Say yes more

Say yes more!

by with 14 Comments PersonalQuotesUncategorized
Back when I was a student at Swansea Uni one of my best friend’s housemates was a guy called Dave who wrote for the student newspaper, the waterfront.  He used to create and write the advice column under the name Doctor Dave, and included a few ‘problems’ in there mocking my friend for her tendency to sleep a fair bit.  I didn’t really know the guy that well, but I do remember that he always struck me as interesting; he used to carry a notebook with him where he’d write down funny and interesting things that people said to him, I think to look back on when he needed inspiration for writing.

Turns out he’s become a really inspirational person himself, post-uni.  He turned his back on the ‘traditional’ career path and has instead built an amazing life for himself.  He’s a record-breaking adventurer who’s been all around the world using unconventional modes of transport – his first expedition was a 3618 mile skateboard trip from Perth to Brisbane.  He’s choosing to live life on his terms, choosing to ‘say yes more‘ and seeing where it leads him.

Say yes more 

I’m feeling a bit of a shift in my thinking at the moment and I’m convinced that, if you’re open to it, the Universe sends you what you need at the right time.

What I need at the moment is positivity, and hearing stories of people enjoying life, enjoying success on their own terms.  So when this article from Dave popped up on my Facebook news feed the other day it was just what I needed!  In the article he writes about his simple rules for getting started with making a new life for yourself.  If you’re in need of a bit of positivity and some motivation then you should really go and read it.  For now, I’ll leave you with my favourite rule:

If you’re really floundering, remove the safety net, then you HAVE to fly. And you can fly, you really can.

Sound advice Dr Dave, thank you!
Cuddle Fairy
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Things my children have slept through

by with 16 Comments ParentingPersonalUncategorized
I read a blog post the other day by Charlie at Real Girl Ramblings that really made me smile.  It was a list of all the bizarre things that wake her baby up.  And it got me thinking; when my children are just on the brink of being properly asleep they can be disturbed by the slightest noise.  Once they’re down though, they seem to be able to sleep through all sorts of things.  A few days ago Nerys was asleep in the buggy by the front door.  The postman opened the door and dropped a parcel on the floor right next to her with one hell of a thump, and she didn’t even flinch! So here is my list of a few of the other things my children have slept through:
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Jumping in the jumperoo
Photographic proof of this one above – finger still poised on one of the toys!  This was also with Rhys and her 3 cousins playing pretty loudly all around her.

Hoovering.
Both Rhys and Nerys have slept quite happily in the moses basket in the lounge while I’ve hoovered right up to the edge of the basket.  I can sort of understand this one, as the hoover is a kind of white noise I suppose, which babies tend to like.  But it’s a pretty loud white noise when it’s right by your head!

The smoke alarm going off.
Rhys was napping on the sofa one day a fair while ago, and whatever I was attempting to cook had set the smoke alarm off.  I dashed into the lounge to make it stop and fully expected Rhys to have woken up.  Nope.  He was still flat out.  Bit worrying really!

The Eurofighter Typhoon.
Have you ever heard one of these things?!  We were at the Swansea bay air show when Rhys was a few months old and one of these was taking part.  It was seriously one of the loudest planes ever!  And Rhys slept through the whole display.  Unbelievable.

Are your children light sleepers or can they sleep through anything?!

You Baby Me Mummy
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Chocolate banana bread

by with 16 Comments RecipesUncategorized
We buy a lot of bananas in our house.  It’s probably the most eaten fruit in our fruit bowl.  But every so often I get carried away and buy too many, and a few start to over-ripen before we manage to eat them.  Which is awful, because it means I’m forced to make this chocolate banana bread!

Now, I’m not a huge fan of plain banana bread because, and this may sound a little silly, it’s just too banana-y.  But this version is delicious.  The banana taste is still there, but it’s balanced out by the chocolate and the brown sugar crust.  So, here we go, my yummy chocolate banana bread:

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Ingredients

100g Softened Butter
175g Caster Sugar
2 Large Eggs
2 Ripe Bananas (mashed)
225g Self Raising Flour
About 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
Handful of chocolate chips
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
2 tablespoons Milk
A few teaspoons of brown sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C / Fan 160C / Gas 4.
2. Line a 2lb loaf tin with baking parchment or greaseproof paper.
3. Measure all the ingredients into a mixing bowl in the order they’re listed above and mix together.
4. Spoon the mixture into the tin and level the surface
5. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top to give it a nice crunchy finish!
6. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 1 hour, until well risen and golden brown.  A skewer or knife inserted in the centre should come out clean when the loaf is ready.
7. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn it out and leave it to cool on a wire rack (or just a wooden chopping board if you’re like me and don’t have a wire rack!)

A few things to note:

  • The recipe says to use two ripe bananas but it seems to come out just as tasty if you use just one, or if you use three.
  • When I make this with Rhys we do it properly and mix everything up by hand in a big bowl.  When I’m on my own and just want it made so I can tuck in, I pile all the ingredients in the food processor and mix it up that way.  Again, tastes just as good whichever way you do it!
  • I’m quite generous with the sprinkling of the brown sugar on the top, and I press it gently into the mixture too so it doesn’t just crumble off when you eat it,

I hope you enjoy making (and eating) this as much as we all do!

I first posted this recipe on my photography website in the blog post ‘Baking with a toddler – chocolate banana bread‘, if you want to read a bit more about it!
Cuddle Fairy
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A watched inbox never pings!

by with No Comment PersonalUncategorized
I’m having one of those days where I’m waiting on an email, refreshing my inbox every five minutes, getting my hopes up every time a new message comes through only to be disappointed when it’s not the one I want!

I’ve spent the last six weeks doing an online training course on the Beloved photography technique.  I’ve really loved getting into all the details about the philosophy behind the techniques and learning how to really use it to its full effect.  This is definitely the direction I want my portrait photography to go in!  And today I’m waiting for an email to tell me if I’ve successfully completed the course or not.

Which leads me to believe this to be true – a watched inbox never pings!

Here’s hoping for good news later today!
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How to get those annoying kids TV songs out of your head

by with 14 Comments ParentingPsychologyUncategorized
I learnt a new word today.  I might be the only person who didn’t know this, but there’s a word for those bloody irritating songs that get stuck in your head – earworms!  How brilliant is that?!

Earworms affect all of us at some point, I mean, who hasn’t had a catchy pop song stuck in their head?  Or worse, the song from the Hive advert.  You know the one, where the guy singing it just sounds a little too pleased with himself?

These are all annoying enough.  And then you become a parent.  And you start having kids TV on during the day.  And then you find yourself lying in bed with the perfect slumber party song from Sofia the first going round and round in your head.  Or the ‘make some noise‘ song.  Or ‘roll up the map‘ from Jake and the Neverland pirates.

Yeah, we watch a lot of Disney junior in our house!  For the Cbeebies families out there, how about the theme tune from ‘Something special’?  Or, oh God, the spring time song!

You hate me a little bit now don’t you, for putting those songs in your head?  Well I’m about to make it all better – apparently there’s a way to get them out again!

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According to a study carried out at the University of Reading, getting rid of earworms is as easy as chewing gum!

Dr Philip Beaman from the University explains that the brain’s tendency to play catchy tunes on repeat might be ‘a form of involuntary musical memory’.  The key word here is ‘involuntary’, which is why you can’t just will away a song when it’s stuck in your head.  What you can do though is interfere with the playing of these musical recollections.

Previous studies have shown that repeating a random word over and over again in your head can degrade your short-term memory; doing this while looking at list of words has been found to make most people forget 1/3 to 1/2 of the words on the list!

The study at the University of Reading suggests that chewing gum has a similar effect.  It disrupts the musical memory enough to get that damn song out of your head.

Well, it has to be worth a try right?!

Mummascribbles
I got off the plane Friends quote

5 words that make me cry

by with 10 Comments PersonalQuotesUncategorized

There are a few things that are almost guaranteed to make me well up.

When I have to say goodbye to my family after a visit.

Every time a new baby screams for the first time on ‘one born every minute’.

And these five words;

I got off the plane Friends quote

Seriously.  No matter how many times I watch the last episode of Friends I still feel my throat catching and the tears forming every time Ross is yelling at the answerphone and Rachel appears behind him.

Did she get off the plane?  Did she get off the plane?

I got off the plane.

Big, soppy happy tears. Every single time!

Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels like this?!

Cuddle Fairy