1st wedding anniversary

Yes a year has past since our wedding and it went way too quickly!

Your first anniversary is paper, my mother in law gave us money and my best friend made my husband (Chris) a paper aeroplane and me a paper swan! I had a lovely day yesterday, we didn't do anything out of the ordinary during the day, didn't even bother with cards or presents for ourselves as we were going out in the evening anyway to celebrate.

When we wed last year we were promised that on our first anniversary we would receive a full 3 course meal free of charge at our wedding venue. I wasn't too sure what to expect as the only time I've really eaten there was our wedding, which was yummy.

My bestie turned up to look after our little ones at about 18:45, we had a quick chat and opened her card and then after kissing the kids good bye we left for our meal at The Lincoln Hotel. 

On arrival we were directed to the restaurant at the back of the hotel, the rooms were cosy and inviting with out 4 maybe 5 tables in each room. We were shown to our table of two, on the walls were pictures of the Lancaster Bombers, pilots and propellers. All these are a favourite for decoration in Lincoln due to its history. 

Our table was neat, had fresh flowers and a candle burning.

The menu consisted of about 5 starters, 7 mains, 5 desserts and a cheese selection. When offered a drink I stuck with my favourite which is an Archers and Lemonade and Chris, not being much of a drinker and especially not a beer or wine fan, chose just lemonade.

Our starter was delicious. We decided to share a selection of breads with feta cheese, sun dried tomatoes, olives, butter and garlic butter. One of the bread rolls was chocolate and chilli, not my favourite that's for sure as I felt it was a weird mix. The other rolls were warm, crunchy and delicious and were whole grain and white breads.

The restaurant wasn't packed out, I think two tables and ours were the only ones being used whilst we were eating.

 My main was tough to choose, I had the options of duck, rib eye steak, tagliatelle, risotto, and a vegetarian option. I chose a well done rib eye steak and I was not disappointed, it was mouth watering. The Stilton cheese side really complemented everything, I could of eaten a hell of a lot more even if I felt full!

Chris opted for Duck, he said it was very chewy but moist, he's used to shredded duck from the chinese so a stark difference. He loved it either way and cleared his plate pretty quickly.

We also were served seasonal veg in a bowl on the side which consisted of carrots, new potatoes and green beans.

Our server was Carolina, she was lovely and had us chuckling now and again. The people really enjoyed her character too.

Now for dessert I was unsure, there were lots of choices but in the end I went with a Creme caramel with ginger biscotti.

 It was nice, very similar to a custard cream, not something I'd normally go for but It was nice.

Chris chose a strawberry semi-fredo and seemed surprised to find in half frozen which was amusing. 

He did really enjoy it though! I'm not a fan of strawberry flavoured anything really so it didn't appeal to me at all.

After we went to pay our bit which was just £5 for drinks and that was it!

I thoroughly enjoyed my meal, the delicious breads with feta, garlic butter and sundries tomatoes and mainly the steak. I said to Chris I wanted to go back again, the steak was just so good. 

If we had of paid it would of come to £53 which to us seemed reasonable. The food was great, the service was fantastic and it left us feeling like we could come back any time and maybe try something different. One of the other starters was pigeon breast, at first I thought of the pigeons in town and it put me off the idea but after seeing another couple have it I became curious as to what it tasted like.

All in all a fab time at The Lincoln Hotel! 

We also saw Thor: the dark world afterwards and loved it, how couldn't Thor is amazing!

Favourite 5's

I visited my best friend Natty yesterday, she hasn't been very well so I hoped it would cheer her up, and that it did! You'll find her blog at But a mask, she blogs about her life, being a new mother and sometimes even reviews.
We got chatting, with my husband, about our favourite things and whether each of us knew the others. In the end we decided we should both do a blog about our favourite five things as, for me, I can never have one! I'm just to greedy.

The categories are some that we decided on together so here we go!

Movies:

1. Pearl Harbour - I have loved this movie since my early teens. My favourite part has always been the two planes passing inches between each other. It's such a sad movie and really gets you thinking, luckily the ending makes up for it.
2. Inception - A recent favourite, this movie totally confused me at times but I loved it. Leonardo Dicaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are fantastic in this movie and I kinda have a crush on Joseph now!
3. Peter Pan - The 2003 version. I know compared to my other choices this seems odd but I really adore it. With it being actors it's just so much more different than the original and I just really loved it.
4. Lord of the rings - Could watch these over and over, shame they are so long!
5. Hunger Games - Really lived up to it's book, not may films manage that.

Tv Shows:

1. Under The Dome - Cureently watching, again some of the acting is a bit off but I still like it.
2. Lost - Now finished but I really enjoyed the twists.
3. Hollyoaks - Only just got back into this (again thanks to my sister) and I'm hooked.
4. Person of interest - my sister got me into this. The acting of one guy can be a bit shoddy but it's still awesome.
5. Game of Thrones - I love this show, however the nudity does make me cringe.

Books:

1. Hunger games - All of them! These books are amazing and I barely put them down.
2. Harry Potter - Again, all of them! I started reading these when I was quite young. My mum had bought them for Christmas for my sister, who never reads, I was so upset. In the end she realised Mick wouldn't read them and so I got them! I read the first book in a night and was then hooked.
3. P.S I love you - Unfortunately the movie was not nearly half as good but the book stays as one of my firm favourites.
4. The Alchemists secret - A mystery and deceitful book. I really couldn't put it down.
5. The secret garden - only read this recently having seen the film loads, prefer the book by far.

Food:

1. Bolognaise/Lasagne - The spaghetti, sauce, mince and delicious garlic bread. Just delicious.
2. Cakes - I'm awful. I just really am, cakes are my weakness. At the moment I love cheesecake, even tried making my own with Natty.
3. BBQ - I love the taste of barbecued food, burgers, skewers(with halloumi) and ribs.
4. Chippy chips and a battered sausage, I also love the gravy you get from the chippy.
5. Sunday Roast, the whole hog. Meat, two veg, roast potatoes, yorkshie puds, stuffing and mint sauce mmm

Actors:

1. Robert Downey Jnr - Fricking amazing.
2. Joseph Gordon - Levitt - Used to watch 3rd rock from the sun with him in, next time I saw him acting was 10 things I hate about you and then Inception (which is where I think he really caught my attention).
3. Chris Hemsworth - My favourite by far is him as Thor.
4. Nicolas Cage - I've always liked the films he's in...no so much face off though.
5. Paul Bettany - Love him more now for his role as Jarvis in Iron man.

Actresses:

1. Jennifer Lawrence  - Never new she was Mystique in X-men, really first saw her act in Hunger games and thought she was amazing, not only that but she is a hilarious woman!
2. Meryl Streep - She's utterly amazing in whatever she does.
3. Maggie Smith - Downton Abbey, Harry potter, she is amazing in both.
4. Ellen Page - From Juno and Inception.
5. Jennifer Love - Hewitt - Loved her in Ghost whisperer.

So there we go! My fav's

Baby essentials

When I had my first I was given so much stuff for her, it was unreal. I can safely say that most never got used and was a waste of money. So I thought maybe I'd pop what I felt was a good purchase and what wasn't on here. After all I've not got much to blog about lately and anything that pops into my head is a good as anything.

So here we go, first up:

Clothes:
As with most new parents you get a ton of baby clothes that, in honesty, you don't need. With my first I was given so much 0-3 month clothes that she hardly wore most of them and I felt pretty bad about that. I'd suggest that you tell people what to buy. With my other two I said to some to get 0-3 and to others 3-6. Obviously some people will automatically get different sizes for you and that is great! I found that in the first few weeks or so my babies always stayed in baby sleep suits, its comfortable and warm.
Most people have atleast 6 sleep suits, 6 baby vests, 2x mittens (as babies scratch their faces), 2x hats (as they lose heat quickly), 3 or 4 pairs of socks, bibs (you'll need these more so at 3-6 months when they dribble like mad! I have 10 bibs!), 2 x jackets or coats, a snow suit (for winter).
I can safely say I never used shoes during the 0-6 months period for every one of my babies but it's what people prefer I guess. I just didn't see the point, they grow so quick and I never got use out of them. I think if anything, during winter would be the only time I maybe used a pair.

Blankets:
I love the baby sleeping bags and they don't cost too much either. My mum got us our from a place called B & M for £6.99. The sleeping bag we got was This one, it's 2.5tog and keeps them lovely and warm. My lad always kicks his blankets off so I found this so helpful! You can also buy them for summer time but I've never gotten them, it's so hot I never needed a sheet most of the time.
If you buy blankets, cellular are brilliant they have little holes to allow the baby to be warm but not too hot. A lot of people bought us those fluffy baby blankets, which are great for the pram but I've never used them at bed time.

Dummies:
I have about 4 dummies. Now don't get me wrong you may not need them as not every baby likes them or needs them. My son liked to fall asleep with a dummy and still does. It started when I breastfed, I'd think he was hungry again but he was just tired and wanted to fall asleep like that.
I have 4 because it's amazing how easily these things go walkies, I've lost one in the house somewhere.

Baby bath:
You don't technically need one of these. If you have a sink big enough then just use that. I don't and the bath is just too low for me to lean over and hold him in so I have the baby bath. It has a top and tail bowl which I've only used a handful of times. These are brilliant and you can get them second hand as they aren't used much after the first 6 months.

Playmat:
You need one with lots to see and do. I have one that is quite simple, with a few toys hanging down. It's ok, he will lay there but he gets bored very easily. My friend has one with a mirror, a singing caterpiller and lots of dangly toys, this one is  brilliant and keeps both our boys entertained, so just look before you buy.

Baby sling:
Both my boys have ben very needy and with other children to feed and look after it's not the best. I bought a sling that wraps around you, it holds him snugly and relaxes him. I have used it quite a bit when I needed to cook tea or even put the washing out without leaving him to ball his eyes out as I hate doing that.
A good sling is one from newborn, you'll use it more during those first months as they get far to heavy after that.

Medicines:
For after their injections, always have calpol on hand.
Olbas oil- I have this for when my lad has a blocked nose, since you can't get a baby to blow their nose! It'll help them sleep a bit better.

Changing station:
Most useless thing I've ever had, it was upstairs and barely got used. The only thing I did use it for was after bath times. I use a changing mat downstairs but I find I just change him on my lap or on the sofa, if anything my travel mat gets more use.

Door bouncer:
My son loved his but got very excited in it, he always ended up with a bump on his head. With my current baby we have opted for a Jumperoo. I'm not buying it at full price as its a ridiculous price at that but instead getting it second hand for £40. Still pricey but worth it in my opinion.

Cotbed:
I have had the same cot bed for all three of my children and its fantastic. I've always loved the height adjustment and the sides being removed to make a toddler bed. The toddler bed lasted my last son til he was two, then I put him in a single bed but he could have easily slept in it longer.

One thing you will definitely need as a new mum and dad is:

- Patience - Babies cry quite a bit, they can't tell you what's wrong which leaves you the task of figuring it out! Sore tummies, a trapped burp, nappy too wet, feeling hungry and tiredness are just a few of the things it could be.

You'll need to get used to the idea of possibly leaving the house with baby sick on you, the chance that you will always be late as your baby decides to fill their nappy as you leave and your social life taking a bit of a hit for a little while.

I love being  mum, I have three now and wouldn't change it for the anything. Becoming a parent is so rewarding and over time as they change you have this little person that can be a pain in the ass but ultimately will love you more than anyone else will (until puberty at least :P)

My favourite place to food shop

I've always been a bit of a spender, it's kind of gotten me into a little bit of debt. I blame University and the ridiculous amount of money they hand out for supplies etc. When at University I would food shop anywhere but mostly at Morrisons which was the closest and has always had a fabulous choice of cakes...and I LOVE cakes.
Any ways after Uni I got a job, worked a ton of hours and was happy buying anything I wanted, I used my overdraft happily as it was a student one and was of course interest free. This was a nice security that ended as soon as Uni was over and of course I needed to pay it back. To cut a long story short I had a couple of kids, I cut my work down and ended up not having much to spend on my food or clothes.

So where is my favourite shopping place? Aldi. I love this place. Not only does it do a great selection of affordable yet quality foods but every week they have a large selection of affordable Special buys. These can be anything  from clothing, baby products, gardening essentials and household items. I'm always walking down the aisle for these and having a good look, I often find a bargain or two that I snap up. Just a couple of weeks a go I bought a box and baby wipes for £3 which had six packs inside, fantastic bargain! This week they have sports clothing, shower heads, an electric toothbrush and they always have a selection of food on offer too.

The reason I chose Aldi as my shopping place is how much it saves me. I used to shop solely at Tesco, this cost me on average £70 a week and we usually shop for a six day week with a meal everyday and lunch options.
Now at Aldi I buy for the six day week, get lunch box essentials for my daughter and as I said usually by a special buy every week if I see something. So how much do I save? £20!? I usually spend on average £50 a week at this place and with a newborn that's great! Of course during the week we do 'small shops' for milk and bread but never much.

I know this isn't a enthralling post but i've been lacking inspiration for awhile and since i'm doing the food shop tomorrow I figured I'd post this!

Tomorrow I'll post about newborn essentials and what you really don't need to waste money on.

Sweet Tooth

Since a little girl I have always had a sweet tooth, I loved cakes and sweets. As I've gotten older I've grown less fond of sweets but have fallen in love with more and more cakes and puddings.

Recently we went into town, which is rare to say the least, but during this trip I was determined to visit a cake store I've been passing since it opened. That store is Patisserie Valerie and it's to die for. The cakes are all made in store, they are fresh and so mourish. 

The first time I tried a cake from here was my mother in laws birthday, her daughter had decided to buy a cake and it looked like this: 

This cake is amazing, after one piece I was done in. The cake has a fantastic taste, very chocolatey and the profiteroles on top were a brilliant touch. However, we all felt a little sickly after our slices, this cake is maybe too much but I'd have it again if it wasn't for the price tag of £18.95 to serve six people. 

So on my trip I picked a Double chocolate slice at just £2.95. I personally found this to be a reasonable price as the slice was huge.

 

I commented to my husband that I wished I could make my cakes as light and fluffy as this one, it was perfect. The chocolate cream layers were quite sweet and again there was a profiterole which was delicious. I really have to say that I've not tasted such nice cakes, usually I have chocolate gateau's from our local supermarket for birthdays but these cakes are way above that standard.

I've made it my mission to go into town more often and to try each of these cakes, the next will be the Black forest slice as I was struggling to pick between the two.

So yes, I advise all to take a trip to your local Patisserie Valerie (if you have one!) and try their fantastic cakes! They are also a cafe but as per usual it costs more to eat them inside.

Do you have a favourite cake or pudding? What is it?

Life post

Thought I'd get back on here, I'm feeling so positive lately!

Firstly I'm a new mum(again)! I have a lovely baby boy, he's perfect and is such a good baby. I know that seems silly but he's just so happy all the time, sleeps well and weirdly is already into a routine.

Not only that but my sister has just had a baby girl, she's named her Marnie Freya, at first I found it odd but honestly it's grown on me and I find it to be quite a pretty name now. Both my sister and myself now have three children each, two boys and a girl each. I can only imagine what our future holidays together will be like!

Generally over the last 7 weeks I've been busy, I was breastfeeding my son and he fed very often. I was determined to feed him for at least 6 weeks and I did it! I've now slowly put him onto formula which is for the best, I don't like publicly feeding him, I'm very self concious and found expressing for him a lot easier. Oscar has a tongue tie, it makes feeding him difficult but with bottles he hardly struggles so I expressed for him quite often to make it easier for him and myself.
I'm looking forward to being more social now, going out and enjoying ourselves without me worrying where I'll feed him etc. Another thing I can't wait to do is spend more time with my other two children, now Oscar is bottle fed I'm not 'needed' so much, before I had to be there to feed him when he needed it, expressing increased my milk production and I leaked more which frustrated me to no end. The kids have been fab, they have kept him company, made him smile and helped me out no end. Bed times had become a nightmare, my husband works evenings and it left me alone with three kids to bath and put to bed, I thank goodness the kids were so helpful and patient with me and Oscar.

Just yesterday we got a new car, it's a Renault Megane Scenic, I personally love it, my husband not so much...I understand why of course, he's a new driver and it's a large and unfamiliar car. He's gone out to work in it this evening and is hoping he can get used to it. The car is a 2ltr, I honestly don't see much of a difference...yeah it's speedier on long stretches of road when you put your foot down but otherwise it's the same to me, except the petrol being guzzled of course :P. There are many perks to this car, it has electric windows throughout, I can control the kids windows and lock them from using them, theres AC (not that I will be using it!), a very large boot, the kids seats at the back are big and there is just so much space! I feel like I'm driving a bus if I'm honest! I'm a small person at 5'2 so the room around me is so so strange but I love it.

So what have I been up to? not much. Like I said I've been tied to the house, my own doing really. I've not seen many people, I've visited my friend and my neighbour (and friend) has been fantastic, she's had the kids round and cheered me up no end after a stressful day. I also took a trip to Nantwich where my family live and had a fantastic time. We all travelled to the coast for fun in the sun and really enjoyed ourselves. The best part of these holidays has been that trip, I stayed with my sister. We chatted into the night, had countless cups of tea and had a laugh catching up. I don't see her as often as I like so I really treasure the time I have over there.

Whilst over in Nantwich I make it a regular thing to visit a fabulous Ice cream farm called Snugbury's, it's got the most delicious flavours and every year they make a sculpture out of straw, this year it was a Dalek or as they called it Dalick.

Completely awesome! This Dalick moved and even said 'exterminate!'. The kids really found it funny, we got up close and set off the sensor to make it talk.
Whilst there I enjoyed a triple ice cream Da'Lick cone with Mint Oreo Blitz, Creme Brulee and Fudge Brownie. I adored it and can't wait for the 13th September when I travel back over that way for a final visit before my daughter starts school.

That bring me onto another subject! My daughter is starting school! such an exciting time. We have been lucky enough to have had some of her uniform bought for her but we still needed shoes, tops and dresses which didn't come to much as I tend to stick with Asda for most things. I'm really looking forward to seeing her on that first day, she;s grown up way to fast and I can't believe how much she's changed these past few months! She has such a cheeky personality, so much Sass and is so kind hearted. I know I'll shed a few tears that day but ultimately I will be so so proud of her.

I have so much more I can put but I feel I've written enough for one post! That and I have a fair few kids running around and some dishes screaming to be washed!

Mummy's Kitchen - Chocolate monsters

So this was supposed to be chocolate Octopuses...it went wrong (like many of my bakes lol!) and we just said they were monsters.

 Ingredients needed:
- 125g Soft Margarine
- 125g Caster sugar
- 1 Medium egg
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 175g Plain flour

To decorate:
- 25g Butter
- 50g Icing sugar
- Smarties!

First we measured everything out, then we got started! Put the caster sugar and margarine together in the bowl and get stirring!

Once creamy you can add the flour (sift it) and the cocoa powder and egg then stir into a dough.

Once doughy you need to make into a ball with your hands, this is messy work!

Rawr sticky monsters!

Place the dough into cling film and wrap up, you will need to place it into the freezer for 30 mins, our needed an hour!

Once hard enough, unwrap, cut in half and pop the other half back into the freezer whilst you work on the first half. Cut the dough into sections about two fingers in width, put flour on you hands and roll into think sausage before flattening carefully. With a blunt knife, cut down to make the legs, using two finger pinch and separate to make the octopus legs ( or do what I did, give up on that annoying thing and make monsters! as the coolness of the dough is wearing off and it's getting sticky!)

The only octopus I made, so annoyingly sticky as it  warmed.

Pop them on a baking tray and into the oven for 10 - 12 mins!

we need a bigger tray! our monsters.

Then make up the icing sugar and butter and use it as a kind of glue for your sweets to decorate.

our monsters!

Kids really enjoyed the decorating process

I couldn't resist adding the rest of the butter icing for mine mmm

Made cheese catapillars and snakes today, will post tomorrow x

Mummy's Kitchen

Ok so I was going to give up on the blog for awhile, I felt it didn't have any purpose and that I was just writing random things and I really didn't want it to be for that!

So whilst I was picking something for us to bake/cook today Chris said it was silly to just stop blogging and maybe blog about my bakes with the kids etc. I do bake a lot and I'm always trying to cook new things and I think blogging about them will spur me on to try baking more and more yummy treats.

So today we made pizzas from scratch. Sounds easy? Nope. I've honestly never made a pizza from scratch and so took up the challenge since Chris says I've not lived til I've cooked one.
Debbie (my mother in law) gave us lots of little kids cook books with some really funky ideas which you'll see a lot of on here as my daughter has picked out so many things she would like to make.

The cook book

 So to make a pizza base you need:
* 225g (8oz) Plain flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons oil
* 150 ml milk (this is variable as I found out with the first pizza I made)
* Cheese, grated.
* Tomato puree
* Any toppings you may want. We chose ham, sweetcorn and peppers.

Oven goes on Gas mark 6

Measurements

So we first measured out the ingredients and then added the flour and salt together, after making a hole in the middle of the mix. We measured out the milk and added the oil before pouring it into the mix slowly.

Kids loved helping out

We then (using blunt knives) stirred the mixture into a dough.

 After it formed a ball like dough I removed it and placed on a floury surface to be shaped using a rolling pin.

The kids didn't like the texture of the dough and so I did this part

Then you add the tomato sauce, cheese and any other toppings you so wish.

Ellie only wanted cheese on hers as did Evan

Now this next bit is where I realised I had gone wrong, I followed the instructions carefully (haveing not made a pizza before from scratch) and it ended up awfully and has left me wondering whether it'salways good to follow the damned instructions.

The base had turned soft and useless

The kids didn't mind the pizza in bits and we cooked it anyway, after I had salvaged it. However! I am not one to give up, I had another go, this time I changed the milk quantity to 100ml.

Try, try again

This time the dough was perfect, easy to roll and easy to place on the tray. Hooray! The pizza's went in for 20 minutes, ours a bit longer as I made it a little thicker too.

Finished result was yummy!

Evan was too busy eating and that is his attempt at a thumbs up, one day he will get it!

Our pizza, it was lovely. 

 So overall pretty good! I know it's an easy recipe but I'd never done it and thought it would be fun for the kids to make. Next time we think BBQ sauce will be added to ours and I'll purchase some Mozzarella too! This was a last minute decision to make, I always have flour etc so figured we'd give it a shot.

Ellie has already chosen chocolate Octopuses for our next make so watch this space!