Lifestyle
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Snakes and Ladders on the Go.
I am very possessive of my iPad. It’s mine, and I’ll be honest, I hate sharing it with my kids. Because of this, I am very selective of which apps I add for the kids (lest I spend all my time coming up with excuses as to why they cannot use Mummy’s iPad); in particular, I like apps that we can use together. One such app is iPieces Snakes and Ladders by Jumbo Games. The iPieces games cleverly combine the fun of old-fashioned board games with the technology of the iPad touch-screen. The Snakes and Ladder set comes with four pawns and two “ladders”, each covered on the bottom with…
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A Pin…and A Dream
It takes a lot of trust and more than a pinch of faith to rent your home to strangers. You can only hope that you will find someone who will love and treat your house as if it were their own (and pray that they take good care of their own things.) Unfortunately, our last tenants were pretty much schmucks, and only treated the house as if it were there own when it came to installing things and making changes (all of which required permission that was not requested). Other than that, they pretty much trashed it. It took a lot of elbow grease (and a dedicated handyman) to get…
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Fill in the Blank Friday: The Travel Edition
New mama Lauren of The Little Things We Do is busy lovin’ on her baby girl, so today’s blanks were created by Erin of A Symphony of Grace. She has a lovely blog, so take a peek and give her some love, too! This week’s blanks are all about travel – one of my big loves, and something that we are trying to make the most of while we’re living in the UK so to take advantage of the relatively short distance to all of Europe. (I love the fact that flying from London to Barcelona is slightly shorter than flying from Chicago to Orlando!) And now, let’s get to those blanks! 1.…
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Bring on the New Year!
I had the best of intentions to write a round up of 2011, but really? I was off at Center Parcs, having fun with my family, and so New Years Eve day had me tied up with unpacking, sorting out the dog from the kennel, laundry…you know where this is headed… I ran out of time. And that’s all good. Overall, it was a pretty good year. Oh, it had its moments to be sure…quite a few posts in the first quake porter of the year revolve around the hazards of NHS dentistry. (Please don’t get me started on the NHS medical care, either…). I’ve had some…
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Mom Flu
image via tumblr “things we all hate“ The Hubs and I are made from relatively hearty stuff. It is a rare occasion that either of us get sick – well, at least, not sick enough to ground us. We usually take some meds and muddle through. Last week, however, a bug hit the Hubs. A nasty (blessedly 24-hour only) bug that sent him crawling back to bed first thing in the morning, and basically kept him there for most of the next 24 hours. I washed and Dettol-ed the house – light switches, door knobs, phones, surfaces – in the hopes at keeping the germs at bay. I’ve never seen…
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A Review: MASH Junior clothes for kids
I’m currently wrapping up my Christmas shopping for the kids, and I have to admit, while toys were easy to pick out, I’ve been a bit disappointed in clothes choices for my kids. In general, I’ve found the selection for boys limited to branded clothing (and there is only so much Star Wars I can put on my boy), flannel shirts (so not Boo), clothing that make him look a little too hip-hop or bad dress shirts with skinny ties. And for the girls? Is it me, or is it impossible to find clothes in the 6-12 year old range that don’t look like they were meant for 20 year…
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The life of one turkey saved. Maybe.
Today is Thanksgiving for all my American friends. However, since it is just another school day for us, combined with the fact that my Husband is on a business trip somewhere in Germany, I won’t be cooking a turkey, or anything resembling a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. (Particularly since my 5yo doesn’t really like turkey.) Somewhere on a local farm, a turkey is thanking me. Appropriate, hmmm? Anyhoo, for our “Thanksgiving” dinner I suppose I’ll just make something the kidlings like to eat. Like pizza. Maybe a turkey-shaped pizza. *ponders* * * * * * The other thing I won’t be making for Thanksgiving is a pumpkin pie. Mostly because, with the…
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Yes, I forgot to post my daily thanks, but I’m not ungrateful (much) and other stuff
The problem with not posting every day is that I forget to list the things that I’m thankful for. It doesn’t mean that I’m not thankful, I just couldn’t be bothered to post didn’t want to drown my 6 subscribers in blog posts. It was brought to my attention that I missed a few days, so please allow me to backtrack… On day 15 of Giving Thanks: I was thankful for the opportunity to volunteer at my children’s school. I’m a reading fanatic, and the opportunity to work with such a fantastic class – it’s not often you hear “oh please, just one more page” when you’re doing individual or…
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I Wonder… (I wah-wah-wah-wah-wonder….)
My mind has been wandering today. And wondering… I wonder… …if I will EVER cross the street here without thinking “Right-Left-Right” (despite the fact that I don’t need to remind myself that the cars are on the opposite side of the road anymore); …if, before we return to the US, I will stop converting prices from pounds into dollars in my head when I shop… ….if I will EVER learn to properly pronounce the Welsh “ll” sound without sounding like a cat choking on a hairball (I have to say those town names really, really quickly, or have my son say it for me); …how long it will take Boo…
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It’s Monday. Let’s find something to be thankful for. Before I get too crabby.
The plumber finally came, fixed the radiator – kind of – and left, saying “I’ll bring the parts for those broken faucets…next week.” The kids bickered. All. Afternoon. The scale showed a weight gain this morning. The dog threw up her dinner. My husband went to bed – at 8:15 – with a headache, I’m staring down another massive pile of laundry to fold, and frankly, I’m feeling a little crabby. Clearly, it’s Monday. Wait – that sounds pessimistic. That won’t do. I need to dig – deep – to find gratitude. I have a working furnace to provide heat, and a roof over my head. I have a lovely, snuggly…