Glasses for my Girls

Well I've taken a little while to write this post as I wasn't sure really what to say, I've been filled with the green eyed mummy guilt monster. As a child I suffered from eye problems and my parents made the decision for me to undertake operations to correct my eyes after patches and glasses failed to help.

Whilst I was growing up I have always known that my eye problems were passed down my family line as my sister has problems as did my grandmother. I knew when I fell pregnant that there could be a small possibility that my girls may have problems with their eyes but I didn't think too much of it as

Ruby attended an eye appointment before starting school at the age of 4, we were told all was ok however I was very shocked to discover at her recent eye test at a different opticians that she was showing signs of a problem, the optician asked when her last test was and he was shocked that it wasn't that long ago and horrified that her problem had not been picked up previously.

Over the last few weeks I've been a little concerned about Lotties eye sight as I have noticed a slight turn in her eye when she becomes tired, with my history I was taking no chances so she was taken for an eye test at the same time as Ruby. Undertaking an eye test on a 2 year old is not an easy task but the opticians were brilliant, they showed Lottie various different black silhouettes on a white background eg: a train, a dog or a chicken. The images got bigger and the optician was able to shine a light into her eye whilst she focused on the images. He placed a pair of glasses on Lottie and started to alter the lenses and repeated the previous task with the images. 

Well the conclusion of the eye test for both girls, they both need glasses! Initially I cried, I was horrified that my girls would have to wear glasses, I felt guilty that it was my genes that had caused the problems with their eyes. It's taken me a good week to get my head around it but it's not too bad.

When it came to picking glasses for the girls it was very easy to pick for Lottie it had to be a pair of Peppa Pig glasses as I knew it would be the only way she would wear them! Ruby's on the other hand were harder to pick as her's were more based on style than brand, eventually we settled on a red pair with butterflies on the sides.

The girls picked up their completed glasses today, I posted a photo on social media and I was greeted by lovely comments from people about how beautiful my girls looked, I was so wary of posting the photos but I feel more reassured so I hope my girls attend play school and school feeling confident in their new glasses too. At the end of the day they are still my princesses with or without glasses, I love them both so very much. 

Guest Post: Sal's Shoes

As many of you are aware, I am going to be out of action for the next few months recovering from knee surgery. I decided that it was the perfect opportunity to publish some guest posts. After putting the word out there on social media, I was approached by a not for profit organisation called Sal's Shoes, and after reading their submission.... how could I possibly say no! I think you will agree that this is a wonderful organisation doing good all over the world.

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Our son Sal was a late walker, it was 22 arm-aching months before he gathered the motivation to stand unaided and take his first faltering steps. Once he did start walking however (with feet too big for Clarks' cruiser range), it wasn't long before I was armed with a bagful of his barely worn outgrown shoes; in too good a condition to throw out and with plenty of wear left in them before they seemed fit for recycling. I sought out charities who could donate them to those most in need but surprisingly, there wasn’t a single organisation that could tell me where exactly in the world Sal’s pre-loved shoes would actually end up.

 I decided to cut out the middle man. Having grown up in Africa, and with a network of family and friends scattered all over the world, I decided that if no-one was willing to tell me where exactly Sal’s shoes would end up walking again, I would deliver them there myself. A parcel was sent to a friend volunteering overseas, who distributed them on a children’s oncology ward in Southern Africa, and sent back a photograph of a child wearing Sal’s first pair of shoes; Sal’s pair of shoes had become another’s.

After initially collecting more outgrown children’s shoes from family and friends, word spread and soon I was inundated with pairs of barely worn shoes; ‘Sal’s Shoes’ had been born.

In our first year, we collected 4,805 pairs of shoes and distributed them in 8 countries, including in the UK.  In 2015 we would like to double that number of shoes and increase our financial donations to enable us to continue passing on the shoes you donate.  In October 2014, Sal accompanied me to two orphanages in a South African township to help distribute shoes and to see in practice what he had been the inspiration for.

Sal's Shoes next shipment is headed for Kenya at the beginning of March to an organisation that runs children’s homes for 135 orphans and vulnerable (mainly street) children, a school for 280 pupils and a weekly feeding programme for over 250 local children. To find out how you can help, or indeed how to pass on your children's outgrown shoes please take the time to visit www.salsshoes.com you can also follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/salsshoes1 and twitter https://twitter.com/sals_shoes

Silent Sunday!

Kimberley - Radio Presenter for the Day!

I recently wrote about how I would like to achieve 30 things this coming year as I recently turned 30, I asked for people to give me some inspiration for these ideas and I was very surprised by the response I received. 

Today I did something I have never done before... I presented the breakfast show live on the radio! Taking part in radio interviews is nothing new for me and something I really enjoy undertaking it as it helps give others a voice, share opinions and news. 

My day today started at 5am, it should have been 6am when the alarm went off but I couldn't sleep, the mixture of excitement and nerves kept me awake! I arrived at the studio ready to go live on-air at 7am, as the headline news finished the microphone went up and I was on air to nearly 30,000 listeners! 

The breakfast show is a very fast paced show as there's so much information that needs to go into it, there's everything ranging from the latest traffic and travel that frequently changes so it's important to keep hitting refresh so that listeners have the most up to date information. Announcements about local events are broadcast frequently as one of the stations broadcasting criteria is to advertise local events. Requests and dedications are a regular feature and today I played my girls, let it go from the movie Frozen. My husband kindly text me whilst I was in the studio with a photo of my girls enjoying the song I had chosen for them. 

I thoroughly enjoyed presenting my first ever breakfast show and I can't wait until I'm back in the studio, but as soon as I arrived home I did have to have a little nap as I was just so tired. I don't think you realise how intense it is and how much you need to concentrate whilst presenting live on air,even down to things such as making sure that you hit the news at the right time; this can sometimes mean picking shorter or longer songs so that it all flows easily.

This evening I received an email inviting me to come and talk to the station manager and discuss some potential opportunities for the future so watch this space. :-) 

Silent Sunday!

Time to relax - A Faith in Nature Review

I am sure that I'm in the majority here, as most mothers would tell you that they rarely get any "me time"; some people say this is what you sacrifice when you have children and that you shouldn't expect any "me time" but what do you think? I'm of the opinion that's it's important to have "me time", not just for my own benefit but it also benefits my children too as I'm less stressed and much more chilled out.

I was recently asked by the lovely people at Faith in Nature if I would consider reviewing their range of shampoos and conditioners, I was hesitant at first as I don't normally offer beauty reviews however when I looked at the vast array of different types of shampoos and conditioners I decided to treat myself and accept the review. 

I respect and admire the beliefs of Faith in Nature and their website explains better than what I could about what they believe in and why:

"Our beliefs guide us in everything we do. It might sound old fashioned, but put simply, we just believe in doing good. 

We believe in doing good for our customers. We believe in doing good in the way we run our business. And we believe in doing good for the planet. 

For our customers, we believe that everyone should benefit from what the earth provides. That’s why we’re passionate about keeping our prices affordable, and using only the best natural ingredients - because only by ensuring that everyone can afford to go natural can we truly make a difference.

In business, we believe in making decisions that put our people and our environment first. That means manufacturing locally, treating people as we’d want to be treated, and being as green as we can in everything we do. 

And for the planet, we believe in harnessing the healing powers of nature, but not abusing it in the process. We believe that using naturally derived, cruelty-free sources is what makes our products work so beautifully. Because, if there’s one thing we’ve learnt, it’s that for as long as we do good by the planet, everything else just falls into place. 

Everything affects everything. 

Beliefs and Faith. 

They go hand in hand."

I was tempted to go for the chocolate shampoo and conditioner as I was very curious to know if it smelt as good as real chocolate! However the Grapefruit and Orange won me over; I absolutely love the smell or grapefruit, it brings back memories of my childhood when I used to eat pink grapefruit for breakfast.

Each ingredient used in the Faith in Nature range has been chose by them as they believe in not just the smell but the healing properties they can bring. You can find out more about their ingredients on this web page - https://www.faithinnature.co.uk/ingredients

Priced at £5.50 for 400ml of shampoo and the same for the conditioner, I have to say I think this is reasonably good value as a small amount goes a very long way. My hair felt lovely and soft and my girls commented on how nice it smelt too.

So, where can you buy it? I have noticed some Oxfam stores are stocking it, or alternatively you can go online and order it through their shop.

I have absolutely loved the Grapefruit and Orange shampoo that I was sent to review, and I shall certainly be ordering more and maybe even purchasing some other bits too.


Ruby + Lottie 9/10

Disclaimer: I was sent the above to review for free, however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Silent Sunday!

Challenges as I turn 30!

I recently wrote about turning 30 and how I intended to make this year a year to remember.In order to do this I was going to set myself 30 challenges to accomplish! I needed your help and I'm pleased to say I've had some amazing suggestions some of which I would never have thought about if it had not been for your responses so thank you all very much and if you have any more, please leave me a comment and let me know.

After I published my blog post, I was incredibly shocked and overwhelmed to receive a message from a presenter at a radio station asking me if for one of my challenges I would like to present on their biggest radio show, their breakfast show! If you know met hen you know I have a real passion for radio broadcasting and this opportunity was a once in a lifetime moment, I actually sat and cried because it was so very kind to be offered this opportunity and I'm really pleased to say I shall be co-presenting the breakfast show on Monday 19th January to nearly 30 thousand listeners! I am a little nervous as I have never presented a show however I do have some broadcast knowledge. 

Here is how my list of challenges is shaping up so far:

1 Present a radio show

2 Read a classic book

3 Watch the ballet at a theatre

4 Meet up with a social media friend I've never met in real life

5 Have high tea at Rushden Hall

6 Make and sew an item of clothing for my girls

7 Speak at a public event 

8 Visit Buckingham Palace

9 Write a short story

10 Knit something for myself

11 Take a trip on a narrow boat

12 Undertake some voluntary work

13 Write a poem

14 Ride a horse

15 Camp out under the stars

16 Write an article for a publication

As you can see from the above list I still need to think of some more challenges so please let me know your suggestions. 

Silent Sunday!

A New Year Challenge - I need your help!

Well it's happened, we really are in 2015! Happy New Year and I hope this year is filled with good health and many blessings.

For me, this new year was unlike any other new year, as it was the 1st new year for a long time that I have seen in, in somewhere other than my own home. I've been very blessed that over the last few months I have started to develop really good friendships with a group of mums from Ruby's school, we are all within the same age group as each other give or take a couple of years. One of the the mums kindly offered her home as a venue for us all to come together with our partners and children to see in the new year and it was a really lovely evening; I hope we will be repeating it in the coming years.

Family Selfie on New Years Day Morning

As midnight approached we turned on the TV to listen to the chimes of Big Ben ring in the new year; it began to dawn on me that this year I hadn't thought about the year ahead and neither had I become all reflective about the past year. I don't know why something has changed in the last year, I neither feel the need to look back and dwell or look forward or worry about the what ifs, maybe it's because I'm getting older!

Talking about getting older I am turning 30 in a few short hours! Ahh, I have no idea how this has happened but my 20's have gone (if anyone knows where they are then please return them to me)!. In all seriousness my 20's have been really good, in the last 10 years I have developed a faith, become the youngest church warden in my area, married my childhood sweetheart, and given birth to two daughters, one of which was born at home. I feel I've achieved quite a lot, but I still feel there's so much more that I want to achieve, I want to help people who are less fortunate than me, I want to further myself into a career as I've never really had a career as such.

This is the Cake that Hubbie bought for my 30th!

I want to set myself a list of challenges for what I can do during my 30th birthday year, so this is where I need your help, ideally I'd like to come up with 30 challenges or tasks, things that would be easy to do and others that would take more time and planning so please if you have any suggestions please let me know and comment below, thank you.


P.S. Under not circumstances will I jump out of an aeroplane or bungee jump off a bridge! - no matter how many people suggest it! :-)