Salute to all! I am a mother of two. I am certified Pre/Post natal fitness instructor. Here I am with a blog with fitness tips, post labour healing and recovery, my own diary of my journey to be fit and healthy.
I have issues with my eating habits, time management and old physical injuries and Sjögren's syndrome to overcome and work with. Please join me on my journey.
My kids love playdough. And I have been making my own for so many years... It all started when they were little and used to put and chew things, any things... And one day at my daughters nursery I found out that they use their own made playdough. The nursery does not buy any, just cook one in the kitchen :) How cool is that! I thought. So I went on line and found so many recipes, its hard to choose from. You can add glitter, aromatic/essential oils for sense of smell, glow in a dark paint, tiny beads or coloured sugars for texture...Store it in airtight container or plastic bag with seal zip and it will last for weeks. And here are the links to our favourite ones: Here is the video with great instructions and easy to follow
Hi to all! Thank you all for participating in the Phatstak Giveaway!
If you did not win, but want to get the Phatstak still, you can purchase one with 10% discount with 'Buy it now' option HERE. Just mention the code ''tigramum-randommama'' in notes when purchasing or message to Phatstak. The winner was picked randomly by the Rafflecopter widget. The winner will be contacted with the details on how to claim the prize.
Last week Monday, Victoria had a pre-assessment appointment for her hips surgery at GOSH. We have a date for the surgery-10th of December! We were greeted by an orthopaedic nurse who gave us a tour of the ward where Vika will be recovering post surgery, showed all the facilities available for parents. Fold-out chair next to the child's bed for a parent to sleep on and the kitchen for parents(parent/s are staying with a child for the whole recovery time,living in a hospital). Told us that close family can visit any time of day or night, friends and rest of the family can visit up to about 8pm, although its just a guide time, not set in stone. Then we had an x-ray and saw one of the registrars, she said that now both hips are subluxed equally, as before one was less than the other. They will perform same surgery on both hips, one at a time with 6 to 12 months gap between surgeries and spica cast for 6-8 months time.
Than we were seen by Physiotherapist, Occupational therapist, other registrars, Play nurses and lots of waiting in between. Than at the end of the day the Consultant herself came, Miss Eastwood. With other 10 or so doctors. Me and Vika, surrounded by that many medical staff was quite intimidating. Thank God Vika's school physiotherapist was with us the whole time, she explained a lot of things I couldn't understand, had questions about and so on. I am very grateful to her for being there with us. Anyhow, the consultant, miss Eastwood, who will perform the surgery, tells us that she will do surgery on both hips in one go, and NO spica cast after. I was like: WHAT? No Spica? Apparently, Vika will have some hardware on the joints and that will take away the need for the cast. Still don't know 100% how it will work. Can't find much info on it. Vika will have Bilateral proximal varus derotational osteotomies with plate and screws. The surgery will last for about 4 hours. A very long time for a child to be under general anaesthetic. You can check the video for reference. Its not the same but very close.It shows the femoral bone only, Victoria will have a pelvic bone done too.
We will spend, if everything is good, max a week post op in the hospital. First days she will be on Morphine as a painkiller. And because we live on a first floor, and apparently, by law a woman can not lift more that 15 kg, which means I'm not allowed to carry Vika up/down the stairs. So until the OT at the hospital will be sure that Vika can slide up and down the stairs on her own bum, we will be staying at the hospital. They don't care that I lift up to 100kg bar in the gym. One Once we home after surgery, the hospital will lend us a wheelchair which we will have to use inside and outside the house. The physio will come over to work with Vika, and depending how she will recover, how soon she will get back on her feet. She will need a walking frame to start walking again. The doc is positive that Victoria will be able to go back to school after Christmas holidays. It's good that the school picks up Vika on a wheelchair accessible bus, and in the school Vika will have all the support needed to recover without missing on school. Did I mention that she is going to public mainstream school? It's amazing!
One thing that makes me sad is, I will miss my oldest performance show in her drama school which is 3 days after Vika's surgery. :(
So for now, we are making the list of the things to take with us for stay in the hospital. And packing. If you will be in a neighbourhood on December 11 till the end of the week, Vika will be glad to see some visitors to keep her spirits up, don't be a stranger ;)
Read all the way to the end to enter a giveaway, for UK residence only!
CLOSED!!!
One of the most popular questions for mums is: What do I do with my kid's artwork? How to keep/store it?
Well, thats how I do it. Earlier this year, I stumbled upon a Phatstak on eBay. It looked very appealing and like a good idea to try. So I bought one.I loved it so much that I went back to the seller and arranged a giveaway for my readers! Keep reading :) When you buy it, you have a big choice of designs, if you buy as 'Buy it now', you can personalise by adding the names, dates or a special message on the cover. Also, they offer 3 different inner pages combinations. Just check Shakebaby's eBay shop to see the big choice of covers, click here!
That was my choice :
Back
Front cover
The choice of for inner pages combinations are:
1. 5 greyboard pages with coloured elastic (see images below)
2. 10 Plain white card 285gsm
3. 6 pages of white card 285gsm with 2 pages of greyboard with coloured elastic
My choice on this occasion was 6 white pages +2 greyboard with elastic.
First white page
It has 2 greyboard pages, which means we have 4 sides with elastic to use
Nursery Storage
Memorabilia
Student Projects
Family Tree
Phatstak is a storage album with large capacity sleeves for a wide variety of uses from nursery keepsakes, student projects, albums or the travellers memorabilia folder. It uses elastic cord on every page to keep things in place, so you can add as much or as little as you like and the large plastic coil binder allows the pages to be opened fully.
It has 5 inner pages of 1250 micron grey card with coloured elastic so you can easily stack lots of items on one page. I have used one for an entire year of nursery painting and craft items. It's really good for things you want to take out & look at and to add to.
Keeping your childrens drawings, collages and creative learning items together can be a bit of a chore, as there seems to be so much in the early years to keep in just one place. Phatstak can fit the entire year in one book for you to look at, at your leisure, it’s A3 size means you don't have to compromise any items, everything is safe and sound and it’s size fits easily on most book shelves.
Whatever you're studying phatstak can be the most practical way to present course work or projects, as the design relies on stacking up the information within, the reader has to interact with the information and therefore your work will be memorable.
Other uses for for phatstak include traveller, music fanatic, recipe collections, letters poems in fact phatstak is unique to its creator's particular interests. Phatstaks is the affordable keepsake storage solution.
We are still collecting the best and most precious bits and pieces of artwork and memos, so not arranged yet. I have a few boxes of artwork to go through. The girls are very excited to get their hands on it, constantly changing their minds on how they are going to arrange the things inside, that is another reason why its still not done :) I am going to order another one but with elastic only, it is very handy for these dozens of drawings.
But One of you have a chance to get the Phatstak of your choice for free!Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter!
For those who does not want to enter and/or wait for the end, you can get 10% discount on 'BUY IT NOW' personalised option, just mention the code:''tigramum-randommama'' in Notes or message it at Phatstack
Use the rafflecopter widget to enter, but first get familiar with giveaway terms and conditions :)
1. Eligibility. Giveaways are open to readers with UK shipping addresses only.
2. Technical Problems. The giveaway may be canceled, suspended and/or modified, in whole or in part, if in the opinion of Random Mama Blog any fraud, technical failure or other factor beyond its control impairs the integrity of the giveaway.
3. Winner Notification. You will be notified within three (3) days after the Entry Deadline Date if you win the prize.
4. Claiming Your Prize. Winner must respond within three (3) days of notification or forfeit the prize, in which case an alternate winner will be selected. 5. Prize Substitution. Winner may not substitute the prize for any other prize or for cash, however, Random Mama or the sponsoring company may substitute the prize for any other prize of equal or greater value, in its reasonable discretion, in the event the prize is not available for any reason outside of sponsor’s reasonable control. 6. General Release. By entering the giveaway through this website, you release Random Mama from any liability whatsoever, and waive any and all causes of action, related to any claims, costs, injuries, losses or damages of any kind arising out of or in connection with the giveaway or delivery, misdelivery or acceptance of any prize (including, without limitation, claims, costs, injuries, losses and damages related to personal injuries, death, damage to or destruction of property, rights of publicity or privacy, defamation or portrayal in a false light, whether intentional or unintentional), whether under a theory of contract, tort (including negligence), warranty or other theory.
We all trying to find ways for our kids to entertain themselves while we are doing our chores, working or just need some time quite. I have stumbled upon a winner! Had to try immediately. Pour baking soda on a tray, the thicker the layer the better. Add food coloring into a few pots of vinegar and have a pipet, or in our case I hade a 1ml syringe. Let the kids drop coloured vinegar on to soda and see what happens. An hour of coloured fizzing fun. The more colours the better, they can be mixed in a pipet and you will get a rainbow! Unfortunately my food colouring is not good, not much tint to it. So note to myself - get good food coloring ;)
Lately I have been experimenting with buckwheat. I LOVE buckwheat, grew up on it. Back in a part of the world where I happen to grow up, buckwheat is as common as rise in Asia. But only as a grain, to make a kind of porridge. Cook it savory to go on a side with meats or stews, or kids favorite-sprinkle with a lot of sugar and add milk, kind like cereal. At some point, for some short time (about 20 years ago) Kelloggs made a cereal from it. Was my favourite.
About a year ago I have discovered a buckwheat flour. And was doing pancakes with it. But now I got hooked on trying doing other things with it. Due to my training, and health issues (wheat intolerance) I'm gone wheat free, which in most cases/recipes goes along with gluten free.
A bit about buckwheat. While many people think that buckwheat is a cereal grain, it is actually a fruit seed that is related to rhubarb and sorrel making it a suitable substitute for grains for people who are sensitive to wheat or other grains that contain protein glutens. Buckwheat also contains almost 86 milligrams of magnesium in a one-cup serving. Magnesium relaxes blood vessels, improving blood flow and nutrient delivery while lowering blood pressure—the perfect combination for a healthy cardiovascular system. Buckwheat is a very good source of manganese and a good source of magnesium, copper, and dietary fiber. Buckwheat contains two flavonoids with significant health-promoting actions: rutin and quercetin. The protein in buckwheat is a high quality protein, containing all eight essential amino acids, including lysine.
So here's a recipe for my mini muffins/fairy cakes.
Makes about 30 mini cases. I used 150gr Dove plain gluten free flour and 150gr of Buckwheat flour.
300gr of flour.
300gr of softened butter (can be replaced with coconut oil or other)
2tbsp of unrefined sugar whichever you like (of course you can add more sugar to your liking)
Vanilla, I use half the stalk.
2tsp of baking powder
4 eggs
6 tbsp of milk
Cream butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Beat in the egg one by one. Followed by the baking powder, flour and milk. Dived between the cases and bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Gas mark 4.
Tips:
I use very little sugar. For kids I let them ice/decorate, or put jam on them or in.
For parties, I put skittles inside when butter in a case, and a marshmallow.
You can use this recipe to make Gluten free Victoria sponge.
For me, I eat them instead of bread.
Не пожалейте времени и посмотрите этот мультфильм. Всего полторы минуты, в которых уместилось очень много чувств, близких каждому из нас... Это прекрасная работа девушки из Екатеринбурга Наташи Чернышовой, которая сейчас учится в анимационной школе в Валансе (Франция). #детство#любовь#родные#бабушка#мультфильм#короткометражка#счастье#радость#чудесно#трогательно
Аниматор Наталья Чернышева так же имеет много награждений и побед на многих других конкурсах по всей Европе. Фильм "Снежинка", признан лучшим на международном фестивале анимационного кино Golden Kuker в Софии, Болгария.
Сегодня наткнулась на инструкции вот таких вот закладок. Скоро каникулы, путешествия, я с детьми всегда берем много книжек с собой. Эти закладки отличная идея, делать очень легко и быстро, наделала сразу много про запас, теряться будут - знаю своих детей! :) Дети мои в восторге, им нравится, говорят: мамино сердечко всегда с нами :)
Закладка надевается на страницы. На фото с инструкциями Side A- изнаночная сторона. Side B -лицевая. Размер закладки зависит от размера начального квадрата бумаги. Эксперементируйте!
Ok, what are the usual excuses? Believe me I have them all!
*Had two kids. Born with 4.300 kg & 4 kg (over 9 pound babies)
* Diastasis Recti 4 fingers wide
* A mess of a pelvic floor, incontinence and prolapse
* Bad metabolism
* Fat genes
* Lazy
* Undisciplined
* Hardly motivated
* Love food! My favourite is Sweet Chilli chicken wrap from McDonald's
* No support from friends or family
* No social life
* Child with disability
* Suffer with depression
* Binge eater
* Weak knees, bad back(injures in childhood), very bad and weak wrist, can't run or much of any cardio-can't breath and get very dizzy
* No space, tiny flat
* Get bored easily
But I have done it! And I am keep doing it! I used to be 90kg (198+ pounds) before I had kids.
And I have closed my diastasis recti from 4 fingers wide to only a half a finger.
It took time, a year at least, and I'm still work in progress. But don't rush! I was taking just one day at a time. I'm not one of those super humans who make a goal, make a plan and stick to it religiously. No, that's not me, this kind of approach stresses me out and I get depressed. No, I'm taking baby steps, day by day. And it works for me, it worked for me so far.
I feel better, stronger, helthier. My kids are joining me. They asking questions about healthy eating choices, what food will make them stronger, faster, give them beautiful hair. They join me with my exercises and make up their own and put me through them :))))
Involve your kids, let them join you and copy you alongside. Have fun with it! Don't take it too seriously!
Enjoy yourself!
Wanted to share a yummy healthy recipe of a salad. It can be either a snack or a main meal, depends on a size of your portion.
So it goes:
*Mixed greens. Whatever you prefer, I use spinach, rocket and watercress.
*Tomatoes
*Different coloured peppers. I used 1/2 of yellow & 1/2 red.
*Prawns
*Wild rice, I had leftovers from my lunch previous day( The other day I had a salmon steak with wild rise and green salad) .Some times I use buckwheat instead.
* Virgin olive oil. Season to taste.
Enjoy your meal :)
