Today it's 4 months since we lost Elspeth. Last week I actually listed her name when we were talking about which children would be here on a certain day. We delicately put things in her room for storage and hope she won't mind. We try and choose Christmas presents and give up because we can only see things Elspeth would like.

Her inquest was due tomorrow, but has been deferred, so we have at least 2 more months before the Coroner will officially rule her death a suicide. 4 months is a long time, but it isn't nearly long enough, forever won't be long enough. She's here in our thoughts every hour of every day.

We're lucky, we have the 2 little boys who are at the peak of their Christmas magic. At 4 and 6 they both know Santa is real and are already bursting with excitement. Every fairy light and sparkle is viewed with wide eyes and giant grins. Although it's hard to join in with the excitement, and I just haven't felt that Christmas spark yet this year, I look at them and I know we have to do it, we have to make it great. I smile at their little perfect faces, and I know that 2 weeks at home watching movies on TV with their family and some Pringles and a tin of Cadbury Heroes would make it good enough, so I know we will be okay.

On the 15th day of Christmas LEGO Star Wars gave to me....

xxx

On the fourteenth day of Christmas LEGO Star Wars gave to meeeee...

On the thirteenth day of Christmas LEGO Star Wars sent to me....

Arvor's Schooldays by Jonathan Ferrier is a really different book to any which my 6 year old has attempted before - it's my son's first attempt at a 'grown up' book which has more story in the text than in the illustrations.

Especially suited to Early Readers and Reluctant Readers, Arvor's Schooldays is full of words that initially look tricky, but can be easily worked out by the reader as they follow the standard rules of English. Each 20-30 page chapter is an individual story in it's own right. There are illustrations on almost every page, and the text is a good size, so each page has less words. 

I'd never heard of Scruffs before, but I know that clothes designed for working generally last far longer than clothes designed for fashion. Scruffs sell workwear and safety footwear that even my fashion-conscious 20 year old is happy to wear.


We've been sent a quilted crew neck sweater to review, and I admit I did 'gulp' at the idea of it being quilted, but actually it's subtle, rather than a bulky sweater that's going to affect your movement and weigh you down, but it's still incredibly warm. 

On the twelfth day of Christmas LEGO Star Wars sent to meeeeee.....

Now if you've ever read any of my recipe or food posts then you will have spotted I'm vegetarian, but my partner isn't and nor are 3 of the children. We're a 50/50 split. I'm quite happy to let the children choose, it's their decision, and therefore I'm quite happy to feed them meat as long as I don't have to do anything fancy with it. This is where cooked meats become a brilliant thing.


Cherry Tree Farm is a range of cooked meats from British livestock sold by the Co-Op. There are 7 different varieties in the range - Roast Chicken, Roast Turkey,  'American Fried' Chicken, Hickory Smoked Turkey, Turkey Ham, Roast Chicken Chunks and Tikka Chicken Chunks.

Cherry Tree Farm have challenged me to come up with 7 different meals using their cooked meats, which each only take 7 minutes to prepare.

On the eleventh day of Christmas LEGO Star Wars sent to me.....