Week One

So tomorrow morning we will be entering our 2nd week of the summer holidays.

Positives of this last week.
1. Week have all survived

2. We have a got dressed and left the house before 12 – most days and have had several walks to the park ad got caught in many torrential rain storms.

3. We have all eaten the adequate amount of meals and some have even featured a garnish of cucumber for guilt purposes.

4. Me and Carl had the first night out togther… Actually ever since we first got together… and I then survived a 2 kid hangover.

5. We have watched and actually enjoyed 3 new films on netflix.

6. We have had a fab FREE day out at the York Railway musuem. Both kids had massive smiles on their faces the whole day. Nalah was oblivious to what was going on but enjoyed the sights sounds and chewing on a giant lego brick, whilst Oscar is finally at an age where he really took it all in and was intrested and wanted to learn more about each train. A picnic in the sunshine and a few hours running around the park didn’t hurt either.

7. Oscar has created a colouring activity that may well take him the entire holidays.

 

 

8. We have build am indoor den. Complete with decorations in the form of pom poms and pipe cleaners.

9. Had a lazy day in the garden… (I sunbathed) oscar bounced about and Nalah say happily in the shade chewing on a celery stick..Happy days.

10. We have created a bucket list of things to do for the next 5 weeks. Colour coded and everything for rainy days, Sunny days, family days, frugal days, splurge days .. so heres is too another fantastic.. free.. easy… fun week 😊

Drop me some ideas.

 

#Day one

Day one of our summer holidays.

I was treat to a lie in this morning… we got up at 7.23. Carl left for work, as quiet as a mouse so not to wake anyone up. 3 minutes later as he pulled away from our street, Nalah was wide wide awake!!

Breakfast went without hiccup, the usual mass crumb mess, soggy toast rubbed into clean hair and drinks flung across the room. But no real tales to tell.

Oscar spent his first morning of the summer holidays sanding down his bed.

Last night we discovered teeth marks all over his bed.  He was unable to tell us how they got there and insisted he must have been younger. Having only moved into that room a few months ago, I don’t belive that is the case.

This morning he informed he had in fact been trying to make his tooth fall out as his best friend had just had his first visit from the tooth fairy!!

After a talk of the health and safety risks of this and then a telling of talk for defacing furniture, Oscar was left with the task to think how to get rid all of these teeth marks. And there were a lot.

Oscar came to me with the idea he had spent the whole night thinking of, he would colour in some masking tape brown and stick it over the teeth marks. He thought this plan was solid, I wasn’t so sure.

I handed him some sand paper and instructed him how he could use it to get rid of the marks. So that his how he spent his first morning of the summer holdings.  Probably not his first idea to put on his holiday bucket list. But never the less the bed looks ten times better (slightly paler in parts) and I definatly don’t think he will be biting anymore furniture.

After he had finished I asked him to take off his bed sheet and put it in the wash as it was now covered in wood dust.

I then had to go see to Nalah, Oscar came bounding in pleased with himself for doing as I had asked.

Though I hadn’t thought the instruction through very well.

He had put his sheet in the washing machine as asked… the washing machine that had just finished it’s cycle full of my clean clothes…

We spent the afternoon at the zoo with my sister in law (soon to be) and the kid’s cousins who are 1 and 3 years.

Jokes…

We walked to pets at home. Which the kids absolutely love, the eldest two like to look at the rabbits, degus, rats and guinea pigs, whilst the babies happily stare at the fish swimming around, this trip enables a 10 minute uninterrupted adult conversation above the 2 prams.

This 30 minute trip took several hours due to extremely slow, tired, small legs and having to take shelter in b&m from the torrential rain that thundered above our heads.

Positives of the day.

• I managed to take the bin out in the nick of time, baby on hip, in my dressing gown, looking pretty pathetic so the bin man had to take over and pull it out of my yard.
• My wash basket is empty..and one wash has been washed twice!
• 1/6 of the 3 beds bedding has been washed.. better luck tomorrow with the other 5/6.
• Oscar had fun playing with his cousin and enjoyed a free trip out
• I spoke to an adult for over 10 minutes.
• Both kids were fed clean and in bed on time… despite Nalah still waking up at least 8 times throughout the night because she can now roll onto her belly..
• I managed 3 rounds of my Charlotte Crosby workout out dvd.. followed by 2 massive cheesy garlic stuffed mushrooms…mmm
• We didn’t spent a penny all day.

 

6 weeks Holiday here we come!

So I have been out of writing for far far too long and have shamefully neglected my blog. I’d love to tell you its because I have been super busy with the baby, been up to my eyeballs in extra curriculum activities with the 5 year old, thinking up new and exciting business ventures. Sadly no, I’ve just been to lazy to lift pen to paper.. or finger to keyboard as it is. And for that I apologise profounsly to anyone that cares.

So today marks the first day of the school holidays. 6 weeks here we come.

And as usual I will offer no real ‘advice’ for these 6 weeks a head. But instead i will share what we are doing as boring and lame as they may be. So you mummies (and daddies, aunts and uncles…) out there don’t get the same holiday feeling I get every half term and every holiday. That feeling of dread that you have to keep up with entertaining your little ones, forking out for the biggest best theme parks and filling each day with excitement as your so sure that every other parent (and their instagram page) are doing.

Nope no one has an everyday jam packed fun filled holiday. And if they do I’d sure like to meet you and get your coffee recipie.

Parents have to work, I am extremely lucky that I have this time to enjoy my young children. After working ridiculous (really really ridiculous 48 hour shifts) when Oscar was toddling about, I know how hard it is feeling like your missing out on your children and especially when you see that Tom Dick and Harry are spending every day with there angels at the zoo, beach and soft play. You may often feel like your failing them. But your not.

Some parents don’t work. Myself included which also means stretching those pennies to accommodate a day at lego land, alton towers and a 5 day stay at butlins is equally as impossible. You may often feel like your failing them. But your not.

Some of you may be single parents. Struggling on a day to day with keeping the house in order, budgeting money, juggling time and surviving on 3 hours of sleep each night. The holidays may fill you with dread and you may often feel like your failing them. But your not.

Some parents are just plain exhausted because having little children to look after 24/7 takes it right out of you. So when you see the sun shining and your head it telling you its a beach day for sure but your heart just wants to stay inside watching peppa pig slobbing out on the sofa. You may often feel like your failing them. But your not.

So I hope you enjoy my updates over the next 6 weeks. Just to prove it is okay to not have a pintrest lifestyle, your instagram not to be filled full of fun days out, not to be ‘checked in’ to all the fancy places.

 

Happy holidays 😀

The worst things to hear when planning a wedding

Whilst I was visiting my grandma last week, I was excitedly telling her about our Wedding planning progress and eager to show her some pictures of the venue. My grandma is all for anything fancy, at 86 she still dresses to impress and she fancies herself as a Royal herself. So I believed she would be excited too about the prospect of staying in a luxurious hotel and spa for the night.  Oh but I was wrong…

 

First off she didn’t like staying away from home – anymore, she only likes the comfort of her own bed. This is fair enough, she is getting old, her eye sight is going and the safety of her own home is a comfort to her. I get that. Though she continued to make excuses, which no longer meant she did not want to stay the night in our hotel as we had planned, but in fact meant she no longer wanted to attend the wedding at all.

“what is the age range of the older guests.” She asked,  I explained as it is a small family wedding there will be my grandparents and Carl’s grandparents. She looked distraught at this information, “Just as I had thought, so how old are they?” she asked tutting. I explained that they are about ten years younger than her. She now looked horrified and went on to say that she did not know if she could come to the wedding (of her only granddaughter) as she did not fancy been the eldest there! Sorry Grandma but your my grandma, not my bridesmaid, we just cannot find any older relatives!!

So having had this conversation I took to the bridal boards and groups I am religiously checking on now that I am a ‘bride to be’ and asked all Bride to be’s,

What is the worst thing you’ve heard since planning a wedding?

And this was their response.

So first up, as anyone planning a wedding will know – food is massive part of the day, the biggest headache and the biggest cost by far!

Food

“My mother in law took great offence that we would not be serving hot food. She tried to tell us that all the old people will starve and be cold. I somehow kept my cool to politely inform her that the cold food will be just as filling and that if it is a cold day, our venue has got heating. http://www.littlepicklesmom.com

“My husband to be’s aunt has informed us that she is really looking forward to the breakfast the next day!” – I bet your glad your forking out for a 3 course meal for her!

“One guest has said that her 5 year old couldn’t possibly eat from the children’s menu and will have to eat from the adult’s. Ermmm nope, at £15 EXTRA, he won’t!!” http://www.theloveofacaptain.com

Though opposite to this…

“I had one guest state they did not like anything on the adult menu and would just mine sweep the children’s plates!”

“We had one guest who asked if we were having a sweet buffet and requested that we have gummy bears as that’s her other halves favourite – we have never met her boyfriend!”

Photography is a massive part of the wedding, after your perfect day has gone and all you are left is your memories, you want these shown in your beautiful carefully chosen photos, photos you have spent months agonising which must have shots you will be having, photos you have idealised on Instagram – In the most expensive day of your life photography is not something that costs should be cut on. Despite this some very helpful relatives have said…

“My soon to be mother in law said a photographer was pointless because her IPhone could take just as good photos. I was left speechless, a photographer was in my top 5 important things!”

“My grandma helpfully offered to take photos at our wedding and get rid of the photographer to save a few pennies. I have witnessed this lady trying to take family photos at Christmas and the outcome is not good!”

“My nan said she will take photos for us on the day, though the idea of just having photos of cut off heads make me come out in a cold sweat.”

“My dad offered to take the photos as he has a good camera, to be fair he is really quite good, though I cannot really imagine my family group photos without him in, that or him taking selfies throughout the day!”

“My mum found out that there will be 2 guests that will be 7 months pregnant and asked if I could request that the photographer takes a photo of her standing with them, so she will look slim in at least one photo!”

From the moment you say engaged, your head is immediately filled with images of beautiful brides, you frantically search for the dream look and the pressure is on to look like a princess on this special day.

This been said…remember your fiancé is marrying you for you, despite what you hear…

“Quite a number of people have asked if I am going to dye my hair more blonde for the wedding, baring in mind I have never dyed my hair ever in my life!”

“I got asked if I was going to stop putting colours in my hair, the answer is yes… but I told them that I would dye it to match my colour scheme. I think there will be a few raised eyebrows.”

“People keep asking me if I am going to get hair extensions, I’ve had short hair for about 11 years, why would I change it for one day?!”

“My mother in law asked if she could get a perm, but has also asked if I am having my hair up or down as she wants hers different to mine, she went on to say that this is because she is worried I will be offended if we look similar. There is no way we will look similar – I will be the one with the one in the white dress!”

“My great grandma told me I need to tan more before the wedding as she thinks I will be to pale to wear a white dress.”

in opposition to this…

“My mum told me under no circumstance am I to get a fake tan (I am very pale skinned) as I will look like a hooker on my wedding day!”

“My nan asked whether I would be wearing the same dress from my first wedding!” http://www.fivelittledoves.com

Families who’s have them…

“On the day of my wedding my big sister told me I was selfish to get married on a Saturday, when I know she drinks on a Friday! She then spent the whole service watching videos on Facebook!”

“My aunt RSVP’d as “Mrs pretty pretty princess” She also requested that om the day everyone is to address her by this name – there will be only one princess on my big day I’ll assure you of that!”

“My fiancé has asked if he can have a sword fight with my dad at the alter and the winner wins my hand.” He has been watching far to many movies, but it sounds brilliant!

 

And finally old people say it best…

“My nana said, after receiving our save the date for August 2018, that she won’t be making any plan in case she is not around anymore. (She is a fighting fit 86year old with no health issues.)

“My granddad said upon receiving his invite “yes of course we will be there…unless we die in the meantime!”

“When my grandma found out that he had proposed on valentines day she said, “well at least if you split up you can keep your ring because he gave you it on a holiday.” always thinking positive!!

“We get married in August (3 months) my fiancé’s Gran said she will do her best to make it but cannot promise and will let us know nearer the time” – she has got a good social life clearly!! http://www.theloveofacaptain.com

“Whilst discussing the wedding with my brother who works overseas and does not yet know if he will be able to get the time off, my grandma chirped in and said, “oo you do make it difficult for us all, it is really hard to plan a wedding around other things, I have got a lot on too that month.” – She really doesn’t, the possibility of her missing antiques roadshow is high though other than that, there is nothing.

“My gran asked me to change the month as she doesn’t think she will look good in a coat in the photos and doesn’t really want to fork out on  a new one!”

“My nan said if she happens to die before the wedding we should just leave her on ice and bury her once its all over, she doesn’t want people to worry about the funeral before my wedding!”

Soft play – rules of play

You survived a long 2 week holiday, thinking of things to keep your little delights entertained whilst trying not to lose your shit as you watch another episode of the mini dogs that keep saving the city and find yet another melted Easter egg down the side of the sofa. Only to realise today is an inset day!!!!

The rain is pouring and I literally have no energy left to think of something creative or fun, the batteries on the tablet are dead. So we have ventured out to the soft play… aka hell.

I am sat in said hell as I write this, the noise levels rapidly increasing at about the same rate as my stress levels.

Rules of play.

• Children must always be supervised

Translated too – the moment you hear crying and someone accurately describing your delight, “the boy with an orange t’shirt, glasses and blonde hair”  to their parent through sobs, quickly look alert and make your way to the exit swiftly. That or deny all knowledge of even having a child and make out you had just come out for a cup of coffee, whilst sighing to said parent, “people should really control their kids.”

• Height and age restrictions must be abided by in each play zone.

Translated to – could the two twelve-year-old rugby players who are currently throwing foam blocks at full pelt in the baby section where my 4 month is having a little roll around minding her own business, please kindly f off. After a few very obvious head shakes and tutting appear to make no difference. It’s then time to stand up with hands on hips (yes you have to turn into this parent, there is no option) looking for the parents of these juvenile delinquents, after catching eye contact and ensuring they know your cross, but still no f**ks from them are given. You then pick your child up and huff loudly muttering about the selfishness of people and your wasted £4.

• No jewellery, glasses or sharp objects in the play zones.

Translated to. If your delight wears glasses, mine does, a stylish pair of spiderman ones at that. Expect them not to remain intact throughout the play session.  Expect to return home with broken glasses that sit at a wonky angle on their face and a 2 hour wait in Specsavers.

Expect that if you are wearing any jewellery, especially bracelets, usually expensive Pandora ones, these too will not last the play session and you will spend the rest of your hour crawling around, no not after your child, after the 5 lost charms that are somewhere in the bottom of the pool.  Yak!!

• Ensure your child has used the toilet before entering the play zone.

Translated to – No child is going to want to visit a boring toilet when faced with an amazing, bright and colourful play structure. And this only ends in 2 ways – Your child comes toddling up to you with wet legs crying because they couldn’t get out of tunnel of doom fast enough, you then notice a hard lump in their pants and pray to god no Nuggets have fallen out on the way.

Anyone fancy a malteaster?

And the worst, your child comes up to you crying because their bum is wet, no fault of their own, they’ve happily sped down the slide unbeknown to them a puddle of piss lay at the bottom. But that’s fine, because you’ve packed spare clothes for your 5-year-old right? Oh…

Same applies for the rule of play

• Do not allow your child to enter the play zone if they are feeling unwell.

No we don’t want to be cleaning up the remainder of Mikey’s* up churned Easter egg he had for breakfast off our dear darlings new chinos, nor do we fancy dealing with 2 nights of puke patrol after they’ve caught the bloody bug!!

• Keep away from the slide exits and do not climb up the slides.

Translated to – all children are going to try this and your child will be either one of these two.

The teller – the one that is running back to you every 2 minutes giving you a running commentary on Fred’s* movements up the slide and how this isn’t fair and that he is a bully and no one is listening to you. You sigh and give up even attempting to scroll through Facebook and enjoy your cup of tea and nod in agreement with your child whilst squinting trying to see where they are pointing, not really listening you pat them on their back and say, “off you go just play somewhere else don’t play with him anymore, we are going soon so make the most of your time.”

Or the tryer- Fred* is your child and he’s already halfway to the top of the slide, shouting at the little girl who is trying to go down. You can hear parents muttering around you wondering who is responsible for this child. You will have to get up, leave that cup of tea and intervene.  “Fred what have I said about not listening you have one last chance, blow it and this will be the last soft play you’ll ever lay eyes on, do you understand. ” all eyes are now on you with 100s of disapproving glares that you dare raise your voice, so that’s this soft play centre crossed off your list.

Finally –

• No food or drink in the soft play zone and absolutely no consumption of alcohol.

So you have all this to deal with… and there is no alcohol to even soften the blow. *shudder*

DIY wedding shoes

So originally I bought these wedge sandals for my hen do shoes. When they came and I tried them on they were the comfortable shoes I have EVER worn. I was worried because some reviews stated they were narrow and since having surgery and metal plates fitted in my foot after a car accident, narrow shoes have never fit well. And the words from the surgeon will always ring in my ears. “The metal plate may rub through narrow shoes.” Shudder.
NEW WOMENS LADIES LOW MID HIGH HEEL STRAPPY WEDGES PEEP TOE SANDALS SHOES SIZE (UK 6, White Faux Leather)

So buying shoes off the internet has never been something I have done before. But because I am so impatient I wanted them quickly. (Even though my hen do is still 4 months away!)

So after trying these on I was made up bargain for just 16.99.

I then went on to order some shoes for the wedding. With a lot less success. They arrived late, 5 days late and were incredibly narrow and uncomfortable. The heel was also too low and would mean my wedding dress would need taking up at least 2 inches.

So whilst trying on my dress I tried the wedge sandals for size. And they were perfect. Gave the dress the perfect amount of fall at the front just skimming the floor. Who would have thought I would find my wedding shoes when I wasn’t looking.

The only problem was, I still loved them with my hen do outfit and wasn’t prepared to find anymore. Not when these were so comfortable. No I wanted two pairs of these shoes. One for the hen do and one for the wedding.

So I now needed to find a way to bling the pair I was wearing for the wedding, after all while they were super comfy they didn’t look very weddingy. (Not that much of the shoe can be seen under my gown.)

The wedges have gold coloured metal in several places which fitted really well with my hen do outfit. But I wanted this to be covered as much as possible for my wedding shoes and to look a little more bridal.

I had read about people using shoe clips to jazz up shoes and looked into these thinking they looked great. Though they were quite costly and I wasn’t sure they would work with this type of shoe. So I kept on searching and found 2 brooches from china. After a lot of measuring and contemplating many different styles. I know how some perfect blinged up wedges. For just £1.98!!

 

 

These would look brilliant re using brooches or jewellery you already have at home or that has sentimental value.

 

Note – You can still see the gold coloured metal under the brooch slightly and the fastening and top gold coloured slat have not been covered. If you are fussy about this then there are many ways you can cover them, using more brooches, ribbon or a varnish. Though I know these will not be seen on the day so I am not to worried about this little detail.

Share your wedding shoes!

Disclaimer.

This post may contain affiliate ads which shows where I have purchased items. If you purchase from these ads I may receive commission.

Mummies Surviving Easter – Day 5

this is my final installment of Mummies surviving Easter. And I am not following trend in this one giving you happy clappy artsy activities you can do or give you fancy recipes or places to visit. Reason been? I literally have done bugger all to report.

So this final post will be Mummies (and daddies and all carers to be PC) guide to surviving the final week of the holidays – a step by step guide.

Hope it helps save some of you learn to embrace the half term and helps you get over the dreaded mummy guilt that seems to follow everyone around even more through the long days of the holidays!

Step 1 – Try not to be too optimistic and be realistic

Okay so you start the holidays feeling great. Your child is with you for two full weeks and you have a list as long as your arm with great Easter activities, petting farms, theme parks, zoos, aquariums and shows that you can experience together. You have missed your little angel so much and this is the time you are going to show them just how much.

Right now take a deep breath, look at your list, another breath. Scrumple the list.

It is not realistic that you will manage an activity or outing every day of the holiday unless you have obtained some amazing super power, (if that is the case please let us know your secret) You may manage 1, 2 or maybe even 3 but I would definitely limit yourself to that. While you love your children dearly you do not need to do ‘things’ to prove that. It took me a long time to realise that. Been a working mum definitely leaves you feeling the mummy guilt stronger than ever and feeling like you need to ‘make it up to them’ somehow.

Be realistic – you can make memories in many ways they do not have to expensive, exhausting and Eastery at all.

Be realistic – Everywhere on your list will be jam-packed with other mummies all thinking the same thing. You will be queuing for hour with grumpy children.

Be realistic – If you are counting on sunshine for these activities, then don’t you can guarantee that our lovely British weather won’t let you down and will be as consistent as ever with rain whenever you plan to do something fun.

Be realistic – a picnic on the carpet, stuffing your faces with Easter eggs whilst watching Hop sounds much more enjoyable, easy and well Eastery.

Step 2 – Lie ins are a thing

And they make everyone much much happier. Okay so I have a 4 month baby and a 5-year-old so normally lie ins don’t really exist. Though with no school run to complete, baby to feed and change, breakfast to make, teeth to brush, book bag to check all before 8:30 the morning is always much much calmer in the holidays. So while everyone may well still be awake, encouraging staying in bed, or even in their own bedrooms is such a life changer to make for a happier mum.

So how do I manage this?

So Oscar is the easier one because he is able to listen and follow and instruction – usually…

At bedtime I set him a challenge like: I bet you can’t build a bat cave for your Lego men, it would be really cool, why don’t you try in the morning.

Hint this also gives him something to think about in bed on a night avoided the 10000 questions, such as why do we have walls?

If this fails I charge his tablet (don’t sharpen your pitch forks just yet) and allow him to watch kids you tube until it is a reasonable hour. While I don’t encourage endless hours of screen time I think this chill time in the morning is a god send.

We are quite blessed with Nalah as she is happy to lay down with a toy and (usually – touch wood 20 million times) will lay and kick her legs screaming in delight without adult interaction for around 20 minutes. (God help me when she can crawl though),

That been said we are entering the dreaded teething stage, so she is not so happy playing with a toy if that said toy does not enter her mouth and soothe her gums as she hoped so at the moment she is a lot more grumpier.

So my magic trick that earns me a little time in bed is simply making all her toys super accessible. I attatch the links onto everything – see my instagram for pics! Ok so I didn’t promise you could sleep for longer but I can lay in bed, scroll Facebook and take silly selfies at my leisure for a little while longer.

Step 3 – TV is not the devil.

It is actually very factual and informative, Oscar has told me so many things he has learnt from the telly and roped me into watching a documentary about palm Sunday, wish was very dull (but managed to get a bit more of that lie in during it) but he was ecstatic to learn more and link it to the work they’re doing at school.

Nalah is fascinated by the colours on the T.V and when I pop into the kitchen to put the washer on I can hear Oscar teaching Nalah the names of characters and talk about the programmes, it really is the cutest.

If you can put up with Mr bloody Tumble on your T.V for a while, then enjoy the peace and let him take over for a while, you deserve a little break!

Step 4 – Meal times don’t exist.

So strictly speaking you can’t actually starve your children, but routines are so much more slacker during the holidays that you can relax, breakfast doesn’t have to be eaten a lightening speed, sometimes it can last until lunch and then its brunch. So effectively your only having to prepare 2 meals. rather than 3. You know when your child is hungry (I am sure they will let you know like mine does!) and you know that they are not starving. Grazing is the key to holiday mealtime success. When Oscar goes to Grandma and Grandad’s house they offer him a 4 course breakfast which he absolutely loves, they then don’t have to feed him again till tea time! After his 1000s of raisins, apples, bananas, porridges, corn flakes and crumpets!

And with all these Easter eggs we have accumulated no one is going to go hungry in our house for a very long time!

Step 5 – Try and escape.

Not the children, you’re not going to be able to do that unless you have very generous family nearby. No but try to escape the house for a little while. Take a trip to the park, to the pond to feed the ducks, even just a walk around your local supermarket, poundshop, or my favorite Pets at Home – (It is defiantly a great free alternative the zoo or a petting farm!)

Not only will you feel like you have done something with the day and feel a bit like supermum for a short while but it is also a opportunity to learn new things with the kids, talk to them about things you wouldn’t usually talk to them about and engage them in things you don’t usually do together – because lets face it you wouldn’t usually drag them around Tesco for a pint of milk midweek, you would definitely wait for them to be in school or nursery to do tasks like this. But you may be surprised that this free, simple day-to-day task might – just might be okay!

You will feel so much better for escaping the house and not having to look at yet another load of baby sick covered clothes piled up near the washer.

Good look Happy holidays – and don’t worry just 6 more days to go!

Mummies surviving Easter – day 4

Its day 4 guys.. your getting there!!

So far my Easter activity suggestions have all been arty or bakey. If the idea of getting paints, glue, feathers, glitter, flour, icing sugar and rice crispies all over your house, increases your heart rate, makes your palms sweaty and gets you reaching for a large glass of wine.

Then fear not, here is a mess free, simple and cheap lazy mums activity!

The Egg hunt!

Pack of 3 kinder eggs less than £2 in Aldi.

This definatly doesnt have to be limited to Easter. We quite often play pirates and have used this game to enhance it.

Its best played if your child is completely not expecting it, so when Oscar was busy drawing a picture I snuck upstairs and hit treats around the house. If your looking for a completely free activity these do not have to cost, we have played it before using pirate treausre and other finds in Oscar’s bedroom.

We have also used fruit items as the treasure if you are worried that their chocolate intake this Easter has hit its limit.

Happy with his orange prize, map in hand

Oscar is fascinated by maps of all sorts

 

First sneakily hide your treasures around the house, I usually do 3/4 but you can do as many or few as your house allows. Usually starting with a small prize such as small chocolate coin or a small pack of raisins.

We then move onto a larger item as we go along, these could include an orange, a cadburys cream egg or a kinder surprise egg. If you don’t want to use food items an idea of a larger price could be a small toy from the pound shop.

Now all the treasure is hidden it is time to draw the map. This bit is a little tricky and took me 3 attempts to get it easy to follow.  Draw a plan of your house downstairs and upstairs. Any rooms that are off limits put a cross through on your map.  You can either draw arrows, footsteps or simple lines of where they need to go. For the older children you could even just write how many steps they need to take. I then draw a cross where the treasure is numbering 1-3 (so they dont end up with the big prize first).

We have so much fun playing this, it also gives me a 10 minute breather while he is busy searching!!

Oscar has also made me maps to follow and hidden his toys around the house. Which was also fun, though his hiding places weren’t very unique!! 😂

Enjoy happy hunting!!

 

Mummies Surviving Easter- day 3

So feeling a bit of a fraud now because I am just down to the one child now, who is currently drooling, crying in the midst of a teething nightmare. Oscar has gone on a mini holiday with my parents.

With this been the case I obviously havent been able to do any Oscar friendly Easter activities today. But I did promise regular Easter updates and ideas so here is something we enjoyed making last year.

If you’re anything like our household you have an abundance of cardboard Toilet rolls ready to throw out.

We went through a stage when Oscar would literally cry if we hadn’t saved them for his ‘art table’. After encouragement and clearing out ten tons of telescopes, microphones and maracas (that one was quite inventive) from.old cardboarf tubes, we managed to whittle the tubes down to just one every few months to paint or use for a crafty activity. Problem is, I can never remember to throw them out!

So we had our toilet tube and had just received a letter from nursery requesting Oscar join in the Easter competition of designing an egg. Now Oscar is really competative but I guess he gets that from me because we were not just settling for a simple Easter egg on paper design. Oh no we were going all out on this one.

In it to win it! I guess at the time I felt pretty guilty about always been at work so wanted to make the time we had together really fun, and what better way to remember our fun day by winning, right?

We used bubble wrap for the rainbow egg design. Oscar painted strips one by one printing them onto the paper. Which I then cut into an egg shape.

For the chick, Oscar painted the toilet tube yellow and I cut out wing shapes, big enough to secure with tape at the back. Oscar then painted these and then once this was dry added the feathers. This was the fun part!

We the finished off with googly eyes and an orange cardboard  beak.

Happy to report it was Easter Egg winner worthy! Oscar was chuffed!

What do you think?

Mummies surviving Easter – day 2

So as promised here is day 2 of surving Easter holidays with simple easy and cheap fun.

This activity cost –

£0.90 for 3x bars of cheap milk chocolate

£1.00 for a pack of mini eggs – enough for 2 on each bun (when making 12) and 4 left over to nibble in whilst busy baking!!

£1.25 for own brand crispy rice

£2.25 for the bun cases which Carl bought and I was literally bowled over by the price but turns out they are the silicone ones so will hopefully last us for a long time!

We had marshmallows and golden syrup already in – plus these are kind of optional anyway.

This activity took 10 minutes, but could take a lot longer depending how long you want to drag it out for, for example breaking uo the chocolate could have taken much longer if I hadn’t helped.

Placing the bun cases in the tray could have also been extended- read how below.

But we were rushing a bit because Grandad was on his way. So from packet to tummies after a rest in the fridge took 40 minutes.

Smashing the chocolate into smaller pieces using a hammer!!

(Watch children using a hammer and encourage small gentle taps – wrap the chocolate bars in a tea towel to prevent damage to the wrapper and germs getting in!)

Breaking the chocolate into smaller pieces by hand

Making patterns using the coloured bun cases. Oscar chose to do a repeated pattern that he has learnt about at school.

Other learning opportunities using bun cases for young children could be:

Colour recognition

Counting

Sorting by colour

Melted chocolate after the first minute

We melted the chocolate in the microwave as I was looking for the quickest option, though a bain marie could also be used.

I powered for 1 minute then stirred and then another minute and it had melted to perfect consistancy.

In goes the crispies.

We poured some in slowly and mixed until covered in chocolate then poured some more in guessing the correct amount. It was approx 2 cereal bowls full. We then added mini marshmallows and 1 tablespoon of golden syrup.

Making a mess

Time to put the mixture in the cases, this bit gets extra messy even more so when just I did it!!

Then add the mini eggs

And they are ready to chill in the fridge before its time to serve!!

Lick the bowl while you wait whilst teaching your 5 year old how to wash up! 😉

Perfect chocolate snack for easter.

Ready for the fridge

 

Ready to eat!