Life

Bursting with pride at treasured artwork

Abbie's special piece of art
Abbie's special piece of art Abbie's special piece of art

Well, it happened. I finally lost it.

It took almost 40 weeks of wrestling with my crazy, unpredictable hormones but this week the dam burst and it all came out.

I suppose it was bound to happen eventually.

Anyone who has ever been pregnant knows the journey can be a bit of a rollercoaster ride. One day, we feel great and we're told we're glowing, the next, the aches and pains become too much and suddenly all hell breaks lose.

Most of the time, I'm able to hold it together.

That said, this week I reached my limit and not because someone was mean to me, or told me my bump was "massive" or ate the last mandarin from the fruit bowl.

Nope, this week, I finally lost it over art.

Now, let me get something clear.

I know very little about art and while I've visited a few museums in Paris, New York, Rome and at home I've actually only ever made the journey for the gift shop experience.

But this week I finally came across a piece of art which reduced me to an emotional wreck - and it was all in the name of love.

I don't mind telling you all that these days arriving home from work is really the highlight of my day.

Don't get me wrong, I love my job and working with my colleagues but I really look forward to getting home at night because when I arrive in our kitchen I find a very cute little girl and her daddy pretending to hide from me.

Every night they are in a different place and usually they have a blanket over their heads.

On hearing the sound of me opening the door, the room fills with giggles and soon I must begin my hunt to find little Abbie, who loves the excitement of the game.

Every night is the same and I have to say I will never tire of these special moments.

However, the other night when I got home from work there was something a bit different as my eyes were drawn immediately to a bright, red sparkle on the worktop.

As I took a second look, I knew what it was and my eyes filled with tears and I was overcome with emotion.

For here, sitting on the worktop before me, was Abbie's first ever piece of artwork - a white card love heart with red glitter around the edges and little coloured spots in the middle.

Well, my heart almost burst with pride.

I know it may sound silly to some but for me this was a moment I had been waiting on for a very long time.

I stood there in the middle of the kitchen, hugging the love heart, glancing between the piece of artwork and Abbie, who was staring at me from the high chair - no doubt wondering why mummy was being nuts.

Soon the floor was covered in red glitter and the table and the tv remote and pretty much every surface, as I waved the card around in delight.

But I didn't care about the mess.

I rushed to pin the love heart to the cupboard and was happy just to stand there looking at it.

Soon it will be framed and positioned on the wall in pride of place.

Every morning now when I come down for breakfast its presence makes me smile and leaves me feeling all warm inside.

I'm just so proud.

I know in years to come I will probably be inundated with pieces of artwork like this and will most likely run out of places to put them but until then, I intend to treasure every little creation that comes my way.

I guess my little baby isn't so little any more (cue the tears again) and soon, she will be reaching milestones like this every day.

I'm just hoping that doesn't happen too quickly.

For now, she can cover the whole house in glitter and paint and crayons - I don't care, she's worth ten times the mess.

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What's Hot?

Comedy - If you fancy a fun night at the flicks, check out How to Be Single. Starring Dakota Johnson and Rebel Wilson, the movie tells the story of a group of singletons in the Big Apple. Should be fun.

Return - Fans of handsome Downton Abbey actor, Dan Stevens, will be happy to learn he is to finally return to our tv screens in Marvel's new TV series, Legion.

Irish Supergroup - Ronan Keating has hinted at the possible creation of a Boyzone/Westlife supergroup. It does sound fab. Count me in.

So Not!

Remake - A remake of the eighties hit series, MacGyver has been given the go-ahead. I absolutely adored the original, which starred Richard Dean Anderson. However, any remake without him is pointless.

Quitting - Daniel Craig is reported to be stepping down from his role as James Bond after 10 years. Apparently, the 47-year-old is working on a new US tv series.

Annoying - Does anyone else find Tracy Barlow's fella, Robert Preston, really annoying in Coronation Street? Played by Tristan Gemmill, he has really been rubbing me up the wrong way recently. Time for a change Tracy.

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Competition

The winners of the Asda competition are Sinead Winters, from Omagh and Aileen Kearney, from Draperstown

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Easy Peasy Recipe

This week’s Easy Peasy Recipe is Double Chocolate Fudge Brownies

You will need:

1pd butter

21ozs extra dark chocolate

6 eggs

1 tspn vanilla extract

21ozs sugar

5 1/2ozs all-purpose flour

1/2 tspn salt

15ozs chocolate chips

6 1/2ozs toasted walnuts

1/2oz baking powder

To Make:

Melt butter and chocolate in the microwave, mix together and set aside.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt until fluffy.

Slowly add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture. Then, add the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the chocolate chips

Pour batter evenly on to a greased baking tray and cook at 170 degrees Celsius for 35-45 minutes. Let cool at room

Do you have an Easy Peasy recipe you would like to share?

Are you the queen of quiches, magnificent at muffins or can you turn out some nice scones?

If so, then we want to hear from you.

You can send your name, address, contact number and recipe (plus photo if possible) to:

Easy Peasy Recipes,

Marie Louise McConville,

Irish News

113-117 Donegall Street,

Belfast,

BT1 2GE

or

m.mcconville@irishnews.com