Jantastic

The year is getting off to a really good start.

Over the frantic Christmas period, I had a few ideas about how we could make the available space in our home work better for us - to make life easier. With a tweak here and  a lick of paint there, we are already putting those ideas into action and I am loving the results.

The economic measures that we put in place before Christmas are having an effect. Financially things are feeling much more secure and the possibility of the odd treat and extravagance is not out of the question. It isn't time to go mad but we can certainly relax.

I also discovered Jantastic

Jantastic is a free online running challenge designed to motivate you to achieve your running goals during winter and spring when short days and miserable weather can sabotage your resolve. Goals are set by the individual and runs logged to monitor progress. There is also an option to be part of a team which gives the added incentive of 'not wanting to let the team down'.

I am in a team with my daughters, two of their boyfriends and my husband. I am especially pleased that  one of my daughter team mates is new to running and is using this as the push to get started. I've heard of the expression "The family that plays, together, stays together". I wonder what happens to the family that runs together? (Apart from comparing injuries and sharing new stretches, that is!)

I have already successfully completed my week 1 target and am well on the way to completing week 2. It is just what I needed to get me out running regularly and hopefully beat the Christmas legacy of bloating, lethargy and unwanted extra pounds.

This year, rather than struggling to think of meaningful and achievable resolutions, I decided to make one change per month. The idea for January's change came about when I was lucky enough to receive some absolutely gorgeous lotions and potions for Christmas. I love luxurious skincare products but the pamper time to use them is one of the first things to be sacrificed when life gets busy. I can't even remember the last time life wasn't busy. Consequently, some of the products from gift sets  received last year remain unopened - unused. The January resolution then is: To get those bottles, jars and tubes organised, to throw away the dregs and take pleasure in starting a brand new assortment and (best of all) to make time for those pamper sessions. It is a resolution that I am, thus far, very much enjoying!



PS It is not  too late to Sign up to Jantastic 

Peppa Pig Weebles Wind and Wobble Playhouse

Today we were sent a review item from Character. As always when a mystery parcel is delivered, there was an excited buzz of anticipation. Printed on the box were the words 'Sky Dancers'. My Addy read this and couldn't get the box open quick enough. Unfortunately for her, dreams of owning a flying fairy were shattered when the box actually contained a Peppa Pig Weeble Wind and Wobble Playhouse. The sound of her wails of disappointment were drowned out by little brother's whoops of sheer delight.

I remember  Weebles from when I was a child in the early seventies (although I never owned any) and the distinctive "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down" jingle jumps into my head at the slightest mention of them. I did notice that the tune is different now on the current TV advertising but judging by the fact that my son already sings it, I guess it is just as catchy.

I do love the way that the frankly quite hideously ugly original Weebles have evolved over the years and now feature the instantly recognisable characters from popular children's TV.

As a physicist, my husband would enjoy the principles exploited in the Weeble design and my mathematician daughter could probably produce pages of interesting formulae to describe how it works. Me, I just love to see them wobble!!

Eventually, the lure of the wobbly pig distracted Addy from the distress of the absent Sky Dancer and she dived in to wind the handle to carry Peppa up the wobbly staircase, deposit her on the wobbly floor, slide her down the slide and onto the spinning roundabout. If that wasn't enough, there is also a swinging swing, a muddy puddle and a lofty perch at the very top of the playhouse. It is lovely.

Maybe at nearly six years old, Addy is a little old for this set (recommended age 18m+). It didn't hold her attention for a great deal of time. She went off in search of cake to console herself for being Sky Dancer-less! Dylan took advantage of having the set to himself and is still playing beautifully.

Other Weeble characters are available to purchase separately - Dylan wanted Peppa to have friends!

So that was Christmas

The decorations are packed away for another year (with the exception of a large snowflake that somehow escaped the de-adornment), the kids are back at school and the post-Xmas house clear up and reorganise is well under way.

It has been the busiest Christmas I can remember. We were blessed with many visitors which was wonderful but exhausting.

Equally exhausting but the exact opposite of wonderful was the drainage emergency that struck us on Christmas eve. When we should have been singing carols under the twinkling lights of the town Xmas tree and returning home full of festive cheer to a glass of mulled wine, we were in fact  trying to deal with a blockage that meant I could not use my kitchen sink or (horrifyingly) my dishwasher. My ever resourceful husband, with the guidance and support of his dad, had an exploratory poke around before building a temporary system of pipes to divert the waste water to a drain that was flowing freely. The greasy, sludgy problem was then dealt with at a more convenient  moment (ie not on Xmas eve in the dark). Once the blockage was finally dislodged and flushed away, I tried to reward my husband with a big hug of gratitude. The hug did not last long. He absolutely stank.

A much more pleasant memory is that of my little Addy's school Xmas performance. It was a modern twist on the traditional nativity and she played the part of an angel. I was concerned that she would not be well enough to take part having already missed a panto trip because of a nasty cough and cold that seemed intent on  hanging around. I also harboured some lingering concerns after the meltdown she had during the previous year's performance. All my concerns disappeared when she stood up on stage and sang beautifully complete with actions.

Dylan also took part in a nativity. After the event he was given a certificate:

This was the most ill deserved certificate ever awarded!  He was quite determined that he did not want to be a shepherd. He refused to even try on the outfit I had lovingly crafted out of old pillow cases. Foolishly, I believed that when he was with his friends and everyone was dressed up, he would be carried along with the moment. Wrong. When all the little shepherds appeared and paraded around the church on their journey to see the Baby Jesus (delightfully played by a real baby) Dylan was not among them. Trailing behind with the grumpiest expression and wearing his JCB coat over the top of his pillowcase, was my boy. My beautiful, annoyingly stubborn boy. I managed to wrestle his coat off him as he passed but he refused to join the other children for their rendition of "While Shepherds watched their Flocks".  Some days later when I was putting him to bed and telling him I loved him, he asked "do you love me even if I wasn't a shepherd?" I told him "especially because you wasn't a shepherd". He sleepily added, "I didn't want to be a shepherd, I wanted to be just Dylan". Just Dylan is Just Perfect for me.

It has been a Christmas on a budget for us this year. On the positive side this has made me think very carefully about what I've spent money on and I have enjoyed the extravagances (such as my bottle of port) all the more for it. It has also meant explaining to Addy that some of the toys she has seen on the telly are expensive and possibly not quite as fantastic as the advertisers would have us believe. A trusting five year old did not want to accept that adverts tell lies!!! and she could not comprehend why I would worry about expense when Santa brings the toys!!! My eldest daughter is in her twenties - two decades of Christmases and I have NEVER had to deal with the idea of me doing all the work buying presents and Santa taking all the credit.  I  think my first born was far too sensible to entertain the nonsense that a fat man in a red coat visits all the children on one evening, climbs down the chimneys and leaves presents. We didn't even have a chimney in our first house! And she would have never allowed her sisters to believe such nonsense either.  I trod very carefully as I tried to offer an explanation that would not destroy Addy's treasured innocence but would also give her a slightly better understanding of my role in the process. I dared suggest that it couldn't be as easy as Santa bringing you everything you wish for otherwise he'd bring me two new sofas to replace my old tired ones. Addy holds her own in an argument. She laughed at me and said Don't be silly mummy, he wouldn't have enough wrapping paper.

Despite some disagreements about what might be a good thing to put on the Christmas list, both little ones had plenty of presents that they thoroughly enjoyed unwrapping and loved every one. My husband may have cracked his tooth on my home made Christmas cake but overall the festive fare did not disappoint. Best of all, good times with family and friends reminded us of what is most important. Santa didn't bring my sofas but he certainly made sure that the spirit of Christmas was there in abundance.