It's all been a bit of a blur...

At the beginning of 2015 I knew a couple of things:

1. I was signed up to do a 6 hour danceathon for Comic Relief with my Team Honk chums and
2. There was a possibility that we would have a new child joining our family. 

Yep we danced for 6 hours !! 

I was a bit blasé about taking part in the Danceathon at Wembley Arena, but as the date drew closer I started to realise that I couldn't take a lot with me so I would have to think about how much to carry. There were all sorts of transport issues so I had to work out a route which would enable me to get there - and home again - without too much hassle. In the end it was an amazing - and tiring - day. I learned lots of dance moves, kept going for the whole event, we raised a massive amount of money for charity and the entire audience (on TV too) saw Mummy Barrow's bum. 

On a more sober note the reality of adoption really hit home in the Spring. We talked to Big Boy about how he felt and prepared ourselves for the matching panel. It was nerve wracking and frightening, but we did the best we could. Thankfully we found out almost immediately that we had been matched and could proceed to meeting him a week later.

The world changed completely on the 2nd April when Baby Boy came to live with us.

It also opened the door to an old friend. I found myself enveloped by overwhelming feelings of inadequacy and the inability to cope with 2 boys fighting for my attention and sibling rivalry on a level that even as one of four I had never experienced. It took months before I said out loud that I might have post-adoption depression. Hardly surprising as I'd had post-natal depression, but I wasn't even aware of the phenomenon applying to adoption too. I'm still working through it, but at least it now has a name.

I did a skydive - on board a cruise ship ! 

Not long after he came to us we were invited by Royal Caribbean to take part in an inaugural cruise on the Anthem of the Seas. It worked out that me and Big Boy went on the cruise and Baby Boy and Hubbie went to stay with Grandma so we had some special one to one time with a boy each. I've never been on a cruise before so it was really exciting and me and Big Boy did some exciting things like going for a sky dive on the deck and I also learned trapeze. It was terrifying - you could hear the clanking of the scaffolding as I climbed up to the bar because I was shaking so much, but I'm so glad I finally did it. Big Boy loved the kids club so much that I barely saw him, but I did enjoy a lovely hot stone massage, went to watch a show and even managed to have some quiet time with champagne on the balcony. I hope we can all go next time - I'm sure Hubbie and Baby Boy would have a great time too.

Following a car accident in the Summer we missed a great friend's wedding and I have been having physiotherapy to help mend a bad knee and shoulder injury. I still don't know how I finished the Shine walk - even though it was the half and not the full marathon - but I'm glad that I did. After the danceathon and the walk I think I'll take a year off from fundraising events next year. Remind me of that won't you ?

Baby Boy loves the beach

We took the boys on holiday to Cornwall and stayed at our favourite family friendly location - Coombe Mill. Baby Boy went to the beach for the first time and met lots of different animals. He seems to have the family love of trains and animals, we just need to work on his tractor driving skills.

Big Boy turned five and his best present was a brand new cousin. He completely loves the baby and is already planning what role the new boy will have in the little 'boy gang' that he has planned consisting of his brother and cousin. This also fills in the gap left by the arrival of a baby brother who wasn't actually a baby. Most important of course is that fact that I am finally an auntie ! I love that little dude so much.

It was a big month in December as it was the first time Baby Boy has celebrated his birthday and Christmas with us. I was so keen to get it just right for all of us as these will be his memories. 

There has been so much going on that I made two big decisions in the later months.

• I was thinking about it for a while, but in the end the decision was really simple. I went to see a nice man called Alan and showed him a photo then he went ahead and cut my hair short. I love it. 

My snazzy shorter hair

• After more than 15 years I've decided to give up being an Avon lady. It's been fun, but I want to simplify my life and give myself more time. In the process of decluttering the house I have realised just how much make up, skincare and general stuff I have in my possession, so even if I didn't buy any for a year I wouldn't run out of anything.

At the end of last year we had just returned from a fab Christmas at Coombe Mill and were looking ahead to some massive family changes. As this one comes to a close we're all exhausted. So much has happened and there is so much more to come.

Baby Boy starts pre-school in January, Hubbie has a new found interest in cycling and Big Boy is training to be a Jedi.

I love these boys

And me ? Well I have no plans so far. I'm taking 2016 as it comes. I think it will be just fine.

One, Two, Three, Four... reasons to be cheerful :)

OYou know how sometimes you need to remind yourself of the nice things in life ?

Well this week I really need that so here goes:

Not that I'm going to ask for chocolate of course

I popped into M&S earlier this week and spotted this little beauty. I loved it so much a took a photo to show Hubbie what to get me for Easter. Yep, it's a caramelised walnut swirl egg !!

Me and Hubbie posing with the famous pigeon

We first saw the Mel Brooks musical The Producers when we were on honeymoon in New York. It is everything we love; irreverent, camp as you like and very, very silly. This week we went on a date night and saw the latest touring production starring Jason Manford and the wonderful Cory English (who we've seen before in the West End production). As Miranda's mother would say, "Such fun !"

Arty shot of me at the Danceathon

Of course you know I took part in the Comic Relief 6 hour Danceathon last weekend. It was such an amazing thing to be part of and I'm delighted to managed to keep dancing for the entire 6 hours and am overwhelmed by how very generous my sponsors have been - thank you all so much xx

And finally we can resume our normal lives

After weeks of popping every Red Nose Day item into my trolley when I go shopping I finally did an audit of what we have so far. At last count I have a Lulu Guinness shopper, T-shirts for me and my boy, one china mug, red nose day sippy cups (x2) and red noses (x15). The good news here is that we finally managed to get the snortel nose that our boy has been searching for. Thank goodness !

*** STOP PRESS ***

We now have two Snortel noses thanks to lovely Ems who bought my boy another one :) 

Thank you !!!!

So it's been a pretty eventful few days.

On Monday night I went to the first night of Anything Goes at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley and it was absolutely fantastic ! I know all the songs (you probably do too) and it was just so vibrant and fun. It was a really great start to the week and seeing all the lovely dancers in their vintage outfits gave me some inspiration for my danceathon outfit next week.

It's been London Fashion Week - an event I used to take great interest in before it became entirely out of the realms of my reality - well since the Clothes Show stopped being shown on telly really. I always loved watching the catwalk shows (of course now it's called a runway instead which is part of the reason I stopped caring) and seeing what the designers had in store for the rich and thin. I am neither so you can see why it's less of a thing for me now.

To demonstrate how far I am from being a fashionista I got all discombobulated about a tweet I saw telling me that Krispy Kreme were giving away free doughnuts to celebrate their 1,000th store opening. I discreetly did up my cardigan (I said about the fashion thing didn't I ? I wasn't kidding !) and left the office. I did that fast walk that looks like you need the loo really urgently all the way to the shop on High Holborn and the nice man handed me a lovely and nutritionally questionable foodstuff in a bag. It made my day that did :)

Then Madonna fell off a high stage in a wardrobe fail that looked terribly painful and caused all sorts of reactions - from claims that she had done it on purpose to those leaping to her defence by claiming that she has super human powers. I don't envy the person who had done up her cape at the neck. While I've always been an admirer of Madge it's no secret that she is not a fan of failure. It reminded me of her on stage during the blonde ambition tour and thinking how hard she worked to get fit so she could dance and sing for hours. That is a woman who works hard and it shows. I'm pretty sure if it was me I'd have stayed down and actually cried.

I almost did cry on Friday actually. During the end of the week assembly at school my boy finally received a special celebration certificate and badge at school for writing. It is so heartening for me to hear that he has been writing pages and pages of words. His teacher even quipped in the assembly that he must be 'writing a novel." I hope so. That would make me even prouder - as if that's even possible.

On top of all of that my biggest surprise came today when I checked my Red Nose Day fundraising page to discover that I've smashed the fundraising target I set for the Danceathon I'm taking part in with hundreds of others - and a fair few Team Honkers - at Wembley Arena to raise funds for Comic Relief. It has been an amazing and kind of so many lovely folks to sponsor me to take part in this. I genuinely appreciate every donation and I know it's not easy for everyone to give so thank you from my heart for doing so.

It's not too late to give if you still want to. I will share plenty of pics from the event itself and I haven't forgotten that I promised to do and film a happy dance when I reached my target. Keep an eye on t'internet as I expect it's going to make the whole gold dress/blue dress thing pale into the distance when it goes live :)

Disclosure: The lovely folks at the Churchill Theatre invited us to see Anything Goes free of charge. 

A life in dance: From Madonna to Strictly

I'm not a natural dancer. I have neither the body for it nor the rhythm, but I do love dance and have done from way back when. 

In the '80s when Madonna was still wearing rara skirts, rubber bangles and those diamante boots that everyone had to have from Desperately Seeking Susan I was all about the funky leg warmers and ankle boots:

Then of course there were the uni years. It was a time of hard rock and some miserable goth music too, but mostly it was loud head banging music and long fringy skirts:

And post uni I was all about trying to be one of Prince's proteges. I knew I'd never been quite thin enough to be Mayte or Carmen Electra, but Wendy and Lisa inspired with their musical talent and seeming ability to work with him without ending up married to him:

Of course with the advent of girl bands it was all about girl power, but I'd always had a soft spot for Bananarama with their simplistic and barely choreographed dance style. I was pleased they'd moved on from wearing dungarees though :

Of course Baz Luhrmann changed everything with Strictly Ballroom which revived interest in the cheesy world of competitive ballroom dancing. Then when Moulin Rouge came out with the big anthemic dance numbers and flouncy outfits everyone wanted to wear beautiful dresses and do the tango:

And now ? Well on Sun 8th Mar I'll be at Wembley with thousands of other people dancing for 6 hours to raise money for Comic Relief as part of Team Honk. The dance styles and instructors will change every half hour so it's going to be challenging and hopefully lots of fun too. I'm not a great dancer, but I am keen and I'm really looking forward to taking part.

It would mean so much to me if you would consider sponsoring me to do this - I promise when I reach my target I'm going to make a video of me doing a dance as a thank you. Feel free to make requests - please note the more you pay the better your chances of influencing which dance I actually film :)

And now the one that got all of this started:

You can sponsor me here