Play centres my idea of hell

I was sat in a children's play centre today, obviously with my little human! slightly creepy to go along without one of my own! We were there for a friends sons birthday. She hired out the whole play centre for the party as last year they had some trouble with other parents bullies children picking on their children. This was music to my ears (the hire part....not the bully's part!)

Most people Take their children to play centres to stimulate their darling little angels in a physical and social environment to progress their development.......Who am I kidding! Its when us parents are totally out of options for the day! Play doh, Check! Colouring, Check! Ipad apps, Check! yep We have reached the point where we just need to wear the sods darlings out or maybe you just needed to entertain them while you got your sanity back emails done or maybe you just need that bloody break with a cuppa tea!

I throw this out there and say.....I HATE going to play centres and I avoid them at all costs. 'Oh why' I hear you ask! I find play centres more stressful than anything! I would much rather be at home with 5 crazy kids nagging, running riot while I set up activities that take longer to bloody set up than the actual time the kids spend doing the damn activities!!
Walking through the doors your little human is literally bursting with excitement while ripping their shoes of the feet before you have even had chance to choke over the price of entry! 'Would you like the meal deal Madam?' why yes! let me sell my kidney scrape the content of my purse and pockets together!

So were in! lets find somewhere to sit amongst the pairs of people who choose to sit at tables for 6 people while resting their shoeless feet on the extra seats.
Before I know it I've been deserted by my little human! Gone! The panic and stress begins! I dump my crap at the nearest free table! My three year old is somewhere within this sea of children! My eyes search for him everywhere!....is he in the football area...nope, Is he in the baby area? Nope just a handful of ten year olds doing back flips into the ball pit! Is he in the Under 5's area?? Nope!......hold on! why the Hell not???? My eyes immediately rush to the over 5's area with the humongous slide while I try to contain the panic from creeping into my face. EVERYTHING goes through my head! What if hes climbing all the way up to that huge slide, what if hes too scared and gets upset! My ears pick up the sound of a child crying! holy shit! is it mine! where the hell is he!I knew it hes scared of that big slide!! I start to freak out and get up from my seat to search for my little human! I finally find him! in the under 5's area that I had already searched! That's the thing! as soon as you find them they go sodding missing again!
Back to my table I go scanning the other adults around me to see if its fairly safe to leave my stuff to go and get the cuppa that I've been waiting for! I decide to take everything with me giving up the potential ownership of our table!

Taking the sticky menu up to the till I decide to order a cuppa for me and some fuel food for my little human! As I'm waiting for my cuppa to be made I scan the room.....I am a people watcher after all. I see Grandparents that are having a break while nursing the little hairs they have managed to not pull out!
Then you have the baby club meet up mums that are pissed that their one week old babies cant go and play in the baby area due to the back flipping ten year olds.
The couple who have just had (or sometimes currently in the middle of) a domestic with swear words flying everywhere.
Then you have the 'careless cows' who children can often be found pasting shit out of other children, snatching toys, kicking, biting etc etc while their owners have no clue if their children are even in the same building any more! They will be the ones browsing Facebook the whole time they are there. If you get chance to approach these people regarding their brats childs behaviour they will claim that their darlings are just experimenting physically and socially and maybe it was your childs fault.
The heavily pregnant Mumma that just needs that break while she sits with a cuppa while hubby entertains the other child.
Then there are us worriers loitering under the daunting levels waiting and watching to see that our ikkle humans are ok and if they need our help.
Believe me you will fit in to one of these categories! And I'm sure you will see people for the other categories too!

Sat back at my seat I quickly finish my burning cuppa as Ive got 'Careless cows' Brats making grabs for it'. I begin to think I'm better off in the play area with munchkin so I grab my phone, tuck my purse somewhere I've never had to before and I surrender my shoes knowing there is a high chance that they wont be there when I get back!
'Mummy! I want to go on the big boy slide!' Oh god! there it is! the 'big slide' card! 'Ok hunny, shall Mummy come with you?' hoping he will say yes! So after squeezing through holes I thought only my head would fit through, climbing over bridges and worming my way through tunnels, 3 levels later we are finally at the top of the 'big boy slide' 'Hang on Hun!' I shout as he sits on the edge of the slide 'maybe you want to sit on Mummies lap?' in the blink of an eye he's  shouting 'wweeeeeeee' Gone! no care for me! I start my decent down the 'big slide' hoping not to go too fast and earn myself one of those damn slide burns! Instead Ive worked up that much of a sweat getting to the top that my now sticky jeans wont allow me to go down the slide anything faster than golden syrup sliding off a spoon! I finally reach the bottom and my little angel I stood there waiting for me with a beam on his face! 'Yey Mummy!.....lets go again' as he runs off towards the entrance of the tiny hole I took what felt like hours to squeeze through that starts the assent towards the 'big boy slide'. Oh god not again!

After a few more trips down the syrup slide I decided to admit defeat and return to my seat. Thankfully my shoes are still there. While I'm sat recovering watching,  I notice my little human being pushed around by some hellish children while they use language even Jeremy kyle would think was tame!
My inner crazy bitch of a Mumma wants to brave that assault course again to give them a piece of my mind, pick up my little munchkin and whisk him away from little shits like those! but deep down I know I need to allow him to learn that not every ones behaviour is good and how he can handle himself in that situation. Needless to say I didn't quite leave it as far as allowing him to figure it out for himself! I couldn't sit back while they continued to play out their own little fighting computer game on my son!
I shouted up 'come on down hun, if they are being mean don't play with them' to which my little munchkin came straight to me. We had a little chat regarding not playing with mean children and to come and tell Mummy. I soon get tapped on shoulder by one of the 'careless cows' asking me very abruptly why I told my child not to play with her children. I explained they were being mean pushing him over and she accused me of over protecting my son too much! she then shouted up to the 3rd level 'boys! for f**ks sake, be good otherwise I'm gonna lose my B*****d s**t on you both. Oh wow! time to eat I think!

I manage to entice my little human down to have his food before the wandering 15 month olds try to pinch food from his plate! Now I start to rest and chill a little! Call me over protective but when my son is not directly in front of me I worry if he is safe, is he climbing to high, watching he doesn't hurt himself on the slides due to the 15 year olds climbing up the slides as hes coming down, running around as adults are carrying cups of tea. Thing is no parent wants their child to be hurt so its in my nature to do whatever I can to protect him from hurting himself! Ok Ok I'm not wrapping him up in cotton wool but I constantly worry!
After finishing food I manage to convince him that he cant run around now because he has a full tummy and will be sick everywhere so we finally get our shoes on and leave.....As I get into my car I take a deep breath and RELAX!!!
Please tell me that I'm not the only Parent who feels like this about play centres! Between brats of kids and parents who couldn't even give a shit I find them more stressful than what they are worth!!

6st GONE! Weight Loss Journey

These are two photos that I've kept hidden for a long time. In fact they are the only two photos that were taken of me over a period of about 2 years. Would I pose for a photo....Hell no!!! as you can tell these top two photos were taken without my knowledge! One was put on facebook by a friend and she Tagged me in it. When it popped up in my news feed I nearly passed out! I knew I had put on weight but I had no idea it was that much!
Id crept into a size 20! I wouldn't have ANY full size mirrors in our home. The only mirror I would look into each hay was one to plaster my makeup on my face to make me feel better.
I knew I had to lose weight as I wanted to be able to walk up the stairs without breaking into a sweat and I wanted to stand at the school gate without covering up with a big jumper or coat in summer just to cover up.

I went to a Wedding fayre when we first got engaged and I looked at a dress from a wedding dress stall and thought it was beautiful! The woman who was working on the stall quickly rushed over and said....'oh gosh lovely! no good looking by there!...they wont fit!...the plus size are over there!' I had never felt so embarrassed in my whole life! Inside, my heart fell to the floor and I just smiled when I really wanted to cry and I just walked away. From that moment I promised myself that I would have whatever dress I wanted and no one was gonna tell me that I couldn't have this or that! I also promised myself that I wouldn't try on a single wedding dress on until id got nearer my goal.
I Joined Weight Watchers in Sept 2013. Please don't think I'm here to harp on about Weight Watchers but if your reading this then you are probably reading to find out how I did it.
I went along to my local weight watchers meeting and weighed in! The reason I knew something like Weight Watchers would work for me is I hate to fail so I saw each weigh in as a challenge and No way was I going to stand on the scales and have a gain!
Don't get me wrong, I did have a few weigh ins that resulted in me maintaining and even gaining but then it made me push harder for the loss the next week!
I found Weight watchers to be a fantastic plan and even now I still follow the plan somewhat! I think when you have lost so much weight on a specific plan that teaches you how to change your lifestyle it will always be part of you!
I weighed in at 15st 7.5lbs and in the photos on my wedding day I was 9st 8lbs.

It is sooooo achievable! you just need to make that leap and have the determination!

There are so many foods that I loved eating that I really didn't have to give up! Its amazing and has changed me for the better!

Do I want to go back to that woman on the dress stall at the wedding fayre and give her a piece of my mind....oh Hell yes! but on the other hand I'm a very strong believer in 'everything happens for a reason' and if it hadn't have been for that lady I would never have had the determination and drive to lose all of my weight!
Please don't think of this post as one that is saying everyone should lose weight. I know many over weight people that are the happiest and most confident people that I know! If your Happy, Fab! good on ya!. All i knew was that i was soooo unhappy and unhealthy and that's why I choose to lose weight.
If anyone have got any questions about Weight Watchers please feel free to ask! As Ive said I choose weight Watchers and it worked perfectly for me! I'm sure there are other plans that work well too but I've just been speaking on what worked for me!
NOTE:- Weight watchers have not asked me to do this review nor have I received any payment for this post.

Car boot sales! My top 10 tips

Evening all,
As many of you would have read in my recent blog post we are short on money and I've been trying to make as much money as we possibly can.
So my alarm was set and the boxes were ready to load into the car for an early morning car boot sale.
I'd managed to smuggle some toys away from munchkin as he has way to many that he doesn't play with and my inlaws had given me some bits and bobs of theirs to get rid of.

Soooo.....perching your bum inside your open yet uncomfortable car boot while in a muddy field, with bitter winds at 7 am in the morning isn't my idea of a lazy Sunday morning but hey! Somethings gotta give if we are gonna get some money.
My plan was to keep low prices to sell more! My dad came and had a cuppa with me and to my surprise hubs-2-b brought munchkin up for a walk and to see all the toys I'd secretly robbed from him his mummy!

Munchkin found it amazing to be able to wander around in the boot of the car and put people's money in our cash box (he's convinced that the money is for Butlins).

Anyways lots of things sold....it amazes me at what people will buy at boot sales. It is defiantly true that 'one mans junk is another mans treasure'. When sorting through the garage I'd found a cutlery tray that didn't fit in our draw in out new house. The woman gave me £1 for it and all I could thing was.....you could probably get a brand new one in the pound shop! But she was happy...and so was I.

We found ourselves drooling over all of the passersby with huge burgers and hot dogs....a handful of times I nearly gave into the temptation of a dirty treat but kept thinking of the money.

The joyful time came for me to pack up and go home (Yey!) couldn't wait to warm up and have a nice cuppa.
After getting home munchkin hindered helped while I counted my money. After taking out the cost of the pitch (£5) and my float for the cash tin (£20) we actually earned £120 which I'm really pleased about because when my alarm went off I was considering hitting the snooze button and going back to sleep! So I'm glad that I dragged myself out of bed.

I would really recommend doing a boot sale to get rid of items while earning some cash. Here are my 10 top tips!

1) Do your research into good boot sales in your area

2) Box up items in advance and stick prices on them

3) Take plenty of carrier bags

4) Take a cash float of change

5) wrap up warm or take sun cream depending on the weather

6) Take a flask and some food so that your not temped to spend your earnings on the burger van

7) Take a sturdy table. Papering tables are good but use something to support the middle underneath

8) Be prepared for hagglers....it's a boot sale....it's gonna happen

9) If you're going for a walk don't take too much money, that way you can't be tempted to buy loads.

10) Make sure all disks, CD's, games & DVD are in their boxes.

I'd be interested to know all your thoughts, feelings and experiences with car boot sales.

Chemist direct review and haul

Just over a week ago I was contacted by the lovely people at chemist direct to purchase some items from their website in return for an honest review.

Chemist direct sell loads of items from toiletries to suncream, medications and everything in between! 

Their website is very easy to use and I was so surprised at how much variety is on their website!

I got an email confirmation when I ordered and a day or so later I got and email saying my order was dispatched! So quickly! Before I knew it I was signing for my parcel within less than a week of placing an order! 

Will I order again! Yep! Defo!

www.chemistdirect.co.uk

Click the link below to get £5 off your order!

http://mention-me.com/m/ol/nlv-kristy-silburn

Note:- I was not paid to do this review

 

So here is what I decided to purchase!

Find more details on my youtube haul video of my purchases here

Childrens Dragonfly Craft

Anyone who knows me knows that I love doing anything crafty and creative so id be lying if I said I wasn't a little excited every time munchkin gets home work as it gives me the extra excuse to get all of the craft box out! Although I have to remind myself that Munchkins homework has to be done by him with a little help from me and that  its not important that its perfect!

He had a letter from school saying they were doing a topic about bugs so they had to make a bug/insect to display on the board in school.

I went through every bug I could think of....spider, snail, ladybird, fly etc....much to my delight he choose Dragonfly! Dragonflies have a very special meaning to me so there are alot of dragonfly decor around our home and in my office! Last summer once a week we would go to this small pond by a picnic area local to us and we would enjoy watching the dragonflies darting around for ages.

Anyways enough of my babble here is how it went & how it turned out!

Here is what I used

• wooden spoon
• Paint brushes
• Paint (doesn't have to be acrylic)
• wings cut out of card
• Foil paper (blue & silver)
• Table craft cloth
• PVA Glue (forgot to take a pic of this)

First of all we started by painting the wooden spoon in green (obviously you can choose any colours)

Once we finished painting it all we set it aside to dry

We then moved on to the wings. I put PVA glue all over the wings and let munchkin stick on the little squares that id cut up. (try not to cut the squared so small otherwise children will get bored as it will take forever)

Once majority of the wings had been covered I trimmed the pieces that were overlapping the edges.

I forgot to take a picture but I painted the underside of muchkins index finger and got him to wrap that finger around the stick, creating the stripes in blue.

Munchkin nagged to add more sparkle on the dragonflies wings so I asked him to go through the tub of jewels and remove some of the green and blue ones (colour recognition an all :-) He then stuck these on the wings, Did a little bit of finger painting on the head of the dragonfly and popped on some googly eyes.

I decided to use the glue gun to glue the wings on as my PVA doesn't seem very good.

Does anyone know if PVA glue can go off???

So there we are! he has his bug to take into school on Monday morning! 

50 Things that make me smile!

50 things that make me smile!

After my last blog post about why i'd been away from blogging for a while I thought I would do this happy post!
Here are 50 things that make me smile.

1. My little family
2. Cuddles
3. Sunshine
4. Dragonflies
5. Friends
6. Music
7. Tidy house
8. Picnics
9. Pizza
10. Going to the beach
11. Notebooks/ Diary's
12. Colouring
13. Disney World
14. Piglets
15. Candles
16. Running
17. Ice Cream
18. Clean bedding
19. Butlins
20. Amazing Views
21. Long walks in Autumn 
22. Hearing my little boy Laughing
23. Photos
24. Crisps
25. The smell of fresh cut grass
26. Penny arcade
27. Baking cakes
28. Wide open spaces
29. Fresh flowers
30. Funny quotes on pintrest
31. Memories
32. Caravan holidays
33. Sarah Millican (comedian)
34. Playdoh
35. Tiger bread
36. Frankie & Benny's
37. Family days out
38. hot bubble baths
39. Putting an over sided hoodie on
40. Writing down all of my thoughts & feelings
41. Hearing 'mummy...I love you'
42. Happy people
43. Old couples holding hands
44. Being around animals
45. Aldi 
46. Dancing around the kitchen with Munchkin!
47. Candy floss
48. Usless facts
49. Christmas Morning
50. Fish & chips

Cutting The Food Shopping!

So....with it being payday this week I decided to try to lower our monthly food bill which seemed to be increasing every month....I set the over all food budget of £150 and really didn't want to go over that.

My inlaws had picket us up quite a few chicken breasts and we had various other items in the freezer like bacon, fish cakes, fish& pizza so it wasn't as if we didn't have one ounce of food available before our big shop.

I decided to give Aldi a go for our big shop as we had bought the news paper with the £5 off when you spend £40 at aldi along with other coupons for items in the shop.

I started to write a list of what I wanted to get for the big shop as i didn't want to go and pile unwanted things into the trolley just because they were cheap.

So here is what we got at Aldi along with the prices....

ALDI SHOP

• Tinned sweetcorn x 2 - 35p each (quite big tins)
• Wheat biscuits 48pk - £1.49 (Weetabix)
• Wholemeal pitta bread 6pk - 49p
• Cheesy puff crisps 10pk - 99p
• Snack raisins boxes 12pk - 99p
• Dip-its (like dairylea dunkers) 3pk - 99p
• Breaded wiltshire ham - coupon in paper making it 89p
• 15 fish fingers £1.29
• Pack of nappies 44pk - £4.49
• Bin bags - 97p
• Fromage frais 8pk - 84p
• Lighter soft cheese - 49p
• Belgian chocolate waves - coupon made them 69p (putting these away for xmas)
• Frozen garlic baguette 2pk - 65p
• Creme caramel 6pk - 68p
• Nectarines 4pk - 79p
• frozen roast potatoes - 89p
• Tomato ketchup - 69p
• Raspberries - 99p
• Pate - 55p
• Cooked ham - 65p
• Bananas 1kg - 68p
• Cheese triangles 8pk (soft cheese) x 2 - 59p each
• Sandwich filler 89p
• Sandwich thins - coupon making them 39p
• Everyday sausages 12pk - 99p
• Pork Sausages 8pk - 99p
• Foil - 72p
• Fresh egg waffles - coupon making them 29p
• Malt loaf - coupon making it 24p
• Southern fried chicken goujons - coupon making them 69p
• Baby wipes 64pk - 64p
• Custard creams - 26p
• Small whole chicken x 2 - £5.98
• Beef Meatballs Fresh 12pk - £1.89
• Tinned spaghetti x 2 -29p each
• Mini cheese bakes 7pk (like mini Cheddars) - 89p
• Tinned Ravioli x2 - 37p each
• Tomato soup x2 - 42p each
• Premium baked beans x4 - 32p each
• Pasta bake x 3 - 79p each
• 2.5kg white potatoes - £1.59
• Tinned tuna x 2 - 69p each
• Sandwhich paste x3 - 25p each
• Dreemy bars 6pk (milkyway) - coupon making them 24p
• Rich tea biscuits - 23p
• Naan bread 2pk x 2 - 49p each
• Bag of apples - £1.49
• Eggs 15 pk (medium) - £1.25
• Part baked Baguettes 2pk - 29p
• Malted Milk buiscuits - 33p

All of this came to £52.36. I also had the  £5 off voucher from the paper making it only £47.36

Obviously like i said.....I had various things left in the fridge/freezer like veg, salad so on a normal month this would have been more.

I still had some things that i wanted to pick up from asda....these were.....

ASDA SHOP

• Squash extra concentrate - 3 for £3 (we find that these last us the month)
• Sanex deodorant - £1.50 (on offer & had a 50p coupon)
• Dried pasta 3kg - £2.87 (If your into your pasta bakes i highly recommend this big bag!)
• Smart price ready salted crisps 12pk - 66p
• Kingsmill 50/50 bread - 79p
• Milk 4pt x 2 - £1 each
• Butter 1kg - £2
• 4 x large sausage rolls - £1
• Frozen potato waffles 15pk - £1
• Ice cream - 69p
• Smart price chocolate mousse 6pk - 27p
• Smart price Jam - 29p (we only use it when hubs has rice pudding)
• Innocent smoothie orange juice - £1.50 (had a £2 coupon so i got 50p overage)
• Magazine for my little en as a treat - £2.99
• Fairy concentrate 2.9ltr/116 washes - £4 (on offer)

So in total this shop cost me £22.18

Over all between the two shops I spent £69.54.

Obviously there were things that I wouldn't normally buy like the magazine and also the Fairy softener will last me ages and I know many of you are probably thinking well she isn't very savvy buying fairy softener however this is the only one that doesn't affect my sons skin....if it was just me and hubs I would prob give the Aldi brand a go.

So i have now allocated £30 for extra bread, milk, veg for the end of the month and because at the beginning I allowed myself £150 I can put that £50 into our savings! :-)

Couponing, freebies & being savvy

I'm Back!!,

So its been what seems like ages since my last blog post! I'm not sure if I explained in my last post but we had to move house at very short notice as we found out that our landlord was trying to sell the house we were living in behind our back so we had to move quite sharpish and stay within the area because of munchkins school. We managed to find a lovely house however it is more expensive but we couldn't hang around any longer as we were running out of time so because of the extra rent, council tax, etc as well as saving for the wedding something had to be done!

I decided to take control of the finances and to start being more savvy. I started to look at coupons and also began watching the popular US extreme couponing program on sky.It amazed me at how people can buy hundreds of pounds of shopping and pay nearly nothing.

After alot of research Ive come to realise that in the UK its not possible to do it to the extreme that they do in the US due to the conditions of the coupons or the supermarkets policy. (e.g one per transaction, cannot be used in conjunction with any offer). However it is possible in some sorts!

I have been getting coupons from magazines, newspapers, companies facebook pages etc.... (before anyone says 'ahhh your using coupons to buy things that you never normally buy' this isn't the case!

Ive also began using cash back apps which I'm in love with! and have had some amazing deals and even some amazing freebies!

Ive also started looking more carefully about what comes in and goes out of our bank as we are often guilty of splashing out on payday and then being on our backside at the end of the month.

Another thing I'm doing is planning every meal so that we don't trip up and end up going out for food or having take away!

I wont go into too much detail at the moment but if this is something you would like to see on my blog please comment below and if i get enough people who are interested i will post more details on the apps i use etc.

Also if you are a couponer let me know!

xx

My Top 15 July Favourites! (household products)

I love reading other peoples reviews on things and although this isn't a review on products there are just some of my July Favourites!

These are in no particular order.

ONE.
Flash Bathroom cleaner. This stuff is not only a good cleaner but it smells amazing and you can smell it even the day after you have used it. Friends always comment on how clean my bathroom smells. It can usually be found in the supermarkets down to £1.

TWO.
A squeegy. Ive given up using chemical cleaners on my windows as they don't seem to do as good a job as this little beauty. I put some soapy water in a bowl, wash the windows then use this. No smears at all! Also i use it on the shower and tiles!

THREE.

Colour catchers! These are a must for me as I usually don't have enough for one type of load so with these i can mix whites and colours and if anything runs it goes into the colour catcher instead. These are available in most supermarkets.

FOUR.

Febreze linen spray! This has the most amazing smell. I love to use it on bedding, curtains, mats, sofa etc. It seams to last forever! I picked mine up in Asda after a friend recommended it to me.

 FIVE.
Flash mop. I have gone back and fore between a steam mop, traditional mop and bucket and this flash mop and I love how convenient this mop is and it smells good too!

 SIX.
Yankee Candles...My love of Yankee candles has began! Ive tried a few scents and the ones i love are clean cotton, black cherry, soft blanket, baby powder. They really do make the house smell amazing and they give a long burn time. If anyone can recommend and yummy scents let me know in the comments.

 SEVEN.
Dyson Vacuum. I don't know where i would be without my trusted Dyson. Its the best Vacuum we have ever owned!

 EIGHT.
Ambi pur plug in. I love this plug in with the three different scents! It lasts for ages and is one of the best plug ins that I've used. (As you can tell by now i love nice smelling things!)

 NINE.
Egg boiler! Yep call me lazy but this thing is so useful. It holds 6-7 eggs and you get a small up which tells you how much water to put in depending on how many eggs you but in and how you like your eggs (soft, medium, hard). This one is from Lakeland however there are lots of others available.

 TEN.
Slow cooker. ahhhh! my beloved slow cooker! To be honest i didn't think i would use this much but i can honestly say that i love it so much! I buy the casserole mixes, throw it all in and pop it on! mmmmm

 ELEVEN.
Packet mixes. These are so yummy and convenient! although it doesn't say its for a slow cooker i love it use it in the slow cooker! Mix it with some water, pop your chicken in and pour the mix on top...then let it do its magic!

 TWELVE.
Asda smart price mild curry sauce. Right....if you haven't tried this...please just humour me and try it! Its only about 24p....It tastes just like chip shop curry! I love to make vegetable curry's and chicken curry's with it! its so yummy! (not even the inlaws realised it was smart price!!)

 THIRTEEN.
Batiste dry shampoo. This is by far the best dry shampoo I've tried!

 FOURTEEN.
Yep this is a strange one! but my hand held fan comes everywhere with me! even in the winter! Why?? because i use it for cooling Munchkins food if we are eating out or even if we are at home! Hes not a fan of waiting for food to cool down!

 FIFTEEN.
Tangle Teezer, I love my tangle teaser! having long hair tangles can be a right pain especially as soon as I've got out of the shower after washing my hair! It works a dream!

I have not been sponsored or paid to give my opinions on these products they are all my own opinions.

Organised mum! My agendas & top tips

Yey! I'm way back into the swing of things when it comes to blogging....lets say..I have my mojo back! I'm not sure if anyone actually reads my babble but hey ho! its good to jot things down too!

First of all let me say that I'm no where near the most organised person!.....(I like to think i am though) Hence the reason I'm writing this post! About a week ago it was like something in my head clicked!

I'm a SAHM (stay at home mum) to munchkin and my Fiance works shifts. I began thinking....what am i going to do with my time when Munchkin is in nursery in the mornings?!? obviously the natural answer is to catch up on cleaning etc.
My house isn't dirty but its very lived in and I'll hold my hands up and say that i often slack on the washing and especially the ironing (don't we all?!?). I often throw things into draws and cupboards and taaa daaa!!! its tidy (ish).

Munchkins toys are slowly taking over our house! so as Ive said a week ago something clicked and i got my butt into gear! I knuckled down and cleaned the house top to bottom and Ive got to say it felt amazing to have a clean house with all the washing and ironing done! yep!!! you heard me right! Its been a hell of a long time since I had both all of the washing and ironing done. I sat there and thought....ahhhh this is nice but how am i going to maintain it??? So i thought i would create a weekly cleaning agenda! I took majority of things that needed doing and just broke it down into bite size chunks. 

I haven't put the kitchen on my agenda because i clean it daily! for example after lunch I wash the dishes and clean the worktops then after tea I wash the dishes, wipe the sides, sweep and mop. I haven't put this on my agenda because i want this to be something that comes naturally to me and i didn't want it do make the agenda look too daunting.

There are a few things that aren't on the agenda but these are things that don't necessarily have to be done every day/week.

Here are my top tips!

1. Make your bed as soon as you get up
2. Get yourself a flash mop! its so convenient 
3. Clean the sink and toilet while your waiting for your bath to fill or your shouwer to heat up
4. Fold your washing as soon as its dry
5. Try to iron the day that your washing dries - try not to let it build up!
6. make yourself a cleaning agenda and break it down and do it on days/ times that are best for you
7. Wash dishes twice a day (this works for me but depending on your family size this may differ)
8. Pop the music on while you clean! Go on!! have a boogie! your burning more calories too!
9. Dont sit down with a cuppa until your done! if you are anything like me you wont get back up to finish.
10. Get your children involved! (if they are old enough that is)

So While my agenda pad was out i thought i would create more things to keep me organised. so I decided to do one for Munchkins snacks so that he wasn't having too many biscuits for snack time. Obviously come September i will drop the morning snack because Munchkin will be in nursery and have his morning snack there.

Munchkin is also behaving allot better with some structured activity's throughout this day. So this agenda is something to let me make sure he has a variety of activities.

I'm also in the middle of doing a weekly planner of meals! so keep your eyes peeled for that!
In the mean time i hope that you have taken something away from my blog post! Oh and the Funky weekly planners that i use are from 'The Range' and I love them! Oh just reminded myself that i need to pop in a buy some more!

Thank you for reading x

Children & The small things!

Over the past 2 years I kept thinking of how to create memories with Munchkin. I dreamt of Disney world, driving to the biggest zoos available etc and lately Ive come to realise its not always the big things that stick in children's mind but the small things that sometimes seem meaningless to you and I.
Surly not?!?.....the biggest safari park with the most amazing creatures?! that's gonna create memories right? well yes of course obviously depending on the child's age!

We have gone to lots of zoos etc and Munchkin has loved it however after returning home and giving it a day or so he doesn't mention it any longer.
Its not that i begrudge paying for day trips etc however we aren't exactly flash with the cash and have had to cut down on the day trips lately, this is what has let to me discovering 'The small things'.



We took a walk as a family one day and took a blanket, ball, and a little picnic....we stopped where ever we wanted to sat and had our picnic and picked daisy's and munchkin has been on about this little adventure for ages!
When i started to think about the little things i started to do more 'little things' that munchkin has loved and he still talks about them now....i watch him and he laughs a different laugh and smiles a different smile! Something I don't see of hear when we visit zoos etc.



Today we went up to a local favourite of mine! It's a huge wide open space with amazing views! (Joys of living in Wales), a cycle track, woodlands and wetlands. It's so open we can let munchkin run and we can see him. No matter what time of day or year we go up there, there is only ever a hand full of people so it's lovely and peaceful. Today we decided to explore the wetlands. Loaded with our net and bucket I could see the excitement on munchkins sun creamed sweet little face! We got to the little pond and pool areas and even thought we didn't find anything with out nets we spent ages watching some huge beautiful dragonflies dart around above the water. They were so colourful and something that munchkin had never seen in real life! We soon came across lots of other little surprises like butterflies, frogs, hares, grass hoppers...and wait for it.....pine cones (a favourite of munchkins). This afternoon out cost us nothing yet it's something that I would have taken for granted in the past.

I'm going to list some of the 'little things' we really enjoying doing as a family! they are all things that cost nothing or very little! this list are things that some of us may dismiss as silly things that children wont be interested in! think again!

1. In the autumn... collect different leaves! even have a kick about in them!
2. Plant potatoes and a potato sack! great fun digging around for them when they are ready!
3. Go and collect pine cones/acorns
4. Fly a kite! (poundland sells a 2pk of kites for £1)
5. Go to the local garden centre to look at the fish (some will even let you feed them)
6. Go to your nearest lake/pond and fish for tadpoles
7. Chalk on the pavement/paving slabs
8. Picnic often!
9. Make a fort with your sofa or clothes horse
10. Boot sales! fab exercise walking around and kits can get a cheap toy if they are well behaved.
11. Build sandcastles at your local beach
12. Turn up the music and dance together!
13. Bowl of soapy water, plastic plates, a sponge...pop it outside in the nice weather and let them get on with it!
14. Finger painting! yep it can be messy but nothing that cant be cleaned (as long as you get the right paints)
15. Cheerio threading....thread cheerios onto string! amazing for fine motor skills.
16. Swim...my local leisure centre don't charge for children under 5 (i think! could be older)
17. Brush! this goes for sweeping and brushing hair! all children love brushes!
18. Water bombs! my local B&M Bargains sells 2 packs of 100 watter bombs for £1. fab fun!
19. Bubbles! Munchkin loves loves loves Bubbles!
20. Feed the ducks with your left over stale bread

These are just some of the fun cheap things that we like to do

Butlins Minehead Review

So many of you that follow me on twitter and instagram will know that in March we went away as a family on a last minuet holiday to Butlins in Minehead. We had been going through some difficulties as a family and needed a break away. I was our first time visiting any Butlins.

We decided to book a gold apartment and also a premium food package. for 2 x adults and 1 x child.

On arriving at Butlins front gates we were greeted by a very friendly member of staff who directed us to where to park and where we needed to check in. Due to being in a gold apartment we got to check in early (which is always a bonus) We checked in at the gold check in desk and the member of staff was very friendly and helpful and considering she had a huge queue of people this friendliness and politeness didn't slip at all! not even after repeating her self over and over to each person checking in. We collected our key cards and went to explore the skyline while waiting to be able to get into our room a little later!

The skyline is incredible and much larger than it looks on line! It was so over whelming! Munchkin got so excited there was so much going on from 2p machines playing music, lights flashing, entertainment happening on the main stage, a large soft play area for children. I couldn't help but smile! i knew we were going to enjoy the next four days.

On checking into our gold apartment we were very impressed. This was munchkins room! We took a bed rail with us however they are available to hire from Butlins. The windows have locks at the bottom and top of the windows so this was handy to prevent munchkin from making a quick escape!

This was our double room. very clean. comfy bed! (love the little elephant). the wardrobe contained a safe and there was a tv on the dresser.

The bathroom was again lovely and clean and contained lovely little extras!

 The kitchen/dining area was nice! Because we had a dining package we didn't spend any time eating at the table except for our morning cuppa! The kitchen was very clean and came complete with all of the essentials.

Oven, hobs, pots, pans, cutlery, kettle, teapot, tea, coffee, sugar, microwave, dish washer (& tablets), iron, ironing board, cups, glasses and much more!!

The living area again was very clean! sofas were very comfortable! The cleaner came around daily and replenished items and tidied, make the beds, put out clean towels, and pop any dished into the dishwasher so they are all clean by the time you get back to your room.

The living area was also nice! two comfy sofas, and a tv and dvd player. We found that this was alot more spacious than we had expected!

Entertainment:- I have to say that i found the entertainment for children amazing! there was always something to watch/do!

I thought that munchkin would enjoy all of the characters like fireman Sam etc however he fell in love with the skyline gang! and we found him singing along to the songs after the first day! In fact months later he is still on about the skyline gang and always gets us to show him the skyline gang videos on YouTube!

Another big fav of ours was the puppet castle! it was a really interactive show that munchkin would look forward to daily!

Munchkin also looked forward to the tots disco every night! we really enjoyed watching him join in with the red coats. Yes we did buy him some of the flashing merchandise that goes around however being honest they didn't cost as much as i thought they would!

Food:- As i have said we booked the dining plan and had two restaurants to choose from...'The Yacht Club' and 'The deck' they were both very nice and each served a wide selection of food and desert! they even have a children's counter that is lower to allow them to serve themselves! (Its the little things that matter). I would also like to gave a special mention to someone who stood out to us! He works on the restaurant reception area along with other staff! He was absolutely amazing with our son and made an effort with each and every child that came through the doors. He had a special quality!! he even took the time to come and sit with our son and help him read a book! We were very touched by this as this was going above and beyond! 

(I WILL INSERT HIS NAME AS SOON AS I FIND IT OUT)

There are lovely things that i noticed throughout our stay. like the cafe shop within the skyline.....the 'lovely person' check on my cup :-)

The skyline has sooooo much to offer! and anyone who says that its not kept clean must be lying because there were always 3-4 cleaners within eyes view! literaly as soon as you realised you have dropped something they are right behind you cleaning it up!

This may sound really silly but years ago i went to Disney world in Florida and other than the amazing fun i had the staff friendliness was the thing that stood out the most....I've never seen customer service like it in the UK....until now! I would happily say that each and every member of staff had customer service just like at Disney! when i say everyone i mean from check in to read coats to restaurant to the skyline chip shop.

We had an amazing holiday however we don't even feel like we have been able to scrape the surface of what was available at Butlins! We would love to go back to Butlins again and take my inlaws as i do believe that there is something for every age group! 

Thank you Butlins for helping us create amazing family memories!!

Please Note:- I have not been paid to do this review and all of my opinions are my own