The neglected 'me'

When I was younger and lived at home I would always say to my Mum....'Mum why don't you get your hair done at the hair dressers, why don't you go and buy yourself some new clothes/shoes. My Mum was always putting herself before everyone else.
Since having Munchkin I turned onto the woman my Mum was....putting everyone and everything before me. I neglected me and as embarrassed as I am to say it I haven't had my hair cut in about 5 years. I don't get my nails done, I don't have several perfumes....actually I own two at very most and a only buy a new one when my existing one runs out. Continuing on the embarrassing side of things.....most of my knickers are at least 5 years old! Yes I know I know!! Basically I've lived by the fact that if I have something and it does the job.....why buy new.

When it comes to buying something for Hubs or Munchkin I don't think twice! I will happily pay £15 for jeans for munchkin but wont spend that on myself. Hubs is constantly telling me to buy whatever I want but I just feel like I have better things to spend the money on.

Its not just fashion that I have neglected myself with its my health. I bite my nails (horrible habit I know!) Its something that I've always done. I get embarrassed going to get acrylic nails because if the state of my nails. My skin has been neglected also.
I hadn't been to the dentist for years as I just saw it as an expense that I didn't want to fork out on so about a month ago when I had to have a tooth out my Hubby said enough is enough and signed me up to a private dentist. Of course before you can get signed up you have to have any pre existing issues sorted first resulting in a £1500 bill for bits and bobs. Since having Munchkin 6 years ago yes I brushed my teeth but used the cheapest toothbrush/toothpaste I could find and just gave them a quick brush before I dashed off to do the next thing on my list.

This blog post isn't a 'poor me' post but its me realising that I can spend some time and money on me and not feel guilty for it. A lot of my friends go to the hair dressers once a month, have a tan, eyebrows, eyelashes and nails done very regularly as well as having all the top brands...(Not that there is anything wrong with that) while that will never completely be me, I am going to make an effort now that I've turned 30 to look after 'Me' a bit more. I know that there are more people out there like me who have neglected themselves because they think the money is better used somewhere else within the house/family. Let me know in the comments if you have neglected 'you'.
#dontforgetaboutyou

Happy Campers?!?

Well....Hello! Long time no speak! Life has been a little crazy but in a good way!

We got to thinking about our next holiday but everything seemed so expensive! we looked at holidays abroad and holidays in the UK but everything seemed so out of our price range as we are saving for a house deposit. I quickly gave up and realised that there would be no holiday on the cards for this year. Well that was until one Saturday I laughed and said to hubs.... 'how about we go camping?' We laughed about it but later that day we found ourselves in the 'Go Outdoors' near us.

we browsed the tents that were available and munchkin insisted on going into each tent. We quickly realised that a lot of the tents weren't the cramped tents just for sleeping in (unless you want them to be of course). A lot of these tents had separate bedrooms, living rooms and kitchen areas.

For the first time we actually saw this as an option! It just seemed to be our answer. We could have cheaper family holidays and enjoy a more back to basics fun.

On our way out we saw a family tent that was on offer and we loved it! yep we bought it! It came with an awning which adds on another room at the front (shown in the pic) so on long weekends we could just take the actual tent (bedrooms and living room) and for longer stays we could take the awning to have more living space!

We have our first long weekend book to test out the tent So here is to happy camping!!
speak soon
K

Update - Comping - Weight Watchers

Just a little update for you all as I've deserted my blog recently as work and life just got a little crazy. I'm off work at the moment because munchkin has got chickenpox but he is dealing with it well and hasn't grumbled once! He has had the iPad constantly in his hands and if I'm honest I don't really mind. He is hardly ever ill so I thought why not!

Anyway!! Since losing weight for our wedding in 2015.....I've....um....well basically I've put loads back on. Its completely my fault as we have enjoyed eating out loads and I started a job where I start work before lunch time and finish at 4pm although we can eat on the go I've been grabbing Fatty foods like Chocolate bars, Crisps etc
So I've decided that I'm going to start doing Weight Watchers again but due to us saving to buy a house I'm not going to pay to go to the meetings or do it online. I'm just going to base it on what I know about the old pro point system as I know its changed to smart points. I've dug out my old WW books and I'm starting on Monday when I'm hoping munchkin will be going back to school. This will give me enough time to get the food shopping that I need

I've also taken up comping since being off and so far we have won some slogan t-shirts
~ for me and munchkin, soup and soup mug, rugby shirt, goodie bags and more. I just enter them in the evenings when hubs and I are sat down watching tv.
If you are also a comper let me know!

Speak soon!
x

Charity shop haul! bargin buys!

Long time no blog! I know, I know! Life has just got a bit busy and I've been doing overtime in work too!

When I was younger I used to be puzzled as to why my mum never really seemed to by many clothes for herself, She would wear the same 'comfy' shoes and probably only had a handful of trousers and a dozen tops. Since losing her and becoming a mum myself I have literally turned into my mum!

My husband constantly says 'Babe why don't you go and get yourself some more clothes?' because he knows how much I say 'I haven't got anything to wear'. When I say this I'm not even over exaggerating! I literally had about 2-3 pair of jeans, 7 tops, 3 jumpers, gym outfit and my work clothes. I hate paying a lot for clothes and I would much rather buy munchkin or Hubby some clothes.

I got to watching youtube about bootsale pick ups and noticed how lots of people manage to pick up some good items of clothing from charity shops so I decided that I would pop into the charity shops in my town as there are 6 of them. I managed to pick up a pair of ladies jeans from next in amazing condition that were just £2.50 and a pair of white linen trousers for £2. I got home and loved these two items and I didn't feel guilty for buying them what so ever.

I proudly showed my hubby my purchases and he smiled and said well at least we are halfway to you buying yourself clothing.

Over the past week I popped into a few of the charity shops and thought I would do a little haul to show you what I bought! 

 There are a few of the charity shops that do charge a fair bit for their clothing items and then on the other hand there is another charity shop where all trousers/jeans are buy one get one free! and all

of the tops are 99p. Bargin!!

The Jeans on the right have little rips in them and don't look like they have been work very much if at all! They were £2.

The navy shorts I picked up because I like a slightly longer length short and with the warm weather promised I wanted to have some for that and for holidays.

The jeans on the left are skinny jeans from TU which I believe is Sainsburys?? again other than being a little creased they look like have hardly been worn.

I got these jeans and the shorts for 99p as they were buy one get one free!

The pink top I loved because I think its quite flattering and its longer in the back too. Its a fort chiffon type fabric. It a size bigger than what I needed but seen as I'm bigger up top I thought it would be fine. This top cost £3 

A few days ago I also picked up a blazer which I'm completely in love with! I saw this in the shops when it was full price and never picked it up because I couldn't justify paying that price so when I saw it in the charity shop for £1.99 I knew I just had to get it!

Jeans (rips) - £2

Jeans (skinny) - £1

Shorts - FREE

Top - £3

Blazer - £1.99

Total £7.99

Total bargin!!! Are you a charity shop fan? let me know your best buys!

Give charity shops a go! you can get some fab finds!!

Dont stress, Say yes!!

As soon as I had munchkin I couldn't wait until he could hold a paintbrush! Messy play has always an essential part of munchkins life. I happily make a jelly just so he can mush it up, Cook pasta so he can play with it and make gloop so he can explore it.

My Husband used to find this quite strange as his Mum never did any form of messy play or craft with him when he was younger. He often tells me of how his mum is so house proud and how he wasn't allowed to walk on the carpet after she had hoovered it, Once the bed was made he couldn't sit on it and as soon as anything got on his hands it was quickly washed off.

This brings me to my point....everyone wants a lovely clean and tidy home and we often stress when kids make a mess or want to do some painting we are quick to say 'No Ive just cleaned up' Our children aren't going to remember in a few years time if we didn't run the hoover around for one day or we didn't do the one load of ironing that we should have. They will however remember how fun that craft session was or how messy they got when playing with jelly. I myself often get caught up on 'but its gonna make another mess that I'm going to have to clean' but I consciously make and effort to think as long as it cleans up.....WHY NOT!!

Next time your children need something to do let them do some painting. next time they wanna do messy play....before you just jump to 'are you kidding! Ive just cleaned' take a second and say WHY NOT!

Lets allow our children to remember us having fun with them, getting a little messy at times, jumping in puddles with clean jeans on! Don't create memories of 'mum wouldn't let me do anything when she had cleaned up'

Our hands can be washed, Tables wiped, Clothes cleaned and memories made!
xXx

Top 20 items/ideas to entertain kids when traveling

This year we are having our first family holiday abroad....not only is it abroad but its a 9 hour flight! Ive done long flights before but never having to entertain a child too!

That's what sparked me to do this blog post! 

You dont have to be flying for 9 hours to find this blog useful. its handy if your going anywhere on an airplane, car, bus, etc! 

When travelling i look for activities that are mess free but are able to capture entertainment for a little while. The first few are mess free craft items but I promise they aren't all craft related!

Obviously these items are based around munchkins age group. (4-5 years)

#1

Ive been loving these peel and stick foam activities. The foam pads come on one sheet.

You can purchase them here at Baker Ross 4pk for £2.99

#2

Scratch art is Munchkins favourite activity at the moment. you scratch away at the black to reveal lovely shiny patterns underneath.

Find them here at Baker Ross10pk for £2.99

 #3

Stickers! what child doesn't love stickers! peel off the stickers and put them on your picture! Simple but effective!

Find them here at Baker Ross 8pk for £3.49 

#4

We have already got these and Ive got to say we LOVE them!  Foam activities.You get to stick the extras on your creature (peel and stick foam) then you have little finger paint sponges to decorate your creature. I know this isn't completely mess free but the finger paint is light and nothing that cant be removed from hands with a wet wipe.

Find these here at Baker Ross 5pk for £3.49

#5

We have already picked up a where's Wally mini book up in Wh Smiths. This is a new thing for munchkin so its either going to be a huge success or a huge fail! we'll see! It cost around £3.50 there are lots of different options of the Where's Wally books to choose from.

#6

Colouring:- Another love of ours is the colour by numbers! We have found it very difficult to find colour by number....paint but numbers popped up everywhere but that's not what I was after until I nipped into Hobby craft and found this fab product! 16 pages of colour by number with the actual number on each marker! genius!!

Obviously you can take standard colour book and crayons but lets face it....they see those every day!

Your can buy it here at hobby Craft £4.50 

#7

Doodle mat:-

This isn't the exact one that Ive picked up but its the same brand. they are magic markers that don't mark anything except the mat. It comes with an eraser with you fill with water then you just give it a wipe over with the cloth supplied to dry the board!

I bought ours at Home bargains for £3.99

#8

Tablets:- Yep lets face it most kids are obsessed with them. So your Ipad may be a god send!

top tip:- Make sure you download apps that don't require wifi (unless you have wifi on your plane)

You can also fill your ipad with music, films and much more.

#9

Music:- If you haven't got a tablet or aren't taking it then pick up a cheap music player. This one looks very similar to the ipod but its not. Its from Primark and I picked it up for just £2. Granted it only holds about 30 songs but i thought i could pre load munchkins favourite songs so he could listen to them on the plane.

#10

Headphones:- Yes you do get earphones on the plane but I thought these would be more comfortable for munchkin. We have the Blue/yellow JVC ones pictured above. they come with stickers so children can personalise theirs. They also have volume control so the volume only goes so high so that its suitable for small children.

They are currently on sale at Argos for £8.99

here is the link

#11

Lucky dip:-

Try wrapping each item and give them one ever 1hr/30 mins depending on age and how long you are travelling for. It makes it exciting for them and also helps them recognise how much longer we have to go e.g if there is only one present left then they know not much longer after that they will arrive.

#12

Pound shops:-

Pop into your local poundshop for toys and bits. you can pick up little dolls, cars, colouring books etc and it will have been inexpensive.

#13

Travel Games:- depending on the age of your child travel games always help pass the time. Games can range from good old Snap to connect 4 to something more advanced like Uno.

You can pick them up in most supermarket and toy shops.

 #14

Stickers:- What child doesn't love stickers! Bring a little pad of paper and let them stick away!!

 #15 

Snacks:- Take some little snacks with you! boxed raisins, YoYo Bears are a favourite in our household.

#16

Crayons:-

Triangular crayons always help when on flights as they prevent the constant 'Mummy!, I dropped my crayon and it rolled under my seat' Then your on your hands and knees only to find its rolled 5 rows back!

#17

Ispy

I came across these and thought they would be fab for the flight. You just print them out and laminate them if you wish. They are I spy sheet with lots of different items on. If you child is too young for Ispy, you can just do the 'Can you find the ball?' or 'what can you see on the picture?'

You can print yours out here

#18

Activity books and sticker books:-

I Love the 100 things to do on a plane book as it contains losts of activities and colourings. Usborne books have a nice range of travel activity books and they can be found here

#19

Their favourite toy:-.....as long as its not a huge 6ft stuffed teddy of course.

We all have our creature comforts so make sure they get to travel with their favourite toy.

#20

Inflight entertainment:-

It may sound like and obvious option but many airlines have a very good variety of children's games and films....take advantage of them.....even if they are just on while your child is doing something else and they just glance up every once in a while.

I hope that these ideas have been useful to you! If you have any ideas that i havent posted here plese feel free to comment with your ideas and where you are off on holidays!

Enjoy your Trip!

xXx

Baker ross craft Haul

£3.60 for 10pk

I love receiving my Baker Ross box!!! I'm not sure who is more excited when it comes me or munchkin! Not all craft has to be messy! There are times when I want to do craft things with munchkin but I could do without the mess, maybe I have family coming around and I have to be able to clean up quick! Baker Ross have just the right stuff!


Alot of the products are mess free and Munchkin LOVES the peel and stick activities that they offer.  The prices are really reasonable (I've popped the prices under the pics)

£3.49 for  4pk

I'm going to be placing an order with Baker Ross soon as we are going on holiday this year and there are a few things on their website that i think i could take on the aeroplane to keep munchkin entertained. If you would like me to do a blog post on that then just let me know.

£2.99 for 4pk

£3.60 for 10pk

£3.60

The stampers are amazing value and really good quality! Most of the crafts I've posted on here are ones that children can get on with on their own (obv depending on age) The finger print one below is my fave as its a combination of peel and stick and finger painting. it comes with cute little finger print pads with lids so you can use them with other crafts. Click here to go to the linkhttp://www.bakerross.co.uk/bug-fingerprint-decoration-kits

£3.49 for 5pk

Party for a toy!?!?

This is the 'turtle'!

One day I was playing with munchkin out on then patio and he was telling me that he had gone to his aunties house, I knew that he hadn't gone to his Aunties house so I asked him who his Auntie was and his reply was 'my turtle is my Auntie'. Ever since that day he refers to 'his turtle' ALL the time!

One morning he came up to me and said 'Mummy its my turtles 10th Birthday today'  my reply was 'Ahhhh lovely' (conversations regarding the 'turtle' are a norm in our house now).

I got home from work that day and picked him up from school.....the moment we walked through the door he rushed around the house then broke down in tears. Turns out he was expecting me to do a party for the turtle just like I do for him on his birthday. Not wanting to see him so upset I told him that we had arranged to have the party the next day as we would have more time.

The next day while at work I couldn't help but keep thinking of how much this party meant to him so when i finished work I went to Aldi to get some party nibbles. While waiting to pay I looked at everything on the conveyor belt and questioned as to if i was losing the plot....It kept going through my head 'you are buying food for a 10th Birthday party for a TOY!!' but hey! if it means munchkin being happy, I'm in!  I rushed home and set up the table, blew up some balloons and made a party hat for the turtle with 10 written on it!

It was safe to say that when Munchkin got home he was completely over the moon! We tucked into the food and had a lovely time!

I'm not completely sure what it is about this turtle but hes always referring to it 'oh yes my turtle likes that', 'my turtle went there', 'I did that when I went to my turtles house'.

He doesn't really bother with the toy itself bust constantly talks about it.

The turtle has recently had to come to work with me too! 

I figure that its just a funny stage that hes going through that will be fun to remind him of when he is older (sneaky Mummy!)

you tube blind bag craze!

right so I know I cant be the only parent that has noticed this but whats the fascination with kids watching the egg / blind bag opening videos! Munchkins is obsessed and would spend all day every day watching them if I let him.

Lately ive noticed how BIG the world of toy reviews has become! Munchkin will watch a shopkin basket opening video while they open up to 40 shopkin baskets and reveal each shopkin.
I love the way he uses the word duplicate because hes heard it being said on these videos.
Hes now into Mashems! due to seeing these youtube videos.
Munchkin is really showing an interested in wanting to do his own unboxing, blind bag videos so we let him record himself and then watch it back on the camers/laptop.

Please tell me that I'm not the only one who's child is completely addicted to these types of videos!

Family Years plans! bucket list

The day after we got married I got to thinking and suggested to Hubby that we make a brain storm type of thing with things we would like to do, places we would like to go and things that we would like to do. Then next year we can check back to out list and see how many of the things we can tick off.

Its not neccessarily a 'to do' list but more of a wishlist. Anything that isnt ticked off simply gets put onto the following year or removed from the list totally depending on how we feel and our circumstances!

Here are some of the things that are on our year plans list (or year bucket list if you like)

•  Family holiday to Disney world
• Go on more Beach days out together
• Take munchkin swimmin more often
• Go back to our wedding venue for a meal or afternoon tea
• More picnics together
• Family photo shoot/canvas
• Take R onto a steam train in Breacon
• Buy a DSLR camera
• Go on a boat ride as a family
• Laugh more!
• Fly kites
• Spend more time with friends and their children on days out
• Look towards buying a house
• New Car
• More fun things as a family
• Go out in the pouring rain and giggle together as a family
• Andy promotion
• New Laptop
• Visit more places within Wales
• Organise the house more (more storage)
• Create a better blog and more content
• Go back to Butlins
• Collect conkers
• Do more messy play with Munchkin
• Create Mummy son time.
• Do date nights in, once every 2 weeks
• say 'I love you' at least once every day
• Take more photos
• Go to Bristol Zoo
• Go for long family Walks
• Do more home baking 
• Try for another Baby
• Make a family scrapbook

Go and create your list! its good to look back on!

speak soon 

K

Honeymoon booked!! eeekkkk!

Yey!!!! we have finally booked our Honeymoon!

We asked for money for a wedding gift from our guests. some people find this cheeky but we didnt want gifts that we wouldnt use and alot of our guests had already said to us they would rather give us money then search for endless hours for a gift that we may not even need.

We put a nice poem in our wedding invites that explained we were asking for money to go on honeymoon if they wish to give something but their presence was more important than anything to us.

After the we got married and opened our cards we were so overwhelmed with the generosity of our guests. We sat down and talked about where we would like to go on honeymoon. We decided to have munchkin before we got married so leaving him at home while we went on honeymoon was NOT an option. We are a family and knew that we wanted to honeymoon as a family.....and where would the perfect place to go as a family be?!.......

Yep! DISNEY WORLD!!!

So we finally booked it for next year as it would allow us to save the extra we needed

next year is my 30th, Andys 40th and munchkins 5th so we thought it would be the perfect celebration holiday!

We have booked a Disney hotel as we wanted all the extras like dining, transport etc

I am sooooo excited as ive only been once for 1 week a few years before I had munchkin. Andy had never been! He thought Butlins was exciting so I know hes gonna love Disney!

Munchkin always talks about Disneyworld and how he would love to go.....we have decided to keep it a secret from him until on the plane or at the airport.

So im welcoming any comments on good tips and tricks for what to do at disneyworld and also good places to eat.

Yummy chocolate flapjack recipe

Chocolate flapjacks

These are an absolute favourite in my house, My boys cant get enough of it!

You will need....

150g butter

75g light brown soft sugar

3 rounded tbsp of golden syrup

250g porridge oats (I use smart price)

300g milk chocolate (I buy mine from home bargins 89p)

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan)

Grease and line a tin with parchment paper

Put the brown sugar, butter and golden syrup into a pan and gently heat until melted

Add in your porridge oats and mix together.

Turn out the oats into your lined pan, level and press the mixture evenlyand firmly with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 20-25 mins or until golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool for 10-15 mins

While your cooked flapjack is cooling melt your chocolate. I use 300g as my boys like thicker chocolate than the ones you buy in the shop but you dont have to use that much if you dont want to.

Pour the melted chocolate over and allow it to set.

Before the chocolate has turned into complete solid (soft but not runny) cut your flapjack into cubes or slices and place back into the fridge to set completely.

Then serve and watch them magically disappear!!

Enjoy!!!