Annabels First Birthday Party

So for Annabels first birthday party I decided to go for a kind of afternoon tea theme and because it was also Mother's Day this felt like a lovely way to celebrate the two occasions :) 

Trying to lose weight after Christmas

 

I've been trying to get back into thiss healthy eating thing after Christmas. I wish I could say I'm at a stage where I can eat in moderation but thats just not me. I have an on and off button, no in between button! When I'm good I'm good but once I switch off, thats it I eat all around me, non stop!!

I find the easiest good habit to get into is eating porridge for breakfast, I actually love breakfast and look forward to my porridge every morning! I usually mix through some fruit, milk and I know I shouldn't but I have to have a spoonful of canderel.

 

Dinner can be a bit trickier because I have to think about the whole family and get meals that everybody likes. I love stir fries, they're so quick, easy and tasty. Mid week dinners also usually need to be fairly easy and fuss free. I usually plan my meals for the week and do my 'big' shop on a Sunday, this works best for me. But every Friday, I really look forward to my homemade pizza on weight watcher wraps, I pile them up with everything! I usually make the kids a pizza on a roll out base or just nuggets and wedges.

I figure if I've been fairly good during the week I enjoy whatever I like at the weekends. We usually either get a take away or go out for dinner. My downfall is sweets and chocolate and biscuits (I'm not really a crisp person.) I find the easiest thing is just not to have them in the house! 

I try to go to Weight Watchers every week, so far I have shifted any of the extra Christmas pounds but I'll keep at it and hopefully they'll disappear! :)

Is my life really this boring..? (Jan 11-18)

Wow we're mid way through January, its great! And the resolutions are still going (I wont stay strong, but they havent been abandoned just yet!!)

My week was the usual, up, make lunches, get breakfasts, rush out the door, work, collect kids, drop kids, make dinners, tidy up after dinners, wash clothes, fold clothes, and flop on the couch at the end of the day kinda week....quite similar to alot of peoples weeks I suspect!

What I wore for our Saturday out and about. Boots, jeans, jumper all Penneys

 

We did have a dusting of snow, I love TJ's reaction to it (obviously Senan doesn't get too excited by it anymore and Annabels too young) but TJ was straight out to have fun in it!

 

Saturdays are usually spent going to a soccer match with Senan so when it was cancelled because of bad weather I jumped at the chance to spend the day catching up with friends, rounded off by Apache pizza (our hands down favourite!) and then home for the night.

 

I watched the programme Sugar Crash on RTE (well worth a watch if you haven't seen it) and swore I was going to try reduce the amount of sugar the kids take so I attempted homemade cereal bars, they didn't quite work out as they didn't stick together, the mixture is actually really tasty though and I mixed it in with yoghourts and smoothies. I got the baking tray and all the nuts, berries and seeds in Dealz, all €1.49, I love that shop!

Perfect way to round of the weekend...Irish coffee (decaf and without the whiskey...sad I know!)

Week 1 2016 Trying to get into good habits!

I can never quite get into routine or get new habits started until I start back to work so while most have the great intentions well underway I only got started on January 6th (enough time to finish off all the half eaten boxes of biscuits and quality streets!) 

While there are reasons not to enjoy going back to work, after a jam packed Christmas with my sisters wedding, family home from abroad and general Christmas with 3 kids stuff it was actually nice to get back to work and routine and a bit of normality! 

Over the weekend two of Senans friends were at our house for a sleepover, so with five kids in the house I decided we needed to get out of the house to blow off some steam! We went to Fore Abbey, the kids love it, I love it, it's just down the road, it's free and the kids just run around exploring and playing hide and seek...and it stayed dry, what more could you ask for!

Fore Abbey Co. Westmeath

Sunday we went to the park in Mullingar after the grocery shopping, I'm really making an effort to get the kids (and myself) out in the fresh air more despite the weather, so the park was perfect (and a bonus that's it's across the road from chocolate Browns and I could get a gorgeous latte to help warm me up!)

Mullingar town park

So after all the eating over Christmas I was back to weigh in at weight watchers on Thursday, I was up 4 pounds which I was more than happy with considering I felt I was up at least 7! Again, as nice as chocolate is for breakfast getting back to the good old boring, reliable porridge isn't as bad as it sounds! So it's back to healthy eating for me,,, plus a few sneaky left over biscuits,,, I figure I'll ease myself back into it! 

I literally look forward to these pizzas every Friday!

Porridge for breakfast and back to healthy lunches

A little shopping spree in Boots.

So my first week of 2016 was fairly uneventful but sometimes its nice to just appreciate the normal, everyday things!

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   Look how big Annabel is getting, shes trying to feed her doll-so cute!

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

Faux fur fashion...

I am loving grey this Winter! I actually had very little grey in my wardrobe so I've been picking up a few new bits but these grey over the knee boots from Penneys are a new staple in my wardrobe! I wore them out recently with leather look leggings and my grey faux fur gillet from Only,,,and of course my new pride and joy, my grey Michael Kors handbag! The black sheer long sleeve top is also Penneys.

Faux fur Gillet...Only...similar here: BooHoo

Leather jeggings...Penneys...similar here: BooHoo

Over the knee grey boots...Penneys...similar here: River Island  

Christmas Jumpers and Santa Visits!

I LOVE our visit to Santa every year! Truth be told I put way to much thought into where to go and what Christmas jumpers I'll get the boys!! But I just think it's such a fun, special, memorable time of year! 

Last year we went to 'Breakfast with Santa' in O Mearas Garden Centre just outside Mullingar. TJ was a bit under the weather but we still had a lovely morning. 

http://www.omearasgardencentre.com/index.htm

The year before we went to Santa in Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Senan is soccer mad so he loved this tour! TJ was a bit young so it went over his head! 

http://www.causey.ie/causey-events/causey-christmas-experience

I love this picture because it was TJ's first Christmas! We went to Causey Farm in Co. Meath. It really is a fantastic experience but you need to book early as it fills up very quickly!

This year is Annabels first Christmas which I think is so exciting!! I can't wait to buy her lots of tartan and red dresses! I haven't decided where we are visiting Santa yet but I need to get something booked very soon! I have made a start on our Christmas jumpers though, I'm going for navy and red theme this year :) 

http://www.dunnesstores.com/younger-boys-light-up-christmas-jumper/younger-boys-3-9-years/dunnesstores/fcp-product/5380315?colour=navy

http://www.dunnesstores.com/older-boys-christmas-jumper/older-boys-9-14-years/dunnesstores/fcp-product/5384193?colour=red

http://ie.nextdirect.com/en/g942178s1#425935

RTE make-over experience!

A few weeks back I emailed the Today Show on RTE to nominate my amazing mother for a make over. I could write paragraphs about what a wonderful mother and woman she is but in a nutshell she has raised 6 children, is the most self-less person I know and would go to the ends of the earth to help anyone in need. So she without doubt deserved to be pampered and spoiled for a day!

We were delighted to get the call to say she was one of the lucky ones to be chosen so myself, Mammy and my sister Doreen packed our bags and headed down to Cork! (A bit of a spin from Westmeath but totally worth it!) 

We stayed in the Imperial Hotel in the city centre of Cork, the rooms were fab, gorgeous breakfast and fantastic location for the shops! 

That night we went around the corner to Il Padrino restaurant for the tastiest Italian meal! After bruschetta and garlic bread for starters I had a creamy salmon and linguini dish, it was so tasty but very heavy! 

So, getting to the good bit now! 

We were in RTE studios for about 9am and honestly for the entire morning everybody we met was so nice and friendly and chatty, it was a wonderful atmosphere! 

Mammy had her choice of about 8 dresses from Debehnams, after trying them on she had a clear winner, it was fab! The colour suited her so well, the fabric really emphasised her great hour glass figure and the bit of bling and rooshing just gave it that edge! She matched it with a fab pair of Jasper Conron kitten heels. 

Her hair was put up into a classy French roll and the make up artist from Yves Saint Laurent did a fab job...and she got to keep a gorgeous goodie bag of products! 

Myself and my sister got to be in the middle of everything going on, it was great fun to see the 'behind the scenes!' 

Daithi and Maura were so lovely and chatty and friendly, I suppose I always expect they'll be too busy or self absorbed to chat to us mere common people but no they were full of chat and just the same as the rest of us!!

We popped into Electric for some lunch after the excitement of the morning, it was the perfect way to round of the day!

If you've ever thought about emailing in you should! It's great fun and a special treat and way to show someone you love just how much you really think of them!