A pocket of my life

Well December has flown by and what an adventure it has been. There have been highs and lows and memories made. We started off with a slow week or so with school runs, my TA course and decorating for Christmas.  As we got into the month it got things got crazy and very festive, we took our annual trip to Westfield Christmas lights and Lilly's final festive performance at primary school which was emotional. Sadly my Dad also ended up in hospital for the first of 3 visits. School ended and Lils had to sleep overs back to back and then sadly became poorly with a sickness bug which luckily only lasted a couple of days.  Once she was better me and her took a trip to Brighton to see SIX the musical, it was the most amazing show and a night to remember. This was followed by the Christmas train which is an annual festive event, its such a nice family thing we do and really puts you in the mood. Christmas eve came and Liam's Mum came to join us, we baked and watched films. C

A couple of days ago we took a trip to Brighton to see SIX the musical on tour in the Theatre Royal, we were seated in the gallery, right at the top of the theatre, the view was limited but we still managed to see a lot of the show. SIX the musical is a show based around the six wives of Henry VIII, it's a modern way of telling their stories with an all female cast. The concept of the show is that each queen competes for who's story with Henry was the worst in a concert style until they all realise there common ground. The songs are very powerful to each character and are fact checked, the backing is created by four female musicians called the ladies in waiting. The show itself is very fast moving, vibrant and full of laughs and sass, it really is a fun show that makes you feel uplifted and brings history to life. Its suitable from aged 10 + and I would certainly agree with that. The costumes are bright and full of sparkle, they are very specific to the characters a

Gingerbread really is a winner in our house and is a recipe that always comes out during the festive season, the spice from the ginger just feels so warming and the smell just brings me straight to Christmas. The dough does take a little while to make but the end product is so tasty and fun to decorate too.  Recipe 350g Plain Flour 1 tsp Bicarb of Soda 2 tsps Ground Ginger 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon 125g Butter 175g Light Brown Sugar 1 Medium egg 4 tbsp Golden Syrup Method 1. Sift the flour, bicarb of soda, ginger and cinnamon into a bowl/mixer. Add the butter and mic until it looks like breadcrumbs, then add your sugar. 2. Add your egg and the golden syrup (oil the spoon so it doesn't stick). Mix it all together until it makes a dough. 3. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and put in the fridge for 15-30 mins 4. Heat you oven up to 180oC/Gas mark 4 and prepare your tray with grease proof paper. 5. Flour your surfaces, roll out your dough to about the width of pound coin. Use any cutters you w

I wanted to share with you a few of our favourite festive book for a preschool age, Olivia is loving having a different array if books out to read and it's lovely to see her get excited for books that were once Lilly's. I have picked 5 that are well loved and read in this house, I probably know them word for word by this point. The dinosaur that pooped a reindeer - We absolutely love these books and this one has not failed to make both me and Olivia laugh, Olivia loves the fact that there are flaps to open as well. Would highly recommend any of the dinosaur that pooped books. A Christmas carol - We love this story as this is one that Olivia can link to a few films/shows that are on during the festive period. It's a classic and one that I read to Lilly too.  Mog's Christmas calamity - This was a charity book a few years ago from Sainsbury's and I love the story on how Mog saves the day, I remember reading Mog books as a child so it's lovely to add t

These cupcakes are so delicious and simple to make, you only need a few ingredients and take 30 minutes. to make and cook. This mixture made 16 - 20 cupcakes. Ingredients Eggs - 3 Medium Eggs Marge - Weight of Eggs in oz Sugar - Weight of Eggs in oz Flour - Weight of eggs minus 2oz Drinking Chocolate - 2oz to make up the flour Chocolate frosting Red m&m's or smarties curly wurly bits Edible eyes Method 1. Preheat your oven to 180oC / Gas mark 5 2. Cream the sugar and marge together until it resembles whipped cream. 3. Add 1 egg at a time, if starts to curdle add a small amount of the flour. 4. Once all eggs are mixed in slowly sift in the flour and drinking chocolate and slowly mix. 5. Separate your mixture into cupcake cases evenly and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until springy to touch. Once cooked and cooled its time to get decorating: 1. spread your chocolate frosting evenly over the cakes. 2. Add your eyes and nose to the cakes 3. push your curly wurly

So here I am trying out blogmas. I do vlogmas over on my YouTube and would love to grow my blog too. I hope that you enjoy my content over the next 25 days leading up to the big day and would love you to give me a comment below on any. We have a tradition in our house now which is to make our annual Christmas cake, its something that is important to me, to make memories with the children and teach them how to cook some yummy Christmas treats, something that they can pass on if they have families of there own. This Christmas cake is a 6 inch round cake which works for our family as its just me and Lilly that eats it so far. I love the decorating of the cake too, this is the main part that Lilly loves as she gets some of the leftover icing and marzipan. I'm not going to lie, its not the easiest bake but its well worth it if you like Christmas cake, and its rewarding when its done. My Recipe 700g Mixed fruit (can be pre-soaked) 25g Ground Almonds 50g Glace cherries 150g Pl