Ireland day 1

Sorry I've been quiet on the blog the last few days I'm currently in Ireland on a lovely holiday. Silly me decided now to schedule posts as I thought I would get down time in the evening to update and let you all know what I've been doing. I've had plenty of down time that would be prefect to update about my day however the level of wine that is in my body at that time normally means I fall asleep rather than typing!

Sunday evening we headed down to East Midlands Airport to our hotel for the night. It was strange leaving the children but the boys couldn't wait to kick us out! They had their popcorn ready and wanted us to leave so they could start their movie night. It was so lovely how happy and content they were with Nanny.

We arrived at our hotel after a two hour drive. We stayed sat the Thistle which was just a five minute walk from the airport which made it every easy for us the next day. Its a great hotel and we enjoyed the free gym and pool. Well just the pool..

We ordered room service and enjoy a delicious pizza and garlic bread while watching Dragon Den in bed. This whole night felt really strange for us as we were always waiting for a baby monitor to go off. Its so hard to switch out of parent mode. (Though a few glasses of disarono and cokes helped!)

We set the alarm for 5am to get to the airport for 5.30. I must have woke more than when Abby's having a bad night, I was just so worried that we wouldn't hear the alarm and miss our flight.

We had booked in online the week before so we managed to miss the massive queue at check in. We also only had hand luggage so again it was nice and simple. Before we knew it we were through security and browsing the duty free.

I was so excited to get on the airplane as I hadn't been on one since 2006. Excitement turned to nerves though but once we were on and lining up on the run way the excitement returned.

 

We were picked up at the airport and had a fun day lined up. First we headed into Kenmare and enjoyed lunch, we then did a spot of shopping and I bought the boys some sweeties from a cute little shop.

We were then going to spend the afternoon clay pigeon shooting. I had never done this before but I was quite excited to try. We were meeting the man in Kenmare and we were going to follow his car into the woods to the shooting range. We had joked how this was the making of a horror movie and we were heading into the woods and going to bumped off! Turned out the man was lovely and we had a great lesson. Yay for not getting shot!

 

I was quite surprised how well I did with the gun, granted I was silly last in the shooting competition but it was good. My shoulder and arm is so achy today from the kick back of the gun.

 

We then came back to the villa and Ben and I headed to the pool for a swim before dinner. We didn't end up doing much swimming as we headed out onto the balcony to spend our time in the hot tub! It was amazing and the view was stunning. It's was overcast all day yesterday but the view of the clouds rolling in over the mountains was simple gorgeous.

 

That night we got dressed up and headed for a meal at the hotel. The food was fantastic and the whole evening was perfect.

I'll have to leave it their as Ben and I are heading out soon!

 





 

My Sunday photo

Sunny days

We've been loving the weather lately. It seemed for a long time that our little part of the country kept missing the sunshine. The grey clouds were definitely favouring Louth, till this past week when the clouds finally moved on to reveal blue sky.

To make the most of the gorgeous heat we headed in the shed and found out the paddling pool. I bought this way back in April had we've only had one use out of it so the boys were pretty excited.

Abby hadn't really been in it at all, as last time we had filled it to the top for the boys to get the most out of it. So this time I didn't even inflate the bottom ring and we filled it only a little so Abby could paddle too. The boys didn't mind as we were doing this at Nanny's house and she has sprinklers! 

It was so nice being out in the sun even if I did use up a whole bottle of sun cream over the week! The kids have very sensitive skin so I tend to let them keep their clothes on to get wet. They did have UV swimsuits but they've already out grown them.

It was lovely just spending all day out in the garden. We ate lunch and dinner outside and it was just so much fun.

I'm hoping we get a lot more sunny days as we have so much planned for them! These type are days are the best kind.

Slimming World, Week 2

Its that time of week again, weigh in day. This week I'm a little disappointed. I've been doing everything the same however I've only lost one pound this week! Everyone on the slimming world forum said its most likely because I lost a lot last week.

I know next weeks weigh in won't be good at all. Ben and I are off on holiday Sunday. We don't want to restrict what we eat to much as other wise it isn't going to feel much like a holiday. Its the first time in 7 years that I'll be going on an aeroplane and I'm so excited. I just wished I had lost a little more before we were going.

This week I've loved lunches. I found that Batchelors Pasta 'n' Sauce are free on EE and Green days which make lunch so easy. Just pop them in the microwave and tada! Its been so hot lately that the last thing I've wanted to do is slave over a hot stove so they've just been perfect Abby loves them too. She turned her nose up at her lunch and comes to share mine!

Careful though! Some do have syn values! (Chicken and mushroom is my favourite!!!)

My favourite recipe this week is.. Mexican Chicken Fajitas

You will need

• 1 red pepper, halved, deseeded and finely sliced
• 1 green pepper, halved, deseeded and finely sliced
• 2 medium red onions, halved and finely sliced
• 2-3 skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
• Juice of 1 lime
• Low calorie cooking spray
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the salsa

• ½-1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 15 ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
• Small handful of finely chopped coriander
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Juice of 1 lime

Method

1. Spray a non-stick pan with low calorie cooking spray and place over a medium-high heat. Add the peppers, onions, chillies, lime juice and spices and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes. Add the chicken, then stir-fry over a high heat for 5 mins until the chicken is cooked.
2. Meanwhile, tip the salsa ingredients into a food processor, along with the lime juice and a little seasoning and pulse until finely chopped.
3. Lay out the ingredients on a table and serve

My Starting weight = 14 stone 2 pounds.
Weight lost this week = 1 pound
Total weight lost = 5 pounds 
My Target weight = 10 stone 7 pounds
Still to lose 39 pounds

Graduation!

Just 3 hours left!

That's all Ewan and Rhys have left at nursery. Then it'll be the summer holiday and THEN it'll be big boy school!

I honestly can't believe they are old enough to be going to primary school.

Yesterday Ewan and Rhys' nursery had a little Graduation Day for all its children going to primary school. I'll be honest when I first got the invite I thought it was a little silly, but today it was so lovely and simply adorable. It was great celebrating and also saying bye to their key workers.

They each came out of the room one by one and was handed a little diploma, they then had to shake their workers hand and they would predict what job they would have when they were older.

Ewan came out first and I was surprised how confident he was in front of all the parents. He was talking and looking around. Natalie his worker predicted that because Ewan loves making things and building he's going to be an Architect. 

Rhys came out afterwards and was quite shy. He still spoke and gave me a little wave. Natalie is also Rhys' worker and she says, because Rhys loves learning how things work and taking them apart he's going to be a mechanic!

They gave everyone lunch and we all got time to talk to other parents. It was lovely and I honestly think they are the nicest nursery ever. Natalie said she's going to cry Friday when they leave as she's going to miss them so much. It made me a little teary how they told her they were going to miss her.

My babies are definitely not babies anymore!

Review: Box Upon A Time

Saturday the postman popped a lovely package through my door. Subscription boxes have become quite popular so I was excited to see what goodies my box had.

The box was from Box Upon A Time which specialises in designer baby clothes. With big name brands like Diesel, Mini a ture and other brands it's exciting to see what the stylist had picked for your box.

The website is very simple to use and you pop in your baby's weight and height. You also select which patterns you like. 

I was a little dubious because I guess I'm a little picky when it comes to clothes. I do like shopping for ourselves and I was worried about what might come. 

In my box there were two items. One I completely loved, and another that I wasn't that fussed about.

The first item I pulled out of the box was a lovely spotty romper, I don't really buy rompers for Abby any more, mainly because I think they are a little babyish and I like her in other clothes more. BUT I adore this romper. I forgot how great they are on hot days and how easy they are for little ones to move about in. The design is so cute and colourful and it felt like a lovely summery outfit.

Spotty Pink Short Sleeve Playsuit - Piccalilly £18

The second item was a little green top with palm trees on. It's isn't awful but it isnt something I would probably buy myself. Abby will still wear it though as it is cute and the qualty of the material is great. 

Kira Miami Palms Print - Eva & Oli £37

The total for both items is £55 and the price of the Silver box price is £29 so that's a saving of £26. But it's a saving on something I wouldn't buy myself so therefore not really a saving...

In the box you get a note telling you who picked your clothes and another note telling you a bit about the item and how much it would cost.

Personally I'm not one that spends huge amounts on single items of clothing. When they are in the clothes for 6 months at a max I just can't justify spending £40 on a top. 

Like most subscriptions, Box Upon a Time only post out once a month, and it would be something to look forward if you bought more than just the first month. I think it would make a nice gift for a friend who's having a baby as gifts are normally a surprise but I can't see myself ordering for a few months. I personally think the whole concept of subscription boxes seem a little gimmicky to me, I know some people love them but I think at best they make good gifts and would probably keep to shopping for myself.

Life lately 14-7-2014

I'm a little late with my weekly post, but life has been a little bit busy lately.

Mum
I've spoke before that my Mum was having problems. We put it down to her blood sugar causing little hypo's that were making her lose control of one side of her body. Once she had controlled her diet this "episodes" seemed to stop. However we finally got to see a specialist at Lincoln Hospital who informed us Mum has actually been having mini Strokes! (Transient Ischaemic Attacks). It was like a bus hitting us. In that moment everything changed. If she doesn't do something about her lifestyle (Smoking, weight loss etc) She is a ticking time bomb. As you can imagine I've a little stressed, scared, worried everything rolled into one. It was a lot for her to take on board and it was hard watching her go through it. She quit smoking right away however that hasn't gone quiet to plan. I wish I could just take over and do it for her. But I can't.

She's already changed her diet which helps loads, when there is as much sugar in your blood as their was my Mum's your blood becomes thick and sticky which would have helped these attacks. Hence why her controlling her sugar levels actually helped them stop.

Smoking was never going to be easy for her to stop I just hope she is able to for the sake of us and more importantly herself.

Trying to go more positive now, as there isn't much that can be done by being depressed by it all.

Morgan
This last week has been a busy week for Morgan. We're coming to the end of term and in the last week we've had his sport day which you can find our more by clicking HERE. We also had his school fete. I'll update more about that over the next few days.

He only has a few days left of term and we should hopefully be getting his school report anytime. It's his SATs year so it'll be interesting to find out how he's done. His teacher has told me already I'll probably never have to worry about his education as he's such a smart cookie. I know a few Mum who don't look forward to the school report and I'm very lucky not to be like that. Morgan loves school so his report always shows his enthusiasm. He so excited for Ewan and Rhys to start in September. He's been such a great big brother with them while they've been having their taster days.

Ewan & Rhys
I'm being a bad Mummy and lumping them together now but that's mainly because I've only got their school to talk about.

They have been settling well and are always bursting to tell what they've done. Last Tuesday they stayed from 9-3:25 and even had dinner at school which they thought was amazing!

They have already made some new friends and are going to one of the girls birthday party this Saturday. There is also a boy from their Nursery going their too so it's nice that they will know someone in their class well.

Abby
She's coming on well, she's a funny little poppet. She loves playing hide and seek and will most likely be hiding under a cushion on the sofa watching the telly. She just loves be underneath things. Is that weird? She still copies so many words we say but I wouldn't say they were in her vocabulary. She's just good at coping.

Ben
There has been big changes at Ben's work. The company that he works for no longer exists. It's been bought by a company called Access. With all the change it's a little worrying but everyone has been told no one will be losing their jobs. In fact Ben's been promised a better and bigger opportunity which is exciting! I guess we'll just have to see how it all plays out over the next few months!

Me
I don't feel like I have much to update about me. I feel like I'm pulled every which way but that's a normally weekly thing. Driving is going well and next lesson I have a mock driving test. He said I don't have any real areas that I struggle with so if we practice the test he can see if I need help with anything. I honestly can't wait to be able to drive!

I'm getting excited for Sunday as Ben and I are off on a mini break to Ireland. My Mum and brother are looking after the kids and I feel really relaxed about it. Those kids don't love any one more than Nanny and Abby has a soft spot for her Uncle John! It's going to be so nice to be able to relax with no children for 3 days the break is very much needed at the minute. I'll post more about it when we get home!

Well I think I've covered most of it!