I'm dreaming of a perfect Christmas....

Merry Christmas! This post is my entry into the Tots100/Argos 12 Days of Christmas competition.

The perfect Christmas for me would still begin at an outrageously ungodly hour as its me that wakes the kids up jumping on their beds filled with glee!

I love Christmas its the only day of the year that my whole family get together as year by year we get bigger and bigger and our numbers swell. We all bundle together and of course the table isn't big enough nor are there enough chairs but we make do and get inventive, and of course these make shift chairs always go to the youngest. 
It makes me smile to look down the table and remember how many moons ago I would have been on one of those chairs.

My perfect Christmas isn't about gifts and bling or toys and things its about how many amazing people I have in my life and the influence they've had on mine and now my children's lives.
I would love a Christmas that has everyone I've ever loved there so that when I look around the Christmas table I don't spot the missing faces.

I'd love a Christmas filled with joy and to watch everyone opening their presents and see them smile when they realise that the tips and hints they've been dropping have been heard.

The perfect Christmas for me wouldn't have the stress of not being able to afford whatever is on the Christmas list, in fact I think in order to truly have the perfect Christmas you need to look at Christmas through the eyes of a child.

When I was a child everything seemed amazing each little gift I'd asked for was there wrapped nicely under the tree just for me. So that would be my wish for a perfect Christmas that I'd be able to no matter what make sure the magic of Christmas is felt by all.

My New Years Eve Style with #ShopStyleParty

This is my mood board of the outfit I would love to be rocking this New Years Eve!
It's been a long time since I've actually had a new years eve out but my number one mum has offered to babysit the angels this year.
So if your on the hunt for the ultimate party season outfit you have to check out ShopStyle.

This is my #ShopStyleParty Christmas/New Year Party outfit!

Harrods Leila Fur Trim Cape £1375 this is my lust after item it screams sophistication and as its been four years since I celebrated New Years I figured what better way to go then in style.

Alexander Wang High-rise Skinny Jeans £205 I decided to go with skinny jeans as I can not bear being cold and these would flatter my curvy figure.

Malene Birger Lancie Striped Silk Top £235 the perfect monochromatic accompaniment that not only looks fabulous but is sure to make me feel a million dollars too.

Lucy Pearl Drop Earrings £25.00 Simple yet elegant I feel their the perfect accompaniment to this outfit although I did differ over whether I should have been more bold!

Alexander McQueen Knuckle Duster Clutch £1,175 I love this bag admittedly not much space to carry everything I need but I'm willing to sacrifice the better half's pockets in the name of love!

Rosie Perspex Studded Counter Printed Heels £15.00 I save the shoes till last I'm a little addicted to shoes and these are shoe perfection and a bargain at that price I'll have two pairs please!

So the overall look I'm trying to achieve is a mix of high street and high end store that presents its self as a well put together, sophisticated, yet fun loving mummy on the town.

Ladies Shopstyle is the place to be if you as indecisive as myself, I literally had so many tabs open so I could flick back and forth. And lets face it that's got to be an improvement on rushing from store to store and then going back to the first outfit we tried on, we all do it.

The Little Stuff 'Big Night In Challange'

The Little Stuff 'Big Night In Challange'

When I read about the little stuff big night in challenge in conjunction with Two Little Fleas I jumped at the chance to imagine having an amazing night with the better half and my family without having to leave the house!

No drama of who to leave the angels with no taking the kids out with us and making sure we're back at a reasonable time to ensure we don't disturb their routine!

Imagine being able to hold your perfect evening all in the comfort of your own home.

Well that's exactly what I did....read on to see where my imagination leads to...

There's nothing I like more then dinning alfresco but in the UK we very rarely have the opportunity and lets face it even when it seems like its going to be a beautiful evening there's very little warning when it's going to change to welly weather! So we have a gazebo that we put up whenever I get it in mind to take it outside and yes in true Mummy Angel style this idea arrived after the rain did. Never let it be said I make the same mistake more then two or three times :D

We'd have our own chef and waiter for the evening so everybody could have the evening off! No cooking or having to sit through Daddy Angels burnt BBQ offerings for us! The time will be spent talking about good times and laughing as it should be spent while in the company of those you love.

And when the dinning has finished and we're all thoroughly stuffed it's on to the game section of the evening, we're all hugely competitive and can even turn bingo into a competitive sport lol

There would have to of course be awards given out to all the winners and maybe a trophy to the worst losers of the evening for their epic failure! Which despite mine and Daddy angels huge effort would probably go to us!

There would be a huge 50inch television for Xbox Kinect and Just Dance not to mention bowling which always turns into war, there's always something isn't there with the wii it was hitting someone with the remote which was of course their fault now its standing in the zone of the kinetic lol I told you were competitive!

You see for me an evening in wouldn't be an evening in without being surrounded by those I love laughing at the silliness of us all, in fact there's nothing I love more then sitting back and watching those I love enjoying themselves unhindered and relaxing so that for me would be an amazing Big Night In worth having.

Family where life begins and love never ends.

Thanks for letting my imagination run wild Little Stuff and of course Two Little Fleas.

How Would I #Spend20K Challenge

This post is an entry for BritMums #Spend20K Challenge sponsored by The National Lottery, with more ways to win more money on the new Lotto game. Find out more about new Lotto, which starts in October, here – www.national-lottery.co.uk (http://www.britmums.com/2013/08/join-the-spend20k-challenge-win-shopping-vouchers/)

I'm sure we've all dreamed at one time or another that we've won the lottery! What an amzing dream while it lasts huh Well from the 5th of October the National Lottery is changing making hopefully a lot more of you winners :D

There will be twenty winners now from each draw that will win 20k in their raffle so this post is about how I would spend £20,000.00!

One of the first things I'd do would be to book our wedding! Myself and Richard have literally never been able to justify the cost of a wedding when there's so much else to pay for! And I'm sure many of you know what its like when you put aside money something always pops up, well with £20,000.00 not only would we be able to book an amazing wedding on a beach we'd also be able to bring the important people with us.

I'd also love to treat my mum she's always wanted to visit canada and has dreamed of doing so in a VW Camper Van for as long as I can remember but as us Mummy's know your always bottom of the pile. And despite the fact that myself and my siblings are adults we still come first to my mummy and for that I'd love to be able to do this amazing thing for her. I could just imagine her face it would be priceless.

So come on tell me how would you spend yours?

Potty training - Bitting the bullet #PottyTrainingLive

So potty training in the Barker household has been going so well Lillie has been making us super proud at every turn!

So why was I holding back on taking her out of the house nappy free? It was completely 100% me that was scared and I needed to get over it and stop holding Lillie back!

So this week we went out to get some shopping which with two under two's is not the greatest adventure at the best of times. But I was locked and loaded for this trip taking with me the potty as Lillie had previously refused and screamed quite loudly that she would not sit on the mummy's toilet! I also had the pourty flex-fit toilet trainer just in case I could convince Lillie that the toilet monster would not bite her bum lol

So off we go carry one in a million things wearing our big girl knickers and our Dry Like Me Pads plus a change of clothes just in case! So cue mummy asking Lillie if she needs the wee wee every five minutes and Lillie eventually getting fed up and no longer replying to me! I'm sure if she could roll her eyes she would have!

So I get the last of the shopping in the trolley and walking out of the centre when Lillie finally decides she does need the potty mum, so off we trot and Lillie was quite happy to sit on the big potty in the shopping centre not quite sure why it's different then the big potty at home but there you have it!

My point is that I was in doubt of Lillie but she never once doubted herself she was quite capable of asking to use the bathroom and knowing when she needed to go, and I realised that maybe mummy was holding on to the nappies just slightly as they were her safeguard more than Lillies! And maybe just maybe mummy's baby wasn't mummy's baby any more she was mummy's big brave girl and I intend to tell her every day how very proud of her I am and that no matter how scary something may be the first step is always the scariest after that you find your feet.

Signing off,

Mummy's Angels :)

A very emotional week! Cancer Who Are Ya :D

So this week has been a journey that has taken us on many twists and turns!

The day after Boxing Day my dad was diagnosed as having cancer in two different places his soft palate and his tongue, it had also spread to three of his lymph nodes and we were told in no uncertain terms that it was very likely that it wasn't beatable.

Because the type of cancer he had was very rare in fact the hospital had previously only read about the cancers he had yet never had the chance to see it they agreed to try a radical treatment as he had nothing to lose.

When you get that news about someone you love you sort of go into a free fall and stop hearing anything other than ringing when that word is mentioned. It has literally been three kinds of hell seeing my dad go through treatment he had to have radio therapy treatment for an hour every day for six weeks this burned the skin from his face and neck and was just heart breaking to look at him. He wouldn't leave the house or see the grandchildren as he didn't want to frighten them.

Well we'd all been sitting on tender hooks waiting for the final results had he done what so many said was impossible? On Wednesday myself, my sister and brother we're sitting waiting wondering exactly that when my dad walked down the path with my mum into the house none of us wanted to look. We were too scared to see that answer written on his face that answer that we all feared but prayed it wouldn't be true, when he came in and we finally looked up no words can express the pure joy that was there and we knew he had done it.

It felt like a dream it still does and I never think that we'll 100% believe that it’s true but his in remission and for now that's the best feeling in the world.

Week Two #PottyTrainingLive and Ben and Holly Live!

Wow what a week we are having! Have to say all this lovely weather makes potty training so much easier. So last week Lillie mastered the art that is making it to the potty in time! And this week we received our super fan packs from Dry Like Me and what a pack, Lillie loves putting a sun on the map when she has a wee wee on the potty. We've been wearing our big girl knickers and using our dry like me pads which have been a god send for the many many times Lillie forgot that the knickers needed to come off first :)


We have set in place a good routine for where the potty is kept and what to do when we finish. And she is so very happy everytime she makes a successful trip to the potty she has to have a high five and does a dance while waiting for me to get her a sun to put on the map! It's been eventful but the guidance and ease of use of the dry like me's and now the new dry like me night time liners really really do make life so much easier.

I can honestly say week two and I'm showing no signs of caving and reaching for the nappies and just in time too since its National 'Take your nappie off' week starting next week! It's not too late to get on this potty train join in now and receive the full support of fellow mummies and daddies going through #pottytraininglive.

We also went to see Ben and Holly Live this week I was lucky enough to win a family ticket from Little Bird Deals and both my little angels loved it. All the singing had them dancing in the chairs and Lillie would not stop talking about it on the way home or for the rest of the week for that matter. The only thing I found a little disspointing was the big amounts of money they were charging for merchandise I've never seen anything like it, it was worse then the holiday parks!!
It's very difficult when you have more then one child and the cheapest item they have is £7.50!! They really should think about doing some sort of package whereby if you buy more then one item you get the second at a cheaper price.

Next week is another busy one for the Barker Clan we're off to see Dirty Dancing in the theater, followed by a trip on the big wheel (My first which is shocking since it used to be the view from my old house!) we also have a baby shower and a birthday party to attend so it's go go go for a change.

Lets hope the good weather keeps up so we can keep our angels happy and out having fun while we can.

Signing off, Mummy's Angels.

Our first blog giveaway! Dry like me pads for your little angels #PottyTrainingLive

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Dry Like Me! Potty Time #pottytraininglive

So my eldest daughter Lillie is two and a half and due to start nursery in September (scary times!) I'd slowly been introducing the idea of going on the potty and becoming a big girl like mummy with big girl knickers.

And like many a mummy before me I started this journey full of the joys stupidly thinking that Lillie had never struggled with anything else this would be a piece of cake!

Hmm fast forward six weeks down the line and I had more grey hairs then at the start and Lillie had developed a hate for the potty that I hadn't anticipated :(

I tried everything I could think of and any idea's I could Google no matter how mad or crazy they seemed, I went on the potty, I sang a song about the potty, I wrote a story about the potty you get the general idea.

During one of my Google sessions I came across Dry Like me pads and figured they were worth a shot I never attempted pull ups I just didn't feel they would work as in essence their a glorified nappy and If I struggled to get them on her how the hell was she going to pull them down when she needed the potty!

So off I trot to pick up my pads with Lillie in tow we made two purchases that day the pads and some new big girl knickers!

We talked about what they were for and what was going to happen and she seemed ok, that evening I set about a new search and found the Dry like me facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DryLikeMeUK?fref=ts and the dry like me YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/DryLikeMeUK that was filled with amazing advice.

I found out via facebook that they were running a Potty training live event that would last the summer 6 weeks of advice and information that would include a network of mummy's and daddy's that were going through the hell that is potty training too!

I signed myself and Lillie up immediately and we're now on week two! I have to say so far so good Lillie is finally at one with the potty lol we started by treating her every time she went a wee wee and cheered and congratulated her every time she sat on it. We have come on leaps and bounds we're still not brave enough to tackle an outdoor trip or an overnighter! But we'll keep you updated on our journey throughout the next five weeks.

Signing off,

Mummy's Angels.

Welcome to my blog!

So like many people I guess I've been thinking about doing a blog for awhile! But I never got past the stage of thinking!
I spent ages thinking well if I did a blog what would I call it!! Would I add in something about dieting, I'm sure many of you like myself are on a diet of some kind wanting to put weight on or lose weight.

And then what happens if I call my blog tubby mummy and then I finally stay on the weight lose wagon what happens to my blog name then? Could I change to say I don’t know the mummy formally known as tubby :)
There's a lot that goes into a name and I figured the only thing that's unlikely to change in my life is the fact that I'm a mummy!

So that's the very un-unique name of my blog mummy angels of course those of you that are mummy’s know that it’s unlikely my children are angels lol but to me (especially when their sleeping!) they are.

So I guess I'll tell you about me, my life is or was before children very uneventful. Children have a way of making you look at life differently don't they, they reignite your imagination. Before my angels I was a work-a-holic and had no plans EVER of having children not when I could have very expensive shoes lol.

But all that changed when I meet the man that I now call my better half I suddenly couldn't wait to have mini me's and watch them grow and learn, little did I know they would help me grow and learn too.

I'm 30 years old and on a journey I never thought my life would go through so I welcome you to join my journey and getting to know many of you along the way too.

Signing off for now,

Mummy
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