My top 5 blog posts from 2014

I thought that it would be a good time for some shameless self promotion!

No, seriously, I thought it would be nice to remind my readers of the most read posts of last year and show the posts to any new readers who might enjoy them. 

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!

Potato printing

Sometimes in life, it's the good old simple ideas that really are the best!
Yesterday we decided to do some painting so we got everything out only to find that we did not have any paint brushes (due to the older two taking them and then not putting them back!) so as I had some potatoes that were looking a bit past there best, I decided to cut some shapes into the potatoes to make potato stamps.

FJ, my little one, absolutely loved using the stamps and she spent ages making a picture. FJ is normally quite a hyper child as she rushes through things eager to get on the next activity so for her to sit for over an hour working on one picture, it really is amazing.

For anyone that has never done this before you simply get a potato, cut it in half and then cut around the potato, leaving a shape in the middle that sticks out, so that when it is dipped into some paint only the shape gets the paint on it and then you use it like a stamper.

The finished artwork!

The start of the summer holidays!

Today is the children's last day at school before the holidays, so at 3pm today it is officially the start of the summer holidays!!

Things have been quite serious at home for quite a while now due to my health issues and other family problems so I am determined to make the next 6 weeks as fun and family orientated as possible to help get us back to enjoying each others company and having a laugh together. I think that when you have long periods of time where things are quite low at home, it is far too easy to forget how to smile and have fun and its all too easy to get stuck in a rut and let life pass you by.

With that in mind I have a bucket full of water bombs in the garden and some loaded water guns waiting for the kids. I have blown up a load of balloons and I have made a 'summer holiday starts here' banner and I have 2 water bombs by the front door so that when they get home I can bomb them straight away! I can't wait to see their faces!!

Sometimes, when things get a bit flat and life can seem like hard work, it can do you all some good to do something totally mad and out of character to shake things up in the house. That's not to say that I am boring, I use to mess around with water bombs with the kids all the time before I got ill, but like I said, things have been too serious for too long so I'm looking forward to shocking the kids and acting crazy for the rest of today!

Summer record sheets.

This is an idea I had when my older two girls were little and we have done it ever since and it's so simple to do!

Every summer holiday I get a sheet of plain A4 paper and write on the top 'Summer record sheet'. I then draw a line for them to write in the date and then I get them to write about their day, high lighting things that they have particularly enjoyed. I get them to draw at least one picture of something that they have enjoyed that day and they can also stick on things like cinema tickets or postcards from places we've been. I buy them a folder and then we put the sheets into the folder and at the end of the six weeks holidays, we have a lovely folder full of their thoughts, drawings and souvenirs to keep forever and look back on in years to come. LJ and CJ who are now 15 and 14 years old often look back through their old folders and reminisce on times gone by and it is so easy to do. If you have a printer you can just make one sheet and then print them off as you go so it's not very time consuming at all. Each night about 30 minutes before going up for baths and bed we sit down and fill them in and it's educational as well as it gets them practising their handwriting, spellings and reading.

So there you have it, a simple easy idea that can create memories that will last a lifetime!

Summer holiday booklets.

Every year, once I have planned my summer holidays I make summer holiday booklets for each of my children. Now, these may not be for everyone as they do take a bit of time to make and they really only suit the parents that like to be super organised and those that like a lot of structure to their day. The reason that I like them so much is that my children like to follow a plan and know what they are supposed to be doing at different times of the day and it stops argumements about baths and bedtimes as everything is planned out. It also stops endless questions about when we are going to be doing certain activities as it is all clearly set out in their booklets. Another reason that I like to do these books is that it helps them to learn in quite a few different ways without them even realising it. For example, it helps them to read as they have to read what to do. It helps them to tell the time as every item has a time. It helps them to understand time management and how to follow instructions and it helps them to understand how to plan things, so for me, I think that what you get out of them it worth far more then the time it takes to make them.

I thought that I would show you how you can make some booklets for your children as they are really easy and you could always use the idea for a less planned and structured version if you would find that more comfortable.

So, step one is to get 4 sheets of plain A4 paper and put them on top of each other and then fold them in half to make a book with pages.

You then fold a spine and staple it to fasten the book together although if your not happy using staples you could always try using paper clips or glue but personally I find that staples work best.

You can then decorate the front cover and label it as week one.

I then write in everything from getting up in the morning, right through to bath and bed. That way each child knows exactly what they are meant to be doing and when. Of course I'm not totally rigid with my lists as if it was raining on a day to the park or a child was unwell I would change the lists accordingly but it's all there as a guide and each child gets enormous satisfaction ticking off each task throughout the days.

Planning for the summer holidays.

For those that read my last post, you will know that I have been busy planning the summer holidays this week. I do not usually leave it this late, but for those of you that are yet to make any plans, there is still time to get things sorted. I thought that it would be good to share how I plan the holidays and give you some ideas to get you started.

The first thing that I do is my accounts. I look at what we will have coming in and all of our out-goings and then I decide how much I can afford to spend over the six weeks and then I divide it out into each week depending on payday and what have you. I then discuss it all with my partner to make sure that we are both on the same page and that I haven't forgotten anything. Previous years I have saved some money prior to the holidays so that we had more money to play with, but this year I left it too late.

The next step is to start looking into the costs of activities that you would like to do. There are lot's of free or low-cost activities out there if you know where to look and use your imagination. Check out your local libraries, museums, sports centres, farms, swimming pools and notice boards. Check your local cinema website as well as they often do special deals in the school holidays, for example, my local cinema does special screenings of slightly older films (films that may have been released 6 - 12 months earlier) for just £1 a person. Also, have a look at your school's website as they often advertise events and activities that are taking place during the holidays. I also like to ask the children to tell me one place that they would like to go or something that they would really like to do but I make it clear the kind of budget I have so that they don't ask for something that I can't stretch to. This year my older two have asked for a family BBQ that they can invite three friends each to and then the friends get to sleep over after the BBQ and my little one has asked to go to the seaside.

Below is a picture of the start of my list, but please excuse my handwriting, spellings and photography!

Once I have a list of places to go and things to do out of the home, I then put my thinking cap on and devise a list of things that we can do at home. Some of the things I include are; arts and crafts projects, cooking, themed days, movies, make-over days and playing board and computer games. Once you have written down all the things you can think of which you know will go down well you can then do a few searches online to get some more ideas so that you have some new things to do that you've never done before to keep things interesting.

Here is my list.

The next step is to check your calendar to see how much time you have. I am a stay at home mum so I have a lot of time, but if you are working then you will be more limited. Even if you are like me and at home every day, you still need to check to see what commitments you have and you also need to leave some time to do your housework, food shopping etc. to keep the household running. Again, it's a good idea to discuss this with your partner, if you have one, in case they have any plans that they've yet to tell you and also to see if they can help with anything during the holiday and if they are planning on taking any time off work etc.

Now it's time for the fun part! For this, I get 6 A4 sheets of paper (one for each week) and I then draw on 8 boxes which I label with each day and date of the week for the summer holidays labelling the eighth box 'notes'. I then start with week one and I fill in any obligations first, in the corresponding date box and I write how long the item will take ( this just needs to be a rough estimate to help you plan enough activities or stop you from planning too many!). I then look at the budget for the week and decide which activities or day trips I can afford that week. I then write them into the corresponding boxes with the estimated time and cost and any other important details that I need to remember. Then it is just a case of filling up the empty time slots with at home activities and allowing time for chores, meals and time for the children to play out with friends or occupy themselves as it's also important for them to be able to do their own thing and not be overscheduled.

Below is one of my weeks that I have just finished planning.

Now you can either put up your list as it is, where it is visible for everyone or keep it some where safe that only you know so that you can surprise your children each day or you could make the list into little booklets for your children, which is something that I always like to do as it always goes down well with my kids and this year I was unsure as to if  I should make booklets for my oldest as I thought that at aged 15 she may find it babyish but she actually asked me to make them for her as she loves them! I will do a post very soon with more information on my booklets for anyone that is interested.