Coffee & Cupcakes

Our Philippine journey was about to begin, we had spent the night at an airport hotel in Dublin, indulging in pot noodles, crisps and 7up. We had snuggled up in a family room, attempted to get some sleep and woke up bright and early to catch the shuttle bus to the airport. So apart from having to get up at 3am all was going well... ... until we arrived at the airport!! We were welcomed by a massive queue, confused and some slightly angry looking people & a frustated sounding woman announcing the there was a "slight" system malfunction and there will be a delay... I should say that when you are begining a journey that will take 22 hours starting it with a delay is never positive! (I was immediately blamed for it, as I joked a little drama always helps a blogger)! Rude I know! Anyway we did finally reach the check in desk after a system override but the joy of this malfunction went on... Alarms were going off every, I mean everywhere! You could not walk anywhere in the ...

Dear Readers, I have so much to share with you my mind boggles! Life in Ireland, parenting trials, wifely duties and our recent Philippines Trip. I hope to fill you in all of the above things in due course but as many of you are asking about the Philippines trip I will start with that. My mind is still trying to process that went on over our three week visit and there is much news to share with you and many lessons I learned! However I thought I would start by helping you align your thinking with that of a Flippino. So here are my top ten Philippines fact: 1. If you don't like Rice - don't ever visit the Philippines! Rice is the foundational food, it's served breakfast, lunch and dinner! 2. If you get served what appears a meal but there is no rice - Be Careful - this is just a snack, don't fill up, the main meal will arrive shortly. 3. There is no such thing as "just a banana"! Over our 3 weeks there I had 4/5 different varieties of banana (none o...

Oh dear readers... I am still here! I cannot really explain the madness of the last few weeks, my absence has not been desired and I am so excited to finally have 5 minutes to sit down and write again. How my brain needs that time to breathe and unwind. There are so many things I wish to write about, I went back to work last month, I am now juggling two children, a home, a marriage and a part time job – which hours often resemble more of a full time position! I have led a team running a Holiday Club for 80 children, been fighting with the tax man, ran a 10KM for Cancer Research, had weddings, family illnesses, and so much other stuff – my brain is seriously in overload! So I decided that my first blog would be that to make us all giggle – I know I need it. After my busy week of overseeing a Holiday Club, I decided to give myself a little pampering treat. Yes, after 80 children, every day  I was in need of a little R & R – however on my arrival at the hairdressers, I remembered...

Welcome to another part of my mind... Some would say I am quite a competitive person, I don't like to lose - in fairness who does! I have constant competition with my husband, who can run the most each month, including the fastest mile and fastest 5k. My running buddy is also quite competitive and this means I now can't stop running, as that would be losing to her...not happening! I play scrabble with all of my family members and there is a definite pressure to win, thankfully my dad always "lets" me win...(sorry Dad)! Board games in our house are a genuine nightmare, not only am I competitive, I am a pants loser!! Whoever loses in my house is pretty much expected to be grumpy for the rest of the evening! Now here is where it gets worse... Today my daughter was allowed to bring home the nursery school teddy, Morris. I was instructed by my daughter that we had to do lots of fun things with Morris and then write about it in his diary - that was it - I was off!! This...

I have been meaning to write this post for some time but other things have been getting in the way, but tonight at this unearthly hour, when I should be asleep, my brain is wide awake so here I am. I dedicate this blog to 6 amazing women, who have over the past 3 years become an intricate part of my world. Let's travel back in time, I arrived with my eldest child, just 6 weeks old, to my local Children & Family centre. I was still slightly in shock at the new role I had just taken on, completely sleep deprived and ridiculous nervous, with no idea was I was actually attending... What exactly is an "early parenting course"... I walked into a room where a number of other mums were sitting, chatting laughing and quietly made my way over to the corner, very grateful that 2 other mums had made this their first week. After getting over the "Kezzia, what an unusual name" phrase, I allowed myself to relax a little. What I wasn't prepared for was that some of...

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...

I have begun to wonder if I am alone in some of my frustrations as a Mum, woman, observer of life and all that it entails... And so in a bid to prove to myself I am not alone I have decided to start a monthly post entitled "Is it just me?", where I can unload my frustrations and musings in the hope that some of you, my dear readers, will agree and we can ponder them together. My first frustration, which is high on my list currently, is children's clothing! Is it just me? My daughter, has recently outgrown her 2-3 year clothes and so the next step is to buy 3-4 years...a simple task you may think, but oh how wrong that thought would be. She is, due to her dad's impart, the correct height for most, not all, but most of the 3-4year clothes - However, her waist is far from the size most retailers imagine a 3 year old should have... As I look around at the children my daughter meets and those at various toddler groups, I wonder who is the mind behind the decision that ...

Most of us Mum's will have those memories of times when are children have just had "one of those moments" we won't forget. Today, as my daughter tested my patience, and my son refused to nap, was one of those days I needed to remember those moments. Here are some of mine: We had potty trained Kezzia in the weeks before Levi arrived, however as expected she had a phrase after his birth where she reverted back to accidents throughout the day. In a desperate plea to get her back on track, I offered her a bar of chocolate if she done all her wee's and poo's on the toilet! Her response was classic: "Mummy I don't want a bar could I wear a panty liner like you in my pants instead"! Trying not to burst out laughing right in her face, I agreed!!! We had an accident free day!  Living in Worthing, a lovely English tea side town, filled mainly with well mannered, retired folk - one tries to raise their children in a well mannered and polite way... It wa...