Stuck on what to get your Mum for Mother’s day? Then why not try your luck at this amazing competition. Henri Lloyd have teamed up with the fabulous Marco Pierre White to bring you a fantastic meal for 4 at his Steak & Alehouse restaurant in London.  If that wasn’t enough Henri Lloyd are going to throw in an outfit worth £145!

To be in with a chance of winning this amazing prize all you have to do is answer the following question:

How old was Marco Pierre White when he arrived in London?
a. 16
b. 21
c. 23

Answers must be emailed to competitions@henrilloyd.co.uk and you must be a FAN of Henri Lloyd on Facebook

P.S. Answer can be found on www.marcopierrewhite.org

Good Luck!!

Henri Lloyd Terms and Conditions: 1. Entries must be received by midday Wednesday 10th March 2010. 1 winner will be chosen on this day. 2. The prize includes a dinner for 4 at Marco Pierre Whites Steak & Alehouse restaurant, to the value of £150. Please note anything over this would be payable by the winner and their reservation will be subject to availability at the restaurant end. Winners will also receive a Henri Lloyd outfit, which includes Giani Cardi and Christina Stripe dress (Belt not included) 3. Accommodation and travel is not included. 4. A cash alternative or vouchers are not available. 5. Open to all UK and Eire residents excluding employees of Henri Lloyd and Marco Pierre White. 6. The winner’s name will be announced on the Henri Lloyd Facebook page and through Marco Pierre White. 7. By entering this competition you are agreeing to occasional contact via email from Marco Pierre White and Henri Lloyd. You can unsubscribe from these services at any time and your data will not be shared with any other third parties.

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I’m ashamed to admit it has taken me 40 years to have this great idea, but now I have, I thought I would a) share it with you and b) ask your advice. 

This week I borrowed 2 cookery books from my local library. What a fantatsic idea I thought. I can have a proper read through and see if there are any actual recipes in it that I will make. Genius!

I love cooking and I love cookery books and have a fair few on my kitchen shelves. But from each book I have probably tried a dozen or so recipes, and from that dozen maybe 2 or 3 have become favourites that I cook regularly. So I figure this way I can either copy down the 2 or 3 recipes that prove a hit, or if it looks really promising buy the book myself.

So this week I have borrowed The Delia Collection: Soup and Tana Ramsay’s Family Kitchen. At first glance I would say there are maybe 4 or 5 soups I would try from Delia’s book so probably not worth buying, but the Tana Ramsey book has some definite potential.

So my question to you is, which cookery books would you recommend me to borrow from the library next week?

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We were emailed this story recently and thought it was just too good not to share.

Recently, in a large city in Australia, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said, “This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?” A middle-aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern,

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans). They have an active sex life, get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Bering Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia. Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don’t exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human? They don’t have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them, not to mention how could they have sex? Just look at them … where is IT? Therefore, they don’t have kids either. Not to mention, who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me: I want to be a whale.

P.S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver, and a piece of chocolate with my friends.

With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren’t heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy.

Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, ¨Good grief, look how smart I am!

How fabulous do you feel now, having read that??!!

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One month ago today a catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti. Haiti’s government now says about 230,000 people died in quake, 18,000 more than its previous estimate, and the final toll is now approaching that of the 2004 Asian tsunami, which killed 250,000 people. Immediately after the quake there were numerous appeals for money and aid and many people gave generously.

In the week following the distaster the blogging community ‘blogged for Haiti’ and managed to raise over £4,000, with donations still coming in. However the problem has not gone away, with food, water and shelter still needed, before the authorities can even think about rebuilding the infrastructure of this broken country. 

As parents we are constantly faced with situations that make us feel guilty – kids, work, family, the environment, the food we eat, the amount of exercise we take – the list is endless. And when family budgets are tight you can feel even more guilty by additional requests asking you to donate to charity.

Which is why I think Tescos new Clubcard Voucher Scheme, where you can donate your Clubcard vouchers to the Haiti Disaster Appeal is such a brilliant idea, allowing you to contribute to a great cause without actually having to dip into your pocket.  

By donating your Clubcard vouchers you can help the Red Cross save lives in Haiti. Just £2.50 in Clubcard vouchers could provide a blanket to offer warmth and protection to a survivor who has lost everything in the quake.

So if you feel you would like to donate more to the disaster fund then this is maybe another way you can. It may not seem a lot, but as Tescos likes to remind us, “Every little helps”.

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I wanted to do something a little special, and personal, for Sam’s birthday so decided
a little poem may be in order……easier said than done! 
However, I was not booed off at its ‘preview’ on Friday night
- so here for more of you to enjoy is my badly written verse!

An ode to a 40 year old friend

 As Sam turns 40, I thought it only right
To write a blog, and on her shed some light!
But where do I start, this is the key
So many aspects to this woman you see.

A new found love of Mojitos and colours clashing and bright,
But also a studious contributor to Judith’s Room by night.
Definitely a yummy mummy and a British Mummy blogger
And more recently ……..she’s even a mummy jogger!

Sam is now an established professional of the Tweet,
And in December that even got us to Downing Street!
But more importantly than any of that
We got to meet you all and enjoy a cyber-chat.

And so we move on to cake, a most important part;
Baking, eating or decorating, Sam has made it an art!
And her most recent buy, just the other day
She owns the word as well – what more can I say!

Messer’s Tennant, Firth & Depp will have to wait another day,
As it is Nig who is taking her to the ballet.
Let’s hope that for this special treat
He has booked her the very best seat!

Annie & Molly, her two daughters dear
What will they give their Mummy this year?
Flowers, clothes or maybe some shiny bling
Chocolate & books are definitely her thing!

And so as Sam moves on another year
I’m sure by blog or Tweet you’ll lend your ear
As she updates you on all her progress
But quite, often I’m sure she’ll just digress!

Mum’s The Boss has led you all here,
And so for Sam I want you all to cheer.
So join me now and mark this momentous date,
Raise your glass and say “Happy Birthday mate!”

By Helen (the other half of Mum’s The Boss)

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The idea for this blog came about when I read Rosie Scribble’s hilarious post The Little Girl Who Thinks She Runs The Country. Turns out quite a few mummy bloggers have been interviewing their children lately, all with similarly amusing results.

Now my 4 year old quite frequently astounds and amuses me with the strange things that come out of her mouth – most recently telling a stranger a complete lie that she has a pet fly that she keeps in a jar with holes in the lid!! So I decided to sit her down and, in true Jeremy Paxman style, give her a good grilling. Here’s what we came up with:

How old are you?
4

How old is mummy?
26 (result!!)

How old is Grandma
37 (oh)

Who is in charge of the country?
I am (there seems to be a lot of this meglomania about)

Who is The Queen
You are (why, thank you)

What does Barak Obama do?
Builds houses (tee hee)

What is your favourite food?
Roasted Fox (too much Gruffalo methinks)

What is your favourite song?
Twinkle Twinkle Little Volcano (??!!)

Where do carrots come from?
Rabbits (umm….)

Where do bananas come from?
Monkeys (I sense a theme here….)

How does a car work?
By using its engine (quite impressive)

What do you like doing at school?
Dressing up (not very educational)

What does mummy do while you are at school?
Do work and drink cups of tea (pretty accurate)

Where do babies come from?
Houses (phew!)

Where does poo come from? (naughty mummy, couldn’t resist!)
People, dogs, cats and puppies (not bottoms then)

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A rock and roller (a fine ambition, more than happy with that)

If you have children, what names will they have?
Pantomime and Chaviana (WHAT???!!!)

What makes you happy?
Molly (her little sister – aaaahhh)

All I need to know now is where she’s getting her magic mushrooms from!!!

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No-one can have avoided the stories and pictures of the catastrophic earthquake that has hit Haiti. Estimates of the numbers killed by the earthquake range from 50,000 to at least 200,000 and while food and water are finally reaching some parts of the capital Port-au-Prince, large numbers of survivors are still having to fend for themselves.

To try and help in some small way the blogging community has set up a Just Giving page to raise money to buy as many Shelter Boxes as they can to send to Haiti.

Each box contains a 10-person tent, thermal blankets, ground sheets, mosquito nets, water purification equipment, a tool kit and a wood-burning or multi-fuel stove. Each box also contains a children’s pack containing drawing books, crayons and pens. Plus the box itself is lightweight and waterproof and has been used for a variety of purposes in the past – from water and food storage containers to a cot for a newly born baby.

The initial aim was to send one Shelter Box but thanks to the amazing generosity in the blogosphere they are already well on their way to having enough funds to send FIVE boxes already. So dig deep, count your blessings and donate as much (or as little) as you can to help the families of Haiti.

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As it’s a Monday morning we thought it would be nice to start the week by spreading a little happiness. Enjoy!

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As we creep ever closer to the end of 2009, I thought it would be nice to note down for posterity some of my highpoints of the year. And to make it more fun, I thought I’d turn it into a game and get some of my blogging friends to share their best bits from the year too by starting The High-5 Meme. So here are some of my potted highlights from this year.

#downingtweet
Being invited to Downing Street scores pretty highly in the highlights of my life, never mind my year, so the Downing Tweet Christmas Party is this year’s runaway winner. We’ve already blogged about it in detail, but the main reasons why it made my year were because it provided the perfect excuse to go shopping and pamper myself (with no expense spared!), I spent my first ever night away from my children in a swanky London hotel (and they survived 24 hours without me, which means I can do it again!), I met the Prime Mininster, his lovely wife and loads of other inspiring people, and I got to order a full English Breakfast from Room Service!

The Twilight Saga
I love books and this year I was thrilled to discover Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga which provided me with 4 stonking good reads! Bella, Jacob, Edward and the rest of the Cullen family have been my companions throughout much of this year, and accounted for a large proportion of my ‘me-time’. Once I’d read the first installment I was equally excited to watch the film, and I’m just as excited about watching New Moon next year when it comes out on DVD.

My ‘Fry’ Tweet
Another high point which has already been documented on the blog is the day I got a tweet from Stephen Fry. Twitter has, without a doubt, opened up a whole new world to us this year, and many of this year’s highs wouldn’t have come about without it. So to say I’m excited about what next year will bring is a bit of an understatement! 

Northern Ballet Theatre’s Wuthering Heights
I went to my first ever ballet back in May. As I knew (and loved) the story of Wuthering Heights so much I thought it might be a good introduction, as I would be able to follow the storyline regardless.  But to my amazement I loved the dancing more than I ever thought I would. The whole production was spellbinding, the dancer who played Heathcliff was sheer perfection, and I spent the entire performance utterly enthralled. A complete joy from start to finish!

Mum’s The Boss 1st Birthday
This was a high point for so many reasons. Firstly it was a measure of our achievement – we had actually kept going for a whole year! It was also a good yardstick on which to measure how far we had come, from our humble beginnings with just 6 of us meeting in cafe twelve months before. Our birthday meeting was the busiest one yet (complete with a specially commissioned birthday cake topper!) and provided the perfect ‘good news’ story for us to generate some fantastic local PR about the group.

Closely missing out on the Top 5, but still well worthy of a mention are:

Joining the RSPB – this is a bit of a strange one but back in the summer we went along to our local RSPB reserve at Sandy Lodge for a walk in the woods. We absolutely fell in love with the place, so much so that we took out a family membership for the year. It was quiet, tranquil and so, so beautiful. But more than that it was a totally safe, open space in which the girls could run around and explore. Often when you take toddlers and young children out for the day you are so preoccupied with the potential dangers of traffic, water, heights etc that you cannot relax yourself. But in the RSPB woodland (or The Forest as my girls call it) they are free to be inquisitive children, and we can relax and enjoy ourselves too.

2009 Mumpreneur Conference – this was such a happy, positive day, as well as an opportunity to meet face to face loads of the people we were following on Twitter, and make some really helpful connections. Working for yourself can be a lonely experience, but to meet so many other mums, all busy making their own businesses a sucess, really highlighted to me that even when I’m on my own, I’m not alone. Can’t wait for next years Conference on 18th September!

Discovering Mojitos – like a dripping tap I kept hearing mention of this cocktail throughout the year but had no idea what it was. After 4 fairly sober years where I had either been pregnant or breastfeeding, 2009 was the year when I rediscovered alcohol! And thanks to some really glowing recommendations I finally tried my first Mojito in December – and I fear I may now be ruined forever!

My KitchenAid Artisan mixer – it is a fact universally acknowledged that I like baking, and eating, cake. So when Father Christmas kindly brought me my very own KitchenAid mixer – in Boysenberry (which is a blackcurrantly/purple shade to you and me) – my first thought was ”more cake baking!” My favourite celebrity chef is, without doubt, Nigella Lawson, and when I first saw her using her KitchenAid mixer I just knew I had to have one. So to christen my mixer (who I think I shall name Boycie!!) I will be making Nigella’s Chocolate Guiness Cake. Nom nom.

So now, after my trip down memory lane, I am going to pass on the baton to 5 of my blogging buddies - Sandy at Baby Baby, Natalie at Bambino Goodies & Self-employed Mum, Josie at Sleep is for the Weak, Wendy over at The Life of Wendy Wife and Liz at Living with Kids. Ladies, will you share with everyone your High 5 of 2009 and then tag 5 of your pals so they can do the same?

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I find New Year a strange mix of emotions - a time of reflection on the year just ending and the promise and potential of the year to come.  7 years ago I started a little personal tradition of writing myself a letter on New Year’s Eve. I have usually started to think about this in the weeks leading up to New Year, as I open the one from the previous year just after Christmas. I tend to forget over the course of the year what I have written, and it is lovely to open the envelope and rediscover what I had hoped for.  It is a lovely way of reflecting on the different aspects of the year and noting what has happened as hoped for, but also that which hadn’t been expected or planned.

So, what do I write about?  It is usually a mixture of hopes, wishes and goals, which relate to me, my friends and family and my work life. Since I have started doing this there has always been at least 1 and sometimes up to 5 new babies expected in the coming year, and so their safe arrival is something which always features. However on a couple of occasions I get to New Years Eve and we have had new babies born which were not even known about at the time of writing!

I always like to reflect on my personal relationships with those closest to me and think about how they can be maintained or improved. However, sometimes the letter has included a resolution to be stronger and cut ties with relationships which are not so positive.

Since being a mum my working life has been very varied, very eclectic and almost constantly changing so I always tend to give myself at least a general direction, or vague guidance about where I would like to be with regard to work by the end of the following year. For example last year I made the decision that I would stop working in the evenings as it no longer fitted in with family life.

I have found my annual letter a really helpful way for me to deal with some of the bigger and more emotional hurdles.  When I wrote my first letter my mum was terminally ill, so I made a wish about how those last few months would be. The following year I wrote “……and I hope that the pain of losing my mum will not be so raw every day and we all learn, not to forget,  but just miss her less”. More recently mentions of my mum have been to do with how I think she would feel about my life, or how I am going to ensure my children learn about the Gran they never knew.

I also write about the small, the practical and the more mundane things – like repaint the hall, tidy the front garden and remember to put the bins out on the right day! Very often different things can be related to each other - so ‘get a better paid job’ will also help with ‘have a family holiday abroad’ and my ‘not working in the evenings’ also had a positive effect on ‘spend more time with husband’.

The idea of the letter is not to be a list of ‘New Years resolutions’ (which are likely to be forgotten and broken by January!).  It is more a series of reflections and feelings,  a purely personal dialogue, and one which I don’t want to see pinned on a wall or shared with anyone. Many of the things I hope and wish for I have no control over - they either will happen or not. Other times they are things I can control, and if they continue to be important to me then I am likely to achieve them. Sometimes the letter has been a list, sometimes a couple of paragraphs and other years it may be a few pages.  As it is purely private and personal there is no pressure on its appearance or grammatical accuracy…..it is more a stream of consciousness.

So right now I am looking forward to reading last year’s letter to myself to see what I managed to achieve and to see how far I’ve come this year. And on New Years Eve I will be putting down on paper everything I want to improve and would like to achieve in 2010, no doubt accompanied by a nice glass of wine to help my letter writing flow!

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