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Little Dish Purees Review

As you may remember once a month we have a cheat night for dinner, which normally involves a walk round one of the local Supermarkets and us picking up a prepacked meal. Top Ender and Baby Boy are quite fond of the Little Dish meals and will chose a favourite meal out of the range (see The Little Dish Review if you want to know about them) and everyone will be quite happy.

The other week though I noticed a new addition to the range, a puree in a pouch and I thought that it must be aimed at the weaning market. A smart idea in my opinion because the purees are the sort of thing that I made for Top Ender and Baby Boy when they were both learning to eat solid food, and because they are fresh they are a good alternative when you realise that you have run out of ice cubes of mashed butternut squash or potato and parsnip which my two were very fond of.

Wordless Wednesday - Vox Pop (The Family) by John Clinch and me.

A Gurgle Blog Award Nominee!

This evening when I logged into my email, I found that I had an email from Gurgle.com and have been nominated for a gurgle blog award in the best funny mummy blog category.

I was a little shocked as I didn't know that the lovely people at Gurgle read my blog, but I was also really pleased because someone other than me and Baby Boy thinks I am funny and I don't think they mean the way that Daddy thinks I am funny (straight jacket funny).

Baby Boy Giggles - BEANS!

"Who do you love Baby Boy?" I asked

"I love Mummum and Daddad and Top Ender" he answered
"Who do you love Top Ender?" I asked
"I love Mummum and Daddad and Baby Boy she answered
"Who do you love Daddy?" I asked
"I love BEANS!" answered Daddy
"BEANS!" I exclaimed
"I love Daddad and Daddad loves beans!" laughed Baby Boy

Now whenever we ask Baby Boy who he loves he just laughs and answers

"BEANS!"

One face covered in bean juice.

Top Ender Giggles - But it's shiny!

In Tesco, the staff are giving out Topps Match Attax cards when you spend over a certain amount (I think it is £25) and as such Top Ender has been collecting them (anything that's free is welcome) and spent the car journey home marvelling at her newest additions.

She passed me a card to look at that had an attack score of 100. Looking at the card I realised that knew who the player was and said to Daddy

Wordless Wednesday - If you see a big tree you have to explore inside of it!

Baby Boy Giggles - Is anybody there?!

Happy Birthday Maw

When my Gran died Top Ender was quite upset and would often ask if she could call her. She knew that she couldn't really speak with my Gran, but she liked me to pretend to talk to her on her hand phone, by having me pretend to be my Gran (in my fake heavy Scottish accent) and tell her that I (as my Gran) loved her and missed her and had been watching her on my special Heaven TV.

Yeah you get to watch people on earth on your TV in Heaven. You can also watch any other TV channel that you like and there are no advert breaks; There is a channel of adverts that you liked or would of liked had you seen them. God is clever he knows how to sort things like this out.

Anyway the other week, whilst we were all in the Car, Top Ender realised that she hadn't spoken about my Gran for a while and that it would of been her birthday in a few short weeks (it would of been her 80th Birthday the day that Smallest Cousin was born) and so decided to call her on her hand phone.

"I'm going to phone Nanny Maw" said Top Ender holding her hand phone to her ear

She dialled a few buttons and waited for the connection to be made and just before she spoke we heard

"Hullo?!" in a very deep almost Scottish voice
"Hello Nanny Maw, its me...." answered Top Ender

Daddy and I looked at each other, eyes wide (and I was ready to change my under wear) before we realised that it was Baby Boy talking and Top Ender wasn't really talking to my dead Grandmother!

Making Friends Sucks - Part Five

See that man over there? He was talking about me.

I don't like to be talked about. I don't mean the sort of blog post that Karin at Cafe Bebe did about online friends and mentioned me (you can all mention me with links to this blog all you like!). I mean proper gossiping or even just telling a story about me to someone else without my knowledge.

I know that you don't like to be talked about either, but do you think that People are talking about you, even when they aren't? Are you convinced every time you walk into a room/playground/supermarket/cafe/public area/office that people are immediately talking about you? You know how they start laughing just as you walk in, or they sidle off together, or all of the group look at you and then look away, or worse the conversation stops dead as you come near?

Phew, so its not just me.

I even hate when someone says something like "Well I heard that you..." and even though they are telling me to my face I still feel that they have slapped me. Maybe its this distrust of people that makes it so hard for me to make and keep friends? I don't know, I don't know if everyone feels this way or if it's just me.

I hope its not just me.

Reasons to Vote for me in The MAD's... please

On Sunday the 6th June at Midnight, voting will close for The MADS and I thought this would be a great time to show you how I have caught the imagination of the people in my local area...

You wouldn't believe how many times I have tried to take a picture of this!

As you can see they were obviously disturbed before they could write the "S" and then "Vote For A Mothers Ramblings". I am hoping that the campaign they are mounting on my behalf is more successful than my attempts.

I was mean and cut Daddy's hair into an elaborate pattern one evening to get you to vote for me;

I have had Newspaper and Radio Coverage;

I might of made my own newspaper too;

I have been into space and asked a passing astronaut to help me out;

I have made some badges up...

I accidentally left this message in every classroom at Top Enders School;

And of course Daddy has suggested that he will buy me an escort which I thought may look like this;

This was actually Daddy's car at one point

But now that he has explained what he meant I am hoping more like this;

Phwoar!

I have even suggested that if I wear my blue evening gown that I might do a Judy Finnigan (remember when her boob on national TV was showing everyone her bra clad boob?), or even a Halle Berry or a Mariah Carey (you know where they sob and snot comes out their nose and they look oh so attractive?) and vlog it for your enjoyment.

Then I realised that I haven't told you about my category properly. I have been shortlisted in the Best MAD Family Fun Blog and this is being sponsored by Woolworths.co.uk. The winner will receive an EEE PC touch screen netbook worth £319, a V-tech Advance notebook and an amazing opportunity to have their blog professionally designed by a leading digital design agency! The Best MAD Blog for Family Fun is a blog that inspires you to have more fun with your family, whether that’s cooking, crafting or taking days out together and I would love to be known for that.

Heck I am just pleased to be known as a Finalist of that.

Of course there are some other finalists in this category and they are the following wonderful blogs;

Have a Lovely Time

This is a collaborative blog, which review family friendly days out and attractions all across the UK and has been my first stop on more than one occasion to check out somewhere that we here at A Mothers Ramblings have been thinking of visiting!

The MadHouse

This blog is written by Jen and is the sort of blog that I wish I could write. There are some amazing things that she does with her boys and as long as Daddy doesn't go and look then the inspiration for his father's day card will remain a secret... but you can go and look for it!

NurtureStore

This blog is written by Cathy and she has the most amazing craft projects to copy. Top Ender and I have re-created several of the projects on this blog and even Baby Boy has loved some of the things that we have made, like our egg box dragon!

It's a Small World After All Family

This blog is written by Victoria and this November she is going to take a trip. Not just any trip though. This is a round the world trip with her family. She has said that I can go with her if I can hunt her out a proper coffee no matter where in the world we are, if I vote for her in The MAD's and if I can carry my own luggage and fit in a 45l backpack. The only thing there that will be a stretch for me is the coffee and I think that is a deal breaker for her.

So these are the other finalists, but of course you know I still want you to vote for me... PLEASE!

Family Fun on a Phineas and Ferb Scale!

In our house we love Disney, we especially love watching Phineas and Ferb together as a family. We love the crazy schemes that the boys get up to, the ways in which the days activities are magically cleared up by Doofenshmirtz's latest "-inator" and it has inspired us to have some family fun on a Phineas and Ferb scale. Well it inspired Top Ender first...

You see in the theme song to the cartoon it is stated that the boys have 104 days of Summer Vacation and Top Ender was inspired to tell me that we (as a family) should do something fun every day for 104 days. Now this would be really easy if we were a cartoon family (I know that in the header we are, but its pretend, we don't really look like that!) and if we had 104 days for a Summer Holiday.

Top Ender understands that she only gets 40 days for her Summer Holidays (and doesn't mind this) so we figured that we had better start doing fun things before the Summer Holidays starts. We thought that May 28th would be a good start, seeing as that was the first day of the half term and so we started doing fun things...

We can't doing anything as grand as the boys, as we are pretty sure there isn't any evil scientist near by who could accidentally use an "-inator" of his to tidy everything up! We soon figured out that it is the fun that should be on a grand scale and our schemes don't need to be on a grand scale. So this is what we are up to...

28th May - Picnic Day
29th May - Ponyo Lunch
30th May - Book Day
31st May - Brand New Bike Day
1st June  - Pajama Day
2nd June - Visit London for The Elephant Parade part two.
3rd June - Arts and Crafts Day
4th June - Flag making Day
5th June - Cinema Day
6th June - Party Day
7th June - Frog jumping Evening
8th June -
9th June -
10th June - Deep Sea Diving Night
As we go through our 104 days we will add blog posts explaining what we did and we will also add links to this blog post...which if I can work out how to I will make stay on the front page of the blog!

A new addition

Just a couple of days ago my sister was starting to think that her third daughter was never going to be born. She had grown weary of curry and pineapple, her legs were tired from the hours of walking she had undertaken and the cobbles near her house are almost flat from the wear and tear caused by driving over them for hours on end.

And then it happened and it happened fast (which bodes well for me, but more about that another day!)

We were lucky that Daddy had the day off work yesterday, which meant that we were able to go over and visit with my sister and her three daughters as we had the car and I got my first hug with my newest family member.

So it is my pleasure to introduce you to Smallest Cousin;

Smallest Cousin with her Mummy

Top Ender welcoming Smallest Cousin to the World whilst Little Cousin looks on

A kiss from Big Sister and Top Ender

Big Cousin and Little Cousin saying goodbye with Granny

Wordless Wednesday - Concrete cows

Potty Training Tips

Potty Training Tips are not that hard to come by. Everyone has an idea about what the best way to potty train a child and it is up to you as a parent (or carer) to decide which methods and tips suit you and your child. Of course you might be wondering why on earth I am telling you how to do something that I have no experience in, but in my family potty training is something that has been done time and time again! My Mum was a childminder for most of my life and so I have helped to potty train an awful lot of children and of course my own two darlings!

I get excited about potty training. Its not because of the lack of nappies, or the not having to clean a poop smeared bum, (sorry to tell you, but you have to deal with this for a bit longer as even when your little one is going on the toilet you will be required to wipe their bum a few times!) but it is because of the new independence that it brings to the child.

So independent they are going to events and getting their own goody bags!

Some people that I know don't believe in pottys, they feel that there is no point in getting a child to learn to go on a potty and then a few weeks/months later having to train them to use a toilet. Whilst I can see what they are saying is true, it does seem like double the work I also don't agree. I see a potty as something that is portable and therefore just like a nappy. Its a lot quicker to grab the potty from one end of the room than it is to run with the child to the bathroom IMHO!

The most important of all the tips that have been passed down to my sister and I, is to let the child decide when they are ready. It is no good trying to potty train a child who isn't ready, all you will do is cause the relatively easy process to become a hard drawn out one.

This can be tricky though. Baby Boy for example has been ready to potty train for a good few months now. He has good visual clues as to when he is about to go and would tell us just before he was about to go and when he was going but actually getting him to perform on the potty? Well that was a different story. A few months back we started potty training for the first time with Baby Boy. I cleared my calender for the week and was ready with pants and stickers and sweets and everything else that could possibly be needed (read carpet cleaner!) and what happened? The first day went great, but on the second day he refused to perform. The third day was a complete disaster, as was the fourth and so on the fifth day we went back to nappies. He just wasn't ready for it.

Padding for the bottom makes bouncing more fun!

In the last couple of weeks however, there has been a definite movement (ha!) towards telling us in advance that he needs the toilet and an interest in getting his own clothes removed in order to go on the potty. And we have been successful during the day with the potty being accessible and several reminders during the day of "Wee wee's on the potty not on Mama's sofa or carpet!". Getting Baby Boy to poo however was tricky... until Bank Holiday Monday.

Baby Boy had been wearing trousers and pants all day and he had been on the potty for a wee several times but it was late in the afternoon when he shouted;

"WEE!"

and ran for the potty.

Daddy was closest to him and so he helped to pull down Baby Boys trousers and position him on the potty. The thing I have found with little boys is that the aim is sometimes not as precise as one would like it to be! It was soon clear from Baby Boys face that Baby Boy wasn't intending to pee. This was a poo and from the grimace it was going to be a big poo.

I would of taken a picture of the poo Baby Boy did in the potty if I had a chance, (I was so proud!) but as soon as he had finished and had his bottom wiped, he picked up the potty and marched it to the toilet with Daddy where it was flushed away to cheers of "Poo poo in the potty!" and a lot of clapping from everyone in the house. We then called Granny and Auntie and everyone else that we knew would be able to cheer down the phone about what a good job Baby Boy had done in going on the potty.

And that would be the second and third and fourth tip all in one. Be proud of every achievement and make up a song, or a cheer or a dance for when they do something great, it might be that they sit on the potty and pee, but even if they forgot to pull their underwear down it is still a big deal and needs to be celebrated! Then of course by putting the contents of the potty in the toilet, flushing and then washing their hands you are teaching good habits for the future!

Our children want to be just like us, they want to wear big girl/boy pants, they want to go on the toilet just like they have seen us do and as they want to please us, potty training is something that allows them to do all of these things! Of course we have to make sure that the toilet or potty is not thought of as something that is bad or evil. We have spent the last few months holding our nose when wiping a bum clean and saying things like;

"Poo poo yuck!"

And we have said about poo and wee being dirty and not to be touched, but now we suddenly want to celebrate these bodily functions? It's no wonder that some kids are so confused, over what we want them to do. One way we tried to overcome this was by having a potty in the house from almost day one. The potty has been something that could be seen and touched and practised being sat on.

Top Ender watching Teletubbies whilst using her potty as a seat

Baby Boy watching an advert whilst practising using the potty

It might be that in your house you go out and buy the potty together and allow your child to choose which potty will be their potty, or you choose a musical potty or a throne potty or a magic colour change potty. Just do whatever it is that you think your child will respond to best! Whilst you are out buying a potty you could also buy one of the many potty books aimed at children. We have about five of them, they are all different but have the same basic story which is a child learns to go on the potty.

Of course we have the traditional star chart too, but Baby Boy prefers to attach stickers to himself rather than to a chart. There are also a few gold medals floating around which Baby Boy is loving wearing and as a special treat we also went out and brought some fruit shoots and some chocolate. We explained these were his reward for having done his poo in a potty and he was very very pleased with his reward!

Look Mum I got a medal!

Don't feel that just because a child you know started potty training and was dry within three days and they were four months younger than your child that you and your child are doing something wrong. As you know all children are different, Top Ender wasn't comfortable not having a nappy at night for several months after she was dry during the day. It didn't matter to her that she was dry 6 out of 7 mornings, to her it was a step too far. We let her tell us when she was ready to be sans nappy at night and as such (touch wood) we have never had any wet beds!

Of course I might being a premature in saying Baby Boy is potty trained when he has only pooped on the potty twice, but he is asking to use the potty and is sitting on the potty by himself to pee (he really is sitting there right now!) and we even made two trips out without nappies (one to Tesco's and one to the Park) without accidents and I am thinking that it counts!

Lastly a quick thought about training pants. I haven't used training pants but that was only because Baby Boy was more interested in wearing Big Boy Phineas and Ferb Pants (from the Disney Store) than wearing a training nappy, but I know that some parents swear by them as being a great intermediate step and as so many training pants these days have popular cartoon characters on that children love wearing I can see this being a great way to help your child with the last step!

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

There are many reasons to why I love where my house is situated, but one of the best is that during Air Show season (which is May to October in the UK) that what is shown in the video below is a frequent occurrence! I'm not a plane spotter or an enthusiast, but there is something about the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (Don't mention the War!) that invokes a lot of emotion in me.

This footage was taken in my front garden this afternoon and the plane that is seen is a Dakota. I only know this because Daddy is an enthusiast and told me what it was!

Gone rock climbing (On the Telly and everything!)

Do you remember the blog post I did back in February about 99 things? Well I said that some of the stories were cool so here is one that is a little funny/cool!

Many Many Moons ago (fourteen years ago but Ssh!) there was a TV channel called Trouble. A lot of teenagers who had Sky TV would watch it.

I didn't have Sky TV.

I did have a great Theatre Studies class though and one day they were asked for some students to be put forward who would be willing to be in a TV Show to be shown on Trouble. It was going to be a sort of Teenager version of Blind Date called "Its in the Jeans". Instead of Cilla Black we got Ortis Deley (him that's on The Gadget Show these days) and Lucie Cave...

I did have to tweet Ortis to remember Lucy's name, but this was only because of a social faux pas of mine, that meant I will forever remember the name Ortis Deley.

You see when Ortis walked in to the room to meet all his little blind date contestants, he asked us all our names. He didn't introduce himself. Everyone knew who he was. He was famous. He was on TV. He was on Trouble, the TV channel that we were filmimg for.

I didn't know this did I though? I didn't have Sky TV did I? And so I said;

"And you are?"

I know I must of sounded like a right cow.

But I have gotten ahead of myself. Back to the Theatre Studies class and a break meeting for all the Sixth former students, where what was needed was explained to us by our very lovely Theatre Studies Teacher Linda. All those interested had their names put into a hat and then a few were pulled out and I wasn't lucky.

A few days later however one of the girls realised that if she went for the filming of her date she would miss the last day of our schools Help Week. It was a big deal for her at the time because the Sixth formers would come in wearing Fancy dress on the last day of Help Week and she had a great costume planned.

So I swapped with her, I went on her blind date on TV.

I don't remember the name of the boy that I ended up going on a date with, (so we will call him 'Ollie') I do remember that we went Rock Climbing at The Castle Climbing Centre and that it was really corny. This can be highlighted by a very clear memory of a joke I made.

I was at the bottom of a climbing wall with 'Ollie' (the boy I was on a "date" with) up the wall. I was belaying* (holding the rope tightish so that if he fell he wouldn't fall far) and got a great idea for a joke. I actually told the crew that were with me to film me for a minute, because I was sure that they wouldn't want to miss this.

I very gently tugged the rope that was attached to us both and called up to 'Ollie';

"Hey 'Ollie', guess I can say I really pulled you!"

This produced much merriment from the very bored production crew who had higher hopes than following round two teenagers on a fake date for their careers. I then had to say it again, in exactly the same tone and timbre and cadence and all the other words that mean the same thing at least ten times. The only thing was that nobody told 'Ollie' that I was going to have to do it at least ten times and the very last time that they filmed me saying it he shouted back down;

"I heard you the FIRST time!"

I think there is a swear word missing from this quote.

As you can probably guess I don't think he liked me that much and the date didn't really get much better. I mean I had a fantastic time, it was great rock climbing and abseiling but he made his feelings quite clear when he had to pretend to pick me out of a bunch of other girls from Polaroids.

"She has a nice...erm, smile."

That's what he went with. I had a nice smile. Obviously I do have a nice smile, but you know he could of said "She looks pretty" or, "She looks really fun", or "Even though she isn't my normal type I think she is hot", heck I think I would of settled for "The one with the big boobs". It was okay though as I was dating Chris (no silly mistakes here I am not mentioning his last name in case he Googles himself. I learnt from Sally at "Who's the Mummy?" little mistake the other week!!!) at the time.

At least I think I was. This might of been before we started going out... I get confused easily you know.

'Ollie' was also a Young Magician and I remember that he had either won the Young Magician of the year or was a runner up in the Young Magician of the Year, or something to do with Magicians and him. Maybe he was going to be a Young Magician of the year. He also worked in Hamleys on Saturdays selling magic kits or something similar!

Anyway as part of our date we had to sit in the cafe at The Castle and pretend to be into each other and he magically made a paper flower appear to give to me.

It was as bad as it sounds.

Still it means that I went rock climbing, and was on the telly and had a story to tell you all. I did have a video sent to me of the show, but the wrong video was sent to me and I got my friends who went to a Pottery place for her date and I never thought to call them and ask for another video at the time. So I have no proof of this. Unless Lucie or Ortis want to back me up. I am sure they remember me... and if they happen to have a video of me then maybe it should stay hidden eh?

Oh and my friends date that went to the Pottery place? Of course they acted out *that* scene from Ghost. Problem was my mate was quite a bit taller than her date and had to be Patrick whilst he was Demi...

*With thanks to Sara at Kitty Eden who told me what the proper terms for Rock Climbing were as opposed to the silly phrases I was using!

Daddy Guest Post: Boom Bang A Bang

Mummy forgives me for a small personality problem I have. Basically, once a year, normally on a Saturday night in May, I insist that all phones are switched off, all children are sent to bed, I am armed with a pen, pad of paper, and insist on spending 3 or so hours going "where the heck is Moldova" and "Is Georgia a country? I thought it was a US state".

Yes, I like the Eurovision Song Contest. And it's on tonight. And Mummy has decided that I can make my second guest post in its honour.

A little history for those that aren't familiar with the contest. Basically, all the countries of Europe, excluding Italy (who think it's naff despite winning it before) but including Israel (who get invited because they are part of the European Broadcasting Union), get together and sing individual songs, whereafter all the other countries ignore the song anyway, and vote for whatever country they (a) are next to or (b) have bailed them out of something.

Hence why Greece and Cyprus always vote for each other, Ireland, Malta and the UK all cling together, and a host of countries in Russia and Eastern Europe, who weren't even countries when the first contest happened in 1956, win every year because there are more of them and therefore win more votes. Ok, not every year - sometimes a real good song from somewhere more traditional wins just because it's that bit better.

But, I watch it because, in 1997 the UK did win.

I really enjoyed it that year. We thrashed the rest of the competition. It was a good song, a good performance. I started watching it in 1990, and waited a fair time for that win. Sadly, I have waited another 13 years without another, but at least I saw us win once. And I watch because I have this weird idea that maybe, with the right song, a whole lot of luck and absolutely no resort to bribery, we may one day win it again.

So, to honour this most odd and unusual coming together (read: clash) of cultures, I have compiled my Top-10 Eurovision songs and memories from years past. See how many of these you remember!

10. Francis Ruffelle. Yeah, I know you don't remember this one. But back in the day, the UK used to pick the SONG rather than the performer, and Francis was the artist chosen to perform for the UK in 1994. She then appeared on a TV show singing a range of songs, and "Lonely Symphony (We Will Be Free)" was chosen to represent the UK. It came 10th. It sticks in the mind because, to my ears, she sounds rather like Cyndi Lauper, and I used to catch the Number 32 bus to the Sunday Market every other weekend, and the driver always had the album "Twelve Deadly Cyns (And Then Some)" on in the bus.

9. Terry Wogan. There are a million anecdotes about Terry and his views on Eurovision. I don't actually share a lot of his views on the contest - any attempt at derision used to vex me somewhat, as I really enjoy most aspects of it whilst Terry took it a lot less seriously. But, what was good was that, before he left for pastures new, he did get a chance in 1998 to swap his microphone for the stage, and host the contest from Birmingham (somewhere most of Europe has never heard of). In fact, he actually managed to present from the stage AND do the commentary over the intros too. But his best moments - his anglicized attempts at French. Wonderful pronunciations of "Madame et Monsieurs, Bienvenue a Concours Eurovision de la Chanson" or thereabouts. Thank goodness for the fluency of...

8. Ulrika-ka-ka (Johnson)! Who got a laugh even bigger than the winner Dana International in her astonishing hat, when an in-vision scorer from somewhere in Europe mentioned that she had once taken part in Eurovision herself, courting the wonderful Ulrika response of "A long time time ago was it?".

Yes, it was. 1965

7. Ken Bruce. Whose wonderful Radio 2 commentary meant that the Eurovision Song Contest was the only programme I routinely watched with the TV sound off, and the Radio on. Descriptive, informative, funny wiithout being sarcastic. And sadly, since the advent of Digital TV, I can no longer do this - as the radio gets there about 5 seconds before the picture. It's like watching a badly dubbed kung-fu movie!

6. Diggi-Loo, Diggi-Ley - The Herreys. I wasn't very old when this Swedish song won in 1984, certainly I don't remember watching it live. But I did manage to acquire the 7" single of this, in a large box of 7" singles that I bought for £4 at the Sunday Market (see number 10!) and actually prefer the B-side, Every Song You Sing. It goes a bit like this: "Every song you sing, every tune you play, every photograph that you give away. Every time you smile, when I see your eyes, how I'm hoping that I'll be yours someday. All the words of love, in your melodies, makes me wait even more patiently, for the day that I can hear you say that you did it all, just for me". I used to think it kinda sweet. Now seeing the lyrics written down, it's really about a famous persons stalker isn't it...

One of the Herrey's murdering the same song in 2007

5. Riverdance. The only interval act in Eurovision history to get a longer applause, rousing standing ovation and greater respect than all of the acts put together. Enough said.

4. Ronnie Hazelhurst. Famous for writing songs for S Club 7 (if you believe Wikipedia), and the themes to Last of the Summer Wine and Some Mothers Do Ave' Em, BBC conductor Ronnie used to conduct the orchestra for UK entries. And, if you can believe it, songs like "Love City Groove", a Rap song (thats almost an accurate typo!) entered by the UK in 1995, had to have a full orchestra backing to abide by Eurovision rules. They did away with the orchestra in favour of allowing backing tracks some years later, but there is a rumour the orchestra may return. Sadly, the late Ronnie Hazelhurst, who I recall once conducted the show with an umbrella, won't be around to help out.

3. Yamma Yamma. Pretty much that is all the lyrics, of my favourite nonsense entry, entered by Finland in 1992. It went "Yamma yamma, yamma yamma, yamma yamma, yammma yah". It came last. Ah well.

2. Ireland. Actually I was going to leave it right there, but I suppose it deserves more of an explanation. Between 1965 and today, Ireland have won 7 times, including 4 wins in 5 years between 1992-1996. And they have managed this because they have catchy songs, strong ballads, ethnic overtones - the works. Alone singer-songwriter Johnny Logan, who they call Mr Eurovision, has won it twice as performer and once as songwriter. They may even be the bookies pick for an outside win this year, by selecting their 1993 winner Niamh Kavanagh to return. I like them because, although most of the entries are now sung in English, in the good old days Ireland had the only other songs you could sing along with. So an Irish win is almost as good as a UK win!

1. Don't Ever Cry - Put. An obscure end to my Top-10 countdown, a Croatian song that came 15th with just 33 points in 1993. But it marked the start of something new - it was the first time Croatia had performed not as part of Yugoslavia, but alone. And this heralded a new era of entries, and wins, from new countries - former Yugoslavian and Baltic states. But, as well as being memorable for that, it tops my chart because it is just a fantastic song - from its "Star Wars" opening to its memorable harmonies, great sentiment and even a chorus sung in English.

"Don't Ever Cry. It's not worth it okay!?

So, that's the end of my rather long post. I think this is why Mummy doesn't let me write many.. And I don't know if tonights contest will give me anything new for this list, but if we all keep our fingers crossed and chant... "Royaume-Uni Douze Points" ad nauseum, you never know!

Huggies Messy Play Challenge Entry

You may remember that a couple of days ago I posted about the Huggies Messy Play Challenge. Well I was considering entering this photo of Big Cousin because I think it sums up Messy play quite nicely.

That is what happens if you leave your milkshake at Toddler height. Luckily I didn't have to clean her up so the challenge for me was to just take the photo! Auntie on the other hand might of felt a little different.

I started thinking that technically that photo isn't of my child and so I was wondering if I should enter a photo of Top Ender that I have tucked away, but I decided that I should save that for another day... one day when she has really annoyed me!

This evening however I found the photo (well group of photos) that I am going to enter.

Luckily a bath for Baby Boy took care of his clean up, the sofa covers and pajamas are in the washing machine and the other lumps that I keep finding all over the living room? Well wet wipes aren't just for paint or poop!

Guest Post: A VROOM VROOM MOMENT!

Hello! I am delighted to be guest posting here at A Mother's Ramblings as part of Little Mummy's marvellous guest post day! I am normally to be found over at my blog Thinly Spread so called because I have four children aged 4, 10, 12 and 14...so I am! Pippa is over at my place so do pop over and see what she's on about!

My smallest boy had one of those breakthrough moments this week. The kind when you can almost hear children changing up a gear and vrooming off. The kind that makes your heart swell with pride and makes you want to shout from the rooftops.

Most children go through these moments of course and if I did start shouting on roofs I would probably be taken away and locked up for a while. But it IS miraculous and even though this is the fourth time I have seen it with my own children and the umpteenth time I have seen it as a teacher it is still amazing.

Bonus Boy moved in one leap from drawing his 'peanut people' (pictures of various members of the family all with one long peanut body without a separate head and with sticks for arms and legs) to 'proper people' with defined heads and bodies and rectangle arms and legs with fingers and toes.

He is obviously very pleased with this and can see the difference himself because he has spent an enormous amount of time doing it ever since. We now have pupils in the centres of our very startled looking eyes.

It will be a while yet until his inner critic makes its presence felt so he is drawing for the sheer pleasure of it and it is wonderful to see. He has no limits and draws with abandon: 'I am drawing the family Mummy and we are blue people cos I don't have any skin pens.'

He branched out into cats, rabbits, hedgehogs and smiley blue whales. He moved onto aliens with extra legs and a complicated picture with rocket ships and moon landings and then got absorbed in drawing the sun in the sky and exotic beach scenes. All in one week!

Most children go through the same developmental stages in their drawing at more or less the same time and more or less in the same order. This shows it more clearly than I can here but I think it's a wonderful thing to watch and it is well worth keeping a record of it!

Have you noticed the changes and stages in your child's drawing? Are you keeping a record of it? Don't forget to date drawings and write on them what the children call them; it's lovely to look back on!

Messy Play Challenge!

Before we go on this is a Sponsored post of sorts. You see I am a Huggies Mum and this is a Huggies challenge post and I don't have to tell you about this challenge but everyone knows I like a challenge and when Huggies told me and the other Huggies Mums about this Messy Play challenge I was a little excited and started planning how messy I could get Top Ender or Baby Boy in order to win this challenge!

As I am sure you know and as countless psychologists and experts have said before Messy play is good for children. In fact Janine Spencer (who is a child psychologist) said "Giving children the freedom to play messily helps them develop their imagination and social skills. It boosts their confidence and helps them understand the world around them. That’s a small price to pay for a bit of mess."

You know she's right. I don't care about a bit of mess if what Top Ender and Baby Boy and I are doing is boosting their skills or letting us have a bit of fun together. And that's what we are all about in our house, having fun. Now this challenge isn't just for Huggies Mums, it's open to everyone in the UK!

I am thinking that one of these photos might be my entry...

So what you need to do is post a photo on your blog between now and July 14th of your little ones (or big ones!) getting messy. It could be a photo like Baby Boy here covered in ice-cream, or a photo of you covered in flour following a baking session together, or anything that you can think of... as long as you are messy!

The challenge isn't really that hard you might be thinking and you are right. Even if I told you that the real challenge is the cleaning up after you have made the mess, with great wipes like the ones that Huggies make (honestly I love Huggies wipes, they feel stronger than some wipes I have used in the past, but are still soft) it won't be too hard!

So here are the rules as set out by Huggies!


1. The messier your baby is in the photo the better. (The challenge is cleaning up!)
2. Post the photo to your blog with The Messy Play by Huggies Wipes challenge. (It can be an old photo or a previous post).
3. Send a link of your blog post featuring your Messy Play photo to @Huggies_UK on Twitter or online.team@Huggies.com to participate.
4. Check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/messyplaybyhuggieswipes/ to see all the blogger submissions and links to their blogs. Submissions will also be shouted out by @Huggies_UK on Twitter.
5. The top 3 messiest entries will receive Huggies® gift packs of Huggies merchandise.