All-in-One Mum

My daughter loves bees.  Fact.  So much so that I have taped a number of The Hive episodes on my Sky+ and have also bought her The Bee Movie just in case she gets a sudden craving to see her favourite bee friends.   She also attempted to chase a number of bumble bees during the week of British summer thinking that it was friendly little Buzz Bee from the Hive.  The hot weather had made them very lethargic so they were cruising around just above the level of the grass but lucky for them were just fast enough to get out of the reach of a curious toddler.  Too precious for words! I guess that it all started with the Bugaboo Bee that she zooms around in.  She also has a LittleLife Bee backpack that she adores and so when one of her little friends turned one in June and his mommy chose a party theme of Summer Bugs, I knew EXACTLY what little one would wear.  A bee outfit!!!  She would love it!   Just about as quickly as I had come up wi...

As I was trawling through Twitter one day I came across a post from  @SAHDandproud v2.0  that was called 'Around the World in 80 Words'.  It caught my eye so I obviously had to click on it as I have a very nosey curious nature and wanted to see what it was all about. Basically, it was fantastic.  You think of a place that you have travelled to and pick a country or something that left a lasting memory with you, be it good or bad. What he had done was bring a ton of fabulous memories back from holidays abroad, holidays growing up as a child and my life growing up in Cape Town.   It was like the happy feeling I get after exercise or after a few cups of coffee.   Fabulous! This is his original post that started it all.  There is also a great Linky  so you can paste the link to your post here when you are done and share it with all the other people out there that love and appreciate exploring and travelling the world. Here is my 5...

I honestly never thought that I would see the day when I would find a 25 degree Celsius day 'hot'.  Yesterday my fingers and hands were clammy with the extreme warmth of my office and I was struggling to type at my computer later on in the day.  I couldn't handle the sudden onset of this rather intense heat.  I fear that I have become weak.  Am I now becoming truly British?  How ever shall I survive when I visit my homeland of South Africa in December (that sounds like British and posh, innit?). I do get sad sometimes when I think about the endless hot days of summer I remember from my childhood growing up in South Africa.  I know we had winter but I seem to have erased that from my memory.  Long, hot gorgeous days that never seemed to end, where we had the beach and outdoors at our disposal.  The beaches that had gorgeous and frighteningly hot white sand that you had to either sprint across, wear flip flops (sandals) or channel...

After nearly 3 weeks of an off again/on again eye infection I think the end is nearly in sight! (ha ha ha, in sight!  I crack myself up!).  Hopefully it will all be sorted out tomorrow when I see the specialist and then I can really get back into my blogging which I feel is being very neglected.  It's one of the things that keeps me sane so for the sake of those around me, my eyes had better sort themselves out and fast! On a more positive note, I have my husband's couch all to myself this weekend and have dug out my 'chick flicks' which I am going to attempt to watch.  Well, I'm not happy that my husband isn't joining me on the couch but sometimes you need to capture these little moments as they are presented to you and use them to the fullest.   I'm thinking of watching  The Time Traveler's Wife first, followed by Twilight tomorrow and maybe the Notebook after that.  I really need to sort out my accounts too but procrastination see...

Whilst reading through Chloe's blog at A 20 Something Mum I noticed a new badge on her profile saying 'Babyhuddle Elite Blogger' .  What I found was list maker heaven!  Babyhuddle is a fabulous website that was started by a husband and wife team to help parents and soon-to-be parents make informed decisions on what to by for their babies and children.  The lists are created by other parents so you can find comfort in the fact that the products have been tried and tested for comfort, durability, ease of use; generally things that parents look for in a product.  Just one example of the fabulous lists that the members have created is  'baby travel essentials' .  Join the site and you can make lists of your own as well as ask questions and have them answered by the other very helpful and friendly members of the Babyhuddle family.  The other joy of the site is that you can also buy the items that you see.  Hoorah! I'll be blogging for...

I've been every so slightly useless and aloof in the past few days on my blog.  It isn't due to lack of interest or anything like that.  I don't have any excuses really, so, I am going to stop right there! Kate's listography for this week is  "Top 5 Things That Make Me Happy" , so here goes! 1. My husband, my daughter, my parents, my sister.  Basically, my family .  Without my family I'd be lost.  I am truly blessed to have these amazing, loving, beautiful and caring people in my life. 2.   My close friends .  Some I've known for nearly 20 years, some I've known for 2 years or less.  Always there for a good laugh, to share a bit of gossip over a glass of vino or coffee and give a hand when I need it most.  I feel like the luckiest person in the world to know these special (and some crazy!) people. 3.   My blog.   I love to write and although I know that I'm not due to win any literally awards anytime in the foreseeable ...

I can't believe that it took me nearly 2 years to sew this very small knitted toy together.  The big question is, why did I find the thought of it so daunting? Before my Gran passed away in September 2005 I would have asked her to help me to complete most of my knitting projects.  She was a very talented knitter and sewed beautifully too.  I would knit a jersery or whatever I had decided to do at the time and she would either finish knitting it (we had the same tension in our knitting) or sew it together for me.  I knew that if I ever got stuck I had my Gran to help me out.  She taught me to knit when I was 5 and I am so grateful to her for this skill.  I love using my hands and being creative and find knitting very therapeutic and relaxing. As in most things in life, you learn through trial and error.  I do my best to make the finished knitted product look at least half as good as what my Gran would have done which is quite a challenge. ...

A very special Valentine from my daughter, the beautiful Isabella.  It made my day!   Daddy and I can take turns sharing it.  It was made for both of us really ;) Ax

I've been married for nearly 6 years and I still love all things wedding, so when a friend asked me to go with her to a Wedding Fair at Hatfield House I jumped at the chance.  Picking the venue, the flowers, the dress, the rings, the cake and everything that goes along with it is all so incredibly exciting! Not all of the exhibitors were able to attend the day unfortunately due to thicker snow fall in surrounding areas putting a spanner in the works.  The individuals and companies that were present though were all of a very high standard and so I'm glad that it wasn't me that had to decide between who would be perfect to give me my dream wedding day. I've often talked about my husband and I having our 10th wedding anniversary in Hawaii.  Our actual anniversary is in June but we would tie it in with Ironman Kona which is in October.  We would be killing two birds with one stone in doing so as hubby gets to watch the ultimate Ironman race and we can renew our vows ...

Apparently tonight's dinner would only be eaten if the monkey suit was worn. Ax

I've still not been on a skiing/winter holiday as the idea of voluntarily spending a week playing in snow doesn't really excite me to tell you the truth.  Give me a beach holiday or other suitable location that is in excess of 30 degrees Celsius and I will be an extremely happy creature. All that said, I woke up this morning feeling like a child at Christmas.  Today is the first time that Isabella will have seen, touched and tasted! I slipped out of bed quite early, showered then dressed and even started to clean the house while my husband and daughter slept peacefully in their beds unaware of how giddy I was with excitement. Bella's little outfit was set out last night so that I could quickly feed her breakfast this morning, let it settle and then change her into her warm clothes for outside.  I had it all planned out! I lasted until about 8.30 a.m. before I simply had to wake the household up.  I couldn't wait any longer to see the look on Isabella's ...

God Put a Smile Upon Your Face (Coldplay). Phew! Just had to get that out! Din, din, din, dinnnnnn, din, din, din, dinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn, din!   Din, din, din, dinnnnnn, din, din, din, dinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn, din! That is my version of the  opening riff as I hear it in my head. COLDPLAY - GOD PUT A SMILE UPON YOUR FACE LYRICS I love Coldplay.  By far the most amazing and outstanding live act, other than the band Live, that I have ever seen, live! As many of you know I am incredibly random.  Baby posts by day, parent or more grown up posts by night.  I was going to use the words 'mature' or 'adult' but I think the connotations of those two just wouldn't sit right and I foresaw a few negative comments coming my way if I'd used them.  I think that my quirkiness is all part of my charm and the reason that many of my friends like my company and that people follow my blog, or am I simply being presumptive? Please don't answer that... ...

Welcome to my first All-in-One Mum personal weekly goal! As each of us is so wonderfully different I find it extremely interesting to see what others are striving towards in their lives, hence I've created my All-in-One Mum Weekly Goals and All-in-One Mum Weekly Achievements. My challenge to you is to set a goal for the week.  It can be as simple as making a small change to your daily routine, trying a new task, writing that blog post you never got around to doing, spending more time with your children, trying a new or interesting recipe or as ambitious as getting that marathon time you've always wanted or trying a new hobby that you thought was impossible to do.   Each Sunday you get the opportunity to write down a task that you are wanting to achieve for that particular week.   Add your name/blog name and link to your blog in the linky at the bottom of my post and you will have the opportunity to share your goals and dreams with the rest of t...

Every night before Isabella goes to bed, I sing nursery rhymes to her.  I hold her snuggle in my arms and walk around her darkened room while she rests her little head on my left shoulder.  We usually start our routine with me singing the song from CBeebies (The time has come to say goodnight...). Isabella's current nursery rhyme top 10 The Time has Come to Say Goodnight (CBeebies Song) Baa Baa Black Sheep Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star Mary Had a Little Lamb Incy, Wincy Spider Three Blind Mice (a bit gruesome but I try to make the actions as PC as possible) Old MacDonald Humpty Dumpty  Rock a Bye Baby Hush a Bye baby The next step in the routine is for Bella to request a song.  I've seen a very big improvement in her language skills over the past few weeks and she is gradually learning the lines to the different songs, albeit that no one else but me can understand what she is saying in most cases.  For example, we have progressed from 'Baa Baa'...

A few of you may think that I'm about to go straight into waxing lyrical about my daughter and what she has brought into our lives.  I think it goes without saying that each child is precious and individual and that they touch your lives in such a unique way and that all the words in the world could never truly express this. Yes, I do get a bit soppy at the end of this post but the real aim of this was to see what a change Isabella has actually made to our home in the physical sense of the word.  It must have been extremely dull and boring before she arrived in April 2010. Here is a small peak into what our home is like now. 1.  Our Bathroom Pre-baby our black and white tiled floor bathroom with other basic white goods was very simple.  Now it is colourful with baby bath toys, bath products, etc. 2.  Our bedroom Our room is a subtle green.  Extremely peaceful with black brown furniture and a gorgeous Feather and Black Oliver bed which I adore. ...

For my 30th birthday I was given a very generous gift card for  Champneys .  Any other sane person would look at the little golden book of fabulous treatments that Champneys includes with the gift cards, pick something and book in to be pampered.   Well, not me! Let me attempt to explain a bit of my logic behind not treating myself to a much needed (deserved?!) full body massage just yet. I don't usually take the time to treat myself to things like this.  I get the basics done (mani, pedi and other bits) but nothing more indulgent than that. There are 9 treatments that would fit the bill.  I'm torn between Mediterranean Bliss and a stock standard full body massage.  I have read this booklet front to back on a number of occasions and each treatment sounds more dreamy than the other.  I can actually imagine how relaxed and zen like I will be after my special pamper session.  The more I read them the harder it is to choose! If I actually bo...

My daughter knows the basics of cause and effect, action and reaction, etc.  She is slowly learning not to do the same thing twice and if it isn't something that will bring her harm, she does it very carefully and with much greater caution that her first attempt. Bella was sitting on the couch with my husband who had his legs stretched out on the couch with the cat lying on top of him.  Isabella stood up and decided to walk from the head of the two seater couch to the other end where my husband's feet were resting and subsequently close to where Snickers's head (and claws and paws) were positioned. I'm not sure of what actually happened next but all I know is that Snickers swiped at Bella's foot and her claw clipped on Isabella's heel.  I'm pretty sure what did actually happen was that Bella stuck her foot directly in Snickers's face! Bella was obviously slightly shocked and upset but she knows that if she disturbs Snickers while she is sleeping, ...

I came across Kate's blog, Kate Takes 5,   a couple of weeks ago.  When I read 'Blogging for Sanity's Sake' under her blog title I immediately took a liking to it. Once a week Kate picks a topic or subject and makes a list of 5 things that relate to her particular choice for the week.  These can range from top 5 destinations right down to top 5 biscuits.  Once posted, Kate invites her readers to do the same and then share a link to their list on her page.  You can read about what inspired her to begin Kate Takes 5 Weekly Listography here . It is extremely interesting and a real eye opener to see just how different (or similar!) we all are.  For a person that loves making lists, this is heaven!  I make lists for absolutely everything.  I even make lists for what I am going to blog about.  I like order and it makes me happy and keeps me semi-sane.  So, with all that said, I start my 1st listography list on my Top 5 Websites! ...

I think I have fallen in love.   Completely head over heels in fact!   A very routine shopping trip turned into a rather fabulous outing today!   I stumbled across the  most wonderful, fabulous and amazing kitchen storage ranges at my local Marks and Spencer.   With collection names like Circus, Geisha, Animal Print, Retro and Cherry Heart, how could they go wrong?   The spring cookware collection is also completely gorgeous and simply on first sight would inspire anyone to cook and bake in an utter frenzy of food happiness!   The snaps you see are of a couple of the Circus tins that anyone who loves to bake should, in my humble opinion, own.  I will definitely have to buy them and once they are filled with scrummy cakes and bakes, I will post the photos for all to see. My store also stocks La Crueset and with Valentine's Day just around the corner, what better excuse to buy the collection of 3 gorgeous  h...

Being the wife of a 2 x Ironman (Frankfurt 2009 and Lanzarote 2011 with the tattoo and medals to prove it), I have a good idea of how time consuming, mentally and physically taxing, completely competitive yet exhilarating, amazing and life changing this experience can be.  Travelling to different locations around Europe doesn't hurt either. Before you ask how my training is going I'd like to stop you right in your tracks!  Here are a few things you should know about me... 1.  I love watching triathlons and supporting my husband.  Yes, he does triathlons because he loves them but there are times when you need the support during and at the end of the race, and I'm very happy to carry his kit and scream and shout to drive him on to swim, bike and run as fast as humanly possible!  In fact, I get quite competitive about shouting as loud as I can and being at the front of the crowd so he can see me! 2.  I'm not very good at early morning starts (except for ...