Do you have to make noise and smile widely? (OCC Belarus Day 2)

This is a question that the team here in Belarus have been asking ourselves since yesterday.

Tomorrow and Sunday we have two live webcasts (God willing) to transmit to the UK from a live Christmas shoebox distribution here in Belarus and what are the people back home expecting to see I wonder?  Hmm, I suspect they may be looking for children whooping, jumping for joy and beaming big smiles. So much work has gone on in the UK to help these 9000 odd boxes make it safely to Belarus that it would just be the icing on the cake to see how much they are loved.

However, I have a little concern, having now met a number of Belarusian children it is evident that children are far more traditional and reserved here (especially in front of adults and esteemed guests at that - yes that's us! lol), they are extremely well mannered and polite but quite distant at first too - not in a bad way, they just appear cautious and watchful until they know you a little better.

When I was in Ethiopia just two months ago I had to ask the local people if it was OK to hug the children or to lift them up as they literally throw themselves at you with open arms and want to be loved and feel affection. I do not have this dilemma in Belarus as the children maintain a distance and smile coyly if I catch their eye.

It would be easy to be fooled into thinking that Belarusian children have no sense of fun or joie de vivre but by chance yesterday, after we had spent time with a group of children at a social shelter and then gone for tea with the adults we asked if we could see more of the centre and we got taken unannounced into the older boys dormitory bedroom and there was the sight I wanted to see. All those children happy together, engaged in free play and chatting about their boxes and what they had received and what could be swapped.


It is not a great photo but you can see how natural the children are here interacting with each other.

Then today we visited a family home and again the children were quiet and appeared underwhelmed with their gifts, but then as we went upstairs for a quick tour we got to watch the children being natural with each other as all the foreign guests had gone (or so they thought) and this is when you see them really happy and at ease.

I pray you'll get to see some children on the webcasts who are able to relax and show you how much they appreciate the gifts you have given them. You can rest assured they will turn up in their best outfit (perhaps their only outfit) to make a good impression for you.

Just remember that if they look a little apprehensive or pensive it is because this is a very different occurrence for them to their everyday life and they have not been taught to embrace difference but to be aware of it.

Once the camera stops and we leave the room then the real fun starts for them and you have been part of that, thank you and God bless, Mich x

There is still time to make a shoebox online if you would like to - visit Shoebox World.

Blogging Awards - What's Your Opinion?



Image Credit

It's that time of the year again. 

Last week I was happily reading through some of my regular blogs and I came across the first BIB (Brilliance in Blogging) badge and a post from the author asking their readers to nominate for them.  Now, before you get carried away with trying to second-guess me I do not have a problem with anyone making their readers aware of a competition or asking for their nominations/ votes.  This post is written purely from a personal perspective.

This year there are two major awards in the UK parenting blogosphere, the BritMums Brilliance in Blogging awards, which will be presented at an evening ceremony at BritMums Live in June and the MAD Blog awards, which if last year is anything to go by will be celebrated with a ceremony September time.  I have to be honest and say I would prefer if there was just one set of awards, I do not really want to have to make a choice of which to put myself up for but to be honest I don't want to have to 'go through it all' twice. Ohh decisions, decisions.

Why Thank You Kind Ladies!

Last week I was very happy to go onto twitter and find 4 mentions that I had been nominated for blog awards.  How fab is that?  I am very grateful and honoured that you ladies wish to bestow your awards on me.

First up we have the Smile award  and I received this from Carole, Paula and Wendy too! Wendy even said I helped her to see joy in the mundane and grace in small things, ahh I am nearly tearful now.  I had no idea I was so wonderful!  All 3 of these bloggers have started their blogs within the last 6 months and they all make for very good reads, so do go visit them and share some blogger love.

Then the other (naff!) award I received was from Jen at The King and Eye and this is the most amazing blog.  If you have not been over to visit Jen then you are truly missing out.  I always feel like I am round a good friends having a cuppa and a chat when I pop into Jen's.  She is a real community maker and a totally nice person too.

The memetastic award was created by Jillsmo and she attached the following rules -

1. You must proudly display the absolutely disgusting graphic that I have created for these purposes (put it in your post, you don't have to put it in your sidebar, I think that would seriously be asking too much). It's so bad that not only did I use COMIC SANS, but there's even a little fucking jumping, celebrating kitten down there at the bottom. It's horrifying! But its presence in your award celebration is crucial to the memetastic process we're creating here. If you need a higher resolution version... I totally have one!!

2. You must list 5 things about yourself, and 4 of them must be bold-faced lies. Just make some shit up, we'll never know; one of them has to be true, though. Of course, nobody will ever know the difference, so we're just on the honor system here.

3. You must pass this award on to 5 bloggers that you either like or don't like or don't really have much of an opinion about. I don't care who you pick, and nobody needs to know why.

So here we go, these are my five, but which one is true?

1. I am currently in the 65th spot of the January Tots100 index.
2. I lost my virginity when I was 14 and I am not particularly proud of that fact!
3. I actually have 4 kids, I had my eldest when I was 12 and as such my parents raised her, so I think of her as my sister.
4. I am a great skater and I used to compete as a child.
5. I harbour a secret ambition to be a F1 racing driver.

So can you spot the truth when it stares you right in the face?  I know some of you will as you will have known me since I was a child! lol

Now I have to nominate 5 other bloggers for this truly fabulous (Jen called it Naff!) award -

Laura @ Yummy Mummy, Flabby Tummy (which I do not believe for a moment, just to add!)
Rebecca @ Two become Four
Alethea @ Mom on a Wire
Jay @ Mocha Beanie Mummy (as I would love to try and guess what her true one is!)
Hannah @ Metal Mummy

Before anyone even has to ask, these are bloggers I love!

Pick of the Best!

Here are some great blogs which I follow and I want to give them a shout out and ask you to pop over and visit them and show some blogger love.


Walking with Angels - Sara is a really courageous Mum of 4 (and sometimes more, as she fosters). Her blog is from the heart and is full of tales of her walk with Christ and her love for all her kids. This lady has a massive heart and you will fall in love with her.

A couple of weeks ago Sara awarded me the above award (thank you honey) and I am supposed to tell you 7 things about myself that you do not already know. I am hard pushed to think of 7 new things so I am breaking the rules and instead I am giving this gorgeous award to these wonderful blogs I will list here.

Mummy Mayhem - Isn't this a perfect title for a Mummy blog? Jodie has me in stitches, a great lady from Oz who always has something interesting to blog about.

The King and Eye - Jen is a mummy of three and one of her little men has autism, she tells the story of her life and talks a lot about what it is practically like living with a child with autism. She seems the most lovely of women and always makes time to comment on 100's of posts! Respect to you Jen.

Casa Di Cass - is a really fun place. Big Mama Cass posts from the USA and I am always guaranteed a smile when I visit her.

So there are 4 of my favourite blogs right now. Thanks ladies for being great bloggers and readers alike. I hope to get to know you better over the coming months/ years! Mich x

Legend in My Own Living Room!

Yep, that is me. A complete legend in my own living room! Successful Mummy blogger - oh go on then, give me that title if you will. Not taking myself too seriously, you bet!

Both here and on hundreds of other blogs have been debates and post about what makes you successful in this parent/ mummy/ daddy blogging arena. I have got very down before when I did not feel I was doing too well and today I am pleased to say I feel pretty chipper! Last month on a whim I decided to put myself forward for Technorati acknowledgment and for a Tots 100 rating.

I have no idea what Technorati measures me on but I think I was told that a rating of about 600 was a good popular blog and that those higher than that 'were just showing off'. My rating at first was about 140 and now it is 430 and I think that is pretty presentable for someone who has just been out there for about 6 months and has limited followers and commenter's. I suppose some of it might be that I know I have a fair amount of people reading who never or rarely comment on my post but I hear from them in real life, by phone, via facebook, text or email. So my engagement can be really good but just not always on my blog. A while back that might have bothered me, as all that 'engaging' was not effecting my blog stats but now my sanity has returned I realise I would rather be having that engagement with people through a real life medium rather than my blog anyway.

Also I mentioned I put myself forward for a Tots 100 rating, and this rates the top 100 parenting blogs in the UK and it rates them over loads of criteria, most of which I have no idea. I must go and investigate, I am sure Sally wrote a good post a while back about it all. My rating has come up as 181 and I am super pleased with that. I do very little promotion to get that figure, I just blog and try and be me. This surprised me a bit as other blogs which I feel are far more 'popular' or better than mine have lower ratings, so this has given me a little boast and for today I feel I am doing a good job, or certainly a good enough job.

So now we know I am a good enough parent and seemingly a good enough blogger. What are you good enough at?

It is FloYoBlog Friday - go and visit Brenda at MummyTime. There are some fab other blogs in this hop too.

Thank you for my awards

Thank you to Beth at My Good Life for tagging me for the above two awards and thanks to Purple Ramblings for tagging me for the one below. I am a lucky girl!


Right lets get this blog back up to a happy place. I am still not quite right physically but when have I ever let that keep me down! A while back a couple of fab newish bloggers tagged me for meme's and awards and I have been too tied up in myself to get on with it and follow the rules. So here I am being a good girl.

The rules for accepting the awards passed to me by Beth are -

1. List 7 things about me!
2. Pass onto 15 of my favourite bloggers.

and the rules for the one passed to me by purple ramblings seem very similar - but I have to reveal 7 things that I have not told people before.
So I am going to cheat and just reveal 7 things about me and hope that covers both awards (sorry if that is a cop out!).

Gosh, this feels really hard, I am so darn open and honest that I think I might possibly have told you everything there is to know about me! and for those of you reading this who know me in real life - sorry I know you already know!

Fact 1
I met dh when I was 21, we were both trainee managers for the same hotel company. I was sent to Eastbourne to work at his hotel for the Christmas period and I thought I had been banished to the worst place on earth, little did I know I would fall in love...

Fact 2
I can not stand the feel of wood in my mouth. It turns my stomach, this is a funny little phobia I have but it stops me eating those little ice cream tubs and some lollies.

Fact 3
I became a Christian when I was 28. Dh and I wanted to get married and the local Vicar at the church dh wanted to get married insisted we attend an Alpha course. I thought it would be so awful with little old ladies quoting scripture at me. Little did I know it would change mine and Dh's lives for the better.

Fact 4
I want to work for God. I have this desire to do some work which is really worthwhile and will actually visibly help people. I have always had this inkling that at some point dh and I will run a Christian retreat or conference centre and we will all live on site and this will be a fab way for our kids to grow up.

Fact 5
I have changed so much in the last few years. I looked back last week at a notebook from 2004 and in it I had written my goals for the future, I was reading a life coaching book on holiday. The goals were all about shallow things, like a 4 bed house with a u shape drive, 2 posh cars, being slim and sexy so I could turn heads (Gosh am I embarrassed that I wrote that!), having great sex always, having a fab wardrobe etc etc and nothing about my spiritual life. If you asked me nowadays for the most important goal for the future it would be to be a secure and happy family serving Christ wherever was appropriate. Now do not get me wrong this would not be easy to do as I am still sinfully shallow and love possessions but I am getting better and growing!

Fact 6
I really want to learn to Salsa with dh. This is just hilarious as dh and I are both big hippos but we are up for a bit of fun! We had put this on hold due to the pregnancy but now we can look into this again. I think this time spent together each week will keep us solid together. The marriage course was wonderful for starting that and then to be honest being PG had us more separate than together as I was so tired.

Fact 7
Not very revealing about me but I am excited about it none the less. I am having my garage converted into a proper room and this will give us another large reception room. Once I can pile all the toys and PC into and throw the kids in there to make a mess, leaving my front room nice and tidy for me to enjoy! yay The financing is now sorted and we need to get the gate in the back garden, the shed built and everything out of the garage and then late summer the new room will happen.

As for tagging people I think I am so late in the day with these awards that I will just say, If you have not done the meme or been awarded the award please feel free to help yourself and have a go!

The Thank Yous.....

I don't have any great fun way to say this, I wish I did but like always all I can do is be me and be honest. When you are at Uni or in sales or marketing or anything like that they always talk about your USP (unique selling point) and you can probably tell that I have never given mine for this blog much thought. I suppose the overriding factor of this blog is that I am honest and very open and that I do not fluff over things. If things are crap I will spell it out. I secretly wish I could be like some other bloggers and be witty and creative in my writing but lets be honest I never even took English at GCSE, this is the girl who preferred to do drama!

This blog was created as an outlet for me and created on a whim, then not used for a year! I find writing this blog completely therapeutic and in the last month I have found it very consuming as well, as I learn about all the things to do with Mummy blogging and get to know loads of wonderful new people.

So what am I wittering about here? I just want to say thank you really to lots of people and this is my way of doing so....

Sticky Fingers, Tara
Thank you for writing a blog which inspired me to be a mummy blogger rather than just a depressed overeater writing her own self-indulgent diary.

House of Twins, Jo
Thanks for being a real life twin mummy friend and for being my first (and for about a year only! lol) google follower.

It's a Mummy's Life, Holly
Thank you for being you. I feel as if I get you and you visit me regularly. That rocks!

Young and Younger, Heather and Two {become} four (is it Rebbecca?)
Thank you for being superstar twin mummies and both awarding me the lovely Sunshine award, thus making my weekend! Twin Mums rock!

Little Mummy, Erica
Thanks for your great e-bloggers course that she is sending me - for free! You can get it to if you like.

Crystal Jigsaw
Thanks for being super friendly to me and giving me helpful tips when I first dipped my toe into the sea that is twitter (I am still only ankle deep!)

The Mad House, Jen
Thanks for having wonderful creative ideas and sharing them too. Still loving those lolly flowers for valentines

The Life of the Twenty Something Mum, Claire
Thanks for tagging me for a meme when I was still very new on the scene and being really sweet and kind to me when she was having a tough bloggy time herself.

3 Bedroom Bungalow to let In Crazy Town, Kat
Dear Kat, I have only just found your blog recently but already your Dear so and so posts have made my belly hurt from laughing! Thanks, Mich x

Bringing up Charlie, The Dotterel AKA Tim
Thanks for including me in a blog post to encourage others to check out new blogs (namely mine!), thanks also for being a super friendly Daddy blogger.

To all the other people who subscribe to my blog and leave me great comments. You make my day! Thanks.

So, all you wonderful people above, consider yourself tagged for this Sunshine Award (if you have not been already). You and your blogs are inspirational and fill my world with Sunshine. I look forward to seeing who you tag and maybe discovering a new blog or two. I have also just sat here for 30 minuets or so and tracked back where this award came from and that has been an interesting journey with some new finds. Amazing how an award moves across the blogsphere!

Here are the rules for accepting this little slice of sunshine award -
• Put the Logo on your sidebar, or within a post.
• Pass the award onto 12 Bloggers that you think are ace.
• Link the nominees within your post.
• Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
• Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.