Look Who's Back!

Another milestone in the Costello Family - The Biff, Chip and Kipper reading books are back. Just when the pain had diminished from when the 8YO read them, it starts all over again with the 4YO.

These books have been going for decades as most parents will know - Oh I wish I was more excited about these family members returning to the fold!

Bellies!

Well I'm still sticking to my resolutions mentioned in my last post so as part of that here is my Gallery entry for this week. Tara Cain of Sticky Fingers set the challenge of Body Parts.

There is one particular body part of mine that is quite prominent at the moment being 33 weeks pregnant but for no-one am I allowing it to be photographed - There are no specific shots of my bump during any of my 3 pregnancies. But there will be lots of the baby so hopefully that makes up for it. So that's my entry for this week Bellies!

I love this pic of my little V showing her belly and hope that she is always as proud of it - I have to say I'm particularly proud of how clean and tidy my living room looks too! V is now 4 and quite frequently strips off - wouldn't you if you had that body?

Happy New Year - Whats in store for 2011

Well its Twelve Night and by now all decorations are more than likely to have been packed away, trees taken to the tip (or maybe still in the back garden like we did in 2009) - I hear a lot of people talking about how they are not making resolutions as they will only break them but I love the feeling of something new happening and lots of hope for the year ahead.

I have chosen quite general and loose resolutions for this year as at the end of February we are expecting our 3rd child and who knows what chaos that may bring.

My first resolutions has really come about as a result of being on maternity leave (well, once I have handed in my tax return!) - I will be doing less of my day job of making cakes and in a funny way feel so much freer even knowing that everywhere I go I will have someone small to accompany me and I will have a lot less income. I am very lucky to have a wide circle of friends and thoroughly intend on spending a lot more time with them this year - Be warned and have the kettle on!

For the last half of 2010 I severely lost my reading mojo - I love reading but find if anything changes significantly in my life it is the first thing that suffers (unfortunately I don't stop wanting to buy books so have cupboards and cupboards full of books taunting me) - I am resisting the temptation to join a structured reading countdown but hope for at least 2 a month- got to ease myself in gently!

This will also be the year of being exhausted but hopefully a bit fitter - I intend on walking to school a lot with my pram which should shift a bit of baby weight - once again I am not tying myself down to a particular weight - I have never been that fixated with what I 'should' be but would like to fit into the majority of my wardrobe which is currently shouting at me whilst wearing maternity marquees.

The last of my resolutions is about my online life - the secret life that a lot of my real life friends don't know about and definately don't understand. Blogs in St Helens are not exactly common place and on the odd occasion that I have tried to explain about both my blogs I get vacant glazes. I am booked to attend Cybermummy11 and am muchly looking forward to meeting other bloggers. I am well aware that this blog needs a lot of TLC so watch this space during 2011.

And that's me for now - have you made any resolutions/aims for the year? I am now going to have to search for an appropriate photo to use for this post which reminds me of another resolution...take more pics - hopefully aided by the new camera we are due to receive in Jan.

Its Chriiiiistmas!

Ooh are you getting excited yet? I start getting giddy at the end of August - seriously. There is so much to do and I always run out of time - and I always have a whinge about how much I 'need' to do but I'll let you into a secret ...I love it!

Around this time, I start to think about the Christmas traditions that we have..I know that each family has different ones and I love hearing about them.

One of ours is each betting to guess what colour the Queen is wearing for her speech (not that we tend to watch it, we are normally sitting down for Christmas dinner with a port and lemon at that point). We have a maximum 50p bet - Gamblers Anonymous please don't be alarmed - its only once a year! Its hard work managing to avoid what she's wearing as it is normally on the news the week before but well worth it.

A friend of mine's Dad insists on going downstairs first shouting bye to Father Christmas down the drive saying 'See you next year!" - She is 35 and married with her own son but they won't stop that tradition.

What are your traditions at Christmas? Share them -you may start a craze!

PS The photo is from Christmas 2008 in our living room - Another tradition, the house is a tip in 2 seconds flat!

A quick update ...

Hi to anyone who is still brave enough to lurk around! I've been missing in action for quite a while now but wanted to check in briefly to explain why. I have so many wonderful plans for the blog but something always stops me from posting until now. I always feel that the blog post has to be 'worthy' of posting or have something unique to say but really who cares if it is only a tiny post - I know when I come across blogs that have short posts I am more likely to read until the end - Hell, we are all pressed for time!

So what's coming up?

Well, the biggest addition to the Costello family will be our new baby due end of Feb - I am looking forward to how life will change since we had our last child in 2006. I know I am actively going to have to search for Mum & Baby activities - St Helens isnt the most cosmopolitan of places - come along and join the fun!

There's tons of book reviews, some product reviews, mishaps & misdemeanours from the rest of the Costello clan and don't forget my other food/cake blog which is here

This post didn't end up being that short did it?

A magical trip to Build-a-Bear

We were really lucky a couple of weeks ago to be offered a chance to review a trip to Build-a-Bear in Liverpool. This is our nearest store but there are loads of others nearby too - find your nearest here.

The trip was arranged by the lovely Estelle at Publicasity - As if we'd need asking twice to go!

Up until a year ago I had never ventured into a Build-a-bear thinking how good can it be? The answer is ...very good! My 2 girls, age 8 and 4 just think a trip there is magical and to be honest so do I!

When we arrived at the Liverpool store, everyone that greeted us was really friendly and this treatment carried on all the way through our visit - there were other customers that had queries and it was lovely to see that they were treated kindly and courteously too.

There are loads of bears to choose from, from your more traditional looking teddy bears to your bears of the moment - think Hello Kitty!

Once the bears are chosen, its off to stuff them (with love of course!) and give them their own sound (and even a beating heart if you like!) It would take a heart of stone not to love watching your children go through the ritual of giving the bears their love, letting them know they will think of them and care for them.

Stuffing the bears with love ... sniff!

After that its time to start to look for the outfit - Oh my goodness, these bears have got better wardrobes than me! Just have just got to love the little knickers with space for their tails to go through. And the handbags!! And the little glasses!!!
The oh-so cute knickers!

There is a seasonal section which at the moment is Halloween - They are very of the moment you know! My girls went for the more everyday wear in matching outfits and I swear on the way home we saw a girl wearing the exact same skirt! It was nearly longer than the bear's!
The Halloween section - Do they sell that purple dress in size 10? (ahem!)
Our assistant was Lorna, who I'm sure loved posing for her photo taken - seriously though, she was fantastic for the kids and really encouraged them to pick what 'suits' the bear - I can imagine they are great at parties.


All-in-all our visit took about 50 minutes which I think is about the norm - I would like to thank the staff at Liverpool, Build-a-Bear for making my girls' weekend - they have not stopped playing with them since. A highly recommended experience and one that can be added to at Christmas and Birthday time.

Book Review - Like Bees to Honey - Caroline Smailes

It is safe to say I loved everything about this book - from the wonderful cover, the clever title and most of all the completely original story. I do not want to give too much away about the story as part of it being so special to me was that I knew nothing about it. It was completely different to anything I have ever read but really sucked me in.
The book does detail Malta (a place I had never really considered visiting but now would go in a shot!). There are some really emotional parts but not in a sickly way.
It felt like a really grown up book and I wanted to tell people about it when I was reading it in public!
Please read - you will love it!

I will be doing a book giveaway including this book on the 24th/25th July so keep your eyes peeled!

I also have to do a little bit of showing off now - I was lucky enough to meet Caroline at the book launch for Like Bees to Honey (she is a delight) and as a little pressie I took her some cupcakes with obviously a Bee/Honey theme - Here they are...(shameless plug!)