An update to finish off 2014!

Hello out there! I can not believe that it has been nearly four months since I last posted, returning to a full time degree has been a lot more hectic then I imagined. Life has certainly been busy but I feel like I am getting things under control and I am hoping to start posting much more regularly!

Summer 2014 update - part two

Hello my friends, can you believe that it is the 1st of September today already? The summer holidays have flown by for us and we have been so busy organising everything for all of the changes that we have going on in our lives at the moment.

42 days of summer!

The summer holidays are always a controversial topic with many parents dreading occupying their children for such a long time, other parents worrying about how they will manage with childcare during the long summer holidays and then the parents like myself, that actually can't wait for the summer holidays as we have so much fun each year! No matter what your view on the summer holidays is, there is no doubt that they can be stressful if you are not prepared, so I thought I would share some of my tips on making the most of the summer holidays.

My top tips for a stress free summer (although a little later then I had anticipated) are;

1) Plan! I am a huge believer in the old saying - failing to plan is planning to fail! Now I am all for children having time to use their imagination and deal with feeling bored rather then being totally over scheduled with every minute accounted for, but I also think that as a parent you need to know what you are doing and when, so that you can plan for work commitments, plan budgets, book activities etc so every year I make my children summer holiday books which tell them what we will be doing each day. You can read about these on a previous post which I wrote here. The idea is that the children do not have to continually pester me about when will we be doing certain activities and I can create a good balance of activities and free time where they can play in the garden or out with friends, use their imagination and over come boredom. Having a routine for each week mapped out in the books makes life so much simpler and is good for the children as it keeps them more focused and we are all kept happy.

2) Make a back up plan. I like to keep a few indoor activities in a secret place so that if something happens that you can not predict, such as bad weather or one of the kids becomes poorly, and you can not do what you had planned there is still something fun that is on hand to keep the kids happy and you sane!

3) Be open minded. I think that the summer holidays are really important for bonding with your children and as a family and they are also the perfect time to make memories that will last a life time, so the summer holidays are a time for letting your hair down and being silly! Do cart wheels in the garden, join in at the soft play, cover yourself in homemade face packs, dig for worms in the mud and get stuck in with the kids, they will love you for it.

4) Relax and be a bit more flexible with the children. Yes it is important to still keep some kind of routine for the children as most children do thrive when there are rules and boundaries in place and they know what they are doing, but does it really matter if they have sweets three days in a row, or if they stay up a little later then usual? You need to relax your expectations and there will be far less arguments and stress.

5) Make a budget and stick to it. Money can often be tight for families now more then ever, so decide on a budget that you can afford and then plan your holidays with that in mind. If you are on a very low budget there are lots of free or low cost activities that you can do if you do a bit of research and use your imagination. 

This post was inspired by the McVitie's/Britmums blogging challenge and McVitie's were kind enough to send me some of their BN biscuits. 

We received a packet of the chocolate flavoured biscuits and a packet of the raspberry ones.





The biscuits are artificial free and 45% wholemeal and whole grain. They are also really tasty and make a great treat after a busy morning or afternoon of summer fun!

I was a bit worried about the raspberry flavour if I'm honest, but they actually taste great and my oldest daughter Lauren who is 16 said that the raspberry ones were her favourite. 

I loved the chocolate ones the best as I am a bit of a self confessed chocoholic and Faith said that she could not decide on a favourite flavour as they were both equally yummy!

The biscuits are a good size to fill hungry tummies and I will definitely be keeping some in my cupboards from now on!

I had to laugh when I came into the kitchen and found Faith using two of the biscuits like dolls talking to each other! It's because of the cute faces on the biscuits so they are also great for imaginative play!

This post is my entry for the 42 days of summer linky challenge sponsored by McVitie's BN - Learn more at http://www.mcvities.co.uk

Summer 2014 update

Hello out there! So sorry for the lack of recent posts, life has a funny way of getting in the way of blogging!

The summer holidays are keeping us busy and we have been having so much fun and I have also been very busy organising my application to university and attending my social work degree selection day. 

Haven't we been lucky this summer with such beautiful weather, it really has been lovely. We have spent so much time in the garden and we purchased a paddling pool which has kept Faith busy splashing around and even Chloe has been out in it too. 

We have been to the cinema, bowling, farm, car boot sales, park and soft play centres. We have also been doing the reading challenge at our local library which is something that I use to do with my older girls when they were younger and now I am doing with Faith. 

We have just returned from a trip away at Drayton Manner theme park which was fantastic and enjoyed by all.

We have also been busy indoors doing science experiments, arts and crafts and cooking cakes and making pizzas. 

 

It has been lovely and we still have 19 days to enjoy before the children all go back to school!

Tuna pasta salad

I love having meals that can be thrown together quickly for nights where we are extra busy as it saves us from relying on a take-a-way which saves us money. It is also much healthier then most take-a-ways too and as I am a self confessed control freak knowing I have something quick and easy makes me feel much more in control of things which keeps me happy!

Mango upside down cake

We decided to try a new twist on an old favourite so we substituted the well known pineapple for mango to see what it would be like and I have to say, it works really well. In fact my whole family said that they prefer the mango to pineapple in this cake and Faith really enjoyed cooking it with me.

Magnetic notice board review

Acco Quartet Magnetic Weekly Organiser

I am very lucky to be working with Shoplet UK as one of their reviewers and a few weeks ago they sent me this lovely magnetic notice board which I love. 

Shoplet are an Office Stationary supplier but many of their products are also great for use at home.

Word of the week - Exciting!

Well, what a difference a week makes! This week has been a very exciting week for us all.

First we had Lauren's prom which was lovely and so exciting for Lauren as it was something that she had been looking forward to for such a long time. 

Lauren's prom

On Friday 4th July it was Lauren's high school prom. 

This is all very new to me as they didn't have school proms when Darren or I were at school and with Lauren being our eldest we were not really sure of what to expect. 

Meal planning Monday - July 7th 2014

 Monday 7th July.

Chicken pie, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables.

A store brought pie makes this a nice and easy dinner to kick start the week!

Tuesday 8th July.

Turkey dinosaurs, cauliflower and broccoli cheese and chips or roast potatoes.

Wednesday 9th July.

Spaghetti bolognese.

I use a Dolmio sauce in a jar for this as I prefer the taste to my own and it only takes 25 minutes from start to finish for this dinner.

Thursday 10th July.

Iceland Chicken hotpot, extra potatoes and vegetables.

Friday 11th July.

Pizza for the kids.

Darren and I are going out to a country pub for a drink and something to eat.

Saturday 12th July.

BBQ chicken breasts, boiled rice and garlic bread.

Sunday 13th July.

Rustic chicken with extra potatoes and vegetables.

One of those packets which you add fresh ingredients to the bag which has some herbs or spices in and oven cook the meal in the bag.

The prompt - life without TV?

The Prompt for this week from the lovely Sara over at Mumturnedmom is a topic and it is:

TV: could you live without it?

Yes I could! I must admit that I would rather not live without TV as sometimes it is just nice to chill out and indulge in some me time watching some of my favourite TV shows but if I had to live without it, I could. 

Word of the week - frustrating!

This week has been a frustrating week which has been well, frustrating! I have been having problems with my uni application which I did mention on a previous post and I am currently waiting for responses from various people and until I get those responses there is literally nothing that I can do, which I find extremely frustrating as I am a very proactive type of person and I am also very impatient and knowing there are deadlines looming for applications and financing decisions etc it has been one of those weeks that I really do not like.

June 2014

Family.

Lauren has now officially left high school and we have been busy getting things ready for her prom which will be this Friday. I think that she is OK, but she has found it difficult to cope with the fact that she is growing up and leaving her high school days behind her, as she really loved her school and she was very involved in all aspects of school life.

Normal services will soon be resumed!

I am so sorry that I have been so quiet this last week. I have been so busy this last week sorting out Lauren for her prom this Friday and also sorting out my uni application, I have not had time to think and I just had to step away from the blog as something had to give. 

The prompt - Do you take risks?

The Prompt from the lovely Sara from Mumturnedmom for this week is a quote and it is:

Why not go out on a limb? That’s where the fruit is. 

Mark Twain

This is a quote that I can really relate to as to me this quote is about the benefit of taking risks. Now I'm not going to pretend that I am a massive risk taker, taking risks on a daily basis, as I am a parent and with that comes the responsibility to make sure that I take care of myself and my family. 

Meal planning Monday - June 23rd 2014

With a hectic week ahead I have gone for some very easy dinners as my week will be busy organising things for Lauren's prom which is fast approaching. 

Monday 23rd June.

Turkey burgers, chips and baked beans.

Themed family fun - week 15

The idea is simple - each week I will tell you a theme. It could be a colour, a shape, an animal, a holiday or anything. You then use the theme to have some family fun and write a blog post telling us all what you did. You might cook something or craft something or visit somewhere. Whatever you like as long as you are having fun.

The rules.

1) Visit my blog every Monday to see what the weeks theme will be.

2) Have fun using the theme and write up your post.

3) Make sure you include the badge or a text link to my blog so people can join in.

4) Come back on the following Saturday to see what we have done and link up your post.

5) Look at other peoples posts and comment on at least three so everyone gets some love :-)

You do not have to join in every week and if you are worried that you may forget then just follow me on twitter and I'll be tweeting reminders each week.

Each linky will be open for five days giving people plenty of time to link up their posts.

This weeks theme is

Mango

I hope that you have lot's of fun with this weeks theme and that you remember to come back on Saturday to link up your posts.

Word of the week - Renewed

Since the groovy mums linky finished I have been wondering what to do on Thursdays and how to sum up my weeks so when I discovered that there is a linky over at the reading residence which is called word of the week I happily decided that this would solve my problems so here is my first one.

Sausage herb crust pie.

Ingredients.

8 Sausages.

1/2 a chopped onion.

A tin of baked beans.

125ml water.

225g self-raising flour.

75g Stork or similar.

1 tsp mixed herbs.

A little milk.

The birth story of Chloe'

After having Lauren and enjoying being a mum so much, it wasn't very long at all before we decided to try for another baby. We thought it may take longer the second time around, but again I fell pregnant in the first month of trying. 

Meal planning Monday - June 16th 2014

This is my meal plan for this coming week, it is a week packed with old and trusted favourites and a couple from last weeks menu that I didn't make as I was unwell last week with a bug.

Monday 16th June.

Stewed stake, mashed potatoes and vegetables.

Themed family fun - week 14

The idea is simple - each week I will tell you a theme. It could be a colour, a shape, an animal, a holiday or anything. You then use the theme to have some family fun and write a blog post telling us all what you did. You might cook something or craft something or visit somewhere. Whatever you like as long as you are having fun.

The rules.

1) Visit my blog every Monday to see what the weeks theme will be.

2) Have fun using the theme and write up your post.

3) Make sure you include the badge or a text link to my blog so people can join in.

4) Come back on the following Saturday to see what we have done and link up your post.

5) Look at other peoples posts and comment on at least three so everyone gets some love :-)

You do not have to join in every week and if you are worried that you may forget then just follow me on twitter and I'll be tweeting reminders each week.

Each linky will be open for five days giving people plenty of time to link up their posts.

This weeks theme is

Rainbow

I hope that you have lot's of fun with this weeks theme and that you remember to come back on Saturday to link up your posts.

Themed family fun - prince or princess week

Courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net by digitalart  

Welcome to prince or princess week!

Again it was very quiet last week so I would really appreciate it if you could help spread the word about this linky. 

The prompt - rules

The Prompt for this week from the lovely Sara at Mumturnedmom is a phrase and it is:

Rules are meant to be broken

This is one of those phrases which always makes me smile when I hear it. I have always been someone that belives in setting and following rules and I know that some people would rather there be no rules, so that we could all be free to do as we please, but when I think of a world with no rules all I can think of is complete anarchy!

Our day of shopping in Colchester

Last Saturday Chloe and myself went to Colchester for a day of shopping and some much needed one on one time as Chloe is a middle child that just gets on with things she can be easily forgotten in day to day life when I have a 6 year old that needs lots of attention and a 16 year old that for the last two years has had many problems and needed a lot of time and attention.

Low cost fathers day gift ideas

With Fathers day fast approaching I thought that I had better get my thinking cap on for gift ideas and I thought that I would share with you all the ideas that I have had in case you are also in need of a bit of inspiration too.

Meal planning Monday - June 9th 2014

I am a huge fan of meal planning as I wrote in one of first posts - The importance of meal planning. When I came across a linky called Meal planning Monday from At home with Mrs M, I knew that it was one linky that I would have to join in with. I also think that it is a good idea to share my meal plan each week as sometimes it can be tough trying to work out what to have each week so hopefully my plans with offer some inspiration to others and also inspire me as I read other bloggers plans.

Themed family fun - week 13

The idea is simple - each week I will tell you a theme. It could be a colour, a shape, an animal, a holiday or anything. You then use the theme to have some family fun and write a blog post telling us all what you did. You might cook something or craft something or visit somewhere. Whatever you like as long as you are having fun.

Post-it note holders.

Today we wanted to make something inspired by the colour yellow for my themed family fun linky and our first thought was the sun, quickly followed by post-it notes. With the summer holidays fast approaching I knew that it would soon be time to think of a thank you gift for Faith to give to her teacher so we decided to make a post it note holder for her teacher to put on her fridge.

Themed family fun - Yellow week

Welcome to yellow week!

Big thanks to the lovely new linker that we had last week although it is still very quiet at the moment. Come on people - help spread the word and get a few more people joining in!

My #shelfie!

Victoria Plumb and Tots100 are running a blogging challenge for us bloggers to share our shelfie on Twitter and share a blog post with you all about what we have on our shelve.

I have chosen my book shelve in my living room as that is my favourite shelve in my house. It is the only place that everyone in our house knows that they can not leave all their random things on and they can not take anything off the shelve as it is my shelve!

The prompt - Favourite smells!

This weeks Prompt from the lovely Sara over at Mumturnedmom is a topic and it is:

My favourite smell…

There are many smells that I love such as the beautiful smell of a new born baby, I remember when Faith was small and I would hold her up to my nose and breath in her delicate scent that was ever so slightly unique to her. 

How I plan my blog

You may remember last week when I posted about my blog planner, well today I will tell you how I actually plan my blog using my planner and one other tool. An index card holder and cards.

These are so cheap and for me such a great way to plan my blog, I love them. The holder only cost £1.50 from Asda and a pack of 100 cards is also only £1.50. I have three main categories for my cards which are; blog posts with deadlines, ideas for blog posts and linkies that I take part in.

May 2014

Another month of highs and lows, although I am pleased to say that there were many more highs then lows this month so things are improving!

This month has had some beautiful weather and I will remember a particular day in early May as a treasured memory for Darren and myself as I awoke to Darren telling me that he had made a picnic and wanted me to throw caution to the wind and drop all my plans for the day and accompany him on a romantic picnic on the beach while the kids were at school. Now as many of you will probably know by now,  I am a planner and I live my life by following my many lists as I like to feel in control of life but on this day I decided that I could move all my work to the following day and as Darren had gone to so much trouble I would not put up any resistance. I'm so glad that I went as it was such a relaxing day and the weather was so beautiful that I actually got a tan and that is normally unheard of for me! We sat on the beach and I read my book while Darren listened to his Ipod and we talked about where our life is heading and plans, hopes and dreams for the future and it was a really lovely day.

A pint of socks

Buying gifts for father's day or any celebration where you need to buy for a man can be tricky so making a pint of socks for the man in your life can be a great idea especially if you would like to get the kids involved to help make a lovely gift.

Chloe's 15th

On Friday May 30th it was Chloe's 15th birthday.

I didn't really have that much to do for this one this year as she wanted money so she could go on a shopping spree so we just got her some nail bits as she loves doing her nails and then put money in the card. I am not normally very keen on giving money as I think that it is much more thoughtful to choose a gift but I knew that Chloe would be much more happy with cash like most kids her age probably would and I know that I can trust her not to waste it on silly things as she is very responsible for her age.

Themed family fun - week 12

The idea is simple - each week I will tell you a theme. It could be a colour, a shape, an animal, a holiday or anything. You then use the theme to have some family fun and write a blog post telling us all what you did. You might cook something or craft something or visit somewhere. Whatever you like as long as you are having fun.

Themed family fun - French week

Image by artur84 courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Welcome to French week. 

Thanks so much to my two lovely linkers from last week, so nice to have your support as this linky is taking longer then I anticipated to attract linkers.

This week inspired by France, we decided to have a go at some french baking.

The prompt - Time management

This weeks prompt from Sara at Mumturnedmom is a topic and it is:

I wish I had more time…

Time is something that I often hear people wishing for which is funny as we all get the same amount of time in each day but some people do seem to be able to achieve so much more then others in those 24 hours. 

Peanut butter chocolate brownies.

I love to bake and I adore the combination of peanut butter and chocolate! With Chloe's 15th birthday coming up, I thought that I would make some peanut butter chocolate brownies, as I know that they are one of Chloe's favourite cakes that I bake. The recipe is quite naughty but everyone deserves a treat now and again! 

My blog planner

Planning my blog is something that I have been trying to do since starting back in November and I have tried a number of methods and at last found one that works for me. I have a two part system and today I will tell you about the first part which is my blog planner.

One on one time.

As a mum of three girls I think that it is really important to make the time to spend some quality time with each child on their own. Of course it is great to spend time together as a family, but sometimes children crave the sort of positive attention that only comes from one on one time. 

Themed family fun - week 11

The idea is simple - each week I will tell you a theme. It could be a colour, a shape, an animal, a holiday or anything. You then use the theme to have some family fun and write a blog post telling us all what you did. You might cook something or craft something or visit somewhere. Whatever you like as long as you are having fun.

Themed family fun - Fish week

Welcome to fish week!

This week we decided to make a picture of a fish in the sea. The main thing I like about these types of crafts is that they really give the children a chance to use their own imaginations and decorate the picture however they like instead of the more structured crafts that I normally do.

The prompt - Luck

The Prompt for this week from the lovely Sara over at Mumturnedmom is a quote and it is:

Calvin: You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocket ship underpants don’t help. 

                        Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

I think that luck is a funny thing, the definition on my computers app says - Luck * Something that happens to someone by chance, a chance occurrence.

* A superstitious feeling that brings fortune or success.

The birth story of Lauren.

I was 17 years old and pregnant with my first child. She was planned although looking back, I wish that I had waited a few years to have her as I missed out on a lot being so young, but of course I would never want to be without her now. 

A girly night

I decided to have some fun with Faith last weekend so we had a beauty night together, just the two of us. I brought some sweets and treats for us and we started the night by doing some craft together which was lovely as there was no distractions and we got to chat together loads while we were crafting.

Pete the cat review

I received a lovely surprise in the mail the other day, the lovely people from Harper Collins sent me a new children's book called 'Pete the cat - I love my white shoes' by James Dean and Eric Litwit as a thank you for some previous work.

The book is so lovely that I thought I would share a review of the book with you all. 

Food packs seem to be shrinking!

Is it just me or is the food and drink manufacturers and supermarkets trying to trick us? Over the last year I have been noticing that pack sizes are getting smaller. For example, chocolate bars, they use to come in packs of four but now many of the packs only contain three. When I was shopping yesterday I noticed that Mars and Snickers were on offer for £1, but on further inspection the packets only contained three bars, which is not such a good offer compared to a few months ago when they would be on offer for £1 but contained four bars. 

Themed family fun - week 10.

The idea is simple - each week I will tell you a theme. It could be a colour, a shape, an animal, a holiday or anything. You then use the theme to have some family fun and write a blog post telling us all what you did. You might cook something or craft something or visit somewhere. Whatever you like as long as you are having fun.

Our relaxed morning story.

Mornings for us are quite relaxed and you may be thinking to yourselves that there is no way a family morning can go smoothly on a school day, but it honestly can if you plan ahead.

We get up at 7am and all the children know that they must get dressed before coming down stairs. I also get ready for the day as soon as I wake up.

Themed family fun - Circles week

Welcome to circles week!

This week we decided to make a decoration for Faith's bedroom inspired by circle shapes! I knew that I had a lot of scraps of patterned paper stored away from scrap booking so we started by cutting out lots of circles and we ended up with quite a good decoration if I do say so myself! 

The prompt - Surprises!

The Prompt from the lovely Mumturnedmom for this week is an emotion and it is:

Surprise

Being a parent, life is often full of surprises! Life with children is often unpredictable and I have been surprised by so many things over the years. 

Easy fish pie recipe

Ingredients 

* 4 White fish fillets (I use frozen but you could use any type of fish frozen or fresh)

* 3 Medium potatoes.

* Broccoli (Again I use about half a bag of frozen but you could use fresh)

* Cheese sauce packet mix (I use one from Asda that just requires boiling water)

* Large handful of grated cheddar cheese.

The monster on my back

There is a monster on my back that I am always having to carry around with me, no one can see it, but I know it's there. I can feel the weight of it weighing me down, sometimes I feel like I am being crushed by it. 

Number 14 - check!

Today is the day that I can successfully check off another item from my 40 by 40 list!

I feel that I have now been smoke free long enough to say that I have officially given up smoking and my goodness do I feel better for it!

Themed family fun - Week 9.

The idea is simple - each week I will tell you a theme. It could be a colour, a shape, an animal, a holiday or anything. You then use the theme to have some family fun and write a blog post telling us all what you did. You might cook something or craft something or visit somewhere. Whatever you like as long as you are having fun.

Themed family fun - Aeroplane week

Welcome to Aeroplane week!

This week we decided to take on a rather ambitious project for us considering I had been very un-organised busy and left it all to the last minute! That is why this post is late so I send my apologies for my lateness!

The prompt - inevitable?

The Prompt from Mumturnedmom for this week is a scenario and it is:

It was inevitable…

Inevitable is a word that I do not like! I know that it sounds a bit silly to dislike a word but I suppose that it is the meaning of the word that I dislike. Inevitable means that it was bound to happen as if there is no choice available and that is something that never sits well with me. 

April 2014

April has been a funny month for me, there have been some really great moments and some really bad moments too. Feels a bit like I've been on a roller coaster for the last month! 

My bank holiday as a #MorrisonsMum

This bank holiday weekend I have been very lucky to be a Morrison's mum with thanks to Morrison's and Britmums. 

I was really excited to see how Morrison's would measure up compared to our normal shopping at Asda as I had not shopped in Morrison's for a good four years. I stopped visiting Morrison's as I found them to be more expensive then other supermarkets but I was told that Morrison's had recently launched a new campaign where they have cut the prices of thousands of products. 

Our camping adventure

We decided to take the kids for our first family camping trip and all in all, it was a lovely little trip away and great for not spending too much money as once you arrive there isn't really anything that they can ask you to spend money on!

My stationary obsession

I must admit to you all about my obsession with stationary, I have had it for as long as I can remember and I am sure that there must be others like myself out there. I can't help it, I just love pens, note books, planners, writing sets, anything to organise myself better and I get really excited when I go to places that sell such items. 

Themed family fun - week 8

The idea is simple - each week I will tell you a theme. It could be a colour, a shape, an animal, a holiday or anything. You then use the theme to have some family fun and write a blog post telling us all what you did. You might cook something or craft something or visit somewhere. Whatever you like as long as you are having fun.