JJ's Birthday, Family Visit and Taking Time #R2BC

Happy Thursday friends. Today is my baby boys birthday and he turns 15, I can hardly believe how quick times goes by. I'm so pleased to say that I still really like him and enjoy spending time with him. I don't think he's your average 15 year old (if there is such a thing) as he is mostly found at home and thankfully not getting into all the mischief I was at his age.

He still agrees to come out for a coffee with me and if I ask him for help, he is generally there, so I count myself lucky. But of course I still get that bit of teenage attitude at times, although I think his Dad does more than me. I'm so grateful that I'm here when he returns from school as those are the times he wants to chat to me.

I'm excited to see what his future holds, he is a really bright kid and I hope he keeps applying his intellect and doing well at school, so he can have the best opportunities open to him when he decides what he will go on to do as a career. Happy birthday my boy, we love you.

I mentioned last week that my parents and Aunt were staying for a week and that was fab, they were able to help me when I felt ill, they had the girls to stay whilst my husband and I took JJ out for his birthday meal and cinema, we had lots of meals out together and had a visit to Batemans, where I got a rare photo of me with both parents.

24 Hours in London - Reasons to be Cheerful #R2BC

This week I'm dedicating my reasons to be cheerful post to a great 24 hours last weekend spent with my Mum in London, belatedly celebrating Mothers Day. We've done this the last few years and it is a really nice treat to look forward to.

We start the weekend off with me heading over to meet Mum at Waterloo and enjoy a good cup of coffee at Costa, of course having a right old natter to catch up on what has been going on since we last spoke. The weather is then far too nice to head down to the underground so we walk along the South Bank and take in the street performers and the great atmosphere on the way to Westminster tube station.

There we pick up the tube to go to High Street Kensington as we are staying in the Holiday Inn just off the High Street and only a few minutes walk from the tube station. It proves to be an excellent hotel and I'll write up a review, even though I paid for it as my Mums Christmas gift.

The Highs and Lows of my Spa Day at The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne

What a lovely day it has been. I've been at the Spa with a friend and thoroughly enjoyed a workout in the gym, a swim, jacuzzi, steam, relax and then delightful afternoon tea. Can I do it all again tomorrow please?

A post shared by Michelle Pannell (@michelletwinmum) on Jan 29, 2018 at 11:53am PST

Earlier this week I enjoyed a leisure day at The Grand Hotel Spa in Eastbourne with my friend Annie. I had some spa vouchers to use and it seemed a good idea to gift Annie half as her Christmas present. I choose the Grand Hotel as it isn't far from our homes and as it is a 5 star hotel I expected the spa to be pretty luxurious and it certainly looked good in the photos on the website.

We arrived to the hotel about half an hour before I had booked our treatment times and our first struggle was finding some free parking. The streets round the hotel generally have free on-street parking but it was super busy. You can park in the grounds of the Grand but that's £25 a day and you pay to park on the seafront as well. Luckily just as I was about to give in and pay we found a space close by and headed in to the hotel. We were greeted by a lovely jolly doorman who gave us instructions were to go. Let the fun commence!

The first impression of the hotel is fabulous, it's not called the Grand for nothing but as we headed in the lift to the basement the view gets consistently more grotty. Old carpet, plain cream walls and not a touch of glamour in the corridors or reception areas. Thankfully the staff were in total contrast to the look of the area and they were great. Really friendly, super professional and nothing was too much trouble for them.

Dear So and So - A Relaxing Summer

Mich,

Do you know what summer is for? It is for enjoying, for making the most of. For spending time with those you love, for making memories.

Let me give you a few ideas of things you can get up to whilst you are breaking the norms this summer -

• sit on the bench outside your door on an evening and enjoy a cool glass of rose
• wiggle your toes in the sand when you visit the beach
• read a book in the park whilst the kids all play
• enjoy three flavours of ice cream in one cone (that's right, push the boat out - all three together!)
• enjoy a moonlit stroll with dh on the seafront
• play tennis (badly) at the park with the kids
• make some cards so you have a stock for future birthdays
• make progress with your tapestry
• bake with the kids
• spend time with friends and make an effort to be sociable!

Summer plans #GetGoodSummer

You'll know (because I have been constantly boring you) that my family are moving to the countryside at the end of July and this means we have the whole month of August to enjoy before the kids formally start at their new school. What will we do with our time I start to wonder to myself?

I keep seeing posts about the plans people are making for their summer holidays and then the lovely Clare at Clarinas Contemplations tweeted me to see if I might like to join in with #GetGoodSummer, the idea being that you don't waste your summer and you set yourself five goals to achieve over the summer period. I read her post and thought it was a lovely idea and I understand that for some summer may pass by in a haze of days achieving nothing. But for me this year I want to have the whole of the month of August doing not a lot!

For at least the last twenty years I have spent most every day working to plan, living by to-do lists and knowing exactly what I will do and where I am going, so what I really need is to do nothing much. I will set myself five goals for the summer and join in with #GetGoodSummer but it will be all about the chill time.

I saw that Jen at the Madhouse is having a free range summer and inviting other bloggers to link up with her each week over the summer.  This sounds perfect for my family, one of the main pulls of moving to the countryside is that our children will be able to be free-range kids learning the boundaries and growing in responsibility as they are allowed to go out and explore and enjoy the 220 acres of countryside that we will be living in. I love the idea that kids should be allowed to get bored, it is in those times that they find their real creativity and start to really enjoy themselves.

So what are my five goals over the summer months?

1. Be more absorbed in my kids than my house. It would be so easy to move in at the end of July and then to spend the next month getting my house straight, buying all those last things we need, unpacking every box, finding a home for all our belongings but then I'd wake up one morning and be ready to play with the kids and realise it was September and they were at school.  They can't happen, the house can wait.

2.  Spend time every single day with God.  Just me and Him, in silence, in prayer, in meditation, in singing - in whatever suits that moment but it must happen every day as I need to start as I mean to go along and not allow anything to get in the way of the most important relationship in my life.

3.  Tell dh I love him every day. I have missed my husband so much in these last couple of weeks of being separate that I need to remind him how much he means to me. Becoming complacent in a relationship is not OK and we need to start our date night again and both make more effort.

4.  Be mindful of my overeating. I'm not actually sure what is the right way forward with my food. I know I am eating too much and the wrong things. I need to loose weight but I don't know how to do it. So for now I commit to being mindful of what I am eating, I will plan my meals and adhere to my meal plans.

5.  To get moving.  Like the goal above I have no real idea what to do exercise wise, I mentioned about walking the lakes and that is fine. But realistically for August I'll have the kids in tow all month, so I need to find things to do with them - basketball, catch, swimming and just generally running around. I need to catch the exercise bug and as long as I end the summer fitter and enjoying getting moving more than when I start, I'll be happy.

So there we go, 5 things to keep me focused over the next couple of months.

Do you fancy joining in with either of these summer linkies?  Head over and see the hosts and find out more....

Catch you soon, Mich x

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I sang, danced, spoke, cried and laughed at BritMums Live

Ready to start the day on Saturday

Saturday I returned from BritMums Live and boy what a whirlwind weekend it has been. I had such a fun time and loved being a BritMums butterfly, it was a real privilege to get to talk to a million and one different bloggers.  OK, that is an a bit of an exaggeration but I honestly think I managed to say hi to at least 300 people.

What did I think of the conference? Brilliant, amazing, great fun, super, emotional, touching, a privilege - there are so many words I could use to describe my time out this weekend. I hardly went to a session at all and I think that is what comes of having been to a few conferences and having blogged for quite a number of years now. This weekend was all about the people - the meals with friends, the coffee shared, the hugs (yes even the hugs and I'm so not a hugger), the frivolous conversations with people I have chatted online to for ages but never yet met in real life and meeting a whole bunch of newer bloggers for the first time. BritMums Live is brilliant, I do love it and I will be coming again next year and yes I'll be a butterfly again if they'll have me.

Finding my style...
One thing I really enjoyed this conference that I've not experienced before was a style consultation with TK Maxx. This is not the normal type of thing I would sign up for, my assumption would be that there is not that much they can do for me as I'm pretty large and that really I'm doing OK myself anyway.  I was sent to take a seat and this uber glamorous red-head greeted me with a big smile. She asked me what I was there for, what did I want to know?  Ohh, no idea I told her, I had just heard that the sessions were fab and I got brave for five minutes. I started to feel a tad nervous and gabbling about how I never did things like this as I'm fat and fat people don't have stylists.

My stunning TK Maxx stylist

I need not have worried, she was really lovely and made me feel so at ease. There wasn't any outfits for me to try on (being a large lady) and to be honest I was glad of that as it was too hot but we did go in the dressing room together and she asked if she could adjust my bra to show me the difference good underwear can make.  Well let it be known that when you hoick my bra up I look far slimmer. I always thought I did OK in terms of bra fit but it turns out I should probably go down a back size and go up two cup sizes. What a difference this made to me, my torso lengthened visibly and for the first time in years my boobs looked bigger than my belly - yay!

Never before have I seen any value in personal styling but I would definitely give it a go for real now.  I'm thinking the MAD blog awards in September will be a great time to see what someone can do for me, although of course you perhaps need to be a bit cautious with a free personal shopper/ stylist who works for a store as they have an obligation to get sales and I wonder if they might tell me I looked fabulous when really it was just OK.

It was good to hear that I am doing some things right in the style and fashion stakes. Apparently wearing patterns on my torso is a good move as this breaks up my ahem 'problem area' and then instead of the light cardi I had on Saturday I should go for dark colours to slim me down but pinning my butterfly badge just under my chest to create a soft waterfall look at the front of the cardi was a smart move.

The stylist (I really should have asked her name!) asked me what bodyshape I felt I was and I said presumably an apple as all my weight retains around the middle, I have at least 4 or 5 spare tyres instead of the classic one.  She got me to stand up and do a spin and informed me I was in fact an hourglass but I was just retaining some excess tummy weight. Ohh make my day, how fabulous to hear that if I lose some weight I would go all Jesscia Rabbit.

She told me layered tops, ones with detailing at the tummy area and those with fabrics that lift away from my tummy are the right way forward. I can even wear little belts to help accentuate my waist.  I told her I lost my waist many years ago and no she tells me I'm wrong, if my boobs are wear they should be I in fact have a good waist it is just higher than I might have thought. Apparently I'm balanced in terms of my shoulders to my hips but I could do with a narrower leg on my jeans. She confirmed that I'm right to go with high-waisted jeans so I don't get cut in the middle.

I was interested to hear that if I am wearing light colours on my top half I should go bold with my lipstick to give a focal point but if I am wearing bold and dark colours on top then no lipstick is necessary, it is all about my eyes. Of course the suggestion came up that I should wears heels sometimes, particularly wedges and do I really like wedges but the comfort factor is so much more with flats I find.

All this advice managed to fit into about ten minutes and I was a happy lady. I have a £100 Debenhams voucher at the moment and I'll be scheduling myself a bra fitting in the near future.  I have always thought that £25 was a lot of money for a bra but after this advice I imagine I might be spending a whole lot more than that!

With the beautiful Butterflies (image credit - A Residence)

Speaking with confidence
I sat on a panel on Saturday afternoon to talk about what it is like to work with charities, we only attracted a small intimate audience and this was great as it meant we could really chat to people and answer their questions. Check out my top tips post if you would like to work with charities and you can see what happened on my blogger journeys to Ethiopia and Belarus last year for a flavour of how things can work with blogger/ charity partnerships.

The highlight of the event...
Had to be the blogger keynote speakers and the tribute to Kerry (Our own Multiple Mummy). It was an immense privilege to end the conference singing my heart out to 'Kerry you are a firework' and remembering her beauty and contribution to parent blogging. It was also special to honour the other MM Matilda Mae and I was so proud to watch Jennie conduct herself with such elegance cross the whole weekend. Kylie from Not even a bag of sugar also excelled herself reading her post 'Jimmy Saville is Dead'. Then as a tonic to the sadness it was great to laugh along with some fabulous bloggers with more light hearted posts.

Watch out for me at BritMums Live 2014 I hope to be arriving a much more clothes confident Mich than I did this year.......  see you then.

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Enjoy the silence

Dh came home from work Saturday and sat down to watch some TV to unwind and he was bang out of luck.  The Virgin Media box seems to have given up and they can't come until Tuesday to fix it, well we are both busy Tuesday so Wednesday it is and you know what I have loved it without the TV.

So often it gets put on as background noise and the kids will be playing, colouring etc and then they get distracted by the TV and you know how it is sometimes, you can hardly get an answer from them as they are  glued to some silly program like iCarly or Jessie.

These few days without the TV have seen our kids play together more, play outside more and get the Lego out to build a city together - hoorah!

JJ is slightly concerned that these days of abstinence have put ideas into Mummy and Daddy's head and yes they have. We won't have cable TV at our new house and we will probably have some very firm rules about how much it can be on.

Dh and I were talking tonight about when we were kids and there was only a few hours in a week when they showed programs we wanted to watch and you looked forward to those times.

This is the way forward for our new life in the country.

Living instead of watching!

Tell me how you mange the TV in your house, do you have rules? time limits? set boundaries?  I'm interested to find out more....

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If you like what you have read and want to stay up-to-date then subscribe by email for free and receive blog posts directly to your in-box - just click the link Subscribe to Mummy From The Heart... by Email or perhaps you like to keep all your blog reading in one place, if that is the case you can follow me on BlogLovin too!

Reasons to be Cheerful - C is for... (week 24)

It’s Thursday and you surely by now know what that means – Reasons to be Cheerful!  Welcome to this week’s edition, I hope you have some super cheery things to share with us.

For me, I am continuing with the letter theme that I started a couple of weeks ago, so this week the things I am grateful for are starting with the letter C.  Here goes –

1.       Cloverley Hall – This weekend I am going for a weekend away with about 10 ladies from my Church.  There are some organised sessions but there will be a lot of down time and I intend to use this to refresh myself.  I am feeling pretty burnt out at the moment and I dearly need some down time.  A good book, a cuppa and if the weather holds up some lovely countryside walks are just what I need.

2.       Camping – while I relax in the comfort of Cloverley Hall my lovely dh will be camping with his cubs and all 3 of our kids.  Rather him than me is all I can say.  Please Lord could you let this rain ease up for them, I’m not sure how well my little ladies will cope.

3.       Counselling – As you will know I am on a journey to try and sort my weight out and I have realised that until I sort my head issues, my body has no chance, so I am trying out some counselling and have my first appointment today – we will see how it goes.

Short and sweet this week, but I am on a race against time to get everything done before I go away tomorrow. Time for you to share, what is making you happy, cheerful or grateful?  Write your post, link it up.  Take the blog hop code if you fancy and pop it at the bottom of your post and then go visit some others and leave some comment love. I promise if you comment here, I’ll come do the same and I’ll try to get to everyone who links up but no promises as I am having a computer free weekend.

Have a great week ahead.  Mich x

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Link up now -

#SilentSunday: Time For A Change...

Dedicated to @CosmicGirlie who is having a week off her link-up this week, while she takes part in a big important Concert. Thinking of you Jay x

Taking time to be thankful

(Above the kids having fun at the park and left my crafty collage from the weekend away).

I am in a completely different place today to what I was last Thursday, thank God (literally!).

I am extremely blessed and for today I can see that and I am enjoying all the wonderful things around me. I am remaining calm and unstressed and just enjoying having some time to myself to catch up on jobs that need doing and are so hard to complete with 3 small people in tow! The girls are at nursery, JJ is at school and I have another 1.5 hours before I collect him but instead of feeling that is not enough and worrying about that (that I normally would) today I am looking forward to seeing my boy and taking him for a hair cut and then having a play for a while before we collect the girls. Once the girls are collected we are all having a KFC treat on the way home and that means no cooking or clearing for me! yay A is at work and won't be home until about 11pm so tonight I will take the opportunity to catch up on some TV while doing the ironing and getting some ebay bits sorted and photographed.

So how have I changed so much in a few days? well as always it is by the grace of God. I went to ED last Thursday night and was able to rant and uncoil and then a good sleep does me the world of good so by the time I woke Friday I was ready to tackle the world. The girls and I met some good friends at soft play and I enjoyed sliding and crawling around with them, actually taking the time to enjoy them rather than being self-centered and just chatting with the other mummy. Then at 2pm off I went with a friend to Ely, leaving dh with the kids for the weekend. Yep completely selfish but so necessary and I have changed over the weekend. Prayer, reflection, time alone, meditation, sharing and some crafty therapy have grounded and calmed me and I have taken perspective and know my babes and A are the most important things.

I returned at 2pm on Sunday to a fab chorus of 'Mummy', then all the family went out shopping (the kids behaved just lovely) and we went to the park for the kids to run off some energy. What a fun couple of hours dh and I had, we played tag, had a walk through the woods, did piggy backs (with the kids - not each other!!! lmao), Miss M and I laid on the grass and watch ed the clouds and then JJ joined us to watch the planes. We met and petted loads of dogs and basically had a fun time laughing our socks off. errr why do we not do this more often? It cost nothing and everyone had a great time. Must make a mental note.

A quick update

Hey all, I will blog properly tomorrow but just a quick word, as I know some of you read this and worry about me. I am fine and dandy! I have just been away for the weekend since 2pm Friday, only returning today at 2pm, so 48 hours of child free time and yes for once I did miss the kids and dh too and I was pleased to come home. I had the most amazing of weekends and I will tell you all about it tomorrow for now I am off to finish my Indian and chat to my lovely hubby, who was again left holding the babies this weekend! lol

Popotoms meet update

It was fab, I had a great time. It started a bit rocky with me knocking J's shoe under the train but it all ended well and I do feel I have made some good friends. I am definately looking forward to a meet again next year.

J and I were the dancing queens and stayed out til late shaking our booties at the aptly named 'Flares' a 70's club! Then it was lovely to relax in the morning with all the girls and have a leisurely breakfast before a spot of shopping and a super train journey home full of reading and catching some time alone - bliss.

Thanks to all the Popotoms. xx

Doing lots of thinking....

Sorry not to be around much, I have been doing lots of thinking. I just re-read my last post and saw I was supposed to chat to dh last night. I didn't. By the time the kids were asleep it was late and we watched a DVD instead but it was rubbish and I went to bed to be honest. Might try and chat to him tonight, it would be good for us to spend some time together chatting rather than just being in the same room and talking about surface things.

I am reading 'the shack' at the moment and it took me ages to get into it. Dh bought it for me at Easter and I read a little and was disappointed so it sat on the shelf. Then about a week ago I started reading some more and now it is really good. What an interesting book - it has got me thinking. Maybe not what I need, as I am so bogged with thoughts at the moment, trying to ensure that I sort out my eating, get a better marriage, be less angry, have a better relationship with God. I must be aware that sometimes when I think I am being helpful I am actually just bogging myself down more by reading and thinking too much.

So I am trying to work through things and feel I can not take on any more at the moment, time feels scarce and I feel a bit stressed really. Must work through that. So looking forward to this weekend and a night away with the girls - gonna behave like an 18 year old and really enjoy myself.

Need to be more like Mary

At home group last night we discussed the story of mary and Martha and talked about which of the characters we could relate to. Well, anyone who knows me will know I am a Martha: not only will I be running around trying to make sure everything is ready I will also be getting cross with others who are not doing as much as I am. We are a womens home group and all but one of us related to Martha, it does seem to be a trend amongst women.

But..............I would like to stop and take more time to be still and to listen to God and learn to hear what he is saying to me. I have got very good over the last year at doing my daily bible readings and I will be due to finish at the end of April but as always this is a journey and there is still a long way to go. So the next task to tackle is to pray more and just take quiet time with God, that washing will still be there when we have finished and I might even feel more psoitive about it after soem time out with God.