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!