From the ashes...

I'm having a hard time of it lately.  Or so I think I am.  I have had sinusitis where you feel your head is as tender as a melon that could be destroyed into smithereens by a sledgehammer and I have had infection after infection in my jaw and teeth that has just rendered me a zombie even before the cocktail of antibiotics given to me to help fight this all off.

I have had a scan now on my jaw and I'm hoping that soon it will all be over (never I have I looked forward to having my gum ripped open and a bone graft before) and I feel like my sinuses are behaving somewhat as I think the antibiotics (even though not given for that) have worked there too.

I woke up one morning all happy as the sun was actually shining and I could breathe and BAM! I came down to breakfast for the kids and a soul destroying melancholy cast it's shadow over me. I became this twisted, narcissistic, grumpy old woman who was happy at nothing and angry at everything.

I shouted, I cried.  I went to bed early every night.  I just about functioned enough to do what was necessary around the house and with the kids but hated every minute of it.  I feigned indifference and pretended nothing was wrong but the torrent of tears soaked into my pillow every night begged to differ.

Two weeks later, I am fine.  Everything is fine.  No more tears, no more anger.  I have thrown off the cloak of PND successfully again and emerge a winner albeit shattered and almost broken after several gladiator like rounds in the Colosseo of my mind.

I beg you, someone...anyone....please tell me when this will end.

Usborne books and Project 65 - The Veteran's Charity

Can you help me raise money for my favourite charity Project 65 - The Veteran's Charity?  It's very easy...all you have to do is this...

Whoever buys their Usborne books for children from me from now until March 14th will not only benefit from fantastic gorgeous books suitable from birth to age 11+ but I will donate ALL my commission to Project 65.

Why not have a look at what Usborne have to offer by looking at their website and make sure you take advantage of their Easter Special.  2 fabulous activity books with over 600 stickers for only £6.99 saving £3.99 to keep your kids busy over the Easter holidays!!

They also have a fabulous craft book for Mother's Day (and even one for Dad's day!!) at only £4.99!!

For these and more special offers please drop me a comment with your email address. PLEASE NOTE COMMENTS WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED!!  You will be emailed back  regarding your query and that only. I will never use that email to contact you again unless it is about an order you have placed or question you have asked.  Otherwise feel free to send me a tweet or DM on twitter @teamleila 

If you have anything specific in mind, I can search the catalogue for you.  All I need are age ranges and your requirements.  Don't forget that Usborne also do fantastic story books including the classics, languages, arts, history and so much more. Usborne also has books which assist with the Key Stage 1, 2 and 3 teaching curriculum. 

Don't forget Usborne make great gifts too!  Whether it's for new babies (cloth books, bath books), pre school or activities they have something for every occassion.

Books can be posted to UK, ROI and BFPO addresses.  Books will be ordered on March 15th to reach destinations by the final week of March. Postage will be considered based on weight and destination but will be reasonable! Payments can be made via PayPal, bank transfer or cheque.

Please tell all your friends too! Remember the more orders I get, the more I will be able to donate.  Thank you for reading.

We're getting saucy with The Sauce Kitchen...

I am always grumbling that I don't have enough hours in the day to do what I want.  This is mostly directed at my love of cooking as by the time I've done the housework, written a few articles and got the kids sorted, I have no more energy to start preparing dinner from scratch.  

I worry about buying sauces off the shelf as I think they have too many artificial ingredients in them and whilst I understand the use of them for speedy cooking, I have found a better, more nutritional and TOTALLY natural alternative to fill your freezers up!

Welcome to The Sauce Kitchen founded by Patrick and Kate Limpus and Sarah Moore who set about trying to find a better alternative for our meals by experimenting with totally natural ingredients to create the perfect dish with.  As a mother, Kate Limpus wanted the sauces to only contain ingredients that you could find in the kitchen at home.  The sauces are frozen into individual portions which makes for absolutely no waste at all so you ensure the (very little) money you spend on these sauces, you use every penny of it up!

The boxes come in handy sizes to fit in the freezer and if you doubt my boast of no artificial ingredients, just take a look at the side of the box and see for yourselves.  They also have handy tips on using the sauces so you hardly have to think about what you're going to cook, they do it all for you!!  Their brilliant new website The Sauce Kitchen is complete with recipes, top tips and so much more! I absolutely urge you to have a look to get more ideas of how you can save time and money when it comes to making meals for individuals, couples and families!!

The sauces are named after family members and also friends.  My personal favourite is Libby's Lovely Tomato and Oregano.  The subtle hint of oregano with a deliciously rich tomato sauce reminds me of when my parents used to make pasta for us as children. 

You can find Libby's Lovely Tomato and Oregano and check out all the other tantalising varieties on the website or at Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Ocado at fabulously low prices. 

To celebrate these fabulous new frozen sauces, The Sauce Kitchen and The New Ice Age have given me 3, yes 3! prizes to give away.  You can win 4 boxes of your choice of sauces to cook delicious and nutritious meals with at home and there's no rush to use them as they will keep nicely in the freezer!

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is the following:

1. Follow Momma Leila's Blog
2. Follow @SauceKitchen and @TheNewIceAge on Twitter
3. Comment below that you have done the above with your Twitter ID please

And for an extra entry tweet the following!

I've entered to WIN delicious sauces from @SauceKitchen with #MommaLeila & @TheNewIceAge http://bit.ly/gf8KbU #competition

 The competition closes Friday 25th February at 4pm and winners will be announced shortly after!  To help you with your choice of sauces, I will be putting up a few short reviews of some of my favourite sauces to tempt you over the next few days!  Happy tweeting and GOOD LUCK!!

********************************************************************

The Sauce Kitchen is also founder of  No Waste Please, We Are British where you can find even MORE information on the fight to bring order to British Kitchens and to make sure we are using every bit of the food we find in the best possible way.  Why not have a look to see how you can help your purse and help reduce waste.

********************************************************************



The Book of Secrets....gripe, moan and filler...

I love that movie National Treasure 2: The Book of Secrets. It's the usual mix of adventure, comedy and touches on interesting historical bits that I have yet to figure out whether even a smidge is true or not but for the moment am content with Nicholas Cage doing his bit for his country and family name ;o)

The *idea* of a book of secrets is intriguing.  Something that holds untold stories of scandal maybe? Not sure but what I want to know is this....is there a Book of Secrets for parents? I mean come on, there is obviously NO manual on childbirth and rearing and if I had just one question to ask of the book it would be this.

**Where the HELL is the switch that turns my children from angelic to demonic and HOW do they turn it on??!!**

As the title suggests, this is just a moan blog, a filler if you will.  I had a nice day with my kids yesterday.  Sofia was at school but when she got home she was well behaved, I made dinner whilst the two of the them played nicely and watched some tv together.  P was out at a works thing so after feeding them I took on the task of bathing them.  Mikey is at an age where if I leave him alone he could cause trouble (climbing, falling etc) so I bathed them both together whilst all the time praying they would be ok and behaving and guess what..they did...it was incredible.  No hitting, splashing, crying or anything!  We finished, dried off, got dressed and dried hair.

I believe they lulled me into a false sense of security.  It was over but how? I didn't even turn my back! The pretty smiles and swishy clean hair became gargoyles of naughtiness and foot stomping tantrums within a nano second.  Time slowed and instead of being in the arms of Nicholas Cage (ahem..), I was now walking alongside Keanu Reeves in Constantine where water slows to a drip..drip..drip...surrounded by fire and brimstone and nasty little hell creatures!

It took a further hour to get them to sleep.  I was nearly in tears with anger and upset.  Thoughts raged through my head of taking toys off them and no treats for a month and I too stomped my foot (metaphorically) until they slept.

Then I looked at them.  Pink cheeked and eyelashes fluttering whilst taking tiny breaths in the land of fairydust, rainbows and nice dragons.  The switch had been flipped again and I kissed them both gently.

Do you think Nicholas Cage would go on an adventure with me?