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Showing posts from October, 2018

Our Merlin Annual Passes

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Recently I have been receiving lots or messages and emails about our days out at Merlin attractions, the cost of visiting them and why we go so often so I thought I'd write a post on why we bought our passes and some other info. We have been Merlin Passholders for a few years now and the reason we decided to make the purchase was simply because of the amount of day trips and short breaks we take.  We are quite an active family and love a day out but even after all my bargain hunting and coupon cutting, as a family of 5(Sofia was free at most attractions back then) entrance fees, travel, food, snacks, drinks etc a day out was costing A LOT more than our big monthly shop. One of my cousins had previously been Merlin annual passholder and suggested that we look into getting them as we were visiting lots of the Merlin attractions anyway. The Merlin Annual Pass website is pretty straight forward. It breaks down the different types of passes available(standard, premium and VIP),

Meal Planning Recipe Ideas with Free Printable Weekly Meal Planner

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Like many others  up and down the country, I am primarily responsible for most aspects of meal planning; the planning it out, shopping for it, cooking it, dishing it up and the washing up afterwards. I’ve always enjoyed getting creative in the kitchen but with all the after school activities and my older children coming in at different times it has become more of a challenge to find meals that everyone enjoys, fits into our schedule and I actually enjoy cooking. My cooking has become very repetitive and I’ve lost the excitement I once had in rustling up family meals. I challenged myself to come up with at least 20 meals, some old favourites and some new and use this post as a reference for myself and anyone else struggling to meal plan or wanting to try something new or different. Mince Spaghetti bolognese Shepherds or cottage pie, veg and yorkshire’s  Chilli con carne with rice and tortilla chips Koftas with rice, salad and flatbreads Meatballs in tomato sauce

Just Slow Down

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These days there are so many memes, saying provers, quotes etc all over the internet and a little while back I stumbled across a poem. I agreed with the sentiment and really liked the poem and that was that, but today as I rushed back from town with my mind focused on the 101 things I needed to do before dashing down to the school for my 9 year olds end of topic presentation I started wondering about just how much as parents we miss out on with all the craziness that is parenthood and chores. I don't mean missing out on all the things that maybe our pre-child selves would do I mean missing out on things like watching your children fall about in fits of giggles over the smallest thing, catching them engrossed in a book and realising just how much they enjoy reading or something as simple as snuggling up to watch a movie. I know just how hard it can be to do everything that needs doing around the home and also trying to find time to play with the kids, give each of them quality time

Silent Sunday

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#SilentSunday

Loving My Natural Hair

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Growing up when and where I did I was either surrounded by my black friends with fancy corn row hairstyles or my white friends with their straight flowing European hair and I was always jealous. Jealous of the amazing corn row styles and jealous of the long flowing smooth and silky hair. You see I had very thick and coarse hair and my English mum with European hair herself always struggled to manage it. I so desperately wanted long straight ‘flicky flicky’ hair as I called it and absolutely hated my Afro hair. There was a seriously limited number of hair products on the market back then and even fewer hairdressers that knew how to handle my hair. and you can forget about blogs and YouTube tutorials of black hair care because they never even existed! As soon as I was old enough I began chemically relaxing my hair, this involved covering my roots in a potent chemical paste and washing it off after about 20 minutes. Once washed and blow dried I had the hair I had always longed for.

Rainy Day Activities

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This year we had an amazing Summer full of hot and sunny days which meant we were able to enjoy loads of outdoor activities and we're fortunate enough to live in an area that is densely populated with parks, playgrounds, swimming pools and other family friendly attractions, however, now Autumn is well and truly here with cold, wet and windy days we are getting creative after school and at the weekends. So with the weather set to get worse over the next few months, here are some of our favourite rainy day activities. Masking Tape Games Something as simple as a role of masking tape can provide hours of fun. Mark out a hopscotch on the floor using the tape. Using the masking tape stick a large circle to the floor followed by 2 smaller circles inside the largest one and an 'x' in the centre. Roll a ball and try and get as close to the 'x' as possible. Play Dough Despite what many think, making your own play dough couldn't be any simpler. There ar

What Black History Month Means To Us

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As BLACK HISTORY MONTH begins I have found myself reflecting on what exactly it means to me and my family. As a family that is fortunate enough to be rich in a number of different cultures, I feel it is an important job for me as a mum to educate my children on the different histories and cultures that make us who we are and remind my them that those things don't separate us but make us special. Whilst there are some daily practises in our lives that are a part of our culture, for instance the way in which we care for our hair or in the food we eat, languages and terminology used, Black History Month is a great way of highlighting some of the forgotten stories and events that have shaped our families and the people we have become. The are some wonderful and courageous people who have positively contributed the world we live in today and made so many things possible for people for people just like myself. I'm very lucky to have had many opportunities in life, including travel

10 Top Tips For Using Zoflora

Over the last month or so, cleaning mania has completely taken over the internet thanks to the lovely Mrs Hinch and along with it the super increased use of Zoflora .  As a family of 6 (8 if you include the cats) not living in a mansion, I’ve always tried to keep on top of the cleaning, washing, ironing etc So keeping with the cleaning theme and offering some cleaning tips you may not have thought of, here are my top 10 cleaning with Zoflora tips. 1. On a clean and dry cloth or piece of paper towel pour a capful of your favourite scent Zoflora and wipe light bulbs and radiators. When you turn them on and they heat up they will fill your home with the lovely smell. 2. Fill a reed diffuser bottle with your fave Zoflora and just wait for the gorgeous aroma to fill your room. 3. Whether you own a steam or spray mop, or both like me, fill the water tank with a dilute* solution of Zoflora. Not only will the the room smell lovely but you will also be safe in the knowledge your