Woof Woof! Who's There?

A few weeks ago our family expanded literally overnight. To say Rob wasn't thrilled initially would be an understatement and a half. But slowly our new addition has grown on even him. You see Rob didn't grow up with a dog for a pet. I did. So I knew exactly what to expect.

Our puppy as he likes to be called is seriously beyond cute.

He loves to jump up on your lap and gently rub his head on yours.

He likes sitting with his face as close to yours as possible whilst panting in your face.

He adores when Thomas throws a ball for him and never tires of chasing it and bringing it back.

He likes to eat his food straight off the floor with his mouth. No bowls required.

He makes the sweetest little woof woof sounds...ever!

Here he is the dog we have always longed for.......

Yes, worry not, it is Eli you are eyes are not deceiving you.

But for now he is simply our puppy (most of the time) and there is just no convincing him otherwise!

The Lucky Winner of 2855 Calories is......

Aided by my rather lovely assistant, Thomas, this morning I put all 39 names of those who had commented on my giveaway post in time into one pumpkin bucket and let my firstborn pick the winner.

A 5 minute task that he happily enjoyed for a whole two hours afterwards.

Small pieces of paper + bucket=Hours of entertainment for a smallish child

Anyhow, I digress the lucky recipient of my chocolate stash is Jen at Mommablogsalot, who I know will get plenty of help devouring it all.

Though if it were me I wouldn't share at all.

I'd fob the kids off with some raisins and enjoy the chocolate fix in peace.

Enjoy, Jen!

Thanks for playing everyone.

Nutritional Advice from a Three Year Old

Sunday was Rob's birthday and we were at the in laws for Sunday lunch.

I found myself starting a familiar conversation with Thomas.

"If you don't eat all of those carrots you won't get any cake."

Which we were all secretly hoping would be the outcome seeming as my mother in law had whipped up a super yummy looking chocolate fudge cake in honour of the super spoilt birthday boy.

"Carrots aren't for boys!"

And before I could respond,

Very matter of factly.

"Carrots make boys sick!"

Well you have to give him an A for effort, right?

But he did eat all his carrots that day, and managed to do so without getting sick.

If only I had chocolate fudge cake on hand for bribery every day.

Check back later for the result of my giveaway.

Why Does the Yummy Stuff Always Have the Most Calories?

My mum came to visit last week, all week long. Delightful.

It turns out though sadly enough, that my mum is a really bad influence on me.

As if those hellions at Cadbury weren't making my pursuits to unearth my abs difficult enough with their yummy and delicious produce (the bars intended for my giveaway are sitting less than 2 metres away from me and screaming EAT ME!!!!! as I type), but I will NOT succumb.

Pause for essential brushing of teeth. Cheers Pammy!

Having my mum here is such a rarity that I totally and happily justified to myself that it was more important to spend time in her company than to exercise. I can exercise double the norm when she's gone I told myself. So all week I exercised just once.

I also justified eating all kinds of things I really shouldn't have because it would have been beyond antisocial to hang out with my mum and not consume 4000 calories every day.

I even only trekked to school to collect Thomas twice, terrible, considering that walking is my fallback exercise when I am slacking off. My mum recently had a bladder/bowel prolapse fixed and is still in take it easy mode so I used her recovery to justify driving to school. After all it is a huge novelty to be picked up from school by Nanny. I couldn't have deprived my child of such a novelty. That would just have been cruel.

My failure and regression dawned on me midweek and I figured I could either get my life in order right away or wait until my mum left. The glutton in me speedily decided it would be far more worthwhile to just start anew when she left.

So I even managed to squeeze in a trip to the Krispy Kreme drive through in Manchester (which my friend Becky told me about in response to my KK post) during our evening out for Rob's birthday and followed it up with a scrummy Lamb Bhuna. Perfection.

Mum is gone now (we miss you!!) and reality blows. Our house is still stocked with goodies galore from her visit but I have to turn over a new leaf and start again. I feel both tired and grumpy from lack of exercise coupled with sugar detox.

So here is to the start of the beginning and fingers crossed no more slip ups.

Saving the World a Chocolate Bar at a Time

Lucky you! I am feeling inspired.

Partly by those (slightly greedy) souls who suggested a giveaway, and partly by the fact that for the last few weeks I haven't been keeping on top of my blogging etiquette.

My Google Reader overfloweth and I have a trillion emails to respond to.

Thinking I haven't stopped by in a while? You are not alone I assure you.

But I will catch up I always do, I am far too nosey/intrigued not to.

So therefore I introduce to you my lucky readers, my Cadbury inspired giveaway.

The incredibly lucky and honoured winner will receive one of each of the new ultra healthy Cadbury bars. Obviously I am looking far beyond the sugar and the fat here and focusing on the cold hard facts.

Cranberries? Hello antioxidants and super healthy urinary tract.

Apricots? Hello to a nicer source of Iron than Spinach.

I am all about improving your health (actual bars will appear larger in real life).

With the holiday season just around the corner I will even throw in a few of my other favourite bars, because lets face it the less chocolate there is in my close vicinity the less I am able to actually eat.

So all you have to do is leave me a comment before Tuesday 8am (English time of course) and you'll be included in the draw.

You don't have to have a blog or even a google account to leave a comment and if you don't usually comment feel free to do so (which includes most of my family and the British Isles). Plus if you're reading my blog surely I should be reading yours so feel free to unlurk and share your link you lurkers.

From someone who has recently eaten her body weight in these bars this is truly an opportunity not to be missed.