• Bichon Frise 10 week old pup
    Monday Happy List

    Monday Happy List {Week 275}

    January 20, 2020 - 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 love to write. Monday Happy List {Week 275} Both my children love watching Blue Peter and applying for their Blue Peter badges. My son was delighted to receive his silver Blue Peter badge over the weekend. He spent ages writing a Blue Peter comic where he got to appear on the show and…

  • Win Star In Your Own Story books
    competition

    Win Star In Your Own Story books

    January 19, 2020 - By 

    With Star In Your Own Story personalised books from Little Tiger Group, you can add your child’s name using the slot-in card provided. Simply pull out the slot-in card, write your child’s name, slot it back in. It will appear on every page through the clever cut-out window so your child stars in their very own story. This is a new range of personalised stories and include Star In Your Own Story: The Firefighter (Ring the alarm and rush to the rescue – be a FIREFIGHTER!) and Star In Your Own Story: The Ballerina (Leap and twirl, sparkle and shine – be…

  • Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi
    What I'm reading

    Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi {book review}

    January 17, 2020 - By 

    2019 was the first year I decided to join up to Goodreads and take part in a challenge to read more books. I found it fun to share my book reviews and recommendations and discovered lots of great books to read. Last year I aimed to read 12 books but ended up reading 50, this year I hope to do even better. My first book of 2020 was the delightful Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi. Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi Perdita Lee may appear your average British schoolgirl; Harriet Lee may seem just a working mother trying to penetrate the school social hierarchy;…

  • one fish two fish Rice Krispies treats
    Crafts for kids - Dr Seuss Day craft

    one fish two fish Rice Krispies treats

    January 14, 2020 - By 

    I love this time of year with so many special days and anniversaries to celebrate. I’ve always enjoyed sharing the Dr Seuss books with my children. We’ve tried a few different crafts to celebrate Dr Seuss Day, which falls on the 2nd of March, such as the Grinch paper plate craft.  Today we’re sharing another Dr Seuss craft, with our one fish two fish Rice Krispies treats, inspired by One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, a 1960 children’s book by Dr. Seuss. It is a simple rhyming book about a boy and a girl named Jay and Kay…

  • Family Life

    Top tips for clearing up after Christmas

    January 13, 2020 - By 

    Disclosure – this is a sponsored post People usually associate deep cleaning their house with Spring but for me it’s all about January and that post-Christmas haze. Despite going back to work last week my house still has all the echoes of Christmas – a pile of Christmas cards are waiting to be recycled, the odd decoration is still up and there is a stash of Christmas sweets and chocolates I just don’t know what to do with. Top tips for clearing up after Christmas 1. It’s not just the remains of Christmas that I want to deal with however.…

  • Monday Happy List

    Monday Happy List {Week 274}

    January 13, 2020 - 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 274} It was pretty tough going back to work and back to school last week. A lot of the kids after school clubs started too which meant we were super busy. The days seem so short in Winter but I am holding on to the fact…

  • Cricut made Advent calendar
    Advent crafts - Christmas - Crafts for adults - Cricut Maker

    DIY re-useable wooden advent calendars

    January 12, 2020 - By 

    Last year my children asked for Advent calendars I just couldn’t find in the shops. They asked for a Pokemon and Minecraft Advent calendar. They’ve always enjoyed opening their Advent calendars and I didn’t want to disappoint them, especially as they still believe the Elf on the Shelf makes them for them. As we couldn’t buy the Advent calendars we wanted we decided to make our own re-useable advent calendars that could be used again. Our idea was for a simple wooden box frame with 24 little Advent bags hanging from three wooden dowels which would contain Pokemon toys for…

  • Easy Slimming World mince pies
    baking - Family Life

    Easy Slimming World mince pies {recipe}

    January 11, 2020 - By 

    I’ve been following Slimming World for a couple of months now. I’ve followed Slimming World before and it works really well for me, if I stay on plan. When I signed up to a plan I received an eat, plan and be merry book which I found really useful over Christmas. It’s a time of year with lots of lovely food and opportunities to be social which makes it easy to eat more than you need to. I really wanted to try some of the seasonal recipes which had be adapted to be Slimming World friendly, especially the mince pie…

  • {free printable} Elf on the Shelf Twister game
    Christmas - Elf on the Shelf - Family Life - free printables

    {free printable} Elf on the Shelf Twister game

    January 10, 2020 - By 

    I’ve just about survived the first week back to school after the Christmas holidays. It felt like it was quite hard to get back into the swing of things and I’m happy that I have a few days to relax at home. December is always a crazy month for families but I still have a few Christmas activities to post. Last month we had fun creating our free Elf on the Shelf twister printable which we wanted to share with you. {free printable} Elf on the Shelf Twister game We’ve had our Elf on the Shelf for a few years…