Love The Little Things 2014

So, this is my last #littleloves for this year. I am also going to be taking a break from blogging from today until January, so I can recharge and spend some time with my family properly, as I am sure lots of you out there are too. I will still be on instagram, so do please come and follow me - charlies_mummy84.

This week has been one of the busiest of the year. We have had one week to find a new childminder so have spent every evening meeting potential ones and then it was the step-daughter's Christmas concert and today is hubby's birthday along with a party tomorrow for the step-daughter's birthday! Throw in some wrapping of presents, buying of presents and still trying to get to work on time and it's all been a bit mad! So I am definitely ready for a break and a lie in.

Anyway, I've tried to find things under the prompts below, but bear with me!

Read

Lots of lovely Christmas and farewell cards from my students. I have had some beautiful messages and I am very sad to be leaving my students.

Heard

It's hard to find something good I've heard this week, what with the devastation in Pakistan and then Australia this morning. But I 'heard' the Head teacher's farewell speech to me last Friday evening and it was lovely; she referred to herself as my second mum! She really has been the most wonderful support whilst I've worked here, especially as when I first moved over I knew no one!
I've also heard Charlie sing 'Let it Go' every night in the car on the way home from the childminder! He's so funny as he only sings that line over and over!

Watched

Love Actually! I love Christmas films and this one is my absolute favourite. Tonight, for hubby's birthday we are getting Chinese and the four of us are settling down with The Polar Express, another absolute favourite. I also got given some bubbly from one of my students, so I shall be cracking that open to have whilst we watch it.

Wore

This week, it's been about Christmas jumpers and I have managed to wear three of them!

Made

Errrm, not a lot! Honestly, we have eaten rubbish for tea every night this week. I just haven't had time to even think about what to cook, let alone cook it. I did 'make' my Christmas dinner list for Sunday. As we go away for Christmas, we are doing Christmas dinner with the step daughter on Sunday as she will be staying with her mother (not our choice of course though!). I have added brussel sprouts to my list as I had a Christmas dinner at school on Wednesday and tried them for the first time and loved them! So our Christmas dinner will be turkey, roasties, sprouts, carrot crush, sweetcorn (for the littlies), pigs in blankets, stuffing and cranberry sauce - yum! I can't wait and am literally drooling now.

And lastly, this year has been tough. Way tougher than I ever imagined. I'm surprised we're all still intact to be honest, but we are and we have lots to be thankful for. I am really looking forward to focusing on family for the next two weeks, to eating more turkey than my stomach can handle and drinking lots of yummy prosecco! Christmas is a time for family and I entire to spend my time with them, I can't wait to see Charlie's face when he opens his pressies on Christmas day, and of course I am hoping for a little something myself, which I know Santa *may* have obliged with (Santa being my mother of course). I love Christmas with my family and even though my Grandad won't be there, we'll still have a drink to him and remember him openly and merrily.


So, thank you for reading my blog this year and I wish you all a Happy Christmas with your families and see you next year.

Love The Little Things Week 49

Once again, I am back with #little loves, linking up with Butwhymummywhy?

Read

So so many exam papers! It's been exam week at our school and so I now have to mark them all - 150 papers in 10 days! I was pleased to see how well some of my students did; it's nice to know that what I have taught actually had some impact and they've been paying attention!

Watched

Still going through the Mad Men series! I am on to series 3 now and am loving it more than ever. We also cosied up and watched Home Alone 2, I love that film and it always puts me in the mood for Christmas.

Heard

LOTS of Christmas songs! All the old ones are the best and this one is by far my favourite - it always reminds me of my Grandma's house on Christmas Day as she would have her tapes playing - tapes haha!

Wore

I popped into Clarks the other day on the way home from work as I am in desperate need of new shoes for work - they had a sale on which I didn't know about and I managed to pick these up for £19.99 - bargain! They are so comfy and look really good with skinny jeans for the weekend too.

Made 

Made quite a few things that I forgot to take pictures of! I made our tutor group hamper for charity and I helped the students make some Christmas tree decorations - I also made a Santa's Grotto for the School Christmas Market (yes, we're too posh for a fair haha!). This is my step-daughter with Santa. I don't think my efforts were too bad! 

And finally, I am thrilled that both hubby and I got new jobs this week! We both start in January and I am going to be in the high school that is just across the road from where I live! I can't wait to be able to lie in a bit longer in the mornings and then be able to walk to and from work, without having to use the car. Hubby is also going to be working just down the road at the local primary, that eventually Charlie will go to. It's hopefully going to mean that I get to spend more time with Charlie, as we spend 40-50 mins in the car every morning and evening. The only downside is, that we have to move childminders and I am absolutely gutted about this. Charlie's childminder is wonderful and he loves her so much, but we just can't continue to drive him 20 miles away. So, hopefully hubby's mum is going to look after him for us. 

I am very excited for a new start and a new challenge, but this next week at school is going to be very emotional. The school are doing staff goodbyes tonight after school and I have to make a leaving speech. I am not sure if I can get through it without crying though! Thankfully, they provide wine! 

#Nextmaswishlist Competition

So, we certainly can't escape from it: It is definitely Christmas season. We put our tree up last night - please see my picture on instagram - I am stuck with the world's smallest Christmas tree! I've got used to it though now and I actually think it's quite sweet!

So with the Christmas season underway, I have started thinking about what I would like for Christmas. I have sorted out all the gifts I am buying for everyone else, but when I saw the competition Next are doing, asking bloggers to share their own Next Christmas Wish List, I thought I would think about me for a change and compile my own list. You never know, hubby 'may' read this and take a hint! Also, if I;m really lucky, Next might just gift me one of the items on my list too!

So here is my own #Nextmaswishlist. I've tried to put things on the list from different categories, as I don't just want clothes, I would like things for the home as well. I really, really love the bedding set; we've been in our house a year now and after Christmas I have plans for our bedroom and also a little office space on our landing! I also really like the nail varnish set - if you follow me on instagram, you'll see I love nail varnish and am often painting my nails. This set is packed full of really great colours and some really pretty Christmas colours too.

Fingers crossed Santa gets my list!

1. Fair Isle embroidery double bed set £30 2. Jewellery box £35  3. Black Leather Gloves £16 4. Red Heart Knit Snood £16 5. NYX Nail Polish set £20 6. Notebook and Pen Set £12 7. Heart and Star Mug set £7 8. Rustic Collage Frame £35 9. Pale Denim leggings £24 10. Navy Textured Layered Shirt £35

Recipe Time: Beef stroganoff

Beef isn't my first choice of meat. I much prefer chicken, but hubby gets really fed up with it, understandably. So, in an effort to appease him occasionally, I make beef stroganoff. I love it; it's creamy and tasty and really good on a cold winter's night. You can serve it with what you like, but as it's with a sauce, it's quite good with rice to mop up that lovely, creamy sauce.

I can't remember where the original recipe came from. There's lots of variations out there. The Hairy Dieters one says to use half fat creme fraiche, so as to reduce the calories, but I don't tend to bother. I never have half fat creme fraiche sat in the fridge, but I do tend to have double cream! So I always use that. However please, if you do ever make this, feel free to substitute the double cream with a lighter or healthier alternative if you wish. I have to say though, I think the double cream makes this dish delicious!