• Monday Happy List - hot chocolate
    Lego - mindfulness - Monday Happy List

    Monday Happy List – week 119

    January 2, 2017 - By 

    I love the period between Christmas and New Year. My husband had taken the whole time as annual leave so we were able to relax and went to my mum’s house for a few days. My weekly Happy List helps me be mindful of the small things which have happened in the previous week. If you do something twice does that make it a tradition? I hope so. On Boxing Day we went to our local Pantomime. It was bad but in a good way and everyone seemed to enjoy it. It felt like everyone received Lego for Christmas except…

  • 24 Elf on the Shelf ideas that work
    Christmas - Elf on the Shelf

    24 Elf on the Shelf ideas that work

    January 1, 2017 - By 

    Apologies, this is going to be a picture heavy post. For the last few years we’ve been visited by an elf. He arrives on December 1st with our Advent crate and disappears on the 24th, leaving us a Christmas Eve crate. I see a lot of negative press about Elf on the Shelf and I’m not really sure why. He is not there to shock the children into behaving. In fact he’s a little silly and tries to do something different every day to make them smile. My children are 5 and 6 so I’m not sure how long they…

  • 9 New Year’s Eve Party Ideas For Kids
    crafts - handmade - New Year crafts

    9 New Year’s Eve Party Ideas For Kids

    December 31, 2016 - By 

    After the success of our Christmas Eve box I wanted to repeat the idea with a New Year’s Eve box! The children know that we are coming to the end of 2016. It’s been a long time since I went out on New Year’s Eve but there’s no reason not to celebrate at home with the children and make some special family memories. This year I’ll be recycling our Christmas Eve box but I’m going to try and buy another if my husband lets me visit Ikea anytime soon! My children love to party so I’ve come up with 9 New Year’s…

  • New Year recycled bells craft for New Year
    crafts - New Year crafts - Recycled crafts

    New Year bells craft for kids

    December 30, 2016 - By 

    I can’t mark the passing of an old year and the start of a new year without making something. Our recycling bin is full so I took the opportunity to rescue a couple of yoghurt pots and tin foil from it. I think it’s the perfect time of year to squeeze in a craft or two. I’ve added links to our other New Years crafts at the bottom of this post, just in case you are feeling inspired! New Year bells craft for kids A few years ago we made paper bells to mark the New Year. Our updated version…

  • Simple Thank You cards for kids to make {free printable} from the gingerbread house blog
    Christmas - crafts - free printables - handmade - Handmade gifts

    Simple Thank You cards for kids to make {free printable}

    December 29, 2016 - By 

    I love making homemade Thank you cards. Every year my children receive lovely Christmas gifts and I want them to put some effort into the thank you cards they send. When they were younger we sent homemade photocards but now they can write their names (and my Year 2 son can write a lot more!) then I want them to make their own cards. This year I designed my own card. They are super simple but there is some scope for creativity! Simple Thank You cards for kids to make I added the words Thank You in large letters to…

  • 6 things to do with kids on Boxing Day
    Christmas - crafts - gingerbread house

    6 things to do with kids on Boxing Day

    December 28, 2016 - By 

    Christmas can be hard for kids (and adults too!). The build up is immense, often starting in November with school fair’s and rehearsals for the Christmas nativity. We try to keep calm and enjoy the build up whilst not going overboard. This year we visited the Playmobil Santa’s Grotto at our local shopping centre, visited a National Trust house which had been transformed for Christmas, as well as taking a ride on our local Santa Express. We squeezed all these around normal weekend activities and swimming lessons! Since the children finished school things were a little more relaxed. We had…

  • Win 1 of 3 kid-friendly calendars
    competition

    Win 1 of 3 kid-friendly calendars

    December 27, 2016 - By 

    I love this time of year. Our family is enjoying the holidays, eating far too much and building soooo many Lego sets! We’re lucky to have another week before school starts and it won’t be long before the diary starts filling up with after school clubs and birthday parties. If you haven’t quite got organised for 2017 then you are in luck as I have a fun competition post to share with you today. I’m giving all readers of the gingerbread house blog the chance to win 1 of 3 kid-friendly 2017 calendars. All three calendars feature lovely large pictures…

  • DK ProduKtions and London Borough of Hillingdon presents Dick Whittington 2016
    Christmas - Family Life - Hillingdon - Local Review - London

    Boxing Day panto – Dick Whittington {Compass Theatre}

    December 26, 2016 - By 

    Last Christmas we went to the pantomime with some friends which we all really enjoyed. It’s nice to get out of the house on Boxing Day and if it’s too cold for a walk then the panto seems like the next best thing. This year I was organised and booked us all tickets to see Dick Whittington at the Compass Theatre in Ickenham. According to Wikipedia pantomime (informally panto), is a type of musical comedy stage production, designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is still performed throughout the United Kingdom, generally during the Christmas and New…

  • christmas paper cut
    Christmas - Lego - mindfulness - Monday Happy List

    Monday Happy List – Week 118

    December 26, 2016 - By 

    Happy Monday everyone. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and are doing something nice for St Stephen’s Day. I know it’s Christmas. Time for my weekly Monday Happy List blog post. Last week was pretty hectic trying to get everything ready for Christmas. We are spending Christmas at home with my mum but it still felt quite busy – last minute present shopping, buying food and cleaning the house. We were busy with a Christmas party at Beavers, my children had a karate lesson and I helped my daughter and her class walk to school for a church…