Valentines February 14th, 2018 First of all, I cannot believe we are in February already and secondly even though you should show your love 365days of the year, everyone deserves a little gift on this…
View PostIt’s all well and good making lunches and dinners which you can check out mine here but what about snacks?
I have put together some yummy snacks including the Synnidge values (syn) with the help of my friend Jess, Thanks Jess 🙂
So first up we have
Egg wrap with spinach mushrooms beef and beans- All Free
Oat pancakes with 2 Syn Maple syrup and Fruit
Quark with Options 1 5, meringue 2.5, rainbow drops 2
Sliced banana with 1 syn cream, 2 syn choc shot, half a tub of Quark mixed with Options 1.5 syn, 3 mikado sticks 1.5 syn. And satsumas
Fibre One brownies 4 Syns each ( I love the Salted Caramel as well )
Muller Light with Strawberries to add that bit of speed food in
Apple (Speed food) and Hi-fi Bar
Berries also Speed food
Muller Light again with strawberries, however this time I have added Spray cream mmm 1 Syn for 12g
Blue Riband 5syns each
Choc Shot 0.5 syn per level teaspoon Freddo 5 syns
Cadburys cream egg 9syns Halo top ice cream 12syns per tub Snacksize Maltesers 4.5 syn
Mikado 0.5 syn each Mini Eggs 6syns per 25g Mini Marsh mellows 1 syn for 20
Mini meringue’s 1.5 syns for 2 Meringue nest 2.5 syns each Quavers 4.5 syns Teddy Faces 4.5 syns
Malting
I never knew an animal could malt so much and I hate it, it gets everywhere. I really should have done some research. I have no Idea how often I should be grooming her either. If I didn’t have my trusty vacuum cleaner I think she would be spending most the time in the garden. I was advised to get a Furminater so I went to our local pet shop to try it out for myself before buying one as they are quite pricey. I couldn’t believe how much hair I got from her it was enough to coat another dog no wonder it gets everywhere, I decided to buy one but now I struggle brushing her because she tries to eat the comb as I am combing her, I cant win 🙁
Food
my garden is covered in shit smears from her runny poo because we can’t pick it up in one go because of it being like slush. We have taken her to the vets twice now regarding her poo’s and the number of poops she has in a day and we were advised to change her food. After lots of research, we decided to go for Millies Wolfheart, It turns out the food we were giving to her originally has a few ingredients she could be intolerant too like grain and chicken etc. With this new food, it is 70% Lamb, Duck with Rabbit and 30% Vegetables/Fruits/Herbs/Botanicals so now she is having high meat and high protein quality nutritional diet. Fingers crossed for solid poo soon.
Walking
I really dislike walking her because she nearly detaches my arm out of the socket with all the pulling she does and when she see’s another dog or person she just wants to play and jump up and say hello. We currently use a 5metre flexi lead or a short lead with resistance to filter the pull. We are looking into a Halti to see if we can gain control more. Please, any advice is welcome please leave a comment.
Apart from all the negatives above she is my gorgeous furbaby and as much as she pisses me off chewing the heads of Emily’s Moana dolls and everything else in sight and eating her £35 Skechers shoes we do all love her so much, She is very affectionate, I love her cuddles when I fall asleep on the sofa. She is a big softy.
Also, we are on the hunt for a dog kennel for the garden and a good dog bed and toys. Please leave recommendations below in comments
(Leo with his buddy Ben Sutcliffe)
Receiving the email advising us that Leo was an ideal candidate for SDR was amazingly good news but terribly frightening. Frightening because the operation was only available in the U.S and we had to pay for it. We as a family had not really done any fundraising except maybe school sponsor events. Initially, we spoke to the few other parents that had either already raised the money or were in the process of raising it. However, they seemed to have a lot of people helping them and we just didn’t have that support at first. We followed their advice and got in touch with the local radio and newspapers even did an appeal on the local television news and we did manage to get a start on the incredible task of raising the money. It was a slow process because we had no experience of raising money.
A couple of months into the fundraising we discovered Caudwell Children a charity based in Stoke that offered grants to disabled children and fired off an email asking for their advice and help. We really didn’t expect a reply so was surprised when we got a telephone call from a man called Ben. Ben asked if he could visit and meet Leo and see for himself the issues that Leo has every day. He drove down to meet us and spent most of the day with us. I remember that day because he was such an approachable person and Leo liked him a lot. When Ben left that day he said he would contact us once he had been back to the office and had worked out how Caudwell could support Leo.
We received an email from Ben shortly afterwards advising us we would have to complete some paperwork to confirm that we fell into their criteria for help. We completed the forms as soon as they arrived and returned them by first class post. Ben then came to visit again and explained all the ways they could help us. Caudwell offered to help us in so many ways from writing press releases to covering the cost of printing posters for events that we were now in the process of organising. Every step of the way they were there at the end of the phone. We certainly made the most of that. Leos nursery teacher and her friend organised a fundraising ball for Leo and Caudwell even provided some items for the auction. We had agreed that any money that was raised by the fundraising would be paid over to Caudwell and that they would take responsibility for it.
Time was running out as the operation had been booked for November 16th, 2010 and the hospital had to receive payment for it 30 days before and we had nowhere near enough money. We were seriously panicking and it had got to the point where we were considering cancelling the appointment. We were sat around the table when Joannes phone rang she answered and promptly burst into tears. After she passed the phone over l heard Ben say that they had had an anonymous donation of 10k which was exactly how much we needed to pay for the operation. There were a lot of tears that day !!
After that everything went into fast forward Caudwell booked the flights the accommodation sent the payment for the operation and even arranged a prepayment card to cover any other expenses we had. Ben came to visit us once more before we left for America. He made sure we had contact details for him for us to use while we were there.
Once we arrived in America we were able to relax (as much as we could) knowing that Ben was there for us at the end of the phone. We took Leo to meet the doctor that was going to carry out the operation and he advised Leo would need a KWalker (a type of walking frame) after the operation. We contacted Ben who contacted Lisa who looks after our account and ordered one that was delivered to the hotel a few days later. Leos operation went well at first but about a week later he was readmitted to the hospital due to the scar on his back splitting and leaking. Being very aware of the U.S medical system this terrified us but again a quick call to Caudwell settled our nerves as Ben advised us not to worry that they would deal with it.
We arrived back in the UK just before Christmas and a few days later Leo the little boy that was unable to stand alone took his first steps. Ben was one of the first people we told.
Ben asked Leo and his mum if they would be prepared to talk about their experience and over the next few years had the chance to attend some really nice events on behalf of Cauldwell Children. Leo really loves this sort of thing because he is definitely not shy and retiring and loves to talk about how much he loves being able to walk run (and go to the loo on his own).
I can say without a shadow of a doubt that without the help of Ben at Caudwell Children getting Leo to America within the time frame we needed too would have been impossible. So if you’re on the fundraising rollercoaster for either the U.S and now in the UK do not hesitate to contact Caudwell Children. And if anyone reading wants to help a charity please consider doing that marathon or fun run for Caudwell Children. Any money raised will be used in the best way possible.
Thank you to everyone at Caudwell Children we love you all.
Please take a look at their website here.
I cannot believe it has been 1 year since my double jaw surgery already and how quickly time has passed, This time last year (11.55am) I was minutes away before being called to get changed into my gown, giving David a goodbye kiss and then walking down to surgery ready for my 4-5 hour operation.
Thinking back to that time I get butterflies in my belly as I can remember just how terrified I was but how excited I was at the same time about my impending surgery, I had followed so many people’s journeys prior to mine but could never imagine myself that swollen and going through what they did but I did. I got through it and now I am fully recovered it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made.
I am not self-conscious about smiling anymore or being caught mid laughter in a photographer as before I would cringe and plead for it to be deleted. I enjoy being in photographs with my children instead of being stood behind the camera taking the photo.
I used to look at peoples perfect teeth and wish mine was like theirs and why wasn’t mine like theirs, It just wasn’t fair.
The first week was horrible but once you get past that point it is a quick turnaround and you feel great, you get your energy back, your swelling is going down and you can just about see some results. Then every day after that for a good 7 months you will notice changes.
Take a look at my previous posts where I have posted pre-op photographs and my journey after surgery, It really is life changing and worth it.
Now I just can’t wait to get my braces removed, hopefully not much longer to wait and I know that the wait will be totally worth it.
