Coffee & Cupcakes

I thought I would share my day at the rugby with you, not my normal "mummy life", but it was so fun and an amazing day with my hubby! The atmosphere was amazing, we spent most of the day in the fan village, where we won a free pint each and Josh won a free t-shirt - happy days. Completely unexpected but we ended up standing by the entrance which the players arrive off the coach go through. It was amazing! I stood cheering as my boys exited the coach, grabbed their bags and headed inside... It was probably my highlight of the day! We grabbed our seats and thankfully I was sat next to a lovely Irish lad from Belfast, who had come with his English girlfriend, so we had much in common, despairing about ending up with partners from across the Irish Sea!! The match was epic, probably the best one in the 6 Nations so far and are seats allowed us to watch the action  perfectly. Throughout the game there was much banter between us all, many condoning Josh for having to live wit...

It's getting near that time when I am beginning to think about what presents my daughter would most enjoy for her birthday. Like most little girls, she is obsessed with Disney princesses and anything that goes with them, so the likely choice is to get something along these lines. However, I'm not completely at peace with that decision. Now I will state, that I am well aware a lot of you reading this will in a moment or two, begin to think I am a completely over the top mother and I need to chill out! But I do not apologise for what I am about to say, nor am I seeking to inflict my view upon anyone else, this is just me! So, I have obviously been reading the Disney princess stories to my daughter, a lot, recently, and I have come to feel very uneasy about them. Is this really the right thing to be encouraging my a daughter to invest her time in? Let me give you a brief outline: Ariel: involves a crystal ball, a wicked witch and a desire to be someone different than who you w...

Well it's almost payday, a wonderful day that is always so overshadowed by bills, direct debits and standing orders. For me however, the greatest pain of payday is knowing "budget night" must precede. In the nights before pay day, Josh and I, painfully give up a rare evening of relaxing together to go through the calendar in a bid to work out our monthly budget. There are few people I have met who actual enjoy this activity, my father in law is one, yes I know, I do know someone who enjoys budgeting! In-laws are a rare breed, and should have a blog entry of their own (it will follow, one day)! For most of us however, budgeting is simply something we must do in order to keep track of our ever too quickly disappearing finances. My hubby and I are pretty pants at the whole thing and it is an evening and activity we have to seriously discipline ourselves to carry out. We have finally found a way that works for us and is allowing us to pay off the dreaded 'debt', tha...

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you feel loved today, if not by the man of your dreams, by the man of your reality!! Or for those amazing friends you surround yourself with. Today I am taking my daughter to a little Valentines Party with her friends and am trying to talk to her about how today is a special day of reminding people how much we love and appreciate them! Josh and I are not big celebrators of Valentines Day and he is working today so there will not be much romance in our house. However, I thought I would share a little of our lives with you: It was a total "love at first sight" moment! As I arrived at my University Halls over 6 years ago I saw Josh and knew I had picked the right Uni! This guy was hot and sure enough after a few mishaps, Josh forgetting my name, buying my friend a drink instead of me, we got together. We were in no mood to hang about and waste time so 4 months later we were engaged and married in January 2008. Josh is an incredible husban...

Well my dear readers, this past week has probably been the most testing I have yet undergone as a parent of two! I should start by saying that I am madly in love with my 2 children and cnsider them a giantic blessing from God and am privledged to witness them grow up.  Also I am not writting this for compliments and re-assurances that I am a good mum! I am simply sharing my life, because thankfully, I know I'm not alone! And for those of you who feel alone, I hope and pray you find comfort through my story! So my week..... My dear son has been refusing to eat and nap over the past few days. His teeth are coming through, poor chap and he is therefore struggling to eat and sleep. Instead of being the normal smiling, cuddly boy that he has been over the past 4 months, he is a dribbling, screaming little man - who is stuck in a circle of getting over tired and over-hungry but not being able to eat or sleep due to sore gums. It is so difficult to watch but also incredibly frustrating ...

I thought I should now let you in to another chamber of my life - yesterday was the beginning of the 6 nations and a great passion of mine! Rugby! Yes, I am a huge rugby fan, and a massive supporter of my boys in green! Every year, I wear my jersey religiously every weekend for the 6 nations and me and Josh battle it out, each rooting for our own countries, me for Ireland and him for England. I love my husband but over the next few weeks there are moments when we are "enemies"! Rugby is almost a built in passion to most Irish people, we are Irish therefore we support Rugby! So perhaps it is moving over to England, away from home, that has made me even more patriotic! I always promised myself I would never move here, I love being Irish and I loved living there, the culture, the people, the whole way of life - it's just me. I always thought of England as so boring, uptight and scheduled compared to what I was used to, and the thought of being here was not something I want...