Give up chocolate ? Seriously ?

It's the first of March and for some reason that escapes me right now I signed up for Dechox 2016. The British Heart Foundation do amazing work and with the history of heart problems in my family it is a cause that I feel very close to. I've named the charity in my will as I feel so strongly about the value of what they do.

So strongly - in fact - that I'm giving up chocolate for this whole month and asking folks to sponsor this madness. You see I love chocolate so much that I don't just buy one bar I bulk purchase it:

I know I don't 'need' chocolate, but that's hardly the point. You've seen the name of this blog, I consume chocolate like it's a basic nutrient. For me it is. So I'm asking for some moral support from this guy: 

And some financial support from you guys: 

Please don't let this enormous personal sacrifice be in vain ! 

If you can sponsor me I'd be very grateful - my sponsorship page is here: Dechox 2016

It's the second day of the rest of your life :)

Don't you tell me what to do !! 

I realise that resolutions is a dirty word and everyone keeps going on about how they've decided to make 'life changes' instead of resolutions. Well, I've decided to go all old school and just set myself a few things to do and not do. It's terribly dull hearing about how other people are giving up drinking or going on a diet so I won't actually go into that. On the basis that the hardest part of any life change is just making a start, what I will do is tell you how I'm getting on so far. You can work out from that what I've set myself as aims. It's like the US game show Jeopardy.

So today on the second day of this year I have managed to:

• Wake up (not that early really) and made myself breakfast - I don't always eat breakfast as I rarely have time so that was a massive achievement

• Get out of the house to go swimming - the pool was empty and it was proper blissful :)

• Not shout at my boy - admittedly it helped that he was staying with my Mother last night, but still. I think I might just have cracked this parenting thing.

• Avoid any chocolate passing my lips, even when the man in Thorntons offered me a free sample of a smiley face chocolate. I realise this sounds all wrong, but it really was a genuine and innocent offer.

• Stop myself eating yet another mince pie I chose a healthy 'real food' snack this afternoon - it even involved fruit. Go me !!

• Progress from thinking about making green smoothies to actually going out to buy the ingredients to make them. I hope that tomorrow I will actually get round to making one - can't promise I'll keep it down though.

• Begin the great declutter. I have given away my 'spare' toaster, kettle and filter jug. For me this is big news as I hoard everything.

So, I'm making good progress on some of my aims for the year.

It's only two days in so I think that's a pretty good start.

That is going to make a lot of green smoothie !! 

Easter Family Fun with HP and Snapfish

I remember the first Easter Egg Hunt we did with our boy when he was barely 6 months old and he had no idea what was going on. We hid creme eggs and small foiled wrapped eggs all over the house and took him around as he looked baffled/disinterested and the cat was just unimpressed to find a non biscuit treat in his bed.

Now he's older our boy knows how an Easter Egg Hunt works so we were delighted when HP/Snapfish invited us to an Easter themed day out to play Easter games and try out some crafts at the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood. We arrived early so the boy and Hubbie had a stroll around the cabinets filled with lovely traditional toys - the displays of confiscated items were far more interesting to us adults though.

The first activity we did was a virtual Easter Egg Hunt which was brilliant. Equipped with a tablet computer the boy and Hubbie took photos of the pictures of eggs they found outside and sent the images to a printer that was indoors - magic !!


I don't know who is more excited about this egg hunt to be honest.

As well as the egg hunt we also used some HP printables to make a photo box using our own photos as well as a rabbit mask. The printables are free online and make a great activity for rainy days or holidays when you have run out of parks to go to and energy to make and do. 

By far the cutest activity on the day was dressing up. Our boy does love playing dress up, but the speed with which he put on a rabbit outfit surprised even me. He makes a very adorable Easter bunny indeed. I cannot wait until he is a teenager and I can show him the photos and embarrass him completely. I'm thinking of making a large canvas print of the rabbit ones using Snapfish and putting it on the wall for maximum effect :)

What we didn't expect was a lovely Easter basket filled with goodies including glitter glue, colouring pens and some chocolate eggs (of course). I'm reusing the basket for some more chocolate goodies - I love a good basket me - and we can't wait to make Easter pictures, cards and some homemade photo gifts for the grandparents. We love Snapfish and when the boy was born everyone we know got a photo gift from linen photo books to canvas prints and mugs adorned with photos of the baby.














I've actually asked for something different from chocolate this year. I've asked Hubbie to 'sponsor' a rabbit for me from Foal Farm, a local charity that rehomes and cares for animals. The ones that cannot be rehomed become permanent residents of the farm and sponsorship pays towards their food and medical care. I'm delighted to be sponsoring Tootsie the rabbit.

I hope you have a wonderful Easter break and that the Easter bunny brings you some lovely treats.

Disclosure: The lovely folks at HP and Snapfish invited us to a family Easter Day - we were not paid, but did receive photo gifts as thanks.