A Look Back At 2011

For the boys it's been quite a year. One starting the year off having just turned 4 and the other turned 2 at the end of January. We were out of that baby stage and into the terrible twos. And boy does Tyler know how to do the terrible two's stage, my smiley, happy boy one minute to demon spawn the next. But that's what makes him, him and wouldn't have it any other way.

January my baby turned 2 and my blog turned 1 all on the same day. Nothing much happening February and March, we plodded along working away, going to nursery an having temper tantrums. At the end of March beginning of April saw us go on holiday to Peppa Pig World, Fishers Farm Park and Legoland. Plus we visited some family along the way. We had a great time. 

May was Lucas' last full month at nursery. I think I spent a lot of time panicking about what was going to happen when he finished nursery. Lucas also got glasses, he looks very cute in them.

Christmas Outfits

The boys wanted to look their best for Christmas dinner at their Grandma and Grandpas, with the husbands extended family. A few days before Christmas we were sent some clothes for the boys from Boots Mini Club Range.  These were perfect and the boys loved them.

Lucas was wearing a blue striped shirt and some very cool blue jeans with a belt.

Book Review - Shimmer by Alyson Noel

Description:- Having solved the matter of the Radiant Boy, Riley, Buttercup, and Bodhi are enjoying a little time-off. But then Riley encounters a young ghost named Rebecca. Despite Rebecca’s sweet appearance, Riley soon learns she’s not at all what she seems. As the daughter of a former plantation owner, Rebecca is furious about being murdered during the slave revolt of 1733. Her uncontrollable anger is keeping other ghosts, who also died in the revolt, trapped in a shimmering bubble. And when Bodhi and Buttercup inadvertently fall into Rebecca's trap, Riley is the only one who can save them. 

A suspenseful and heart-warming novel about the great hereafter. . .

Best of 2011 Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Best of 2011 Giveaway Hop on my blog, this Hop is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not a Writer.

There are over 100 blogs participating in this hop, so don't forget to check them out. The hop runs from December 27th until midnight of the 31st December.

I am giving away one of my top reads of 2011 which is Stealing Phoenix by Joss Stirling. You can read how much I loved it in my review. 

All you have to do to enter is follow my blog via one of the methods on the right hand side, leave a comment saying which one and a way to contact you if you win. This is an International giveaway.

#Silentsunday

Merry Christmas

We are opening presents, eating and spending time together with our extended family, but we wanted to say we Wish you all a Merry Christmas. Hope Santa has been good to you all.

Love Susan and the rest of the family xxx

Birth Story - My Christmas Eve Miracle

Today is my first born's birthday. He is five years old today. Where has the time gone? It feels like only yesterday I became a mum for the first time. 

This is how I looked at my works Christmas night out a few days before I was taken into hospital with pre-eclampsia.

I kept relatively well during my pregnancy considering I have a kidney condition which could complicate things. I did get several infections and spent that later months on continuous antibiotics but all in all it wasn't too bad. My kidneys were still doing their job and were working a little better than normal, always a bonus. 

Game Review - Rayman Origins

I loved Rayman growing up, it was one of my favourite games to play on my PSone, remember those. I was a teenager a late one at that but loved my games consoles even then. 

So when I was sent Rayman Origins by the very clever people at Ubisoft I was delighted and couldn't wait to give it a go. I played this on the Xbox 360 and was not disappointed, the graphics are amazing and the game is so much fun. The platform legend is back and I love it. 

They may have went back to the original design with the side scrolling platform but this is in High definition and looks amazing. The animation is awesome and it's just such a joy to play. This is one game that will leave you with a big smile on your face. 

Xbox Live Featuring Vampires And Gleeks

I mentioned a few weeks back about being Xbox Live Ambassador and about all the new Xbox Live Features. Last week we had a move night with Love Film and you can read all about it here. This week we have been exploring the new Xbox live features and have been watching some TV shows. Don't forget if you are looking for Xbox Live Gold Membership, there is a discount below.

First up I set us up with a Sky account on the laptop, easy and simple to do. Go to the site, if you already have a Sky ID you don't even have to do this. You just pop your details into the screen on the Xbox and away you go. We don't have Sky we have Virgin so I had to set this up. I signed up for a months Sky Go to see what it's like. I have to say I was impressed. There aren't as many channels as you get on the box, but it is cheaper than a full subscription and all the main ones are there. 

Our Christmas Decorations

Each year it seems we have a different tree according to my husband, but it's the same one. It's fake and it's black, but I think it looks pretty good. 

The boys helped me decorate it for the first time, seeing their little faces helping me put on the decorations, I won't ever do it alone again. We decorated it in our PJ's early on the 30 November, only because we were off due to the strikes and the tree was down from the loft due to getting it insulated or it would never have been up that early. We did not switch the lights on, other than to test them, until the 1st December. 

Tyler got into the spirit before the tree decorating. 

100 Word Count Challenge - Week 24

Here is the twenty-fourth post of the 100 WC for Grown ups. It is a weekly challenge for all those writers who want to extend their audience to get feedback on their work.

This is this week's prompt is "This week's 100 word challenge is a sort of party game. This week you write 50 words on 'The Season' (not including the two title words in the count) and next week you come back and continue someone else's entry with the remaining 50 words. I love the way Julia comes up with such original prompts every week."

Here is my take on the prompt:- 

The Season

The presents are wrapped and placed decoratively under the Christmas tree. The cookie has been eaten leaving behind a few convincing crumbs. The carrot has been nibbled and the milk has been drunk. Yet, something is niggling away as she sat back down on the sofa. What has she forgotten...

The Gallery 85 - Christmas of Yesteryear

This week's Gallery Prompt at from the lovely Tara over at Sticky Fingers is Christmas of Yesteryear...


I cannot have a picture of my Christmas past without showing a picture of my gorgeous oldest baby who was born on Christmas eve 5 years ago. This is one Christmas I will never forget.

This is Lucas before we left the hospital.

Here is a picture of my baby Lucas in the middle and my twin nieces who were born 9 weeks earlier. This is them at Gran and Grandpa's house for Christmas dinner. It was just the white stuff for them this year.

Review - Mega Block Fun

The boys have been playing with Mega Bloks since a very young age. The boxes of mixed blocks are perfect for little hands and can be played with from 1 year onwards. They are large enough not to get lost or swallowed but fit together nicely for all those towers they love to make and knock down again. 

Up until recently I was not aware they did a range for older children, this was until I was sent some through to review. First up I was sent the Rescue Centre which is part of the Blok Town Range. The Blok Town range has playsets like a farm, zoo, garage, dump truck, etc. These are a stage on from the the individual blocks, allowing the child more imagination and a purpose for which they are building. 

Songs of the Season

Songs of the Season

Event production by

Random Magic Tour

Sasha Soren (Random Magic) 

Dec. 10-25, 2011

Welcome to the Songs of the Season music hop! 

You're invited to join us every day from December 10-25, to enjoy a virtual round of carolling.

You can visit another blog each day to find another wonderful music selection, handpicked by a great host - Schedule

Here is my choice:- 

Quinny Caster Update And Quinny Claus Bonanza

I was very excited to find out that we will be testing out the new Quinny Yezz pushchair in the New Year as part of the Quinny Casters program.  How cool does this look? I cannot wait.

In the meantime, I'd like to share news of the exciting Quinny Claus Christmas Bonanza Competition on their Facebook Page. If you don't already, pop across and like Quinny to be in with a chance of getting your hands on some amazing prizes.

Game Review - Happy Feet Two

My little one Tyler who is only two loves penguins, the penguin from Edinburgh Zoo has been his favourite since he was a baby. When I was asked to review Happy Feet Two for the Xbox 360, I could not say no. And with being an Xbox Ambassador how could I not. We just recently watched the first film which made the game even more enjoyable.

Warner Brothers have produced the graphically pleasing and fun Happy Feet two. Happy Feet Two is a fun game which all the family can enjoy. The musical will have you tapping and dancing along to the beats and the very cute penguins will have you oohing and ahhing at their cuteness. It really is a lot of fun and I the graphics are just stunning. 

#silentsunday

Review - The Handpicked Collection

I hadn't used The Handpicked Collection before now, but I wish I had known about it in the past. The Handpicked Collection is an online gift company which specialise in gifts of high quality and something a little different. If you are struggling for the strange Auntie who lives with all the cats or the Grandmother who still uses the china teapot or the friend who has everything, The Handpicked Collection has something to suit them all. I kid you not. 

When I was sent a copy of the Christmas catalogue, I perused the pages picking out gifts for everyone on my list. From the book worms like myself to the keen gardener or the wine connoisseur there is something in there. There are quite a few of the more expensive gifts on the catalogue but prices that start at £2.95, there is something to suit all budgets.

Movie Night with Xbox Live

This week I have been having lots of fun with the new Xbox live features. I am loving the fact that it actually understands my Scottish Glaswegian accent and I can even get the Xbox to do things on whilst sitting my lazy behind on the couch and my controller is on the mantle. I am very impressed, no other voice activated software works anywhere near as well as this does. 

Being an Xbox Ambassador, the feature we were trying out was watching a movie on Xbox live. I have never watched a movie on a games console before so I thought I'd give it a go. We already had a subscription to Love Film in the past, so I reactivated it and perused the titles available. There are a lot of films available to stream but there wasn't as large a choice as I hoped. Still there are some good ones on there. I also have a Xbox Live Gold Membership discount below.

100 Word Count Challenge - Week 23

Here is the twenty-third post of the 100 WC for Grown ups. It is a weekly challenge for all those writers who want to extend their audience to get feedback on their work.

This is this week's prompt is "I want to to choose a favourite carol and re-write it with the theme of a Christmas Dinner."


My favourite carol is Carol of the Bells. 

Here is my take on for this prompt:-

Stop! With the toys

the soup is served

Along with some 

bread rolls.

Clear the plates away

for the turkey is near

And maybe some ham

sliced and juicy.

Turkey, ham, turkey, ham

that’s what we sing,

With piggies in 

their blankets. 

Some stuffing appears

with some brussels near

The delicious smell

fills up the air.

O, It is yum

in our tums

A cracker is pulled

the jokes are told.

The highlight is here

pudding appears

Cakes, cheese and biscuits

Pudding is here!

Pudding, pudding, pudding, Pudding!

Pudding, pudding, pudding, Pudding!

Book Review - Angel Fire by LA Weatherly

Description (Goodreads):- Only Willow has the power to defeat the malevolent Church of Angels, and they will stop at nothing to destroy her. Willow isn’t alone, though. She has Alex by her side – a trained Angel Killer and her one true love. But nothing can change the fact that Willow’s a half-angel, and when Alex joins forces with a group of AKs, she’s treated with mistrust and suspicion. She’s never felt more alone…until she meets Seb. He’s been searching for Willow his whole life – because Seb is a half-angel too.

How We Celebrate a Christmas Eve Birthday

My oldest baby's birthday is Christmas eve. He will be 5 this year. I know I could have planned it better, but let’s face it we don't really have much say in the matter do we? I developed pre-eclampsia so had to give birth a little early and because they don't do inductions on Christmas day there was a big queue of pregnant woman. 

A few people have said why don't you have his birthday in the middle of the year, but then what do I do on his actual birthday? I feel it would just get way to confusing. Would I make him a year older in the middle of the year or tell him it's his birthday but he's not older until Christmas. It would just give me a headache.

My Blogging CV And Inspiration

I would love nothing more for my Christmas than a copy of the lovely Blogger calendar that the lovely Tara from Sticky Fingers and Jay from Mocha Beanie Mummy designed, photographed and created at Cybermummy earlier this year. I was lucky enough to be picked to be in one of the photos and I would love to see how the all turn out. It would be a perfect memento of a fantastic day. Not forgetting a chance to have a piece of Jay's wonderful photography and see pictures all of my bloggy friends. 

There are only 100 of these babies available and I WANT ONE, *stamps foot*, I've learnt from the master of tantrums, my toddler. To be in with a chance of getting one I have to post about my blogging inspiration and my blogging CV, so here goes. 

#silentsunday

Review - Just Dance Kids

From the makers of the successful Just Dance games, Ubisoft brings us Just Dance Kids. Just Dance Kids is suitable for children over the age of three which is perfect for my little monkeys. They loves playing games on the games consoles but some are a bit too complicated for them to understand, this however is perfect. Easy to use, setup and have a lot of fun. 

The dance moves are simple and easy for the children to pick up, the coaches on the screen are kids too so it's not like the children are trying to copy adult moves. With colourful and fun backgrounds. One of the good things about it being designed for children is that we don't have to worry about the dodgy lyrics which are on songs these days, not necessarily bad but not ones you want your child saying. There is none of that here. 

New Xbox 360 Features and Your Chance to Win £200

We are big gamers in our house. We have pretty much, every console under the sun. My oldest loves to play games, we mainly encourage educational games but they are fun too. My husband is a big gamer, he plays a lot online games against others from his consoles. I just like a wee shot every now and then. But one thing I have learned this week is that games consoles are more than just for playing games.

I am an Xbox Ambassador, this means I get to preview and report back on what is coming up on the all new Xbox 360 experience. I cannot tell you how excited I am by this, we use the console on a daily basis and to be able to use it for more than just gaming is another great reason to have it or get one if you don't. Christmas is around the corner, get your order in now. I am sure you are on Santa's nice list, so what are you waiting for. 

Christmas Magic - A Trip to See Father Christmas

We take our boys to see Father Christmas early on in the month of December as we do another Christmassy trip the middle of the month, so we can still build up to Lucas' birthday on Christmas eve.

On Sunday we went to visit Father Christmas in House Of Fraser in Glasgow. First up all ready to go.

Excited about going.

Thinking Slimmer and Some Chilling

I haven't updated my Thinking Slimmer Posts for a long time, I started my journey here, but the weight loss was put on the back burner for me as I had some other issues to address which I touched on here.

I have found the Thinking Slimmer to be a great way to lose weight and I will go back to it when my mind is in the right place to lose the weight. I got some Cognitive Hypnotherapy treatments from Sandra from Thinking Slimmer and I am continuing on the Loving Live pods. 

When I am up to blogging about my experiences I will I promise, I would like to but putting it into words and putting it out there is a bit daunting at the minute but believe me when I say, everything they have done and the pods, I cannot rate or thank them enough. They have turned my life around. And for that I am forever grateful. 

The Gallery 84 - My Awesome Photo

This week's Gallery Prompt at from the lovely Tara over at Sticky Fingers is My Awesome Photo...


This picture might not be the best, but I think I capture my little one at his best with his cheeky face and his posing ways. He loves piggies more than anything, so this was his Halloween costume. I am sure this will be the last time he is ever dressed in a cutesy outfit which was his choice. Mr Independent two year old. Hope you like it as much as I do. My Awesome Photo...

Children's Book Review - The Artist Who Painted A Blue Horse

The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse is one of the most stunning children's books I have ever seen. The author, is Eric Carle, you may recognise him from one of his previous books being The Hungry Caterpillar. I remember this as a child, it was one of my favourites when I was very young, so it was one I introduced to my children when they were very young. When I heard about this book I had to get it. This is his first brand new picture book in four years. 

Children's Book Review - Ping and Pong Santa

We are big Ping and Pong fans in our house, having reviewed Ping and Pong Splash. When Ping and Pong Santa arrived through the post, the boys could not wait for me to read it to them. Being big fans, I was worried it would not live up to it's hype but this one does. It did not fail to disappoint.

In this story Ping and Pong get to meet Santa after staying up all night at Lucy's request. They go on a great Christmas adventure using Santa's magic and get to ride on Santa's sleigh. What a perfect book for this time of year.

100 Word Count Challenge - Week 22

Here is the twenty-second week of the 100 WC for Grown ups. It is a weekly challenge for all those writers who want to extend their audience to get feedback on their work.

This is this week's prompt is …is it me or are bells ringing?….

Here is my take on for this prompt:-

I sat in our church, run by my High Priest and Priestess, whom will be retiring this year leaving me to take over. A challenge I’m not up to at present with a new born and a husband who cannot be my High Priest.

Alexander was being initiated into the ways of Witchcraft today. His father was looking in from a far, unable to join us.

I heard a noise outside and turned to Priestess Isla, “Is it me or are bells ringing?”

“They are dear, they’re to ward off evil and this child needs it more than ever.”

A Trip To The New Mothercare in Coatbridge

Back in October we got to go and see the new Mothercare store which was opening in Coatbridge near us. It is huge. Not only that it has an amazing and spacious Early Learning Centre within the store. It is in a separate section at the back not dotted everywhere like the one closest to us. 

I have to say I was very impressed with the staff's knowledge and the store itself. It was bright and well spaced out. There was also the same amount of boys clothes as there was girls, which I find rare in most shops. Being a mother of two boys, I find clothing choices for boys is a little more limited than that of girls. 

Another bonus point was a car seat fitting area at the door where there was a canopy over it so no worries of rain. The changing room is huge, big enough to bring your buggy in with you and there is a great helpdesk where you can ask all sorts of questions. The staff are given six weeks of training in all aspects of the shop from buggies to car seats, to breast feeding to baby baths. 

One in Three Children Don't Own a Book. Really?

I was watching the news this morning with my boys in bed, when a story came on about the fact that only one in three children own a book. Apparently a whopping 4 million children do not own a book. How can that be true? I know quite a few children all owning books. I am a huge reader as you all know and I could not imagine a world without books, it horrifies me. 

My children have hundreds of books, some from my childhood, some as gifts but many we have bought and they have bought with their own money when the save up enough as a reward. We read to my boys every night before bed and they are read to many times a day. 

Review - Hexbug Nano - We Love Hexbugs

I have been hearing about these little Hexbugs for the last year but I have never seen one. We were sent a couple through to play with and I have to say these little guys did not fail to disappoint. I loved them, they were so much fun. 

Lucas was mesmerised by them. 

My little one Tyler couldn't help but giggle continuously at them. Even hubby loved them and kept one for himself.

#SilentSunday

Review - Prezzy Box - Yummy Dough And iBug

I was sent through some Yummy Dough to try out from the people at Prezzybox. Yummy dough is a new edible play dough for children. It is made with vegetable colours, which make the dough bright and fun to look at but still edible. 

Fish Is The Dish - Fish Goujons And Lemon Sole

I was sent through some Lemon Sole Fillets from the wonderful John Milne at Delish Fish. Now these are some awesome fillets, look how good they look.

The lovely Fish is the Dish people sent me through a recipe for Fish Goujons for the boys and Lemon Sole with French Beans for us adults.