Category Archives: Day to Day

Fun ideas for Elf on the Shelf

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You know Christmas is getting close when Elf on the Shelf arrives in your house.  My little boy absolutely loves discovering his elf each morning and finding out what mischief he has been up to.  He also likes finding any little treats the elf has left him – it always brightens up his morning!

This year, 2020 has been a strange one for us all not being able to see our friends and family as much as we’d like.  But our poor elf, who is fondly named Elvis been even more unfortunate.  He has been in isolation since Christmas 2019!

How cute is this printed design on the jar – perfect for Elvis to snuggle up in keeping him away from mischief!  You can check out various bundles of graphics available from Design Bundles that may be of use for either Christmas or other projects.

Baking with Elf on the Shelf

My boy was thrilled when he got up one morning to find this exciting scene across the kitchen…

I mean just how cute are those footprints, simply set out using a fun footprint stencil and some flour.  We also loved the Personalised Christmas Pot Holder which looks very festive and perfect for any makes and

My boy was delighted to see there was even a gingerbread man baking kit from Craft & Crumb and was eager to make himself some sweet treats to enjoy.  I love how it’s compact in a small box perfect to arrive with your elf. It contains the cutest little gingerbread man cutter along with the dried ingredients that you need.  All you need to add is some butter and golden syrup.

Look how amazing the finished result is and a happy, proud little boy at the same time. This is such a fun activity for children and it’s great that you can use small businesses to get accessories and kits from to help you create the perfect Elf on the Shelf set up.

Bauble making with Elf on the Shelf

With Elvis appearing in a different place each day, one morning we found him on our Christmas tree.  Here he is with a sheet of snowflake stickers, some fake snow, a reindeer model and a glass bauble.

This was a great activity that my boy loved and did all by himself – I absolutely love the finished bauble and it is one to treasure every year.

Random Acts of Kindness with Elf on the Shelf

This is a lovely task for children and one that I really enjoyed giving my child.  He read it in the morning and didn’t really say anything but later on he kept giving me compliments which was lovely and then told me it was because of the sheet the elf had left him.

A wide selection of Printable Designs are available from Design Bundles – well worth checking out for any projects you may have.

Design Bundles is a great resource where you can get svg images perfect for a range of projects whether that’s Elf on the Shelf or something completely different at other times of the year.

Gifting with Elf on the Shelf

There’s nothing better than the feeling of giving a gift to others and that’s exactly what this Elf on the Shelf activity is about.  Elvis arrived with a gift box, some chocolate sheets and a sheet of paper.  My boy had fun wrapping up the gift box and decorating it ready to give to a member of the family at Christmas time.

Elf costume making

This is a good one to get creative with and another that my boy enjoyed.  Elvis left him with some squares of material, pva glue and a length of cord.  He was also wearing the cutest elf size face mask as inspiration as to what kind of things you could make.   All by himself my boy created Elvis this new festive jacket which is a delight and perfect to help keep him warm on colder days.

Window sticker scene with Elf on the Shelf

One morning my boy came down extra early and found Elvis on our window sill with some delightful Scandi house window stickers and some coloured papers.  It was fun to stick the houses onto our front window for passers by to see and also make some mini paper chains from the coloured papers.  He firstly cut them into strips then stuck them into loops.  We now have an array of mini paper chains across the house – a craft that all kids love and so simple to do.

It’s always worth checking out Design bundles for any new products they have to help you with your crafts.

Saturday night movies with Elf on the Shelf

When Elvis turns up with a huge bag of popcorn and his own snack bowl (which my boy adores and has used himself!), it would be rude not to pop out the Christmas movies and have a chilled out evening getting yourself in the festive mood.  He also had a go at wrapping himself up and left us with some paper to get wrapping our presents.  There is also a cute printed gift tag and some festive tape to really make sure our presents are looking smart.

Preparation for the big day with Elf on the Shelf

There’s nothing more exciting than Christmas Eve for children so when Elvis arrived with some great goodies to prepare you for the big day, my boy was thrilled.  He brought some black card and a shiny pen along with the most fantastic glass bottle for Santa’s milk.  He’d even made his own place card for the table which inspired my boy to copy his style and make some for all of the family.  The Santa milk bottle was a huge hit and we can’t wait to fill it up ready for Santa to drink during his night of deliveries.

Crafting has never been easier than with Design Bundles with lots of great ideas worth checking out.  As a digital company that provide everything from printables, designs, along with business resources – there really is something for everyone!

 

A Belated Welcome to 2019

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A bit belated but I’m only just getting back into the swing of things after the Christmas mayhem and New Year chaos (for us it’s the daughter’s birthday as well!).  Here’s us celebrating on Christmas day (me a bit run off my feet due to husband at work and cooking for my parents as well as me and the kids!.

2018 was a hectic one for us, the first full year I’ve worked 5 days a week since having children albeit part time but still one that exhausts my day and leaves little time to get things done.  On top of that we have had a major kitchen renovation that although is 95% completed it is still in limbo with the final fittings still waiting to be done due to major leaking from the roof (a project that’s looking to cost us around 5.5k in the upcoming months!).  And let’s not talk about the day the skip got delivered onto the driveway and shifted a section of the front wall around at an angle causing a crack along the front (another ongoing issue!).

I’m super pleased to be rid of the old kitchen and I hope to do a show and tell of our before and after new kitchen once the final issues are ironed out.

We got the children active between the eves with outdoor walks, trips to National Trust properties and a fun session at Clip n Climb – as you can see, these two never fail to be afraid of heights.

New Year saw my eldest turn 11 years old on New Year’s Day!!  Oh my where’s the time gone?  She played with my phone that day doing her own selfie which I thought was rather cute so here it is!

As for what 2019 holds for us, who know’s?

It’ll be challenging I believe in many ways with the eldest off to secondary school in September, ongoing uncertainties in my job of 17 years, solving and fixing the damp issues in our house, finish decorating the downstairs and finally carpet the house!

Keep following us to see where life takes us this year, what adventures we go on and what new things we try out!

Our Family at Halloween

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Since the children were born, Halloween has always been a fun event that the children really look forward to.  Once the boy’s birthday is over mid October we start visiting local Halloween attractions.  We particularly love the National Trust trails, with one of our favourite being at Saltram House, our nearest, although others nearby that we would recommend are at Buckland Abbey and Cotehele which also offers pumpkin carving and is set by a river estuary with beautiful gardens.  All of them though are stunning on a sunny day and never let you down with the amazing plants throughout the gardens and always provide a peaceful, calm experience that is enjoyed by all the family!

The view above is of our walk around Saltram House gardens whilst doing the pumpkin trail.  I love the colour of the Autumn leaves and seeing them fallen to the ground across the lawn, the house is the perfect backdrop for this.

The trails at Saltram always keep the kids occupied whether they are inside or out.  The pumpkin trail was through the gardens and consisted of looking for letters of the alphabet in areas where there were pumpkins and then solving the anagram of letters to find a word.  The newly 8yr old Mister B exceeded in his word knowledge as usual and came up with the answer a mere 5 letters into the 8 letter word!!

One thing I love about National Trust properties is the appeal to both young and old.  Although my children don’t notice certain elements, I really appreciate things like this gorgeous Autumn wreath abundant with golden colours upon one of their doors.

As it gets closer to Halloween the children are keen to carve pumpkins so we always go pumpkin shopping together.  This year we’ve been particularly busy so ended up at our local supermarket and picked out some large pumpkins (this did require Miss M climbing over several giant boxes of them to uncover the best looking/shaped ones!).

Here are Mister B’s, Mummy’s and Miss M’s designs:

And in the dark:

Waste not want not!

As we carve our pumpkins we firstly scoop out the pulp which is filled with the seeds.  If you run this under cold water over a colander you’ll find the seeds separate really easily away from the pulp which is great if you wish to toast them.  After discarding the pulp, give the seeds a shake, allow them to dry for a while then lay them out on a baking tray.  Give them a good slug of olive oil, a generous sprinkle of salt and roast in the oven for half an hour or so until golden brown.  These make a delicious snack or a great addition to a bowl of soup.

Once the pulp and seeds are gone, we use an ice cream scoop to scrape out some of the flesh from around the edge.  We find quite a lot comes out and by making the pumpkin wall a little thinner it is easier to carve.  I then add the flesh to some fried onions, garlic and a few vegetable stock cubes and boil up in my extra large cooking pot until softened.  Then I use my hand blender to smooth into a thick, easy to eat, hearty soup. Serve with a good grinding of black pepper and a sprinkle of toasted pumpkin seeds.

Once our tummies are filled with a warming bowl of soup it’s time to get out in the neighbourhood trick or treating.  Mister B doesn’t like the scary look so opted for the cute skeleton dress up this year whilst Miss M preferred a Dracula style image.

Despite several heavy downpours, nothing deterred these two from their Trick or Treating.  With a bag in hand to carry any treats they received, I have to say they did pretty well.  As well as a mega haul of sweets, they came back with a chocolate doughnut, a plastic spider and a freshly made spider cake (although this got devoured on the way round!).

What did your family get up to for Halloween?  Did your kids go Trick or Treating?

How to Achieve More in 2018

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With a New Year upon us, it’s time to think a bit smarter about who we are and what we want to get out of life. After all since hitting my 40’s a few years ago, I’m constantly reminded by just how short life really is as I watch the years pass by and my children grow up in an every changing world around us.  If we want to do things, see things around the country or the world, we can, it’s just about being organised and reaching for our goals.  A lot more is possible than you first think, just think big, think positive and you’ll achieve it.

  1. Write lists
    Make lists everywhere, in your notebook, on sticky notes, put them on your fridge, on the wall, in your handbag and cross things off as you do them.  Keep checking them throughout the day and it’ll make you get more done as you won’t forget things and it’ll also make you feel good seeing jobs with lines crossed through them and marked as done.  If you manage to clear an entire list you’ll feel a sense of achievement!
  2. Set yourself goals
    Whether they be mini daily goals (such as going on a walk, cooking a healthy meal, sorting out some paperwork) or weekly goals (go alcohol free, getting to the gym 2-3 times a week, decluttering a room, doing a bit of much needed DIY, clearing out your wardrobe).  Write these down and tick them off as you achieve them.
  3. Plan ahead
    Think of things you would like to do throughout the year and write them down, start planning for them in order to make them happen, whether it’s a holiday, a new kitchen, change of job, saving money for a new car etc.  If you start planning it at the start of the year, hopefully it will happen before the end.
  4. Be spontaneous
    This I know sounds completely contradictory to the above, but a bit of spontaneity in your life brings happiness and helps you to feel like you’ve achieved things. So if you planned to get up Saturday morning and clean the bathroom and do the ironing, but you look outside and it’s a beautiful day, then why not pack your bags and head to the beach with a book.  If you’ve got kids they will love it, you’ll all enjoy the warmth and fresh air and when you come home you’ll feel that you achieved something, the cleaning can be squeezed in over the next few days to catch up!
  5. Switch off your phone!
    Whether you do it for a day at the weekend, or an evening or two during the week, just try it for a few hours.  I know you’ll be itching to check your emails or catch up on social media but the reality is you’ll fill your time getting much more done either doing chores or spending quality time with kids and family.

I’m aiming to carry out all five of the above every week and believe it will gain me a more productive, organised and happier lifestyle, achieving and getting things done along with making things happening and moving on with life, allowing me to enjoy and experience more things leading to a happier, more content lifestyle for me and my family.

Let me know how you aim to achieve more in 2018?

 

Photo credit thanks to my pre children holiday to  Las Vegas in 2006 (Grand Canyon was amazing if you’re ever think of visiting!)

 

The Perils of Buying a Second Hand House

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So it’s the middle of the night, the hottest day of the year and in fact it’s Summer Solstice, yes that’s right the longest day of the year and I’m lying here hot, tired, sweaty praying for some sleep before the morning routine starts again.  Just as I start to drift off for the 23rd time tonight my dream comes true, you know that inbuilt sprinkler system you wished you had above your bed that gently sprays cold water over you to cool you down in this sweltering heat.

Oh HELL NO!!!  Sitting bolt upright I suddenly realise that I haven’t fallen back into the land of nod, I do in fact have water splattering in my face from my ceiling above my bed, soaking my duvet that has casually been pushed to the bottom of the bed throughout the night in my bid to cool down.  Until the droplets appeared on my face I hadn’t concluded what was going on lower down my bed and the main trail of water appears to be coming through scarily close to the chandelier light fitting in the centre of my bedroom leaving my duvet pretty much drenched!

Rushing to my feet in utter horror, I run up the attic stairs and see that the loft conversion bathroom floor is swimming in water and spreading a couple of feet across the main room carpet. Help!!  At this point my 9yr old comes running up and I yell at her to grab some towels, find the mop, just anything and she starts telling me about her tooth fairy visit that happened in the night (well about 10am – shhhh!) and is trying to read me the note the fairy has left her!

Next mission is to find the cause of my middle of the night rain shower, bearing in mind it now feels like I’m in 100 degrees heat, the attic should be reincarnated as a sauna in its next life I tell you, the sweat is now dripping off my face faster than the water dissipating through the floor!

Bingo!!  Mummy struck gold – well not literally – but I have single-handedly resolved my current predicament and discovered that due to the sink tap being left on with a very slight drip and a missing aerator under the bottom of the sink tap, the water didn’t actually drip into the sink but came back on itself under the tap and went over the edge of the sink causing the sea of mayhem I’m in right now.

Quite frankly, this is the story of my life with my recently purchased second hand house.  At first glance it looks ok, nice area, great layout, large extended space downstairs, amazing garden,  just a little modernising required here and there, a touch of tlc and a fresh lick of paint and you’d think it would be a lovely family home.  But no, once you move in you find out that a previous owner who carried out the loft conversion, downstairs extension and all the other botched DIY jobs that we come across quite literally bungled his way through fixing things up, ditching official tradesmen along the way to add his cheap mismatched fittings, and scrapyard finds, leaving doors hanging askew, unfinished jobs and to put it bluntly extremely shoddy workmanship in every aspect of our house.  So of course with this attitude, who would care if a little thing like a tap aerator fell out – you wouldn’t bother putting it back in or buying a replacement would you – well not if you were my previous owner!!!

It just goes to show how little things left undone can escalate into substantial issues for the future.  Running through my head I wonder what would have happened if I’d just gone to work for the day….   Please fix any problems as you find them, don’t leave them.  Not only does a slapdash attitude send a house into a downward spiral of DIY disarray, the jobs seem harder and costlier to fix in the long run ultimately devaluing your home.  Houses are a huge investment and one I want to continue to grow for my future.  The events of the early hours of this morning are proof of that – with some love and care I WILL turn this house into a home!

P.S. My 6yr old slept through the commotion – oh to be young again!

Is Creating a Work, Family Life, Me Time Balance Always Possible?

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Is it always possible?  That’s the question running through my head right now.  At the moment life is a juggling act, our routine changes from day to day due to the husband’s shift work, the endless kids activities after school, in the evenings and at the weekends and depending on whether I’m working or not each day.  Since 2009 when I returned to work after a year’s maternity leave with my first born, I cut my hours down to just 20 a week having previously been full time.  I also chose to work two and a half days a week, the first half so my working week finishes at Wednesday lunchtime.  This has been working well for me in my home, family, work and me time balance but unfortunately with significant changes at work this option is being taken away from me.

My future feels just like this rock I encountered in the Grand Canyon back in 2006, a balancing act that could topple either way, will it make it, will it fall?

In just a few weeks I’ll be required to spread my hours across five days a week, that means working Monday to Friday every week.  To add an extra twist to the equation I currently work in the road next to my children’s school which has its obvious advantages. I’m also able to walk to work (albeit a 2 mile hilly hike! lol) but it keeps the fitness up and enables us to juggle being a one car family and my husbands shift work – he takes them to school more often than not whilst I head to work, if he’s late shift he leaves the car at my work and walks home ready to cycle to work at lunchtime etc. (He always rides a bike to work so has no need for a car).

In the Summer the building I’ve been employed at for the last 15 years is closing its doors and being sold off, whilst the staff are being relocated almost 4 miles away across the city to another of the company buildings, on a route that’s accessed by a road bridge that is renowned for being gridlocked at not just peak but various others times during the day (should there be a breakdown or accident, you can forget arriving at your destination any time in the near future!).

So here’s my dilemma – in just a couple of months I will not only be working 5 days a week but I’ll also be responsible for all the school runs in order that I can have the car to travel to work.  It means my start time will be some point after school drop off and when I have managed to navigate my way through the city centre traffic and prayed that the bridge is clear.  My finish time will be 4 hours later and by the time I return home I’ll hopefully have 1 whole hour of child free time, yes you heard it right, instead of a couple of hours Wednesday afternoon and all of Thursday and Friday, I’ll now get a measly hour each day after a shift at work.

This my friends will become the one hour a day in which I can do my child free housework, child free food shopping, child free nip into town for errands, child free ironing, child free gardening, child free blog photos/writing, child free house renovation planning, child free DIY (yeah like painting a room in an hour is gonna happen), child free coffees with my friends/mum and most of all child free ME TIME.  Yes and by me time I don’t mean sitting with my feet up, painting my nails and reading a magazine, by this I mean getting to dye my ever increasing grey hair in peace, having a bath without constant interruptions and just being alone in the house being able to sort things out and concentrate without the constant nattering, interruptions of the kids!

So as you can see the chances of my new house being fully decorated are ebbing away, my small window of opportunity each day is limited and squished between the morning school run, a dash across the city and 4 hours at work, then breath before school pick up, after school clubs, cook dinner, read school books/homework, bath kids, bedtime routine and then to be honest I’ll be shattered and my bed will be calling, well after I’ve had time to make pack lunches, get school uniform/work clothes ready, clear up the house, get a wash iron, squeeze some ironing in and dash the vacuum round!

Really I’m finding myself in a bit of a quandary, working 5 days a week isn’t the part time working lifestyle I envisaged and I’m not sure how successful it will rank in balancing the duties of a household, family life and me time.  Daddy will form a lesser part of the children’s lives, missing out on all of the school runs, after school trips to the park on days mummy used to work and if you remember he works shifts so is often not there in the evening when we come home, works many weekends and will find his work free time alone in the daytime when the kids are at school and mummy is at work!

With this configuration of part time working – is it even worth it?  As much as I need the money for my new mortgage/house renovations – will I be comprising family life/child free time?  I don’t want to end up super stressed and feel like I never get a break/can’t get household things done (kids just don’t appreciate you being on the phone to utilities/insurance companies, endless trips around bathroom/kitchen shops)… time will tell, fingers crossed for now!

My Handsome Little Man is 6!!

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Last Sunday my handsome little boy celebrated his 6th birthday.  I’m so proud of him and everything he has achieved over the last year, more than I could have imagined.  He started school just over a year ago and sailed through the foundation year, so much so that he got awarded with a special book ’50 Utterly Silly Stories’ at the end of the year for his amazing achievement of reading 188 books throughout the year and outshining the rest of his class in his all round abilities!

blake-6To think he’s come this far is amazing.  Mister B and his older sister  Miss M are like chalk and cheese in so many ways yet have an amazing sibling bond and come together to play and help each other throughout every day.  I’ve always known Miss M falls in the upper half of her class but expected Mister B to be Mister average with his silly ways, jokey nature and clown antics, but it seems he’s proved me wrong in many ways.

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He’s different to his sister in that she is incredibly sporty and always eager to try new things.  Mister B is more laid back (think daddy!) although he has an incredible imagination, can play independently and come out with some amazing stories and fun ideas.  He’s also very humorous and loves to tell a joke.

A couple of the areas he was slightly behind in over the last year have suddenly hit a turning point over the last few months.  On our holiday this year we had a private swimming pool which the children disappeared in two or three times a day (obviously with and adult or two in tow!).  The first few days Mister B was there in his armbands, but by day 3, he had ditched them and was jumping in, diving under the water and swimming a whole width on his own!!

Over the Summer we managed to upgrade both of the children’s bikes after a friend was selling some fairly new ones quite cheaply so we managed to get them both the next size up. The only downside was that Mister B’s new bike didn’t come with stabilisers.  This proved a sticking point for many weeks as poor Mister B was terrified about riding without any support, yet daddy insisted he tried.  It was a fraught time which I found quite hard, but then this amazing company followed me on twitter.  Intrigued I looked into their product and sent them a message and we ended up reviewing the amazing BikyBiky cycling harness which turned my little boy from a nervous cyclist on stabilisers to a fairly confident rider on two wheels in just a couple of weeks!

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I cannot believe within the last 3 months my little boy has ditched both his armbands and his stabilisers – amazing progress for him!

So I was so proud last Sunday when he turned 6 years old.  I baked a rather vast amount of cakes for him using my new Savisto stand mixer and we celebrated with a big Minion themed disco which I felt he deserved due to all his hard work.

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The children had fun, Mister B danced the afternoon away showing everyone his funky dance moves (with a bit of break dancing thrown in!) and the party proved a huge success. (Excuse the red disco light in Mister B’s eye in the photo below – couldn’t have timed that worse could I ?!?)

blakes-partyThe day after his party was his actual birthday and as we had family visiting, we went to a restaurant for lunch where we all enjoyed too much food and had a good time!

4f93577e-eb94-4786-a566-9d689d846a46All in all we spent a whole weekend celebrating Mister B’s birthday, it was hard work for me, but rewarding watching my son hit a milestone and celebrate everything he’s achieved over the last year.

As much as I hate watching the children grow up (it goes way too fast!), I can’t wait to see what Mister B achieves next and where the future will take him.  I love him to bits (as we all do our children) and he never fails to give me a hug at every given opportunity.

Good luck Mister B in all that you do and every venture that life takes you on in the upcoming year!!

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A New Year and Miss M’s 8th Birthday

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It’s been a hectic start to the year to say the least, with trying to sell a house and job worries making it most stressful, but I musn’t forget the amazing event that really started off the year and that was Miss M’s 8th birthday on the 1st January!

Maisy 2What an amazing eight years it has been and she has done me very proud with both her efforts at school and at home.  She has grown into a lovely, polite girl who loves to help others and is friendly to everyone.

She wanted a birthday party at home, which was fine by me so we decided on biscuit decorating as the main activity.  Miss M eagerly helped me the day before to mix the ingredients and cut out enough biscuits for all her friends to decorate the next day. I also bought some flat cardboard food trays which they decorated the outside of with coloured pens as the first activity of the party.

maisy 5They then iced and decorated the biscuits with great enthusiasm, but I was particularly impressed with the results and they all ended up with a really lovely tray of biscuits to take home at the end of the party.  Mister B did a great job of his biscuits too!

maisy 4We then moved onto some other party games which Miss M had chosen and all the girls loved.  I had frozen some erasers in silicon cake cases so they were like blocks of ice and each girl had one to unfreeze using their hands and mouths – they absolutely loved it, I’d thoroughly recommend it.  I just placed some trays on the floor for them to let the water drip onto and put some towels around for them to dry their hands on.

Next up was another favourite in which three partygoers, including the birthday girl became mummified in toilet paper!!  They worked in three teams and it was great fun with minimal, easy mess to clean up afterwards.

maisy 3Miss M had a great birthday and it was a lovely start to the year.  We have lots of change coming up this year, particularly with our new house which we can’t wait to share with you.  There’s been a number of complications which we are working on but I forsee a year full of DIY ahead as well as a great family home where we hope to share lots of baking and gardening projects throughout the year as well as other fun times.

Wishing you all a fantastic 2016!

 

Happy 5th Birthday Mister B

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Ten days ago the handsome Mister B became a 5yr old!  It doesn’t seem possible, the years have whizzed by, but he is still as cute and cuddly as ever, although I’m sure that will change in future years!

His birthday fell on a school day, but he was more than happy with that as it meant he could choose something out of the present box and everyone would sing two songs to him.  He was also insistent on wearing a birthday badge to school as he was a little worried that the teacher wouldn’t know it was his birthday and he’d miss out on that much talked about birthday box.

WP_20151016_08_33_49_ProAfter school I picked up a very happy 5yr old, who couldn’t wait to tell me all about his day, but also eager to get home to see if he had any presents (he only got cards in the morning!).

Fortunately in the lounge lay await a bundle of presents which we opened whilst having his choice of birthday tea (pasta, ham, cut up cocktail sausages and grated cheese) followed by a star wars birthday cake.

WP_20151016_15_05_06_ProHe was a very happy boy with his newly aquired minions winter hat and gloves, along with minion top, minion goggles, minion balloon amongst other things.

InstagramCapture_d1d61cf0-2234-4dc6-9eb4-d085c0c3ab98We delayed his party by a week to allow for his cousins to come down for a few days so this weekend it’s been Mister B’s birthday all over again with a party at our local soft play centre.  He was a very lucky boy and received some really lovely presents from his school friends which we have had fun playing with over the last few days, a favourite being a tube of slime full of monsters – ewww!, a remote control car and a superheroes playdoh set!

InstagramCapture_988901c4-0bdf-4af9-9989-7194e28c363fIt’s been a fabulous week, enjoying watching my little 4yr old become 5.  He has made me so proud, doing really well in his first term at school and constantly being a little joker, he always makes everyone laugh with his silly dances, funny jokes and quick witted comments.

He dressed himself yesterday in his new birthday cap, t-shirt and socks which did make me smile when came downstairs – he’s such a cute little character full of energy and always with a cheeky grin on his face! (well.. most of the time)

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Santa Maria Fab Fajita challenge #TASTEsantamaria

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Mexican is one of my favourite meal choices and something we eat regularly at home.  With the range of Mexican inspired store cupboard ingredients available from Santa Maria, you really can make up your meals simply and easily just be adding a few fresh ingredients.

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Being vegetarian I always serve vegetarian fajita’s.  For tonights meal I am adding Quorn along side various fresh vegetables with my special ingredient being courgette which really helps fill out the meal and gives you a nice addition to the peppers, onions and tomatos.

I’m also using Santa Maria wraps, Fajita seasoning and salsa which make it really easy to get that spicy Mexican flavour.

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After lightly frying the onion, I add the Quorn to brown off, then the other vegetables and sprinkle with seasoning, continuing to cook to until my kitchen is wafting in Mexican fragrances.

I like to serve my fajitas with a side salad to make the perfect meal, ideal for all the family on a Saturday night!

Once served add a light sprinkling of cheese and some ground black pepper.  Tasty!!

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We were provided with Santa Maria products for the  #TASTEsantamaria Fab Fajita challenge.