• Family Life - mindfulness - Monday Happy List

    Monday mindfulness – Summer Holidays {Week 3}

    August 13, 2018 - By 

    Happy Monday everyone. Hope you had a great weekend and are enjoying the school summer holidays. What a difference a week makes. We started off the week with a heatwave, experienced torrential rain and storms and are now enjoying decent summer temperatures. Each week I start off by writing my Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things blog post. It’s a great chance to 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 mindfulness – Summer holidays edition On Monday we…

  • Family Life - parenting

    Boosting my body confidence

    August 12, 2018 - By 

    Photo by Pierre BEST on Unsplash I mentioned the other day that we were really looking forward to our holiday in Holland. Our holiday park had a water park and was near to the sea. As much as I was excited for our family to have all these experiences my thoughts also began to turn to what that meant – summer clothes and swimming costumes. I am not at all body confident, especially after two children, but I knew I had to do something about it. Boosting my body confidence Body confidence is a funny thing. Body image is a major factor in…

  • Aquabeads Disney Princess Character Set
    Aquabeaders - Crafts for kids

    Aquabeads Disney Princess Character Set

    August 11, 2018 - By 

    We can’t be the only family who is a lot happier now the weather has cooled down. We don’t enjoy the very hot weather and hated being restricted to being indoors in the hottest parts of the day. Thankfully we had lots of arts and crafts to keep the children busy. They both enjoy crafting with Aquabeads, small coloured beads which stick together with water. Aquabeads Disney Princess Character Set We were sent the Aquabeads Disney Princess Character Set to play with at home. Make Ariel, Belle, Rapunzel, Tiana and Jasmine with the charming Disney Princess Character Set! There are…

  • make your own water compass
    competition - Crafts for kids - Kids crafts - STEM activity

    Make a water compass and Engineer a great Summer

    August 10, 2018 - By 

    With two inquisitive children I am constantly on my toes keeping them engaged and active, especially during the summer holidays. I’ve shared a few resources to keep the dreaded brain drain away and wanted to tell you about The Holiday Makers, a website with fun, free, family friendly activities to keep the kids aged 7-16 busy and minds sharp over the summer holidays. Engineer a great Summer with the Year of Engineering The Holiday Makers website is part of the Year of Engineering, a year-long initiative celebrating the wonderful world of engineering and encouraging young people to get involved. Every week a…

  • DIY Duck Tape ice lolly tags
    Crafts for kids - Duck Tape crafts

    DIY Duck Tape ice lolly tags

    August 9, 2018 - By 

    As we’ll soon be going on holiday I wanted to craft some colourful tags to make our suitcases easily identifiable. A few years ago we made some colourful Duck Tape passport covers so I couldn’t wait to craft with Duck Tape again. Duck Tape is a great craft material as it’s so durable and perfect to make tags to help identify our luggage. To make  our DIY Duck Tape ice lolly tags I used: Patterned Duck Tape scissors card craft sticks hole punch DIY Duck Tape ice lolly tags First I cut my card to 100cm x 60cm. I placed…

  • Top tips for keeping kids occupied on car journeys
    competition - Family Life - parenting

    Top tips for keeping kids occupied on car journeys {i-SPY giveaway}

    August 9, 2018 - By 

    Later this month we are driving through the UK, taking the Eurotunnel to France and then driving on through Belgium to the Netherlands. We are so excited about our week away and have been planning and packing for what feels like weeks. Our holiday involves a long car journey so we will be packing items to keep the kids occupied in the car. They are 6 and 8 and we’ve done quite a few long car journeys so I thought I would share my top tips for keeping kids occupied on car journeys. Read on for an i-SPY giveaway too.…

  • A gardening and nature crafts box for kids
    Crafts for kids - Nature crafts - subscription box

    A gardening and nature crafts box for kids

    August 8, 2018 - By 

    I’ve been a little busy since the school holidays started which meant a few subscription boxes have turned up over the last few weeks and remained unopened. I’ve had to cancel most of ours as I just don’t have time to open them which is such a shame. However today we had some time to explore the August mud + bloom subscription box. This is a fun gardening and nature crafts box for kids. The August mud + bloom gardening and nature crafts box for kids I really love the idea of this box. My 6 year old just loves to…

  • How to celebrate Roald Dahl Day 2018
    Family Life - Roald Dahl crafts

    How to celebrate Roald Dahl Day 2018 {Plans for a Peach of a Day}

    August 8, 2018 - By 

    Roald Dahl Day is the annual, global celebration of the world’s number one storyteller, his beloved stories and unforgettable characters. Roald Dahl Day happens on and around September 13th, which was the author’s birthday. What parent doesn’t love sharing these stories with their children? We are looking forward to all the activities next month. How to celebrate Roald Dahl Day 2018 Celebrating James and the Giant Peach This year, Roald Dahl’s very first novel for children, James and the Giant Peach is the focus of the celebrations. This is a story which shows young readers that friends can come in the most unexpected…

  • Crate Creatures Surprise from MGA Entertainment
    Family Life - playing - toy review

    Crate Creatures Surprise from MGA Entertainment

    August 7, 2018 - By 

    Some toys I read about and just know that one or both of my children will love them. That’s exactly what I thought when I first heard about Crate Creatures Surprise from MGA Entertainment. With a grizzly exterior of ferocious fuzz, squirting snot, glowing eyes and growling noises, they’re big softies really. The four Crate Creatures Surprise are itching to meet you, if only you can help them escape… Crate Creatures Surprise from MGA Entertainment There are 4 Crate Creatures Surprise to collect. We received Snorthog to unbox at home. They arrive captured in a crate and are currently landing in a toy…