Living Arrows 1/52 - contains poetry

Because childhood's not forever...

The Soul I Grew - The Boy I Knew

My soul told heaven: I am Mother

Heaven answered: got you, no other.

You came through me, we were one,

But now you're a boy, you are my son.

Although to you I do care,

To the world I must share.

Because you are on loan to me

It doesn't mean you'll forever be.

You are a living arrow flying

Through the universe, trying.

Trying to grow, trying to live

Successfully learning all that I give.

You are a living arrow soaring

To me you'll never ever be boring.

You always show me something new

Something that I never knew.

You always spot the things I don't

I'm too busy, not that I won't.

I give to you, the love I feel,

It's so powerful, so real.

I know you are not mine

You are however simply divine.

But we chose each other, 

this time!

Original Work, written by New Mum Online 07/01/2013 - I retain copyright.

From today:

If you'd like to join in head over here: Living Arrows Week 1

Linking up with Emma's #WednesdayWords linky over at Crazy With Twins:

Introducing my Mumsnet Blogfest 2013 SPONSOR

Yes, I gawn and done it. I got me a Mumsnet Blogfest 2013 sponsor!  

A luxurious one too.... 

one you can dream about (or on!) ;-)

Let me introduce: The English Mattress Company 

(also known as TEMco.).

Here's some more information about their luxury mattresses for children, for our special little people, so that they can sleep like a Prince or Princess:

Personalised Princess & the Pea (girls) and Captain Black (boys) Ranges

There can be only one mattress fit for your Prince or Princess.  A personally embroidered, luxury bespoke children’s mattress is the only option.
 

The English Mattress Company (TEMCO) (www.theenglishmattresscompany.co.uk) has been making the very finest handmade mattresses for over 120 years and knows what it takes to give children the best night's sleep.  They have now launched a unique bespoke children’s range of mattresses, providing little princes and princesses with a royal sleep like no other.

To launch their new range The English Mattress Company has launched a Made to Measure Luxury Range.  Because the mattresses are custom made and built from scratch, they can create pretty much any size or shape under the sun. From circular to a coloured mattress – even embroidered with HRH.

It’s a big moment for children when they get their first ‘big bed’, and sometimes even more so for mums and dads. Children usually sleep on the same mattress for around ten years, typically for most of their formative years and often into their teens, so choosing a good quality mattress is vitally important for their quality and quantity of sleep – and that of their parents!

 

• Princess and the Pea is a children’s luxury mattress for little girls, which comes complete with a single (wooden!) pea and book, plus their own name embroidered onto the mattress.
• For boys Captain Black children’s luxury mattress has been launched, with golden doubloons and a pirate book, as well as their name on the mattress of course.
  
  
   

Each luxury children’s mattress is manufactured to order and wherever possible, the process is done by hand. Not only will children nestle in the splendour of luxury but the high quality materials make for endless nights of slumber fit for kings and queens.

TEMCo use the most advanced materials to make their mattresses, combining the best of the new with the techniques and expertise that have taken centuries to perfect.  These include a Visco Elastic (memory) foam layer that contours to a child’s body shape for maximum support and a natural Talalay Latex layer – the most comfortable, durable and supportive material available.  The mattress is then finished with a health guard quilted top layer which is anti-bacterial and anti-dust mite which, unlike some rigid cotton covers, allows the springs do their job while also offering support for areas of the body that need it like the shoulders and hips.

 

The children’s Single (3`) mattresses are delivered to customer’s homes with a white glove service.  If mum and dad want a new personalised mattress too, they also come in a full range of sizes including Single (3`), Small Double (4`), Double (4`6”), King Size (5`), Super King Size (6`). Full details of the luxury adult range are online at The English Mattress Company

***

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post in the sense that The English Mattress Company have kindly covered the cost of my entrance to Mumsnet Blogfest, which is Saturday 9th November 2013.

Park Tours #MotivationalMonday

Sorry the blog's been turned off for a few days.

Thanks Rachel for wanting me to come back :-)

What better way to make a bloggy return than with Motivational Monday:

With me being a stay at home mum, Aaron and I get to go to a lot of parks.  There's one we go to again and again and again, but whenever Daddy and the car is available we like to get a bit intrepid.  Yesterday that saw us in Markfield Park.

We went to the slides and swings part obviously, whereas pre-baby I would have headed straight for the cafe.  We ended up there for hours but it was fine as there was lots to do and lots of nice children/parents.  Once they are out of the buggy, they get to the slides and swings as quick as they want, i.e. the minute they are in sight, even if it's a park they don't know, they're off like a racing car.  I can't even keep up with him now!

Just as we were about to get in the car to go home, Daddy remembered we had not taken Aaron to see the skate boarding area, so we headed in there.  Given that he now has his first bike he was fascinated, but whenever there were real stunts going on, we had to keep him well out of the way.

It was great as there were not many people in there and they were all on bikes, so really perfect for Aaron to watch.  Now he keeps saying "I want to do tricks".

What I personally loved about the stunt area was the grafiti.  Really well done.  I know it ruins high streets but in the right place it looks superb:

Aaron just happened to be in his Spurs kit yesterday, which was perfect given the area that we were in.

I love the efffort that they have gone to in the park with the floor painting. Look:

That's not all there was also all of the months of the year and a clock thingy:

His Aunt bought the Spurs kit for him for his 1st birthday and he is now 3 and it still fits........

I really ought to do a blog post about the fact that we were in Hampstead Heath all day Saturday but I need to spend quite some time on that post.  We went on a spectacular Tree Walk.

Bye for now,

Liska xx

CAREX - The Nation's Favourite Handwash - £500 worth of Red Letter Day vouchers, plus a year’s supply of Carex hand wash to be won!

Would you believe Carex is nearly 20 years old?  No, neither would I.  I would never have thought it, but I guess I didn't really take much heed of hand wash till I became a parent.  Now, it is antibacterial handwash, after every activity.  It feels like we may always have had Carex but they only started in 1994.  Carex were actually the first brand to bring antibacterial liquid hand wash to the UK - read more here.  We have a Carex in the kitchen and another in the bathroom.  Carex is definitely our favourite & product of choice.

I have been remunerated to tell you about this competition but do not let that bother you, considering the prizes up for grabs! This is a post that is a pleasure for me to write, as I am already a loyal customer.  Also, I think what you have to do to enter will get your creative juices flowing whilst being good fun, especially for a parent blogger who will find this a walk in the park.  I've seen parent bloggers make videos that would rival professional ones, and with prizes like this up for grabs, now's your time to SHINE!

Like I said we are loyal fans of the product, so this is our kitchen and bathroom stocks, both of which got a hammering the last few days with Aaron having been really poorly.  So part of my dash out to get supplies today included the purchase of two new bottles.

Well they are celebrating being 20 years old in style let me tell you.

To celebrate its 20^th birthday, Carex has launched a nationwide competition to reward 20 busy pairs of hands around the UK!

The Carex Live Life Hands On Awards celebrate all the wonderful things that we do with our hands.

Carex want people to share a day in the life of their hands, showcasing the real life moments that hands unlock, every single day.  

Entries can be a couple of sentences, a short written diary, some photos or even video footage.

The competition is open to everyone, from busy mums, professional gardeners and nursery nurses to dustbin men, gymnasts, mechanics and lollipop ladies.

Continuing the theme of 20, Carex will pick 20 of the most compelling entries to each win £500 worth of Red Letter Day vouchers, plus a year’s supply of Carex hand wash.

Gooooood competition right!!??!?!

The Red Letter Day vouchers can be spent on anything from a complete chill-out weekend at a luxurious spa, an adventure trip with a partner to a family weekend with the kids.

To enter The Carex Live Life Hands On Awards visit:
http://www.carex.co.uk/carex-live-life-hands-awards 

The closing date for the competition is 10th June 2013.  That and other info can be found here: terms and conditions

I am supposed to tell you that it is £1.80 in all good retailers.  Perhaps it is, but personally I always get mine for a pound in Poundland or Savers - sssssSSSHHHhhhh - don't tell anyone!

This is a Sponsored post.

Wot So Funee

So I am joining in with Wot So Funee for the second week in a row.  This may just become a habit...

I have photos AND video to go with what I am going to describe but alas, messy me, has misplaced the USB cable OR Aaron has flung it somewhere, as is his way :-(

So Friday, we were in the pool (we went swimming for two hours) and as Aaron often wathches Jake and the Neverland Pirates, he held his fist up to his eye (like a telescope - which he has never done before) and said:

"harrr harrr
I am cap'ain hook!
Can I have my treasure back!
Please!"

Yes, he really does drop the "t" in Captain.

The please at the end had me laughing till I cried, so so so cute, and I have since managed to capture him doing it on video a few times - will upload when I can find that DAMN cable!

Also, in the same pool, on the same day, the same boy was also funny for a second time.  Remember last week when he decisively told me that I am NOT a Princess? Well this is similarly funny at Mummy's expense.

He was hanging off the railing, that accompanies the steps that go into the Learning Pool, and something about the way he was doing it triggered a memory... (because I can't remember anything before the age of four and Aaron is only two this doesn't often happen)

and I said to him

"ahhhh you are swinging in the water on those railings the way Mummy did when she was little!"

To which he said:

"Mummy was little?"

To which I said

"yes, 40 years ago"

To which he said

"oh dear" 

and just to make certain I understood the sentiment it was followed with

"that's not good".

For some reason, his little wisdom made me howl with laughter.

My little man is far too wise, far too clever, and at least once a day, far too FUNNY.

That's why I love this linky as it is forcing me to record these moments.

Moments I would love to share with him when he is older.



Liska xxx

Setting Up Your G+ (G Plus) Page and Page Cover / Page Header

I have recently become a fan of G+.

I had not really done much with my New Mum Online profile or "page" but I decided to "go for it" with my new G+ +Conscious Mum page.

First thing first was getting the page header / cover to look right and I had a bee in my bonnet that I wanted my blog header.

I made do with the fact that my blog name strap line did not fit and was going to live with it till the Geek that is +Nickie O'Hara  over at +Geekalicious explained that she could read it properly - eeek I'd been rumbled.

There is a FAB way of getting your profile and cover images to go together seamlessly but for me it looked like this:

Great idea but look at the profile box on the right; it doesn't work, and that is the image I'd be carrying with me and leaving a trail with everywhere.

So I decided to enter an image in the "profile" box and focus on getting my blog header into the landscape "cover" box.... no matter what I tried it did not work.

I had wrongly assumed that the padlock next to dimensions on picmonkey meant that you could not alter them (unless you upgraded to the paid for version) which turned out not to be true, once I was desperate enough to try having spent hours trying to do it in other ways.

So I went to picmonkey.com, chose the "collage" option, picked the Facebook cover collage, and manually altered the size, to the G+ dimensions, as below (940 x 180):
(I manually slid the dividing lines, till I got the first bit where I wanted)
I focused on the first two images knowing they'd be visible

Oh and when I saved it I chose the option for the highest resolution.
It was the first time the blog name and strap line were no longer grainy - result!!!

What I really want to share with you is how my G+ +Conscious Mum page looks on a computer versus how it looks on my phone.

Look:

On computer

On phone:

See how very different they look.

So when you are doing yours, maybe use picmonkey like I did, but most importantly take note of the G+ header dimensions.

Also, once you like it, check how it looks on a phone.

Take care,

Liska xx

My Five Favourite Christmas Songs - Christmas Playlist

Britmums and Coca-Cola have challenged us  

 to do a

playlist of our five favourite Christmas Songs

And I am joining in because I like the thought of drivers drinking Coke instead of alcohol when they are driving! The fact that there is an ipad mini up for grabs has absolutely NOTHING to do with it *coughs*

So this is my #FestivePlaylist

Mine would be:

NUMBER ONE:  
Driving Home for Christmas - Chris Rea.  
I hummed it all the way through #Healing4Kerry and there hasn't been a day since that the chords haven't struck a chord with me
Favourite line: "soon there'll be a freeway, get my feet on holy ground" - yes you will Kerry my darling, yes you will. xxxxx

 
NUMBER TWO: 
Merry Christmas Everyone - Shakin' Stevens.  This transforms me straight back to my youth when he was still famous, and I had his cassettes.  Yes, it reveals my age doesn't it ;-)
Favourite line: "People dancing all night long" - no secret that I like a BOOGIE!

NUMBER THREE:
I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas - Bing Crosby
It has to be said, I love a bit of snow, and we had a dusting of it last week.  I'd personally love a white Christmas.  We'll be spending ours in Folkestone, where snow would look truly wonderful. Aaron would get so much joy out of playing with it.
Favourite line: "May your days be merry and bright"
 

NUMBER FOUR: 
Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow - Dean Martin
Again, a bit of snow obsession here :-)

Favourite line: "If you really hold me tight, all the way home I'll be warm!"
and
"Oh the weather outside is frightful [it is] but the fire is so delightful!"
paints a lovely picture doesn't it! 
 

 
NUMBER FIVE: 
I have to end with a legend.  This song lifts you, and is timeless I think!
The Christmas Song, Merry Christmas to You - Nat King Cole
Favourite line: "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping on your nose!"
and
"tiny tots with their eyes all aglow will find it hard to sleep tonight!"
 

          

Post publish edit. I just HAD to come back and add on a number SIX:

NUMBER SIX:

Oh Holy Night - Celine Dion.
Had to insert something to bring us back to the true meaning of Christmas...

Favourite line: "Oh holy night, the stars are brightly shining, it is the night of our deep saviour's birth"

So what are yours? 

In fact don't tell me! 

I want an ipad mini all to myself!

So you get busy doing something else!

Leave this linky for me, all me, just me, and me and me ;-)

Go! Go! Go! Play with some snow!

And if this Linky don't bring me an ipad mini, I want one from Santa! 

Santa ya hear me!!!!!?????

Liska xxxx 

P.S. If this post don't make you feel Christmassy then nothing will ;-)

Oh and by the way, we finally put up our tree, lights and decorations yesterday.  Aaron loved helping.

This is our tree and sitting room window:

Bye again
Liska xx

Finding my Yoga Mojo - Vlog!

Here is a video describing how I am coming back to Kundalini Yoga after a 2 year (plus) absence.

I didn't realise becoming a new mum would mean giving up something that had been a large part of my life for 9 years.

What did you give up when you became a Mum?

I hate the thumbnails that get generated when imbedding a video!

Liska x

The Clearing Clutter Competition

At the moment I am all about out with the old and in with the new.  Clearing clutter (when I am in the mood) is where I am at!

With that in mind I am RUNNING MY FIRST EVER COMPETITION..........! STOP THE PRESS.

I was sent this by a PR and as I still haven't used it, I decided that one of you beauties could have it.

It is a Spa Indulgence CHAMPNEYS Oriental Opulence Collection, and retails at £12.  I would like the person who wins it, to actually use it, otherwise it'll be passed on yet again.  I want someone to actually enjoy it!  It comes in an opulent gold box...

All you have to do to enter the competition is tweet the below AND leave me a comment to say that you have done so (including your @twitterID):

I'd love: Champneys Spa Indulgence and I am helping @NewMumOnline to clear clutter #ClearClutterCompetition.  RT to enter the competition.

I will pick a winner on 18th August 2012, and post the gift box with the above contents out the same week, providing you get back to me with your address ASAP. 

The contents are:
Oriental Opulence Shower Cream
50 ml

Oriental Opulence Body Glow
50g

Oriental Opulence Bubble Heaven
50 ml

Oriental Opulence Body Cream
50 ml

Body Polisher

As you can see they are perfect TRAVEL SIZES so this is perfect if you plan to go away.

Bye for now and good luck,

Liska xxx