Jennifer's Little World

Listography - Top 5 things that make me happy

2012-02-23T20:01:00.001Z

The subject for the Listography at Kate Takes 5 this week is Top 5 things that make me happy. It goes without saying that my family and friends are top of my list, but here are five other things that make me happy:

1 - Buttons. I love buttons. I love storing them in a tin, sorting them out, examining them and letting them slip through my fingers.

2 - The feeling you get when you have just finished exercising. You made the effort, you got through it, you are experiencing a natural high, and now you can relax for a day or two and eat something calorific.

3 - Putting the last piece into a jigsaw, especially a large complicated one. I don't have as much time for jigsaws as I used to, and if I were to attempt one it wouldn't last long before being trodden on/dribbled on/pieces going missing, but putting that last piece in is so incredibly satisfying.

4 - Ticking things off a to-do list, especially things which I've been putting off for a while.

5 - Receiving a comment on my blog. No, I didn't write that just to get comments, it really does make my day!

Buttons!

That's my list, head over to Kate Takes 5 to see what makes other people happy.

Review: CubbyKit

2012-02-22T12:37:00.000Z

When I saw that CubbyKit were asking on Twitter for bloggers to review their products, I was very interested. Regular readers of my blog will know that I love to write about the arts and crafts that I get up to with my son, and I thought that the concept of the CubbyKit sounded fantastic. Basically a CubbyKit is a box which arrives monthly in the post addressed to your child and contains three themed and age-appropriate craft activities as well as a selection of other crafty bits and pieces. The themes in the kit are also supplemented by extra activity suggestions on the CubbyKit blog.

We received the CubbyKit which is aimed at children aged 3-4. There is also a box for older children aged 5-6. This month's kit was all about space. Harry was really excited when the box arrived, especially as it was addressed to him, and he couldn't wait to see what was inside. I had to hold him back while I went through to check what was inside and sort out the bits and pieces for each activity. In the order in which we tried them, the three activities were:

3D Rocket Picture

This activity was easily Harry's favourite. Essentially two cardboard rocket templates to decorate and some black paper and glitter to make a suitable background to stick them on to. Plenty of glue and glitter meant that Harry was very happy.

CubbyKit 3D Rocket Picture

Mushy Martians

The kit contained all the ingredients to make your own playdough martians and a few bits to decorate your creation. Harry enjoyed this activity, but I wasn't so sure about it. The ingredients were supplied in containers which had a tendency to leak. The instructions stated to add a cup of water but I added just a little at a time and I felt that you didn't need nearly as much as a cup. I also had to add a lot of extra food colouring to make the dough green, and I thought that there could have been a few more things to decorate the playdough with.

CubbyKit Mushy Martians

Constellations Wall Chart

Harry is only just 3, and I was probably right in thinking that this activity would go way above his head, but that didn't mean that he didn't enjoy it. I think that we were missing the instructions, but it was easy enough to work out. The idea is to join up the numbered stars to outline the constellations, and although I had to do this for him, he was interested to watch me and understood what I was doing. Then we got out the glue again to stick them onto the background and decorate. Harry loved the stickers and the tube of glitter glue, and it looked really good once he'd finished it. I'll be holding on to it for when he's older, and next time we're out at night I'll point out the stars to him and remind him of the chart.

CubbyKit Constellations Wall Chart

The kit also included a few extra craft materials. There wasn't a lot, but with the left over glue and glitter you could come up with some new activities or embellish the ones that you've already created.

I think that the concept for the CubbyKit is great. I loved that absolutely everything for the activities was included - even scissors and a glue spreader. Harry enjoyed seeing what was inside the box and trying out some activities which were a lot more educational and structured that some of the things that I do with him. I liked the fact that each month the kit will be based around a different topic, which you can build upon in other activities that you do with your child. I also liked the leaflets to accompany each activity which contained interesting facts and suggestions for other activities, for example relevant websites to visit.

I did feel that for the price the kit could have contained a few more of some of the materials for the activities, for example extra stickers for the pictures or more pipe cleaners for the martians. I also thought that the extra materials provided in addition to the materials for the activities were a bit limited.

A monthly subscription to CubbyKit costs £19.99 per month, or £199.99 for the year, giving you two free boxes.

I received a CubbyKit to review

Guest Post from beep beep designs - Fitting in crafting time with small children

2012-02-21T07:54:00.001Z

Today I have my first guest post written by my sister Anna, who blogs about crafty goodness and family life at beep beep designs. Anna has two young daughters, and yet still manages an impressive creative output, so I asked her to write a post about how she manages to get everything done. Here is what she has to say:

Jen asked me to write this post about how I fit in crafting around my small children (Laura is three and a half; Emily is 18 months) as, and I quote, 'you seem to be very good at it'. I'm not sure I do anything very different from anyone else, I just love to craft so I always make sure I fit it in when I can! I mainly knit and crochet, and I've recently started doing a bit of watercolour painting and doodling.

The first, most important thing, is that I have been blessed with good sleepers, and I know once we pack them into bed we won't hear from them until morning. This gives me two or three hours an evening. I do of course have other things to do, housework to catch up on, blogs to read and write, cloakrooms to paint, but I can usually spend at least some of that time on my own projects. The evenings are when I do things that need concentration, like writing patterns, or casting on a sock and working the first few rows. Some things you do need to know that you won't be interrupted.

But once I've set things up in the evening, then I can pick up my knitting and work on it whenever I have five minutes. At the moment I have sock knitting in the living room, a crochet cushion cover under construction in the kitchen/dining room, and my painting stuff is near the kitchen table. If Laura is at pre-school and Emily is playing happily, I can knit a few rows. If Emily is napping and Laura wants to paint or stick at the kitchen table, then I can get out my painting and we work sitting opposite each other. Usually she gets bored before I do and I have to tear myself away but it works for a little while.

The other advantage of your children seeing you craft is of course that they want to be like you! Laura loves to sit and 'knit', to cut and stick, to draw and paint, to thread beads. Hopefully in the future we will have many happy crafting sessions together. But for now I fit things in when I can.

Image credit - Anna at beep beep designs

Some lovely tips, thanks Anna! I think that the answer is that you can always find the time to do the things that you want to, and that multi-tasking is key! You can visit Anna at beep beep designs, or else follow her on Twitter @beepbeepdesigns. You could try asking her how she managed to produce good sleepers, because it certainly isn't genetic!

Sleep training clock update

2012-02-20T12:13:00.003Z

Long ago in my early days of blogging, I posted about our newly purchased sleep training clock and some tips that worked for us. When I wrote the post, we had only been using one for a few weeks, and I was astonished at how well it was working. Having been suffering 5.30am (and earlier) starts to the day for a good couple of years it was incredible.

I promised to come back with an update, and so here it is. This little clock has totally transformed our lives. We worked it up gradually to 7am starts, then last week we tried a cheeky weekend lie-in of 7.15am, and it worked! Harry comes bursting into our room as soon as the sun is up on the clock, and I believe that he is actually lying quietly in bed waiting for it. Of course we have a Mia now too, who is generally up throughout the night, but it would be so much harder if Harry was still getting up early.

If you are suffering with early mornings, I really can't recommend one of these enough. I never thought I would say it, but Harry is a brilliant sleeper now, and it gives me hope that one day we'll get to the stage where we are all sleeping through the night!

12 things

2012-02-18T14:08:00.000Z

I've been tagged by Trouble Doubled! This is what I have to do (pay attention please, it's rather complicated):

1) You must post the rules

2) Post 12 fun facts about yourself in the blog post

3) Answer the questions the tagger has set for you in their post and then create 12 new questions for the fellow bloggers you plan to tag

4) Tag 12 people and link to them on your blog

5) Let them know you tagged them

So here we go:

1) Done

2) 12 fun facts about myself:

1) When I set the volume level on an electronic device, it must be set to an even number.
2) My hair needs a cut.
3) I'd rather walk for a mile than parallel park the car.
4) My mum cleans my kitchen more often than I do.
5) I like making lists.
6) I could easily live without a television but I'd struggle without a computer.
7) I don't iron.
8) I won't kill a spider but I'm happy for someone else (i.e. husband) to kill one for me.
9) I'm always early for things.
10) My thumb bends backwards so I can't do a 'thumbs up' properly.
11) I need glasses but I don't like to wear them around the house or for anything close up like reading or using the computer. As a result, when I do put them on I suddenly notice how dusty everything is...
12) I usually forget to wear my wedding ring.

3) My answers to the questions:

1) Do you like being tagged in memes? - Yes I do, it give me something to think about. I'm not very good about doing the tagging myself though.

2) Ant or Dec? - Ant.

3) Winx Club is an abhorrence to post-feminist thought and should be banned from our TV screens. Discuss. - I have no idea what this is, I think my family must be the wrong demographic!

4) What is the greatest TV theme tune in the history of TV? - Red Dwarf ("It's cold outside, there's no kind of atmosphere...")

5) If you had to pimp your kids out for cash, would they be child models, a cute all-singing all-dancing supergroup, or up chimneys? - Child models, although not sure they've got the right temperament.They are probably small enough to go up chimneys.

6) Will there ever be a boy born that can swim faster than a shark? - Definitely something worth thinking about.

7) If you could only ever eat one chocolate bar for the rest of your life, which would it be? - Twix. A perfect combination of biscuit, caramel and chocolate.

8) What would be your specialist subject on Mastermind? - The life and times of Peppa Pig.

9) Can you play a musical instrument? - Yes, I can coax a tune from the violin, the piano, the recorder and many children's toys

10) If you were a character in a novel, who would you be? - Hermione Granger.

11) Who let the dogs out? Who, who, who, who? - I have no idea but now have that song going round and round my head!

12) What is your favourite song? - Got to be something by Pulp, probably Common People.

Here are 12 questions to be answered:

1) What is the opening line to your favourite novel?
2) Which film makes you cry?
3) Twitter or Facebook?
4) Do you hoover under the sofa?
5) If you were to come back as an animal, what would it be?
6) If you had to move to another country, where would you go?
7) Marmite - love it or hate it?
8) Disney or Dreamworks?
9) What is your favourite holiday destination?
10) What is your earliest memory?
11) Would you wear your pajamas to the supermarket?
12) What would you say to your 16 year old self?

4) I hereby tag (sorry if you've already been tagged, and please only take part if you want to!):

Another London Mummy
Beep Beep
Bitstobuy
Crazy Cat Man
An Edifying Experience
Living It Little
Mental Mum's Little World
Mum of All Trades
The Accidental Mogul
The Handmade Mum
We Are Wild Things
Wife and Mother and Student

On gardening

2012-02-17T20:39:00.000Z

I am not a gardener. I would like to be, but I find it enough to keep up with what is inside the house, let alone what is outside. Luckily I have parents who are keen gardeners, and are very good about helping us out (I suspect that they can't sit still in our house knowing that the garden is in such a state). Since we moved we have a garden which is thankfully very low maintenance, but we have also moved to an area where people are very proud of their front gardens and so we need to be careful not to let the side down.

The weather is starting to get a little warmer, and as I knew that we would be inside for most of the day, this morning I got Harry out to help me in the front garden while Mia had her morning nap. There are a lot of dead leaves on the grass, and my gardener (Dad) has told me that they need to be cleared, so I got us a carrier bag each and set us to raking and collecting up the leaves. I also tidied up some of the rubbish that had got caught under the hedge, including bits of balloon from Harry's birthday (a month ago...whoops).

I can't remember if he picked up three or four leaves before he
got bored

Harry lost interest in the task at hand fairly quickly, but he did tolerate staying out there with me playing which was nice, as last year I wouldn't have managed anything. Even if all he did do was use his trucks to rearrange the gravel all over the front path, at least he got some fresh air.

Our previous garden was very overgrown, and gardening there seemed to consist of hacking things back before the house was engulfed by the over enthusiastic bushes and plants. We have a bit more of a blank slate now, so perhaps this is my opportunity to actually do some gardening for the enjoyment of it. I even have a (currently rather sparse) board on Pinterest for it!

Cardboard box car house

2012-02-16T14:30:00.000Z

I have fond memories from primary school of making little rooms inside shoe boxes. I can't remember the context, but I loved decorating the inside of a box with pictures cut from magazines, adding in little pieces of furniture and so on. I'm looking forward to doing this someday with Harry and Mia, but I think that they are a bit young for this at the moment.

I have however noticed that Harry has been playing a lot lately with a Mack truck from Cars which we were lucky enough to have handed down to us recently. It's like a little house for Lightning McQueen, with a bed, sink, little rollers and brushes and so on. So when a cardboard box arrived in our house this week I thought that I would turn it into a house for his cars.

Cardboard box car house. The green arrows were Christmas trees
from a Christmas craft pack!

I made a covered section at one end, marked out to form a car park on the top. There is an internal ramp, and a larger ramp up the outside, which folds over for storage. There is a small door at the front and the back, and Harry has stuck pictures of cars from magazines to the outside.

That would probably have been enough, but I couldn't stop there. I used two smaller boxes to make a car wash and drying area in the corner, then I added some pictures for the walls, a mirror from tin foil, a bed and some cushions. In the middle is a little table which they can drive up to, and the cars also have a hot tub and rug.

Inside the car house. Note the table with bowl and food picture
cut from a magazine, the bubblewrap/food container lid
hot tub and rug made from an old sock.

This was a fun project because Harry was able to get involved with the sticking and suggesting things that he might like to add in. I think that he was a little bemused though ("cars don't need chairs, they don't have bottoms!") but he indulged me, and it has had a lot of play!

Valentine's Day felt heart

2012-02-14T09:36:00.000Z

Happy Valentine's Day! I made this little felt heart the other day. I love crafting with felt but have found that things sew up very quickly and then I don't know what to do with them, so I added a bit more embroidery to try and slow down a bit. I still don't know what to do with it though! I need to find somewhere to hang it.

Embroidered felt heart

The ribbon at the top was an afterthought when I saw it on the table. I received a new pack of felt for Christmas, and the ribbon had been used to tie it. It is red with little white hearts on it, very appropriate.

I've recently been buying (or rather, having it bought for me as gifts) my felt from Paper and String and they are a lovely company which I can fully recommend if you are looking to buy felt, they have a lovely selection of colours. No affiliation, just a happy customer!

Listography - Mugs

2012-02-13T13:13:00.000Z

The Listography subject this week at Kate Takes 5 is Mugs. Now neither I nor my husband actually drink from mugs, as we prefer cold drinks, so we don't have that many. I just counted eight in the cupboard and two with pens in. This seems too many most of the time, except when we have visitors and we have to keep washing them up. Because we don't tend to use them, with the exception of one they are all mugs that we have been given, and they all have a story behind them. So in rough chronological order of acquisition, here are my five favourite mugs:

Natural History Museum mug - I received this mug as a prize in Secondary School after a trip to the Natural History Museum. I can't remember what I did to win it, but I do remember that I received Second Prize and was a little miffed not to come first. I save this for guests to whom I wish to appear cultured.

German Diddle mug - The German text reads "Habe meine Sachen gepackt und komme Dich jetzt bald besuchen!" which I translate roughly as "I've packed my things and now I'm coming to visit!". Diddle is a little cartoon mouse who is very popular in Germany, and the mug was given to me by my German penfriend when she visited on the school German exchange. I always expect guests to ask me to translate it, but no-one ever does.

Tübingen Christmas Market mug - I spent a year in Germany as part of my degree. I loved being there around Christmas time, it was fascinating to spend the build up to Christmas in a different country. The Tübingen Christmas Market wasn't one of the biggest, but it was a lovely town to live in and the mug has scenes from the town painted on it. They sell the mugs with Glühwein in at the Christmas Market, and you pay a small deposit which you get back when you return the mug, or you can keep the mug as a souvenir.

Best Brother on the Planet mug - this is my husband's mug, as a rough guess I would say that it was a gift from his sister. It is very useful because we use it to measure out pasta, it's just the right size.

PMT mug - It reads "PMT. Be afraid! Be very afraid!" This was a gift from my Mum. I can't think why she chose this one?

So there we have it, a tour of my mug cabinet! Make sure to stop by to see everyone else's mugs!

Exercising when you have small children

2012-02-12T19:40:00.000Z

I posted the other day about how pleased I was to be getting back into running, and then it all went pear shaped when I fell down the stairs last week. Luckily I wasn't too badly hurt (and even more luckily, I didn't drop the baby) but for a time I had a rather sore back and was struggling to walk very far, let alone run. Now I need to take it easy for a little while and build it back up again, because one thing that I've learned over the last week (apart from how to hold on to the banister) is that I don't want to be in that sort of pain permanently. The trouble is that once you get out of the habit it's very difficult to get started again.

I find it difficult exercising now that I have small children for two reasons. The main reason is sleep deprivation, and the fact that in the evenings a warm comfy bed is far more inviting than going out in the cold to the gym. The other reason is that life suddenly becomes more unpredictable when you have to fit things in around little people that always come first, and of course they can't just be left to fend for themselves while you pop to the gym for an hour.

I recently received some new running shoes which are fab, and I'm looking forward to giving them some use on the treadmill. I've been wearing my old pair for ages which were pretty worn out, and it's amazing the difference that some new shoes can make. So I've put together some tips which I've found useful when trying to fit in exercise around my babies, in the hope that not only might they help others, but that they will also prove motivating to me!

Most importantly, I've found that the key way to keep an exercise routine going is to schedule exercise in the same way that you schedule anything else - whether it's going to work, going to a weekly toddler group or going to the supermarket. Some things that also work for me:

Be flexible. Keep a gym bag packed and ready so that if you spot an opportunity to get out you can take it. For example if you find that it's 6am and everyone is awake, see if you can fit in some exercise before it's time for anyone or everyone to leave for work.
If you have a baby that is happy to sit in the pushchair then get out for a walk. If you are serious about exercise consider purchasing a pushchair that allows you to run behind it. We have one and we've had some use out of it, although you do ideally need somewhere flat and safe to run (we used to go along the seafront). This can also be a way of getting the baby to nap.
If you don't have a partner or babysitters then most gyms do offer a creche facility, but it's probably easier to stock up on some exercise DVDs for when little ones are in bed.
Don't force yourself to exercise if you really should be going to bed...but if you do manage to get some done you should in theory sleep better (when you have the chance to sleep) and therefore have more energy the next day!

Now I just need to follow my own advice!

Disclaimer - I received some running shoes in exchange for a link within my post

The PinAddicts Pinterest Challenge - Cardboard play biscuits

2012-02-11T10:58:00.000Z

I'm a huge fan of Pinterest and I've been using it for a few months now. You can find me on Pinterest here. It has really inspired me, both with crafts to try for myself and things to do with the little ones. Probably like many users of the site, I spend more time pinning and dreaming that I do creating, so when I found out about the Pinterest Challenge hosted by Life, As I know it I was really inspired to look again at all the things that I've pinned and make a start on some of the activities.

The idea is to choose something from your boards to create, and then link up your projects on the first Monday of every month. There is even a prize, although I think that the biggest reward is the sense of achievement! I found out about the challenge a bit late for this month so I've started with an easy one.

Making cardboard biscuits was a great activity for occupying Harry and I for a short while on a cold, winter afternoon. I love making play food, and Harry loves playing with it, so these cardboard play biscuits from This and that about kids... looked easy and fun. It was not even just about the finished product, as we also pretended that we were making real biscuits, even putting them on baking trays into the 'oven' (airing cupboard) to dry.

Here is our effort, nice and sparkly and rather festive looking!

Cardboard play biscuits

Make sure to stop by the Pinterest Challenge Linky for this month to see everyone else's entries, and I'm planning to find something a little more challenging for next month!

Sunflower mosaic coaster

2012-02-10T08:58:00.000Z

I used to be a bit snobby about pre-made craft kits. I thought that I ought to be able to come up with my own ideas rather than follow someone else's. But although they can be expensive, a kit is a lot easier, because everything is included and you don't end up with too many leftovers. They are great for a craft that you just want to try out once without having to purchase a lot of supplies and equipment.

Anyway I was in Hobbycraft recently (a rare treat) and I found a little mosaic coaster kit in the sale. It was very cheap so I thought that I'd give it a go. It was really quick to do and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. There didn't seem to be any way of cutting the (very tiny) tiles, so it's a bit blocky, but I think that you can still see that it's a sunflower. You may notice that I like mosaics and sunflowers!

Sunflower mosaic coaster

There was also a massive selection of older children's craft kits which I loved looking at. It won't be long before we can start working our way through them!

The never ending cross stitch sampler

2012-02-09T08:24:00.002Z

I love doing cross stitch, but although I also love having finished pieces on display, I think that you can have too much of a good thing. Additionally, people I know that would appreciate the time and effort put into a cross stitched gift are also more than capable of producing a far superior piece (and indeed have). So for me it is all about the process.

With this in mind, when a few years ago I asked for a sampler kit for Christmas - the Three Things sampler by Moira Blackburn, I deliberately chose a nice big one. Moira Blackburn's designs are influenced by historic samplers, and I really like the inscription on this piece:

Three things there are that will never come back

The arrow shot forth on its destined track

The appointed hour that could not wait, and
The helpful word that was spoken too late.

Not that I am anywhere close to actually stitching that bit yet! I started with the bottom half and I'm doing pretty well, but the top half of the fabric is a big blank. From time to time I have a big burst of activity, but then I worry that I'm going too quickly and I don't want to finish it, because then I would have to start another one!

Moira Blackburn Three Things work in progress

I'm forever blowing bubbles...

2012-02-08T12:27:00.000Z

I've often heard Mummy bloggers being criticised for just writing about potty training. The truth is that it is such a big thing when you have little ones - when it goes well you want to shout out to the world about it, when it doesn't you are desperate for help, advice and reassurance.

I've only briefly mentioned our potty training adventure, and from reading that you might think that we have long had it all sorted. The reality has been a little different. Although we've been pretty much sorted with the Number 1s for a good while, Harry has refused to do Number 2s anywhere but in the night time nappy or pants. Obviously this hasn't been much fun for any of us, and while we've been lucky in the sense that it generally only happens once a day, it's not a pleasant thing to have to deal with. I've tried not to make a big thing of it - I don't want to make the issue any worse than it is, and from what I've seen online and from talking to friends it's a very common problem.

However a few days ago we had a bit of a breakthrough, thanks to a tip that I read online, so I'm sharing it here in case anyone reading is in the same situation. When you know that they are due to do one - get them to sit on the potty and blow bubbles! It didn't work the first time, but after a couple of false starts we've not had an accident for several days, which is amazing! Of course we've followed up with plenty of praise and tangible rewards.

The only problem is that now we now have a situation where Harry thinks that the only way to produce something in the potty is to blow bubbles...but quite frankly I prefer that to the alternative!

Hair

2012-02-07T08:44:00.000Z

I've never been very good with hair. My hair has looked pretty much the same my whole life, just long and straight. I swim regularly and also I can't be bothered with a long hair routine every morning, so I just brush it and tie it back in a pony tail. It's never been good hair for styling, it's very thin, doesn't hold any kind of a curl and falls down if I try and pin it up in any way. I do like wearing it loose, but it grows so fast that it quickly looks messy. Also I have a bit of an issue with going to the hairdressers (i.e. I don't) so I have loads of split ends.

This does not mean that I haven't been desperate to start doing something with Mia's hair. Luckily she was born with a fair bit, so I haven't had to wait too long to begin. I bought her a selection of clips and ties for Christmas, but apart from a few half-hearted attempts with clips I've not been brave enough to try. But I spotted some very well groomed little girls at baby group last week and that inspired me to try a pony tail.

My baby looks so grown up!

It's not the best effort in the world, and was only achieved after a lot of wriggling, squirming and complaining, so I'm just hoping that it gets easier with practice!

My Mum's patchwork quilt

2012-02-06T09:51:00.000Z

When I was little my parents had a lovely hexagon patchwork quilt on their bed that my Mum had made. It was lovely, but many years of use meant that it had become a bit battered, until it finally fell apart. I wanted to keep it, but it really wasn't worth it, and so a few years ago my Mum made me a gorgeous patchwork quilt of my own. Over the years I have been storing it safely until I had somewhere to put it out and display it, taking it out from time to time to admire it.

Now we finally have a proper guest bedroom, which also doubles as a peaceful room away from the rest of the house. We have a proper bed up there, and at last a place where I can spread out the quilt as it should be.

The rather bright green walls were not our choice!

It makes me really happy to know that it is there, and I keep finding myself going upstairs to visit it.

I've always loved patchwork, and I would love to think that I could make something like this myself, but I don't have the skill, patience or fabric stash. For Christmas I chose a gift for myself which is a small kit to make a few patchwork squares which sew on to a little drawstring bag. It's Cathedral Window patchwork like the quilt and I'm hoping to make a start on it soon. Although it's very small, it will still be a challenge for me!

Snow day

2012-02-05T20:14:00.000Z

Last night, I tucked Harry up in bed as the snow fell softly outside, and we promised him that today we would build a snowman. First thing this morning he came running in, and asked if we could go outside and play in the snow. Unfortunately we had to break the news to him that after the brief evening snowfall it had then gone on to rain for the rest of the night, and we had no snow. His poor, sad little face. So we called up my parents who live half an hour up the road, found that they had received a good amount of snow overnight, and invited ourselves up there for the morning. We were lucky that they had received just the right amount of snow to make it a safe journey up, yet enough snow for Harry to play in happily.

He was desperate to bring along his digger and dumptruck and was absorbed with them for ages. The snow was light enough for him to shovel around and he was tipping it from one to the other.

We brought Mia out briefly for a quick go on the sledge, Harry held on to her tightly as they were pulled around the garden!

Harry admired his snowman, although Daddy and Grandad put in most of the effort!

We don't tend to get a lot of snow down here on the coast, so that's probably it for the year. I'm glad that Harry had the chance for a good play!

Listography - Top 5 Phrases that Drive Me Crazy

2012-02-04T22:34:00.000Z

The theme for the Listography at Kate Takes 5 this week is the top 5 phrases that drive me crazy.

1 - "Can I play a game on the computer, Mummy? Please, please, please?" We have recently introduced Harry to the games on the CBeebies website. It's great because it entertains him for ages. But normally when he is happily occupied with something I sneak off to use the computer. What am I supposed to do now, housework?

2 - "Oh no!", when spoken by a three year old, this means that something's up, and it's not good.

3 - "I don't mean to be rude, but...." Yes you do.

4 - "It's not rocket science". Always sounds sarcastic.

5 - "All of our operators are busy at the moment". You've managed to find a quiet five minutes to make a phone call, but by the time someone gets around to answering someone needs attention and you have to hang up!

Now grit your teeth and pop over to see what drives everyone else crazy!

Arranging my bookshelves

2012-02-03T12:17:00.001Z

My husband’s preferred decorating style tends towards the minimalistic and uncluttered. He keeps very few things of sentimental value and finds it easy to let go of personal mementoes. On the other hand, I am very much a documenter of memories and experiences, and although I by no means keep everything I do like to hold onto some souvenirs and keepsakes. Although I also like an uncluttered look, I do enjoy having things around which express my personality.

My bookcases are a place where I can store both my books, and also keep and display a few of the things which remind me of different phases of my life. I used to own a lot of books, but with the purchase of a Kindle I have reduced their number drastically. Books have always been rather fluid possessions of mine, and I find it easy to pass them along once I’ve finished them.

When sorting out my bookshelves in the new house I was under strict instructions as to what was allowed to be out on display, and I’m very happy with the arrangement that I’ve come up with. I don’t claim to be an interior designer, but one of my Pinterest boards is bookshelves and I have noticed that the bookshelves that I like to look at are those which contain a variety of different items, with varying heights, shapes and positioning of the books and items.

They are two Ikea Billy bookcases. Along the top and scattered about are a lot of old books which have been passed down from my parents and Grandparents on both sides. The Enid Blyton books in particular have been read over and over. I don’t have a huge amount of fiction left, mainly those books which are either not yet available for the Kindle or copies that I particularly like. Next to the travel books is a big basket which contains my collection of leaflets and brochures of places that I’ve visited. I like looking through these from time to time.

Reference books are along the bottom, along with some teenage albums from the 70’s and 80’s – a bit before my time as a teenager but I love reading through them and seeing how teenage life has changed over time. The strange sculpture on the bottom left shelf is the only piece of 3D art remaining from my Art GCSE. The tin postbox contains old and foreign coins and one of the bowls contains pretty marbles and stones which Harry likes playing with. I am also loving my button tin which I received as a Christmas present. I don’t have a massive button collection but the box came with some pretty ones and I’m looking forward to building it up (for the children to play with of course).

There are several photos of me and my husband. We don’t have many printed out of the children, in fact I don’t think that there are any of Mia yet…probably something that should be remedied! Most of the storage on the shelves is also from Ikea. Ikea really can’t be beaten for storage, and everything fits everything else perfectly. The ornaments on these shelves are the only ones that I have really as this is the only place that I display things.

These bookshelves contain all the books that I own, and looking at the picture I can see how few I do actually have! I’ve realised that most of these books have been kept for either reference or sentimental reasons, as I do most of my reading electronically. I must admit thought that the top right hand shelf has a hidden section behind it, with a whole shelf of older child/teenage books. My excuse is that I’m saving them to pass onto Harry and Mia!

Maybe the contents are a bit scruffy and battered, but I do love my bookshelves.

Listography - Top 5 Websites

2012-02-01T22:00:00.000Z

This week the theme for the Listography hosted by Kate Takes 5 is Top 5 Websites - the websites that you click into daily without even thinking about it. Here's my (startlingly unoriginal!) list:

1 - BBC News. I have this set as the homepage on the PC and I check it pretty regularly on my phone too. As well as keeping up with the headlines I also like the Magazine and Features sections. It moves so fast that there is always something new to read.

2 - Google Reader. This is where I keep up with the blogs that I read regularly. If I find a new blog and enjoy a few of the posts I'll subscribe to it here. I access it mostly through my mobile phone, which is great because I can keep up to date with it around the house, but it does mean that I can't comment on my favourite blogs, so I try to keep up with it on the main PC too.

3 - Mumsnet Bloggers Network. This is where I go to find posts by bloggers that I dip into and posts from new bloggers. I also like to pop into the discussion forums. I usually stick to the Bloggers forum but occasionally I venture into the rest of the forums. Sometimes it's reassuring to see that you're not alone in facing certain issues and worries.

4 - Blogger. I post most days so I'm here most days too. Sometimes I'm on a roll and write a few posts at once, other days I dig out a post that I've already written to read through and publish. I'm a bit OCD with my blog posts and I do read them over and over in preview mode before I post them. Hopefully this means that I catch most spelling and grammar mistakes! I also tend to waffle a bit so it helps to have a fresh view on a post, particularly a longer one, and go back and be a bit more ruthless with the editing.

5 - Twitter. I don't use Twitter as much as I would like, but I do follow a fair number of people and I like to check in to read if not to tweet. I enjoy finding interesting links to follow and nosing at what people are chatting about. I don't really have many people that I chat to regularly, but I spot someone asking a question that I can help with I try to answer or share an experience. Sometimes there is loads going on, other times nothing inspires me. I tweet some of my blog posts but by no means all of them, only the ones that I think might be more interesting to others. I also like the challenge of trying to write something entertaining or interesting in 140 characters!

Be sure to pop over and see the websites that other people frequent!

Mazzard Farm Holiday Cottages, Ottery St Mary, Devon

2012-02-01T08:50:00.000Z

We've just got back from a lovely little break at Mazzard Farm, near Ottery St Mary in Devon. We visited in January, so it was pretty cold, but we still had a great time. Harry was just 3 and Mia 8 months. I've put some notes together in case anyone reading this was thinking about a stay there.

The Cottage

We stayed in Medlar Cottage, which sleeps 4 and is one of six cottages available. The cottage was lovely, nice and warm with everything that we needed. We were also able to borrow some of the bulkier baby equipment like a steriliser, baby monitor, potty and changing mat, so that saved us some space in the car.

Our favourite thing about Medlar Cottage was that it had large double doors leading out onto the main courtyard. The courtyard is closed to vehicles and we were more than happy to let Harry run around outside while we were able to keep an eye on him from inside (it was pretty cold!).

The courtyard, our cottage was on the far right

Around the farm

Mazzard Farm isn't a working farm (although there are plenty in the area). The cottages are situated around a central courtyard (they don't all have direct access to the courtyard but it's only a short walk around), with gardens, an orchard and a large area of woodland to explore. There are some chickens and guinea pigs to feed and plenty of space to play outside with two play areas. On one side of the courtyard was a garage which was full of outdoor toys and ride-ons. Harry was particularly taken with a digger in the garage, and he spent a lot of time trying to transfer pinecones from the floor into the trailer of a tractor, then driving the tractor around outside. There were also toys and DVDs which you could borrow to take back to the cottage, which we appreciated very much on a couple of rainy afternoons when Mia was asleep and Harry couldn't play outside. The phone reception wasn't good, but the free wi-fi meant that we weren't completely cut off, quite sad how we've become so used to our internet access now that it would be hard to do without it!

Playing with the digger, Harry's favourite part of the holiday

Our last day was a bit rainy, but we hadn't really had chance to explore the outside areas so I stuck Harry into his wellies and we went out for a walk. Sometimes it's nice for us to spend some time together, just the two of us. We followed a little path out into the woods. Harry is a reluctant walker, so I wasn't sure how far we would get, but as usual, when he wants to walk he can go for quite a distance and we had a lovely long walk. At the bottom of the hill we found a choice of bridges across a small stream. I let Harry choose, and luckily he chose the one with the netting around the edges! We've not really walked out much in the forest before with him because of the difficulties in taking pushchairs about, so this is definitely something to do with him again when not encumbered by a baby.

Exploring in the woods

Local area attractions that we enjoyed

We tend to take holidays out of season, and unfortunately as we have discovered in the past many attractions do close or have limited opening in the winter. There were a couple of places that we would have liked to visit which were not open. However one thing about Mazzard Farm was that there were so many things to do in the local area that if we had visited in peak season I think that we would have been spoiled for choice!

We enjoyed a morning at Escot, which is open all year round. It is really an outdoor attraction, so best saved for a dry day, although there is a large indoor play barn for little ones. We were also lucky enough with the weather to be able to spend some time on Sidmouth Beach. The tide was in so it wasn't as sandy as we had hoped, but we are used to pebbly beaches down here and Harry was perfectly happy. It was also nice to walk along the seafront with the pushchair and Harry on his scooter.

We visited the Donkey Sanctuary, which was very well run with plenty of opportunities to meet the donkeys. A couple of rainy hours were spent at the Playdome indoor soft play centre, which both little ones enjoyed very much.

I'd fully recomment Mazzard Farm for a family holiday. For lots more information about their cottages and the facilities, do see their excellent website.

The Donkey Sanctuary, Sidmouth

2012-01-29T15:17:00.000Z

Today we spent a nice morning at the Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth. It's free to visit, although donations are welcomed. There were several different enclosures where you could see the donkeys, and you could get really close to them. It was pushchair friendly, which was good as Harry can be a bit of a reluctant walker.

As well as seeing the donkeys we also enjoyed the pushchair accessible maze, Ram took Harry and I took Mia so that we could see who found the way to the centre and out first. Of course, the girls won!

Escot Gardens, Ottery St Mary, Devon

2012-01-28T20:36:00.000Z

We're currently having a short break at Mazzard Farm in Devon, and having a great time. Today the weather was cold but sunny, and so we went to Escot Gardens, Maze and Forest Adventure which is just down the road.

It was a cold day, but luckily even though it was out of season everything was still open. You can take a trail through the woods, which passes lots of interesting small attractions. The first place that we stopped was the Maze, which we quickly realised was a serious affair. I waited outside with Mia while Ram ventured in with Harry, but he soon found out that bridges were involved, which wasn't going to work with a pushchair. He hadn't got far, but I still had to climb up onto one of the bridges and direct him out. Probably a good job that I did, it wasn't a good place to get stuck for hours with a whingy toddler!

A bit further around we encountered the drop slide, which I was very excited about, having seen some video of it on the website. I must admit that after climbing all the way to the top, when I found myself sitting on a narrow ledge above a steep vertical drop, I very nearly came straight back down again, but I resisted the fact that every fibre of my being was screaming at me not to, and launched myself straight down. Well it was fantastic, and I couldn't wait to go back for another go (and this time I even kept my eyes open!). I probably could have stayed on it all day if I didn't have the family to attend to!

Yep, that drop is vertical, and a lot more scary in real life

Next we found a big outdoor play area for Harry. Sometimes it surprises me that even though he's quite small and not particularly athletic, he loves climbing on things and can manage pretty well, even on quite high or narrow equipment. Most of the play area was really aimed at older children, but with my help we had a pretty good go at it.

Mia was getting a bit crotchety by this point, so after we'd had a good look around the other outdoor areas we went to the indoor play barn to give her a break from the pushchair. The play barn was a good size, with plenty of equipment for all ages. I know that not all parents are fans, but I've always found soft play areas great for Harry and he loves them. There were a few seats around the edge and vending machines for drinks and snacks. We had brought our own food, and it was a nice warm place to get some lunch inside the little ones.

Another rare photo with me in

Mia is growing up so fast, and every day she is interacting with us all, and especially Harry, more and more. They had a great time going down the slide together and he was delighted that she was joining in with something that he was doing.

We had a great time at Escot and would fully recommend it. We spent a morning there, but on a warmer day or with older children you could easily spend longer. I did feel that it was a little pricey for out of season, when there are no special events on and your activities are limited by the weather, but if you live nearby there are season tickets available which would work out to be really good value.

Baby led weaning?

2012-01-26T21:14:00.000Z

So after my triumphant blogging about how successfully I was weaning Mia with the purees it happened - she began to refuse the spoon, at almost exactly the same age that Harry did. There is an interesting difference though. Harry not only refused to be spoon-fed, he was just entirely disinterested in food. Dinner became a running buffet - puree, yogurt, cheese, breadsticks, rice cakes, vegetable sticks, pieces of fruit...only for him to just watch each item fall as he dropped it over the side of his highchair. A health visitor marvelled that she had never seen a baby so interested in food, yet refuse to actually eat anything. Of course, with hindsight he was obviously eating all that he needed, but when it's your first you can't help but worry.

Mia is different. Although she refused a spoonful of puree from me, when I dropped some onto her highchair tray by accident, she stuck her fingers in to it, and then stuffed them into her mouth. With some trepidation, I put some more down on the tray, and watched in amazement as she gobbled down the puree that she had refused moments before. A loaded spoon put down on her tray was grabbed and stuffed into her mouth. I couldn't believe it.

I remember with Harry finding this Baby Led Weaning website. It's a great site, with loads of info. But on the front page there is this summary "You just hand them the food in a suitably-sized piece and if they like it they eat it and if they don’t they won’t. (But they do, really they do… check out the baby with the pork chop)." The problem that I had with Harry was that he really didn't, and this meant that I never felt comfortable with it, because it felt to me as though he was eating nothing. Now I know that all babies are different, and having seen Mia going for it I can appreciate that it was just that Harry hadn't read the website.

So it looks as though Mia feeding herself is the way forward. There are a couple of huge advantages. I can plop (literally) her dinner down in front of her, and then get on with eating my own dinner. Also, very often she can eat the same as Harry, if not all of us. I'm having a lot of success with macaroni pasta in different sauces, which is Harry's favourite food, and then little pieces of fruit for pudding. She has even shared bowls of (cut) grapes with him. It's amazing, considering that she doesn't even have any teeth yet.

Of course there is one disadvantage:

Who's going to clean this up then?

There is a wealth of information out there on baby led weaning, and the site that I linked to earlier is a fantastic resource. But here are a few tips of my own:

There will be mess. You need a washable cloth (like an old tablecloth) underneath the highchair, and keep everything (surfaces, walls, tabletops) out of reach of those sticky fingers.
Buy a highchair which is simple and easily cleaned. We have the Ikea Antilop which is really good and very easy to keep clean (do check this info about a recall of older models). The tray is easy to remove for cleaning once you have the knack, and although it doesn't fold up it has quite a small footprint. It can also be easily taken apart for travel or storage.
We usually use bibs with long sleeves and elasticated wrists. On smaller babies they also cover a lot of the lap so you can recycle food.
A lot of websites recommend cutting the food up into stick shapes that the baby can grasp. I've found it works (once baby is about 7-8 months old and developing the pincer grip) to cut the food into small pieces, about 1cm square. Then they can put the whole piece into their mouth to chew.
Know what to do if baby begins to choke. It can be scary, but don't panic, usually they will dislodge the food themself anyway (or be sick...)
Do the messiest meal at dinnertime, or just before you usually bath the baby.
Remember that they do get better at eating and aiming the food towards their mouths. The very messy stage doesn't last forever!
Baby led weaning is often presented as a total, and possibly controversial, alternative to spoonfeeding. Of course, all babies are going to be eating finger foods, and most people are doing a combination of the two anyway. Just do whatever you and your baby are happiest with, and remember that babies do vary hugely in the actual amounts that they eat!

Those long winter afternoons

2012-01-25T16:29:00.000Z

When you're at home with young children, I think that mid-afternoon has to be the worst part of the day. There comes a point when lunch is long finished, everyone is suffering from the afternoon slump, it's too late in the day for a nap and yet there's a long long way to go until bedtime. It's worse in winter, when outside it's cold, dark, wet and unappealing. This is a fairly common sight in our household:

Rice cakes are just not enough

Today, the only thing to do was to get out with the scooter and the pushchair. It was a bit of a mission to get everyone fed, changed, to the toilet and dressed up warmly, but it was so worth it.

We all feel better with some fresh air

It was a bit drizzly, so we didn't stay out too long, but it was long enough to blow away some of the cobwebs, and we were all much more chilled out when we got home.

Getting back into running

2012-01-24T14:36:00.000Z

Before children, I was a bit of a gym bunny. Along with my husband, we were there four times a week. I would swim, I did Body Pump classes, I cycled, I stepped and I Power Plated. Things took a bit of a hit when Harry arrived, with then just a brief recovery period before Mia came along. It was not so much the struggle to fit it in, but the constant tiredness made bed a much more attractive option.

It took me a while to get into running on the treadmill, but since I gave it a go a couple of years ago I've found it to be my favourite form of exercise. It's satisfying, I really feel like I've had a good workout when I finish. I also like being able to adjust the workout to my fitness level. By increasing your time and speed, over just a few weeks you can quickly see your stamina improve.

My target is to get back to being able to run 5k in 30 minutes. That seems like a good amount to me - 30 minutes is long enough for a good workout but not so long that I get bored. I need to take it a little easy as I suffered from separated stomach muscles in pregnancy, but my physiotherapist signed me off several months ago, and was happy for me to begin running again as long as I built up to it.

My method is to spend 30 minutes on the treadmill, alternating between brisk walking and running. Gradually I am increasing the amount of time that I spend running and decreasing the amount of time that I spend walking. In my last session I managed to run for 26 out of the 30 minutes. The next step is to run for the entire 30 minutes, but at a slower speed, then gradually increase the speed so that I can cover 5k.

I'm hoping that in a few weeks time I'll be at my goal!

Listography - Top 5 Biscuits

2012-01-23T10:02:00.000Z

This week the theme for the Listography at Kate Takes 5 is Top 5 Biscuits. Now this is a list that I won't have a problem compiling.

1 - Bourbon biscuits. When I was pregnant for the second time, if I had a craving this was it. On my working days I would go out at lunchtime, buy a packet and quietly scoff the lot at my desk. Occasionally I would reluctantly offer them around to my colleagues, silently hoping that they were all on diets and would refuse. I also find that they are a very economical snack, as even the cheap value ones are just as tasty.

2 - Chocolate digestives, in particular the dark chocolate ones.

3 - Fox's Shortcake Rounds. These are only purchased when on special offer as they are quite pricy and you don't get many in a pack. They have a very generous chocolate to biscuit ratio, and are absolutely delicious.

4 - Rich Tea Biscuits. Because they are quite plain, I tend to view these as a somewhat healthier alternative to a chocolate biscuit. I don't tend to check calories on things, so I can't confirm if this is indeed the case (I suspect not).

5 - Cadbury's Chocolate Fingers. Once a treat found only at birthday parties, these seem to make their way regularly in to our household by way of special offers. It is very surprising that there seem to be so many in a pack, yet they don't last long at all.

Now this was not a good Listography for those New Year's Resolutions! To make those tastebuds tingle even more, be sure to stop by and check out the other posts!

Button Moon Birthday Cake

2012-01-22T20:25:00.000Z

I have a tip when making Birthday cakes for very little ones. Instead of saying "What would you like for your Birthday cake darling?" instead use a statement like "How would you like an 'x' Birthday cake?" where 'x' is something that you want to or can easily make. I'm not sure up to what age you can get away with this, but it certainly worked very well with Harry, and he was thrilled with his Button Moon cake. In terms of cakes, you really can't get much simpler. A plain Victoria sandwich cake with yellow butter icing and four chocolate buttons in the centre!

Now we are three...

2012-01-20T20:19:00.000Z

So now Harry is three, and rather appropriately my eye was caught by this article which details 36 activities that, according to research by Cow & Gate, all toddlers should have done by the time they reach three. It's a fun list, although I think that many of these things toddlers manage to do without any input or prompting from parents. But just for the record then, here's how well he has managed:

1. Made a mud pie - not on my watch although suspect this may be done at nursery.

2. Baked a cake - yes

3. Finger painted - yes

4. Sung loudly in public - his speciality is 'Wheels on the Bus' on, you've guessed it, the bus.

5. Climbed a big hill - well he's started to lots of times but it usually ends up with "carry me!"

6. Picked fruit - he's picked raspberries on Grandad's allotment.

7. Danced with no inhibitions - all the time!

8. Made sandcastles on the beach

9. Been chased by a monster - I am assuming that this is not in the literal sense, as that is not an example of good parenting. Pretend monsters, yes, many times.

10. Jumped in a puddle so hard the water went in mummy's shoe too - yes

11. Belly-flopped - no, not really a big swimmer this one.

12. Fed the ducks - yes

13. Blown bubbles - yes

14. Had a teddy bears' picnic - yes

15. Chosen a favourite book - well it changes all the time, but yes

16. Ridden on the top of double-decker bus - yes, at the Worthing Bus Rally.

17. Visited a museum - yes, lots of them.

18. Been on a train ride

19. Fed an animal

20. Grown cress in the shape of your name - we have grown cress, but on a pretend head.

21. Worn pants on your head - not something I've ever thought of doing with him...

22. Ridden the tea-cups at the fair - yes

23. Flown a paper aeroplane - yes, this was a recent distraction on a rather trying visit to a supermarket.

24. Pooed in the bath - unfortunately, yes (and lots of other places).

25. Stayed the night away from home - lots of times.

26. Ridden on daddy's shoulders - no, but he has ridden on Grandad's.

27. Scribbled somewhere you shouldn't - actually he's quite good at not doing this, although the first time I gave him a crayon in his bedroom he did draw on the chest of drawers.

28. Cleaned your own teeth - probably capable but rarely does it.

29. Answered the phone - not answered it but he does talk on it, but only when he's in the mood.

30. Mastered a party piece - we used to make him dance and wiggle his bottom...

31. Had a "first love"

32. Bought something in a shop - pretend shops lots of times but not a real shop. He doesn't even get pocket money.

33. Set your sights on a future career (pirate, fairy or builder, perhaps?) - don't think he understands the concept. As far as he is concerned Daddy talks on the phone all day and Mummy works on the computer (I do call blogging work...)

34. Told a fib - yes ("Are you doing a poo, Harry?" "No!")

35. Made up an inappropriate nickname for someone - not really inappropriate, but he calls my parents 'Grandma and Grandad Train' because they have a vast collection of my brother's old trainsets at their house for him to play with.

36. Broken something valuable - yes, there was the digital camera in the toilet incident.

So it looks like we've managed most of them without really trying! The thing that made the biggest impression on me from this article was that it looks as though his toddler years are now over. I guess that now he is a pre-schooler. My baby is growing up!

Happy 3rd Birthday Harry

2012-01-19T15:18:00.000Z

So today it's Harry's third birthday. We're having a rather low-key celebration today as we're gearing up for a big party with family on Saturday, so he only got presents from us and Mia. Mia 'bought' him a wind-up dinosaur and we bought him a Trunki which he loves.

I feel a bit more emotional about his birthday this year. I spent most of his babyhood waiting for him to grow up and be more interesting, and now he's reached that point and I don't want it to go so quickly. We had a small birthday cake for breakfast and tonight we're braving Pizza Hut. Happy Birthday Harry!

Listography - Top 5 Tips for Bloggers

2012-01-17T08:25:00.000Z

This week, Kate Takes 5 is asking for our top 5 tips for bloggers. I do still feel like a new blogger, but hopefully I've got some tips to pass on!

1 - Read and interact with other blogs. I found the blogging world extremely daunting at first, because there are so many out there. But you quickly get to know the sort of blogs that you enjoy reading, and find bloggers that adopt a similar style to your own. I read most of my blogs through Google Reader, which is a really easy way to keep up to date with new posts, and I can easily read most blogs on my phone this way. Also leave plenty of comments, and not just in the hope of receiving comments in return. I love getting comments, even just a quick note to say that you enjoyed the post!

2 - Join blogging networks. It's a great way to find new blogs to read and for readers to find you. I've joined a few but it becomes exhausting trying to keep up with lots of different communities so find out where you feel most comfortable and focus your efforts there. I enjoy being a part of the Mumsnet Bloggers Network and I've recently joined Love All Blogs, which is a very new blogging social network that has got off to a flying start.

3 - Don't obsess about stats. I use StatCounter to check my stats, and when I first installed it I would check it constantly. Now I find it much more satisfying to check less often, as there is (hopefully!) more likely to be a bigger change!

4 - Think very carefully about who may be reading your blog. It is very easy for people to track you down online, especially if you are as open about sharing names and photographs as I am. If you want to write about personal issues, consider remaining anonymous, otherwise you will find that you are always reading back what you write through the eyes of the people that you know are reading it. Also remember that once you have hit publish, what you have written can never really be deleted. There is a very good chance that your children will read your blog one day. Personally, I don't write anything that I wouldn't want my children to read when they are older, but they are still tiny and I accept that if I continue to blog as they grow older there may be things that they don't want me to share with the world.

5 - I love taking part in memes, blog hops, photo challenges and other ways to link up with other bloggers like the Listography. They are a great way to both get some inspiration and to read different interpretations on a theme. But don't rely on them too much, remember to make sure that you still have plenty of original content of your own. Also, unless you are writing a review blog, be sure to intersperse with more interesting content to keep readers that will just skip the review or sponsored posts.

I hope that these tips are helpful, make sure to stop by and read some of the other fantastic tips!

Review: HiPP Organic Stage 1 products

2012-01-16T09:58:00.001Z

Weaning Harry was not the easiest thing in the world, and so I wasn't particularly looking forward to weaning Mia. But she’s been eating her purees for a couple of months now, and I have to say (with fingers firmly crossed) so far so good! She's still on very simple, mainly homemade purees and only just starting with finger food, so when HiPP Organic asked me if we'd like to try out some of their Stage 1 weaning products I was interested to see what Mia thought of them.

I'm fairly fussy with what my babies eat, and I do prefer to make homemade food. But there are occasions when pre-prepared food can be a great help. In our case, with the recent disruption of moving house and having to empty out the freezer, as well as the lack of time to do any batch cooking, I have found the pre-prepared food invaluable. It’s also always good to keep a few jars or pouches in the cupboard for when you will be out of the house for a meal.

Mia is now 7 months old and I tend to follow the following routine for meals:

Breakfast – Cereal with milk, if still hungry some fruit puree, then share some of my toast

Lunch – Savoury puree followed by yogurt

Dinner – Savoury puree followed by fruit puree, then finger food with us at the table

She is still practising with finger food, and so I also sometimes offer a snack of a breadstick, rice cake or cheese. I will increase the amount of finger food she has as she gets older and her fine motor skills improve.

We tried out the following Stage 1 products from the HiPP Organic range, which fitted perfectly into my feeding pattern:

Banana and Peach Breakfast Cereal

The instructions suggest to mix with water, but I’ve always used milk because Mia doesn’t like to drink much milk and I like to keep her topped up. You can adjust the amount of liquid that you add to suit the age of your baby, so you can make it very runny for very young babies. Mia gobbled this down and it filled her up nicely for her morning nap. I did find that it thickened on standing, so you need to prepare it just before serving and if you have a slow eater you may need to add more liquid as you go.

Purest Baby Food in a jar – various flavours

We tried out three different flavours in the range. You can’t really serve them straight from the jar as they do need to be well stirred. I found that Mia only had the appetite for half a jar at a time, so if you spoon some out into a bowl you can store the rest of the jar in the fridge for 24 hours. This is perfect because if you have a small eater you can save some from dinner for lunch the next day, and the baby doesn't have to eat the same for both meals. Mia’s favourite was the Penne with Tomato and Courgette, and my favourite was the Creamy Parsnip, Potato and Cauliflower (because the pale colour meant less mess!) These purees were very smooth in texture so ideal for first weaning, but we will soon be ready to move onto something a little thicker.

Fruit and Yogurt pots – Apple and Pear

I thought that Mia would love these as she likes fruit and yogurt separately, but she wasn’t keen. This was only her individual preference though, as I gave some to a friend whose baby wolfed one down. One pot counts as one portion of fruit, and once opened they keep for 12 hours in the fridge. The pack we received contained four identical pots, and I did think that it would be nice to have a couple of different flavours. If your baby likes them, these little pots are great to keep in the cupboard or to take out and about with you, as you can serve them straight from the pot.

100% Fruit Pouches

I don’t remember seeing this style of pouch around when Harry was a baby, and they really are brilliant. You can squeeze the fruit puree out into a bowl to serve, or else you can just squeeze it straight onto the spoon. Older babies might even be able to manage eating it straight from the packet. They are great for travel, as they are flat and the packaging is very robust. They also keep for 24 hours in the fridge once opened, and close tightly with no leakage. Mia was fascinated watching me squeeze it out onto the spoon, and she ate it eagerly.

Although all these products are marketed as Stage 1 weaning foods, apart from perhaps the jars they could all be used for older babies and even toddlers. We were certainly still giving Harry a fruit pot for his breakfast when he was old enough to feed himself from it.

We were also sent some Little Nibbles Organic Carrot and Pumpkin Rice Cakes which are a first finger food aimed at babies 7 months plus. Mia had a good suck on these, and they dissolved nicely in her mouth so a surprising amount went in. Because they are so soft, she didn't tend to choke on them as much as she does some foods. Although they are a tidy snack in the sense that they don’t create many crumbs, I quickly designated them a ‘highchair snack’ as they were prone to bright orange staining on tray and clothing. They are great to keep an already messy baby occupied for a few more minutes at the table while you finish your own dinner, but if you are looking for something to take out and about with you I would recommend the plain ones.

You can find out more about HiPP Organic products on their website, and you can join the HiPP Organic Baby Club to receive samples and coupons, as well as lots of advice on weaning.

We were sent these products for review but the opinions are our own. Make sure to check individual containers for storage instructions.

Comfort objects and Harry's Giraffe

2012-01-15T22:15:00.000Z

I think that most people have some sort of teddy or other comfort object that they have had since they were a baby. I have my teddy, who I must admit still sometimes comes out for cuddles when I'm home alone. And Harry has his Giraffe:

Giraffe was a present from my brother when Harry was born. Harry hasn't cottoned on to the fact yet that there are actually two Giraffes, after we managed to source a second identical one. He was too young to notice the difference when new Giraffe appeared, and now we rotate them so they are pretty much identical. Giraffe only leaves the house when Harry will be sleeping elsewhere, as I've read far too many sad tales of lost teddies. As a reminder, at my local Tesco for a long time there was a poster above the Customer Service desk saying "Please take us home" along with a picture of dozens of stuffed animals that had been lost in the store.

I prefer Giraffe to live in the airing cupboard. When Harry was younger he would suck on him and make him all soggy, so the airing cupboard gave him the opportunity to dry out a bit. I originally only let Harry have him at bedtime and naptimes, until my friend (a clinical psychologist) told me that I should let him have Giraffe all the time, as he was his comfort object and his source of consistency. So, reluctantly, Giraffe is around most of the time at home now. Luckily Harry is quite happy to leave him at home when we go out. If he hurts himself or he is feeling tired, he always asks for Giraffe (after me of course...most of the time...).

Lately, Giraffe has also started to develop a personality. He talks in a gruff little voice, he says "Harry", "Mummy", "Daddy" and "Mia". Interestingly this corresponded with Mia starting to make noises which Harry interprets as the same words (they aren't, she's not that advanced!). Harry also asks his opinion on things and has little conversations with him. When we are out in the car he will quite often pretend to ring Giraffe on the phone to tell him what we're up to. I'm just waiting for the day when we have to set a place for Giraffe at the table!

Our new summerhouse

2012-01-13T13:09:00.000Z

Along with our new house, I was very excited to inherit a summerhouse in the garden. Our seller also (with our permission!) left behind some old toys – play food, a tea set, toy saucepans and utensils. She had a daughter, and there was a huge selection of Polly Pocket dolls, clothes and accessories. There are even a couple of small pieces of furniture in there.

Our new summerhouse!

I have big plans for this summerhouse. My Dad has already kindly fixed the roof, but otherwise it seems in good condition - it is even carpeted. It is a good size and has a little porch at the front. I need to give it a good clean inside and out, evict the spiders and clean the furniture. Then I might paint it, and I want to make some little curtains and put some pictures up on the walls. On the porch I want to put out some pots with flowers in, perhaps ones that Harry has helped me to plant.

An activity to be encouraged

It’s a job to wait until the warmer weather really (or at least until we’ve got the main house sorted out!) but we did make a start today. I brought in all the old toys and sorted through them, and then Harry helped me to give them all a good wash. I mended a broken drawer, so now we have plenty of storage space. All Harry’s garden toys can live out there too, and his sandpit toys before we put out his sandpit. I think it will be a lovely place for him to play in.

Adventures with playdough

2012-01-11T10:26:00.000Z

I’m a bit OCD when it comes to playdough. I like to keep all the colours separate, and one colour has to be put away before another comes out. Our extruder is brilliant, but I do obsess over making sure that every last piece of playdough is removed before we put it away. Playdough doesn’t last forever though, and Harry’s original playdough is starting to get a bit grotty and hard. So I decided it was time to chuck it out and replace it with some new stuff, and before I did that we had one last play with it.

I took a tray and built a road outline with the playdough. Then I filled in the gaps around the edge and in the middle (mixing the colours! The horror!). There wasn’t enough to cover the tray so I filled in the gaps with some pudding rice that I found during the move that was out of date (you could use anything small, like rice or lentils). We had a big lake in the middle, and fields around the edges.

We decorated it with the bits of pasta and buttons that we use in the playdough anyway, and a few small animals and trees from the farm set. I even made some very simple boats from cardboard. It doesn’t quite compete with the playdough playscapes that I used as inspiration but we had just as much fun making it as we did playing with it.

It might even keep for a few days before we throw it out!

Angmering Library and Children and Family Centre

2012-01-10T14:16:00.000Z

It was always going to be high on my priority list to find the local library. I used to take Harry to the nearest one to our old house a lot when he was a baby, but it was still a half hour walk with the pushchair and as he got bigger he became more impatient on the journey. Then when Mia came along it was too far for him to walk, as we don’t have a double buggy.

So I was thrilled to discover that Angmering Library is just a few minutes walk from our house. It is not the biggest of libraries, but the children’s section has plenty of books, and to Harry’s absolute delight a wooden ‘book train’. It even had a computer with simple games for children to play, although to be honest it completely stumped me, I couldn’t get it to do anything that I wanted it to.

In the same building is the Children and Family Centre. Again, it’s not the biggest, but it has a lovely garden out the back and the ladies there were very friendly and welcoming. Twice a week they run a toy library, so we came home today with a toy dump truck and a Gruffalo Story Sack, with stuffed creatures to act out the story and some extra themed books and games. They also run lots of other activities, so there is plenty there to keep us busy.

These are my first steps towards getting to know some other parents with small children. It’s always good to get out of the house into a different environment, and hopefully I’ll start to see the same faces out and about.

What is a library without a train? Choo choo!

Village Life – exploring Angmering

2012-01-09T15:34:00.001Z

Today was my first opportunity to get out with Mia in the pushchair and begin to explore the village of Angmering where we now live. We have been so busy in the house that it was my first opportunity to see what is on our doorstep. And I was delighted to discover that the village really is on our doorstep! Within a few minutes walk I found a newsagent, hairdresser, small supermarket, Post Office, Medical Centre, Village Hall, library and Children and Family Centre as well as a few other small shops. Maybe I am easily pleased, but that is most of my needs met.

We now live on a new estate which joins onto the ‘old’ village. This estate was build about ten years ago and it is a huge development. I can’t imagine what the residents of the ‘old’ village must have thought when it was built. The estate has a Community Centre in the middle, playgrounds and a large green area in the middle, but most of the facilities are found in the village itself.

There seems to be a real sense of community and everyone is very friendly. I had a long chat with the lady in the Children and Family Centre, she gave me a tour and told me about some of the many activities and groups that there are for families. I also love living so close to the library. I will miss living down a footpath from a massive supermarket, but I think that all these other things within walking distance more than make up for that.

Walking around the village itself is not particularly toddler friendly, with some narrow footpaths and a lack of pavements. But I’m looking forward to getting out with the little ones and joining in!

Unpacking and settling in

2012-01-08T13:32:00.002Z

As stressed as I was with the anticipation of moving house, one thing that I hadn't really considered was just how long it was going to take us to get back to normal. Perhaps because our things were packed for us, it wasn't until I started opening boxes at this end that I realised just how much stuff we were going to have to find a home for. We are very lucky that our new house has plenty of storage space, so we will be able to fit everything in, but there are many decisions to be made about where to put things and how to come up with the best storage solutions.

We had the carpets cleaned the day after we moved in, so most of the boxes were stored on the top floor of our three storey house in an uncarpeted room. Now we are faced with the task of moving everything back downstairs again. There are also decisions to be made about where to position furniture, and then it needs to be reassembled and fixed to the walls.

One thing that is certain is that the whole process would be much harder without the fantastic support of my parents. It really is almost impossible to get much done with a demanding baby and inquisitive toddler under your feet. My parents have been brilliant at keeping the little ones occupied and out of the way so that we can get on with things, and they are also great at spotting things that need doing, and quietly getting on with them.

It looks as though we'll be without proper internet for a week or so more yet. We have ways and means of getting a connection, but we have to restrict our usage. In the meantime, my Mum has just joined Twitter, and as a thank you I would love to get her some more followers! She is @bitstobuy and she'll be tweeting and blogging about crafting, in particular miniature knitting. Thank you!

Moving house

2012-01-05T14:01:00.000Z

We did it! We successfully moved house with a toddler and a baby! And while it's not an experience that I'd like to repeat in a hurry, it really wasn't that bad. We had done a lot of preparation with Harry on what was happening, for example we made sure that he knew that everything was coming with us to the new house. We took him out to show him the lorry and to watch as the first things were loaded on.

The men arrived very early and started taking things out right away. There was a little bit of a worry mid-morning when it looked as though everything wasn't going to fit on the lorry, but they disappeared and came back with another. Unfortunately I had confused the Scottish packer the day before by telling him in conversation that we had exchanged before Christmas. He thought this meant that we had completed and they could take the lorry to the new house, unload it, and then return for a second trip. Whoops.

Where did all this stuff come from?

When the upstairs had been loaded I set up a camp in Harry's old bedroom with some toys and snacks to keep the little ones out of the way while the last things were packed downstairs. Harry had a great time running around the empty house. We completed very early, about 11am, so we were in the new house around midday.

I wonder what the new buyers thought of the farmyard bedroom

The lady selling the house had left it beautifully clean and it's in really good condition. We are very pleased with it, it is a lovely house. We have plenty of space and lots of storage. Our sofa never really looked right in the old house, and now it fits perfectly. Our television and entertainment centre can also sit nicely in the corner where they belong, rather than across the middle of the living room. We even have a smaller room which we can use as a playroom, rather than having toys stacked up in the living room.

Lots of space to fill!

It's going to take us a long time to get everything sorted. We have boxes piled up everywhere, and because we had it packed for us I don't know where anything is. I don't want to rush into unpacking because I want to make sure that everything is stored in the best place. We will also be without our regular internet access for a little while, so I may go a bit quiet. But so relieved that it's done!

Goodbye house

2012-01-03T16:34:00.000Z

So tomorrow is moving day and today was packing day. Most of our things are now in boxes (and a lot more boxes that I expected...I can't believe that we have so much stuff). We are really excited about moving to the new house, it's in a nicer area and we will have a lot more space. But we have been very happy here and it will be sad to leave. I have lots of special memories from this house.

We moved here from a little two bedroom flat, before children, where we had the television, sofa and computer all in one room. When we moved into the house it felt so big, and it was really hard to adjust to being on separate floors. It felt really lonely!

My favourite room is Harry's room. We decorated it in a farmyard theme, with green hills, blue sky with clouds and a sun in the corner. It had glow in the dark stars on the ceiling and farmyard animal stickers on the walls. We only recently decorated Mia's room. It was pale pink with a butterfly light, butterfly border and bright pink curtains.

Whenever I look at the bath I remember lying there while pregnant with Harry listening to classical music (didn't happen so often second pregnancy) and being in it while in labour with Mia!

We have a huge under the stairs cupboard which is the same size as a small room. It's great for throwing in toys at the end of the day, and Harry loves shutting himself in there with a torch.

Every inch of the upstairs landing is very familiar to me from long evenings spent walking up and down trying to get babies to sleep, or wandering up and down throughout the night attending to the frequent and demanding needs of said babies.

This house has seen us grow from carefree couple to a little family. I hope that the new owners will be as happy here as we have been.

Just a few of the boxes...

New Year's Resolutions

2012-01-01T15:47:00.000Z

My most important New Year's Resolution this year is to get back to the dress size that I was at the beginning of December. Unfortunately, stopping breastfeeding has not been good for my figure, and trousers which were hanging off me then are now uncomfortably tight. So on the assumption that if I can gain it in a month I can lose it in a month, I'll be off the chocolates and biscuits for a while.

The New Year is a new start for us as we move into our new house, so the rest of my resolutions are a bit up in the air at the moment. We've already had a clear out and declutter, and we'll be cleaning the house as we move in.

One thing that I am keen to do is to get involved in the local community. This is something that isn't too difficult when you have children as there are plenty of activities to help you get to know other parents, as long as you make the effort. I do have some friends in the area we are moving to, and it would also be nice if I could find some sort of 'grown up' activity to take part in, perhaps an evening class or group. I'm going to make a big effort to get to know the local area, and I intend to devote a new section of my blog to what we get up to, as well as local events and activities.

Also on the blogging front I'd like to get to know lots more blogs. I have a number of favourites but I know that there are loads out there that would appeal. I want to challenge myself to discover a number of 'new to me' blogs each week, and I'll share them here.

Mainly though I need to make sure that I make the most of my final six months or so of maternity leave. There isn't likely to be any more, and although I will be returning to work part-time for the time being, I will miss being able to live to my own schedule. Although it is very hard being at home with a baby and a toddler, I am loving being at home with my two little ones.

Happy New Year to all my readers!

Ending the year in upheaval

2011-12-30T21:05:00.000Z

So, 2011 is drawing to a close, and as I am unlikely to have time for blogging tomorrow here is my end-of-the-year post.

At the beginning of 2011 I was just starting to make my pregnancy public. Although planned, it happened a lot quicker than we expected, so it was really starting to sink in how much our little family was going to change. We spent the last few months before Mia was born fitting in all the things that we would find it difficult to do with a baby - we went on our first family holiday abroad to Lanzarote and we spent a long weekend in Disneyland Paris. We also took Harry on a couple of overnight trips to London, with the last one just a couple of weeks before I gave birth (I spent a lovely few hours sitting in the bath in the hotel reading while Ram and Harry trekked round the Natural History Museum.)

I carried on working up until a few days before Mia was born, so I didn't really get any maternity leave. Then she came along and the real work started. It wasn't such a shock to the system as it was when Harry was born, and we coped pretty well. A huge event that happened around this time was the purchase of a sleep training clock, with the incredible result that Harry started sleeping beyond 5am in the morning, and I cannot describe the difference that this has made to our lives.

I started blogging in July. Having started a couple of short-lived blogs in the past I didn't really expect it to last, and I've amazed myself that I've managed to not only keep going, but to keep going at the rate of nearly a post a day! This will be post 160. I've also watched my stats increase from none, then to very immediate family, then to people that I've never met, which is amazing! I'm really enjoying being a part of the new community that I have found, and hope that I can continue.

So the summer was a bit of a blur while we sorted ourselves out, although I don't remember much sunshine. In September we went on our first family holiday which was a massive success. We finished the year with a stay at Center Parcs before spending a quiet Christmas at home, just the four of us.

It was around the end of August that we put the house on the market. We've been living here for four years now, and although it is a lovely house we fancied a change of area. It was a rather sudden decision, and when we received an offer just over a week later after just one viewing we were lucky enough to find a perfect house in a large village just down the road. Very few house sales go through without any problems, and after a few delays we finally exchanged just before Christmas. All being well we are due to complete next week.

So we end the year in a house which we have been very happy in, and which has seen us through two very important life changing events. We are surrounded by mess, boxes and empty cupboards, and feeling rather stressed and anxious. But the move doesn't mean any big changes for us other than location, and we are very much looking forward to an exciting new start for the New Year.

Happy New Year everybody!

A tale of two baby journals

2011-12-29T11:24:00.000Z

Harry has a baby book. It is a detailed journal, stuffed with photographs, mementoes, drawings, observations, locks of hair, hand and footprints and so on. His milestones are described in loving and intricate detail down to the very day that they were passed, days out are chronicled, everyday life and routines are commented on. The main journal we bought only covered his first year, so I started for him a second book which is an A5 sketchbook, where I got him to draw 'pictures' and I wrote about some of the things that we got up to.

Mia has a baby book too. It isn't the same one, as I did have enough foresight to realise that I probably wouldn't be spending quite as much time on it. A lot of the things that I wrote down for Harry I was writing to help me remember when it came to the second (for example, my dismay that the babies I produce do not like to sleep).

In Mia's book you will find a birth story and some brief comments on some of the early milestones. I'm pretty sure that it's not that up to date, and some of them are very vague ("well, she is certainly smiling now but I can't remember for sure when she started"). I haven't even printed out any photos yet.

To a certain extent, this blog has taken over from the baby books. It is much easier to click here to add a photo, rather than get a selection together (because it's cheaper to print out lots at once), get them printed and then stick them in. I've written quite a lot about my thoughts and feelings. One thing that I always wanted to do when I started blogging was to get it printed out (I believe that there are places that can do this) so that I would have a physical record of what I had written.

But I do need to make more of an effort with Mia's book. I hope that the children will treasure their own books one day, as I remember how much I loved looking through mine even when still I was still a child. So I hereby commit myself to making Mia's book of the baby years at least as complete as Harry's, if not quite as detailed!

Harry and Mia's baby books

If you are looking for a good baby or child journal I would fully recommend the ones in the series that we have (there are also other journals in this series available for Grandparents, pregnancy, mother and toddler and others). Harry has "My Baby's Journal" and Mia has "Baby to Five - An Early Years Journal" published by Ryland, Peters & Small. They are American, so they do have American spellings (like Mommy) and turns of phrase, but they have loads of space for writing, blank pages for photographs and dividers with a pocket for tucking in mementoes. They are divided into sections. "My Baby's Journal" is very detailed, with sections for Planning for You, The New Arrival, Early Days, Growing and Changing, Mealtimes, Trips and Outings, Celebrations and our Favourite Things. "Baby to Five" has a few pages at the beginning for details about the new baby, then a divider for each year, with pages for milestones, Christmas and Birthday and so on. They are quite pricey, with an RRP of £14.99 but can be found cheaper on Amazon.

Rolobox wheel kit for boxes

2011-12-28T10:13:00.000Z

Harry got some great presents for Christmas this year! Another hit was this Rolobox wheel kit, purchased from Amazon. It's a really simple idea - a set of plastic wheels and a pull cord which you can attach to any cardboard box to turn it into...whatever you like!

We just stuck with making a basic box "train" for the time being. It was easy to put together, and really sturdy. Harry loaded all the toys up into the box for a ride while Mia looked on anxiously...

...with good reason as it turned out!

When we're moved and settled I'll try and come up with some more adventurous ideas. I've also got my eye on the Makedo connector kits for building models out of things from the recycling bin. I've not actually seen them in person though, has anyone tried them out?

The great thing about this type of activity is that you can make really large, bulky toys, and then when you feel you are running out of space you can just squash them and recycle them! And there is never a shortage of cardboard boxes in this house!

Boxing Day

2011-12-26T19:25:00.000Z

When I was little, Boxing Day was an extension of Christmas Day, for staying at home, playing with new toys and eating up the chocolates. The January sales completely passed me by until I met my husband and discovered a new way of spending the days just after Christmas.

Before children we used to get up at the (at that time) hideously early time of 5am and head over to Southampton, stopping at Marks and Spencers on the way then heading on to Next before ending up in the city centre. We never bought a huge amount, but we usually came back with some bargains. When Harry was born we had a year off, but last year, as he was getting up at that time anyway, we bundled him into the car and set out with the pushchair. We managed a limited trip, but he got stroppy very quickly so we weren't really rating our chances when this year we decided to attempt sales shopping with both baby and toddler.

We usually get on quite well with the Marks and Spencer's sale, and as this year the store just down the road in Shoreham has been extended we didn't have to travel too far. We each took a trolley and a child and sped round. We didn't get a lot but were pleased with what we did get. I always get slippers as I wear them out so quickly, and I needed new pajamas. I also bought some festive silicone cup cake cases and chocolate moulds for next year.

On the same retail park, the old Homebase was recently changed into a Next store, so we pushed our luck and pushed over a pushchair. We couldn't believe just how big the store was, and also how empty of people it was. I don't think it was just because of the size, but it was well after the early opening, and there was plenty of stock left. Perhaps the large areas marked out for queuing had been full earlier in the morning, but when we went there were no queues whatsoever and plenty of space to walk around and have a good luck round.

Now we will be continuing our sales shopping from home through the computer!

Our little family Christmas

2011-12-25T13:23:00.000Z

So this year is probably one of the few that we will spend at home with just the four of us. Mia's first Christmas, and our last Christmas in this house. I really tried to keep things simple this year, as things are hard enough with a baby and a toddler already! In previous years I have gone a bit mad with Harry's stocking presents and he has still been opening gifts days later. This year they each had a small stocking with just five or six small gifts inside, and the family presents will be spread out over a few days as we get round to visiting everyone.

For Harry's main present, we scooped a massive bargain on eBay. He loves his wooden train track, and for just £10 we won an enormous amount of more wooden track, along with trains, tunnels, bridges, stations and accessories. It also included some wooden roadway with cars, trucks, emergency vehicles and an overpass. We emptied the dining room on Christmas Eve once Harry was in bed, and spent the evening putting together a huge layout before papering up the door. Harry spotted the door first thing, but we let him open his stocking first, and then we all had breakfast before we let him go in.

Well, to say he was thrilled was an understatement. He has so far spent most of the day playing with it. His particular favourite is the electronic level crossing, which lowers automatically when a train passes.

We managed to tear him away briefly to open a few family presents.

No-one noticed that some of Mia's presents were Harry's old rattles wrapped up.

She sat happily in her play ring with her new toys while Harry helped her with the unwrapping.

Our Christmas lunch was also very simple and far from traditional, but took hardly any time to prepare, suited us and was very toddler friendly!

Happy Christmas everyone!

Christmas Eve thoughts

2011-12-24T09:10:00.000Z

For the first few years that we were together, my husband and I spent Christmas apart, at our respective parents' houses. The first year we spent together was in 2008, when I was heavily pregnant with Harry and didn't want to be too far away from home. Since then, Harry's first two Christmases have been spent at Ram's parents.

This year, and for Mia's first Christmas, we have chosen to spent it just the four of us at home. A little selfish perhaps, but I think it's important that we are able to develop our traditions as a family, and of course we will see the other relatives over the Christmas period. Because it's likely that future Christmases will be spent in various places, I've been trying to develop family traditions which can take place wherever we are.

Ram is vegetarian and I don't really eat much meat, so there won't be a turkey tomorrow. Instead we have stocked up on 'party food' and we will probably just graze throughout the day with perhaps a homemade pizza for dinner. Because we don't intend to be driving we can open a bottle of wine. It would be nice if it's dry enough to get out for a walk, otherwise the little ones will have plenty of new toys to occupy themselves with, and of course there will be plenty of festive television to watch!

Tonight we'll sprinkle reindeer food on the grass and leave out a mince pie and a drink for Father Christmas. We'll hang up the stockings by the fireplace, and tuck up the little ones in bed, knowing that they won't sleep any worse than usual, as Harry is still (just!) too little to be up all night with excitement! Then Ram and I have a bit of work to do in order to get Harry's main Christmas present ready for him tomorrow morning!

Sitting up

2011-12-23T08:31:00.000Z

Mia is finally starting to sit up! Albeit with a bit of a wobble and a tendency to slump forwards. I say finally, because I see this as a big milestone. I suppose because it also comes at a time when the baby is starting to get a bit more interesting, grabbing for toys and rolling about a bit more to reach them. It also means that when you take them out places you don't need to worry about lying them down on the floor, and they prefer being in a pushchair when they can see what is going on.

Also my first rather poor attempts at accessorising with lovely hairclips

Harry has never really been jealous of Mia, he smothers her with affection. But now that she has moved on from just lying on the floor and is starting to express an interest in his toys, I'm wondering if things will start to change. She has starting pulling up his train track and grabbing his cars, and while at the moment we can laugh it off together ("silly Mia, she's putting the train in her mouth, that's not where it goes!") there is going to come a point where he begins to get cross with her interrupting his play and messing up his things. There is also the safety aspect to consider, as most of his current toys are not designed to go in a baby's mouth.

One wonderful thing is that whatever Harry is doing does entertain Mia. It must have been so boring for him as a baby when it was just me in the house. Mia has so much going on, so much noise, chatter and things to look at!

All the things you need to do when moving house

2011-12-22T09:08:00.000Z

We're moving house! So it's a busy time at the moment with lots of things to sort out. There are so many things to do - organise a removal company, cancel television and phone subscriptions, sort out council tax, arrange redirection of post, not to mention changing our address everywhere. Luckily my husband is very good at sorting these things out and we've already made a good start.

Our last move was from a flat to this house, before children. We used a removal company, but we packed everything ourselves, and although it was hard work it wasn't too bad and I assumed that we'd do the same this time. But then we looked around and saw just how much more stuff we have now. We got a quote for the company to pack for us, and it wasn't as bad as we thought. So we've decided to pay a little bit more to have it done for us, and this has taken some of the stress out of the move.

Even with the packing being taken care of, and the admin tasks being sorted, there are still so many other things to do. They include:

Eating up everything in the freezer. We can keep things from the fridge in a coolbag or just in the garage at this time of year, but the freezer will have to be turned off a day or two before the move. So the little ones will have to make do with shop bought food for a while rather than the healthy nutritious homemade food that they usually eat (!) because I can't batch cook any more. It's a good opportunity to get rid of all the out of date and mysterious items at the bottom, and give it all a good clean!

Likewise I will be going through the food cupboards in the kitchen to make sure that we're not going to the effort of moving expired food. I think that I'll be doing a lot of baking the next couple of weeks to try and use up some of my flour and sugar.

I will be sorting through all the paperwork to find the things relevant to the house that need to stay with it e.g. instruction leaflets for the burglar alarm and boiler. I also need to put aside spare parts and extras for things being left behind e.g. spare tiles for the bathroom, so that they don't end up at the new house.

The main thing is that we will be trying to declutter so that we don't end up opening boxes at the other end full of things that we don't need anymore. I'm also going around collecting small things into boxes so that they don't get lost and muddled up.

It's great that we're going to be starting the New Year in a new house and I'm getting really excited about the move. We'll have plenty of time to get ourselves sorted before I go back to work in the summer. I'm a little bit sad though too. We wouldn't have decorated Mia's bedroom if we thought we were moving, and I love Harry's little bedroom which we've decorated with painted hills and a sky with clouds and a sun in it. With a bit of luck this should be our last move though (until we move into our retirement bungalow!)

Adventures under the sofa...

2011-12-21T14:40:00.000Z

Yep, that's a piece of tin foil.

I've been looking for the lost yellow ball from the golf set for a while now, so I'm pleased that I found it, it upsets me when sets of toys are incomplete. Harry has been trying to rescue Lightning McQueen for a few days, and he did wonder where the Bob the Builder phone had got to. The rubber ball lives permanently under the sofa, generally emerging for a brief period of bouncing before disappearing until the next time I go fishing underneath.

I decided not to photograph the crumbs and bits of pizza.

Division of household tasks

2011-12-21T09:27:00.000Z

Sometimes I'm guilty of feeling that I am responsible for everything around the home. Especially at the moment as I'm on maternity leave, I seem to be in charge of all the tidying, the cleaning, the cooking, the entertaining of children and so on. I always seem to be complaining that my husband has been leaving his things lying around, or that he hasn't tidied up as he has gone along. I need to remember to give him credit for some of the important ways in which he does contribute to the household (apart from going out to work of course!) When it comes to doing things like compare car insurance quotes or finding the cheapest place to buy the things that we need, it's hard to beat him and he always manages to find the best deal. Over time this has saved us loads of money, contributing in part to my being able to take a full year maternity leave with each baby.

I must admit that sometimes it can be a bit annoying if there is something that I'm after and I end up waiting for him to make sure that I'm getting the best price. But before I met him I would just go out and buy something in the first place that I found it, and I must have wasted so much money.

Another thing that my husband takes over completely is cutting the grass. I've never done it, and I don't much fancy it. Likewise the removal of spiders and winged creatures from undesirable residences, anything involving wiring and electricity, going anywhere near an electric drill and everything to do with the setting up and maintenance of the home entertainment system. He is also really good at taking either one or both of the little ones out at the weekend for a couple of hours to give me a bit of a break.

So I need to learn to accept that in our household we do have a division of labour that works for us, and even though to me the things that I do seem the most obvious, I mustn't forget all the other things that sometimes just seem to get done by themselves.

Sponsored post

Shopping List game from Orchard Toys

2011-12-20T15:22:00.000Z

As I mentioned earlier, we've already started celebrating Christmas with relatives that live further away, and so Harry already has some of his presents. I was so impressed with this one that I had to write about it - the Shopping List game from Orchard Toys. We suggested this game as a present for him, because it had good reviews on Amazon and was a bestseller, but I have only recently heard of Orchard Toys. Harry is nearly 3 now, and I thought that he probably had the understanding to pick up how to play simple games.

I was really pleased with the game, and Harry loved it. It has a simple premise - each player (of up to four players) has a shopping list with eight different items. Each of these 32 items is represented on a smaller card. The small cards are turned face down in the middle, and players take it in turns to turn over a card. If it is on their shopping list they add it to their trolley, if not they turn it back over and play passes to the next person.

The game involves matching the items to the shopping list, and also memory skills, as you can remember where other items from your list are if other players have previously turned them over. Harry picked up the rules very quickly and was quite happy to play the game properly. He was absolutely delighted when he matched something from his list.

But what I particularly liked about this game was how Harry developed it. When he had filled up his trolley he drove it over to me so that I could 'scan' the items. Then he loaded them onto his truck, took them 'home', then he 'ate' them for lunch. I could see that he could amuse himself with the game even by himself, and there are lots of other games that you could play with the pieces. You could make up a number of variations on matching and memory games. It could be played as a single player game, or else two people could play with two shopping lists each. It also works really well for players of different ages and abilities.

It's too late for us to be coming up with more Christmas presents for Harry now, but I'm definitely going to have a good browse of the website. You can buy the games directly from Orchard Toys, or else you will probably find them cheaper on Amazon.

We bought this game ourselves!

Early Christmas and Father Christmas #5

2011-12-20T08:49:00.001Z

We spent the weekend at Ram's parents in Warwick to celebrate an early Christmas, as we are staying at home for Christmas this year. Grandad took Harry into town to see Father Christmas. Unfortunately Harry clung tightly to me and refused to even look at him. He did ask beforehand where the reindeer were though (in the coffee shop apparently) so he was interested, just terrified.

Harry's favourite present was a doctor's kit which was a big hit, we've been playing with it constantly since with various bits of plastic stuck in our ears and mouth.

Mia got lots of gorgeous clothes and some sparkly hairclips. We finished the day with a bottle of champage (to celebrate our upcoming house move) and a lovely dinner.

Listography - Top 5 things that make Christmas Christmas

2011-12-19T16:27:00.000Z

This week the theme for the Listography hosted by Kate Takes 5 is the top 5 things that make Christmas Christmas. Here's what makes it Christmas for me:

1 - Opening a big box of chocolates

Boxes of chocolates are usually the first sign of Christmas in the supermarkets. Not branded with anything Christmassy, and not even displayed in a special Christmas section, but everyone knows that their appearance means it's time to start thinking about Christmas. It was always a special moment when I was little and the tin of Roses was opened on Christmas Eve. It's not quite the same these days now that I can just go and buy a box of chocolates whenever I want, but it wouldn't be Christmas without a big tin of chocolates somewhere in the room.

2 - Stockpiling (and eating!) yummy food and drink

We are having a tiny family Christmas this year, no entertaining and no guests. We are also moving house just after Christmas so we are trying to keep purchases to a minimum. Yet we still have a massive pile of chocolates, biscuits, crisps, wine, beer, mince pies, sweets, chocolate bars, crackers...with more party food still to be purchased! It will all get eaten though!

3 - Listening to Christmas songs

We have a collection of Christmas music in various places - the car, the computer, to play through the television, through the iPod dock. Not to mention on the television, radio and in shops. I love listening to Christmas songs, and because you only listen to them at this time of year and not through the rest of the year, they really do evoke Christmas.

4 - Watching television

I remember the excitement surrounding the Christmas Radio Times, and checking to see which new films would be shown and which classics would be repeated. Along with the cold weather and shorter days, Christmas is about sitting in front of the television, watching Christmas specials of your favourite shows, re-watching the classics over again, and sharing them with the next generation.

5 - Dressing up

Dressing a bit more smartly and maybe even putting on some make-up for the work Christmas do, dressing the babies and children in silly outfits and Santa hats, wearing Christmas tree earrings and musical ties, and spending Christmas Day itself wearing a poorly fitting hat from a cracker. And lots of sparkles!

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree Blog Party

2011-12-18T20:36:00.000Z

It's party season, and Mum of All Trades is hosting a blog party so that we can all share our Christmas trees! I've posted before about how our tree is a bit of a "chuck it all at the tree and hope it doesn't fall off" sort of tree. Sometimes I envy those lovely colour co-ordinated trees that you see in garden centres, but the trouble is that I would get bored with the same colours year after year, and I can't imagine starting again each Christmas. Our tree has decorations that we've made and collected over the years, and it's full of memories.

Our Christmas tree 2011

The gold ornaments were an Ikea sales bargain, I think that they were something like 5p for a box of 50 ornaments. The tinsel dates back to Ram's very first Christmas tree when he moved out of home. I made the felt stockings (which are not quite as stuffed with chocolates as they were a week ago...). The cardboard bauble at the bottom was made by Harry last year. The tree has coloured flashing lights on it and underneath are a collection of small Christmas stuffed toys. I think that the star on top was from Sainsbury's a couple of years ago, it replaced a hideous plastic angel that came from one of those cheap Christmas shops that pops up in town.

Do pop by to Mum of All Trades to see the other Christmas trees and read the fascinating stories behind them.

Moving house

2011-12-18T10:28:00.000Z

We have had an exciting week this week:

We have exchanged contracts and will be moving house at the beginning of January. We've started getting some quotes for removal firms, and although we like to save money wherever possible we are seriously considering paying them to pack for us this time. Since our last move we have accumulated a lot more stuff, in particular in the toy and childrenswear departments. It's a good opportunity for a bit of a clear out too. If you know me in real life keep an eye on your in-boxes as we try to offload our clutter!

Any tips on making the move with a toddler and a baby as easy and pain free as possible, please let me know!

The everlasting Santa outfit

2011-12-16T12:06:00.000Z

Surely one of the great pleasures of having children has to be the opportunity to dress them up in silly costumes. When we bought Harry this Father Christmas outfit back in 2009 for his very first Christmas, we had no idea what a bargain it would be.

Christmas 2009

Christmas 2010

Christmas 2011

Another Christmas and the outfit is still going strong! Will he still fit it next year, or will it be Mia's turn?

Children and books

2011-12-16T09:43:00.000Z

I'm still thinking about an article that I read last week on the BBC News website - Third of children "without books". According to a new report by the National Literacy Trust, 3.8 million children in the UK do not own a book. You can read the full report here.

I find this absolutely staggering. I wouldn't want to dispute the research, but I simply cannot believe that there are this many children in the UK without a single book of their own. For a start, babies and toddlers in this country are (currently) given free books through the excellent Bookstart scheme. However this report does concern older children. The majority of the 18,141 children questioned were aged 11-13 years old.

I do remember when I was about 10 our teacher asked us to bring in the books that we had received for Christmas to show to the rest of the class. I had had a bumper year, and I lugged in a huge bag of both fiction and non-fiction books (some of which I still have today). But I remember that I was the exception, and I was surpised to see that there were children in the class that had received no books, and this was not a school in a deprived area.

I still have a lot of books, although my stash and number of purchases have reduced somewhat since I received a Kindle. I tend to take a fairly fluid approach to books anyway and pass them on when I've finished with them. But even if I don't tend to buy new books for myself any more, I can't resist buying them for the children, and they are constantly being taken out and read.

The lack of books owned by children can't possibly be due to the cost of buying books. Although new books can be expensive, we have bought second hand books in our local library and charity shops for as little as 10p. We've also received books as gifts and are regular visitors to the library for borrowing. So it must be down to the attitude of their parents. I do definitely see a correlation between the number of books that parents have in their houses and the number that the children have. It's understandable that parents that are readers will raise children that are readers, because the children see reading as an enjoyable pastime.

Of course these days much reading is done electronically, and there is still a value for children in reading magazines, newspapers and articles online. But I must admit that this report has given me lots to think about, and even upset me a little.

I think that books are so important, not just for teaching children to read, but for teaching children about the world, about history, about how other people can have different views, opinions and traditions. They are entertainment, an escape, a source of relaxation. I love nosing at the bookshelves in other peoples' homes to see what they are interested in and what we might have in common. I just can't imagine a home without books, and I find it very sad.

Father Christmas #4

2011-12-15T13:02:00.000Z

I concentrated a little more on the build up to Father Christmas for this baby group Christmas party, with the result that Harry was asking constantly through the morning whether Father Christmas was here yet and whether he was coming on his sleigh or walking. There was a slightly sticky moment when I heard that Father Christmas might be ill and not able to make it, but luckily he rallied round and appeared on cue. Harry predictably retreated behind the nearest chair, so I took Mia up by myself.

At least I got a picture of one of them with Father Christmas

They got some lovely little presents and sweets from Father Christmas. They also put on a puppet show for the little ones, Harry had a blue monster puppet to dance along with.

Dancing monster puppet

We had a lovely morning, the helpers really put in so much effort to make it special for the little ones.

A reply from Father Christmas!

2011-12-14T20:17:00.000Z

A reply from Father Christmas from Royal Mail, and in good time too! Harry was thrilled. He has been role-playing Father Christmas all day, with a sack of presents which he gives out to me and Mia. He also made me "talk" to Father Christmas on the phone to thank him for the present that he received earlier today when he was too shy to actually talk to Father Christmas himself.

Father Christmas #3

2011-12-14T12:32:00.000Z

Eagle eyed readers will note the absence of Father Christmas #2. This was a charity visit in the town centre at the weekend, accompanied by Ram.

Today was the first baby group Christmas party, with lots of fun activities (make reindeer food, scatter glitter about, ice gingerbread men). At the end Father Christmas made his appearance, and Harry retreated behind a row of chairs at the back of the room. He told me that he couldn't move because he had broken down and his wheels were stuck. So I had to go over to Father Christmas and ask him if I could possibly have a present for Harry. There was a glimmer of excitement as Harry unwrapped something pink, but it turned out to be a bottle of bubble mixture which Harry promptly upended on the laminate flooring, sending toddlers skidding and sliding off in all directions.

We have another chance for Harry to meet Father Christmas tomorrow at the next baby group party.

Writing the Christmas cards

2011-12-13T20:33:00.000Z

I know, I'm really late with writing my cards this year. Especially as in the interest of being frugal I prefer to send them second class. I tried to make a bit of a stand this year, as in the past I feel that I have spent a lot of time effectively exchanging cards with the wives of my husband's friends. This year I told my husband "I've got the Christmas cards out for you so that you can write them to your friends". Of course I know that I'll end up writing them out anyway as I'll feel bad when they don't get done.

Not being at work does mean that my list has reduced this year. I do like to send them to my mummy friends at baby groups, which means I have to try and remember the names of their husbands to put on the card, to avoid writing "Dear X and family" when they have managed to remember mine.

At Harry's nursery, they distribute a list of the names of all the children in his room to make sure that you don't miss anyone. As he only attends for a day and a half a week, I'm sure that he never meets most of these little ones. Today he was delighted to come home with two cards (especially the one that contained a chocolate coin), but when I asked him who the two little girls were ~~that had sent them~~ whose mother had sent them he didn't know!

I used to make a special effort with each card and include an extra handwritten greeting, or even enclose an individual letter with our news. But then I discovered that most people just sign their names. Especially with everyone being so connected on Facebook and the like I tend to know what everyone else has been up to anyway.

I wouldn't want to stop sending cards altogether though, it's always nice to have a reminder of a friend pop through the letter box and I appreciate every one that I receive. I just need to get together the motivation to get on and write them!

Not just any cards, these are M&S Christmas cards (bought in the sales last year obviously)

The absolute best toy for babies and toddlers

2011-12-13T09:02:00.001Z

Now that Mia is 6 months old and becoming a bit more interested in toys and such I've been getting out some of the baby toys that we had packed away. This included Harry's sets of stacking cups, and I was reminded once again what a truly fantastic toy they are. They are so great that I decided to write a blog post in case anyone was looking for a simple, classic Christmas present for a baby or toddler.

Our main set was from Early Learning Centre, a snip at £6 (although I'm not sure about the colours of their current set, I think that ours are nicer). We also have these ones from Ikea which are a true bargain. The Ikea ones are good because each one has holes in a different place, brilliant for in the bath. I've seen them in lots of other places too, you can gets one in different shapes, wooden ones, ones with different numbers, different pictures - there are lots of variations!

Although I had packed them away as Harry moved on to other toys, he jumped on them when he saw them and has hardly stopped playing with them since they resurfaced. Now he is able to build them up into a tall tower by himself (he insists it is a lighthouse) and we had a fab time playing "Harry monster" where I built a tower and he marched over roaring and destroyed it.

In their time they have been in the sandpit, the bath, the activity table and chased about the floor. They have been filled with rice, pasta, sand, cars and sponges. I even used to carry the smallest two about with me in the change bag for a toy on the go.

It doesn't even matter if you buy a set for someone that already has them, as you can have lots of sets and they will still be played with! Buy a value pack of dried pasta to go with them and you are sorted.

And no, no-one has asked me or paid for me to write this post!

The singing reindeer at Center Parcs

2011-12-12T13:25:00.000Z

These must surely be the highlight of any trip to Center Parcs at Christmas time. Enjoy!

Tapestry Christmas stockings

2011-12-12T12:43:00.000Z

I made these tapestry Christmas stockings for the little ones using a kit purchased from Jolly Red. I made Harry's using the original kit, and then as there was quite a bit of yarn left over I bought some extra yarn and canvas, and reused the pattern to make a second for Mia.

It was the first time that I had tried tapestry, and I'm really pleased with how they turned out. I don't have a frame, which perhaps would have made it easier, but I managed fine without. The kit only includes the materials to make the tapestry front of the stocking. Luckily my Mum was kind enough to make up the stockings for me as I would have found it quite difficult (but that's just me, I'm sure most crafters could manage easily!). Jolly Red do offer a making up service too, but combined with the cost of the kit it would have worked out rather expensive. I think that the design is lovely, and there are some other gorgeous patterns available too for all sorts of things.

We will leave them downstairs by the fireplace for Father Christmas to fill on Christmas Eve. (And please pretend that you can't see all that dust in the fireplace - we never use it, in fact I'm a little scared of it!)

Felt Christmas stocking decorations

2011-12-11T13:21:00.000Z

These little felt Christmas tree stocking decorations were really easy to make. They are sized to fit a funsize chocolate bar, or at the moment they each have three Celebrations chocolates in. They are just two halves cut from felt and sewn together, and then a white top and beads glued on, with gold yarn sewn in for hanging.

Let's see how long the chocolates last!

Things to do for free at Center Parcs, Elveden Forest

2011-12-10T14:59:00.002Z

We love visiting Center Parcs, but we do find that the activities on offer can be rather expensive. So I've put together a selection of the things that we have found to do for free in Center Parcs, Elveden Forest. These activities are particularly suitable for toddlers and young children.

The largest attraction included in the cost of the holiday is the Subtropical Swimming Paradise. There are plenty of areas to sit and plenty of different swimming areas, waterslides, jacuzzis and so on. There is a small, shallow pool for babies and toddlers, with sand to play in and some gentle slides. Twice a week there is a free Baby Dolphins session in the pool with singing for under 3s, check the details when you arrive. There is enough here to keep people of all ages amused.

Another great thing is just the enjoyment of being outdoors in the forest. You can take along your own bikes, scooters, trikes, rollerskates, skateboards and so on, and make the most of some safe paths to ride along away from the traffic. You can cycle around the village itself, or else there are some short tracks away from the village out into the forest.

While out you can spot wildlife and take some bread to feed the ducks and other wildlife. You can also watch other people taking part in the activities - for example it can be entertaining to watch people on the High Ropes or out on the water.

The beach area by the lake has sand to play in and paddling when the weather is nice. Cross over the bridge to the Adventure Golf island - you don't need to be playing to explore the island and there is a range of play equipment to climb on.

Part of the large outdoor play area next to the Sports Plaza

Other outdoor play areas can be found outside the Sports Plaza, with equipment suitable for a range of ages from toddlers to older children. If the weather isn't good enough to play outside, there are indoor play areas in some of the restaurants. Although the ones in Bella Italia and Huck's are intended for customers, there is an indoor soft play area in the Sports Cafe which you can use without eating or drinking. Likewise at Foresters' Inn in the Country Club there is a large indoor play area (and small outside area) which you can use without feeling obliged to make a purchase. There is also a fenced off soft play area for very little ones. If you are eating or drinking in these places then you can sit within sight of the play areas.

Large indoor play area at the Foresters' Inn

Sometimes in the Sports Plaza area there are Playmobil displays and occasionally Playmobil which you can play with. Also keep an eye out here for special notices. On one of our visits there was a problem which required the Subtropical Swimming Paradise to close for a brief period. To make up for this, Adventure Golf was free for the rest of the break and childrens' soft play equipment was set out for free to use.

On some evenings there are free childrens' and adults' discos upstairs in the Sports Plaza. Check the sign by the entrance.

Seasonally there are various different activities running, in particular during the Winter Wonderland which runs from the middle of November until just before Christmas. As well as the village being beautifully decorated for Christmas there are also a range of other activities, many of which are free. On our visit at Christmas 2011 there were the following:

Festive Fireworks display twice a week
Two real reindeer to visit, and when we visited also an owl
Singing reindeer (see picture below, not to be missed)
Bjorn the Polar Bear
Daily opening of the Advent Calendar in the Piazza
Santa's Stocking Adventure - a treasure hunt to find letters hidden around the village
Christmas Market (on the night of the fireworks)
Santa's Woodland Workshop - even if you aren't paying to visit Santa you can still admire the lighted pathway to his house and illuminated snowmen, sometimes there is even snow!

The singing reindeer - a big hit

And of course it's also important to remember that you don't need to stay in the park, you can easily jump in the car, or get out on your bikes and explore the local area. My Dad has some tips for fellow off-road cyclists:

When you have done with hurtling round the Center Parcs perimeter track, scattering joggers and dogwalkers alike, then it's time to cross the A11 to The King's Forest and beyond. Landranger OS map 144 will be your guide. As you might expect the land is flat but not without the occasional opportunity
to slide into sand filled tracks or go with the undulations left by the four wheel drive drivers.

I hope that these tips are helpful!

Nursery Christmas Fair and Father Christmas #1

2011-12-10T13:05:00.001Z

Today was the nursery Christmas Fair. They always put on a good show and it's also a good opportunity to take a look in Harry's "Record of Success" (key observations this month - Harry is a picky eater and enjoys playing with his train set. At least he behaves the same there as at home). We won a couple of prizes in the tombola, Harry ate half a mini yule log and he won some sweets throwing mince pies into (cardboard) Santa's mouth.

The highlight of the morning was the visit to Father Christmas. Unfortunately, for the second year running, the money which I had sent along to pay for his present (£2 in a neatly labelled envelope) had gone missing on its way to the North Pole, so we were made to feel like scroungers when he was presented with a gift marked "spare". Harry was terrified of Father Christmas so I had to do the talking. He did manage to muster up a "thank you" though when he was given his present. I told Father Christmas that he would like a pink train and Father Christmas promised a nice big one, so we had to clarify afterwards that of course it will only be a little one that fits on his train track.

Next scheduled visit to Father Christmas will be at his baby group next week.

Center Parcs Elveden Forest for Christmas

2011-12-10T10:42:00.001Z

This December marked Harry's fifth trip to Center Parcs Elveden Forest, and our first trip with Mia, as well as being the third time that we've visited just before Christmas. We are lucky because we can visit in term time, which means that the cost of the holiday is fairly reasonable. This time, because of the new addition to our group we upgraded to a three bedroom villa - a new style executive three bedroom lodge. This Christmas we were visiting with an almost three year old and a six month old.

Among other benefits, executive lodges have free wi-fi, a daily maid service, whirlpool bath and sauna. The fully equipped kitchen was provided with a small amount of washing up liquid (you'll probably need more), dishwasher tablets, sponge scourer, cloth and tea towel. The bedrooms had televisions and hairdryers and there was a DVD player in the living room. Although towels are provided, you'll want separate ones for the pool.

Our lodge, number 655

The lodge came with a sturdy and clean highchair and cot (you need to supply your own cot bedding). Unfortunately we have yet to find a satisfactory location for the cot in any of the lodges we have stayed in - it will only fit in the largest bedroom, and you need to either rearrange the furniture to squeeze it in beside the bed, or push it into a corner where it blocks the entrance to the bathroom. In our lodge one of the bathrooms had a toddler step which was very useful, and Harry was also particularly taken with a large chalkboard on the wall and coloured chalk.

Drawing on the chalkboard

There is a well-stocked grocery shop on site, and the prices are pretty reasonable, certainly comparable to one of the big supermarkets (although they don't carry the special offers that we tend to base our weekly shop around). If you are looking for more choice there is a good sized Sainsbury's on a retail park minutes up the road in Thetford.

You can enter the village on the morning of your holiday from 10am, but you can't take your car onto the site or enter your accommodation until 3pm. You can use the Subtropical Swimming Paradise from 2pm. Try not to arrive at 3pm on the dot as you will get stuck in a queue to get into the park - arriving just half an hour later can make a big difference.

We've found Center Parcs to be a fantastic place for a holiday with our young family. The lodges are comfortable and well equipped. It's great to be able to spend so much time out in the fresh air, and we've always found plenty to keep us busy. Center Parcs is also a really good place to holiday with extended family or friends, as everyone can have their own space yet still spend plenty of time together.

Walking through the forest

Harry loved the Subtropical Swimming Paradise this holiday, especially the childrens' pool with two slides and an area for splashing around and playing with sand. The changing areas however can get quite busy. Visiting during term time means that there are lots of babies and very young children, resulting in queues for the family changing cubicles which include a baby change table. You need to leave your pushchair in a large communal area outside, not a problem for us with our scruffy thing but might be a concern for some.

One criticism we have of Center Parcs is that additional activities can be very expensive compared to equivalent activities outside the park, although this doesn't seem to deter people. The prices are clearly displayed around the village and on the website, and they can be booked online before your visit or during your stay (subject to availability). We've managed to holiday here a number of times without paying for any extra activities (well, apart from the Aqua Sana - but that's a special treat!) so look out for my other post listing of some of the things that you can do around the village for free.

In addition, don't necessarily expect a peaceful and quiet woodland holiday here - the military airbase nearby means that there can be quite a lot of aircraft noise, including first thing in the morning and sometimes also into the early evening.

I'm not complaining though, visiting at Christmas in particular is a really magical experience, and you can take advantage of a few extra free seasonal attractions, such as the singing reindeer and a firework display. For an additional cost, to get into the Christmas spirit you can visit Father Christmas in his grotto, go ice-skating or take part in a variety of festive themed activities and crafts.

I'm sure that we'll be back!

Pre-Christmas break at Center Parcs, Elveden Forest

2011-12-08T19:27:00.000Z

We're currently coming to the end of a short break at Center Parcs in Elveden Forest. We like it here very much, and this will be the third year running that we've visited just before Christmas. It's a great time of year to visit with pre-schoolers, because being term time the prices are reasonable, and they really do go to a lot of effort for Christmas. We're always reluctant to spend any more money than necessary, and Center Parcs is not known for cheap activities. So look out for a couple more posts over the next few days, including one aimed at other cheapskate parents on ways to entertain yourself for free at Center Parcs.

Seconds before a rescue was required

Harry has had a great time, he has especially enjoyed the swimming pool this year (sorry...Subtropical Swimming Paradise). Mia has enjoyed a brief swim, and many walks through the forest. We have upgraded our accommodation choice to give us a bit more space, and the weather has not been too bad.

I'll leave you with a photograph of what has to be one of the highlights of the Winter Wonderland - the extremely well spoken singing reindeer. Video to follow!

The posh singing reindeer

Christmas Memories - Christmas build up in Australia

2011-12-07T10:03:00.000Z

I mentioned before that we were lucky enough one year to spend the build up to Christmas on a trip around the world, and we happened to be in Sydney for the occasion of the turning on of the Christmas lights. It was fascinating to experience the sights and sounds of Christmas in the bright, warm sunshine. There was a huge gathering to watch the lights being turned on, and it was full of families, everyone was so friendly. We spotted lots of people with big red shopping bags and found out that they were available for a small donation to charity. We bought one to share, and then quickly went back for another once we discovered some great things inside - including a Happy Christmas sun hat! I even met Father Christmas!

Meeting Father Christmas in Sydney

There were the usual trees and lights, but I did particularly like the Christmas lamp post decorations, which were festooned with cockatoos rather than snowflakes.

Christmas decorations in Sydney

I love how Christmas can evoke so many memories!

Nikolaus

2011-12-06T08:23:00.000Z

I studied German at University, and I also spent a year living in Germany as part of my degree. I'm really lucky to have had this opportunity, and the chance to experience life in a different culture. Although I didn't spent Christmas Day itself in Germany, I experienced the build-up, and I loved seeing the similarities and differences in how it is celebrated.

A German (and elsewhere) tradition which I've not really seen celebrated here is the celebration of Nikolaus. It is based upon St Nicholas, who became the inspiration for Father Christmas due to his reputation for the secret giving of gifts. His feast day is the 6th December.

In Germany, Nikolaus is different to Father Christmas, who is known as the Weihnachtsmann. Traditionally, children put a shoe outside their door on the night of 5th December (making sure that they have cleaned them first!). If they have been good, in the middle of the night, Nikolaus will come and fill them with small presents - like chocolate, coins, sweets or small toys.

I want to make this a part of our Christmas tradition, so we did this for the first time today. I'm not sure that Harry really understood what was going on, although he certainly appreciated his chocolate Father Christmas and coins!

More information about the Nikolaus tradition in Germany can be found here.

Listography - Top 5 Christmas Songs

2011-12-05T20:48:00.000Z

This is the first time that I've taken part in the Listography, created by Kate Takes 5 and this week hosted by These Precious Things. The list to put together this week is your top five Christmas songs. I've picked five songs that really put me in the mood for Christmas.

Walking in the Air - The Snowman

I think that this song probably reminds many people of the excitement of waiting for Christmas, as they remember watching The Snowman on Christmas Eve!

Jingle Bells

A classic and cheerful Christmas song, performed here by The Wiggles. Probably one of the first Christmas songs that you recognise and sing as a child.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

This one always feels a bit sad. But Christmas is also a time when you reflect on Christmas past and future, which can leave you in a reflective mood.

All I Want for Christmas is You - Mariah Carey

Bright and cheerful with lots of merry sleigh bells ringing, definitely one to make you feel Christmassy.

Fairytale of New York - The Pogues

Finally, predictable maybe, but how can you have a list of favourite Christmas songs without this one?

Our Christmas decorations - Surfing Santa

2011-12-04T13:15:00.000Z

Yesterday we put up our Christmas decorations. My approach to Christmas decorating is to collect things that I like and then throw them at the tree. No nicely co-ordinated, matching displays here. We are fairly discriminating when it comes to purchasing decorations though. That way, the ones that we do have hold memories for us which we can relive every year.

In late 2007, the year that we were married, we were lucky enough to take a delayed Honeymoon on a round the world trip. We arrived in Hawaii at the beginning of December, although of course you wouldn't have known it by the weather.

Coconut drink on the beach

This didn't mean of course that the preparations for Christmas weren't in full swing - there was a local radio station devoted to Christmas music, we saw a Christmas parade through the streets and the local Walmart was full of Christmas decorations. We didn't have much space left in the suitcase at this point, but how could we resist Surfing Santa?

Santa surfing on our Christmas tree

Have fun decorating!

Adventures in imaginary play - shopping

2011-12-03T10:07:00.000Z

Like most toddlers, Harry likes to base his play around the things that he experiences in daily life. I've already blogged about knocking down baby group (he's still playing it). Another activity which features heavily in our day to day lives is going to the supermarket. A few months back, I started collecting miniature bottles and so on for Harry to play shops with.

As Harry gets older and more vocal (if that were possible) I'm getting used to being bossed around. I've learned that as long as I do what I'm told and sit where I'm supposed to then everything will be fine.

So to play shops, I set up all the packets at one end of the room. Then I go and sit at the other end. Sometimes I close my eyes briefly and dream of a proper nap, while Harry loads up his shopping basket (it's just a cardboard box, we're not that sophisticated). He brings it all over to me and demands that I "float" it. I had to ask him to explain that one - when he said that I had to "make the beep noise" I realised that he meant pretend to scan it. A few quick beeps later, and I have another few seconds to rest my eyelids while he takes the shopping home to another corner of the room.

This game can then be repeated until the baby wakes up.

On to the bottles

2011-12-02T11:39:00.000Z

So my breastfeeding is slowly coming to an end. I've managed six months, with some purees for the last few weeks. I'll still be feeding at night for a bit though I expect, and I'll find it difficult to give up the 4.30/5am feed, when Mia comes into bed with me and I get a couple of hours extra sleep.

This means that we are now formula feeding, or as I prefer to call it "tipping formula down the sink". Mia seems to be taking after her big brother and not being too keen on her milk, whichever form it comes in. I suppose it's also a bit of an adjustment from lots of little feeds throughout the day to a smaller number of bottles. With Harry I used to get very stressed and anxious when he would only drink 1oz at a time, but having been there before I am hoping that Mia will pick up like Harry did in the end. In the meantime, now that she is six months old I can top her up with yoghurt and cheesy sauces.

Something that I did differently this time was starting to express milk daily very early on, and building up a stock of milk in the freezer. We could then we gave Mia a bottle every few days so that she was used to it. We learned this after a traumatic time trying to get Harry to take a bottle.

I knew that I'd never be an extended breastfeeder, and so I'm really proud that I managed to get this far.

Felt name picture - Mia

2011-12-02T09:09:00.001Z

Most of the things that I make seem to be for Harry at the moment, so I wanted to make something for Mia. I'm also a bit stuck for little Christmas presents for her. I'm still really enjoying crafting with felt at the moment, so I decided to frame her name in felt. I thought that we could put it up in her room or maybe on her door.

I bought a cheap pack of frames from Ikea, just £1.69 for three. They have thick plastic instead of glass, but that's probably safer for childrens' rooms anyway.

Whenever I imagine my felt creations they are always in delicate pastel shades, but most of my felt is bright colours and to be honest I prefer a more vivid look anyway. So I chose purple and pink for the letters. I cut out the smaller letter and sewed it onto a square of the contrasting colour before cutting around the edges. This was easier than cutting out two fiddly shapes. For a template for the letters I chose a font in Word (emboldened Bookman Old Style), enlarged it and then traced it off the screen.

I painted the frame with acrylic paint which covered it nicely in one coat. I am not afraid to mix brights and pastels!

For the background I used some plain white linen fabric, and I just glued on the letters. I intended them to be in line with each other, but they came out a little larger than I expected. I like how they look misaligned anyway.

I was going to embellish it further with buttons, ribbon, sequins, felt flowers etc., but in the end I felt that simple was better. It would be easy enough to add to it if I thought it needed a little extra something.

Now to make one for Harry. At least both my children have short names, although even Harry is going to be a challenge to fit into the small frame!

Mealtimes

2011-11-30T19:45:00.000Z

The thing about babies is that they change so quickly. It means that you are constantly kept on your toes with a routine that changes every couple of weeks, but it also means that, especially second time round, you realise that each stage is only a passing phase and soon you'll be worrying about something completely different.

We're in a transition phase with mealtimes at the moment. I like us all to eat dinner early at 6pm, because Harry isn't the best of eaters and it helps if he sees us all eating together. For the first few months Mia slept through dinnertime. Then she was too awake to want to sleep, but was getting tired and so she would scream at the top of her lungs. That wasn't a fun phase. Now she is old enough to be eating dinner herself, but because she is still spoon fed, it's easier if I can feed her separately.

So I now give her a puree at about 5pm (in the hope that she will still be hungry enough at bedtime for her milk) and then sit her in her highchair at the table with us while we eat with a few toys, so that she can watch us and get used to it. I've tried giving her little bits to try, but she hasn't got the hand eye co-ordination yet for finger foods.

Hopefully this will just be a short phase, and it won't be long before she can actually eat with us as well. I say hopefully, because this is currently how we now spend our dinner:

Mia throwing her toys on the floor and me picking them up.

Harry wondering what Mia has got that he hasn't.

Harry appropriating the toy that he likes the look of best and preferring it to his dinner.

At least I know that this is only another phase, and it won't be too long before we can all eat together in a civilised manner!

The Tell Me About Yourself Award

2011-11-30T08:48:00.001Z

So I finally got around to coming up with some fascinating things about myself to share for the Versatile Blogger Award, and now I've been tagged with another award and I need to think of some more interesting things! I hope that they are interesting enough, you may notice that most of these things relate to my life pre-children, perhaps I was more exciting then!

I have kindly been tagged by Trouble Doubled, so I would like to say thank you very much, it still surprises me that people other than my Mum and immediate family are looking at my blog! I need to reveal seven things about myself and then pass the award on to another fifteen bloggers. So without further ado:

1 - I love painting my nails, although these days I don't have the time to sit around and wait for them to dry. When I was a teenager I had such a large collection of colours that I could paint half of each fingernail a different colour and still have some left over.

2 - I studied German at university and spent a year living in Germany. I still never fully got to grips with those adjective endings though.

3 - Most of the books on my bookshelf are childrens' books that I've read so many times I practically know them by heart. Enid Blyton features heavily, also the What Katy Did books and the Blue Door Theatre books.

4 - Although I now have a smartphone, I still feel a bit of nostalgia for my old pink Motorola phone. Things were so much simpler then. Also no-one would ever have tried to steal it.

5 - I can play music by ear well enough that I can pick out simple tunes on childrens' toys. When Harry was a baby I borrowed for him an Octotunes from the toy library and entertained him by playing songs from In The Night Garden on it. (Search for Octotunes on YouTube and you will see that I am not alone).

6 - At school, I won a prize for RE. This was less due to my interest in the subject and more down to my ability to memorise facts and regurgitate them into an essay during an exam. In this case, a long forgotten yet extensive knowledge of the rituals and stages of the Hajj pilgrimage.

7 - I can touch type at about 85 words per minute. This is how I have time to write a blog.

I'm not very good at tagging anyone in these things. So I will say what I usually say, if you would like to take part then please consider yourself tagged!

10 activities to do with toddlers and bubblewrap

2011-11-29T08:44:00.001Z

When we last moved house, the price that we paid for removals included all packaging materials. Imagine my delight when we were presented with not one but two giant rolls of bubblewrap. Of course some of it was used to package our precious possesions, but we had a good amount leftover. Not to mention the fact that along with jiffy bags and nice cardboard boxes it is something which I hoard anyway.

So I've put together ten crafts and activities for toddlers using bubblewrap.

The most obvious thing to do - pop the bubbles. My toddler couldn't manage it with his fingers, but if you put it on the floor and jump on it you can make some satisfying pops! Or you could try hitting it with a toy hammer or pricking with a cocktail stick.

Make an aquarium picture. Use the bubble side of bubblewrap to print with blue paint onto blue paper or card. For ours we glued on fish cut out from silver paper, and used shredded green paper for plants.

Make a bubblewrap crocodile using a cardboard tube

Make a hanging jellyfish with bubblewrap tentacles.

Make a bubblewrap pillow and fill it with interesting things.

Make printing blocks with shapes cut from thick cardboad and covered in bubblewrap. This is a great idea for themed wrapping paper. You can also take a cardboard tube (a thicker one is best, like from cling film or tin foil) or an old rolling pin and cover with bubblewrap, paint, and roll over the paper.

Paint and collage onto it. If you press tissue paper over the painted bubblewrap, the coloured circles will show through.

Make a popping game to teach numbers, letters, shapes...anything really! You just write onto or behind the bubbles and then get your toddler to pop them as you name them. This is a good activity for the bubblewrap that has larger bubbles.

Cut the bubblewrap into strips and use it to decorate a carwash. You can go small, and make walls out of Duplo, or go large and use a big cardboard box. Just fasten long strips over one side so that they hang down for the cars/trains/people to go through. You can use bubblewrap on the floor of the carwash too to represent the bubbles.

For an unusual edible craft - use bubblewrap to make toppers for fairy cakes. Such a simple idea, and they look so good!

Children should always be supervised when playing with bubblewrap.

The Versatile Blogger Award

2011-11-28T10:04:00.002Z

I must begin this post with an apology. A while back I was tagged by WeAreWildThings with the Versatile Blogger Award. I was on holiday at the time and so I couldn't do it straight away, and then it got forgotten about, so I'm very sorry and here is my post.

To accept this award, the first thing that I need to do is thank the blogger that gave me the award and link back to them. Thank you very much! I now need to reveal seven things about myself, and then tag another fifteen (!) bloggers to do the same. So here goes:

1 - I had two weddings (to the same person!)

2 - I hate having my hair cut. I pretend that it is because of the cost, but actually I just hate having it done. I then spend a lot of time complaining that my hair is too long and sheds everywhere.

3 - I dream of a minimalistic lifestyle living on a canal boat, but I'm too much of a hoarder.

4 - I like collecting things, but they have to be free. Examples - shells, sea glass, promotional postcards, stickers, confetti and bubbles from weddings.

5 - I am quite well travelled, in my life pre-children that is. In 2007 I visited nearly every continent - Europe (Belgium), Africa (Egypt), Asia (Singapore), Australia (all over) and America (Chicago).

6 - My first job was in a library and I loved it. I wouldn't be surprised if I find myself working in a library again at some point in the future.

7 - I can count to ten in Japanese

It's very difficult to find people that haven't already been tagged, so I'm afraid that I'm not going to make it to fifteen.

So I'm sending it away from Mummy bloggers to Crazy Cat Man, off to my sister at BeepBeep, and I'll keep it in the family and send it to my Mum at Bitstobuy!

The end of touch typing?

2011-11-27T21:52:00.000Z

When I was 16, I had a lovely long summer break after finishing my GCSEs. I wasn't a typical teenager, because in a rather geeky fashion I chose to spend some of my free time teaching myself to touch type. Back in 1996 there were not nearly as many home computers around as there are now, and I had barely even heard of the internet. But in the years that have passed since, I have repeatedly congratulated myself on my foresight, because I have benefited a lot from this skill. From typing essays at college and at university, writing documentation for work right through to writing this blog, I can now type very fast and fairly accurately.

But now I've found that on gadgets with a touchscreen keypad it is impossible to touch type. When you touch type, you need to rest your fingers on the home keys, and you can't do this on a touchscreen because it will register the key press. Also the letters are often too small to hold your fingers over comfortably anyway. So it's back to typing with one or two fingers again. The reason that I have resisted the lure of a tablet style touchscreen device is because I find it so much easier to write using a keyboard. But I can see that in a few years time everything will be touchscreen and keyboards may well become obsolete, along with typewriters.

So is there any point in still learning to touch type?

Homemade embroidered felt numbers

2011-11-24T19:29:00.000Z

I made these felt numbers partly to help Harry with number recognition, and partly because I thought they'd be fun to make! They were very quick to put together, cutting out the felt was the time consuming and fiddly part.

To make a template for the felt numbers I chose a font that I liked (Verdana) in Word and enlarged it on the screen. Then I just traced over the numbers onto scrap paper. They are made from two pieces of felt cut to the shape of the number, one side is embellished and then they are sewn together. To embellish them I used a variety of sequins, beads and embroidery in contrasting colours. Because they are quite tactile you can run your fingers over them to trace the shape.

You could also add magnets to the back of the felt numbers, or back them with cardboard to make them a bit sturdier. I'm hoping that they will be useful to teach him to recognise numbers and for counting games.

Now for the next project - a felt alphabet!

Harry's first letter to Father Christmas

2011-11-23T08:59:00.000Z

I remember writing to Father Christmas when I was little, and how magical it was to get a letter back. These days, Father Christmas requires a stamp in order to send a reply, but the procedure is the same.

Luckily Harry is still easily pleased. He has drawn what he would like from Father Christmas this year - a pink train. He has also managed an 'H' for Harry. I added in the crucial address details before we put it in the envelope!

I really hope that Father Christmas has the time to write back! If you need them, here are the details for writing to Father Christmas for children in the UK.

Easy lemon drizzle cake

2011-11-22T09:14:00.000Z

I hadn't made this cake before, in fact I had to go out and purchase a loaf tin to bake it in (with hindsight, a lemon juicer would also have been a useful purchase).I found the recipe on BBC Good Food, and I chose it because it didn't have too many ingredients and it looked quite easy to make. It is rather yummy, if I say so myself.

Ingredients:

225g unsalted butter, softened
225g caster sugar
4 eggs

finely grated zest 1 lemon
225g self-raising flour

Drizzle:

juice 11⁄2 lemon

85g caster sugar

Method:

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Beat together 225g softened unsalted butter and 225g caster sugar until pale and creamy, then add 4 eggs, one at a time, slowly mixing through. Sift in 225g flour, then add the finely grated zest of 1 lemon and mix until well combined. Line a loaf tin (8 x 21cm) with greaseproof paper, then spoon in the mixture and level the top with a spoon.
Bake for 45-50 mins until a thin skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. While the cake is cooling in its tin, mix together the juice of 1 1/2 lemons and 85g caster sugar to make the drizzle. Prick the warm cake all over with a skewer or fork, then pour over the drizzle - the juice will sink in and the sugar will form a lovely, crisp topping. Leave in the tin until completely cool, then remove and serve. Will keep in an airtight container for 3-4 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.

To avoid waste, I only used one lemon - the zest for the cake and the juice for the drizzle. To make up for less lemon juice in the drizzle I used just 50g sugar which made the cake plenty lemony enough for us.

Christmas toddler busy bag activities - Part 1

2011-11-20T14:46:00.000Z

Readers of this blog will know how much I like making busy bags! I've been putting together some busy bags with a Christmas theme. Some of them will come with us when we go on holiday before Christmas and the others will be ready to pull out for a Christmas activity when we need something to fill a bit of time. I've got lots of ideas so this is just the first batch! Most of these activities also require glue, I use white PVA glue. A lot of the pieces within the bags came from Christmas craft kits which I've bought at various times.

Pipecleaner bracelets

Pipecleaners with beads to thread on which can then be bent around the wrist. The fuzz on the pipecleaners holds the beads on so that they don't fall off, so I'm hoping that this will mean the activity isn't too frustrating.

Christmas collage

A selection of Christmas themed background papers, some Christmas images cut from last year's Christmas cards, some pre-cut foam shapes and a tube of glitter for good measure. You could also add Christmas stickers, sequins, stars, scraps of coloured paper etc.

Christmas tree decoration

I cut out some simple Christmas tree shapes from green card. Each decoration requires two shapes, one with a slit cut from the bottom up to the halfway point and the other cut with a slit from the top down to the halfway point. They can then be slotted together to make a tree that stands up by itself once decorated. I've included a selection of sequins and coloured stars and a tube of glitter glue to decorate.

Pom pom characters

These pieces were from a Christmas craft kit from Tesco, but you could easily make your own if you have some pom poms and foam sheets. This kit makes a Father Christmas and a snowman. I'm hoping that this will work, as I remember that the pom poms can be quite difficult to make stick together.

To hold the contents, I use small resealable sandwich bags like these from Ikea. The bags can then be stored in a larger bag or shoebox.

Ideas for filling a wooden advent calendar

2011-11-19T09:33:00.000Z

Harry is old enough this year to get excited for the first time about Christmas. But he doesn't have much concept of time yet, so I thought that an Advent calendar might help him understand how much longer he has to wait. I've wanted a wooden Advent calendar with boxes for a long time, so I decided this year was the year to get one. After much deliberation we chose this one:

It's from The Range, and I like it because the wooden boxes are a good size, and it wasn't too expensive, only £14.99. It seems pretty well made, so I hope that it will last for a few years to come. So then to find 24 small gifts to fill the Advent calendar with!

I made some mini tree decorations from felt. I'll spread them out, and when Harry opens one he can put it on the Christmas tree.

I found a sheet of Christmas stickers which I've cut up to put into the Advent calendar individually.

I expect however that the most popular gift will be a chocolate! The boxes are large enough that I can put a chocolate in each day along with the other little bits, and on some days I can put several in.

I also found a few non-Christmas related little toys around the house which I can use. I like making lists, and I've come up with a list of other things which you could also use to fill the boxes. I've not used all the ideas this year, but I may come to refer to it in future years, especially as I expect next year there will be a second one under the tree!

Mini pencils or crayons, keyrings, marbles, a bouncy ball, stickers, temporary tattoos, balloons, Christmas decorations, hair ties and bobbles, costume jewellery, coins, finger puppets, erasers, pencil toppers, mini sticky labels, sequins or metallic confetti, small toys from Christmas crackers or Kinder eggs, Christmas decorations, craft items (pop poms, foam stickers, googly eyes, pipecleaners, shredded coloured paper, felt shapes to stick together, ribbon, yarn, collage materials), fridge magnets, little animal or dinosaur models, plastic glow in the dark stars or planets, seeds.

When Harry is older, I also thought about buying a larger Lego or Playmobil model and putting a few pieces in for each day so that he can build the model, a cheaper alternative to the Lego and Playmobil Advent calendars which you can buy. Another idea would be to put the craft materials needed to decorate something like a Christmas tree, which could be added to each day. Or you could buy a Christmas themed jigsaw, and put a few pieces in each day. If you want to give a gift which is too large for the boxes, you could put a clue to where it can be found.

Another idea for older children that I've seen several places online is to write out a Christmas activity for each day - for example, write Christmas cards, make decorations, buy the Christmas tree, watch the Christmas lights being turned on, late night shopping, visit Father Christmas, go to a Christmas Fair, ice the Christmas cake, write to Father Christmas, wrap presents, make biscuits, watch a pantomime - this would be a really good way to get into the festive spirit!

I'll be keeping an eye out throughout the year now for little things that can go in! If you have any more ideas, please feel free to add them into the comments!

Birth Story - Mia

2011-11-18T12:53:00.000Z

This is my second birth story post to add to the collection created by Actually Mummy. You can read Harry's birth story here.

After going ten days overdue with Harry, I was fully expecting to be the same with Mia. I'd returned to work part time after finishing my maternity leave with Harry, and so I worked on the Friday, then it was a Bank Holiday weekend, and I was looking forward to a bit of a break. So I wasn't too impressed when in the early hours of the following Tuesday, a week before my due date, I started having contractions. I'd been having Braxton Hicks for a few weeks, but I recognised the contractions immediately. About 2.30am I told my husband that I was "feeling a bit uncomfortable" and came downstairs. I sat at the PC and loaded up a contractions timer. I could see that they were coming about every 6 minutes, but they were quite bearable. After a couple of hours I rang the labour ward to ask their advice, as I needed to make sure that my parents (a 30 minute drive away) were around to look after Harry. They dispensed the usual advice - take two paracetamol and get into the bath then call back in an hour or so. I was torn between not wanting to wake my parents and making sure that they were here in time.

When I rang the hospital back they said it would be a good idea to call my parents so I did at about 4.45am. My Dad answered the phone half asleep and seem a bit confused as to why I was ringing, but luckily my Mum realised what was going on! They came down straight away, and in the meantime Harry had woken up (he always woke at 5am). I wrote my birth plan while he was drinking his morning milk!

The contractions were getting more and more painful and closer together, so at about 7am my husband and I went to the hospital. I was disappointed to be examined and found to be only 2cm dilated, as I had thought that I was much further along. The midwife told me that the baby would probably be born that day, but I had a long way to go, so why not go for a walk into town and keep moving to speed things along. The contractions were so frequent that I could hardly walk, and I was in a huge amount of pain. I staggered across the car park to the car and sat down, and immediately they stopped. So I thought "right, I'm staying here then" but my husband wasn't having that and so we drove down the road to Waitrose and then he made me get out the car. I made it to the front of the store, stopping every minute or so in agony. I was hanging off railings, trolleys, shelf stacking trolleys, everything. The man at the customer service desk was giving me very funny looks. I wanted to get back to the hospital because I could hardly stand, so I rang up and they reluctantly said that I could come back in.

I was shown to a labour room (the same one Harry was born in!) and they kept me waiting for ages. I was in so much pain that I couldn't move. Then the midwife came back and started pulling out yoga mats and birthing balls. I asked for some pain relief and she very reluctantly set up the gas and air for me, but told me not to take it as I had ages to go yet. As soon as she was out of the room I grabbed it. I was standing up against the bed (she had moved it to stop me lying down) and just rocking from side to side. The gas and air helped to dull it a bit and get the contractions in a bit of a rhythm, but I wasn't having much fun.

Then she came back and asked if I'd considered a water birth. I thought I might as well give it a go, and it was the best suggestion that she could have given. It took a while to fill the bath, and the minute I got into the lovely warm water I felt so so much better. I must have only had a few contractions in the water before I started feeling the sensation to push. I guess because it was my second time, the midwife told me to trust my instincts and do what felt right. So I pushed...and Mia was born in about three pushes at 11am! It took me completely by surprise, and she just fell out into the water! The midwife leaned in and pulled her out, and placed her on me.

With Harry I had the injection to release the placenta, but there wasn't the opportunity this time so I had to deliver it naturally. Unfortunately, this meant that I had to continue pushing when it was the last thing that I wanted to do, but I'm glad that I was able to do it this way. I was able to sit in the water for ages with Mia, and then when I came out I still felt quite clean and refreshed. We just sat on the bed together for ages, and she had a long feed.

Then we were moved to the ward. We were placed in a huge ward all by ourselves - me, my husband and Mia. It was very strange and quiet. I was even able to doze for a little while. I was desperate to avoid having to stay in overnight, but you have to stay in for six hours for observation and the paediatrician finished work at 5pm. We were just in time to get him round to visit and all the paperwork completed so that I could be discharged around 6pm.

We went home, and a couple of hours later I was sat on the sofa eating takeaway pizza with my parents with a new baby in the moses basket next to me. Very surreal!

You can read the rest of the birth stories here.

Birth Story - Harry

2011-11-17T12:48:00.001Z

Actually Mummy is collecting together birth stories, and so I decided to write out mine to add to the others. I've been very lucky with both my births, yes it did hurt (it really really hurt) but aside from a few small issues with Harry I didn't have any serious problems. Hopefully my stories (and in particular Mia's birth story) will be a bit of a reassurance.

I was ten days overdue with Harry, and after a failed sweep I was resigned to having an induction, which was booked for a couple of days later. So it was a bit of a surprise when I was woken up at 6am by my waters breaking. I made it to the toilet, but I could see that there was a bit of discolouration in the waters, so when I rang the labour ward they told me to come in for monitoring. I was fully expecting to be popped on the monitor for an hour or so and then sent away to labour at home, so my husband got himself ready for work, and I put my hospital bags in the car almost as an afterthought. Parking on the sidestreets by the hospital was free until 9am, so we parked there thinking that we'd be out in plenty of time.

I'd had a few contractions in the car, about every 15 minutes or so, but I didn't realise that they were actual contractions, I thought that they were just Braxton Hicks!

I was put on the monitor, and straight away I could see that the midwife was a bit concerned because Harry wasn't moving much. He never did first thing in the morning though, so I wasn't too worried, but then she started talking about c-sections which made me a little anxious. Also they had decided that I did have meconium in my waters, which could mean that he was in distress. Luckily they called in a paediatrician for a second opinion, and she said that I was fine to carry on. Unfortunately because of the meconium I did have to be strapped to the monitor all the way through, which wasn't ideal as I'd been hoping to labour in water, or at least be able to move around.

It wasn't until a midwife put a hospital bracelet onto me that I asked "Oh, so am I not going home then?" and she laughed and said "no, not until you've had the baby!". My husband went out to move the car, and was gone for ages. He came back having popped out to Waitrose to get himself some posh sandwiches and pasta salad for lunch. I was hungry too but not allowed to eat anything!

I was having quite frequent contractions by this point and they were getting more painful, so about 10.30am the midwife connected up the gas and air for me. This helped, only in as much as it just made me want to sleep between the contractions! It did make me feel a bit spaced out, so my memory is a bit hazy. I think that I progressed quite quickly, although it seemed to go on forever. By about 1pm, the pain was getting very intense and I didn't know how much longer I could go on. I tentatively suggested to the midwife that I might like an epidural and she said "Oh it would be such a shame when you've got so far". I was a bit cross at the time, but I think that I was actually in transition at that point and it was too late for one anyway.

I then discovered that if I bore down at each contraction the pain was a little lessened, and then I realised that I was automatically pushing. I'd had it drilled into me not to push until the midwife said, to avoid tearing, so I asked if I was allowed to push yet and she said "you can if you like". So I started pushing. My husband found himself roped in to support one of my legs and the midwife had the other and I pushed away for what seemed like ages. It would feel like the head was coming out, and then the contraction would finish and it was sucked back inside, so it felt as though I wasn't getting anywyere.

Harry was finally born at about 2.30pm. The midwifes didn't tell us until after he was born that he would need to spend some time in the Special Care Baby Unit because of the meconium. But he was checked over, and we were able to spend some time cuddling him before he was taken away, which was good of them. He spend the night in the SCBU and I was on the ward, so it felt a bit surreal being on the ward on my own surrounded by screaming babies, and I was desperate to get home. Happily we were discharged the following morning, and he didn't suffer any ill-effects from the meconium. I had second degree tears so I was pretty uncomfortable, but it all healed up fine after a few weeks.

You can read the rest of the birth stories here.

The weaning face

2011-11-16T13:03:00.000Z

Starting to wean Mia onto solids brings back all the fun of trying to spoon sloppy puree into an unpredictable, mobile mouth. I know, I know, baby led weaning is the way to go, and we will do an approach based upon this when she's a bit older, but for the time being I like the security of spooning in the food, and the pureeing and freezing in little pots appeals to my organisational tendencies.

Harry always used to shove his fingers in his mouth at the same time as the spoon, but Mia seems to be a much tidier eater which is nice. But one thing that I had forgotten is the weaning face.

Not this one...

Swede and carrot? Yum!

...but the one that I find myself making as I move the spoon towards her mouth. Am I the only one that opens my mouth just as much as she does, in an unconscious effort to persuade her to copy me?

Review: Hexagonal Wooden Sandpit from Big Game Hunters

2011-11-15T19:24:00.004Z

Harry loves playing in the sand at the beach, but although we live by the sea, the beaches around here are not very sandy. So this hexagonal wooden sandpit from Big Game Hunters is perfect for the garden.

It arrived promptly by courier and was well packaged. The box was smaller and lighter than I was expecting, as the sandpit is built by slotting together small slats. If you were collecting it yourself you would have no problems fitting it into a small car.

All the pieces to make up the sandpit, a cover and underlay are also included in the box

The pre-cut wooden pieces slotted together easily, and I was able to assemble it by myself without too much trouble. All you need is a screwdriver to screw on the top ledge. The instructions were easy to follow and also contain plenty of other information about caring for the sandpit. One tip for assembly - when preparing to screw on the top ledge, carefully place all the pieces in position before you begin. I did this and still had some trouble lining up the screw holes with the walls underneath. Also take some time as you slot the pieces together to make sure that you have the nicer sides facing outwards.

Sandpit walls before the top ledge has been screwed on

We may be moving house soon, and I was concerned as to how easy it would be to take the sandpit with us. It may not be easy to take the whole thing apart once screwed together, but the bottom slats can be removed, and the top hexagonal layer is quite light and sturdy. With two people it will be no more difficult to move than any of our other furniture! Even when fully assembled the sandpit is light enough to move to a different position in the garden without too much trouble, although it would be easier with two people to keep the loose lower slats in position.

The sandpit is supplied with a geotextile underlay. This needs to be cut to size for the sandpit before the sand is put in. I cut it slightly larger than the base and positioned it so that a small amount overlapped up the insides. I'm perhaps stating the obvious but the sandpit is not supplied with sand, and it does hold a lot. I put in about 15kg, and this was only just enough to cover the underlay with a thin layer. Ideally I think that you would want at least 50kg of sand. You also need to make sure that you use proper playsand. Even with the underlay I suspect that sand will escape, but then that's the nature of sandpits!

Walls low enough to lean over

The walls of the sandpit are not too high, so little ones can get in and out easily. It is nice and wide in diameter, and the hexagonal shape means that there is plenty of room for several children to play inside. The walls are also strong enough to bear their weight. I probably wouldn't give Harry water to play with inside to avoid too much mess, although the underlay looks as though it would be waterproof. It can also be placed on grass.

Making sandcastles

The circular protective cover closes snugly over the sandpit by means of a drawstring. Water will pool on the top when it rains. The instructions say that you can place an item inside which is higher than the walls of the sandpit to prevent this, otherwise you will need to remove the water to prevent it sagging down and being a potential safety hazard for small children.

The assembled sandpit with the cover in position

I can't comment yet as to how the wooden sandpit will stand up to the outdoors in the long term, although the instructions suggest that a suitable wood treatment should be used yearly. I will probably remove the sand and store the sandpit in the garage throughout the winter just to be safe.

I am very impressed with this sandpit, and I think that it's really good value. It's a good size and appears very sturdy. I hope that we will be able to use it for many years.

This hexagonal wooden sandpit is available to purchase here for £59.99 plus delivery, or you can see the full range of sandpits here http://www.gardengames.co.uk/acatalog/Sandpits.html

Disclaimer - We were sent the sandpit for the purpose of this review

Sleep Deprivation Fridge Cake recipe

2011-11-14T12:01:00.000Z

For when you really need some energy to get you through the afternoon, this 'cake' is easy and quick to make around the demands of your insomniac baby and/or toddler. It does really need a couple of hours to set solid in the fridge, but that is not essential, you can just eat it with a spoon.

In a large bowl:
Tip in 225g or so of digestive biscuits and bash them up into quite small pieces with a rolling pin
Mix in a 100g bag of Maltesers

In a saucepan melt together:
Approx. 250g of your favourite chocolate (although cheap stuff works just as well). Or you could try a few Mars bars which sounds rather tasty
100g butter
2 tbsps caster sugar
2 tbsps golden syrup
2 tbsps cocoa powder

If you like, there is room to add in various other ingredients - nuts, dried fruit, mini marshmallows, more chocolate pieces...

Mix it all up together, press firmly into a suitably lined cake tin to a depth of about 2cm, and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Can you say sugar rush?

Keep a close eye on it, as it has a habit of disappearing while it cools. If sharing with a toddler, place toddler securely in high chair and apply a bib, keeping baby wipes handy.

Shoreham Bonfire and Fireworks 2011

2011-11-13T12:33:00.000Z

This year for the first time we went to the Shoreham Bonfire Society celebrations. We arrived early to watch the parade, only to discover that it was just people walking down the road, so we had a bit of a wait for the fireworks. This necessitated a dark beach feed, illuminated only by camera flashes, and hoping that there was no literal flashing going on in anyones snaps! But when the fireworks started they were very good and worth waiting for. There was an impressive bonfire on the seafront too. Our lesson learned for next year - arrive just before the fireworks start!

Cheapskate parents take their own glowsticks

A friend recently told me that her son had just seen his first fireworks, at Harry's age. It made me think how many times we have dragged little ones out to watch fireworks - he has seen at least four professional displays in the last couple of weeks alone, and Mia has seen two. By his first birthday he had seen several displays, and when I was pregnant I felt his first proper kicks watching fireworks.

I hope that people don't think that we are irresponsible taking a small baby out at night. She is well wrapped up, and not cold, but we do realise that she is getting the least benefit out of all of us. Having said that, although she slept through her first display, she was watching these fireworks and she wasn't scared or upset. Perhaps dragging them out at night though might be part of the reason that we have poor sleepers. Friends have told me that they don't want to upset their childrens' (brilliant) sleeping routines by taking them out after bedtime!

Knocking down baby group

2011-11-12T11:41:00.000Z

Probably the most exciting thing that has happened this week was the knocking down of baby group.

Well over a year ago, a huge new Tesco opened just down the road from where we live. They replaced a much smaller store, but on the land they wanted for some of the carpark was an old Community Centre where we used to go to baby and toddler group. So they came to some arrangement whereby they would build a new Community Centre at the far end of their plot of land, and then they could knock down the old one. They've finally finished the new building, and the diggers have flattened the old one this week.

This destruction has been fascinating for Harry, and even more so because it was a building that he knew and had been inside. Presumably for safety, but rather disappointingly, Tesco erected large hoardings around the site, so there was only a very narrow crack through which you could view proceedings. Even so, I think that Harry would have happily spent all day there.

This afternoon I found him recreating the scene with his Duplo. I did give him a little bit of help, note the safety barrier (with a Harry brick looking through), and the new centre visible in the background as he transfers over the toys before knocking down the old one.

Keeping the peace with a toddler

2011-11-11T13:01:00.000Z

One thing that I have learned about toddlers is how much everything has to be just right. And if you do something as a one off (possibly to avoid a tantrum), you then end up doing it every time (or else you end up with a tantrum greater than the one that you were originally trying to prevent).

Here are some of the things that I now find myself doing:

Cutting the morning toast into eight small triangles, which need to be positioned in the middle of the plate with small pieces of cheese arranged around the edges.

Cutting the lunchtime sandwich into a circle, thus creating what we call a "Button Moon" sandwich. Harry makes the holes in it himself with his finger. Additionally, a small piece of cheese must be provided before the sandwich is served, "for my mouth".

Tempting him to sit in the pushchair with a small tub of Cheerios.

Letting him wear socks to bed, no matter how warm the bedroom is.

When food is prepared in the kitchen, Harry must carry it to his booster seat himself and strap himself in. If I carry it for him by mistake it must be returned to the kitchen and carried in again by himself.

The bedtime routine must be followed exactly or else we need to go back to the beginning and start again. The routine takes the form of bath (a traumatic event), play on Daddy's tablet, book, knee cuddle, possibly another book, knee cuddle, tuck up in bed, milk, another knee cuddle and bed. Any deviation results in screaming, and there is always the very likely possibility of being called back for further knee cuddles.

Letting him wash his hands after the toilet by filling the entire sink with water, only for him to dabble his hands in it briefly before pulling out the plug. Sometimes another sinkful is required to ensure the task is completed to his satisfaction.

What do you find yourself doing to keep little ones happy?

Toddler busy bag activity - threading

2011-11-10T13:28:00.000Z

I love putting together toddler busy bags. Threading is another activity that can easily be put together from items found around the house. Toddler busy bags are a great way to entertain toddlers for a short period of time. For this bag, all you need is something to thread with, and things to thread on to it.

When looking for something to thread on to, try to find something that is a bit stiffer than just string, perhaps coated wire or pipe cleaners. I've used a freezer bag clip at the bottom of the thread to stop things falling off.

Some ideas for things to thread - beads, paperclips, buttons, cut up pieces of drinking straw, penne pasta, eyelets, washers, cotton reels.

This activity can be adapted to suit the age and ability of your toddler. As your todder's hand/eye co-ordination improves you can thread objects with smaller and smaller holes. Have fun!

More gingerbread men and Button Moon

2011-11-09T16:24:00.000Z

So I've still been too lazy to make gingerbread dough from scratch. But we were in Sainsbury's at the weekend and spotted this ready made dough. We've had the cookie dough from there before and it was very nice, so we thought we'd give it a go.

As long as it was taken out of the fridge to warm up it was pretty easy to roll out, and also very smooth. When I make biscuits I always end up with bits stuck to the rolling pin, but it didn't happen with this dough. It was very firm though, so quite difficult to mould other than rolling. We decided to make Button Moon themed gingerbread. We cut out lots of circles and used a drinking straw to make the holes in the middle for Button Moon.

Below is one of the trays ready to go into the oven. The pack says that it makes 8 gingerbread men, obviously this is dependent upon the size of your cutter but I would think that it would make a few more than that. Perhaps they expect people that are too lazy to make the dough from scratch to also be too lazy to re-roll the leftovers from around the edges to make more biscuits! We made a spaceship and Mr Spoon's house, as well as Mr Spoon, Mrs Spoon, Tina Teaspoon and a few extra moons.

Harry was a lot more interested in the smarties than decorating the biscuits, but I think that we made a pretty good effort, this is just half of them! And they tasted nice too.

Just realised that this sounds like a big advert for the dough. They didn't pay me, honestly!

I won!

2011-11-08T13:12:00.000Z

This Christmas, Tired Mummy of Two put an incredible amount of time and effort into running the Tired Mummy of Two Christmas Tombola. I was delighted to be one of the winners, and even more so because I won an item which I had chosen, a gorgeous top for Mia from Banana Lane. I was going to take a photograph of her wearing it, but there is plenty of room for her to grow into it, so I will whisk it away to wrap up and pop under the tree!

So the main purpose of this post is for me to say a massive thank you to Tired Mummy of Two for putting together this fantastic competition, and to Banana Lane for their generosity in providing such a lovely prize. Thank you!

Preparing for Christmas crafting

2011-11-07T12:31:00.000Z

As he approaches 3, for the first time this year Harry is anticipating Christmas (even if much of what he knows about it has been gleaned from Peppa Pig). It's an exciting time of year for little ones, and so I want to make the most of it with him. I started collecting Christmas crafting things in the sales last year and have picked up a few bits this year too. I also purchased a fantastic wooden advent calendar, which I've been after for a while, and I'll be putting together some ideas for little treats to put inside.

So now I'm going through all the things that I've collected and putting together some kits to make up some Christmas crafty things (look out Grandparents!). We're also off to Center Parcs in December for the third Christmas running, and rather than pay a fortune for him to do the Christmas crafts there I'm going to get some activities ready that he can do in our villa to help keep him in the festive mood. Last year I printed out lots of Christmas colouring sheets and took blu-tack to stick them up around the walls.

I like to buy craft packs that contain lots of themed bits that you can either use to put together the suggested items or to come up with something yourself. These are usually around in the sales after Christmas in supermarkets.

I've also had some luck with Ikea in the post-Christmas sales - you can often pick up plain ornaments for, quite literally, pennies which you can then decorate yourself. I'm still thinking about what to do with these shiny baubles, I'm wondering about sticking coloured tissue paper on to them and adding paint or glitter glue.

Every year after Christmas I diligently cut out the pictures on my Christmas cards with zig zag scissors. I use them to make gift tags for the next year, but have far more than I'll ever buy presents, so I'm sure we can come up with a way of using them.

Below is just a small selection of my Christmas themed craft bits. I've got lots of ideas! The only thing that I'm never sure how to use are those pom poms, we've collected quite a few. They are always difficult to get to stick to anything. I've got some lollipop sticks and googly eyes, so maybe snowman puppets or plant sticks.

Whatever we make I'm sure there will be lots of glitter involved. It's not Christmas crafting without glitter!

Toddler busy bag activity - pasta, pots and bottles

2011-11-05T11:50:00.000Z

Toddler busy bags are really good to have on hand when you need some quick activities to keep a toddler busy for a few minutes. I keep mine all together in a shoebox. This busy bag is easily put together from things that you either have around the house or can keep an eye out for.

I've used macaroni pasta because it fits nicely inside the bottles and doesn't take up too much space. Clear bottles are good if you can get them, I use bottles from hotel toiletries and sample sized bottles. It's also nice to have a range of sizes and openings. The screw top bottles can be difficult for a toddler to open, but keep an eye out because once they have mastered this skill then none of your bottles in the house are safe! Everything can be scooped up in to the bag easily when you've finished.

Obviously this activity is best for an older toddler that will not put any of the small items into their mouth. Have fun!