• Family Life - Monday Happy List

    Monday Happy List {Week 268}

    December 2, 2019 - By 

    I love to start the week by writing the Monday Happy List. It’s a chance for me to sit down and reflect on the things that made me happy in the previous week, as well as to record some of our family adventures – it’s a post I always enjoy writing. Monday Happy List {Week 268} Yay, it’s December! November flew by for us and now we are counting down until Christmas. Thankfully I’ve been super organised this year and feel in control of the gift giving and food ordering. We have some lovely treats lined up for December which should…

  • Family fun with Ticket to Ride London
    Blogger Board Game Club - Family Life

    Family fun with Ticket to Ride London {review}

    November 29, 2019 - By 

    We love nothing more than getting home from school and playing a board game during the winter months. It is so dark during November and December that it’s quite nice to close up the shutters and gather round the table to play a board game together.   We love being part of Asmodee’s Blogger Board Game club and were delighted to receive Ticket to Ride London from Days of Wonder to play at home. We all really enjoy the Ticket to Ride series of board games. We already have the original Ticket to Ride and Ticket to Ride Europe. There’s also…

  • Christmas shopping with The 2019 Christmas Good Toy Guide
    competition - Family Life

    Christmas shopping with The 2019 Christmas Good Toy Guide

    November 27, 2019 - By 

    Disclosure – this is a collaborative post The Christmas countdown has really begun in our house. We are all ready for Advent which marks the start of the Christmas period for us. We all enjoy the festive period and I have to admit I’ve already put the Christmas bedding on our beds and baked my first batch of mince pies! It’s pretty natural that children have high expectations of the presents they are going to receive. My daughter is in Year 3 and wrote a letter to Father Christmas yesterday. I had to give her a stamped envelope as her…

  • Family Life

    AD|How to not break your budget this Christmas

    November 23, 2019 - By 

    Disclosure – this is a collaborative post As much as I love Christmas it is the most expensive time of year. We all want to give our children the best gifts and memories but it can be hard to stay within budget if their Christmas lists are a little ambitious! My children seem to want the moon on a stick each year and whilst I would love to buy them everything they want it’s just not possible or healthy for them. We try to live to the 4 gifting principles to keep their expectations manageable – something to wear, something…

  • Family Life - Monday Happy List

    Monday Happy List {Week 266}

    November 18, 2019 - By 

    I love to start the week by writing the Monday Happy List. It’s a chance for me to sit down and reflect on the things that made me happy in the previous week, as well as to record some of our family adventures – it’s a post I always enjoy writing. Monday Happy List {Week 266} I have been making a lot of things over the last week. Perhaps it’s the time of year or perhaps I just have my crafting mojo back. I had quite a few things I wanted to make using my Cricut Maker and they are all…

  • 24 Elf on the Shelf ideas for spreading Christmas cheer
    Christmas - Elf on the Shelf - Family Life - free printables

    {free printable} 24 Elf on the Shelf ideas for spreading Christmas cheer

    November 16, 2019 - By 

    I have another fun and FREE printable to share with you today. Over the last few years we’ve been visited by our very own Scout Elf on the 1st of December. Yes, the children love our Elf on the Shelf and we love having him visit in the run up to Christmas. Last year he was joined by an elf friend so now the children both have their own Elf, who keeps an eye on them and makes sure they behave themselves. We’ve always had lots of fun with our Elf on the Shelf. Yes, I may spend a lot…

  • Finnish Gingerbread Bites
    Family Life - gingerbread

    Finnish Gingerbread Bites – a handmade gift

    November 13, 2019 - By 

    It’s the time of year that was just made for baking! You all know that I named my blog after my favourite winter treat and I’ve featured lots of gingerbread recipes since I started blogging. We’ve baked gingerbread people, gingerbread houses, and tried all kinds of sweet treats from gingerbread (house) bread and butter pudding to gingerbread brownies. Today I wanted to share a sweet Finnish gingerbread recipe to make gingerbread bites. These bite-sized mouthfuls are a great after school treat, but can also be whipped up if you are visiting family and friends over the winter holiday. Our Finnish…

  • Family Life

    Why the school may not react well if your child is being bullied

    November 12, 2019 - By 

    Disclosure – this is a guest post by the UK’s first Children’s Happiness Coach, Simon Benn. (image credit) I was once called into a school to do some happiness workshops but they didn’t really want to tell me why. When I pressed them for a brief, I was told: “to encourage the Year 4s to be nicer to one another in the playground, especially the girls.” Bullying was not mentioned. On the day they’d booked me I was sitting in reception waiting for the teacher to collect me before the first session. A mother who’d just dropped off her daughter…

  • gingerbread house mug from Asda
    Family Life - Monday Happy List

    Monday Happy List {Week 265}

    November 11, 2019 - By 

    I love to start the week by writing the Monday Happy List. It’s a chance for me to sit down and reflect on the things that made me happy in the previous week, as well as to record some of our family adventures – it’s a post I always enjoy writing. Monday Happy List {Week 265} After a busy week we decided to have a quiet weekend at home. We actually went to view a house near where we live which I immediately fell in love with, but unfortunately I don’t think the house is practical for our family right now.…