{Sunday Roundup}

Here's my usual Sunday Roundup in photographs!

I started a paleo diet last Sunday and this was my last sugary dessert! Yum!!

My typical paleo breakfast that I've had loads this week... some smoked salmon with a scrambled egg (no butter, no milk)

We went to the Riverside Museum and Tall Ship on Friday with Grandad and Nanny Jo. The kids loved it. Have a peek at this post for more photos.

Mini hot chocolates with heart shaped spoons for the little ones :-)

Morning snuggles with littlest and Ruby, our Oobicoo doll

#ootd my jewelled Warehouse jumper... what happened to the summer weather? It was rainy and cold today!!

Eldest demolished a plate of spaghetti bolognese!

Sibling love... aww!

Littlest trying on my shoes. She clip-clopped around the house this morning - was very cute!

How was your week?

{Smitten Saturday}

This week I am Smitten with the Tall Ship at Glasgow Harbour.

We had never been before, but with Grandad & Nanny Jo visiting this weekend we thought we'd go to the Riverside Museum, have lunch & then check out the Tall Ship.

Entry to both museums is free. Superb!

The Tall Ship was brilliant. I had spotted that Becky had been there with Anna & George and that had prompted our visit.

My little ones had a great time investigating all the cabins, having a shot hoisting up bags of sugar in the lower decks, scrubbing the top deck and steering the ship too! My daughter even managed to ring the bell. There's also a very small soft play area and we could have stayed longer if we'd had time. I'd definitely recommend that you pay a visit when you're at the transport museum.

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{Throwback Thursday}

I give you permission to laugh... a lot...

Here is my fifth year school photograph. 

Oh. My. Word.

I'm mortified & slightly amused. Thankfully I have improved with age (I hope!).

{Wobbles Wednesday}

It's Wednesday, so that can only mean one thing.... Wobbles Wednesday with The Naked Mum.

I unfortunately didn't manage to weigh myself this morning when I woke up as I had been at my work on a night shift of sorts, so I'll update this post tomorrow with my weight.

Last week I had put on 4 lbs but I'm hopefully (*crosses fingers*) that I've lost at least 1 lb this week.

On Monday I started a Paleo diet of sorts. I'm following it as best as I can although I know I've already eaten a few things that I'm reckoning aren't allowed.

A drumroll is needed for this next bit....

Today is day #3 and I've managed three full days without wheat, dairy or caffeine. I have to say I'm rather chuffed with myself. I had even bought my colleagues brioche, muffins and yum yums for their breakfast this morning and I didn't touch a single one. Amazing huh!

I'm going to attempt to keep it up but will allow myself to have the occasional non-Paleo meal.

The main point of this is to try and improve my Crohn's Disease symptoms. I bloat very easily and it can look like I'm 6 months pregnant - it's uncomfortable. Hopefully this diet will help.

I've not attempted the Paleo Auto Immune Protocol and as such have been eating eggs, tomatoes and the occasional handful of nuts. Not sure I'd cope with no eggs or nuts!

Here's what my meals have looked like - not sure if everything is Paleo as I've had soup from a tin and microwave popcorn, but I'm trying my best!

Breakfast - smoked salmon and scrambled egg

Lunch - chicken salad / vegetable soup

Dinner - salmon with vegetables and corn on the cob

Snacks - fruit, handful nuts & dried fruit, carrot sticks, king prawns, popcorn

{My Hilarious Mum}

Last week I was doing a lot of thinking. 

Friday, the longest day, was tough. 

It was the anniversary of my mum's death. 

12 years.

I miss her every day.

My mother with me as a baby

She would have been 31 years old in this photo - same age as me now

I was doing my best to think of all the hilarious things that my mum did, instead of thinking of all the sorrow, and a few things immediately popped into my mind.

We were very lucky to have a video camera from early in our childhood and we were encouraged to use it. The footage we have is majorly embarrassing, but I'm so pleased that we have all the memories of our mum captured on film.

We were on holiday one summer (I think it may have been at Oasis Holiday Village, which I think is now a Center Parc) and our lodge had a massive spa bath. My mum decided to have some time to herself and ran a hot bath. Next thing, we hear her laughing/screaming from the bathroom. The bubbles had completely overflowed and literally all you could see was her head. The soap had covered the floor and was seeping out into the hallway. Complete mess, but very amusing. And it's all on tape!

My mother was also really relaxed when it came to partying, alcohol, boyfriends etc. I think she would rather have known where I was at all times rather than me sneaking out bedrooms windows or lying which is what some of my friends had done.

Anyway, she went into the local off-licence one evening to get me something to take to a party. She asked the guy what would be an appropriate drink for her underage daughter and he refused to serve her! She came home empty handed!! Highly amusing.

A lot of people don't want to turn into their parents, but I'd be quite happy if I was like mine.

With my friends before our school disco in 6th year - alcopops in hand! :-/

{Messy Play}

Messy play is a few of my friends worst nightmares, but I'm all for it! I love to let the toddlers get creative with paint, glitter and glue and we are very messy bakers with flour and sugar everywhere!

This week my eldest had one of his friends over for lunch & a play, and I set up some messy play for them.

My inspiration came from Pinterest, as always!, and the two boys were very excited when I said we were going to create a foaming car wash.

I've seen lots of reference to Tuff Spots, but on seeing them in B&Q that morning I decided to get two slightly smaller trays which were just as sturdy from the gardening section - easier to store!

I set up one tray with baking soda and the other I filled with water. After letting them shunt their cars about in the 'snow' we then added some vinegar.

The baking soda started to fizz and expand, but it didn't last long and to be honest we were all rather disappointed.

Thankfully, I had also purchased a cheap canister of shaving cream which we squirted into the tray instead. It worked a treat and the three kiddies had great fun.

from What Do We Do All Day? blog

A recent email from Galt Toys has prompted this blog post. I don't think it will come as a shock to find out that technology has had a negative impact on some children's playtime at home and apparently playtime with mum and dad is less than an hour a day. The statistics are quite frightening. 

I've never owned a tablet or laptop computer and rarely spend time on my iMac whilst the children are awake. (I admit that I'm known to send the odd tweet, upload the occasional photo to Facebook or check my emails whilst they're around, but I'm not glued to my iPhone). I made the mistake initially of letting my son play with my iPhone, but he now does not get to use it. I do have some toddler friendly apps downloaded and would use them if necessary to keep him amused but only as a last resort, for example if we had a long wait at the GP surgery.

I definitely believe that traditional playtime is better.

"A parent is a child's first teacher"

You'll find me running round the house or garden on 'missions' or we're escaping from imaginary monsters. We're jumping up and down in fits of giggles on the trampoline or we're at the kitchen table with paints and Play-Doh. 

Don't get me wrong, I do think that technology has it's place. We will occasionally sit at the 'big computer' and watch some short videos on YouTube - number songs usually - and we also watch CBeebies or Disney DVDs for quiet time when we've had hectic days and we all need a rest.

What are your thoughts?

{Smitten Saturday}

Ever since a little girl I have been smitten with Osborne books. I vividly remember pouring over The Osborne Book of Knowledge which I was given when I was 5 years old in 1987. I still have the book to this day. My son & I like to look at all the animals & then find them on the world map.

The only think I'm not a fan of is their gender specific books. Why does my little girl need to have stickers of fairies and ponies, whilst my little boy has cars and knights? At the moment my son would probably rather have the fairies as he's rather obsessed with purple, pink & Disney princesses. 

I do love the sticker books though, and came across this Doll's House sticker book in Edinburgh (if memory serves me right I bought it in the Dragonfly Gifts shop on Broughton Street).

The illustrations are just gorgeous & I have to admit I didn't want to use it with the children for fear of ruining it!!

This morning we had a little shot and under my supervision (!!) we stuck some of the stickers in place. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I think my daughter did too.

What are you smitten with this week? (Apologies for the late posting of the linky, it's been a hectic week!)

{Paleo Diet & Crohn's Disease}

The lovely Laura over at The Mrs Makes has written a blog post on 'Eating Paleo' and she's inspired me to give this diet a try. Basically, the theory is that you eat like our caveman ancestors did... the diet is high in protein, low in carbohydrate and no processed food. My sister is also going to attempt a diet of no processed food to help curb her sugar cravings... I really need to get motivated for this I reckon! No more cake!!?

I've already said that losing weight is 70% diet and 30% exercise. I've got the exercise part sussed - I do at least 4 runs a week normally and I try and make a metafit class when I can. It's the diet part that's seriously lacking.

The more reading I've done, I actually think it might help reduce my Crohn's symptoms and be very beneficial to me health-wise.

Head on over to Laura's post to get some of the background information on Paleo principles, and below you'll find some thoughts on a Paleo diet specifically for autoimmune diseases, like Crohn's.

Paleo Auto Immune Protocol

Some of the normal Paleo-friendly foods have been shown to cause issues for individuals with autoimmune disorders. The key for Paleo for Autoimmunity is to remove Neolithic foods (grains, breads, potatoes, beans and dairy) and it's also recommended to avoid the following foods:

• eggs
• tomatoes and aubergines
• peppers
• spices such as curries, paprika and chilli powder
• nuts and seeds

This then means that I can't have an omelette or scrambled eggs for breakfast, and I can't have my usual porridge or muesli either... hmmmm...

*goes away and does more googling*

Right, here are my initial thoughts:

Breakfast

Smoked salmon, fruit salad, banana

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Lunch

Chicken salad (greens, red onions, cucumber, beetroot, sweetcorn, avocado, carrots; no peppers or tomatoes)

Prawn, avocado and mango salad 

With homemade salad dressing of olive oil and garlic

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Homemade vegetable soup

Dinner

Grilled fish and vegetables (no peppers or potatoes)

Grilled meat and vegetables

Squash 'spaghetti' and meatballs

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Snacks

Not sure what I can do for snacks as my usual 'healthy' choices are rice cakes, hummous, yoghurt, nuts & seeds or some cherry tomatoes! None of which are allowed. Instead, I guess I could try these:

Mange tout

Sliced apples / pear

Carrot and celery batons

Handful of dried fruit

This definitely needs more thought.... suggestions are much appreciated. Do you know anyone that's tried a Paleo diet for autoimmune disease? 

{Throwback Thursday}

Last week we were on 'holiday' at my aunt & uncle's holiday home in Aberdeenshire. I use the term 'holiday' loosely as it wasn't much of a holiday for me! The kids had a great time though. We try and go each year, and for this weeks Throwback Thursday I've got two photographs of my daughter in the garden at the holiday house. The photos are only a year apart, but what a difference a year makes!!

June 2012 - still very much a baby, aged 14 months:

June 2013 - a proper little lady, aged 26 months:

{Wobbles Wednesday}

Just catching up with some Wobbles Wednesday posts as I missed last week due to my holiday (no 3G - I'm amazed that I coped!!).

Last week I lost 1 lb and I was starting to think that I would get to the 11 stone mark soon... but this week I'm now up 4 lbs and my weight has increased to 11 stone 7 lbs. I'm disappointed, but I guess it was to be expected as I was on holiday and I've not really exercised either over the past week and a bit.

Today and yesterday I've been feeling a bit 'meh'. I'm definitely an emotional over-eater. I'm stressed out and tired and have turned to tea and biscuits to get me through... it's not something I'm proud of and this evening after work I've already eaten 6 pancakes and nearly a whole packet of Party Rings. I just need to stop buying 'treats' as I've shown time and time again that I've no willpower or control when it comes to sweet stuff! The only good thing I did was manage to not eat the donuts that appeared today at work... it's a start!

I'm going to try and get back onto the healthy eating tomorrow, but I'm already anticipating a difficult Thursday and Friday in the lead up to the longest day, which is the anniversary of my mum's death. This year marks 12 years since she passed. I miss her every day, especially more so now when I've so much on my plate and I'm starting to struggle.

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{Sunday Roundup, on Monday!}

Here's a peek at what we got up to this week:

We painted some wrapping paper for Daddy's gift for Father's Day

I did a bit of running & started metafit

I had a fake tan done in preparation for my 'holiday' and also had my nails painted :-)

My new Freewaters slippers arrived... I love them! The lining is removable so it can be washed easily. 

I stumbled upon a personalised Sarah bottle of Diet Coke - made my day!

My hanging baskets are finally starting to bloom - not as full of flowers as I had hoped though :-/

Today I was on a spa day - I even had lunch in my robe!!

What have you been up to?

P.S. I announced the winner of my blog birthday giveaway on Sunday and the lucky winner is Laura from The Mrs Makes. 

{Smitten Saturday}

My good friends Rhona and Dawn have introduced me to metafit this week - I'm not sure if smitten is the right word, but I'm definitely sold.

The 30 minute workout needs no kit, hardly any space and provides you with an intense workout in half the time, giving you the freedom to carry on with a busy lifestyle.

Ideal for a busy working mum like myself!

Apparently, during the half-hour session you can expect to burn around 150 calories, but if you work yourself hard enough then you'll continue to burn up to 500 calories in the following 24 hours.

Basically there's a quick warm up, then there are rounds of short high intensity exercises such as push-ups, planks, burpees (I hate them!) and squats with short rest periods between each round, followed by a cool down at the end.

It's hard work, but it's over so quickly that it's manageable and it's up to you how much you want to push yourself.

I've done a quick google and there are classes all over Glasgow; I think there are even outdoor classes at Bellahouston Park.

What are you smitten with this week?

{Throwback Thursday}

The other week I wore this pair of khaki coloured cropped trousers from TopShop:

The trousers are at least 10 years old and I'm amazed that I can now fit back into them! I dug out an old photograph of me wearing them... I reckon that I'm 20 or 21 years old!!!

{Wobbles Wednesday}

There's something about a tan that makes me feel more confident and I think I just look better with a bit of colour... makes me feel slimmer, which seems ridiculous I know, but I do.

Anyway, yesterday I got a spray tan and my nails done in a glittery black colour (fingers & toes!) with Stephanie at Beauty in the Basement, which is in Kano. Stephanie does Tuesday Treats for £10 :-) I'm all set for holidays!

My weight hasn't really changed since joining in with Kate's Wobbles Wednesday blog hop which I'm rather disappointed about. I'd like to get to the 11 stone mark and tone up a bit, but progress is really slow! (The cakes aren't helping I know!).

I weighed myself this morning and expected my weight to be the same, but I've lost 1 lb. Yippee!!! I'm really chuffed. So that's me now at 11 stone 3 lbs. Just 3 lbs to go to get to my target, sounds so simple doesn't it.

I've been running lots (less so in the last week due to other commitments) and yet this doesn't seem to be making much of a difference. It's true that losing weight is 70% diet and 30% exercise... abs are made in the gym but revealed in the kitchen.

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I'm definitely going to try harder with eating clean after my holiday. Does anyone have any recommendations for books, blogs or the like for getting me started?

{Review: The Girls Do Afternoon Tea at Sloans}

I was delighted to be asked along to review the new kids afternoon tea at Sloans, Glasgow's oldest bar and restaurant in the heart of the city centre (cake? I'm in!!). If you haven't been before, it's a really unique venue. 

I wasn't sure what to wear but I had just bought a new black maxi dress from Warehouse for my summer holidays and paired it with my gold bow belt from Warehouse. I did wonder if it was too much to wear my sequin jacket from HOF and took to twitter/instagram to get some lovely feedback from you all so I went ahead and wore it. 

Afternoon tea is served in Mrs Sloans Cake Salon which is on the first floor in the restaurant and up two flights of stairs, but there is space to leave buggies on the ground floor and the staff are more than ready to help out.

We had timed our visit to coincide with the Little Birds Market and there were 28 vintage, craft & design exhibitors to browse. Cotton and Sharks were running a lovely workshop where you could lino print your own tote bag for £8. They've also teamed up with Sloans to offer 'Crafternoon Tea' - find out more here.

The history of Sloans is captivating. Sloans started life as a coffee house in Morrisons Court, named after prominent Glasgow man Baillie John Morrison, in 1797. David Sloan bought the cafe at the turn of the 20th century transforming the cafe into an opulent venue containing a lounge bar, several dining rooms, a cocktail bar and even an aquarium. The Grand Ballroom (the venue for Eat Film, movie & a meal) featured a magnificent vaulted ceiling, period marble fireplace and stained-glass windows. Many of the original features remain to this day. Traditionally, couples would choose their engagement rings in the adjacent Argyll Arcade (the largest selection of diamond rings in a single location in Scotland) before celebrating in Sloans. 

My children were with their dad on Sunday, so I took with me my sister-in-law Fi and her two lovely daughters. The grown-ups had afternoon tea with a glass of Prosecco (£14.95) and Fi's daughter had the children's afternoon tea (£5.45). The sandwiches and cakes were yum and the Prosecco was delightful. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I think the prices are reasonable and I'd definitely recommend you pop along to try the experience.

It's not ideal that you can't take a pram into the cake salon due to the stairs and the baby changing facility is on the ground floor, but the layout can't be helped given the age of the building. The staff were lovely and more than helpful and I wouldn't have been reluctant to ask for help if needed as they were very approachable.

The children's afternoon tea consisted of a sandwich, piece of carrot cake, a chocolate profiterole and some strawberries, served with a pot of hot chocolate (just adorable!). The food arrived on a small side plate and it would have been so cute if it had come on it's own mini-tiered stand. For £5.45 its an expensive lunch for a toddler especially when it's unlikely that they'll eat it all (bearing in mind that my own kiddies are 3.5 and 2 years old) but for older children it would be ideal and the experience really makes it special. 

The grown-ups afternoon tea.... finger sandwiches, scones with whipped cream and jam and some  gorgeous pastries

Delightful bubbles!

Mmmmmm

Children's afternoon tea

Cheers

We loved the vintage teacups and plates :-)

Have you tried the afternoon tea at Sloans? Would you now pop in for a visit? 

Comments make my day :-)

We received complimentary afternoon tea for three in exchange for an honest review. Opinions as my own.