Proud Mummy moment

I was sent a load of photographs the other day which really cheered me up from a local

community worker and fundraisers

I moved to Cwmafan roughly 7 years ago when I was pregnant with my son and despite being an employee in the local main shop ~ I am known by residents here. I was worried however that my son would maybe be treated as a bit of an outsider as we weren't from Cwmafan ourselves despite him being born down the road in Port Talbot Hospital and living in Cwmafan all his life.

However these photos have cheered me up and made me realise just how much he does for his little community so I thought I would share them with you.

He was planting daffodil bulbs with his school mates throughout th

e community to make the village prettier (he is on the far left holding the shovel)

He took part in the local fun run to raise funds for the his rugby team and community. Here he is below with his friends from L - R ~ Jack, Levi, Matthew and Benjamin

Here he is with all the other kids who took part (he's front row bottom left)

He is goalkeeper for the Cwmafan Under 7's football team although plays as Number 11 not number 1.

He also plays as Number 11 on the Cwmafan Under 7's Rugby team in which they play tag rugby and he was given the 'tagger of the match' award.

So all in all Im a very proud mummy. = ) I'm hoping that Holly will be as involved with the community as he is.

x

Bike Riding ~ Day one

Right well the time has come and I decided to teach Benjamin how to ride his bike

He got his bike without stabilizers for his birthday back in May 2010 but I was heavily pregnant and couldn't really manage to teach him with an 8 month old bump incubating in the way!

Needless to say Owen has no patience after the first attempt and several swear words and various threats to sell it/throw it in the river/take it back to the shop it now rests in Mummy's hands to teach him.

Should reiterate that he has had a bike before which was a hand me down from his brother Josh which Josh rode all of about 3 times, and shrieked like a girl every time before falling off it and refusing to ever touch it again. But Ben use to love it and would fly along happily on it until he sadly out grew it.

I have now put stabilizers on Benjamin's bike and he was much more confident with one little wobble so I think I will take them off soon and hopefully he should be attempting some proper riding soon.

I take him over the piggery (or up the line) depending on who you speak to in teh village ~ its basically a little walk which has recently been retarmaced and is a top spot for cyclists, joggers and dog walkers as it is secluded, very pretty, away from lots of roads and in general just a nice quiet

and peaceful walk.

It is also home to the Cwmafan Portrait Bench which has our local heroes Richard Burton, Rob Brydon and Afan Forest Park Ranger,Dick Wagstaff.

He thoroughly enjoyed himself and so did mummy - nice to be active again as last time I tried to teach him I had a bump in the way!

x

Also discovered that I seem to have two very fertile spider plants.

Considering last year I couldn't find a spider plant for love nor money - when I saw Wilkinsons had them I treated myself.

But by the time I got back to the shop there was two poor looking ones glaring at me to be taken home, so jumped at the chance and nabbed them for £1 each due to them being half dead.

Now one is on my kitchen windowsill (Fred as Benjamin has dubbed him) and he has one shoot coming up which is about 6 inches long now and Thomas who sits on my bathroom window has a giant shoot thats about 12 - 15 inches long and another one thats about 5 inches!

Only problem is ~

I've no idea how to go about trimming/repotting or growing them on etc!

But am pretty sure I will soon have an abundance of spider plants if they keep growing at this rate! Pictures to follow shortly

My newest ~ experimental ~ challenge!

As most of you know by now I work for a well known supermarket branch.

But I have become absolutely mortified lately at the stuff my shop has been getting rid of - the piles of waste is just simply ridiculous!

We had 38 multipack bags (6 bags in a bag) of Walkers crisps wasted a few weeks ago because they were a week over their sell by date. So we opened one packet, sampled them and offered customers one to taste - explained that they were slightly out of date and gave 20 of them away rather than bin them so I am setting myself a challenge.

I am going to ATTEMPT until my next pay (bar bread/milk/babys stuff - ie nappies/milk and juice) live off the shops reduced sections and my cupboards - now I havent done a big shop this month so have a few basics in like tins and pasta but my fridge and freezer are almost empty bar a few straddling bits and pieces.

So as far as I'm concerned the reduced section will cover me for meat and vegetables basically with the rest being baked or used up form my cupboards/stock ~ which by the way isn't a great deal and my next pay day isn't until the 19th May.

I mean for obvious reasons I wont scrimp on Holly's things as she's only 9 months old but instead of jars she will be getting things home-made now and Benjamin gets a very upset stomach from the cheaper juice so for that I will stick to Mr T's brand one but everything else will be reduced section items.

I'm hoping in theory this will

a) help me to get back in the kitchen and make meals as I've been severely slacking recently

b) help me with meal experimenting and trying new recipes

c)help me save money

d)help me get back in shape as I have to walk at least half hour to get to Mr T

Also if you fancy a similiar challenge or any help with food waste then please visit this site

http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/

I will make a list of cupboard / freezer / fridge contents and post them and I'll see how I manage for this next month!

Wheres the passion?

This is taking part this weekend in Port Talbot. Mr Michael Sheen OBE has returned to his home town of Port Talbot to take part in an open-air play with a cast of more than 1,000.

It is taking over the streets of Port Talbot for the next three days.

Passion plays developed to tell the story of the trial suffering and death of Jesus Christ.

Sheen, known for his portrayals of public figures including Tony Blair and David Frost, has said he was inspired by the community spirit of the passion plays he watched at Margam Park as a youngster.

This was Day One and it began at dawn,

Below ~ This is Sheens character of a teacher being baptised by a stranger, as the sun rises over Aberavon Sea Front in Port Talbot

Below ~ Thousands made their way to the seafront to see 'the arrival' which was the official start to the play.

Below ~ This is the second day and the first sighting of Mr Sheen hidden in the crowd.

Below ~ This is when Sheens Character is identified in the crowd as a leader of the people.

The play is set to continue tonight with Sheen eating his 'last supper' of beer and sandwiches at a social club where the Manic Street Preachers will perform.

He will then be taken to a police cell before a 'crucifixion' on a roundabout on Easter Sunday.

got plain milk?

I was just hoping to give a quick shout out to 'The Milk Revolution' Blog that has been started by Mrs. Swelander (http://www.blogger.com/profile/00854835773544246798 ) on behalf of her grade four class.

http://themilkrevolution.blogspot.com/

This blog is a follow on from Jamie Oliver petitioning to get plain milk back on the school menu in the US where they are served chocolate or strawberry milk for breakfast and lunch - Just one glass of which contains 4 teaspoons of sugar. That's almost 2 gallons of extra sugar A YEAR

If you are based in the USA and would like to support Jamie's petition please follow the below link

http://www.jamieoliver.com/us/foundation/jamies-food-revolution/sugary-milk

Many Thanks.

x

I've woken up this morning with a renewed look on my lifestyle after a very disturbing dream. In my dream, I had ended up homeless with the kids and with no way of providing for myself, until I came across a tomato (I hate tomatoes) seed packet and planted them in a park where no one could find them and they provided for us. Rather bizarre I know and no idea where on earth that came from but still.........

I now am deciding that I want to start making my dreams a reality and therefore am now planning for my little families future.

We are still hoping for a house to come up for us - we know of at least 2 3 bedroomed houses that are coming up in our next bidding booklet so we are hoping upon hope that we will be lucky....but we also know that with added space (ie a third bedroom) comes the added rent and water bill. So I have been looking at ways to lessen the blow for us when it eventually happens and starting to plan in advance little things that will help us out.

If we have sufficient space the dog will have his own 'garden' as being a Jack Russell anything that he can get hold of is either destroyed, eaten or dug up. I'm hoping then that I will be able to find the best sun trap and make myself a small vegetable plot - space permitting obviously but Ben's school recently contacted a local farmer who donated his used tractor tyres to the school for them to use as planters where they are currently growing tomato plants so I wonder if that could be a cheap option as well as a weird feature in a back garden - not to mention a handy seat as well i guess. Ideally I would have a few fruit bushes and hanging baskets too.

Also another thing that crossed my mind was watering these plants - but whilst I do live in Wales - near the coast and in a valley too I might add - I think a water butt would still be a money conscious buy. It could also come in handy for car/motorbike/mountain bike washing as well as bathing the dog and filling up a bird bath. Which reminds me - Benjamin has asked if we have a garden if we can have a bird bath and bird table so he can look after the birds. Cant really deny his caring instinct - especially as he wants to be a zoo keeper or a vet when he's older.

Saying that I think 95% of the councils gardens are a rectangular shape so I can draw a rough plan of what my mini garden will look like so I will plan that quickly then I can have a basic idea of what Im working with.

I shall return with my sketch......

x

Wow - have been away

Well its glorious sunshine here in South Wales today and I am..........stuck indoors as Benjamin has picked up some sort of tummy bug along with 3 of his rugby co stars!

Oh should mention my son is now a sportsman at 6 years old as a rugby star (training on a Monday, match on a Sunday) and footballer (training thursday, match on a saturday) which is leaving mummy suitably shattered being that she also has returned to work and now does a Wednesday night 5- 10, and a sunday 3 - 10. Not to mention the added fun of three main birthdays coming up so attempting to money save and a almost crawling 9 month old! YES I said 9 MONTH old! Didn't that go bleeding quick!

Here is Minnie enjoying her food

As for recent months - all seems to be ok. Owen has had some good news about his eye and is now on every 6 month visits, my sister had her surgery and they successfully removed all the cells so she is on regular smear tests fro the foreseeable future. I had the all clear sign off after abnormal results so I'm now free until 2014. The HV from hell has finally left us alone - which reminds me I should go to clinic at some point to see her though for a general check up and weigh in. Money has sort of lapsed though due to me restarting work but we are doing much better since our debt free help before Christmas with my win.

Which reminds me - winnings.

I have so far since I started comping in November won

1. £5000 cash
2. 37" LCD TV
3. an XBOX 360
4. a Kinect for the XBOX 360
5. 2 Kinect Games
6. 1 Nintendo DSi
7. 2 Nintendo DSi games
8. 2 front row tickets to Britains Got Talent Auditions
9. Pocket Trivia Pursuit Game
10. 2 giant moshi monsters teddies
11. 2 small moshi monsters teddies
12. 2 moshi monsters books
13. 1 mini pack of moshlings
14. 3 childrens books (series - fantasy thing cant remember)
15. 1 flat stanley book
16. 1 DVD - Despicable Me
17. 1 22" LCD TV/DVD Combi
18. 1 Dr Who Tardis mug with lid
19. 1 Dr Who Projector Torch
20. 1 Carbon Monoxide alarm

so all in all not bad for 5 months worth of competitions! So needless to say I am frequenting the competition boards at the minute. Plus as I am writing this the projector torch has just arrived so I have a happy little Benjamin being that he's off school poorly today.

Oh and we have a second win today - two tickets to the cinema as a runners up prize too. Bargain ~ think Mummys good luck is wearing off on him

Really do need to get a hang of finances again though as recent spending has gotten out of hand over Christmas and I seem to be putting weight back on again which I'm very unamused about. Even stupider really being that Owen's £750 mountain bike is sat in the spare room doing fudge all and has done for about 1yr+ - really think I should start making a point of an evening bike ride - plus it will help me de-stress a bit too I think.

Other than that myself and my little brood are all ok. Abby my sister si still convinced she is going to move to America to be with her USA boyfriend - yes the same one who dumped her when he found out she had cervical cancer - but she wont listen.

oh and still no sign of a house.

I hope to be back with you more now!

x x x x x x