10 reasons why July was awesome

So after taking a break in June, I am looking back at what we did this month.  July saw us have a mini heatwave. However I am currently sat here debating whether to put the heating on, whilst its chucking it down outside. Ah the great British weather eh.

1) Hubby and I went to our first outdoor concert at our local forest. We were so lucky with the weather, and enjoyed watching Tom Odell whilst sipping wine on camping chairs. Perfect night out.

2) The kids and I went and cheered on hubby and our friends as they did a local downhill run. This is the second time husband has signed up, and he was thrilled to have come 12th out of around 250 runners.

3) Before the madness of the summer holidays started, I caught up with as many friends as I could. From drinking coffee in Starbucks to lunch at a local farm shop. It was very much needed before the long 6 weeks started.

4) I enjoyed some much needed ‘mum and son’ time. We headed to Nandos first and then watched Ant Man at the cinema. Whilst Marvel films are usually not my cup of tea, I really enjoyed this film. Son is definitely pushing my boundaries, making me watch different genres of films.

5) Whilst on holiday we enjoyed a day in Nottingham. We shopped and then spent a few hours in the National Video Game Arcade, which the boys loved.

6) We spent 2 hours at the tweens parents evening seeing all of his teachers. It was nice to have it confirmed that he is an intelligent and capable lad, and he seems well liked at school.

7) I spent a lovely day with my mum. We had been through a tough time with losing my nan, and it was nice to spend the day shopping, lunching and chatting.

8) Having lots of family time exploring the forest whilst we were on holiday. We did bike rides, walks and watching the kids play together.

9) Daughter had an awesome time going to Blackpool Pleasure Beach with her friend. It was her friends 9th birthday, and she invited Katie for a sleepover and then Blackpool the following day. She was VERY tired when I picked her up.

10) Spending time in the hot tub on holiday. Whether it was playing charades with the kids, or enjoying the peace and quiet by myself.

Linking up with Jenny from Lets Talk Mommy for Share with me

My Sunday Photo 26th July 2015

This is the first time I have linked up with onedad3girls for the Sunday Photo. My iPhone is filled with memories of last week when we were away. This particular photo is where we all spent a great deal of our time.

This is the place where we chatted away as a family

This is the place where we played charades with the kids late into the night

This is the place where I relaxed for an hour all by myself

This is the place where I drank coffee in the morning and wine in the evening

This is the place where the birds and butterflies would fly past

This is the place where we giggled as a family

This is the place my husband and I talked into the early hours

This is the place where I felt the most relaxed and happy

 

The Summer Holidays – Bring it on

In Corfu during the summer holidays last year

The summer holidays are so close now we can almost touch them. Sports days have been ticked off, drama plays done and reports sent home. The kids shoes are just about hanging on in, and the tween is sporting a new cropped trouser look for school. The pristine white school shirts now resemble a dirty grey colour, with some added pen marks thrown in. I can’t wait to bin it all come Friday at 3.15pm.

Its funny how I used to dread the summer holidays when they were younger. But as with everything associated with parenting, its a learning curve. I now seize the holidays with both hands, and look forward to no school runs for a start. As my 2 are older, I can get away with lying in bed till 9am 10am, and even sneaking off for an afternoon nap. Naughty but oh so nice.

We have lots planned for the summer.  From a week long trip to Scotland, to a night away Glamping 10 minutes from home. I always try and spread out our breaks away, so we always have something to look forward to.

I will be working and thankfully my mum is on hand to keep an eye on the kids. At 9 and 12 they don’t really need as much ‘babysitting’ now. Just as long as they are fed throughout the day they should be fine ! Also these holidays will see me become a mum of a teenager. A BLOODY TEENAGER. Though to be fair he has been practising for this role for the past few years.

I just need to print out my spreadsheet showing where we are on which days (YES I really am this sad…. I am an admin girl), do a HUGE online food shop (makes note to hide half of it so it doesn’t get eaten in the first week) and most importantly order the sun. Oh and gin……. no school holiday will be complete without copious amounts of gin.

Good luck everybody…… we can do this xx

Cheers

I am linking up with the lovely ladies over at www.mummyofboygirltwins.com and www.stoppingattwo.co.uk for the Sunday Stars Linky

Making the right decision – Time to say goodbye

I have no idea whether I have made the right decision.

The decision for my children to attend their first funeral.

A few days after my nan died, people started asking whether I was going to take the children to her funeral.

And at that point I really did not know.

But then the children started talking to me about the funeral.

And as they are 9 and 12, I let them make their own decision.

And they both decided they wanted to be present, to say goodbye to ‘older nanny’

They will be involved in the funeral, by carrying flowers from her favourite shop Marks and Spencer.

I can’t protect them for ever. Death is a part of life.

And tomorrow we will go and say goodbye to ‘older nanny’

A most wonderful woman who lived to the fantastic age of 90.

Not so awesome June

At the start of the year I decided I would do a post which looked back at 10 awesome things we had done for that month. After losing my nan in June. it just feels wrong to write about the awesome things we have done this month. Don’t get me wrong we have had some lovely family time during June. I have enjoyed time with friends, and Katie has been away on cub camp. But June will be remembered as the month I lost my dear nan, so forgive me for not writing up my usual blog post.

 

Losing my nan

I have written this post in my head about 10 times, but when it comes to putting the words down its so much harder. My nan passed away in the early hours of Monday. She was the incredible age of 90, and in the past few years she had been diagnosed with cancer. Up until her late eighties she had never really suffered with ill health, and she put this down to teaching yoga. She taught yoga years before it became the trendy exercise for the yummy mummies to do. Infact the last time we took the kids to visit ‘older nanny’ earlier this year, she was sat up in bed showing the kids her yoga moves. She was 90 !!! I think if I attempted this, I would have surely passed out.

She managed to stay in her own home until late last year, when she moved into a nursing home. I know it was such a difficult time for her, leaving the house she had lived in for over 50 years. The nursing home was a wonderful place, filled with lovely staff who all had a soft spot for my nan. On Sunday I went and saw my nan for the final time. She was asleep, and I stayed with her for over 2 hours. She never woke up again and she died peacefully in her sleep during the night. For years my nan had always said she wanted to slip away in her sleep, and I am glad she got her wish.

She was an incredibly strong lady who had been a cook in the women’s air force, been a labour councillor and set up a social club from scratch. She was hardworking and opinionated. I think I have a little of her opinionated  nature in me, just ask the husband !

I was her only grandchild and I am proud to have called her my nan for 41 years.

Love this picture of 4 generations that was taken a few years ago

I am linking up with the lovely Lorraine from theuncheshirewife.com for Talk about it Tuesday

Dress Dad Competition

My daughter is a typical girl who loves to dress up. What she loves more than dressing up is seeing her parents wearing ‘funny clothes’. She fell about laughing when the husband and I went to a recent fancy dress party. So when I heard about a ‘Dress Dad Competition’ I knew it would be right up her street. I told her she could have free rein to use any clothes in the house. I was surprised when she headed off to find the Halloween fancy dress box. I was told to leave the room whilst she ‘made up’ daddy. I had visions of all the other dads in the competition dressed up in smart suits, and here is our entry

Our entry for the Dress Dad competition

Yes she had dressed daddy as a ‘mad scientist’ which is quite ironic as he is actually a scientist (and no doubt mad at times when he has deadlines to meet). We uploaded our photo to instagram using the #DressDadComp to be in with a chance of winning £100 of shopping vouchers. The closing date for entries is 20th June 2015, and then voting begins on the 21st to the 28th June 2015.

So get the kids dressing the dads tomorrow, and don’t forget to upload it to instagram with the #DressDadComp.  Have fun doing it and good luck.

You can find out more about the competition, run by Fashion Beans, from www.dressdadcompetition.co.uk

Spending the weekend with the tween

Its not often we get the chance to spend a large amount of time with just 1 child, but last weekend it was just us and the tween. Katie was off to cub camp for 2 nights, which meant we only had to parent 1 child for the whole weekend. A weekend of not stepping in to break up arguments/play fighting. Ah bliss. Of course we would miss the little lady, but I was really looking forward to spending time with just the tween. As is the natural progression to becoming a teenager, I would know that one day he would roll his eyes at spending time with ‘the parents’. So I was going to grab this opportunity with both hands.

The little lady off to cub camp

Prior to the weekend we didn’t make any plans and figured we would go with whatever Morgan wanted to do. Friday went totally pear shaped, thanks to a jack knifed lorry on the M56, which saw me stuck on the motorway for nearly 3 hours. This resulted in Katie being dropped off to camp 2 hours late. The evening was sponsored by gin and a Sainsburys curry.

We all had a lazy Saturday morning around the house, and then we went to a nearby village pub for lunch. It was lovely to sit there chatting away to the tween. There were actual words being spoken and not the usual grunts. I saw glimpses of how much he is growing up at the moment, and I can’t believe in 2 months he will be a teenager. After a leisurely 2 hours in the pub, we headed to Cheshire Oaks. Morgan wanted some hooded tops and I came away with a bag full of Molton Brown goodies for £13.00. How I love outlet shopping.

You know its a ‘posh’ village pub when they serve you sugar lumps

From there we called into our friends for a coffee and a catch up. Morgan happily sat there chatting away as we reminisced about our holiday we all went on last year. Upon leaving our friends we decided to head to the cinema to watch Jurassic World. I knew Morgan was dying to see it, and after purchasing the tickets en route, we had 10 minutes before the film started. We were soon in our seats and watching the film. It was nice that Morgan wanted to sit in the middle of us, and not on another row/cinema ! We got back home just after 9pm after going out at 12pm. It had been a brilliant day with Morgan, and I could tell he had enjoyed spending time with us without his sister. We ended the day sitting in our PJs eating McDonalds.

On the Sunday we mainly chilled out around the house. At 3.30pm it was time to pick the little lady up from cub camp. She was understandably tired, grumpy and smelling of camp fire. Nothing a good bath and an early night would fix. It was nice to get my little family back together, but equally it had been lovely to spend the whole weekend with the tween. And not a grunt or a slammed door in sight !

No picture of the tween so you will have to make do with me

 

 

 

10 reasons why May was awesome

May is one of my favourite months of the year. I met my husband in May, and married him 2 years later also in May. We usually get a glimpse of the warmer weather this month, but this May has been a total disappointment. I say this as I am sat here with the heating ON ! So here are some of the things we have been up to this month

1) At the start of the month I went to my first blogging conference. Even though I was a mixture of nerves and excitement, I thoroughly enjoyed the day. I met lots of awesome and friendly bloggers, ate cake, drank Prosecco, and came home with the most amazing goody bags.

2) I am an ambassador for the Crocky Trail in Chester, and we went on our first visit this month. Its such a fantastic place, and the kids (and us) had some back to basics fun. We have an annual pass so I know we will be visiting again very soon.

3) The tween had an operation on his toe. Now whilst this is not awesome, the way he handled being knocked out, and the after effects of the operation were awesome. He never complained of any pain, and he made me proud that he has not milked it (totally not like me).

4) Katie got Star of the Week and we were invited in for the celebration assembly. She received it for ‘Good manners and being a good role model to the rest of her class’.

5) We celebrated 14 years of marriage on the 12th May. 14 years !!!! I can’t believe how quick the time has gone. He is still my soul mate, and we had a night of shopping and a meal at The Trafford Centre to celebrate. And I got a gorgeous new charm for my Pandora.

12th May 2001

6) We decided to join David Lloyd on a family membership. I am loving getting back into swimming 3 times a week, and the kids have really been enjoying the kids clubs they run. I think its going to be a great investment into our health and family time.

7) I enjoyed a night at the theatre with my best friend watching Dirty Dusting. It was a really funny play, and had Chrissy Rock in it who is fantastic.

8) Whilst half term has been fairly quiet (due to tweens toe still being bandaged), we have had some lovely family time just chilling out at home. We also managed a night out at TGI Fridays which was fun.

9) Tomorrow the boys are off to Comic and Film Con in Manchester. The tween has been so excited since I purchased the tickets, and I know they will have a great time.

10) I have worked really hard on my blog this month. I have been getting involved in more linkys, and have been busy establishing relationships with brands and PR people. My stats have been the best since last June, and whilst I know stats are not overly important, I am quietly pleased with my progress this month.

So onwards to June where we have a night away planned, Katie on her cub camp weekend and hubby on a stag night.

You can catch up on previous months here

10 reasons why January was awesome

10 reasons why February was awesome

10 reasons why March was awesome

10 reasons why April was awesome 

 

The A to Z of me

I have been tagged by the lovely Lyn who blogs at twoteenagerstwocats to write an A-Z post all about me. Be warned I am writing this after a few glasses of Prosecco, so the answers might be a little fuzzy !

A) I am an Administration Assistant in a children’s nursery and work 10 hours a week

B) I started blogging in September 2013 to write about our holidays and days out

C) I LOVE Centerparcs. I have been to Whinfell 12 times, and I was lucky to visit Woburn last May before it opened.

D) My favourite Disney park is The Magic Kingdom in Florida

E) Esher is my best friend and we have been friends for 33 years, since we were 8

F) Florida is one of our favourite holiday destinations. We visited in 2011, 2012 and 2013. We WILL return one day

G) I am lucky to have had some fantastic girlie weekends away, and look forward to September for our next one

H) I am married to Hywel and he has been my husband for 14 years

I) I am good at pretending to do the ironing, when instead I am having a sneaky nap

J) Jack Daniels and Coke is my favourite drink, closely followed by Gin and Prosecco

K) Katie is my gorgeous daughter who is 9 going on 19

L) I have a huge phobia of lightning, especially when it strikes in the middle of the night

M) Morgan is my handsome son who is very nearly a teenager. I have built a shed in the garden to live in during the teenage years !

N) Neatness, everything has to be neat and tidy otherwise I break into a cold sweat

O) I have a fascination with anything that has owls on it

P) I got on the property ladder at the age of 20, buying a new build one bedroom flat for £31,000

Q) Peace and Quiet, I love it but don’t get enough of it having 2 kids

R) I love Radley bags and have a large small collection

S) I was a stay at home mum for 7 years after having Katie. I loved every second of it

T) I love Twitter, its my favourite social media

U) I am usually on time, apart from when I am getting ready to go out with the hubby

V) The Vamps was the last concert I went to

W) I can’t whistle. No matter how hard I try I just can’t do it *stamps feet*

X) I hate the XFactor but Katie makes us watch it every year

Y) I am 41 years old

Z) zzzzzzzzz is my favourite time of the day

Would Lorraine who blogs at the uncheshirewife fancy a go ?