so now you can make puppets to go in that theatre that I know you all made after last week’s tutorial

How old are you? Six

How old are Mummy and Daddy? Well, Daddy’s 45 and I don’t know my Mums’a age. But I think she might be 36 [I'm 37, but I'll take 36]

Who is in charge of the country? The Prime Minister. But I don’t know his name.

Who is the Queen? Queen Elizabeth II. She’s been on the throne for 60 years. And she went to a nursery to celebrate being on the throne for 60 years and her father was called King George VI (that a V 1) and he died while Elizabeth was on holiday in a different country, not in England, far away from where she lived and then she got a message that her father had died and she had to go back to London and get crowned the Queen and that’s everything I know.

What’s your favourite food? Pasta bake and spaghetti bolognese

How do you make pasta bake? Umm first you put your apron on and chef’s hat if you have one. And then you get some mushrooms, take the stalk out and chop them into little pieces. And if they’re big ones you have to make sure you chop them very well into medium sized pieces. And if you’re working with your mother, your mother chops up some peppers and whilst they’re doing that the hob is boiling with a pan on top and that’s where youre going to put the mushroom and peppers. Then you start on the sauce. You get some passata and mix it up with some basil (chop the stalk off and rip the leaves up). Then you put them int a bowl take them to your mum who puts the basil into the pan on the hob. Find some pasta and put in a separate pan of hot water, then wait for a while. Tip the pasta into the sauce and mushroom, basil and pepper and then get some mozzerrella and sprinkle it over the top of the actual pasta and rest of the things. Then put it all into the oven in a saucepan without the lid on and then set the timer to how long you want it to be baked for and not too long so that your child has to blow every time they pick up a piece. And when its done one of the parents can get up, get how many bowls they need then you serve it and then they bring it in and then {you don’t have to say this but im going to} and then you can enjoy.

Whats your favourite song? The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars

Where do carrots come from? Underground. They grow from a tiny seed

What do you do at school? Work and play. We do work mostly but we have outside playtime every day but on Wednesday afternoons we go outside to play and when we come in when it’s our in time, we get to play with lego cubes and all sorts of things, we get to go in the writing corner. Once a few days ago in this year, in winter, I was kept in because I didn’t take my wellies in with me to school so I had to stay in and once I was in and I just wrote and I was in the writing corner and I wrote to Rebecca I put a love heart and underneath I put Becks and I didn’t bother to write in the corner Rebecca dot because I thought people would know who Becks was and I didn’t bother writing S either and I was going to put 1D too but I didn’t have time. It was in time and I had to sit on the carpet with everyone else.

What does Mummy do when you’re at school? Well, not on a Monday but the rest of the days she does her job Precious Memories. She has clients come and she asks them what they want casting and what kind of D they want it in, she gives them options of 2D or 3D.

What does Daddy do when you’re at school? Well, he drops me off at school then goes to work and works most of the day. And if Mummy picks me up and we go to Asda, he’s always there waiting for us when we get back and he has to help Mummy unpack the shopping, and then when its all done he has to get Plum.

How does a car work? By its engine.

Where do babies come from? Mummies’ tummies. And usually the Mummies go into hospital to have their babies.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Ummmm a TV presenter.

What do they do? Do I have to tell the people at home watching television what’s coming up next? Do I say “and now …” but I won’t say “and now”.

What will you call your children? If ones of them is a girl I might call her Rebeccy – it starts with the same letter as its mother. And if it’s a boy I will call him Ian, it’s the same name as me, just without the C

What is something mummy always says to you? I love you muchly. And there’s something else she says “Would you like to go to the beach today?” If it’s a sunny day. Sometimes. [ahem. We live about as far from a beach as it is possible to be in England]

What are your favourite toys? My Bakugan, my track for my Hexbugs and Hexbugs, but the red one has been on a shelf for quite a long time and its still out of battery.

What makes you happy? Seeing Sam when I’m upset. And when he goes *waves arms and legs about and sticks his tongue out and makes a funny noise*

What makes you sad? When Sam won’t let me play his game and it’s an easy game

What’s the best thing in the world? Living in a small house because there is more room in complicated physics – you know space physics. Not outer space physics, how much space is there in a box physics

So there, you have it. Bean’s ability to go off on a tangent can rival Eddie Izzard’s, there’s more room in a small house and Bean is an authority on the Monarchy. And I love him muchly.

Hot on the heels of completing the Ultimate Blog Challenge, I entered into the realms of the Ultimate Video Blogging Challenge. I knew what I wanted to do for each of the videos but I really hadn’t considered how much time it would take to make each one. One a day was therefore a little ambitious, but I managed it for the first 5 days. Of course, managing to produce a video every day meant I didn’t have time to also post here every day and that began to slip.

And then I was ill. Plum and I both got tonsillitis at the same time. I think I thought tonsillitis was a bit of a sore throat, until I got it. A temperature of nearly 40 for each of us, aches, pains, shivers, sore throat and then some. It knocked us both flat for five days, and even now, an additional six days later, I’m still recovering from how much it took out of me.

So, not only did I not post here, but I didn’t make any videos either. I’m now 10 days behind on the video blogging challenge and I know that I am not going to catch up. It’s just not possible – I’m getting really busy in the studio now too, the post-Christmas blues apparently having lifted – client enquiries have gone through the roof this week. I will continue with the video blogging, not least because I had already planned to make a series of craft videos and having started I think I should continue. Just not at one a day. I think I’ll aim for one a week from here on, which should see my current list of projects running out by the end of the year!

You never know, I might even be back here later this week with a proper blog post!

So having succeeded with that challenge, I have rewarded myself with …… ANOTHER CHALLENGE! Yeay! This one’s going to be a piece of cake though. I only have to plan, film and edit 30 videos in 30 days. Pfft! What could possibly go wrong? Here’s #1, which actually went live on You Tube yesterday. Subscribe to my channel to make sure you see this car-crash-waiting-to-happen in all its glory

I know lots of people who can talk the talk – lots of them, but I’ve met far fewer people who can walk the walk.  I want to be one of those who do the walking rather than just the talking.  I’m pleased to say that I seem to be connecting and interacting with more people who do these days – I’ve found that being surrounded by people who are full of hot air is exhausting and draining and really not useful if you want to achieve.  I want to achieve!

I heard a great quote this weekend:

There are people who make things happen.

There are people who watch things happen.

There are people who wonder how things happen.

I know which one of these I want to be.

A quiet day at home, that’s what. After getting home from the conference yesterday we went out for dinner. Afterwards in the car park, some shifting about was needed in order to get Plum in the car, since the car next to us was so close.

After some moving forwards and backwards, a bit of a wait and a bit of miscommunication, Stonelaughter pulled the car forward just as I started to open Plum’s door, with the result that the right side of my body got yanked a bit. By the time we made it home (5mins), the pain in my fingers had spread and I was getting stiff from neck to lower back. I’ve take. Things easy today because I’m still stiff and still in pain. I’m typing this in my iPhone and my right arm is hurting from the effort!

I woke up with no voice again too. It’s beginning to irritate me – this is the fourth episode of no voice this year and it lasts a couple of days at a time at least.

And Plum is full of cold, bless her. She’s in good spirits considering she can barely breathe!

So, all this has meant an overdose of cbeebies and me unearthing my kindle and making a start on some books I bought as a result of the conference. I know I’m late to the party, but I bought The Secret this morning and I also bought Mums the Word by Gail Reynolds. I’ll be creating a dream board with my new fitted kitchen and Belfast sink on it later.

2012 will be my year!

After a ridiculously early start yesterday and a long drive, Stonelaughter and the kids spent the day exploring Bournemouth whilst I went to the conference. Whilst I was attending talks on social media and getting more sales, as well as a really inspiring talk by Gail Reynolds, my family was on the beach, variously playing a flute (Stonelaughter), lying on their back whilst the waves washed over them (Plum) and laughing at their poor wave-washed sister (Bean).

The awards, of course, were in the evening, and I got quite nervous as they got underway. That increased tenfold once I realised winners were expected to make a speech. However, I needn’t have worried since I didn’t win either of my categories. I smiled and clapped and told myself to proud of reaching the final three. (And I am!)

Just as well really

I’ve been looking forward to today – not just for the awards this evening, which I’m actually quite nervous about now – but because there are some great looking seminars on the agenda today and I’m hoping to pick up some great tips to further build my business.

Keep your fingers crossed for me for the awards tonight – I’ll let you know how I get on!