Month: January 2013

To-do lists: Wot so Funee?

*Clears throat importantly* I know you’re all dying to read Wot so Funee? but first Mummy has an announcement… Yes, the Mad Blog Awards 2013 are now open for nominations! Last year we were lucky enough to win the MADs in the Best Schooldays category. We had the time of our lives and are so grateful to everyone who reads and shares this blog for making that possible. Of course, we would love to enter again, but that is up to you. If you think Actually Mummy is deserving of an award this year, we’d love a nomination in any or all …

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Book review: Monty and Milli: the totally amazing magic trick

By Tracey Corderoy and Tim Warnes. Review by the Bug, aged 5. My brother is not one for practising his writing. But he has recently acquired the ability to read, and can be found most mornings, long before M&D’s alarm goes off, poring over his books. Even the promise of pain au chocolat elicits a groan of disobedience when he is asked to abandon his literature in favour of dressing and coming down for breakfast. Perhaps this new-found ability accounts for his urge to review Monty and Milli. We’ve had The Totally Amazing Magic Trick hanging around for months, with …

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Why getting fresh air is important: 4/52

We have a tendency to laziness in our family. The first hint of rain sees us rubbing our hands in anticipation of popcorn and a film by the fire, all 4 of us snuggled under a fleecy blanket, hiding our eyes from the parts that make us squeamish (for me it’s Voldemort, for Daddy it’s more likely to be a scene from a path lab, or a lost labrador). But we can’t resist snow, and with the rest of the nation we duly donned our waterproofs and hiked our sledges to the nearest hill. The Bug, tearful at the prospect …

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Wot So Funee?

A while ago, we were featured in a magazine article about funny things that children say. They used all of our best quotes, leaving us only with the leftover scraps of humour and misunderstanding. However, they all made us laugh, and decided they too were deserving of publication: What do you think a Peplum is? It sounds like a kind of plum. (Insert explanation from Mummy). Oh. Is it plum-coloured? Where would you wear palazzo pants? Bug: you’d wear them when it’s hot. GG: Are they like hot-pants from the ’70’s. They sound like pretzels. (So where would you wear them?) Inside, when no-one’s …

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Girls day in: how to create a home spa

  As the grey sky glares down on us, and our condensate pipe requires more and more kettles of hot water to thaw out and provide us with heating, we find ourselves wishing we’d booked our Center Parcs trip for January rather than waiting for the summer. Clearly we would be spending most of our time indoors, in the Subtropical Swimming Paradise, deluding ourselves that summer has arrived. But Mummy would almost certainly be sloping off to the Aqua Sana Spa, and after my home spa experience last week, I will be hot on her heels! As a result of …

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When a pet dies… 3:52

My best photo this week drew a lot of views and comments on Facebook. Like a lot of people we have taken full advantage of the snowy weather, throwing it, shaping it, lying in it, and sliding on it. We all went out for some fun, including our pets. But sadly we were having far too much fun to focus on our responsibilities. As we piled back indoors with rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes to burn our throats on steaming mugs of chocolate, we failed to notice that one of our party got left behind, forgotten, outside in the snow. …

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Easy Pork Schnitzel Recipe Only 5 Weightwatchers Pro Points

"Weightwatchers easy port schnitzel recipe"

  We were recently given a new WeightWatchers recipe book titled Fresh and easy everyday. Mummy finds that the key to staying on track with her ProPoints is variety, so new recipes are always welcome. Inspired by our recent cookery class with top chef Francesco Mazzei, and by the promise of “easy” recipes, Mummy handed over this Weightwatchers book to me, and left me to get on with it. I chose this easy Pork Schnitzel recipe because I like all the ingredients, and we estimated a total cooking time of 15 minutes. Mummy cooked some tiny rosemary and garlic potatoes, …

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Apologies

“Ok GG have fun at Brownies. Daddy’s picking you up later. Don’t forget to bring your coat home.” “I’m back Mummy…!” “Did you remember your coat?” “No…” There were remonstrations, there was screaming and yelling at the unfairness of having to remember everything! And there was the penance of having to go to bed and ‘think’ about how I might remember better next time. I went to bed. Mummy finished reading to the Bug. As she left her room, there was this, just outside the door: And that isn’t even the funniest thing! When she came to ask why I’d complained about not …

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Children reading 2:52

My favourite photo this week is an appalling shot really, but it is here not for its artistic merit, but for what it says to me. After Daddy does the bath Mummy comes up to read a bedtime story. However on this particular evening she was busy getting some or other adult-type dish into the oven. Curry, no doubt, or something else I would refuse to eat. She yelled up to ask if I would listen to the Bug read his schoolbook while we waited. She came up 10 minutes later to find us snuggled together in my den. “It’s …

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Saturday is caption day…

Now, for those of you who don’t know this pair personally, I can tell you that their expressions tell you more than words ever could… (Mummy)

Shopping lists: Wot so Funee?

Welcome back to Wot so Funee? and a happy new year to you. At the age of 8 my writing is not often funee in the original sense of the word. The Bug is beginning to produce regular funee snippets, so we are looking forward to showcasing his writing very soon. For now, we are laughing at Mummy’s expense, courtesy of moi! As my writing is legible, and my spellings mostly correct, Mummy takes advantage by asking me to add to our shopping list. As she peels the last carrot, or drizzles the last dregs of olive oil, she sends …

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How to recycle your Christmas Cards

"how to make home made decoupage greetings cards"

Mummy hates waste. You name it – we recycle it. Last Sunday’s chicken roast? Sandwiches. Then stir-fry. Finally, soup. We have been subjected to the weirdest menus in the name of not wasting leftovers. You know that rule that says you can only cook meat twice before it must be discarded? Well, Mummy doesn’t. We’ve even once been served two-day-old bubble and squeak (with added bacon) sandwiched between a couple of pasta sheets, masquerading as a veggie lasagne. Our house is full of random buttons, screws and blue-tack remnants, and the tiniest snippet of paper has to go into the …

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