The weather outside is frightful.

There is a gale blowing outside, it is pouring with rain again, so we (Me and the littlest) decided it would be a good idea to get a large bowl of water and wash all his horsies.  He has a rather large collection, which grew from watching 'Spirit-Stallion of the Cimarron' and has now become somewhat of an obsession.  It is impossible to have a conversation with him without talking about horsies, even if we are discussing what to have for tea, or bedtime, horsies manage to creep in there somewhere, although disturbingly they are starting to be dead horsies we are talking about, but perhaps that is what comes from having two older brothers.
The thing I have discovered is that a two year old should never, under any circumstances, be left alone with that large bowl of water, as they then decide it is time for their bath too.  The kitchen floor is now awash with water, there is a soaking towel attempting, not very successfully to catch it all, all the toys have had a wash, and the washing up liquid and shampoo are depleted.  But for half an hour's entertainment, while the worst the British weather has got to throw at us is battering the windows, I could think of far worse things to be doing, than sitting in our kitchen and watching Leo have a really good time.

 Now I can open the door to the dogs and see if they want a wash too.

Oh it's a ninth birthday!

Feeling very emotional and unsettled today as J turns 9, and looks rather large.  I have just completed a lovely gluten free birthday cake for him, with obligatory cool graffiti type writing and a stunt scooter on it.  These may sound rather impressive, but I cheated by using a food printer to print out the writing and the picture.  I have found a toy skateboard to lean against it, so I count that as suitable creative input.  I am now battling with a football table, that started to be built on boxing day, so I think it needs to be finished now, especially as we have five other boys to try and entertain this evening for two and a half hours which seems rather a stretch.  I guess I should get back to it.  I am arming myself with a cup of tea and paracetamol for my dodgy arm, which seems to be a definite sign of middle age creeping up on me, not really sure how that happened, but my nine year old big boy should give me a clue.

I am considering starting a support group for mothers of just boys, although it may have to run every night and supply members with copious amounts of wine and girls clothes to stroke.  As my friend says :My midwife told me there is a special place in heaven for the mother of three boys.'  I will keep holding on to that.

Revisiting the past

We have been thinking lots recently about J's first experiences of hospital and how they have affected him, as we have been waiting for him to go back to Cardiff for an op, however, it's been bloody cancelled, two days before, so that has left us in limbo a bit.  To try and prepare us for going back to hospital we re-read the diary I kept in all our too-ing and fro-ing, and I have decided that I will share some of those entries here.  I'll try and start with them tomorrow.  Anyone going through it might find it helpful.
We have also found out something else, which I hope will stay with us all the way through our children's childhoods and beyond.  Skin to skin works on 8 year olds.  Not perhaps the same stuff I used when they were very little but lots of cuddles and kisses.  We have been battling with J's behaviour for months and suddenly we had a breakthrough.  I decided to give him a cuddle everytime he got angry or shouted, and it seems to have worked.  We now have the boy I have been missing back.  But perhaps more about that tomorrow.

Trying to make a come back

So living with three little boys has proved to be far more time consuming than I ever Could have imagined, add to that an unexpected op, moving house, schools, jobs, running a pub and a poorly springer spaniel and you have a nine month gap between posts. Now hoping make a comeback with the
Blog and two new websites, one
Which is already up and running www. Get-Britain-baking.co.uk with lots of gluten and dairy free recipes, but mainstream stuff too. The other one is going to be family friendly free from meals, now that's a mouthful! Hoping
To launch in a month or so. Any ideas for meals or recipes you swear by would be most welcome, and I'll even give you the credit. Please forgive the typos On this post, it has been written using my I phone while I wait for a replacement for my cranky old wind up lap top. Here's hoping it will turn up next week.

Summer holiday fun

The beginning of the summer holidays and the constant search for fun begins. So far we have managed to get stuck in a muddy field where J lost his trainers and F lost one sandal. And they had done so well on our long walk up until that point, although F had a mini nervous breakdown about cows and stinging nettles. Now they are off to nanny's house for a couple of days so I can relax a little bit and think of things for them to do when they get home.

Finding time to write in 2012

I have discovered that possibly the best to do this is when feeding new baby. It is quiet, the older ones are waiting downstairs and I have probably half an hour to think. Mulling over today's events we have had a very nice ( and free, my fav) lunch out, visited a pub for a viewing, and now possibly have some life changing decisions to make, which make me feel sick. Add in a very stroppy six year old, leaking bags, teething baby and lots of space to run around in, all in all it's been an interesting day .

Gluten and Dairy free Blueberry Muffins

A recipe for that classic muffin-blueberry, but for those of you who need one without dairy and gluten.
Gluten and Dairy free Blueberry muffins

Gorgeous Muffins with a zesty finished. Makes 12 medium or 8 large muffins. 265g Gluten free or rice flour 250mls Rice Milk 225g Blueberries 150mls Water 125g Caster Sugar 115mls Sunflower Oil 3 Eggs Zest of 1 lemon, grated 1 tbsp Gluten Free Baking Powder 1 Tsp Xanthan Gum Heat the oven to 200 degrees C. Line a twelve hole muffin tray with 8 or 12 muffin cases depending on the size of muffins you are making. Seive togethe the flour, baking powder and xantham gum in a large bowl. Set aside. Mix the eggs and sugar together until fluffy. Add the rice milk, oil and water, followed by the lemon zest, mixing well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir together until just combined. Finally add the blueberries, mixing gently making sure not to break the blueberries as you stir. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases, and bake in the oven for 18-20mins until browned on top. Remove from the oven and place on a wire cooling tray. Enjoy when cooled, or eat warm, with sorbet or a dairy free icecream, yum yum.

 

The secret to making these so yummy is definetely the xantham gum to give the muffin that springy cake texture.  It can be bought in Sainsbury's, and if you get products on prescription you can ad dit to your order x