The Gallery: Picture Postcard

I've spent the last five days trying to work out which picture to use for the fantastic theme set by Tara for the special 100th edition of The Galley. I have really struggled because to me a postcard picture is a landscape, and I've used many of mine before for other Gallery themes or for Wordless Wednesdays. And so the one Gallery that I really wanted to take part in started slipping through my fingers.

And then I followed Tara's e-mail of the post over to her blog and looked at her picture, and the reasoning behind her choice:

"Is there anything finer than the great British seaside?"

And it hit me!

The photo that I have had in my 'pictures->blog->spare photos' folder since last July would finally get to be shown. So thank you Tara for reminding me of one of my favourite photos of one of my favourite locations. I can't wait to visit it again in a fortnight:

Lyme Regis, Dorset.

Sponsored Video: 'What's That?'

That question right there:

'What's that?'

and:

'Why?'

Are there any other words uttered by your toddler that can drive you to distraction at least eleventy billion times a day?

The Boy's personal favourite is:

'Are you (insert action here)?'

The reason those words drive me bananas is because they usually follow me saying I'm going to do (the action) or him witnessing me doing it. It's like he's double-checking that he's not imagining it. Mr. TheBoyandMe and I have actually tried to psycho-analysis this query from him to no avail. It's just one of his little quirks.

When these questions are driving you mad and you've answered the 'why?' or 'what's that?' for the seventy-fifth time in a row, turn it around on them and ask them the 'why?' Chances are they already know the answer but just want confirmation from you.

As for the 'what's that?' mantra? Bear with them, every single thing that they come across on a daily basis is completely and utterly new to them. These tiny little beings that we created have no idea what that jumpy thing is in the grass, or what happens when you drop a cup of water on the floor.

The only time that The Boy seems to stop asking me questions is when he's eating, and even then there is some curiosity as to the substances on his plate. Maybe he's trying to tell me something?

This is a sponsored post. My ramblings are genuine as is the amount my son asks me if I've just done something that he's seen me do. 

Sponsored Post: Win With Volvo

My first car was a Volvo 440 and I adored it. I bought it with my own money when I was 23, paid for everything on it myself and had it for four years before I changed it. I put my beloved K-reg Volvo into the car auctions and luckily no-one had bought it, when a week later my husband blew up his engine due to a lack of oil. He inherited my 440 and drove it for a further two years before selling it on to a work colleague. Our Volvo did the rounds but I loved it, and one of those reasons is because it was so reliable.

My last three cars have been a different make and model, and I have to say that I'm fed up of that company now. I crave the security, stability, quality and style of my old Volvo.

And this is why they are so great, this is the Volvo V60:

Nice isn't it?

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I'm not able to say I've reviewed one, although I'd love to. And I'm not going to say you can win one either on here or through Volvo directly.

However, on May 27th you could win a whole heap of other prizes as @VolvoCarUK are giving away prizes every hour throughout the day on twitter, including cinema tickets and family adventure weekends. @VolvoCarUK will be interacting with their followers to find out a little about them and asking questions in order to choose winners for the prizes, questions like ‘Where was your best family holiday?’. If I was to answer that I'd have to say (in 140 characters only), 'When we stayed in a log cabin in the woods, explored the woodlands around us, played family games & enjoyed each other's company.'

To make sure you don't miss out on winning the prizes from Volvo, make sure you're following them on @VolvoCarUK and use the hashtag #V60getaway to follow the competition interactions. I'd love to hear that one of you won a prize.

Good luck!

I am a member of the Netmums Parent Bloggers Network, a unique community of parent bloggers from around the UK who have been handpicked by the Netmums team from our database to review products and brands on their behalf. I am paid an expenses fee to cover my time (and childcare if the fee is big enough!) but Netmums have no editorial control whatsoever about what I blog about. Being a member of the Netmums Blogging Network means that I get to try out products and brands and get my expenses covered but that I retain full editorial integrity.

Meal Planning Monday #11

It's National Vegetarian Week this week, and because of this you'll find no omnivore meals on my menu planner. I know that there's not usually a huge amount, but Mr. TheBoyandMe can have a meat-free week and like it!

  • Sunday: The freezer is full of God knows what, so we need to start eating that up!
  • Monday: Pizza (caramelised red onion, spinach and blue cheese) and salad.
  • Tuesday: Mediterranean vegetables and rice, with grilled halloumi
  • Wednesday: Sticky Sausage Stew. I keep putting this on my planner and I keep failing to cook it which is daft because it's gorgeous.
  • Thursday: Chinese (earlier than normal)
  • Friday: Quorn Lasagne
  • Saturday: LONDON BABY! (More about that later!)

And I still haven't planned in fajitas, which is ridiculous because we both love them. Next week! Maybe…

I'm linking this up to Mrs. M's Meal Planning Monday

The Things They Say

We've had a couple of gems this week, not one-liners but whole random conversations!

Me: Where shall we go for our picnic?
The Boy: Let's go to the moon mummy!
Me: It's closed today darling, let's find somewhere else to go.
TB: Chris and Pui did go to the moon.
Me: I think it's a bit far.
TB: But they went.
Me: We can only go when we pretend. Shall we go to the beach?
TB: That's where we can have our picnic. Let's bring some bread. Because I like it.
Me: Anything else?
TB: Brioches and mummy's coffee.
(We were having breakfast)

(We were in the car heading to Asda which is next to the football stadium where we met a certain CBeebies presenter last year)

The Boy: Alex is almost as big as mummy and daddy and me. There's a seat Alex could sit in, in the front with Mr. Maker and Mr. Bwoom (Bloom) and his veggies. He can hold his veggies, there's no space for them. They're in the back of the boot.
Me: What are in the back of the boot?
TB: Their seat-belts.
Me: Whose seat-belts?
TB: Mr. Bwoom's veggies. But Mr. Bwoom must sit in the front next to daddy and Alex. But daddy can drive not Alex because he's not as big as daddy.

The Gallery: Morning

The Gallery is back now that Tara is fully recovered and the theme this week is 'Morning'.

We've lapsed recently in our habit of having a nice Sunday breakfast together before going out for a few hours, but this weekend I decided to revive our little tradition. And if it needed a blog-prompt to do so, then that is not really an issue for me, it meant that I had lovely food for breakfast.

Before:

After:

How To Make A Rainbow Butterfly

This craft activity might seem obvious to some, to others they'll think "I remember doing this as a child!" and it may be complete nonsense to the rest of you. Either way, it's such a lovely and simple activity that I wanted to share it.

Remember as a child when you did those Christmas cards or firework pictures involving cut-outs in black sugar paper and ripped tissue paper? Basically it's that! I saw it late last night on Mini-Eco and she explained it so beautifully that I found myself cutting out a butterfly on navy card (no black!) at half past midnight! (She's even got a template to use)

You'll need:

  • coloured tissue paper
  • black card with shapes cut out
  • glue

I am not going to explain any further because it's so simple it's unbelievable! Just make sure you leave it to dry completely before trimming around the edges.

We love it, and it looks so effective with the sun shining through that I'm going to do a bumblee and a dragonfly too.

Sciencesparks3

Meal Planning Monday #10

I'm a bit over food at the moment. With the ongoing battles with The Boy and his being awkward at mealtimes, I really can't muster the enthusiasm to cook. This week's plan is a little boring and bland as a result but hey-ho.

  • Sunday: blue cheese and asparagus tartlets, with tomato and basil rice.
  • Monday: Mediterranean vegetables and rice, with halloumi (recipe to follow).
  • Tuesday: Pizza and wedges.
  • Wednesday: Vegetable and cheese pasties, salad and wedges.
  • Thursday: Sticky Sausage Stew (slow cooker)
  • Friday: Chinese!
  • Saturday: Spring Greens Risotto – asparagus, broccoli, peas, courgettes with blue cheese.

Hardly going to set the world alight but I've done it. Hopefully next week I'll feel more with it to enjoy planning.

I'm linking this up to Meal Planning Monday at Mrs. M's