Let Them Be Children

Lately I have begun to realise that one of my biggest failings as a parent is that I have simply forgotten what it feels like to be a child. I think that this is something every parent should try to remember....how it feels to splash through puddles in the pouring rain, to catch the raindrops on your tongue and feel the cold water drip off the end of your nose! How it feels to make squishy squelchy mudpies, collect leaves and pebbles in a bucket and add them to the mix! How it feels to run around naked outside, feel the grass between your toes, the sun on your skin. (perhaps not at this time of the year - not in Orkney anyway!)

As a work at home mum, my days not only revolve around my children but around my business too. At this time of the year when lots of orders come in and my workload increases I struggle to find a balance. I find myself getting stressed and rushing the kids to do things quickly, like have their bath, playing games and reading stories. I am forever dashing back and fore, between entertaining them and checking emails.

I get frustrated if they make a mess, I feel I don't have time to tidy up every five minutes......on top of everything else. I get irritated if Milly runs out into the garden in the morning without her shoes and gets her socks wet - meaning I have to change them before nursery and yet another item of clothing is added to the mountain of washing.....BUT I am realising - I have to take a step back from feeling like this and learn to relax more.

They are children and I want to watch them 'be' children (they do grow up way too quickly).....they will make a mess, they will be unpredictable. Accidents do happen. Being obsessive about cleaning and routine is teaching them nothing, splashing in puddles, painting, baking, making a mess (ok within reason) teaches them so much more.

Childhood is the most beautiful of all life's seasons. ~ Author Unknown

The BIGGEST give away ever!

Enhance-Me have contributed to this fantastic giveaway being run by Monica at My Funny Bunny. She is collaborating with many other companies & crafters to bring you the biggest give away ever!

This will be a wonderful freebie. The Giveaway contains over 20 great gifts from contributors such as Baby Not Included, With Hugs and Kisses, DaisychainBaby, Lactivist, KnitWits, Rainbow Totz, Peggy's Knits, Be-Fabulous, Stitching For You, Three Little Bears, Pickled Pumpkins, CuteBitz, Julie's Booties, Kims Creative Crafts, Jolicious Jewellery, Icklebabe and more!

The Mother & Baby Mega Give Away is due to start soon, for now they are just announcing all the goodies that are up for grabs and getting everyone excited! See what the give away is all about by visiting My Funny Bunnys blog.

The THANK YOU post!

This post is all about saying THANKS to all the lovely people who have sent me lovely prizes. I never win competitions....but since I joined Twitter my luck seems to have increased and on three occassions I have been sent beautiful items! It has taken me some time but I feel I must thank all those who have chosen me as thier winner.

Firstly....and this was some time ago....http://www.littlesunflowers.com/ were kind enough to send me an Amber Teething Necklace for Robbie. All I had to do was be one in a certain number of tweets to reply to win one! Robbie loved it.....I had never thought to try these necklaces but had read some wonderful reviews about them.

Apparantly Amber is traditionally known to have calming, anti-inflammatory, analgesic (for pain relief), soothing and uplifting properties and may help children who are dealing with inflammation, pain or stress. Amber is believed to reduce inflammation of the throat, ear and stomach. Traditionally used to fight inflammation, it is known to be healing, soothing and harmonizing. They are double knotted for safety but I never allow Robbie to wear his through the night. I did feel it helped him when he was cutting teeth.

THANKS Littlesunflowers! Your generous gift was very much appreciated (even if it took me long enough to say it!!) Oh and have a peek at the website - beautiful stuff!

My second win on Twitter was courtesy of http://www.hunkydoryhome.co.uk/ - all I had to do was Retweet @hunkydoryhome is my cup of tea because...... My tweet below:

"@hunkydoryhome is my cup of tea because....it makes me feel cosy & homely...with a dash of funky retro & one teaspoon of shabby chic sweet!"

Won me a FABULOUS retro striped lampshade which is now pride of place in my bathroom...and may I add will be the ispiration for our new decor when we get around to decorating it!

THANKS Hunkydoryhome! Do visit thier wonderful website - full of retro chique GORGEOUSNESS!!

And......finally my last and most recent win came from http://www.mumslikeyou.com for entering this competition - I had to add to the Toddlers dictionary created by Mothers of Innovation My entries came courtesy of Milly who has come out with some fabulous interpretations of words:

Mini-beavers - Maltesers

Nostrils - Minstrels

Hannic - Attic

So I won a gorgeous Rockin' Hood which will help keep Robbie cosy & snuggly in his buggy through the Winter...they are meant to be for younger babies and are probably more useful when baby isn't moving around as much but we love it! A pair of sock-ons anything that keeps Robbies socks on would be a miracle but they do work!! and pack of practical Count On It labels scratch-off food freshness label that tells you at a glance if your food is still fresh or if it should be thrown away - very handy!

A HUGE THANKS to Mumslikeyou and Mothers of Innovation for my lovely prizes. x

So do I feel thoroughly spoiled, yes absolutely - do I love Twitter - YES ABSOLUTELY!!

LOOK I'm FAMOUS.....OK perhaps thats an exaggeration!

I have been running my business since February 2006....I have looked into many forms of advertising and ways to market my business. It has been one of my aims to get a mention in a National Parenting magazine. I send out a revised Press release to a number of magazines at different times of the year and I was so excited to get some response from my most recent Press Release.

As a result http://www.enhance-me.com/ has been featured in the News section (Page 19) of the October issue of the Prima baby & Pregnancy magazine. I am thrilled and hope that this helps my business reach a much wider audience and results in more orders!

It just goes to show that perseverence always pays off.....eventually!!

Great fun for all ages - boys and girls!

Look at these New portrait backgrounds! SO much fun.....

They can be posed with any animal, large or small....let your imagination become reality!

Halloween....get S P O O K Y!

Halloween Themed portraits now available.....Custom themes can be requested - Witches, pumpkins, broomsticks, cauldrons, Skeletons, bats, spooky castles, graveyards, Black cats, ghosts, mist, dark forests and so much more...designs can be adapted to suit both boys and girls.

Perfect for creating spooky Halloween greetings or fun portraits for a party!

SCRUMMY YUMMY CUPCAKEYness!

Thank goodness I am not on a diet (what’s that?) – I feel sorry for all those who are this week! It was my Birthday last Friday (the 11th) and I was given a whole host of baking goodies from my parents in law….I am looking forward to putting them to good use this week and making some cupcakes (ahem…and lots of mess) with my 4 yr old daughter & 1 yr old son.

It is such a simple past time for the children – for younger children you can bake the cupcakes in advance and just lay out lots of things, like coloured icing, smarties, chocolate buttons, sprinkles etc to decorate them with…. My kids love it.

------------------------------------------------------


This is the fail safe recipe we use, kindly passed onto us from my lovely friend Claire - it is an Annabel Karmel Cupcake recipe.


Makes about 16 cakes


4oz / 100g Margarine
4oz / 100g Caster Sugar
4oz / 100g Self Raising Flour
2 Eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Cream margarine and sugar until fluffy then add eggs, flour and vanilla. Mix well and add 1 tablespoon to each paper case. Bake at 180°C/350°F for about 15 minutes.


Icing:

1oz / 25g Unsalted Butter
2oz / 50g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
4oz / 100g Icing Sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla

Mix Marg and cheese, add vanilla and sieved icing sugar.

Decorate with your preferred items, we use sprinkles, buttons and smarties - you can also make more icing and colour it making it more fun for the kids.


------------------------------------------------------


In celebration of National Cupcake Week I created a new theme called ‘Candyland’ – it was so much fun but seriously made my mouth water!...Must mention that the beautiful dress the little girl in the portrait is wearing was created by the very talented Natalie from http://www.sophie4sophie.com This theme is suitable for Boys and Girls of any age, what child wouldn’t love to be surrounded by so much scrummyness!!


I have been on the hunt for some Cupcake themed products and promotions running across this week – I have listed some of my favourites below. If you have anything you feel is suitable please feel free to leave details in the comments below!



Precious Parcels create beautiful handmade gifts and decorative treats - Look at this GORGEOUS Handpainted wooden cupcake with a wooden red cherry on top! I LOVE it! Best of all it is calorie free!

VIP Signature Gifts stock Bespoke Gifts for all occasions - They are offering a 10% discount off all cupcake products on their site - all you have to do is enter ‘cupcake1’ at checkout -Look at some of these gorgeous Cupcake themed products here



Milly Bee sells affordable, contemporary wall art for your little one's nursery, bedroom or playroom. See their special offer on cupcake prints & their first piece of free downloadable art – I have already downloaded it – Cute!


Have a look at Amy Lanes Blog for her scrummy offer of 15% off her divine cupcakes all this week (between September 14th and 20th) You can get yourself a box of 6 beautifully decorated cupcakes for only £8.50 or 12 for £17 (plus P+P if you want them delivered anywhere in the UK).. Visit here for more information Something else that is well worth checking out is her amazing GIANT, yes you heard me…GIANT cupcake cake!!





At Rainbow Totz you will find a fabulous collection of newborn baby clothing and funky, fun childrenswear for the kids. So how can there be something here that is Cupcake themed I hear you say?! Here it is - These adorable and completely calorie free cupcakes make fun quirky little baby gifts. They are also perfect for your baby shower parties too! - and there are socks too….



Fashion Cake creates beautiful bespoke cakes - Creating wonderful cupcakes with themes such as this beautifully elegant butterfly and floral cupcakes to racing car cupcakes






ColourartJunior presents a collection of lovingly hand painted canvas art for nurseries, bedrooms and play spaces. Commissions are welcome – have a peek at the Cupcake canvases – they are lovely!

Thelittlecakery is currently being launched and specialises in egg-free, dairy-free or wheat-free cakes. They have just launched thier (very unbranded!!) blog and late this week will ‘launch’ thier website (which has a taste of things to come) on http://www.thelittlecakery.co.uk/ - Fans can also join them at www.facebook.com/thelittlecakery where you can find pictures of the latest cake couture. For National Cupcake Week, they have two main offers in place:

- ANYONE who books their wedding cake during The National Cupcake week will receive a 10% discount off their total bill

- A box of dozen cupcakes £18 (usually £20)

Here is where I get a little carried away but I found so many beautifully scrumptious cupcake inspired products that I can’t not share them here with you!



LOOK!!!

Cupcake Keyring

So cute - Imagine this dangling from your keys looking yummy!

Cupcake Bunting

Great for any little girls party - scrummy sweetness with a touch of cute!

Happy Birthday Cupcake Candle

These look good enough to eat!

Ceramic cupcake keepsake pot
I really like this and think it would look lovely in a little girls bedroom

Cupcake Shoes
I have fallen completely in love with these shoes - I love the candyfloss cloud cupcake design

Little Yummy Necklace No.3 - Jewellery by Corrina Smith
Beautifully sweet - I think this would be a perfect little gift for a little flowergirl or young bridesmaid!

Cherry Bakewell Crochet Baby By 'Maisie Moon Designs'
What can I say - these speak for themselves!

Strawberry Teatime By 'SophieCat'
Mmmmmmmmmmm *drool*

And finally I had to share these – I came across this Alice In Wonderland inspired Cupcakes on Flickr….aren’t they just FABULOUS!

National Cupcake Week is a fantastic week-long extravaganza being organised by British Baker to celebrate this very special bakery product – visit this link for more information on the event http://bakeryinfo.co.uk/news/categoryfront.php/id/167