Olympic Fever powered by Baobab Powder

The 7yo has graduated out of traditional swimming lessons into lane swimming with the 9yo. I'm very proud. This accomplishment seems all the more milestone-y, (yes, that is a made up word,) thanks to the Olympic coverage of the swimming on TV.

The sproglets are not daft, they've seen the gold, silver and bronze bling being awarded to the race winners and thought they'd ask for a bit of recognition from us, their loving parentals.

'Please can we have some new swimming costumes?' they asked the other day. 'We'd like ones like the swimmers are wearing on the TV,'

Boy wanted a pair of black, spray on Lycra bike short swimmers and girl wanted the black costume with the similar leggings. It seemed a reasonable request. Turns out the costumes are Fastskin3 by Speedo. (Not fatskin, as I thought - without my glasses :) Anyhoo, much as I love the sproglets, I won't be spending upwards of £70 on their cozzies! The girly one was £330!!! Hopefully the high street will react soon and I'll buy something there, that is unless Speedo get in touch soon to kit out my babies, (clearly they are fishy Olympians of the future!)

Thanks to my mum and sister, we were lucky enough to get tickets to the Olympic rowing at Eton Dorney on 30th July. We saw Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins of Great Britain break the Olympic best in the women's Double Sculls. Their 22nd unbeaten race in a row! We had a stunning day with belting sun and I'm so grateful (to mum and sis) that we all  attended an Olympic event.

The sprogs are generally sporty, we're not called Archer for nuthin' y'know! We tried our hand at a bit of Archer-y at The Tenbury Wells' Agricultural Show last Saturday. The 7yo hit the target but it was luck rather than skill, the 9yo was deadly accurate. Remind me not to run away from her in the field if she is armed with a bow and arrow.

We also met this chap (the one on the left) at the show.

He was being hand reared. Soooo cute.

Conscious of the part diet plays in Olympic success, we were happy to try our a new product sent to us by Minivita. Baobab Superfruit Powder is made from the fruit of the 'upside down tree,' an ancient African tree that towers over the savannahs.

Packed with vitamin C, dietary fibre, calcium and antioxidants, we thought we'd see if it was easy to use. The answer is yes! The powder has a fruity, tangy, sharp taste. We added two tablespoons to a banana milkshake for a super, sporty health kick. Yummy.

We also made granola jars, an idea I got from the Cooperative Magazine 'Good with Food'. These jars can be made up a day in advance and used as breakfast or just as a healthy snack. Perfect for summer holiday snacking.

Take some pretty jam or Kilner jars, (not too big, you're looking for a jar that will fit one person's portion of granola.) Then layer the jars with the following suggestions:

Layer 1

• Muesli
• Sultanas
• A few chocolate chips

Layer 2

• Thick home-made banana, strawberry (or other fruit) milkshake with Baobab Superfruit Powder

or

• Plain yoghurt flavoured with honey, golden syrup or mixy-round

Repeat layers till jar is full....

If you'd like your own pot of Baobab Superfruit Powder why not enter my Giveaway on my next post. Click here to enter......

Birthday Season

We have reached the season of Birthdays in the house; Daddy, the 7yo, (who will soon be called the 8yo,) the 5yo (who shall soon be renamed the 6yo) and the two cats, all have birthdays within a five week period. It's neat, but challenging. The only downside to this time of year is the bombardment of advertising aimed at children for Christmas... it gives my two babies some wild expectations.

'Whaddya mean they won't be satisfied with a nice book and a birthday cake?'

This year Daddy refused gifts on the grounds that we are installing yet another log burner in the house, this time in the kitchen...... downstairs; that will make four in total . Due to this new installation, I'm pretty sure that we will live our lives in the kitchen over the winter months, no bad thing really... but I digress! ... So, the sproglets made Daddy pictures: The 7yo drew an aeroplane and the 5yo drew a graphic scene from Star Wars - least that's what he said it was. Daddy loved the effort and has installed top-banana art in his business office .... I made big steak and chips.... two nights running!

For the first time in their little lives, the sproglets will have separate celebrations. The 7yo and four pals are having their nails 'done' by a beautician (a friend of mine,) who has also promised to bring make-up for experimentation... uh-oh! Then there will be pizza a movie and a lack-of-sleepover! Needless to say the 5yo (boy) was horrified at the thought of girls/make-up/girl movie. He and Dad have conspired to go out for the evening... I'm stuck obviously, the last bastion of hope between nail varnish and my walls/floors/furniture.

The boy is having a swimming party, with wild waves and slides, in a big city some 35 miles away. Unfortunately the swimming pool rules dictate a ratio of parent to child in the wet, tepid, stage-managed storm conditions and this doesn't seem a wildly popular choice of party with the parents who have just made the transition into all their Autumn boots and thermals. Personally I'm rather more concerned that my swimming costume may not be sturdy enough, I seem to have had some bosom-slippage!.... I may invest in a new one before the event... adding yet more cost to the party! Mind you, I'm sure the manufacturers of Veet and Immac will be indebted to me forever....

The cats may not live to see another birthday... I've just found the most enormous pile of innards beside my new (but old) welsh dresser, no fur, no feathers just a huge pile of liver and other parts that I'd recognise if I'd paid attention in biology! 'Scusting.