Works Of Heart - A Bit Of Disney Magic In Our Home

Every now and again you discover something amazing. Something that you know you will love and you will want to treasure forever.

It's like this a lot of the time when MC brings home her artwork from school or sits down to draw something at home. She loves drawing and I have a large folder full of her work that I just have to keep.

The thing is, apart from the ones I display on our 'This week at school' board and the ones I have framed in the play room, they do just that, they sit in a folder never really to see the light of day.

This makes me sad.

Luckily my wonderful artist friend Minty has created something very special that every parent of young children should know about. I remember Minty testing the idea on Facebook and quite a few of us thought it was wonderful….

Take a piece of your children's precious artwork and bring it to life!

How amazing does that sound?

Well, wait until you see the actual work from 'Works Of Heart'. It's even more amazing.

Minty has a very special creative talent. She didn't demand I wrote this blog post but her work deserves to be shared.

As soon as I saw Minty's new 'Works Of Heart'' venture I knew immediately which piece of artwork that I wanted re-created. Regular readers of my blog will know how much we adore Orlando, Florida and our love for The Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World. We first went in 2012 when I was heavily pregnant - it was meant to be a last big holiday before or baby boy was born. We loved it so much we returned in 2013 with a 4 year old and a 13 month old and we are going back next year too. We are all completely hooked.

MC often draws pictures of Disney characters and earlier this year she drew Mickey and Minnie Mouse and I loved it.

One wall in our dining room was still blank. Awaiting the perfect picture or photo to sit opposite the family gallery on the other wall. I wanted Minty to re-create MC's Disney picture larger than the original so I asked for A3.

I sent over a digital photo of MC's creation and simply told Minty that I wanted it to show our love for Walt Disney World, Florida. That was it. She did the rest.

What I received was beautiful.

You can't really tell from the photograph of the artwork but Mickey and Minnie, all the flags and hearts actually stand out from the background. There is also so much sparkle on the artwork too and I love the fact Cinderella's Castle is the backdrop. It's amazing and I love it so much.

I knew I wanted to pay to have it professionally framed immediately. I took both MC's and Minty's artwork to the framers and they said it was incredible - asking who had done it. The framer put a large mount around it and, with some left over paint from our kitchen and dining room, painted the perfect frame. He even mounted MC's original drawing on the back so the two will always be together and I want to pass this picture down through the family over the years.

It looks absolutely amazing - far better than the photographs show.

It's now a fantastic talking point over dinner in our house!

Please head over to Minty's Works Of Heart Facebook page and see all the other incredible children's artwork she has recreated.

Please contact Minty at Works Of Heart for all size options and prices

#SilentSunday 99

If Only I Hadn't Picked Up That DVD

Picture the scene.

It's December 2010 and we are staying in an apartment in the beautiful city of Edinburgh. Mini Cheddar is 20 months old and there's a huge winter blizzard blowing outside - we can see the snow rising on the French doors. We just want to cuddle up and watch a DVD together so rummaging through them I find something suitable that I think MC will enjoy - Mickey's Twice Upon A Christmas. It's almost Christmas so why not?

That was it. That was the start of the obsession with Mickey and Minnie Mouse.  MC loved the DVD!

When we returned home we realised there was a young Disney Channel on Sky called Playhouse Disney (now known as Disney Junior) and episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse filled our TV screen. She was hooked. Cbeebies was cast aside and replaced by the Disney empire.

Then we made the mistake of introducing her to our local Disney Store. Seeing her face light up with the characters was just heart-warming. Birthday, Christmas and general presents began to have a Disney theme and soon MC's love for Minnie Mouse became apparent. 

If only I hadn't picked up that DVD. 

We would have saved a lot of money.

Yes but if I hadn't picked up that DVD we wouldn't have gotten to experience the pure joy of the last 15 months of MC's admiration for Disney.

Matt would never had made the suggestion that we had a last blow-out holiday before the new baby arrives and we would never have gone to Walt Disney World.

Yes, we would have saved A LOT of money. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Disney rocks!

And so does my daughter. 

Silent Sunday #48

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Pregnancy Patter - 28 and 30 Weeks...The Disney World Edition

Last time I wrote an update was just after Christmas when I was 26 weeks so I've missed 2 whole updates. I'm 31 weeks today so I thought I'd better get back on track ready for the 32 week mark next week.

As you all know we spent from the 4th January to 25th January in Orlando, Florida. To say it was an amazing holiday would be a bit of an understatement if I'm honest. We all loved it. 3 weeks of pure happiness (apart from Mini Cheddar being really poorly for a couple days - and costing us $360) and not one of us wanted to come home. I would urge anyone and everyone to get there at least once in their lifetime, it really is the most magical place ever...and amazing weather to boot. What's not to love?

I have to admit, I was a little bit apprehensive about travelling so far when so heavily pregnant. When I was pregnant with MC I had severe swollen feet and ankles (aka cankles) in the last month or so. Therefore I was terrified of the 9 hour flight. I needn't have worried though, my Boots flight socks did me proud. No swelling at all! It helped that Matt had upgraded us on the flight so we had huge leather seats, bags of leg room, endless drinks (orange and water for me *sob*) and so on. It really was the most comfortable flight to the US I've ever experienced and a great start to the holiday.

The only pregnancy problem I experienced on holiday was when we landed. Those of you who have travelled to the US will know how hard the immigration people can be at the airport. The US is a tough country to get into, not just to live but to visit. Waiting in line I could see the official had already clocked I was pregnant so I was prepared for the worst. The grilling I received was so bad though, at one point I was scared he was going to refuse me entry. I think in the end he saw the look of panic on my face so he went easy on me and said "Don't worry ma'am, I'm just doing my job" and then smiled a little - very rare for someone in US immigration...or it could have been wind! Yeah, probably wind.

I was still able to enjoy the holiday to the max, despite being pregnant. Of course there were rides that I couldn't go on but I did the main Magic Kingdom rides at Disney Land, Paris many moons ago. The only ones I would have loved to go on were Test Track at EPCOT (Matt did ride this alone and loved it), The Tower Of Terror at Hollywood Studios and Kraken at SeaWorld (Matt was too much of a scaredy-cat to ride). Next time though - yes, we already have plans to go back!

I went away with a bumper 72 pack of Rennie. I had been getting heartburn quite bad before I went and I know the food in the US is immense so I was well prepared. I think I used about 8 tablets. I think the US food agrees with my pregnancy more than the food in the UK.

My bump has grown a lot over the time I've been away. I was watching videos from the holiday earlier today and you really can see the difference as the weeks pass. I'm getting really strong movement now, so much so that I can easily freak people out by asking them to watch my belly. This baby moves a lot more than MC did and I thought she moved lots. If I put a hand on my stomach the baby will kick or punch it off - needless to say I almost lost a sandwich the other day after resting my plate on it!

I was due to have a GTT at the hospital the day after we got back but I felt terrible with a cold I picked up just before we left Orlando - add onto that severe jet lag (I got about 10 minutes of sleep on the night flight home, I was a wreck!) so I cancelled it. I need to reschedule it as it was due at 28 weeks! Oops.

I have a routine midwife appointment tomorrow and then my consultant appointment is 21st February which is when I'll find out if it's another section or a VBAC. I can't believe it's only 9 weeks until my due date - exciting times!

So, those of you who have been following my updates will remember I have twice promised a bump picture. Not wanting to disappoint again, here is me (with a couple of my new friends). They actually patted my bump after this picture was taken.

Silent Sunday #47

                                                                         Inspired by...