The Snowman and Wasabi

I got really cheap tickets to see The Snowman at the Peacock Theatre in London on Saturday, and we all loved every minute of it. 

Based on the Raymond Briggs book, the Snowman is a charming, magical experience which combines gorgeous costumes, a full orchestra and ballet-style choreography.

Best of all is the stagecraft - a triumph of magic made possible by mechanics. This includes an electric motorbike, a puffing toy steam train and eye-popping scenes where the Snowman and the little boy really do rise up into the air and fly across the stage. Beautiful. 

My eyes were watering on several occassions. I was transported. El was entertained throughout, and loved the fact that it was OK for her to ask us questions and make comments to us throughout the performance. After all, the theatre was full of kids doing the same. Because there was no dialogue, it was easy for her to get caught up in the story, and I think it would appeal to kids much younger than Ella for this very reason.

Before the show, we went to a Japanese restaurant for veggie sushi, tempura and noodles. Ella impressed me no end by trying a little wasabi with her Sushi. She loved it. "I really like it Mummy, but for a little bit it feels like a strong fizzing and then like you have a needle stuck up your nose". Spot on.

And the winner is...

Photo: DSC_3079_CMYK
 

The winner of the Best of British Mummy Blogger's Carnival is Baby Juggler's Going Completely Potty. Well done! 

The current Carnival is on now - place your votes before 27th December by leaving a comment on the current Carnival page  (I am No. 8 if you'd like to vote for me!).

If you’d like to host the carnival on your blog, the schedule is kept on Thames Valley Mums. 

Ciao for now!

I've got Christmas all tied up..

Photo: 3 presents waiting

I'm feeling very smug as I've had Christmas all wrapped up for days. An hour on the Internet and it was all done.

I even managed to buy my sister's birthday present (the poor thing has her birthday two days after Christmas) and a pressie for myself.

Buying myself a Christmas present is a tradition I started a while ago, it's a great insurance against the disappointment of not getting anything you really want. I highly recommend it.

I found some unusual gifts here and did the rest here - books, gadgets, smellies, clothes...it has the lot.

As soon as my postie had delivered the first package, I dashed to Waitrose for some wrapping paper. Big mistake.

WARNING: some of Waitrose's Christmas wrapping paper is actually see-through, although you can't tell until you're actually using it.

Fan-bloody-tastic.

I had to double- (and in some cases triple-)wrap the presents. Subsequently, I went to Tescos for cheaper and far superior wrapping paper.

The only other disappointment I have encountered in my amazingly hassle-free Christmas shopping experience is that things are not always as they seem in their photos. I can't go into that too deeply, as one of the intended recipients reads my blog.

The shoes  I bought for J (who doesn't read this blog), although lovely and almost exactly what he wants, are lace-ups instead of being 'slip on' as I had hoped. This may turn out to be a Big Deal. 

A a few months ago, I accompanied J on his hunt for some new casual shoes and we traipsed around no less than ten shoe shops. Why? Because any design he liked had lace-ups and "I just want something I can put on quickly. I don't want the hassle of laces."

Now, J is by no means a lazy man. In the summer, he put up a large garden shed single-handedly (I made the tea). I have never asked him why laces are a “hassle” and in exactly what situation he would need to save the five seconds required to lace two shoes. I suppose I shall find out on Christmas day…

Vote for the Best of British...

(Cue fanfare) Here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for..The Best of British Mummy Bloggers Carnival. Ta-Daa!

Read the entries below, then vote for your favourite by leaving a comment below. 

Just list the name or the number of the blogger you want to vote for.

If you have any problems logging your vote, please email it to me at annacolette@gmail.com

Please vote by Thursday 18th December 2008. I’ll announce the winner the next day, so do check back to find out the results.

I think you’ll agree that there are some excellent bloggers in the competition who deserve all the readers they can get. 

So, if you have a blog yourself, please post a link to this carnival to promote the competition and encourage your readers to join in the vote. If you are blogless, please feel free to email the link to your friends…

1. Part Mummy Part Me finds a new way to fight the flu Shopping is Better Than Lemsip 
   
2. Mummy Mania looks at the challenges of combining her writing career and children Is Writing Compatible with Motherhood?
   
3. Home Office Mum gets a shock when she tries out a lip plumper In Which I Practice Pouting 
   
4. Guinea Pig Mum catalogues the different stages of parenting in When They’re Babies
   
5. The Baby Juggler takes a humorous look at potty training Going Completely Potty
   
6. Thatgirl39 has a close encounter with a clown Send in the Clowns
   
7. Potty Mummy writes about mice, de-icer and Santa’s helper It’s All a Matter of Timing
   
8. Reluctant Memsahib finds a fresh perspective during an African walk Reasons to be Cheerful 
   
9. A Modern Mother gives a moving account of visiting her newborn daughter in the Intensive Care Unit The Baby Blanket - Flashbacks from the NICU
   
10. Lucy Cavendish (aka Samantha Smythe) searches for a nanny so she can start writing her next novel There Must be a Solution Somewhere
    
11. Half Baked Brownie Guider has a surprise when she buys charms for her daughter’s charm bracelet Not That Charmed
    
12. Modified Mummy has a run-in with the owner of her local tanning studio I Pissed off the Piercer!
    
13. Family Affairs experiences role reversal in McDonalds Parental Controls
    
14. Little Mummy gives tips on having a credit-crunch busting evening Swap Party
    
15. Hello Mum gets a strange romantic prediction Dark Handsome Divers 
16. Audrey at Thames Valley Mums hopes that this Christmas will be different in Dear Santer
    
    Please post a comment here to log your vote. Votes must be in by Thursday 18th December 2008.

The next carnival is on 23rd December at Thames Valley Mums. We're also looking for carnival hosts for next year, please check out the schedule if you're interested. 

Shopping is Better Than Lemsip

Photo: Havin FUN shopping

I felt so fluey and pathetic this morning that I phoned El’s dad to see if he could take her to school so that I could go back to bed after breakfast. He couldn’t, so I had to face the outside world. 

The icy air cut through my already aching bones and amplified my headache. God I felt shit. The Lemsip was barely taking the edge off.

Once I had dropped El off at school the sensible thing was to go home and crawl under my duvet. But I wasn’t tired enough to sleep, I didn’t have the concentration to read and daytime TV bores me. Besides, I needed cheering up.

No wonder I felt so depressed, look at me. My baggiest jeans teamed with my flattest shoes – a definite Trinny & Susannah no-no for a short, overly rounded Pear. Topped off with the most boring jumper I own.

Then I had a Breakthrough Moment...

Actually, my other jumper is boring too. God, I only own two jumpers. What the hell, girl?! It’s mighty cold out there – go find some knitwear!

I really shouldn’t…my work has almost completely dried up this month (and as a newbie, optimistic freelancer I neglected to save when the work was rolling in a few months ago. Oops)…it’s nearly Christmas…the springs are starting to poke through the sofa…my car is on its last legs…I need to buy J’s wedding ring next month ….my tax bill is due then too…AND I REALLY REALLY WANT TO LOOK GOOD RIGHT NOW!!

When the credit crunch bites, the sick go shopping.

One denim skirt, a pair of snakeskin leggings (yes, I know am a Pear. I plan to wear under skirts and dresses. OK?), a soft indigo and violet cowl jumper, and two cardigans later…I look, and feel, so much better.

I’m smiling now. I still ache, but I feel snuggly and cosseted in my soft-as-butter cowl.

Stuff Lemsip. I’m fighting the flu with fashion.

Feed Me Grapes

Photo: C A R E

What is it about being ill that makes you want your mummy? I have a sore throat, I ache all over, my brain feels like it has been wrapped in a duvet, and my nose has regressed to the constant snotty drip of a toddler.

All I want is a gentle Angel of Mercy to mop my brow and roll out sympathetic platitudes on the hour. Better still, every half an hour.

Now that I am the mummy I just have to get on with it. It’s rubbish. 

There’s just no margin for lounging in bed calling for grapes and lemsips when you have a child breathing down your next wanting to be entertained. Actually, make that two children (I have my niece staying over this weekend).

I escaped to the bath just now while J held the fort (yes, I know it’s the afternoon. But I’m Ill!!). Soaked and sniffled. Read my book, and let the warm water soothe my aching bones. Stopped ‘getting on with it’ and indulged myself in thirty minutes of solitude. Mmmmmm.

No grapes, no sympathy but my small respite has revved up my flagging spirits.

Right. Lunch for us all, then off the see Santa on a train at the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway.

Being ill is for babies (and (step)daddies). We mummies are made of much stronger stuff!

Take Part in The Best of the British Mummy Bloggers

If you're a British blogger parent, then I'd love you to take part in the next Best of British Mummy Bloggers Carnival on Tuesday 9th December (Dads are also welcome to join in!). 

Just email me with a link to your best post by Monday 8th December and I will include it. Readers will vote for their favourite post by leaving a comment on Part Mummy Part Me during that week. I'll send you the link on the day of the carnival so that you can post it onto your blog (if you want to) and invite your readers to come and caste their vote.

Send your blogpost link to: annacolette@gmail.com

Good Luck!

Wonderful Wellies

Photo: Wicked Wellies 

My new wellies are wonderful.

I went for a walk in them yesterday, and marvelled at their soft sucking sound in mud, the brisk swish as I marched through long grass and the satisfying splash as I jumped in a puddle like a toddler. 

Just putting them on makes me smile. They make me feel like a kid again.