was woken up by my babies a bit less than hour later which was lovely. I felt ten times better and looked forward to a day of a better diet and fresh air! I started on my next #Pinaddict challenge as well which is harder than it looks, well more fiddly. I won't say anymore though as I'm determined to keep it a surprise for a special someone.

And so to today. I returned the lay in favour to Other Half who was most pleased and cracked on with Mummy mode. Little Man refused to sleep before baby group which worried me no end but we went anyway and had a lovely morning there. I love seeing him interact with the other babies and I'm getting on quite well with 'pushy mum' who isn't so much pushy as an overall protective first time mum. i can totally get it, but I don't need hidden protective comments about my parenting choices thank you! She's okay though, harmless and I think I quite like her!

Mummy's and Little Man's butterfly

Little Miss's lovely butterfly.

 Little Miss tagged along which is unusual because I do like to give me and the Other Half our individual bonding times. We made butterflies and sung some songs and in general had a lovely morning. It went down hill from there as Little Man has developed some serious buggy hatred and screamed all the way home from the nursery run. I think I was this close to to handing him over!*

I wrestled him to sleep which he did...for the grand total of 20 minutes. Still, better than nothing and a bit of shut eye cheered him up and gave me some lunch so i wasn't so crabby. We circled the shops for various things to add to previously mentioned secret Pinaddict project. I accidentally went over my budget so i owe my tin a fiver *sighs* could be worse!

  Also I got some new bags in the post. What do you think?

Now I shall catch up on my lovely blog, e-mails and maybe venture over to Twitter if I dare. I have things to do and am afraid my time would dangerously drain away if I hang about there too long.

I hope my readers are having a good week so far too. Only 2 more days until the weekend. Oh poop I have parent consultation tomorrow. Muffins.
Until then! Hannah X
* No handing over ever took place. Promise. 

Reasons To Be Cheerful!

It's my first time joining in with RTBC with Mummy From The Heart and her lovely meme. Some times are going to be harder searching for these cheerful reasons i have no doubt but ultimately I hope they come so very easy to me.

1. I have a busy year ahead and this always makes me happy. My Little Miss turns 4 in 2 weeks, my Little Man turns 1 in Feb, Other Halves birthday is also this month (mmmm lots of cake) I get married this August (hurrah!) and maybe even a small family holiday!
2. I have had confirmations already of much loved family members attending my wedding (officially as in all booked!!) this makes me very happy!
3. I am always cheerful (or thankful- either way I'm happy about it) to have my family, my blog and the small community built around it, my home and many, many essentials that we so often take for granted.
4. My niece is due soon and I'm very excited D-Day is so very near. Hurry up! Your poor Mother is not very comfy anymore!

I think that's enough for now, obviously this is one of the easy times to find reasons to be cheerful. Yey for that.
You can join in the fun and thoughtfulness by clicking the badge below.
Hannah
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