#R2BC - The Half Year Anniversary Edition!

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Hello all,

Can you believe that this is the 26th Reasons to be Cheerful post.  Where has this last half a year gone to?  It certainly feels as if it has flown by for me.

So my first reason for being cheery today is thinking about all the things we have shared and been glad of in the last half year.  Some of you have been so faithful and linked up so many times @CaroleHiedi @SeasiderClare @WendyMcD83 @PaulaHaylock @Cutleryncater @netcurtains and then we have some lovely new joiners in the last few weeks like @HelenatArdvark @FayC and Rambling Pages.  Thank you everyone who has ever joined in, you make this linky what it is!

Our first trip out with twins aged 3 weeks! Ekk

I have written this post as part of the Tots100 Blog hop, the theme is Baby's first day out, of course for me it was Babies first day out!

Well I say our first trip out, what I mean is our first big day out or notable trip. I am the kind of girl who likes to be out and about even a few days post c-section, even with baby twins. So, from very early on we could often be found down the park or taking a long walk to Morrisons just to get out the house.  3 kids and one smallish house can often equal a very short-tempered mummy is what I used to find.

Our girls were born in mid July in 2007 and the weather was gorgeous, not so great for new babies that need protecting from the sun and get miserable when they are hot but let's be honest if they were my only complaints then really there is nothing to complain about.  Given all the lovely weather and JJ having been such a big and patient older brother we decided to take a family day to Woburn Safari park and to discover the delights they had there. We choose somewhere we had not been before to make it interesting for dh and I and also somewhere we could use our Tesco deals voucher so the day would not become too expensive.

Dear So and So: The #CyberMummy11 Edition

I met Kat at the weekend. You know the very clever Kat, who created the Dear So and So meme, well it has been a while since I have participated and seeing as I met her (she is very lovely) and I love her meme it is high time I joined in again, so here we go with the #CyberMummy11 edition ...

Dear CyberMummy Organisers,

I had a great day; the atmosphere was buzzing, Sarah Brown's keynote speech was heart-warming, the crowd sourced speakers were a real highlight of the day and it was superb to touch base with so many brands and to be able to represent my sponsor Vosene.  However I am, if I am honest (and you may know that is my way) a little disappointed with the content of the sessions.  I am afraid Lord Facebook had nothing really to say of interest, the writing workshop was strange to say the least and some of the other sessions just seemed basic. I expected to come home with a book full of tips that I would implement on my blog and I didn't -sorry.

My Story of Breastfeeding - Reality Bites!

All of us who are mothers have a breastfeeding story, it might not be the one we want but we have it none the less and once the time has passed and we no longer produce milk or have a child that it is appropriate to feed in that manner we can not change it. We have to accept it and move on...

So it saddens me to read posts, tweets or messages in forums about mums who are struggling to breastfeed, being pushed to breastfeed, feel uncomfortable feeding in public or any other reason that feeding their baby is giving them angst. Often these mums state that they feel like a failure and they have not fulfilled their natural role or that perhaps others have made them feel like that and you know what? It is completely wrong!

Image Source I remember those days!

#SilentSunday

Silent Sunday = One photo, no words, taken in the last week!  Enjoy more by clicking the badge below -

#R2BC - Week 25, The #CyberMummy11 Edition

How can I base my reasons to be cheerful this week around anything else to be honest?  I apologise in advance if you are not going to Cybermummy this Saturday and you are sick to death seeing it mentioned all over twitter and on lots of blogs.  I did not go last year and I followed the day on twitter and I promise you that was fun too!

But this year I am going and you know what? I may even have a sponsor....  that's a bit of a shocker isn't it?  I declared I was going under my own steam and now I am pretty excited that I might just have a brand to represent, one that I really buy into.  That was always one of the things that held me back, I did not want to go with a brand that I was not 100% bought into. However this is very late in the day so I may have missed the boat...  we will see.

I am getting really excited about Saturday, yes a touch nervous too but I keep calming myself by counting to 10 and thinking what is the worst that can happen?  I have decided nothing really can go wrong, the worst scenario is that I will slink off back to my hotel room, watch some trashy TV, have a long bath, read a book and lie in the next morning - sounds terrible doesn't it?

So onto the bits I am very excited about -

1. Meeting you lot - all my virtual friends and a few of you I have met before.  It will be totally overwhelming, I have no idea how I will find the time to see everyone. I am going with no plan and just alowing the day to reveal itself.
2. Going out for a lovely curry Saturday night to celebrate the gorgeous @helloitsgemma's birthday
3. Drinking free wine at the said meal, courtesy of Sterimar, @SuperAmazingMums sponsor
4. I'd be lying if I said that it won't be great to receive a load of freebies, courtesy of all the brand represented there.
5. A lie in alone on Sunday morning, followed by a lovely undisturbed bath and then a yummy breakfast somewhere and maybe meet my family in London for a nice day out.

So there we go, that's me!  What is making you happy this week?  Link up your gratitude/ happy/ cheerful post now... Grab the badge is you fancy and don't forget to tweet with #R2BC.








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and now for the bit you regulars who linked up last week have been waiting for.  Who won the £40 bouquet of their choice from Interflora?  Well congratulations Carole Hiedi it was you! Take a look HERE and see what you would like. Maybe you fancy some nice orchids, the summer flowers are just gorgeous. Email or DM me your email address for me to pass onto the PR and they will liaise direct with you about delivery.

Then for anyone else wanting to order flowers online remember to check out Interflora as they have so many florists in London and across the whole of the country. I was highly impressed with the flowers that arrived with me last week and the florist was also fab explaining to me about how to maintain them well.

I hate this feeling!

Gosh, something needs to be done.  When I am at home with my children at the moment I am a bundle of nerves, I am so tightly wound up that it is untrue.  You can just visuliase me as a bomb about to explode! There is no nice comfortable house anymore, not unless Miss M is sat with me, playing with me or in my line of sight.

The child will send me to an early grave.  I do not know what to do with her and it is really getting me down. Today I also feel ill and I just want to go to bed and hide. That's not good is it?

I posted a while back that Miss M was a bit of a pickle and I did not know what to do with her sometimes, she just seems to be so full of mischief.  Now, do not think I am exaggerating, I have 3 kids, this isn't my first.  I am pretty tolerant, I know children test boundaries and get into trouble but I never knew how demanding and troublesome they could be ALL of the time (well OK perhaps the majority of the time).

#TheGallery: Heart Melting Moments

So this weeks theme from Tara  is 3 words, these can be any 3 words and we need to tie our Gallery entry in to them.  So my three words are Heart Melting Moments, you know those times when you are positively ozzing love for your child.  It could be a proud mummy moment or it could just be something they have done or a character trait that makes you love them so very much.

Obviously on Sunday gone it was Fathers Day and my kids had avidly been preparing for this day, they had created a book of doodles for Daddy and a Celebrity magazine spread declaring Daddy was 'Dad of the Year'.  They had all made their cards and taken time doing drawings and trying to form words (that was the 3 year olds in case you are wondering, JJ can write just fine!).  Then before I was even out of bed on Sunday morning JJ appeared upstairs with a tray for Daddy.

Sssh, I've got a blog crush - have you?

You might already know that I am a nosey type, not nasty nosey you understand just wanting to know the ins and outs of things. So I thought it was time that I got to know a bit more about you and delved into your inner workings and thus I created a quick new meme which will help me do that. Let's see what has influenced you in your blogging journey... (be it as a blogger or as a reader)

Introducing the Blog Crush!

This is not a stalker type crush, there are no declarations of love here, this is just a bit of fun so we can all discover which are the blogs that draw you back time and time again.  Did particular blogs or bloggers' styles help you to find who you were in blogging?  Has a particular blogger taught you an important lesson?



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Wanna know who my crushes are?

Here is my orginal crush, the first mummy blog I found, way back in August 2009. The very well-read Sticky Fingers, from my first read I was hooked and every week I go back for more.  I am not a stalker, I don't read every post or comment on all but I am there frequently and never once yet have I been dissapointed. Tara has a very unique voice and that is one of the things I love about her blog. So the thing I learnt from Tara was to be me and be true to myself, blog as I speak (and she taught me all this without ever giving me a piece of advice on the matter - good hey?) On Saturday I get to meet Tara for the first time and she has promised me a big squeeze against her ample bossom, what more could I want?  Oh yeah a couple of Lego mini-figs please for the kids.

I have another little crush I could tell you about too.  This is a newer blogger than Tara but in the scheme of parenting blogging she is well established now.  Holly of It's a Mummy's Life started out in her public blogging journey about the same time I did at the end of 2009 and she was a real friend to me in the early days, encouraging me and commenting.  She has a beautifully candid and real style of writing and is another blog I get drawn back to frequently.  The thing I learnt from Holly was to forget the rat race, blog for you, how you want and don't get caught up in the competition or the hype! Thanks Holly, I also look forward to meeting you on Saturday as well, what a day!

So I have revealed my secret little crushes and now it is time to reveal yours.... Blog if you have been tagged or leave a comment....  Cheers x

Rules of this meme:

1. Reveal your own blog crush or it can be multiple crushes if you just can not decide - perhaps 3!
2. Tell that blogger you have a crush on them (oh the shame!)
3. Tag some other bloggers to do the same, I'll let you decide how many we are all grown up after all!
4. Take the badge and place it in your post if you like (no pressure, except of course I'll cry if you don't!  Yeah right)

So here are my tagees -

The Boy and Me - This anon blogger is a ballsy lady who knows her mind.  I will be interested to see if any bloggers have helped her to find her own blogging style.

New Mum Online - Liska is wonderfully friendly and had a blog for some time before the one she writes now, so she may just have some bloggers up her sleeve who are outside my normal circle of reading.

Sticky Fingers - Well I had to tag my own original blog crush didn't I?  Let's see if anyone helped inform Miss Cains very unique style

Typecast -  My hate to love blog friend (that's she hates me and I love her! lol)

A Mothers Ramblings - Pippa made my shortlist.  One of the earliest blogs I found, she is always full of life and laughs. Am obvious choice for a little crush!

The Five F's - OK, yes I am tagging Kate as I want to see if her twitter husband makes it into the post!  lmao (sorry love x)

Image Credit

Mich has found her mojo! Monday #Mumentum

I think the title says it all - do I need to spell it out for you? Oh OK...

Yes it is Monday, so this is my (now) regular post dedicated to all things weight/ diet/ food/ self image related and 'whoop di doody' things have clicked into place!  Mich has found her mojo again, I am not sure where it had gone but it went AWOL for quite some time and we have had a lovely reunion again.

I set myself 2 targets last week - to be off the laptop by 10pm and in bed for 11pm and to record my food every day. I have done OK with the food recording, so I am getting into that swing but the sleep only started on Thursday night and I am feeling so much better for getting some serious shut-eye.  I think I had burnt myself practically out with all this staying up late.

I have also remembered to take my multi-vits and glucosamine tablets every day, which probably helps. Then Friday night I went out for a meal with a good friend and decided not to bother with the wine or the dessert and yesterday I woke up feeling completely motivated and this has carried through to today as well.

I am praying this lasts,  for me I have to hand my food issues over to the Lord and ask him to sort this out for me, for I find it far too hard to do under my own steam.  That said, I must say a massive thank you to the #Mumentum ladies and also Midlife Singlemum who have been on hand to champion me as I re-start this journey again to find out what my natural size is.

Today I feel positive for the future and all I need to do is take one day at a time.....

This week I must continue with the food diary, sleeping by 11pm, taking the vitamins and also I need to add in some exercise this week....  I will leave it open as to what I do, but I must do something strenuous every day, even if only for 5 minutes.

From small acorns, mighty oaks grow!  Or in my case we can hopefully reverse that, from a might oak Mich will reduce into a nice manageable sapling! lol

#SilentSunday - Photo of the Week

Silent Sunday = One photo, no words, taken in the last week!  Enjoy more by clicking the badge below -

I'll tell you what I want...

...what I really, really want. I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, T wanna, I really, really, really wanna zigazig ha.

and if you have no idea what that is then you are too young to be reading this blog!  lol  Yes in the true spirit of the Spice Girls what I really want is some zigazig ha. I have no idea what the Spice Girls were actually referring to in that song - perhaps a bit of the other,  but for me what I want is some energy - some pizazz or I could call it some zigazig ha! I need to keep with those early nights as they are what make the world of difference to me - two ina  row now, this could be a roll...

Image Credit

Here are a few others things that I would absolutely love at the moment, things that would make my life so different, some of which are complete luxuries but it is OK to be a bit shallow sometimes, right? I know I am blessed and lucky but just sometimes you have little dreams about those things you would have if money were no object!

• A self cleaning car or perhaps a valet that you don't have to pay for. Anything that means I do not constantly have my bum hanging out the car while I pick bits of food, torn tissues and anything else that two 3 year olds deem 'good fun' to throw on the floor.
  
• Some time in the week when I have some time to myself to be able to do some exercise at the gym or pool. Roll forward to September and this little dream should come true when those little ladies are at school full time. It always amazes me that you have more energy when you do more strenuous things.
  
• Of course I would love to be slimmer (and thus more healthy), I would be a liar if I did not add this one.  This is one dream I know takes hard work and dreaming alone will do me no good!
• A trip to New Zealand with all my family. My best friend from Uni moved out about 9 years ago and she came back for my wedding in July 2002 and I have not seen her since. We both have kids now and it would be so amazing to go there and meet her children and see the life she is living.
• To have a spare bedroom so that we could foster a child, someone who really needs to know what it is like to live in a family where love and fun but also discipline are prevalent.
• A new front door!  It is becoming a pain to use the patio doors and the back entrance when the car is parked on the front drive. I know we will get the door but I hate the thought of spending £900 on just a boring old door!  Oh why did it have to break?
  
• A new kitchen. We moved into our house in 2002 and got quotes for a new kitchen back then, upon finding out I was pregnant in early 2003 we decided to be sensible and wait, we are still waiting.  The £6,000 odd this will cost just can not be justified.  I am pleased to have a sensible husband who does not just spend out but just sometimes I dream of a beautiful kitchen open into a dining room.
  
• Birthday parties sorted for all 3 kids, for some reason I do not enjoy planning their parties and get quite anxious about all the etiquette surrounding kids parties - who to invite, what to do, what time, how much it will cost, the list goes on....
  
• To live close to my parents.  I adore spending time with my family, as do my kids and it would be so amazing to be able to see them more regularly. Especially if we all lived by the seaside, which is my dream for tomorrow.
  
• To have an extra 2 or 3 hours in the day, so that I can feel as if I achieve more and have more time for socialising and blogging!
• To work for God, in whatever format that may take. I would love to leave the rat race of turning up for work each day, work that I just do to earn the money to live an acceptable life. If money were no object, I would be fostering or volunteering and doing something I feel is worthwhile and God's plan for me but as with everything it is in His time and not mine.
• More patience and less anger. I get cross and short-tempered far too much, luckily most of the time I can count to 10 and seethe inside but just sometimes I over boil.

and really this is just scratching the surface, I could go into all the longer term wants and dreams of my children being healthy, happy and fulfilled in whatever they do and dh and I enjoying finding ourselves as a couple again once the kids are older and we start to travel the world.

What about you, what would you really, really like at the moment?

#R2BC - Love, Marriage and Flowers

There we go, what do you think?  Pretty gorgeous, certainly a good reason to be cheerful! Interflora probably heard that I run the weekly linky called Reasons to be Cheerful or #R2BC and I expect they wanted to get in on it and deliver flowers to give me something to smile about, so this is what I received today. Oh and don't forget that if you have not yet sorted Fathers Day for Sunday then they also have some suitable fathers day gifts and that there are plenty of participating florists in London as well as the rest of the country of course, who will be thrilled to help you out.

I'll tell you what I really love about these flowers, that they match my wedding flowers.  I had the beautiful stargazer lillies as part of my bouquet and table decorations and their signature smell and look take me back to 2002 every time I see them.  Next month dh and I will have been married 9 years and together for another 8 years before that.  I try never to underestimate how much of an achievement this is.  A good marriage takes time and effort and I am pleased to say that I still feel I married the right man. So hubbie is my next reason to be cheerful.  Here we are on our big day, the ceremony and ride to the reception was both of our favourite part of the day...

and talking of father days, here is my lovely Daddy on my special day -

and now a reason for you to be cheerful ...

Interflora have given me the opportunity to give away a bouquet of flowers to one lucky person. You can choose your own bouquet to the value of £40 and they will deliver direct to you.

This is a very special giveaway though as it is just for those people who link up with Reasons to be Cheerful this week.  Some of you have been so faithful posting and joining in most every week and you deserve an opportunity to win something nice for yourself. So just do what you normally do and put up a cheery post, link it up here and I will randomly draw a name and announce the winner on next weeks #R2BC post, so make sure you come back.

Terms and conditions -

• UK delivery only
• I will pass your details to the PR contact I have and they will arrange your delivery
• Entry is by linking up a post which is clearly in line with the spirit of #R2BC, randomly linked up posts will not be included
• One entry per person who links up
• The prize is not transferable and there is no cash alternative
• The linky/ competiiton closes at midnight Wednesday 22nd June 2011

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Karaoke Mash up! Guess the song...

I have been tagged by two fabulous friends Nickie and Jen to take part in the karaoke meme that is doing the rounds. For a while now Nickie, a few others and I have been chatting about the karaoke we will take part in when we go to CyberMummy and sadly I do know that this probably won't really happen....

.... so to help me get over this I thought I would do a few karaoke numbers at home once I put the girls to bed tonight and I have to tell you, Miss M (who snuck back downstairs to watch me!) was very impressed.  'I love your singing mummy' was her response.  Good girl, fabulous taste in warbles!

If you know me, you will know that I absolutely adore singing and I like to do it very loud! This does not mean that I am actually any good at it, but despite that fact I have won karaoke competitions and also sung solo in the choir in my younger years.  The response to my singing is very mixed, generally people think I can hold a tune and I like the sound of my own voice - so that is what matters - right?

I think I am supposed to have headed off to YouTube and linked to one song that I would like to sing at karaoke but for someone who adores karaoke that would be boring.  Here is my karaoke mash up - much to your delight (stop groaning) I sing you seven snippets from songs which I do choose at karaoke and you need to guess the songs.

Leave me a comment below with your answers and then if I see you at Cybermummy I'll get you a glass of wine as your prize (yes, that's right, the free wine that is part of the party!)

Yes, thank you. I am suitably embarrassed now, not least because you can see me jigging around and the camera has cut off the top of the head. I am a professional don't you know....

The farm can be fun in the rain!

Our family loves a good day out (you may have noticed if you have read my blog before)  and why on earth would we let the rain stop us?  Let me show you what small children love to do in the rain...

How do you Twitter Pimp your Blog?

Let me just say first off that I hate the word 'pimp'.  I really don't get why it is used so much nowadays, when I looked it up in the dictionary (even the urban dictionary), the definition was 'procurer of prostitutes', so how on earth does that relate to my blog?

Obviously I realise that often people use the word pimp to mean promote and in relation to this post that is what pimp is taken to mean.....  but I digress, a discussion of the word pimp is not what I set out to do.  What I wanted to ask, was how you use twitter to promote/ advertise or pimp (if you like) your blog posts?
Sunday evening I was on twitter and I tweeted the following - 'So tell me peeps, why has my blog become so popular in the last week or so??? #benice'  and I received various responses, my favourite of which was about algorithm changes in google and more traffic being directed my way from other blogs and this certainly fits with what I see in my stats page on blogger.

Monday #MumenTum - Psychological Eating

So here I am, one week after joining the super #MumenTum ladies on our journey towards being slimmer and more healthy (or whatever people's chosen goals are)  and I am not even going to weigh myself today as I have not been good this week!  I know this, so what is the point of standing on the scales and confirming this?  My problem would be, if I got on the scales and they said more weight I would be depressed, even though it is justified, I just ate this, of course it would be justified -

but if the scales said less, then that is even more dangerous, as the way I have eaten this week I do not deserve to have lost weight and thus if I have by some freak accident I would use that as my proof to keep eating excessively.  My eating is so psychologically mucked up it is untrue.

Decision Made! I know what I am wearing to #CyberMummy11

Did you see my post the other day?  The one about CyberMummy and my anxieties about the day? Things were getting a bit silly and my worrying had gotten out of control!  So I did what I do when I am stressed, I wrote it all down (don't you just think blogging is the best therapy, I thoroughly recommend you start a blog if you do not already have one, even if you keep it private and no one reads it!).

Then along came you lot to offer me reassurance, to tell me you felt the same and offering hugs and squeezes.  I even had two of the CyberMummy founders drop by and leave me a positive message, which was very encouraging as I had worried I might offend them.

Anyway, after my faffing around I have come to a decision about what I will be wearing to CyberMummy and here it is -

'You silly old fool', shouts one of my 3 Year Olds

Thankfully we were seated in the car with the windows up, so 'the silly old fool' in question did not hear her.

My jaw dropped open and I did one of those best mummy smiles and sing song voices, you know where you do not want your child to know they have done something naughty, something you do not like, something they could use to wind you up for like, forever! 

'Ohh where did you hear that?' I ask. Nanny Plum, they both reply. Well, that is a bit surprising then, here was I thinking that Ben and Holly in their little kingdom was a nice programme, maybe not so. Apparently Nanny Plum was talking about the Wise Old Elf and saying he was a silly old fool.  Really, I ask you?  This program is aimed at pre-schoolers, is that what we want to teach them?  What person making this series thought it would be cute for their 2 or 3 year old to shout out you silly old fool to a passer by in the right context.  I did not find it funny.  Perhaps it's just me - did I have a humour by-pass? You tell me.

#R2BC - Wk 23 - Finding Grace in Small Things...

<center><a href="http://mdplife.blogspot.com/search/label/reasons%20to%20be%20cheerful"><img width="150" alt="Reasons to be Cheerful at Mummy from the Heart" src="http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac230/RebaMc/reasonstobecheerfulv2-1.jpg" height="150" /></a></center>

This week, Reasons to be Cheerful is going back to its origins, since 2009 I have posted on a regular basis about the things I am grateful for or more correctly the things I see grace in. Grace is what God extends to everyone, when actually they do not deserve it. It is the most profound and amazing thing but it is also a concept that is completely difficult to get your head around, especially if you are not a believer, hence why the #R2BC name was born.

This week I am not really going to tell you the things that have made me cheerful but those which are making me grateful and thankful.

The Birth Experience I Did Not Want...

I have been waiting to write this post for a very long time and today feels right.  I think I am finally ready to get everything out. You see I was traumatised by the birth of my first child, JJ back in 2003. I knew back then something was wrong but I did not know what and being the logical kind of person I am, I just pushed my feelings aside and told myself to stop being silly. 

However, now spurred on by many inspirational friends I feel I should and can share my story. Someone else may be reading this and it may resonate with them and they may be reassured to know they are not alone and that it is OK to be really sad after the birth of your awaited and loved child.  Giving birth can be a really big deal and it can effect you in so many ways.    

So, roll back to 2003 and I find out I am pregnant in late January when my period does not arrive.  Dh and I are ecstatic, if a little surprised.  I came off the pill in October after 10 years and we expected it to take us a long time to fall pregnant - not so. We just moved into a bombsite in September 2002 and now we are expecting our first baby - arrgghh, better get Dad up here quick to make the house good.  Wonderful Dad obliges.

Monday #MumenTum - I'm In!

You have all heard me whinge on about my weight problems and my food issues quite enough to know that there is a big problem to be tackled.  I am one of those people who has tried most every diet and managed to lose a few stone and then put it all back on again and a bit more, just for good measure you understand!

Well, thankfully I am feeling motivated again to do something and to try to change my life and in doing that change the future path of my children.  Gosh, doesn't that sound massive?  Well, let me tell you - it is!  Kids learn what they live and at the moment living with me they learn that excess is OK, gluttony is fun and that being fat is a way of life.  You may think I am being overly harsh but it is the truth and I have to remember it or I will slip back into old habits and my kids will grow up with the same eating issues that I have.

More on Monday! Half Term was...

...a great week and the sun shone, yay!

I had so much trouble choosing a photo for silent sunday yesterday as it had been half terms and we had loads of fun.  So here are the other contenders that did not make it -

JJ on the zip wire!

#SilentSunday - Picture of the Week

Silent Sunday = One photo, no words, taken in the last week!

CyberMummy - why so much fuss for one day?

Anyone would think that something truly momentous was going to happen in my life on 25th June.  Am I getting married, about to have another baby, emigrating?  No, nothing quite so significant, I am just off to a blogger conference. For some reason I have gone a bit loony and am getting all excited, apprehensive, nervous, anxious, stressed that I am going to this conference.

Cheerful about all things blogging! #R2BC - Wk 22

 
Evening all, don't the weeks go so fast?  Here we are Thursday night and time to be grateful again....  but hold on, there has been an extra dose of gratitude this week for Tara dedicated her Gallery linky to Christine of Thinly Spread.  You will have read on here that Chris is off in Mozambique this week with Save the Children. In case you have been away from the blogging scene and missed it, I'll just reiterate that there is a very important petition that needs your signature.  You think it is fair for all kids worldwide to get vaccinated don't you?

Thanks for signing up and now onto my own reasons for being so cheery this week!   I am dedicating this weeks #R2BC to all things blogging. So many people have no idea what blogging is and boy are they missing out.  Blogging comes with a whole load of benefits -

1. A massive support network to help you through the tough times.  When I suffered a miscarriage, who was there? When I am struggling with my food addiction, who is there?  Why, it is all of you wonderful readers.  God bless you.

2. Making some great new friends, ones you have never met but you can have a real laugh with.  Take yesterday I posted and slated @Nickie72 of Typecast fame and luckily she completely knew I was having a laugh and it really did cheer my dreary day at work!

3.  The added bonuses that come from writing a well read blog. Monday we had a review trip to the London eye, which the kids loved, Tuesday we had a review trip to Ask (Italian restaurant) and Wednesday a gorgeous Morphy Richards kettle and toaster arrived at my door.  How can you knock that?

4. How can I not mention as well that I have been shortlisted as a finalist in the MAD blog awards for the Best blog for Family Life. Click the link and vote for me if you feel compelled....

You know the routine by now, link your happy/ gratitude post up and go and visit others. If you are new to #R2BC then welcome, check this page out and see how it all happens.



Oh and I realised that I have not been linking over to Maxabella's just recently, so I am putting that right again today.  Over in Oz there is a very similar (but longer running, more slick...  you get the picture) linky, so join up there too and make some new friends across the other side of the world!

If you liked this post, please use the Tweet button on the right! Go on, it's very easy. Cheers Mich x

#TheGallery - I'm Grateful for...

How could I possibly resist the theme set by Tara this week?  Have you seen it?

I'm grateful for...  fill in the blank.  Well, as the girl who runs #R2BC, a weekly linky all about sharing your gratitude and finding grace in small things then this is just perfect for me.

I can be grateful for practically anything and everything.  You can call me Pollyanna!  Yesterday I was grateful for the rain, today I have been grateful for the wonderful men who have helped me get back into my house after a broken front door and every day I am grateful for....   these loons -