The Forsyths in 2016

I've never been one to write newsletters to post with Christmas cards... Hell, let's be honest, I've rarely been one to even manage the cards! But seeing as I have this blog, and that I've always enjoyed reading other people's family updates, I figured I would give a summary of our somewhat roller coaster type year- just in case anyone is interested... And if not, whatevs, it'll be good to look back on for me in a few years!

(For anyone who hasn't read my blogs before, I use nicknames for each of us instead of our actual names)




Big A:

Well, A had a somewhat unexpected start to his year when he got called as Bishop of our new (at the time) ward (for any non-Mormons reading this, a "translation" is that he got asked to be the lay minister leader of our local church congregation). This in and of itself has been a very (very very) busy journey! For someone who, whilst a very sociable and personable person, doesn't enjoy faffing about and "beating around the bush" this has been a real learning curve (you may have noticed, he's very direct and you "get what you see" with my lovely husband). He has, however, massively "stepped up to the plate" and is kind, has time for people, goes out of his way to help (in ways most people don't even realise), is constantly busy doing something for someone, and in general has really done a lot for our congregation. He has a great group around him too, which he massively appreciates. Plus there's the added bonus that he could legitimately ask everyone to leave quickly after our carol/Sunday service yesterday because he had Lego at home to build!

Other than that he's really done well at work, he is an absolute whizz at what he does (which I still don't 100% understand... I do mostly... anybody ever watch The Apprentice when the Australian guy, Mark, won? It's the  same thing that he did). He's expanded his department and was recently promoted to Senior PPC Manager. He has a great bunch of colleagues and is often coming home laughing about something or other that they've done/said that day. 

Personally, this year he's been on a real health kick, since July, he's basically cut out most sugars (besides the occasional treat once a week), and most unrefined carbs - lost a tonne of weight, whilst also started a very rigorous weight lifting and core body exercise  routine - he does it 6 days a week!! I'm truly amazed by his dedication to it all. 
He is just as cheeky as ever, loves to laugh, is an incredible dad, and we love having him around as much as we possibly can ❤



Big boy JD:

JD started school this September, he's the oldest (and tallest!) in his class, having turned 5 in the first week of term! He loves the fun he has there, and enjoys most of the learning. His teachers are absolutely lovely, and despite him single-handedly fully flooding the toilets in his second week at school (something his father also did at a similar age!!), they really give him every opportunity to succeed.

They tell  me he's very confident and sociable in class (which can be seen on the walk home from school - he knows everyone! and there are 60 odd kids in his year group), and thankfully, his distaste for those of the XX chromosome persuasion is slowly starting to fade, (it got so bad, he used to glare and threaten the girl models on the posters at Aldi! I mean... really?!) and now he does have some "girl friends", including a little girl who he's begrudgingly agreed to marry after her constant requests (pretty sure she's a bit of a floozy though, because he said she was also going to marry one of his best friends! Young love ey?)

He's constantly active and full of life, which at times I struggle to keep up with, but he's also so so kind and loving, he always wants to share anything good (not so great when you're on a diet and he's wanting to share any sweet treats he has!), we recently went to a little shopping retail park, and he bought some polos, which he then decided to share with everyone he came across - including a man dressed as a cartoon knight (who didn't actually have access to his mouth!).

He is immediately drawn to anyone in pain, and tries to help whenever he can - apparently the adults in school call him their little doctor because he's always bringing them people who are hurt, or going off to fetch the plasters etc. Because of this, he's decided he still wants to be a space man, but he'll consider being a doctor space man. 
He's a handful, but an absolutely wonderful part of our little family. We love him.




Little JJ

JJ  is an absolute thunderbolt of energy! He doesn't walk, he runs! Unless he's doing his cheeky "I-shouldn't-be-doing-this" waddle (yep, this really is a thing!) He is a boy of many extremes - he's either extremely happy and loving life, or extremely cute and cuddly, or extremely upset, screaming about it and everything is the end of the world - and it's a constant guessing game as to which it will be! I don't know how the boy has the energy to keep it up all the time! 
He enjoys the little pre-school that he goes to whilst I'm at work, and I'm told he's a very active and bubbly part of the group. 
His speech is slow coming along (he certainly developed physically more quickly than verbally - little monkey!), but has been getting a lot better recently (other than whilst going through colours, getting them all right except "yellow", which for some reason he calls "triangle"!!), he still does a similar thing to the french of using random sounds in between words he knows "duh-duh-duh-duh... apple peas (please)".
He loves following his big brother wherever and whenever he can, he's taken a liking to Lego, because JD does,  but isn't quite gentle enough for it! He doesn't quite understand why some things break, and if they do, that they can't automatically be fixed! He LOVES Paw Patrol, and anything to do with superheros, and is an absolutely wonderful ball of energy who can charm anyone he meets (if he's feeling that particular extreme inclination at the time!) We love this little cheeky chops to the moon and back.

Middle M

My year has been fairly uneventful, life has its ups and downs, and whilst I've felt each one, I've come to the end of the year and decided that I need to try to focus on the positives and be grateful for what we/I have got, and not dwell on the things we haven't. I started working at Tesco at the end of April, and whilst the early mornings (5 or 6am), Saturday shifts, and monotony of the actual job role are a bit (or a lot) of a challenge at times, the job fits very well around the kids needs, and I have met some genuinely lovely people there. I can't see it being a forever job, but it's definitely something with big positives to it for now. 

I started writing this blog a few months ago, and have really enjoyed it, I really love to get pen to paper... well... fingers to keyboard... and just babble away at whatever I feel like at the time. I have also massively appreciated the positive feedback that I've received from many people - I love that you've laughed along with me at some of the crazy little parts of every day life! I do need to get back to updating it more often... but you know life - that pesky thing really does like to get in the way! 
Personally, I've finally reached (and surpassed) a goal that I've had for years - to get back into the 9 stones weight bracket (see this blog for a bigger breakdown of that adventure!) - and whilst this probably shouldn't be such a big deal... I feel a massive sense of accomplishment from it, plus I've been able to buy lots of lovely new clothes (I have a very awesome Salvation Army charity shop near me that has gorgeous clothes at crazily low prices - LOVE it!)
I don't like talking about myself all that much, so I'm not going to "list my qualities" like I have done with everyone else...but I'm sure my family appreciate having me around most the time ;)

Whilst this year has seen some majorly tough and upsetting times, we've also had some absolutely wonderful times - Big A and I went to Venice for my 30th birthday and to the new Harry Potter play in September - and made some incredible memories which will stay with us for years to come. We went away on a family holiday to France and had a brilliant time. We've made some great friends, had fun with extended family, got a new boiler (yaaayyy), travelled the country here and there, had countless laughs and grown closer along this funny old journey we call life. 

Lots of love to you all, thank you for playing a part in our lives, whether that part is big or small, you all help make us who we are. Keep smiling, keep loving, keep trying. Onwards and upwards for 2017! xxx

My Slimming World Survival Guide

In July this year I started attending Slimming World, and over the course of the next few months, I lost a total of 23lb. I cannot recommend Slimming World enough - it was exactly what I needed to reach the goal I'd had for years, and then another extra 1/2 stone once I got there (I figured I might as well keep going once I was "in the zone").

I just thought I'd share some of my favourite recipes, tips and general advice for anyone else currently doing it, or thinking of starting.

Getting Started
Some of my work colleagues had been talking about Slimming World, and how you could still have treats here and there, plus Muller Lights were totally legit, and you could have cheese, bread, pasta, rice etc (some of those limited to certain amounts), and so I thought - Hell yes, count me in! Now there is the £5 per week charge, and I had always been a bit reserved about spending money on something I could just do at home, but nothing else had actually worked long term, so I figured - why not, just give it a go.
I met Kerry (my SW rep) and she talked me through the whole process - after the last proper diet that I'd done being the crazy South Beach (see my post here about my previous attempts), Slimming World "food optimisation" sounded like no problem. Plus I loved the idea of occasional treats being on plan and allowed! I was all for it - I signed up, weighed in at 11 stone (what??! - that was a shock), and started the journey.

Favourite Recipes
I'm a big one for trawling Pinterest for ideas, and luckily it did not disappoint with loads of Slimming World oriented ones. Here are some of my frequently used ones (click on the underlined part for the recipe):

Actually honest to goodness Pizza (none of that cauliflower, or egg nonsense - proper pizza!! - just make sure you don't eat too much)

(this is my version of it - my son loves olives, so I just picked mine out - you could just syn them though)
I use passata as the tomato base, and then just go wild on toppings! It does mean you need to save your HexA and HexB for one meal, but it is sooooo worth it!!

Like a Sunday roast? How about 1.5 syn Yorkshire Puddings?

(photo not mine - used from recipe website)
They use barely any of your HexA, and are really very tasty, and unlike most yorkshire puds that need a very high heat, these ones cook just fine at 190C, so it means you can cook a syn free chicken at the same time! (that's the heat my chicken cooks at anyway!)

Talking of roast dinners, how about a Syn free gravy ?

Not 100% like normal gravy, but still very nice - especially if you're saving your syns for an after dinner treat 😉

I love a nice takeaway, and early on, I discovered this really great Chinese Beef Noodles recipe:

Plus - slow cooker! Bonus! Stick it in in the morning, and you're all set! (I don't use the corn flour, and I use dried noodles - it cooks in the sauce at the end, so it's syn free as the sweetener is very minimal). I serve with eggy rice and green veg.

One recipe that we have pretty much every week is the Slimming World Carbonara
We LOVE it, also, I just use cheddar - you're allowed more, plus I never get around to buying Parmesan!

There are a few different curry recipes that I use (did you know KoKo coconut milk is allowed as your HexA - made an awesome Korma using that), but to go along with it when we had some friends over, I made some syn free Onion Bhajis

They were really quite tasty - and gave you even more of an impression that you're having a cheeky take-away.

Breakfast? There are a couple Oaty recipes I love - get yourself some frozen forest fruits and make some Overnight Oats or Baked Oats - with the overnight ones, I always use a muller light type yogurt to give it some flavour, and then top it up with natural yogurt - mix those together first, then add the fruit - it defrosts overnight and adds a delicious juice to the oaty yumminess.
With the baked oats, I don't add the fruit until after the oats cook (defrost the fruit first), then I slice a banana to add, and top with another yogurt - really tasty, almost like a fruity crumble - pudding for breakfast? Yes please!

**I'll add more recipes to this blog as and when I think of them!**

Extra Tips
DON'T make these Curly Wurly Brownies - they are genuinely vile... they're alright hot, but just awful cold, like really really bad!

If you want a treat - just syn it! There are very few "low syn" or "syn free" versions of treats that are any good... just eat the proper thing in moderation - eat it slowly to enjoy it and feel like you're really having a treat.

My go-to treat was a single finger twirl with a Muller light (or most of the Aldi versions are syn free), I literally dip it into the yogurt and it's only 6 syns. Nom nom nom...

Don't get discouraged if you have a bad week - there were a couple weeks where I gained a pound, and was gutted! But... I just kept to it, and the following week I'd lose it and more!

Now I just need to keep to it and survive Christmas 😄