Read This If You Are Thinking About Adding A Dog To Your Family

Read This If You Are Thinking About Adding A Dog To Your Family

*collaborative post* 

Do you have kids and a dog? We would love to add a furry friend to our family but we want to wait until Tilly is a bit older, maybe when she starts school full time. If you are thinking of introducing a dog to your family, today’s guest post has lots of advice for you.

View Post

20 easy ways to save money on the weekly food shop

20 easy ways to save money on the weekly food shop

*sponsored post*

My family have been living off one pay packet a month for over 2 years now and over that time I have had to learn a thing or two about living frugally. Life is expensive and I love finding ways to ease the financial pinch, no one likes that scary moment in the shops when you don’t know if your card is going to be declined or not. One of the best and simplest ways we have been able to keep to our strict monthly budget is by saving a big chunk of money on our weekly food shop. There are so many ways you can cut the cost of your food shopping: buying supermarket own brands, making your own bread in a bread maker (you can even make your own cakes and treats in certain bread makers!) and swapping certain foods for cheaper alternatives, to name but just a few.

Today I am sharing all my tips and tricks on how to slash not just pennies but serious cash off your family food shop. I see some people spending hundreds of pounds on food each week and, if you shop smart, it really doesn’t have to cost you a small fortune to feed your family healthy and nutritious food every day.

Here is my full list of 20 tried and tested easy ways you can save money on the weekly food shop, leaving you with more cash to do some of the things you love (or pay the boring bills with!). View Post

Cycling in the New Forest – Our child free weekend

Cycling in the New Forest – Our child free weekend

On the weekend Oli and I had our first night away since Alex was born last October. Obviously, we have had nights away from home since becoming a family of four but the kids have always been with us. Last Saturday was the first time we have had a whole night child free since our babymoon in Reading last June and it was so needed. If you read my blog regularly you may have seen my post the other week about how I have been desperate for a break from parenting these last couple of months. To make the most of our freedom, Oli and I decided to do something we are nowhere near brave enough to do with our 3 year old and baby – we spent the day cycling in the New Forest and decided to drag out our child free time even more by camping just half an hour from our house. View Post

24 hours in Rome with a toddler and a baby – 11 things to see and do

24 hours in Rome with a toddler and a baby – 11 things to see and do

Last month we went on holiday to Italy and I think it is safe to say whilst there I discovered my new favourite city. Rome is the capital of Italy (also now my new favourite country)  and it is an amazing place to visit. I really felt like everywhere I looked there was a famous landmark to admire, a piece of history to get lost in or a building that looked almost as old as time itself. I am in love with Rome, I already want to go back and explore some more and delve even further into the ancient city’s history. We spent 10 days in Umbria in Italy and for our last day we travelled over 2 hours to Rome, there was no way we could go to Italy and not explore it’s famous capital – the home of the actual Romans none the less. Now, 24 hours is not a very long time at all, especially when about 10 of those was spent sleeping/getting up in the hotel, but we managed to cram quite a lot in to our day trip to Rome and that was with a 3 year old and a baby in tow. So, if you ever find yourself with 24 hours to spare whilst on a family holiday in Italy, here are 11 things to see and do when in Rome (sorry, couldn’t resist) View Post

What happens when your baby gets bronchiolitis? – Alex’s first stay in hospital

What happens when your baby gets bronchiolitis? – Alex’s first stay in hospital

So, last week was pretty eventful. Alex reached a new milestone, on Monday night he had his first ever stay on a children’s ward. After being poorly with a cough and cold for what feels like weeks, a trip to the GP on Monday afternoon saw Alex be immediately referred to the paediatric department of our local hospital. After his initial examination by the doctor it was confirmed he was suffering from bronchiolitis. This is a very common illness in babies, especially in winter, and I thought it may be beneficial to share what symptoms to look out for and what may happen if your baby is admitted to hospital for treatment. View Post

A big family Christmas and baby’s first

A big family Christmas and baby’s first

It’s over! After all that present buying, wrapping and food shopping, Christmas has been and gone for another year. I hope you all had a lovely time whatever you got up to and your children had a wonderfully magical day too. This year I haven’t really felt in the Christmas spirit at all, I think having a 2 month old baby and still being a bit hormonal and sleep deprived may have something to do with it. I am a bit disappointed I wasn’t totally in the festive mood as it was Alex’s first Christmas and was also the first year Leo really got excited about Santa coming. Anyway, I still had a lovely day with my in laws and spending the couple days after Christmas with my family was fun. This was the first year Oli and I have had family over for Christmas and it went surprisingly well, no food got burnt and everyone had a nice time (or so they said!). I thought it would be a nice idea to create a post full of photos from our first big family Christmas, our first one as a family of four and Alex’s first one ever. View Post

Pumpkin picking fun at Pickwell Farm

Pumpkin picking fun at Pickwell Farm

Don’t you just love autumn? The crunchy leaves, the beautiful colours, an excuse to drink hot chocolate whilst wearing your favourite jumper and scarf? One of the reasons I love autumn so much is because I love Halloween and what better way is there to get the whole family into the spooky spirit than to go pumpkin picking. After reading about Pickwell Farm over on the fabulous Dear Mummy blog and knowing how much Leo loves going to pick your own fields, on Saturday I knew exactly how we would be spending our morning and we all had a great time searching for the perfect pumpkin. View Post

Center Parcs Longleat Forest – Our photo diary

Center Parcs Longleat Forest – Our photo diary

In my family it has become a sort of tradition for us to visit Center Parcs every September for my Mum’s birthday. Each year various family members all make their way to Longleat Forest and we spend a long weekend together surrounded by beautiful trees, riding bikes and relaxing in the spa. We decided to spend a week there this year instead and we all had a lovely time. Oli, Leo and I really tried to make the most of it as it was the last time we would be going away before we become a family of 4 in just a few weeks time. Instead of writing all about our trip (as there would be enough words for about 6 posts!), I have decided to share our holiday with you in this photo diary. I hope you enjoy looking at our holiday snaps and if you’ve not been to Center Parcs before then I really can’t recommend it enough as a great UK family holiday.

View Post

Animal fun at Kington Small Breeds Farm

Animal fun at Kington Small Breeds Farm

I honestly don’t think there is a better day out for a toddler than visiting somewhere with animals. They get to see the real life versions of all the animals from their books, they can stroke them’ hear them and if they are lucky they even get the opportunity to hold and feed them. A day out with animals is a full on sensory experience for your little one. Zoos are great fun but can be a bit pricey and I am not ashamed to say sometimes I class a trip to a garden centre to look at the fish and the rabbits as a fun day out. Leo loves animals and a family trip to a farm always brings a smile to his face. Last weekend my mother in law and I took Leo to Kington Small Breeds Farm and Owl centre , we had such a fabulous day and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. View Post

Our day out at Paultons Park and Peppa Pig World

Our day out at Paultons Park and Peppa Pig World

It was Leo’s third birthday a couple of weeks ago and to celebrate a group us headed off to Paultons Park in Romsey for a day full of pig and dinosaur fun. We have been living only 15 minutes away from Peppa Pig World for nearly a year and I honestly can’t believe it has taken us so long to go. Like most kids his age, Leo is obsessed with Peppa Pig and I’m sure spending a day completely immersed in a world based on his favourite show is like some kind of dream come true. Paultons Park is not just about Peppa Pig World though, there are loads of rides to suit all ages and the new Lost Kingdom part of the park is a must for any dinosaur fan. For anyone planning a trip to Paultons Park you can find out all about it here and my thoughts on it as a family friendly day out. Spoiler alert – we LOVED it. View Post

The day my toddler saved me

The day my toddler saved me

Ok, I understand that title sounds a bit dramatic so let me clarify a few things before we continue. This post is not about a near death experience nor is it about how having a baby saved me from a life I was unhappy with or anything like that. This post is about how, last week, Leo rescued me from the shower and saved me from having a full on panic attack/meltdown. Now that’s cleared up, let me tell you all about my little hero. View Post

Blogs, books, films and fun – Edition 1

Blogs, books, films and fun – Edition 1

Once upon a time, in a blog land not too far away, I used to write weekly happy posts. The updates were titled A week of smiles and the posts were all about the different things that had made me happy over the last 7 days. Unfortunately, due to being disorganised and the fact these posts usually got 0 comments (!), the series fizzled out and I stopped writing them. Obviously, this is something I now regret as the A week of Smiles posts are the ones I enjoy looking back on the most. With this in mind I have decided to start a monthly round up post with a bit more to it, a new place for me to write down all the fun things me and mine have got up to as well as sharing some love for blogs I have loved reading and books and films I have enjoyed over the past month too. So without further ado, welcome to..

Blogs, books, films and fun – Edition 1.

View Post

Our perfect babymoon in Reading

Our perfect babymoon in Reading

Baby boy’s arrival is getting closer and closer.  There are only 12 weeks to go before he comes into the world and turns our lives upside down and the chance of Oli and I getting any time alone is going to be slim. When my lovely sister told me she was going to have Leo for the weekend and she had lined up a surprise for us, I was so excited. A whole weekend child free and a chance for Oli and I to remember what it’s like to just be husband and wife, who knew when we would get this opportunity again. My sister had planned the perfect weekend for us and also she had lots of fun lined up for Leo too so I didn’t feel guilty about leaving him at all. Here is what we got up to on our babymoon last weekend… View Post

Christmas time 2015

Hello everyone!

I am back after having a mini blogging break over Christmas. It has been so nice not thinking about writing posts, blog stats, comments, link ups and all the other things that come hand in hand with being a blogger and instead just spending lots of quality time with my wonderful family. I am happy to be back sat at my laptop now though, with a head full of ideas and a fresh mind waiting to see what 2016 holds.

Anyway, it is not new year yet so lets talk about Christmas. What did you all get up to? Did you spend lots of time with family and did your children have a magical day? Did you eat way too much chocolate and drink too much wine? I hope so. I know I definitely did. Whatever you did I hope you had a great time.

Christmas with young children can be a bit hit or miss, can’t it? Unfortunately, this year with Leo I would say the latter better describes our day. He seemed vaguely interested while opening his presents, didn’t touch his Christmas dinner and basically just wanted to watch his new Thomas the Tank DVD all day. We did have a nice time though, Oli and I got slightly merry and Leo ate loads of chocolate but he just didn’t seem that excited, maybe next year when he is 3 he will be a bit more enthusiastic.

Here are some photo’s from Christmas and the past few days..

Unwrapping one of his many presents.

Putting the plate of snacks out ready for Santa and the reindeer.
Our festive fireplace.
Oli, his dinner and 2 of his many glasses of wine.
Cheeky boy stealing the sprinkles off the cake.
So..much..Thomas!
Oli got a Bb8. I give it another week before Leo or Jessy destroy it.
On boxing day we went for a walk in The New Forest. After staying in all day on Christmas and eating our body weight in cheese and crackers, a nice long walk was exactly what we needed – Leo even tried to go for a swim!

There were loads of ponies wandering around.
Very festive in The New Forest, there was holly everywhere.
Splashing!
Such a pretty place.
Because, sometimes, jumping in puddles just isn’t enough.
We have spent the last couple days with my parents which has been lovely. Mum and I went shopping in Southampton the other day while Oli and Dad took Leo to Marwell Zoo. In the evenings we, can you guess, drank wine, ate way too much food and played board games. Family is definitely what makes Christmas time so special and I was so happy my parents came to stay, despite my poor Dad being really ill.

The only picture from the boys day at the zoo.
Food, drink, family and board games – The recipe for a perfect, christmassy evening.
My beautiful Mum.
Yesterday Leo and I went on a train ride to Reading to spend the day with my older sister. Although I found the whole toddler on a train scenario really quite stressful, it was lovely to spend the day with my sister just having lunch (so much food!!) and catching up.

At least one of us could relax and enjoy the train ride.
He slept all through lunch, this never happens! Gave me and my sister a chance to have a good old chat though so that was nice.
I am now looking forward to New Years Eve tomorrow night. We don’t have a babysitter but, after a busy 2015, it will be nice to just relax with Oli in the evening, finish off the last of the Christmas food and drink and say hello to 2016.

I would love to hear what you all got up to over Christmas. Was the day as good and you had hoped it would be? Any of you lucky enough to have a babysitter and got big plans for tomorrow night? Have fun whatever you are up to.

A Cornish Mum

Living with grief

I miss my Nan.
Ever since she passed away in May, I haven’t stopped missing her. With Christmas approaching and what would have been her 91st birthday 5 days after that, Nan is very much in my mind at the moment.

This will be our first Christmas without her. Although in recent years I haven’t always seen Nan on Christmas day, I always see her at some point during the festive period. It feels strange, this year I will be buying one less Christmas gift and there is going to be one less face in all the family photographs. What a lovely, kind face it was as well.
Loosing someone we love is awful. The grief that comes with loss is also pretty damn horrible. I know that over time, the pain of loosing a loved one slowly fades, it never truly goes though. This post is called Living with guilt, as opposed to Dealing with Grief, as I don’t think grief can be dealt with. 
To deal with something, suggests it can be fixed. A leaky tap or a flickering light can be fixed. Unfortunately, grief is not a problem so easily resolved. Grief is more like, say, a benign, inoperable tumour. It’s not life threatening but it’s not going anywhere either. There may be days where you don’t think about it all, but then there are also the days where it is all you can think about. It’s always there, somewhere beneath the surface, but you just learn to live with it. 
A day will come when I will be able to look at photos of Nan and not feel sad. Or all the little things that remind me of her, like fridge magnets and Rich Tea biscuits, will make me smile instead of leaving me trying to fight back tears.
Christmas is a time for family. This year a very special member of our family won’t be there. Though they may not be there in person, I know that both my Nan and my Granddad will be with us in some way. I am going to try and enjoy every second of Christmas this year, I  know my Nan wouldn’t want it any other way.
Is this your first Christmas without a loved one too? I hope that you manage to enjoy your day. What are your thoughts on grief? 

A Cornish Mum

Post Comment Love